It's been a very long time since I've spoken to the dead angels via my Dead Angel Radio. It happens only when I'm in a deep sleep, so I guess the fight with Belial wore me out.

That meteorite and breaking my nose certainly didn't help.

It's always white when I'm here. Immediately I see Gabriel smoking out of an old fashioned pipe. The last time I saw him, it wasn't really him. It was a trick pulled by Metatron. Still... it was good to see him.

His oldest daughter Carmen stares immensely at me with eyes matching his. "What happened?"

"A lot of us got hurt," I admitted. "Jasper took it the worst."

Gabriel now turned his attention to me as Carmen asked, "How bad?"

"Bad," I said. "I don't know if he's even alive."

Carmen put a hand over her mouth, shaking a little. I pulled her in for a hug. "He's a tough guy, he'll be fine." Gabriel promised.

I looked for Exarp, Charlie's father, when I pulled away from Carmen. Lord, the resemblance was too great. "Your son's a hero."

He barely let out a smile. "I'm proud of him."

I glanced around for Don now, smirking at his stupid Hawaiian shirt. "You need a new trend."

"Oh, piss off," he remarked, and I chuckled.

Racquel was sat next to Gabby. Racquel was an angel and Gabby was a Nephilim - both died at the hands of Castiel. Long story. "How is Balthazar?" Racquel asked me sadly.

"Good, his son's getting big." I answered.

"Lynn," Carmen interrupted. "If you get to talk to Jasper, I want you to tell him something for me."

"Of course," I assured. "What is it-?"

I gained consciousness a few moments later, followed by hearing, "Ma!" Over and and over again. I struggle to open my eyes to see my three year old baby holding my face with his little hands.

"Hello son," I groaned. "Were you good for Aunt Amy and your cousins while I was busy?"

"Yeah," he replied, grinning. "I help Thomas fix cars!" He exclaimed.

"That sounds awesome, son," I encouraged. "Now can you get your hands off my face?"

"Yeah," he repeated, pulling away from me.

"Where's everyone at?" I wondered. "Where are we even at?"

"Maya's bed," Clifton answered.

"I see," I spoke. "Hey, son, I want to ask you something."

"What?"

"I know you're little but do you understand why the other Clifton is uh... here?"

"He's me," he answered. "He's a big me!"

"That's right," I guess he does understand. I scoop him up and leave Lady Maya's room and take a trip downstairs. There's no one here... what the hell-?

"Ma," Clifton said fearfully. "He's coming."

"Who is-?" I asked as he held onto me tightly. I wrap both my arms around him, protecting him in case someone was about to appear. A sinister laugh erupts throughout the entire house. Clifton whimpers.

That boy is mine... I heard an echo. Teivel-? No, it sounds too evil to be him... Hand him over now and this can be ended quickly... I heard next.

"Don't let him take me, Ma," Clifton cried.

"You stay the hell away from us... DIABLO!" I screamed as I finally woke up for real. I inhaled before letting out a fit of coughs. I'm back on Lady Maya's bed, only this time Jasper is fast asleep on the other side. He's got bandages all over him to help with his burns. Also... some of his hair must have caught on fire. Someone had to shave it all off. He's nearly bald now.

"You awake?" I asked him quietly. "I've got a message for-"

My stomach twists painfully and the urge to vomit arises. I force myself up and dash out of the room, unable to remember where the bathroom was. I take a wild guess and turn right, then another right, opening the door and thankfully it's the restroom.

Weird. I haven't been sick since... well... it couldn't be, could it-?

"Castiel, where the hell have you been?" I hissed into my iPhone a few days later. "Belial is dead, but we sure could have used your help! Some of us almost died!"

"I've been busy," Cas replied. "Tyrael told me about the battle, and it is a victory worth celebrating. But I have something to take care of, and I could use yours and Megan's assistance."

"Megan almost had her fucking arm ripped off by Belial, she's on medical leave." I grunted.

"Am not!" Megan pouted from behind me. "What's going on?"

"Cas wants our help with...?" I led on.

"Controlling Metatron."

"Excuse me?"

"I got him out of Heaven and he promised to take me to my Grace," Cas explained.

"ARE YOU KIDDING?!" I screeched.

I heard him sigh. "He's a handful. If the two of you were here, it could - shut up, Metatron - it could pressure him."

"...you just gave away your plan in front of him?" I facepalmed.

"...yes?"

"You idiot! We'll be there," I decided. "Text me where you're at." I hang up, and look at Megan. "Up for an adventure?"

"Always," she grinned.

