90.
"Dammit Cass, what is going on? Who's kid is that? And give a man a warning before you drag 'em away." Bobby gruffs as he takes a step back and looks around the empty kitchen. "Why the hell we at the girls' place?"
"Bobby… This is a serious situation. This is Mae. The Winchesters refuse to listen to us, and they all think their parents are…" Castiel trails off as his eyes drop to Mae. "Away. We have no authority over the children. And Mae keeps crying at everything. And Dean keeps running away, or trying to shoot us. Sam follows what Dean says. Lilly is... Surprisingly obedient but I don't know what to do." He admits as he starts rubbing Lizzy's back, feeling her distress even through sleep. Apparently she still became ill during his form of transportation.
"That's Mae? They're kids? How?" Bobby blinks, trying to force his tired brain to make sense of what he was seeing and hearing. The little girl in Castiel's arms looked just like Mae did when she was a baby. What the fuck was going on?
"Yes. Thoth found them. I don't know what to do with children, Bobby. Everytime I turn around they are crashing into something and hurting themselves." Castiel sighs. "And the archangels have already contacted them. It is confusing. We believe they were cursed."
"UNCLE BOBBY!" Dean shouts as he drags the two little kids behind him, diving for Bobby the minute he walks back into the kitchen. Just the sight of Bobby made him feel more relieved. Sam quickly wraps his arms around the familiar man's leg.
"Boys? Lilly?" Bobby shakes his head, looking down at the three of them in shock. Like Mae, the Winchesters looked just like he had remembered them as he drops to his knee to get to Dean's height. He was struck dumb by the time warp they had obviously experienced.
Sam hugs Bobby tightly as Dean watches the man with round, confused eyes.
Castiel begins to comfort Mae once again, letting her cry into his shoulder after the loud shout startled her. "No, shhhhh, it's ok Lizzy. Look, your Uncle Bobby is here. Please just calm down."
Lizzy tearfully looks into Cass' eyes and tugs on his neck tie. "Mr. Cass, I losts my shwoe." She says sadly.
Castiel looks down and sees her little slipper must have fallen off back at Bobby's. "Is that what you're crying about?" He asks with confusion.
Lilly frowns, not liking the smell of alcohol coming off the new stranger as she lets go of Dean's hand and races to hide behind Maat's skirt.
"Lizzy?" Bobby shakes his head as he stands and takes Mae from Castiel, feeling very overwhelmed at the moment.
"Uncca Bobby?" Mae asks in uncertainty as she rubs at her eyes.
"Yep sure is." Bobby greets her, his tone gruff from the mixed emotions he was feeling.
She pulls back to look at his face before she wraps her tiny arms around his neck. "Uncle Bobby! My shwoe is losted."
"Hey lil Lizzy." Bobby smiles at her. "Where did you lose your shoe at?"
"I duno, it fell off when I's had my's eyes closed ah'cause I dizzy." Mae explains with a small shrug.
"I made dinner!" Maat chirps, obviously proud of herself as she gathers plates and utensils. Lilly sticks obnoxiously close to her legs, but the two of them work surprisingly well together; mostly due to the goddess' gracefulness.
"Uncle Bobby, they're all supernatural things. I tried to get us outta here, but we kept getting caught. I'm sorry they got you too." Dean whispers urgently as he looks down at the ground, still confused about pretty much everything that had happened that day.
"It's gonna be ok Dean. I'll explain later." Bobby gruffs as he ruffles Dean's hair.
"But Dad's going to be mad at me. He musta dropped these girls off at the motel and I keep messing up." Dean grumbles his face scrunches up sadly.
"Dean, yer fine boy, we'll talk later after the lil' ones are settled. Ye did a good job." Bobby explains with a sigh, though he couldn't keep from frowning at the thought of that conversation.
"And Foth said you knew where Mommy and Daddy and Grammy and Poppy are." Mae smiles expectantly as she pulls back again.
"Did he now?" Bobby asks with a smile. "Damn Sonovabitch." He grumbles under his breath before he looks at her. "I uh, they're on vacation, I was uh, supposed to watch you, but I was workin' so I left you with the Winchesters." He says gruffly.
"Ooo, Uncca Bobby, thatsa bad word." Mae says with a worried look.
"There not bad, they're jus' adult words." Bobby shakes his head.
"Daddy washed my mouth out wiv soap when I said it. He said it's bad." Mae pouts.
"Cause yer a kid." Bobby sighs.
"Dinner's set! Everyone eat." Maat begins sweetly before it peters off in a warning. "The angel didn't feed the human children." She follows up shooting the angel a dark look.
Bobby puts Mae down on the ground, where she instantly puts her hand in Sammy's outheld one. He pulls her off to go wash her hands.
"Sam, wait." Dean hurries to follow them, not wanting to let them out of his sight. The third creature was still missing.
