My Home Is Always With You {11}

Chapter 1: "Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire"

Dean wakes up in a field by Sam calling his name and he gets up with the help of Sam and Sam says, "You, okay?" Dean nods and says, "Yeah. Where's the car?" Sam says, "I-i-it's... about a mile that way." Dean says, "What?" Sam says, "Seriously? The-- the Darkness hit. You disappeared. You remember none of this?" Flashback to earlier, Dean's in the car with Sam watching how the Darkness is approaching them and he says, "Hold on!" The Darkness covers the car and Dean sees a woman and then she disappears. Dean finds himself within the clouded smoke and then he sees a woman and he says, "Hey! The hell's going on?!" Flashback over. Dean says, "She saved me." Sam says, "What? Who?" Dean says, "The Darkness." As they walk back to the car, Sam says, "Wait a second? What do you mean, she saved you?" Dean says, "You were there. When the storm hit, everything went dark." Sam says, "Yeah, but you just disappeared from the car." Dean says, "I don't even remember that." Sam says, "Well, I don't remember some woman pulling you out." Dean says, "Well, what do you want me to say, okay? I was in the car, and then I wasn't in the car. I was in the field, and she was there." Sam says, "And she told you she was the Darkness." Dean sarcastically says, "No. She was wearing a nametag. What do you think? She thanked me." Sam says, "For what?" Dean says, "Setting her free." Sam says, "You didn't set her free. Liz set her free." Dean says, "It doesn't matter. I mean, yeah, Liz said the spell, but I had the Mark, so lock and key." Sam says, "So, what, now she feels indebted to you or something?" Dean says, "I don't know. She's the Darkness. Does she feel anything?" Sam says, "And that's all she said? Thanks?" Dean says, "Yeah. She was weird. But she had this energy about her, this-- this focus. But, yeah, not a talker." Sam says, "So, we know jack." Dean says, "Well, we know what she looks like, and we know that she's evil. The question is, what does she know? I mean, she's been locked away since the beginning of time. Does she even know what a cheeseburger is? All I know is that we set her free, and we're gonna put her back in, no matter what it takes." Dean gets into the car and forgets that his Baby's in a ditch and he looks at Sam annoyed, and he says, "Just gonna let me get in the car?" Sam says, "You were on a roll." Dean rolls his eyes and him and Sam lift the tire out of the hole. Later, they drive down the road and see some abandoned cars and they get out of the car with their guns in their hands. They see a empty police car and then see shotgun shells on the ground near a dead body with gun wounds. They see another body similar to the other one. They see a dead family in the car. Dean says, "The hell happened here?" They hear a noise and look over and Sam says, "Hello?" They see a man with black veins on the side of his neck and Dean says, "That's not a happy sight." They point their guns at the man and Dean continues to say, "Hey, easy, buddy. Just stay cool till we figure out what's going on here, okay?" The man walks forward, and Dean says, "Kind of narrowing my options here." The man keeps walking and Sam says, "We don't even know what he is." They then hear a gunshot and the man falls to the ground dead." They see a deputy and she says, "Weapons on the ground. Slow." Dean says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, officer. We're FBI, okay? We got badges." As Dean goes to grab it the deputy cocks her shotgun and says, "Don't. Show me some skin." The boys are confused, and Dean says, "Huh?" Sam says, "What?" The deputy says, "Both of you." Dean says, "Is this, like, a "Magic Mike" moment?" The deputy says, "Your throats!" Sam realizes and says, "Oh, you think we're-- we're... We don't even know what these are." The deputy says, "I need to know you're not one of 'em." Dean says, "One of what?" The deputy says, "Let's go!" Dean and Sam both pull back their collar to show their necks and he says, "Okay, all right, look. Huh? See?" The deputy sighs in relief and says, "Good. Let's see those IDs." The deputy places her hand on the car to steady herself and Dean approaches her and says, "Yeah, whoa. All right, take-- take it easy, okay?" Dean points at her wound and says, "Bad guys?" The deputy says, "Rebar. I sought cover. I fell." Dean says, "Okay. Why don't you tell us what happened here?" The deputy says, "911 reported a family in distress. I arrived to find several hostiles attacking said family. Oh, God, it was horrible." Dean sees that the deputy's fairly young and he says, "How long you been on the job, deputy?" The deputy says, "Uh... okay, three weeks." Dean says, "Okay. I'm Dean. This is Sam. Just breathe. Okay? Speak plain. What happened?" The deputy says, "They killed them all." Sam says, "Who?" The deputy says, "Road crew. It was-- like they were rabid dogs. I fired off a warning, but they didn't stop. They..." Dean says, "You killed all