A/N: Beta'd by the amazing Sakura23165! :D
Soul Eater: Slightly AU. Follows the manga except for the final battle; basically the Kishin was sealed but Kid didn't complete his lines so dear old Lord Death is still alive 3
Supernatural: set during season 5, after 'Abandon All Hope'
Prologue
Getting Involved Whether You Like It Or Not
The sound of crickets echoed beneath the full red moon as an empty highway stretched past the horizon. Underneath the starry night, the population of a small quaint American town was sleeping peacefully, the only exception was a barely lit room in a dingy one star motel at the edges of the city. There, three young men were awake, but quiet. The crickets´ incessant chirps made the silence between the occupants all the more prominent. Two of them were in a bad shape, full of cuts, bruises and open wounds, paired with slumped, defeated postures.
"So…" Sam Winchester muttered as he applied some disinfectant to a cut in his hand that was still open. His tall and relatively thin frame could have been stunning, but the sagging shoulders and his uncombed brown shoulder-length hair gave him the image of a runaway teen.
"…That was a complete failure," Dean finished his younger brother's statement. The elder brother wasn't in a better state either; if it was possible, he looked even more depressed. His face, which may have been described as handsome, now had the look of a man who had attended to his parents' funeral.
It'd been a day after the complete and utter fiasco that had been Catharge. The loss of Jo and Ellen– the memory of the mother with her slowly-dying daughter, both sacrificing themselves by causing an explosion to take out the hellhounds that pursuing the Winchester brothers- was still fresh and painful, yet despite their heroic exit, the so-called mission had collapsed into chaos. Their actions were in vain.
"Lucifer summoned Death, the horseman," said Castiel -the third occupant of the room- in his usual monotone. "This is bad." Unlike the brothers, Castiel had no visible injuries, partly because of his angel status and also because he was absent for a large portion of the mission, courtesy of Lucifer himself and a demon named Meg.
"You don't say," Dean quipped, rolling up more bandages to re-wrap a particularly nasty cut on his forearm.
"But, I just said it," the angel stated, quirking an eyebrow.
"I'm not in the mood, Cas," Dean retorted and sighed. If it was any other time, Dean wouldn't have snapped, but considering the circumstances it was a good thing he and Sam hadn't rolled up on the Impala in a demon-hunting spree. Not that they weren't planning to.
The angel remained silent, perhaps sensing the brothers' discomfort. As the heavy uncomfortable silence returned to the room once more, Sam glanced between his brother and the angel before hissing as he applied another round of the disinfectant.
There was a knock on the door.
Which would have been fine, if it wasn't four in the morning. Both brothers froze for a millisecond before Dean immediately reached for the Colt –which, as they recently discovered, could not kill everything- and Sam for Ruby's demon-killing knife -which, despite the means of acquiring it, had been extremely useful. Yet Castiel put up a hand, signalling the brothers to stand down, staring wide-eyed at the doorframe. This in turn caused Dean to frown in worry while Sam mouthed a "what is it?"
Dean however, went for the less subtle approach. "Castiel, what the hell-?"
"Whatever is behind the door is not human," the angel said with some dread, approaching the door like the wood could explode at any moment.
The two brothers looked at each other in unison and blinked. Sam spoke up. "What is it then? Ghost, angel, demon?"
"Yeah do you know if any of these would knock before trying to decorate the room with our insides?" Dean quipped before quickly double-checking the Colt was loaded.
"None." Castiel squinted as if looking though a hazy window and tilted his head. "I'm… not sure. Feels like a Reaper, but more powerful." The angel took another cautious step, his gaze burning a hole in the door.
Dean gave Sam a worried look. Reapers themselves were on the neutral side of things, not aligned with Heaven nor Hell. In fact, the one Reaper which the Winchesters had met was one of the very, very few supernatural creatures they were on relatively friendly terms with, Castiel notwithstanding. But now, Lucifer had summoned the Grim Reaper and brought them to the Devil's side. Who was to say that the Reapers wouldn't now turn against them? Along with the fact that Reapers were normally invisible to living humans, fighting one would prove more difficult than your average demon which was a herculean task on its own.
