The End | {BOOK 5}

25| Apocalypse World Take Two

We ended up saving Charlie from the camp. Ketch volunteered to stay behind in the Apocalypse World while Dean and I headed back so he could get more information on Jack and my mom. Dean and I just barely made it back through the rift before it closed.

"Dean! Ellie! Hey! Hey, hey," Sam greeted us, then noticed Dean's shoulder. "You're hurt."

"No, no. I'm fine. I'm fine," Dean insisted.

"Hey, the- the- the rift, it's..." Sam began as the rift closed. "Where's your mom? Where's Jack?"

"Long story," I replied. "My mom and Jack, they're not with Michael anymore. Ketch and Charlie are staying back to try and find them. There's a Charlie over there. She kicks ass."

"Uh, Charlie... Bradbury?"

"Yeah," Dean nodded.

Dean and I looked around, noticing the mess around the Bunker.

"What's this? What... what... what'd we miss?" I asked.

"There was a demon incursion, led by Asmodeus," Cass answered.

"Sorry, Asmodeus got in here?" Dean's eyes widened.

"Yeah, and- and- and Gabriel killed him," Sam said.

"Gabriel? That's great. So, he's back. Where is he?"

"He just left," Cass informed us.

"What do you mean, he left?" I asked.

"Um... We asked Gabriel to help us, and then... then he said 'no'".

"He doesn't get to say 'no.' We still have his grace, though, right? Sam?"

Dean looked at Sam expectantly and Sam looked down guiltily.

"Uh, we- we used his grace to- to heal him. So, it's- it's gone. It's all gone."

"So, if it's gone, then that means that we can't open that door again," Dean began, raising his voice. "If we can't open the door, then Ellie and I should've never come back!"

I jumped as Dean threw his hand across a table, sending items crashing to the floor.

"Son of a bitch! Every time!"

Sam, Cass and I stared in shock as Dean put his hands to his head.

"Every time we get close, it always falls apart. Every freakin' time," he continued quieter.

"Dean... we will find Gabriel. We will," Cass insisted.

"We better," Dean growled, storming off down the hall.

⁘

When we did finally catch back up with Gabriel, his grace was running too low to effectively cast the spell. So, we had no choice but to go after Lucifer. We had also teamed up with Rowena, who was going to cast the spell while we headed through the rift.

"He's awake," Rowena announced.

We looked over at Lucifer, who's hands were tied with magical cords behind his back, where he was kneeling on the floor of the library.

"Oh, hey, Sam," Lucifer greeted the younger Winchester brother.

He turned away from Sam to look at the rest of the group gathered in the library.

"Oh, look at this. All the people I love to torture in the same room."

Rowena approached him cautiously with the bowl of ingredients for the spell.

"What's the occasion, guys?" Lucifer asked.

The witch placed the bowl on the floor in front of the archangel.