III.
"Wait. Does 'together' include me as well?" Eddie asks.
"NO!" Cass shouts.
"Yes, if you want your Papa back. At least according to Billie anyways." Sam says.
"Awesome." Eddie sounds less than enthused. "So how do we kill God?"
The blaring of horns permeates the air, stopping anyone from answering. The sound isn't just in the bunker, it's heard in every corner of the earth. While everyone covers their ears in a futile attempt to block the noise, the ground begins to tremble.
"What is this?!" Jack cries out, fearfully.
"It's the start of the apocalypse!" Cass yells over the din. "The angels of heaven are signaling the beginning of the end times by blowing their trumpets!"
Then just as suddenly as the commotion started, it ceases. The earth stops rumbling, but the light fixtures still sway in the wake. Everyone lowers their hands from their ears as they regain their bearings.
"First the dead will rise. Next there will be earthquakes. Then there will be floods and plague." Cass says ominously.
"So you're saying the zombies and quakes aren't just here?" Dean points at the ground for emphasis.
"Unfortunately, not." Cass answers.
"Well, there's not much we can do about the quakes," Sam sighs, "but before we can focus on how to take out Chuck, I think we need to prioritize saving people from the undead."
"And to stop the floods and plague." Jack adds helpfully.
"Sounds like a plan to me." Dean says, heading towards the weapons cage.
"Wait." Eddie stops him. "Not to be mean or nothing, but y'all look like crap."
"Thanks." Dean quips with a deflated expression.
"I'm just trying to say, y'all are beat to hell, you've got an angel with busted wings, and ain't a one of ya even close to peak fightin form. But you're gonna try to run out there and take on the apocalypse?" Eddie says skeptically.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't exactly have time to heal up." Dean says dryly.
"And how do you know about my wings?" Cass asks aggressively.
"Same way you know about my three heads; I can see them plain as day!" Eddie rolls her eyes then speaks reluctantly. "Look, I'm not much of a fighter, but I will help y'all out as best I can." She turns toward Cass. "Let me start with you."
Stepping towards him, Eddie swats at the open air above Cass' shoulder. Dean and Sam are confused by what she's doing until Eddie latches onto something invisible and Cass is suddenly jerked forward onto his knees.
"OW! They're still broken, remember!?" Cass barks.
"Calm down, ya big turkey! It won't be broken for much longer if you just hold still and let me fix you!!" Eddie hisses back at him.
While invisible to Sam and Dean's eyes, Jack watches as Eddie snaps one of Cass' wings into place. The loud cracking noise is heard by everyone, and Cass yelps in pain. This triggers a response in Jack, and his eyes glow gold before he blasts Eddie with waves of telekinetic force.
"DON'T HURT MY DAD!!!" Jack screams at her.
Eddie is forced to drop Cass's wing but she is able to withstand Jack's barrage by planting her feet and throwing her arms in front of her head defensively. Once he's done screaming, Eddie pushes back against Jack, knocking him into a nearby chair.
"Calm down, training pants!" Eddie yells at him.
"Hey… this actually does feel better." Cass sounds surprised as he slowly flaps the wing Eddie was just holding.
Sam and Dean still can't see the wings, but the shadows of Cass' feathered appendages are visible against the wall. The Winchester men notice the improvement on the side Eddie was just working.
Eddie tucks away a stray tress of her hair that had fallen out of place during Jack's assault.
"You know, I bet if you used that power to help your angel instead of throwing temper tantrums, this would have been fixed already!" Eddie says with her hands on her hips.
Jack already shifted from anger to amazement when he recognized Eddie was helping, not hurting Cass. But now he switches to curiosity.
"You mean, I can help him?" Jack asks, face full of hopefulness.
"Of course you can!" Eddie juts her head in a movement that expresses "duh!"
"But it's kinda like medicine; it'll be good for him, but he ain't gonna like it." Eddie grabs Cass' wing again. Looking over her shoulder, she says, "Name's Jack, right? Here grab the other wing and I'll show you."
Jack approaches, and Cass turns his head to the boy. Placing his hands on Cass's broken wing, Jack asks "Is this okay?"
"It's fine. Thanks for not manhandling me." Cass shoots a look at Eddie and receives another eyeroll in return. He continues, "Lets just get this over with."
"Okay, first you gotta reset the bone. You can see where it's broken, can't you?" Eddie asks.
Jack stares at the wing, pondering for a moment. "Yes."
"Good. Now put it back in place." Eddie says.
There's another loud crack and a second yelp from Cass.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Jack is distressed.
"It's fine!" Cass reassures. "Just finish it."
"Now this next part is tricky. We gotta re-grow angel feathers. It takes a lot more concentration than just popping bones back into place." Eddie's hands move along the shaft of the wing, stopping at a gap in the feathers. Angelic light shines from her fingers accompanied by a drilling noise has she slowly pulls a feather down into the empty space.
