Disclaimer: To all who read, I do not own Supernatural. I'm just a fan writing a story to entertain anyone who wants to be entertained. You've been forewarned!
*I've re-edited this the best I possibly can - gone over it with a fine-tooth comb (literally). The story is the same. I've just taken own the typos I laid my eyes on while doing my re-edit. Hopefully, it'll be easier to read now.
Three
Heavenly Host.
With Sam and Dean back in the house, they were able to buy food and supplies to last for a little while, and Sam carried Mary and Adam into town to buy dinner for the night and breakfast for the next morning — even if it was possible he and Dean wouldn't be eating there. He didn't tell that to either Adam or Mary. The less they knew, the safer they would be for the time being. They bought steaks and beer and cokes for Mary, returning to the house where Dean had already started up the grill with Cas standing by vigilantly.
"We shouldn't be outside for very long," Cas warned. "Even with the sigils in place, someone could still smell her. Her blood is potent. We can not be careless with her right now."
Dean said nothing as he and Sam began preparing the food for the grill. With the back yard fenced in inside the main yard's fence, Mary was already trying to make Adam play hide-and-seek with her. Though he was already 22, he was actually being a good sport about it, following her around the small yard and pretending to lose her even though he had her in his sight the entire time.
She wanted to eat on the back porch, but it was February, and Sam convinced her to eat in the kitchen where they'd eaten lunch — just to be on the safe side. Sam didn't want to talk about their discoveries around her, but without it, there was a very little else to talk about. Dean tried to ask Adam whether he'd seen anything strange the last few weeks, hoping that maybe the Demon had left signs in the area signaling increased activity. But Adam hadn't seen anything, even from his limited vantage point.
It got dark just after five, and Sam had Adam take Mary upstairs with a few books from Bobby's room so he, Dean and Cas could plan their next moves. Though Adam did so reluctantly, Sam knew it wasn't because he didn't want to be around Mary. Sam knew it was because he didn't like being out of the loop — not like he had been for the last two years. It was obvious that Adam had taken to Mary the same way Sam had. It clearly had nothing to do with Sam's past like Dean wanted to think.
"Our first move should be to find the kids without these Demons getting their hands on Mary," Dean decided. "If we do that, then getting rid of the Demons should be easy. Right?"
Sam agreed. "Yeah. If they don't have anything to sacrifice, then they shouldn't be able to complete their ritual. The only problem is that we don't know where the kids were taken. They could be anywhere."
"Well, won't they leave signs like normal Demons?" Dean asked.
"No," Cas said with finality. "These won't be your normal adversaries. Not if they're working under Lilith's command, and not if they're planning to bring her back. They'll be careful, and they won't easily be fooled."
"So what do we do?" Sam asked.
"Reconnaissance," Cas replied. "We have to make for certain the area is clear, and once that has been established, we can lay a trap. We have to wait this out," he pressed. "That's the only way we're going to get more time to figure out something else more permanent."
Though Dean obviously didn't like waiting around and doing nothing, he nodded, agreeing to the first two parts of Cas' statement. "We do need to sweep the area," he confirmed. He looked at Cas. "Stay here and keep an eye on Mary. Don't let her out of your sight. Adam too."
Cas stood up straight to face Dean. "I will guard them diligently. As always."
Dean looked at Sam. "Let's go," he ordered, picking up his bag and leaving the room with Sam behind him.
The drive across town was quiet, and Sam kept his eyes peeled for anything unusual. With it being almost dark, things had a tendency to stand out to him more, and Sam was sure it was the same with Dean. At that thought, Sam spoke.
"You know, none of this is Mary's fault," he said to which Dean sighed heavily. "She had no more control over this than her parents had over a Demon coming into their house and killing them."
"I don't want to talk about this, Sam," Dean argued. "Not now. We gotta focus, so let's just check everything over and get back to the house. Okay?"
Sam sighed heavily too, looking out the window as it began snowing.
Castiel made his second walk up the stairs around eight p.m., keeping an eye on the windows and sensing all around him in the event someone tried to sneak up on them. In the last three years, after he'd regained all of his angelic abilities, he'd gotten very good at sniffing out his own kind before they got very close.
Adam had since brought Mary down to Bobby's main room, and she was currently sleeping on the cot Adam had awoken on three years earlier after being resurrected as leverage to make Dean agree to being the Archangel Michael's vessel. Adam didn't like thinking of what had happened at a result, but at least he'd lived. The same couldn't be said about a lot of other people.
The upstairs was clear for the moment, and Castiel made his way back downstairs as a heavy knock came at the back door. Castiel thought it was odd, but he sensed no threat, moving to open the door and discovering a tall, lean, dark-haired young man in the doorway. Based on Dean and Sam's memory, Castiel recognized the man immediately, but the moment he spoke, he knew something was wrong.
"John Winchester," he said, and the young man grinned.
"Not exactly," he replied, his voice certain and articulated the way Castiel's was. The young man's grin changed to an expression of knowledge and antiquity.
Castiel stood up straight, grasping onto the door's handle. "Michael."
The young man tipped his chin up in acknowledgment.
"How is this possible?" Castiel asked even as Michael stepped into the kitchen and looked around. "John Winchester is dead. His remains were burned. Why are you here?"
Michael grinned again, easing closer to the main room where Mary and Adam were sitting. "Even I still have some pull with my Father, after what happened anyway. I liked this vessel once, and when I sensed the child, it was only one of the favors I was able to call in." Michael turned to Castiel. "Your senses have been dulled by your Human charges."
