Song Remains the Same
Chapter 98 / Prophet Margins
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
- Allen Saunders
A Few Minutes Ago…
Dean and Alex exited together to go find Cas, leaving just Meg and Sam in the dim hospital room alone.
Sam silently knelt down and began to pick up the three broken pieces of the stone tablet that Castiel had dropped and broken into pieces. He ignored Meg's presence completely.
The demon stood over him, arms crossed. "So what are you guys caught up in now, hm?" she asked, voice smooth and dark as usual. Sam said nothing, and Meg's face tightened faintly. "I deserve to know, Sam." He pointedly said nothing. An impatient little expression twitched on Meg's face. "Silent treatment," she observed thinly. "'Kay, great, thanks for that." When he silently put the last piece of stone into the backpack, Meg heaved an inconvenienced sigh and walked to the door. She paused there and got an idea then began to smile. "Gosh," she said in a tone dripping with false sweetness. "I wonder what your brother and sister would think about what the two of us did without clothes on back in the day, don't you?"
That got his attention. Sam looked up at her with a traumatized expression on his handsome young face. Meg's smirk grew, she wiggled her eyebrows at him, then began to walk down the hallway knowing the hunter would take the bait and indulge her in a conversation. Sure enough, his hurried footsteps chased her.
"Wait, Meg! Where are you going?" he demanded as she turned around to smirk at him haughtily. He looked extremely embarrassed. "You are not gonna tell anyone about that," he insisted with a threatening point of his finger at her. "I was soulless at the time. I would have probably screwed anything that moved."
"Gosh, how sweet Sammy," Meg deadpanned sarcastically, then sighed lengthily. "Don't worry, I'm not spilling the beans to your precious little siblings about our little tryst, kay?"
Sam looked at her mistrustfully, his eyes narrowing. "…Why not? What's your angle?"
"Goes a little something like regret, Moose Man," she said airily, and surprised confusion filtered across his face in response. Meg smiled, a note of reminiscence in her eyes and voice. "I mean, obviously our little naked workout sesh was nice and all and now I know for real you're a loaded gun downtown, Sammy, but… wasn't right of me to do that to your sweet, tight little soulless ass, was it?" She smiled at him coyly.
He looked extremely suspicious. "What, so now you're suddenly Miss Morals and Values?"
"If I have to be," she returned leisurely. At the abrupt laugh and scoff he gave to her response, Meg's eyebrows rose slowly. "What, demons can't grow and change?"
Sam looked like he'd sooner believe pigs could fly. "Don't make me laugh."
"Why not?" Meg teased, sauntering a step closer. "I like your dimples." She grinned at him and enjoyed the obvious irritation. Her nose wrinkled up like she thought something was really cute. "They're so damn kissable!"
Sam set his mouth in a thin, unamused line. And then, a soft, muffled sound somewhere behind him cut the moment off. Sam turned around, going into hunter-mode immediately—he was already hurrying back to the hospital room where the noise seemed to have come from, Meg close behind him. The room was exactly how they left it… except the backpack Sam had left behind with the stone tablet? Gone.
"…What the hell?" Sam breathed. Outside, a shadowy, short figure abruptly hurried by the window, clutching a bag. The bag. Sam's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened as panic set in. "Hey—hey hey hey, someone's got the thingy!" he exclaimed, then took off, Meg behind him.
"Word of God, get your facts straight," she muttered, right behind him. Sam sprinted out of a side exit and into the night after the short figure of what looked to be a young, dark-haired Asian girl.
"Hey!" Sam roared, and the person with the tablet looked back over his shoulder with huge, scared eyes. It wasn't a girl—it was a teenage boy, and he took off fast when he saw Sam's huge figure bearing down on him. The kid could run, and he began to zig zag as he let loose audible sounds of dismay. "Hey!" Sam shouted, running full speed and almost falling over his own legs when the kid abruptly zagged to the right.
"No, stop!" the kid shouted, just out of Sam's reach as he raced on flying legs through the dark hospital grounds. "Leave me alone!" He dodged to the left right as Sam almost caught him. "Aah!"
Despite his best attempts, he ran straight into Meg's outstretched arm and went down hard. On his back, stunned, breathless to the point of wheezing, the kid laid there and clutched the bag with the stone in it hard, his face showing panic and fear. "Not a demon or a chomper… what the hell are you?" Meg asked, looking down at him in dark suspicion.
Stuttering in his winded, nearly hyperventilating state, the boy managed a reply. "I'm a... K-Kevin Tran," he wheezed, voice high-pitched with terror. It looked like he was in tears or about to be. "I'm in advanced placement, p-p-please don't kill me," he begged, his dark eyes flying back and forth from Meg to Sam in staunch alarm.
Wwinded himself, Sam stared down at the kid who'd just given him a run for his money. "I'm not gonna kill you," he panted and hauled Kevin to his feet. The kid was built short and slight. He wore some kind of suit looking thing, dress clothes, and his jet black hair was long, especially in the back where it touched the collar of his shirt. He had huge eyes that were currently showing an obviously petrified state of mind—Sam tried to take the bag from him and all he got was a stifled sob sound and no bag. The kid wouldn't let go and Sam tried again, flabbergasted.
"I'm sorry," Kevin apologized shakily, and Sam yanked multiple times, confounded by how strong the tiny guy seemed to be. His efforts only succeeded in shaking Kevin violently and making him give a couple of despairing squeaks. "I-I'm sorry, I, I don't, I don't know why, but I can't let go of this," Kevin insisted, mouth quivering.
Meg and Sam exchanged a stumped look. Forever-suspicious of anyone he didn't know, Sam turned a narrow-eyed stare onto the kid. "Who are you?" he asked lowly. "Why are you here?"
Cowering and holding the bag for dear life, the kid shook his head, obviously desperate to be believed. "I t-told you. Kevin Tran. I-I'm just a student," he said, and Sam looked him over carefully, trying to decide if it was an act or what. "I don't know why I'm here, I can't remember how I g-got here," Kevin continued. His expression was vaguely ill and he looked down at the bag he held, his face abruptly showing shock. "Or when I picked this up," he said. He began to breathe harder, puffing like a racehorse. "Am I on drugs?" he asked, staring at the ground in growing dismay. "Did someone slip me a roofy?"
"And the plot thickens…" Meg observed, seeming mildly amused by it. "He's just a kid, Sammy."
A kid who was quickly approaching panic-attack levels. "Breathe, Kevin," Sam counseled grudgingly, not sure what was going on. He tried once more to remove the bag from the kid's clamped arms to no avail—Kevin only shut his eyes and whimpered at the jostling. No other choice, Sam heaved a short huff. "Okay, let's just get back inside and figure this out," he said, and began to steer Kevin that way. Meg walked alongside.