There were seven more knocks, a total of eight, but the brothers and angel waited in silence.
A muffled voice came from the doorframe. "I know you're in there. Please, open the door. I mean you no harm."
Dean slowly approached the door and muttered "perfect," in his usual 'we're-probably-screwed' sarcastic tone. His free hand clutched the doorknob before giving it a determined twist, throwing the door open and pointing the gun at eye level.
Then he noticed the creature was shorter than him, the top of its head at the same level as the human's shoulder, and quickly brought the gun down, right between the creature's eyes.
To Dean's disgust, the creature looked like a child, a teenager to be more precise. Not that he couldn't deal; the Winchesters had faced ghost kids and Lilith who possessed little girls. Also Lucifer probably had no moral qualms about children.
In order to quell his unease, the elder Winchester focused on the boy's –was he thinking of him as a boy now?- more inhumane characteristics. For example, his skin was unnaturally white and taut. He wore a strange version of a black business suit with a cartoony grey skull as a tie. Actually it seemed as if the boy belonged in an old black and white movie, the exception being his eyes which were an inhumane double-ringed golden colour. The same golden orbs were now observing Dean's gun with disinterest.
"Good evening to you as well," the tone in which the greeting was said was unnervingly calm for someone held at gunpoint. "Is the gun necessary?" the creature asked in a bored tone which was deeper than what any fifteen year-old's voice should have been, increasing the hunter's unease.
"Yes. Who are you, what are you and what do you want? You got five seconds." Dean made a point of loudly releasing the safety for added a dramatic effect.
Which the creature completely ignored, judging by his unchanged passive expression. "Death the Kid, Grim Reaper, your help."
Dean did a double-take. "What?"
"May I come in?" the boy said, looking behind the brother. "I believe pointing guns at others is not a socially accepted behaviour and we may be eavesdropped if we talk in the hallway."
The older Winchester gave Sam a fleeting glance. The younger brother returned the conflicted look before shrugging his shoulders, coming closer to the supposed reaper until he was about the same distance away as Dean.
"Any sudden moves and you're dead." Dean grumpily moved to the side to let the creature in, his gun still pointed towards the creature's head which the boy still ignored. Instead, the creature looked at the room, then to Sam until his gaze finally stopped on Castiel.
"You're an angel."
"Yes."
Both fell silent and stared at each other. Sam and Dean, still in battle positions, exchanged weary glances.
"Okay, you gonna explain yourself kid?" Dean said distancing the two supernatural beings from their stare-off contests.
"Right, yes, I should…" the boy trailed off, briefly fiddling with one of his skull-like rings on his middle finger. The elder Winchester noticed how kid looked worse for the wear. Some parts of his suit were worn out, leaves and dirt sticking out.
"Starting this century," Sam muttered.
"Right," the boy said distractedly before focusing on the two brothers. "I'm a Grim Reaper-"
"A Reaper?" Castiel said puzzled.
"No, not a simple reaper. A Grim Reaper."
Dean brought his hand on the trigger, while Sam grasp on the mystical knife tightened.
"As in Death, the Grim Reaper." Dean muttered in muted horror. It had barely been a day and Death was already on their case? The elder Winchester cursed his luck.
To their surprise, the boy shifted his gaze to the floor. "No, that's my father you're referring to…" Sam and Dean exchanged wide-eyed looks. "I believe you already know this already but, apparently, the apocalypse has started. Yesterday Lucifer performed an ..." the kid shifted nervously, "abhorrent ritual in order to use and control my father's power. He has him bound and…" the Reaper's voice trailed off as he made a point to look anywhere, but the humans and angel, instead fiddling with his rings once more. "Disgusting…," he muttered distractedly. Finally, something seemed to click and the kid let out a small cough and straightened his back. "Point is I want to set my father free from Lucifer's spell. From what I know I can either wait until the deed is completed and the 'world' will end, an unfavourable scenario, or find a way to defeat Lucifer. Which is why I came here."
"And we're supposed to believe that?" Sam remarked in patronizing matter which caused the kid to glare at the younger Winchester.