"On the contrary," Castiel stated, meeting John Winchester's green eyes with his vessel's own blue eyes. "You simply take too many risks. Mary's been hidden from you, and me. How did you find her?"
"I smelled her, of course," Michael revealed, to which Castiel exhaled heavily. "A child of Lilith gives off a rather powerful scent, and with her still being innocent, picking up her trail was only too easy."
"How are you here?" Castiel pressed, remaining in front of Michael. "The area is protected. Only I know how to pierce the defenses."
"As I said, I was able to call in a few favors to my Father."
"And what about John Winchester's body? Are you going to return him to his time when you're finished with him?"
Michael turned back to the main room, laying his gaze on Mary and advancing slowly. "Oh, I'll do better than that. He'll return to his own time with barely a headache. I could have possessed Adam Milligan, but I decided against it since he was already in the house. I like to be invited in, and you don't live here. All you had to do was open the door."
Castiel moved quickly, stepping between Michael and the main room again. "Former Host of Heaven or not, you have no real reason to be here," he told Michael. "And you presence here will only alert them to her whereabouts. You're better off observing from a distance."
Michael smiled coldly, warranting the attention of Mary's other protector. "I'm not leaving now that I've come," he told Castiel as Adam entered the kitchen. "And you aren't the only one who was assigned to watch her. She's had many of us hiding her, including me and Gabriel before he died. I have as much right and reason to be here as you."
"What's going on?" Adam asked, looking at Michael and clearly recognizing his vessel since it was Adam's father as he stood in the kitchen between them. He looked Michael in the eyes, speaking softly. "Dad?"
"This is not your father, Adam," Castiel stated.
Realization flickered in Adam's eyes as he watched Michael grin, and he stepped closer to the Archangel as he wore his father's younger body. "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here," Adam warned, his nostrils flaring gently.
Michael seemed unaffected, staring Adam in the eyes without wavering. "That very well may be," he agreed. "But I am here. And I'm not leaving. I've been watching Mary since she was in her mother's womb. Surely, I have more right to be here than you do, since you met her less than 24 hours ago."
Adam glanced at Castiel, but the Angel said nothing.
Michael stepped through them both, moving into the main room where Mary was sleeping. "She's grown since last I saw her," Michael said, squatting next to the cot. "Wouldn't you say, Castiel?"
"Children grow at an alarming rate when they're her age," Castiel remarked. "Of course she looks like she's grown to you. When was the last time you saw her before you left for War? When she was five?"
Michael's demeanor didn't change as he remained close to Mary, and he extended his hand, allowing his palm to hover over her face less than an inch from her skin. Adam tried to move closer to them, but an invisible barrier stopped him.
"Don't touch her," he ordered, to which Michael glanced over his shoulder at him.
"And what will you do?" Michael taunted. "I could snap your neck with a mere thought. You have no right to threaten me. I will touch her whenever I like. Besides," he said, looking at Mary, "she's still protected by her mother's love. As she will be until she reaches adulthood. I couldn't hurt her even if I wanted to. Which I don't, not even in the slightest."
Castiel turned his eyes to Adam's, shaking his head and silently telling Adam to back off. Then he looked at Michael, watching the Archangel ease his finger down the width of Mary's forehead and her nose. "I'm calling Dean," he announced, stepping away from Adam to leave the room silently.
Castiel pulled a small, silver cell phone from his coat pocket and opened it to dial Dean's number. Dean's gravelly voice answered after only one ring.
"Cas, what's wrong?" he asked immediately.
"You have to return to the house now," Cas ordered.
"Why? What's happened?"
Castiel glanced over his shoulder, watching Michael touch Mary's cheek lightly. "It's probably best that I not say this until you've returned to the house. But just come back. Now."
"We're on our way," Dean promised.
Castiel turned off the phone, returning to the main room as Adam watched Michael handle Mary helplessly. The youngest Winchester looked at Castiel pleadingly.
"He's coming, right?" he whispered.
Castiel nodded.
"She's strong," Michael said absently, allowing his hand to hover over Mary from less than an inch away. "So much stronger than I expected for her age." He smiled, looking at Castiel. "Certainly, you've felt as much."
"What I've felt is no concern of yours. You might not want to be here when Dean comes. If you thought Adam was angry."
Michael didn't move, his hand now hovering over Mary's legs. "Oh, I'm sure Dean will be furious. Even with his reluctance to bend. But he'll want to hear what I have to say. What you should have told him when you found her with them."
Castiel glanced at Adam, but he said nothing, watching Michael carefully. Then he spoke softly to Adam. "Remain here. Don't let him out of your sight. I'll be outside."
Adam nodded silently, and Castiel turned to leave again.
"You won't be able to stop what's about to happen," Michael stated, now looking at Castiel over his shoulder. "You'll want to because of your attachment to her, but that won't make it any more possible. You should know that before you do something stupid."
Castiel said nothing, leaving the room and then the house to wait for Dean.
If the ten hours Castiel had waited through seemed to last too long before, the fifteen minutes it took Dean and Sam to get back to the house felt like an eternity. With Michael nearby, Castiel was having to fight most of his deep-rooted instincts telling him to be afraid. It was true that Michael now commanded most of Heaven in his Father's efforts to clean up the mess they'd all made, but it was also clear that he was just as drawn to Mary as anyone else — coming here in the middle of all this only proved that even more.
