December 15th
Kansas City, Missouri
They drove for a few hours before Dean pulled into a motel in the southern part of New York. They spent the night there, then headed out late the next morning. They drove for the rest of the day. Not even Dean really knew where he was going. Finally, that night, they decided to stop in Kansas City, Missouri. As they were looking for a motel, Alex spoke up. "So are we seriously going to hunt Lucifer?"
"Hell yeah. Son of a bitch is trouble."
"Understatement, but, yeah. Do we have a plan?"
Dean thought for a second. "I dunno, maybe, find him before he finds a meatsuit?" He pulled the Impala up next to a hotel, putting it in park. He leaned over the seat, snagging his duffle bag with two fingers. Alex got out, closing the passenger door before opening the back door to get her stuff. Behind her, she could hear someone talking. Sounded like one of those street evangelists. As Dean rounded the Impala, the man turned to them. "Excuse me, friend. But have you taken time out to think about God's plan for you?"
Dean stopped to look at him. "Too friggin' much, pal." Then he entered the motel. Alex snorted in agreement, and followed. Dean checked them in, and led them up the stairs to their new room. "You know if he's found his true vessel or whatever?"
Alex hesitated. "Um, I'm fairly certain he has a vessel, but not his true vessel. That vessel hasn't consented yet."
"You mean that son of a bitch seriously needs people's consent?" Dean threw open the door, tossing his bag onto the bed.
"Well, yeah, he's an angel after all." Alex tossed her stuff onto the other bed, looking around.
"Well, then who's his true vessel? You should at least know that." Dean stopped talking when his phone rang. "Hey Cas." He listened for a while. "We're talking about the Colt, right? As in, the Colt?" Dean closed the curtains that hung over the only window.
Alex wandered over to him. "Cas?" she asked.
Dean nodded. "Well, that doesn't make any sense," he told the angel on the other line. "I mean, why would demons keep a gun around that, uh, kills demons?"
"Speaker," Alex told him. He did so, and Cas' voice came over.
"What? I didn't - I didn't get that."
Dean laughed. "You know, it's kind of funny. Talking to a messenger of God on a cellphone. It's like, you know, watching a Hell's Angel ride a moped."
"This isn't funny, Dean. The voice says I'm almost out of minutes." That made Alex laugh. "Alex?"
"Yeah, hey. What else has the voice said?"
"Okay, alright, stop teasing the angel. I'm-I'm telling you, Cas, those mooks have melted down the gun by now."
"Well, I hear differently. And if it's true and if you're still set on the insane task of killing the devil, this is how we do it."
Dean pondered this. "Okay. Where do we start?"
"Where are you now?"
"Kansas City," Alex answered
"Century Motel, room 113." Dean reached over and grabbed the room's key.
"I'll be there immediately." Castiel said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean stopped him. "No. No, come on man. I just drove for sixteen hours straight, okay? I'm human. There's stuff I got to do."
"What stuff?"
"Eat, for example. In this case, sleep. I just need like four hours once and a while, okay?"
"Yes."
"Okay, so you can pop in tomorrow morning."
"Yes. I'll just-"
Dean hung up. Alex looked at him. "Nice going."
"What are you talking about?"
"You know he's just going to wait there for you, right? He's probably going to stand wherever he is until tomorrow."
"No he-"
"Yeah, he will. I know because I remember this part. It was funny, yet kind of sad that he just stood on the corner until you woke up." She dialed Cas' number on her phone. "Hey, Cas?"
"Yes?"
"Alex. Listen, I slept in the car, so, if you want, I could keep you company or something? Just, I don't know, zap me over there?" The next second, she was on the street corner next to Cas. She slowly hung up. "Thanks." She looked up at him. "So, what now?"
"I was just going to wait here," Castiel replied. He fell silent, looking off into the distance.
When Alex realized he had no intentions of moving, she shook her head. "No way. We are not going to stand here and do nothing. Let's go find something to eat."