Kevin looked back and forth with flighty eyes at the people on either side of him, waiting a good ten seconds before asking his nervous, breathy question. "W-who are you guys?"
Sam glanced his way. "Long story," he said flatly. "I'm Sam. That's Meg."
Meg gave him a wink that he flinched away from. "Pleasure," she drawled.
Kevin's breathing kicked up a notch again and he stared at the space in front of himself unseeingly as Sam guided him back into the hospital and toward Cas's room. "Is this real life? This… this can't be real."
"Famous last words," Meg murmured through a smirk.
The entered the room the bag had been taken from and Sam maneuvered Kevin over to the bed. "Sit down," he commanded, and Kevin complied, still holding the bag. Dragging a hand down over his mouth, Sam took a second and watched Kevin with a close frown.
Kevin looked back at Sam, childlike dread on his face. "W-what's going on?" he asked, nervousness making his voice soft and faint.
"That's what I want you to tell me," Sam said, frowning at the bag. "Why can't you let go of it?"
He didn't know, and it was clear from one look in his eyes that he was clueless. "All I know is, this is—it's for me," Kevin said shakily. "I'm supposed to keep it."
"But you don't know what it is," Sam surmised uncertainly. Kevin shook his head no, confirming Sam's suspicions. After a second of deliberation, Sam looked at Kevin hard. "Open it."
Kevin hesitated, then did as he was told, unzipping the bag slowly and gingerly drawing out one piece of tablet, then another. His face was puzzled as he regarded the jagged pieces. He slowly, hesitantly turned the one in his left hand and then put it next to the one in his right, holding the broken pieces close where they had been shattered apart. And as the stone touched stone, there was a flare of warm light along the crack and the stone was knit back together where it had been broken. Kevin's eyes widened and he swallowed, vaguely panicked. His eyes shot up to Sam, who was just as shocked as Kevin was. "W-what was that?" he asked, breathless.
"…How did you do that?" Sam asked, his tone tempered by the beginnings of amazement and worry alike. Meg, too, was amazed and rounded the bed to stand near Sam.
Kevin's eyebrows were crawling up his forehead as he got more and more freaked out. "I—I dunno."
"It's okay," Sam told him, making his tone more reassuring and less stunned. He paused. "Can you do it again?" He gestured to the bag where the third and final piece waited.
"But I didn't do anything," Kevin insisted, then picked up the third piece. "All I did was put it like this and—" again, when he held the pieces together, they fused back together, and the stone was repaired, like it had never been broken at all. Kevin looked absolutely confounded and stared up at Sam. "Is this some kind of trick someone's playing on me? Where's the hidden camera?"
Sam shook his head, intrigued and apprehensive all at the same time about this boy and what the hell he was. "There's no camera, Kevin."
"Curiouser and curiouser…" Meg commented, sarcasm flirting in her tone as always.
Kevin fell silent and looked at the stone, his fingers brushing over the carved in symbols briefly. He relaxed somewhat, studying the words and then frowning slightly and squinting. "It's… writing," he said, then frowned deeper. "What's 'Leviathan'?"
Sam's eyebrows rose. "Wait, what?" he asked intently. "You can read it? Is that what it says?"
"Yeah," Kevin murmured, eyes locked on the tablet. "I… I kinda can read it. It hurts a little. Like looking through somebody else's glasses, but I think it... it's about Leviathan, how it came to be and… 'God locked him up far away?' Like in jail... because they're so powerful and bad… they're…" he stopped reading and looked up, a new realization on his face. "Are these things real?" he breathed.
Sam was grim. "Yeah, Kevin. They—they are. And they're here." Kevin began to get upset again at that little factoid. "Does it say anything about how to kill them? 'Cause that's—that's kind of been a problem."
Kevin's hands were shaking as they held the tablet, and from the way his voice trembled, it was pretty obvious that he was having problems not crying. "I don't know. It's not like reading reading. It—it's hard to focus on it too long…"
At that moment, Meg's eyes went completely black and the lights in the room flickered. "Sam," she murmured. "Something's up."
Kevin glanced up at Meg, and abruptly screamed. "Aah!" He backpedaled on the bed, freaking out and screaming some more, even as Meg's eyes returned to normal.
"Kevin, hey, hey, hey. Kevin," Sam attempted to quiet him down.
"Your girlfriend has black eyes!" Kevin shouted, hugging the tablet to himself hard.
Sam's face went completely wan. "She's not my—"
Abruptly, the light bulb shattered and the room fell into darkness as a new presence could viscerally be felt. Sam whirled. A woman in a business suit with blonde hair and pretty features had appeared. She looked very angry, especially when she laid eyes on Meg. "Demon," she spat, and flicked her hand, telepathically sending Meg flying back into the nearby wall. The woman's eyes went to Sam, and recognition showed. "And you," she said, seeming cynical and bitter. "Ah yes well. A demon whore and a Winchester... again." Whoever she was, she was obviously a threat. Sam edged toward Kevin protectively, and the woman's face showed utter fury. "Step away from the prophet!"
Sam's mouth dropped open and he looked at the only person she could mean. On the bed, Kevin, wide-eyed and afraid, stared. "Who… me?"
"Sole keeper of the word on earth, we are here to take you," the woman announced, an air of importance in her voice.
"What?!" Kevin exclaimed, then screamed as another man appeared close by to the woman.
"Kill the demon and her lover," the woman said to the new arrival.
Sam made a face. Oh come on. "Hey, just because the one time—"
Meg, who was getting up from where she'd been shoved into the wall, was similarly disgruntled. "That's not how it—we're not—" The man held out his hand as he approached her as if he were about to smite her. Without warning, Meg whipped out a shining silvery blade and slashed at him with it defensively—he cried out in surprise and fell back, cupping his palm, which glowed with white-blue light. Sam swallowed. They were angels.
"Where did you get that?!" the female angel demanded, bearing down on Meg angrily.
A sound of wings came, and everyone in the room turned to see a pleasant looking Castiel, who gazed around at the hostile situation with a vapid, friendly smile on his face.
The male angel who had been injured looked as though he had seen a ghost. "…Castiel?"
A childlike grin grew on Cas's face. "Hi."
The other angel smiled, his face showing genuine surprise and affection. "You're... alive?"
Castiel grinned all the wider and ducked his head down in a humble shrug as he spread his arms briefly.
The female angel did not look as happy to see him. "How?" she asked, face slack in shock. "You were supposed to be dead."
"Well… it would appear that I'm not," Cas said, his tone and expression playful. As she walked over to him, an unhappy expression on his face, Cas's smile fell a little. "Hello, Hester."
"You smote thousands in Heaven," she accused, looking at him mistrustfully as she drifted closer and closer. "You gave a big, scary speech, then you were gone." Her face twisted and she suddenly shouted. "What the hell was that?!"
"Rude, for one thing," Cas replied, appearing appropriately regretful.
