Come Together

by supernaturaldarkangel252018

AU set in the beginning of season 13. The boys did not make it to the cabin before Jack was born, so now they're one step behind and have no idea what happened. Cas and Lucifer have disappeared, a baby is nowhere to be found, and Crowley is alive and kicking. This is a terrible summary, full summary inside.

39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Present

"Alec! Alec, wake up! Please wake up!"

He forced his eyes open since Ben was definitely panicking. He didn't know what happened really; he remembered the scientists doing tests, which were exhausting, and he guessed he had a seizure. The next thing he knew, he was choking on a tube that was down his throat. He must have passed out when Vincent took the tube out of his throat, or maybe he just fell asleep. He was really tired, but if he'd been having seizures, that was expected. He was guessing the scientists finally found something to help him since he wasn't seizing anymore.

Ben was practically on top of him, sobbing and holding him as closely as he could. He slowly moved his arm, which felt like jelly, and put his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Ben, c'mon buddy, Alec needs to breathe," Dad said, his voice thick with tears. What the hell happened?

"It's ok," he breathed. His voice was gone, which meant he'd been out a long time. No wonder Dad and Ben were freaked out. Ben held him tighter, refusing to let him go.

"How're you feelin', kiddo?" Dad asked as he ran his hand through his hair. His long hair. That was not a good sign. He'd been out a lot longer than he'd thought.

"Tired," he said.

"Vincent's gonna look you over, ok?" Dad said, moving to hold his hand. "In just a minute," Dad amended since it looked like Ben wasn't ever going to move.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You had a seizure that wouldn't stop, so they put you in a coma," Dad said.

"How long?" he asked, already knowing it had been a while.

"Almost six months," Dad said, giving his hand a squeeze.

He took a few breaths to try to stay calm, but that was a long time to be in a coma. "They find a cure?" he finally managed to ask. Maybe they didn't. Maybe he just stopped shaking, so they took him out of the coma, which meant he could still have seizures. But he wasn't having seizures right then, so he just had to be grateful that he was getting extra time with his family.

"Jack's back," Ben said. He was still practically on top of him, but he did move slightly, which made it a little easier to breathe.

"How?" he asked.

"I don't know, but he's back and he saved you," Ben said, wrapping his arm around his chest.

He looked over at Dad, unsure what Ben meant by Jack saving him. "You…you flatlined, kiddo," Dad said, clearing his throat after a moment. "I thought I lost you…"

"Jack brought you back," Ben said.

"Well…thanks Jack," he said, unsure where Jack was at in the room. He couldn't see much since his brother and his Dad were both blocking most of his view.

"He's not in here right now," Dad said with a smile. "Everyone left the room after Vincent got the tube out."

"So…the seizures aren't gone," he said.

Dad hesitated, "We don't actually know. Jack didn't say much, but he did smile…It's possible that he healed you. I'll ask him in a bit."

"My arms feel kinda like jelly," he said. He wasn't sure if that was because of the seizures or because of the coma, but either way, his muscles felt week. He wasn't sure about his legs, but he figured they felt about like his arms.

"I've been trying to keep your muscles working, but Vincent thought you'd still need some physical therapy," Dad said.

"I'll help," Ben said. "It'll be fun." He laughed a little, unsure how Ben could think physical therapy would be fun. "I've really missed you."

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"You can't leave me. I…I can't handle losing you," Ben said.

"Boys, I'm gonna get Vincent real quick, ok?" Dad said. He nodded, even though all he really wanted to do was sleep. "Alec, you gotta stay awake a little longer, ok kiddo?"

"Alright," he said. Dad gave his hand another squeeze before he reluctantly let go. "Dad…can I have something to drink too?"

"'Course you can," Dad said with a smile.

Dad left, but Ben still wasn't moving very far away from him. "Where's Uncle Sam?" he asked.

"He's gonna come back as soon as he makes sure everyone else stays out," Ben said. "Did you…did you see anything?"

"Hmm?" he hummed back, struggling to stay awake.

"When…did you see anything? Dad was telling you about going down memory lane when he died…did you?" Ben asked.

"No. I don't remember anything if I did," he said. He tried to shift a little, but Ben just held on tighter. "Can you help me sit up a little? I'm gonna fall asleep if I stay like this…"

Ben smiled and carefully moved him since he was too weak to move himself. His brother propped him up with a couple pillows. "I've really missed you," Ben said once he was settled again. His brother didn't lay on him this time. Instead, he sat facing him, making sure he was sitting close enough that his leg was pressed against his own.

"I'm really sorry," he whispered, looking away from his brother. He couldn't believe he'd been in a coma for almost six months. He'd left Ben alone for a long time. "I…I should've argued with Dad more about the tests…"

"I'm just glad you're back," Ben said.

He smiled a little, but it was starting to sink in how much time he'd really missed. "Um…can you catch me up? I've missed a lot of time…"

Ben shrugged, "There hasn't been a lot going on."

"Ben…six months," he stressed.

"I haven't been out of this room very much," Ben mumbled.

"Yeah…that's ok," he finally said. He felt like a jerk for trying to get information, but he felt so lost right now. It didn't feel like six months to him. Everyone could have forgotten about him in six months. Max could've forgotten about him. But as much as he wanted to know what was going on, he really wasn't looking forward to seeing everyone. He knew they were ok with him being down, but he had no idea how much everything had changed.

"You really didn't miss much," Ben said. His brother still knew him at least. Ben knew he was starting to freak out about all the time he'd missed.

"Alright, something to drink, and Vincent's gonna check you over," Dad said as he walked back in. Dad smiled when he saw him sitting up a little and brought the cup of water over to him. Dad helped him get a few sips of water before he brushed his hair back. "You ok with Vincent looking you over?"

"Yeah," he said with a shrug.

Vincent looked him over, and his muscles really hurt with all the different movement. He was completely worn out by the time Vincent was done. "Just a little longer, kiddo," Dad said.

"Can you lift your arm, Alec?" Vincent asked. He could barely lift his own arm. He was so weak and tired. "That's good," Vincent encouraged.

He huffed, but Ben was already ready for him. "Alec, we were expecting physical therapy, remember?"

"I can't even lift my arm," he said.

"You'll be able to move your arm again soon," Vincent reassured. "We'll get some food in you, and then you'll have a little more energy and you'll be able to move more."

Vincent checked a few more things before he left them alone again. "Anything you want?" Dad asked, sitting next to his hip.

He didn't say anything since he didn't want to make his brother feel bad. "He wants to know what all he's missed," Ben said when he didn't answer. Dad looked over at him to make sure that was really what he wanted, so he ducked his head and nodded.

"Well, you didn't miss much," Dad said. "I'm pretty sure Zack and Alex are sorta dating, but other than that, everyone's just been doin' their own thing. Oh, and we finished the upstairs for you."

"We have a new room if you want it," Ben said. "I'll show you once you feel up to it."

"What about Max?" he tried to ask as casually as he could.

"She's been with you for the most part," Dad said. "Hey, tell him about you and Claire."

Ben blushed and looked away from him, which made him smile a little. "What happened?" he urged.

"We've been hanging out," Ben finally admitted with a shrug, trying to play it off. Normally he would tease Ben mercilessly about his crush on Claire, but he wasn't going to this time. At least one good thing came out of him being in a coma. "She helped…with…anyway, she helped."

"That's good," he said, barely hitting Ben's arm.

"You wanna see anyone else before you fall asleep?" Dad asked.

"Uncle Sam," he said. "And…um, don't talk to Jack about what happened without me. I wanna know."

"You think you can stay awake a little longer?" Dad asked. "I'll go get him right now if you want me to."

"I don't know if I can stay awake," he admitted.

"That's ok," Dad reassured. "I'll just go get Uncle Sam, ok?"

"Ok," he whispered. He was starting to feel overwhelmed again, and he was afraid to push things. He needed to rest to try to keep the seizures from coming back. And he was afraid that if he stayed awake for too long, his friends would get curious and come find him. He didn't want to see them yet. Maybe he could sleep a little, eat something, get cleaned up, and then he could see them.

"They're just gonna be happy you're ok," Ben said, knowing how he was feeling again. "Remember how they all hung out in here even when you were feeling pretty bad? You didn't mind them being around you then."

"What if they've changed? What if I'm not how they remember? It's been a long time…" he said, trying to keep himself under control. His emotions were way too close to the surface right then anyway, so it would be a really bad idea for anyone else to come see him. He might do something totally embarrassing like cry or something.

"Kavi would sit down here with me, and I'd tell him stories about when we were kids," Ben said. "He hasn't changed much, and no one expects you to bounce around making jokes and dance and sing off-key. You nearly died…you did die…but if anyone has a problem with you or if anyone makes you feel uncomfortable, then I'll kick their asses."

He couldn't stop his small smile since his brother was the best and knew just what to say to make him feel better. "I'm still too tired right now," he said.

"Plus I'm guessing you wanna get cleaned up a bit before anyone else comes in here," Ben said. "Even though everyone has been in here off and on since they put you in a coma."

"Yeah, but I was unconscious then," he said. "I'm awake now, so I should look a little better than I feel."

"You just wanna look good for Max," Ben gently teased.

