December 8th, 2008
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
The sunlight woke her. She sat up, yawning. Her clock read almost 7. She grabbed her crutches, went over to her dresser, and grabbed a change of clothes. Then she limped over to the bathroom.
Since the door didn't lock, she leaned a wooden chair under the handle, pushing the legs against the sink vanity. That way, no one could walk in. She took a quick shower, dressed in clean clothes, and made her way downstairs.
She frowned. "Did I miss breakfast?"
Sam and Dean were sitting in the kitchen, eating pancakes. "There's plenty left," Dean promised, motioning towards the stove. Alex saw a pan on it, and next to it, a plate full of pancakes. She took three, sitting down next to them.
"Did you make 'em?"
"Yep." Dean sounded proud, and Alex took a bite.
"Wow," she praised, "these are really good."
"I know, right?"
"Where's the demon and the angel?"
"Downstairs." Sam finished his breakfast and tossed his plate in the sink. "And, uh, do the dishes while we're gone."
Alex paused. "I'm not sure how that works. How can I do the dishes if I'll be gone?"
Sam let out a frustrated noise. "You're not coming, Alex."
"Uh, yeah, I am coming. You can't just pull me off this case, Sam. I knew Anna was an angel. That means that all this is somewhere in my head."
"Then you can give us a call. But until that foot heals up, you're benched."
"Dean!" Alex turned towards the oldest hunter. "I can come, right?"
"I don't know, girl. What if we run into Alistair again? You're no use."
Alex opened her mouth to protest, but hesitated. Then she dropped her gaze. "You're right. I'll probably just get you guys killed. Fine." She rolled her eyes. "I'm going back to bed." She grabbed her crutches and went up the stairs as fast as she could.
She collapsed on the bed, anger boiling under her skin. She took deep breaths, knowing there was no reason that she should be mad at them. There was a knock at the door, and Alex pulled herself up into a sitting position. "What?"
The door opened, and Dean stepped in. "Look -"
"It's fine." Alex cut him off. "I get it, okay? You're right. I'll only slow you guys down."
"Yeah, well, sorry about that."
"Whatever. You guys know what you're doing, so you guys call the shots. I can manage on my own." Alex swung her feet over the edge of the bed, awkwardly positioning her broken ankle. "But, uh, call me, okay? If you have any questions, I'll see what I can figure out. And, uh, between you and me, I get kind of lonely here."
"Okay. Thanks." Dean awkwardly left. "We'll be off then."
A few minutes later a car started, and the noise quickly faded off into the distance as they drove away. Alex fell back to sleep.
...
She was being chased. By what she wasn't sure. It was dark and foggy all around, but footsteps echoed, telling her she was in some sort of building. She kept running. Moans sounded behind her, filled with pain and suffering. Shuffling footsteps, and the smell of death. Alex tripped.
She hit the ground, rolling with her shoulder. Then the ground disappeared. She was falling. Her gun was gone. She hit the floor hard, knocking the breath out of her. The stench of death permeated everything, and she gagged. The fog cleared, revealing a warehouse full of zombies. Rotting flesh barely hung on yellowed bones. Empty sockets, oozing guts, moans and cries escaping torn throats. Terror shot up Alex's spine, white and hot. She tried to scramble to her feet, but her right ankle held no weight. She was surrounded. She fell back to the ground, curling up.
The mass of rotting bodies closed in, reaching for her. Alex screwed her eyes shut, breathing ragged. A single hand gripped her shoulder, and Alex buried her head in her knees, shaking.
"Alex." When Alex didn't respond, the voice repeated itself. "Alex."
Alex opened her eyes. The zombies were still there, arms reaching for her. But they were frozen. Alex hesitated. When they still didn't move, she stood up, turning around. It was Castiel.
"What?" Alex snapped, trying to sound strong. However, her voice cracked, and her whole body was still shaking.
"Is this what you dream about?" Castiel studied the zombies, head tilted.
"It's called a nightmare." Alex glanced at one, then quickly adverted her eyes. "Usually they're people I know. I guess I got lucky tonight." She tried to make a joke, but it just sounded pitiful. "Why are you here?"
Castiel turned back to her. The zombies shimmered and disappeared, leaving them alone in the warehouse. "Where are you?"
Alex looked around. "Dunno. Never been here before."
"That's not what I mean. Where are you in the real world?"
"Bobby's. Why?" When Castiel didn't respond, Alex shook her head. "No way. I'm not letting you get your hands on Anna. I know she's an fallen angel and all, but that doesn't change anything."
"It changes everything." Castiel's blue eyes flashed with rarely seen anger. "Wake up." He snapped his fingers.
...
Alex sat up in bed, dream still fresh in her mind. She sighed, grabbing her crutches and limping down the stairs. Castiel and Uriel were standing there. "Ah, wonderful," Alex sighed. "The God Squad again."
