Chapter 10: Plans and Lies
"We should tell, Dean," Sam said in the other room to the others a few hours after Dean escorted Cas to the guest bedroom and Crowley returned from hell. Chuck had told them right before they left for the barn what was going to happen to Cas and they wished that he never had. The thought of losing their angel not once but twice was just too much.
"You saw how he was when Cas died, Sam. If we tell him he'll try to stop it," Bobby stated. Sam let out a dramatic sigh, slumping down into the couch and covering his face. He knew that, but what would he do when he ends up burning Cas' broken body a second time? This time Dean may not be able to carry on.
"Oh, can we cut the soppy dead angel story already? It's getting old. We need to discuss our plan of attack on Everglee before that angel sends his undead angel army over here to kill us. My operatives said that they've been seeing a bit of movement." Crowley snapped, waving his phone in the air for them all to see as stumbled into the doorway, breathing hard. Everyone shot up, staring at him wild-eyed as he blundered to the couch, covered in blood and rubble. He was cut and bruised beyond repair and his clothes and hair was burnt from flames.
"Whoa, Crowley, what happened?" Sam asked, watching as the king of hell coughed blood into his hand. The demon took in a few deep breaths, trying to regain his strength. Getting out of a collapsing hell was…well, hell. He had practically dug his way out using his fingernails.
"Everglee has taken Hell," he sighed. "All my demons are dead. Well, some of them escaped. They are currently guarding the area, but he'll be sending his undead army here soon." Everyone in the room paled and Crowley knew what they were thinking. They had to advance on the plan, even if their little angel wasn't feeling good. The world was crumbling.
"Balls! Now what do we do?" Bobby spat. Everyone was quiet. Yeah, looks like there little team was going to lose this fight.
"Crowley's right. We don't have time to argue anymore about this. We need to decide how to set our trap for Everglee." Everyone was silent then. They knew what they needed for the trap. They just needed to get their hands on it first. If Everglee wants vessels then they need to find one and protect it until Everglee decides to come and take it himself. It's just…where are they going to find one?
"Look at this you idjits," Bobby called from over by the wall with the map hanging on it. He was holding a red marker in his hand.
"Bobby! That's not a coloring book!" Garth yelped. "I worked on that all day!" Bobby ignored Garths wining and continued connecting the dots from vessel to vessel.
"Oh," Sam gasped, watching at the red lines connected into a cross. A few spots were still missing in the cross though and the closest was just one town over. The group each smiled at each other. They had their vessel then. They just had to keep the undead angel's off of it until Everglee showed up and Cas took him down. Well, if he can survive that long that is.
Dean held out a hand to the angel and he curled his knees back up to his chest and stared far away into the distance. He had been sure he had heard the angel wrong, but then again Cas did look like he had just seen a ghost. Dean doubted that anyone other than god could freak the angel out that badly. Cas pulled away from Dean and the hunter held back the urge to shout at him.
"Did he say anything to you?" Dean asked, staring at Cas hopefully. Cas picked at his nails. He wanted to say- Yes, Dean, my father spoke to me. He said I'd die in a few days and then rambled on about now the world was in my hands now. He couldn't though. If Dean was really as broken as what he had heard and seen already then he didn't want to add to the Winchester's grief.
"He told me that I need to build up strength like Everglee did," Cas informed the hunter. Dean frowned, sitting down on the bed.
"How are you going to do that?" Dean questioned, fiddling with the necklace Sammy had given him. Cas swallowed quickly, tasting bile in the back of his throat just thinking about it.
"Everglee feed off my brothers and sisters when they were alive. I must feed on the dark and dead energy that now consumes my family." Dean looked just as disgusted as Cas did, but he held himself together. For that Cas was grateful of. The last thing he needed was for Dean to start arguing with him.
"Will this have any side effects I should be aware of?" And there it is. The words Cas dreaded to hear from the hunter.
"I'll just get a little tired from having so much power. That's all,"Cas lied. Dean looked him over a few times and then a small smile tugged on his lips.
"We'll then you better get all the sleep you need then," Dean said, pushing Cas back into the bed and yanking the sheets over his body. "Sleep tight, Cas," Dean said, walking over to the door and pressing his fingers to the light switch.
"Good night, Dean," Cas murmured, the lights going off and the darkness flooded in.