a/n: Thanks for the reviews, you guys! Sorry again for the delay, but I had a relapse in my "I want to die" illness, and I...well, I wanted to die. Stupid stomach bug.
I hope you enjoy the chapter, and look for chapter 13 to be a bit less talky and a bit more action-focused. For something that was really meant to be a love story, this has gone in a very strange direction.
Chapter 12: The Cave
...I need freedom now
And I need to know how
To live my life as it's meant to be.
-Mumford and Sons, "The Cave"
"Eep!" she said as Dean yanked her behind a nearby rock. She grabbed his arm to steady herself when he set her back on her feet. Unbeknownst to Layla, they were in the same small hollow he had charged out of only moments ago. The others hadn't even had a chance to follow him yet.
Now the other four stood staring at Dean and Layla like they had materialized from the ether. "Layla?" Sam said. "Where'd you come from?"
"That's what I said," Dean said.
"And then I asked him why he's wearing a shirt around his head. We had quite the moment." She knelt to catch her breath, hands braced on her knees. She felt a pang of regret for all those cheeseburgers she'd been indulging in recently. Or maybe that was just a stitch in her side.
"There were violins. It was magical."
"You two," Garth said with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
"Seriously, though," Dean said, "you came outta nowhere. What happened to you? Where're Cas and Alfie?"
She blinked up at him. "Who the hell is Alfie?"
Dean waved a hand. "The little guy. Samandriel."
"Why do you…? Never mind. I don't know. They said they were sending them back, too, but fuck if I know."
A demon burst through the gap in the rock and Dean stabbed it. Layla fell back. "How long have you guys been here?" she said.
"Too long," Sam said. "We're just waiting for Crowley to get free of that Devil's Trap, and then we're pretty much done. We were just about to make our last stand when you showed up."
"What do you mean they?" Dean said.
"I…it's kind of a long story. The explosion. It was Cas. Cas tried to zap Sama…Alfie and me, and when he did we zapped…somewhere else."
"Where?" Kevin said.
Her gaze zeroed in on him. He was filthy and pale, but beneath the grime was the steady glow of the prophet. She let out a little sigh. "Have you finished the ritual?" she said even though she knew the answer.
"No," he said. "We can't. We lost the key."
She looked away. Back. Their eyes held and locked, and across the dimness of the cave she saw his expression transform. "It's you," he whispered. "That's what I couldn't understand."
"What are you talking about?" Dean said.
Kevin pulled the tablet out of his bag and stared at it. "Born the night the stars fell / named for a song / the girl who … not has the key, but is the key. I was reading it wrong this whole time."
"Whoa, wait, hang on," Garth said. "Run that past us again?"
"He's right," Layla said. "The key isn't lost. The thing we saw before was just…I don't know. An illusion. A MacGuffin. I'm the key."
"You're the key," Dean said.
"Yep. C'est moi."
He snorted. "Bullshit you're the key. Bullshit! If you're the key, then I'm—"
"An archangel's vessel?" she said sweetly.
"You know, normally I like a smart ass, but sometimes it really just pisses me off!" Dean said with a furious glare.
"I'm sorry, white Tupac, did I actually make a valid fucking point? I know this is hard to believe. Trust me, I'm in a tiny bit of shock about it, too. But, hey, your little God rock says it, so I guess it must be true. Right?"
Dean stepped back. Turned away. Said to Sam: "Did she just call me white Tupac?"
Sam said, "Yeah, I think she did."
"Because of the shirt, right?"
"Well I doubt it's because of your mad rap skills."
"She's right, though," Kevin said. "It does say it here. I just didn't realize it before. She's the key, Dean, whether you believe it or not."
Layla scrubbed both hands over her face. This wasn't going at all how she'd planned it. Not that she'd really had time to plan it, but overall antagonizing Dean probably would not have been part of the plan. "Dean, look, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to give you a hard time."
"Coulda fooled me," he muttered, his back still to her.
"Could you please just turn around? I'm trying to apologize here."
He capitulated with ill grace. "You just found this out? Five minutes ago?"
She nodded, mouth tight.
He watched her. He knew what it was like to have an unwanted destiny. To have forces bigger and more powerful than you suddenly thrust their bullshit in your lap and laugh when you tried to refuse it. He didn't know what it meant that she was the key, but he was sure it wasn't good for her, and it seemed like she wasn't happy about it. He could relate.
