"Why the hell didn't you answer my calls?" Elly demanded as I entered the bunker. "You asshole! Both of you!" Her eyes went behind me and to Ketch who closed the bunker door behind himself. "You left me with some rando dead body."
"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you it wasn't Gabe," Ketch explained gently, taking her shoulders and giving her a smile. "Thank you for going with her and protecting her."
Elly looked taken aback, searching over Ketch. Her eyebrows furrowed and she reached out, pulling at the collar of his riding jacket. He stepped away from her and cleared his throat with a hand to his mouth. I bit my lip with a small smile. Her eyes had followed his wrists when he had pulled away and I knew she had found all of the bruising.
"Why are you embarrassed, pretty boy?" Elly questioned. "I've seen your gift from God, you weren't shy about it then."
"It's nothing El, I'm sure he's just embarrassed about what he had to do to protect us all." I said, trying to direct her attention back to me, "Have you guys located Gabe yet? He should be in the old bunker somewhere."
"He came back here a little after I got back," she replied, but her eyes didn't leave the embarrassed Brit. "Did you like being tied up?"
"Elly!" I said, nearly falling over from the surprise laughter that suddenly came forth from me, "El, let's go find the boys. There's some explaining needing to be done." I grabbed her arm and tried to link it with mine and take her with me further down the hall.
"She used the Happy Knot, huh?" Elly continued on. Heat came to my cheeks as I tried to pull her away. "You did! I know you too well, Alex. Was it fun pretty boy?"
"I can tell you about it later, pet." Ketch finally said, recovering from the embarrassment.
"You will not." I said, "She's going to come with me and we're all going to go find the boys and you're going to explain to them exactly what you told me." With that, I tugged on Elly's arm again and sighed with relief when she finally moved with me.
"They're not going to like him coming back," Elly whispered to me. "Dean's been on one."
"I know," I whispered back to her, "But he had good reasons for doing what he did."
"He better have. I don't know how much longer Cas can keep Dean from losing it."
"He'll have to if we all want to avoid a brawl."
We stopped talking as we entered the main room where the boys were talking. I stopped in the doorway and cleared my throat, calling attention to myself.
"Christ! You're ok!" Sam said, immediately standing and coming to pull me into a tight hug. "Elly told us what happened. Said you-" Sam broke off as Ketch followed into the room.
"Sam, don't…" I said softly.
"You bastard!" I looked over Sam's tall shoulders and saw Dean start on a rampage over to us. "How dare you fucking show your face around us again?!"
"Dean, it's ok," Elly spoke up, getting between the two of them. "I was wrong about what I told you. I'm sorry."
"What the fuck do you mean you were wrong?! He still took Gabe to them right?!" There was no calming Dean down now.
"Dean she's right, he-"
"Can speak for himself." Ketch said from behind us, "Please allow me to explain Dean."
"I should shoot you right now!" Dean yelled.
"Dean," I stepped up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Please listen."
"Please Dean," Elly whispered. "I was wrong. Please listen to him."
His eyes left Ketch and moved to Elly. His face softened when he looked over her and he gave a deep sigh, running a hand over his face. "He has 10 minutes to explain. And then if I don't like it, I shoot him."
"Sounds fair to me," I said, receiving a light hit in the side from Ketch as he stepped further into the room.
"Please know that I never meant any harm to come to the angel." Ketch began, "But the others did. They wanted him solely for his grace and nothing else. The original plans were to have him delivered to a safe spot, picked up, and then taken back to one of our safe houses and milked of his grace."
"So you were going to let them use him just like Asmodeus did?" Sam asked, "And you agreed to that?"
Ketch shook his head, "No, but I had to be because they threatened…" he paused and looked at me, silver eyes truthful, "They threatened your life, Alex."
"What? Why would they…" I was dumbfounded.
"Love is a strong weakness when you use it right." He said, giving me a kind smile.
"Anyway!" Dean said from where he'd sat down again in an extra chair.
"Anyway," Ketch continued. "I agreed to the mission they had given me and in the middle of the night, with a team of two other men, drugged the angel and took him from here."
"You drugged Alex," Sam snapped, his anger more controlled than Dean's.
