Chapter Thirteen, Death Skips Town

{December 19th – December 22nd, 2008}

Dean had been more overprotective of Harley  than was normal lately, probably because he was still feeling bad about what happened with Siren. Despite Harley telling him a hundred times that it wasn't his fault, and that she was okay, he said he was having a hard time feeling that way when what he did was always right in front of him.  Harley's eye wasn't swollen anymore, and the bruise was fading, now it was just that nasty yellowish-brown, old bruise colour, and her lip was back to its normal size with just a scab on it.

Harley was alright, it didn't even hurt anymore; but Dean just couldn't get over it. He said he hated himself for succumbing to the wiles of the Siren and giving into its command to hurt Harley, his Rosie, his baby sister. So, they were hanging out at a diner in the middle of nowhere. Dean and Harley were messing with a jukebox in the corner, while Sam sat at their table with his laptop in front of him, on the phone with Bobby. Dean dropped some quarters into the jukebox.
"What are you gonna pick?" Harley asked, as she flipped through the song options. "Looks like we get to choose from the greatest hits of the 50s." She laughed.

"Your choice." Dean smiled.
"Dee," Harley whispered softly, a hand resting in her brother's arm as she paused, flicking through the songs. "You don't need to keep punishing yourself. It's. Not. Your. Fault." She emphasised each word. "I know you never would hit me let alone raise a hand to me or any woman, you're not that kinda guy. The Siren made you and you tried to fight it."
"I should've fought harder. Longer. Something!" Dean exclaimed, upset. "As soon as it's control started to slip on me it's like it gripped me in new and tighter ways and when it slipped again when I locked eyes with you, heard your voice; it's like it took me over, sort of how someone possessed by a Demon would be, I could see and hear but I couldn't control my actions. But I should have. I'm so so sorry Harley and I'll never be able to forgive myself." Dean apologised, his voice trembling as tears poured from their matching green eyes.

"I forgave you ages ago, Dean, but can you please try and forgive yourself? Please!" Harley begged, looking up at him beseechingly as she hugged him tightly. Dean tightened his own arms around her, holding her close as he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.
"I'll try." Dean muttered unsurely. "Now, let's try and get some music into this dreary place." He said a little loudly, making Harley laugh. He pressed the button Harley had been trying before their conversation only to have the same result; nothing.
"Oh come on!" Dean complained, smacking the side of the jukebox, but still no music played.
"Feel better?" Harley asked.
"No." He replied, and then smacked it again with the same result.

"Please don't hit the jukebox!" a woman behind the counter yelled at the pair. Not being able to help it, laughs tumbled from Harley's throat as she looked up at her eldest (and favourite) brother.
"I think it's time to give it up." Harley laughed.
"It ate my damn quarters." Dean protested and smacked it twice, only to still produce no music. The lady behind the counter cleared her throat loudly at the pair once more.
"You break it, you buy it!" She warned.
"Buy it?!" Dean yelled. "It doesn't even—"  Harley reached up and covered his lips with her fingers.
"All right, Fonzie. Calm down." Harley laughed and grabbed his arm, starting to pull him back toward their table. "It's time to walk away." Dean sighed and reluctantly walked back to the table with his sister. 

"No, no, no, you're right, it's definitely weird," Sam said, still on the phone.
(...)
"Okay, Bobby, thanks." He hung up as we sat down with him.
"What's up?" Dean asked.
"Bobby found something in Wyoming," Sam informed them as he typed on his laptop.
"A job?" Dean asked. Sam shrugged as he continued to look at his computer.
"Maybe." Sam muttered, as Dean picked up his burger and took a huge bite out of it.

Harley looked down at her half-eaten burger and barely eaten chips, only to shrug and push the plate away.
"Not hungry?" Dean asked with concerned wide eyes.
"Not really, you can eat it if you want." Harley offered, but Dean shook his head.
"No, we'll take it to go." Dean decides only to cause Harley to roll her eyes.
"Dean, just eat it. It's fine, and I know deep down, you want to." He shook his head. "No, we'll package it up in case you get hungry later, and while we're at it, we'll have the waitress package up a pie for you too." Harley sighed a mixture of slight annoyance and sadness.
"Dean..."  Dean raised his hand to get the waitress's attention.
"Could we have an apple pie to go?"
"Sure!" She conceded and then walked back into the kitchen.
"Dean..." Harley groaned.
"What? You don't like pie now?" He asked., Harley shook her head.
"No, I do. It's just... okay thank you, but you're sharing with me." Harley ordered.

"Now, moving on," Harley said and then nodded to Sam.
"Small town, no one's died in the past week and a half." Sam said.
"That so unusual?" Harley asked.
"Well, it's how they're not dying," Sam informed, "One guy with terminal cancer strolls right out of hospice. Another guy gets capped by a mugger and walks away without a scratch."
"Capped in the ass?" Dean asked. Sam scrolled on his computer and read,
"'Police say Mr. Jenkins was shot in the heart at point-blank range by a 9mm.'"
"And he's not a donut?" Dean and Harley asked, Dean with a mouth full of burger, and Harley removing the straw from her mouth having just been about to take a sip of Coke Zero. Sam shook his head.
"Locals are saying it's a miracle." Sam stated.

"Okay." Dean and Harley shrugged unconvinced.
"It's got to be something nasty, right?" Sam asked. "I mean, people, making deals or something. Dean thought for a second.
"You think?" He asked dryly.
"What else would it be?" Sam asked. Dean shrugged and kept eating.
"I don't know."
"All right," Sam said, as he packed his laptop into his bag. "Get that to go." He nodded at Dean and Harley's food. Dean looked down at his food but didn't move. Neither did Harley.

