"So, what do you think we should do?" asked Sam.
"We did what we should do," replied Dean, disgruntled. "Now I don't know."
"I mean, do you think it's possible we could... I don't know... make it all work somehow?"
This was so typical of Sam. The normal non-bitchy Sam. Always trying to find the upside of things, even when things could not have gone deeper down the drain. Dean hated when his brother played the eternal optimist, but someone had to.
"I have no idea," he said. "Maybe, I've never heard of it. But you know what I do know? It ain't the natural order of things. Everything is supposed to end. You know, he was supposed... And now... What are the odds this ends well?"
Sam gave an understanding nod and looked out of the window of the car's passenger side. Dean threw a glance in the rear-view mirror. The back seat was empty, but just because he couldn't see anyone did not mean there wasn't someone there. Because they now knew there was.
Bobby hadn't crossed over to the good side. He wasn't up in Heaven with Ellen and Jo and their parents. Stubborn son of bitch ditched his reaper and bound his ass to his flask. Since Dean carried it around with him, it explained everything, of course. The wonky EMF readings, certain objects moving around them...
A small part of Dean was glad Bobby was still around. A very small part. But really, he was just angry. Angry for Bobby having done this, all because he wanted to finish his hunt on Dick Roman. If he didn't find a way to cross over himself pronto, Dean would have to force him by burning the flask. Either that or risk Bobby becoming the very thing his family had been hunting for years. He wouldn't allow Bobby to become a vengeful spirit. He just wouldn't.
They drove for a few more hours before pulling over at a motel a couple of miles away from the state line of California and Nevada. They checked in, and Sam went out to get them a bite to eat whilst Dean got their stuff into their room.
Just when he was about to kick back on the bed, remote in hand, he heard a surly voice.
"Sure, make yourself comfortable. It ain't like you got anything better to do. Would your majesty like me to fluff his pillow too?"
Dean jumped back up, swearing loudly.
"Bobby! What the hell, man?! You almost gave me a friggin' heart attack."
"Well, misery loves company."
"Hey, you're the one who chose this, so don't come complaining to me about it now."
Bobby huffed and puffed, rolling his eyes at Dean.
"Ya good for nothin'. Look, I didn't stick around to fight you. I stuck around to help you idiots gank those Leviathans. Like it or not, I'm here, and I'm helpin'. You wanna burn that flask after we finish the job, be my guest. But right now, you gonna shut that smart mouth of yours for 5 minutes and you're gonna listen to me."
Even as a ghost, Bobby was still pretty impressive. And bossy too. Dean felt like a 15-year-old kid again, getting his ass scolded for pulling all kinds of crap. He threw his hands in the air, admitting this round to Bobby, and waited for the ghost to continue.
"You gotta find Allegra and tell her about your little trip to the future."
"How did y-?"
"What the hell did I just say?!" Bobby cut him off angrily. "Shut your yap and listen! Yes, I know about that. I didn't travel with you because you kept my damn flask in the car, but I did overhear what you said to that angel when you got back. Dean, you can't keep this from her. She has the right to know. At the very least, tell her she needs to go home because Gabriel hid something on the prophecy there. Kid's been trying to find answers for years now."
"Don't you think I've tried? I've sent her my thoughts, I've sent messages, I've called. She's ghosting me."
"Then try again."
"She doesn't wanna talk to me!" Dean raised his voice unintentionally. "And I can't blame her for it 'cause she's got every right to be angry with me. I screwed up; I know that. It's my own damn fault for treating her the way I did, for cheating, for... for not telling her I love her."
He shut his eyes and shook his head, sinking back down on the bed.
"I'm in love with her."
"Well gee, genius, tell me somethin' I don't know," mocked Bobby.
"Alley's got feelings for Sam too, Bobby. And he's got a thing for her as well. He has for some time now. If it comes down to him and me, she's better off with him."
"No, she ain't."
Dean looked up at his mentor. The stern expression softened. Bobby sighed.
"I asked Allegra flat-out if she could tell me in all honesty that she didn't love ya anymore," he said. "Guess what, she couldn't. Yes, she cares for Sam. Maybe she loves him. But she definitely loves you. Come on, boy, think about it. You saw the future we were headed to, and I heard what the angel said. Your son. Not Michael's, not Lucifer's, not Sam's, yours."
"That future's already changed, Bobby," rebuffed Dean. "Lucifer isn't in Sam anymore, so the Cage won't open. Allegra won't be forced to pick him 'cause he got his mitts on me, and I won't be forced to let Michael use me as a meat suit. The deal won't happen. That... That night won't happen."