Bobby shakes his head at the three of them before he turns to look at the angel, "So you didn't feed them all day?" He frowns. "They're babies Cass."
"I forgot, and they didn't ask for food." Castiel defends himself. "I don't know how to deal with human children."
"Lizzy seems ta like ya." Bobby gruffs as he scratches the back of his head.
"I doubt Dean would have let them eat anything I brought them anyways." Castiel says petulantly. "He is a difficult child."
"Dean's not difficult." Lilly frowns at the angel, defending the older boy. "He's jus' wowried."
"Hey Lilly. You don't remember me do you?" Bobby asks, looking over to her.
Lilly hides behind Maat's skirt the minute she's addressed by the only human adult. She buries her face in the blanket.
"Lilly, stop being rude. This man is like a father to you eventually. Go tell him hello." Maat chides her gently, scooping her out from behind her skirt to push her in Bobby's direction.
"Hi." Lilly greets nervously as she shifts with discomfort before she draws up the hood of her jacket and stuffs her blanket into the front pocket along with her hands. He sounded scary, and smelled like booze. She didn't want to be anywhere near him.
"Sorry Lilly, you don't have to talk to me if you don't wanna. It's ok. But I'm Bobby, you can call me Uncle Bobby or just Bobby, whatever you want." Bobby tells the small girl after he kneels in front of her.
"Hewo Mista' Bobby." Lilly greets politely as she shifts on her feet, wishing she had just gone with Dean and the others.
Bobby gives her a gentle pat on her head, doing his best to keep his emotions off his face. He never knew she had a speech problem growing up. In fact, if his guess was correct, she looked no more than seven. None of them knew much about her from that age. "Go on, we both know you don't actually want to talk to me." He tells her with a smile.
Lilly blushes before she runs off to go find the other kids. She heads to the bathroom they had washed their hands in earlier, and skids to a halt. Her jaw drops when she finds Sam and Mae throwing soap suds at each other while Dean sulked on the closed toilet seat.
Mae screams in delight as Sam pats soap suds into Dean's hair. "You'rs not playing Dean."
Dean simply glares at his little brother and wipes the foam from his head.
"You gu-ays! That's not how… Yous makin' a mewss!" Lilly says frantically flapping the sleeves of her hoody, in obvious distress.
"Lilly, come play wiv us." Lizzy says as she climbs back onto the countertop to get more soap.
"Fis is a weally nice house, we're gunna get in twouble!" Lilly exclaims in concern as she starts looking for something to clean it off the floor. Relief sweeps through her when she finds a cabinet with cleaning supplies. She frowns. All the towels here looked nice. Her frown deepens as she grabbed one from the bottom of the pile and begins to clean up the mess.
"It's just soap, we're not makin' messes, we're cleanin'." Sam reasons, holding his hands out for Mae to pump more soap into. He puts this on his face, making it into a beard and moustache.
Mae giggles at him before she stands up on the counter and walks over to the cabinet on the wall.
"Uh, Lizzy tha's dangewous!" Lilly exclaims as she looked up at the other girls giggling. She was starting to associate it with trouble. "Dean! Yous olda' do sumfing!" She whines with concern.
"I'm just looking for more soaps. Geeez." Lizzy says as she opens the mirrored door.
"Be careful Lizzy." Sam grunts as he pulls himself up to look into the mirror and pretends to shave, scraping the foam off with a finger.
Lilly grumbles several words in a different language as she finishes cleaning the rest of the water off the floor. They were all going to get in trouble, and no one seemed to care.
"Wow, are those real words?" Sam asks, looking back down at her.
Mae just continues to pull tubes and containers from the medicine cabinet. "There's so many pretty bottles in here. Grammy doesn't like glass."
Lilly nods her head at Sam, before she stands and goes over to Dean, she hesitantly stretches out her hand and rubs his back. He looked so sad and lost it hurt. He wasn't even stopping the others and it worried her. "Dean?" She asks softly.
"What is taking you four so long?" They suddenly hear Castiel ask as he walks into the bathroom.
Mae jumps and slides in a puddle of foamy soap. Sam turns quickly to slide off the counter. Lilly and Dean just look up at the voice, Lilly trembling with fear, knowing they were going to be in trouble.
"Elizabeth!" Castiel quickly catches her before she falls, pulling her back to his side. "You were just supposed to wash your hands ." He stops and pull Mae away from him when he realizes she's soaked.
"Look at the pretty bottles." Mae giggles as she points at the bottles she had been collecting.
"Oh. Well the old one is getting impatient. We should find you new clothes and get you fed. I'm sorry, I forgot you needed to eat." Castiel frowns.
"How do you forget to feed kids? I was asleep, you knocked my ass out." Dean glares at the creature holding Mae.
"My bags are in Poppy's pool room." Mae tells Castiel as she scoops up foam from her blouse and pats in on his hair.
