The next morning, everyone except Bucky was gathered for the burning of Asa's body. After my mom and Jody talked for a minute, I walked over to where my mom was standing.
"Mom, you okay?"
"She's really not," Billie appeared through the smoke on the other side of the pyre.
"Billie," Sam said.
"Who's...?" my mom started.
"She's a reaper," I said. "She's the one who got me back inside."
"And now you owe me," Billie turned her gaze toward my mom. "This one. This one right here."
"What?" Mom questioned.
"See, I'm a big believer in what dies, stays dead. Laws of the universe and all that, so..."
"I didn't ask to come back here."
"No, you didn't. And you hate it. The look in your eyes, I've seen it before. It's a dead man's look– eyes that say no matter where you go or what you do, it feels like this world doesn't fit anymore. Like you're all alone."
"Well, she's not alone," I growled, glaring at Billie.
"Tell me I'm wrong," Billie continued, ignoring me as she focused on my mother. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to offer you mercy. A one-way ticket upstairs, away from all of this."
"How would it work?"
"Mom!" I interjected
"You just kill me again?" Mom focused back on Billie.
"Reapers don't kill people... Rules..." the reaper voiced.
"Well... then..." Mom turned to look over at me. "Then, I guess you'll just have to wait."
"Dawsons and Winchesters," Billie scoffed. "If you change your mind- if any of you change your minds- you know my name."
With that, she disappeared and I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, relaxing back against Dean's chest.
"Does this mean you're coming home?" I asked my mom hopefully.
"Yeah. Not quite yet," she replied. "I just need a little more time."
"Can we buy you breakfast at least?" Dean offered, and I looked up at him gratefully.
"Bacon?" my mom smirked a little.
"All the bacon," I grinned back.
"I would love that."
Together, the four of us made our way back to the Impala.
⁘
Cass and Crowley had teamed up to try and track down Lucifer. At first, it had seemed like a good idea in theory, but after a while, it was just getting to be ridiculous.
"Okay, this has gotta stop," Dean growled when we ran into the duo at the morgue. "Alright, give me that."
He reached over, grabbing the FBI badge off of Crowley's lapel.
"Armani!" the demon cried in protest.
"Okay, enough," I dismissed them both. "Let's have a look."
I nodded the okay to Sam, and he pulled down the sheet to reveal the face of the body sitting on the table between us. It was an older gentleman and his eyes were burnt out.
"Ooh. Looks like somebody forgot to put on his sunscreen," Dean quipped.
"This was Wallace Parker, the very powerful CEO of almost everything," Cass informed us.
"And apparently, Lucifer's latest vessel," Sam added. "Wasn't strong enough to hold him."
He covered Parker's face back up.
"Lucifer's not content with slutting it from one random vessel to the next," Crowley continued. "He's moving on to blue chips- celebrities, captains of industry. He just got a lot more dangerous."
"I agree with Agent Zappa," Cass nodded.
"Oh, will you stop?" Dean groaned.
When we got back to the Bunker, Sam did some research on Wallace Parker, and found a picture of him and the Archbishop of St. Louis. Based on the photographic evidence he found, we thought it was a safe bet to assume Lucifer left Parker and possessed the Archbishop instead. When we went to the church to investigate, the place was in total disarray and everyone was dead.
So, we were back to trying to figure out where Lucifer went to next.
"Did the Bunker's warding fail?" Cass asked, reading a newspaper.
"I just powered it down," Dean replied, coming into the library. "Crowley called, said he had some big news on Lucifer, whatever the hell that means."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Sam protested. "Wait a second. So- so now Crowley can just... drop in whenever he feels like it? I-I prefer keeping Crowley at a distance. A long distance."
"Not very charitable, Moose," Crowley said, and Sam shook his head in frustration, "... particularly since, once again, I'm saving all your asses. So, as you know, I'm temporarily persona non grata in my own palace."
"Palace?" both brothers chorused.
"However, there are those I still control," the demon continued, ignoring them. "Operatives."
"Crowley, can we just get the damn news without the drama?"
"Can I get you without the flannel? No. Still, I endure."
"What?" Sam blinked.
"What did you figure out, Crowley?" I cut in before either Sam or Dean could continue picking a fight with the King of Hell.
"Did a little digging, acting on a tip," he walked over and started typing something in on Sam's laptop. "And I think I know the identity of Lucifer's newest vessel."
"Oh, for God's sake," Dean muttered.
"Huh?" Crowley grunted, not hearing him. "Aha!"
He turned the laptop around so we could all see the screen.
"Gentlemen, Puppy... I give you one Jefferson Rooney, President of these United States."
⁘
"Even if Crowley does bring in Rowena, the problem remains," Cass pointed out. "Lucifer can't be returned to the Cage inside his vessel. His essence has to be extracted."
"Yeah," Sam agreed, sitting down at his laptop, "and Lucifer has found the perfect safehouse. I mean, how are we even supposed to start getting close to the President?"
"Well, it helps that he's not in D.C.," I said, handing my phone to Sam. "Well, he's, uh, actually on a fundraising swing through the Midwest."
Sam found the information from my phone on his laptop and handed the phone back to me.
"Yeah, right now, it looks like his whole party- aides, Secret Service, the whole circus- is staying at an estate owned by Ron Forester, the, uh, hedge fund zillionaire. It's right outside Indianapolis."
We all crowded around to look at the laptop screen while Sam talked.
"But it's completely surrounded by walls, security, Secret Service. Military. Plan B?"
"He's got a hell of a speaking schedule," Dean noted. "He's averaging three events a day, and he's got a gala dinner on Friday night."
"Well, at least he'll be outside the mansion," Cass nodded.
"Yeah, guarded like the Hope Diamond," I added. "Plan C?"