Sam watched in muted horror as he saw the color drain completely from Alex's face. The teen turned his gaze towards the man who was supposed to be helping him.
"Is he telling the truth?" Alex demanded with a unmistakable quiver in his voice.
"Alex..." Same began sadly. But the boy was having none of it.
"You killed her!" He cried, heaving himself up and throwing himself at the demon who had stepped back to the boy to watch the pain in his face more closely. Either the Alex's adrenaline or white hot rage had muted the pain from his injuries as he lashed out violently at Lasriel.
But even as quick as the boy was he never even got to land a punch, Lasriel was too quick. As Alex came at him Lasriel grabbed him by the throat and pinned the struggling teen against the wall while simultaneously flinging Sam across the room and holding him there as the man moved to assist Alex.
Cutting off the boy's airway he leaned in close but when he spoke, he spoke loudly.
"Are you seeing the pattern here, kid? You try to escape me, people will die. If it's not someone you love it will be some innocent little couple like you saw the other day. You are mine, kid. The sooner you realize this the sooner what's left of your already guilty conscious can be saved."
He held Alex for a moment longer relishing in the uter pain in the boy's eyes. Hearing Winchester struggling and cussing behind him he finally relinquished his hold Alex's throat.
Gasping, Alex slumped down, an utterly defeated look setting deep in his eyes much to Lasriel's excitement. The kid was almost broke.
'I can't hurt you anymore, John, but your kid's now mine forever.' The demon though, hoping that somewhere John Rider was seeing this.
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"Is this seriously what this bastard wants?" Dean asked the angel, holding up the long dagger that was dirty and terribly crooked. It was so dull it didn't look like it could cut soft butter.
"Yes, and it wasn't easy to find," Castiel replied defensively as if Dean had personally insulted his ability.
"So how does this work? Just stab the Seriquin and he dies? Or what?"
"Not exactly. You have to stab it through his head. And..."
"And what?"
"And the person being siphoned for blood to summon the monster has to be the one to do it. It won't work otherwise."
Dean glared daggers at the angel.
"Are you kidding me? Alex has to do this?" He thundered.
"Dean, I don't make the rules this is just how it is." Castiel pointed out tiredly but firmly putting Dean back in check. His anger shouldn't be directed at him for no reason.
"Great. This is going to be a bitch."
"Yeah, what else is new. We got what the asshole wants. Now what's the plan?" Bobby said, pulling the two back into the present problem and their plans to stop Lasriel and save Alex and Sammy began to unfold.
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Sam was worried. After spilling the truth, Lasriel left Alex and Sam alone again. The onlyproblem was Alex. Sam had expected anger either directed at him or the demon. Or crying or yelling...anything other than what he was getting. Which was nothing.
Alex was sitting with his head in his hands, hiding his face. No amount of prodding could break the boy out of it. The only thing that got any sort of reaction was if Sam touched him. Any kind of comforting or consoling hand resulted in Alex flinching violently away.
Sam couldn't blame him either. This sucked. Lasriel had set his sights on Alex and wasn't turning lose. Before Sam was confused by his brother's determination to keep him out of a foster care system. But now it was different. He could see and understand everything that his brother was trying to do.
Alex deserved more. A lot more. A devotion to help him was settling deep within him as well.
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"You are troubled." Castiel observed as he watched Dean flip through Alex's file from MI6.
"Cas, how bad was all of this, really? MI6 using Alex. I mean, yeah, he went on missions but I mean...how messed up is this kid, man?"
The angel cocked his head as if contemplating the words before coming to a decision and walking over to the man.
"Perhaps, I should just show you." He stated, moving to touch his forehead with his fingers only to have Dean lean away warily.
"Dean, the boy's life is more complicated than a folder thick enough to be a book. You wanted to understand."
The hunter contemplated this. He wanted to understand. MI6's file wasn't anything more than a bunch of files stating what happened. There wasn't even any mention of Alex. Just the word 'Agent'. But he also knew what Cas was talking about doing. He would see everything and feel all the feelings Alex had had. The whole thing seemed a bit intruding.
"Dean," Castiel questioned. It was now or never.
Dean sighed heavily as his curiousity won over.
"Yeah, okay, do it."
Dean saw a flash of light and suddenly his mind was filled with an overwhelming feeling of sadness and the familiar sense that the weight of the world was being placed upon his shoulders. Then he began to see what the angel mean when he said 'complicated'. Boy, what an understatement.