And if Castiel had told Dean of Mary's true intentions, it would have skewed his efforts to protect her even more than Sam's reaction already had. Dean was still a very untrusting man, and he preferred to fight things he could understand. The fact that Mary had already caused Sam and Adam to react to her only compounded the way Castiel was feeling. It meant he had that many more people to protect, and for several different reasons. Castiel could see that Dean was struggling against his loyalties and his feelings. That was all about to change. Again.
The sound of the Impala racing toward the house caught Castiel's attention from more than a mile away, and he made his way to the dirt road as it wove its way through the old junkyard. He wanted Dean to hear this from him first, and he hoped Dean would listen. He also hoped Sam didn't act hastily when he found out that the Archangel who'd tried to kill him was currently hovering over Mary like he was about to have her way with her.
As soon as Castiel saw the Impala, he looked at the house, and when Dean stopped in front of him, he looked at the car. Dean and Sam got out together, immediately on point.
"What's going on?" Sam asked. "Mary's still here, isn't she?"
Castiel nodded. "She is. But you both have to know this before you go inside. He's here."
Dean leaned closer, his eyebrows raised into his forehead. "Who, Cas? What's happening here?"
"You have to understand. I needed you to protect her. And it didn't matter how she would affect either of you, as long as she was protected from the Lilin looking for her. But he caught her scent, and now he's here."
"Who?" Sam asked. "Who's here?"
Castiel sighed heavily. "Michael is here."
The look of confusion and anger that crossed both Sam and Dean's faces was exactly what Castiel expected, but it was Dean who acted first, hurrying to the house with Sam behind him. Castiel followed slowly.
"Hey!" Dean yelled upon entering the house and then hurrying into the main room where Michael was still squatted next to the cot Mary laid on asleep. "Get the hell away from her, you self-serving dick!"
Michael smiled, rising to face Dean as Sam followed. "Dean," he said, and the look of astonishment on both their faces was enough to make the Archangel laugh. "You look well."
"What the hell?" Sam exclaimed. "Dad?"
Michael looked at Sam, and he flinched. It was understandable since the last time they'd seen Michael, it had not gone well.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dean demanded. "How in the hell?"
Michael remained calm, still smiling as he spoke. "What am I doing in your Dad? Again? How did I get him to say yes to me a second time? It's quite simple. He didn't remember the first time, of course. And I told him I could save his children. It only made sense for him to trust me. And I wasn't exactly lying, since you're even deeper in this now than you were the last time."
"Sam, take her upstairs," Dean ordered.
Sam didn't wait, moving around Michael and lifting Mary from the cot to carry her upstairs, and Michael spoke as he left the room.
"You'll want to hear what I'm going to say, Sam," Michael told him, but he kept walking, taking Mary with him.
Michael looked at Dean, his smile fading slightly. "You won't be able to protect her. No one will. You'll just prolong it until it becomes inevitable. Is that what you want?" He stepped closer to Dean. "Actually, I'll tell you want you want. It's what Sam wants. And it's what Adam wants. Even Castiel wants it, though he would never admit it. You all want to protect her. You're all willing to give your lives for her. And you want to know why? Because that's what she does. She's seduced all of you."
Though Sam had really only had a day's worth of practice, he thought he was getting relatively good at this parenting thing. He didn't know if it was because of Mary or if he really had the instincts of a father, but he wasn't really concerned about that right now. All he was really worried about was Mary. Whether Cas had wanted them to protect her honestly or not, Sam was sure she would be no less deserving. She was just as innocent in all of this as any child who had no control over what was happening to her.
Mary stirred as Sam laid her down over the bed, and he sat at her side, taking her hand in his.
"Sam, who is that man downstairs?" she asked softly.
"Did you see him?" Sam asked, caressing her forehead gently.
"In my dream. He said he was going to help me."
Sam sighed softly, glancing back at the door before he spoke to her. "Don't worry about him, okay, Mary? Whether he's here to help or not, we're the ones who are trying to protect you. And we don't really know why he's here. So just stay up here, sleep, and I'll see you in the morning, okay?"
She nodded, and Sam leaned over her, kissing her forehead.
He stood up slowly, leaving and closing the door behind him. Once he was in the hallway, Sam pulled out his phone again, dialing the number he'd dialed before leaving earlier even though he knew it was late.
"Hello?" the feminine voice from earlier asked.
"Hey," he said softly, "it's me."
"Sam, it's late."
"I know," he admitted. "I just wanted to call you. To tell you. Things have gotten complicated, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine, Sam. What's going on?"
"Don't worry about it right now," he pleaded. "Just keep your eyes open. And I'll call you when I can. It might be a few days though."
"Are you okay?"
"No," he said with a heavy sigh. "But I don't worry about me. Hopefully, this will all be over in a few days."
"Okay, Sam. Be careful."
"I will. Thanks. Bye."
He turned off his phone, replacing it in his back pocket and then pulling his pocket knife out of his front pocket. Even if the Angel downstairs was Michael, Sam could get rid of him. They didn't have time for his games right now.
Sam made his way downstairs thinking of the last time he's seen Michael. It obviously hadn't been while he was possessing Sam's father, but it hadn't gone well anyway. Maybe that's why he didn't want to trust the Archangel. Whatever the reason he was here today, Sam was sure it couldn't be just to help. The Angels always had ulterior motives, and some of those motives had gotten a lot of people killed. There was really no excuse for that anymore. And Mary was just a kid. It didn't matter why Michael was here, not even if he said he could save her. Angels were just as bad as Demons sometimes.