"Sam, wait." Cas walked straight into the boy's personal space, with his usual intense stare. The supposed Grim Reaper stood his ground, returning the gaze. Finally, Castiel extended his hand towards Kid, but the Reaper took a step backwards, eyeing the hand with distrust.
"You are scared of angels?" Sam teased the boy.
"I'm wary."
"I simply wish to see whether or not you're a Grim Reaper," Castiel assured him.
"Then use your soul perception," the boy all but hissed, shoulders slumped and warily looking at the heavenly being.
Dean frowned at Sam in confusion.
"Angels can only use it through physical contact," Castiel stated.
Sam shrugged in return to his brother's previous action.
The child gave him a long hard look. "You're not lying," he said after a few seconds and slowly extended his arm. "Go ahead."
Castiel lightly touched the other non-human's hand. A small light emitted from the angel's palm, whereas the boy's arm was surrounded by a black mist.
Dean panicked, thinking the black mist was a demon, and raised his gun while Sam readied himself to lunge and stab the kid. However, the mist turned into black skull-like shadow and the kid's yellow eyes grew brighter until, for a moment, the stranger stopped resembling a child.
Castiel withdrew his hand. The shadows disappeared into the boy's frame who now looked mildly annoyed.
"You're telling the truth," the angel muttered and turned to Dean. "He's a Grim Reaper."
"So glad we got this over," the Reaper said in a deadpan tone. "By the way aren't the rest of the angels supposed to be fighting Lucifer?"
Dean let out a sarcastic huff as he sat back on the couch. "Someone needs an update."
The Grim Reaper turned to face the older Winchester. "What do you mean?"
"The other angels…" Sam said as he lowered his knife and rubbed his brow. "They were the ones that caused the Apocalypse in the first place."
The boy clenched his fists. "You're joking."
"Sadly no," Castiel muttered. "It's the reason I decided to … leave Heaven."
"So you´re a rogue angel?"
Castiel nodded.
"Ok, let me sum this up," Dean piped up, standing up from the couch. "Basically, Death has a kid, which is you, Death Jr or whatever…" the elder Winchester pointed at the Reaper. "Lucifer summoned your dear old dad and has him bound, so you're trying to help us and beat the Devil in order to get your pa free."
"Pretty much. And it's Death the Kid, though I'm most commonly referred to as Kid, for simplicity's sake," the boy said crossing his arms.
"Why go to us?" Sam asked, his hand never leaving the knife.
"When Lucifer summoned my father, he summoned me too, being a Grim Reaper myself. You antagonized him, so I assume you're not best of friends."
"Sure thing," Dean nonchalantly said, "but we were there, and we didn't see you, now why is that?"
"My father's frame is… towering. He covered me from the fallen angel's line of sight and then I ran to the woods and hid."
Sam an quickly glanced at his brother in disbelief.
"…Well the guy's shadow was… towering," Dean admitted, tilting his head in agreement. The elder Winchester then looked to the boy, giving him a disapproving look. "You said ran and hid?"
"What did you want me to do? Reveal myself?" Kid shot back in defence. "If I had done that, then I would have been caught. I wouldn't be able to help father and Lucifer would have two Grim Reapers in his disposal."
"Sure thing." Dean said patronizingly. "And of all creatures, a Grim Reaper wants to stop the end of the world."
The kid's eyes hardened. "My father has worked hard to maintain the balance of this world and I refuse to simply let it fall apart!" he said, his voice rising until he was full on shouting. Upon which he threw a quick glance as Dean's gun still pointed at his with the finger on the trigger. The boy took a full breath and his whole frame relaxed slightly. "I'm sorry, that was rude. It's been a long day."
An uncomfortable silence stretched between the four individuals in the room. Kid looked at the two brothers expectantly, meeting Sam's distrusting frown with a blank look and occasionally glancing at Dean, who was content with looking out the window. Castiel, on the other hand, remained silent, head slightly tilted and staring at the Grim Reaper.
Dean broke the silence. "…We need to call Bobby again."
"Who is he? Is he an ally?"