"Anna is not here."
"Of course she's not here," Alex glanced up at Uriel. "Did you really think I would tell you guys where she is? Not all of us humans are as stupid as you might think."
Uriel just frowned. "Where are they?"
"Dunno."
"I said, where are they?" Uriel stepped forward, grabbing the collar of her shirt and pinning her against the wall.
"Ow!" Alex yelped as her back hit the wall. "I told you. I don't know."
"Uriel. Put her down."
"You're no longer in charge." However, Uriel let her fall to the ground.
Alex cried out as she landed awkwardly on her broken ankle. "They left for some place. They didn't tell me where, but I had to stay behind."
"What happened?" Castiel asked, glancing down at her ankle.
"I broke it running from Alistair. We jumped out of a window. Then Sam broke my nose. But I may have deserved that one."
Castiel stepped forward, reaching out. He touched her nose, and the pain faded. Then he was shoved backwards. "Have you learned nothing, brother?" Uriel asked. "This very reason is why you were demoted."
"Demoted?" Alex narrowed her eyes. "Cas?"
Castiel refused to make eye contact. "There is no reason why we should not help our father's creation," he calmly told Uriel. Uriel cast him a warning glare, and Castiel fell silent.
Alex blinked. She reached for her crutches, pulling herself back up to her feet. "Sorry I can't help you boys." She limped into the kitchen. "But, I can offer you pancakes. Dean made 'em." She leaned against the counter, holding out the plate. "Hungry?"
Castiel said nothing, but Uriel stepped forward angrily. "Listen here, you mud-monkey-"
"You're a . . . mud-monkey," Alex shot back weakly. She downed a half-filled glass of water. "Oh, and thanks for fixing my nose, Cas."
Still, Castiel said nothing.
"I know you know where Anna is," Uriel continued. "Castiel told me you know the future."
Alex shot Castiel a hurtful glance. He refused to meet her eyes. Alex turned back to Uriel, gaze hardening. "Sort of. Not really. I know a few things. But, uh, not much."
Uriel's frown deepened. "I don't have time for this."
"Neither do I. Now. Anna's not here. So why are you?"
The fluttering of wings answered her question. They left. Alex let out a pent up breath, leaning against counter. That could have gone better. A lot better. She hobbled into the library. The door flew open, and Alex looked up. "Hello?"
"Alex?"
"That's my name." Alex breathed a silent sigh of relief when she recognized Bobby's voice. She watched him walk into the study.
"How are you doing?"
"Pretty good. You're back pretty early."
"I got everything I needed." Bobby dropped his bag on the floor. "How's the foot?"
"Eh. Dunno."
"Is it broken?"
"Think so."
"Let me see." Bobby pulled up a chair, and Alex lifted up her ankle. He pulled off the brace, running calloused fingers over the sensitive skin. Alex flinched, and Bobby pulled back. "Yeah, looks broken. Where'd you get the brace?"
"Dunno. Dean got it somewhere."
"Hm." Bobby put it back on. "So. How'd it happen?"
Alex recounted what happened once again. Halfway through, Bobby stood up, walking into the kitchen. Alex kept talking, watching him carefully.
He returned with two glasses of scotch. "My prescription. A glass of scotch, several times a day. Keep it up until the pain is gone." He handed one to her, and Alex accepted it. She watched him down it in two gulps, then took a small sip. It still burned going down, but she was getting use to it.
"Thanks." Alex mindlessly ran a finger along the rim of the glass, deep in thought.
"So what else has happened? Where's everybody?"
"They headed out to somewhere in Kentucky. Anna's an angel, but she's missing her grace, so they're looking for that. So I stayed here, Sam, Dean, Anna, and Ruby left. Uh, Uriel and Cas were here a few minutes ago, but I got them to leave."
"What did they want?" Bobby's voice grew concerned.
"They wanted to know where Anna was. But I didn't know, so I didn't tell them. Cas healed my broken nose, but, uh, apparently he's no longer in charge of his garrison. He's been demoted."
Bobby shrugged. "So?"
"So?" Alex chuckled. "Trust me. If you're gonna butt heads with that garrison, you want Cas to be in charge. He's really cool, okay? Uriel . . . not so much."
Even though Alex knew Bobby didn't understand, he grunted in agreement.
Alex took another sip of the scotch. "Okay. Enough about those winged dicks. You're turn. Biembiens, huh?"
"Yup."
"And . . ?"
"And what?"
"Come on. Tell me about them. I'm curious."
Just as Alex spoke those words, the phone rang. Bobby got up and answered it. "This is Agent Castle. Why, yes, ma'am. Agent Barrow is one of my best agents. Of course. Mm-hmm." He hung up, walking back over to her. "Okay. Biembiens, Humanoid creatures that only come out at night. They're similar to rougarous. They feed on human entrails."