"You three go to the kitchen, we will be there momentarily." Castiel sighs before he turns and walks out of the bathroom.
91.
"Whys Dean get to talk wif the grown ups?" Lilly asks as she kicks her legs nervously. Was he in trouble?
"Because he's Dean. My Dad says he's practically a grown up." Sam says, digging through the closet to find a good board game.
"Oh." Lilly sighs before she scoots off the couch and begins looking for a new book to start reading, having misplaced the earlier one when they had run. She was worried about Dean.
"So, We can play Clue, or Sorry, or oh Operation, let's play that one!" Sam exclaims pulling out the box.
Mae smiles as she drops the little grey pillow Thoth had given her, "Yay! I love opera'tion, I's play it a lot. My daddy's a doctor!"
"Wow, your dad's a doctor? That's awesome!" Sam exclaims as he pulls the game out and sets it out on the floor.
"Uh-huh he's awesome! He saves people!" Mae claps excitedly as she goes to sit by Sam.
"My Dad saves people too, Dean says he's a superhero." Sam grins as he sets up the game flipping it over to turn it on.
"Wow, a superhero? That's amazing." Mae says with wide eyes as she takes the baggy with the pieces and counts them out.
"Aw man it needs batteries." Sam frowns with obvious disappointment.
"Oh... " Mae says her face also falling.
Lilly looks over at the other two kids noting their change in demeanor. "Lizzy fis is your grand pawents house wight? Don' you know where fey keep the batta'ries?" She asks closing her book after sliding in the closest piece of paper into the pages. She didn't want her to be upset again. She hesitantly walks over to them and looks the game over with a frown.
"Um… Oh I know." Mae giggles as she stands and races over to a cabinet. But when she pulls out the drawers she stares at them, confused. "Nothin' is where it's supposed to be. Everything is different. I don't…" She takes a deep breath as tears well up in her eyes. She felt completely lost.
"Lizzy, Lizzy it's okay." Sam frowns as he gets up and races over to the crying girl to hug her. He wasn't sure what the problem was, he just wanted to comfort her. She was his first friend besides Dean.
"Hey, it's o'tay Lizzy." Lilly comments not sure why the other girl was crying again. "You get used to it after while, I pwomise." She assures her patting her back.
"I's don' wanna get used to it! I don't like it!" Mae cries louder.
"Um, I know wheneva I's in a new pwace I don' like I, I's just wead, an' pwetend I's the're is'tead. Wha's yur' favwite book? I's bet this pwace has it." Lilly says softly rubbing Mae's back. She was not going to take the news well, maybe that's why everyone was avoiding it. Adults didn't like crying.
Mae sniffles and goes quiet for a moment. "Uh… I like, Secret Garden."
"Oh, o'tay, I's go find that." Lilly says heading over to the bookshelf looking for the book, frowning when she doesn't see it. "I's be wight back, I's find tha book or batta'wies. Jus' pwease try ta calm down otay?" She says hesitantly, before she turns to leave the game room. She turns back to look at them. "Pwease stay here otay? I's no wants yous in twouble."
"Lizzy it's okay. Lilly will be back with the book, or maybe Dean will be back soon. What'da you wanna do?" Sam says as he attempts to comfort her.
"I's want my mommy and daddy. I's no idea where they are. I's miss fem." Mae rubs her face into Sam's shirt.
"I miss my dad sometimes too, he goes away alot. It's usually just me and Dean." Sam says, rubbing her back as he moves them over to the couch and helps her up onto it.
"You're daddy just goes away?" Mae asks with trembling lower lip, completely unable to understand that concept. "Why?"
"He's a superhero I guess, he needs to travel a lot to save people and takes us with him." Sam says with a slight frown.
"Oh… but who watches you and Dean?" Mae asks still confused.
"Dean watches us." Sam says with a small smile.
"Oh. That's… Sad, where's your mommy?" Mae asks leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Oh… My mom is in heaven." Sam says looking down as he shifted with discomfort.
"Maybe Mr. Cass knows her." Mae says, as she holds his hand.
"Cause he's an angel… That's a good idea." Sam smiles happily at the idea.
"Yeah, cause my Daddy says that the angels watch over heaven." Mae rubs at her eyes with her free hand.
Sam nods his head. "I'm going to ask him. Are you tired? We're not supposed to sleep without our special pillows."
Mae shakes her head, but yawns.
"Me neither. Wanna' try play'n another game? One without batteries?"
"Yes." Mae says with a wide smile.
"What game?" Sam asks as he worms his way back to the floor helping Mae down.
"Wanna plays Clue?" Mae asks, thinking back over the games he had called out.
"Sure!" Sam says, excited as they rush back over to pull out the new game.
92.
