[In My Time of Dying]
(Since I don't like skipping the first episode, you'll meet adult Ella next episode, which will also be posted)
The demon-possessed truck driver stepped out of his truck and walked over. John and Dean were unconscious. Sam swallowed, barely awake. The demon pulled the driver's side door off its hinges and Sam pointed the Colt at him.
"Back," Sam demanded. "Or I'll kill you, I swear to God."
"You won't," the demon said. "You're saving the bullet for someone else."
Sam cocked the gun. "You wanna bet?"
The demon smiled before black smoke poured from the man, who collapsed. Sam uncocked the gun and dropped his head back in relief.
"Oh, my God!" the man cried.
"Dad?" Sam called.
"Did I do this?"
"Dad! Dean? Dean!"
The next morning, a rescue helicopter arrived on scene.
The three were being loaded onto stretchers. John and Dean were still unconscious, Sam was awake.
One paramedic looked over Dean. "Significant passenger side intrusion. Unresponsive. BP is 180 over 60, heart rate 95."
"Tell me if they're okay!" Sam cried.
"You have to stay still!" a female paramedic told him.
"Are they even still alive?"
HOSPITAL
In his room, Dean sat up, worked his jaw, and got out of bed. He was wearing a white T-shirt, hospital pants and nothing else.
He went into the hallway. "Sam? Dad? Anybody?" He went down the stairs to the front of the hospital and found a nurse's station. "Excuse me. Hi. I, uh, I think I was in a car accident, my dad and my brother, I just need to find them." The nurse was unresponsive. "Hello?" He snapped his fingers before going upstairs, panicked, and found himself intubated on his bed, dying.
Sam entered Dean's room. He stopped at the door and stared at his brother's body, breathing heavily.
"Sammy!" Dean exclaimed. "You look good. Considering."
"Oh, no," Sam said.
"Man, tell me you can hear me."
"How's Dad? Is he okay? Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something!"
The doctor entered. "Your father's awake. You can go see him if you like."
"Thank God," Dean mumbled.
"Doc, what about my brother?" Sam asked.
"Well, he sustained serious injury; blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney," the doctor informed. "But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema."
"Well, what can we do?"
"Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up. If he wakes up."
"If?"
"I have to be honest-"
"Oh, screw you, doc, I'm waking up," Dean said.
"Most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long. He's fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations."
"Come on, Sam," Dean spoke. "Go find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me. Sam?"
Sam walked away.
---
In his room, John was lying in a hospital bed, his arm in a sling. Awkwardly, one-handed, he pulled something from his wallet. "Here. Give them my insurance."
Sam took the card John gave him, smiling a little as he read it. "Elroy McGillicutty?"
"And his two loving sons. So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?"
"Nothing. Look. The doctors won't do anything, then we'll have to, that's all. I don't know, I'll find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on him."
"We'll look for someone."
"Yeah."
"But Sam, I don't know if we're gonna find anyone."
"Why not? I found that faith healer before."
"Right, that was, that was one in a million."
"So what? Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our ass?"
"No, I said we'd look. All right? I'll check under every stone." He paused a moment. "Where's the Colt?"
"Your son is dying and you're worried about the Colt?"
"We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card."
"It's in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83."
"All right. You've gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside."
"I already called Bobby. He's like an hour out, he's gonna tow the Impala back to his place."
"All right. You, you go meet up with Bobby, you get that Colt, and you bring it back to me. And you watch out for hospital security."
"I think I've got it covered." He got up to leave.
John stopped him, picking up a sheet of paper. "Hey. Here. I made a list of things I need, have Bobby pick them up for me."
Sam read the list. "Acacia? Oil of Abramelin? What's this stuff for?"
"Protection."
"Hey, Dad? You know, the demon, said he had plans for me, and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?"
"No, I don't."
Sam left, shutting the door to reveal Dean, who had been leaning behind it.
"Well, you sure know something," Dean muttered.
---
Sam made his way to the junkyard and looked down at the mangled car. Bobby was there as well.
"Oh, man, Dean is gonna be pissed," Sam said.
Bobby looked at him. "Look, Sam. This... this just ain't worth a tow. I say we empty the trunk, sell the rest for scrap."
"No. Dean would kill me if we did that. When he get better, he's gonna want to fix this."
"There's nothing to fix. The frame's basically a pretzel, the engine's completely ruined. There's barely any parts worth saving."
"Listen to me, Bobby. If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just going to give up on..."
"Okay. You got it," Bobby said quietly.
