A/N: This is a crossover fic. I just wanted to warn you guys at the beginning. I know a lot of people don't like them. I don't usually care for them either, but I had a dream about this and it just made such perfect sense and was so hilarious that I couldn't resist. Now, I don't want to spoil the surprise right away so I won't say what this is a crossover with, but I'm sure there are some astute people among you who will know right away. Furthermore, you all know how disclaimers go. I don't own anything except the crazy idea to write this story. Anything you might already recognize isn't mine.

The Final Seal

Dean glanced over at his brother from his spot on the motel bed. Sam had been pretty quiet for the past hour. He hadn't even protested Dean's incessant channel surfing until he'd landed on a countdown of Maxim's hottest girls of the year.

"Hey…uh…Sammy? You alive over there?" Dean questioned, tilting his head so he could see him better.

"Huh?" Sam asked, barely sparing a glance towards his brother.

"I really hope it's porn on that screen that you've been staring at for the past hour." Dean said, grunting as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

"What? No!" Sam protested, Dean's words finally penetrating his concentration, "I'm reading up on a possible hunt for us."

"Yeah?" Dean asked, slightly intrigued, "Something cool?"

"Maybe." Sam said, moving his chair so Dean could see his laptop more clearly, "I know we don't usually do big cities, but it seems like there's some serious activity in New York City. There's some pictures and reports of a large, red devil thing running around. Like a Jersey Devil, maybe. Official statements say it's all a hoax, but…"

"But you want to check it out." Dean finished. He frowned as he considered it, "Jersey Devil in the big city, huh? That sounds like a nightmare as far as cops go…but what the hell?"

Sam nodded, turning back to look at his computer again with a look of concern marring his features.

"What?" Dean asked, knowing that there was something else to this job that Sam had yet to tell him, "What is it?"

"Well, it's just that…I think I heard something about New York. From Bobby, maybe. I just can't remember what it was. You don't remember anything about New York, do you?"

"Nope." Dean shook his head. He shrugged, "Must not have been important."

"Yeah." Sam agreed reluctantly, "Must not."

***

Sam and Dean packed up early the next morning and were just stepping out of the motel office after returning the key, when they had an unexpected visitor. Dean frowned, teeth clenching and eyes hardening when he caught sight of the brunette leaning against his car.

"Hey, keep your slutty demon hands off my car!" he snapped, striding over and nearly shoving her out of the way by yanking the car door open.

"Charming as usual." Ruby replied, unperturbed.

"What are you doing here, Ruby?" Sam asked, his eyes flicking past her to his brother.

Dean was pretending not to be listening closely to their every word, instead focusing on throwing their bags into the car, but Sam knew better. Dean hated that he was still in contact with Ruby and Sam was frankly tired of trying to make him understand. It was easier just to avoid the issue by meeting Ruby secretly. And, usually, Ruby didn't have a problem with that, but here she was now, upsetting the tenuous balance.

"I'm here to see why you boys have been wandering around with your heads up your asses instead of trying to stop the end of the freaking world." Ruby replied, crossing her arms over her chest and not bothering to hide her obvious frustration, "I mean, seriously? I tell you that Lilith has broken more than half of the seals and you come here to knock off a Siren? Are you insane?"

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but Dean beat him to the punch, "Yeah, well it might help if you could actually tell us what the hell these seals are!"

Ruby spun around to level Dean with a fiery glare, "Do you have any idea how much danger I've put myself in just to get as much information as I have? I'm not exactly getting the company newsletters anymore."

"So what do you want us to do, Ruby?" Sam interrupted before Dean could make things worse.

Ruby glanced back towards Sam, the anger draining from her face to be replaced by worry, "I don't know, Sam. That's the problem. You need to stop her and we don't have much time left."

A frown tugged at his lips and he shifted uneasily before he decided to go ahead and ask her, "Do you know anything about a devil in New York?"

Ruby frowned in confusion, "What? What are you talking about?"

"Sam, why do you think she'd nothing anything about that?" Dean echoed her, just as confused by Sam's question but for different reasons.

Sam avoided both their eyes, choosing instead to take an interest in the asphalt of the parking lot at his feet, "I don't know. It's just a feeling I've got. Like maybe there's something important about this hunt, that it's not just a devil."

"It's not." Ruby agreed, making both Sam and Dean look at her sharply. Ruby glanced from one to the other before she continued, "I don't know much, okay."

Dean grunted at that, making Ruby glare at him before she continued.

"All I know is that downstairs they tell us to stay out of New York. I wasn't important enough for them to tell me why, but I got the feeling that it was something." Ruby looked questioningly at Sam, "You think maybe this is a seal?"

Sam shrugged, "Maybe. Maybe not. Only one way to find out."

Ruby nodded in agreement, "I'll see if I can dig up anything."

"Yeah, actual information would be a nice change of pace." Dean agreed sarcastically.

Ruby's lips twisted in anger and she began to take a heavy step towards Dean, but Sam stopped her, reaching out quickly and grabbing her arm. Ruby glanced back at him, her eyes still smoldering with rage, but Sam just shook his head. With an aggravated sigh, Ruby yanked her arm out of his hold and stomped off, disappearing around the corner and leaving the boys to themselves.

"Boy, I sure do love her little visits." Dean muttered, climbing into the Impala.

"She's trying to help." Sam protested half-heartedly as he moved around the car to the passenger side. He already knew it was pointless. They'd already had this discussion.

"Whatever." Dean replied, leaning forward and turning on the car. They had quite a few miles to cover and the ride was going to be tense enough as it was. It was best just to stick with his tried and true method of not talking about it. And strangely, Sam seemed a lot more inclined to do the same these days. Dean wasn't sure what that meant exactly, that his brother wasn't pestering him to open up, but he knew for sure he didn't like it. Sam had changed since Dean had gone to hell and Dean wasn't sure there was anything he could do about that. The frustration that left him with made him even more eager to go kill something nasty. With that thought in mind, he dropped his foot on the gas and sped off down the open road.

***