So, have to admit I'm a bit disappointed by the lack of reviews, not even someone flaming me and telling me that they're bored of this. I've started though, so I'll finish. I want to get this done before the show comes back in September and Kripke takes up where he left off. I want my head clear for that.
There's too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And there's not much love to go around
Can't you see this is a land of confusion?
Sam knows that this is a mistake, that travelling with Cassidy, who has no real hands on experience with the hunt, will more than likely spell trouble later on, but for now she is all that he has, because he needs back up and much as he would like to have Dean with him for that, he knows that they need the allies too, and Castiel cannot really be left to his own devices in the world just yet. So they take what they can get and if that means that he has to go in with a complete novice when he would rather have experience, then so be it. He simply has to hope that his luck will not run true to form.
So they get in a car and they drive, they drive until neither one of them can see straight and then they find themselves a motel and check into two separate rooms and after so long having Dean and Castiel in the room with him, and even before that Ruby, being on his own is strange. He does not sleep well that night.
He does not sleep all that well the next night either, too accustomed to the sound of other people being in the room, soft snores and hushed movements, the rustle of another shifting under blankets and the pad of restless feet. He will adapt, he is good at it, has been doing it all his life, and soon he will go back to the sleeping patterns he has become used to almost since Jessica was killed, a few hours snatched here and there. For the moment, however, he is not sleeping well and it is clear to him, by the time they reach their destination, that Cassidy is not either and he is fairly certain that he knows why.
Cassidy is dealing with death, and though he is certain that she is no stranger to losing friends and acquaintances, she is also dealing with the disappearance of a brother that she has relied on for the last eight years. It does not come as a surprise to Sam that she wants to take a more active role in trying to find a solution to the world's current predicament, she needs to take her mind off what has happened to her, how her life and her world have been turned upside down by the simple death of one man at the hands of angels. Two years ago, Sam would not have believed that angels were capable of such things, would have laughed at the person telling him such tales. Now he cannot believe that he was so blind.
For now, however, both are tired and neither is in a place where getting into the church and taking a look at the place to try to find the information they need is going to be easy. Sam yawns, the wide, all consuming, mouth open and throw your head back kind and he hears Cassidy chuckle at it as she guides the car into a motel parking lot, taking the keys, she never lets him have them, and going to the desk while he uncurls himself from the passenger seat.
The fact that she does not let him have the keys tells him that she does not trust him, which is really not a surprise because Sam does not really trust himself these days, let alone many other people. Still, it hurts to think that she is concerned that he will drive off and leave her alone in an unfamiliar town. This is not to say that he trusts her one hundred percent, he has learnt his lesson there about trusting people, even if he knows that she is not Ruby and she is not the angels and she has as much interest in making sure that they save the world as he does. Perhaps, he thinks, this is another reason why he is not sleeping so well.
They sleep and clean up, taking their time, before heading to the church, neither visibly armed but Sam knows that if he is carrying a knife and a gun, Cassidy will have one somewhere about her person as well. He is not sure if that is comforting or concerning, but he knows that he has to trust her to have his back or if anything goes wrong he will not have a chance of getting out of it alive.
He hopes that she understands that as well.
When they go to the church the next morning, Cassidy has opted for a light dress, her hair pulled back and caught with a silver clasp. Certainly far more suitable than the torn jeans and lose shirt she had been wearing the day before, even though Sam still wears his jeans, he has chosen a button down shirt and when they step inside the building it is almost like they are stepping into a sanctuary from the chaos and mayhem of the war they now find themselves embroiled in.
The church seems to have been there for so long that it is almost a part of the land itself rather than a building of wood and mud and slate. Even though Sam knows that the peace of the building is built on a lie, it is peaceful nonetheless and he lets himself drink it in for a moment while Cassidy somehow talks their way into the crypt and the ancient books that have been stored there and all but left to rot, not because no one cared about them, but simply because no one really knew what to do with them.
They settle in for the day, silently reading and taking quick moments to compare notes and grab a bite to eat before they throw themselves back into it, pens scratching against paper and the air filled with the musty smell of old books.
Eventually, Cassidy breaks the silence. She has found something, and it is not what they wanted in the slightest.
"And the Righteous man shall bring peace to the Earth, and with that peace shall he usher in the age of Paradise in the eyes of our Father."
SPN
Raphael takes a moment to just think when he leaves Dean and Castiel, takes a moment on a mountain somewhere in Europe and simply looks up at the stars, allowing himself the chance to relax and get his rolling thoughts back under control. Allied with Dean he may be, but a single archangel can do little against the Host of Heaven and he needs to stay where he is, to he trusted by Michael and Gabriel for long enough that he can find some of his brethren willing to support him, to help the Winchesters and to stop the world from ending and Paradise being born in flames.
He is not alone long, however, before Gabriel, in the petite blonde body of a middle aged woman, finds him. Raphael knows what is coming, and, sure enough, Gabriel demands to know where he has been, demands to know what he has been up to for the last several hours and for the first time in his existence, Raphael lies to his brother.
This is the world we live in
And these are the hands we're given
Use them and let's start trying
To make it a place worth living in
Reviews are little Castiels that fly above our heads and mini Deans under the bed. A small Sam in hand and a tiny John by the chair, a review that can show how much you care.
Artemis
