Alright everyone, I'm all moved in to my new place and ready to jump back on the fanfic train! Here we go again!
Sam grabbed his dufflebag from the table, looking at the gaggle of teenagers sitting at the table in the Bunker. He sighed.
"Alright," he said. "We should only be gone a day or two – just a werewolf case, usually open and close." He hesitated. "You guys will be okay, right?"
"Oh ye of little faith," Sara muttered, and Sam couldn't help but notice how Charlie-like she was at the moment, eyes glued to some lore on some creature on the computer screen. Her hair had been thrown into a messy bun, a pencil stuck through it, and for a moment all Sam could see was Charlie hacking into some obscure database.
"We've been here a week, we know the ropes," Claire, who had just woken up despite it being nearly noon, replied. She was still in her pajamas, pouring some cereal into a bowl.
Alex had a whole spread in front of her – two laptops, one hacking into various police records in search of anything Lucifer or Amara related, one scrolling through endless pages of lore. She waved Sam off.
Sam was amused, obviously, but also worried. Gavin had left five nights ago to try and track down some leads of where Lucifer was holding Crowley, and now Dean and Sam had to leave to check out some werewolf case.
Dean joined his brother, they said goodbye to the girls, and left.
"So what now?" Claire asked as she finished her breakfast and leaned back in her chair. "We're not actually going to sit around and wait for dumb and dumber to get back?"
"What else are we gonna do?" Alex frowned, typing away at the laptop to her left.
Sara looked at the clock, and yawned. "I vote on a nap – Claire's music kept me up all night," she joked.
"Fine, be a buzzkill," Claire grumped, eating her breakfast/lunch.
"I do really need a shower," Alex admitted. "How about we get some TLC and watch a movie tonight?"
"Sounds great," Sara nodded. "If you need me, I'll be sleeping – with earplugs," she teased, and Claire gave her the finger.
Sara headed for her room, intending to fall into her bed and sleep for as long as she could before Claire decided to rattle her teeth. As soon as she fell onto the bed, though, her phone chimed. Figuring it was Sam or Dean reminding them to do something, she sighed, fishing the phone from her pocket. She sat up quickly when she saw her father's number flash across the screen. She hit the message and read what it said.
33.0048° N, 110.7854° W.
Sara sprang from her bed, running back into the affectionately dubbed Riveting Research Room by Claire. She slid to a stop, Alex and Claire looking up.
"What's up?" Alex frowned.
"Yeah, you burst in here like a bat outta hell," Claire said, and grinned at her own joke.
Sara shoved the phone out. "A text, from my father. I think they're coordinates."
Alex took the phone, glancing at the coordinates and typing them into her search bar. Immediately, a Wikipedia page and some Google maps popped up.
"Hayden, Arizona," Alex read, squinting at the screen. "Super secluded, only about 600 people living there. On the cusp of the Grand Canyon. Pretty inconspicuous."
"Maybe he escaped and is trying to tell me where he is," Sara said in a rush of excitement, her voice rising several octaves with the sheer hope riding on it.
"Why wouldn't he just call, though?" Alex was skeptical – she knew a thing or two about luring people and this was almost definitely a trap.
"Because he still has Lucifer looking for him," Sara guessed. "Or he's hurt. Or . . ." she shook her head. "It doesn't matter. We've got to go there!"
"To Arizona?" Claire raised her eyebrows.
Alex typed something into her computer. "That's almost eighteen hours there," she said hesitantly.
"We can take turns driving, and get there by this time tomorrow," Sara insisted.
Claire and Alex looked at each other, hesitant.
"We could call Gavin," Alex said, a bit begrudgingly.
"And it's not like we're Saming and Deaning," Claire agreed.
"Claire, for the last time, you can't use 'Sam' and 'Dean' as verbs," Alex sighed.
"So we can go?" Sara pushed.
The other two hesitated again.
"Okay," Alex finally agreed.
"I'll call Gavin," Claire added, already dialing his number.
Sara raced back to her room, packing her bag quickly. Just the basic essentials – clothes, toothbrush, phone charger, Smith & Wesson 9mm, two trench knives, a stiletto blade, salt, socks, and her journal. She tied on a pair of boots, grabbed her jacket, and headed for the garage.
Claire joined her moments later, tossing her own dufflebag into the back of her truck.
