I'm able to update quickly right now because I have a lot pre-written (15k) and I am still on semester break from University.

Expect updates to slow down after next week.

IV: And So it Begins

"Y'know, usually I go months without seein' you two, and now you're on my doorstep again for second time in a week. If I didn't know better I'd say you're getting' sentimental."

"Ha ha, Bobby" Dean retorted sarcastically, rolling his shoulders. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to be, but I just wasn't going to find the parts for Baby otherwise."

"Sentimental, I knew it" Bobby replied, smirking to himself, and Dean grunted as he walked off to go search for parts.

"So, how you two holdin' up anyway?" Bobby asked, looking at the taller brother, who was now leaning against a hunk of twisted metal that was once a car.

"Good. Yeah, we're good. Dealt with a spirit before the Impala started playing up…started doing a bit of a research project, too."

Bobby raised his eyebrows, fingers searching for a wrench. He was hunched over the engine of his own car, covered to the elbows in oil. "Research project, huh? Involving what?"

Sam hesitated, shuffling his feet a bit. "Ah, just…y'know, some things. Related to this apocalypse deal. Nothing major."

"Uh huh" Bobby said flatly, rolling his eyes upward. "Come talk to me when you actually want to be upfront about it."

"Look, Bobby—"

"Y'know, I wasn't born yesterday" Bobby muttered, grabbing a rag and beginning to clean off his hands, straightening so he could look at the younger Winchester. "The only relevant thing to pop up recently happened to be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass a week ago. I ain't stupid, Sam."

"Uh—"

"And if you're actually lookin' into it, you won't find hide or hair on them. Fujimoto was a lotta things, and one of them was good at coverin' his tracks."

"Wait…are you saying you know about…them being—?"

"Devil spawn?"

"And you didn't shoot either" Sam said incredulously, raising his eyebrows, and Bobby grunted and through the rag over his shoulder.

"Fujimoto died for those kids, Sam. He was a close friend of mine, had been for as long as he had those two under his wing. I dunno any more than anyone else why he decided not to kill 'em when he was told to, but he risked everything for it."

Bobby sighed, heading toward the house, and Sam trailed along, intent on getting the rest of Bobby's story. "Don't get me wrong, I can't say I approved. You've got your slightly wacko and then you've got your just plain nuts and adopting the Anti-Christs kinda falls into the latter category. No matter what I thought, though—killin' two kids who've done nothing but good when a friend died to keep 'em safe feels kinda like spitting on his grave."

"Do you think they're involved? With the apocalypse?"

"I dunno, is the sky blue?" Bobby retorted, shaking his head. "There's no doubt they're involved. Just how involved remains to be seen. I mean, they're still breathin' even with angels roamin' about, so that's something to consider."

"Good point" Sam huffed, as they reached the back door and Dean caught up with them.

"Bobby, you and your car yard are lifesavers. You've got everything I need. But I gotta let the Impala sit for an hour or so 'til she's cooled down and all her oil's settled. Might as well do a full service on her while I'm here."

"I did service the car while you weren't around, Dean" Sam said, and Dean cocked his head and shrugged.

"If you say so."

The three headed into the kitchen, and Dean immediately looked into Bobby's fridge, his eyes scanning the shelves before plucking out what looked like a casserole.

"This old?"

"Made it last night" Bobby said, walking over to the kitchen's desk. "Help yourself."

"You hungry, Sammy?" Dean asked, waving the tray around. "There's enough in here for you too if you want it."

Sam shook his head. "We had those breakfast burritos on the way in, remember? Honestly I don't know how you're still hungry."

The older brother raised his eyebrows, before shrugging and beginning to scoop out some food onto a plate.

"So, what were you guys talking about?" he asked, licking off his thumb and putting the plate in the microwave.

"Your 'research project'" Bobby huffed, and Dean instantly whirled around, looking at his brother for an explanation.

Shrugging, Sam let out a breath through his nose. "He knows. About the Okumuras, I mean. Apparently he and Fujimoto go way back."

"Oh really?" Dean asked, looking a bit taken aback. "You've never mentioned him."

"Yeah, and like you two idjits know every damn detail of my life" Bobby said, turning the page of a notebook. "He's half the reason I even know Japanese."

Dean looked at Sam, mouthing the word 'how?' and Sam gave him an 'Like I know' look in return, shrugging his shoulders and making an incredulous frowny face.

"So…how'd you know about them, anyway?" Dean asked, folding his arms.