"Here. Uh, Dad asked for you to get this stuff for him." Sam handed over the list.
Bobby looked at it, frowning. "What's John want with this?"
"Protection from the demon?" Bobby gave Sam a look. "What?"
"Nothing, it's just, um..."
"Bobby? What's going on?"
DEAN'S ROOM
John was sitting by Dean's bed while Dean stood nearby.
"Come on, Dad," Dean said. "You've gotta help me. I've gotta get better, I've gotta get back in there. I mean, you haven't called a soul for help. You haven't even tried. Aren't you going to do anything? Aren't you even going to say anything?" He started walking around the beds. "I've done everything you've ever asked me. Everything. I have given everything I've ever had. And you're just going to sit there and you're going to watch me die? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you?"
He paused, hearing something.
A spirit whooshed past him.
Dean jumped back as he said to John, "I take it you didn't see that."
Dean stalked the spirit down the hallways. He saw it go into a back hallway where a woman was lying on the floor, choking.
"Help! Help!" the woman called.
"Hey!" Dean yelled. "We need some help in here!"
"I can't... breathe!" The woman panted, trying desperately to breathe before going silent.
Dean leaned over her, looking on helplessly.
JOHN'S ROOM
Sam stalked into the room with a duffel bag. Dean met him at the door and started trying to talk to him. "Sammy! Tell me you can friggin' hear me, man, there's something in the hospital. Now, you got to bring me back and we've got to hunt this thing."
"You're quiet," John said.
Sam turned, fuming, and hurled the bag onto the bed with a crash. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
"What are you talking about?"
"That stuff from Bobby, you don't use it to ward off a demon, you use it to summon one. You're planning on bringing the demon here, aren't you? Having some stupid macho showdown?!"
"I have a plan, Sam."
"That's exactly my point! Dean's dying, and you have a plan! You know what, you care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own son!"
"No, no, no, guys, don't do this!" Dean yelled.
"Do not tell me how I feel!" John exclaimed. "I am doing this for Dean."
"How?" Sam questioned. "How is revenge going to help him? You're not thinking about anybody but yourself, it's the same selfish obsession!"
"Come on guys, don't do this!" Dean said.
"You know, it's funny, I thought it was your obsession too!" John reminded his younger son. "This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You begged me to be part of this hunt. Now if you'd killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened."
"It was possessing you, Dad, it would have killed you too," Sam replied.
"Yeah, and your brother would be awake right now."
"Shut up, both of you!" Dean demanded.
"Go to Hell," Sam retorted.
"I should have never taken you along in the first place," John said. "I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong--"
"I said SHUT UP!" Dean cried.
Dean smacked a glass of water off the table and it went flying, crashing to the floor. Sam and John looked at each other, confused. Dean looked stunned.
"Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother," Dean said.
Dean crumpled in pain, flickering. Nurses and doctors started running by in the hallway.
"What is it?" Dean wondered.
"Something's going on out there," John realized, jerking his head, indicating for Sam to find out.
DEAN'S ROOM
Monitors were beeping. A doctor and some nurses were around Dean, resuscitating him.
"All clear," the doctor said.
Sam huddled in the doorway, tears in his eyes. "No."
"Still no pulse," the nurse informed.
"Okay, let's go again, 360," the doctor told the nurses.
"Charging."
Sam, still standing in the doorway, cried and fidgeted. Dean came slowly behind him and saw a ghostly figure floating over his body.
"You get the hell away from me," Dean demanded as he ran to his bed and faced the thing down. "I said get back!"
Sam blinked and looked confused, like he'd heard something.
Dean grabbed the spirit above him, latched on momentarily before the figure hurled him back and soared from the room. The monitor slowed, quieting.
"We have a pulse," the nurse said. "We're back in sinus rhythm."
---
Dean ran into the hallway looking for the spirit, but it had vanished. Sam sighed in relief and backed into the hallway, watching from there.
Dean came back and stood by Sam as Dean said, "Don't worry, Sammy. I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting that thing before it gets me. It's some kind of spirit, but I could grab it. And if I can grab it, I can kill it."
Sam looked over to where Dean was, confused. Dean wandered the halls.
Dean heard a girl yell, "Can't you see me? Why won't you look at me?"
"Now what?" Dean questioned.
"Somebody talk to me! Say something, please!"
"Can you see me?"
"Yeah."
"All right, just, uh, calm down. What's your name?"
"Tessa."
"Okay, good, Tessa, I'm Dean."
"What's happening to me? Am - am I dead?"