"…'Rude'?" Hester repeated in disbelief.
"Where have you been?" the other male angel asked, much more concerned and empathetic than Hester was.
And then at the doorway, there was a commotion as Alex skidded into view, breathless and disheveled from running—her angel blade was clenched in her hand and her expression was sort of fierce. She wasted no time in rushing into the room and pulling Cas back from Hester, whose stance was clearly threatening.
"What's going on here?" she asked, her guarded eyes flickering over everyone in the room and resting on Kevin's quietly whimpering, huddled figure for a beat longer than everyone else.
Cas smiled at her and touched her shoulder affectionately. "Everything's fine, I'm just catching up with, with some old friends!" He grinned over at Hester, who looked like she'd never heard anything more ridiculous. Cas returned his gaze to Alex. "But it's very nice of you to come to my aide… you're so nice to me, gosh." He abruptly noticed a loose hair stuck to her shirt along the upper chest and forgot everything else, reached for it. "Ooh, another hair for my project…"
"Stop that!" Alex said, smacking his hand away. Cas looked surprised and stung.
Hester looked at Alex with narrowed eyes and clear distaste. "I remember you," she said icily, then raised her voice to speak to the other angel in the room. "He's been with her, Inias. His disgusting little human whore."
Indignant, Alex made a face. "…Excuse me?"
Smiling the entire time, Cas chuckled and looked at Hester in over politeness. "Um, pardon, but I'm afraid you just insulted my wife. That was a very rude thing to say. Apologize immediately, please."
Hester's sour eyes flickered to Cas. "Your wife." she repeated with disdain and disbelief. "Castiel… the madness has gone on long enough," she insisted, voice rising with emotion. "You want me to apologize to you? After what you did? After the ways this human and her family have influenced your mind to perversity and lowness and blasphemy?!"
Cas looked like he had trouble following everything she said and he wasn't sure what answer she wanted. "Um… yes?" he asked, innocent and wide-eyed.
"I will not!" Hester thundered. "I want you to explain yourself!"
Sadness abruptly showed on Cas's face. "Oh, Hester, Inias… I... I know you want something—answers." He scrambled for words, looking more and more unsure and lost every second. "I... I wish it could be that simple… but… I'm afraid I just don't—" his face worked hard in a thoughtful frown before he became overly helpful and increasingly animated. "There are still many things I can teach you. I can offer, um, well, perspective! And perhaps a demonstration of what not to do." He grinned self-consciously. "Oops." He abruptly seemed to get a bright idea. "Oh, here!" Cas pointed his finger at her and waited, smiling. "Pull my finger." When all Hester did was look at him strangely, Cas began to lose confidence. "Uh… uh... the demon will—will get another light bulb, and I'll—I'll blow it out again and, well, this time, it'll be funny and—and we'll all look back and laugh because it was such an adorable moment." He waited hopefully, an expression of slight fear resting on his face.
Hester looked like she had heard enough. "…You're insane."
When the angel advanced on Cas, Alex's angel blade shot up, tip-first, even as she pushed Cas back and stood between him and Hester. "Don't," she warned, deadly.
Nearby, Sam was stiff as a board, holding his breath, eyeing Meg's angel blade and trying to calculate how fast he could get to it even as Hester sneered. "Like you could knife fight an angel."
"She doesn't have to," came a new voice. Everyone looked to see Dean with a severe expression in the doorway. "Heads up, Sunshine." He slammed his hand to the wall just outside the room, and when he did, the room went white hot with light too bright to bear and loud pained shrieks echoed as the angels were all sent flying away.
Alex's hand lowered from in front of her eyes as her blade drifted downward—the angel she'd been threatening was gone and she was vaguely stunned. Cas was gone too, and the look on her face said it all. "You're welcome," Dean muttered gruffly as he sauntered into the room. "All angels blown back to their corners. We got three, four hours tops."
His sister stared at his cut-open palm where blood dripped, her expression mystified and slightly riled. "How did you even have time t—"
"What's happening?!" Kevin abruptly shouted, shaking on the bed like a terrified puppy. He panted with whimpering sounds, his arms clenching the tablet harder than necessary as he looked around the room occupants with wild, crazed eyes. "WHAT'S—HAPPENING?!"
Dean looked at Kevin with a slight frown, standing back fractionally like he might catch something. "What is that?"
"It's, uh... Kevin Tran," Sam supplied a little awkwardly. "He's, uh, in advanced placement."
Alex watched the kid huffing and puffing as he stared at his own feet. "Looks more like he's in shock," she said, then attempted to catch his eyes. "You okay, kid?"
"No!" Kevin shrieked. "No, no, no! I'm not okay! What—is—happening?!" he demanded at a full-tilt scream. All three Winchesters stood back slightly because of his ear-splitting volume. Kevin took a couple seconds to pant hard. "Someone please explain why people are appearing and disappearing out of thin air and why she has black eyes and why that one guy's hand glowed and why I can't let go of this huge rock full of scary writing!" he rambled frantically.
"Wait, what?" Dean's eyebrows slammed together as his gaze rocketed to Sam. "Can't let go of the rock?"
"The angels called him a prophet, said they were here to take him away," Sam explained with an ill-informed shrug.
Dean looked vaguely sick, his voice softening a little. "Oh my god, how old is he, like seventeen?"
"Sixteen!" Kevin exclaimed tremulously, agitated to the point of collapse. "I'm sixteen and in school and I shouldn't be here!" His face went slack, like he was realizing just how bizarre the circumstances he was in were. "I… I need to get outta here!" He jumped out of bed, crazed—and was immediately stopped by someone who had nearly a foot of height on him.
Sam gently manhandled him back down into a sitting position on the bed. "Sit down, Kevin. Breathe."
Kevin did, but breathing seemed to be a huge, laborious effort for him. "Sorry, Kevin… right?" Alex chanced, eyeing him carefully. He seemed like he was on a delicate ledge of a mental break or at the very least passing out. But his huge, scared eyes raised to look into hers. He looked so young. So afraid. And Alex really didn't know what to say to him except the truth. "If angels are after you, the last place you wanna be is out there on your own."
More fear flared in his eyes. "W-who are you people?!" Kevin asked, face twisting in distress. "What's going on?!"
Dean rubbed his forehead tiredly with his clean hand, appearing fed up. "Well, Sam, I'm fresh outta explanations one-oh-one, wanna give the kid a rundown of reality in all it's shitty glory? I went last time." Alex eyed Dean and his dripping, bloody palm then turned and began to dig through a drawer as Sam did as he'd been asked.