"Destiny's a bitch," he said.
She recognized it for what it was, and accepted it as such: a peace offering. "You don't really look like white Tupac."
"Yeah, he does," Garth said. "A little bit."
"So this means we can complete the ritual!" Linda said.
Layla's eyes went wide. "I—" She took a deep breath. "None of you know me, and you have no reason to trust me or care or listen, but please. We can't do it."
"What?" Sam said. "But that's the whole point. That's why we're here. You're the key, right? You can work the lock!"
"I know that, and I know how much closing the Gates means to all of you, but I'm begging you. We have to send them back, but we can't close them."
"It was your idea to vote," Dean said.
"I know! Things have changed."
"You're the key," Kevin said. "If we perform the ritual, you have to play your part."
A pause.
"What does that mean?" Garth said.
"She would have no choice," Kevin said. "It's part of the spell."
Dean's expression darkened. He and Sam shared a look. "Is that true?" Dean said to her.
She looked at him. Her eyes flicked away. Back. "The key is a tool," she said, voice hard. "A tool exists to be used."
A silence fell. The Winchesters studied her, each thinking his own thoughts. They exchanged another long, wordless communication. Sam's brows drew together. Dean's mouth twitched. Sam shook his head once. Dean frowned.
Finally Dean said, "No. We send them back. They stay open."
"What?" Linda said. "What about—?"
"No!" Dean said. "End of discussion. We're not doing the spell. We find another way."
"You can't just decide that!" she said. "Not after everything my son has done! We should take another vote. That's the only fair—"
"I said no!" Dean thrust his finger toward Layla's surprised face. "She might be a pain in the ass, but she's a human being, and not only that but my idiot friend is in love with her. I'm not letting her be used by some damn spell. Free goddamn will!"
"It's kind of our battle cry," Sam said. "Minus the goddamn part, usually."
Kevin rested a hand on his mother's arm. "He's right, Mom. She's a person, not a tool. We can't just use her."
"You guys are givin' me warm fuzzies like wow," Layla said.
"This is no time for your sarcasm, young lady!" Linda said. "We wouldn't be using you if you just wanted to do this."
Layla softened. "It's the damned, Linda. We were right about the damned."
She was crying now, and nearly blinded by her tears. "But how do you know? It was just a theory!"
"I have it on pretty good authority. I'm sorry, Linda. I wish this could be over for you and Kevin, too." She went still as something new occurred to her, and she missed the next several seconds of conversation. Kevin was trying to calm his mother down and the three Hunters were arguing theories on how to return the Gates to their rightful place.…
"Dean? Is that you?"
His head shot toward the gap in the rocks. "Cas? You out there? We're back here!"
"Yes. I can hear you, but I can't see. Where are you?"
"Oh," Layla said. "I locked it."
Five sets of eyes stared at her.
"What do you mean, you locked it?" Sam said.
"The, er. The gap. The demons were…annoying. So I, er…I locked it. Um." She offered an awkward smile and a shrug.
"She's the key," Kevin said as if that explained everything.
"I thought you were just the key to, you know…Hell," Dean said.
"More like the skeleton variety," she said. "Everything has a lock. You just have to know where to look."
He considered her for a long quiet moment, his eyes dark with something unreadable. It might have been compassion. She hoped it wasn't pity.
"Jesus, kid," he muttered.
She swallowed. "Do you see it now?" she called.
"Yes," Cas said from beside her.
"Agh!" she said. "Don't sneak up on people like that, Cas. I'm gonna hang a bell around your neck or something."
He studied her with tilted head and furrowed brow. "There's something different. What's different? Has something happened?"
"Heya, Alfie," Dean said, clapping the baby-faced angel on the back. "Good to see ya again. How ya been?"
"I've been Crowley's prisoner for the last several months. He's subjected me to unspeakable torture. How have you been, Dean?" he said, his expression smooth.
"Not bad, all things considered," he said with an uncomfortable chuckle.
"You should be aware we passed the Gates of Hell on our way here," Cas said. "They're just outside."
"Yeah, Cas," Sam said, "we know. We're working the problem."
"Are we no longer planning to close them?"
Dean glanced at Layla. "No. New plan. We send them back and think of…something else."
