The End | {BOOK 5}

60| Billie's Plan

Chuck managed to heal the wound that linked him and Sam before disappearing. It turned out, all those drafts Sam had been seeing were Chuck's memories of other versions of us that gave him the ending he wanted. So, since our plan to trap him failed, we were back to the drawing board.

Billie returned Jack from the Empty, still soulless. Apparently, they'd made some sort of deal where he was supposed to kill God and she was keeping him on a need-to-know type basis. Sam, Cass, Dean and I were discussing it in the kitchen while Jack was in his old room.

"Well, I have my concerns, but... Jack trusts Billie, and I trust Jack," Cass voiced.

"But what about the cosmic balance, Cass?" Sam pointed out. "I mean, Jack's gonna kill God? What about Amos?"

Dean stood from the table, picking up his beer as he went.

"I don't know," he said. "I don't know. But Ellie and I have seen Billie's library, and we've spent time with her. I... Well, 'trust', is a strong word, but... I believe in her. There's no one more committed to the rules than she is. She's probably got it all figured out."

"Probably?" I echoed, only somewhat agreeing with Dean's words. "Like she had the Ma'lak box figured out?"

"Yeah, I dunno," Dean shrugged. "I mean, she's still Death. She was right about Rowena."

"All I'm saying is, I wish we knew more," Sam continued.

"Yeah, I got questions, too, but right now this is the only plan we got," I said, Dean nodding in agreement.

"Right," Sam grumbled, leaving the room.

⁘

Dean had gotten a call; apparently Dark Kaia had kidnapped Jody. When we went to save her, Dark Kaia told us that the Kaia from our world was still alive, and that the Bad Place was dying. That's why she was so adamant about getting back there. Initially, we tried to find another way to get over there without letting Jack use his powers since Billie was pretty strict with what he was allowed to do, but it soon became clear that he would have no choice if we wanted to save our Kaia before it was too late.

So, with a little help from the reaper watching Jack to put up the warding Amos got rid of temporarily to shield us from Chuck, Jack opened a rift to the Bad Place. Sam, Dean, Dark Kaia and I went over. She guided us to her hut where we were reunited with Kaia and she decided to stay back while we took our Kaia with us. Jody took Kaia with her back to Sioux Falls to be reunited with Claire.

After saying goodbye to them both, we made our way back to the library where the reaper, Merle, was waiting.

"If I cared for a second about saving the girl, I guess I'd say this was a victory," the reaper said.

"So, you think the warding worked?" Sam asked. "Kept us off Chuck's radar?"

"If it hadn't, we would all be dead, so I'd say, yeah, it worked."

The second she finished speaking, a Scythe pierced through Merle's neck. She crumbled to ash as we all stared in shock.

"Hello, boys. Eleanor," Billie greeted us.

"What the hell?" I asked.

She fixed me with a hard look before turning her gaze toward Jack. Ignoring Sam, Dean, Cas and I, she moved past us toward him.

"Bending the rules already, Jack?"

"Billie... I tried to call you," Jack said.

"I know," she replied. "I was busy. Can't say I'm not disappointed, though."

"Disappointed?" Dean echoed. "You just iced one of your reapers."

"Merle had one job... keep you in line. She failed. We're playing a big game here, and we're only as strong as our weakest players. She had to go. That's the difference between you and me. I see the big picture. I understand that one life means nothing in the grand scheme. That girl you saved from a dying world; you think hers was the only one? They're all dying. All the worlds... each and every world... but this one."

Billie let that information sink in for a moment.

"It's Chuck," Cass realized.

"Mm-hm," Billie nodded. "He's been a busy boy... extinguishing galaxies. Wiping the slate clean... for The End."

"Yeah, and what's your endgame, Billie?" Sam asked. "I mean, you lecture us about how important this all is, but we don't even know what you're doing. Jack's gonna kill God, right? Yeah? Great. Okay. How? What's your plan?"

"When I was a reaper, I believed in the rules. But then you killed me," Billie looked at Cass. "And when I became Death, I inherited Death's knowledge... and Death's library. And in Death's library, everyone has a book. Even God."

"So God can die," Dean translated.

"Everything dies," Billie replied.

I remembered meeting Grim for the first time in Chicago when Dean, Crowley and I went to retrieve his ring. He'd told us back then that in the end, he'd reap God.

"I don't understand," Cass stated. "Why would God write the blueprint to his own death?"

"He didn't. The books write themselves."

Billie turned back to look at me and the Winchesters.

"After God made the world, he couldn't stop. He wanted more. But he needed to create the perfect harmony... a Swiss watch, so this world could keep tick, tick, ticking in his absence. He had no choice but to build himself into the framework. It's his only weakness."

"So, Chuck doesn't know what's inside the book?" I queried.

"No one can read their books unless I let them."

"What about Jack? He's in God's book?"

"And so are you. I told you, Eleanor. You and those Winchesters have work to do. This is your destiny. You are the messengers of God's destruction."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. I just stared at Death, chewing my lip as I thought about something else she'd told me during our conversation when I killed myself. I didn't want to get my hopes up, after all, Jack had brought back empty shells. They were both happy together in Heaven. And yet...

"Is... Can you... Um... I mean, you said..." the words caught in my throat.

My chest was constricting painfully as I stared at Billie, praying she understood what I was trying to say. The boys were all staring at me curiously, trying to figure out what I was asking Billie.

"I can't bring them back," Billie informed me.

I swallowed hard, willing the tears to stay away as I continued. Beside me, Dean's eyes had widened in understanding as he turned his gaze toward Billie.

"But you told me..." I tried again. "He..."

"The boy is still of value to me, yes."

"But you won't bring him back... or her..."

"No."

I nodded, averting my eyes toward the floor.