"Hell yeah I do," he said, trying to sound like himself. He didn't quite manage it, but he could tell Ben appreciated his attempt. He'd really scared his brother, and he didn't like that. He was supposed to protect Ben, not freak him out and nearly die. Not for something like his little defect. If he went out, he wanted to do it by protecting his family, not lying in a bed, wasting away.

"Dad says you need a haircut," Ben said.

"I do need a haircut," he muttered, closing his eyes for just a minute.

"I don't know…you kinda look like Uncle Sam now," Ben said, a smile in his voice.

He cracked his eyes open and gave his brother a pitiful glare, which made him chuckle. "Better get the clippers," he said. "That's the first thing I want gone."

"What? You don't wanna look like Uncle Sam?" Ben asked, laughing now. He growled a little and closed his eyes again. "I'll see if Jondy can do it. She's been cutting everyone's hair lately."

"No," he stated. "Uncle Sam cuts my hair."

He opened his eyes when he heard Uncle Sam chuckle at his statement. Uncle Sam and Dad were both standing in the doorway, smiling since they had been listening to him and Ben ever since he'd closed his eyes. "That's right," Uncle Sam said, slowly walking further into the room. "There's only been a few times when I haven't cut your hair, huh?"

He started tearing up once the four of them were all together again, feeling like it had been a very long time since he'd had this. It had been, but he didn't remember being in a coma. Maybe subconsciously he really did know it had been a long time since he'd been awake. "Everything's ok, Alec," Dad whispered.

"All of your friends are anxious to see you again," Uncle Sam said. "But I convinced them to leave you alone until you're ready."

"Thanks, Uncle Sam," he said.

"How're you feeling?" Uncle Sam asked as he sat down on the bed next to him.

"Tired," he said.

"We'll let you sleep again soon. I'm just glad to see you awake again," Uncle Sam said.

"I guess I really scared you…" he muttered with his head down. He didn't want to scare his family. He definitely hadn't wanted to be in a coma, but maybe he could find a way to make things up to his family. He'd need to recover a little more before he did anything, but he'd find a way soon.

"Alec, everything's ok," Dad soothed. He just nodded since he didn't really know what else to do. He was just feeling overwhelmed. Maybe after he slept a little, he'd feel better. And after he found out what had really been going on. He didn't realize tears had started rolling down his cheeks until Dad gently brushed them away. "Everything's ok," Dad said again. And then he was being held close like when he was little. Dad rubbed his back and ran his hand through his hair, just holding him while he cried.

He eventually wore himself out and fell asleep against his Dad's chest.

---

He felt a lot better once he woke up again. His brother was next to him, asleep, but Dad was sitting in the chair by his bed. His muscles felt weak, but at least he felt a little more aware. Dad looked up from whatever he'd been looking at and smiled when he saw that he was awake.

"Wanna get cleaned up?" Dad asked. "Uncle Sam said he'd give you a haircut if you wanted one."

"Bath or shower?" he asked.

"Depends if your legs can hold you up," Dad said.

He sighed since he knew that meant he was getting a bath. But maybe he'd feel even better after he got cleaned up. And he really wanted a haircut. He didn't argue when Dad helped him into a wheelchair and brought him to the bathroom. Dad helped him get cleaned up, and he found that he was able to move a little more than he had before. Maybe his muscles just needed help waking up a bit. He was still shaky when Dad helped him take a few steps, but maybe he'd be walking on his own again soon.

"I'll go get your uncle," Dad said once he was sitting on his bed.

He thought about trying to walk around on his own but decided against that. He didn't want to make his family mad after everything he'd put them through. He had a lot to make up for. It looked like Ben had barely slept for six months, which he probably hadn't. He couldn't even imagine losing his brother, and he felt terrible for what he'd put Ben through. He should probably just let his brother sleep, but he knew if their roles had been reversed, he would want Ben to wake him up.

He nudged his brother's shoulder, instantly waking him up. "You're awake," Ben said, surprised, as he sat up. "And you got cleaned up."

"Dad helped me," he said before Ben could start to worry. "He went to get Uncle Sam so I can have a haircut."

"You'll probably need to eat something soon," Ben said.

"After a haircut," he said. "I wanna see Max again soon…"

"I could go get her now. She's already seen you like this," Ben said.

He shook his head no, "Not yet."

He and Ben looked up at the same time when Dad and Uncle Sam walked back in. Uncle Sam smiled and held up the clippers. Ben helped him up while Dad got a chair for him to sit in. Uncle Sam put a towel around his shoulders before he started cutting his hair for him.

"Your hair's probably the longest I've ever seen it," Uncle Sam teased as he cut more of his hair off.

"Lisa tried to cut his hair when we lived with them," Dad said. "That might have been the biggest fit you've ever thrown."

"Bigger than the fit he threw after you threw out his old clothes?" Ben asked.

"Oh yeah," Dad said with a laugh.

"Uncle Sam knows how I want it cut," he grumbled.

"Yeah, just like your Dad's," Uncle Sam said.

"Are you gonna let your friends come see you after this?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better now," he said.

"Good," Dad said. "I'll make you something to eat after this too."

"And we'll talk to Jack, right?" he asked.

"That's the plan," Dad agreed.

"Alright, kiddo, you're all done," Uncle Sam said. He ran his hand over his short hair and smiled. Now he felt more like himself. Uncle Sam helped him out of the chair, and then back over to his bed. He was ready to find somewhere else to stay for a while, but he wasn't going to bring it up. He figured Dad and Ben were more tired of the infirmary than he was since he'd been unconscious this whole time.

He started feeling nervous as soon as his Dad left the room. He kept forgetting that it had been almost six months. It hadn't felt like six months to him, and he'd been so weak before he'd been put in a coma. He just didn't know what his friends were expecting. He didn't know what he was expecting.

"Want to scoot back?" Ben asked him. "I can get another pillow if you want. Or if you want a blanket, I can get that too…"

"I'm ok for a little bit," he said.

"I'm sure they won't ask you too many questions or anything," Ben tried to reassure. "They just miss you."

"If it's too much, I'll give you a signal," he said.

Ben nodded in agreement, "Plus, you gotta have enough energy to talk to Jack still."

"Has he said anything? About where he was or how he healed me? Or if the seizures are really gone?" he asked.

"Alec, we haven't asked him," Ben said. "You told us to wait for you."

"Oh…right," he said. He started to look up since he could hear someone coming down the hall, but then he grunted and fell back as someone plowed into him. He wasn't sure who it was for a moment, until he felt soft lips pressing against his own. His arms automatically wrapped around her as they kissed.

She pulled back after a moment and smiled, "Hi."

"Hi," he replied with an equally big smile. He'd almost forgotten how pretty Max was. Now it felt like he'd been gone a long time, since he felt like he hadn't seen her in forever.

"Sorry, thought I'd skip the whole awkward phase," Max said. He raised his eyebrows in a silent question, so she said, "You know, the whole part where I'm afraid you're gonna break, and you're afraid that I don't feel the same for you anymore even though I do but I'm trying not to overwhelm you. That phase. Let's skip it. I missed you, I'm hoping I didn't hurt you just now, but I really liked kissing you again. And you're awake. Finally."

"Like I had any say in that," he grumbled, even though he was still smiling.

"You're gonna hurt him if you keep laying on top of him," Ben practically growled. Max rolled her eyes but slowly moved off of him, only to sit next to him on the bed. She grabbed his hand though and refused to let go. "Tackling him when he just woke up…" Ben muttered under his breath.

"I'm ok," he softly reassured. Ben still didn't look happy, but he nudged his brother to try to make him feel better. He was grateful when he finally looked to the doorway and saw that it was just Kavi, Seth, Liam, and Claire.

"We thought maybe you'd feel a little overwhelmed if we all came in here at once," Kavi said.

"We were gonna draw straws but since we were your friends first, we got dibs," Seth said with a big smile. "I was gonna suggest we have ourselves a little friendly competition, but no one else wanted to do that."

He chuckled, "I can't imagine why."

Liam finally lost his patience and broke off from the little group at the door to run over to his bed. Liam hopped up onto the mattress and flung himself at him. Ben was going to lose it if everyone tried to tackle him. His body was too weak to really handle it anyway, so maybe it wouldn't be so horrible if Ben told everyone else to go easy on him.

"We all missed you," Liam said, his voice muffled since his face was buried against his chest.

"Well, I'm back now," he said with a small smile. Liam seemed to have grown a foot in the last six months. He was still little, but he wasn't as small as he remembered. He was sad that he'd missed so much. Ben said he hadn't missed much, but he still felt like he had. Max gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She must have felt him tense.

"I brought some pictures," Kavi said to break the silence. "Thought these might help fill in the gaps."

He swallowed hard and nodded, grateful that Uncle Sam had gotten that camera for Kavi. His friend walked over and handed him a big stack of pictures. Claire and Seth both walked over, but Claire sat next to Ben, while Seth picked Liam up and sat with him on the bed next to his. He slowly went through the pictures, chuckling at a few of them, and feeling a heavy weight of sadness at others. It was a difficult thing to realize how much life would just move on without him. He tried to make a difference with saving people like his Dad did, but in the end, those people might remember them for a while, but that would be it. Even with his friends, life moved on.

