Kevin Tran was running; the maniacal laughter of a plethora of demons echoing around him.
Surrounding him.
Consuming him.
He felt the heat of the flames of hell at his back, sharp, searing pain in his legs as the bony fingers of tortured souls clawed at him. Threatening to force him to the ground. He kicked and thrashed and shouted. Trying desperately to break free from his pursuers, and the creatures underfoot.
He heard his name being chanted, over and over again, felt hands gripping his face, his shoulders. The sudden sting of a slap.
He sat bolt upright, his entire body shaking, convulsing with the remnants of fear and adrenaline.
Dean Winchester was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding the prophet by his shoulders, face filled with concerned and fear of his own."Kevin? Kevin are you with me?"
The prophet nodded slowly, allowing himself the time to get oriented. He could still feel the heat at his back and the faint sound of laughter. "The- The- The demons. Can-" He was out of breath, his heart racing. "Can you hear them?"
The hunter shook his head and frowned. "It was a nightmare buddy. You're alright now."
Kevin shook his head and lurched forward vomiting neatly into the waste bin beside his bed. Dean rubbed soothing circles on his back until he was finished, and then simply held him to his chest until the shakes lessened, morning encouraging words all the while.
When the prophet could speak again, there were tears in his eyes, and his cheeks were pink with embarrassment. "Look, Dean, I'm sorry. "
The hunter patted the young man's back reassuringly. "You're alright man. We've all been here."
He stood, one arm wrapped around the prophet as he helped him to the bathroom, setting him onto the toilet before dampening a cloth with cool water. He gently dabbed at Kevin's skin, meeting no resistance from the boy as he cleaned his face and hands. "Do you want me to continue, or would you rather me draga chair in here so that you an take a shower?"
The prophet sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "What's the point if I'm just going to wake up in the middle of another nightmare?"
The hunter nodded and opened the bathroom door. "I understand if you don't want to, but it'll make you feel better." He pointed behind him. "I'm going to clean your room up and then go check on Sammy. You need anything else right now?"
Kevin shook his head slowly.
"Alright then." The hunter left and went about stripping Kevin's bed of the sweat soaked sheets and replacing them with new ones, and then dealing with the mess in the waste bin.
He was halfway finished when he heard the sound of running water come from the bathroom. Th hunter nodded to himself and left the room.
The moment that he stepped into Sam's room he noticed the difference. The bedside lamp was clicked off, where he had left it on, and the frm of his brother had moved from the still pank of a corpse to the srt of sprawled out facedown position that usual accompanied the younger Winchester in sleep.
The hunter smiled at this and retreated back into the hallway, leaving the door open a crack more out of habit than any genuine concern.
Sam would recover.
He had too.
That lead Dean to the next item on his list of things to do.
Sleep.
And since that wasn't going to happen, he may as well call Charlie.
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind did his other-other phone buzz in his back pocket. "Sonofabitch." He slid his thumb across the screen and was met with the squealing of tires and the sound of horns honking. "Charlie?"
"I'm here. Just some moron trying to cut me off." Dean rolled his eyes and huffed slightly.
"Watch it or you're going to get yourself killed."
"What are you my father?"
The hunter bit the inside of his jaw and put his hand on his hip. "Listen, a lot of shit's gone down Charlie and I wanted to-"
"Check on me? Yea-" More tire squeal and honking. "I figured as much, what with the Angels falling from heaven and all."
Dean's jaw fell open as he wracked his brain for any way that the women could have know that. "How did you-"
"I follow Nasa on Tumblr. I would have been aware of any sort of meteor shower period. Let alone one that absolutely massive. All it took was my hacking the CIA database to uncover the original military photographs of the meteorites to see that they were Angels. I would say that I saw it on the news, but you know how quickly things get covered up anymore."
The hunter found himself nodding, despite the fact that she couldn't see him. "Yes well. Where are you heading?"
"To your place. I figure that the safest place to stay is in the impenetrable Winchester Hobbit Hole."
Again he nodded. "I'd be gad for the helping hand. Sam's gotten worse and Kevin is having-"
"Kevin? As in the prophet Kevin? Is he alright?"
"He's having Nightmares."
"What about Cas?"
Once more Dean felt the lump forming in his throat and the bottom fall from his stomach. "He's a. Well dammit he was an Angel wasn't he?"
There was a moment of tense silence across the line. "Look Dean, I know how much he meant to you and-"
He cut her off. "Not no, okay? Just get here. Safely, and then we will go from there."
There was a quiet "Alright." from across the line and the sound of a deep breath. "See you in a few Captain."
Dean smiled softly. "At ease, Lieutenant."
There was a breathy laugh before the line clicked off. Leaving the hunter to wander the bunker alone with his thoughts.
SPNSPNSPNSPN
Charlie Bradbury tossed her phone into the passenger seat of her car and angrily wiped the tears from her eyes.
It was one thing to know factually that your friends, well, your family had been hurt. It was another to hear Just how much pain they were feeling.
She pressed the accelerator to the floor and wove through the late afternoon traffic, desperate to reach her family and maybe, just maybe, do something to make it right.
SPNSPNSPNSPN
It was nearly night again before Castiel had staggered from the forest straight into the center of a small town. Exhausted for the first time in his life, he was driven forward by his intense need for atonement.
Ever the soldier, he knew that the first thing that should be on his agenda is to strategize.
His stomach, however, did not agree with him.
For the first time since Famine stuck, he felt the intense gnawing of hunger inside of him. He scrounged through his pockets and found a few wadded up bills, left over from his aborted shopping trip.
Oh how long ago that seems.
He shook his head in disgust with himself.
Seeking redemption in semi-liquid confections.
He shuffled the next block until he was sagging against the counter of a 24 hour gas station window.
The young women yelped in fright at the sight of the filthy and disheveled man on the other side of the glass.
"Wha-what do you want?" She slid back from the window, her finger hovering over the panic button.
"I would like to purchase as much..food...as this will allow me."
He laid the crumpled ball of money on the counter and pushed it to the edge of the window, where the woman's hand darted and snagged the bills her hands shaking slightly with fear.
The spread the bills out and was surprised to see three twenty's and a fifty mixed in with a few ones. "Mister, you drunk or something?"
Cas sighed and shook his head. "It has been an...extremely horrific day. I watched my entire family perish in flames, I have no idea what's become of my best friend and his brother." He looked weary off to the side. "And there is no one in heaven left for me to hold out hope for."
When he turned back the woman was frozen still, her frozen wide open and her jaw hanging. She shoved the money and a bag of potato chips through the opening and shook her head. "Ya'll need Jesus." She then proceeded to slam the security grate down, leaving a confused Castiel standing there with one ad filled with money and the other with chips. "I do not understand how my deceased half brother can help me in this situation."
When no response was made simply shrugged and walked away, stuffing the money back into the pockets of his coat before heading of with his newly obtained goods.