The autumn night air had a sharp crispness. Ashlinn was on edge even though she had Sam, Dean, and Kai with her. After Sam and Dean had interviewed the witches masquerading as a "teacher" and "student", they had gone 'missing.' Today was Halloween. They needed to be caught by tonight, but Ashlinn couldn't remember where they had performed the ritual in the show. She remembered a crypt of some kind… or maybe it was a graveyard. However, even that memory was foggy, and she couldn't remember exactly what had happened. Scrying had given them the town, but there was still a lot up to chance.
A hand on her shoulder made her jump, and she looked up to see Sam looking at her with worried eyes. Ashlinn placed one of her hands on top of Sam's. A part of her wished that Sam and Dean had stayed somewhere safe. Sam hadn't trained his abilities like he had in the show. No demon blood either. He wouldn't be able to exorcise Samhain if push came to shove.
"You okay? I know it was a little tense earlier."
Ashlinn sighed as she remembered that Sam and Dean had officially met Castiel and Uriel earlier in the day. Surprisingly, it seemed like Castiel hadn't told Uriel what she had told him. Uriel had barely looked in her direction. The two angels had argued with Dean but followed his orders in the end, although Uriel had given Dean a look of defiance. Clearly, the angels were still counting on Dean being the one to accept Michael and fight Lucifer. At least that hadn't changed. While Ashlinn wasn't super thrilled by their expectations, it meant that they would back off for now to see what Dean would do.
"I'm not worried about that… I just wish that I could remember where we need to go next."
"Hey, you're doing the best you can… and we're here. We'll back you up in whatever way we can."
Ashlinn nodded as she heard a car door slam behind them. Dean and Kai got out of the car, carrying paper bags of food.
"Lunch is here!" Kai called and lifted up a bag.
Ashlinn waved to show that she had heard and followed Sam back to the motel room. Dean seemed to be lost in thought. He had placed the bags of food on the table and walked into the bedroom. Sam and Ashlinn shared a look. After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors between the two of them to see who would follow Dean, Sam walked into the room after Dean and closed the door behind him. Ashlinn turned to look at Kai accusingly.
"What?" Kai asked defensively. "All I did was answer his questions."
"And what were those questions?"
"Can't tell you. It was very personal," Kai answered cheekily. "I promise it wasn't anything about Samhain."
"Okay then," Ashlinn murmured and hoped that Sam would tell her what Dean said later.
Ashlinn focused on getting the food out of the bags. After a couple minutes, Sam and Dean came out of the room. Ashlinn threw Kai a look, and Kai playfully put a finger to his lips. They ate with the television on, but no one was really watching the television. Sam gave Ashlinn a look that told her that he wanted to talk to her later. Kai watched them with curiosity but said nothing. Dean's eyes were focused on the television, but Ashlinn could tell that he wasn't really watching. After eating, Sam motioned for Ashlinn to follow him outside while Kai and Dean cleaned up.
"What's going on? Is Dean okay?" Ashlinn asked in a hushed voice after making sure that the door was fully closed behind her.
"Yeah…" Sam said and pulled her further away from their motel room. He scratched the back of his neck, and Ashlinn waited patiently. "Kai said… you told him about dad. I'm sorry… We should have been there for you, and–"
Ashlinn threw her arms around Sam, knocking the wind out of him as she collided with his chest. Even after all these years, she still didn't even come up to his shoulder.
"Dummy," Ashlinn muttered as Sam returned the hug. "It's not your fault. None of this is your fault… or Dean's. I just… The reason I didn't tell you two anything is because I'd rather have you focus on yourselves. I know that you guys are hurting too. So come on… let's regroup and find these witches. You still have that hex bag Castiel found, right?"
Sam let go of her and took out the hex bag. Ashlinn opened it to see the charred bone inside. Noticing Sam was looking at it thoughtfully, she asked, "What's wrong? Got an 'eureka' moment?"
Sam let out a laugh and replied, "Yeah… I think… We need to go back to the school. There's something I want to check out. Will you be okay with Kai?"
"Yeah," Ashlinn said, giving Sam's arm a pat. "I'll be fine. I remember something about some school kids and a crypt… I'll try to figure that out. You guys work on the teacher."
Sam gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze before he went back to the room and called for Dean. Ashlinn watched them leave in the Impala with a wave before going back inside to see Kai pouting on the couch. Ashlinn closed the door and asked irritably, "What's your problem?"
"I was just thoroughly enjoying my time with your darling big bro," Kai retorted with a fake smile.
Ashlinn sighed. She made a mental note that Dean and Kai should never be left unsupervised in the future.
"So why… why did you tell Dean about…? You know…"
Kai's jaw tightened as he looked away, but he answered, "Because he accused me of using you… which I can't say that I've never used you, but… it's not like that. He made it seem like I don't care about you at all, and that's not true! Ash…" Kai got up from the couch and walked towards her with pleading eyes. "You don't have to do any of this. If you weren't here, what would happen? Would they die?"
Ashlinn bit the inside of her cheek and looked away from him. "I'm here because I want to be, not because I have to be. You don't have to follow me so closely. If you don't want to be involved, just say so! We'll have a talk with Magnus, and–"
His hands grabbed her shoulders, and Ashlinn turned to glare at Kai.