"Y'know, I could be asking you the same thing" Bobby said, raising his eyebrows, before sighing, turning back to the book. "Fujimoto was not the kinda guy who strikes you as paternal, 'specially back then. He was a dick, actually. So the fact he gets promoted after killin' a newborn and then adopts twins kinda seemed a bit suspicious. I didn't get confirmation until about a decade ago, though, when I—"

Bobby's sentence was interrupted by a knock on the front door, a knock that sounded…familiar.

"…speak of the devil" murmured Bobby, smirking slightly. "Did I tell you two I was expecting visitors?"

"Is that—?" Dean asked, pointing in the direction of the door, but Sam had already left to answer it. Dean would have followed, but the microwave beeped and busied himself with fishing out the hot plate and a fork as Sam came back in…through the other hallway.

"Why'd you go that way?" Dean asked, sticking a forkful of food into his mouth before wincing, opening his mouth and taking a few breaths of air to try and cool it down.

"He insisted" Sam said, looking at the taller of the two brothers, who was carrying a stack of papers and had a bit of a disgruntled expression on his face. The older Okumura was standing behind Yukio, peering around into the kitchen and looking at its occupants.

"There's a devil's trap on the library's roof, ya idjits" Bobby muttered.

"Oh" said Dean, looking at Rin. "That explains why Yukio made him stand in the doorway last time, too."

"I would not enjoy breaking a roof- drawn demon trap" Yukio said stiffly, walking over to Bobby with the piles of books. "And older brother would not be pleasant to deal with, if that happen."

Rin said something in Japanese, and Yukio rolled his eyes upward before responding in an annoyed huff.

"He's got a point" Bobby said, and Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Translation?"

"Rin's annoyed that Yukio hasn't been translating everything for him. Yukio's response to that is something about test scores."

"Well Rin did get a zero on his English test" Dean said, shrugging his shoulders before eating another mouthful of casserole.

Yukio just shook his head, placing the books down on the desk and bringing up a puff of dust, before hesitating. "You know…about my brother?" he asked, looking at Bobby.

"Mhmm. No, those two didn't tell me either. I knew your dad" the older man responded, looking up at Yukio. "Enough that I could put two and two together."

"Ah" Yukio said quietly, immediately breaking eye contact with Bobby, and stepping back toward the doorway. "Those are the last books the Order has obtained with that information."

Bobby chuckled quietly, before rifling through them. "Thanks. I'll be sure to return 'em once I have what I need."

Dean raised his eyebrows. That was odd for Yukio, but then again, he wasn't exactly in friendly territory.

Polishing off the plate, he put it in the sink, brushing his hands off on his jeans. "Well, I gotta go work on my car. Nice to see you…two?"

When Dean looked up, both brothers had gone intensely pale, looking out the window with terrified expressions. Without saying a word, both burst straight through the back door and began running as fast as they could.

"What the hell was that?!" asked Sam, looking out through the back door. The hinges had been slightly damaged by Rin throwing it open, and now there was also a hole in the wall.

"Beats me" said Dean, looking just as confused as Sam was. "They looked like they'd seen a ghost, but that is definitely not the reaction either of them would've had to an actual ghost."

"So what the hell did they see?" Sam asked, looking a bit worried. "I mean, I wouldn't blame Yukio for running from certain things, but Rin? Hell…I'm going to catch up with them."

"Hey—" said Dean in a half-hearted protest, but Sam had already left the building and was running in the direction the two had headed off in.

"Why didn't he take a car?!" Dean muttered, shaking his head as he went to follow, only to stop in his tracks as the sound of ruffling wings echoed behind him.

"…I take it you're the reason they just bolted for the hills?" Dean asked, turning to see Castiel.

"Ah. One moment."

"One moment?" Dean retorted, turning his head back to the doorway. "Sam's just gone bolting after them—"

When he turned his head back, he froze, realizing what Castiel had meant by 'one moment'. He now had both brothers in tow, and they were both looking terrified out of their wits.

Rin started babbling something in Japanese, and Castiel sighed lengthily, letting go of their arms and placing a finger to each of their temples.

"…you can have my manga."

"What manga? All the manga you read is my manga, you spend your entire allowance on monja and keep using mine!"

"Oi, I have manga."

Yukio glared at Rin, narrowing his eyes. "The only manga you actually own I don't want anything to do with. If you're getting your fluids all over my manga who knows what you're doing to—"

"Ok time out!" Dean said quickly, suddenly realizing exactly what kind of manga they were referring too. "Did…you do something to make them translate?" Dean asked, looking at Castiel, who nodded.