"They would have killed her if I didn't. I never meant to hurt anyone," Ketch explained, taking my free hand in his. "I'd never hurt her."
"So you took Gabe…" Elly said.
"Yes. We took him to the spot we were supposed to give him to the other team. But they were running late and," He shifted a little, "You managed to find us sooner than I wanted. You would've been overrun if I hadn't decided to move him to another spot."
"Earlier?" I asked. "You pissed me off. Of course, I was going to find you."
"I also counted on that," He laughed a little, "Although I didn't expect you to knock out and kill the other two so quickly. I didn't have time to ditch the earpiece or come up with what to tell you." His laugh cut off but the smile remained on his face, "And then you had a gun trained on me."
"So you saw me in the bunker then?"
"You should learn to not peak around corners so far. You stuck out a little bit." Ketch chuckled.
"Enough flirting, I'm losing my patience," Dean grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.
"Right. So I had the men move the decoy body to a new sight, hoping you would follow us there while the real angel escaped before the rest got there." Ketch continued, "And it seems to have worked. Although I won't be certain until the one trusted ally I have lets me know if they really believe I'm dead or not."
Dean and Sam traded looks and Sam gave a nod, causing Dean to get up from his chair and leave the room without a word. I looked back to Ketch, who looked a bit tired. And then to Elly, who had a hand to her head.
"I'm sorry Alex," she said, turning back to face me. "I-"
"It's alright Elly. Really," I assured her. "I'm sure Sam agrees."
He just gave a nod and turned away from us. "Don't get too comfortable Alex. We might be going hunting tonight. You'll be coming along."
"O-ok?" I stuttered at the abruptness.
"You too El." Sam left the room, hands slipping into his pockets.
"This is about Lucifer, huh?" Elly asked softly, eyes returning to me.
I gave a small nod as it clicked in my head. "Are-"
"I'm going to go get ready," she interrupted, leaving the room in a hurry. The air around her was nervous and unhappy.
I felt Ketch place a kiss to my temple. "I'm going to go clean up my new cut," he said softly, leaving my side after giving my hand a squeeze.
I sighed. I wasn't sure what to do. El wouldn't want me messing with her right now. She would be trying to hype herself up for later. And Sam would be busy sulking and researching on his computer and I was sure Gabe would be avoiding everyone he could. And Dean was most likely with Cas again.
I walked down the hallway and passed everyone's respective rooms, but came to a stop in front of Dean's as it was cracked open slightly. I glanced around and could see Dean holding Cas tightly against him in a deep hug, his hand playing with the angel's hair.
"You get too worked up," I could hear Cas say.
"He pisses me off," Dean replied.
"He was only trying to help."
"He's going to get one of us killed, Cas." Dean pulled back slightly and gave the angel a kiss. "It's my job to protect all of them. I'm the oldest. I know the most. I have to. It would be on me if anything happened to any of them."
"You don't have to carry that burden alone," Cas stated softly, receiving another kiss from Dean.
"I do Cas."
I turned away from the doorway and stopped at a door I had yet to enter. This had been Cael's room. I had almost forgotten that he was here. He had been too injured to leave the room. I should probably check on him.
I reached out for the door handle but stopped myself. He wouldn't want me to check on him. He couldn't care less if I never spoke to him again. He'd probably prefer it.
"Please come in," The angel's deep voice came from inside the room.
I jumped slightly at the words and hesitantly opened the door, stepping into the room. Cael was sitting up against the wall on the bed that was in the room. He had bandages wrapped around his torso and then a sling holding his arm that had been broken. I was sure Cas had fixed it the best that he could.
"How are you doing?" I asked, closing the door behind me. "I'm sorry we've been so busy lately. I should have checked on you sooner."
"Why would you care?" he asked back. It wasn't as harsh as his voice normally was though. He genuinely looked curious.
"I care because I'm the one that sent you to Hell in the first place. I'm the reason you got the shit beat out of you." I said, leaning against the door and folding my arms across my chest.
"That was your fault, I agree." He looked up to the ceiling thoughtfully. "But it looks like you got the girl back."
