freaks come out at night, SPN, DISCONTINUED

057. a son for a son

Dean is driving and Sam is in the passenger seat while Jack and Daphne are in the back. Jack is asleep and Daphne has headphones in, doodling in a notebook despite not being able to see in the dark very well.

"Hey, we still got probably 12 hours until we're home. You want me to drive?" Sam asks.

"Do I ever want you to drive?" Dean asks.

"Look... losing Billy and mom and Cas, that's a lot to process, Dean. Especially on no sleep. And the kid--"

"The "kid"? Come on, man, you know how this plays out. Look, when we try to bend the rules, pretend that the bad guys aren't so bad or that things will get fixed, that's when people that we care about get hurt. And then we end up doing what we should've done in the first place, which is end the problem. So this time, let's start with the obvious. Soon as I find a way to take care of... it."

"Dean, the "problem" might be our only shot at saving Billy and mom."

"Billy and mom are gone. There's no fixing that."

+++

"Mary, Billy, not to be critical, but if we are ever gonna find a way out of here, you two gotta pick up the pace." Lucifer tells them. "We got a lot of ground to cover, okay?" He says.

"Not sure I see the point." Mary says, sitting down. "Since... no matter how this plays out, you're going to kill me."

"Why would I kill you?" Lucifer asks. "Oh, that's right. Cause I'm evil. Yeah, let me tell you a couple of things, all right? You don't get to defy God and beat the cage without having a modicum of intelligence, all right? A game plan, i.e., I don't want you two dead because I need you both alive."

"All right, look, yeah, in a perfect world, I would probably kill you plodding sons and then you and your annoying little sister." Lucifer says and Billy glares at him. "But life isn't fair. Your sons have my boy. So I'm gonna exchange you for my son. And if that doesn't work, I'll just kill you and exchange Billy. You know... a son for a son."

"You can't possibly care about raising a child." Mary comments.

"Oh, you have no idea what I care about." Lucifer says.

A fireball lands and explodes a little bit away from them. Billy instantly ducks down, covering his head as smoke flies around.

"Come on, come on." Mary mutters, pulling the young man up and dragging him away from Lucifer.

+++

The four walk through the hallway of the motel.

"This is a bad idea. We should've just kept driving." Dean says.

"Dude." Sam scoffs. "You were hallucinating sheep on the road. We need a few hours."

Daphne quietly sighs as she gets to her motel room, having a different one from the brothers.

"Just... just text us if you need anything." Sam gently tells her.

"So if I text you, you'll get Billy to appear at the doorway?" Daphne asks. Sam gives her a sad look and she forces a small smile. "Yeah, then, whatever." She goes into her room, slamming the door shut behind her and Sam hears it lock.

Sam sadly sighs, going into the brothers' room, both Dean and Jack already in there.

"This is nice." Jack comments.

"Let's ward the rooms, get a bite, get a few hours of sleep, hit the road first thing." Sam says. He turns the TV on, an episode of Scooby-Doo playing, and Jack sits on the bed, watching it.