Down the Rabbit Hole

Thunder rumbled across the land barely drowned out by the thumping base coming from the Impala as Dean blasted AC/DC along the highway.

"Can you please turn it down?" Sam yelled over the music. Dean bobbed his head along ignoring Sam.

"Dean!" Sam yelled louder.

"Yeah, yeah OK bitch." Dean muttered as he turned the volume down. They were heading over to Bobby's after dealing with Castiel and his Vessels family. Lightning blanched across the sky and storm clouds churned like waves crashing against the shore.

"Jeez what's going on with the weather?" Dean asked as he peered out of the windscreen at the night sky.

"Yeah I didn't think a storm was forecast." Sam replied as he watched the scenery whiz by. Another fork of lightning burst across the sky, splitting it open and a bright white light glowed from within the chasm.

"What the hell!" Dean yelled as he slammed on the brakes, blinded by the light. Sam raised his had to his face and blinked trying to make out what was going on. The car ground to a halt and moments later they heard a loud bang and something landed on the hood of the car.

"What the…" Sam muttered as he stared out the window. The sky had returned to normal and laying on the hood of the Impala was a girl. She looked ethereal in the moonlight, long blonde hair splayed out around her shoulders, pale skin aglow. Her clothes were another matter, they were torn and covered in dirt in places.

"…Hell" Sam finished as he and Dean jumped out of the car. The girl appeared to be unconscious. Dean carefully lifted her off the hood.

"Here let me give you a hand." Sam offered as he made his way around the car.

"Dude just make sure she's OK." Dean retorted as he staggered round to put the girl in the back seat.

"That's what I'm trying to do." Sam replied.

Dean stopped and stared at Sam for a moment.

"Not her! The car!" Dean exclaimed as he shut the back door. Sam rolled his eyes.

"The cars fine Dean."

"It better be." he replied as he got back into the drivers seat. "We're still a few hours from Bobby's, we'd better get a room for the night and call Cas, find out what the hell is going on with Chicks falling out of the sky." Dean said as Sam climbed back into the car.

They drove a few more miles down the road before pulling into a Sunnyside Motel.

"I'll get us a room, you get the girl" Sam said as he climbed out of the car.

"Ain't that the way it always goes Sammy?" Dean grinned from the front seat. Sam waved him off and headed towards the reception.

"Dean got out and opened up the back of the Impala and lifted the girl out. Sam returned a few minutes later holding a key. "Room 247 up the stairs." Sam said pointing to the walk way. The brothers made their way up the stairs, Sam unlocked the door and the two of the walked in. The motel room was decorated in pastel colours with polka dots covering the walls. Dean placed the girl down on one of the beds as Sam brought the bags in.

"Cas!" Dean called. When no reply came he tried again. "Cas get your ass down here!" A sudden noise caught his attention. The girl on the bed took a gasping breath and slowly blinked her eyes open. Her eyes wandered around the room and finally landed on Dean. She sat up on the bed folding her arms across the threadbare blue dress she wore. Her blue eyes widened in surprise.

"Where am I?" she questioned, her voice barely more than a whisper.

"Your in Iowa, My brother and I…found you." Dean told her as he sat down on the bed beside her. Her eyes frantically darted around the room again and Dean could see she was shaking. "How did I get here?" She asked.

"Well you sort of fell from the sky." Dean replied. She stared at him for a moment.

"My names Dean and this is my brother Sam." She looked confused for a moment like she couldn't remember something. "I'm Alice" She finally said.

"No. She's not." Came a voice from the other side of the room. The girl jumped and gave a little cry.

"Cas, finally! What do you mean?"

"That's not Alice."

"Demon?" Dean asked as he stood up from the bed.

"No. Her name is Lacey McNulty and she's the biggest weapon Heaven or Hell could get their hands on." Cas said in his usual stoic manner.

"A weapon?" Sam asked. "Then how did she end up on the hood of our car? She fell from the sky Cas."

