AN: Here's the next chapter! And it's a long one! Hope everyone likes it!
The three Winchesters walk into a large and dark room, each of them carrying flashlights and bags, one of them being the case they had stolen from Dick Roman. Sam sets the case on the table while Dean places the duffel bag on the floor and Gracilynn sets Sam's computer bag on the table. Gracilynn pulls out Sam's laptop and hands it to him; Sam takes the laptop from Gracilynn and turns it on. Dean walks over to Sam and Gracilynn watching as Sam types into his computer. Sam opens the case and un-wraps the piece of clay before taking it out and setting it on the table. Dean moves over to the duffel bag and grabs a tool box and brings it over to the table, setting the box on top of it.
"That's a lot of fuss over a caveman Lego," Dean says, looking over at the piece of clay lying on the table.
"Yeah. Well, whatever Dick wants is bricked up inside that," Sam says with a raised eyebrow as he stares at the clay rectangle. Dean hands Gracilynn and Sam safety glasses and puts a pair on himself before taking out a mallet. Gracilynn and Sam put their safety glasses on and stand back as Dean raises the mallet.
"All right," Dean says moments before he swings the mallet down and hits the clay. Thunder instantly booms around them and Gracilynn looks out the window, seeing the sky has gotten dark rather fast. She turns back to the clay and Dean hits it again; Gracilynn sees lightening flash out of the corner of her eye and she turns to look out the window again. Thunder claps again and Gracilynn sees the sky getting visibly darker. Dean and Sam look out the window themselves.
"That sound like somebody saying, 'No, wait…stop,' to you?" Dean asks, looking over at Sam. Sam glances over at Dean and meets his gaze.
"Uh…Yeah. Yeah," Sam agrees as he nods his head. Gracilynn looks away from the window and over at her dad.
"Yeah…maybe we should stop," Gracilynn says, looking over at Sam and then back at Dean. Dean looks at her and then over at Sam again.
"Yeah…" he says, then, shrugs. "Oh, well."
Dean raises the mallet and hits the clay several more times, the clay beginning to crack. Sam and Gracilynn peer down at it as Dean continues to hit at the clay, knocking off pieces of it little by little. The sky outside continues to rumble and light up with streaks of lightening. Dean hits the clay a few more times before the rest of the clay clears off a piece of stone. The three Winchesters stare at the stone with wide eyes. Dean sets the mallet down and lifts the piece of stone, the hunters seeing inscriptions written on it. Dean turns the tablet over in his hands, inspecting it but not knowing what exactly it is. He looks up and over at his brother and daughter who have identical looks of curiosity and hesitation on their faces. Gracilynn finally speaks up, her eyes moving to her dad.
"What is it?"
"I don't know," Dean answers, shrugging his shoulders. Sam shakes his head not knowing either. He moves back to his computer and quickly begins typing into it, trying to find some sort of answer to their question.
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Dean wakes from his spot where he fell asleep on the floor and looks around, seeing Sam sitting at the table listening to the news on his laptop. Dean shifts and a groan sounds from next to him and he looks down to see Gracilynn curled up next to him, asleep with her head resting on him. Gracilynn scrunches her face and shifts her position.
Dean gently moves out from under her and sets her head softly on his folded jacket. Dean stands up and stretches his arms in the air and cracks his back; he's getting too old for sleeping on the floor, Dean thinks. He walks over to the sink and turns the water on, splashing it onto his face.
Gracilynn shifts on the floor again and she groans, her eyes blinking open. A large yawn escapes her mouth and she rolls over on her back and stretches her arms out above her. Gracilynn rubs her eyes and slowly sits up, looking around the room and seeing Sam sitting at the table and Dean at the sink. A cup nearby Dean moves and Dean shifts his attention to it before looking around him.
"Bobby? Bobby, that you?" Dean asks the room as he searches for any signs of his surrogate father. Gracilynn shifts her gaze over to her father and then around the room as she looks for Bobby as well.