Dean walks into the game room followed by Bobby and Maat. His eyes were still red rimmed from the information dump he had just received. Twenty years had gone by, and he, his brother, and apparently their girlfriends were cursed. Archangels were after them, and dad was gone, but the yellow eyed demon that had killed their mom was dead. He didn't know what to believe anymore. He just wanted to sleep.
"Hi Dean. Wanna play Clue wiv us?" Sam asks looking up at his brother.
"Ya, wh- whats wrong Dean?" Mae asks, tilting her head to the side when she saw the older boy.
"I actually think it's- Where's Lilly?" Maat asks with concern noticing that her odd one was not in the room.
Mae and Sam look at each other before their eyes fall on the forgotten Operation game.
"Oh, she went to find a book or batteries cuz Lizzy got sad again." Sam explains, upset with himself for not watching her.
"I can't find shit in fis fuck'n house, no wonder why yous always cwyin'." Lilly growls in frustration as walks back into the room. She freezes when she notices the two adults.
"Is she gonna get her mouth washed out? She didn't means it." Mae rushes over to stand in front of the other girl. Sam not far behind her.
"I dids meant it, fis house is fuckin huge." Lilly grumbles.
Mae turns to whisper, louder than she meant to, "Stop sayin dult words."
"Sowwy." Lilly grumbles with a roll of her eyes.
Bobby and Maat both cover their mouths with a hand. Bobby to hide his smile, Maat to stifle her giggle. Both wonder if they should reprimand the girl for swearing.
"Lilly you shouldn't say those words, you're a girl." Dean finally speaks up, frowning at her.
"So? You were sayin' the same shit all mornin'" Lilly snaps rolling her eyes at the boy.
"I'm ten-" Dean goes to explain, but stops, suddenly frustrated. "Whatever. It's bed time for you three. Which means we have to find toothbrushes. And blankets."
"Fere where awot of toofbrushes in the bafwoom." Lilly agrees, not pushing the argument if he wasn't going to.
"The couch turns into a big enough bed for the four of you to sleep on-" Bobby says, before he's interrupted.
"We can't sweep in the same room." Lilly objects obstinately, crossing her arms. She was done with this stupid house and it's lack of rules.
Maat gets down to her level, "Lilly, it would be best if you all slept in the same room for now. If you don't want to share a bed, I can make a bed out of pillows for you."
"Boys and giwls no supposed to sweep in the same wooms." Lilly shakes her head. What if a social worker stopped by? They'd all get in trouble, and Dean might get separated from Sam, and he was sad enough.
"You're not going to get in trouble. This is your family. You can sleep in the same room with them."
"I don' have a famly." Lilly says her brows drawing together in confusion, growing annoyed.
"Yeah you do." Dean says, walking over to her. "We're your family. So, just get use to it." He hugs her, the tears he had held back when he had been talking to the adults finally spilling over.
Lilly goes to object when he wraps his arms around her, her entire frame stiffening from the unsolicited contact. She wanted to tell him to let go, but stops when she feels his breath change and something wet hit her head. She wraps her arms around him in confusion and stays quiet She felt bad he was upset again. What was wrong? Had he found out his dad was in jail?
Bobby pulls the bed out, smiling when he sees the ironed sheets carefully folded into the cushions. Between him, Mae and Sam they get the bed made. "All right, go brush your teeth. All of you."
"Okay." Sam says, taking Mae by the hand as the walk to stand by Dean and Lilly.
"Guys we has to go brush our teef." Mae whispers pulling on Dean's shirt.
"We coming in a minute Lizzy." Lilly says softly, picking up on Dean's discomfort at attention being drawn to him, when he squeezes her tighter.
"I'm sowy." Mae says quickly, giving Dean a one armed hug before she pulls Sam out of the room.
"I'm coming with you two, I'll get it set up for you." Maat says as she escorts the two younger ones out of the room.
Bobby begins to set up the couch cushions to make Lilly her own bed. "You two gonna stand there or get ready for bed?" He gruffs, looking over at Dean and Lilly.
"Sowwy, I like hugs." Lilly mumbled loud enough for the man to hear her, picking up on Dean's stiffening and sniffles. She rubs his back in attempt to help calm him. He was upset enough without getting yelled at for it.
"Go on Lilly, go get your teeth clean." Bobby shoos as he walks over, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder to guide the boy into his side. He hated the way John's attitude towards feelings were shining through right now; there was a difference between dignity and ignorance.
Lilly looks down without another word and stuffs her hands into her pockets so she can twist her fingers into her blanket. She looks up at Bobby with a frown, before looking to Dean. She didn't want to leave him alone with the man, but she didn't want to make it worse either. With a small sigh she walks out of the room.
"Dean, it's ok to be upset." Bobby explains once Lilly was out of earshot.
"I'm not upset." Dean defends himself as he wipes his face with his forearm harshly, annoyed with himself.
"You don't have to always be tough boy. We just laid a heap of awful on you. And now you feel even more responsible for these youngins." Bobby gruffs gently.
