Disclaimer: I do not OWN any of the characters already represented in Supernatural.
Ch 10
Cass had almost reached Emi before Rabiem got in between them as Nero grabbed Emi and disappeared.
"Your rage...it's intoxicating. Care to share?" Before Cass could move Rabiem grabbed her and seemed to be draining her rage and strenght and maybe even her life. She caught a glimpse of Dean coming up behind to stab Rabiem. She tried to yell for him not to, without him how would she find Nero again? It was too late. Just as her world began to go black she felt herself being released from Rabiem before falling to the ground.
******
Cass woke up to find herself in the bedroom back at Bobby's. She shot up only to grab her head and lay back down.
"Cass! You're awake! We were worried you wouldn't wake up."
"Yeah, well here I am...awake and feeling like I got hit by a semi."
Dean handed her a glass and some pain killers. Cass took them and tried to force herself to believe they were already working in hopes it would help them work faster.
"Where's Nero and Emi? How long was I out?"
"Slow down there tiger...we THINK we have an idea of where they went and you were out for a couple of days...Bobby doesn't know how you survived that...I think it has something to do with the spell."
"I think so too...where do we think they're at? We need to go and like NOW!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast. You're not going to be much help to her if you can't even stand. Just take a minute to gather yourself."
"I can't lose her too Dean..." Cass said as tears started to fill her eyes.
Dean got in the bed next to her and laid her head on his chest.
"I know babe. Don't worry. We'll find her. I promise." Dean really had no idea if they would. The only clues they had were high spikes in demon activity, but that was in a couple of different areas. Who was to say they would even be at those spots anyways.
"Nero said he wanted to use me to make his 'Bride of Hell' in a sense. Have me help him rule hell..."
"Well I won't let him. None of us will. And we'll get Emi back too."
"I know, but what if I could take over and get rid of him?"
"Did you lose some brain cells when the demon drained you?! Do you REALLY think you as a new blood demon could take on Nero?"
"Well...he would have to give me enough juice to be his wingman...maybe I could..."
"Stop! We're not even going to consider this at all. END of discussion on that! Do you understand?"
Cass shook her head yes and took a few moments before starting to worry about how she didn't die.
"I think we need to look more into this spell...It's starting to worry me...as much as I hate to admit it..."
"Yeah...me too...all of us really. I mean, I'm happy that you're up, but like I said. Nobody knows how you would have survived an attack like that. I mean...it looked like he was LITERALLY draining everything out of you...I thought I was going to lose you."
"Nah, I wouldn't let you get rid of me that easily," Cass said with a smirk.
Dean squeezed her a little tighter and placed a kiss on her head. He really didn't know what he would have done had he lost her. He would have felt completely at fault, even more so than he ever did when things went bad with Sam.
"You ready to go downstairs and maybe try to eat something?"
"Is your mind ALWAYS thinking about food?"
"Among other things..." Dean said as he placed a longingly kiss on Cass's lips before nipping it just a little.
"Dean..." Cass whined, "Don't be such a tease when I don't feel well, it's just even more torture."
"Well...I COULD always relieve some stress to help you feel better..."
"Babe...come on. Can we wait 'til I don't feel like death warmed over?"
"Fine..."Dean said before rolling out of bed and coming to the other side to help her get out.
"Where would we even start to find Nero and Emi?"
"Well, that's what we have the two nerds downstairs for." Dean said with a toothy grin before they headed downstairs.
*****
Cass and Dean went downstairs to fin Bobby fixing some food and Sam reading a book at the table notes spread out around him.
"What ya doin'?" Cass asked Sam as she sat at the table and Dean went over to the fridge to grab a beer for him and a water for Cass.
"Researching on Max/Nero or trying to at least..."
"What do you mean 'Trying'?"
"Well there's not THAT much on him really. Other than what we already know about him liking to look for great or powerfull people to reak havok on. He's been around for awhile. Has been sent back to hell a few times by different hunters, but always manages to find a way back out."
"Does it say that he was ever under someone else's orders? Is he more of a follower demon or more of a leader?"
"Well of course he WAS a follower to Lucifer, but now that he's out of the picture...looks to me like he's going a little power hungry now that the boss is out of commission."
"Great...this is NOT helping my headache."