"That sort of depends."
They made their way to Tessa's room to see her hooked up to tubes and machines. A woman sat by the bed, holding her hand.
"I don't understand," Tessa said. "I just came in for an appendectomy."
"Well, I hate to bear bad news, but I think there were some complications," Dean told her.
"It's just a dream, that's all. It's just very weird, unbelievably vidid dream."
"Tessa. It's not a dream."
"Then what else could it be?"
"You ever heard of an out-of-body experience?"
"What are you, some new agey guy?"
"You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni? It's actually a very old idea. Got a lot of different names: Bilocation, crisis apparition, fetches... I think it's happening to us. And if it is, it means that we're spirits of people close to death."
"So we're going to die?"
"No. Not if we hold on. Our bodies can get better, we can snap right back in there and wake up."
JOHN'S ROOM
"What do you mean, felt something?" John asked.
"I mean it felt like, like Dean," Sam said. "Like he was there, just out of eyeshot or something. I don't know if it's my psychic thing or what, it... But do you think it's even possible? I mean, do you think his spirit could be around?"
"Anything's possible."
"Well, there's one way to find out."
"Where are you going?"
"I gotta pick something up, I'll be back."
"Wait, Sam. I promise I won't hunt this demon. Not until we know Dean's okay."
Sam nodded and left.
HALLWAY
Dean and Tessa walked down the hallway.
"I gotta say, I'm impressed," Dean commented.
"With what?" Tessa inquired.
"With you. Most people in your spot would be jello right now, but uh, you're taking this pretty well. Maybe a little better than me."
"Don't get me wrong. I was pretty freaked at first. But now, I don't know. Maybe I'm dealing."
"So you're okay with dying?"
"No, of course not. I just think, whatever's gonna happen's gonna happen. It's out of my control, it's fate."
"Huh. Well, that's crap. You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die or you can keep fighting no matter what-"
"Room 237, code blue. Dr. Kripke to room 237, code blue," a voice over the PA said.
"Where are you going?" Tessa asked.
"Just wait here," Dean told her.
He ran down the hallway to another room in crisis.
The same spirit was hovering over a little girl, who was being resuscitated. It reached a hand into her face.
"Get away from her!" Dean yelled, lunging at the spirit, which vanished.
The nurses stopped resuscitation.
"All right, let's call it," the male doctor decided.
The female doctor looked at the clock. "Time of death, 5:11 pm."
"At least she's not suffering anymore," a nurse stated.
Dean had a stunned look and slowly turned to the girl's body.
DEAN'S ROOM
Sam entered the room quietly, clutching a brown paper bag in his arms.
"Hey," Sam greeted. "I think maybe you're around. And if you are, don't make fun of me for this, but um, well, there's one way we can talk." He pulled out a box labeled Mystical Talking Board.
Dean stood behind him, arms folded. "Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."
Sam circled around the bed and sat cross-legged on the floor. He opened the box and pulled out the board. "Dean? Dean, are you here?"
"God, I feel like I'm at a slumber party," Dean said.
He sat opposite Sam in front of the board.
"All right, Sam. This isn't going to work," Dean stated.
Sam had his hands poised on the pointer. Dean placed his fingers on it and slowly concentrating, slid it to YES on the board. Sam gasped.
"I'll be damned," Dean said.
Sam laughed in relief. "It's good to hear from you, man. It hasn't been the same without you, Dean."
"Damn straight."
Dean placed his fingers on the pointer again and started sliding it. Sam, of course, couldn't see him, and the pointer slid under his fingers.
"Dean, what? H? U? Hunt? Hunting? What, are you hunting?"
The pointer slid back to YES.
"It's in the hospital, what you're hunting? Do, do you know what it is?"
"One question at a time, dude," Dean told him.
"What is it?"
The pointer slid as he started spelling a word. R, E, A, P.
"I don't think it's killing people. I think it's taking them," Dean said. "You know, when their time's just up."
"A reaper," Sam noted. "Dean. Is it after you?"
He slid the pointer to YES.
Sam frowned. "If it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it."
"Yeah, you can't kill Death," Dean said.
"Man, you're, um..."
"I'm screwed, Sam."
"No. No, no, no, um, there's gotta be a way." He stood, pacing. "There's gotta be a way. Dad'll know what to do." He left.
JOHN'S ROOM
Sam entered and saw that the bed was empty and whispered, "Dad."
BOILER ROOM
John pushed the door open and entered, carrying the duffel bag. He walked through the dark and dripping hallway to a clear space and placed the bag down. He pulled out a box of white chalk and started drawing a large symbol on the floor.