"Some concepts will not transfer perfectly into English, but angels have a mastery of all languages. With some influence, we can allow others to also partake in this ability. OF course, they had no clue they were being translated into English until you somehow spoke in fluent Japanese."

"Handy" said Dean with a nod, and Rin and Yukio looked at him.

"Did the angel do something?" Rin asked.

"If he did, I don't know why" Yukio said, shaking his head.

"Maybe he's toying with us" Rin suggested.

Castiel sighed. "I am not "toying" with you. During current circumstances, and your involvement within the Knights of the True Cross and the Vatican, we angels will not harm either of you."

"No way" said Rin, stepping back from Castiel. "That's gotta be bullshit! Why the hell would angels want me alive? Last guy I met with angel in his title cut my damn leg off!"

"The behaviour of the current Paladin has nothing to do with our orders. If it were our choice neither of you would be breathing, and it is a sentiment shared by much of the legion. But, as is the case with…others, so long as you remain beneficial and against Satan, Lucifer, and their cause, you will not come to harm."

"I don't think he's lying" Yukio said quietly. "He could've killed both of us when he dragged us up off the bitumen."

Castiel nodded slowly. "My appearance here was to remind you of such, nothing else. Remain useful, and you will be allowed to remain alive."

Castiel vanished again, leaving the Okumuras still pale and shaking slightly. Rin wrung his hands, trying to stop the tremors and shake off the fright Castiel had given him.

"An actual angel" Rin said incredulously. "I can't believe I'm not dead."

"Neither can I" said Dean, looking pretty stunned. "How'd you know he was an angel, anyway? And you knew he was coming before he got here, too."

"Church bells" Rin said. "Like a warning. Plus uh…y'know, the wings?"

Dean looked at Rin and raised his eyebrows. "Castiel doesn't have wings unless he's doing freaky mumbo jumbo shit."

"…I could see them?" Yukio questioned, raising an eyebrow. "That's strange."

"Hey, Dean" Bobby said, finally piping in. "You'd better give Sam a call. He's probably half way to South Carolina by now."

Dean nodded, picking up his phone, only to have the back door open and Sam come back in, panting and looking at the Okumuras with an annoyed expression.

"They were like fifty metres ahead of me, and then they just freakin' disappeared! How the hell—"

"Castiel teleported us back. I think" said Rin, scratching his chin, and Sam's eyes went wide as dinner plates.

"Why are they speaking English?"

"…I'm not speaking English" Rin said. "You're speaking Japanese. Why are you speaking Japanese?"

"I'm not speaking Japanese, I'm speaking English!"

"Castiel put some kind of translator doohickey spell thing on them" Dean interrupted. "So, say good-bye to the language barrier, I guess. Who wants burritos?"

"You just ate!" Sam protested, pushing his hair back before shaking his head. "That does make it easier, though."

"I'll say. And burritos sound great! I've always wanted to try a genuine burrito!"

"…burritos are from Mexico, Rin" Yukio said flatly.

Rin immediately looked confused, his brow bunching up. "…Which state is Mexico?"

"So!" said Bobby, interrupting before Rin continued to dig himself into a pit of stupidity, "just found an interesting report from up in Pennsylvania. Apparently, a girl was found, bloodless, and the one witness swears it's a vampire."

"A real life vampire?!" exclaimed Rin. "Can we go? Please? Oh god I want to ride in the Impala. Please. Please."

"What?" Sam said, immediately shaking his head, "I mean, uh, well—"

"Could be a good lesson" Bobby said, smirking slightly, and Dean and Sam both gave him horrified looks. Yukio raised his eyebrows, looking extremely concerned and a little freaked out by the prospect of his brother coming along on a vampire hunt.

"If Bobby's vouching for us coming that pretty much cinches it, right?" Rin said, grinning widely, and Sam blinked a few times, taking a long, deep breath.

"Look, I know it would be problematic if we were to come along" Yukio said, shaking his head. "You're not obligated in any way to indulge my brother's antics."

"He does use a sword though" said Dean, nodding his head. "Waddya say, Sammy? I think we should give 'em a chance."

The look Sam gave him instantly said 'are you nuts?!', but rather than voicing the sentiment he let out a heavy breath. "Fine."

"I'll make sure Rin doesn't get in the way" Yukio said, folding his arms, and Rin gave him an annoyed look.

"Awesome" said Dean, rubbing his hands together and spinning on his heel. "So, we get these two some fake ID, then burritos."

Yukio gave Bobby a sideways glance that clearly read 'are you sure that was a good idea?', but Bobby merely ignored him.

"This is going to suck" Yukio whispered, drooping like a wilted lettuce.