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Castiel watched in sadness as he poured Alex's life into the hunter's mind. He could feel the rage welling up in the man before him. He had known it would happen. Dean's personality compelled him with the urge to help people.
When Dean snapped back to reality it was with a pain filled gasp.
"Shit," Dean muttered as he bent forward and tried to regain his breath.
"The boy's life has not been easy since his uncle's death. Alex's soul is deeply scarred. The innocence that usually embodies a child, even a teenager, has long since been ripped from him."
"Cas, what the hell? No one's tried to stop this?"
Castiel smiled sadly.
"Not everyone's morality and helpful sense is as strong as yours is, Dean."
"And you're sure he has no one?"
"Perhaps a distant relative and neither one of them knows the other even exists."
Dean sighed heavily.
"Great. I really don't know what to do about this. Maybe a foster care would be the best for him."
"It wouldn't work. Those government agencies...MI6 or even the...CIA, as they are acronymly called, would find him."
"Not when I'm through with them." Dean vowed.
"You against an entire government agency?"
"Well, maybe with a bit of angelic help." Dean said with a knowing smile.
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Sam had long since given up trying to talk to Alex. Instead he had positioned himself directly in front of the devil's trap. The next time Lasriel entered the room he would attempt to taunt the demon over to him and hopefully into stepping on the trap. He could only hope Lasriel wouldn't have time to hurt Alex and summon that monster before then.
Looking over at Alex he felt a pang of guilt hit him again. Alex still hadn't moved from his slumped spot. From Sam's angle he could see a glimpse of Alex's neck which was turning a deep purple from Lasriel's crushing hand.
It was nearly an hour later before any sound from Alex was elicited. Then, as if Alex had been shot with a taser the boy jumped to an upright positionand clamped a hand over his mouth before leaning to the side and began dry heaving. Disregarding Alex's earlier demeanor the man went over to Alex and put a hand on the kid's quivering shoulder.
Alex obviously hadn't eaten or drank anything because nothing was coming up, leaving Alex with nothing but a painful dry heave.
Remembering Dean muttering things along the lines of, "It'll be okay, Sammy. Just get it out, you'll be okay," when he was sick, he triedto emulate his brother's comforting words and tone.
When Alex finally straightened back up and looked at Sam, the man nearly crumbled under the kid's gaze. Alex's eyes were filled with such pain and misery that Sam had seen mirrored in his and his brother's eyes so many times before.
"You lied to me." Alex accused, but Sam noticed that there wasn't much heat behind it...yet. Sam still had a chance to recover the boy's trust if he played his cards right.
"Alex, you gotta believe me, we wanted to. But we couldn't risk you being too upset to handle learning about demons and the fact one was after you as well as deal with...Jack."
Alex glared at the man.
"You should have told me instead of having to learn about it from that bastard." He said viciously, although his voice quivered with each word.
Sam nodded concedingly.
"You're probably right. I made a mistake."
Alex shook his head sullenly.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter." There was an uncomfortable pause before Alex spoke again.
"How did she die? Did she suffer much?"
"He stabbed her. She almost immediately fell unconscious. I doubt she hurt too much. Dean and I...we tried to save her, the ambulance just didn't make it."
Alex was silent again and for a moment Sam thought he may begin to cry but he surprised the man and managed to keep the tears at bay. It troubled him a bit though. When their father died even Dean couldn't stop tears from falling freely down his face.
"Sam?" Alex called softly. At that moment Sam found that he would have answered anything and everything Alex asked of him.
"How do you kill a demon?"
Except that.
"Alex, I know you're pissed. But you gotta let Dean and I take care of Lasriel. Trust me, we've been where you're at and we're not going to let this Bastard off the hook easily. He's going to pay for what he's done."
"Dean said your dad died on a job."
"Yeah, he did." Sam replied, mildly getting whiplash from the sudden topic change.
"Did you kill the think that killed him?"
Sam swallowed thickly.
"Dean did...pretty much."
"If anyone else had killed him would you be satisified?"
Sam shook his head no, seeing where the conversation was heading.
"How do you kill a demon, Sam?" Alex pressed again.
Sam looked the boy in the eye. There was a look that he kenw well. He had seen it in his father's eyes, his own and his brother's. A look of revenge.
"Okay, fine."
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Nearly four hours later Lasriel was back with the cup that he would put Alex's blood into.
"Almost time for you to go home, Sammy." Again his eyes weren't looking at the hunter, but at the boy.
"It's Sam, asshole." Sam said, beginning the taunting in hopes of getting the demon's sights off Alex.
