Rock Never Dies Part 1
Lebanon, Kansas
Dean sat in the library on his phone. He was currently playing Words with Friends with Mary.
"Twerking. Booyah." Dean muttered as he spelled the word out.
His phone beeped as he received a text from Mary that said, 'That's CAN'T be a word.' Dean just smiled as he texted back, 'Check the dictionary,' and he signed it with a devil emoji.
Sam walked in holding his laptop and Angela walked beside her husband, holding Grace's hand. Sam looked at Dean, clearly annoyed that his brother has been goofing off while he and Angela had been looking for Lucifer, as well as keeping an eye out for cases.
"Seriously?" Sam scoffed.
"What?" Dean looked up at his brother.
"So, Angie and I have been trying to dig up info on the British Men of Letters," Sam started, clearly annoyed. "Keeping an eye out for cases, and you've been goofing off with a game that went out of style five years ago?"
"I don't think Mom's quite ready for Snapchat." Dean retorted.
Sam's brows furrowed and he set his laptop down on the table. "You're playing against Mom?"
"Yeah." Dean chuckled.
"The same Mom that didn't know what a cell phone was a month ago?" Sam quirked a brow.
"Yeah."
"Doesn't exactly seem like a fair fight." Angela scoffed.
Dean looked up at Sam and Angela with a dismayed look on his face. He showed them his phone and the banner on the screen that said Mary had won.
"You were saying?" Dean scoffed.
"Huh!" Sam chuckled. "So, how she been lately?"
"She's good. You know, she—she's dealing." Dean replied as his phone started ringing. "Hey, Cas," he put the phone on speaker.
"Hello, Dean." Castiel's voice rang through.
"You still living out an '80s buddy comedy with Crowley?" Dean asked.
"Unfortunately."
"Any news on Lucifer?" Angela asked curiously as Sam's phone started chiming repeatedly.
"Actually, yes," Castiel answered. "Look at the news."
"One sec," Sam cleared his throat and started tapping the keys. "No way. So, this is from today," he pressed 'play' on the video.
"We're here in front of Death Siren Records…" the reporter started.
"Oh, no friggin' way." Dean groaned.
"…with Vince Vincente," the reporter continued.
"Yes, it's, uh, it's great having the band back together," Vince replied. "In the studio, feeling pumped. Haven't felt this fired up in ages."
"A lot of people are saying that your style of rock could never make a comeback in today's landscape. What do you say to them?" the reporter questioned.
"Go to Hell." Vince sneered.
"Tell me that's not Lucifer." Angela pleaded.
"We don't know." Castiel sighed heavily.
"Cas, I-I thought you said Rowena got some licks in," Sam recalled. "Shouldn't he have burned through his vessel by now?"
"Yeah, but we don't know. We don't—
"Hello, boys, Angie," Crowley's voice rang through. "Long time. We team up to save the world, then bupkis. You don't call, you don't write."
"Yeah, we don't care." Dean retorted.
"Crowley—Lucifer," Sam stressed.
"Lucifer. Think about it. Of all the extinct rock acts, Ladyheart are the most Paleolithic. A major-label sponsored comeback in 2016 for those dinosaurs?" Crowley mused. "It doesn't feel like a wholly natural turn of events, does it?"
"Maybe Lucifer found a way to heal his vessel," Castiel suggested.
"Yeah, but still… I mean, what the hell?" Dean muttered.
"He's in L.A. I'll see you there," Crowley replied before the line went dead.
"Oh, L.A." Dean sighed, running a hand over his face.
"Yeah." Sam and Angela muttered.
~/~\~
The Impala sped down the dark, rainy road. Angela was sleeping, her head resting on Sam's shoulder and Grace was in the car seat, sleeping as well. Meanwhile, Sam had his earbuds in as Dean talked.
