We met Crowley and Rowena back at the Bunker a few hours later. I hadn't seen Rowena in a long time, and was thankful that she didn't remember me. She probably wouldn't like that I still had a digital copy of the Book of the Damned with me. She kept staring at me confused, though, which worried me slightly.
"So you're gonna pop Lucifer out of the President with that?" Crowley asked, looking at the egg in my hands. He wasn't happy to see me here at all, and it didn't help that I was the only one that knew how to use the egg.
"I hope so. Otherwise, we're all dead." Dean answered, giving me a slight glare. "Then Rowena zaps him back to the cage. Of course," he jacked a thumb at me. "We gotta get her in the same room as him first."
"Yeah. And we need to get ahold of this, uh, secret girlfriend Crowley found out about." Sam added.
"She has a name, guys." I reminded them. "It's Kelly."
"Of course, she's in that mansion with the President," Sam continued, ignoring me. "Which is guarded like a fortress. Only two of us have a chance of getting in there." He looked from me to Crowley.
"No. No no no." Crowley argued. "She's not coming."
"And why the hell not?" I asked. "First you say you don't care what I do, then you continue to have the biggest fits about me coming along. Now pick a damn lane and stick with it."
"I had hoped you would leave when I said that." Crowley said.
"Well, obviously, I didn't." I pointed out, standing up. He seemed shorter as I stood. "So now I'm here, and I'm the only one that knows how to work it, so you can deal with it." I stated.
"You're not coming with me." He said. "And I want you gone the second this is all over." I stopped, then, and I think Crowley did too. That stung, more than it had with Sam and Dean. I want you gone. I want you to leave.
You're not wanted here anymore, Kylie. Nobody wants you around anymore.
"Fine." I agreed after a terse moment. "I'll disappear and none of you will ever see me again. I'm certain that's what all of you want anyways, isn't it?" I glared from Crowley to Dean to Sam to Castiel, and saw how small they were…
I looked down at my feet, and saw I was floating. I came back down to the floor, keeping up my glare. "No arguments?" I asked.
Rowena raised her hand. "I just want to put it out there that I have no problem with another female witch around," she cast a glance at Crowley. "And that I am personally surprised and insulted that my son has such a problem with you being here."
"I'll be back in a while." Crowley muttered, stalking outside. I followed him out there, absolutely pissed.
"We are going to talk about this!" I shouted after him, following the demon out the doors. The door slammed behind us and I continued to shout. "You are a righteous son of a bitch, Crowley!"
"Really?" He asked. "Because I'm quite certain that first off, I'm a little too unholy to be righteous, and second off," he pointed back at the Bunker. "You just insulted my mother, which I'm surprisingly having a problem with."
"I can't believe you're really having this much of a problem with everything!"
"I can't believe you think I'm the only one having the problem!" He responded. "Did you see Sam and Dean? I told you this would happen! I told you that they wouldn't want you here! And look at what's happening to you!" He pointed at me. "You're freaking out constantly and running away and acting entirely irrational ever since the Darkness was taken care of!"
"Did you think that maybe, just maybe, I've gone through a lot of shit?!" I challenged him. "Did you think that just maybe, I might be having some sort of mental fucking BREAKDOWN from everything?"
"Well then SUCK IT UP!" He responded. I stared at him in shock. "You have gone through crap, you're right, but you have been fine before and you will LEARN TO BE FINE NOW!"
"MAYBE I'M NOT FINE!" I screamed. "MAYBE I'M TERRIFIED, CROWLEY."
"Well, are you?!" He challenged. I didn't answer. I… I honestly wasn't quite certain. I was and at the same time, it made sense in my head for why I did these things.
I was scared. I was extremely scared. I was scared that I was losing everything around me. Then again, wasn't I already losing that? I didn't have anything anymore. No fiancée. No family. No college, now. I had an option to move to Britain. That was about it.
"I'm going to get the mistress." Crowley said. "Stay here, and for the love of whatever, don't do anything too irrational."
And then he disappeared, just like that. I left with the others for a hotel room not long afterwards, one that Crowley told us to meet him at. I went on my own with Karma, whereas everyone else piled in to Dean's impala.
The second I was in the same room with her, though, I couldn't continue to be in the same room. The Nephilim baby in her… The power radiating from it was absolutely nauseating. I wasn't certain as to how Rowena was even able to maintain such closeness to her. Probably a lack of angelic grace in her.
I hung back behind the others, and at the first opportunity excused myself to the tiny bathroom. Once I was alone, I proceeded to hunch over the toilet and try my best to not retch. I threw a quick silencing spell up on the door, in case the noise was too loud.
"This isn't supposed to happen." I muttered, staring down at the toilet water. I shouldn't be sick. I had been around Lucifer before, been around his own magic signature, and I'd never gotten physically sick. Mentally and psychologically, yeah, but like this? No. "Why is this happening?" It was freaking me out, in all honesty. Hell, everything that was happening was freaking me out, putting me on edge. There was a woman, in the next room, carrying Lucifer's freaking love child, a Nephilim.
"Why are Nephilim an abomination?" I couldn't help but remember asking Chuck that question.
"They're not." His answer had shocked me so much. I had wanted to ask another question, ask for clarification, but Chuck beat me to it and continued. "The angels decided that after I left, because they were jealous and... a little angry that I had told them to love man, and afterwards kind of left them in charge. So they decided that they would respect my wishes, but that they were too good to truly be among humans. They decided angels were meant to stay and follow their orders, to watch over and guide and instruct humankind when necessary."