Sam sat beside Kevin and put on his explaining expression and tone. "Okay, Kevin, look. I'm gonna shoot straight with you, so… strap in. The… the supernatural is real. Ghosts, monsters, angels, demons, pretty much all of the stuff you thought was made up is real. And, uh, apparently, God's real too." Kevin's face suggested that was lunacy. Sam acknowledged that. "Yeah. I know, trust me. But that piece of stone you're holding onto is like, his Word or something, okay? And apparently, Leviathan want it. They're monsters, pretty bad ones—they eat people and can shape-shift and—" Sam stopped abruptly when sheer terror began to grow on Kevin's youthful face. "Yeah, too much. Uh, sorry." Sam cleared his throat. "My family here, we hunt monsters, we help keep the world a little safer. That's my brother Dean, my sister Alex." He gestured to each in turn—Alex was currently wrapping Dean's bloody palm but paused to throw up a wan smile and a hand in acknowledgement. Sam paused and grudgingly recognized the other person in the room. "And that's… Meg. The demon."
Kevin's eyebrows moved in towards each other. "W-wait, aren't demons bad?" he asked, his eyes nervously flickering to Meg and then the Winchesters. "Why are you friends with one?"
"Good question," Dean muttered, sending Meg an ugly look.
"Hey. I mean… tough times," Sam said heavily, then smiled tightly. "And 'friend' is a really generous way of putting it."
Meg made a face.
Kevin was a little calmer now than he'd been earlier, but still struggling hard to understand. "I'm sorry, so, these—these Leviathans—these monsters are real? They got out of… of Purgatory like this thing says? And angels are real? Like the kind w-with wings?"
Sam nodded, then made a face when he realized his yes wasn't total. "Yeah, they're real, but no... no wings. No anything."
"No, they have wings," his sister corrected, a sidelong glance darting his way as she threw away some bandage packaging. "You just can't see them on this, um, plane of existence."
Kevin looked at her with intrigued confusion, like he wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
"I'll tell you what they don't have," Dean volunteered, sauntering across the room like he owned the place before he leaned against the window and half-sat in the windowsill to face Kevin and Sam. "No junk. Junkless."
That earned him a disgruntled, drawn look from Alex who stood across the room still. "They have junk, moron."
A cold smile grew on Dean's face and he made a sarcastic comment meant to shut her up. "Oh gosh, well then why don't you tell us more since you're such an expert?"
A challenging little expression rested on his sister's face, and she surprised everyone when she replied to Dean spitefully. "Huge, glorious junk, sippy straw."
Dean balked at her unexpected comment, Sam sputtered on nothing. Meg let out a guffaw of laughter. "Sippy straw, huh, Dean? Good to know."
Embarrassed, Dean's voice was harder than usual. "Shut up, Meg."
Kevin hesitated, his eyes darting around the room and gauging the tension that was so obvious between the family and their demon companion. "Um…" he swallowed, wet his lips, then tried to return the conversation to less awkward waters. "So, the… the people in business suits in here just now were angels? They… they didn't look like angels to me."
Dean folded his arms and set his face. "Just forget the angels, Kevin—you can read the chicken scratch on the God rock, huh?"
Kevin's face showed puzzlement. "Uh…"
"The God rock that is magically back in one piece, I see," Dean said, frowning hard at the magically-repaired stone. "Is there some sort of a 'how to punch Dick' recipe in there somewhere?"
Kevin's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I-I don't know what you're saying, but it seems kind of like an 'in case of emergency' note—I would need some time to, uh, you know, read all of it, it's kinda hard to look at," he said faintly, looking down into his lap. "What did they mean by 'prophet,' anyway?" He looked up at them with nervous eyes. "I… I don't think I wanna be a prophet."
"No," Dean replied grimly. "You don't at all."
Immediate signs of fear showed. "Why?" Kevin asked, then when they took to long to reply, he asked again in a higher voice. "Why?"
"Let's just say they tend to… disappear," Sam said delicately.
Kevin abruptly began to freak out again. "Oh no—no, no—" he whined, quickly approaching hyperventilation again. "My life is ruined! Why is this happening?!"
"Whoa, calm down," Sam said. "We talked about this: breathe."
Dean looked at Meg and Alex in turn. "You girls got any downers in this place?"
"She's got some in her underwear drawer, Mr. America," Meg retorted. "Now listen, enough pointless yakking. We gotta start running and hiding. Or do you want to tangle with those wing nuts twice?"
Dean's eyebrows rose. "I'm sorry, did you just say 'we'?"
"I'm on the angels' radar now," Meg replied evenly. "You think I don't need a little safety in numbers?"
Cynically amused, Dean crossed his arms and looked at her with laughing eyes. "Safety in numbers? With us? You're outta your tree, short stuff. Get lost."
Meg reacted strongly, showing more emotion than usual. "What the hell, Dean!" she exclaimed, her voice conveying a dangerous element. "I have risked my ass for you and your stupid family and this is the thanks I get?"
"Dean," Alex said, her tone suggesting he was making a mistake. "We do owe her. You know we do. And besides that, it might be smart not to piss her off. Demon, remember?"
Meg smiled, pleased even though still obviously pissed. "Thank you, Ariel."
A sound of grated frustration came out of Dean's mouth and he stood up, walked off a few steps, then turned around and pointed at Meg assertively. "You are on thin ice, Meg. I'll let you tag along for now, but you do anything I don't like and it's vamoose, got it?"
Her smirk was back. "Loud and clear, G.I. Joe."
That got her an impatient, dark look from Dean who quickly barked out the plan. "All right we'll head to Rufus's cabin where we can settle in good and protected," he said. "Kid can do his book report there." He looked at his sister briefly, his tone hard to read. "Get your stuff."
It was all in a single duffel bag underneath the bag, and although she disliked his bossy tone, she got it and slung it over her shoulder. On the bed, Kevin shrank slightly at Dean's words. "Book report?"
"Yeah," Dean replied. "We need you to translate that thing—Spark's Notes ain't gonna cut it."
Kevin protested. "But—but—I have school! And cello practice! I gotta call my mom, she's probably worried sick, I can't just—"
Dean became deadly serious, almost sympathetic. "No. You listen to me. You keep your mom and the people you love as far outta this as you can," he said, leveling Kevin with an incredibly intense look. "School, whatever else—all that stuff isn't you anymore. Whatever your deal is, whatever the hell pulled you to this rock… prophet, whatever, I don't know—you're in now, kid. And there ain't no getting out."
Kevin's mouth worked like a dying fish's, opening and closing as his wide eyes darted around in a fruitless search for support. "But… but… I…" Sam hauled him to his feet and the feeble, miserable protests continued, becoming more and more defeated with every word. "It's not… I can't just… this isn't…"
"Come on, Kevin," Alex coached, hoisting her duffel over one shoulder and standing on Kevin's other side, helping Sam guide him out of the room. "One foot in front of the other." He let out a miserable weepy sound and she patted him awkwardly on the back a couple times.
"I don't like today," he lamented.