"It's fine, I'll adjust. I've always been able to keep Sammy safe. I can do this." Dean responds with confidence.
"God dammit boy, I know you can." Bobby hugs the boy, happy when after a moment Dean hugs him back.
"It's a lot, and it's hard as hell to believe, but I can do this." Dean says after a moment, as honest as he was willing to be with his second father.
"I know, ya idjit. Now go brush your teeth." Bobby assures him with a smile as he lets the young Dean go. It was so strange to see them at this age again, but now that he was really thinking about it, or maybe because it was staring him in the face, this explained a lot.
93
The four kids come strolling back into the room several moments later, all dressed in night clothes, Lilly still wearing her too big hoodie over her pjs. Dean's face was almost comically stern as he herded them back to the room.
They all pause as they look around the room, noticing Thoth in the background with a gleeful smile on his lips.
He was going to document every moment of this that he could.
"All right, everyone in bed." Bobby says clapping his hands.
"But wait we has to do prayers." Mae says, kneeling next to the bed, putting her hands together in front of her. Sam joins her with a smile, as he mimics her position.
Lilly looks over at at Mae and Sam with a quirked brow before she shrugs and walks over to Maat and Thoth. She drops to one knee one hand over her chest the other on the floor and looks down. She quietly whispers their creed, in perfect ancient egyptian.
Maat and Thoth share a glance as they notice her speech was perfect, before Thoth takes another picture.
Dean rolls his eyes and stays back.
Castiel smiles as he hears the prayers of the two little children, their voices strong and innocent as they prayed a typical child's prayer and then asked for everyone to be kept safe. He winces at Mae's mention of her family and at Sam's mention of his Dad.
"Amen." Mae and Sam finish around the same time.
Lilly stands up only when Maat gently puts her hand on her back, softly telling her to go get settled. She flops onto the pile of cushions on the floor and curls into a ball before pulling her blanket out of her hoodie.
"Good night children." Castiel says from his corner.
Mae looks up and runs over to give him a hug, "Night." She says from his leg before she runs back over to the bed and crawls into it, excited for her first slumber party. "Oooh can we watch a movie?" She asks.
"No Lizzy, it's time to sleep." Bobby says sternly, but with a small smile.
Sam gets into bed next to Mae, crawling under the blankets.
"Aren't cha sleepin with us Lilly? It's a slumber party." Mae asks putting her head back on the grey pillow behind her.
"Nope." Lilly responds popping the 'p'.
"Lilly, child services isn't going to get called." Maat chides her, shaking her head at the seven year old's thoughts.
Dean rolls his eyes once more, walking around the bed until he could get under the covers on the other side of Mae. "Where's my knife?" He asks, checking under his pillow.
Bobby reaches into his pocket and pulls out a decent sized pocket knife. "Here son, you can use mine for tonight." He passes it to Dean, who smiles and tucks it under his pillow. "Thanks Uncle Bobby."
"Yous all weiwd." Lilly mumbles from her cushions, mentally checking off another broken rule. What the hell was happening? Nothing made sense.
"Everyone sleeping on the special pillows?" Thoth asks, snapping a few more pictures.
A resounding yes is heard from all four children.
"Excellent, Bobby's on first watch with Castiel. We'll be researching." Thoth says before he and Maat disappear, leaving the camera by Bobby, who was settling on the arm chair.
A few moments later Mae sits back up. Sam looks at her funny, reaching out a hand to pet her arm. "It's ok Lizzy, me and Dean are here."
"But I's thirsty." Mae pouts.
"I'll go get you some water." Bobby says gruffly shaking his head as he gets up. "Any other sprat want anythin'?"
"Can I have water too Uncle Bobby?" Sam asks, sitting up too.
Dean just groans, "Really Sammy? You're just gonna need to pee in like five minutes."
"It's fine, you want anythin' Dean?" Bobby asks.
"No thanks, I'm good." Dean says, turning on his side to watch Lilly.
"Lilly?"
"Nuh uh" Lilly murmurs curling into a tighter ball hugging her blanket to her. She felt a lot less comfortable with her gods no longer in the room. She always hated the first nights in new places, she never knew what was going to happen, and this place was already unsettling to her. What type of an adult gave a kid a knife? She wished she had a book to read. With a sigh she stares at the large shelf of them.
"Ok, this is my only trip out of the room, last chance." Bobby counts to ten before he leaves.
Mae and Sam giggle together over whatever it is they're whispering to each other as he comes back in the room.
"Okay, two waters." Bobby says handing each kid a small glass cup.
"Thank you Uncle Bobby." Mae smiles before she starts sipping at the water.
"Thank you." Sam nods before he quickly drains his cup.
Bobby collects the glasses, before he gets settled in the armchair again.
"Uncle Bobby? Will you read a story?" Mae asks.