And he knew that's how it was; things didn't just stop because someone died. If anyone knew that, he did. He'd missed a lot of time when Crowley had kidnapped him, but he'd only had his Dad then. Ben and Dad both had problems adjusting after their time in Purgatory, and maybe now he finally understood just a little bit of what they'd gone through. Not the constant fighting or just trying to survive part, but how they'd come back and just hadn't fit. And Mary had missed so much time after she'd come back. Maybe he understood her a little better now too. Six months was a long time, but he couldn't even imagine missing 30 years. He hadn't even been alive for 30 years, so he really couldn't imagine it.

"Your hair looks good," Max said, running her fingers through his hair. "Thought you looked a little shaggy before."

"I thought he looked like Uncle Sam," Ben covered, knowing something was bothering him.

"Well, he looks better now," Max stated.

"We'll let you look through those and come back later," Kavi said. He nodded since he didn't trust his voice right then. Max kissed his cheek before she left with the others. Kavi hung back and said, "I'll tell the others to wait a while before they come say hi."

"Thanks Kavi," he said, keeping his eyes down.

"Alec, no one expects you to just be ok," Kavi said. "We're just happy you're alive." He nodded again, but smiled a little when Kavi said, "You can keep whatever pictures you want." Kavi hesitated, but then continued, "I have some other pictures that will probably be hard to look at…It's kinda weird, but I thought it might help for you to see yourself while you were in a coma. If you don't remember anything…" Kavi shrugged, "You don't have to look at them, but if you think they'll help, I have them."

"Thanks," he said. "I might look at 'em later…It doesn't feel like it's been six months."

Kavi nodded in understanding, "Just let me know, ok?"

He nodded, but then Ben saved him from needing to say anything else, "Can you tell my Dad to come back?"

"Sure," Kavi said before he left the infirmary.

"You ok?" Ben asked once he was sure Kavi was gone.

He shrugged, "I just started thinking about how you and Dad must have felt after Purgatory…and then how Mary must have felt. I only missed six months…I know I should just get over it. It wasn't really all that long compared to what it could have been-"

"Alec, it's ok to feel like you've missed things," Ben interrupted. "Y'know, there was something you said after we had that huge fight in the motel room that really helped me after Purgatory."

"You mean after I started talking to you again?" he said with a small smile.

Ben barely pushed him, "Duh."

"You might have to refresh my memory a bit. I know I say a ton of brilliant things, but I talk so much, I don't keep track of it all," he said, smirking at his brother.

"I know you're joking about you saying a ton of brilliant things, but I think you actually say a ton of brilliant things," Ben stated, giving him a hard look since he knew what he was doing. He didn't argue with his brother since he still wanted to know what brilliant advice he'd given him all those years ago.

"Alright, what was it," he prodded when Ben didn't just tell him.

"You said, I know you think you missed a lot of fun stuff, and I can't convince you otherwise, but we'll get back into our routine soon and you'll feel like you didn't miss a beat. It's just like riding a bike, which thankfully you now know how to do all thanks to Uncle Sam."

He chuckled since Ben had known how to ride a bike before Uncle Sam had tried to teach him, but his brother was too nice to say anything. Ben chuckled too, remembering that memory fondly, even though he'd been pissed at him at the time for ruining his little con for attention. "I sure know how to give advice," he said, shaking his head.

"The best part was that you got me to laugh," Ben said. "I don't think I laughed at all in Purgatory, and I didn't want to let you get close again after that since I thought I was gonna lose you again. But even after I hurt you, you still made me laugh."

"So, laughter is the best medicine," he said with a smirk, trying to play off how much what Ben had said meant to him.

Ben smiled since he knew he was just trying to cover up his feelings. "For me, you were the best medicine. Maybe…maybe it can be my turn."

He smiled and nodded, extremely grateful that he had a brother, and that his brother was awesome. "Thanks Ben," he whispered.

"Anytime," Ben replied.

---

"I didn't mean to fall asleep," he mumbled once he woke up again. At this rate, he was never going to get to find out what all had happened.

"It's ok," Dad reassured. "Jack's gonna be ready whenever you are."

"We should talk to him now before I run out of energy again," he said.

Dad nodded, "Ok, I'll go get him."

He looked around after a moment and realized it was just him and his Dad in the infirmary. "Where's Ben?"

"He went to talk to everyone," Dad said. "He thought it would be easier on you if he talked to them first, and then later you can talk to a few people at a time if you feel up to it."

"I was just a little overwhelmed last time," he said.

Dad stood up and walked over to him, gently kissing the top of his head. "It's ok," Dad soothed. "No one thinks you're weak."

"Or pathetic," he whispered. He already knew the answer, but it helped to hear his Dad say it.

"Or pathetic," Dad agreed.

He smiled a little since his Dad was the best. "Can we talk to Jack first this time? I really want to know what's going on, and I don't want to fall asleep again before we can get some answers."

Dad chuckled, "I'll go get him right now." Dad started to leave the infirmary, but he stopped suddenly and looked back at him. He knew Dad was nervous to leave him alone, and honestly, he was nervous to be left by himself. He didn't want to be a baby about all this, but he didn't want to have a seizure and he definitely didn't want to be by himself if he had a seizure. "You wanna wait a few minutes instead?" Dad asked.

"I don't wanna have a seizure," he whispered.

Dad thought for a minute, but then suggested, "How 'bout we go for a walk?"

He looked at his Dad like he was crazy, "I can't even make it very far…"

"The infirmary isn't that far from the rec room," Dad said. "Or we can wait until Ben comes back."

"But everyone else is probably in the rec room," he mumbled. He'd looked ok earlier, but he'd just been sitting, so he could pretend to be better than he was. If he went anywhere, it was going to be painfully obvious how weak he was.

"It's up to you, but I don't think I can leave you alone…" Dad admitted.

He didn't think he could really stay awake for that long, and he knew he needed to start walking to help get his muscles working again. He just dreaded seeing everyone again while he was like this. "Ok…I guess we can go to the rec room," he said.

"It's not far," Dad said.

"Promise you won't carry me," he said. He wouldn't agree to this if Dad was just going to carry him the first time he looked tired or stumbled. He really wanted to know what was going on, but not enough to be carried. Dad hesitated, so he sighed and said, "I'll just wait for Ben to come back."

"Alec, I only hesitated because I can't promise that," Dad said. "If you pass out or something, I'm gonna have to carry you back."

"I'm not gonna be carried," he stated.

"Alec," Dad said with a sigh.

He smiled just a tiny bit since it had been a long time since Dad had said his name like that. He loved his Dad, but when Dad said his name like that, it felt special to him. Dad really cared about him, and he had since the moment he'd met him. "Can we make a deal?" he asked, deciding he did want to try to walk a little bit, even if he looked weak and pathetic.

Dad chuckled, "Alright, what kind of deal?"

"If I pass out, instead of carrying me you just give me a little bit to recover right there and I'll let you help me walk down the hall," he said.

"And you tell me if you feel like you're gonna pass out," Dad added on.

"Like I wanna land on the floor," he said with a smirk.

"You got a deal," Dad said, walking over to help him up. He was a little dizzy when he stood up, but Dad kept his arm around his shoulders to steady him. "You ok to keep going?"

"Yeah…just gotta go slow," he admitted.

It was difficult to get his legs moving again after sleeping for a while, but after a few steps he was able to walk a tiny bit better. He was getting tired pretty fast, but at least if he fell asleep in the rec room, maybe everyone would hang around until he woke up again, so he wouldn't have to move back to the infirmary.

"Dad?" he asked as they slowly kept moving.

"Do you need to stop?" Dad quickly asked.

"No…I just…can I stay anywhere but the infirmary?" he asked.

Dad smiled and nodded, "Yeah, now that you're movin' a bit, you can stay either in your room or the rec room after we have this chat."

"Good," he said. "I kinda hate the infirmary…"

"I do too," Dad agreed.

He was moving pretty good now that they were closer to the rec room, but he could hear everyone laughing and talking, which made him nervous. He slowed down to try to put this off just a little longer. He really liked all of his friends, and he knew they wouldn't care that he was down right now, but part of him still thought they wouldn't want to be around him anymore. He'd been gone a long time, and he wasn't anywhere close to how he used to be. He was skinny and weak…he looked sick.

Dad stopped suddenly, but waited until he looked over before he said, "Your friends all miss you. They can't wait to see you again, but we can still go back if you want."

"I'm not like how they remember," he said.

"So you're a little skinnier than you were," Dad said with a shrug. "Your muscles will come back. You're a little pale, but not deathly pale like I've seen before. You got cleaned up and your hair cut, so you look pretty close to how they'll remember. But they won't care about how you look. You've got your humor still, and just seeing you on your feet will be a shock for all of them."

"Well, I do like shocking everyone into silence," he said. "Gives me more time to talk."

Dad laughed, "See, they won't be able to tell the difference once you start talking."

He took a deep breath, and then nodded that he could keep going. Ben was the first to look up when he walked in, and honestly, the look of joy on his brother's face to just see him up and walking around was enough for him to admit that Dad was right. Ben's smile drew everyone else's attention, and then he was almost instantly surrounded by his friends.

"Ok, ok, everyone make a path," Dad said after a few minutes of everyone talking to him at the same time.

