Shit it's been forever I am so sorry holy crap I've been writing like hell and kinda forgot completely that I had to, you know, actually update the story too. So this is the last chapter of Alexis being kinda quiet and watching things, starting next chapter she goes off and does her own stuff. But yeah I really love this story and Alexis is one of my favorite characters of mine and who's terrified for the season 9 finale cause I know I am
Everyone went back to Bobby's after whatever they were up to last night; Bobby, Dean, and Alexis when Castiel left and Sam from wherever he went off to. Bobby got right to work, looking through books. Sam took a seat in a chair in a corner opposite Bobby's desk. Dean and Alexis were standing.
"Well, then tell me what else it could be," Sam said.
"Look, all I know is I was not groped by an angel," Dean countered.
"Okay, look, Dean," Sam said. "Why do you think this Castiel would lie about it?"
"Maybe he's some kind of demon," Dean replied. "Demons lie."
"Yeah," Alexis agreed. "The guy seriously didn't know what he was doing. I mean, I shot at him way more than Bobby, but he just let me listen in. He, uh, did this weird sleep thing on Bobby though."
Bobby looked up.
"A demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps... and Ruby's knife?" Sam challenged. "Guys, Lilith is scared of that thing!"
"I seriously doubt an angel would let me listen in to anything," Alexis retorted. "I'm pretty sure they're all more likely to let Bobby listen in than me."
"Didn't he know you?" Dean asked.
Alexis nodded, "It was as if he wasn't supposed to put me to sleep, but he would if I 'didn't behave.' I asked him what was so special about me, and he said he couldn't tell me. I could smell liar on that guy."
"Don't you think that if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one... at some point... ever?" Dean argued.
"Yeah," Sam replied. "You just did."
"I'm trying to come up with a theory here, okay?" Dean said. "Work with me."
"Dean, we have a theory," Sam pointed out.
"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please," Dean retorted.
"Okay, look," Sam argued. "I'm not saying we know for sure. I'm just saying that I think we-"
"Okay, okay," Dean said. "That's the point. We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!"
"You three chuckleheads want to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?" Bobby interrupted. The three of them walked over to Bobby's desk. "I got stacks of lore – Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit."
"What else?" Dean asked.
"What else, what?" Bobby asked.
"What else could do it?"
"Airlift your ass out of the hot box?" Bobby asked. "As far as I can tell, nothing."
"Dean, this is good news," Sam said.
"How?" Dean challenged.
"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap," Sam said. "I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?
"Okay, say it's true," Dean said skeptically. "Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?"
"At this point, Vegas money's on yeah," Bobby said.
"I don't know, guys," Dean said.
"Okay, look," Sam said. "I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, but this is becoming less and less about faith and more and more about proof."
"Proof?" Dean repeated.
"Yes," Sam confirmed.
"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally?" Dean retorted. "I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"Because why me?" Dean countered. "If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?"
"Dean-"
"I mean, I've saved some people, okay?" Dean kept going. "I figured that made up for the stealing and the ditching chicks. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy."
"Apparently, you're a regular guy that's important to the man upstairs," Sam pointed out.
"Well, that creeps me out," Dean said. Alexis chuckled. "I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by... God."
"Okay, well, too bad, Dean," Sam said. "Because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat."
"Fine," Dean said. "What do we know about angels?"
"Based on the guy I just met," Alexis said. "Douches."
Bobby picked up a pile of thick, heavy-looking books and dropped them on the table in front of Dean.
"Start reading," he said.
Dean looked at the pile of books, then looked at Sam. "You're gonna get me some pie." He grabbed the top book of the pile. He turned to Alexis. "You gonna help or not?"
She shrugged, "It depends what you mean by help. If you want me to sit down and read all that, then no way."
"Then what are you going to do?" he countered. "It doesn't take two people to go get pie."
"I'm going to try talking to the thing again," she said. "I'm going to go back there and ask it some questions."
"Bad idea," Bobby said. "You'll help best right now by reading."
She frowned, "Gah, I hate reading." But she sat down on the couch with a book and began reading.