"Come on." Sam stood up, swung his bag over his shoulder, and looked at his siblings, who looked like they had no intention of moving. "What?" Dean looked up as he continued to eat his burger, Harley continued to drink her drink watching carefully, as Dean looked away for a second.
"Sure you want us going with you?" Harley asked snidely.
"Why wouldn't I?" Sam asked. Dean and Harley shrugged.
"We don't want to be holding you back or nothin'." Dean replied mono-tonelessly, causing Sam to sigh and shook his head.
"Dude, I've told you a hundred times, that was the siren talking, not me. Can we get past this?" Dean put his burger down.
"Yeah, we're past it." He muttered dejectedly and then brushed his hands off, smiling when Harley laid her head on his shoulder hugging his arm. 

* * *

After paying for the bill and collecting the boxed food, the three siblings drove to Greybull, Wyoming, and spoke to Jim, the survivor of the shooting. The Winchesters sat with Jim in his dining room while his daughter and wife sat on the couch together, watching TV.
"Now, you said you were bloggers?" Jim asked.
"Yes, sir. Flooredbythelord.com."  Sam nodded, as a mischievous smirk appeared on Dean's face.
"All of God's glory fit to blog." Dean and Harley mocked simultaneously earning a warning glare from Sam as he cleared his throat.

"Um. Some of the people around town are saying what happened to you was a miracle." Sam continued unsurely.
"It was. Plain as day." Jim insisted.
"How can you be so sure?" Sam asked.
"How else do you explain it?" Jim asked, shrugging. "The doctors can't. There's a bullet in my heart, and it's pumping like a piston."
"Well, how do you explain it?" Dean asked.  Jim hesitated and looked over at his daughter for a moment.
"Look, honestly. I was nobody's saint... not exactly father of the year, either." Dean nodded.
"Okay?" Dean and Harley agreed at once, again.

"But when that guy shot me, and I didn't bleed a drop?" Jim asked. "I just knew the Lord was giving me a second chance."
"That so?" Dean asked.
"I had this feeling... like angels were watching over me." Jim paused for a second, the siblings nodded as they listened. "I wouldn't expect you guys to understand."
"Well, we'll just have to try." Harley muttered.
"You wouldn't have happened to have swung by a crossroads in the past week or so?" Sam asked.
"No." Jim looked confused and shook his head.

"Maybe you met someone?" Sam asked, "With black eyes? Or red?" Jim leaned forward.
"Who'd you guys say you were again?" He asked suspiciously. Dean and Harley looked over at Sam, silently telling him to take this one.
"Never mind. Thank you for your time." Then he got up, and Dean and Harley followed. 

* * * 

Dean and Harley waited in the hotel researching, while Sam was out interviewing another death survivor.  About an hour or so later, Sam walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Hey."  Sam announced, causing Dean and Harley to look up.
"Anything?" Dean asked.
"That cancer survivor? He was clinically dead, his wife pulled the plug, and now he's taking her out for their twentieth anniversary." Sam explained.
"Any sign of a deal?" Harley asked. Sam shook his head.
"No. What about you two? Found anyone dying around here?" Harley shook her head.

"Not since Cole Griffith." She replied frustrated, running her hands through her hair, stressed. Dean pulled up Cole's obituary on the laptop and showed Sam; he was just a kid. "He dropped ten days ago. It was the last death we could find."  "So, what are you thinking?" Sam asked.
"Eh, maybe it is what the people say it is." Dean shrugged, standing up and walking over to the kitchenette, as Sam walked over to the laptop and scoffed.
"Miracles? Dean, Harley, our experience, when do miracles just happen?"
"When is it us? I'd agree with you Sam but to other people they do happen." Harley refuted with a sigh.

"Well, there's no Demon deals." Dean continued where Harley left off. "There's, uh, no skeevy faith healers," Dean said and poured himself a cup of coffee and Harley a tea.
"Thanks Dee." Harley sighed with content having just taken a sip after it was handed to her.
"You're welcome Rosie. I mean, these souls just ain't getting dragged into the light." Dean added, causing a thoughtful expression to appear on Sam's face for a second.
"Maybe 'cause there's no one around to carry them."
"What?" Harley asked.
"Well, grim reapers... that's what they do, right? Schlep souls?" Sam asked.

"So if death ain't in town—"
"Then nobody's dying. So what? The local reaper's on strike? Playing the back nine?" Dean shook his head.
"I don't know, Sam." Sam shrugged.
"Well, then, let's talk to somebody who might."
"Well, last I checked, Huggy Bear ain't available," Dean said. Sam shook his head.
"No, dude, the kid."
"The kid?" Dean asked. "The kid's a doornail." Sam nodded.
"Exactly. Look, if he was the last person to die around here, then maybe he's seen something. We should talk to him."
"I love how matter of fact you are about that. Strange lives." Dean chuckled and then sipped his coffee. 

* * *

The three siblings went to the cemetery where Cole was buried and set up shop in front of a gravestone that was engraved with:

'Beloved Son Cole Griffith
1997 – 2008
Forever In Our Memories.'

Sam spread a cloth with a pentacle drawn on it over the grave, while Harley set a candle on each point of the pentacle. Then he placed a small bundle of sticks in the center. Dean was sitting on another gravestone as he flipped through their Dad's journal.
"You sure this is gonna work?" Sam looked up and shook his head.
"No. But if his spirit's around, this should smoke him out." He said and then poured a mixture into a bowl. Harley sighed, throwing the lighter to the overgrown grassy floor with a dull thud.
"What's wrong, Rosie?" Dean asked, but Harley just shrugged.
"This job is jacked." Harley scoffed.