"Why doesn't Mr. Cass tell ya a story." Bobby suggests with a smirk in the angel's direction.
"What? What story? I don't understand." Castiel frowns.
"A bedtime story about a nice dragon." Mae says, clapping her hands.
"And a brave superhero." Sam adds sitting up for the story excited.
"What?" Castiel asks cluelessly.
"And a princess." Mae adds after a few moments of thought.
"A kid's story about a nice dragon, a brave superhero and a princess. Come on Cass. Make one up." Bobby prompts smugly, still pissed about having to lie to Mae about her parents.
"Uh. Ok. So uh…" Castiel frowns down at the kids, "I don't know how to do this."
"Once upon a time…" Mae starts off for him with a smile.
"Right…" Castiel frowns as he turns to Bobby. "I can't do this." The angel deadpans.
"There was a really brave superhero, who fought monsters." Sam says, standing up on the bed with his hands on his hips in a heroic pose.
"And there was a weally smart princess that protected mother nature." Mae adds, also standing and doing a small, wobbly curtsy.
Lilly pulls her hood up over head as she listens to the others, curious how long these adults were going to let the other kids jump around. They were gonna end up gettin' smacked back into the bed. Idiots.
Sam thinks for a moment before he adds to the story, "They decided to go on a 'venture together-"
"To find the nice Dragon." Mae finishes for him
"This story doesn't make sense. Superheroes don't exi-" Castiel begins before Bobby interrupts him.
"Castiel, it's a story, you go sit down, get them to lay down, and tell them what happens when the superhero and princess meet a nice dragon."
"But I don't know what happened when they found the nice dragon." Castiel frowns. "Can't we just put on a disney movie?"
No." Bobby rolls his eyes. "Make it up."
"I am not Chuck. I'm an angel, not a profit or writer." Castiel frowns.
"Fine, watch how a pro does it." Bobby says gruffly. He gets up and teasingly tackles the two kids back onto their pillows before he tucks them in. "So the smart princess and the brave superhero go on an epic quest…" Bobby begins using different voices and getting super animated, continuing the story long past the point the two younger ones have fallen asleep.
Bobby frowns as he looks at Lilly, but pauses not wanting to wake her if she was already sleeping when he see her hood is drawn. "Not touchin' that." He says gruffly.
"She's scared, and not asleep." Castiel explains, tilting his head to the side when he feels the old one re-enter the house. "Thoth came back."
"Bobby go get some sleep, Castiel and I will watch the kids." Thoth sighs as he walks into the room and gently drops a large piles of books on a table. He walks over to Lilly and kneels down next to her. "It is time to sleep." He says to the girl before he waves his hand over her face. "And Maat says I'm not good with kids." He scoffs as he walks back to the pile of books.
Bobby opens his mouth to argue before he just shakes his head and walks out of the room.
When Thoth hears movement behind him he picks up the camera and sits on the chair with a book next to him, watching curiously.
Dean rolls out of the bed and walks over to scoop Lilly up, frowning at how light she was before he turns and puts her in the bed next to Mae. He goes back and picks up the pillow, gently putting it under her head, before he crawls back in himself.
"She's going to be upset when she wakes up in the bed." Castiel states.
"So? I can protect them better if they're all together. She can be mad if she wants, I don't care."
"Ah." Castiel states before picking up a book and sitting down to begin his own research.
"Good luck with that Winchester." Thoth says with a small smile, obviously amused and not caring.
The god and the angel sit in silence for an hour before Thoth sighs. Getting up he goes over to the bed where Dean is still very much awake. "Dean, I need to check on Lilly, she's still scared."
"Kay." Dean says slowly as he turns to look at the small girl. The last thing he remembers is a hand sliding over his eyes.
"See, great with kids." Thoth smirks smugly to the angel, making sure the charmed pillows were where they should be.
Castiel's eyes narrow with skepticism, but he doesn't argue. Asleep was asleep.
94
Lucifer walks around the cave, curious and confused as to why Elizabeth was having a dream in such a dark and dreary place when her dreams were usually green and earthy. He did find the new scenery interesting though.
When the tunnel he was walking through begins to get bigger and bigger, he finds himself in a cavern where Elizabeth and a giant rainbow scaled dragon were talking.
"It's ok Mr. Nice Dragon. No one will ever find you in here. You'rs safes now. I's sure superhero will be back soon. And you have a giant pool to swim in." Mae says as she pats the dragon.
"Hello Elizabeth. Do you remember me?" Lucifer asks with a gentle smile walking up to the young girl slowly.
Mae turns with a gasp, her terror evident on her small face. She curls into the side of the dragon, burying her face into its scales.
"Elizabeth? What's wrong child?" Lucifer asks, his head tilting to the side as he pauses in his steps. He watches as the little girl simply shakes her head continuously.