"Yes, we did." I didn't know why I was doing this. He was going to be an ass until the day someone actually killed him. There was no point in me trying to care for him. "I'll leave you be now."
"Don't go yet," he said hurriedly, reaching out his hand to me as if to hold me here. He blinked several times before lowering his hand and looking back at the wall ahead of him.
My hand froze on the knob, "Why?" I asked. There wasn't an answer though. He seemed to be lost for words by the look of him. I released my hold on the door and stepped away from it. I took a chair in the corner of the room and pulled it closer to the bed, taking a seat. I tried to catch his eye, but he avoided my gaze. I waited for a moment in silence and leaned forward, my elbows on my knees. I had to break this silence. It was deafening. "Thank you," I found myself saying.
He looked over at me. "What?"
"For your help with getting Elly back. I know I asked a lot."
He shifted slightly on his bed, his tan skin catching a bit of the sun from a window. The way it caught turned it from a milk chocolate color to a dark caramel. It was stunning in a way. A weirdly beautiful vessel for an angel who could care less about humanity.
"Why do you hate humans?" I asked without thinking.
"They're weak and broken and so demanding," was his answer. It was swift and sharp, but not pointed towards me. His words reminded me of someone who had been cast out of heaven melnais ago.
"Then why did you save me? I must not be worth it if I'm human. So why do it?" This was a question I'd always wanted to be answered.
"Your work was not done yet."
"That's a cheap answer." I scoffed.
He looked over at me, his dark eyes inky pools of emptiness. A complete contrast to the blond hair that fell into them. "I don't know what God has planned for you. All I know is that your time was not done yet. If you hadn't have made that deal with the crossroad demon, I wouldn't have had to pull you from hell."
"Right. If I hadn't have made the deal that saved my life." I leaned back in my chair, "I would have died anyway then."
"People never like to take into consideration that there is a plan for them if they aren't stupid enough to stray from it," Cael grumbled.
"And I strayed from mine then? And what would you have done if I'd died naturally like I was supposed to?"
Cael's eyes flickered over me, almost as if he were trying to decide if I were ready to hear what was coming next. "You weren't going to die. The road would have been painful and hard, but you weren't going to die."
"That's rich. Why did they all tell me I only had weeks then? Every doctor I saw said I had weeks. Some even said I had days. Why the hell would god let me believe that if it wasn't planned for me to find Crowley?" I was sure he was lying, or for some reason trying to keep the truth from me.
"The path picked for us doesn't always make sense," he replied thoughtfully.
"What was your path then?" I asked, I'd never heard much about him, never even found much to read about Cael. He was almost a complete mystery.
"Before Castiel fell for the oldest Winchester, I was supposed to send reinforcements for Michael."
"You were supposed to aid in his fight?"
"That was what was supposed to happen," he answered with a nod.
"So when Dean refused…" I thought about this silently.
"Our paths are very easy to change," Cael explained casually. "We are meant to work together in harmony or things like the monsters happen. God didn't want there to be supernatural creatures, but the scale tipped just enough with Amara that they were created. We all depend on each other for everything to work as it should. But that was what God wanted as well. We were created to have a choice. You do not have to follow the path that he made for you, but it is the easiest path for you to take." His eyes met mine and he wore a tiny smile. "You Winchesters seem to have a difficult time accepting what will make you happy though."
"What was the rest of my plan supposed to be?" I asked softly, trying to take everything in.
"A fight. I told you, it wouldn't have been easy, but it would have been easier than what you have now. You would have beat the cancer. It's happened to plenty of people before." He gave a shrug and winced, inhaling sharply, his free arm taking his opposite shoulder.
"And after that?" My voice was no more than a whisper, but I was sure he heard me perfectly.
"You would have ended hunting for everyone. You would have found a way to finally make the world safe for everyone and everything. You still have that chance. That's why I had to get you. You can still make that reality happen, but the path isn't as clear as it was a decade ago."
"What am I supposed to do then? I have two chances at life left before Crowley keeps me in hell again. What are you going to do then? Rescue me again?" I asked, the reality of what he was saying heavy.
"I do not believe that I can do it again. The plan will be assigned to someone else if it needs to be." He paused for a moment, thinking. "And I am in no position to tell you what needs to be done. I can't intrude on that."