"None of your business," Sam quickly said. In reality Bobby was a father figure to the Winchesters, no matter how they refused to admit it and they weren't going to release their secrets on the first supernatural creature they found.
"That's a bit rude, though I can see where you're coming from," Kid said and took a seat on an empty armchair.
"But first, Dean and I are gonna talk."
"Now?"
"Yes."
Dean threw up his arms in defeat. "Castiel, keep an eye on little Helter Skelter."
The young Grim Reaper quirked an eyebrow at the elder brother's weird naming antics, but remained seated while the Winchesters left the room.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
"Dean-"
"I don't thrust that thing," the elder Winchester blurted. "I mean, here we are, with Death on Lucifer's field, and suddenly 'Death's kid' shows up and wants to help us? Please."
"I'm with you on this one," Sam agreed. "It could easily be a trap. Give us up for his… dad, or something."
The older brother kept glancing towards the door to the room.
"Something wrong?" Sam asked, having noticed his brother's discomfort.
"I'm worried about Castiel. You think he will be fine with…?"
"Cas is an angel, he's gonna be fine." Sam threw another quick glance at the door. So far nothing had exploded and there wasn't any freak lightshow which, if anything, was a positive sign, but did little to soothe the Winchester's nerves. "So, any ideas on what may kill a kid Reaper?"
"Wait, so we're planning on killing him?"
"Well, yeah," Sam said as a matter-of-fact. "What, Dean?"
"I'm not hesitating. It's just that we don't know what we're dealing with here, Sam."
"So we do nothing?"
"The kid hasn't attacked us."
"Yet."
Dean shrugged. "All I'm saying is that we should wait for now. Talk to Cas first, be cautious as hell, but I don't think we should kill the kid yet."
Sam sighed. "I suppose. Let's head back and call Bobby," he conceded and the two brothers headed back into their room…
Only to see Bobby in there. Dean gave the trio of angel, Reaper and human a loopy smile. "Bobby!" he said with a tight-lipped smile belonging to a slasher movie, "how did you get here?"
The man gave a surprised look at the Winchesters before pointing at Castiel in an exasperated gesture. "Angel boy over there zapped me!"
The angel frowned in confusion at the man's outburst. "I thought it was necessary considering our situation."
The elder let out a frustrated sigh and wheeled around to face the others. "Whatever, what's today's crisis? And who's the kid?"
"Death Junior," said Dean, earning him another glare from Kid while Bobby froze on his seat.
"…What?"
"Evening, Mr Singer." The boy politely said. Bobby gave a confused side-glance to the brothers. "My name is Death the Kid. I'm a Grim Reaper and my father is Death."
Bobby remained silent, looking back and forth between the brothers, kid and angel. "What?"
"Pretty much what Wednesday Adams over there said," Dean explained, ignoring Kid's scowl with proficiency that only years of practice could provide.
"…So…,"Bobby spoke up. "Your daddy is Death and you're Little Death… You're both Grim Reapers…"
The boy's frown deepened at the 'Little Death' comment, but he let it pass. "Yes, you're correct."
"Wasn't the ritual in order to unleash Death only?" asked Bobby
Kid tilted his head in confusion. "Unleash? Father and I were not restrained anywhere."
"You mean you've... been on Earth this whole time?" Sam uttered.
"Um, yes?" Kid replied in confusion. "Where else would we be?"
"Isn't your dad the angel of death?"
Kid scrunched his face. "Ridiculous. Neither Father nor I are angels. We're Grim Reapers."
"So you weren't chained in a box 600 feet under?"
Any form of composure the boy had left crumbled as he let out a frustrated, "What-No! Where did you get this information?!"
The older man shrugged. "…The Bible."
"Oh for crying out loud-!"
"So, what are you and daddy doing usually?" Sam asked.
"Please, be more respectful towards my father," the boy said as he sat down on the nearest armchair.
"Sure thing, answer the question-"
The boy paused, giving the two humans a calculating look. "If it matters to you so much, we've set up residence in a small town."
"Which one?" Dean quickly asked.
