With the large group they had, Alex found a penthouse suite of a hotel in town and booked it for them. She did her best to get the children in bed but they were fascinated by Henry. Madison was adding this experience, along with all of the information Henry had on Abbadon, to her hunter's journal while Levi and Seraphina played Go Fish with him. Henry was whistling a tune while he played cards.
"What is that?" Dean asked as he tried to find some information on one of the previous Men of Letters. The tune had been driving him insane.
"It's from Casablanca." Madison didn't look up from her journal.
Sam looked to Alex with a confused look. Alex shrugged. "It's her favorite movie."
"John saw Abbot and Costello Meet the Mummy one night at the drive in." Henry chuckled at the memory. "It scared the beeswax out of him. I got him a music box that played that tune."
"Mommy, I'm tired." Seraphina tugged on Alex's shirt.
"I think it's time for everybody to go to sleep." Alex said, looking pointedly at her children. She ushered them into the bedroom, got them tucked into bed and closed the door behind her. Henry was looking at a gold decorative box. "What is that?"
"I don't know." Henry admitted. "One of the elders gave it to me to protect."
"May I?" Alex reached for the box and paused, her hand hovering over it. When Henry nodded, she picked it up, noticing the almost invisible seam at the top. She opened the top and slid out the panel, revealing a key inside. "What does this key go to?"
"I don't know." Henry repeated, staring at the key in surprise.
"Maybe Larry Ganem knows." Sam suggested, referring to the Men of Letters they were researching. "He's alive not far from here. I'll go check it out in the morning."
"We'll work out a way to kill Abbadon." Dean said and Alex nodded.
"What about your children?" Henry asked Alex. "You would have them going after Abbadon?"
"I would have them where I can keep my eye on them." Alex replied. "That means research."
Sam and Alex went into the other bedroom and Dean claimed the couch. Henry stayed up reading John's journal. Seraphina woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink and Henry was still awake. She approached him, rubbing her eyes. "Aren't you sleepy?"
"No, little one." Henry smiled at her. "You should be asleep."
"I'm thirsty." Seraphina yawned widely.
"Let's get you some water then." Henry filled a glass and gave it to her, taking it back when she finished. "Go back to sleep, dear heart."
She tugged on his pant leg and he knelt next to her. Seraphina kissed his cheek as a thank you. "Thanks Granddad."
"You're welcome." Henry hugged her, ignoring the lump in his throat. He carried the sleepy toddler back to bed and tucked her in the blankets. He knew that he would have to stop Abbadon but he had to keep his family safe. Abbadon had come after the key and the wheels in his head started to turn. When the Winchesters woke up the next morning, Henry was gone but the key was tucked under Seraphina's pillow.
"Where did he go?" Sam paced back and forth. Henry had left a note saying that he was going to fix everything. A few minutes later, there was a knock at their door. Dean had his gun ready when he opened the door. A box was sitting on the doorstep. Dean brought it inside and placed it on the table. He pulled the top off the box then slammed it back closed.
"Good grief." Dean muttered. "I'm not awake enough for this."
"What's in it?" Alex asked, looking at the box warily.
"Henry." Dean said simply.
They got a phone call a few seconds later. It was Abbadon on the other end telling them that if they brought her the key, then nobody else would die. Sam went to talk to Larry while Dean and Alex stayed to watch the kids to make sure Abbadon couldn't get to them.
"How do we take her out?" Alex asked Dean.
"Demon knife didn't do the job." Dean kept his voice low so the kids couldn't hear him.
"You could shoot her." Levi suggested.
"Damn demon hearing." Dean mumbled. Turning to Levi he said, "Demons can't be killed with normal bullets."
"You won't be able to trap her in a devil's trap either." Levi countered. "Henry told me that he carved a devil's trap into a bullet and it kept the demon from smoking out."
"Can we do that?" Alex asked Dean.
"I don't see why not." Dean retrieved a file from the trunk and a bullet, carving the devil's trap into it. Sam returned shortly after and Abbadon called again. She set up a meeting place with Sam and Dean to bring the key to her.
"Larry said this was the key to all the knowledge of the Men of Letters." Sam said, gesturing to the key. "We can't let her get her hands on this."
"Use us." Levi said. He had talked to his siblings about this before hand. "Use us as bait."
"No." Alex answered quickly. "You are not going out there."
"Why not?" Levi wasn't usually this outspoken. That was usually Madison. "Abbadon will come after us and you can take the shot."
"That's exactly why you are staying in this hotel room." Alex's voice was stern and it wasn't one that she usually took with her children. "Abbadon will kill you without a second thought."
"You wouldn't let her hurt us." Levi countered.
"No." Alex kept her voice low.
"We can help! Why won't you let us help you?" Levi shouted as Alex started to walk away.
Alex spun around and closed the distance between her and her children. "Because I am your mother and you will do as I say."
"Dad, tell her that she's wrong." Madison begged Sam, stepping in for Levi.
"No." Sam shook his head. "Not this time, Madison. She's right."
"We want to help." Madison looked disappointed in Sam.
"Not against Abbadon. Let us teach you more about demons and how to handle them and you can tackle them when you're ready." Sam promised. "But for now, you need to stay here. Your mother and your uncle Dean and I can't lose you three. You mean too much to us."
"Yes, Daddy." Madison looked down at the floor. "We'll wait here."
Alex locked and triple locked the hotel, making sure that there was no way the children could get out. The Winchesters got to the meeting place and Alex took her place at the vantage point, her gun aimed at Abbadon. She couldn't hear anything that the boys were saying but when Abbadon raised her hand to strike, Alex took the shot. She hit her mark and Dean cut the demon's head off. They buried Abbadon under cement then collected the children and went to the coordinates that Larry had given Sam.
A/N: I am so, so sorry that this took so long to get up. I got distracted with my other fics. Please forgive me. I would appreciate it if you could go check out my other fics and leave a review. They're always helpful and they give me extra incentive to get updates quicker. Thanks for reading/reviewing/following/favoriting. Please leave a review on your way out.