"How so?" Sam furrowed his brows at his sister's words.
"You want me to gank a monster or torch a corpse, hey, let's light it up, right? But this?" Harley asked, scoffing as she shook her head.
"She's right." Dean sighed, wrapping a protective arm around Harley's shoulder. "If we fix whatever this is, people are gonna start dropping dead. Good people."
"Look," Sam stated, standing up. "I don't want them to die, Harley, Dean, but there's a natural order."
"You're kidding, right?" Harley and Dean scoffed.
"What?" Sam asked, confused, causing his siblings to shake their heads.

"You're joking right? Dee, tell me he's joking?" Harley asked incredulously.
"You don't see the irony in that? I mean, the three of us, we're like the poster people of unnatural order. All we do is ditch death." Dean asked just as incredulously as his sister.
"Yeah, but the normal rules don't really apply to us, do they?" Sam commented, not seeing anything wrong in them getting special treatment while everyone else paid the price.
"This job doesn't give us special privileges, Sam. We aren't better than anyone else." Harley hissed dangerously.
"I'm not saying that." Sam defended, but not really meaning what he was saying.

"I'm infected with demon blood. Azazel and everyone else seems to have some special plan for you, as you're a powerful Prophet. Dean's been to Hell." Dean looked away and shook his head, a small smile appearing on his face when Harley grabbed his hand comfortingly.
"Look," Sam sighed. "I know you want to think of yourselves as Joe and Julia the Plumbers, Dean, Harley, but you're not. None of us are. The sooner you two accept that, the better off you're gonna be."
Harley scoffed at him, she really wasn't enjoying how Sam was acting. It was like he thought he was more important than other people. He never acted like that. They've saved people all the time, but he always acted humble.

'Maybe Sam had been lying, and what the siren did just exposed the truth of how he was actually feeling about Dean and me.' Harley thought annoyed and rather disheartened.
Dean looked up at the sky, annoyed, squeezing Harley's hand when he noticed Harley's face before she tried to hide her emotions. He didn't like that, not one bit, but he'll talk to her when Sam's not around, especially with how he's acting.
"Ah, Joe the Plumber was a douche." Dean muttered.
"You two gonna help me finish this?" Sam asked. Dean and Harley sighed as they stood up and walked over.

"Hey!" a man yelled from behind them. They turned around to see a man standing there, shining a flashlight at them. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh..." Sam glanced at Dean and Harley, then back at the man. "Just take it easy."
"What the hell is this?" the man asked as he shined his flashlight over the set up.
"Okay, this— this— this is not what it looks like." Dean laughed nervously.
"Really?" the man asked sardonically. "'Cause it looks like devil worship."
"What? No!" Dean shouted. "No, this is not devil worship. This— This is— This— This is, uh—" Dean sighed and gave up. "I don't have a good answer."
"We're leaving," Sam said.
"You're not going anywhere," the man said menacingly and stepped forward. "Ever again. Sam." He looked over at Dean, and Harley as his eyes went white. Dean glared at him and put his arm out in front of Harley.
"Alastair." Dean hissed as Alastair's eyes went back to normal, and he smirked. "I thought you got deep-fried, extra-crispy." Dean said.

"Nah. Just the pediatrician I was riding. His wife's still looking for him. It's hilarious." Alastair laughed. "Anyway." He looked back at Sam. "No time to chat. Got a hot date with death." He flicked his hand, and Dean and Harley went flying across the cemetery.
"No!" Sam shouted, as Harley suddenly smashed into a gravestone, causing Harley to yell in pain reaching for her right arm having heard her shoulder pop. Alastair laughed, and then he turned to Sam and tried to throw him too, but it didn't work. Sam held out his hand and sent Alastair flying into a tree. He raised his hand again as if he was going to exorcise him like Harley had seen him do before, but Alastair smoked out of the man he was possessing. Sam ran over to his sister and helped her up.
"You okay?" He asked, concerned.
"Not really..." Harley muttered as she cradled her arm. 

* * *

Back at the motel, Dean and Harley laid on the beds. He was holding an ice pack to his head, and Harley was holding one to her shoulder.
"How are you doing?" Sam asked, as he walked in.
"I'm in pain, that's how I'm doing. I think I have a concussion." Dean complained.
"You want some aspirin?" Sam asked, as Dean sat up.
"No thanks, House." Dean snarled sarcastically.
"How about you?" Sam asked as he walked over and looked down at his Irish twin. Harley forced a smile but it was more like a grimace.

"I'm doing great, no pain at all." Harley insisted, but Sam just smirked.
"Are you just saying that 'cause you know I have to pop your shoulder back in?"
"No, I'm totally fine." Harley lied.
"Mm-hmm, sit up. Let me at least see if it's dislocated." Sighing, Harley hesitantly sat up with a groan of pain.
"Oh, yeah, no pain at all." Sam said sarcastically. Ignoring him Harley slowly moved her arm out of the sleeve of her burgundy leather jacket, as Sam knelt so he could look at it better. "Yeah, it's definitely dislocated."
"Great, just great." Harley muttered annoyed, gritting her teeth as Sam reached for her shoulder; a small scream slipped past her clenched teeth as her brother popped her shoulder back. 

