Warning: Child abuse (nothing graphic though) is mentioned in this chapter.
Rescue
Kevin and Bobby rolled through town in Bobby's old pick-up. Naomi was wedged between them, her backpack by her feet.
A few days ago, the two had left Minnesota to visit Kevin's mom and Naomi. Mrs. Tran had put the two of them to work right away, having them help her spiff up the house or doing what they were now—driving Naomi to daycare.
Bobby didn't mind driving the kid around, but he was starting to wish he had adopted Dean's rule when it came to the radio. He would have been fine with listening to pop or some other kiddy music. That he could deal with. Christian radio, though? Oh no. Bobby's ears could only take so much.
"Jesus, you're my superhero. You're my star, my best friend," Naomi sang softly, doing little hand motions to go with the song. "Jesus you're my superhero..."
The old hunter glanced over at Kevin, expecting the prophet to look just as done with the song as he was. What he saw instead was Kevin flailing his arms forward and swooping them around like he was a superhero.
Bobby shook his head and directed his gaze back to the road. He took a quick right on an empty street only to suddenly slam on the brakes. The truck lurched to a stop and Kevin let out a surprised squeal.
"Bobby, what—"
He stopped, no doubt seeing what Bobby was glaring at.
Two teenage boys were standing in front of a slightly run-down house. In their arms, they each held a carton of eggs and they each took turns throwing at the house's windows.
Having seen enough, Bobby threw his door open and started marching towards the two boys. Kevin stayed in the car, wrapping an arm around Naomi's shoulders as he watched the older hunter through the pickup's windshield.
"Hey, you two!" Bobby shouted and the boys froze, eyes bulging at the sight of the angry hunter. "Don't even think about running away."
Of course, the boys tried anyway. Bobby let out an irritated huff and ran forward, catching up with them easy enough thanks to years of chasing monsters. With the two boys in reaching distance, Bobby grabbed them by the hoods of their sweatshirts and pulled them to a halt. He might be old, but he could still stop two destructive teens.
"Let go!" The boy in Bobby's right hand- the one with a bowl cut- growled.
"What makes you think you deserve that?" Bobby questioned. "What do you two think you're doing to this house?"
"We're not doing anything wrong," bowl-cut boy growled. The kid was glaring at him right in the eye now.
"Is that right?" Bobby huffed, not fazed by the kid's stare.
"Yes, Sir. My dad always told me bad people get what's coming to them and that lady over there is a witch."
"A witch?" Bobby questioned, raising a brow at the kid and then the house they had egged.
"That's right. She's mean to everyone who talks to her. My aunt and cousin went to sell her Girl Scout cookies once and she just started screaming nonsense at them." Bowl-cut pointed at the boy stuck in Bobby's left hand then. The kid was scrawny and had dyed black hair and dark eyeliner. "Then there's what Tommy here saw."
Tommy shifted uncomfortably in Bobby's hold, not liking the sudden attention. "Oh, uh…it was nothing."
"Nothing?" the other boy huffed. "Didn't you say you saw her throwing something at some cripple a few days ago?"
"Cripple?"
"Y…yeah. I was walking by when I heard her yelling. I looked through her window and saw her throwing books at some hunchback."
"Hunchback?" Bobby's eyes flicked from the boy to the house and back again. "You didn't call the police or anything when you saw this?"
"Course he didn't!" the other boy shouted. "What would he say? That he trespassed on her property to see what she was up to? Cops don't trust kids like me and him. He probably would have got accused of peeping on the old hag or worse."
"Well, you're all going to get in trouble if you don't get outa here and leave this woman alone right now, capiche? I can forget the egging, but if I catch you two again..."
"We capiche." Bobby's hands loosened their grip on the boys and the two pulled free. Bowl-cut huffed and grabbed his friend's hand, saying, "Come on, Tommy," before dragging him to two bikes leaning on a nearby fence.