these?" The deputy nods and says, "I knew some of the boys, but they didn't look-- something was wrong. They were..." Sam went to check one of the bodies and he says, "They're not human." Dean looks at the deputy's wound and says, "Hey, look, I can stitch that up, but, uh, it's gonna be ugly. You got a hospital around here?" The deputy says, "Up the road." Dean says, "All right. Here we go." They all get into the Impala and arrive at the hospital to see a dead body on the ground and Dean says, "Well, this is encouraging. Wait here." Dean and Sam get out of the car and Sam says, "So, what are you thinking?" Dean opens his trunk and says, "I don't really know what to think. And I don't know what to expect in here, so I'm just gonna chuck it all in." Sam says, "This is the Darkness, right? It's got to be." Dean says, "So, what, she shows up and everybody goes '28 days later'? I mean, we didn't." Sam says, "Yeah, but I was in the car, and you were-- you said she protected you. So, maybe it wasn't her. Maybe it was the smoke, and anybody who was outside, like the road crew, they were exposed. I mean, you saw that. That wasn't human." Dean says, "So, what? The smoke mutated 'em? Sure, why not? Just a couple hours ago, I killed Death. I'm pretty much open for anything. But mutated into what? All right, you know what, one thing at a time. Let's just get her some help and then we'll deal with whatever comes next." They then put the deputy in a wheelchair they found outside, and they roll her in the hospital and Dean has his gun out ready for anything. They then see a dispatcher dead on the ground and the Deputy says, "I got to call this in." Dean says, "No, bad idea. More people, more bodies. We'll deal with this." Sam says, "You know what, Dean, I'm gonna take a look around. You sew her up." Dean looks at the deputy and says, "All right. You know this place?" The deputy points ahead and says, "This way." Dean says, "Okay." Dean rolls her down the hallway and they get into a room and Dean gets ready to sew up her wound and he says, "This is gonna hurt like a son of a bitch." The deputy says, "I knew those boys' sisters, their parents." Dean says, "You did what you were trained to do." Dean applies alcohol onto the wound and the deputy winces and Dean places a hand on her shoulder and says, "It's all right." The deputy says, "They don't train you to shoot your friends. I panicked. I could have..." Dean then starts stitching her wound up and says, "Those boys weren't boys. They were monsters, and they were a threat. Anybody could have panicked. Not anybody could have done what you did." The deputy says, "This job is supposed to be saving people." Dean says, "Yeah, well... it sounds better on paper, doesn't it?" Flashback to when Dean was with the Darkness, he says, "Well, now that you've said your thanks, let's talk about what happens next." The Darkness smiles and says, "I like it here. With you. I haven't felt this peaceful in a long, long time." Dean says, "Well, let's get something straight-- I'm not here to bring you peace. I know what you are." The Darkness says, "Really? I've been gone so long; I didn't think anyone remembered." Dean says, "Well, Death painted a hell of a picture." The Darkness says, "I don't know this Death, and he doesn't know me." Dean says, "So, are you saying I shouldn't try and kill you right now?" The Darkness says, "Am I saying that? Or are you?" Later, Sam walks into the room with a man whose holding a baby girl and he says, "The Doc said it was gonna be a tough birth, but Janie... she stepped up. The twister hit; the power went out. She just kept on going. No drugs. Just pushed out this little dewdrop like she was nothing. Then Janie started bleeding. They tried, but... You'd think they'd know how to stop something like that." Jenna says, "I'm so sorry, Mike." Dean says, "You think you could tell us what happened here?" Mike says, "I went outside, after. Collect myself. A truckload of 'em pulled up." Sam nods and says, "The road crew?" Mike nods and says, "They didn't say nothing. They just went off, attacking folks like they were possessed. I tore back inside to get this little one. I found that supply closet, and you know, been there since. I could hear them, though. Tearing through the halls. Doctors, nurses-- they didn't care." Sam then sees black veins start to appear on Mike's neck and he clears his throat to get Dean's attention and he nods his head over to Mike's neck. Sam says, "You said the road crew went nuts. Did any of them come after you?" Mike nods and says, "Yeah, a few of them. Did they cut you or bleed on you?" Mike says, "They did." Jenna says, "I don't understand. What are you saying?" Dean says, "Saying that whatever this is, it might be transmittable." Jenna says, "What? We don't even know what this is. Now you're saying it can be passed on?" Mike looks at Jenna and says, "He's right. I can feel it. Inside. Something's happening." Dean says, "How long has it been since you were attacked?" Mike says, "Three, four