"Then here, this should do the trick. Grilled chicken on penne pasta." Bobby said as he laid a plate in front of her.
"Mmmm...this looks delicious Bobby. Thank you...Any idea on where to maybe start looking for Nero?"
"Well there are a couple of demon hot spots lately, but there's no telling if it's him really. No trademark of his that we know of."
"Think he might be using some more friends to do his bidding?"
"Maybe, but he seems pretty keen on getting your attention, especially now that he has Emi." Bobby said not sure how to state that without her getting more worried.
"Umm...you guys...we just had a hot shot real estate agent throw himself from a twelve story rooftop of a commercial building he was showing...I think that's a calling card of his...and it happened in the same town where every three years a female with brown hair and brown eyes at the local high school has committed suicide and usually a club leader of sorts."
"Sounds like our next stop." Cass said as she shoved some more food in her mouth before getting up to grab her coat.
Dean looked to Sam as if to ask him to take a seperate car. He wanted to talk to Cass about what may or may not happen when or if they find Nero.
"Hey, Bobby and I are gonna take my car so we can carry more ammo and such. We'll see you guys there." Sam said as he quickly took him and Bobby out the door.
"Ok...well let's go pretty lady. Got some creatures, and demons, and who knows what else to kill." Dean said with a toothy grin. Cass wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing that his enthusiasm to kill things didn't scare her. But it was just one of the things that made him who he was, a hunter.
*****
They had arleady driven for about thirty minutes before Cass decided to turn down "I Can't Hold You Back" by Survivor to try to see what was on Dean's mind.
"Hey! Don't touch the music! No backseat DJ business."
"Well, ONE, I'm not in the backseat, I'm in the shotgun seat, and TWO, you look like you have something to say."
Dean let out a sigh "...ok..." He looked at her sideways as he was trying to keep his eyes on the road too.
"So..."
"Look...I don't know how to say this...we MAY or MAY NOT find Nero and Emi...I know he wants YOU to find them so he can get you to make this deal with him...but we can't let that happen...I'm not asking you to let it go, because if it were Sam, I know I couldn't...all I'm saying is...I'm here...we're here for you if worst comes to worst..."
Cass knew it was possible for things to turn out REALLY bad, but it wasn't something she even wanted to think about. She felt that if she even let the thoughts process in her head, they had a more likely chance of becoming a reality. But she really appreciated that Dean felt he had to make it clear that they were there for her.
"Thanks Dean, but it's not something I even really want to think about."
"I know that, I'm just saying that I don't want you to go running off again if something bad happens...I don't think I could go through that again."
Cass knew what he was reffering to. When she had lost her best friend of years, she just took off. Went hunting on her own. She was only 16, but she looked old enough to be on her own. She got a new phone, changed her numbers, used different fake names, did whatever she could to not let them track her down. She was on her own for a couple of months before Dean tracked her down. Only he could figure out what names she would use. Flowers for first names and famous female musician last names. He found her when she used the name Jasmine Jett. She put up a fight for him to bring her home.
***** FLASH BACK*****
"Leave me alone Dean! I'm not going back there! All I do is have memories flood back to remind me that she's gone! I didn't even see how unhappy she was! She killed herself and I had no idea she was in that much pain!"
"It's not your fault Cass! NO ONE saw it coming! Not even her family she lived with everyday!"
"She was my BEST FRIEND! She should've come to me! I would have done anything to help her! She was like a sister to me!"
"Cass! STOP blaming yourself!"
"You have no idea what I'm going through! Just go away!"
"NO! I'm not going anywhere! I care for you too much to just leave you like this!"
"WHY do you care?! Don't you have some cheerleader girlfriend to get back to?!"
"Who told you that?"
"Eric..."
"Yeah, well Eric wants to get into YOUR pants, so he'll tell you just about anything to upset you enough to go crying to him about it."
"How can you say that? You don't even know him."
"He's a guy, I know him well enough...and if he's so great, why aren't you off crying to him right now?"
"Because I want to be ALONE! What part of that are you NOT understanding?!"
Cass had started to cry and Dean didn't know what else to do but embrace her so close to him he thought they might turn into one.
"Shhh...Cass...Cass..it's gonna be ok...do you think she would want you to be like this? Reckless and risking your life everyday? Or would she want you to go on with your life and be happy?"