"Just because one thing won't happen, don't mean the other won't either. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. And you two are meant to be. I know it. And your daddy knew it too. John saw something in Allegra when we met her 20 years ago. He told me he hoped that girl would survive long enough for her to meet his sons 'cause he was certain she'd help fight the fight, possibly even end it. I never thought that would happen, but here we are. So you better grow a pair and find her!"
Bobby's ghost flickered like a light bulb and then disappeared. Dean looked around the room to see if he would come back, but Bobby stayed away. He gave a weary sigh and rubbed his eyes. Find Allegra... That was easier said than done. Best detectives in the world couldn't find Allegra if she didn't wanna be found. Dean's only shot was with a little help from above. But Cas was out of commission, and there was no other angel he could... Hold the phone...
"I pray to Turiel. If you're still on our side, I could use a hand with Allegra. I need to know where she is."
Everything stayed silent. Dean dropped back on the bed. Why had he even bothered? Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, and his eyes widened when he read the message he just received.
'Allegra has befriended someone within the Leviathan headquarters. She will need your help soon. Find her in the city by the lake.'
***
"Charlie, slow down. You're not making any sense. What happened?"
"I am freaking out here, Grace! T-The CEO of my company, Dick Roman, h-he asked me to crack this drive 'cause it had all this important stuff on that he needed, and so I-I did a-and then boom! I'm reading all this weird stuff about people eating people and black ooze and how borax can hurt them 'n stuff! I am not making any of this up, I swear!"
"Charlie, calm down. Where are you now?"
"Home, I'm packing my stuff."
"Stay put. I'm just a few blocks away."
Allegra pushed the disconnect button and zapped to the alley behind Charlie's building. She was glad she could finally stop the charade. She liked Charlie well enough, and Allegra hated that she had to use her like this, but it wasn't like she could waltz into Dick Roman's office to kill the bastard herself. Charlie was her inside woman.
After Allegra left the Winchesters (and Bobby), she made up her mind to focus on the most immediate threat, mainly Dick and his Leviathans. She let Crowley know that she was gonna be near headquarters in Chicago (right under their noses was the only place they wouldn't look for her, she figured) and asked him if he could provide her with employee records. Crowley hadn't let her down and sent Allegra a list of everyone currently working for Dick Roman. One name popped out, and Allegra met with Charlie in a bar about two weeks ago. Knowing a thing or two about typical nerd likes and dislikes got the conversation going. And the fact that Allegra had pretended to be a lesbian before also helped, of course.
She hurried out of the alley, looking left and right, checking if her Spidey-senses tingled for any bad guys. But instead of bad guys, she sensed two very familiar good guys. She got back behind the corner and caught Sam and Dean walking into Charlie's building.
Goddammit, how are they here?
Allegra cursed silently as she followed the Winchesters in. By the time she arrived at Charlie's apartment, they were already talking to the red-haired nerd, spilling borax over each other's hands to prove they weren't Leviathans. Charlie spotted Allegra first and pushed past Sam and Dean, throwing her arms around Allegra's neck.
"Oh my God, Grace, you're here!"
"You okay, Charlie?" asked Allegra, ignoring the surprised looks of the duo.
"Yeah... I think. These guys are..."
"Here to help, I know? Hi, Sam. Dean."
"Allegra." Dean nodded back to her.
"Wha- Allegra?" Charlie threw her a confused look. "Grace?"
"Let's go inside. I'll explain everything."
***
After the message Dean received about Allegra, Sam and he returned to the cabin in Montana to pick up a couple more supplies. There, Bobby's ghost reappeared again and filled them both in on Dick Roman's master plan. They'd been about to leave for Chicago when they got a mail from Frank Deveraux, an acquaintance of Bobby who had been investigating those strange numbers but who'd gone missing (and was presumed dead).
The mail spoke of a drive that was being hacked and which had all the data Dean and Sam needed to stop the Leviathans. Frank, being the paranoid bastard he was, put a GPS tracker on the drive that would ping the moment someone tried to access it. With Bobby's info, Frank's mail, and the message about Allegra, the brothers had rushed to Chicago. Their only tangible lead was the person who hacked the drive, a chick named Charlie Bradbury, so they went to her first, hoping she could provide a further clue to Allegra's whereabouts. They never imagined Allegra herself popping up at the first address they tried.