"Yes. She has been in a neutral zone, a world created around her for many years. Someone must have released her, perhaps to fight in the coming apocalypse."

"What do you mean a neutral zone? If she's a weapon wouldn't the demons be after her too?" Dean asked.

"The demons agreed on the neutral zone, that way neither side could use her and they could keep an eye on each other at the same time."

"Well you better go find out what's going on Cas." There was a fluttering noise and Castiel was gone.

"So that wasn't real?" Lacey asked, turning her wide eyes on the brothers.

"Cas said it was created around you, any idea what he meant?" She looked confused and then her eyes widened.

"I was ten years old when I fell and well you can see what I look like."

"Fell? From where?"

"Not from. Into. I fell down a rabbit hole." The boys stared at her.

"A rabbit hole?" Dean said looking at her incredulously.

"Wait you said your name was Alice?" Sam asked.

She lowered her eyes. "I thought it was."

"So you were in wonderland?" Sam replied.

"I guess so."

"But not like the real Wonderland, I mean they both want you, they kept you safe." Dean said.

She shook her head. "It was exactly like the real Wonderland. I lived in fear of having my head chopped off half the time."

"wait you said you had been there since you were ten, how old are you now?" Dean asked.

She shrugged. "What year is it?"

"2009"

"Then I must be 23."

"You were there for 13 years?" Sam looked shocked.

"Look, lets all get some sleep and we can talk more about this tomorrow." Dean suggested. Lacey gave him a grateful look. Dean got up and rifled through his duffle bag.

"Here Lacey, you take this and you can have one of the beds, I'll sleep on the couch." Dean said as he handed her one of his t-shirts.

"Thank you." She said taking the shirt off him and walking into the bathroom. Sam turned to Dean. "So what are we going to do?" Dean shrugged his shoulders.

"We take her with us to Bobby's, keep her safe, make sure none of the demons or angel dicks get their hands on her." Sam nodded before getting into bed.

There was a creaking noise as the bathroom door opened. Lacey padded across the carpet, Deans t-shirt covering her slight frame, she was short enough that it reached to just above her knees.

"Thank you for this. You didn't have to take me in. I guess I'm lucky it was your car I landed on." She said giving him a small smile.

"I guess so. Tomorrow we're gonna head over to our friend Bobby's place and we'll decide the best way to keep you safe from the demons and angels"

She nodded. "OK"

"You get some sleep now." She smiled and climbed into the bed.

"Goodnight Dean"

"Night Lacey"

The following morning Dean awoke to sunshine streaming through the open curtains. He groaned as he shifted around on the couch, his back stiff from sleeping cramped up all night. He climbed off the couch, stretching his sore muscles and made his way into the bathroom to splash cold water on his face. When he came back out Lacey was sitting cross legged on the bed.

"Morning."

"Heya" she smiled.

"If you wanna get ready we can go for breakfast soon." She nodded and grabbed her clothes before heading into the bathroom.

A while later once Sam was up and ready they made their way down to the Impala and Dean drove them to a diner. They sat down in a booth and the waitress approached them.

"What can I get for you guys?"

"I'll take a coffee and the special with bacon" Dean ordered.

"Can I get the Belgian waffles." Sam asked.

The waitress turned to Lacey. "And what can I get for you sweetie?"

Lacey studied the menu for a moment then turned her wide eyes to the waitress. "Can I get a cupcake?" she asked.

The waitress looked surprised. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." Lacey said smiling as she handed the waitress her menu.

"Cupcake?" Dean asked.

"I haven't had one in soooo long!" She grinned widely.

Her smile thawed them and they smiled back.

"Here you go." The waitress said as she brought over their orders. Lacey's eyes lit up as a chocolate frosted cupcake was placed down in front of her.

"Thank you." She told the waitress, who smiled at her before turning and leaving. They ate their meals then headed back out to the car. And continued their journey to Bobby's. Dean put a tape in the player and Kansas played through the speakers. Lacey leaned forward from the back seat. "Turn it up!"