"Think so," Sam replies without looking up from the computer and exits out of the news broadcast. Dean and Gracilynn look over at him as Sam holds up an EMF meter that's blinking. Sam continues as he still hasn't looked up from the laptop screen. "But that whole adventure at Roman's seems to have drained his batteries."
"So, what? We start the storm heard 'round the world?" Dean asks as he looks out the windows and studies the sky seeing it's clear now. Sam looks up from the screen and over at Dean.
"When we broke this thing…" Sam says, glancing over at the tablet and touches it with one of his hands, "…open last night, every maternity ward within a hundred-mile radius got slammed. Looks like any woman in the last month of her pregnancy went into labor."
Gracilynn's eyebrows raise and she pushes herself to her feet and walks over to the table and stands next to her uncle. Dean walks over and joins them, standing in front of the tablet and picks it up and studies it.
"Hm. This one goes out to all the ladies. So, heavyweight signs, omens…what do we got?" Dean says before glancing over at Sam with raised eyebrows.
"I assume it's writing. But I've never seen anything like it, ever. And it doesn't match anything in any book or online," Sam explains looking back over at his laptop screen and pulling up tabs he saved.
"All right, so big daddy chomper lands here, he grabs himself some Dick... and then he starts secretly underwriting university departments, pouring money into digs…all for this. Why?" Dean says as he thinks through all of the information they have and don't have.
"No clue," Sam replies as he shakes his head.
"Whatever it is, it's damn important to him," Gracilynn says, peering at the tablet in her dad's hands. Sam nods his head and continues talking.
"We do know that he will be tearing new ones until he gets it back, though. Look, we got to take a minute, hole up somewhere safe, find out what we've got."
"Rufus' cabin, then?" Dean asks, looking over at Sam with a quirked eyebrow. He sets the tablet back down at the table.
"Yeah," Sam says as he nods his head in agreement.
"This time, I'm doing the shopping," Dean says with a smirk before turning around and starting to gather his supplies.
"Thank God," Gracilynn mutters in relief. Sam rolls his eyes and begins packing his computer up. A phone begins ringing and Sam pulls his out of his pocket and looks at the caller ID.
"It's Meg," Sam says as he glances over at Gracilynn and Dean. Dean forgets about packing and walks back over to the table as Sam hits the answer button and speaks into the phone. "What?"
Sam waits a moment, rolling his eyes and then, furrows his eyebrows.
"What?" he asks into the phone. Sam looks over at Dean and Gracilynn. "Cas is awake."
"When?" Dean asks as he and Gracilynn's eyes widen in surprise. Sam pulls the phone from his ear and hits a button and holds the phone out between the three of them. Dean voices his question again. "When?"
"Last night about eight," Meg's voice trickles over the speaker. The three hunters look at each other, sharing a look and the same though passing through their minds.
"And you waited till now to call us?" Dean asks Meg with a hint of irritation in his voice, his gaze diverting back to the phone in front of him.
"I've been busy with Cas. He's just a tad different than when he dozed off, 'kay?" Meg replies heatedly, annoyance in her own voice.
"What do you mean, different?" Dean asks, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Hey, Seacrest, guess what…not a nurse. Just playing one on TV. Want answers? Start driving," Meg says right before hanging up the phone. Dean scowls and Sam puts his phone back in his pocket while Gracilynn snorts.
"She's a pain in the ass but I like her snark," Gracilynn says with a smirk on her face and humor in her voice. Dean turns his scowl on his daughter and Sam speaks up.
"Great. So, Indiana?" Sam asks as he raises an eyebrow and looks over at his brother. Dean nods his head.
"Yeah. Eight o'clock last night…" Dean says, sharing a look with his brother and daughter.
"Yeah. Same time we opened up that thing," Sam says as he nods his head and tilts it to the side.
"Why does everything we get involved in get thirty times bigger half way through?" Gracilynn groans out. Dean sighs and ruffles her hair before going back to his packing. Gracilynn scowls at him but joins him in getting ready to leave.