Samandriel and Cas shared a look. "To return the Gates to Hell will not be easy," the former said. "It will require a great deal of power."
"Angelic power?" Layla said hopefully.
"Yes," Cas said, "but more than that." He hesitated. "Where is Crowley?"
"Still in the Devil's Trap, as far as we know," Garth said.
"We will require his assistance," Cas said.
"You're kidding, right?" said Sam.
"Unfortunately, no. Hell is his domain, so the ritual is partially his to perform." He frowned around the circle. "You all look terrible," he said. He touched each one of them in turn to heal their wounds. Layla was careful to avoid him, and for the moment he didn't seem to notice.
"There's no way Crowley's gonna help us," Dean said. "With the Gates up here, this's his chance to take over. He'll laugh his ass off."
"I don't think so," Layla said.
"What are you thinking, Layla?" Cas said.
"Crowley has the one thing he's ever wanted, right? He's the King of Hell. Who has the power to take that away from him?"
It was a half-rhetorical question, but the little group gave it due consideration anyway.
"No one, really," Samandriel said. "Demons jockey for power constantly, but Crowley keeps them small and stupid. There are few with his age and power now that the big players like Azazel and Alistair are gone."
"And Lucifer, of course," Sam said. "He's locked away. No threat to Crowley."
"Exactly," said Layla, voice soft. "Locked."
Again the stares. Only Cas looked nonplussed. Everyone else just seemed shocked. Maybe a tiny bit intrigued.
"You can't be proposing what I think you're proposing," Garth said. "Layla, I'm all for radical ideas, but Lucifer is…he's big b Bad, no shit. He's nothing any of us need to mess with."
"I'm not actually going to mess with Lucifer, Garth. I'm not crazy. But Crowley doesn't know that. Hell, he probably thinks I am crazy. Think about it from Crowley's point of view: if the Gates stayed here, what would we really have to lose by letting Lucifer out?"
"I don't understand this conversation," Cas said. "How can we possibly release Lucifer from his cage? I was able to get Sam out once, but to do something like that again—"
"No, Cas, no one is saying that," Sam said.
"He doesn't know what you are?" Dean said.
"The angels don't," Layla said.
"I do," Samandriel said.
"I stand corrected. The cute one does."
Cas made a noise.
"Again, I stand corrected. The little one does."
"I'm unused to ignorance," Cas said. "It's an uncomfortable feeling."
"It would be better if we didn't tell you now, brother," Samandriel said. "Not just for your own good, but for Layla's, as well."
A quiet moment as Cas mulled it over. "Very well. I will trust your judgment."
"Thank you, Castiel," he said with quiet dignity.
"Great," Dean said, rubbing his hands together, "now that we've got that settled, about this plan—"
"I'm surprised we haven't heard from you before now," Layla said.
"I just want to make sure I have it straight. You're gonna threaten Crowley with Lucifer if he doesn't help us, right? Because if you did let big Lu out, he'd take Crowley's toys and go home, and Crowley would be left…dead. But if Crowley helps us, yeah he doesn't get Earth, but at least he still has Hell."
"And better to rule there, etc, etc," she said.
"Do you think he'll buy it?"
"I don't know, Dean. Do you have any better ideas?"
"Not really."
"Okay, then."
"Oh," Cas said. He blinked like waking from a dream. "The door. The cage. Samandriel said it before."
"Castiel, don't."
"It's why the key Crowley had was drawn to her. It's why the Metatron spoke of her in the tablet."
"Cas, if Alfie says don't, maybe you shouldn't—"
His face was strange as he took a step closer to her. She fell back, suddenly frightened.
"Castiel, stop! Don't listen to her!" Samandriel said.
"You're the key," Cas said.
The rocks around them shook with the clarion call of trumpets, and Cas' face was a mask of anguish as he crumpled to his knees. Samandriel looked terrified. Layla clapped her hands over her ears as agony rang through her skull like a thousand church bells.
"What is it?" she cried.
The others shook their heads, mystified, but clearly not in pain like she was.
"Angels!" Samandriel said with something like a sob. "The angels have come! She's here!"
That bitch. I think you know who I mean.
Every time you review, dear readers, Naomi gets a paper cut in a really awkward place, like maybe between her thumb and first finger. I think that's uncomfortable even for angels.