"Really?" Dean asked looking over his shoulder at her.

"Yeah its been so long since I've heard anything but flowers singing." Dean looked at her oddly. "O…K"

A few hours later they arrived at Bobby's.

"Here we are." Sam said as he got out of the car.

"About time as well you idjits." Bobby said as he strode out of his front door.

"And who's this?" Bobby asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Bobby this is Lacey, long story we'll tell you about it later, we better check out what you've found first." Dean said as he led them into the house.

"So what is it you've found?" Sam asked as they made their way down into Bobby's basement.

"Why don't you take a look." Bobby said as he opened a heavy looking door. Sam stepped inside.

"Wait what's going on!" Sam exclaimed as Bobby and Dean shut the door behind him. "Guys!" Sam yelled from inside the room.

"What's happening?" Lacey asked warily eyeing Bobby and Dean.

"Don't worry, Sam's just hyped up on demon blood!" Dean yelled the last part so that Sam could hear through the door.

"O…K" Lacey said giving him a funny look.

"Come on lets go upstairs so I can explain it all to both of you." Dean said as he led the back upstairs

A little while later Dean has caught Bobby up on the Lacey situation and explained what was going on with Sam.

"So he's locked in there for his own good to help get him off the demon blood." Dean finished. They were sat at the table in Bobby's kitchen.

"Ok I get it" Lacey winced as they heard Sam yelling and banging around down in the basement.

"Maybe we should get out for a while, pick you up some new things?" Dean suggested. "We can deal with Sam when we get back."

"Yeah that sounds great." Lacey smiled.

"OK lets get going." Dean said standing up. "Bobby we'll be back in a bit." They headed out and got into the Impala. They drove for about half an hour before arriving at an outlet mall.

"OK here's my card, knock yourself out." Dean said handing her one of his many credit cards.

"Thanks!" Lacey grinned before heading off into the shop. Dean sat in the car listening to music while he waited. Half an hour later Lacey walked back out of the shop carrying several bags. She had exchanged her old clothes for brand new ones and was now wearing white skinny jeans, a black band tshirt with a studded belt wrapped around her waist and a pair of black converse on her feet.

"So what do you think?" she asked as she climbed into the car.

"Very nice." Dean said glancing at her appreciatively.

"So what are we going to do about Sam?" Lacey asked.

"Let him detox for a while, let the blood pass through his system." Dean replied as he started to back the car out of the space.

They drove back to Bobby's and Dean made his way back down to the panic room. He slid the hatch across and peered in at Sam.

"Okay let me out this is not funny!" Sam called through the door.

"Damn straight." Dean replied.

"Dean, come on. This is crazy."

"No, not until you dry out."

"look. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you. Just open the door."

"You don't have to apologise. Its not your fault. It's not your fault that you lied to me over and over again. I get it now. You couldn't help it."

"I'm not some junkie!" Sam yelled.

"Really? I guess I've just imagined how strung out you've been lately."

"You're actually trying to twist this into some kind of ridiculous drug intervention?" Sam asked angrily.

"If it smells like a duck."

"Dean I am not drinking the demon blood for kicks, I'm getting strong enough to kill Lilith."

"Strong?" Dean asked incredulously.

"Yeah!"

"This is about as far away from strong as you can get. Try weak. Try desperate. Pathetic."

"Killing Lilith is what matters. Or are you so busy being self righteous you forgot about her?"

"Ok Lilith's gonna die. Bobby and I will kill her. But not with you."

"You're not serious." Sam said exasperated.

"Congrats Sammy. You just bought yourself a benchwarmer seat to the apocalypse."

"Dean look. No wait!" Sam called as Dean shut the hatch and began to walk away from the door.

"Come back here Dean! Let me out of here! Dean! Let me out of here! Let me out! Dean!"