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The three Winchesters' hurried footsteps echo in the hallway. They ignore the orderlies standing and working throughout the building.
"We raced all the way here, and now I don't know. I can't say I'm fired up to see what's left of the guy," Dean says, glancing over at Sam, his thoughts moving to the idea that this would've been Sam if Cas hadn't've done what he did.
"You think he remembers at all?" Sam asks, looking over at Dean as they continue to make their way down the hall.
"That, and I'm guessing whatever kind of hell baggage he lifted off of your plate. It's not gonna be pretty," Dean says as they round a corner and head down the hallway.
"You think it'll be a bad thing if he doesn't remember?" Gracilynn asks as she follows her dad and uncle. She looks over at them and Dean and Sam sigh.
"Hey. Excuse me, gentlemen, but it's way past visiting hours," an orderly says as she walks over to the hunters and intercept their path. Meg shows up and walks over to them, offering the orderly a smile.
"It's okay, Abel. I've been expecting them," she says and Abel nods her head and turns to go back to what she was doing. Meg turns and looks at the Winchesters and offers them a sarcastic grin. "Hello, boys. Gracilynn."
Meg turns around and begins leading them down the hall in the direction of Cas' room. She walks into a room on the left and the three hunters follow her inside. Gracilynn looks around and sees Cas standing by the window and staring out it. Dean raises an eyebrow, not sure what he should think.
"Hey, Cas," he finally says as he watches Cas' reaction warily. Cas turns around and takes in the newcomers.
"Hello, Dean. Sam. Gracilynn," he says, greeting each of them in turn.
"Hey, Castiel," Sam replies, watching the angel warily himself.
"What's up Cas?" Gracilynn says in turn, forcing a small smile. Cas furrows his eyebrows and glances above him. Dean quickly interrupts before this conversation goes off on a complete tangent.
"Look at you, walkin' and talkin'. That's…that's great, right?" Dean says, glancing around the room, his gaze landing back on Cas. Cas walks over to Dean and holds out his pointer finger.
"Pull my finger," he says stoically. Dean looks down at the finger warily.
"What?" Dean asks, scrunching up his face.
"My finger…pull it," Cas reiterates, looking up at Dean. Sam's eyes widen and he stares at the finger like it gave the order.
"Nothing good ever comes of that," Gracilynn whispers as she makes a face. Dean glances at her before turning back to Cas and grabs his finger, pulling it. A loud crash sounds and the lights go out. Gracilynn jumps slightly when the window and light shatter. Cas begins laughing and the Winchesters stare at him, each other with an eyebrow corked. Meg sighs and turns on another lamp to light up the room.
"Okay, just hang on, Cas. Wait. Let us catch up to you for a second," Dean says after a huff as he tries to get Cas' attention.
"So, you're saying you remember who you are, what you are?" Sam asks as he adds to the conversation, keeping his eyes on the angel in front of him.
"Yes. Of course. Oh. Outside today, in the garden, I followed a honeybee. I saw the route of flowers. It's all right there, the whole plan. There's nothing to add," Cas replies as he looks over at Sam and gives him a grin.
"You hear that dad; Cas followed a bee and figured out the whole plan," Gracilynn mutters, looking over at Dean. Dean gives her a look and huffs before looking over at Sam who has an eyebrow raised. Sam glances over to Meg.
"You might want to add a little Thorazine." Sam raises his eyebrows as he looks at her. Meg widens her eyes and tilts her head at him.
"Right? He's been like the naked guy at the rave ever since he woke up. Totally useless," Meg says, looking from Sam to Dean to Gracilynn and then back to Sam again.
"Will you look at her? My caretaker. All of that thorny pain. So beautiful," Cas says as he looks at Meg with soft eyes and a soft smile on his face.
"We've been over this. I don't like poetry. Put up or shut up," Meg says to Cas as she looks at him and scowling. Gracilynn smirks and looks over at Meg.
