Chapter 34 So Different Now From What it Seemed
"I made myself at home. I hope you don't mind." Death announced.
"Who are you?" Hope asked, looking the man over.
"Death." He answered, giving a small bow of the head. "Pleased to make your acquaintance. Though we have met before."
Hope looked puzzled for a moment, but then her eyes widened. "I remember you. Every time I...died, you were there."
Death nodded. "It's in the job description."
"Wait. You knew about her, about all of the hidden angels, and you didn't bother to, I don't know, clue us in?" Sam questioned.
"That is not in my job description." Death said. "I don't fight for any side. Bad for business."
"Then why are you here?" Castiel asked.
"The Mark. I highly disapprove of anything that can fend off Death so infallibly." Death frowned into his pizza. "I want to make Dean human again."
"How?" Sam asked. "We have no idea how to find him. And even if we did, we have no idea how to keep him anywhere. He broke out of the Devil's Trap and warded handcuffs."
Death stood up. "When will you Winchesters learn to stop underestimating me? I have a plan. I'll need something from you."
"What?" Hope asked.
"Something that will stir the humanity in Dean. For you hunters, it would be the thing to burn to destroy a vengeful spirit if the bones didn't work." Death explained.
Sam reached into his pocket, pulling out a gold amulet strung on a long black cord. "Would this work?"
It was the necklace Sam had given Dean on a long ago Christmas, when their father had failed to show up and Dean had done his best to make it a good Christmas for his younger brother. The necklace Dean had worn twenty-four-seven for so long, until he had lost his faith in pretty much everything and left it in a trash can in a cheap motel room. Apparently Sam had kept it all this time.
Death motioned to Sam to come closer, and he did. He fingered the charm. "Yes. This should do nicely, Sam." He sighed. "You must understand, this won't fix him. Dean will still be a demon. But it will bring out enough of his human nature that he will be inclined to cooperate. You were planning on performing the demon purification ritual?" They all nodded. "You know that only angel blood will work?" They nodded again. "All right. I'll need a few things before we begin."
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Death mixed the ingredients for the spell in a metal bowl on the table in front of him, pausing every now and then to take a bite of his pizza. Some of the items they had been able to find in the Men of Letters' archives, others Crowley had fetched for them.
"The amulet, please, Sam." Death requested, holding his hand out. The younger Winchester dropped the necklace into his thin hand. Death curled his fingers around the gold charm, then closed his eyes and began chanting. "In anima hominis torta educerent. Fac Daemon cognoscere amet. Amore, fide, virtute atque symbolice fert familia, hoc caliginoso illuminet cor." A bright light emanated from the bowl and surged into the necklace in Death's hand. When the light faded he handed it back to Sam. "There. Now you just have to find him."
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"You want to do what?" Crowley cried.
"C'mon, Crowley! You are not in the worst situation here." Hope pointed out, glancing over her shoulder to where Castiel sat on the couch, eyes closed, hands in his lap.
"Are you out of your mind? You are not using me as bait so you can catch your demon brother and go prancing off into the sunset or whatever it is you do when the season's main conflict is resolved. I've told you before; I'm not dying for you lot."
"He's coming after you anyway. And eventually, he will find you, no matter how well you hide." Sam argued. "At least this way we have a plan. We'll be in control of the situation. You'll be perfectly safe."
"Unfortunately." Hope added under her breath. Crowley glared at her.
"Oh,...fine." Crowley sighed. "Bloody Winchesters. I hate you!"
"The feeling is mutual." Hope told him.
"Let's get going then."
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They knew there was no way they could get Dean back to the bunker without him suspecting something, so the plan was to lure him to an empty warehouse by planting Crowley there. Then Sam and Death would come in and use the amulet on Dean. Once Death's spell kicked in, Dean would supposedly be more himself. Not completely human, according to Death, but human enough that he would help them finish the job. Then Castiel would perform the ritual and Dean would be back to normal. Hopefully.
Hope didn't really have a job in all of this, but she insisted on coming anyway. No argument on the basis of her damaged Grace would sway her, and they had stopped trying to change her mind.
When they arrived at the warehouse, all but Crowley went to the back to hide. Death put up an invisible wall that he said would conceal them from Dean.
After a few hours of waiting, the tell-tale grumble of the Impala's engine stuttered to a halt outside. Hope grabbed Castiel's hand and squeezed it.
Sam took a deep breath. "Here we go."