Dean made his way back upstairs and through into Bobby's kitchen where he found Bobby sitting at the table with Lacey, the two of them were eating a cheesecake that Bobby had produced from somewhere. Lacey was staring off into space as she chewed trying to block out the noises Sam was making. Dean sighed and sat down at the table.

"How long is this gonna go on?" He asked Bobby.

"Here let me look it up in my demon detox manual. Oh wait. No one ever wrote one. No telling how long it will take. Hell of if Sam will even live through it." At this point the phone rang and Bobby got up to answer it.

"Hello? Suck dirt and die Rufus. You call me again I'll kill you." Bobby said before slamming the phone down.

"What's up with Rufus?" Dean asked.

"He knows." Bobby replied as the phone began to ring again. "I'm busy you son of a bitch. This better be important" Bobby said as he began jotting things down. Moments later he hung up the phone and handed a piece of paper to Dean. "The news. The news ain't good." Dean glanced at the paper.

"This is what Rufus called about? Key west sees ten species go extinct?" Bobby nodded. "Yep. Plus Alaska, fifteen man fishing crew all stricken blind, cause unknown. New York teacher goes postal, locks the door, kills exactly 66 kids. All this in a single day. I looked them up there's no doubt about it. They're all seals. Breaking. Fast"

"How many are left?" Dean asked.

"Who knows? Can't be many. Where the hell are you're angel pals?" Bobby asked.

"You tell me." Dean muttered.

"I'm just wondering.." Bobby started.

"What?"

" The apocalypse being nigh and all is now really the right time to be having this little domestic drama of ours?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I don't like this any more than you do but Sam can kill demons. He's got a shot at stopping Armageddon?"

"So what? Sacrifice Sam's life? His soul? For the greater good is that what you're saying? Times are bad so lets use Sam as a nuclear war head?" Dean said angrily.

"Look I know you hate me for suggesting it, I hate me for suggesting it. I love that boy like a son. All I'm saying is maybe he's here right now instead of on the battlefield because we love him too much."

Dean had been gone for a while now. Lacey could see him outside pacing around. A few minutes ago Castiel had appeared and the two were now conversing animatedly.

"Is there anything I can do?" Lacey asked as she watched Bobby clear the table.

"Not unless you can stop the apocalypse." Bobby muttered.

Lacey shrugged. "I can try." Bobby stopped and turned studying her for a moment.

"If you're this big weapon then what do you do?" He asked. Lacey looked down at her hands.

"I can make things happen with my mind. Pretty much anything I want actually."

"And they locked you away?"

"I think they did it to bring my powers out. They might not have developed normally." Lacey admitted. "But put someone in a stressful situation and just about anything can happen." Bobby nodded at her.

They were sitting in Bobby's living room.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but you willingly signed up to be the angels bitch?" Bobby asked. Dean glared at him.

"I'm sorry you prefer sucker? After everything you said about them now you trust them?"

"Come on give me a little credit Bobby. I've never trusted them less. I mean they come on like shady politicians from planet Vulcan."

"Then why in the hell did…"

"Because what other option do I have?" Dean asked.

"It's either trust the angels or let Sammy trust a demon."

"I see you're point."

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

"Yeah that's a little too much nothing£ Bobby replied as they got up and went down to the basement. They looked through the hatch and saw Sam having a seizure on the floor.

"What if he's faking it?" Dean asked.

"You really think he would?"

"I think he'd do anything." Sam seemed to float in the air and then suddenly he was flying through the air and slammed against the wall.

"That ain't faking!" Bobby replied as the two of them rushed in and pried Sam off the wall. Bobby took off his belt and put it between Sam's teeth as Dean cuffed him to the bed. Once Sam had calmed down a bit they exited the cell and locked it behind them. Dean turned to Lacey.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep. We'll keep an eye on Sam, at least one of us should try and get some shut eye." Lacey nodded.

"If you're sure." Dean showed her to a room with two single beds.