She took his hand and led him down the street. There stood a restaurant with the sign, Open 24/7. Alex smiled, pushing open the door and stepping inside. It smelled good, and Alex inhaled deeply. On a second thought, she checked her pockets, happy to find a wad of money. "Come on. My treat. Pie? Fries?"
"No thank you."
Alex sighed and led him over to a booth. She ordered a basket of fries, and turned back to Castiel, who was watching her, unblinking. "So. How's it going?"
Castiel's head tipped slightly to one side. "Good."
"Okay." Alex said hesitantly, "You're cut off from Heaven, right?"
"Yes."
"Right." Alex let out a sigh.
"I'm sorry," Castiel said.
"Why are you sorry?" Alex laughed quietly.
Castiel opened his mouth to respond, but decided against it, turning to stare out the window. Alex sighed again.
The waitress brought her food, and Alex thanked her. "Come on, Cas. Want some?" She nudged her fries towards him. "They're really good."
"You knew this was going to happen, right?" Castiel turned back to her. "You knew I would be cut off?"
Alex closed her eyes. "Yes, but everything turns out fine, okay? Better, even. We'll get through this." Castiel didn't respond. Alex decided to change the subject. "So. Garrisons, huh. What's up with them?"
"What?" Castiel narrowed his eyes.
Alex chuckled. "I dunno. Just trying to converse."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So . . . what do you want to know about angel garrisons?"
Alex shrugged. "Everything. What they are, how they're structured, what's your role, stuff like that."
"Okay." Castiel turned to look at her. "Angels are structured into garrisons-"
"All angels?" Alex interrupted.
"No. Different angels have different jobs. Many are soldiers like I was."
"Am," Alex corrected. "Like you are."
Castiel tipped his head to one side. "I am no longer part of Heaven."
"Doesn't mean you're not a soldier. Always will be." Alex pulled her journal out of her coat pocket, turning it to a page she had intentionally left blank. "But continue. How many angels are in a garrison?"
"Fifty. One angel leads. There are seven angels under him, and then six angels under those seven. Fifty in total."
"What about your garrison?"
"I was the leader of my garrison. Before me was Anna. When she left, I was promoted. Under me is Balthazar, Abdiel, Handriel, Inias, Hestor, Yofiel, and Sabrael, who replaced Uriel when he . . . rebelled."
"Hm." Alex scribbled all of this down. "How do you spell their names?" Looking up at Castiel's face, she added, "Never mind. And then there's forty-two angels under them?"
"Yes. I assume you don't want to know all of their names."
Alex smiled. "Sorry. I'm afraid it'd all be lost on me."
"Its fine. Zachariah is my, 'boss', if you will. There are twenty garrisons under him. My garrison and a few others are in charge of watching over the Earth."
Alex nodded. "Awesome."
Castiel stopped talking for several seconds, and Alex looked up. The angel studied her. "What about you? What was your life like before?" Seeing Alex's face, he added, "Is this an appropriate topic?"
"It's fine. You mean life before I fell through?" When Castiel nodded, Alex sighed, closing her journal. "My mom died when I was seven. My dad started drinking and gambling. One day, when I was twelve, he just got up and left. He never came back. I was put into a foster family for three years. Then they died." Alex ran a hand down the side of her face, long forgotten grief flickering around her chest. "Went to another family. They had two young children of their own. They didn't like me, I didn't like them. They'd throw me out for the night if they got mad at me. That's what happened the night I fell."
"I'm sorry." Castiel seemed genuinely sympathetic. "How did your second family die?"
"Car crash." Alex blinked back tears. "I was the only survivor." She added in a small voice, "I should have died with them."
"What makes you think that?" Castiel tipped his head, studying the young girl that was sitting before him.
"Because. It wasn't fair. They were amazing people. I was just . . . me. A broken girl with a dead mom and an absent father. They should have lived." A tear slipped down her face, and Alex angrily brushed it away. "If anyone deserved to die, it would have been me."
"Perhaps you lived because God has a plan for you," Castiel offered hopelessly.
"If God loved me, he would have let me die," Alex hissed. "I deserved to die."