But Lasriel only ignored him.
"Time to earn your keep, kid." He noted as he squatted down in front Alex.
"So, this is how it's going to work? You couldn't hack it in Hell so you're back and the only thing you can handle is beating a kid?" Sam asked with a laugh.
Lasriel cast a sideways glance at the man.
"You talk too much, Winchester."
And then Alex was yelling and blood was spewing like a leaky faucet from his mouth.
Sam growled and tried to lunge but was held painfully to the ground.
The demon held the goblet to Alex's mouth for him to bleed into.
Sam looked at the scene as he tried vainly to escape and he noticed Lasriel wasn't holding Alex down.
There was a look of joy on his face as the demon watched the boy writhe in pain. When the cup was almost full Lasriel sat it aside. Then Sam noticed Alex was staring at the devil's trap that was almost directly behind Lasriel now.
Then the teen lurched forward, all of his body slamming into the demon. Lasriel was sent reeling into the devil's trap.
Alex groaned and rolled a few paces away from Lasriel before slumping to the floor. And suddenly Sam could move. The man shot up and went to Alex. The boy had passed out.
"You damn brat!" Lasriel thundered as he stood up and went to move towards them. But then he stopped dead in his tracks and looked down.
"Winchester! Let me out or the next time I get my hands on that kid I'll snap his neck!" He yelled.
Sam ignored him. Alex had either passed out from pain and most likely blood loss. Gently as he could, he scooped Alex up in his arms.
"Sit tight, you son of a bitch. Dean'll be back here soon to waste your ass."
"Get back here, Winchester. That kid is mine!"
As fast as he could Sam raced up the stairs and out of the house. He was hoping for a car or vehicle of some kid but of course there was none. HE was stranded. He also didn't know how far the Enochian Sigils blocking Cas from hearing his prayers went out he had no choice but to start as fast as he could down the dirt road without hurting Alex more. Over and over in his head he called for Cas, hoping the angel would finally hear him.
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"Dean, we can't just go barging in with your guns and holy water-" Cas was saying heatedly before stopping midsentence.
"Cas?" Dean asked.
"It's Sam." Cas announced. The angel quickly stood up to Dean and Bobby and laid a hand on them.
And suddenly they were on a dirt road with a tall figure approaching them from behind.
"Sam!" Dean cried, being the first to recognize his brother.
"Dean! Cas, get over here!"
There was a huddled figure in Sam's arms and Dean knew who it was even in the dark.
"Get us back to my place!" Bobby ordered. Cas nodded and with a blink the five of the mwere in Bobby's living room.
Sam gave a sigh of relief as he laid Alex's bruised and bloody body out on the couch.
"Cas," Dean called, wincing as Sam pointed tiredly to the swollen ankle on the boy.
"He's lost a lot of blood." Cas observed.
"Lasriel drained him like crazy. Twice before I got there and again right before we got away."
Castiel firmly grasped Alex's ankle, making the boy groan even in his unconscious state. There was a glow of light around Cas' hand and when he pulled away the joint was finally back in place.
"Alright, Sam, what the hell just happened?"
"We have to go back. Lasriel is stuck in a devil's trap in a run down cabin about a mile from where you found me."
Dean nodded and picked up his knife that was lying on the coffee table.
"Cas and I will handle it. You just sit tight here with Bobby. You look like crap, little brother."
"But-"
"You heard your brother you idgit go clean yourself up." Bobby ordered pushing the younger man to the stairs.
"Okay, but Dean, Lasriel had Alex's blood already ready to summon the Seriquin. You gotta get rid of it."
"We'll take care of it, Sammy."
Cas nodded and grabbed Dean's shoulder and suddenly they were gone.
"How bad are you hurt, Sam?" Bobby asked, giving him a once over.
"Just a few scrapes on my chest. Lasriel didn't give a rat's ass about me. He only laid into Alex...and Bobby...Lasriel told Alex about Jack. The kid's in Hell."
Bobby sighed and looked sadly down at the teen.
"What matters is that he's safe now. Go clean up. First aid's in the cabinet. You need help you holler. I'll tend to Alex."
Sam nodded and gave one last glance to Alex as Bobby covered him with a blanket before heading upstairs. He had gotten the kid to safety. Somehow Sam thought that was only going to be the easy part.
A/N- Little nervous about this one. Let me know what you think. Hopefully no one's TOO painfully OOC. Sorry it's taken so long too!
And side note- Season 8 of supernatural? I'm loving it sooo much!