Walking up ahead, Dean spoke without looking back. "No one likes a complainer, Kevin."
About twenty minutes later, a demon, three hunters, and a prophet raced through the night in an old stolen SUV, headed for Montana. Upon request, Kevin was recounting the details the best he could about how he'd found himself supernaturally glued to the tablet Sam and Dean had found.
"And that's it," he concluded, heaving a tired, traumatized sigh. He was sitting in the back seat on the driver's side, Alex was next to him and Meg was next to her, passenger side. "The lightning stuff hit me like I said, I blacked out, got in the car I guess… I dunno. Drove like on autopilot. Don't remember any of it except the one phone call." He was rueful and quiet, somber. "And now I'm best friends with an ancient slab of rock." It sounded like he had a lump in his throat. "I was supposed to be taking the SATs…"
"Bleck," Dean volunteered heartily. "Be thankful you got outta that one."
Sam ignored his brother's comment and nodded tensely to himself, deep in thought about what Kevin had said. "And you said you never had anything else like this happen to you before."
Kevin was miserable and it showed. "The craziest thing that's ever happened in my life before this was the time when they misspelled my name in the school newspaper," he said glumly, then at Alex's expectant, curious sidelong look, he explained in a glum voice. "Kevin Train." He paused. "All the kids kept saying 'choo choo' to me in the halls." Dean chuckled lightly, but Kevin looked like he was slowly crumbling inside—his breathing was speeding up again. "Hurrngh—" he grunted, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth as his eyes flew back and forth between his knees unseeingly.
"Kevin…" Alex warned, but it was too late. He was starting to panic again.
"My life... my future… my girlfriend... my mom's car!" He huffed and puffed hard, escalating fast. "My grades, my reputation, my homework—!"
"Just breathe, little guy," Dean said tiredly. "No one cares about homework in the real world, trust me."
Alex began to dig around in her duffel as Kevin continued to freak out. "Am I gonna be stuck to this rock forever? How can someone even exist with a huge stone stuck to them!?" He suddenly got this utterly horrified look on his face as his voice raised to a flustered shriek. "How will I even go to the bathroom!?"
Dean made a face like he hadn't thought about that even as Sam frowned deeply. And then Dean's realization led to another realization. "Not it," he said quickly, and Sam gave him a bitchy side eye.
"I volunteer as tribute," Meg said through a typical smirk, watching like a gleeful spectator.
Kevin was making sobby whimpering sounds in between wheezing hard breaths and Alex turned toward him. "Hey, I'm sure we'll figure it out, okay? We figure everything out sooner or later." She held up a pudding cup with the spoon already in it, and Kevin stared at it like it was an alien. "Pudding cup?" she asked innocently.
Kevin looked at the snack, then Alex, then the snack, visibly calming down and deescalating slightly. "I—I am kinda hungry," he said, then took it hesitantly. "Thanks." Five minutes later, he was smiling vaguely at nothing and totally relaxed thanks to the downers Alex had snuck into the pudding he'd eaten unsuspectingly. "I don't know what I was so worried about…" he murmured, then abruptly conked out, his head lolling on his shoulder.
"Dude, you gotta share whatever you put in there," Dean said, glancing at Kevin in the rearview.
Alex ignored his comment. "He'll probably sleep for a couple hours now," she said, watching his now-peaceful face with something similar to ruefulness. He was so young and so clearly unprepared for this. His appearance said privileged, intelligent, and totally unfit for a life on the road. "Poor kid. Advanced placement, huh?"
"Not anymore," Sam said quietly, making the car atmosphere a little heavier. "Prophet," he muttered after a minute. "I mean, isn't he too young for that?"
Dean scoffed audibly. "Since when has God or whoever cared about whose life he screws with?"
"True," Sam acknowledged morosely. There was a brief silence and he glanced at Alex then Dean, hesitating before he asked. "You two good?" He'd noticed they were at least talking but after the month of Dean giving her the silent treatment, they were all fully aware that the rift between brother and sister was still there and had been widening for some time now.
Dean kept his eyes on the road and pulled a false little smile. "We're fine, aren't we, Al."
Her eyes were sidelong and looking out the window. "Peachy."
Sam shook his head. "Right."
A Few Hours Later
The car was quiet, the only consistent sound that of the whining engine and the old car chassis squeaking protest when they hit bump in the road. Stuck between a demon and a prophet, Alex was slouched down in her seat, trying to stay awake. If she fell asleep, she'd either end up leaning on Meg (which Alex refused to have happen) or Kevin (awkward and also just no). So she sat there with her arms crossed and stared ahead unseeingly, worrying about Cas blown away to whatever corner of the earth while being childlike and out of his mind. Would he be okay? Would he be able to find them again? Everything had been so fast-paced since Cas woke up earlier that very night. She hadn't even had a chance to process everything. She was still in vague shock. But the strongest thing she currently felt was worry. And not just about Castiel.
Glancing out the window, Alex's eyes barely saw the dark landscape out there. The sun was going to rise soon bringing another day. What kind of day would it be? Probably a shitty one. Alex's eyes went to the back of Dean's head a few times and she wondered if the two of them would ever even be friends again. Apparently, staying with Cas had been the last straw, the thing Dean decided was Alex choosing him over her family. It hadn't been that at all, but his behavior and cold shoulder had forced that to be reality, at least between her and him. While Dean had chosen to cut her off, Sam was still beside her through the situation and had heard her out on the subjects of Cas and her inner struggles with the family dynamic. Her twin had his own opinions and misgivings, but he still gave her what Dean just didn't seem able: unconditional respect and understanding.
Alex kept wondering if it were all her fault—if she'd pushed Dean over the edge with all the times she'd let him down and burned him by running away, leaving, staying gone, going against his wishes, doing the opposite of what he said. He sure made her feel that way… like if she changed this or that or the other that he'd accept her and allow her to be part of the family. It really hurt her that he was punishing her like he was for deciding to stay with Cas. And she wasn't even with Cas, not in the way Dean kept implying… she didn't think. She had just been protecting him while he was vulnerable. Now… she didn't know. Cas didn't seem of the mental capacity to be in any kind of relationship, and even though she loved him, even though he kept bringing up the fact that they were married, she felt lost and confused, like someone had put a Cas lookalike in his place. Like the real angel she loved had been stolen away piece by piece then watered down until he was nothing like himself anymore.
He might always be the way he was now… full of weird useless facts and clueless to things he had built his life on before. It didn't feel right to Alex to try and be romantic with him in the least, even if he asked for it—Cas had been clear with her before he slipped into his coma. He said they couldn't be together anymore, and Alex was pretty sure he meant it, as fucking unfair as it had been of him to say that to her. It would be shady and wrong to take advantage of his more simple state now, but it wouldn't be the same, either. Cas just wasn't Cas anymore, and she'd known it right away when he sat up in that bed and told her she was pretty. How many times have I lost him now? I can't even remember…
There was a certain numbness she was beginning to feel. And that quiet, persistent voice deep inside that said she shouldn't want anything to do with Cas at all after everything. She saw herself in her minds eye like a weak, wounded animal crawling after the person who kept kicking her and telling her to leave.