He smiled sheepishly at his friends as Dad helped him over to the sofa. He shook his head no and motioned over to the chair instead. His legs were starting to hurt from all the walking, so he probably needed to sit in the recliner instead of taking up the entire sofa. Dad helped him get comfy in the recliner, and then messed up his hair once he was settled.

He felt a little awkward since everyone was still looking at him, but it was really good to see everyone again. "Alright, everyone sit down and quit staring at him," Ben said. "You're even making me nervous."

He chuckled as everyone tried to act normal, but for a bunch of highly trained transgenics, they weren't very good at pretending. "Where's Jack?" he finally asked, looking around the room.

"I think he just went to the kitchen," Ben said.

He internally groaned since of course he would make it all this way and Jack wouldn't even be here. "I'll go find him," Dad said.

"So…anything new going on?" he asked to break the silence once Dad left.

"Brin got her GED," Tinga said when no one else answered. Brin blushed, but he smiled since he knew Uncle Sam was definitely happy that he was getting to teach someone, and he was probably really proud of Brin for getting her GED.

"Congratulations," he said sincerely. "College next?"

"I think so, but I'm not sure yet," Brin said. "I don't even know what I would go to college for."

"Alec's probably got a few ideas for you," Ben said, giving him a look. His eyes widened slightly since Ben wasn't supposed to know about his talk with Claire. He and his brother were going to have a very long talk soon, that he was sure of.

"What do you think?" Brin asked him, missing Ben's look.

"I think you really like figuring out puzzles and I know you like making little gadgets," he said. "You'd be great in engineering. But you can do whatever you want. That's just what I was thinking."

"I like the idea," Brin said with a smile.

"Ok, now I'm a little curious," Zack said. "Do you have something in mind for everyone?" Apparently, Zack did not miss Ben's look.

"I mean, no, not really," he said.

"What do you think I should do?" Zack asked.

"You're a leader and you're really good in a team," he automatically replied without even needing to think about it. "I think you should be a Marine."

"Me next!" Tinga said with a smile.

"I'm not really…I think Uncle Sam would be better at this…" he said. "I'm just making this stuff up."

"Alec, what do you think Tinga should do," Ben asked.

"I think you should be a signer," he said. "I know you write poems, which is pretty much what songs are, and you have a beautiful voice. Kind of a no brainer…"

"What about me?" Krit asked.

"Dude, go try out for a baseball team," he said with a laugh, making everyone else laugh too.

"What would you do?" Max asked, giving him a soft smile. He could tell that she really liked something that he'd said, but he didn't know what it was.

"I don't know…haven't really thought that far," he accidentally admitted. He shouldn't have said that. He should've just made something up on the spot. Ben was going to know that he didn't think of anything for himself since he didn't think he'd be alive long enough to do anything else.

"We can help you think of something," Vada suggested.

"Ok, here's Jack and a big milkshake," Dad said, saving him from this conversation. Dad looked around when they all looked over at him at the same time. "Did I interrupt something?" Jack and Uncle Sam walked in behind Dad, so at least he was finally in the same room as Jack again. He could probably stay awake for a little while longer. He really wanted to know everything that had been going on, so he was going to stay awake.

"Alec was just telling us what he thinks we should all do for careers," Zane said.

"You guys can finish your talk if you want," Dad said.

"No, I wanna know what's going on," he said before anyone else could ask him anything.

"Alright, but you need to drink this," Dad said, bringing him the milkshake.

"Need anything else?" Ben asked.

"Gonna need a blanket if I'm gonna drink a milkshake," he mumbled. He smiled a little when Max brought him the blanket that Vada made for him. It was so soft and warm, although now he was a little worried about falling asleep in the middle of all this. "I'm guessin' the first question everyone wants to know is where've you been?" he asked. He was actually really wanting to know if Jack cured him of his seizures for good, but he doubted that's what everyone else wanted to know.

"Wait, wait, wait," Dad said, shooting him a quick look. "The first thing I really wanna know is if you healed Alec for good or if the seizures could come back."

Jack cocked his head to the side and frowned in confusion, "What do you mean? I thought I healed him completely…Are you still having seizures?"

"No, but we're not sure if they could come back or not," he said.

"I thought I healed you completely," Jack said.

"We should test it," he said.

"No," Dad and Ben said at the same time, and then Ben said, "If anyone is gonna test to see if Jack can heal the seizures for good, it's gonna be me."

"Can you do it again?" Dad asked Jack.

"Sure," Jack said with a nod as he walked over to Ben. But he was definitely not ok with this idea. He didn't want Ben to be the one they tested this out on. Ben shot him a look though, clearly telling him that this was going to happen no matter what he said. Jack touched Ben's forehead, and then took a step back.

"Do you feel any different?" he asked worriedly.

"I feel fine," Ben said. "It's not like when Gabe healed us. We'll just have to wait and see."

"I don't like that idea," he grumbled.

"This is the only way we'll be sure," Ben said.

"I still don't like it," he said.

"I'll be ok," Ben said, walking over to where he was sitting. His brother scooted him over, ignoring his glare, and then sat next to him in the chair. "Jack, I'm guessin' you have a lot to tell us, so you might as well sit down."

"Hey, that's something I'm supposed to say," he grumbled.

"You get a pass for a while," Ben replied.

Jack sat down, and everyone else settled in, but then Jack just looked at them expectantly. He chuckled since he'd forgotten how awkward Jack could be. "Were you with Mary and Jody?" he asked to break the silence.

"Yes," Jack said with a nod.

"C'mon dude, we want details about what happened," he said.

"Alec, c'mon," Uncle Sam chastised. He just smiled since he'd missed being chastised by his uncle.

"You're supposed to be drinking that milkshake," Dad added on. He rolled his eyes and took a sip, letting Dad take the lead. "Were you guys in another universe?"

"Yes," Jack said again. "We were in a universe where the angels had destroyed everything. Cas said that in that universe, Michael and Lucifer fought and Michael won."

"Wait, Cas was there?" Dad asked.

Jack nodded, "He said he came through with Lucifer the night I was born. We've been helping the resistance." Well, at least they only had to go to one more universe instead of trying to figure out where Cas could've gone.

"How did you get back?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Cas said that if we were going to win against the angels, then we were going to need help. He helped me figure out how to control my powers, so now I can get into another universe. I came back to get you," Jack said.

"Well, good timing," he quipped.

"Whatever's goin' on, you're not going," Dad stated.

"Ok," he agreed, only because he had no intention staying here if his whole family was going to another universe to fight a war in an apocalypse world against a bunch of angels. Yeah, he was going, but he would wait to argue until it was time for Dad to make a final decision. Dad gave him a look like he knew what he was doing, but he didn't call him out on it.

"Do we need to go right now?" Uncle Sam asked.

"Cas said we have a few days he thinks before the angels attack again," Jack said.

"Is our Mom and Jody ok?" Dad asked.

Jack nodded, "Yeah, they're both in charge of their own soldiers. Bobby said that I could stay with Cas, but Mary and Jody both check on me all the time."

"Bobby?" Dad and Uncle Sam asked at the same time. He looked over at Ben to see the same shock on his twin's face. "Bobby Singer?" Dad asked again when Jack didn't immediately answer.

Jack nodded again, "Yeah, Bobby Singer found us when we first got there, and he told us what was going on."

Dad and Uncle Sam looked at each other, but he really didn't know what this meant. Was it their Bobby? Or was it just Bobby from another universe? If it wasn't their Bobby, then he wouldn't know them. He would look like their Bobby, but he might not act like their Bobby. He really didn't know how he felt about this. He definitely wanted Bobby back, but he didn't want to have the hope of having Bobby back in his life again if it wasn't true. But at least there was a world where Bobby was still alive.

"What does Cas want us to do?" Ben asked. He could tell his brother was shaken from hearing about Bobby, but he was trying to cover it up. His brother probably didn't want his friends to know how he was feeling. Ben only let very few people know how deep his feelings went, so it wasn't a surprise that he wanted to get back on topic.

"We need more people," Jack said. "We've made really good progress against the angels, but we want to make a final stand."

"Why don't you just bring all the humans back here since you can jump to other universes now?" he asked. "Leave all the angels to their shit-hole world."

"Alec," Uncle Sam chastised, making him smile again.

"My question still stands," he said, still smiling.

"They don't want to leave," Jack said. "Jody asked if they all wanted to leave with us, but no one wanted to. They want to fight for their world."

Dad took a deep breath, and then nodded, "Me and Sam are in."

"We're in too," Ben said. Dad started to argue, but Ben cut him off, "Jack said we had a few days, so Alec has a few days to get back on his feet. If he's not ready by then, we'll both stay here."

"Fine, but I say if you're ready or not," Dad said.

"There needs to be some kind of test," he said. "An obstacle course or a challenge or something, not just you deciding if I'm ready or not because I already know what you're gonna decide."

"Fine," Dad said again.

"We want to help too," Zack said.

"Guys, this is gonna be dangerous," Dad said, already shaking his head no.

"It sounds like it's a war zone over there," Uncle Sam threw in.

"We were made to be the perfect soldiers," Zack said. "If anyone's going into a war zone, it should be us."

