"Oh thank god." I threw open the door of the car and stood, walking back and forth to stretch my legs. "We need to stop for more breaks."
Dean snickered as he watched me. "You get used to it," he said. I shook my head.
"Come on." Sam pulled the cooler out of the car. "Let's get inside before anyone sees us." He pulled four room cards out of his pocket, handing one to each of us. Together, the four of us approached the motel rooms, Sam leading us to numbers 4 and 5.
"Sam and I will take one room, Lucy and Cas, you take the other," instructed Dean. "No pillow fights."
I rolled my eyes, making sure he saw. Then I jabbed the key card into the door.
The room was nearly identical to the motel room I'd woken up in. I set my bag on the first bed and pulled out a granola bar. We'd eaten on the road a couple of hours ago, but I was hungry again.
"Let's go to Dean and Sam's room," suggested Cas. I nodded and followed him to the next room, checking to make sure that no one was around before slipping in.
Sam already had the computer out, and was looking up the case we'd come to check out. I sat on one of the beds next to Cas while Dean leaned against the wall. It seemed like we were stuck waiting.
"I don't think we're getting anything this way," Sam said a few minutes later. "We'll have to go to the site."
"We need an EMF detector," commented Dean. He scowled at nothing in particular, looking around as though he thought one would appear out of nowhere.
"Can you make one?" I asked.
"Yeah," said Sam. "But we don't have anything to make it with."
"What do you need?" asked Cas. Dean grabbed a pen and paper and jotted down a list, and a moment later the angel was gone.
I turned to the two brothers. "If he has wings, why are we driving everywhere? Why not just fly. It'd be a lot faster."
"Because it messes with my stomach," said Dean. "I hate flying, even if it is by scrawny nerd angels."
I snickered. "Right, afraid to fly. I forgot." I shot him what I hoped was an evil look, and he scowled.
"You two are five year olds," commented Sam.
"But you've got the hair," Dean threw at him.
Dean and I locked eyes. "You hold him down and I'll cut it off?" I suggested. Dean chortled. Sam didn't look amused.
"Here." Cas appeared next to me with an armful of stuff. He dumped it on the bed; wires and little metal pieces and duct tape. Dean grinned and got to work.
"Is there anything I can do?" I asked. I was getting pretty frustrated, not being able to do anything. Dean barely glanced over at me as he responded.
"Nope," he said. "Not much to do right now."
I sighed. "I'll be in my room." I let the door thud shut behind me.
Back in the room I clambered onto my bed and turned on the TV. As I was flipping through the channels Cas came in, closing the door softly behind him. He stood uncertainly in front of the bed, until I looked up at him with raised eyebrows.
"You're mad," he stated.
"I'm frustrated," I corrected him. "I'm useless."
Cas frowned and sat beside me. "That's not true," he said. "You've had good ideas about how to get home."
"None of which are necessarily true," I pointed out.
"They were still good ideas," said Cas.
"Thanks." I turned to face him. "You guys never did say, how did you end up here?"
Cas's eyes unfocused as he recalled what had happened.
"It was an old warehouse in Montana," Cas told me. "I could feel that there was something off with the area, so I went there. There were many demons. I managed to escape and went to Dean and Sam, and we took the warehouse. While we were fighting I could feel something happen, some sort of anomaly, and a moment later one of the demons disappeared. We followed it, and ended up in your school. You know the rest."
I nodded, remembering the sensation of being thrown through the air without ever being touched, of looking into those black eyes. I shook myself out of the memory.
"Well, you should be able to feel when another wormhole opens up then, right?" I asked.
"I don't know," whispered Cas. "I'm cut off from heaven here. I might not be able to."
I reached over and squeezed his arm. "Don't worry," I said. "We'll figure it out."
We were silent for a moment, then I stood, grabbing the pen and paper left on the nightstand and moving to the table. I pulled my legs up under me as Cas came to stand over my shoulder.
"Ok," I said. "Tell me everything you remember about the area around the warehouse. What was the weather like? What's it generally like there? Have there been any news worthy events there recently?"
Cas thought, adopting that confused puppy dog face that I loved. "The weather was fine," he said. "It was sunny out. I don't think anything's happened there. I didn't do any research on the area."
"Did the other two?" I asked.
"I don't think so."
"Do you think you can find it again?" I asked. Cas nodded.
"Why?"
I rolled my eyes. "Maybe the wormhole that'll take you home will turn up there. In this universe's version of the warehouse."
Cas nodded. "That makes sense," he said. "We should let Dean and Sam know."
I stood. "Why? If it was just you and me we'd already be at that warehouse."
"But it's not just us," objected Cas. "And besides, we're in the middle of a case."
I sighed. "Fine," I grumbled.
Dean was finishing up with his new toy when we got back to their room, grinning proudly as he tweaked a few buttons.
"All done," he crowed. "We're good to go."
"What about weapons?" I asked.
Dean pointed to a duffel bag on his bed. "I bought some stuff last night," he said.