"All right. 450 miles to L.A." he muttered. "Land of gridlock, Botox, overtaxing, underachieving, the smell of sweaty desperation. I mean, you can't breathe. The beaches are toxic. You got dudes in skinny jeans wearing sunglasses inside. Oh. Image-obsessed narcissists. I do like the yoga pants, though," he smirked. "When was the last time we were in L.A.? About 10 years ago, doing a vengeful spirit? Man, that seems like forever ago. Doesn't it?" he frowned at Sam's lack of response and smacked his arm. "Hey. Tryin' to talk to you here."
"What?" Sam pulled out one of his earbuds.
"You… what are you listenin' to?"
"Uh, podcast." Sam shrugged. "Why?"
"All right, well… I need something to keep me awake, so crank it up." Dean replied.
"I mean, it's a history podcast." Sam cleared his throat. "Besides, Angie's asleep."
"Well, I like history, you know? Gladiators, pirates. Hell, we're driving a piece of history right here." Dean smiled.
"N-not that kind of history. This is a, uh…" Sam cleared his throat again. "It's a podcast on the history of the Protestant Reformation. A multipart exploration of each of Martin Luther's 95 theses."
"Oh." Dean deadpanned.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Sam muttered as he put his earbud back in.
Dean paused for a moment and pulled earbuds out of the headphone jack and 'The Bloody Messiah' started blaring through the speakers, effectively waking up Angela.
"What…" she mumbled sleepily.
"Oh, Sam," Dean groaned in disappointment.
"Dude!" Sam exclaimed.
"Hair rock? Really?" Dean scoffed.
"I just wanted to sleep," Angela grumbled.
"It's not hair—
"Come on." Dean rolled his eyes.
"It's not hair rock, Dean," Sam stressed. "It's hard rock. It's legitimate hard rock."
Dean chuckled lightly. "Wow."
"Don't judge a book by its cover."
"Yeah, or a dude by his, uh, rainbow wig and leopard prints." Dean retorted.
"Rainbow wig? What?" Sam's brows creased together. "You know what? I'm done apologizing. Lucifer possessed Vince Vincente. This is Vince Vincente's music, so listening to it is research."
"No. No." Dean shook his head.
"As a matter of fact…" Sam raised the volume. "Study up, Dean."
"No, no. No! I don't wanna listen to it."
"You like it," Sam smirked.
"No," Dean shook his head. "No. No, no. No. Turn it off."
"It'll grow on ya." Sam wrapped an arm around Angela's shoulder. "Sorry for waking you, baby."
~/~\~
Los Angeles, California
Inside the Bellaqua hotel lobby, Sam, Dean, Angela, and Grace were waiting for Crowley and Castiel. Grace sat in Angela's lap. Sam got a cup of water from the dispenser and Dean gave him a look.
"What?" Sam asked. "It's good."
"It's vegetable water." Dean practically sneered.
"Sam, Dean, Angela." Castiel walked over to the hunters.
Grace jumped off of her mother's lap and ran to hug Castiel. "Hi Unca Cas!"
"Hello, Grace." Castiel smiled gently.
"Hey," Dean replied as he, Sam, and Angela stood up. "You consider switching up your duds there? Bit stiff for this town."
"He could be an agent or something." Angela suggested.
"Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent." Dean muttered.
Castiel narrowed his eyes. "At least I don't look like a lumberjack."
"Okay, enough. Guys." Sam cut in. "Where's Crowley?"
"He said he'd meet us here." Castiel replied. "Frankly, I appreciate the break. It's been weeks, and he's been right there, just talking and talking and talking. It's relentless."
"Don't listen to him," Crowley started as he approached. "Feathers and I are all but inseparable now."
"Did you find anything?" Angela raised her brows.
"Yes," Crowley nodded. "Vince Vincente is riding with the Devil."
"Okay, so what now?" Castiel inquired.
Crowley held up the keycard to Vince's room. "I suggest we go check out his room. Vince is scheduled to be in the studio all day, so we're covered."
"How'd you get the card?" Dean demanded.
"This is L.A.," Crowley smirked. "I know a lot of people."