It's not like that, she told herself, and then immediately afterward her mind replied yes it is. And she didn't know which voice was right.
Beside Alex, Kevin stirred and came out of his sleep and he looked confused about where he was for a brief moment. "What…" he began, then remembered and sagged. "Oh." Sober and scared but trying to stay blank-faced and outwardly strong, Kevin sat up marginally straighter. "I fell asleep?"
"Yup," Dean confirmed.
Kevin appeared vaguely ill. "I feel funny."
Without any warning whatsoever, there was a whoosh of wind, a huge sudden weight crammed beside and on Alex, and she was basically shoved right up against Meg as Castiel materialized between her and Kevin, cramming himself into the back seat where only three people were supposed to fit. Kevin clutched at the tablet as he gasped in a deep, terrified breath and screamed. "Aah!"
Squished together uncomfortably, Meg and Alex pushed at each other, trying to reclaim some personal space. Well, mostly Alex pushed. Meg just looked inconvenienced. "Geez, could you maybe give some heads up next time, Batman?" the demon complained.
"You're on my everything," Alex grunted, because Cas was heavy and her hip, side, and upper legs all had some part of him crushing her. But she definitely was glad he was okay and here, even if he was half-sitting on her and smooshing her into Meg's bony little body.
Cas was serene and appeared completely untraumatized by the angel banishing ordeal. "It is very cramped right here, isn't it?" he asked, then craned his neck to look at Meg and smile at her. She looked confused and suspicious of him, then when his smile widened, Alex suddenly collapsed into the passenger-side door as Meg disappeared.
"Hey!" Meg protested indignantly—she had been moved without her permission to the trunk of the car with all the bags.
Cas just smiled, off in his own world and now seated between Alex and Kevin comfortably. "That's better," he said.
Dean chuckled, for once approving of something the angel had done. "Good one, Cas."
He recognized the approval and Cas beamed. "Thank you, Dean."
"Wait," Dean said, quickly darkening. "How the hell'd you find us?"
Cas was dreamy. "Oh, because of my connection to your sister, of course," he said, his eyes adoringly drinking Alex in. "Now that I remember who I am, I remember the connection."
"… What connection?" Sam asked, frowning and looking around the car's passengers for explanation.
Cas looked at Sam fondly. "It was established when you and Dean were in the past hunting that Phoenix and I touched her soul." His smile fell and he appeared to be mildly shocked at himself, then quickly sickened. "Don't like to think about touching her soul," he murmured.
Yeah, her either. Alex touched his arm, trying to gauge his well-being after the angel-banishing. "Are you okay?" she asked, and he was happy-go-lucky once more, disconcertingly so.
"Of course," he said, smiling at her with over-fondness. "It was only excruciating for an hour or two."
Balking slightly at his casual tone about severe pain, she wasn't sure how to respond. "Uh… oh." Alex cleared her throat and glanced Kevin's severely disconcerted expression. "Well… Kevin… this is Castiel."
Kevin stared. "Hello, Kevin," Cas greeted seriously.
Mouselike, Kevin still cowered against the car door. "Uh—hi," he managed breathily. "I remember you from… from back at the hospital," he said nervously. "You're… you're one of the angels?"
Very slowly and deliberately, Cas raised his hand, pointed a finger… then touched Kevin on the nose. "Boop." Kevin blinked rapidly, confused at the touch. Cas was already moving onto other matters, looking to his right. "Alex, are you hurt?"
"Fine, Cas," she said, touched and trying not to show it. That was very like him to worry over her.
"Did you know possums are only pregnant for sixteen days?" he asked for no reason whatsoever. "Isn't that fascinating? And convenient?" Displaying the same wide-eyed innocence he'd been showing the rest of that day, Cas touched the side of her face, no qualms about being affectionate to her in front of everyone. "I was very despaired to be torn away from you like that," he said as if telling her what the weather was like. "I composed a love poem for you in my mind during the time apart."
A little put on the spot with so many people staring and giving them weird looks, Alex fidgeted. "Um… thanks?"
Cas took her hand and produced a sharpie out of nowhere. "I'll write it down on your hand," he said brightly, then took her hand then began to leisurely write onto the back of it without anything further. Sam was turned around slightly in his seat, meeting Alex's stumped gaze with one of his own. She shrugged slightly as if to say she had no idea what was happening, either. Just go with it.
Kevin watched for a couple beats, then spoke up in nervous curiosity as his dark eyes flickered between Alex and Cas. "You… you two are married?" he asked, then at the sort of warning look he got from Alex, Kevin swallowed. "I heard him say it back there with the other angels."
"That is correct," Cas said factually, still writing on Alex's hand. "We've been through much together, my wife and I…" he trailed off and looked into her eyes, his expression sappy and contented. Alex, however, was uncertain and awkward.
"Oh my god," Dean muttered in the front seat, letting his disgust and annoyance toward the subject matter to be clearly heard.
"It's the subject of major antipathy, Kevin," Cas explained breezily, his serene focus back on what he was writing so slowly. "Dean doesn't like me. I suppose I can't blame him after everything. Among other things, Alex and I, well, we eloped secretly because I felt very guilty for having so much sex with her." He smiled to himself as he drew odd stares from everyone else, especially Alex, whose face said please stop talking. The angel looked at Kevin meaningfully, blissfully unaware of everyone's stares. "I also married her because I love her beyond comprehension, but I doubt anyone wants to hear more about that." He paused and cast around for a willing listener, suddenly looking eager. "Although I would be happy to speak on the subject if anyone would like."
Sam hid the tiniest uncertain smile, but Dean looked so done. "Yeah count me out, Romeo."
Cas wasn't bothered in the least. "That's all right," he said in perfect happiness, "I'll explore the subject thoroughly in detail with the countless number of poems I plan to compose in her honor." He made that proclamation then showed Alex her own hand where he'd written down a short poem.
You are the sinew holding me together
remaining forever in the place I have found
beneath the skin of my chest.
It was startlingly beautiful—a strange contrast to his current weird animal facts and desire to play kid's games—it seemed like something old Cas (the one who had been in his right mind and had known what was going on) would say or feel. It spoke of the deep love she remembered so very well. Her eyes chanced a look into his, and even in the dark, those brilliant blue eyes were crystal-bright and striking, enough to make her pine for the old days on the spot and confuse her even further. "I hope you like it..."
Feeling everyone's eyes on her—Sam's worrying, Dean's judging, Kevin's so uncertain, Cas so expectant, Alex fidgeted. "It's great," she said, a little embarrassed at the attention and Cas's unpredictable antics.