By the time Sam got back, Alexis had gone through two books and was working on her third. It was all the same boring stuff, if there was anything worth anything at all. Bobby closed her book for her.
"Alright, get off the couch," he said. "We're going somewhere."
"Oh thank god," she breathed in relief as she stood up. "That was frying my brain."
Dean and Alexis followed Bobby out of the house and to the impala, where Bobby was telling Sam where they were going. Alexis didn't know where they were going, but it was better than being stuck reading all day.
Dean walked up to the driver's side as Bobby moved to his own car. Alexis slid into the backseat.
"Scoot over," Dean said. Sam moved to the passenger's seat and Dean got in the driver's seat. He grabbed the bag of food Sam bought and looked in it. "Dude?"
"Yeah?" Sam asked.
"Where's the pie?"
Alexis had to hold in a laugh at how angry Dean got at just missing his pie. "Hey Sammy?" she asked. "Did you get my chocolate bar?" Sam reached into the bag and tossed a chocolate bar into the backseat for her. "You're a life saver."
"How come you remember hers?" Dean accused.
"Because cravings are probably the worst feeling in the world," she replied, happily taking a bite of the chocolate.
They drove to the house of one of Bobby's hunter friends, Olivia. Bobby went in first, gun ready. Sam, Dean, and Alexis followed. Something felt wrong. Not just "this woman's probably dead" wrong, but "the circumstances in which this woman died are seriously not good" wrong.
"Olivia?" Bobby called out.
The woman was dead on the floor, covered in blood. Bobby walked away, out of the room.
"Bobby?" Dean asked, making sure his friend was okay.
"Salt line," Sam said, pointing to a line of salt all around the room.
"Shit," was all Alexis said in response.
Dean picked up an EMF reader from the ground. "Olivia was rocking the EMF meter," he said.
"Spirit activity," Sam said with a nod.
"Yeah – on steroids," Dean retorted. "I never seen a ghost do this to a person." Bobby reentered the room with his phone in his hand.
"Bobby, you alright?" Dean asked.
"I called some hunters nearby..." Bobby started.
"Good," Dean interrupted. "We can use their help."
"...except they ain't answering their phones either," Bobby finished.
"Something's up, huh?" Sam asked.
"You think?" Bobby asked.
"No, perfectly normal," Alexis retorted.
Bobby left the room and Sam, Dean, and Alexis exchanged looks.
"We should try calling people," Dean suggested.
Alexis nodded, "I'll try to contact Jo."
"I got Ellen," Sam said.
"I'll talk to Jed," Dean finished.
The three of them pulled out their phones. Alexis scrolled through her contact list until she found Jo's number. Well, one of them. It was the one she was most likely to be using. She called the number and waited as the phone rang out. She tried Jo's second contact number.
"Hello?" Jo asked.
"Jo," Alexis said, relieved. "It's Alexis."
"Oh, hey Lexi," Jo said. "Is something wrong?"
"We just wanted to check up on you," Alexis replied. "There's something going on around where we are; hunters are just dropping. We're running checks on people."
"What about my mom?" Jo asked, sounding worried. Alexis shot Sam a questioning look. He nodded.
"She's fine," Alexis said. "Sam checked up on her."
"Thanks for checking in," Jo said. "Gotta go find this vamp now, been tracking it for three days."
"Knock him dead," Alexis said. "Catch up with you later."
"See you around." Alexis closed her phone and gave Sam a thumbs up.
"We're going to Jackson," Dean said as the three of them finished their calls. "I got nothing from Jed. Jo and Ellen are fine, right?" Sam and Alexis nodded. "Alright, Jackson it is then."
The drive was boring, quiet, and tense. Alexis was able to get a little bit of sleep, but it was restless. They got to the house and didn't even bother knocking. Dean picked the lock and the three of them went in, rock salt shots ready for fire.
The whole house was a mess. Salt was thrown all over the place, looking like both barriers and weapons. They rounded a corner to see a bloodied body on the ground with its chest ripped out. A gun was lying next to the body, covered in blood.
