The Price Part 2

Soundtrack: Mischa Chillak- Ready or not
Delsey – Princess Perfect
The Pretty Reckless- Far from Never

They headed back inside to Cas' room, Sam leading Kevin. Kevin sat down on the bed, the three of them surrounding him.
"You really stepped in it kid. Oh, man." Meg shook her head.
"All I know is, this is for me. I'm supposed to keep it." Kevin said, clutching the bag tighter to his chest.
"Good luck." Meg rolled her eyes.
"But you don't know what it is?" Sam asked. Kevin shook his head. "Open it." Kevin carefully opened the bag and pulled out the two pieces of the tablet. He held them together and they knitted themselves back together in a flash of light. Kevin squinted at the tablet.
"It's writing."
"Yeah. Yeah, we get that." Sam nodded.
"What's Leviathan?" Kevin asked.
"What? You can read it? Is that what it says?" Sam asked, excitedly.
"Sort of. It hurts a little. Like looking through somebody else's glasses, but I think it's about Leviathan, how it came to be. God locked them up far away, right? Like in jail… because they're so…." Kevin paused and looked up at them. "They're real, aren't they?"
"Yeah, Kevin. They are. And they're here. Does it say anything about how to kill them? Cause that's kind of been a problem."
"I don't know. It's not like reading reading. It's hard to focus on it too long." The lights in the room began to flicker and Meg's eyes turned black.
"Guys. Something's up."
"What?" Kevin looked up and screamed when he saw Meg's eyes, trying to get as far away from her as possible while still staying on the bed.
"Hey, hey, hey, Kevin." Sam tried to calm him down. The glass on the bedside lamp shattered. Suddenly, a woman appeared in the door.
"Demon." She addressed Meg, before Lacey stepped in front of her. A man appeared beside the woman in the doorway. The woman motioned to Meg as if to send her flying but Lacey put up her hand, counteracting it.
"Nice try." Lacey smirked at her.
"A demon whore, the abomination and a Winchester… again." The woman spat at them. Sam made a move to stand in front of Kevin.
"Step away from the Prophet!" The woman barked at him.
"Who, me?" Kevin asked, sounding confused.
"Sole keeper of the word on earth, we are here to take you."

"What do you mean take?" Kevin frowned.
"Kill the demon and her lover." The woman told the man.
"What, I don't make your little kill list?" Lacey asked, feigning being offended. "More like you know you couldn't take me." As the man took a step towards Meg, Lacey let out a low growl and fired a bone spike past him where it hit the wall. "That was just a warning. If I wanted to hit you, I would have." She told him as the angel backed away. There was a rustling noise and Cas appeared beside them.
"Castiel?" The male angel stared at him in shock.
"Hi."
"You're alive?"
"You." The female glared at him.
"Hello, Hester." Cas nodded.
"You smote thousands in Heaven. You gave a big scary speech. Then you were gone. What the hell was that?!"
"Rude, for one thing."
"Where have you been?" The male angel asked.
"Oh, Inias, Hester, I know you want something, answers, I wish I could be that… There are still many things I can teach you. I can offer, um, well, perspective." Cas floundered. "Here." He held out his finger to Hester. "Pull my finger." Hester glared at him. "Meg will get another light and I'll blow it out again, and well, this time it'll be funny and we'll all look back and laugh."
"You're insane." A wave of affection and pity came over Lacey as she saw the real Cas underneath it all. She was ready to protect him, no matter what, but a noise from the doorway caught everyone's attention.
"Hey." Dean was stood there. "Heads up sunshine." Dean put his blood covered hand on the angel banishing sigil he'd drawn on the wall and in a blinding flash of light, all three of them vanished. "All angels blown back to their corners. We got like three, four hours tops." Dean surmised. Seconds later Lacey was crushing him in a hug. Dean smiled down at her.
"You were only gone a half hour."
"Still missed you." She smiled back at him as she let go.
"Meg, where did you get that?" Sam asked pointing to the angel blade she had produced during the scuffle.
"A lot of angels died this year." Meg informed him.
"What's happening?! What's happening?!" Kevin started to yell from the head of the bed where he was panicking.
"What is that?" Dean asked, frowning.
"It's, uh… Kevin Tran. He's uh, in advanced placement." Sam told him sheepishly.