Dean gave a short-tempered sigh. "Cas, quit writing flowery crap and being an awkward loser—tell me what happened back there. Who were those guys?"
Cas smiled at Dean, his eyes gently traveling the other man's profile. "Ah, Dean, you have freckles just like your sister…" he said wistfully, then looked at Sam and made a face like he regretted the news he had to deliver. "Sam, you seem to have missed out on that genetic trait."
"Cas, the angels," Dean pressed.
"They're from the garrison—my old garrison," Cas answered, his tone friendly and unhurried. "Looks like Hester's taken over." He sat back and spoke to Kevin, who looked very unsure of what to think of Castiel. "We were assigned to watch the earth in centuries past, before I was guardian to the most precious thing in all creation," he said, turning his love-stricken smile over to Alex. Cas then sighed lengthily and looked off into middle distance. "Often, watching with the garrison was boring. I mean, think about it, all we did was watch. Your wars were very boring and your politics were very boring and all the sex—you know, the repetition and predictability—very boring." He paused and tried to hide a very naughty little smile. "I don't find it boring anymore, though," he said, and as if for effect, he touched Alex's upper thigh with a hand that slid inwards and he gave her a bedroom look—she jumped at the touch. But, as soon as he had touched her, practically, it was like he remembered he'd told himself not to do that, and he pulled his hand away fast then looked back at Dean, uncertain and a little out of sorts. "Anyway, I was, uh... I was their captain." He then smiled off at nothing, forgetting his previous upset. "Isn't that strange?"
"Cas, why are they pissed at us now?" Sam asked.
Cas was looking at Alex with warm eyes that seemed to glow with ideas about the future. "You know, I was thinking when we someday have a home together, I really want to grow a flower garden," he said in childlike enthusiasm, making her a shade sadder—a home together someday? "Peonies, daisies, mums…" he suddenly trailed off and became very somber and quiet. "Lilies." Her heart squeezed in her chest as she suddenly became incredibly sad.
"Cas, don't make me pull this car over!" Dean exclaimed, his voice hard and impatient—he had no clue the understanding or the remembrance of loss that had just passed between the angel and his sister. "Why are angels after us?"
Cas looked at Dean uncertainly, like a child scolded. "Are you angry? Why are you angry?"
Dean corrected his tone. "No, I-I'm…" he reigned in his aggravation and forced himself to speak calmly. "Just please, can we just stay on target?"
"There is no reason for anger," Cas said, his tone tranquil again and even a little superior. "And while we're on the subject of dissent, I especially dislike it when I hear you speak to your sister in anger, just FYI." He paused. "Like you did back at the hospital before you and I played our game. Oh, and FYI means for your information, Dean."
Dean threw a pissy glance back in the rear view. "I know what FYI means, Cas, and FYI, I wanna know why the angels attacked us back there!"
"Oh, yes," Cas said, sounding a little bored with the subject matter. "Well, they're only following protocol. If the Word of God is revealed, a keeper of the Word will awaken, like this hot potato right here." He touched Kevin's nose again, repeatedly, tapping it over and over.
Kevin smacked Cas's hand away, shrinking against the door to try and escape the angel's insistent touching. "Please stop that."
Undeterred, Cas turned and touched Alex's nose instead with a single, dainty tap as a broad grin spread over his face. "Noses are so interesting, aren't they?" he asked, then tapped Alex's nose once more, making her wince and turn her head away slightly. "I like yours," he said, then tapped it again, giggling, not seeming to notice her attempts to elude his efforts. "Boop!"
Alex batted his hand away. "Cas."
With both of his seat-side companions unwilling to be booped, Cas grudgingly refocused and answered Dean's question. "Anyway, garrison code dictates you take the keeper to the desert to learn the Word away from men if my memory serves…" he got a thoughtful, pleasant look on his face and suddenly became very enthusiastic. "Man, does anyone else want a burger right now?"
It was so weird to hear him talk like that. "The literal desert, Cas?" Alex asked, trying to keep him on track.
"Hm, good question," Cas said casually. "Most deserts are hostile to human life and he'd die within twenty-four hours from exposure… so really, whose idea was that?"
Kevin looked stricken by the idea of being taken to a desert to die. "Oh god…"
"What kind of sense does that make?" Dean asked, frowning at the road ahead. "Take the prophet into the desert? He has to tell us what's on that thing so that we can use it."
There was a playful shrug. "That's God and his shiny red apples," Cas said, as if he hadn't the slightest and it didn't bother him much, either.
"…I can't live in the desert!" Kevin protested loudly, vehemently. "I-I'm applying to Princeton!"
"I wish you the best of luck, Kevin Tran," Cas said sincerely. "May your application be a success."
He then tried to boop Kevin on the nose again, but Kevin ducked the attempt with an exasperated cry of, "Stop already!"
Cas just chuckled, thoroughly amused. "He's very cute, I like this one."
"You know what?" Dean asked in a hard, resolved voice. "Screw the garrison, they ain't getting the rock and they ain't getting the kid. We need them both to cream Dick!"
Kevin looked traumatized. "To do what?"
Dean paused, not seeming to see the issue.
"I mean you gotta realize how that sounded to someone who doesn't know what you're talking about," Alex pointed out in a deadpan voice. Dean's face made it seem like he did an internal double take and he became a little uncomfortable. "Dick is a person," Alex explained to an overly scared looking Kevin. "Well… no, not a person. A Leviathan." Kevin relaxed slightly. Slightly.
"If you want the Word, Dean, you'll have to duck Hester and her soldiers," Cas said evenly, unaffected by the awkwardness in the car. "They'll keep pursuing you until they have it, I'm afraid…" he was abruptly distracted by a hand-painted sign on the side of the road that pointed to a currently-closed farmer's stand. "Ooh, boiled peanuts, those sound interesting," he said, then got intensely thoughtful. "What else could you boil? Berries? Pumpkins? Logs? Chairs? The possibilities seem endless. But you'd need a very large pot for the water to boil some of those things… and what would you even do with a boiled chair…?" His eyes were crimped as he squinted into nothing, mulling over his incredibly odd questions.
"Uh… you're in our corner, right, Cas?" Sam asked uncertainly as he graciously chose to ignore Cas's ludicrous ramblings. "With ducking this Hester angel and her garrison?"
Cas immediately smiled in a nervous, denying way. "Oh no, I don't fight anymore," he said, eyes downward. "I watch the bees and make waffles for my wife." He put an arm around Alex abruptly and squeezed her to his side, chuckling and planting a loud, smoochy kiss with a proclamation of "mwah!" onto her cheek as she protested faintly. At Sam's look of incredulous uncertainty, Cas hurried to reassure him. "But, I am, of course, at your side and happy to provide help in any way I can," he said, leaning forward and releasing Alex. "Cleaning perhaps, cooking, and, ooh, I could start a honeybee hive!" He lit up further. "Oh, and I brought board games!" He twisted and pulled out Candy Land, Twister, and Sorry! from where Meg was crammed. He grinned at the boxes then looked around the car fondly. "We can play these together. Gosh, I love you guys!" He quickly, pleasantly corrected himself. "Well, except Meg, she's an abomination, of course."