"I'm not stupid Winchester. I'm not telling you-"
"Now why is that?" Sam piped in.
"If I'm correct you're hunters. So, even though you are helping people by taking out certain individuals that step out of line, you also harbour a rather unreasonable hatred for all supernatural beings, which includes me. Therefore, I'm not telling you any more than what you need to know."
Dean gave Kid a sardonic smirk. "You're scared?"
"I'm cautious. If I told you and you came after me or father, some people could get hurt. I don't want that." Kid sat up. "I'm going to get some fresh air. Dealing with you is infuriating."
"You're one to talk," Sam muttered as the reaper exited the room.
The moment the door shut, the younger Winchester turned to the rest of the group. "Why would Death have a son anyways?"
Bobby did a double take. "How did he have a son?" he wondered to himself.
"Beats me," Dean shrugged and turned towards the angel. "Got anything Cas?"
The angel of Thursday looked deep in thought, completely ignoring the three humans.
Sam scrunched his eyebrows. "Do you think he could ice the Devil?"
"Death certainly can," Cas interrupted, causing the rest of the humans to look at him, "but I'm not so sure about the child."
"I don't think we should trust him," said Sam.
"Can't say he inspires loyalty," Dean agreed with his brother. He threw a quick look at Bobby, who was looking at the floor intensely deep in thought.
Castiel however seemed to have a different opinion. "It… may not be such a bad idea."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Death and his reapers mostly remain neutral in all matters except souls."
"Exactly. It's too suspicious," Dean threw in his two cents. "Like Sammy said, what if he sells us out?"
"I'm not that stupid."
Dean and Sam whirled around, guns ready, Castiel remained passive, while Bobby clutched his books a bit harder.
At the doorframe stood the Grim Reaper, giving the humans and angel a blank stare.
"How long have you been listening?" Booby asked slowly.
"Long enough. You have loud conversations."
"So then…" Dean gave the teenager a sardonic smirk, "since you're all caught up, how about addressing the elephant in the room?"
"This room doesn't have any elephants," muttered a confused Castiel in the background.
"If you mean my intentions and reasons, I've already told you. I wish to rescue my father and maintain the balance. There's nothing to add."
"Fine then," Dean replied. "And we're not taking you in."
"Then I'll follow you."
"Stalker."
"I don't have much of a choice! You people seem to be the only ones that know anything about this damned mess! I can't turn to father, certainly not to the DWMA, and the angels are part of the 'let's destroy the Earth' group!" sang Kid sarcastically. "I realize you're not thrilled with the prospect of a Grim Reaper joining you, neither am I, but frankly I don't see any other way of helping dad and preventing this world's destruction!"
"Which would be nice and all to believe," Sam remarked, "but there are some holes in your story buddy."
"Yeah," Dean cocked his head to the side, "how did you find about us in the first place?"
"Excuse me?" Kid asked in disbelief
"Castiel over there," Sam cocked his head towards the angel, "zapped us away right before you and your 'dad' were summoned. Which means you saw us for about a split-second. Yet you managed to see us, identify us and track us?" Sam let out a disbelieving laugh. "Grim Reaper or not, you must have had outside help."
Kid's figure tensed. "There are certain ways to find information."
Dean leaned forwards. "Really now? What ways? Do they include an angel-turned-demon called Lucifer?"
"No!" Kid immediately replied before breaking eye contact. "…I made a promise to not reveal their identities."
"Whose identities?" Dean continued with his line of questioning.
"The ones who told me about the Winchester brothers, namely you."
"Such a crying shame for them. I want to know who it was. Now," Dean demanded.
Kid looked visible uncomfortable. "That may not be the best of ideas."
Dean cocked his gun. "Don't care. Names. Now."
Kid shot Dean a quick look. "Fine," he said with clenched teeth. "They were a mother and daughter." The three humans paled. "I believe their names were Ellen and Joanna Harvelle-"
Dean picked up the child by the collar and slammed him to into the wall, gun shoved at the creature´s temple. "Pick your next words very carefully."
"Let me go!" Kid trashed in the hunter's grasp. "This is the exact reason why I didn't tell you who they were!"