"So, the whole Cordziz Hoath thing..."
"They made it all up, gave it a name to add emphasis." I won't lie, that answer made me feel a little better about it all. "Diana, I've had boyfriends and girlfriends and dated the whole spectrum. I couldn't care less."
I wondered how much he would care now, with this situation.
There was a knock on the bathroom door, shaking me from my reverie. "Diana?" Castiel's voice. "Are you still there?" I could feel a slight vibration through the air, going through the silencing spell and myself.
"She's in there." Crowley assured him.
"Are you alright?" Castiel continued. I threw it down quickly, taking a few deep breaths before answering.
"Yeah." I stuttered the word out nervously, standing back up in a hurry. "I'll be out in a second. Just…" I thought for a valid excuse. "Woman things." I could keep the nausea down, I was certain I could keep it down.
I walked out a second later, viewing the scene. Castiel had moved to get a bible from the desk. Everyone else… They were focused on Kelly. She turned to look at me, a mix of hope and fear on her face. "She said you were a witch too." The woman stated, pointing at Rowena. "Is it… You look normal." She said. "Is it true?"
I offered her a melancholy smile, holding up my hand. A small fire appeared in it, and danced for a moment across my fingertips before I let it extinguish. "I promise we're not here to hurt you." I told her, stepping forwards.
I pretended it didn't hurt when she flinched away from me, much less when Sam and Dean started to close ranks around her. Castiel moved past me, to stand in front of Kelly. "The thing inside you," he started to explain. "It's unholy. It's an abomination." I fought the urge to say that God would disagree, but instead watched as he held out the book in front of Kelly. "Place your hand here." He requested.
When her hand touched the cover, it began to burn brightly. She pulled her hand away back, fast, looking over at me. "You did that, right?" She begged. I shook my head, holding out my hand to take the Bible from Castiel. The flames themselves did nothing to my skin, but their meaning… I could understand the hurt that Kelly felt. I reigned in the fire with ease, and threw the charred remains in to the trash can.
"No." Kelly whispered. "Oh no."
"I'm sorry." I told her.
"Does he even know you're knocked up?" Dean asked.
"Yes," Kelly said. "He... He said he was thrilled." She paused for a moment, a wistful look on her face. "He said it was the only time he ever created anything."
"Kelly," Sam stepped forwards, and this time she didn't flinch. "We need your help."
As Sam explained his plan, I shook my head. "No." I argued. "This is crossing a line. You want to use a pregnant woman to lure Lucifer out of hiding? Really?!" I stared hard from him to Dean. "A pregnant woman? As bait?!"
"Diana, it's not like that." Dean said, glancing from me to Kelly. She looked scared at the implications of what was being planned when I said it so plainly like that. "Why don't we talk outside?"
"No, why don't you explain it to her honestly?" I challenged him instead. "She deserves the right to know exactly what you're planning, without any bullshit to make it sound like anything less than it is." I crossed my arms in defiance, almost punctuating my point. "You're using her as bait."
"Diana, this isn't the time to argue about this," Sam agreed, glancing from me to the H.P.G. I stared at him, absolutely flabbergasted. He was considering taking it, wasn't he? "Why don't we talk about it later?"
"I'll do it." Kelly interjected. I turned around, all of us surprised.
"You don't have to if you don't want to." I assured her. "We can figure out another way." Her face remained determined and steadfast, though. "Are you sure?"
"I want Jeff back." She said. "And if I can help get him back, I'm going to help."
I thought for a minute, fishing around in my pockets for something, anything, to make her a protection spell with. Crowley knew what I was doing, though, and put a hand on my arm. "If you do that," he warned me. "We'll lose the element of surprise, and Lucifer will know, and it won't matter then what kind of charm you use to help her."
"What charm?" Kelly asked, sounding frightened. "Is she going to turn me in to a toad?"
"I find that just a wee bit offensive." Rowena stated, pursing her lips together slightly. I didn't say anything yet, just clenched my teeth, knowing that Crowley was right.
"Fine." I agreed, stopping my search. "It would've been a protection charm, something to make sure Lucifer can't hurt you, but Crowley is right." I explained. "If I do that, he'll know. He knows what my magic is like, same for Rowena's."
"Oh." Kelly commented, looking abashed. I didn't feel right about this at all, though. None of this felt right. I would've much rather used myself as bait, gone in alone and tried to stop him myself. I had the H.P.G., after all. I could do it, couldn't I?
Don't even think about it. Crowley's voice, as clear as day, inside my head. I glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow. I know what you're thinking. You are not doing this alone. Remember what happened the last time?
Yeah, I remember. I answered, gritting my teeth.
I want to talk with you. He stated.
Really?
I'm serious, Kylie. He said, his voice slightly hesitant. I'm… Sorry for the way I've been acting. I'm concerned about everything that is going on. This caught me by surprise. I wasn't certain if I could remember the last time I'd ever heard a demon apologize, much less admit to being worried.
I offered him a small nod, one for only him to see. After Lucifer. I agreed. I promise.
Crowley nodded in agreement. It wasn't exactly what he wanted, I could tell, but it would work for now. And in all honesty… I didn't want to be alone in this. I wanted someone to be there that I could ask questions to.
And for some reason, a demon seemed like the only viable option.