"Don't say that," Castiel snapped, louder than he had meant to. Alex flinched, and he lowered his voice. "I am sorry, but no one should ever say they deserve to die. Is that how you truly feel?"
Alex nodded quietly.
"Don't you have anything to live for?"
Alex shrugged.
"What about your family?"
"My family?" Alex shook her head. "They're dead, Cas. Even if they weren't, they're a whole universe away."
"Not that family. Sam and Dean."
"I highly doubt Sam considers me family," Alex scoffed. "And Dean . . . I don't know. Maybe." However, she let out a long breath. "I guess you're right. You guys are my family now. You, Sam, Dean, Bobby. You're all I've got."
Castiel let out a satisfied breath. "I know it would, hurt, them greatly if you were to die. I might be forced to bring you back from the dead."
Alex looked up at him. "Was that a joke?" When Castiel didn't respond, Alex smiled. "You made a joke, didn't you." Castiel just looked confused, and Alex laughed. "Well, thanks anyways." She pushed away the sorrow that was sitting in her chest before eating several more fries. "You sure you're not hungry?"
Castiel shook his head.
Right then, Alex's phone rang. She glanced at the ID, then frowned, glancing up at Castiel. She answered. "Uh, hello?"
"Is this Dean?" The woman's voice sounded familiar.
"Uh, this is Alex. Who is this?"
"This is Amelia Novak."
Alex's face turned into one of recognition, and then concern. "Is something wrong? How is, uh, sorry, your daughter?"
"Claire's fine. We're both fine. I just wanted to call to thank you and tell you that we're safe. There haven't been any demons after us."
"Good, good. I'm really glad."
"Is, uh, is Jimmy okay?"
"Yeah, he's just fine. I'm actually with Cas right now." Alex chuckled, "Don't worry. I'll take care of your husband. Promise."
"Thank you. If you can, tell Jimmy we're safe."
"I'll see what I can do," Alex promise.
"Thank you. Good-bye."
"Yeah, yeah. Good-bye." Alex hung up.
"Who was that?" Castiel asked.
"Amelia Novak. Jimmy's wife." Alex studied her phone, which was now sitting on the table. "Cas, is it possible to talk to Jimmy? He's still in there, right?"
"Yes." Castiel nodded. "Why?"
"I promised Amelia I'd tell him his family's okay." Alex looked up. "Can I talk to him? Just for a few minutes."
Castiel looked up at the ceiling, letting out a breath. "Of course." His eyes glowed a brilliant blue, then faded.
"What?"
Alex immediately knew it was Jimmy. "Jimmy?"
"Alex?" Jimmy looked wildly around. "What's going on?"
"Jimmy, calm down. I just need to talk to you for a while."
"Where's Castiel?"
"He's still in there. Please. Amelia called."
"Amelia?" Jimmy's eyes flashed. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine. Fry?" Alex slid her plate across to him, offering her food. "Cas doesn't seem to enjoy eating."
"Thank you." Jimmy ate one. "Why did Amelia call you?"
"She wanted me to tell you that she's fine." Alex smiled. "They're safe now. And they miss you." Seeing Jimmy's broken look, she reached out, placing a hand on his. "You did the right thing. I know it's painful, and I am really, really sorry-"
"It's fine. I couldn't let the demons hurt my family."
"I get it. I do." Alex sighed. "I just, I really am sorry. It . . . doesn't hurt too bad, does it?" She looked pitifully up at the man.
Jimmy's eyes softened slightly. "You get use to it."
"Does it hurt now?" she asked softly.
Jimmy blinked, then shook his head. "No." Suddenly his eyes glowed bright blue again, and Alex knew Castiel was back. She stared into his brilliant blue eyes, which seemed somehow brighter when the angel was in control.
Castiel looked down at where Alex's hand was covering his. "I trust it went well."
Alex removed her hand from his. "Yeah, uh, yeah. It went fine. Thanks."
"No problem."
...
After a while, Castiel stood up.
"Cas?" Alex asked. "Where you going?"
"It's been four hours," he explained. "I'm going to go get Dean."