"It's not me I'm worried about," Kai said in a low voice and relaxed his grip. "I think I've already proven that I'll follow you anywhere. It's because you always put everyone else first, and I don't understand it. How can you take care of anyone else if you don't take care of yourself first?"
"And who have you taken care of besides yourself?" Ashlinn snapped and backed out of his grip.
"You… if you'd let me," Kai said with a pleading look. "You saved my life. No one in my family cared about the abomination… but you did. Honestly… I'm not even worried about the demon of Halloween. It's what comes next. The archangels. The Great Satan himself. Look, I just want you to think about it. There's no shame in playing it safe."
"It's too different," Ashlinn said and crossed her arms. "Sam… He isn't equipped to fight Samhain. He's not strong enough, and I'm the reason for that."
Sam had lived a semi-normal life since Azazel had been killed. He had a girlfriend, worked a normal job, and only fought monsters with Dean about once a month. He wasn't hooked on demon blood. In fact, unlike Andy, his powers from Azazel had disappeared completely. Andy had been more involved in helping Ashlinn with spells and directing hunters than Sam had been in the last couple of years. To be honest, Ashlinn felt incredibly grateful for the Colt; otherwise, she didn't have a clue how they were going to beat Samhain much less Lucifer and Michael.
"Okay," Kai said with a reluctant huff as though he really didn't want to let this go. "We can shelf this for the moment… I really just want you to think about it. Your angel buddy doesn't seem to want to help us out, so unless you've got another one tucked away somewhere…"
Ashlinn's eyes widened, and Kai gave her a curious look. Without a word, Ashlinn started going through Dean's stuff.
"Is there really one hidden here?"
"No… but there will be." Ashlinn finally found the bottle and pulled it out of Dean's bag with an exuberant laugh. Noticing the confused look on Kai's face, Ashlinn explained, "Rufus gave it to Dean before we left. It's to celebrate if we win and drown our sorrows if we don't. Dean's going to be pissed, but… when have I ever listened to Dean?"
"And what are you going to use that for? An offering? What kind of angel is going to help for booze?"
"Number 1: it's Johnnie Walker blue label. Show a little respect. And two… a hedonistic angel. Not exactly the best but the best option we have right now."
Kai scoffed but followed her outside after she gathered what she needed. Ashlinn could feel his eyes boring a hole in the back of her head as she muttered the spell and set down the liquor. The woods around them went quiet as she finished.
"Is that for me?"
Ashlinn turned to see Balthazar striding toward them with a smirk.
"A bribe?" Balthazar asked, gesturing toward the liquor.
"Pretty much."
"Castiel told me a little about you, but I didn't expect you to be this…"
"Generous? Desperate?"
Balthazar laughed and answered, "Entertaining, love. Although I suppose both of those qualify… I hope you aren't requesting that I jump into the ring with Lilith for a bottle of scotch."
"No… I mean, if you did, that'd be nice, but that's not what I'm after."
"Then what are you after?"
"Intel? I know that Michael and his group of sycophants are plotting to release Lucifer and start the apocalypse. There's no way even Lilith could be breaking as many seals as she has without help… I just need someone who can give me a heads up should even more crap hit the fan upstairs."
Balthazar smirked and asked, "And all I get is booze for my hard work? I'll have you know that I'm a decorated soldier of the Lord."
"Is that all you want to be?" Ashlinn asked and noticed his grin falter. "I want to change the script. Angels are soldiers of God… But I know what you really want. Freedom."
Balthazar gave her a measuring look before he walked to the summoning sigils and scooped up the bottle. "This isn't me accepting your conditions. I'm merely… checking things out. If I like what I see, then I may stick around. Should you defeat Samhain tonight and live to see tomorrow, call for me again. I need a little test your resolve before I agree to anything… then we can talk about an exchange of services."
A swoosh of wings and he was gone. Kai raised his eyebrow at Ashlinn as though silently asking if that was the best she had. With a sigh, she shrugged in return. Balthazar wasn't ideal but better than nothing. Without another word, Kai followed her back to the room where she once again looked at the map.
"It's gotta be here," Ashlinn muttered pointing to the closest mausoleum. "It's pretty close to the school. I don't remember Dean and Sam taking a car to chase down Samhain."
"What's so important about it?"
"At least one of the kids dies there."
Kai shrugged and asked, "And? How is the kid important? Does he know how to stop Samhain?"
"No… he's just a regular kid. They all are. We need to get there and somehow flush the kids out… Because Samhain will try to kill them."
Kai looked at her with a bored expression and said, "Neat… It kind of sounds like you're expecting to fight the Halloween demon."
"I am. I don't think we're going to be successful at stopping him from being summoned, but we can kill him. Sam and Dean have the Colt. That should do the trick."
"And if it doesn't?"
"It will."
Kai scoffed but didn't argue as she picked up the map. Grabbing her bag, she quickly moved around the room hastily throwing everything that might be useful inside the bag. Kai followed her out of the room despite his reservations. Ashlinn would never admit it, but it felt reassuring to not be alone.