Dad definitely didn't like this conversation. He knew his Dad would try to find a way to keep everyone here in the bunker, but he didn't think it was going to work. Dad conveniently forgot that he and Ben were trained soldiers every time they did something dangerous, but they'd gotten pretty good at talking Dad out of his freak out. They could work on him agreeing to letting them all go to the apocalypse world. He was more concerned that he only had a few days to get his muscles working again.

"We'll talk about it later," Dad finally said.

"Well, I think now is a great time for a workout," he said. He chuckled when everyone protested at the same time, just as he'd expected. Ben chuckled next to him, already knowing that he'd expected everyone to throw a fit when he'd said that.

"Now is a good time for a nap," Dad corrected.

"I'm really feeling energized again," he said, trying hard to hide his smirk.

"Nap time," Dad said as he stood up. "C'mon, I'll even let you sleep in your own bed."

"Can I sleep here?" he asked, trying not to whine too much. But he didn't really want to move. He was comfortable in this chair with his brother right next to him. And his friends could stay in here if they wanted. Any noise other than the eerie quiet of the infirmary would definitely help him sleep.

"Are you actually going to sleep if I let you stay in here?" Dad asked.

"I'll sleep better here than in a quiet room," he said.

"Alright," Dad finally agreed. "Ben, come get me when he wakes up, ok buddy? I'm gonna supervise any physical therapy that happens."

"Ok," Ben said, snuggling down next to him.

Uncle Sam brought over another blanket and put it over the two of them while everyone else got more comfortable around the room. "Are all of you sleeping in here?" Dad asked, looking around. Everyone nodded, and some of them even looked over at him and Ben to see if it was ok. Dad nodded when neither of them said anything, and then walked over to kiss the top of his head, and then the top of Ben's head. "You better actually sleep, otherwise you're not doing any physical therapy tomorrow."

"I'm already almost asleep," he mumbled, resting his head against Ben's shoulder. Dad smiled and messed up his hair before he left the room with Uncle Sam. He was asleep just a few minutes later.

---

2010

He'd thought that leaving Alec behind in the motel room while he hunted would be the safest place for him. They were a little more used to each other, but since he and Sam agreed to split, he felt like he was going to screw everything up. Alec had been fine before he'd left for the hunt, he'd reassured the kid that he was coming back, but he hadn't realized how traumatized Alec was.

"Hey, hey, everything's ok," he quickly soothed, scooping the little boy up. Alec was practically hyperventilating, and he had no idea how to make things better. "Alec, I need you to breathe, kiddo. Please. I need you to take a breath for me. Just one breath." It took a few seconds before Alec took in a shaky breath. "Good job," he praised. "Now take another one." He gently rubbed Alec's chest as he managed a few shallow breaths. Breathing slowly seemed to get easier for the little boy, but he still wasn't sure what brought on this panic attack. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir," Alec whispered.

"What happened?" he asked. He wanted to tell Alec to not call him sir, but he figured that might set the kid off again.

"I'm sorry," Alec said again, starting to pull away from him.

"Hey, c'mon, kiddo, you gotta talk to me," he said. "I don't know what I did wrong here, or what I can do to make this better." Alec just shook his head no and hid against him. He slowly stood up, causing the little boy to desperately grab onto him. "Shh, it's ok," he soothed. He walked over to the little bathroom and grabbed a washcloth to run under the sink. He walked back over to the bed and sat down, holding Alec close. He brought the washcloth over to Alec, but the little boy flinched back. "I'm not gonna hurt you," he whispered. He'd already hurt Alec, and he suspected leaving Alec here by himself was what brought all this on, but he wanted to make things better. He brought the washcloth closer again and gently ran it over Alec's face and neck to help him calm down. "Do you want something to drink? We still have some apple juice in the fridge."

"No," Alec said, trying to get even closer to him.

"What happened?" he tried again. He brushed Alec's hair off his forehead, and then ran the washcloth over his little face. The washcloth seemed to be helping since the little boy had calmed down slightly.

"I'm sorry…"

"No, no more sorry," he said. He wanted to let this go, but if he did, then Alec would never talk to him. He needed Alec to talk to him to make this work. "I'm not gonna get mad. I just wanna know what happened."

"I-I got scared…" Alec finally admitted. "I didn't think…I thought you were gonna leave me…"

"How could I leave you? You're the coolest little kid I know," he said with a smile.

"I don't like being alone," Alec whispered, snuggling against him. "I remember the bad stuff when I'm all alone…"

"We have that in common," he said. He laid the washcloth over Alec's entire face, and then smiled when he got the little boy to giggle. He pulled the washcloth off of Alec's face again and smiled more when he saw Alec smiling a little bit. "Guess what?"

"What?" Alec asked shyly.

"Now that I know that leaving you alone doesn't work for you, I'll try not to do it," he said.

"You will?" Alec asked.

"I can't promise to never do it, but I can promise that I'll try," he said. "But I only know that I shouldn't leave you alone because you told me."

"You're not mad?" Alec asked.

"No, I'm not mad," he reassured. He held Alec until he slowly fell asleep, and then he gently moved Alec until he was on the mattress. Alec woke up a little when he stood up, but he just shrugged out of his jacket and put it over the little boy. He brushed his soft hair back and kissed his forehead, "I'll be right back. I'm just gonna clean up a little, ok?"

"Ok," Alec mumbled.

The little boy closed his eyes, so at least he still had Alec's trust even if he did screw up. He went back over to the sink and splashed some water on his face. He missed Sam. He didn't want to admit it, but he did. He didn't want to screw up with Alec, and he felt better when Sam was with him. At least with Sam, he could bounce ideas off of him. He felt very alone, and he was terrified about messing things up with Alec.

He looked up and jumped when he saw Cas in the mirror behind him. "God," he breathed, slamming his hand on the sink. "Don't do that."

"Hello Dean," Cas said.

He turned around to find Cas literally right behind him. "Cas, we've talked about this. Personal space," he said.

"My apologies," Cas said, taking a small step back.

He brushed by Cas and went back to Alec. The little boy was awake now, just staring at Cas. He scooped Alec up, wrapping his jacket around him, hoping that maybe he'd go back to sleep if he was holding him. "How'd you find us? I thought we were flying below the angel radar," he said. He rubbed Alec's back, knowing he wasn't comfortable with Cas there with them.

"You are," Cas stated. "Bobby told me where you were." Cas looked around the room, scowling even more than usual when he didn't see Sam in the room, and he saw there was only one bed. There was really no point in getting two beds if it was just him and Alec. The two of them didn't really know each other, but he knew enough to know that Alec wouldn't sleep on a bed by himself. "Where's Sam?" Cas asked.

"Me and Sam are taking separate vacations for a while," he muttered before he changed the subject. "You find God yet? More importantly, can I have my damn necklace back, please?" Alec turned his head on his shoulder, and then snuggled against his neck. He couldn't tell if Alec was pretending to sleep or if he really was sleeping against him.

"No, I haven't found him," Cas said. "That's why I'm here. I need your help."

"With what? God hunt?" he asked back with a frown. "Not interested." He was not bringing Alec on that trip. The angels didn't like the little boy, so he definitely wasn't going to bring him on a God hunt.

"It's not God. It's someone else," Cas said, being annoyingly cryptic. Just spit it out already; he had a little boy to get to bed.

"Who?" he asked when Cas didn't just volunteer the information.

"Archangel. The one who killed me," Cas said.

"'Scuse me?" he asked back. No way were they going to look for an archangel, especially one who had already killed Cas once.

"His name is Raphael," Cas said.

"You were wasted by a teenage mutant ninja angel?" he asked sarcastically. He couldn't believe this. This was going to be a majorly dumb idea in a long line of dumb ideas.

"I've heard whispers that he's walking the earth," Cas said, completely missing his sarcasm, as usual. "This is a rare opportunity."

"For what? Revenge?" he asked.

"Information," Cas said.

He sighed and shook his head. "So, what, you think you can find this dude and he's just gonna spill God's address?" he asked, hoping Cas would realize what a dumb idea this was.

"Yes, because we are gonna trap him and interrogate him," Cas said.

He blinked a few times, trying to figure out if Cas was actually insane. "You're serious about this." He shook his head in disbelief. "So, what, I'm Thelma and you're Louise and we're just going to hold hands and sail off this cliff together?" Cas just stared at him. He internally cursed since he should've known that reference would go right over Cas's head. "Give me one good reason why I should do this."

"Because you're Michael's vessel and no angel will dare harm you," Cas stated.

"That won't stop anyone from going after Alec," he said. "And I can't risk him. I won't."

"I need your help because you are the only one who'll help me. Please," Cas said.

Now he had to really think about this. He had to protect Alec, but he owed Cas, and they were kind of friends. He didn't want Cas to die going after this archangel, but he couldn't leave Alec alone somewhere either. "Only if you have a foolproof plan," he finally said. "And you protect Alec no matter what. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," Cas said with a nod. Cas reached out to touch his forehead, but he quickly backed away. "What?" Cas asked with a deeper frown.

"Last time you zapped me someplace, I didn't poop for a week," he stated. "We're driving."