"Okay, so first of all, my name isn't Grace; it's Allegra," confessed Allegra to Charlie once they all settled down in the living room. "I'm an angel, and I'm here to help you, Charlie. Oh, and I'm also not a lesbian like I told you."
Dean nearly choked when he heard Allegra say that last bit. He quickly looked over to Sam, who made the same startled face.
"Y-You're an ang-oh boy, tha-that is a lot to... Wait, what do you mean you're not a lesbian?" Charlie asked indignantly. "My radar's never been wrong about that! Though it would explain a couple of things, I suppose."
"I've pretended a few times in the past to get pushy guys to back off. Guess I'm more convincing than I thought. But I'm really not. Dean's actually my euhm... my ex."
Charlie snapped her head to him.
"You're the cheating ex with the attitude?!"
Dean felt himself turn red. He began to stammer but was miraculously saved from Charlie's death stare by Allegra.
"Yeah, that doesn't really matter at this point. Charlie, look, I'm sorry I lied to you about myself, but I had to get close to you. For the same reasons that Sam and Dean are here right now. Those things you saw on that drive? That's all real."
She quickly filled her in on the Leviathans. Charlie had to let it sink in at first, which was understandable, but all in all, she got over the initial shock pretty fast.
"I still can't believe how I got involved in all this."
"I know it's a lot to take in, Charlie, but like I said, I'm here to help you," said Allegra comfortingly. "We all are."
"So what, are you like my personal guardian angel? 'Cause, that would be insanely cool, I'm just sayin'."
"Ah... I'm not really sure, but for now, let's say, sure, why the hell not?"
Dean grinned. He was glad to see Allegra had been okay these past couple of weeks. At least she'd been with a friend. But the image of those two together, even if it had all been a lie and nothing could have possibly happened, was an image Dean was not gonna lose for a long time. He really hoped Allegra wasn't tuning in on his thoughts right now.
Don't think about two redheads together. Anything but that! Think about... burgers! Okay... burgers... Turducken... Leviathan... Charlie and Allegra, crap!
"And you two." Charlie turned to Sam and Dean. "You guys are monster hunters. So, there are other monsters? No, wait, stop. Never mind. Just... Okay, I get how you tracked the drive, straight GPS, but it's still at the office. How did you find me?"
"Yeah, I'm actually curious about that myself," said Allegra.
Sam cleared his throat. He pulled his laptop out and showed the girls footage of Charlie working at her computer.
"Aw, son of a gun jacked my webcam?!" exclaimed Charlie. "It's creepy, but I'll give it to him. So everything this Frank guy had on his drive, everything Gra- Allegra told me is true."
"That and more," said Dean.
"How long did it take you to crack into Frank's drive?" asked Sam.
"A day or so," answered Charlie.
"Is there anything you can't hack into? Like, say... Dick Roman's e-mail?"
"Pff easy... But euhm... What's their endgame anyway? Steal our resources, make us into slaves?"
Dean glanced over at his brother, who nodded.
"Planet-wide value meal. And we're the meat."
"You can't be... serious." Charlie's words fell away as she realized that he was, in fact, deadly serious. "Okay. Well...Let's do this."
***
It turned out that Charlie couldn't hack into Dick's mail. At least not from her apartment. She had to go into the lion's den and get to his actual computer. They came up with a plan and went over it a couple of times, but Allegra still didn't like it one bit. Because the Leviathans knew the Winchesters and Allegra, Charlie had to go in alone. A million things could go wrong, but they didn't have much choice.
The IT nerd went in, with Allegra, Dean, and Sam waiting in a van outside (which was a real deal spy van Charlie set up from scratch), keeping contact through their phones. Allegra held her shield up around her friend's soul, making sure she could zap in and get her out in case of any trouble.
"Son of a bitch." Dean suddenly cursed loudly.
"What?" asked Allegra and Sam in unison.
"Look at her bag."
Dean pulled a close-up of Charlie's bag, revealing a flask in one of the side pockets.
"Bobby!" Sam gasped. "Wait, y-you think he..."
"Hitched a ride after we told him to cool his jets? Yeah." Dean shook his head, groaning. "What the hell's he thinking?"
"He's not. So what do we do? Call the whole thing off?"
"We've only got one shot at this."
Dean told Charlie about the flask, urging her not to lose it as it was a 'family heirloom' and good-luck charm. She was slightly freaking out at this point and took a swig of whisky. Allegra wrapped her shield closer around her, hoping it would comfort her. Eventually, it was Sam who convinced her to go in, by comparing Charlie to her favorite Harry Potter character.