~/~\~
Using the card from the receptionist, they entered Vince's messy hotel room.
"Don't touch anything, okay sweetie?" Angela instructed Grace.
"'Kay, Mommy."
"Well, looks like there was some kind of fight." Castiel noted.
"Mm," Dean hummed as he noticed the discarded clothes. "Yeah. Some kind."
"Look at this," Sam pointed. "Rock star biographies. Like, all of them, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. It's like he's studying how to become famous."
Dean sat down on the white couch and started plucking at the guitar. "Well, so what, Lucifer's a dork?"
"That's good to know." Angela shrugged.
"Look at this," Castiel picked up a folder. "The seeds of a ripe dragon fruit drizzled with exactly one ounce of Acacia honey, prepared in a ceramic bowl—no plastic. What is this spell?"
"It's breakfast," Crowley replied. "It's Vince's rider. I've seen worse."
"I don't get it." Sam shook his head. "Lucifer could be taking over Heaven and Hell right now, and instead, he's trying to act out some rock god fantasy?"
"Yeah. Who wouldn't?" Dean strummed the guitar harshly.
"I found something," Castiel walked out of the bathroom.
"What is that?" Angela's brows furrowed.
"It appears to be a human tooth, pulled out by the root," Castiel explained.
~/~\~
Sam, Dean, Angela, Crowley, and Castiel were in the hospital talking to the doctor. Angela held Grace on her hip.
"Mrs. Greenfield has lost a lot of blood and there'll be no fixing those scars, but she's stable." The doctor explained.
"And she cut herself?" Castiel asked.
"She carved his name into her chest. 'Vince Vincente.' Didn't skip a letter. And she cut deep."
"Thanks, doctor." Dean nodded. "Well, again, what the hell?"
"I'll go talk to her." Crowley suggested.
"No." Angela replied firmly. "No, no, no, you won't."
"Cas, stay here," Dean told the angel. "Keep an eye on him."
~/~\~
Sam, Dean, and Angela were inside Rosaleen's hospital room and Grace sat on a nearby chair, playing with her doll.
"We wanna understand what happened," Dean started.
"But, in order for us to do that, we need you to talk," Angela added gently.
"Rosaleen, did Vince force you to do this?" Sam asked.
"No," she shook her head. "Vince didn't. He wouldn't have to. I wanted to, to show him, to make him happy."
"You ever stop and wonder what kind of sicko gets happy off of watching somebody melon ball their own flesh?" Dean questioned.
"Don't talk about Vince like that," Rosaleen replied firmly. "He had a reason, a good reason. He must have. I'm sure he can explain everything. If I could just see him—Ah!" she tried to stand, forgetting that she was wounded. "I need to get to the show. Please. Please!"
~/~\~
Sam, Dean, and Angela were talking to Crowley and Castiel in the hospital lobby. Grace held Sam's hand and used her free hand to carry her doll.
"So, the show is tonight?" Castiel asked.
"That's what she said." Angela nodded.
Castiel's brows furrowed. "Can Lucifer even sing or play an instrument?"
"I doubt they offer intro to guitar in the cage." Dean muttered.
"Like it matters. What Lucifer made that woman do has got nothing to do with music." Crowley replied. "It's about devotion."
"Come again?" Dean raised his brows.
"You little people wouldn't understand, but I've been a king. Having people look at you like you're everything, knowing that once they buy in, you can make them do anything, it's intoxicating." Crowley explained.
"Well, that's super creepy," Dean noted.
"Okay, so this concert, all these people," Castiel interjected. "What is—what is Lucifer planning to do?"
"Nothing good." Sam huffed.
"Is Rowena—
"Dear Mother says that once we catch Lucifer, she'll show, no sooner." Crowley interrupted.
"Well, without Rowena, we're outgunned." Dean argued.
"With her, we're outgunned." Crowley scoffed.
"It doesn't matter, guys. This is our shot." Sam reminded. "We just gotta find out where he's playing tonight."