"That's fair enough," I said, sighing. "What do you think of me? Not as a human, but as...me." I couldn't think of a better way to phrase that.
"I..." he trailed off. He looked over me again with calculating eyes and made me feel like he was trying to size me up. "I think that... you have a very possible chance of doing what needs to be done for this world. I think you are the one who needs to do it. But I don't know if it will happen in this point of your life. I think it will take a bit more after you're gone to complete it."
"After I'm gone? Then you know how I die?"
"I can't ruin the ending of a story, Alex."
I was about to speak again, but there was a knock on the door. "Alex, you in there?" Sam called through the door. "We need to start talking about the hunt."
"I'll be out in a minute Sam," I called to him before turning back to Cael. "How's your grace?"
"Why are you asking?"
"If Elly is right, then there's another Michael in the other world my mother is trapped in. We could use you in the fight when it's time." I said, getting up and making my way towards the door.
"I'm needed to fight against Michael?" he asked, confused. He sat up a little more.
"We'll need all the help we can get. I'm sure you'll do fine." I said, ending the last sentence with a wink and leaving the room.
I took a deep breath and walked to the main room.
"Is this really the plan?" I asked, looking around at everyone. Sam and Dean looked content, Cas looked indifferent, and Ketch looked cool and collected. "Elly, you're ok with this?"
I met her eyes and she simply gave a nod. I knew she didn't like the idea very much, but it was the best shot we had. And now that we knew Gabe wasn't going to help us, Lucifer was our only shot at getting through the portal. And there was no way that we could keep him up in heaven. Everything would start to collapse.
"I don't think he'll come. I've asked him to before," Elly explained. "He doesn't answer anymore."
"You prayed to him?" Cas asked, appalled. Dean sat up straighter at this.
"Dean prayed to you. What's the difference?" Elly pointed out. "What if this doesn't work?"
"Then there are other means," Ketch replied with a shrug. "I'm sure we will figure something out if this doesn't work. This this is the best option at the moment. More will arise."
"That's positive," Dean grumbled, taking a sip of his beer.
Elly lowered her head into her hands and I could almost guess what she was thinking. She was afraid that if he didn't show up, then he didn't really care for her. She was just played. She was nothing to him. And I wasn't sure if she could handle that. I knew she cared about him more than she let on.
Everyone had begun to leave the table to get ready for the hunt. Sam leaned over and rested a hand on Elly's shoulder. "You're a good shot, and you'll have all of us there. Nothing will harm you."
It was a nice sentiment, but that wasn't what she wanted. But I wasn't sure if there were any words that would help her. This was just something that we had to do. And I felt for her. I really did, but we all had to make sacrifices. All of us. Even her.
I got up and patted her arm before leaving the room and heading to my bedroom to clean my gun and make sure it was loaded. I paused in the hall at crying and closed my eyes. Elly could do this. She was strong enough to. I glanced over my shoulder to see her shoulders heaving as she cried into her hands. With a deep inhale, I continued down the hall.
I parked my car and looked over at Elly. She was nervously tapping her fingers on the door and hadn't said a word. "El?" I asked. She didn't move. Didn't register that I was speaking to her. "Elizabeth?"
"Huh?" she asked, turning to look at me.
"You know what to do, right?"
"I'm just walking into a Vamp den, by myself with only one gun. Sure I know what to do," she answered, her voice more high pitched than normal. She was afraid. "You do know that a gun is not going to do a damn thing to them, right?" Her eyes met mine. "Are you sure Ketch doesn't have a Vampire Irradiation Gun, or an Anti-Vampire Device, or-or even Alternate Kaia's Spear?"
I gave a slight smile. "You're not afraid of them, are you? You can handle a few vampires. You're not the same El as when you came here. You can do it."
She nodded, eyes returning to outside of the car. "I can handle a few vampires. What I can't handle is if he doesn't show. How sad is that?" She gave a small, pathetic sounding laugh.
Before I could say anything else, she was getting out of the car and heading out through the trees and quickly disappearing into the rainy night. I jumped out and Dean and Sam ran over beside me, all of us instantly soaked with how much rain was falling.