hours. The real question is, how long till I become like them?" A few moments later, Mike moved into another room with his daughter and Dean looks at Sam and says, "Well, you know where I stand." Jenna says, "No, you're not... you can't be serious. And if he goes out there, they'll kill him." Dean says, "So, we just wait around for him to kill us? Oh, yeah, that's-- that's a plan." Sam says, "Or we just wait for him to die. There was a-- whatever you want to call it-- a "rabid" attacking the closet door, and he just died. These things have a shelf life." Dean says, "I can't believe what I'm hearing here." Jenna agrees with Sam and says, "No, he's right. We lock him up, we find a cure. This is a hospital." Dean says, "Yeah, well, call it a hunch, but I don't think you're gonna find this in the medical books." Mike walks in and says, "I didn't open up that closet door to find a cure." Dean looks at Mike and says, "Look, Mike, I'm sorry, but this is untenable." Mike says, "I know. That's why I thought maybe we could make a deal. I'll go find somewhere quiet and lay low until this is over. And you save my baby girl. Yeah." Dean nods and says, "You've got yourself a deal." Mike says, "And I think you for that. I truly do. But I wasn't talking to you." Mike looks over at Jenna and he continues to say, "I know you. I've seen you in church since you were knee-high. Please." As Jenna goes to take Mike's daughter she says, "I don't even own a guinea pig." The baby girl cries, and Mike softly says, "There you go, little girl. There you go. Thank you. Thank you all." Mike walks away and Dean watches Mike go, and he says, "Why do I get the feeling that, that is gonna bite us in the ass?" Dean looks at Jenna and he continues to say, "You good?" Jenna says, "Oh, yeah. Aces." Dean says, "All right, let's gear up." Sam says, "That might be tricky." Dean walks over to see what Sam's seeing and he sees an approaching vehicle and a few people get out of the truck. Then Dean gets the weapons out of the bag they brought, and Jenna looks at Sam and she says, "What's he doing?" Sam looks over at Dean and he says, "Dean..." Dean says, "We made a promise." Sam says, "To do what? Charge out there, guns blazing? We don't even know how to kill them." Dean points to Jenna and he says, "She does. Chest, right? I'm guessing heart." Jenna says, "This is madness." Dean says, "No. No, that is madness. This is horse sense." Jenna says, "Save Mike's baby, but shoot Mike. Tell me where that makes sense." Sam says, "Look, we can just wait for them to die." Dean says, "And how long is that? And when they infect others, how long is that? No, we stay here, that baby dies. We did this, Sam. Okay? We broke it, we bought it. You know there's no other way." Then Dean's phone rings and he answers it and walks away, and he says, "Where the hell are you, Cass?" Castiel says, "I'm... I'm okay." Dean says, "You don't sound okay." Castiel says, "Dean, I'm fine. Besides, what I have, you can't help me." Dean's confused and he says, "What do you mean, what you have?" Castiel says, "Just please tell Sam-- Rowena escaped with the Book of the Damned and the codex." Dean says, "Okay, forget Rowena. Where are you?" Castiel says, "Now, you tell me-- The Mark..." Dean says, "Oh, really? You're worried about me after everything--" Castiel cuts Dean off and says, "Dean, is it gone?" Dean says, "Yes. I'm good. I mean, I'm not great." Castiel says, "That's two of us. This is good news." Dean puts the phone on speaker when Sam walks over and Sam says, "Hey, Cass." Castiel says, "Sam." Dean says, "Okay, your turn. Talk to us about the Darkness." Castiel's confused and he says, "Why would I talk about the Darkness?" Sam says, "Because it's free." Castiel says, "No, that can't be." Sam says, "Removing the Mark opened some kind of lock. Dean saw her." Castiel says, "The Darkness is a woman?" Dean says, "Well, that's what we're asking you. We were hoping you could tell us what kind of defcon screwed we are. Cass?" Castiel says, "Sam, Dean... goodbye. It may be some time before we see one another again." Dean says, "Wait, Cass. Cass!" Cass then hangs up and Jenna says, "FBI, my ass." A few moments later, Jenna's sitting away from the boys and Sam looks at Dean and he says, "Look, I get it. I do. We're gonna save that baby, okay? And we're gonna find Cass, and we're gonna stop the Darkness." Dean says, "Okay, so what are we talking about?" Sam says, "The plan." Dean says, "We have a plan, okay? It's the same plan as it's always been. In order to get out, we go through." Sam says, "And? How's that been working for us?" Dean says, "We can't save Cass if we're stuck in some hospital, okay? Just like I can't strap on a time machine, go back, and tell Cain to shove that Mark up his ass or stop Liz from releasing the Darkness. Now, have we made mistakes? Yes. Hell, yes. And we can analyze each and every one of them over a couple of Frosties when we're old and farting sawdust and out of this room! Right now, all I can do is I can gear