"Clearly, Castiel didn't give you all the information you needed to know about the Lilin," Michael said as Sam entered the room. "Especially where her effect on you is concerned. I can see it when I look at you."
Dean scoffed. "Yeah, well, I still fail to see where that has anything to do with you. So why don't you vacate my Dad's body and hit the Highway to Heaven before I send your ass packing myself!"
Michael grinned, glancing at Sam. "Anger is just side effect, Dean. You're trying to fight Mary's influence over you, and you're failing. And this has more to do with me than you could possibly imagine. I simply wanted you to understand how all your efforts to protect her will prove to be futile. After all, you can't change what she is."
Dean glanced at Adam and Cas, noting their silent demeanor. He inhaled deeply, averting his eyes to Sam's. "So what do you know?" Dean asked annoyingly. "What light can you shed on the situation we're in right now? Other than the fact that you're apparently the only one who knows this little tidbit of information."
Michael folded his arms over his chest. "Castiel told you she's innocent in the womb, and throughout most of her life until she's grown. But what he didn't tell you is that she also has survival instincts that are so internal that even she doesn't realize she's utilizing them. Adult Lilin are ruthless when it comes to surviving. They will do anything to ensure their own safety — even kill one of their own kind."
"And exactly why does that mean that Mary's 'seduced' any of us?" Dean asked, unwilling to believe anything the Archangel had to say about a little girl so scared she barely spoke or defended herself against any danger. "I don't feel any different," Dean added.
"You wouldn't," Michael informed him, looking at Castiel and Adam before he again glanced at Sam. "Her imprinting is gradual. It usually takes several hours of continued contact for her to form a bond, and clearly, Adam, Sam and Castiel have spent plenty of time with her to do just that. You're only resisting because of your attitude. But she's already begun to bond with you. Why else would you react so strongly to my presence here?"
"Because you're a lying sack of shit, and I don't trust you any farther than I can throw you," Dean said plainly. "After everything you've done to this family, you can't honestly expect me to believe anything you say — about a Demon or a friggin' hole in the wall. And if I have to listen to your sanctimonious crap for another second, I think I just might hurl."
Dean stood up from where he'd settled against Bobby's desk, glancing at Adam again and making his way across the room to leave.
"Dean, wait," Cas pleaded. Dean stopped, standing less than a foot away from Michael without looking at anyone in the room. "He is telling the truth about Mary. There is something about her that allows her to imprint on the people around her. And it is a survival instinct. But it's only used for Malice when Lilin are raised by Demons. Mary was raised by Humans. She has no intent for Malice."
"For now," Michael added. "But as she grows older, her natural instincts will begin to manifest. Why do you think she was trying to protect the hunters who were keeping her?"
Dean looked at Michael, seeing his father's eyes and using every ounce of strength he had not to punch him.
"She's a little girl," Sam argued. "They were her parents. She was trying to protect them because she loved them. And all they wanted was to keep her safe."
"Believe that if you want to," Michael taunted. "But Castiel knows the truth. He knows exactly why Mary was in that room with them, and it has nothing to do with protecting them. No matter what she says, her instincts will always win when her safety is put in jeopardy. And the Lilin looking for her know she'll always want to protect herself before anyone else."
"So why was she trying to protect her parents?" Dean asked, his gravelly voice low with anger. "Since you seem to have more insight on this than the rest of us."
"It was a survival move, of course," Michael stated obviously. "And a possessive one, at that. Since Mary was raised by humans, her motives changed because of the values instilled in her. Instead of hatred, she acts on love. Instead of spite and revenge, she believes in truth and balance. Those people were her property. She protected, or tried to protect them, because she felt they belonged to her, not because she loved them. Not really. It's all she knows. To protect what's hers."
"You're wrong," Sam insisted. "If that was true, it wouldn't have affected her the way it did. And she wouldn't have been so scared. You just think you know what's going on with her, because you're a control freak."
Michael smiled knowingly, lifting his eyes toward the ceiling but saying nothing for several seconds. Then he laughed. "Like I said. Believe what you want. Doesn't make it any more true."
"Mary, sweetie."
It was bright and warm when she opened her eyes, and the park her mom usually took her to was completely deserted except for her and the lady she'd seen before — the one who'd told her to stay away from her parents' room. She looked the same as she had before, her brown hair pulled back into a braid and her pretty green eyes twinkling brightly.
She smiled when she saw Mary, her teeth so white it seemed impossible for her to be anything bad. She held out her hand to Mary, beckoning her forward and then squatting in front of her.
"I was wondering when I would see you again."
Her voice was smooth like honey, but smoky and inviting the way Mary's mother's had been. She touched Mary's face gently, easing a strand of her hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Her voice echoed, like she was inside a gigantic dome, even though they were outside. Mary thought that was strange.
"I've been looking for you. But you're not where I thought you'd be."
"I'm with friends," Mary replied, even as she took Mary's hand and pulled her to a park bench nearby.
Her smile faded slightly. "Are those friends boys?"
Mary nodded. "I like them. They're taking care of me."
"Oh, I know it seems that way. But I promise you, honey, they don't care about you. They don't trust you. And they'd sooner kill you if they thought you were a threat to them. It's all they know what to do with ones like us."