"You're not looking so holy from where I'm sitting, altar boy," Meg returned darkly.
And the car fell into brief silence, with all the occupants on different pages. Meg disgruntled, Alex confused and upset, Cas totally bonkers, Kevin freaked to the point of illness, Sam worried sick, Dean unhappy as crap.
"Well this is awesome," the oldest Winchester muttered, switching hands on the wheel and rubbing his forehead. "Only like twenty more hours of this nonsense to go, kids." He glanced the angel's way. "Cas, you wanna just angel-zap us to where we're going so we can save the hassle?"
"No, not really," Cas said, smiling down at the Candy Land box and tracing one of the characters with his finger. "The joy is in the journey, Dean."
At the bizarre looks he got for that one, Alex explained sort of sheepishly: "It was on a preview for Oprah that we saw."
"Oh good," Dean wisecracked. "I love Oprah."
Forty-Five Minutes Later
The sun rose on what looked like it would be a clear, pleasant day. Dean stopped for gas and grab-what-you-can breakfast at a Gas-n-Sip. He stayed outside and made a phone call while Alex, Cas, Sam, and Meg all went into the convenience store. Kevin had fallen asleep again, exhausted from the chaos of the day. Alex was holed up in the single-room bathroom, taking a minute to just have silence. How did Kevin even manage to fall asleep with all the nonstop rambling Cas had done and the snarky biting comments Meg made and the rude reprimands Dean had thrown in here and there, the constant urges to take it down a notch from Sam? Alex wished she could sleep, but she was way too on edge and the car had been much too noisy and uncomfortable for her to do so.
Leaning against the dilapidated bathroom sink, she glanced down into the bathroom trash can where the empty orange prescription pill bottle she'd tossed in there stared up. Those pills were starting to become her only friend, the only one she trusted to take away all the pain. She was running out of options these days: Cas wasn't all there and had his own issues, Dean would probably condemn her for her inner pain, and it would break Sam's heart to hear her admit how bad things were.
Well. She probably needed to go ahead and bite the bullet and go get back to the road trip from hell. With a weary sigh, Alex turned around and then abruptly inhaled a sharp gasp as a taller figure suddenly appeared right in her face. "What the…!" she exclaimed, a hand over her heart. It was only Castiel, but still.
Cas held a paperback book—the cover read Captain Corelli's Mandolin—and he had it open, incredibly excited about something. "Look, Alex, while you were in here urinating and metabolizing pain killers, I found the most beautiful book!" he announced excitably, grinning widely and missing her flattening, disgruntled expression. "Listen to this," he encouraged, then began to read aloud in a heartfelt, tranquil tone, his features working in uncharacteristic expressiveness:
"'Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two.'" He stopped and sighed in marked satisfaction, then he looked at her and tilted his head to the side, observing her with eyes full of love. "Isn't that simply wonderful? It makes me think of us."
"That… that is really beautiful, Cas," she admitted, a little taken aback at the sudden romantic content of her bathroom moment.
Cas became a little coy and his voice lowered and became huskier. "Although, I have to disagree with this passage in one area: I do desire to mate every second of the day." He giggled lowly and leaned toward her, touching the side of her face and taking joy from her closeness and warmth, running his thumb across her cheek as she looked up at him with wide eyes. And then even before she'd had a chance to open her mouth to say something, his face fell and he became fearful and guilty—he let go of her and stepped back to increase the distance between them. "But we don't do that anymore," he said, drifting back a few steps further as his guilt-ridden eyes dodged hers. "It's bad," he said, voice becoming soft and tearful. "I'm bad." Alex hesitated, unsure of what to say—and then he held the book up and grinned hugely, jarring Alex as he bounced from one emotion to the next. "I'll go put the book back now! See you out there!" he announced, and then was gone just like he'd come.
...Could my life get any weirder? Alex took a couple seconds then exited the bathroom. On the other side of the gas station at the little bookshelf there, Cas waved to her happily. She waved back falteringly, noticing some normal people were giving Cas strange looks. A little protective, Alex went over to him, eyeing anyone who was eying Cas. These days, she suspected everyone of being a demon or a Leviathan. Cas had another book now—a children's book. It was called The Monster At The End Of This Book. A furry blue cartoon muppet named Grover waved on the cover and smiled. Cas was looking at the cover thoughtfully. "This reminds me of us, too," he said quietly when she got to him. He didn't look at her. "I was the monster at the end of our book." Alex's mouth dropped open a little, but then before she said anything, Cas perked up and looked at her with an expression of innocent interest, dodging any topic of real substance. "What would you like to have for breakfast? I saw cupcakes over there, oh, and hot dogs!" he leaned closer and whispered furtively, like he was afraid a gas station employee might hear and be offended. "They are not made out of real dog, I don't know if that's of importance or not to you."
Alex stared at him for a second. He seemed deadly serious, and she was both at her wit's end and incredibly sad at the same time. "Uh—Cas, hot dogs are never made out of dogs," she told him, then paused. "If they are, that's when I wanna know," she said, but Cas was already wandering off down a nearby aisle, not listening to her, greatly interested in all the boxes and products there. She watched him go, wondering if this was what it was like to have an ADHD child.
Castiel abruptly snatched something up and then held it high and grinned at her. "Alex, I found tampons!" he announced very loudly, shaking the box for effect. He lowered it and became reminiscent. "I remember these…" he said, beginning to chuckle at the box as Alex marched over and snatched it away and smacked it back onto the shelf.
He was already spotting something else. "Oh look, pornographic magazines… should we get one for Dean?" he asked, already making a beeline for them. Everyone in the entire store was staring at him.
"Ca-aaas!" Alex moaned, following after him and trying to get him to pay attention.
"He really likes this one," Cas said, plucking up a Busty Asian Beauties and opening it to a random page. His eyes bulged in shock, then he looked confused and victimized and he immediately slammed the magazine shut and looked at Alex with a strange expression. "There are very graphic depictions of intercourse in there," he told her in a weak voice.
Alex took the magazine from him and nodded, frazzled. It might have been funny another day. Not that one. "I know, Cas, that's kinda the point." She slapped it back at the magazine rack and grabbed Cas's hand, pulled him along with her. "Let's just go, okay?"
They walked by a young couple with their children as Alex rushed them out of the store, and Cas picked that moment to comment very audibly what on he must have seen in the magazine pages. "I just don't understand the appeal of anal penetration, do you?"