Alex blinked, shocked that the time had flown so quickly, then dropped a few bucks on the table. "Okay. Sure."
She followed him back out and down the street. Castiel flickered for a second, and then Dean was there. "Well that was as weird as hell," she muttered, confused as well as slightly amused.
Dean blinked, looking around. His gaze came to rest on Castiel. "Well, that was pretty nice timing, Cas."
"We had an appointment."
Dean smiled and put a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Don't you ever change." Alex cocked her head at Dean's strange remark.
"How did Zachariah find you?" Castiel asked, narrowing his eyes to study Dean.
"Long story. Let's just stay away from Jehovah's Witnesses from now on, okay?"
"It was the guy from in front of the motel," Alex realized. "He ratted us out? Son of a bitch."
Dean grunted in agreement and pulled out his phone.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I should have done a long time ago." He held the phone to his ear, letting it ring. "Hello. Sam? Yeah. Dean. Listen. We need to talk." He walked off down the street, his voice fading.
"Should we follow him?" Castiel looked down at Alex.
She shook her head. "Nah."
...
Five minutes later Dean came back. "Okay. New plan." He turned to Cas. "Can you get us back to the Impala?"
In response, Castiel reached out, resting his hands on their shoulders. Then they were standing outside the car. Dean got in, and so did Alex. Castiel disappeared. "Thanks," Alex called after him. She turned
back to Dean. "You were saying?"
"We're meeting up with Sam. Nebraska."
"Where in Nebraska?"
"Don't know yet." Dean started the car, then paused. "Dammit. Our bags are still up in that room." He turned off the car. "Go get them, okay?"
"Uh, okay." Alex started to get out of the car. "But how do I get into the room?" In response, Dean tossed her the keys.
"Great," Alex mumbled. "If I don't come back, assume Zach got me."
Dean snorted. "Quit whining and get up there."
Alex hurried into the motel and quickly grabbed their stuff. She left the door open and the key on the floor next to it, then hurried back outside. She passed the same Jehovah Witness who had talked to them four hours ago. "Traitor," she muttered, stopping beside him. He stared back, confused. Alex dropped the bags and punched him in the face. Then she stormed off to the Impala, ignoring the crowd of people behind as they rushed to help the injured man. She threw the bags into the back seat, got into the car with a huff.
Dean started at her. "You're insane."
"Just drive."
Dean acquiesced.
...
"Uh, Dean? Can I ask you something?" Alex broke the silence.
Dean glanced over at her. "This isn't going to be some girly thing, right?"
Alex snorted in amusement. "No."
"Good." Dean adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "Okay. Shoot."
Alex hesitated, looking out the window. She felt Dean's gaze land back on her, and she let out a long breath. "I, uh - we're family, right?"
Dean didn't immediately respond, and Alex closed her eyes. "Why you ask?" he finally said.
"I, just . . . I-I was just wondering. I mean, I don't have any family of my own, so . . ." She trailed off, not sure how to finish her thought. "Never mind."
"Of course you're family," Dean said firmly, looking over to meet her eyes. "But you know what that means, right? It's not just rainbows and unicorns."
Alex rolled her eyes at his statement. "Of course not. I mean, look at us. Two hunters, an old drunk, a fallen angel and a lost girl? I get it, Dean. We're homeless, we're broken, and to be perfectly honest you guys are total dicks sometimes, but, hey. I'd still die for any and all of you in a heartbeat."
Dean nodded. "That's all I ask." They fell back into silence.
Alex opened her mouth again. "What happened?" she asked. "You said Zachariah was there."
"He was." Dean's mouth curled slightly into a snarl.
"And . . ? What? You guys just had a nice little chat?"
"I was in 2014."
Alex nodded thoughtfully. "That was supposed to be a nice year," she said. "Little shitty, but not bad."
"No. This, this was bad." Dean shifted his grip on the steering wheel uncomfortably. "It was a freaking zombie apocalypse. I was there. Future me. And, uh, future Cas."
"Oh? What was he like?"
"Different." Dean's voice was blunt. "He fell. I - it was weird, man. He-He was like a . . . a fricken love guru."