"I want to go," Little Clifton said from the love seat he was sharing with Lady Maya. It was literally just the four of us in the house for once, plus Miraak, but he was outside.

"Yes son, you can go too," I agreed. "I think you'll be the only one who's happy about who we're going to see..."

Moments later, the three of us appear at Castiel's car in the darkness. Megan glances up at the half moon, bright enough to illuminate her blue eyes for a moment, until the clouds shaded over it. "Thank you for coming." Cas greeted us.

"Is that... Metatron?" Megan realized, looking in the car.

"Go away," the angel groaned.

Megan narrowed her eyes. "You've been shot in the leg. Why hasn't it healed?"

"I made him human," Cas admitted.

"You did... what?!" Megan exclaimed.

"Tron!" Clifton ran over to the car. "You're hurt?"

"I'll survive," Metatron reassured him. "The only one who cares about me is a three year old!" he yelled, as if the whole world was supposed to hear.

"Can we not tell Nephros about this?" I requested. "I need him focused on our Diablo mission. If he finds out his father's here - and human - who knows what he'll do."

"Did you say Diablo?" Metatron repeated in horror. "The angel?"

"He is far from an angel now," Cas corrected.

"I know that, I remember the war," Metatron scoffed. "Now can we get a move on? The sooner Megan gets out of my face, the better."

Not even Clifton said anything when Megan clocked Metatron good in the face.

The three of us were in the backseat as Cas drove. Metatron was still riding shotgun. "How is my son?" he asked me.

"Fine," I replied. "I think he's realizing Luna likes him."

Metatron chuckled. "Good luck with that. I know my boy. His heart belongs to Lady Maya. It's hard for me to like her when I know that Megan is her doppleganger-"

She punched him again, and Clifton laughed.

"So Tron," I spoke when Megan sat back next to me. "How is it, being human?"

"Oh, man!" He remarked. "I've got all these... feelings! I can feel music now! I can hear a song and not even know what it's about, but I'll love it! My love for stories got so much deeper. I get goosebumps. DON'T even get me started about GOOSEBUMPS!"

"Can I kill him now?" Megan muttered.

"No," Cas denied. "After I get my Grace back, feel free to do whatever you want to him."

"I can hear you guys!" Metatron yelped.

"I can cut your ears off if that's a problem," Megan kindly offered. I snorted, rubbing under my nose.

It was when we were finally able to have some quiet when my son says, "Ma, I'm hungry."

Metatron perked up. "Can we stop somewhere? There are so many things I want to try!"

Megan and Cas looked annoyed, but they would comply. Metatron having a fit was one thing - Clifton having a fit was something anyone preferred to avoid.

We find a diner and make ourselves comfortable. Megan gladly handcuffs Metatron as we went in and sat at a booth. "Tron, can I sit next to you?" Clifton asked.

"Ask your mother," Metatron humbly replied. My son widens his amber eyes at me in feigned innocence.

"I suppose." I sighed. I slid in the booth first, followed by my son, and then Metatron. Megan and Castiel sat across from us.

"What are you gonna eat?" Clifton nosily asked Metatron as a waitress handed us all menus.

"I've been thinking, I want to try waffles," Metatron answered, looking through the menu.

Clifton gleams at me. "Ma, can I have waffles?"

"You don't like waffles," I reminded.

"I promise I'll eat them."

"You're lying, son." I deadpanned. "You can have Alingon's favorite - pancakes."

"I want chocolate pancakes!" Clifton squealed. Well, that was easy.

"Alingon... Nephros' buddy?" Metatron remembered.

"He likes Ma," Clifton blurted out. Oh, crap...

"Interesting," Metatron raised an eye at me. "You've already found a new guy to latch onto when your current lover dies."

I clench my fists in anger, seconds away from slitting his throat. "You're wrong." I denied. The waitress came back for our orders: waffles for Metatron, chocolate chip pancakes for Cliffy, onion rings for myself, nothing for Cas, and fries with a milkshake for Megan. Shockingly we were able to eat in peace until Metatron was halfway done with his waffles.

"O... M... ME!" He groaned happily as he took a giant bite. "Oh food... glorious food..." he reached for the syrup and poured half the bottle out. "The process of this?" He points at his mouth. "Goes in here?" He points at his rear. "Comes out there? It's sorcery!"

Megan facepalmed. I busted out laughing, and Cas looked ready to kill himself. "We've hit three of your so called safehouses before they came along, and they were all empty. You've either lost my Grace, or you're stalling." He growled.

Metatron frowned. "Can you blame me? As soon as I hand over your Grace, Megan's going to rain Hell on me."