"Bought?" I asked. "Where'd you get the money?" I zipped open the bag and inspected its contents; guns, knives, lighters, and salt. In the corner of the room I could see a jug of gas.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Fine. Cas and I broke into a shop and stole this stuff. Either way, we're set.
"We should get going." Sam glanced at his watch. "There're only a few hours till dawn."
Dean nodded. "Let's go then." He stopped at the door and glanced back at me.
"I know, I know, stay here." I tried to cross my arms, then thought better of it and settled for a glare.
"I'll stay with her," promised Cas. Dean nodded, Sam waved, and then they were gone.
"Well," I turned to Cas. "That went well."
Cas leveled a don't start look at me. "We'll tell them when they get back," he promised. I rolled my eyes.
"It would be nice if we had a bit more to go on," I said. "Maybe if we went there ourselves…" As I reached the door I heard Cas sigh behind me.
We ended up in our room, ordering a movie. Towards the end we heard a car pull up outside, and a moment later Sam and Dean slipped into the room.
"So, do we have a case?" I asked.
"Oh yeah." Sam sat at the table, leaning back in the chair. Dean wagged the EMF detector.
"You should've heard the noise this thing was making," he said. "Whatever's there, it's strong."
"Tomorrow we'll have to head to the police department, get what they have on the two murders," said Sam. Beside me Cas nodded.
"Lucy had another idea," he said.
"Yeah?" Sam glanced over to me. "What is it?"
"Cas said that you found the original wormhole in a warehouse in Montana. Maybe your way home is there."
"Maybe," Sam glanced at Dean. "It's worth a shot."
"Definitely," agreed Dean. "We'll check it out when we're done here." He glanced behind him to where the TV sat. "What are you watching?"
"The Notebook."
Dean made a face. "Nope. I'm out. Goodnight." He gave a half wave as he headed for the door, and with a chuckle, Sam followed.
"Night," he called.
"Goodnight," I responded.
Cas turned to me. "So he's reading the book to her to get her to remember who she is?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yep."
"Why wouldn't he just tell her?" he asked.
"Would you believe some random person who came up to you and said the two of you were married?" I asked. "Besides, it's romantic."
Cas remained silent. Apparently he didn't agree.
The next day when we woke Sam had already picked up breakfast. We ate in silence, still unsure what to say around each other. Probably as a result of the added estrogen to the room.
Cas and I were left to our own devices during the day. We ended up ordering another movie. This time I chose How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Cas found about as much sense in it as he did in The Notebook.
A few hours later we got a call from Sam. The couple that had been murdered, the man in that relationship had been having an affair with the first victim. Sam and Dean figured that he'd killed her to keep her quiet, and his wife had confronted him at the scene of the crime. While they'd fought, his mistress's ghost had killed them.
"Her body's still in the morgue though," said Sam. "So we're sneaking it out. We'll take it out of town and burn it."
I frowned. It was the middle of the day. I did not see that going well.
"Do you need help?" asked Cas.
"No, we should be good."
I rolled my eyes. "See you later then." With an angry flourish I hung up the phone.
Cas eyed me. "That wasn't necessary," he said.
"Please," I admonished. "They think I'm useless, which, yeah, maybe I am right now, but I'm tired of being babysat. And that's all you're doing! If I wasn't here, they'd have told you to get over there and help them. In fact, you'd never have been sitting here all day!"
Cas sighed. "Maybe you're right," he said. "But Dean and Sam know what they're doing. We need to trust them."
"Or we can get some stuff done on our own," I suggested. "Let's go check out the warehouse. You can fly; we'll be back before they've got the body to their car. Unless you want to watch some more chick flicks."
Cas looked slightly scared at the prospect. "It's not safe for you to go," he said.
"Well it's not safe for me here," I said. "I don't think it's safe anywhere. That's why you're playing nanny. As long as we're stuck together, we might as well be productive."
Cas sighed. "Fine," he said. "But stay by me. And do as I say."
"Yes sir." I gave him a salute. Cas reached out and tapped my shoulder, and a moment later the motel room vanished.
We were standing inside a factory. Or at least what used to be one. Leftover machine bodies stood lining the floor, a few bits of metal scattered here and there. There was plenty of dust, and more than enough cobwebs for my comfort. But as far as I could see, there were no wormholes.
I looked over to Cas. The angel was spinning slowly in a circle, taking in the abandoned warehouse we stood in. His eyes combed up and down the walls, ceiling to floor.
"Anything?" I asked. Cas shook his head.
"Nothing."
I nodded. "Alright. That doesn't mean anything," I said. "Maybe it just hasn't opened back up again. Or maybe we're in the wrong place."
Cas looked at me and I frowned. He looked uncertain. "What?" I asked.
Cas sighed. "Are we sure that it will open up again?"
I felt my gut wrench. "I'm sure it will," I assured him. "We're gonna get you home. All three of you."
Cas nodded. I doubted that he believed me, but I hoped that at least he felt reassured. At least a little.
"Let's go," he said. I nodded.