"Gavin is on his way," she said, turning to look at Sara. "He's in Utah, so he's going to meet us halfway there."
"Okay, I locked the place up," Alex breathed as she rushed into the garage. "I'll take the first shift driving. You guys should sleep for a while."
While Sara stared at the text message, frowning and running it through her head over and over, Claire took Alex's advice. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, and when she did, she knew immediately she was dreaming.
She was back in her childhood home in Pontiac. She felt her heart squeeze inside of her chest at the familiarity of it all – the smell of her mother's vanilla candles, the sound of a lawnmower whirring next door, the sight of all the photos on the wall. She stood perfectly still, afraid that if she moved she'd ruin it.
"Claire."
She turned at the familiar voice, frowning as her father stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. Claire blinked, looking him up and down.
"D-dad?" she asked, hesitating.
He sighed. "No," he said, his voice instantly recognizable. Claire relaxed, but then instantly tensed up.
"Cas? Are you . . ." she hesitated, debating whether or not to run, and if it would be any use since she was in a dream.
"I'm me," he confirmed, looking down at himself as though confirming for himself.
Claire let out the breath she'd been holding. "I was afraid you were dead!" she hissed. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been? Why would you –?"
"To save Sam," he cut her off. "And the world."
Claire blinked, not sure what else to say. "Um, whoa," she said after a minute, scratched the back of her neck. "Heavy stuff."
Castiel gave a small smile. "Yes," he agreed. "Very heavy."
"So, what are you doing here? How are you here?" Claire asked, leaning against the couch – the same couch her and her dad used to lay on and watch Cars (when Claire's mom was home) and Mad Max (when her mother was not home). The stain from where Jimmy spilled his beer and blamed the cat was still there. It was exactly how the house looked when Claire last saw it.
"Lucifer is preoccupied. I only had enough power to appear to you through a dream – I'm here to warn you," Castiel said, jerking her mind back into the present. "And to apologize." He shook his head, looking disgusted. "I knew that allowing Lucifer to share this vessel would be dangerous, but at the time the greater good tempted me into making a rash decision. I've been, well, to be blunt, practically useless and I thought that if I helped keep the world safe . . . Never did I imagine . . . couldn't imagine that he'd try to hurt you. Claire, I'm so sorry. I understand that you must be very angry about it –"
"You think I'm pissed off because I got hurt?" Claire could almost feel her blood boiling she was so mad. "I don't care if I get hurt! I'm going to be a hunter, Cas, hunters get hurt! I'm mad because you apparently think so little of yourself that you thought it would be okay to abandon Sam, and Dean, and me to be the devil's bitch! You think you're so righteous, such a hero, that you thought this would be a good idea? This?" Claire ran her hands through her hair, trying not to cry – she always cried when she got angry, and it always just made her even angrier. "What's gonna happen to you?"
"I don't know," Castiel admitted quietly.
"Are you going die?"
"I might."
"But you'll come back, right? Because you always come back?"
"Claire . . ." he tilted his head slightly, looking pained. "I don't think so this time."
"You're going to leave me behind?" she said it quietly, not meeting his eyes, her father's eyes. Out of fear or anger, she wasn't sure.
"Claire, I'd never –"
"But you are." She looked at him, finally. "Can't you get out? Push him out?
"I can't," Cas shook his head. "I don't have enough power. I tried to expel him when he was . . . when he attacked you. But I couldn't." He looked up and around, as though seeing or hearing something Claire couldn't see.
"I have to go," he said. "He notices I'm gone. Claire, you shouldn't be leaving the bunker. Lucifer want Sara's power and he'll hold all three of you against Sam and Dean. You're in danger."
"So are you," Claire said, but she was suddenly back in the truck, blinking open her eyes and looking around. Alex had pulled over, and Sara was getting into the drivers seat.
"How long have we been driving?" Claire yawned.
Alex turned and looked at her. "Around four hours," she said. "You were sleeping pretty hard so we didn't want to wake you. Got you some jerky and a water, though."
She passed the food back, and Claire chewed her food thoughtfully as they cruised down the empty highway. She obviously had a real connection with Castiel, more than a dream. And normally she'd probably heed his warning – but she was angry, and headstrong.
"So how much longer to Arizona?" she asked.