"Is that Jed?" Alexis asked. She didn't know the guy, but it was a pretty simple guess.
"Yeah," Dean said. "Whatever got him was not happy with him."
"Yeah, no kidding," Sam agreed. "It looks like a ghost rhino got mad or something."
"Do rhinos even have ghosts?" Alexis asked. Sam shrugged.
The three of them left the house as Dean called Bobby.
"We're in Jackson," he said. "It's not pretty. He looks even worse than Olivia. What about you?" He paused for a minute to hear what Bobby had to say. "What the hell is going on here, Bobby? Why did a bunch of ghosts suddenly want to gank off-duty hunters?" He paused again. "We're on our way."
"Back to Bobby's?" Sam asked. Dean nodded and the three of them got back in the impala. Sam was driving, which surprised Alexis a little bit. Then she remembered that Sam had been the driver for the past four months. About halfway through the drive, they stopped at a service station for gas, food, and restroom breaks. Dean was already asleep in the passenger seat. Sam put the pump in the car and left it there to go inside, and Alexis went in with him. He went to the restroom as Alexis looked for something to eat. She grabbed a tin of peanuts, an apple, a bottle of water, and a bar of chocolate and made her way to the register. She paid for the food and walked out with a quick smile to the cashier.
On her way out, she heard a crash from the men's room. She sighed and ran out to the car to wake Dean up. Whatever was going on, she was not going into the men's bathroom. Sorry Sam, she thought. I'm not going that far.
She woke Dean up.
"What?" he snapped. Well wasn't he just Mr. Grumpypants if he didn't get enough sleep.
"Something happened to Sam," she replied.
"Well why the hell didn't you go help him?!" he asked, grabbing his gun and getting out of the car.
"Sorry for having the decency to not barge into the men's room," she retorted in response.
"Just stay in the car."
Alexis sighed and sat in the back seat, munching on her apple as Dean rushed in to help Sam. She didn't particularly want to run into the men's room with guns blazing. It wasn't her style.
Sam and Dean got back in the car and Dean started driving. He had his phone out. Sam was sitting in the passenger seat, looking pretty bruised up.
"Dammit, Bobby!" Dean snapped, giving his phone the evil eye. "Pick up!" He turned to Sam. "How you feeling, huh? How many fingers am I holding up?"
"None," Sam replied as Dean didn't remove either of his hands from the steering wheel. "I'll be fine, Dean."
"Henriksen?" Dean asked, making sure he heard right before.
"Yep," Sam replied.
"Wait, Dad?" Alexis asked. "Seriously? Damn, that's not good."
"Why?" Dean asked. "What did he want?"
"Revenge," Sam replied. "'Cause we got him killed."
"Sam," Dean scolded.
"Well, we did," Sam defended.
"Alright, stop right there," Dean said. "Whatever the hell is going on, it's happening to us now, okay? I can't get a hold of Bobby, so if you're not thinking answers, don't think at all."
"But I like thinking," Alexis pouted.
"So think answers," Dean snapped, irritated.
"What's wrong, Grumpy?" she retorted. "Dad's ghost freaking you out? Think about it. Vengeful spirit. Pretty gruesome death. Fits the bill."
"But he shouldn't have been able to be there," Dean replied. "He didn't get blown up in that gas station. And we don't have an object that was there that he could be haunting."
"That's the best I got," she replied. "And it's a start."
They got to Bobby's house the next day, and walked in with guns ready.
"Bobby?" Dean asked tentatively. Alexis saw an iron poker carelessly thrown on the ground. Dean gestured to the stairs. "I'll go. Sam, you check outside. Alexis, stay here on the first floor."
Sam nodded and turned back through the front door and Dean went up the stairs. Alexis stalked into the next room and did a visual sweep, the gun following her line of sight. Not seeing any immediate danger, she walked further into the room. It was empty, or at least it seemed empty. Carefully, one by one, she opened every cabinet, closet, and drawer in the room. She checked under everything that could be checked under. When she was absolutely sure the room was empty, she moved on to the next room.