"Aw, you're the thorn to his rose," she says in a mocking baby voice. Meg turns her scowl on Gracilynn.
"Okay," Sam intervenes before they had a bloodbath on their hands, looking between Meg and Gracilynn. Both females back down but Sam notices the smirk doesn't leave Gracilynn's face. Sam turns his attention on Cas. "So, Cas, you said you woke up last night?"
"Yes. I heard a ping that pierced me, and, well, you wouldn't have heard it unless you were an angel at the time," Cas replies, looking up as he thinks about what happened last night. He looks back down and over at Sam. Sam holds a bag out to Cas and Cas stares at it for a moment.
"That's also when we opened this," Sam continues to explain. Cas takes the bag from Sam and opens it up, taking a look inside and seeing the tablet.
"Oh. Of course. Now I understand," Cas says, taking the tablet out of the bag and studying it.
"Understand what?" Sam asks with raised eyebrows.
"You were the ones. Well... I guess that makes sense," Cas says as he looks over at the Winchesters. Dean scowls.
"What makes sense?" Dean asks with a growl, his patience wearing thin; this was getting ridiculous.
"If someone was going to free the Word from the vault of the earth, it would end up being you three. Oh, I love you guys," Cas says, smiling at the Winchesters and pulling them in for a hug, Gracilynn getting caught in the middle of them.
"Ugh, Cas…" Gracilynn says as she finds her face plastered to the angels chest.
"Oh. Uck. Okay. All right. Okay," Dean says, glancing at his brother out of the corner of his eye. Sam awkwardly pats Castiel's back.
"Yeah, yeah. You…you said something about 'The Word.' Is that what's written on there?" Sam says, trying to get Cas back on topic. Dean effectively loosens them from Cas' grip and they step back from him. Gracilynn stumbles back and raises an eyebrow at Cas.
"Did you know that a cat's penis is sharply barbed along its shaft? I know for a fact the females were not consulted about that," Cas says to them, furrowing his eyebrows as he thinks on this fact. Gracilynn scrunches up her face and Sam's jaw tenses, rolling his eyes. Dean sighs in aggravation.
"Cas, please, we're losing ground out there, okay? We need your help. Can you not see that?" Dean says impatiently, all but glaring at the angel. Cas looks back down at the tablet in his hands.
"This is the handwriting of Metatron," Cas replies, looking the tablet over once again.
"Metatron? You saying a Transformer wrote that?" Sam asks, furrowing his eyebrows, completely confused by this. Gracilynn shifts her gaze to her uncle and gives him a look. Dean glances at Sam.
"No. That's Megatron," Dean clarifies for his younger brother.
"What?" Sam asks, looking over at Dean, his brow pinching together further.
"The Transformer…it's Megatron," Dean explains further, looking pointedly at Sam.
"What?" Sam asks, shaking his head and is completely confused at where this conversation is going. Gracilynn sighs and turns to face Sam fully.
"You need to watch more TV," she says with exasperation and shaking her head. Sam purses his lips at her before turning back to Cas who continues his explanation.
"Metatron. He's an angel. He's the scribe of God. He took down dictation when creation was being formed," Cas explains matter-of-factly as he looks at each of the Winchesters.
"And that's the Word of God?" Sam asks, nodding towards the tablet in Cas' hands.
"One of them, yes," Cas answers as he nods his head and looks over at Sam. Gracilynn raises her eyebrows.
"Uh... Well, what's it say, then?" Sam asks, glancing down at the tablet.
"Uh... 'Tree'?" Cas says as he looks down at the tablet. He glances up at the Winchesters, "'Horse'? 'Fiddler crab'? I can't read it. It wasn't meant for angels."
"So, who the hell was it meant for?" Gracilynn asks, annoyed that they keep running into dead ends.
"Okay, this all sounds bad. What are you two jackasses doing with the Word of God? Let me see that thing," Meg says as she reaches for the tablet. Dean glares at her and knocks her hand away.