---

He felt terrible for panicking like he had. He was embarrassed and he was a bad solider. Dean shouldn't want him around anymore. He'd messed everything up. Sam had left, and now Dean was going to tell him to go too. He wanted to stay with Dean. Why couldn't he just get over his abandonment issues and deal with being left alone for a while?

And now Cas was riding in the car with them. He was pretty sure Cas didn't like him. The angels didn't like him, and Cas was an angel, so it made sense that Cas wouldn't like him. But Dean and Cas seemed to be friends, so he couldn't say anything bad about Cas since that would make Dean mad, and he couldn't make Dean mad.

Dean looked back at him again, but he didn't say anything. Dean hadn't seemed mad at him earlier, but it was really hard to tell. He should've gotten punished for having a panic-attack, but Dean had been nice to him and had helped him calm down. What if it was just a big trick? What if Dean was figuring out that he was too much work to take care of? What was he going to do if Dean told him to leave?

"You ok, kiddo?" Dean asked, looking back at him again.

"I'm fine," he whispered.

"Wanna stop and take a quick break?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine to continue," he said.

"Hey, check it out, we've got another exit comin' up. I'm guessin' they have a park we could stop at," Dean said.

"Dean, we must continue," Cas said.

"We're stopping," Dean stated.

He didn't want to stop. He was going to mess things up since Dean thought he wanted to stop. But he couldn't argue with Dean. He didn't really understand why they were stopping, or what they were going to do at the park, but he knew better than to keep arguing.

Dean stopped at what must be the park where a bunch of little kids were playing. He definitely didn't want to be around the other kids. He didn't know them. They were going to know something was wrong with him. He didn't know how to play.

"C'mon kiddo, let's play for a little while," Dean said as he opened the door. He shook his head no and scooted back slightly. "Hey, what's wrong?" Dean asked, his voice soft. He liked Dean's nice and soft voice. It made him feel better.

"I don't know how to play," he admitted. "They'll know something's wrong with me."

Dean frowned, "Nothing's wrong with you. Those kids don't know you. And I'm gonna be there to play too." He still didn't move. "You wanna try swinging? I'll push you on the swing and that way you don't have to be around the other kids."

He hesitated, but then he decided he needed to do this. Dean wanted him to play, so he needed to at least pretend that he wanted to play. "Ok…"

Dean reached in and picked him up, and he let him since he didn't know how long Dean would put up with him. He liked it when Dean would hold him since he felt wanted, but he didn't think this would really last. How could it when he couldn't even handle being by himself for a few hours? "Cas, get your ass in gear. We're gonna swing for a while and it's gonna be fun," Dean said. He smiled a little imagining Cas swinging next to him. That was a hilarious thought.

He moved closer to Dean and whispered, "Can Cas swing too?"

"You want Cas to swing?" Dean asked in surprise.

"It would be really funny," he said. Dean laughed and nodded in agreement. He didn't want Dean to put him down, but he didn't argue when the older man put him back down. He did smile a little when Dean grabbed his hand instead. He stayed close to Dean's side since he didn't want to lose Dean. He didn't actually know if Dean still wanted him around or not, but right now he seemed to want him, so he would stay close.

Dean picked him up again once they were at the swings, but then sat him on the swing. "You're swinging too," Dean said to Cas. The angel cocked his head to the side in confusion before he looked over at him. He quickly looked away, and then had to hide his smile when Cas actually sat on the swing next to him. He did look really funny sitting on the swing in his trench coat.

Dean gently pushed on his back, causing the swing to go forward. He held onto the chains as tightly as he could, afraid that he was going to fall off. It was a stupid thing for him to be afraid of since he would most likely land on his feet, but he really didn't want to mess up swinging. But it was actually a little fun. He liked when Dean would push him, and he liked going higher and higher. He laughed when he went really high one of the times, feeling weightless. He glanced back and saw that Dean was smiling now too.

He laughed again, feeling like a kid for the first time. Maybe Dean wasn't mad at him. Dean had stopped so they could play, so maybe Dean was trying to make him feel better. He shouldn't have freaked out because he was by himself, but he'd started thinking that Dean wasn't going to come back. He didn't want to be alone. He never wanted to be alone. He couldn't be alone. Then the bad thoughts would start again. He was never good at solitary.

Dean grabbed his swing, making him stop suddenly. He laughed again and leaned back against Dean's chest right before he scooped him up off of the swing. "Cas, you having fun?" Dean asked, his chest rumbling against his back. He felt very safe with Dean. He liked feeling safe, so he really hoped Dean wasn't mad at him.

"I still think we should have continued," Cas said.

"You gotta admit, swinging is fun," Dean said. "Even Alec's having fun, right?" Dean definitely sounded uncertain, so maybe it wasn't obvious that he was actually having fun.

"Yeah," he said with a nod.

"See, Alec's having fun," Dean said, smiling.

"But Raphael could already be gone," Cas stated.

"He's not swinging right, that's why he's not having any fun," he said.

"I think you're right," Dean said. "What does he need to do?"

"You have to go higher. It's fun when you get really high up there," he said. Cas still didn't look like he was having fun, but it was still really funny to see Cas sitting on the swing. "You're not even trying," he said when Cas still didn't move. He moved around in Dean's hold until he could climb up on Dean's back, and then got onto Dean's shoulders. If Dean let him stay on his shoulders, then he must not be mad at him.

"Alec's right," Dean said. "You're not even trying." He looked down at Dean and smiled when the older man smiled back at him. Cas sighed, and then slowly started to swing. He laughed a lot when Cas really started to swing. This was actually a lot of fun, even if Cas still didn't like him.

"Will that suffice?" Cas asked, slowing down until he was just sitting on the swing again.

"Was it fun?" Dean asked.

Cas looked up at him, and then finally said, "Yes. It was fun."

"Good. Let's go find something to eat, and then we can keep going," Dean said.

Dean walked back to the Impala, but he let him stay up on his shoulders all the way back.

---

He parked in front of the Sheriff's Department, and then got Alec out of the backseat. The little boy grumbled a little, but he smiled since Alec was seriously cute all sleepy like he was. He rubbed Alec's back, thankful again that the little boy had found him. He was still scared of messing up, but just seeing the joy on Alec's face as he learned how to swing and start to have fun just made him so happy.

"And we're here why?" he asked as he and Cas walked towards the door.

"A deputy sheriff laid eyes on the archangel," Cas said.

"And he still has eyes?" he asked in surprise. "Alright, what's the plan?"

"We'll tell the officer that he witnessed an angel of the Lord, and the officer will tell us where the angel is," Cas said.

"Seriously? You're going to walk in there and tell him the truth?" he asked incredulously.

"Why not?" Cas asked, completely missing what a dumb idea this was.

"Because we're humans," he said. He got a spare fake ID out of his pocket and handed it to Cas. "And when humans want something really, really bad, we lie."

"Why?" Cas asked.

"Because that's how you become President," he said with a smirk. Cas definitely didn't understand what he was meaning, but hopefully he wouldn't go in there and just start spouting off the truth. He rubbed Alec's back before they made it to the doors to try to get him to wake up. Alec rubbed his face on his shoulder, and then just rested against him. "You wanna talk to this deputy with us, kiddo?"

"I get to go too?" Alec asked sleepily.

"Sure do," he said. He set the little boy down, but then grabbed his tiny hand to try to help reassure him that he wasn't going anywhere. Alec rubbed his eyes, but he did stay close to his side, so maybe he was on the right track now. They walked into the Sheriff's Department and Cas pointed out the deputy they needed to talk to. "Deputy Framingham?" he asked, making the deputy turn to face them. He got out his fake badge and held it up, so the deputy could see. "Hi. Alonzo Mosley, FBI. This is my partner, Eddie Moscone." Cas just stood there instead of getting his badge out like he was supposed to. "Also FBI," he hinted. He gave Cas a pointed look when Cas still did nothing. Cas finally got his badge out, but he rolled his eyes when he saw that it was upside down. Alec laughed as he reached over to flip the badge the right way. "He's, uh, he's new," he covered. "Mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Yeah, sure. Talk here, though," Deputy Framingham said, pointing at his ear. "Hearing's all blown to hell in this one."

"That happen recently?" he asked, following the deputy to his office.

"Yeah. Gas station," Deputy Framingham said. "Why you're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is," he said as he sat down in the chair across from the deputy. He grabbed Alec and plopped him on his lap, refusing to let the kid leave his sight right now. "You mind just, uh, running us through what happened?"

"A call came in. Disturbance out at the Pump and Go on Route 4," the deputy said.

"What kind of disturbance?" he asked.

"Would not have believed my eyes if I hadn't seen it myself. We're talking a riot. Full scale," Deputy Framingham said.

"How many?" he asked.

"Thirty, forty, in all-out kill-or-be-killed combat," the deputy said.

"Any idea what set them off?" he asked.

"It's angels and demons, probably," Cas said. He internally sighed as Framingham looked at Cas like he was insane. "They're skirmishing all over the globe."

"Come again?" Deputy Framingham asked in disbelief. The deputy looked at him and asked, "What did he say?"

"Nothing," he said at the same time Cas decided to repeat himself, "Demons."

"Demons, you know, drink, adultery. We all have our demons, Walt," he said to try to cover up the fact that Cas wouldn't drop it.

"I guess…" Deputy Framingham muttered, looking between them again.