Kevin managed to calm down and the four of them sat down to answer his questions.
"So, these Leviathans, these monsters are real. And angels with wings?"
"No. No wings. No anything." Sam told him.
"No junk. Junkless." Lacey raised an eyebrow at Dean's explanation. "So, Kevin, you can read the chicken scratch on the God rock, huh?" Kevin shrugged. "That is back in one piece, I see. And you're saying that there's some sort of "How to punch Dick" recipe in there somewhere?"
"I don't know what you're saying, but it seems kind of like an "in case of emergency" note. What did they mean by Prophet?" Kevin asked,
"Oh, no. Really?" Dean turned to Sam and Lacey.
"Yeah. Yeah, that's what the angel said." Sam confirmed.
"I don't want to be a prophet." Kevin complained.
"No. You don't at all." Dean agreed.
"Guys, we've got to start running and hiding. Or do you want ti tangle with those wing nuts twice?" Meg asked.
"I'm sorry. Did you say "we"?" Dean looked at Meg incredulously.
"I'm on the angels radar now. You think I don't need a little safety in numbers?" Meg complained.
"All right." Dean gave in. "We'll go to Rufus' cabin. Kid can do his book report there."

The five of them began to make their way to Rufus' cabin. They stopped at a gas station to re-fill and pick up some snacks. Lacey leant against the side of the car as Dean filled it up.
"Another fun filled evening." Lacey smirked at him.
"Oh yeah, one for the album." Dean joked back.
"Do you really think we should be entrusting Sam with the snack choices."
"Ordinarily no, but since Dick started roofieing the food supply." Lacey snorted at his choice of words. "I get you."
"Hey." They looked up as Sam strode over. "So, we got another wrinkle. Looks like Kevin's gone missing." Lacey glanced at the sleeping boy in the back seat, before raising an eyebrow at Sam.
"As in a missing persons report. And it's gone federal. Where's Meg?"
"I'm here." Meg headed over from inside the store.
"Great, so now we're kidnappers?" Dean grumbled.
"Not if we shut up about it. Why? Who'd we kidnap?"

The four of them got back in the car and carried on, Kevin still asleep in the back seat, Lacey and Meg next to him. As they headed back onto the highway, Kevin woke up again.
"Oh, god."
"What?" Meg asked.
"Nothing. Just my life, my future, my girlfriend, my mom's car…" Kevin began to list off. Lacey patted him on the shoulder.
"There, there." Meg's phone began to ring.
"Yeah. Yeah Castiel, it's me."
"Cas? Where? Where is he?"
"Shut up." Meg told him. "no, no, Cas. You talk." She listened for a moment. "Perth?"
"Perth? As in Australia?" Dean frowned.
"What dogs? He says he's surrounded by unhappy dogs." She listened again. "Oh. Okay. He's at a dog track in Perth. Yeah they're unhappy cause the rabbit's fake. Listen, we're on highway 94, north of St. Cloud, Minnesota, just passing mile marker 79."
"He's coming here?" Lacey stared at her. "Sorry Sam." Lacey teleported into the front seat, practically on Sam's lap, just as Cas teleported in to her now vacant seat. Sam fumbled as the paper on his lap went everywhere, a blush visible on his cheeks. Dean gave him a look before rolling his eyes.
"Aaah!" Kevin let out a shriek.
"Kevin, this is Castiel." Meg introduced them.
"You're one of the angels?" Kevin asked.
"Boop." Cas tapped Kevin on the nose. "Meg, are you hurt?"
"Shut up."
"Cas, what happened back there? Who were those guys?" Dean asked.
"They're from the Garrison, my old Garrison. Looks like Hester's taken over. We were assigned to watch the earth. Often, it was boring. The wars were very boring and the sex, you know, the repetition. Anyway, I was their captain. Isn't that strange?"
"Cas, why are they pissed at us now?" Sam asked, shifting in his seat uncomfortably.
"You know those racing dogs were absolutely miserable. They can only think in ovals." Cas turned to Meg.
"Cas, don't make me pull this car over! Why are angels after us?" Dean grumbled from the front seat.
"Are you angry? Why are you angry?"
"No I'm…." Dean sighed. "Please can we just stay on target?"
"There is no reason for anger. They're only following protocol. If the Word of God is revealed, a keeper of the Word will awaken, like this hot potato right here." He booped Kevin's nose again but Kevin knocked his hand away.
"Please stop that."
"Anyway, Garrison code dictates you take the keeper to the desert to learnt he Word away from men."
"What kind of sense does that make? He has to tell us so that we can use it." Dean was getting angry now.
"That's God and his shiny red apples." Cas shrugged.
"I can't live in the desert. I'm applying to Princeton!" Kevin started to panic again.
"Okay, you know what? Screw the Garrison. We need the tablet to end Dick Roman's Soylent Us crap."
"If you want the Word, you'll have to duck Hester and her soldiers."
"Yeah, you're in our corner, right, Cas?" Sam asked.
"No, I don't fight anymore. I watch the bees." Cas said as he stared out the window, watching the scenery go by.