"You okay Rosie?" Dean asked concerned, spying her blonde hair a little darker at the temple with dried blood.
"Ow, you jerk!" Harley complained, kicking Sam in the butt as he walked away. "But thank you Sammy. Yeah I'm okay Dee. Are you okay?"
"Good. I'm okay Rosie, don't worry." Dean assured, pulling her gently into a hug.
"Keep the ice on it," Sam said and poured himself a cup of coffee.
"So, demons, huh?"  Dean asked, shaking his head as Sam nodded.
"Yeah. So much for miracles." Sam agreed.
"And what the hell happened with Alastair again?" Harley asked suspiciously but Sam just shrugged.
"I told you, he tried to fling me or whatever. And it didn't work, so he bailed."

Harley glared at him, which Dean noticed and filed it away for later. He and Harley both knew and hated that Sam wasn't telling the truth, but he had been lying a lot lately, so I wasn't really surprised.
"Well, how come he couldn't fling you?" Dean asked.
"He chucked you pretty good last time." Harley added, Sam paused and looked at his siblings.
"Got no idea." Then he turned back to the coffeemaker to finish pouring his cup.
"Sam, do us a favor. If you're gonna keep your little secrets, we can't really stop you, but just don't treat us like we're idiots, okay?" Dean asked. Sam turned back with his coffee.

"What? Dean, Harley, I'm not keeping secrets." Sam insisted.
"Mm-hmm," Dean and Harley said in unison, as they rolled their eyes.
"Whatever. So, did you go back and Q-and-A the dead kid?" Dean asked, as Sam walked over and sat on the empty bed, holding up a thin notebook.
"Didn't have to. Bobby called. He did some digging."
"And?" Dean asked.
"He thinks I'm right. Local reaper's gone. Not just gone... kidnapped." Sam said.  Dean furrowed his brow.
"By demons? Why?" Harley asked.
"Listen to this." Sam flipped open the notebook and started reading, "'And he bloodied death under the newborn sky... sweet to taste, but bitter when once devoured.'" The eldest and youngest Winchester raised their eyebrows.

"Swanky. What the hell's that mean?" The eldest Winchester asked.
"Well, it's from a very obscure, very arcane version of Revelations," Sam said.
"Which means what I think it means?" Harley asked for clarification.
"Yeah, basically, you kill a reaper under the solstice moon... tomorrow night, by the way... you got yourself a broken seal," Sam explained.
"How do you ice a reaper?" Dean shook his head.
"You can't kill death."  Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe demons can. Where the hell are the angels is what I want to know. We could use their help for once."

"It looks like we're gonna have to take care of this one ourselves." Harley sighed.
"What are we gonna do, just swing in and save the friendly neighborhood reaper?" Sam scoffed.
"You got a better idea, I'm all ears." Dean said.
"Dean, reapers are invisible. The only people that can see them are the dead and the dying." Sam said. Dean shrugged.
"Why do I sense an idiotic and reckless idea forming!" Harley groaned, throwing her other arm over her eyes.
"Well, if ghosts are the only ones that can see them—"  Dean muttered, sending a sheepish glance to Harley while Sam furrowed his brow.
"Yeah?" He asked, confused.

"Then we become ghosts." Dean said with a smirk and rested his ice pack back on his head causing Sam to raise his eyebrows.
"I knew it!!" Harley groaned.
"You do have a concussion."  Sam sighed, shaking his head.
"Sounds crazy, I know."
"It is crazy," Sam said. Dean smirked more. Sam shook his head. "How?"
"Yeah, I'm definitely not gonna like this." Harley sighed, but she should stand by him no matter what and Dean knew that, which only just made him smile.

* * *

A couple hours later, there was a knock on our door, and Sam opened it to let Pamela in.
"I can't even begin to tell you how crazy you are." Pamela said, as she ran her hands over the counter and then a chair.
"Well, Pamela, you're a sight for sore eyes." Sam smiled at her and closed the door. Pamela turned and lowered her sunglasses, revealing her white eyes.
"Aw, that's sweet, grumpy." She put her sunglasses back. "What do you say to deaf people?" Sam fidgeted uncomfortably. "Which one of you brainiacs came up with astral projection?" Pamela asked. Dean raised his hand.
"Yo." Dean called, causing Pamela to nod.
"Of course. Chachi." Pamela sighed.
"Tried to talk them out of it, but you know them." Harley sighed as she hugged Pamela.

"Unfortunately I do." Pamela agreed.
Dean looked at Sam and Harley and mouthed, 'Chachi?' They both shrugged back.
"So, let's be clear. You want to rip your souls out of your bodies and take a little stroll through the spirit world?" Pamela asked.
"Mm-hmm." Dean hummed, nodding his head as Pamela folded her arms.
"Do you have any idea how insanely heavy-duty that is?" Dean nodded.
"Maybe, but that's where the reaper is, so—" Dean shrugged.
"So, it's nuts," Pamela said. Dean shook his head.
"Not if you know what you're doing."
"You don't know what you're doing," Pamela said.

"No," Dean nodded in agreement, "but you do." Pamela nodded.
"Yeah, I do. And guess what? I'm sick of being hauled back into your angel-demon, Soc-Greaser crap."
"Look, I'd love to be kicking back with a cold one, watching Judge Judy, too." Dean sighed, only to get a nudge from Harley.
"Nice. More blind jokes?" Pamela asked. Dean rolled his eyes.
"You know what I mean. We're talking the end of the world here, okay? No more tasseled leather pants, no more Ramones CDs, no more nothing." He paused for a second and sighed. "We need your help."