DEAN'S ROOM
Sam returned, carrying the journal. He sat on the edge of Dean's bed. "Hey. So Dad wasn't in his room."
"Where is he?" Dean asked.
"But I got Dad's journal, so who knows? Maybe there's something here."
Sam flipped open the journal and leafed through it, glancing at Dean unconscious form occasionally. Dean came to stand behind him.
"Thanks for not giving up on me, Sammy," Dean said.
Sam turned to a page that said "Reapers". Dean leaned over and read something and his eyes went wide.
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered.
He left, stalking down the hallway.
Dean stalked down the hallway until he saw an empty room. Tessa was sitting on the edge of the bed in different clothes.
"Hi, Dean," Tessa said.
Dean frowned. "You know, you read the most interesting things. For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn't. Basically they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, a, a pretty girl. You're much prettier than the last reaper I met."
"I was wondering when you would figure it out."
"I should have known. That whole "accepting fate" rap of yours is far too laid back for a dead chick. But the mother, and the body, I'm still trying to figure that one out."
"It's my sandbox, I can make you see whatever I want."
"What, is this like a turn-on for you? What, toying with me?"
"You didn't give me much choice. You saw my true form and you flipped out. Kinda hurts a girl's feelings. This was the only way I could get you to talk to me."
"Okay, fine. We're talking. What the hell do you want to talk about?"
"How death is nothing to fear." She touched his cheek. "It's your time to go, Dean. And you're living on borrowed time already."
BOILER ROOM
John finished the chalk symbol and had placed several candles and a black bowl around it. He incanted in Latin.
John slid a knife across his palm, drew blood, and dripped it on the bowl. He lit a match and dropped it in. The sand in the bowl flared and went out. John stood, looking around.
A hand grabbed his shoulder and a man asked, "What the hell are you doing down here, buddy?"
"I can explain," John said.
"Yeah? You're going to explain to security. Come on. You follow me."
John pulled the Colt and cocked it. "Hey. How stupid do you think I am?"
The demon's eyes glowed. "You really want an honest answer to that?"
Two possessed men in lab coats stalked by and took positions behind John.
"You conjuring me, John. I'm surprised. I took you for a lot of things. But suicidally reckless wasn't one of them."
"I could always shoot you."
"You could always miss." The demon laughed. "And you've only got one try, don't'cha? Did you really think you could trap me?"
"Oh, I don't want to trap you." He lowered the gun. "I want to make a deal."
The demon looked at him, intrigued.
DEAN'S ROOM
Sam stood on the window side of Dean's bed, hands in his pockets. Dean wasn't there.
"Dean, are you here?" Sam asked, looking around. "I couldn't find anything in the book. I don't know how to help you. But I'll keep trying, all right? As long as you keep fighting. I mean, come on you can't, you can't leave me here alone with Dad, we'll kill each other, you know that." He paused. "Dean, you've got to hold on. You can't go man, not now. We were just starting to be brothers again. Can you hear me?"
EMPTY ROOM
Dean was staring out a dark window. "Look, I'm sure you've heard this before, but... you've gotta make an exception, you've gotta cut me a break."
"Stage three: bargaining," Tessa/Reaper said.
"I'm serious. My family's in danger. See, we're kind of in the middle of this, um, war, and they need me."
"The fight's over."
"No, it isn't."
"It is for you, Dean. You're not the first soldier I've plucked from the field. They all feel the same. They can't leave. Victory hangs in the balance. But they're wrong. The battle goes on without them."
"My brother. He could die without me."
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Nothing you can do about it. It's an honorable death. A warrior's death."
"I think I'll pass on the 72 virgins, thanks. I'm not that into prude chicks anyway."
"That's funny. You're very cute."
"There's no such thing as an honorable death. My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family's going to die! No. I'm not going with you, I don't care what you do."
"Well, like you said. There's always a choice. I can't make you come with me. But you're not getting back in your body. And that's just facts. So yes, you can stay. You'll stay here for years. Disembodied, scared, and over the decades it'll probably drive you made. Maybe you'll even get violent."
"What are you saying?"
"Dean. How do you think angry spirits are born? They can't let go and they can't move on. And you're about to become one. The same thing you hunt."
BOILER ROOM
The demon, John and the two minions were in a circle around the summoning symbol.
"It's very unseemly, making deals with devils," the demon said. "How do I know this isn't just another trick?"
"It's not trick," John replied. "I will give you the Colt, but you've got to help Dean. You've got to bring him back."
