memento vivere - supernatural & criminal minds

chapter 41

Chapter 41
Hell or High Water

At the last stroke of midnight on the 365th day of Dean's final year, a hellhound would come for his soul. It sounded like a first draft of Cinderella that the Brothers Grimm submitted to their publishers and were told to tone down.

Jude arrived in Pennsylvania at the 48-hour mark. The boys and Bobby had just wrapped up a job there and were using an abandoned shithole of a cabin as a home base. Two upended tables were flipped over and used as research space once the cobwebs were dusted off. They spent hours poring over supernatural texts provided by Bobby. Jude felt like she was cramming for a test back in college, only now the death she was studying hadn't happened yet. As if the time crunch wasn't bad enough, they were also searching for a way to track down and kill Lilith. The brothers had learned - from an acquaintance neither one much liked - that she held the contract for Dean's deal.

The clock was now at 12 hours. Piles of books sat at their feet to clear up one of the tables for a Hail Mary. Bobby spread out a map and topped it with what he claimed was a tracking device. It had three wooden legs topped with a glass ball. This was surrounded by a metal ring engraved with sigils to match a larger ring farther down the legs. A pendulum hung from the center to pinpoint Lilith's location.

The younger hunters stayed silent while Bobby recited a ritual in Latin. Over the map, the pendulum swung in a steady circle. Jude looked across the table at Sam. He was leaning forward with determination in his eyes as he watched the circle shrink. It came to a sudden stop, hovering over a name that Jude leaned down to read. "New Harmony, Indiana."

"Perfect, let's go." Sam was halfway to the door when his brother called for him to stop. "What's the problem?"

"What's the problem?" Dean repeated. He glanced at Jude, who just folded her arms and rounded the table to stand with Bobby. "Come on, where do I begin? First of all, we don't even know if Lilith holds my deal. I mean, we're going off Bela's intel?" She was the unfavorable acquaintance. "When she breathes, the air comes out crooked. Second, even if we could get to Lilith, we have no way to gank her."

Jude raised a hand. "Doesn't Ruby have a demon-killing knife?"

"Not you, too," Dean's shoulders sagged. "You trust her?"

"God no. And if Lilith's a high-ranking demon, it may not even work on her. I'm just saying it's better than nothing." Jude had checked the contents of Ruby's hex bag and they were for a warding spell, but that didn't mean she would blindly trust her. "I'm sorry, Sam, but she's a demon. Kindness isn't one of their strongest virtues. I don't even think they have virtues."

"She's right," Dean backed her. "And by the way, isn't this the same Lilith that wants your giant head on a pike? Should I continue?"

Sam sighed and moved back to the table. "What are we supposed to do then, Dean?"

"Just 'cause I gotta die doesn't mean you have to, okay? And even if you do make it out, what if Judy dies? You think her team will just tuck her case in a filing cabinet and leave it alone? They're gonna come poking around." Dean had a point. If Penelope's accident put their caseload on hold, a death in the team would likely shut down the BAU until it was solved. "Either we go in smart or we don't go in at all."

"Fine. If that's the case, I have an answer. There's a surefire way to confirm it's Lilith and get us a demon-killing knife. I'm summoning Ruby."

"Damn it, Sam, no."

Jude leaned closer to Bobby to whisper, "How do you bear them without me?"

"Every day's a struggle." They sat through another minute of fighting, their eyes volleying back and forth like a tennis match, until Bobby cut in. "Sam's right."