* * *

Reluctantly Pamela agreed to help the Winchester siblings. So, they set up the room as she instructed. Harley lit candles around the room, while Sam closed the curtains. Pamela sat in a chair between the beds and waited for the three to finish up.
"Tell me something, geniuses. Even if you do break into the veil and you find the reaper, how are you gonna save it?" Pamela asked, pointing out what Harley had been saying since the idea was proposed.
"With style and class." Dean jokes.
"You're gonna be walking pieces of fog who can't touch or move anything. You'll be defenseless, hotshot." Pamela snarked.

"I seem to recall a bunch of ghosts beating the crap out of us." Sam commented, while Pamela nodded in agreement and Harley rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, well, they had plenty of time to practice. Years of practice." Harley drawled dryly.
"Well, then, I guess we got to start cramming." Dean argued, unbothered as he shrugged his shoulders. Pamela shook her head.
"Wow, a couple of heroes. All right." She patted the beds. "Lie down. Close your eyes." Sam and Dean laid down. Harley smacked Dean in the side.
"Move over." He chuckled.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Um, doing this with you guys, obviously." Harley drawled, rolling her eyes.

"Hell no." Dean exclaimed alarmed.
"Why not?" Harley argued hotly.
"'Cause it's dangerous?" Pamela asked, an eyebrow raised hardly as Dean nodded.
"Uh, yeah. That would be it."
"And yet, you're fine with the two of you doing this." Pamela uttered sarcastically.
"Yeah, and I'm going to keep it that way. The Demons want Rosie more than they do Sam and I and I'm not just gonna hand her over to them on a silver platter." Dean confessed; Harley rolled her eyes but she had a fond smile on her face.
"All right, I'll just have Pamela do it again, once you guys are all set." Harley cajoled, shrugging her shoulders unconcerned as she looked back at Pamela to see that she was smirking.

Whether or not she really would do it for Harley, she wasn't sure, but she knew her smirk would make Dean nervous. Harley looked back at him, and noticed he was carefully watching her. He looked over at Sam.
"You never help in these situations." Dean chided while Sam just shrugged, causing Dean to groan and move over. "Fine." He patted the bed. "We're wasting time." He sighed as Harley climbed in beside him.
"All right, just relax. Now, I'm going to count down from five to zero. When we're at zero, you'll be in a deep state of hypnosis," Pamela said calmly, "As I count down, just go deeper and deeper, okay? Five... four... three... two... one... deep sleep."  As she counted down, it was like something came over Harley; she just became more and more relaxed.

"Every muscle is calm and relaxed. Can you hear me?" she asked.
"Yes," all three siblings said in unison.  "Excellent," Pamela said calmly, "Animum vult decipi, ergo decipiatur. Vis, vis, vis. Okay, guys. That's it. Showtime." All three of them sat up, but everything looked exactly the same.
"Well, nothing like shooting blanks. What's plan B?" Dean asked, but Pamela didn't answer. Harley looked over at Sam and then realised that not only was he sitting up, but he was still lying down too. Then she turned and looked at herself and Dean asleep on the same bed.
"Uh, guys? I think it definitely worked." Sam and Dean looked around and saw what Harley did.
"Oh, I'm so feeling up, Demi Moore." Dean said happily.
"All right, so, I'm assuming you're somewhere over the rainbow. Remember, I have to bring you back," Pamela said and then walked over to Sam's body, "I'll whisper the incantation in your ear." Then she leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Dean and Harley looked at Sam, but he just grinned as if he could hear what she said.
"What'd she—" Dean looked confused. "What'd she say?" Sam just shrugged with a smirk.
"Apparently, I've got a great ass." 

* * *

The Winchester trio walked out of the hotel and looked around, seeing that nothing was really different. That was until a woman jogging went straight through them, completely unphased. Dean laughed excitedly.
"That was wild." Sam and Harley looked at him, amazed by what had just happened.  Dean stuck his arm through Sam's chest up to his elbow and wiggled it around in him happily.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Dean cackled, causing Harley to giggle and Sam to roll his eyes at his siblings.
"Get out of me." Dean pulled his arm out and frowned.
"You're such a prude. Come on." He cajoled, and then continued walking. 

* * * 

After a couple hours of searching the town, Dean started to get frustrated.
"Oh, man, we've been spooking this town for hours. No demons, no black smoke." Dean exclaimed, frustrated.
"Hey." Sam pointed up to a house. "3 o'clock. Kid in the window." Dean and Harley looked up and spotted Cole Griffith in the second story window staring down at them. "Am I crazy, or is he looking at us?" Sam asked. Dean nodded.
"It's 'cause we've seen him before."
"We have?" Sam asked. Harley nodded.
"That's Cole Griffith." She pointed out.
"The last person to die in this town." Dean said. Cole flickered and then vanished, and the three of them started walking toward the house. A minute later, they walked into the house and up the stairs to find a woman standing in an empty bedroom.

Except when they reached the top step, a football flew past her and into the door. She put her hands on her head and ran out, crying.
"Oh, my god!" She ran through the siblings and down the stairs. So, they charged into the room and found Cole standing there, throwing more balls through the Winchesters and out of the doorway. Dean put his hand up.
"Stop! How are you doing that?"
"Who are you?" Cole snapped.
"Relax, Cole. It's okay," Sam said calmly.
"How do you know my name?" Cole asked.  "Look, this isn't gonna be easy to hear, but... you're... dead. You're a spirit. Us too." Sam said.
"Yeah, thanks, Haley Joel." Cole scoffed. "I know I'm dead. What do you want?"  Sam's eyes widened.
"We just want to talk."
"About what?" Cole asked. 