When she entered the next room, the door behind her slammed shut. She whirled around, but no one was there. She cocked her gun.
"Come out," she ordered. "I know you're there."
"Hi Alexis." She turned around, and her eyes widened.
"Ronald?" she asked.
Alexis and Sam exchanged surprised looks as they got on their knees along with Dean. She had to give Ronald a bit of credit, it wasn't exactly an easy task to track down a shifter the way he did. He really did a good job.
"Did you know you were the reason for the number of SWAT team members at the bank?" he asked. Alexis said nothing; she was too shocked to. "The man that shot me wouldn't have been there if you weren't in the bank."
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said.
"There were twice as many authorities there because you were the FBI's daughter."
She didn't respond with words, but instead fired rock salt, dispelling the ghost.
"Shit," she breathed. "This is going to be an interesting day."
She left the room to continue searching for Bobby. In the next room, she saw Henriksen behind her in a mirror. She turned around.
"Hi Lex," he said.
"Hi Dad," she said softly, but she was prepared to shoot if she needed to.
Ronald had been shot by the SWAT team through the window. The phone rang, and Dean picked it up. He sounded eerily angry in a calm way as he spoke to the FBI agent over the phone. He gave Alexis a strange look before handing the phone to Alexis.
"Hello?" she asked tentatively.
"Alexis," came a stern voice in reply.
"D-Dad?!" she asked. Dean looked at her in shock. Alexis gave him a wide-eyed 'I swear I did not lead him here.' "Um…"
"How many times?" he asked.
"How many times what?" she asked back.
"D.R.I.B.," he replied. She sighed. They actually had an acronym. It was so stupid. It was a safety measure in the family. DRIB stood for four 'how many times,' each a different thing. It stood for 'Drugged, Raped, Injured, Bait.'
"None, Dad" she sighed. Dean gave her a questioning look and she rolled her eyes pointedly.
"D.R.I.B.," she said softly before shooting the ghost with the rock salt. "Dad: zero zero one zero."
The four of them found their way back to Bobby's study, salting the doorlines and the windowsills.
"So, they're all people we know?" Sam asked.
"Not just know," Dean replied. "People we couldn't save. Hey, I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"
"I don't think so," Sam said.
"It was like a-a mark on her hand," Dean explained. "Almost like a brand."
"I saw a mark, too," Sam said. "On Henriksen."
"Ron had one," Alexis pointed out. "I just didn't really think much of it."
"What did it look like?" Bobby asked.
"Paper?" Sam asked. He grabbed the piece of paper Bobby offered to him and started sketching the mark. "Thanks." Sam held up the drawing for Dean and Alexis to confirm.
"That's it," Dean confirmed while Alexis nodded.
"I may have seen this before," Bobby said. "We got to move. Follow me."
"Okay, where are we going?" Sam asked.
"Some place safe, you idjit," Bobby replied. He picked up some books and led Sam, Dean, and Alexis into a basement room. The room was made entirely of iron. The walls were covered in sigils and devil's traps, just like the warehouse when they met Castiel.
"Bobby, this is…" Sam trailed off.
"Solid iron," Bobby replied. "Completely coated in salt. 100% ghost-proof."
"You built a panic room?" Sam asked.
"I had a weekend off," Bobby defended.
"Bobby," Dean started.
"What?" Bobby asked.
"You're awesome," Dean finished. He looked off to the side. Alexis followed his gaze to see a poster of a swimsuit model. She rolled her eyes. "Oh."
"Bobby, this is seriously amazing," Alexis said. "Probably my favorite place on earth right now."
Sam, Dean, and Alexis got to work making bullets. Sam and Dean were making more rock salt shots, and Alexis was working on forging with iron.
"See, this is why I can't get behind God," Dean said.
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.
"If he doesn't exist, fine," Dean said. "Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason – just random, horrible evil – I get it, okay. I can roll with that. But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?"
"I ain't touching this one with a 10-foot pole," Bobby said.
"He does make a good point," Alexis pointed out. "If there really is a God out there, he needs to get off his ass and actually help some people."
"Yeah," Dean agreed.