"Because they're boys?"
She smiled again. "Because they're Human. And they destroy everything they touch. Look at what happened to those Humans raising you. They didn't trust you. They kept you locked up at night."
"They loved me," Mary argued.
"They left you. They'll all leave you. But I won't. I promise. And neither will the others." She smiled again, caressing Mary's cheek. "They're all excited to see you. It's been so long since we welcomed a new sister."
Mary suddenly felt cold, shivering as she leaned closer and laid her lips over Mary's forehead.
"Mary, sweetie, please tell me where you are. There's nothing more I want than to bring you home."
"Home?"
She nodded.
Mary thought silently about Sam and Dean. She wondered if they would be upset with her. She knew she wasn't really supposed to think about the ones like her. The bright Angel and Adam would be worried. But Mary had never met any of her family before, since her mom and dad had told her she wasn't really theirs. She knew they loved her, no matter what anyone said. But she couldn't remember ever wanting anything more.
She looked at the pretty lady again.
The lights flickered quickly three times, and Dean and Sam were immediately on point, looking around for whatever was coming. But all Michael did was grin and look up again. Sam noticed, and Dean looked at Cas.
"Check on Mary," he ordered, and Cas disappeared, upstairs to the room where Mary was supposed to be sleeping.
Within two seconds, Cas yelled back down to the room. "She's gone!"
"Gone?" Dean exclaimed.
Cas reappeared in the room, blowing paper around with him. "Gone," he repeated.
"I told you," Michael said. "You won't be able to stop this. It's in Mary's blood to seek out her siblings, few as they may be. You won't ever be able to find her. You might as well consider her lost now."
Dean huffed, clenching his fists and glaring into his father's eyes. "Sam!"
Michael turned to face Sam, grinning, and within the second half of that second, Sam exposed his bloody palm and slapped his hand against the wall out of Michael's view where he'd drawn the Banishing sigil to the wall. A bright, white-blue light flooded the room, clearing it of Michael and unfortunately Cas within another split second.
Once the papers settled, Sam, Dean and Adam all looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.
"Damn it," Dean hissed, moving to Bobby's desk.
"Just stay calm," Sam pleaded.
"Calm?" Dean exclaimed. "How am I supposed to be calm? The Demon Bitches have their set piece! What the hell are we supposed to do now?"
"We still have time before the full moon," Sam reminded him. "They can't do anything until then."
"They won't hurt her, will they?" Adam asked from the opposite end of the room. "She's just a little girl."
Sam sighed, moving to Adam's side and squeezing his shoulder gently. "No, they won't hurt her," Sam assured him. "They need her. It's going to be okay. We have time. We will find her. I promise."
Adam bowed his head, folding his arms over his chest.
After a thorough walk-through upstairs and the room Mary had been sleeping in, Dean and Sam were sure who'd taken her.
"Sulfur on the floor next to Mary's bed," Dean reported as he and Sam got back to the first floor. "Demons got to her."
"So how are we going to find her?" Adam asked as he leaned against Bobby's desk. "We don't even know who these demons are."
Both Sam and Dean looked at each other, and it was clear they were thinking the same thing.
"We need to look at everything we know," Sam said moving to where all their information was still setting. "There has to be something here pointing to where they could have taken Mary. We will find it. We will find Mary, and then we will kill these demons. Before they can do anymore damage."
"How?" Adam asked.
Sam could only sigh, sifting through their papers again.
It was dawn before Dean, Sam and Adam finally stopped pacing Bobby's front room. They'd spent the entire night going over Mary's files and all the lore about Lilith, but so far, nothing was really jumping up and biting. And it didn't help that there was virtually no information about the Lilin other than what they already knew. Even Dean had to admit it was looking grim.
Sam decided to make breakfast, scrambling a few eggs with bacon and brewing some coffee before they all sat down to eat.
"There's got to be something we're not picking up on," Dean said over his plate. "Did Cas say anything before we got here yesterday?" he asked Adam.
"He just told me what was going on. He knew where Bobby was, so as soon as he put Mary down, he started looking through Bobby's books. But there wasn't anything new." Adam paused, it appeared, thinking quickly. "He just kept saying it had to be somewhere."
Sam looked up from his own food. "What had to be where?" he asked.
Adam appeared to think on it heavily, silent for only a few seconds before he looked at Sam. "A map."
"What did he say about where it was supposed to be?" Dean asked. "Why didn't he tell us about it last night? He had plenty of opportunity!"
"I don't know!" Adam exclaimed. "Maybe he didn't think it was here after all."
"And why didn't you tell us?" Dean demanded. "This is the end of the world we're talking about here, Adam. This is important! Yet again."
"I didn't remember it until now! The guy who used me to end the world as we know it showed up, and I got a little distracted!"
"Hey!" Sam yelled over both of them. "Stop it! That's not gonna help anything. And it's sure as hell not gonna help Mary." He paused, looking at Adam again. "Cas was looking for a map. A map to what?"
"What have we been looking for?" Adam reminded Sam. "The Lilin and where they're taking Mary. Cas said it had to be here somewhere, but he didn't say what it was, where it was, or how to find it. He kept — he kept saying, 'the beginning.' It would be at the beginning. But he never elaborated, and I was too busy freaking out to ask him what it meant. I'm sorry," he shouted at Dean.
"Okay," Sam said. "It's okay. We've all gone through this. We're on edge. We haven't slept. It's okay. Let's just think for a minute. I mean, beginning of what?"