* * *

The Winchesters followed Cole out of his room and down to the dining room. The three siblings sat at the table while Cole stood in the doorway and watched his Mum pour herself a glass of vodka. Cole sighed.
"I had an asthma attack... I was outside all morning." He turned to the siblings. "They tell you to be careful when it's cold."
"Cold air can cause an asthma attack?" Dean asked. Cole nodded and shrugged.
"But then I was in my room. It happened so fast. I called out for my Mum, but nothing came out. Everything started spinning, and then I was just standing there, looking down at my body." He leaned on the table.
"And that's when you saw the man?" Sam asked. Cole nodded.

"Creepy old guy in a black suit. He wanted me to go with him, but..." He looked over his shoulder at his Mum. "I didn't want to go."
"Reaper," Sam said. Harley and Dean nodded.
"How'd you get rid of him?" Sam asked.  Cole shook his head.
"I didn't. The black smoke did."
"Black smoke?" Harley asked. Cole nodded.
"It was everywhere. I hid in the closet, and when I came out, it was gone, and so was he." Dean leaned forward.
"Do you know where the smoke went?" Cole shook his head.

"No. But I know where it is." Suddenly, the lights started flickering, and everyone, including Mrs. Griffith, looked around nervously. "They're back," Cole said, ominously.
"Who?" Dean and Harley asked. Cole flickered and vanished. Then a blast of wind hit Sam Dean and Harley, and when they looked in the direction it was coming from, something white and human-shaped flew up the stairs.
"Another reaper," Sam said. The three of them got up and ran toward the stairs.
"Hey! Hey! Wait! We need to talk to you!" Harley yelled. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, a handsome man with dark brunette hair descended them toward them.

"Harley," he said. Sam and Dean looked at Harley, confused, who was also very confused.
"Do I know you?" Harley asked.
"We go way back." He said and then walked by them into the kitchen. The three of Winchesters followed, and then he turned around. "You don't remember me?"
"Sorry, no." Harley apologised, as the man stepped forward, reached down, and pulled Harley to him into a kiss. When he pulled away, a look of realisation crossed Harley's face. "Theo." He smiled and nodded.
"That's one of my names, yeah." Theo confirmed, a soft smile on his face as he nodded.
"So, you do know him?" Dean asked, looking at Theo suspiciously, he did not like that he just kissed his baby sister.

"From the hospital after the accident." Harley conveyed.
"So, this is the reaper that came after you?" Sam asked. Harley nodded.
"Yeah." Harley agreed as Theo looked at Sam.
"Well, this was fun." Then he looked at Dean. "Now if you'll excuse me..." he said and then started walking back toward the stairs but Harley grabbed his arm.
"Wait, wait, wait, you can't— you can't take the kid."
"Why?" Theo asked.
"Demons are in town, that's why. They've already snatched your reaper pal. The kid knows where." Dean said. Theo shook his head.
"So?" Theo asked.

"So, you should shag ass. For all we know, they could try and snatch you too," Sam said.
"Except that this town is off the rails." Theo said, "And someone has to set it straight." Dean nodded.
"Yeah, we understand that, but these are special circumstances."
"What?" Theo asked, "Your whole angel-demon dance-off? I could care less. I just want to do my job." Sam nodded.
"Right, yeah, and, look, we want to help you do your job. So, if you would just bail town—" Theo shook his head.
"No." Theo stated firmly.
"Well, then, could you hold off until we fix this?" Harley asked. "Please." She begged, showing him her big green doe eyes.Theo sighed.
"All right, but just so we're clear when I start reaping again, I'm starting with the kid."
"Understood. I'll find him," Sam said and then started walking toward the stairs.

"Wait, wait, wait," Harley asked, and Sam turned around. "What are you gonna say to him?" Sam shrugged.
"Whatever I have to." Then he continued walking, dragging a protesting Dean with him as he could see his sister wanted to talk to Theo alone; which Dean noticed and he didn't like it. Dean and Sam entered Cole's room, sitting up against the wall next to a slightly opened closet.
"This all must be pretty overwhelming, huh?" Sam asked. "Pretty scary, too."
""The worst is my Mum," Cole said from within the closet. Dean nodded.
"Must be hard seeing her like this." He muttered, thinking back to the accident where he nearly lost his baby sister.

"She's always coming in here, talking to me, telling me how sad she is. I knock some stuff over to let her know I'm here, but... she only gets sadder." Cole said. Sam laughed a little.
"Well, you might want to ease up on the flying footballs."
"I'm not telling you where the smoke is." Cole said. Sam thought for a second.
"Hey. What if I told you that if you helped me, you wouldn't have to leave here? Ever?" Dean wasn't liking where this was going at all.
"What about the one downstairs?" Cole asked.
"Theo?" Sam asked. "Oh, he wouldn't bother you. No reaper would. You could just stay here with your family for as long as you wanted."

"You can do that?" Cole asked happily. Sam nodded.
"Yeah, you bet I can do that." Dean shook his head, listening to Sam lie to the poor kid.
"You swear?" Cole asked. Sam hesitated and then nodded.
"I swear." Sam swore causing Dean to shake his head and leave the room, walking back downstairs before stopping and leaning up against the wall. He understood that lying to Cole was the easiest way to get him to do what they needed, but he was just a kid, and he was scared. Before, Sam would've figured out how to tell Cole the truth and still convince him that they needed his help. Now, lying just comes so easy to Sam, it was kind of scary and he didn't recognise the person his brother had become.