"Found it," Bobby announced, holding up a book.
"What?" Sam asked.
"The symbol you saw," Bobby replied. "The brand on the ghosts…"
"Yeah?" Sam encouraged.
"Mark of the Witness."
"Witness?" Sam asked. "Witness to what?"
"The unnatural," Bobby replied. "None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts – they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them… on purpose."
"Who?" Sam asked.
"Do I look like I know?" bobby retorted. "But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It's called 'the rising of the witnesses.' It figures into an ancient prophecy."
"Wait, wait," Dean said. "What – what book is that prophecy from?"
"Well, the widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know," Bobby said. "But long story short – Revelations. This is a sign, boys."
"A sign of what?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.
"The apocalypse."
"Apocalypse?" Dean confirmed. "The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?"
"That's the one," Bobby replied. "The rise of the witnesses is a – a mile marker."
"But I don't want the world to end," Alexis pouted. "It's the only world we've got."
"Exactly," Bobby said.
"Okay, so, what do we do now?" Sam asked.
"Road trip," Dean replied. "Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience. Bunny Ranch."
"Shouldn't we focus on stopping this?" Alexis pointed out. "Instead of just driving around doing fun things, we should try to prevent it."
"Yeah yeah," Dean said with a wave of his hand.
"First things first," Bobby said. "How about we survive our friends out there?"
"Great," Dean said. "Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgment Day?"
"It's a spell," Bobby said, motioning to the paper in front of him. "To send the witnesses back to rest. Should work."
"Should," Sam said. "Great."
"It's better than 'definitely won't,'" Alexis pointed out.
"If I translate it correctly," Bobby continued. "I think I got everything we need here at the house."
"Any chance you got everything we need here in this room?" Dean asked.
"So you thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden?" Bobby retorted. "Spell's got to be cast over an open fire."
"The fireplace in the library," Sam said.
"Bingo," Bobby replied.
"That's just not as appealing as a ghost-proof panic room, you know?" Dean said.
"You're just lazy right now, aren't you?" Alexis asked. Dean shrugged. Everyone grabbed a weapon and stood around the door.
"Cover each other," Bobby ordered. "And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you. Ready?"
They made their way out of the room and towards the stairs. Ronald's ghost appeared on the stairs.
"Hey, Dean," he said. "You remember me?" Alexis readied her gun.
"Ronald, huh?" Dean asked. "With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it's good to see you."
"I am dead because of you," Ronald replied. "You were supposed to help me!" Bobby shot him and the ghost dispelled.
"If you're gonna shoot, shoot," he scolded. "Don't talk."
The four of them made their way to the living rom. Sam created a salt circle and Dean started the fire.
"Upstairs," Bobby told Sam. "Linen closet – red hex box. It'll be heavy."
"Got it," Sam said and rushed off.
"Two girls appeared in the living room in front of the three remaining hunters.
"Bobby," one of them said. Dean and Alexis shot simultaneously, each one's shots hitting one of the girls.
"Kitchen," Bobby said. "Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood."
"Opium?" Dean asked.
"Go!" Bobby ordered.
Dean made a break for the kitchen and the girls appeared again. Bobby was drawing with chalk on the desk and tried to block out the girls. Alexis whirled around and shot Ronald.
"Bobby," one of the girls said as Alexis shot at Henriksen. "You walked right by us while that monster ate us all up."
"You could have saved us," the other one said. Alexis shot at Meg and turned to shoot the two girls, only to see Bobby holding a smoking gun. The two of them nodded at each other and Alexis took a protective step towards Bobby as Henriksen and Ronald reappeared.
She shot at them and turned, shooting at Meg.
"Shit," she breathed. "There are too many." Sam and Dean burst back into the library with their ingredients.
They gave their ingredients to Bobby and reloaded their guns. Ronald appeared.
"Ronald," Dean said. "Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals."
"That's when I was breathing," Ronald replied. "Now I'm gonna eat you alive."
"Well… come on," Dean joked. "I'm not a cheeseburger."