"Hmm. How do you kill one?"
"Simple. Fire."
"Hm. Cool."
"Sure." Bobby stood up and walked off. Alex sighed.
...
The sun had set when Alex's phone rang. "What?"
"It's Dean."
"Yeah, I know. You guys find Anna's grace?"
"No." Dean sounded confused and concerned, and Alex pulled herself into a sitting position. "It's gone."
"Gone?"
"Yep. That's what I said. Any idea where it is?"
"Sorry. I honestly don't know. I mean, she gets it back, but how? . . . I'm not sure."
"Oh. Okay." Dean hung up.
"But, yes, I've had an okay day, thanks for asking," Alex continued dryly. "Bobby came back. Yes, yes, he's fine." Bored, she hung as well, tossing her phone across the room.
...
Christmas came. Alex spent the day with Bobby, Rufus, and Irv. Bobby made artillery punch, which was basically a mixture of several bottles of red wine plus every alcoholic beverage in the book. Garth even stopped by, but overall it was a quiet, albeit unusual Christmas.
Alex was sent upstairs around ten, and she heard the hunters downstairs laughing and arguing about something. She sighed. She was stuck up here all by herself. No gifts, though she hadn't been expecting any with the hunters. She couldn't even drink. She retired to bed early.
...
When she woke up, Bobby was asleep on the couch, half-emptied glass in his hand. Alex took it, depositing it in the sink. The house was a mess. She wasn't surprised. Bobby grunted something, and Alex glanced over at him. "Morning."
Bobby grumbled again. He sat up, looking over at her. "What time is it?"
"Like eight. Merry Christmas."
"Yeah. Thanks." Bobby looked around. "They left?"
"Suppose so. You sent me upstairs before I could say goodbye."
"I didn't want anything happening to you. There were four drunk hunters here. I wasn't taking any chances."
Alex didn't need to ask what he meant. She blushed. "Whatever." She cleaned up the kitchen while they talked.
Bobby approached. "Got you something." Alex turned, and he held out a shotgun. "Thought I'd teach you how to make a sawed-off."
Alex smiled. "Thanks." She took it. Double barreled side-by-side. "Nice. I - sorry. I didn't get you anything."
"Whatever. You've done plenty already." Bobby walked over to the fridge. "Now how about breakfast?"
...
January 19th, 2009
It was six weeks later. Neither Dean nor Sam really called. Alex was up and walking without the crutches now, but still wore the thin brace. Her limp was gone, and she could run and jump just as easily as she could before. But today was her birthday. January 19th, to be exact.
There was a knock on the door, and Alex answered it. It was Sam and Dean. "Hey. Come on in." Alex ushered them into the house.
"You're looking pretty good," Dean remarked.
"Yeah. My ankle's healed up. So's the nose." Alex shot a humorous glance at Sam. "No thanks to you."
Sam just grunted. "Bobby?"
"What?" Bobby entered the room. "Ah Sam. And Dean."
"Hey Bobby. Sorry we're a few days early. We were just passing through."
"It's fine. Early happy birthday, then."
"Thanks." Dean smiled.
"Oh. It's your birthday." Alex's smile faded momentarily. "Well, congrats."
"You got cake?" Dean joked.
Bobby snorted. "Of course I got cake. Come on in." He led them into the kitchen. Alex followed, slightly curious. It was her birthday. Today. Dean's was in five days. Maybe they were just combining her's with Dean's. She leaned against the far wall, studying them silently. She watched Bobby pull out three beers and begin to cut the cake. Dean handed out the pieces. One to Sam, one for himself, and one for Bobby.
When Bobby cut a fourth piece, Dean frowned. "Who's that for?"
Bobby looked up, looking around. His eyes came to rest on Alex. "Her, you dumb-ass."
Dean glanced behind him, blushing slightly with embarrassment. "Oh. Right." He handed her a piece. "I knew that."
"Ouch," Alex pretended to joke. "Is there something about me that's just that forgettable?"
Dean chuckled slightly.
...
The Winchesters stayed for the rest of the day, somehow finishing up the cake and the entire supply of beer. There were quite a few stories told about Dean, apparently reminiscing because it was his birthday, but no mention of Alex. She frowned, feeling slightly forgotten.
...
Alex glanced at the clock. It was near ten o'clock. She forced out a yawn. "So," she asked. "Who's birthday is next? Sammy's, right?"
"Uh, yeah." Sam glanced up at her.
"Then Bobby's." Alex crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. "When is yours, anyways?"
"July 17th," Sam answered when Bobby just let out a grunt.
"Then yours." Dean glanced up at her.
"Yup."
"When?"
