29. Purgatory (Part 1)

I get a knot in my stomach once the Impala pulls over to the side of the street. Some part of me feels uncomfortable with this. Well, I can't hitchhike back to the bunker now. I got to roll with it. I sigh through my nose. I see the yellow cab on the other side of the street, its driver next to the cab.

The three of us get out of the Impala and into the light drizzle, crossing the road to meet the driver.

"Ajay," Dean calls. "Need to talk to you for a sec."

"You know my name," Ajay says. He sounds surprised, removing his earpiece.

"And what you do," I add. "We want to do business."

"But you are mortal-flesh and blood."

"But if we wanted to cross the border into Hell-" says Sam.

"Visitor's pass," Dean finishes.

"No one wants to get into Hell," says Ajay. Oh, we're the idiots that do, I think grimly.

"But could a coyote like you do it?" asks Sam.

"It's possible. But I have special skills. I have overhead. It will be pricey."

"How pricey?"

"Hey, hey, I'm not an option," I snap when Ajay looks directly at me. "I'm along for the ride, not a bargaining tool."

Ajay ignores me and looks at the brothers. "You two are resourceful. One day, you will owe me a favor."

"You say that like you know us," says Sam cautiously.

"Of course. You're the Winchesters."

"Sorry. Have we met?" asks Dean. I'm sorry, Dean, but you and Sam aren't using your brains. If you're infamous in the supernatural world, your name would reach all ears.

"I am the reaper who took Bobby Singer to Hell."

"Bobby in Hell?" Sam repeats. "We burned his bones. Once we did that, it was over. End of story."

"Hmm...Not necessarily."

I want to question who this Bobby Singer guy is, but I know now isn't the right time.

"No, no, no," says Dean, "'cause, see, Bobby was on the good side of things, and good guys go to the penthouse."

"Usually, mostly. Depends on who you know, what palms get greased. If you're on the King of Hell's no-fly list, no way you cruise the friendly skies."

"Crowley." I hear the distaste in Dean's tone. "Okay, let's do this. How much for two tickets down and three back?"

"Dean," Sam and I say sharply.

"What?"

"Come here." We pull away from Ajay to talk in private.

"What the hell are you thinking?" asks Sam.

"You heard the guy-Bobby's in Hell. We're gonna spring him."

"We've gone over this, Dean. I have to do the trials solo."

"This is Bobby we're talking about, Sam. Now let's face it-you have not exactly been up to full speed lately, okay? We got one shot at this. We can't miss."

"I'm not gonna miss." Sam opens his jacket to reveal Dean's demon-killing knife. "I'll bring him back."

"Look, if you won't let Dean go with you-" I try.

"No way, Max," Dean cuts me off. "I'm not letting you go."

"So you'd rather him go alone? You said it yourself, we can't miss. Just let me do this, okay?" I look at both of them pleadingly.

"You don't need to throw yourself in that."

"What if I want to, huh? I'll defend Sam if he needs help, and he'll defend me if I need it. You guys have to stop treating me like I'm a child." I look straight into Dean's eyes. "I don't think Sam is opposing this as much as you. Please, Dean. Let me do this."

"Do you have a death wish?" he jokes feebly.

"I guess I do."

"Take this." I feel a familiar weapon press into my palm. I look down. My old friend. I look up, astounded. "You haven't had it on you a lot lately. I keep it just in case for emergencies like this."

I should feel touched, and I do. I shift upwards to kiss Dean. "Thank you." I step away. "We'll come back, Dean."

I follow Sam back to Ajay, who looks a bit surprised that I'm coming along. "We're in," I say proudly.

"Follow me."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Dean comes back to us. "How does this...work?"

"Not to fret. They'll be back in exactly twenty-four hours' time. Return for them then." Ajay leads Sam and me away. I take a lasting look at Dean. The worry is so prominent on his face that I almost feel guilt for persuading him to let me go.

Ajay leads Sam and me down a graffiti-plagued alley. A door is painted on one of the walls. Ajay stops.

"Take my hand," he orders.

"And it gets creepier," Sam mutters.

Reluctantly, the two of us take Ajay's hands. There's a blur of color, violent shaking, and bright white light, and I feel like I'm being pulled ahead by a hook around my middle.

We're no longer in a graffiti alleyway. We're in a dismal, dreary-looking forest. The sky above us is cloudy and gray. There's thick atmosphere here. We're definitely not on Earth anymore. I look around warily. Is this what Hell really looks like?

"So, this is Hell?" I ask, a bit disappointed. I'm expecting the lava rivers, all the fire, and the extreme heat. This forest is a bit calm in a very disturbing way. It's only because of the silence.

"Not at all," Ajay tells me. "This is Purgatory."