"Is she crazy?" Dean demanded. "Is she trying to get herself killed? She was supposed to wait for all of us."
I stared at where Elly had disappeared and a hand went to my head. This was stupid. What were we doing? What was she doing? What had I done to her?
"Should we get her and just call it off?" Sam asked, a nervousness to his tone. "It's almost like she wants to get hurt."
"Get your gear. We need to get down there," I said, heading for my trunk and opening it. I pulled out a syringe of dead man's blood and slid it into my flannel pocket and then snatched up my machete, resting it on my shoulder. "Come along boys. We have the devil to catch."
I began through the trees, not waiting for my brothers. I eventually came to the top of a hill, overlooking a cabin that was in a clearing. A few lights were on inside and I could see Elly making it onto the porch. I stepped behind a tree and waiting for a moment, listening closely.
There was a knock on a door and a pause. Then I could make out the door creeping open. Then crying, from Elly. "I'm sorry to bother," she said in a small sob. "I was trying to get home and my car ran out of gas a ways down the road. I saw the lights and thought maybe you could help me get to a gas station."
"Is that so?" A male voice asked, almost teasingly. "I'm sure one of could give you a ride into town. Would you like to come in?"
"Thank you," Elly's voice said before the door shut.
I rounded the tree and watched Elly move from one of the windows and then out of sight. I could see Dean and Sam heading through the trees to eventually get to the back of the cabin. An uneasiness came over me and it felt like someone was watching me. I glanced behind me for a moment, looking through the dense trees and into the darkness, but couldn't see anything.
I turned back to the house and the last thing I could remember seeing was the cabin's lights blurring and a pain exploding through the back of my head.
"Winchester." The word was sing-songy. Taunting. "Winchester."
I moaned at a sharp pain that throbbed through my head. I opened my eyes and could see a brilliant shining smile of pointed teeth. Fuck. This wasn't good. And where was Elly?
"She's awake!"
"It would have been boring without her."
As my eyes adjusted, I could make out several forms. It looked like there were about five vampires altogether. Three men and two women. And in the corner, tied together were unconscious Sam and Dean. But I couldn't find Elly. She wasn't in the room.
There was a scream from somewhere else in the cabin and my heart began racing. It was Elly. I needed to help her. I tried to get up from where I was, but couldn't move from the ropes that bound me. There were laughs from the five and one of the men with long dark hair shook his head.
"Is that a friend of yours, Winchester?" he asked with a smirk. "Don't worry. She's only going to be a snack for us."
"Fuck you!" I hissed, again trying to move from the bonds.
There was another round of laughter. "She's feisty, isn't she?" a blonde woman with a bird tattoo commented.
The long-haired man walked over to me and squatted down next to the chair, his hand taking my face and forcing me to look at him. "She'll be dead soon," he cooed softly. "But you three." He clicked his tongue. "We'll turn you three. Could you imagine having the Winchesters as one of us? I think we'd be praised everywhere. What do you think, Alexandria? Hmm?"
"Go to hell," I answered lowly, spitting at him. He closed his eyes and released my face, wiping his own face with his hand before giving a sigh. There was another scream and I winced. I had failed. Again. She was going to die here. And it didn't seem like that damned angel would be coming any time soon.
There were footsteps and another man entered the room, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. I gritted my teeth and could hear the faint cries of Elly. "Anyone else hungry?" he questioned, eyeing me directly and licking his lips.
"My turn!" The red-headed woman said, lowing herself from the dining room table and disappearing in the direction that the man had come from.
"I swear to God, if you touch her, I will kill you all," I said loudly, making sure the woman who left could hear me. "You get that? I will end each and every one of you!"
"We'll see about that, darling," a rather tall man said.
My chest burned at another scream. And this time pleas followed it. Begging. Crying.
"I'm coming Elly! Hold on!" I shouted.
"Should we turn her first?" the last man asked, tipping his head to the side and looking over me curiously.
"I think we should make her watch us change her brother's first," the long-haired man threw out, folding his arms over his chest as he rose from beside me and went over to where Sam and Dean sat. He started patting Dean's face. "Yoo-hoo. Wake up sleepy heads."
"Please stop!" Elly cried.
I writhed my hands on the ropes that held them tightly behind me and soon they became slick, but I wasn't sure if it was from sweat or blood. I pulled and pulled, begging that somehow I would get them free. Somehow.
There was a giggle from the blonde girl and I looked over to her. She was watching me intently, her eyes teasing. It was almost as if they were saying, Come on. Get out. You know you want to.
At another scream, I ripped my hands from the ropes and pushed the rest over my head. I tried to get up, but in one swift motion, a hand was around my neck and pinning me to a wall. It held me so tightly that I was gasping for air. My lungs quickly began to burn as I clawed at the hand that held me off of the ground, but the crimson that coated my hands made it impossible to get a grip on the long-haired man's arm.
He grinned and snatched up one of my hands, licking across the open wounds in my wrists. I shuttered, gagging as the pressure against my throat increased. My feet kicked but continued to dangle above the ground.
There was a hum from the man that held me and I saw his teeth sharpen.
"Alex!" Elly shouted somewhere in the distance. Somewhere that sounded so far away now.
"Maybe I do just need to change you now," the vampire commented darkly.
"Get your hands off her!" a sharp voice said. I thought it was Sam, but I was having trouble thinking now.
The man pulled me away from the wall and slammed me back against it, making my neck crack and my head jolt as it connected with the drywall. He released me and I tumbled to the floor, coughing and gasping and dizzy.
I watched through tear-filled eyes as he slit open his wrist with a pocket knife and a deep red began to run in streams down his arm.
He knelt down and grabbed my face again, forcing open my mouth. I fought against his hold with oxygen-deprived limbs and my blood covered hands.
"Alex!" That was Dean.
He put his wrist above my mouth and tilted my head upwards. I struggled and watched as the blood began to pool, waiting until it was heavy enough for gravity to take over.
But, in a flash of utterly blinding light, I was released. There was a pain filled scream as the vampire was burned from the inside out. The man crumbled to the ground and I stared in shock at the angel that stood before me. It had worked. How had it worked?
Lucifer turned to the rest of the group and as lighting filled up the room, I could see his eyes flash a brilliant blue.
The blonde haired woman rushed from the room, leaving the three men left. One rushed at Lucifer who stepped out of the way, causing the vamp to tumble and fall.
I stumbled to my feet and unsteadily walked across the room to my brothers. There was another flash of light and another yell as I dropped to my knees and attempted to untie Dean. But my fingers couldn't grip the knot very well.
There was a loud crash and I flinched as the angel collided with the dining table, turning it to splinters of wood.
"Hurry Alex," Sam ushered, though it didn't help, only added to the pressure.
Finally, the knot came loose and Dean helped rip the rope off of himself and Sam. With one last flash of light and cry, the final male vamp fell to the floor.
I scrambled to my feet and passed a bleeding Lucifer, sprinting as quickly as I could at the screams from Elly. I rounded a corner and slammed into a locked door.
"Please stop." It was a whimper now. Weak and fading.
I took a step back and kicked at the door. There was the sound of splintering wood from the door frame. I took a deep breath and kicked at the door again, it finally gave way and cracking open.
I raced in to see Elly chained up in the far edge of the room, a collar around her neck. There was blood covering her arms and soaking some of her shirt from the teeth marks that covered her body. And the two women turned to face me, blood dripping from their chins like in a horror movie.
I didn't have a weapon. I didn't know what to do and so I did the only thing I could think of. I raced for the thinner red headed one and tackled her to the floor, hearing a crack as I landed weird on the hardwood. We tumbled across the floor, until she kicked me off of her, most likely bruising my ribs. I coughed, clutching myself. She straddled me and placed her hands around my neck, pressing me into the hardwood floor.
I gasped and sputtered, but it wasn't for long. Dean appeared behind her and with one swift motion, sliced through her neck, her head falling with a sickening thud to the floor. Blood covered my face and I wiped it from my eyes.
With one last flash of bright light and a final body crumbling to the floor, I collapsed, breathing heavily, body aching and tired. It was done. It was over. Everyone was safe.
"You came," Elly's small voice said. I pushed myself up and onto my knees just in time to watch Lucifer pull Elly to him and kiss her deeply.
Sam helped me to my feet and I saw in the corner of my eye, Dean shake his head and look away from them.
Lucifer broke the kiss and nuzzled his face against hers. "Don't you ever fucking scare me like that again, sunbeam. What the hell were you thinking?"
"You're hurt," Elly said, completely ignoring the question he had asked her.
"It's only a few scrapes." He kissed her again, this time just a quick kiss before he stepped back and began working at unhooking the collar that was around her neck.
Once she was free, the chain clinking loudly to the ground, she raced over to me and tackled me in a tight hug. I groaned and stumbled, Sam having to catch me so we didn't fall. I hugged her back tightly.
"Are you alright?" she asked, pushing me back to look over me. "Did they hurt you? Any of you?" She glanced around at everyone.
"We're ok," I replied softly, the dull ache starting to set into my body.
"Alex, let's go get your wrists bandaged up," Dean said, nodding to the door. I gave a nod in answer and he stepped closer. "You too Elly." He rubbed her head. "I'm glad you're alright." Elly gave a bright smile. "Sam, get halo over there."
Lucifer snorted with a sarcastic smile and rolled his eyes, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. Elly pulled away from me and cautiously moved back to him, pulling one of his hands from the pocket and lacing her fingers with his.
I took a deep breath, swallowing my pride. "Thank you, Lucifer," I said as kindly as I could. His cocky smile fell and he looked over me curiously. "I mean it. We would have all been dead without you."
"You're-" he cleared his throat and looked away, "-you're welcome."
"Touching," Dean grumbled. "Come on Sam. Alex, let's get you wrapped up."
He left the room, his blood covered knife held tightly in his hand. Sam slowly followed and I turned towards the door, taking a step, but gasping as pain shot up my ankle. I caught myself, biting my lips and closing my eyes, tears threatening to spill over.
"I can heal that," Lucifer's voice said behind me. "If you want."
"I'd rather-" I broke off with a small whimper as I tried to walk again, but couldn't put more than a bit of weight on the ankle. I felt a hand take my waist and I was swept from the ground and into Lucifer's arms. I moaned as my ribs gave a scream. I wanted to fight against his grip, but I didn't think I could. A weakness was beginning to take over my body. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me out of the house, Elly close behind us, holding onto the hem of Lucifer's shirt.
We made our way back up to the cars and he set me down on the hood of mine before dropping to his knees on the muddy forest floor and pulling the leg of my pants up and then working on taking off my boot and sock as gently as he could. I winced and felt Elly's hand slip into mine.
"It's broken," the angel explained. I didn't even dare look. I started towards the dark sky that was threatening to spill more rain, tears falling down my cheeks.
"Please," I whispered with a cracking voice.
There was a feeling of an icy cool that filled my ankle, immediately soothing the smokey pain that had been there. I could feel the bone resetting, but it didn't hurt and wasn't horribly unpleasant. It was more odd feeling than anything else.
There was the sound of metal clicking and looked down to see Sam snapping a pair of handcuffs over Lucifer's wrist. He rolled his eyes but seemed accepting of what was happening. Elly looked like she wanted to say something, but she kept quiet. Lucifer's other hand was cuffed behind his back and he was pulled towards the Impala. Dean stood with the back door open and waiting.
He got into the Impala without much of a fuss and Dean got into the driver's seat.
"We'll meet you back at the bunker," Sam said, getting into the passenger side.
Elly handed me my boot and I pulled it back on, shoving my sock into my pocket. I slid off my hood and was shocked at how solid my ankle felt. I looked over Elly who looked like she had been healed as well, just covered in as much blood as I was.
We both got into my car as the Impala drove away. I took a deep breath and started my car.
"He came back," I commented, glancing over at Elly to see her reaction.
"But now he's going to be back in an angel trap and it's my fault." She put her seatbelt on. "And if this is anything like in the show, it goes very south very fast."
"We'll make sure that nothing happens to him," I said, unsure if I could actually make sure that would happen. "He really does love me," she whispered lightly. I pulled out of the forest clearing and onto the road. "Right?"
I laughed. "Yes, Elly. I think that's what it means."