"The reaper should be by the zoo in an hour. Plenty of animals, it should spend enough time there for us to denature it." Basically, hunting in a zoo.

Prompt [for a competition, sort of]: Kevin and Cas go to the zoo. Must be hilarious/adorable
Given by theangelshavetheimpala on Instagram. ((I'm thesamepicofmisha)

Dean never particularly liked hunts that required spells. Finding an unborn fetus or some other weird crap and grinding it up to summon immense evil was not his idea of fun. Unfortunately, he'd have to. It was yet another "filler case", something that wouldn't get them any closer to finding the tablet. Dean figured they'd have to shut down the reaper-gone-wild before continuing. Not a normal reaper, though. This one was a lower kind. An animal reaper.

Sounds stupid, yeah, but someone's gotta do it.

Anyways, this particular reaper was slowly sweeping through the state, effectively killing all animals.

Let's get to the present, in a hotel in the heart of Cleveland, a medium sized city.

"So get this-"

Dean's heard Sam say those 3 words more than he's heard John say 'I love you'.

"The reaper should be by the zoo in an hour. Plenty of animals, it should spend enough time there for us to denature it."

Dean didn't understand much about killing reapers but at least he got that they were like enzymes. Sometimes high school biology was useful.

"Yeah, got it." Dean said, slamming his hand down on the table, knocking some papers down. "Find that son of a bitch and ruin it."

"Actually," Sam noted as he scrambled to pick up Dean's mess, "You may be right about that."

"About what?" Dean squeaked, feigning annoyance.

"Reapers are created from existing bodies. According to the sightings of this one, it could easily have a dog body."

"Okay, Sam, turn down the Sherlock. Let's just gank that thing and get our asses back on the road."

"We're not ganking, Dean, we're-" Sam tried to correct.

"Kev?" Dean barked before Sammy could finish.

The kid grunted in acknowledgement. Ever since those damn Horry Patter books(or whatever the hell they were called) him and Cas had been reading together, pointing out inconsistencies and parallels with the hunting world.

"You and Cas go to the southernmost end of that zoo. Sam and I will take the north. We'll call you when he comes by. S'up to you to get him."

Kevin and Cas simply mumbled in unison.

"Guys, that means we need to leave!"

More grunts from the reading duo.

"Get down to the lobby in five," and with that Dean hopped out the door, Sam following with a map.

Luckily for Cas and Kevin, the reptiles were right at the edge of the zoo, their post.
Cas claimed that he'd had a dragon in the past and was busy conversing with a large lizard when they got the call. Kevin hastily said goodbye to the cute zookeeper he was talking to and ran out of the "Reptile Range" to see the tall neck of a giraffe in the distance go down.

He blended their summoning-stuff in a take out container just as the pigeons flying above them fell.

The winged dude took it from there and recited the short incantation they'd gotten from the net. The mixture bubbled and the blue sky became a sick orange. It seemed to be burning for a split second before a body dropped down.

Cas went right back to speak to the lizard as Kevin ran to the charred dog that landed on a table umbrella.

Cas smashed the glass angrily and reached for the large lizard who had already been stilled. He gave her a tap on the forehead and spoke a condolence in Enochian, from the time Earth was created. Human scholars believe that Hebrew is the language of angels, obviously not.

Enochian is something special. It isn't just a language. Every word spoken in Enochian is a pledge. Only the truth can be said, otherwise the speaker will die. It's pure, it's magic. There are angels in heaven tasked with working Enochian because it's like a machine, almost. A magic machine. Before the fall, in the years 2010-2013, only 1 angel was assigned to the smooth running of Enochian. His name is Dominic and he's the moodiest guy ever; hates his job and working too. Cas could feel Dominic mentally kicking him as he honored his fallen comrade with words that meant, "I will not forget" and so much more.

"Why, Kevin. Why is there so much pain?" Cas said, outside.

The sun was covered by clouds in that exact moment.

"Cas, are you okay?" The young boy asked with great concern.

"I heard- I heard the reptiles in my head as they died. My friend, the big one, Sandy, she... She calmed the others. You know what she said?" Cas was showing emotion, his lip trembling. "Be still. The angel will save us." he sniffed although no tears were showing. "They all believed her."

Kevin was astounded with the feelings Cas had shared with him so willingly. He wound his arm around his surprisingly emotional friend as they waited for Dean and the zoo patrol. The angel didn't flinch and leaned into Kevin, an act he had never done before.

Cas was feeling more human than he ever had felt before.

"I'm sorry, feathery dude. It's just- it's just that you can't save everyone. I tried, once. Back when I was Kevin Tran AP." He joked with pain. "I volunteered at the nursing home. I couldn't keep them alive. I just couldn't. I left because there was too much death. It's unavoidable and if you need a break then take one."

Cas lifted his eyes up to meet the prophet. The blue seemed deeper, more knowledgeable, more dangerous, and somehow more human than that morning as they read about Harry's adventures in the wizarding world.

"Thank you, Kevin." he got out before Dean patted him on the back, chuckling, which made Cas, in all his heavenly grace, jump forward. Kevin almost made the mistake of pulling him back into a proper embrace, something Cas probably wouldn't appreciate. He stepped away quickly.

"You got 'em Cas. You too, Kev. The both of you are starting to become hunters, eh?"

"Yes, Dean." Cas whispered, followed by, "And hunters feel pain." but Dean didn't hear him as he sauntered off to poke the charred dog.