Bobby watched them go for a moment before turning his gaze back to the house that just got egged. He started for it, pushing past the gate and marching up to the front door. When there, he pressed the doorbell and it chimed throughout the house.
"Hunchback, huh?" Bobby murmured to himself. He listened to the sound of footsteps draw near. They stopped on the other side of the old oak door and there was an uncomfortably long pause before the door finally cracked open. There was a chain on the door, only allowing Bobby to see the bloodshot eyes of a woman in her late thirties.
"Yes?" Her voice sounded ragged like Bobby's did after a drinking binge.
"Hello, ma'am, my name's Brian Johnson. I was driving by when I saw a couple of kids throwing eggs at your house."
"Oh?" She sounded skeptical.
Bobby frowned. "Yes. I...uh...just wanted to let you know. I could lend a hand cleaning it up too-"
"Is that all?" she asked suddenly, her voice wavering almost like she was about to have a breakdown or something. "Because if it is, I think you should go."
"Uh...yeah, sorry if I'm being a bother. Just wanted to help you know-"
"Well, I don't need your help so please..." She nodded at the end of her driveway. "Please go."
"Yeah...sorry for the bother." He gave her a nod. "Have a nice day."
He turned his back on her then and the door slammed shut behind him. Bobby made his way off her property, glancing at the mailbox on his way out.
Kensington.
Bobby jumped back into his seat in the pickup. He glanced at Kevin, finding that the kid was on the phone with somebody and by the look on his face, it wasn't a good conversation.
The old hunter looked to Naomi next, earning a smile from the small angel. Bobby smiled back and by then, Kevin's conversation was coming to an end.
"Yep, no we'll take care of it….don't worry about it. We got it…yep…call you later." Kevin ended the call and leaned back in his seat. "That was Amy," he revealed.
Bobby frowned. "Everything alright back at home?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, not really. She said Cas, Balthazar, and Gabriel started acting weird and just suddenly froze up."
"What?!"
"They're fine," Kevin hurried to say. "They just had a vision is all."
Bobby's frown grew. "A vision? They haven't had one of those in a while."
"Yeah, and guess what? According to the vision, there's a baby angel somewhere in town."
"Do they know where?"
Kevin shook his head. "No, but…" Kevin dialed a new number into his phone. "I know someone that does."
After dropping Naomi off at daycare, Bobby and Kevin had sped back home. While Bobby filled Mrs. Tran in on everything that happened, Kevin talked with Benny.
"Okay, so the angel is at 23 Orchard Avenue. Sorry, I can't be of more help. Kali and I are still working on the tracking system."
"It's fine, Benny, thanks. It's a big help."
"I wish I could do more. Call me when you find the little tyke okay?"
"Will do. Bye."
Kevin took Benny off of speaker and ended the call. He looked up at his mother and Bobby.
"Weren't we just on Orchard Avenue?" he asked.
Bobby nodded. "23 Orchard Avenue was the house those kids egged," he revealed. "The one kid saw the lady throwing stuff at a cripple—a hunchback. They didn't say anything about a kid with wings, though"
Mrs. Tran's eyes widened. "Oh," she gasped. "But they did." She took out her own phone, flipping through it before finally finding what she was looking for. She handed her phone over to Bobby and Kevin peaked over his shoulder to get a good look. It was a picture of Naomi when Mrs. Tran had first taken her in. She had a too big shirt on- one of Kevin's by the look of it.
Bobby's eyes widened and Kevin let out a gasp. Naomi's wings were tucked under the shirt and resting flat along her back, making it look like her back was sloped.
"The hunchback..." Kevin gaped. "If the angel's wings were covered by something, the angel might look kind of like a hunchback."
Mrs. Tran nodded and took back her phone
Bobby bobbed his head, thinking back to the days before he and the boys started dressing the angels in really big and puffy coats. They always looked like their backs were hunched outward when they wore thinner clothing. Maybe that was what was going on in this case too?
Bobby ran a hand over his face. "Shit," he hissed. "They said she was throwing stuff and yelling."