Lacey sat cross legged on one of the beds. She'd been up here fir two hours now but hadn't been able to sleep. To pass the time she had painted her nails but other than that she had been completely bored.

"Hey Lacey?" Dean popped his head around the door. "I'm going out to look for Sam, he managed to get out somehow, do you wanna come with me or stay with Bobby?" He asked.

"I'll come with you." She said sliding off the bed and following him downstairs. Apparently Sam had stolen one of Bobby's cars and headed over to a place called Elk River before discarding it and stealing a new one. Bobby had suggested they start looking at a place called Cold Springs as apparently there had been signs of demonic activity there. They pulled up outside a motel where a car fitting the description of the one stolen was parked.

"You wait here." Dean instructed.

Once he had gotten out of the car Lacey sighed loudly. This guy was taking the whole damsel in distress thing a little too far. Had he forgotten that she was supposed to be a weapon?

About half an hour later Dean stumbled out of the motel and back to the car. He looked in pretty bad shape and his breathing was laboured.

"what happened?" Lacey asked.

"Sam." Was all Dean said in reply.

Lacey was completely confused. After Sam beat up Dean they had headed back to Bobby's where Dean and Bobby had proceeded to argue about whether they should call Sam or not. Suddenly Castiel had arrived and told Dean it was time. Now Dean had disappeared and there seemed to be nothing Lacey could do. She was pacing around Bobby's living room trying Dean's cell phone every five minutes for the past 2 hours. She tried again and this time he picked up.

"Bobby?" He inquired.

"No its Lacey, where are you Dean, I've been calling for hours?"

"God only knows. I'm at Chucks now."

"Where's that? I'll head over?"

"Bobby has the address but it'll probably take you a while…" Dean looked at the phone. "She hung up on me." He muttered.

"You were saying?" A voice asked from behind Dean. He spun around and came face to face with Lacey. Lacey smiled broadly up at him.

"Holy shit! How did you…" He trailed off.

"Did you forget the whole weapon part? You name it I can probably do it."

"It's probably not a good idea for you to be here." Castiel interrupted. "Both sides are probably looking for you as we speak."

"Well I'm not taking a side in this. I'm gonna help Dean any way I can." Lacey told him. Castiel nodded. Suddenly the house began to tremble and a white light appeared through the windows.

"It's the archangel! I'll hold him off! I'll hold them all off! Just stop Sam!" Castiel yelled before putting a hand on each of their foreheads. Suddenly they were satnding in a church, bodies lay scattered all over the place. They heard shouting coming from a room at the far end of the church and Dean ran in that direction, Lacey following close behind.

"Sam?" Dean yelled once they reached the doors.

"Dean?" Sam called from the other side. They can hear other voices, Ruby and Lilith yelling too.

"Sam?" Dean called again. On getting no reply he tries rattling the door but its locked fast. He begins to bash into the door with his shoulder but to no avail, the doors are large and the lock holds fast.

"Would you like me to try?" Lacey asks. Dean stops midway through trying to push the door open and looks at her for a moment before signalling her to go ahead. Lacey steps forward. Moments later a bright light shoots from her eyes and the lock breaks apart allowing the doors to be opened. Dean nods at her before pushing the door open. The room in front of them is a mess. Lilith lies dead on the floor, a pool of blood making a circle around her corpse. Sam is on his knees and Ruby is standing over him looking triumphant.

"You're too late!" She calls out as Dean pulls a knife from inside his jacket.

"I don't care." He tells her. He strides towards her and at that moment Sam stands up and holds her as Dean stabs the knife into her. Sam lets go of her and her body falls to the ground. He slowly looks up at Dean.

"I'm Sorry." Suddenly the blood from Lilith's body begins to glow and opens up some kind of portal.

"Lets go!" Dean said running towards the doors which close in front of him.

"Dean, he's coming!" Sam said as a brilliant white light envelopes the room.