They reached Rufus' cabin a short while later and began to prepare, in case the angels decided to drop in. Cas was drawing sigils on the wall in chalk.
"Let's leave off angel-proofing sigils or I'll be expelled too."
"As long as we're invisible to your Garrison buddies, it works for me." Sam told him as Dean and Lacey led Kevin down to the basement.
"I'm sure you're pretty hungry, so once we get settled in upstairs, we'll get some dinner going." Dean said as he began clearing weaponry from the table.
"This looks like a sex-torture dungeon. Is this a sex torture dungeon?"

"Only on Tuesday's." Lacey winked at him as Dean picked up a scythe. "More importantly, how do you know what a sex-torture dungeon looks like?" Kevin began to splutter, trying to come up with an answer.
"Get over here." Dean shook his head smirking at Lacey. "Sit down and read, would you?"
"That's what I thought." Lacey booped Kevin on the nose before heading for the stairs.
"Who is she?" Kevin asked, staring after her.
"Oh she's way more than you can handle." Dean chuckled. "Trust me."

Lacey made them all food and then headed back downstairs to sit with Dean while Kevin tried to read the tablet. The two of them fell asleep, draped across some chairs, Lacey's latest book, The Da Vinci Code, still in her hands. As Kevin kept reading he got more and more agitated, starting to hyperventilate.
"Kevin." Dean grumbled, his eyes still shut, Lacey let out a groan, her head resting in Dean's lap while the rest of her was spread over a couple of chairs.
"This is all too much. What's happened to my life? I'm just a kid from Michigan. I didn't want to be a Word-Keeper!"
"Looks like we're brown-baggin' it." Dean sighed and gently nudged Lacey awake.
"Patience is a virtue." Lacey mumbled as she began to wake up. Dean gently helped her up before grabbing a brown paper bag.
"I am not prepared to factor the supernatural into my world view." Dean held the paper bag over his face and he began to breathe into it.
"Okay, there we go. That's it. That's it. Just breathe. Take it easy." Dean patted him on the back. "Oh, I don't know, man. What can I say? You've been chosen. And it sucks. Believe me. There's no use asking "why me?" Cause the angels, they don't care. I think maybe they just don't have the equipment to care. Seems like when they try, it just breaks them apart." Dean tried to explain.
"I just want to be the first Asian-American President of the United States." Kevin sighed.
"Then do your homework." Dean advised.
"Guys?" They looked up to see Sam at the top of the stairs., He motioned for them to follow him up.
"What's going on?" Lacey asked, yawning.
"Meg is missing." Sam said as he finished drawing a devils trap on the floor.
"Oh, joy. Someone else to worry about." Dean muttered. As soon as he finished speaking the front door opened and Meg walked in. She looked down at the devils trap that prevented her from going further.
"Didn't expect to see you back." Sam commented.
"Yeah, not without the King's army. Knife." Dean nodded at Meg and she passed him the angel blade.
"Typical. I save our bacon and you're sitting here, waiting by a devils trap. Seriously, I just killed two of Crowley's men. I could have gone the other way on that." Meg grumbled.
"It's true, incidentally. There's other demons blood on that blade." Cas told them.
"Look, I'm simpler than you think. I've figured one thing out about this world, just one, pretty much. You find a cause and you serve it. Give yourself over and it orders your life. Lucifer and Yellow Eyes, their mission was it for me."
"So, what? We should trust you because you wanted to free Satan from hell?" Dean glared at her.
"I'm talking cause, douchebag, as in reason to get up in the morning. Obviously these things shift over time. We learn, we grow. Now, for me currently, the cause is bringing down the King. And I know we'll need help to do it."
"Crowley ain't the problem this year."