up, I can head out, and I save that freaking baby, which is exactly what I'm gonna do." Sam says, "When did we forget how to do this?" Dean says, "What?" Sam says, "Dean, if we don't change-- right now-- all of our crap is just gonna keep repeating itself." Dean's so confused and he says, "Hey, I-I don't even-- what?" Sam says, "This-- this "kill first, question later." What happened to us? Hunting things-- we're good at that. Sure, we're great at that. But that's only half of the bumper sticker, man." Dean says, "Sam, I am trying to save that baby." Sam sticks his arm out and says, "And what about the others out there?" Dean says, "You mean the ones trying to kill us?" Sam says, "I mean the ones that are sick, the ones that are dying." Dean says, "Yeah, who won't rest until they've infected us all." Sam says, "So, we just forget about a cure?" Dean says, "What cure? Jenna's cure?" Dean holds up his shotgun and Sam says, "There is always a cure. You just have to want to find it." Dean says, "Yeah, how are you gonna find it if you're dead? And around and around we go." Sam says, "Saving people means all of the people, Dean. Not just that baby. Not just each other. Liz unleashed a force on this world that could destroy it... to save you." Dean says, "I told her not to." Sam nods and says, "Yeah, and she didn't listen, but so what she'd do it again in heartbeat. This is what I'm talking about. This isn't on you. It is on us. We have to change." Dean says, "What are you thinking?" Sam nods and says, "Get Jenna to the car. Get her and the baby somewhere safe." Dean says, "Without a shot. And what are we gonna do about those things on our tail?" Sam says, "They won't be on your tail." Dean looks at Sam confused until he realizes what Sam's planning and he says, "No way." Sam says, "You said it, Dean. We broke this." Dean says, "Yeah, we broke this, okay? We did." Sam says, "I heard it in your voice when you agreed to take that child. I get it. You do what you do. But you've got to let me do what I do, too." A few moments later, Sam distracts the rabid people and Dean and Jenna walk out the room and Dean's armed with a shotgun. They almost make it out the front entrance when Mike steps in front of them and roars and pushes Dean down on the ground and Jenna points her gun at Mike and he says, "The baby." Jenna says, "No." Mike says, "The baby." Dean stands up and points the shotgun at Mike and he says, "We're not gonna hurt you, Mike. As long as you leave that baby alone. Mike." Mike says, "Amara." Jenna says, "What?" Mike says, "Her name... is Amara." Dean and Jenna then walk around Mike and they see him start choking and then falls to the ground dead. Dean and Jenna walk over to the car and leave the hospital. Later, Dean drives to a gas station because Amara needs to get changed and Dean looks at Jenna and says, "Oh, you good?" Jenna says, "Yeah. Baby. Poop. What could go wrong?" Dean says, "You know, I could do it. I have changed plenty of diapers." Jenna looks at Dean and says, "Really?" Dean chuckles and says, "Yeah, I have two kids." Jenna nods and says, "Then maybe you should change her." Dean nods and grabs the diaper bag and carefully grabs Amara and he looks at Jenna and says, "Come on, I'll teach you." Jenna nods and says, "Thanks." Dean nods and they go change Amara. After Dean changes Amara, they head back to the car and Dean's on the road to Jenna's grandma's house. Then Dean calls Sam and Sam says, "Hey, you good?" Dean says, "Yeah, just helped Jenna change Amara. We're on her way to Jenna's grandma's house, shouldn't be more than a few hours. How about you? You okay?" Sam says, "What'd you expect? Like it or not, I'm gonna find a cure." Dean says, "Yeah, I know you are. Man, things are screwy right now. I know we don't have any answers, but at least we got one win, you know?" Sam says, "I hear you." Dean says, "After I drop Jenna off we are gonna clean up that town. We find the Darkness, and we kick her ass." Sam says, "Yeah, that's great, Dean. That... sounds like a plan." Dean hangs up and then has a flashback with the Darkness. Dean looks at the Darkness and says, "If you're as bad as they say you are, why haven't you hurt me?" The Darkness says, "For the same reason that you'll never hurt me." The Darkness shows the Mark of Cain on her collar bone and she continues to say, "We're bound, Dean. We'll always be bound. You helped me. I helped you. No matter where I am, who I am... we will always help each other." The Darkness is getting too close to comfort for Dean. Flashback over. Meanwhile with Liz, she arrives at the bunker, and she uses her magic to lift Henry up and carries him into the bunker and to his room. Liz walks out and goes over to the library to see where she was stabbed, and she sees a blood stain on the ground, and she goes to clean not only her blood stain but the library as well. Liz then goes to shower to wash of her blood that stained her skin and once she gets out, she looks at herself in the mirror wondering how she's alive.