"He never said," Adam continued. "He just kept saying it over and over."
Sam looked at Dean, prompting the elder Winchester to speak.
"Maybe it's Lilith," Dean said. "Her beginning. Didn't she climb out of the Devil's Gate in Wyoming?"
"Yeah," Sam said, glancing at Adam. "But that was after Mary was already born. Is it possible she had this going before she got out?"
"There's no way of knowing for sure," Dean concluded. "There's probably a million different places they could be, and we have no idea where to start looking. Let me be the first to say that this sucks."
It was quiet for several more minutes, and then Adam spoke softly. "What about Mary's beginning?" he asked, looking at Sam and then Dean.
Sam looked at Dean. "What do you think?" he asked his older brother. "Is it possible?"
Dean thought about it for another few seconds. "It's the best we got so far."
"Where was Mary born?" Adam asked softly.
Sam got up from the table abruptly, hurrying into the front room and retrieving Mary's papers from the group home where Mary had stayed. He laid out all of her records on the table between the plates of food, and together, they all looked over adoption papers that were blank, hospital records that were blacked out and school records that were half-empty. At first, they thought it was useless. Then Adam found her birth certificate, discovering that most of the fields had been completed the day Mary had been born, November 2, 2005.
The moment Sam saw Mary's birthdate, he cursed under his breath, staring at the paper otherwise silent and then clenching his jaws as Dean took the paper.
"Where was she born?" Dean asked. He scanned the paper, speaking after a few seconds. "New Hope, Minnesota. Well, that's ironic if anything ever was."
Adam spoke then. "Didn't you find Lilith the first time in New Harmony, Indiana?" he asked softly.
Dean sighed. "Yeah. Inside a little girl terrorizing her family and with Demons guarding the entire block. I don't think this will be like that."
"Why not?" Adam asked.
Dean looked at Sam, and together, they sighed heavily. "Because they probably know what happened there," Dean told Adam. "And since Lilith was doing that for fun, we have to guess that this is business. Her minions will break out the big guns for this one. We need to check for omens in the area, and maybe that'll give Cas time to get back. Sam, keep looking through Mary's papers and find out how far away New Hope, Minnesota is from here." Dean looked at Adam. "You know what to look for. I've gotta make a phone call," he said getting up from the table and stepping out the side door.
Adam looked at Sam. "Do you tink they'd really go back to Mary's birthplace? Is that what all this is about?"
Sam inhaled deeply, pulling out his laptop and doing a search on New Hope, Minnesota to find a map. "I honestly don't know, but there's only one way to find out. Get on the web; check for omens. We'll go from there."
Adam stood up slowly, retrieving his own computer from the front room and beginning his own search.
The moment Dean stepped outside into the cold mid-morning air, he inhaled as deep as he possibly could, feeling uncomfortable with his situation for the first time in three years. And since everything had started back up again, Dean hadn't stopped to think about it. He had a job to do, and he was one of only a handful of people who could get it done. That was just the reality of the job. But that didn't mean he had to give himself over to it completely — not like he'd done before. Never like he'd done before.
So when he stepped out of the house and pulled out his phone, he walked a good distance from the front porch, hitting his speed dial and lifting his phone as it began to ring. The moment he heard Lisa's voice, everything bad just seemed to fade away for a minute.
"Hello?"
"Lisa, it's me."
She sighed softly. "Dean, where are you? You were supposed to be back by now."
He inhaled again, looking around. "I know. This thing came up, and Sam and me had to act quick."
"What else is new?" he asked, a lot like Adam had the day before.
Dean chuckled softly. "Yeah, I guess so. What's Ben doing?"
"Wondering where you are. You were supposed to take him to karate yesterday. He was worried."
Dean turned back to the house. "I'm okay. I think. And I'll make it up to him. I'll go to karate with him when I get back. I'll even dress out and let him kick my butt. How's that?"
Lisa laughed softly over the phone. "He'll definitely take you up on that." She paused, speaking after half a minute. "Dean, is everything okay? What is this thing? Is it dangerous?"
He didn't want to lie to her, but he knew if he told her the truth she would worry. And he didn't want her to worry about him when she had others to think about. Dean could take care of himself.
"It's fine, I promise. Sam and me are just working this like we always do, trying to figure out what to do next. Lisa," he said, thinking of the words in his head and trying to make them come out right, "you're a girl — "
She laughed. "That's very observant of you," she teased.
"And you know a lot about emotions and stuff like that," he continued. "If you were eight and in a real bad situation where you could get hurt without really meaning to, would you do anything to prevent it, or would you do it because you thought it would keep other people safe? Even if you didn't come out clean."
She didn't say anything for a minute, and Dean thought he hadn't said it right. But then she spoke. "I guess that would depend on the situation," she decided. "Kids are funny that way, Dean. They love unconditionally. But they also hate unconditionally. And they don't always know the right thing to do, or the right person to trust. Why are you asking?"
Dean hesitated. He didn't really want her to know the specifics of the job they were working on, but he needed advice, and she was the one with the kids. She could tell him what to do. At least, he hoped she could tell him what to do.
"Sam and I were looking into these disappearances in New York, and we found this little girl. She's eight. Her name's Mary, and she's in trouble. And I really want to help her. I do. But I'm worried that if Sam and I do this, it'll cost us further down the road, you know. Like it did last time. And she's beautiful, Lisa," he revealed, his voice breaking slightly. "She reminds me of you. But she's scared, and no kid should ever be that scared. I don't know what to do, Lisa."