Cass scrunches up his face, then his pop open wide like he's being violated. Eddie ignores him.
Jack copies Eddie's movement, however he is much faster at it. Finishing one wing, Jack moves to the other, asking Eddie to step away.
Shadows cast on the wall enable the Winchesters to follow Cass' progress. Eddie approaches the men, small beads of sweat along her temple.
"How did you learn to do that?" Sam asks, impressed.
"Papa had me help him the last time I saw him. He had gotten into a small scuffle and needed a couple feathers replaced. I'll admit, I was kinda winging it resetting the bone. Pun intended." Eddie smirks.
"You were 'winging it'?" Dean is incredulous.
"Hey, I like animals and I've been around a really long time. I've had the opportunity to fix many broken wings in my lifetime." Eddie shrugs.
"Here, it's your turn next anyways." Eddie says, grabbing Dean's arm. Before he can argue, she slaps the palm of her hand onto his forehead. His entire body glows for a moment until Eddie removes her hand.
"WOW!" Dean's eyes light up in surprise. "I feel better than new! Totally energized, like I can take on the world!"
"Well, that's what I'm trying to get you ready for!" Eddie wipes the sweat from her brow.
Jack finishes with Cass and now he steps up to Sam.
"Let me try to do you!" Jack says excitedly, clapping his hand to Sam's forehead.
Sam glows brighter than Dean did but when Jack pulls his hand back, Eddie stifles a giggle. Sam's hair is now tightly coiled like sheep's wool, and the scent of singed hair lingers in the air.
"Oh, sorry Sam!" Jack pulls down both corners of his mouth and tucks his chin into his neck to make a face that says Whoopsie!
Eddie moves her hand from the smirk she was covering to the top of Sam's head to fix his hair. Turning her head to Jack, she says "I like your enthusiasm, kid. But you need to take some stank off your stroke. If you're not careful, you can pump a body too full of healing energy and make it explode."
Dean's eyes shoot up in surprise. "Yikes! Sounds like you're talking from experience."
"Oh yeah! Like a squirrel jumping into a transformer." Eddie makes a half grimace, whoopsie face of her own. "But that only happened a couple times with small animals back when I was first trying to figure out my power."
"Good to know!" Jack nods in acknowledgment.
"Hey, where'd Cass go?" Sam says, noticing their angel is missing.
The sound of fluttering wings announces Cass's arrival and he suddenly reappears before them.
"I just tested out my wings. They're stronger and faster than they were before. Thank you, Jack." Cass pointedly neglects to thank Eddie. She blinks at him.
Jack misses the antagonism between them. "That's great! It's a good thing Eddie was here to show me the way!" He says brightly.
"Er, yes. Thank you, Eddie." Cass grumbles before continuing. "It's utter chaos outside. Most people are barricading themselves indoors but there are some vigilantes trying to fight back. They're greatly underestimating the sheer amount of the undead and they'll be quickly overwhelmed if we don't help them."
"Alright! Let's gear up and roll out!" Dean cracks his neck then rolls his shoulders with vigor.
"We won't all fit in the impala." Cass sneers at Eddie. No matter how cooperative she's been, he still doesn't like her.
"The bench seats will fit six in a pinch." Sam chimes in. He's not necessarily trying to come to Eddie's defense, but he is getting tired of Cass's attitude.
"And three of us have wings!" Jack adds innocently. He's not sure why Cass is ignoring that fact.
"Oh, I didn't want to assume those leathery mudflaps of yours could actually take flight." Cass says cuttingly to Eddie.
Before Eddie can say anything, Sam's had enough.
"What is your problem, Cass? Hasn't she been helpful enough?"
"I don't know why you're all suddenly so trusting of her! We barely know this fiend!" Cass says frustrated.
"Look," Sam runs an exasperated hand through his hair and sighs. "I'm not saying she's our new best friend, but it's the end of the world and we could really use all hands on deck! At the very least, Eddie hasn't given us any reason to distrust her. At this point, it's worth the risk to invite her into the group."
"Whatever!" Cass mutters. "I'll text you the coordinates."
With the flap of wings, Cass vanishes. Then Dean's phone jingles with a text notification.
"Well, we got our location." Dean shakes his phone. "Are you two gonna ride with us or just zip over there like Cass did?"
"I'll ride to conserve my energy." Eddie says.
"Ooo, me too!" Says Jack, excitedly. "It'll give me time to ask you about your three heads!"
Sam makes a shocked face, worried Jack may have crossed a line. When Eddie laughs it off, Sam smiles, shaking his head, then follows Dean to load up the impala. Jack and Eddie come along to help. Prep is done quickly and the impala's suspension creaks under the weight of the extra weapons placed in her trunk.
Pulling away from the bunker, Dean tells everyone, "I hope you're all ready for the creep show."