"You don't think…"
"Yeah, Kevin, I do. That angel has to be one of the angels Crowley kidnapped."
Tense silence wrapped itself around the three. It had been a while since they last found one of Crowley's angels. Bobby hated seeing the little guys scared and alone when they did find one. It reminded him too much of himself when he was a kid. Still, someone had to do it and if it wasn't Bobby and Kevin then there's no telling how long it'd be till the little guy was found.
"Alright," Bobby huffed, rolling up his sleeves. "Let's go find ourselves an angel."
The house was dark when Bobby and Kevin entered. Miss Kensington was on the couch, snoring into a pillow as jeopardy blared on the TV.
Bobby and Kevin crept past her until they made it to the main steps.
"Up there maybe?" Kevin whispered. "Man this would've been easier with the angels."
"Too late now."
The two slowly made their approach up the steps and into the only room other than the bathroom on the top floor. The room was an utter mess. Pieces of glass littered the ground and several tables and shelves were thrown about the room.
"I don't see anyone," Kevin whispered softly. "Maybe they're hiding?"
"Look," Bobby pointed at the closet on the opposite side of the room. The glass and other trash around it had been pushed away from the little opening that led inside, creating a small path.
Kevin moved first, reaching out and taking the closet's door handle. He carefully pulled on the handle and the door squeaked open.
A tiny gasp broke through the darkness of the closet and Bobby knelt down, shining his phone's flashlight into the darkness in search of who had made the frightened sound.
Behind several totes and boxes, a boy peeked out from a bundle of worn blankets and clothes. He had bright blue eyes and light brown skin. His hair was dark and would have reached down to his shoulder if it weren't such a mess. His wings were just as bad. They looked uninjured, but the feathers were tangled and matted together.
"Hey there," Kevin whispered softly. The angel stared at him, Blue eyes wide as they followed his every movement. "You're going to be okay. The old man and I are going to help you."
"Help?" The angel's wings fluffed up and he backed further into the corner. He was shaking and rightfully so. He wasn't going to trust them right off the bat, but Bobby knew someone the frightened angel would trust.
"Kevin," Bobby whispered. "Can you do a video thing?"
"You mean a FaceTime?" Kevin questioned, his eyes lighting up when the idea sparked for him too. He plunked in a number and soon Amy's face was staring up at them through the phone's screen.
"Hey, Kev, what's up!"
The baby angel yelped in fear and Kevin quickly pressed a finger to his lip. "Amy, please don't shout. We're with the angel the kids had the vision earlier about. He's scared."
Amy's eyes widened and she pressed her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"It's alright, but are Gabe, Cas, or Balthazar around? We need their help."
Amy nodded. "Yeah, they're in the other room. Just a minute."
Amy's face disappeared for a second then but was quickly back along with Gabriel, Balthazar, and Castiel.
"Hey, guys," Kevin greeted. "Think you can help Bobby and I out with one of your little brothers?"
The three nodded and Kevin rotated the camera around until the baby angel could see the screen. The angel stiffened at the movement and his feathers flared protectively. Though, when he saw the wings on the screen they quickly folded back.
"G...G...Gabby?" the angle croaked. "That you?"
Gabriel nodded slowly. "Yes, it's me, brother."
The angel let out a choked sob. "I...I thought you and Cassie...was...dead- that the sins and Crowley-"
"Shhh...shhh," Gabriel hushed softly, holding out a hand, but not quite touching his brother. "We're okay. Cassie's right as rain. So is Balthazar. We made it, brother, and so did you."
The little angel laughed at that, but there was no humor in it. "Did I?" He looked up at his brother, tears rolling down his face. He held out his arms, showing off the scars, cuts, and bruises on his body. "I'm n...nothing n...now. I'm lost-"
The three bigger angels frowned and scooted closer to the screen.
"You're not nothing," Castiel said defiantly. "You're our brother."