"Uh, about six months and two days after Bobby's." She let that sink in.
She saw Sam counting it out on his fingers. Then there was complete silence. "Oh." Sam's mouth dropped open embarrassedly.
"What?" Dean looked confused.
"That's today, Dean," Sam explained quietly.
"Anyways. It's late, I think I'll head off to bed, okay?" Alex smiled, pushing away the sadness. She headed towards the stairs. "Oh, and, uh, happy birthday, Dean."
She hurried into her room, closing the door. She sat in the darkness, arms around her knees. She knew she shouldn't be sad about it. Although it wasn't like they hadn't known about it. She had told them when her birthday was; Dean had even commented about how it was so close to his.
Oh well. It wasn't like this was her first birthday that had been forgotten. Although it was her first birthday where someone else's birthday had been celebrated instead. She sighed, and quickly changed into a pair of sweatpants and a large t-shirt. Then she returned to her bed, staring out the window at the night sky.
There was a knock at the door. Alex didn't answer. It creaked open, letting the hall light flood in. A figure stepped in, closing the door behind him. "Alex?"
Alex recognized Dean's voice. "Hm? Oh. Hey, Dean. What's up?"
"Uh, not much." Dean walked over to her. "I'm - uh, listen. Sorry about today."
Alex shrugged, refusing to cry. "Nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault."
"Yeah, it is our fault." Dean sat down on the bed next to her. "So seriously. You can stop with all that crap, okay? I can see straight through it."
Alex rolled her eyes. "So what, you forgot my birthday. It's not like that's never happened before. It's no big deal. Really."
Dean just shook his head. "Whatever. It still ain't fair. You should have said something."
"Like what?" Alex laughed dryly. "Like, 'Hey, happy early birthday, Dean. Enjoy your cake. Oh, and by the way, today's my actual birthday. In case you cared'?"
"Yeah, exactly like that."
Alex opened her mouth to say something, but decided against it. She returned to staring out the window. "Look," she finally said. "I've never exactly had friends or family, okay? So when I find people who actually give a damn about me, I tend to hold on tight. And, like it or not, you three are the only people I have. So I'm just trying to lay low and stay put, okay? 'Cause if I lose you guys, I got nothing."
Dean let out a small breath. "You think we would have thrown you out because it was your birthday?"
"Yes - no. No. But it would have . . . it's - it's complicated, okay?"
"Okay. But seriously. If you want to stay here, you got to stop feeling sorry for yourself."
Alex looked over at him. "You're one to talk."
"Yeah, well, I am." Dean sighed, and they lapsed into a short silence. Alex leaned against the cold window, staring at the stars. Finally Dean spoke. "So. How old are you?"
"Hm?"
"It's your birthday. How old are you now?"
"Eighteen."
"Eighteen, huh? Nice. Lots of stuff you can do at eighteen."
"Yeah?"
"Sure." Dean leaned his head back against her wall. "You can go to a strip club, for example."
Alex laughed. "I'm sure you would know that, too."
"Of course. Let's see. You can go into nightclubs as well. We'll have to start teaching you how to hustle pool. You can start earning your keep . . ." he looked over at Alex, who was smiling in amusement. "You can rent a port-a-potty-"
"You have to be eighteen to rent a port-a-potty?" Alex repeated.
"You bet." Dean smiled at her. "They don't rent those things out to just anybody." He watched Alex laugh before standing up. "Listen. Me and Sam have to go."
"Yeah, yeah. No problem." Alex' smile faded. "Thanks for stopping by. Oh!" She stood up, walking over to the wardrobe. "Look." She pulled out her sawed-off shotgun. "Bobby showed me how to do this."
"Wow." Dean took it from her hands. He studied it, feeling its weight. "You made this all by yourself?"
"Yeah." Alex grinned.
"Good job." Dean handed it back to her with a smile. "That's really cool. He walked over to the door. "Happy birthday."
Alex smiled again. "Thanks. You too."
Dean left. Alex sighed again, relaxing against the wall. Below her, light flooded onto the snow, illuminating the Impala. Two figures trudged out into the cold, getting into the car. Alex recognized Sam and Dean. Dean stopped by the driver's seat. He looked up, eyes finding her window. He gave a tiny wave, and Alex waved back. He got into the car and drove away.
Alex watched them drive off. Then she drew the curtains, sitting in the dark. "Hey, Cas. How's it going? We haven't really talked in a while. It was, uh, it was my birthday today. Not that anyone remembered." She sighed, the sadness returning. "Oh well. When's your birthday? Hm. Do you have one?" She paused. "Sorry. I shouldn't be talking to you. You've gotten in enough trouble already."
There was no answer. Alex sighed again. "Okay. Uh, yeah. Stay safe, Cas." She crawled under her covers and tried to fall asleep.