Purgatory? Son of a bitch. I hear Dean's painful recollection of his vague story about Purgatory. Monster Hell, he deemed it. We're in Monster Hell. Did we just get ripped off?

"What do you mean this is Purgatory?" Sam asks heatedly. "This isn't what we paid for. We booked the Hell tour."

"Whoa, whoa, Winchester, detach. This is Hell-adjacent. Been down this highway many times before. Follow the stream to where three trees meet as one. Where they meet, there are rocks. Between the rocks is the portal."

"A portal?"

"A back door to Hell. Trust me-it'll work."

"Wait," I interrupt. "You're not coming with us?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Smuggling mortals across the border is risky enough. But gate-crashing a Winchester into Hell seriously blows. No. I'll be back in twenty-four hours, precisely. Be here." Sam and I raise our weapons. "It's a good thing you brought those. It is not an easy place."

"Can't trust smugglers," I grumble once Ajay disappears in a flash of light. "Guess we better do as he said."

"Don't get too far from me, Max." Sam starts following the stream's path.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't plan to."

My survival mode kicks in. My blue eyes scan the forest. It's oddly void of any monsters. Is Purgatory that bad of a place? I don't see any monsters. But I'm missing a key word: yet. I haven't seen any monsters yet. Just because there aren't any now doesn't mean that it will stay that way.

I can't believe Dean was down here for a whole year with Cas. Now I get to walk a mile in their shoes. It's not exactly a goal of mine. It's definitely not to want to be in Monster Hell, or actual Hell. But Sam needs someone. If he doesn't want Dean, he's got me. He needs someone here. It's not because I think he's weak, but I don't want him going into this second trial on his own. Granted, he needs to complete the task himself, but there's nothing wrong with a little help from his brother's girlfriend.

This is as much quality time as Sam and I have ever had since I joined the hunter brothers. It's not good quality time, mind you. I want to get to know Sam Winchester better, but now isn't the best time.

I'm the one who hears it: snap. Next thing I know, I hold in the scream as I'm throttled to the ground. It's hard to see the features of my attacker, as my blonde hair is getting in the way.

"Max!" Sam shouts. The attacker and I continue to wrestle onto the ground until I kick him away, launching him. By the time I'm sitting up, I get the lovely view of Sam decapitating the monster with its own weapon. I pant slightly and take Sam's hand to help myself up. "You okay?"

"Fine." I gulp. "Thanks."

"Take it." Sam hands me the monster's weapon. "You'll need it more than me."

The weapon has more weight to it than I'm used to. I tuck my shank away as Sam continues our path. It's not long before we both spot the three trees that meet as one and the rocks. Sam moves a large rock out of the way, and we can both feel the wind flowing out, ruffling our hair. My muscles tense as I see that this is our tunnel, Hell's backdoor.

"It's a rabbit hole," Sam murmurs.

"This is nuts," I stammer. Sam and I exchange a look before we side-by-side get pulled into the tunnel.

Now this is more like Hell, I think. We're no longer in Purgatory.

Noises echo in the distance, we're stuck in a dark corridor. I'm behind Sam as we move away from the opening. I don't understand his reasoning behind taking off his watch and placing it on a high ledge. But he's got a reason.

Everything here is making me see red. Shivers crawl on my skin. I look away as I catch a nasty glimpse of bodies chained to the walls. I hear the screams, the moans, the echoes. It almost sounds as though it's in my head. But it's not. We're in Hell, actual Hell. The Hell people always damn others to. The Hell in which...

I pale. If I don't do something about the deal, this will be my new residency. Permanent residency.

"I'm...innocent," rasps a voice. "Help me." From the corner of my eye, one flicker of a glimpse of her burned body is enough to keep me walking. I'm practically up Sam's ass, I don't want to be away from him. We pass cells, all the people here take note of us.

"Eddy? Eddy?" comes a man's voice. I make a noise of disgust as I see the man's face covered by a hook, his arms reaching for us through the bars. "Eddy? Eddy?"

"You came." The voice is softer, female. "I knew you would. I've been praying for it forever. You came. I knew you would. I've been praying for it forever."

"I'm not...him," Sam says to the girl quietly. "I'm sorry."

The girl repeats her rambling as I gently nudge Sam onwards. We walk a little ways more through the corridor before Sam stops at one of the doors. He opens it easily, but the squeaks nearly makes me think we've blown our cover.

"Stay close," he whispers to me before we move into the cell.

The figure has his back turned to us. I notice the jacket and the baseball cap. What scares me is the wall: there are tally marks.

"Bobby?" says Sam.

The figure turns around. The man looks like he's really been through, well, Hell. Fatigue plagues the man's face, not doing him any favors.

I move aside before Sam flattens me as Bobby decks the younger Winchester.

**It was either I stuck her with Sam or she went with Dean. Figured we needed some excitement around here (as if there isn't enough already).**