memento vivere - supernatural & criminal minds

chapter 42

Chapter 42
Zugzwang

Six hours left. Sam and Jude stood laden with bags beneath the setting sun. Another wrench had been thrown in their plans and they lacked the hands to juggle them. Dean sat behind the wheel of the Impala, trying and failing to get it to start. A string of mumbled curses harmonized with the hum of the ignition.

For a moment the sound of a running car lifted their spirits, then an ancient truck rumbled out of the woods. Dean stepped out and they raised their hands against the headlight glare. When their eyes adjusted, they saw Bobby hop from the driver's seat. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" He held a hunk of metal in his hand–the Impala's distributor cap.

Dean rolled his eyes and leaned against the car. "Indiana. We got the knife. This isn't your fight."

"The hell it isn't!" Bobby scoffed. "Family don't end with blood, boy. This is my fight as much as it is Jude's, and I see she was already invited. It's 'cause you needed another fully functioning brain, right? How many hallucinations have you had so far?"

"For the love of..." Dean threw up his hands. He looked between Bobby and Jude. "Both of you knew?"

"I've got more experience than you kids. Hell, I taught you everything I know. Jude just happened to listen better than you," he said with an ever-so-subtle touch of pride as he handed over the distributor cap. "I'll follow."

"Want company?" Jude asked, dropping all but her bag.

"No." She joined him in the truck anyway. He did not complain. Quiet except for the rumbling hunk of metal, they raced against the setting sun. Jude was undoing the messy collection of braids she'd anxiously twisted into her hair when the siren started. A police car skirted by them, pulling over the Impala. "Busted tail light," Bobby grumbled. He checked his watch. "Five hours left. Real interesting timing, don't you think?"

They idled behind the Impala as an officer approached the window. Jude leaned forward, trying to read his lips from afar, but she wasn't very good at it. However, she got the gist of the exchange when Dean's door opened and slammed into the officer's stomach. Jude was out of the truck before Bobby turned it off, sprinting to the Impala. She arrived in time to see Dean pin the officer down, pull the demon knife from his belt, and thrust it into the man's jaw. The body sparked yellow as Sam had described, then went limp.

"How'd you know is was a demon?" Sam asked, rounding the car to join Jude.

"I just knew," Dean stood, breathing heavily. He cast a disturbed glance at the body beneath him and staggered over it. "I could see its face. Its real face under that one, I mean." Jude made a face that said 'Ah, that makes sense' and Dean stared at her, baffled. "I'm sorry, do you have something you wanna share with the class?"

"You've got just over five hours to go." Bobby joined them with an armful of branches. He dumped them in Sam's arms and told him to start covering the police car. "You're piercing the veil, Dean. You're glimpsing the B-side."

"A little less new age-y, please."

"You're about to be owned by Hell, so you can see everyone else Hell owns," Jude translated. "I hate to say it, but this might be helpful. Lilith's probably surrounded with demon Secret Service and now we won't have to get up close to identify them."

Deal laughed humorlessly. "Well, I'm glad my doomed soul is good for something."

***

One hour left. The demon general had found herself a lovely neighborhood to terrorize, its neatly trimmed lawns bathed in the yellow streetlights. Lilith was sequestered in the largest house on the end. If not for the open dining room curtains, no one would have suspected a thing. The hunters overlooked the scene from a house on the end of the block. A 'For Sale' sign was jabbed into the front lawn and the previous owners had gutted it of furniture.