A few minutes later, Sam and Cole joined them. Sam looked at Dean nervously, and when he glared back at him, he cleared his throat. "Hey, guys." Sam announced, attracting Theo and Harley's attention who were talking quietly amongst themselves.
"Hi, Cole. I'm Theo. I'm not going to hurt you." Theo smiled coaxingly at the young boy.
"It's okay, Cole. Just tell them what you told me," Sam said. Cole nodded.
"I saw the black smoke at my funeral."
"At the cemetery?" Dean asked. Cole shook his head.
"At the funeral home. It was everywhere."  The lights started flickering, and everyone looked around.
"Are you doing that?" Harley asked Theo. He shook his head.
"No." Theo whispered.

Suddenly, the front doors burst open and black smoke poured in, filling the house. Everyone ducked as it flowed over us, but when it cleared out, everyone was there except for Theo.
"Theo!" Harley shouted. Sam looked at Cole and his siblings.
"You three, okay?" They all nodded.
"Well, how the hell are we supposed to fight that?" Dean asked. Sam shook his head.
"I don't know. Learn some ghost moves?"  "By tonight?" Dean scoffed. "Yeah, sure. I'll meet you back at Mr. Miyagi's."
"Who's Mr. Miyagi?" Cole asked. Sam, Dean, and Harley looked at Cole in disbelief. 

* * * 

Cole had the siblings walk out to the porch, where he had Dean try to move a small windmill with his mind. Dean had stared at it for a long time, but it wasn't moving at all.
"It's not gonna move if you don't concentrate." Cole instructed.
"I am concentrating." Dean groaned, still staring at the windmill. He let out a deep breath, and then the windmill turned a tiny bit. "Ah, here we go, baby." Cole looked up at Dean, unimpressed.
"You pull a muscle?"
"All right, Yoda, let's see what you got." Dean said and moved back. Cole just looked at the windmill, and it started spinning without stopping. Then the porch swing started swinging, and the wind chimes started chiming. Sam laughed, impressed.
"Dude!" Dean shouted with a smile. "You are so Amityville." Cole grinned.
"This isn't even the good stuff." 

* * * 

After a while, Cole led the siblings back into the living room and punched Sam right in the stomach, causing him to double over.
"See?" Cole asked. "If you want to hit something, you just have to get mad." Sam straightened up and nodded.
"Yeah, got it." Sam coughed. Cole looked at Dean.
"Now, you try. Hit me."
"Uh, I think I'll stick to just picking on somebody my own size." Dean said and nodded at Sam. Cole backhanded Dean across the face, making Sam and Harley laugh, (though Harley tried to stifle it behind her hand) as Dean rubbed his jaw in pain. Cole turned to Sam.
"Hit me as hard as you can." Sam shook his head.
"Dude, I'm not gonna do Fight Club with a twelve-year-old." Cole turned to Harley.
"Hit him." He ordered, pointing to Sam. Harley shrugged, turned to Sam, and using her frustrations with him, she punched him square in the chin. He grabbed his face and popped his jaw. Cole laughed. "Awesome."
"Nice!" Dean shouted and gave Harley a high-five.
"All right, cut it out!" Sam complained, looking at Cole.
"Make me." Cole smirked. He took a swing at Sam. Sam blocked it and swung back, but then Cole vanished and reappeared out of reach.
"Whoa. Whoa, you got to teach us that." Dean said, excitedly. 

* * *

After Cole finished teaching them everything he could, Sam, Dean, and Harley went to check out the funeral home. However, when they walked up to it, it was completely covered in blue glowing diagrams, mostly six-sided figures, some in circles, while others were in squares.
"This looks like New Jack City. Can nobody see this?" Dean asked, gesturing to all of the people walking by.
"Maybe it's demon invisible ink." Sam shrugged. "Only see it in the veil."
"Any idea what it's for?" Harley asked.

"We'll find out," Sam said, and then they walked into the building. Sam walked around one side of the staircase, and Harley and Dean went around the other side, but once they met up with Sam again, they shrugged at each other, having seen nothing. Then they continued walking and peered through a doorway and found Theo and an old man in a suit, lying asleep on the floor. They were in the center of a largely drawn symbol while being guarded by a man pacing back and forth.
"Check me out." Dean whispered and then took a few steps forward and vanished.

He tapped the man on the shoulder, causing him to turn, punched him in the face, and then disappeared again as the man took a swing at him. Harley giggled excitedly and then vanished, reappearing behind the man, and tapped him on the shoulder, causing him to turn and then she punched him in the face as well.
"This is so awesome." Harley cheered. The man straightened up and went to swing at Harley causing her eyes to widen. "Oh, shi—" she vanished and reappeared behind him. Then Sam and Dean appeared in front of him and took turns punching him until the man dropped to the ground. He backed away from the ghostly Winchesters until he was hiding behind a coffin.

"Ya know, this ghost thing, it's— it's kind of rad." Dean smiled. Suddenly, another man came running out from behind a curtain carrying a chain, making pained noises as his hands were smoking. The man behind the coffin jumped up and hopped over the casket and out of the way as the other man hooked the chain to a large candle stand in front of the three siblings.
"It's iron." Sam pointed out the obvious.  When the man let go of the chain, his hands still smoking, they looked around and realised they were entirely surrounded by the iron chain. Another demon walked into the room with a smile.
"Find the place, okay?" He rolled his eyes back, and they turned white. One of the other demons handed him a shotgun. He checked it and then aimed and fired at Dean, who disintegrated.