"All right," Dean nodded. "Let's get to work."
~/~\~
In the pathway outside of Death Siren Studio, Angela and Castiel were talking to Tommy and Angela carried Grace on her hip.
"Tommy," Castiel greeted.
"Guys, I'll meet you inside," Tommy told the other band members. "Agent. What are you doing here, man? Who's this?" he nodded to Angela.
"His partner." Angela answered curtly.
"We're investigating Vince, same as before." Castiel told Tommy. "You hear what happened to Rosaleen?"
"Yeah, that was, uh, it was awful." Tommy shrugged. "But, I mean, come on, man, she cut herself, right? It wasn't like…"
"You know that's not the whole truth. You know Vince isn't Vince." Angela replied.
~/~\~
Sam and Dean sat inside the restaurant, decked out in leather jackets and 'rocker' outfits, were talking to Vince's manager.
"We're brothers that rock together." Dean explained. "Hmm? We're kind of like the American Oasis."
"Ew." The woman muttered as she looked at her phone.
"Uh, uh, but with synths." Sam added quickly.
"Yeah, right, so, you know, we're—we're hip."
"Exactly." Sam smiled.
"Who plays what?" she sighed in annoyance.
"I'm on keys," Sam answered. "He's on drums."
"Guitar. Drums and guitar. I pretty much do it all." Dean smiled cockily.
"We saw only that you represent Vince Vincente. We were kind of hoping you could do for us what you've done for him." Sam shrugged.
"Sorry," she sighed. "I took this meeting 'cause you looked hot in your pics, but I am not feeling this."
"Okay, you know what?" Dean stopped her. "We're not actually here for a meeting."
"Vince's show tonight—where is it?" Sam questioned.
The woman narrowed her eyes skeptically. "Who are you guys?"
"Look, you must've noticed, Vince is different," Sam stressed.
~/~\~
"Where's the show, Tommy?" Castiel questioned.
"Man, I don't know what the hell's going on with Vince, all right? All the royalties on our hits dried up years ago." Tommy explained. "I got two daughters in college. I know what I told you and I know what I saw, but…"
"And you don't care who pays the price?" Angela quirked a brow.
"Sorry." Tommy shrugged.
~/~\~
"Vince gives me the skeeves, but he's a paying client."
"No, he's the Devil." Dean corrected.
"Yeah, like, literally." Sam added.
The woman chuckled. "I'm in P.R. I've worked for sexists, racists, even politicians. My job is making saints out of devils. No way I'm threatening my reputation by working against his interests. So, you need to take a step back or I start screaming." She warned. "And in a crowded place like this? Girl like me, two guys like you… Guess what happens next? Buh-bye."
~/~\~
Sam, Dean, and Crowley sat in the lobby of the hotel.
"And you said you put the fear in Russel," Dean commented.
"I thought I had." Crowley shrugged. "These yoga types. Just when you think you've harshed their mellow…"
"Yeah, well, I've been looking everywhere online, and, uh…" Sam scoffed. "No one's leaked the venue yet." He added as Dean got himself a cup of water. "Seriously?"
"What?" Dean shrugged.
"Dude."
"Shut up." Dean rolled his eyes.
Angela, Castiel, and Grace walked over, and Grace ran toward Sam.
"Daddy!"
"Hey, Peanut," Sam pulled his daughter onto his lap. "You guys find anything?" he looked up at Angela and Castiel.
"No." Angela sighed heavily.
"So, we couldn't flip a single member of Vince's team." Dean shook his head. "Even with the threat of mass murder, these SoCal douchebags won't do the right thing."
"Welcome to Los Angeles," Crowley muttered.
"So, what happens now?" Castiel asked.
A/N: Hey, guys, I hope you're having a very happy holiday! I apologize for not posting recently, but school and work have been so busy. I have a little bit of free time during break, but not much. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I have big things planned in the upcoming ones! Love you guys, xoxo :)
~Emily