Just like that, the angle started crying again. He wailed loudly, tears and snot rolling down his face as he cried into his hands. His body shook violently and hiccups wracked his body as he fought to get in a breath.
Bobby leaned further into the closet and gently brushed the back of his hand down the angel's wet cheeks. The angel started at the touch and turned, looking up at Bobby through red eyes.
"I recognize you now..." he whimpered. "Bobby Singer."
Bobby nodded and forced a smile. "That's right and we're here to help you, okay? You don't have to feel scared anymore." He held open his arms. The angel stared at him as he sniffled and cried. The angels on the phone screen softly pep talked the angel, trying to lightly push him into Bobby's arms. The angel slowly did so and instantly stiffened and tried to pull back when in Bobby's hold. Bobby just latched onto the tiny angel in his arms, hugging the crying angel tight and running his fingers through matted feathers as lightly as he could. Eventually, the angel in his arms gave up and melted into his embrace.
Bobby stood slowly and nodded at Kevin. The prophet nodded back, saying a quick goodbye and thank you to the angels on his phone before ending the video call.
When his phone safe within his pocket, Kevin walked over to the only door in the room and grabbed the handle. He pulled it open, freezing suddenly. Bobby peeked over the kid's shoulder to see what had stopped him, his own eyes widening.
The woman from the couch now stood in the doorway. Her eyes were glassy and red and her face was pale as a sheet.
"No..." she hissed through her teeth. "No, this isn't real. You're not here! You're not!"
"Lady, what-?"
"You're in my head! Just like the voices! You're not real." She looked around, her eyes meeting those of a sobbing baby angel. "You..." she hissed. "You brought them here with you, didn't you? It's all part of their plan, isn't it- no!" She smacked herself on the head and both Bobby and Kevin watched in utter shock and horror as she hit herself so hard she actually drew blood. "No, that's not true," she argued with herself. "There's no them and there's no you." She glared at the angel in Bobby's arms. "You're nothing! You're just in my head!"
"Lady, what the hell?" Kevin questioned.
"Kevin, don't," Bobby warned.
"Bobby, are you not hearing any of this? She's bananas!"
"Kevin, just calm down alright?" Bobby hissed. Kevin opened his mouth again, but Bobby flashed a glare and Kevin's mouth fell shut. With the kid quiet, Bobby turned his gaze onto the woman before him.
"We're sorry for bothering you," Bobby told her. "We'll go away. Just step aside and we'll go away."
"You won't go away. You never go away," the woman snarled.
"We will this time. I promise you won't see us or this child again. Just please step aside."
The woman was quiet for a second. "You promise?" she asked silently, a small spark of hope in her voice. "I just want this to stop."
"I promise," Bobby repeated.
To his surprise, the woman stepped aside.
Quickly, not giving her a chance to change her mind, Bobby hurried past her and down the stairs. Kevin followed close behind. They didn't stop moving until they were out the door and when they were they still kept going until Bobby was in the driver's seat of his pickup.
"Jesus, that was nuts," Kevin said as Bobby handed the baby angel off to him so he could drive. Bobby pulled his truck back onto the road, stepping on the gas and heading straight back to Mrs. Tran's. "And he's been with her all this time since Crowley?"
The angel let out a harsh breath, choking on another sob. Kevin hushed him softly, rocking back and forth a little in an attempt to sooth the angel. When that didn't work, he reached for the radio in hope that something on it would calm him down.
Christian radio hummed through the speakers like it had earlier that morning. The angel listened to it silently, his sobs quieting somewhat as more of his focus went onto the music.
Kevin looked up from the angel and to Bobby, shrugging his shoulders. "Christian radio, man. Gotta add that to our angel care list."
Bobby rolled his eyes at Kevin and focused back onto the road. He didn't care for Christian radio, but today it was alright.
Oh, man. It's been a while since I just focused on Bobby and Kevin's characters. It was a nice change for me (though I'm really rusty) and I hope you all feel the same too.