"When are you gonna get it? Crowley's always the problem. He's just waiting for the right moment to strike. I know what I'm supposed to do. And it isnt't screw with Sam, Dean and supergirl or lose the only angel who'd go to bat for me." Meg practically yelled at him. The three of them exchanged looks and Sam bent down and broke the devils trap.
"This is good, harmony and communication. Now our only problem is Hester." Cas told them.
"What?"
"Well, here, we're hidden from the Garrison, but when you killed a demon, you put out a pretty clear beacon." Meg groaned.
"We need better angel-proofing now." As soon as she said that the front door burst open to reveal Hester and Inais.
"You took the Prophet from us?!" Hester thundered.
"I… I'm sorry?" Cas tried.
"You have fallen in every way imaginable."
"Please, Castiel. We have to follow the code. Help us do our work." Inais pleaded.
"He can't help you. He can't help anybody." Dean told them.
"We don't need his help, or his permission." Hester spat. She nodded to Inais who disappeared before re-appearing with Kevin. "The Keeper goes to the desert tonight."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back off. We're actually trying to clean up one of your angel's messes! You know that." Dean protested.
"He's right. An angel brought the Leviathan back into this world, and they begged him, they begged him not to do it." Cas looked down at his feet.
"Look, just give us some time, okay? We will take care of your Prophet." Dean tried to bargain but Hester just glared at him.
"Why should we give you anything? After everything you have taken from us? The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel first laid a hand on you in hell, he was lost! For that, you're going to pay." Hester made a move towards Dean but Lacey stepped in the way.
"Try me, sister."
"Please. They're the ones we were put here to protect." Cas tried to reason.
"No, Castiel." Hester backhanded him across the face, sending him flying across the room. The two other angels used their powers to stop Sam and Dean from moving but they had no affect on Lacey. Hester grabbed Cas and began to punch him, punctuating each statement with another blow.
"No more madness! No more promises! No more new Gods!" She produced an angel blade but Lacey grabbed hold of her arm stopping her.
"Stop, or I will make you stop, and it won't be pretty." Hester struggled against Lacey's grip, glaring down at Castiel.
"You wanted free will. Now I'm making the choices." She tried to get out of Lacey's grasp but Lacey began to drain her of energy. Suddenly she erupted in white light, Lacey stepped back, shielding her eyes with her arm. When the light faded she lowered her arm to see Meg standing there, an angel blade in her hand.
"What? Someone had to."

As the dust settled, everyone calmed down and the angels let Sam and Dean go. Cas agreed with them they would take Kevin home.
"These are strange times." Inais said as they prepared to leave.
"I think they always have been." Cas confided.
"I wish you would come with us."

"Oh, I'm not part of the Garrison anymore, Inais. I'm sorry." Dean walked over to where Lacey was sitting with Sam and Kevin.
"Thanks, Kevin. Not a lot of people could have handled this." Sam said as Kevin handed him the notebook full of translations.
"You doing all right there "chosen one"?" Dean asked.
"Yeah."

"Are you ready, Kevin Tran?" Kevin got to his feet and went to stand beside the angels.
"Bring the Keeper to his home. We can watch over him there." Inais instructed before they disappeared.
"I couldn't find Meg anywhere." Dean told Cas.
"Yes, well, she enjoys laying low."
"How's it looking?" Lacey asked as Sam skimmed through Kevin's notes.
"Here. "Leviathan cannot be slain but by a bone of a righteous mortal washed in the three bloods of the fallen… It says we need to start with the blood of a fallen angel." The three of them looked at Cas.
"Well, you know me. I'm always happy to bleed for the Winchesters." Cas produced a small vial filled with blood and handed it to Dean.
"What are you gonna do Cas?"
"I don't know." Cas looked thoughtful before smiling at them. "Isn't that amazing?" He responded before disappearing.
"Well, let's get to work." Dean said as he clapped Sam and Lacey on their shoulders.