"Elizabeth? Lizzy what's the matter?" Lucifer asks as he slowly walks closer before putting a hand on her back. He gently rubs in an attempt to calm her.
"No!" Mae screams as she bolts from the dragon's side, running through the cave blindly, scared that she was going to talk to the blond angel and get in trouble.
Mae's sudden reaction startled him, and she was able to get pretty far before he simply flew to stand in front of her. "Elizabeth? Tell me what is wrong." Lucifer scoops her up into his arms.
"No." Mae cries out again, tears streaming down her face as she fought against his hold on her.
"Elizabeth sweetheart you need to calm down and tell me what's wrong." Lucifer soothes her softly. "You can talk to me Lizzy. I just want to help you."
Mae continues to fight against him, twisting and turning in his arms in an attempt to get down. "Imma get in troubles." She cries.
"In trouble? Why would you get in trouble?" Lucifer asks in concern as he gently brushes her hair from her face. His caress calming her a little more with each pass.
Mae covers her mouth. Her eyes wide above her hands. She shakes her head again, scared to speak.
"Come on Lizzy you can talk to me, I just want to help you. Let me know what's wrong baby." Lucifer sits down on a stone and holds the girl close to him, his arms forming a protective cage around her.
Mae frowns as she covers her eyes. "I don't wanna be here, it's scary without the dragon."
"I know, I'm sorry. Here." Lucifer says snapping as they end up in the familiar garden with the dragon behind him. "See garden and dragon, isn't that much better?" He asks with a gentle smile. "Please talk to me Lizzy."
"I not ah'pos to." Mae says, a tear trickling down her face as she wiggled to get down.
"Why not?" Lucifer asks with a frown as he adjusts her to sit in a more comfortable position, where he could hold her securely without hurting her.
"Pwease, I don't wanna be bad." Mae tugs on his shirt, still trying to get down. She wanted to go play in the familiar garden.
"You're not bad Elizabeth. What is this? You talked to me just fine yesterday. Please tell me what's going on?" Lucifer frowns at her.
Mae turns her face away from him, "I jus' can'ts talk to you." She whines.
"But why not? Who told you you'd be in trouble, or bad for talking to me?" Lucifer asks with a raised brow.
"I wanna play in Momma's garden." Mae says with a frown, sure her Mom wouldn't want a dragon walking around or breathing fire at her plants. He was a nice dragon though, maybe he didn't breath fire.
"I'll let you go play after we talk Lizzy, I'm worried about you. I don't like not knowing where you are." Lucifer prompts gently.
"But… I don wanna gets in trouble. He said yous a bad angel, and you want to take me from my Mommy and Daddy." Mae sobs and hiccups between words, sure that even this much was going to get her in trouble.
"Oh Lizzy." Lucifer sighs, hugging her to him. "I told you yesterday, I got punished because I loved my father. Do you remember that? Just like you love your family. I'm not bad. You can trust me, I'll never lie to you child. I promise. I just want to keep you safe." He explains as he begins stroking her hair again. He could wait for her to calm down, but he gently aided the process.
"Why you get in troubles for loving your Daddy?" Mae asks, turning to look at him with sad eyes.
"He asked me to love his new creations more than him. I couldn't Lizzy, I couldn't love anything more than him. And so my big brother threw me out of heaven, and locked me in a cage." Lucifer explains gently. He continues to rub her back with one hand while his other tucks her hair behind her ear.
"I's still not ah'pos to talk to you. Even if it wasn't fair you got put in time out. Can I's go play now?" Mae pouts.
"Okay, you can go play." Lucifer sighs, obviously upset, as he releases the small girl.
"Why are you so sad?" She asks with her head tilted, not even getting up from his lap.
"I'm worried about you. I don't like this Lizzy. You talked to me last night, and now it's like you want nothing to do with me." Lucifer frowns as he looks down dejected.
Mae's little face crumples as she throws her arms around his neck. "I's sowwy. Please don't be sad."
Lucifer wraps his arms around the small girl, unable to keep a smile from his face. "I can't help it Lizzy, I don't like being away from you like this, but it's okay, I don't want you to get in trouble. Go play."
Mae shakes her head, still hugging the sad angel. "Come play with me. Then you won't be sad. That's what Sammy wants Dean to do. He's sad too."
"Oh. Are the Winchesters children too?" Lucifer asks, his brow wrinkled in confusion.
"I no no? I woke up with Sammy, and he said his brother and daddy is superheros and would help me find my Mommy and Daddy." Mae leans back to look at his face, her hand smoothing his hair in a comforting gesture.
"You're looking for your parents? Oh my dear Elizabeth has no one told you? Your mommy and daddy have been gone for a long time now." Lucifer frowns as he looks down at her.
"Nuh uh. Mommy kisseded me night night before I woke up with Sammy. Uncle Bobby said he was ah'pos to watch me, but had to work. So he's took me to the place with Sammy and Dean."