She cracked her knuckles in response, causing him to gulp. I took a bite of an onion ring when Metatron's stomach started roaring. We all stare at him and he says painfully, "I think I need to go to the little boys' room."

Our eyes now dart at Cas - the only candidate able to help him. He gives us all a dirty look and gets up, dragging the newly human with him to the bathroom.

"Is Tron okay?" My son asks with a mouthful of pancake.

"Yes, he'll be fine. Just needs to learn how to be human." I answered.

"I think I'm lactose intolerant," Metatron said sadly as we exit the diner.

"You would be!" Megan threw her arms up.

"Stop," Clifton suddenly said worriedly, squeezing my hand.

"I wasn't-" Megan protested.

"STOP!" My son screamed, and suddenly, none of us could move. Someone laughed at us from afar. A bearded man was leaned back against a car, wearing a red cap and a blue jacket.

"Metatron, Castiel, the Chosen One and the Hybrid." He recognized. "Being protected by a baby. This is my lucky day." He pulls out an angel blade.

Clifton lets us move again. Cas pulls out his own blade. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm just a Cupid," he replied. "An angry Cupid. You corrupted Heaven! It's never going to be the same!" He enraged, attacking Cas. Megan leaped over to help him; I grabbed Metatron and pulled him away. I looked back and watched. I could easily snap my fingers and kill the cupid, but I'd let Megan have the shine this time.

Cas pushed him back and Megan stabbed him with her own blade. It's a necessity these days I guess.

When it was all over, Metatron looked at my son in awe. "You're a powerful little one. I couldn't move at all."

"He is Diablo's grandson," I shrugged calmly. "Power runs in both sides of his family."

"...you're kidding, right?" was Metatron's response.

Our final destination was a library. "Typical." I muttered. He WOULD keep Castiel's Grace in a place like this.

Megan and I remained in the car. Cliffy followed Cas and Metatron in. I didn't like that one bit, but we didn't want to go in, and I wasn't going to argue with my three year old. I'd be there in an instant if anything happened.

We sat in silence for a while. It was just when we realized they were taking too long when the glass on the doors to the library shattered, followed by a small quake. My heart dropped and I zapped myself inside, to see books flown off every shelf, followed by a flash of bright light. When it was gone, Megan had appeared next to me, and we saw my son pop up out of a pile of books with wide eyes.

Castiel was near him, on his knees. As he slowly started standing up, his blue eyes started glowing... soon his whole body glowing. We saw his wings appear, showering the wall behind him. They weren't mighty and big like I remembered.

They looked... crippled.

Broken.

"Welcome back, Cas," I spoke, walking through the hall of fallen books over to my son. "You okay, Clifton?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Tron ran away." He added.

"Come again?" Megan remarked, joining us.

"He used a sigil to weaken us long enough to take off with the demon tablet he hid here," Cas explained quietly.

"Are you joking?!" Megan hissed. "I'm going to kill him when I see him again!"

I lift up my son and he hugs me around my neck tightly. "Did the sigil hurt you, son?"

"A little," he admitted. "I want to go home."

"Me too," I agreed. "Cas, Megan, you guys gonna be alright?"

"I'm going to look for Metatron," Megan decided, going back the way we came.

"Is she upset?" Cas assumed.

"I would say so," I answered. "He gets away yet again. Yeah, she's probably pissed."

The next afternoon, Sam calls me, asking if I can get Rowena for him. "You know her?" Jesus, I should probably start asking who DOESN'T know her? I'd heard Father Crowley kicked her out of his kingdom, but I still knew how to find her.

"Can I ask what this is about?" I questioned.

"Charlie found a book," Sam started.

"Charlie's too busy with... oh, you mean our lady friend Charlie. Red hair. Not blonde."

"She found a book called The Book of The Damned. It has spells on how to do almost anything - even a cure for the Mark of Cain." Sam explained.

"Are you serious-?" I gaped. "We can finally get that thing off him?"

"Yes, but it's in a language no one understands, and I want to see if Rowena can crack it."

"Well, sure. I'll go find her... why am I sensing there's more?"

"There is," he said nervously. "Dean says the book is dangerous and told me to destroy it. He thinks I did, but..."

"But you didn't," I realized. "Crap, Sam. You know this is gonna go to hell really fast."

"We have to try."

"I agree, Sam, but... ugh, fine. I'll get Rowena and meet you." I hung up and sighed.

"What do you need Rowena for?" Murdock asked, literally beside me in bed.

I turned over to look at him, hug him from the side tight, and then kiss him a few times before speaking. "Well, you see..."