"Anyway," he said, trying to get this conversation back on track. "What happened next?"

"Freaking explosion, that's what," Framingham said. "They said it was one of those underground gas tanks, but, uh, I don't think so."

"Why not?" he asked.

"Wasn't your usual fireball. It was, um…"

"Pure white," Cas cut in.

"Yeah," Framingham said, giving Cas another weird look. "Gas station was leveled. Everyone was…it was just horrible. And I see this one guy, kneeling, real focused-like, not a damn scratch on him."

"You know him?" he asked.

"Donnie Finneman. Mechanic there," Deputy Framingham said.

"Let me guess, he just, uh, vanished into thin air?" he asked.

"Uh, no, Kolchak," the deputy said, giving him a weird look now. "He's down at Saint Pete's."

Cas looked at him and stated, "Saint Pete's." Cas just got up and immediately left the office, leaving him and Alec with the deputy.

"Thank you," he said before he quickly followed, holding Alec close. He really liked the kid, even though he obviously didn't know much about him. But he definitely wanted to keep him around. Alec twisted around in his arms, but then wrapped his little arms around his neck and rested his head on his shoulder. He rubbed his back, but then had to put him down since they were at the Impala. "Are you hungry or anything?" he asked, brushing Alec's hair back from his forehead.

"No," Alec said, shaking his head a little to mess up his hair again.

He smiled and ruffled Alec's hair, messing it up more. "Ok, but you tell me if you get hungry and I'll get you something."

"Ok," Alec said with a smile.

He drove the three of them over to Saint Pete's Hospital, picking Alec up again once they were there since he wanted to keep the kid close. He'd figure out that Alec didn't like hospitals when Bobby was in the hospital, so he'd do what he could to make this better.

He asked a nurse where Donnie's room was, and then walked with Cas down the hallways. "Why are we looking for this guy?" Alec asked.

"Well, this guy may have been a vessel for an archangel, Raphael," he said. "Cas thinks we can trap him and interrogate him to get information on God."

"Who might help stop the apocalypse," Alec said.

"That's right," he said.

"But if he's an archangel, that means he's really powerful, right?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, he's gonna be really powerful," he said. "Which is why I want you to stay behind me the whole time, ok?"

"But…if you die…" Alec stopped and hid against his neck again. But he knew where this was going, so he didn't even need Alec to finish.

"Raphael won't hurt me," he said, rubbing Alec's back. "I'm supposed to be Michael's vessel, which means the angels can't hurt me. That's why I want you to stay behind me since I don't want you to get hurt."

"But I get to go with you?" Alec asked.

"Well, I'd rather find somewhere to keep you safe, but I don't wanna scare you by leaving you alone," he said.

"I wasn't scared," Alec lied. He smiled instead of calling the little boy out on his lie since he knew Alec didn't want to look like he was weak. Alec snuggled closer to him, and then whispered, "Thank you for not leaving me alone."

"You're welcome, Alec," he whispered back. They walked to the room Donnie was in but didn't go inside right away. There was a guy sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of the room, but it was obvious that this guy wasn't an archangel. "I take it that's not Raphael anymore."

"Just an empty vessel," Cas said.

"So, is this what I'm looking at if Michael jumps in my bones?" he asked.

"No, not at all," Cas said, but then continued, "Michael is much more powerful. It'll be far worse for you."

He rolled his eyes and walked away, regretting that he'd even asked.

---

"Alright, look at this one," Dean said, showing him another picture in the book.

"Whoa," he breathed, looking at the skeletal monster. "What is it?"

"A Windego," Dean said. They were in an abandoned house, and Cas had disappeared, so Dean had decided to show him some things in John's journal. "They're usually in the woods up north." He leaned back against Dean's chest and quickly scanned the next page as soon as Dean turned it. He really liked just hanging out with Dean, and he kind of wanted to ask him if they could not try to talk to this Raphael guy since he didn't want Dean to get hurt. Where would he go if something happened to Dean?

"Where did Cas go?" he asked instead of asking Dean what he really wanted to.

"Not sure," Dean said. "He does that though. He just pops in and out whenever he feels like it."

"What if he does that when Raphael comes?" he asked.

"He won't," Dean said, sounding very certain. "Cas…he disobeyed heaven to help me. The angels, they wanted Sam to kill this demon to open the cage for Lucifer. The angels locked me up in this room, so I couldn't try to stop him. Cas helped me get out."

"But Lucifer still got out," he said.

Dean took a deep breath, "Yeah, he did. But Cas is trying to help." He turned on Dean's lap and just rested against the older man's chest. He felt safe when he was with Dean. He really didn't want to lose this feeling. He jumped a little when Cas suddenly appeared in the abandoned house, holding a jar of something. "Where've you been?"

"Jerusalem," Cas stated.

"Oh, how was it?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"Arid," Cas said.

Cas walked over and set the jar on the table where he and Dean were sitting. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's oil," Cas said. "It's very special. Very rare." Cas sat down at the table with them but didn't say anything else about the special oil.

"Ok, so we trap Raphael with a nice vinaigrette?" Dean asked, which made him smile.

"No," Cas said. He sighed since Cas wasn't very forthcoming about what they needed to do with the oil or what the plan was to trap Raphael.

"So, this ritual of yours, when does it go down?" Dean asked.

"Sunrise," Cas said.

"Tell me something," Dean said. "You keep saying we're gonna trap this guy. Isn't that kinda like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?"

"No, it's harder," Cas said. He rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything. He just wanted some real answers here, was that so hard?

"Do we have any chance of surviving this?" Dean asked. He felt Dean's arm tighten around him, which might mean that Dean was going to back out of doing this. He wouldn't mind that at all since that would mean Dean would be safe.

"You do," Cas said.

"So, odds are, you're a dead man tomorrow," Dean said.

"Yes," Cas said with a nod.

"Well, last night on earth," Dean said. "What are your plans?" He was a little surprised that Dean wasn't trying to talk Cas out of this. They seemed like they were friends, but maybe Dean knew that he wouldn't be able to talk Cas out of his plan.

"I just thought I'd sit here quietly," Cas said.

He laughed since that was just silly. Cas looked at him, so he said, "That's not really what you're doing, is it?"

"Yes," Cas said.

"C'mon, you can do anything," Dean said. Cas still didn't say anything, so Dean asked, "Alec, what do you wanna do, kiddo?"

"I'd eat some ice cream or some pie," he said. "Or…ice cream and pie."

Dean chuckled, "I like the way you think."

"What would you do?" he asked.

"Well, normally I'd go to a strip club and try to get laid," Dean said.

He frowned, "I don't know what that means…"

"I'll tell you when you're older," Dean said with a smile. "But…I do have an idea of something we can do. C'mon Cas, we're not spending the last night here in this crap shack."

---

"What are we doing?" Alec asked as he Velcroed the tiny vest onto him.

"We're gonna play," he said.

"Is Cas going to play too?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, Cas is going to play too," he said. He put his own vest on, and then handed Alec his laser tag gun. "Do you wanna play teams or every man for himself?"

"Can I be on your team?" Alec asked.

"'Course you can," he said with a smile. He felt a nice warm feeling in his chest since Alec wanted to be on his team. Alec didn't even really know what they were doing, but he still wanted to hang out with him.

"I do not believe this game will last long," Cas said.

"C'mon Cas, if this is your last night alive, you gotta live a little," he said.

Cas finally agreed to play, but he suspected it had more to do with Alec than actually wanting to play. He smiled as Alec ran around, looking everywhere for Cas. Alec had singlehandedly won the last three rounds, but Cas was actually a good sport about losing. He followed Alec through the different rooms, letting him take the lead, but staying close since he loved it when Alec would find Cas. The little boy had started laughing with joy when he'd find Cas, which even made Cas smile.

He picked Alec up after they took Cas out for the fourth time and hauled him around with his arm around his waist. Alec giggled since he apparently thought that was pretty fun to be carried around like that. "You wanna get some ice cream and pie?" he asked.

"Yeah," Alec said.

"Did you have fun?" he asked as they slowly walked back to the front.

"Yeah," Alec said again. "I don't know if Cas had fun though…"

"It was enjoyable," Cas stated, which made Alec crack up.

He loaded Alec into the Impala, and then drove to the closest diner. He had Alec sit on his lap while they were at the diner, and he couldn't help but smile when Alec took a huge bite of his pie. He really didn't want to lose this. He didn't want anything to happen to Alec, but after what happened at the motel, he couldn't exactly leave him alone either. But he really wanted to get the chance to take care of Alec.

"Now what?" Alec asked, leaning back against him.

"Cas?" he asked.

"I have had a good last day," Cas said.

"Maybe we could come up with a different plan…" Alec said, sounding sad. Cas cocked his head to the side in confusion, making Alec shrug. "I don't want you to die."

"I have been alive for a long time," Cas said. "This is a worthy cause."

"But what if we came up with something else?" Alec asked.

"I do not want to endanger you," Cas replied.

He could tell Alec didn't like that answer, but the little boy didn't say anything else. "I don't think there's a lot of options," he said, brushing Alec's hair back. Alec still didn't say anything, but he did turn on his lap and snuggle against his neck. He rubbed Alec's back to try to comfort him. He smiled a little when Alec started to feel heavier against him as he fell asleep. "You sure there's no other way?" he asked, looking over at Cas.