"Oh, sweety has no one told you? Your cursed right now. That's why I want to find you. It's dangerous, the state you're in is leaving you incredibly vulnerable." Lucifer explains, his tone gentle.
"What is cursed means?" Mae asks her brows knitted together in confusion.
"A curse is a bad spell. Someone, or thing, put a bad spell on you Lizzy, and the brothers."
"On the other girl too? She's weird, but I like her. She likes to read." Mae asks curiously.
"Yes on the weird girl too." Lucifer smiles in amusement. "Before you four were cursed, you two were like sisters." He adds.
"I don't understand." Mae huffs in confusion.
Lucifer smiles at her and adjusts her on his lap so she was facing him before he begins explaining her family's dynamics to her, at least from what he had gleaned from her in previous dreams.
"But boys are icky." Mae pouts after being told that she and Sammy are a couple like her Mommy and Daddy.
Lucifer chuckles. "You're cursed remember? You're actually twenty five Lizzy. The baby of your family, and you hate being reminded of that."
"I no baby. I almost six." Mae informs him, counting out and holding up six fingers.
Lucifer smiles, gently ruffling her hair. " Yes, you are almost six. But you are the youngest, and an infant by Sylph standards."
"Momma calls me her little fairy." Mae frowns, thinking that he might be giving her a nickname.
"That's adorable." Lucifer smiles at her before his eyes drop. "I'm sad I never got to meet your mother."
"But she's just on vacation. That's what Uncle Bobby said." Mae says, but this time she doesn't sound as sure.
"Mmm, it's just about time for you to wake up Lizzy, maybe you shouldn't tell anyone we talked." Lucifer frowns. "It can be our little secret. That way you won't get in any trouble."
"I don't wanna wake up. I want my Mommy. "
"Okay, we're in a dream, so here." Lucifer stands, reaching his hand out for Mae.
Mae looks at his hand for a moment before she hesitantly takes it. She follows him deeper into the garden before they find River in a white dress watering flowers.
"Mommy!" Mae shouts as she runs over to her.
"Lizzy, how is my baby girl?" River giggles picking the little girl up and swinging her in the circle, the angel steps back and just watching the child interact with her mother with a satisfied smirk on his face.
95
"Hey Samara. What happened to your big library?" Michael asks as he walks up behind the lost looking girl wandering through a large house.
"I's stud-e-ing the house. I couldn't find batta'ries, an' I got lost. I don' like bein' lost."
"I don't like you being lost either. Do you know where you are?" Michael asks as he kneels down beside her, not touching her.
"Nope." Lilly sighs with a shrug. "I gots moved again."
"I see. Do you know who you're with?" Michael watches as she opens a door, but the room on the other side is dark so they can't see into it.
"My gods, they said they were goin' to 'dopt me…" Lilly furrows her brow as she looks over at the muwtant. "I's confused why I's doptable all of a' sudden. I don' wike it."
"You don't like that I wanted to let you read in my library?" Michael moves to look into the room with her.
"Fof says I needs social skills, an' I's not awoud to jus' wead all day." Lilly grumbles.
"Well, that's no fun." Michael shakes his head. "Doesn't he know that you can learn anything from a book."
"He says I's wude." Lilly frowns her nose crinkling slightly as she looked into the dark room.
Michael frowns. "That was mean."
"Kinda twue." Lilly shrugs, smiling as a dark tentacle crept out of the black room. "There you are Viola." She smiles as she grasps the tentacle in a firm grip.
"So, are you staying with your gods?" Michael prompts. He just needed to know where she was so he could go get her. He'd figure out the child problem after he had her. He looks down at her with a furrowed brow. What was she playing with?
Lilly nods her head before she follows the tentacle, that was tugging at her wrist.
Michael follows her and he finds them in a large library. "This looks promising. Are you staying with them in their house?"
"Dunno." Lilly shrugs as the tentacle leads her over to a small open door in between bookshelves. She giggles happily as the tentacle moves and tickles her briefly before it wraps around her waist.
"GET OVER HERE!" A daunting female voice growls out, in a Scorpion impersonation before the tentacle pulls a laughing Lilly through the door.
"Samara!" Michael exclaims in surprise as he rushes over to the small door. What was that voice? He didn't feel another presence in here with him. He takes flight to catch up with the tiny troublemaker.
Michael looks around in confusion when he finds himself in a odd and dark looking forest. Fog was rolling around the ground as moonlight filtered in through the trees. The sounds of screeching owls and odd clicks were unsettling for a child's dream; as were the contrasts of dark and vibrant colors.
"Samara? Where are you child?" Michael stops for a moment, feeling for the signs of her conjoined souls. He lets out a sigh when he realizes that she's many dream layers away from him, and that it would be difficult to catch her tonight. He realises that, once again, he had underestimated her. He vows not to let that happen tomorrow night.