Dean cocked his gun and pointed it at Ronald, but Alexis had already taken the shot. Bobby recited the beginning of the Latin spell and the windows blew open. The wind broke the salt line, stripping them of all their protection. Meg appeared, and Sam shot before she could move. Bobby kept working on the spell. Ronald appeared, and Alexis shot at him again. It became almost rhythmic as the ghosts appeared and were dispelled with the shots. Henriksen knocked Dean's gun out of his hands while he was reloading. Alexis pointed her gun at her adopted father as Dean shot an empty gun. He picked up an iron rod and dispelled the ghost as Alexis turned and shot the girls. Meg pushed Sam up against a wall, trapping him with a desk. He couldn't move it no matter how hard he tried.
"Sam!" Dean yelled.
"Cover Bobby!" Sam ordered.
Alexis turned to shoot at Meg, but Ronald knocked her down from behind, her gun skittering to the other side of the room. She grabbed a handful of salt from the ground and flung it at the ghosts.
Bobby continued with the spell as Sam continued struggling with the desk. Alexis was crawling her way towards her gun with fistfuls of salt to protect herself. The two girls were sitting on the desk Sam was trapped behind. Meg stuck her hand into Bobby's back, making him drop the bowl.
"Dean!" he yelled. Dean caught the bowl. "Fireplace!"
Dean threw the bowl in the fire, which turned blue. The ghosts all vanished. Bobby fell to the ground and Alexis stood up.
"Bobby?" Dean asked. Sam pushed the desk away and the three of them helped Bobby stand up. The older hunter nodded, indicating that he was okay.
The four of them got to work, cleaning up the house. Alexis swept up the salt and put it in several vials. After the house was at least semi-clean, Sam crashed on the couch and Dean drifted off on the floor. Alexis couldn't sleep, so she stayed up reading on angels.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Alexis wasn't aware of the time, Dean got up and went to the kitchen. Alexis stood up and followed him to find Castiel in the kitchen.
"Excellent job with the witnesses," the angel praised.
"You were hip to all this?" Dean asked angrily.
"I was, uh, made aware," Castiel replied.
"Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance," Dean retorted. "You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest."
"But you didn't," Castiel pointed out.
"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians," Dean said. "Fluffy wings, halos – you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks." Alexis chuckled.
"Read the Bible," Castiel said. "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."
"Good job with that," Alexis retorted.
"Yeah?" Dean challenged. "Then why didn't you fight?"
"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder," Castiel said. "We had larger concerns."
"Concerns?" Dean repeated. "There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is you t boss, huh, if there is a God?"
"There's a God," Castiel confirmed.
"Don't expect me to believe it," Alexis snorted.
"I'm not convinced," Dean agreed. "'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?"
"The Lord works," Castiel started.
"If you say 'mysterious ways', so help me, I will kick your ass," Dean interrupted. "So, Bobby was right… about the witnesses. This is some kind of a… sign of the apocalypse."
"That's why we're here," Castiel said. "Big things are afoot."
"Do I want to know what kind of things?" Dean asked.
"I know I don't," Alexis muttered.
"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know," Castiel said. "The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."
"Okay, I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld," Dean joked.
"Those seals are being broken by Lilith," Castiel explained.
"She did the spell," Dean confirmed. "She rose the witnesses."
"Mm-hmm," Castiel nodded. "And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead."
"Of course," Dean said. "She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."
"Lilith has a certain sense of humor," Castiel said.
"Well, we put those spirits back to rest," Dean pointed out.
"It doesn't matter," Castiel said. "The seal was broken."
"Why break the seal anyway?" Dean asked.
"You think of the seals as locks on a door," Castiel explained.
"Okay," Dean said. "Last one opens and…"
"Lucifer walks free," Castiel finished.
"Lucifer?" Dean asked. "But I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."
"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me," Castiel pointed out. "Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?"
"To stop Lucifer," Dean said.
"That's why we've arrived," Castiel said.
"Well… bang up job so far," Dean said. "Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice."
"We tried," Castiel defended. "And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in."
"You touch him again-" Alexis started, but Castiel vanished.