Lisa was quiet for a couple of minutes, and Dean knew she was thinking about what he'd just said. He hoped she would see it from a mother's point of view. He really needed to know what a real parent would do, because right now, he felt completely helpless. Dean never liked feeling helpless.
"Dean," she said softly, "children are innocent. They're vulnerable. Given the right environment, some kids never lose that innocence. And they're always vulnerable. If this little girl needs you to keep her safe, then you have to do everything in your power to keep her safe. Even if that means taking a chance in the future. You once told me that it was worth more to live your life now, when it matters what happens immediately and not a few years down the road. This little girl deserves the same chance Ben had. And if you can save her, then that's what you need to do."
Dean blew out the breath he'd been holding in, not having heard Lisa's voice in over a week. "I hate it when you're right," he teased, grinning as he turned back to the house and saw Sam on the porch.
"It's the price you pay for asking my advice," she shot back. "Dean, whatever you do, please be safe yourself."
"You know I'll do my best. Bye, Lisa."
"Bye, Dean."
For several seconds, Dean stood still, holding his phone and easing his finger over the screen where her picture was still displayed. He wondered what she'd been doing when he'd called, because he was sure she would stop doing that and start to worry about him now. She always did, and more than anything, Dean had really want to avoid that. With her being so far into her pregnancy, he hoped she knew to stay calm and not stress too much about him. Dean told her all the time that he could take care of himself.
Dean made it to the porch as Sam spoke, pocketing his phone and easing up the steps to face his brother.
"New Hope, Minnesota is four and a half hours away," Sam reported. "Maybe less. And Adam found Omens everywhere in the area for the last few weeks. The Demons have been there for almost three weeks — the same amount of time passed since the first girl disappeared. But they're all over the place. There's no way of knowing where in town they're keeping Mary or the other girls."
Dean sighed, thinking about what Lisa had said and knowing he was running out of time to find Mary so she would be safe. He knew Sam and Adam wanted her safe even more than he did, but he was the oldest. And he'd been in plenty of stupid situations to know that Sam was the one who needed to be on the outside. That could really only mean one thing.
"Okay," he said to Sam, stepping passed him onto the porch and then inside the house.
"Dean, that's crazy," Sam exclaimed as he, Dean and Adam all sat around Bobby's front room after having heard Dean's plan. "There's absolutely no guarantee that'll work, and we don't really know for sure that's where Mary is. Why take the risk?"
"Because we're running out of time," Dean said plainly. "And with Michael being here, it only means this is more serious than we thought. I know I wasn't very enthusiastic with this idea when you suggested it before, but we are the only ones who can keep Mary safe. And the longer we sit here and debate over this, the worse it's gonna be when we do find her."
Sam sighed heavily, glancing at Adam as he sat by silently. "But putting yourself in their line of fire? Getting caught by a Demon? How do you know they won't kill you on the spot?"
Dean also looked at Adam, thinking of the first time he'd met his half-brother – at least when he hadn't been a Ghoul. Dean knew what it felt like to be used, and so did Adam. It didn't matter what Dean had to do. He wasn't going to let that happen to Mary. She was just a kid. "I don't know that," Dean told Sam gravely. "For all I know, this probably won't work. But if it does, and I find Mary, you gotta find us and get us out of there. All of us. Those kids they took, and me and Mary. I know you can do it, Sam."
"I don't like it," Sam pressed. "These aren't normal Demons, and we still don't know how to get rid of them. Even if I find you, how am I going to save you? We don't know if exorcism will work. We don't know if the Colt or Ruby's knife will work. Seriously, Dean, what are we going to do?"
"You're gonna do what John taught you to do," they all heard and turned to see Bobby there with Cas. "You're gonna stop these Demons, and you're gonna save those girls."
Sam glanced at Dean, and Bobby moved into the room with Cas behind him.
"Hey, Bobby," Sam said as he bowed his head.
"Cas filled me in on the way," Bobby said, moving across his front room to a set of bookshelves against the east wall. "Wish you'd called me. I coulda been a little help," he told them, pulling a book from the shelf and opening it almost all the way to the back. "Dealin' with Lilith again ain't gonna be a walk in the park, but I think I know what'll do the trick."
"But Lilith was too powerful for anything to work the last time," Sam told Bobby. "I had to drink Demon blood to do it."
Bobby eased his fingers down the page in front of him, skimming a paragraph and then putting the book up before he moved to another shelf. He moved his finger along the shelf, obviously not finding what he was looking for and then turning to the cot where Mary had been sleeping the night before. Adam had brought down the books they'd had up in the room Mary had been taken from, and when Bobby picked one of them up, he again turned the book almost all the way to the back.
"That's right," he said to Sam, turning the book to the middle Winchester and pointing to a passage in the middle of the page. "But Lilin can be killed by their own kind. By an incantation most of us would use on a low level Demon. Your blood isn't strong enough, but hers is."
Sam read the passage, seeing most of the information familiar but noting a series of Latin invocations that looked a lot like a typical exorcism. "Mary can kill these Demons?" he asked Bobby. "She's eight."
"And she hasn't been hanging around them her whole life," Dean added. "How would she be strong enough to take them out?"