Cass couldn't talk. She was barely able to breathe at this point.
"Cass...you're not alone in this. I'm right here. I'll always be here..."
"No you won't...you'll just leave again." Cass lifted her head to look at Dean. "You always leave...and it kills me every time..."
"I wish I could stay..."
"Don't lie...I know you love it...I wish I could love it as much as you do, but I just can't...If I could, I would just leave with you..."
"Well you can't do that...you promised you'd finish school. At least High School, ok?...I'm only a phone call away. ANY TIME that you need me. If I don't answer, you know I'll call you back as soon as I can."
"Why?...Why do you care so much?"
Dean bit his lip contemplating on telling her he loved her. He realized just how much when he found out she had gone off on her own and no one could find her. The panick of not knowing where she was made his heart ache. The thought of her being gone forever made him want to curl into a ball and never get up again. He left his dad right in the middle of a case even and got a serious verbal beat down when he got back, but he didn't care. He had to find her. He wanted it to be a more romantic setting to tell her, but he guessed now would be the only chance he would get for some time.
"I care...I care so much...because...I love you."
"...what?"
"I love you Cass. I always have. Ever since the first day I saw you...I just never realized how much until I thought I had lost you forever."
Cass didn't know what to say. She knew she loved him too. She always had, but she was scared. With him being gone so often and for so long. What was life without taking a few risks though? Her mom always told her the scariest risks were usually the ones most worth taking.
"I love you too Dean, always have."
Dean crashed his lips into hers. The heat of the moment only fueled their already natural chemistry between them. They pulled apart to rest their heads against each other.
"Come on. I got to get you home. Your dad, my dad, and Bobby will kill me for not telling them I found you and not let them know."
They laced fingers as they walked out of the motel. It was just the beginning.
*****
The arrived at a motel to crash at. The usual run down run of the mill kind of a place. It wasn't so out of date that it actually had 2 beds and a pull out couch in a room. They started to set up the room as they usually do. Research on one wall, getting all their ammo and weapons ready to go.
"I'm hungry," Cass said.
"You read my mind," Dean said back.
"Well great minds think alike," Cass said before placing a quick peck on his lips.
"Oh stop it before you make me LOSE my appetite," Bobby said to give them a hard time.
They ate at the diner as they discussed what to look for next.
"Well, how about Bobby and I go ask the family about him and Dean and Cass, you guys can go check out the building he jumped from." Sam said as they were finishing up.
"Sounds like a plan," Cass said as she started to get up from the table.
****
Dean and Cass arrived at the building to find it still having crime scene tape around it, but surprising no security for a commercial building.
"Should we head to the roof?" Cass asked as they surveyed the lobby.
"Yeah, let's head up there."
They reached the roof to walk to the spot he jumped from. Nothing out of the ordinary, but the view was AMAZING. They could see across the whole city. The lights were bright and the city was still very much alive down below. Cass was disappointed she couldn't really see any stars though. That's why she always preferred to live away from the city.
"Well I hope Bobby and Sam have more luck than we do...Maybe we should go check out his office too."
"Let's go then."
*****
Bobby and Sam didn't have very much luck either. The victom was as happy as ever. Head agent of the city, two kids, lovely wife, wasn't much of anything for him to be upset enough to jump off the roof. They didn't find any hex bags or demonic omens in the house either. If this guy had made a deal of any kind, he was at least smart enough to keep it away from home.
*****
"AH-HA! Sulfur! Looks like he did do all of his business at the office. Anything on the computer about when his business spiked?"
"Yeah, looks like he was doing well to start, but then newbie mode wore out and he didn't sell anything for a couple of months, which is like a life time in real estate...THEN he sold three houses in one month, then the next month he sold two houses and two commercial buildings, and the list just grows from there."
They heard a loud thud come from across the building. They both looked at each other before they started to investigate.
"You know, I feel like the idiots you yell at in a scary movie to NOT go check out the noise." Cass said to try to lighten the mood.
"Well I never was known for my brains, but for my looks." Dean said with a wink back at her.
She rolled her eyes before she looked behind him to notice a very tall dark figure with his back to them...
Sorry for the cliff hanger, but I wanted to get something out to you guys after making you wait so long. I'm going to make corrections in the other chapters as far as spelling and such. Sorry for those -_- Hope you guys have good weekend!