Alastair smirked. "Rock salt's not so much fun anymore, is it?" Dean reappeared where he vanished.
"Alastair. You bastard." Harley growled.
"Well, go on. Why don't you try some of your mojo on me now, hotshot?" Alastair taunted. Harley and Dean glanced at Sam and then back at Alastair. "It's hard to get it up when you're not wearing your meat, huh?" Alastair asked.
"Go to Hell!" Sam growled.
"Ah, if only I could." Alastair turned and crossed the room. "But they just keep sending me back up to this arctic craphole."
"To kill death?" Dean asked. Alastair shook his head.

"No, to kill death twice. It takes two to break a seal. I figured another one would show up, though. They're like lemmings." He pumped the shotgun and fired it at Sam, causing him to disintegrate. "By the way, it's, uh, good to see you again, Dean."
"You can shoot us all you want, but you can't kill us." Dean said. Sam reappeared with his arms wrapped around his torso.
"Ah, that's so?" Alastair smiled and shot at Harley. Pain radiated through her body, and she clutched her stomach. Everything went dark for a moment and then came back. When she could see again, Alastair was twirling a scythe in his hands.  Alastair laughed at Harley causing her to send me a poisonous glare.

"Anyhoo... the moon's in the right spot. The board is set. Let's get started, shall we?"
"You're gonna kill a reaper with that? It's a little on the nose, don't you think?" Dean asked.
"Is it? An old friend lent it to me. Ya know, he doesn't really ride a pale horse? But he does have three amigos." Alastair walked over to the reapers. "And they're just jonesing for the apocalypse." He knelt next to the old man. "It pays to have friends in low places." He grabbed the reaper by the collar and pulled him up. "Don't you think?" He put the scythe behind the reaper's neck. "Hic cruor messorius, illud sigillum, quod luciferem reverendum obstringit, aperiat ut resurgat!" He pulled the scythe through the reaper's neck, causing a white-blue light and wind to rip through the room.

He dropped the dead reaper on the ground and stood up. He walked over to Theo, knelt, picked him up, and placed the scythe behind his neck.
"Stop!" He yelled. Sam nodded up at a chandelier that was above the symbol.
"Hic cruor messorius..." Alastair recited. Sam, Dean, and Harley all stared at it and concentrated on making it fall. "Illud sigillum, quod luciferem reverendum obstringit..." Alastair continued, "Aperiat ut resurgat!" Then the chandelier dropped and landed on the corner of the reaper trap, breaking it. Theo vanished and reappeared next to the candle stand and unhooked the chain.
"Bye-bye," Dean said, and then all four of them vanished.  Except when they reappeared on the street in front of the funeral home, Sam was nowhere to be found.
"Where's your brother?" Theo asked.
"We'll go find him. You get out of here." Harley  said. 

* * * 

As Harley and Dean were looking for Sam a strange force came over Harley, and she woke up back in the motel room. When she sat up, she saw a dead man slumped up against the wall and Sam crouching over Pamela, who was clutching her stomach. Harley quickly stood up and ran over to them.
"What happened?" Harley demanded.
"A demon," Sam said nervously. Pamela started laughing, still clutching her stomach. Sam shook his head. "What's so funny?"
"I can't die... not in this town." Pamela said and pulled her hand away from what appeared to be a stab wound, but there was no blood. Sam sighed, still looking worried.

"Pamela..." Harley whispered worriedly, tears in her eyes.
"Quit worrying. Grumpy, how about you make me a drink, huh?" Pamela asked.
"You need a doctor." Sam argued.
"Make me a drink, Sam." Pamela demanded. Sam helped her up and walked her over to the bed he had been laying on. She sat down, and then he walked over and poured her a drink.  Pamela took a swig and then stood up and leaned over Dean's bed. "Imum vult decipi, ergo decipiatur. Vis, vis, vis." She moved back over to the other bed and sat down, still clutching her stomach.
"Hey, we just got to talk to Theo, that's all. Get him to hold off reaping 'til we get you better." Sam said.

"I'm pretty sure he's started up again," Pamela said, and then they looked down to see that her hand was now covered in blood. Dean gasped, sat up immediately, and looked over and saw the state Pamela was in.
"What happened?"
"Dean, where's Theo?" Sam asked. Dean looked at Pamela nervously.
"He's—"  Pamela removed her glasses, once again revealing her white eyes.  "Pamela, I'm so sorry," Sam mumbled guiltily. Pamela shook her head.
"Stop." Pamela ordered.
"You don't deserve this." Sam said.  Pamela nodded.

"Yeah, I don't. I told you I didn't want anything to do with this. Do me a favor? Tell that bastard Bobby Singer... to go to Hell, for ever introducing me to you three in the first place." She started coughing up blood.
"Take it easy, Pamela. If it's any consolation, you're going to a better place." Dean tried to assure her. Pamela turned her head toward Dean.
"You're lying." She shrugged. "But what the hell, right? Everybody's got to go some time." She turned to Sam and gestured for him to come closer. "Come here." So, he leaned in, and as he did, she whispered something in his ear that made his eyes widen. She pulled away and started coughing again, then she rested her head against the headboard and went still as blood trickled out of her mouth.

"Pamela?" Sam asked, but her head slid down slightly.
"Pamela!" Dean and Harley yelled and then turned to Sam. "What did she say to you?" Sam didn't answer but swallowed hard and looked away.

The mood board I made for Gabriel and Harley is below: