Sorry for the long wait, but this is a fairly long chapter, so hopefully that makes up for it! There is a flashback from season 5 and in between season 9 and 10. Enjoy!

Chapter 21

Present

"I swear, as soon as we get out of here, Ketch is dead," Ben whispered once they were moved to another hiding spot. He'd thought they were going to go right to breaking Gabriel out, but he was wrong. They were stuck hiding, and they didn't have much of a choice to do anything else. He was out of commission right now, so escaping on their own wasn't an option.

"You mean dead again?" Alec tried to tease. Ben gave him a bitch face identical to Uncle Sam's, which made him roll his eyes. "It's not like I'm happy to see the guy, but our only option is for you to leave here without me."

He shook his head when Ben instantly argued, "There's no way I'm leaving you here."

"No kidding," Alec said.

"Don't do that," Ben snapped. "We're in this together, no matter what."

"Untwist your panties Ben. I'm not letting you leave me behind," Alec said. "I'm just trying to make you think of something other than killing Ketch the next time we see him."

Ben was quiet for a few seconds, but then muttered, "Dad is gonna be so pissed when we find him…"

"Yeah…he is," Alec agreed.

"Alec…what did Ketch say to you in the bunker?" Ben asked softly.

"I can't tell you right now," Alec whispered.

"Why not?!" Ben asked, moving to get up. But he instantly stopped when his movement made him hiss in pain. "Sorry, sorry Alec. I forgot you're hurt. I won't move again."

"It's ok," Alec breathed, struggling to get his pain back under control.

"Why can't you tell me what he said?" Ben asked, calmer this time.

"Because then you'd really try to kill him when he came back," Alec said.

"Alright," Ben said. He knew that wouldn't be the end of it, but his brother gave him a break for now. Instead, he asked, "How do you know Gabriel? Who is he?"

"Archangel," Alec muttered. "Dad and Uncle Sam tried to get him to help against Lucifer, but he just wanted Dad and Uncle Sam to 'play their roles'. He was dead set on staying out of it, but something changed his mind because he tried to take on Lucifer to save us and Gabriel died doing it. Well, I guess maybe he didn't die after all." He'd been sad when Gabriel died even though he had trapped them in TV land. He was funny for an angel and he did save them from Lucifer, so he had to give him credit, but Dad had told him that he died.

"'Play their roles'? What does that mean?" Ben asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Ben…this is a lot," Alec breathed, feeling exhaustion crash into him.

"I know it's a lot, but you gotta stay awake and I need to know what's going on," Ben said. "C'mon, what does that mean?"

"Dad was supposed to be Michael's vessel…" Alec said. "And Sam was Lucifer's. Gabriel…he didn't want to be part of it, so he was trying to get them to agree to do what was planned for them. I know Dad was seriously thinking about it at one point, but he said he couldn't go through with it because he had me to think about. But Uncle Sam…" he took a deep breath and sighed before he asked, "Didn't Dad tell you all this when he found you?"

"Dad said Uncle Sam had been in hell and something was wrong with him. He told me I needed to stay away from him until he fixed Uncle Sam…I didn't know Uncle Sam was nice until after Dad found a way to get his soul back," Ben said. "I didn't ask about it because Dad didn't want to talk about it. And I couldn't bring you up and I couldn't talk about Sam or talk to Sam, so I just decided to drop it. I knew Uncle Sam went kinda crazy for a while after that, and Dad said it was about hell, but we had a lot going on then. I didn't ask…Anything when you were missing and before that was off limits to talk about. You know that I hardly know anything about how you found Dad and Uncle Sam, right?"

"I didn't know that," Alec whispered. "I thought Dad filled you in on everything when he found you."

"He wouldn't talk about you," Ben stated. "He was stressed all the time when he found me. I knew he was good, and I wanted to stick with him, but he barely slept, and he was sad…He would look at me and I knew he was actually seeing you. He felt like it was his fault that you were missing." He swallowed hard and tried not to think about being tortured, and instead tried to think about what his brother had gone through. He'd thought that Dad had tried to replace him when he'd first met Ben, but he knew that was wrong. But he hadn't thought about Ben being stuck with Uncle Sam without a soul or Dad being stressed and sad all the time. Ben hadn't known them when they were good and happy, but he'd stuck around anyway, waiting to see if it would get better. "Everything changed when Dad found you. I never got the story of how he did it, but you were suddenly at Bobby's and Dad was like a different person. And then Dad got Uncle Sam's soul back, and even though you didn't like me yet, it still felt like we were finally a family."

Ben was quiet for a long time, thinking about the past, so he said, "I walked…I broke out of Manticore and walked across the country."

"What?" Ben asked, concerned, slowly moving so he could face him a little more.

"I found a file at Manticore that said Dad was my DNA donor," Alec said. "I escaped and found out as much as I could about Dad, and then just kept walking and researching until I found him. I broke into their motel room and waited for Dad to get there. I…I never thought about his life before I showed up." He looked away from Ben, but then said, "He says we're the best thing to ever happen to him, but I didn't really give him a choice when I showed up…"

"Alec, Dad's not kidding when he says that," Ben soothed.

"I know he's not sorry to have us, but…I've made his life pretty difficult. If I hadn't shown up and forced him to adopt me…maybe things would be different for him," Alec said.

"Different how?" Ben asked, his voice gentle.

"Lisa," Alec whispered.

"Who?" Ben asked.

"Fake Ben's Mom," Alec admitted. He'd told Ben about Fake Ben, but he'd never gone into detail about living a normal life with Dad and Lisa. "Dad and Lisa were in a relationship…Dad only left her to look for me. If I hadn't found Dad, maybe he'd still be with Lisa…"

"Alec…he found you again and he didn't go back to her," Ben said. "Dad can do what he wants…he wants us with him."

"Ben…"

"What else did that asshole say?" Ben asked. "This is because of him, isn't it?" He shrugged since he didn't want to admit that Mary had said it too. Mary had been brainwashed at the time, but even with brainwashing, the idea had to come from somewhere. But they had a very shaky relationship with Mary, and he didn't want to mess up his brother's view of her. "Alec…what else is going on?" Ben asked, his voice soft and soothing again.

"Nothing…" Alec whispered. "What else do you wanna know about with Gabriel or with the time before Dad found you?"

"Alec," Ben sighed.

"What else? This is probably the only time you'll get to ask me whatever you want," Alec said. Ben didn't ask him anything though. He just stayed quiet like he was thinking about what he should ask. He thought he told his brother everything except for when Crowley had kidnapped him, but there was a lot that Ben didn't know. "I was shot," he whispered. Ben's head shot up in surprise, but he just waited for him to keep going. "When I was escaping Manticore, I got shot. I managed to walk all the way from Manticore to Dad with a bullet still in my side and that was when I was nine. Now it's like I get a hangnail and I'm stuck to a bed for a month."

"You and I both know that's not true," Ben said. "You were poisoned, and I thought for sure that you were going to die, but you managed to hang on until Dad got the bunker off of lockdown. But then you had seizures, and I swear Alec, every time I see you have a seizure, I feel like I should've done something to help you. I know it's because of Crowley that you get them so bad…and…I should've just hauled your ass to Seattle after Dad disappeared."

"I wouldn't have gone," Alec muttered.

"After we find Dad, that's where we're going next," Ben said.

"If we find Dad," Alec said.

Ben nudged his shoulder and gently teased, "I thought I was supposed to be the pessimistic one."

He cracked a smile and nodded in agreement before he decided to change the subject, "Do you wanna hear about the first time I met Gabriel?"

"Sure," Ben said.

"He trapped me, Dad, and Uncle Sam in a TV world," Alec said. "He was trying to teach them that they needed to play their roles. Uncle Sam had to do surgery on Dad…We were in this game show thing…Some kind of family sitcom…and a cop show, which was probably my favorite. It was funny even though Dad and Uncle Sam didn't think so. I didn't get a lot of it since I hadn't seen a lot of TV yet, but Dad kept trying to make me laugh to try to make sure I wasn't scared. But I knew it was ok. Dad and Uncle Sam figured it out and I liked Gabriel even though he trapped us there. He was way better than Zachariah."

"Who's Zachariah?" Ben asked, moving again, so they were shoulder to shoulder. He leaned against his brother since his side was hurting again.

"He was a dick," Alec said. "He sent me and Dad to the future, which sucked, and he was the biggest advocate for Dad saying yes to Michael."

"You got to go to the future?" Ben asked, surprised.

"It wasn't what really happened, it was just Zachariah's version of the future," Alec said.

"So…it sucked?" Ben guessed with a smile.

He chuckled, "That's an understatement. Dad was seriously freaked out, especially when we met Dad 2.0."

"What?" Ben asked. "What do you mean Dad 2.0?"

"Future Dad," Alec said. "There was real Dad and future Dad. But both of them were freaked out."

"How come?" Ben asked.

"Future Uncle Sam said yes to Lucifer, which ended the world, and future me was dead," Alec said. "All very weird. I actually don't remember a whole lot because I'd had my first seizure before we were sent there."

"That would definitely freak Dad out," Ben said.

"That was before I was calling him Dad," Alec said. He was quiet for a few minutes, but then he whispered, "Dad and Uncle Sam died in front of me…" He felt Ben tense, but his brother didn't push for answers, even though he knew he was dying to know what had happened. "I woke up and had to go to the bathroom, and then I saw these two guys in the room. They shot Uncle Sam first, and then they shot Dad. I think I made a sound…I don't really remember, but then they came into the bathroom and they were freaking out because they didn't know that Dad had a kid. They started arguing because they didn't want to shoot a kid, but they couldn't just leave me there. They didn't know if I'd heard Dad call them by name or not…and I did hear him, but I…I have no idea what their names were. I just snapped. I broke the first guy's neck and took his shotgun to shoot the other one. I didn't know what to do, so I just got into the tub and cried. Dad found me when he was brought back to life…and I just let it slip."

"You've seen Dad die twice…" Ben whispered. "Is that why you just kinda shut down when…when Metatron killed Dad?"

"I don't know…I'm just tired," Alec breathed. "Maybe…maybe after we find everyone and get them back here…maybe we should take a break."

"A break from hunting?" Ben asked.

"A break from everything," Alec said. "I just want everything to stop…"

"I'm sure Dad would be ok with a break," Ben said.

"Anything else you wanna know?" Alec asked, his voice tired.

"I wanna know a lot of things but you sound exhausted," Ben said.

"Gotta stay awake though…" Alec mumbled. "I hated you at first…"

"Dude, I know," Ben said with a laugh.

"I was jealous," Alec admitted. "It felt like Dad replaced me, and then he liked you better because you followed the rules. The perfect little nuisance…"

"I was jealous of you too," Ben teased. "Dad already knew you and loved you. He spent most of his time looking for you. Plus, he thought you were hilarious."

"I'm glad he found you," Alec whispered.

Ben gave him a gentle squeeze, but then warned, "This better not be some kind of goodbye speech."

"It's not," Alec reassured.

"How're you feeling?" Ben asked softly.

"Tired," Alec replied honestly. "And I wanna go home and I want Dad and Uncle Sammy to be there too."

"We'll get them back," Ben said, holding him closer. "Just stay with me, ok?"

"Ok," he breathed.

2014

He looked over at his brother when he heard him whimper in his sleep. He was surprised Alec was asleep at all since he hadn't really tried since Dad had died. His twin had to sleep sometime though, otherwise he'd start having seizures again. He and Alec argued about it all the time since he told his brother he was going to take him back to Uncle Sam if he started having seizures.

"Hey," Ben said, hitting Alec's shoulder to try to wake him up. Alec startled awake and looked around with panic. He relaxed slightly when he saw that they were still in the abandoned shack and it was still dark out. Alec didn't say anything to him, he just dropped his head in his hands and sat in silence, probably trying to figure out what was real again. "You wanna try to sleep some more, or should we work on the hunt some more?"

"We got any food left?" Alec asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Only a couple cans of beans…your favorite," Ben muttered, handing his brother what was left of their stockpile. He wanted to go back to the bunker, where they had a home and Uncle Sam, who was still alive and would look out for them again, but Alec didn't want to go, and he wasn't going to leave his brother.

"We're gonna need more food," Alec said. His brother slowly stood up and stretched, working out the kinks that came from sleeping on the floor.

"Alec…maybe we should go back," Ben suggested. Alec turned around and glared at him, but he quickly continued, "We can still avoid Uncle Sam, but there's food in the bunker, and clothes, and actual beds. Aren't you tired of sleeping on the ground yet?"

"I'm not goin' back there," Alec stated. "You can go, but I'm not going back."

"Ever?" Ben asked, surprised. He had been under the impression that this was just going to be temporary. Alec needed time away from everything that reminded him of Dad and of home, but he didn't think his brother would want to stay away forever. He wanted to go home eventually. But Alec had always thought of the Impala as home since he'd lived in the Impala longer than he had. He thought of the bunker as home since that's where their beds were and all of their things, and Dad said it was their home, and he had wanted a real, permanent home.

"I don't know," Alec said, turning away from him again.

"Alec, we can't keep this up forever," Ben said. "We need food, you need your pills, we look like filthy, homeless teenagers because we are filthy, homeless teenagers. When we walk into a town, one good Samaritan gets a look at us, and social services is taking us in. And we can't run forever. At some point we're gonna have to face the fact that Dad is gone."

He expected Alec to storm off, yell at him, hit him, something, but he didn't expected Alec to practically collapse, holding his head in desperation. He quickly moved so he was right in front of Alec, and then he forced his brother to look at him. He hated seeing the lost, broken look in his brother's eyes, and he hated even more that he didn't know how to fix this. "I-I can't…" Alec breathed.

"Hey, don't you dare check out on me again, ok? I know this is the worst death we've ever had to go through, but you can't check out like you did when Bobby died," Ben said. "I need you with me. We don't have to go back, but you have to…I don't know, just keep fighting with me, ok?" Alec took in a shaky breath but nodded after a few seconds. "Now, c'mon, I know you hate beans, but you gotta eat."

"You need to eat too," Alec mumbled.

He rolled his eyes but grabbed the two cans before he got out his knife and broke them open. He passed one of the cans over to his brother, but warned, "Careful, the edges are sharp."

"Yeah, yeah," Alec grumbled as he slowly ate.

He dug into his own can, wishing again the they at least had forks or spoons. Alec didn't mind eating with his hands since he would just wash them off in whatever puddle he could find, but he hated eating like this. But Alec was more important than using utensils. "We'll have to go to town tomorrow," Ben said to break the silence. "Obviously we need more food. Maybe we could steal another car and hit the road again."

"Isn't there a hunt here?" Alec asked around a mouthful of beans.

"Salt and burn, not your favorite," Ben said. "Plus, it hasn't been killing people…it's really just a local legend."

"How come Uncle Sam was always able to find real cases and we just manage to find duds all the time?" Alec grumbled.

"No clue," Ben said, even though he was the reason they kept finding dud cases. Alec hated researching, so if he said there was a ghost 2,000 miles away from wherever they were, he wouldn't question him. He would complain once they got there and found out it was nothing, but he would still let him be the one who looked for cases. Usually he could get away with maybe three dud cases in a row before he had to give Alec a real case to get his emotions under control again. This was dud case number five, so he might have pushed it too far this time. But this was the best way to keep Alec safe. "But it's getting close to a full moon, we could start looking for animal attacks."

"I wanna slice some heads off on the next one," Alec muttered. "Let's find some vampires. Taking out a whole nest might be fun."

He sighed even though he loved hunting vampires too. But of course Alec wanted to take on a whole nest. "Alright, fine," he said, trying to make it seem like it was a big inconvenience to look for a nest of vampires. "I'll see what I can find. But only if you agree to actually steal some pills this time. You know I hate stealing, but we're down to three pills left. I'm not kidding about taking you back to the bunker if you start having seizures."

"Fine," Alec said dramatically. "But I'm stealing good food this time, not this crap."

"Alec-"

"If you would let me hustle, then I wouldn't have to steal," Alec said, already knowing that he was going to chastise his brother for stealing in the first place.

"If we hustle, then you know Uncle Sam is gonna be even closer to finding us," Ben said. They had this argument all the time, and they said the same thing every time. "But if we steal food, then we probably won't be able to steal a car too…"

"I'm not walking again," Alec said with a glare. "Last time we walked for six days and I still have blisters."

"We need more clothes too," Ben said, ignoring his brother. "These are getting filthy. We're way more noticeable in filthy clothes."

"How do you expect me to steal all this shit," Alec asked. "It'll be a miracle if I don't get caught on the first pitstop…"

"I'm not stealing," Ben exclaimed, appalled.

"Then how am I gonna pull this off?" Alec shot back. "Food, pills, clothes…and no getaway car…This is gonna be impossible."

"We could still go back home," Ben pointed out.

"I'll just figure it out, like usual," Alec said.

"Do you want me to find another hunt or not?" Ben asked.

"You act like I don't know how to do research," Alec grumbled. He waited for his brother to just cave in, since that's what he always did. He knew Alec liked stealing things because his brother liked the adrenaline rush. Plus, his brother was looking out for him just as much as he was looking out for Alec. He could tell Alec felt guilty that all they had left was beans. Alec had always managed to get them food, clothes, and whatever else they needed while he made sure they had somewhere to sleep, stayed ahead of Uncle Sam and the cops, and found something for Alec to kill when he really needed it. "Alright, fine, we doin' this tomorrow or what?" Alec finally agreed.

"Yeah, we should go tomorrow," Ben said.

"If I get everything, then you better find a vampire hunt," Alec said, fighting off a small smile.

"You got it, little brother," Ben teased.

Alec rolled his eyes, "You're barely older than me."

"Hey, 12 seconds or 12 minutes, I'm still older than you," Ben gloated, even though they had no idea how much older he was than Alec. It didn't matter though; they were brothers and that's all they needed to know. He reached over and messed up Alec's hair, making his brother chuckle. No matter what, he wasn't going to lose his brother. At the bunker or on the run, he was going to stay with Alec.

Present

"Easy, easy," Sam soothed, helping his brother get up. Dean was still unsteady on his feet, but he wasn't on death's door anymore, which was a relief. But now Dean wanted to move, which was not happening. But they needed food, so Dean needed to be alert.

"What are we doing again?" Dean asked, shrugging off his help. He hated it when Dean refused to let him help him, but at least that meant his brother was starting to feel better.

"We aren't doing anything," Sam corrected. "I'm going to go find us some food while you watch the fort."

"I'm not stayin' here while you go out to monster-ville," Dean grumbled.

"Not a lot of options here, Dean," Sam said. "This is the safest place we've found, you're barely on your feet, we're close to water, but we're out of food. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know…not this," Dean snapped. "We need to figure out how to get out of here. We have to get back to the boys."

"And how are we supposed to do that, Dean," Sam challenged. "We don't even know how we got here, so how the hell are we supposed to get back?"

"Beats me," Dean said with a shrug. "But we're gonna find a way."

"Fine. You stay here and think about it, while I find some food," Sam said.

"Sam," Dean growled.

"Dean," he said right back. They needed food, Dean still needed to rest, and they had no clue how to get out of here, so they just had to survive until they figured it out. "I'll be right back, just stay here."

Dean grumbled a little more, but he did let him go, so that was good. He slowly walked out of their little home and took off through the dense forest. He didn't want to venture too far from his brother, but they were fresh out of lizard. Dean needed more food to start to get stronger, and he was going to force his brother to get better whether he liked it or not. He couldn't do this without his brother. It was hard enough to be away from the boys, he couldn't lose his brother too.

He wished they could just find a way back to the twins, but he knew it wasn't going to be that easy. They didn't even know where they were, let alone where the boys were. He was hoping they were home, just laying low and taking care of each other, but he doubted that was the case. Alec could find trouble in an empty room, and Ben wouldn't let his brother get into trouble by himself. But them even still being in their world was the best-case scenario. He and Dean were thrown into some alternate universe, so there was no telling where the boys were.

But the sooner they found a way back, the sooner they would find the boys. He and Dean couldn't be away from them, especially like this. He'd never told Dean this, but Alec had run away from him a few months after Dean and Ben had disappeared. He'd called the police, got as many people as he could for a search party, and tore apart the town. He'd stayed awake for three days looking for him, but then finally found him outside of their house, huddled in a ball, crying. He wanted to yell at Alec for scaring him like that, but he was so relieved to have him again that he'd just held him. Turned out, Alec regretted running away as soon as he'd left since couldn't be away from him for that long, but he had already been out looking for his nephew, so he wasn't there. Alec had thought he'd gotten mad at him and left him all alone. He practically refused to let go of Alec for weeks after that since he'd been so afraid that he was going to disappear again. He didn't want the boys to think they abandoned them.

"Finally," Dean grumbled once he got back with a few lizards. "What took you so long?"

"It hasn't even been that long," Sam complained.

"Feels like it," Dean muttered, taking the lizards from him. He let his brother fix up the lizards for dinner since he knew Dean was dying to do something to try to help. Dean felt bad since he'd been taking care of him since he'd gotten hurt, even though it wasn't Dean's fault. Too bad he was never going to get that through his brother's thick head. "Hope the boys are getting enough food," Dean said as he stabbed chunks of lizard on the end of a stick and held them over their small fire.

He chuckled, "That's one thing you don't have to worry about. You might have to break Alec's shoplifting habits once we get back, but they aren't gonna go hungry."

Dean laughed and nodded in agreement, "Yeah, guess you're right." His brother was quiet for a few minutes, but then said, "I don't think anyone can stop his shoplifting. I almost broke the habit when he was twelve, but he definitely started it up again while I was a demon…"

"I know," Sam said.

"Maybe tomorrow we can go around, see if there's anything strange," Dean said. "Somehow, we got shoved into this crap-land, so there's gotta be a way back out. A door, secret portal…something, we just gotta find it."

"We can look a little bit, but I still don't think we should go far from here," Sam said. "This cave gives us a little protection, so I don't think we should give it up yet."

"I still want to look," Dean said as he passed him a lizard-kabob. "I gotta feel like we're doin' something…"

"Ok," Sam said. He didn't think Dean should be moving that much, but he knew they couldn't stay in this cave forever. To get back to the boys, then they would have to go out and find it. He still thought the boys would find a way to them before they found a way out of here. Either way, they needed to get their family back together again. "We'll look tomorrow," Sam said, eating a bite of the lizard. He hated that he was getting used to the taste of the lizard, but hopefully they'd be getting back home sooner rather than later.

2010

"Go, go, go," Dad said, ushering him into the motel lobby. He scowled when Dad wiped the water off his face and messed up his hair, but that just made his Dad laugh. "Whew. Nice digs, for once," Dad said, looking around the fancy lobby, which was full of people. "C'mon," Dad said, leading him over to the front desk with Uncle Sam following behind them. "Busy night," Dad said to the front desk dude.

"Any port in a storm, I guess," front desk dude, or Chad according to his nametag, said. "If you could just fill this out, please," Chad said, sliding a piece of paper over for Dad to sign. Dad pulled him closer to his side as he filled out the paper. "Sir, I think…" Chad said, holding out a tissue and gesturing to Dad's neck where he could see a little blood. "Shaving nick there. And your key." The front desk dude kind of freaked him out a little. He didn't know why but he seemed a little creepy.

"Oh. Thanks," Dad said, taking the tissue and the key. He put the tissue against his neck and pulled it away to see blood on it. He frowned, but then looked at Chad and asked, "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee shop, would you?"

"Buffet. All you can eat," Chad said. "Best pie in the tri-state area."

"You don't say?" Dad said with a smile. "C'mon kiddo, let's get some dry clothes, and then we can pig out." Dad picked him up, and he let him since he was tired and soaked, and he really wanted some food. Plus, it felt really nice to be held like this. He was glad that he could call Dean Dad for real now, since that's what he was. Dean was his Dad, and nothing was going to change that, not even the apocalypse.

They changed into dry clothes, and then went to the buffet. Uncle Sam grabbed his hand and led him over to one of the tables while Dad loaded up on the food. He knew Dad and Uncle Sam were still freaked out from everything that had happened with Michael and Zachariah. He had thought he was going to lose his Dad, but Dad didn't say yes, and they somehow made it out of there, even though they didn't all make it out. He felt bad that Adam got stuck in there, and he knew Dad and Uncle Sam felt guilty about that. But Dad had reassured him and Uncle Sam that he wasn't going to say yes. But his family had been keeping him a lot closer since then, and as annoying as it could be, it still felt really nice.

Uncle Sam picked him up and sat him in one of the chairs while he sat down on another and immediately looked at his phone. He wanted to go over to Dad and make sure he was getting all of his favorite foods for him, but he knew Uncle Sam would freak out if he got up and wandered off. He grumbled a little when Dad stopped and tried to talk to some lady, but luckily, he didn't talk to her for long.

"Sam, unpucker, man," Dad said, passing over plates full of food. "Eat something." He immediately dug into his food, impatient to get to the mega-slice of pie Dad got for him. "Hey, slow down and chew, kiddo," Dad said. He rolled his eyes and slurped up a noodle, making his Dad laugh.

"We should hit the road, Dean," Uncle Sam said without looking up from his phone.

"In this storm?" Dad asked. "It's-"

"It's biblical," Uncle Sam interrupted. "Exactly. It's freakin' Noah's ark out there, and we're eating pie."

He glared at Uncle Sam since he wasn't going to leave until after they ate the pie. "How many hours of sleep did you get this week? What? Three? Four?" Dad asked. "Bobby's got his feelers out, ok? We have talked with every hoodoo man and root woman in 12 states."

"Yeah, well, I'm not giving up," Uncle Sam stated.

"Nobody's giving up," Dad said. "Especially me. We're gonna find a way to beat the devil, ok? Soon. I can feel it. And we will find Cas, we'll find Adam. But you are no good to me burnt out."

"Yeah…yeah, ok," Uncle Sam said.

"Come on, we've actually got the night off for once," Dad said. "Let's try to enjoy it. Right, kiddo?"

"Right," he said around a mouthful of food.

"That's my boy," Dad said proudly. He glowed at the praise and quickly shoved in more food.

He picked Alec up since he knew he could still get away with it. He hated near death experiences, but they definitely made his little boy clingy, which made him feel needed. Alec was wiped out since they'd been going nonstop for a while now. They needed the night off. Plus, his little boy definitely took advantage of the all you can eat buffet. He was warm and snuggly, which was the perfect time for him to actually go to bed since he wouldn't argue about it right now.

He rubbed Alec's back as he and Sam made their way back to their room, but he frowned when he saw a little nick of blood on Alec's neck. He made a mental note to find a Band-Aid once they got in their room. As graceful as his little boy was, he was also pretty clumsy sometimes.

He looked up and saw a couple making out in front of the room next to theirs. He glanced over at Sam and smirked.

"Dude, you have a kid," Sam said.

"He's asleep, leave me alone," Dean said. "And I'm young at heart." Sam rolled his eyes as he opened the door and let him in. He made a beeline for the bed, so he could put Alec down, but stopped when he saw the little chocolates on the pillows. "Chocolates! You want yours?" he asked, looking over at his brother. Sam shook his head no, so he quickly pocketed the candy, planning to eat one for himself and give Alec the other one since he would love the little treat. He picked up the TV special and smiled, "Check it out, 'Casa Erotica 12' on demand." Sam scoffed, so he demanded, "What?"

"Isn't this place…in the middle of nowhere?" Sam asked instead of pointing out again that he had a kid, which he was thankful for. He loved Alec, but he could still enjoy adult things when Sam took his kid out to explore. Although, now that he thought about it, it had been a while since he'd done anything too adult with Alec around. Alec had barely experienced anything, and he loved taking him new places and showing him new things. Alec was the cutest kid all the time, but when he showed him something new, his face just lit up, and he wasn't about to miss any of that.

"So?" he asked. Why couldn't they have something nice for once? They deserved it.

"So, what's a four-star hotel doing on a no-star highway?" Sam asked.

He started to put Alec down, but stopped when the bed from the next room thumped against the wall. He chuckled and looked over at Sam, but then frowned when the next thud sounded a lot harder, actually moving the flat screen TV. "Oh come on…" Dean grumbled as he and Sam ran out of their room.

He let Sam pick the lock since he was still holding Alec. He thought about taking Alec back to their room, but he wasn't leaving his little boy alone if there was something in the motel. They broke into the room next door to find it empty.

"Hello?" Dean called out, slowly walking into the room. He stopped and slowly crouched down, which was not easy with a sleeping nine-year-old, to pick up an engagement ring from the floor.

"Hello?" Sam called out. No one answered. The room was empty, the wall was dented, but there was no sign of what really happened.

"Dad?" Alec asked sleepily, his head still resting against his shoulder.

"Everything's ok, Alec," Dean soothed, rubbing Alec's back again. He tried to tell himself that maybe this was nothing, but he couldn't even lie to himself on this one. Something weird was definitely going on. "Front desk?" Dean asked, looking over at his brother. Sam nodded, so they left the empty room to go back to the creepy front desk clerk. He shifted Alec slightly since he was getting heavy, and then walked right up to the desk. "The, uh, the room next to ours…the couple that are, uh, joined at the lips…have you seen them?" Dean asked.

"Mr. And Mrs. Logan…the honeymooners?" the man asked. He nodded, impatient to get to the bottom of this. "They checked out. Is something the matter?"

"They checked out?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Mmhmm," the man hummed in acknowledgement. "Just now."

"Really? It sort of seemed like they were, uh…in the middle of something," Sam said, shooting a look at Alec. He smirked since Sam tried to shelter Alec from everything. He didn't blame him at all, since he would do the same thing, but it was still funny.

"Yeah, it's kind of weird for honeymooners to, uh, check out without this," he said, holding up the engagement ring he had found.

"Oh, dear," the man said, taking the ring from him. "I'll just put that right in the lost and found. Don't you worry. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Uh, no. No, we're good," he said.

"Super-fantastic," Chad said as they walked away.

"Creepy," Sam muttered once they were far enough away.

"Broke the needle," he mumbled back. "Alec, wake up, kiddo. We've got ourselves a case…" Alec slowly woke up again, so he carefully set him down, but grabbed his tiny, little hand. Alec leaned against him, still tired, but looking fairly alert. "Alright, well, me and Alec will scope out the joint, and you keep an eye on Norman Bates over here." Sam nodded, and then slowly moved away from them. "I mean, one night off. Is that too much to ask?" Alec giggled, which made him smile. "Right after this, we're gonna eat so much ice cream."

"And pie?" Alec asked.

"Of course!" Dean said with a wide smile. "Pie is always a given." He took a deep breath and led the way over to the elevator. "All we have to do is check out this place, stop whatever crazy shit is goin' on, and then we can go to bed."

"Uncle Sam said you weren't supposed to say shit around me," Alec said.

"What Uncle Sam doesn't know won't hurt him," Dean said. "You wanna control the EMF?"

"Yeah," Alec said. He passed over the detector and watched as Alec expertly set it up. He smiled and ruffled Alec's hair when he looked up at him to make sure he was doing it right.

"Home run, kiddo," Dean praised.

He picked Alec up and spun around, making his little boy laugh and wiggle in his arms. He knew this was now suddenly a hunt, but Alec deserved to have some fun. They all did. He tossed Alec over his shoulder, making Alec use the EMF meter pretty much upside down. Alec didn't seem to mind, in fact, he wiggled some more to make it harder for him to hold.

"Whoa," Alec breathed when they passed a room with the door open. He stopped and took a few steps back to see whatever it was, but his eyes widened in alarm when he saw a man wrapping a towel around himself.

"This ain't no peep show, man!" the guy yelled.

"Sorry," Dean quickly apologized, moving on.

"Dad, that guy looked like an elephant," Alec whispered once they were a little further.

"Seriously?" Dean asked, flipping his kid right-side up again.

"I…I think so," Alec said, sounding unsure now. They hadn't hit up the zoo yet, and Alec's education was seriously lacking in the things-all-little-kids-should-know department. Ask Alec to figure out a college-level algebraic equation, and the kid would have it solved within one-minute flat. Ask him to define a six-syllable word, and he would give every definition there was, the origin of the word, and most of the time, the Latin word that was it's equivalent. Ask him what his favorite animal was, he had no idea. It was like Manticore decided that they should skip basic human education and go straight for college level courses. The zoo was still on their list of firsts, but now it was definitely going to move up the list. "The really, really big one with the long nose, right?" Alec asked.

"Trunk," Dean said. "That's what the long nose is called. And big, floppy ears."

"Yeah," Alec said. "It filled up the whole room."

"Well, that's pretty weird, huh?" Dean said.

"Yeah, especially since it turned into a dude after I saw it," Alec said.

"What sound does an elephant make?" Dean asked as he carried Alec back to the lobby. He laughed as his little boy made a trumpet-like sound with his lips. He copied him, and then blew a raspberry on his stomach, making him giggle uncontrollably. They made elephant noises back and forth at each other until they were back in the lobby. The lobby that was now completely empty.

He slowly put Alec down again, holding his hand, and looked around the room. Sam came in after a moment, but immediately frowned when he saw the empty room. "Find anything?" Sam asked slowly, sounding weirded out that everyone was suddenly gone.

"Well, Alec saw a dude who was an elephant, and then a dude again," Dean said. "Didn't you, kiddo?"

"Yup! He was huge," Alec said.

"An elephant?" Sam asked.

"Yeah."

"Like, an elephant?"

"Really big, long trunk, floppy ears, Uncle Sam," Alec said, sounding way more confident this time around. "Filled up the whole room."

"What sound did it make?" Sam asked, trying to hide a smile. They were both trying to teach Alec kid things, and come on, it was the cutest thing in the world for Alec to try to sound like an elephant. Alec instantly made the sound again, beaming when Sam laughed and nodded. "Alright, yeah, you know what an elephant is."

"'Course I do," Alec stated. "But I don't think seeing some dude turn into an elephant counts as seeing a real elephant. I still think we should go to this so-called zoo."

"You know elephants aren't the only thing there," Dean said. "The zoo is next on our list."

"Good," Alec said.

"So, what…where is everybody?" Sam asked, walking over to the front door.

"Let me guess," Dean said just as Sam tried the door. "It's locked." Sam nodded, so he asked, "So what…the roaches check in, they don't check out?"

"Think about how we got here," Sam said. "That detour on I-90? The freakin' hurricane?"

"You saying we were led here?" Dean asked.

"Like rats in a maze," Sam said. Sam picked up Alec, and then said, "We should try to find someone that works here. See if anyone knows what's going on…"

"Yeah, but not that creepy front desk guy," Dean grumbled. "If you ask me, that dude's in on it." Sam chuckled as he led the way around the desk back into the kitchen. There had to be someone around that they could talk to. He walked around Sam when he spotted a pot on the stove with what looked like soup boiling. He walked over to the pot and grabbed the ladle mumbling, "Please be tomato soup. Please be tomato soup." He lifted the ladle pulling up eyeballs. "Motel hell," he muttered, dropping the ladle again.

"Alec, don't touch," Sam said as Alec reached for the ladle.

"I didn't get to see," Alec complained.

"You don't want to see that, kiddo," Dean said, taking his kid back from his brother. Alec listened to him more than Sam, especially when he wasn't allowed to do something.

Sam started walking over to the freezer, and he followed his brother since he didn't know what else they could do here. No one was around, so he didn't know who they could ask about what was going on. He really wanted to just hightail it out of there, but that didn't look like it was in the cards for them.

"Help us!" A man suddenly yelled, pounding against the little window of the freezer. "Get us out!"

He and Sam ran forward, and Sam quickly got his lock pick out of his pocket. He looked around the empty kitchen, just knowing they didn't have a lot of time. He still didn't see anyone, but someone could show up again at any moment. "Hurry up!" Dean said. He wanted to get Alec out of here, but he couldn't leave these people.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Sam said.

"Dad!" Alec warned.

"There's somebody behind us, isn't there?" Dean asked.

"You let him go," Dad growled as men forced him, Dad, and Uncle Sam into the Grand Ballroom. He ran to his Dad as soon as he was released, and then looked around the room full of people. The dude that had been an elephant was there, and so was Chad, the creepy front desk guy. Dad pulled him closer to his side, and he knew he wanted to pick him up, but they might need to fight in a minute, so he couldn't. "Something tells me this isn't a Shriner convention," Dad grumbled.

"Dinner is served," Chad said.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our guests of honor have arrived," the man at the head of the table said. They were all forced to sit in chairs as all the other people sat down. "Thank you for coming," the main guy said to the rest of the people. "Although in all my centuries, I never thought I'd see this. This many gods under one roof."

"Gods?" Uncle Sam asked Dad. His parental figures looked around the room again, looking like they recognized some of the people there. He looked at everyone's nametag, but he only recognized a few names from his studies at Manticore.

"Now, before we get down to brass tacks, some ground rules," Baldur, the main guy, said. "No slaughtering each other. Curb your wrath. Oh, and uh, keep your hands off the local virgins. We're trying to keep a low profile here."

"We are so…so screwed," Uncle Sam whispered.

"Now we all know why we're here," Baldur said. "The Judeo-Christian apocalypse looms over us. I know we've all had our little disagreements in the past. The time has come to put those aside and look towards the future. Because if we don't, we won't have one. Now we do have two very valuable bargaining chips. Michael, and Lucifer's vessels." He looked at his Dad and Uncle Sam, wishing he could at least sit on their lap or something. He shouldn't be that weak to want that, but if these were gods, then they wouldn't stand much of a chance. "The question is, what do we do now? Anybody have any bright ideas? Speak up. This is a safe room."

The gods started arguing, some in English and some in another language. He didn't understand a lot of what they were saying, but he was more concerned with his Dad and Uncle Sam.

"C'mere baby," Dad said, picking him up and holding him close again. He snuggled against Dad's neck and wrapped his arms around him. There were too many gods to try to take out themselves, and they didn't even have any weapons. Dad and Uncle Sam started walking towards the exit, but Dad jumped back in surprise when the chandelier crashed in front of them.

"Stay," Kali, the only woman in the room, ordered. "We have to fight," she said to the rest of the gods. "The archangels…the only thing they understand is violence. This ends in blood. There is no other way, it's them, or us."

"With all due respect, ma'am," Chad, or Mercury, since everyone apparently had two names around here, said. "We haven't even tried talking to them." Kali glared at Mercury, who started choking up blood.

"Kali!" Baldur yelled, forcing her to stop killing Mercury.

"Who asked you?" Kali demanded from Mercury.

Dad spun around suddenly as the Ballroom doors opened again. His eyes widened when Gabriel walked in. "Can't we all just get along!" Gabriel said. Dad started to say Gabriel's name, but he started choking instead. "Sam! Dean! And little baby Alec!" Gabriel said.

"I'm not a baby," he grumbled.

"It's always wrong place, worst time with you muttonheads, huh?" Gabriel said.

"Loki," Baldur said.

"Baldur," Gabriel replied. "Good seeing you too. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail."

"Why are you here?" Baldur asked.

"To talk about the elephant in the room," Gabriel said. "Not you," he said to elephant man. He giggled since the elephant guy looked angry. But he kind of always looked angry, so maybe he wasn't any different. "The Apocalypse," Gabriel continued. "We can't stop it, gang. But first things first." Gabriel looked at them and said, "The adults need to have a little conversation. Check you later."

Gabriel snapped, and suddenly, they were in their room again.

"Ok…did that…holy crap!" Dad said, walking further in the room. Dad set him down on the bed, and he frowned since he didn't want Dad to put him down. Dad just ruffled his hair though before he ran his hand down his face.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Uncle Sam said. "By the way, next time I say let's keep driving, uh, let's keep driving."

"Ok, yeah. Next time," Dad replied sarcastically.

"Alright, so, what's our next move?" Uncle Sam asked.

"I…I don't know," Dad said. "Grab those poor saps outta the freezer, I guess? Bust 'em out? Gank a few freaks along the way if we're lucky?"

"And when are you ever lucky?" Gabriel asked. He jumped up on the bed since Gabriel had just appeared out of thin air again. He hated it when angels and demons did that. It was cheating.

"Well you know what, bite me, Gabriel," Dad grumbled.

"Maybe later, big boy," Gabriel said.

"Hey," Uncle Sam snapped. Dad and Gabriel looked at Uncle Sam, who looked at him. He rolled his eyes as Uncle Sam said, "He's nine. Just…just watch what you say."

"Still not a baby," Alec mumbled. Dad walked back over to him though and picked him up again. No, he was not a baby, but yes, he did like being held by his Dad, especially when they were in near death situations like this. Besides, Dad and Uncle Sam always said he needed to catch up on kid stuff, so being carried was catching up.

"I should've known," Dad said to Gabriel. "I mean, this had your stink all over it from the jump."

"You think I'm behind this?" Gabriel asked. "Please. I'm the Costner to your Houston. I'm here to save your ass."

"You wanna pull us outta the fire?" Dad asked in disbelief. He didn't really believe it either since Gabriel was pro-apocalypse. He had tried to force Dad and Uncle Sam to 'play their roles' in TV land.

"Bingo!" Gabriel said. "Those guys are either gonna dust you, or use you as bait. Either way, you're uber boned."

"Wow, 'cause a couple of months ago you were telling us that we need to 'play our roles'. You're uber boning us!" Dad yelled.

"Seriously Dean?" Uncle Sam snapped, glaring at Dad before he glanced over to him.

"It's not like he knows what it means," Dad said.

"What does it mean?" he asked, tugging on Dad's jacket collar.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Dad said.

"I'm older now," Alec replied.

Dad chuckled, "Not a few seconds older, kiddo, a few years older."

"Oh…"

"Can I continue?" Gabriel asked, sounding amused. Dad rolled his eyes, but nodded, so Gabriel said, "The end is still nigh. Michael and Lucifer are gonna dance the lambada, but not tonight. Not here."

"And why do you care?" Dad asked.

"I don't care," Gabriel replied. "But, me and Kali, we, uh," Gabriel looked at him before he smirked and said, "Had a thing. What can I say? I'm sentimental."

"Do they have a chance?" Uncle Sam asked. "Against Satan?"

"Really, Sam?" Dad asked, definitely not happy now.

"You got a better idea, Dean?" Uncle Sam shot back.

"It's a bad idea," Gabriel said. "Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint. So, let's get going while the going's good, hmm?"

"Ok. Great, why don't you just zap us outta here then?" Dad asked.

"Would if I could, but Kali's got you three by the short and curlies," Gabriel said. "It's a blood spell. You boys are on a leash."

"What does that mean?" Dad asked.

"It means, it's time for a bit of the old black magic," Gabriel said, spraying something in his mouth.

"What's that?" Alec asked.

"Nothing," Dad said. "Another thing for when you're older."

"Dad," he whined.

"Alec," Dad whined right back, making him giggle. Dad messed up his hair before he looked back at Gabriel, "We're gonna take the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer with us."

"Forget it," Gabriel said. "It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks outta here."

"They called you Loki, right?" Dad asked. "Which means they don't really know who you are?"

"Told you," Gabriel said. "I'm in witness protection."

"Ok, well, then how about you do what we say, or we tell the, uh, legion of doom about your secret identity," Dad said. "They don't seem like a real pro-angel kinda crowd."

"I'll take your voices away," Gabriel threatened.

"We'll write it down," Dad said.

"I'll cut off your hands," Gabriel said.

"We can try to use our feet," Alec suggested.

"I'll cut off your feet too," Gabriel said.

"Well then, people are gonna be asking, 'Why are you guys running around with no hands or feet?'," Dad said, making him giggle. Just the thought of running around in front of a group of gods with no hands or feet was hilarious to him.

"Fine," Gabriel reluctantly agreed before he disappeared.

"Now what?" Dad asked.

Uncle Sam shrugged, "I guess try to get out? I don't know…see if we can get back to that freezer?"

"Yeah, alright," Dad said. "There's no tellin' how long it'll take Gabriel to get our blood back." Dad slowly put him back down but grabbed his hand to keep him close. "You stay with me, ok kiddo?"

"Ok," he easily agreed.

They snuck down the hallway back down to the lobby. They stopped suddenly, and Uncle Sam grabbed Dad to pull him against the wall. Dad grabbed him to keep him out of sight too as two men drug one of the freezer dudes out.

"No! No! No! Please!" the man yelled as they slammed him onto the front desk.

Uncle Sam pulled Dad back again when he started to move to try to help the guy, but the two men chopped into the guy's neck with a meat cleaver. His eyes widened, but Dad refused to let him go, and Uncle Sam refused to let Dad go. "It's too late," Uncle Sam whispered.

Dad held him close as they waited for the two guys to clear out again. He could tell Dad wanted to pick him up, but right now wasn't a good time. If they had to run, then Dad would want him to run without them, even though he should know by now that he wasn't going to do that.

"C'mon," Dad said once the other two men were gone.

They took off for the kitchen again, and the people inside the freezer started screaming as soon as they saw them. Uncle Sam ran to the door and tried to unlock the freezer, but he didn't see if he managed to get it or not. He was suddenly thrown off his feet, and he crashed into a rolling cart of plates before he fell to the floor. He heard Dad grunt as he was thrown across the room by the Asian god before he went after Uncle Sam, grabbing him by the neck and pinning him to the door.

Dad struggled to get up but looked at him and silently told him to stay put. He didn't want to stay put, but he knew Dad would freak out if he didn't listen. Dad got up, and his eyes widened when his Dad pulled out a wooden stake, and stabbed the guy that was choking Uncle Sam.

"Where the hell is Gabriel?" Dad asked, breathlessly.

He grumbled as they were thrown back into the ballroom. Gabriel hadn't come through, so they'd been captured again. He gently pushed Alec towards Sam, hoping that his little boy would be safer with his brother since he was planning on doing something incredibly stupid. He looked up and saw Gabriel sitting in the room with the rest of the gods.

"How long have you known?" Gabriel asked Kali.

"Long enough," she replied.

"How's the rescue going?" Dean asked, glaring at Gabriel. Either Gabriel had been found out, or he'd switched sides again and had given them up. He really shouldn't be surprised since he hadn't thought Gabriel was really going to help them, but they didn't have any other options right now.

"Well, surprise, surprise," Kali said, ignoring him. "The Trickster has tricked us."

"Kali, don't," Gabriel said.

"You're mine now. And you have something I want," Kali said as she reached into Gabriel's jacket and pulled out his angel blade. "An Archangel's blade. From the Archangel, Gabriel."

"Ok, ok! So I got wings, like Kotex," Gabriel said to the rest of the gods. "But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer."

"He's lying," Kali said. "He's a spy."

"I'm not a spy," Gabriel argued. "I'm a runaway. I'm trying to save you. I know my brother, Kali. He should scare the living crap out of you. You can't beat him. I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends-"

"Your story. Not ours," Kali cut off. "Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on earth? You pillage and you butcher in your God's name. But you're not the only religion, and he's not the only God. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong. There are billions of us. And we were here first. If anyone gets to end this world, it's me." Kali walked closer to Gabriel and then said, "I'm sorry." She stabbed Gabriel, killing him in a flash of light.

He heard a soft gasp, and he knew it was Alec. His little boy was raised as a soldier, but he wasn't used to seeing people he knew die. Alec had glared and yelled at Gabriel when they'd been trapped in the TV world, but he knew his little boy secretly thought the angel was funny. And Alec was too young to see people die. He should have done a better job at protecting Alec from this. Sam held Alec closer and nodded to him, telling him that he had Alec, he was going to protect him.

"This is crazy," Mercury said.

"They can die," Kali said, as if Mercury hadn't said anything. "We can kill Lucifer."

He decided this was his best chance, so he slowly walked closer to the gods, away from Sam and Alec just in case this didn't go his way. "Alright you primitive screwheads, listen up," Dean demanded.

"Are you outta your mind?" Sam hissed.

"I'm outta options," he shot back before he looked at the gods again. "Now on any other given day, I'd be doing my damndest to, uh, kill you. You filthy murdering chimps. But, uh, hey, desperate times." He saw Sam push Alec behind him, planning for the worst to happen. "So, even though I'd love nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks." Sam cleared his throat and glared at him, silently telling him to watch his language. He rolled his eyes and got back on track. "I'm gonna help you. I'm going to help you ice the devil. And then we can all get back to ganking each other, like normal. You want Lucifer, well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages. But me and Sam, we can get him here."

"How?" Kali asked, definitely sounding pissed off, but at least a little curious.

"First you let those main courses go," Dean said, needing at least someone to live through this. Alec was his first choice to survive, but he knew his little boy wouldn't stop trying to get back in here if he had him leave. "Then we talk. We can either take on the devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally."

He ignored Sam's bitch-face since he used more language in front of their nine-year-old, but seriously, Alec had heard a lot worse, and he knew not to say it in front of Sam unless he wanted a lecture. His boy wasn't stupid.

"Fine," Kali reluctantly agreed, nodding for him to go.

"Watch him," he said to Sam as he ran out of the room. Another god went with him and let the people out of the freezer while he went to the front door and held it open. "Come on everybody! Let's go," Dean said as the victims ran from the motel. "Go, go, go! Get outta here!"

"Psst! Dean!" He looked around and spotted what looked like Gabriel inside his car. He walked over, glaring at Gabriel. "Don't look at me! Act natural. Get in."

He rolled his eyes and got in, shaking his head. "Man, there is nothing natural about this at all. I thought you were dead," Dean said. He ran his hand down his face because he was going to have to explain to Alec how Gabriel could still be alive. He was going to completely screw his kid up.

"You think I'd give Kali my real sword?" Gabriel asked in disbelief. "That thing can kill me!"

"Then what do they have in there?" Dean asked.

"A fake!" Gabriel said like it was obvious. "Made it out of a can of diet orange slice. So, uh, go snag our blood, would ya?"

"What?"

"I heard you in there," Gabriel said. "Kali likes you. You can get close. Lift the plasma, then we vamoose."

"No," he stated. Not only would getting close to Kali get him killed, but there was no way he was doing Gabriel a favor right now. "Hand over the real blade. Better yet, why don't you sack up and help us take down Lucifer."

"You can't be serious," Gabriel said.

"Deadly."

"Since when are you butt buddies with a bunch of monsters? That's all they are to you, aren't they?" Gabriel challenged.

"Alright, you know, Sam was right," Dean said. "It's nuts, but it's the best idea I've heard, so unless you have a better one…"

"Well, good luck with that," Gabriel said. "Me? I'm blowing Jonestown. Those lemmings wanna run off a cliff, that's their business."

"I see right through you, you know that?" Dean asked. "The smartass shell, the whole 'I could give a crap' thing? Believe me, it takes one to know one."

"That so?" Gabriel asked.

"Yes. And maybe those freaks in there aren't your blood but they are your family," Dean said. He wasn't sure if that was true or not, but it sounded good.

"They just stabbed me in the freakin' heart!" Gabriel yelled. That was true, they did do that. Kind of ruined his previous statement.

"Maybe, but you still give a crap about 'em, don't you?" Dean asked, giving it a shot.

"Dean."

"Now they're gonna die in there, without you," Dean said.

"I can't kill my brother," Gabriel said.

"Can't or won't?" Dean asked. Gabriel didn't say anything. "That's what I thought."

"So you're going to summon Lucifer," Kali said to him as they waited for Dean to get back.

"Sort of," Sam mumbled, pulling Alec closer to himself. He didn't like how some of the gods were looking at him. He'd probably be a nice snack for one of these guys, and there was no way he was going to let that happen. "I just need you to squeegee some stuff from my ribs and he'll come running."

"Breaking them would be easier," Kali stated.

"Show's over," Dean said, making a stupid grand entrance back into the room. Alec went running for him, and Dean easily picked him up. "Sword's a fake, and Gabriel, he's still kicking," Dean said. Alec's eyes widened, but Dean was on a roll now. "I hate to break it to you, sister, but you've been tricked."

"Gabriel's alive?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Dean said. His brother looked at him, silently asking him if he was ok. He nodded back, but looked around the room, silently thinking they were still screwed. Thankfully, Dean walked over to him with Alec in his arms. Whatever was going to happen, at least they were together.

The lights started flickering, which definitely meant bad news.

"What's happening?" Baldur asked.

There were screams from the hallway from the other gods that had left the room. The doors flew open again as Lucifer walked in.

"It's him," he said.

"How?" Kali asked.

"Does it matter?" Dean asked her. "Shazam us outta here, would ya?" His brother sounded slightly panicked, but that was because Alec was way too close to the devil right now.

"We can't," Baldur said, sounding surprised.

"Of course you can't. You didn't say 'mother, may I?'" Lucifer said. He looked at them, and he took a step in front of his brother to try to help protect Alec. "Sam, Dean, and…I'm sorry, I never got the baby abomination's name…but, good to see you again."

"Baldur, don't," Kali warned as Baldur walked towards Lucifer.

"You think you own the planet?" Baldur asked. "What gives you the right?" Lucifer shoved his hand into Baldur's chest before he ripped him apart. Dean turned to block Alec's view, hopefully preventing him from seeing another death that would scar him for life.

"No one gives us the right, we take it," Lucifer said.

Lucifer tossed Baldur to the ground and looked at them. He was pretty sure his brother was about to get tossed aside again, but he turned to face Kali when he noticed that Lucifer wasn't looking at them. His eyes widened as her arms caught fire, and then she threw a fireball at Lucifer. He quickly ducked and ran at his brother, making sure he was going to be safe.

They both jumped over one of the overturned tables, and then ducked down for cover. Dean covered Alec's head and held him as close as he could.

"You ok?" Sam asked his brother.

"Not really," Gabriel said, suddenly appearing next to them. Alec gasped in surprise, still not used to people coming back from the dead. He shook his head, hating that in their life, someone just coming back from the dead wasn't the weirdest thing to happen. "Better late than never, huh?" Gabriel pulled what looked like a DVD out of his jacket and handed it to Dean. "Guard this with your life."

Gabriel stood up suddenly, and he and Dean did the same. Kali was suddenly thrown through the Ballroom doors as Gabriel said, "Lucy, I'm home." He looked over at them and yelled, "Guys! Get her outta here."

"Over a girl," Lucifer said to Gabriel as they ran out of the room.

They didn't look back since this was their one shot of making it out of there alive. And he knew Dean would choose Alec over Gabriel. They had agreed, Alec was their priority, no matter what. It had been bad enough being locked in a motel full of gods, but now that Lucifer was here, this was their only chance.

"I'm not getting in that thing," Kali said once they made it out to the parking lot.

"Just get in the car, princess," Dean grumbled.

He opened the door for Kali before he got in the front seat, taking Alec from his brother, so he could get in. With Kali in the back, Alec was definitely sitting up front with them even though it wasn't safe. It would be worse for Alec to be in the back with a goddess who needed some anger management classes.

"We'll drop you off and we won't kill you, if you give us back our blood," Dean said to Kali as they sped down the road, away from the motel.

Kali didn't look happy, but she did give him their blood. They dropped her off once they made it to the next town, but then they kept driving. Dean wanted to get as far away from Lucifer as they could, so they just kept going. He held Alec once they dropped Kali off since he knew Alec needed some comfort right now. His little nephew liked to pretend that nothing bothered him, but the past few weeks had been rough for everyone, let alone a nine-year-old little boy.

It was morning by the time they stopped again.

"We should watch this," Dean said, holding up the DVD that Gabriel had given him.

"Dude, Casa Erotica 13?" Sam said. "There's no way we're watching that together…"

"I'm guessing it's not actually Casa Erotica," Dean said.

"Better not be," Sam grumbled as Dean pulled into an empty parking lot.

Dean grabbed the laptop out of the back before he got out of the car. He started to move Alec to the seat, so he could get out too, but his brother stopped him. "Don't you dare leave him in here alone," Dean said. "Not after what we just went through."

"We're watching porn," Sam said. "And as weird as it is that we're gonna watch this together, we're not letting our nine-year-old kid watch porn."

"It's not gonna be porn," Dean said. "And if you put him down, then I'm just gonna pick him right back up."

"I still think this is a bad idea," Sam muttered. He got out with Alec anyway, who of course woke up as soon as the DVD started. "I'm covering his eyes."

"What is it?" Alec asked sleepily. "Are we watching a movie? Why are we watching a movie in the parking lot?"

"Dear Diary, being a high powered business president is super-fun," a woman said. He shot Dean a glare, but he just rolled his eyes and took Alec from him. "But sooo exhausting. Sometimes, I just need to relax. I need Casa Erotica."

"Room Service!"

"Come in!"

"We need to stop this," Sam said. "This is…not good for kids."

"I'm not a kid," Alec said.

"Yes you are," he and Dean said at the same time.

"Why did he want you to guard this with your life?" Sam asked as Dean covered Alec's eyes again. Alec tried to remove Dean's hand, but then Dean tickled Alec, making him giggle. Hearing Alec giggle was probably the best thing he'd heard all year, and he never wanted him to stop.

"Maybe he's a fan," Dean said. "Besides, it's a good one."

"Dean."

"What? He's not even paying attention," Dean said.

"Why is Gabriel on the screen?" Alec asked.

"Right…he's not even paying attention," Sam grumbled.

"Shut up."

"I've got the kielbasa you ordered," Gabriel said on the screen.

"Ooh. Polish?" the woman asked.

"Hungarian," Gabriel replied.

Dean actually covered Alec's eyes this time as Gabriel started kissing the woman on the bed. "Great. Not only are we watching porn, but it's staring Gabriel," Sam grumbled.

"I can't help what's on the screen, Sam," Dean said. "Cover his ears or something…"

"Let's just turn it off," Sam said.

"Hey, he gave us this for a reason," Dean said.

Gabriel finally turned to face the camera and started talking to them. "Sam, Dean, and I'm hoping not little, baby Alec. I mean serious, you're letting your six-year-old watch porn with you?"

"I'm nine!" Alec yelled at the screen. "And I'm not a baby!"

"You're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Well, if you're watching this, I'm dead. Oh please! Stop sobbing, it's embarrassing for all of us. Without me, you've got zero shot at killing Lucifer, sorry! But you can trap him. The cage you sprung Lucifer from? It's still down there. And maybe, just maybe, you can shove his ass back in. Not that it'll be easy. You gotta get the cage open, trick my bro back into it. And, uh, oh yeah, avoid Michael and the God Squad. But hey, details, right? And here's the big secret, Lucifer himself doesn't even know…the key to the cage? It's out there. Actually it's keys, plural. Four keys, well, four rings. From the Horsemen. You get 'em all, you got the cage. Can't say I'm betting on you boys. But, uh, hey! I've been wrong before. And Dean, you were right. I was afraid to stand up to my brother, not any more. So this is me, standing up." Gabriel stood up, and then said, "And this is me, lying down." Gabriel jumped on the bed, and he immediately shut the laptop before they could ruin anymore of Alec's meager childhood.

He glared at Dean for letting Alec watch that, but Dean just ignored him and said, "Horsemen, huh? Well, we got War's. We nicked Famine's. That's two down. Collect all four? All we need is Pestilence and Death."

"Oh, is that all?" Sam asked sarcastically.

"It's a plan," Dean said. He nodded and grabbed his laptop. Dean tickled Alec again and threatened, "If you tell anyone we let you watch that, I'll tickle you to death."

"No!" Alec yelled, giggling and trying to wiggle away.

Dean tickled and played with Alec for a few minutes before they were both breathless from laughing so much. He got into the car, and slowly his brother followed his lead, plopping Alec between them.

"Dad…did that mean Gabriel was really dead this time?" Alec asked, leaning against Dean's side even though he really should be in the backseat.

"I don't know, kiddo," Dean said. "But there's a pretty good chance that Lucifer really killed him."

"Oh…"

"I'm sorry, Alec," Dean said, wrapping his arm around Alec as he drove.

"I know he was a dick and all, but I kinda liked him," Alec said. "He was funny."

He glared at Dean because obviously Alec was picking up on their vocabulary even though Dean kept saying that he wasn't.

"He had his moments," Dean said. "But he did help us out back there, so I'll give him that."

Present

"So…where is he?" Alec asked. He took on a little more of his brother's weight to try to help however he could. He hated that they were still in hell. He hated that they were trusting Crowley and Ketch, who had tried to kill his brother in the past. And he hated that Alec was hurt. He needed to protect his little brother, and so far, he was doing a crap job. "Where's Gabriel so we can get out of this dump," Alec asked.

"Watch your tone, Chipmunk," Crowley warned, taking Alec's jab at hell personally. "I'm the only reason you're still alive."

"Don't talk to him," he said with a glare.

"With just a snap, I could disintegrate both of you," Crowley said.

"Then do it," Alec challenged. He wanted to be thankful that Alec was sounding a little more like himself again, but seriously? His brother picked the worst time to start challenging the bad guys. "That's what I thought," Alec said when Crowley didn't do anything. "If you were gonna disintegrate us, you would've done it already. Or you could've just left us for dead instead of helping us."

"Don't make me change my mind," Crowley said.

"Can we get back to the real issue here?" Ketch asked. "Once we get out of here, then we can go back to trying to kill each other."

"Remind me again why we need you?" Alec asked.

"You put on a good act when you want to, Alec," Ketch said. "But don't forget, I had my chance at killing you too."

"Yeah, but you didn't, and then Mary killed you instead," Alec said with a smirk.

"And now I'm back," Ketch said. "Death didn't agree with me."

"We could always try again," Alec said.

"Alright, hey," Ben said when Alec tried to move away from him. "Try not to piss them off for two seconds, ok?" His brother glared at him, but didn't say anything else, so he looked at Crowley and Ketch and asked, "Where's Gabriel?"

"Well, you see, that's where we ran into a little snag in the road," Ketch said.

"Apparently, Asmodeus has Gabriel on a leash," Crowley said. "To get to Gabriel, we'll need to kill Asmodeus."

"So, forget Gabriel," Ben said. "You said you could get us out of here, so do it."

"Don't you think if I could have done that, I would have already tried it?" Crowley asked angrily.

"Asmodeus has hell on lockdown," Ketch said. "He won't let anyone in or out without his say."

"Which means we need to kill Asmodeus," Alec muttered. "And you need Gabriel to kill him since he's a Prince of Hell, right?"

"You're smarter than I remember," Ketch said.

"Yes or no," he snapped. He hated it when people tried to put his brother down. Alec did that enough by himself, he didn't need anyone else telling him what he was already thinking. He was going to have to try to convince his brother, again, that he was smart and that he wasn't just a screwup. He really wished Dad and Uncle Sam were at home, waiting for them. Or, even better, he wished Dad and Uncle Sam would bust in and save them, so they wouldn't even have to rely on Crowley and Ketch in the first place. Too bad that wasn't going to happen.

"Yes, we need Gabriel to kill Asmodeus," Ketch said. "Which is going to be difficult since it appears the Archangel has been tortured for years, and may, or may not, help us."

"Great," Alec grumbled. "So, what's the plan?"

Neither of them said anything, so he guessed, "They don't have one."

"Great," Alec said again.

"Gabriel only knows one person in this room," Crowley said. "If we get baby Chipmunk into the Throne Room, then maybe he can jog his memory, remind him that he's an Archangel and he will take control."

"If he remembers who he is, then he has the power to take down Asmodeus," Ketch said.

"No," Ben stated. "No way. I'm not letting you use my brother to maybe get Gabriel to remember who he is. That's a stupid idea, and we're not doing it."

"If you have any bright ideas, we're listening," Crowley said.

"What's the plan to get me in there?" Alec asked.

"No," Ben growled. "You're not doing this."

"We need out of hell," Alec whispered to him. "If I can get through to Gabriel, then maybe he can help us get to Dad."

"If, Alec, if you can get through to Gabriel," Ben said. "What happens if you can't get through to him?"

"Then we die," Alec said.

"That's not helping your case," Ben said.

"What's the plan to get me in there?" Alec asked again. "I'm out of the fight, and Ben's gonna watch my back, so what are you two gonna do?"

"This is stupid," Ben grumbled. "This is so stupid."

"Are you gonna do this the whole time?" Alec asked.

"Shut up," Ben said. They snuck down the hall, following Ketch even though neither of them trusted him. But they didn't really have any other choice. "Any idea what you're gonna say to Gabriel?" Ben asked.

"No clue," Alec muttered. "I was nine when I met him…He probably doesn't even remember me. Most of the angels didn't even know my name."

"Gabriel at least knew your name, right?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, but he thought I was six," Alec said.

"Six?" Ben asked, amused.

"Hey, we were both small for our age," Alec defended. "Plus, next to Dad and Uncle Sam…they thought I was a baby."

"Would you two keep it down?" Ketch asked. "I would rather not reveal our position until we have to."

"We're strategizing," Alec snapped.

"Then strategize without speaking," Ketch suggested.

He rolled his eyes and decided to focus on walking instead. His side was killing him, he was seeing about two of everything, but he was still going. He had no clue how he was going to snap Gabriel out of whatever was going on with him, but he had to try. They had to get out of hell, and they were going to need Gabriel to get Dad and Uncle Sam back. He didn't know how, but it couldn't hurt to have an Archangel with them.

Ben caught him when he stumbled suddenly, and he somehow managed not to groan in pain. Maybe if he could get Gabriel back, then he'd break heaven's big rule and heal him. Otherwise, he'd have to wait until he healed again to try to break Dad out of wherever he was.

"Stay here until you hear something like a distraction," Ketch said to them.

"I can't wait until we can stab him in the face," Alec mumbled once Ketch was gone.

"Get in line, little brother," Ben said. "I'm gonna beat you to it."

"You just always have to pull the big brother card, don't you?" Alec asked, amused. "You're not that much older than me anyway."

"12 seconds or 12 minutes, I'm still older than you," Ben said with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes, "When are you gonna get a new line?"

"Never," Ben said. They both stopped talking when they heard what sounded like a fight in the other room. "C'mon little brother, we've got work to do," Ben said as he helped him get moving again. He prayed that this was going to work.

More soon...