"You did what?" Dean paused in pulling off his boots, straightening his back to glare at me.
"We went to the warehouse," I said. "To check for wormholes."
"What the hell were you thinking? That place could have been filled with demons!"
"We were careful," I snapped. "We decided to do something for ourselves, instead of waiting around for you to dish out orders!"
Dean blanched as though I'd hit him.
"Is that what you think of me?" he asked. "Do you think I'm just ordering you around? If you've got a problem with me, by all means, let me know! Don't go tiptoeing around on my account!"
I opened my mouth to do just that, but Sam jumped in.
"Whoa, guys, calm down a minute," he said. "Let's not do this."
We both ignored him. "Well?" asked Dean.
"I'm not a child," I growled. "I can handle myself. I'm tired of being told to sit tight and wait for you to get back. I want to do things. I want to help! Otherwise, what am I even doing here?"
"You're right." Dean's face set. "What are you doing here? You can leave anytime you want. If you've got such a problem, why don't you just go?"
I took a step back. I hadn't expected him to do that. But his jaw was firmly set; he wasn't backing down.
Suddenly I felt an onrush of anger and humiliation take over me. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks, and knew that a minute later there would be tears in my eyes. I needed to get out of there.
"Thanks for the help Cas." The angel's eyes were downcast as I stalked towards the door, slamming it shut behind me. Behind me I could hear Dean start to lay into Cas.
A few minutes later Cas slipped back into our room. I was laying on my side, facing away from the door, so the first I saw of him was the flap of his trench coat as he moved to stand in front of me.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine," I snapped. I took a deep breath. "Sorry."
"It's alright." Cas sat on the edge of the bed. "He doesn't really want you to leave," he said. "None of us do."
"I know." I turned over so that I could see him better. "It's just… I miss my family. And my friends. And I don't know when I'll see them again, or if I even will. And I'm tired of not being able to do anything." I shot a glare down at my arm.
I glanced up as Cas's hand came to rest on my shoulder. He had a strained look developing on his face, like he was trying to lift a boulder. A minute later his hand fell away.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I can't do anything. I wish-"
"It's not your fault," I said. "I'm the one who got myself stabbed."
"That wasn't your fault," Cas objected. I didn't respond.
A knock sounded at the door. A moment later Dean poked his head through.
"Hey," he said. "Can I talk to Lucy for a minute?"
Cas glanced over at me, and with a scowl I nodded. The angel rose, and a moment later the door closed behind him. Dean and I were alone.
He stood awkwardly in the entrance, looking like he was seriously regretting coming in. I raised my eyebrows.
"If you have something to say then say it. Otherwise get out."
Dean sighed. "I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have yelled." He sighed and sat at the edge of my bed, all the way at the bottom. "And I'm sorry if you feel like I'm not letting you do anything."
"That's because you're not," I muttered. Dean glared at me for a second.
"You got stabbed," he said. "You need to heal. Once you've healed I'll let you do what you want. But I can't have you putting yourself in harm's way when you're already hurt. Besides," he added. "Everyone's looking for you. Right now if you do anything you'll be recognized immediately. But by the time you've healed the search for you will have faded."
I winced. I didn't like to be reminded of the fact. Each day I stayed away, each minute I chose to stay with the Winchesters, I hurt my family a bit more. I didn't know how I would be able to look them in the eyes when this was all over. And besides that, by the time it was over, they'd have stopped looking for me. They'd have moved on. Forgotten me.
Dean saw my face change. "Sorry," he said. "Bad way to put it."
"It's ok," I said. "I already knew it. I probably needed to hear it."
Dean nodded. "I am sorry," he repeated. "And in a while, you can help all you want. Just get better first."
I nodded. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"S'ok." Dean stood, clearly uncomfortable now. "You should've seen Sam as a kid. His tantrums were bad."
I snickered.
"We good?" Dean asked.
I nodded. "We're good."
I followed Dean back to his room, where Cas was peering over Sam's shoulder at the computer screen. They looked up as we came in, and Sam and Dean exchanged nods.
"I think we've got another case," said Sam. "This one's in North Dakota."
Dean glanced at his watch. "We've got time before the sun sets, do you wanna hit the road now?"
Sam nodded. "Might as well," he said. He passed the computer to Dean. "You two read up on the case. Cas and I'll get the car ready."
Dean sat at the table with the computer, positioning it so that I could see. A high school girl had been found dead with her wrists slit. The thing was, there was no knife found where she'd died. And the room locked from the inside. There was no way anyone could have gotten in and out.
In the car we discussed how we would gather information on the case. Dean and Sam were hoping to be able to pose as police detectives again.
"What will you do if that doesn't work?" I asked. "Can you go undercover at her school?"
"We've done it before," said Sam.
"Yeah, but that was before you were the look alikes of famous actors," I reminded him.
"Well there's still an amber alert out on you," said Dean. I sighed.
They continued to plan, to plot, stopping at a drive through along the way. I spent the hours staring out the car window, until finally I let the steady motion of trees passing by lull me to sleep.