"By using something stronger than the hate and evil they would have taught her had they raised her," Cas told them, now standing at Bobby's side. "Forget what you know about Mary. Forget what I told you, and forget what Michael told you. Think of Mary as an empty vessel. She can be filled with Good or Evil, and depending of who instills those values in her, her strength would be determined by positive or negative reinforcement. Her parents loved her, and they taught her to be Good. Like your father taught you and Sam. Love is the most powerful creation humanity has ever made, and it can defeat a lot of Evil. The things you're feeling for Mary are real. Use that to your advantage."
Dean looked at Sam and Adam, knowing what he was suggesting and realizing what they all needed to do. "Look, I don't like it," he said to Sam. "And I know how much of a long shot it really is. But she is just a little girl, and if we can save her and prevent her from becoming one of them, then I think it's worth it. I mean, come on, it's not like we haven't sacrificed each other for a family member before, right?"
Sam looked at Adam, and they both reacted the same to the word "family." Dean realized what he wanted now, and he knew they wanted it too. It was just a matter of letting it happen. Even if the Demons were expecting this, Dean had to do it.
"What do we need to do?" Adam asked.
Dean and Sam looked at him, and normally, they would have left him here to keep him safe. But Adam spoke again before they could protest.
"I want to help," he insisted. "And you can't protect me forever. I'll do something simple, and you can do all the work. But I want to help. Please."
For another minute or two, both Dean and Sam looked hesitant, but Cas stepped in between them, speaking as he faced Adam.
"He can help," Cas said plainly. "Lilith's children will be expecting you to work against them. While Dean is attracting their attention, Sam and Adam can sweep the area for the tracking beacon."
"What beacon?" Dean asked.
Cas turned to him suddenly, lifting two fingers and touching Dean's forehead. Dizziness and disorientation overwhelmed Dean as he lost most of his bearings. He opened his eyes, expecting to find himself still in the front room with his brothers, Cas and Bobby.
Instead, he looked around the wilderness surrounding him without any clue as to where he was. Nothing looked familiar, and for all Dean knew, he could be anywhere. But based on what Cas had been saying before he zapped Dean to God knows where, this could be Minnesota, and Dean could be near New Hope. And Cas had apparently made it possible for Sam and Adam to track him.
"Thanks for the warning, Cas!" Dean yelled to the sky.
It was the first time in a while Cas had acted this way — not giving any of them any indication what he was doing until he actually did it. After defeating Lucifer, it had taken Cas a while to get back into the same rhythm as Dean and Sam, and he still slipped every now and then. This was definitely a slip-up in Dean's book.
Dean wandered around for almost an hour, trying to get a signal on his cell phone and failing as he moved around aimlessly. For a little while, he thought Cas had dropped him in the middle of nowhere to get him out of the way. But then . . .
"Well, you are not what I was expecting," he heard and turned to see a rather petite, brown-haired, green-eyed young woman standing behind him in a brilliant white, eyelet lace, strapless dress. Her hair was wavy and to her waist, and her eyes were the clearest shade of green Dean had ever seen — like Mary's.
She smiled as she stepped closer to Dean. "I mean, I've heard stories, and those Demons were giving me first hand accounts, but seriously. I thought you'd be taller."
Dean glared, allowing her to get within arm's length. He thought for several seconds she was just a lackey. Maybe she'd been sent to get him or kill him — that was just as possible as anything else. But she wasn't Mary. Dean had to tell himself that over and over even as she grinned and began circling him.
"We thought for sure Sam would come," she said nonchalantly. "After what Nora told us, it only seemed inevitable. But I have to say. I am impressed. Self-righteous guy like you trying to save a girl like Mary. You do know she's destined, right?"
Dean smiled, attempting to appear cavalier. "I get it," he said. "You think she's some chosen vessel for you to fill. With Lilith."
She smiled. "Actually, I know she is. The first in a very long time, and I'm not going to let some damaged, holier than thou, hell-raiser get in my way. Because I was chosen for something once myself. And it's time for me to fulfill my destiny."
Remaining stalwart became more difficult than Dean imagined, and he clenched his jaws. "I'm not gonna let that happen."
Her laugh sent chills down Dean's spine, a soft, tinkering bell that rang in his ears and made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. "Oh, don't worry, Dean Winchester. Saving Mary will be the least of your worries."
"And why is that?" Dean asked.
Her eyes averted to the space behind him, and Dean fought his curiosity to look. "Because you're going to have to worry about saving yourself."
Soft, small hands cupped over Dean's eyes innocently, but instantly, Dean felt a cold chill wash over his torso, and the air around him became stale with dirt, metal and musk. The ground beneath his feet changed from soft with grass to hard with rock, and when the hands slipped away, Dean found himself inside a dark, dank, dreary cave where two altars were set surrounded by candle stands and solid white cloths laid over the altars.
The last thing he saw before he passed out was the small figure of a little girl lying on the alter farthest away from him. She was sleeping, and she was dressed in a pure white blessing gown. It was Mary on a sacrificial table made of solid white stone.
Okay, kiddies, to all of you reading . . . if anyone's reading. Here's a chance for you to figure out what's going to happen next. Will Sam be able to find Dean and Mary in time? Will Mary be able to defeat the women doing this? Tell me what you think, and I might tell you if you're on the right track.
Until next time . . . Happy Reading!
*Again, this has been re-edited, but hopefully not too noticeably from its original form. More re-edits are coming. And if you finish this story, you might want to read the sequel - Progeny. It's on my profile.