"I'm sure," Cas said.

"I don't want anything to happen to Alec," he said.

"As long as he stays behind you, he should be fine," Cas said.

"See, it's that 'should' that's making me nervous," he said.

"Raphael will be trapped," Cas said. "He will not be able to hurt Alec."

"Do you…" he stopped, but then asked, "You don't think he's an abomination, do you?"

"No," Cas stated. He waited expectantly, wanting an explanation from Cas. "He is special. He didn't ask to be created, but I am glad he was created." He ran his hand through Alec's hair, grateful this little boy who looked like him had somehow found him after everything he'd been through. "He's changed you."

"What?" he asked, looking up at his friend in surprise.

"You seem…" Cas paused, trying to find the right word, and then said, "At peace."

He huffed and shook his head in amusement, "The world's about to end and we're about to go to war, Cas. I'm not at peace."

"In the time I've known you, you've never done anything just for fun," Cas said.

"This is your last night," he defended. "Like we were gonna sit in some shack for the whole night."

"I'm not talking about the game," Cas said. "I'm talking about the park. You stopped, so you both could have fun."

"I was just trying to make him feel better," he said. "I freaked him out earlier by leaving him alone."

"You would make an excellent father," Cas said.

His eyebrows rose in shock, but he had no idea what to say. He really liked Alec, and he liked taking care of him, but he wasn't father material. He couldn't ignore that he'd liked telling Ellen that Alec was his kid, but he had no idea how to be someone's dad. Alec wouldn't want him to be his dad anyway. He did smile a little though, thinking about actually being Alec's dad. He'd already wanted to pass things on to Alec, like a dad would do, but he was still getting ahead of himself. He should just focus on the next 24 hours. He wouldn't get to take care of Alec at all if they died trying to trap Raphael.

"This better be one hell of a plan," he grumbled.

---

Dean put him down once they were in the hospital room where the guy was still sitting in the wheelchair. Cas was already in the room, pouring oil on the floor. That was going to be difficult to clean up.

"You stay behind me the whole time, ok kiddo?" Dean said. He nodded and moved so he was behind Dean, but he could still see around his leg.

"When the oil burns, no angel can touch or pass through the flames, or he dies," Cas explained, pouring the oil all around the guy in the wheelchair.

"Ok, so we trap him in a steel cage of holy fire, but one question," Dean said. "How the hell do we get him here?"

"Very simple," Cas said. "There's, well, almost an open phone line between a vessel and his angel. One just has to know how to dial." That wasn't very clear to him, but Dean didn't question it. Cas leaned down and said something in a langue he didn't know. He knew quite a few languages, but he couldn't even tell where this language originated from. "I'm here, Raphael," Cas said, in English now. "Came and get me, you little bastard."

Cas moved out of the circle, and he held his breath since he was expecting something bad to happen. But nothing immediately happened. And then nothing happened for a few minutes. He looked up at Dean, silently wondering if anything was going to happen at all.

"Just out of curiosity, what is the average customer wait time to speak to an archangel?" Dean asked.

"Be ready," Cas said. Cas lit a match and dropped it on the oil, which burst into a ring of fire. He slid behind Dean just a little more, expecting something to actually happen now, but it still didn't.

He sighed after an hour had gone by. This archangel was really boring. He didn't want to get in trouble by complaining, but he really wished they would go do something else. He finally just tugged on Dean's jacket to get the man's attention. Dean turned slightly, so he put his arms up. If they were going to wait forever, he at least wanted Dean to hold him. He knew he was pathetic, but he really liked it when Dean would hold him close. Dean felt safe.

Dean picked him up, just like he wanted, and held him close. "This is really boring," he said, resting on Dean's shoulder.

"I thought things would go a little faster," Dean said. "If he suddenly shows up, then I'll have to put you back down, ok?"

"Ok," he said.

He ended up falling asleep against Dean again even though he wasn't really tired. He was just bored. And he felt very comfortable around Dean. He really hoped Dean would keep him forever. He hadn't really thought about what would happen after he found Dean, but things were definitely going better than he could have expected. Dean wasn't scared of him, and he'd already proven that he wanted to keep him.

He could tell Dean started walking after a while, but he didn't bother waking up. He sort of woke up when Dean put him down in the backseat of the Impala. Dean ran his hand through his hair though, so he fell back asleep.

"Alec," Dean whispered suddenly, gently shaking his shoulder. "Hey kiddo," Dean said once he opened his eyes. "I gotta ask you something…" He slowly sat up since Dean sounded serious. "I don't wanna leave you alone if I can help it, but I really don't want you around this guy." He wasn't sure what Dean meant since Raphael hadn't shown up at the hospital, and it looked like they were back at the abandoned shack from earlier. "Will you stay in the car for me?"

"What if something happens to you?" he asked. He really didn't want to stay in the car while Dean went to talk to an archangel.

"Cas said Raphael can't hurt me," Dean said. "But that won't stop him from hurting you. In fact, he's more likely to hurt you to try to get me to do what the angels want."

"But you said you wouldn't do what they wanted," he said.

"I will if you're in danger," Dean said. He didn't know what to say. No one had ever tried to protect him before like Dean did. "Please stay in the car for me."

"Ok," he whispered.

"Ok for real this time?" Dean asked.

"For real," he said.

Dean stood up and kissed his forehead before he shut the door and walked into the shack. He did not like waiting in the car, but he didn't want to hurt Dean. What Dean said might be true. If he went in there, Raphael could use him to hurt Dean. He still hated waiting, and he really hated being alone.

He jumped when the lights in the shack went out. He changed his mind; he really, really hated not knowing what was going on. Dean could die. What was he going to do if Dean died? He didn't want to lose Dean. He just got him. He liked having someone take care of him and let him play and have fun. He'd never had fun before he'd found Dean.

It hurt to breathe when it started raining. He had to force himself to take slow breaths. He couldn't freak out like he did last time. Dean might not want him if he was always falling apart like that. He was a soldier. He could stay in the car by himself without freaking out.

He did feel a little better when he saw the inside of the cabin light up again. Cas must have caught more oil on fire. He didn't know they had put down oil in the shack, but he was glad they did. Dean was super smart; he could try to worry a little less since he knew Dean was smart. He wouldn't have gone in the shack knowing that Raphael was coming without a plan.

He gasped when the remaining windows all shattered at the same time. He had to force himself to stay in the car. Raphael could still use his powers if he could shatter the windows. Maybe the magic oil wasn't working. Dean was definitely in danger.

He immediately ran out of the car as soon as he saw Dean leaving the shack. Dean scooped him up but glanced back at the shack to make sure Raphael wasn't following them. "C'mon kiddo," Dean said, getting in the front seat with him. Dean floored it away from the shack once Cas was inside, glancing back again.

"Is he still trapped?" he asked, leaning against Dean's side.

"He should be…I just don't know how long the trap will hold," Dean said.

"Did you find out where God was?" he asked.

"Not so much," Dean said. Dean looked over at Cas and asked, "You ok?" Cas didn't say anything, which probably meant that he wasn't ok. Cas was pretty set on finding God, so he must be disappointed with whatever Raphael told them. "Look, I'll be the first to tell you that this little crusade of yours is nuts, but I do know a little something about missing fathers."

"What do you mean?" Cas asked. He looked at Dean curiously since he didn't know that much about Dean. He liked being with Dean, but he didn't know anything about his missing father. Was his father still alive? Did Dean find him? He really didn't know, and he definitely didn't know how to ask.

"I mean, there were times when I was looking for my Dad when all logic said that he was dead, but I knew in my heart he was still alive," Dean said. "Who cares what some ninja turtle says, Cas, what do you believe?"

"I believe he's out there," Cas said.

"Good. Then go find him," Dean stated. Cas nodded once before he disappeared.

Dean was quiet for a long time, and he didn't really like it when Dean was quiet. He wanted to know more about Dean's father, but he didn't want to upset Dean, so he asked, "What's a ninja turtle?" Before Dean could answer, he quickly continued, "I think it's sounds kinda awesome. Ninjas are really cool, but I'm confused about the turtle. Shouldn't they be something faster? Or maybe that's part of their ninja skills. Maybe they make people think they're really slow since turtles are slow, but they're ninjas, and people aren't ready for a fast turtle."

Dean laughed a lot once he stopped talking. "I like the way you think, kiddo."

"Why do you think Raphael was a ninja turtle? I didn't get to see the archangel when he finally showed up…did he look different from the guy in the wheelchair? Is Cas a ninja turtle?"

Dean laughed again, "Raphael is the name of one of the ninja turtles."

"So, there's more than one ninja turtle," he asked excitedly.

"Yes there is," Dean said. "Guess I know what we're watching next."

"There's a show for ninja turtles?!" That was beyond awesome. He leaned against Dean's side, "I think we need to find a ninja turtle to keep with us all the time."

"That's not a bad idea," Dean said. "They'll be hard to find though."

"We can do it," he said.

"We better start lookin' then," Dean said.

He smiled and leaned a little more against Dean's side. Even if they didn't find any ninja turtles, at least he had Dean.

---

More soon...