"Back off, Meg."
"Come on, it's my ass, too," Meg argues in return as she glares Dean down.
"Back off," Dean says again, a dark tone to his voice, his voice low.
"Damn it! Enough of this 'demons are second-class citizens' crap!" Meg shouts, a sneer on her face directed at the Winchesters.
"Don't like conflict," Cas says as he shakes his head and then disappears. The tablet falls to the floor and breaks into three different pieces.
"Uh…" Sam says, staring at the spot where Cas was just at. Gracilynn glances around the room as she corks one of her eyebrows. Dean widens his eyes and throws his hands into the air.
"What the hell was that?"
"You heard him. He doesn't like conflict. He's down in the dayroom now. I guarantee it," Meg says with annoyance in her voice as she looks over at the hunters.
"All right, I'll go handle Cas. Sam, will you please pick up the Word of God?" Dean says after sighing and looking over at his brother.
"Yeah," Sam replies as he nods his head. Dean looks over at Gracilynn and points at her.
"Gracilynn, don't antagonize the demon." Gracilynn scowls and Dean turns around and exits the room in search for Cas. Sam squats down and begins putting the pieces of the tablet in the bag.
"What are you guys caught up in now?" Meg asks, looking down at Sam. When Sam doesn't answer, Meg speaks up again. "I deserve to know, Sam."
Sam still doesn't answer and Meg sighs and looks over at Gracilynn and raises her eyebrows at her. Gracilynn shrugs and bends down to put the last piece of the tablet in the bag causing Meg to huff and scowl, sending a glare at the two youngest Winchesters.
"Okay, fine. I'll hit the road, then. Let me just go get my angel," Meg grumbles and walks out the room. Sam and Gracilynn share a look before the two of them run out of the room and after her.
"Meg, what are you talking about? Stop," Sam says, rushing up to her and turning her around. Meg corks an eyebrow and a mocking smirk appears on her face.
"We both call, who do you think Cas will come to? I'm guessing me. You heard him…thorny beauty, blah, blah. I'm the saint who stayed with him. He owes me. His words," she says, jutting her eyebrows up once at the end, and tilting her head forwards. Gracilynn scowls at her and crosses her arms.
"Yeah, what about what he owes us?" Sam asks as he tenses his jaw and stares down the demon.
"Well, work on him a little. Maybe he'll start crushing on you, too, hot stuff," Meg says as her smirk grows slightly. Sam's face hardens and Gracilynn glares at Meg.
"What are you gonna do with a broken angel? Don't be stupid," Sam argues as he holds Meg's gaze. Gracilynn hears a noise behind her and she glances over her shoulder but doesn't see anything. She turns her attention back to Meg and puts it off to one of the orderlies.
"I'll take power where I can get it. I've got myself to look out for," Meg says as her own face hardens as she doesn't back down from Sam.
"Of course that's what this is about," Gracilynn bites out, her gaze becoming steely. There is another noise behind them and this time they all turn their attention to Cas' room. They walk back to it and peer inside.
"What the hell?" Sam asks as they notice the back with the tablet in it is gone. The three of them look around the room but don't see any sign of it. Gracilynn walks back out of the room and glances around but doesn't see anyone but an orderly nearby.
"Hey," Gracilynn says as she walks over to the orderly. The orderly looks up and over at her, offering her a smile. Gracilynn juts a thumb towards Cas' room. "Did you see anyone go in there or come out of there within the last five minutes?"
The orderly glances behind Gracilynn to the room and Sam and Meg walk out. Sam looks around and, seeing Gracilynn, walks over to her. The orderly nods her head as she turns her attention back to Gracilynn.
"A young man just ran out of there minutes ago. He was carrying a bag with him," she says as she points down the hall behind her. Gracilynn quickly says and 'thanks' and she and Sam run down the hallway.
AN: Please review and leave me some feedback! Love hearing from everyone!