"Did Hermione run when Sirius Black was in trouble or when Voldemort attacked Hogwarts?"
"Seriously?" Dean furrowed his brow.
Allegra threw him a scolding look and shushed him.
"No, of course not," said Charlie. "She kicked ass. She actually saves Harry in practically every book. And then she ends up with the wrong..."
"Stay on track," interrupted Sam. "Okay, so she kicked ass, right? So, what are you gonna do?"
"I'm gonna kick it in the ass!"
"Good girl."
"Oh, you go, Dumble-dork," mocked Dean.
Allegra rolled her eyes and leaned into Sam.
"She's a lot calmer, thanks to you."
"I just tried something," he replied modestly.
Allegra caught Dean looking at them from the corner of his eye. She cleared her throat.
"So, Bobby finally managed to show himself to you guys, then?"
Dean's head turned to her so fast Allegra thought it was going to spin right off his neck.
"You knew?!" he asked.
"I found the flask near the car the morning I left and Bobby when I picked it up."
"And you didn't think to tell us this?!"
"He didn't want me to."
"Son of a... Not okay, Allegra!"
"As if you're so straightforward, Winchester!
"Euhm, guys, can we discuss this later, maybe? We got a job to do here, remember?"
Sam cut the fight short by pointing at the screens in front of them. Dean turned away from his brother and Allegra, muttering inaudibly. She gave a scoff and turned her seat as well. After a minute or so, Allegra felt Sam's hand bump into her own under the table. She bumped him back.
If Allegra had to choose between the two brothers right this minute, she wouldn't hesitate. Why pick the brother who caused her so much grief and who fought her so stubbornly when the brother who didn't rush into things and could console her with a simple touch of his hand was obviously the better choice?
Because you still don't love him.
***
"Charlie, talk to us. You okay?" Sam glanced over his shoulder to the back of the car where Allegra was holding Charlie.
"No..." Charlie groaned. "Why didn't you kill him?"
"'Cause, we can't yet. But we will."
"The really evil ones always need a special sword. Oh, okay... I'm gonna pass out now."
"Charlie? Charlie! Allegra..."
'I've got her, Sam. Dean, step on it."
Sam turned sideways on the passenger seat to keep an eye on Allegra as she hovered over Charlie. He really hoped she wasn't using her grace to heal Charlie but knowing Allegra, she was.
"What happened in there?" he asked. "Everything was fine when we left."
"Roman pulled her into his office, asking about the drive," answered Allegra, keeping her head down. "I was about to zap in to get her out, but then he got a call about a package arriving. Charlie got down okay, but the doors were locked. Another security guard outside got the drop on me when I tried to break the glass. She got caught in the crossfire when Bobby attacked the Leviathans. Friggin' miracle you guys showed up on time. Please tell me you got the case from the airport."
"Yeah, we got it," answered Dean. "Don't know what it is, but the main thing is Douche Roman doesn't have it."
"Good, that's... that's good."
Sam was alarmed at the weak sound of Allegra's voice. He narrowed his eyes and saw blood dripping from her nose.
"Allegra? Allegra, no! Dean, she used her grace to help Charlie!"
His brother hit the gas, and the car flew over the road. They arrived at the ER 10 minutes later. Dean grabbed Charlie to carry her in and told Sam to stay with Allegra. He crawled into the back seat with her. She was floating in and out of consciousness.
"Allegra? Allegra, come on, stay with me."
She stirred. Her eyes fluttered open. Sam gave out a sigh in relief. He cleaned the blood away with the sleeve of his shirt.
"What were you thinking?"
"Sh-She thinks I'm h-her guardian angel. I had to... try."
The door on the other side of the back opened, and Dean's face appeared.
"She's okay," said Sam immediately.
"Thank God. What the hell were you thinking, woman?!"
"Dean, enough."
His brother slammed the door shut and went back into the ER, leaving Sam alone with Allegra. Sam didn't mind. He put his arms around her as she drifted away again, head against his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw Bobby in the front seat. The flask had fallen out of Charlie's bag onto the floor of the car, leaving Bobby there as well. He looked at Sam through the rear-view mirror, his eyes holding a certain sadness.
"You're in love with her, aren't ya?"
"I am," admitted Sam for the first time out loud.
"I hope it works out, Sam. She deserves a good person like you. Just don't forget you ain't the only one loving that girl."
The ghost flickered and disappeared, leaving Sam to wonder; if Allegra had to choose between him and Dean, would the mistakes his brother had made and his own love for her make the decision easier for her?