"Jo and Helen are dead!"
"I know that!"
"Then how did they talk to you?!"
"Grim Reaper! Fucking think!" Kid hissed. "Now put me down before I break your arm."
"Dean…" said Sam worried
The elder Winchester threw a seething glare at the Grim Reaper who countered with a scowl. Eventually, the hunter let Kid out of his gasp, the boy landing gracefully despite the chokehold he was in a few seconds ago.
"Did…" Bobby spoke up, causing everyone in the room to look at him. "Helen and Jo… Did they tell you anything else?"
"The mother told me the Winchesters were the ones to talk to if I wanted to take down Lucifer, whereas the daughter helpfully informed me about your violent tendencies," Kid asserted calmly, fixing the hem of his sleeves.
"Yeah, but did they tell you anything to…" Sam gulped, "tell to us?"
Kid stared at the man and his pose mellowed out. "Were they your friends?"
Sam opened his mouth to reply, but quickly closed it again and looked away.
"Doesn't matter." Glancing at his sofa, he saw Kid giving him a weird look. "What?"
The kid practically jumped "Oh, uh… nothing."
"They were like family," Sam said, ignoring Dean's surprised look. "Which is why you're done for, if you're lying about them, Grim Reaper or not."
Kid's eyes softened and he avoided eye contact. "Oh, I see. I… apologize for intruding." He paused for a few seconds."…They did tell me that if they saw you anytime soon, you'd all be in a world of pain."
Dean snorted. "Of course they said that."
Another silence fell between them.
Sam noticed a dark red patch on Kid's shirt, up at the right shoulder. "You're hurt?"
The Reaper shifted his shoulder and took a brief look at the stain. "Oh, I'd forgotten about that. It seems to have reopened again from all the sudden movement." The boy's face fell. "And now my clothes are in a worst shape, if possible."
"Well, shit. Sit down Kid. You don't want to pass out among a batch of hunters, do ya?"
Kid snorted. "I'd like to think your reasoning skills are developed enough to recognize that I'm not a threat, but actually trying to help you."
"We'll see about that." Sam muttered from the side-lines.
"But, you're right. I think it's best if I sit..." Kid murmured and sat on the bed. Meanwhile the dark patch of red expanded across the dark fabric, some blood making its way through the fibre and dripping down on the boy's lap.
"You may want to get that looked. It looks like you're losing a lot of blood."
"If you're going to play nurse, then I'm not needed here. Call me if you need me." Bobby gave a pointed look to the Winchesters before turning to Castiel. "Think you can zap me back?"
"Yes," the angel said. "I'm… sorry for the lack of warning."
Bobby accepted the apology with a nonchalant shake of his head. The angel touched the human's shoulder and they disappeared. In the meantime Kid had taken off his jacket, revealing a less torn, but blood-soaked shirt that may have been white in its prime time. The upper parts of the connecting point between the sleeve and torso were, strangely, both torn through; the sleeves hang loosely at the boy's thin frame and revealing the wound on his right shoulder.
Dean flinched at seeing the wound. Rivets of blood ran down the mangled flesh, like someone tried to claw the boy's arm off.
"How did you get that?"
"Overzealous demons," Kid huffed. "They thought it was a good idea to pick a fight with a Grim Reaper,".
Sam glanced at the plastic container on the coffee table he'd used earlier. "I don't think we have enough disinfectant."
The boy shook his head. "I'm fine. The wound will heal in a few hours, they always have," he said, lifting his arm for a closer inspection. "That being said, I bleed a lot, so bandages would be great to avoid making a mess."
The Winchesters looked at each other hesitantly. Finally, Sam spoke up, "I'll go get the bandages," he said as he headed towards the bathroom.
"Thank you."
"Just so we're clear," Dean said, gun still pointed at the Reaper. "We may have teamed up for now, but that doesn't make us friends. You try to pull something and you'll regret it."
Sam returned to the room with a small batch of bandages.
"Duly noted."
A/N: And the prologue is done! No one has died yet, so that's an achievement in the SPN fandom :P