The Family Business

To Hell and Back

From Dean's POV:

Pie making lessons were going great. At first, I'll admit that my primary reason for doing this was knowing there'd be pie at the end of each lesson. As time passed, though, I found that I looked forward to each and every lesson. Fortunately, Maggie was a very patient teacher. Our lessons meant that I got to spend time with my wife, to see another side of her. We were doing something together that she loved and that she was passionate about.

A few weeks later, it was Spring Break at John and Hannah's school. We had arranged for them to spend the week with Ruthie and Jim. Ruthie assured me that there would be plenty to keep the kids busy, and they would get to spend time with their "cousin", Emma.

While the kids were away, we locked onto a case. It sounded like a simple one, where a vamp's nest was causing problems two towns over. We asked Andrea if she would like to participate, and she said yes. She and Maggie had been taking self-defense lessons from Sam and me, and we felt that they were strong enough.

Since Andrea had no gear, Sam went out and got her a new machete, and carved their initials, SW + AL, into the handle. It was lightweight enough for her to handle, yet could still do the job of slicing off the vamps' heads.

From Maggie's POV:

Taking out the vamp's nest was no easy task, but the four of us managed to get the job done. I thought for sure that Andrea would freak out a little at having to slice the heads off of vampires, but she took to it like a natural. Something still nagged at me, though, as if there would be some bigger problem down the road.

From Cas, we got word about a nun named Sister Cecilia whose soul was somehow mistakenly sent to Hell instead of Heaven, and we were asked to rescue it. Sam and Dean met with a rogue reaper, Arjen, a smuggler of sorts who could get people in and out of Hell in 24 hours.

I argued that I should go, since it was a woman's soul and we needed her to trust us to get in and out in the allotted time. Dean thought it was too dangerous for me to go until Sam volunteered to go with me. Sam had been there before, he knew his way and said my telepathic powers could give us an advantage.

Dean was reluctant for me to go. "I still don't like this, Maggie. This isn't a routine thing anymore, we're talking about Hell, the Hell. Fire, brimstone, the whole nine yards," he warned.

"I know, Dean. But Sam's right, my telepathic powers may give us that extra edge we need so we can accomplish our mission," I replied.

He took me in his arms for what he hoped would not be the last time. "You come back to me, you hear? You stay close to Sam, follow his lead. If he says 'run', you run, baby. I need your promise that you'll come back. I'm not ready to walk this earth without you in my life," he added fiercely.

"I promise I will come back. If Sam says to run, I will run. I'm not ready to live life without you in it either. I love you, Dean," I whispered as I tightened my arms around him.

A similar conversation was being had between Sam and Andrea, with Sam promising to come back also. Tearful goodbyes were had, then it was time to go. Arjen chanted some words, a portal opened in the wall in front of us and we walked through it. Once we were through, Arjen told us where to be and gave us a watch set for 24 hours so we would know when to come back, with or without our objective. From then on, Sam and I were on our own.

"So this is Purgatory. Kinda sucks," I quipped.

"Yeah, let's find this backdoor to Hell, so we can find Sister Cecilia and get back," Sam commanded. We followed Arjen's directions and were able to slip into Hell and find the lost soul. When we got back to the rendezvous point, Arjen was nowhere to be found.