Alex let out a breath of confused laugher. "A what?"
"He-He-" Dean seemed to have trouble finding the right words. "He was into drugs, orgies, he was messed up." Dean looked over at her, eyes slightly hurt. "The poor guy was broken beyond repair."
Alex frowned sympathetically. "Really? Cas? Brown hair, blue eyes, trench coat Cas?"
"Yeah."
"What about you? What were you like?" Alex's frown deepened when Dean fell into silence. Her voice softened. "Dean?"
"I killed them." Dean's voice cracked slightly. "Future me sent them all in as decoys. They died. I killed Cas and Lisa and . . ." He trailed off, shaking his head.
"Decoys? Where you hunting something?"
"We were hunting Sam." Dean's green eyes flashed with pain. "He was there. He . . . he's Lucifer vessel."
Silence.
Dean looked over at Alex, who nodded understandingly. "You knew."
"It's hard to forget that," Alex admitted.
"And I suppose that was another thing you weren't going to tell me."
"What good would it have done?" Alex countered, irritated at Dean's tone. "You knowing wouldn't have changed anything. Hell, you would have pushed Sam away even further."
Dean didn't argue.
"What about me?" Alex awkwardly asked the question. "W-Was I . . . weird?"
Dean was silent for a second, and Alex raised an eyebrow. He finally spoke. "You weren't there."
"What?"
"You were dead."
Alex sat in silence for a second, wrapping her head around that. Then she closed her eyes. "Good."
Dean looked over at her, frowning. "Good?"
"Yeah. How did I die? Bloody, probably. Better yet, when?"
"Zachariah." Dean snarled out the name. "Or some angel. I don't know." His eyes grew sad, and they returned to the road. "They tortured you. A, uh, about a deal or something."
Alex tensed. "Oh. What was the deal about?"
Dean noticed her hesitation. "About me. And Michael and Lucifer. You were suppose to get me to be Michael's vessel. You didn't. Cas said he brought you back before the angels left, but you died before he could get you help."
Alex felt tears stinging her eyes. "Sounds painful," she admitted, voice breaking only slightly.
"Well, don't worry. That's not going to happen." Dean glanced over at her, face dark. "I won't let it."
They fell into silence.
...
They arrived in Nebraska late that afternoon. Dean had set up a meeting spot with Sam over lunch, and now they were waiting for his arrival next to an old stone bridge. Alex sat on the hood, and Dean was leaning against the side when a car drove up, coming to a halt next to them. Sam got out and approached.
"Sam." Dean pulled the demon knife out of his jacket, holding it out by the blade. Sam looked at it nervously. "If you're serious and you want back in . . . you should hang on to this. I'm sure you're rusty."
Sam nodded, and he took the knife. He glanced at Alex, but refused to meet his brother's eyes.
"Look, man," Dean started, "I'm sorry. I'm . . . whatever I need to be. But I was, uh . . . wrong."
"What made you change your mind?"
"Long story. The point is, maybe we are each other's Achille's heels. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other, I don't know. I just we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human."
There was a slight pause, then Sam finally spoke. "Thank you. Really. Thank you. I-I won't let you down."
"Oh, I know it. I mean, you are the second-best hunter in the world."
Sam smiled slightly at his brother's joke, and gave a small nod. "So, what do we do now?"
"We make our own future."
"Guess we have no choice."
"Of course not." Dean nodded, casting a glance at Alex. She ignored him, staring straight ahead. This was their moment, not hers.
"What about Alex?" Alex turned her head at the sound of her name.
"She's coming with," Dean replied stubbornly. Sam started to protest, but Dean cut him off. "She's family, Sam. Whether you want to admit it or not." He got into the car. He looked over at the car Sam had driven there. "You coming with us, or in that?"
Sam got into the passenger seat, casting one last look at his car. "It's stolen anyways," he admitted.
Dean chuckled as Alex got into the back. "That's my boy."
...
...
I'm just going to say, thank you guys for reading! I love hearing your predictions and comments. It makes me happy inside!