"Why, John, you're a sentimentalist. If only your boys knew how much their daddy loved them."
"It's a good trade. You care a hell of a lot more about this gun than you do Dean."
"Don't be so sure. He killed some people very special to me. But still, you're right, he isn't much of a threat. And neither is your other son." John lowered his head and raised his eyes. "You know the truth, right? About Sammy? And the other children?"
"Yeah. I've known for awhile."
"But Sam doesn't, does he? You've been playing dumb."
"Can you bring Dean back? Yes or no?"
"No. But I know someone who can. It's not a problem."
"Good. Before I give you the gun, I'm going to want to make sure that Dean's okay. With my own eyes."
"Oh, John, I'm offended. Don't you trust me?" John shook his head slowly. "Fine."
"So we have a deal?"
"No, John, not yet. You still need to sweeten the pot."
"With what?"
"There's something else I want, as much as that gun. Maybe more."
EMPTY ROOM
Dean sat on the bed. Tessa/Reaper sat behind him, stroking his hair tenderly as she said, "It's time to put the pain behind you."
"And go where?" Dean questioned.
"Sorry. I can't give away the big punchline. Moment of truth. No changing your mind later. So what's it going to be?"
As he turned to look at her, the lights began flickering and a familiar buzzing started.
"What are you doing that for?" Dean asked.
"I'm not doing it," Tessa/Reaper replied.
They both turned to a vent in the floor and saw black demon ichor pouring out of it.
"What the hell?"
"You can't do this! Get away!" Tessa/Reaper yelled.
"What's happening?!"
Tessa/Reaper screamed as the demon flowed into her mouth. She turned, eyes glowing yellow. "Today's your lucky day, kid."
She placed a hand on Dean's forehead and he convulsed.
DEAN'S ROOM
Sam was still sitting on the bed as Dean gasped, waking suddenly and choking on the tube in his throat. "Dean?"
Sam yelled into the hallway, "Help! I need help!"
The doctor looked him over and said, "I can't explain it. The edema's vanished. The internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good. You have some kind of angel watching over you."
"Thanks, doc," Dean said.
The doctor left and Dean turned to Sam. "So you said a reaper was after me?"
"Yeah," Sam replied.
"How'd I ditch it?"
"You got me. Dean, you really don't remember anything?"
"No. Except this pit in my stomach. Sam, something's wrong."
There was a knock on the door and John hovered in the doorway before asking, "How you feeling, dude?"
"Fine, I guess. I'm alive."
"That's what matters."
"Where were you last night?" Sam asked angrily.
"I had some things to take care of."
"Well, that's specific."
"Come on, Sam," Dean begged.
Sam ignored his brother. "Did you go after the demon?"
"No," John answered.
"You know, why don't I believe you right now?"
John began pleading. "Can we not fight? You know, half the time we're fighting. I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads. Sammy, I, I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?"
"Dad, are you all right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just a little tired. Hey, son, would you, uh, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?"
"Yeah. Yeah, sure." Sam left, still frowning and John looked after him sadly.
"What is it?" Dean asked.
John turned to him. "You know, when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen, I'd be, I'd be wrecked. And you, you'd come up to me and you, you'd put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd... You'd say "It's okay, Dad."" He paused. "Dean, I'm sorry."
"What?"
"You shouldn't have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you. You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you."
"This really you talking?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it's really me."
"Why are you saying this stuff?"
John came closer and put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?"
"Yeah, Dad, you know I will. You're scaring me."
"Don't be scared, Dean."
John leaned over and whispered something into Dean's ear. Dean pulled back in shock, processing.
"Find Ella McKinney," John added, smiling at his son.
"Who?" Dean asked.
John said nothing and left, leaving Dean staring after him.
---
John entered another hospital room and placed the Colt on a small bed table. "Okay."
HALLWAY
Sam walked back to the room carrying a cup of coffee. He looked into a room and saw John on the floor. "Dad?!"
He dropped the cup and ran to John's side, kneeling over him and screaming for help.
A crowd of doctors and nurses rushed in and attempted resuscitation on John. Dean and Sam hovered in the doorway and a nurse tried to push them out.
"No, no, no, it's our dad. It's our dad!" Dean cried before pleading. "Come on."
"Okay, stop compressions," the doctor said.
"Come on, come on."
"Still no pulse," a nurse informed.
"Okay, that's it, everybody," the doctor decided.
After a moment, the doctor said, "I'll call it. Time of death: 10:41 am."