A/N: DUN DUN DUN! PLOT! Ok, so things are going to start ramping up a little now, I hope, as long as I don't get too awfully distracted by Baby!Cas making cute faces at me. Heh. I shall try to update soon so you can see where things go from here.
The morning saw the Winchesters huddled around the small table in their hotel room as they planned over their next course of action. The remnants of their breakfast were still spread between them and Sam was pouring over his laptop in search of small towns within driving distance where they could relocate to. Neither hunter was willing to stay put for long what with how fast Legion had found them last time. Castiel sat curled up on Dean's lap basking in a pool of sunlight that had snuck in between the drawn curtains, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in. Dean thumbed absently over a single wayward tuft that curled up behind the infant's ear. His mind was elsewhere though as he tried to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. They still didn't know who had turned Castiel into a baby and they weren't any closer to getting him back to normal either. What little information they did have was far from helpful and only served to put into perspective exactly how screwed they seemed to be. Not only was there a terrifying demon tracking them down but they still weren't sure who their rogue angel was. Hezrial had seemed so utterly certain that no angel from Heaven had been involved in changing Cas but Crowley had said that none of the angels in Hell were capable of getting out without help. Dean chewed on his bottom lip as his thoughts wound themselves into circles.
The distinctive thrum of Dean's ringtone broke the relative silence and Sam's head popped up over his monitor with interest as his brother fished out his cell. "Bobby," Dean informed him after checking the caller ID blinking up at him. He flipped open the phone and stretched back in his chair. "Hey, Bobby. Tell me you got something for us."
"Yeah, I got somethin' alright," the older hunter drawled across the line, "butcha probably ain't gonna like it much. I did some research on this Legion demon and found a little bit a lore. There ain't a whole lot out there on him but I found a few old books that talk about him showin' up and wreakin' havoc. What Crowley said about him being made up from the damned souls of Cain and his kin seems to be right on and there's some pretty tell tale signs when he's around that you boys should be keepin' an eye out for. See, Cain killed his brother after God decided he liked Abel's gift more. Apparently Cain was a farmer and had sacrificed some crops so after he kills off Abel, God makes the earth reject him. Listen to this." There was the rustling of pages as Bobby flipped through some ancient tome on the other end. "'And they walked across the fields and the plants died beneath their feet. The smell of earth moved with them as God's reminder of what was lost and the ones known as Legion are ever marked by it.' So if you two start smellin' soil, ya need to git the hell outta there."
"Ok, great. So if it starts smelling like a greenhouse, run. Got it. Anything else?" Dean sighed as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He certainly hoped Bobby had called with something more helpful than 'if it smells funky, don't stick around'.
"Yeah, yeah. Hold yer horses. I'm gettin' to it. I could only find one passage anywhere that said anything about how to get rid of him but it ain't gonna be that simple ta pull off."
"Bobby, when the hell has anything we've ever done been 'that simple'?" Dean said with obvious frustration. He was getting tired of people saying that. After years spent fighting everything from monsters to the Devil himself, Dean was well aware that nothing in his life was ever going to be 'that simple'. Visiting old girlfriends required bringing weapons and rock salt so why would fighting this demon be any easier?
"Well aren't YOU in a good mood," Bobby groused in return.
Dean snorted and looked down to find Castiel peering up at him. The angel flicked his wings once and brought a hand up to fist into the hunter's shirt. His little head cocked inquisitively as he listened for the sound of Bobby's voice again. "Yeah, sorry," Dean said as he ruffled the infant's hair, "Just kinda hopin' we might actually get some good news for once." He could hear Bobby sigh over the line.
"Wish I could give ya some, son, but at least we got options now. Only thing I could find on how to get rid of him says that only the power of God can punish him, so we can't send him back to hell, but we CAN trap him. Just like an angel, we can keep him inside a circle, only instead of holy oil we need dirt." Dean could hear Bobby drop the book he was holding and a few seconds later he was rifling through another one he'd picked up from somewhere. "Legend says that Abel was buried in modern day Syria. Apparently his grave site is under the Nabi Habeel Mosque just west of Damascus and if we can get our hands on some of the grave dirt, we can use it to pin down Legion. The earth his brother was laid in forms a barrier he can't cross over."
Dean frowned across the table in Sam's direction and watched as his brother's brow furrowed with matched concern. "That's great, Bobby, but how the hell are we supposed to get dirt from another freakin' country?"
"Hell if I know," Bobby sighed unhappily, "but it was all I could find. There ain't a damned thing else on this guy anywhere."
Dean matched Bobby's sigh with one of his own and shrugged even though the other hunter couldn't see it. "Thanks anyway, Bobby. We'll figure out something. Just keep lookin' and we'll let you know when we get to the next town." He snapped shut the phone after a short goodbye and met Sam's curious gaze across the top of his monitor. "Bobby says the only way to stop Legion is with grave dirt from Abel's burial site under some mosque. Any ideas on how the hell we get to Syria?" Sam shot him a look that said plainly he was sure Dean had lost his mind and the older Winchester nodded. "That's what I thought." He looked down again at Castiel who had gone back to gazing out the window, his little face turned up into the warmth of late morning sunshine. "Looks like it's up to you, Cas. Start flyin'," Dean said jokingly. The angel looked up at the sound of his voice and cast him a flat unamused stare. "Yeah, didn't figure." He brushed a hand over the angel's head and turned back to Sam. "Did you find a good place for us to hole up next?"
Sam nodded and turned his screen to point at a consensus list he'd brought up for the neighboring states. He highlighted an entry labeled Randlett which showed a total population of only 224. "It's tiny and we can get there tonight if we leave after lunch. Should be small enough to keep us off the radar." Sam paused and looked down at the table for a minute. It was obvious he wanted to say something else but was trying to figure out how to word it. "Dean…we can't keep running from Legion forever. If this grave dirt is the only way to trap him, then we have to find a way to get some."
"That's great, Sam, any ideas on how?" Dean said with open sarcasm. It wasn't that he wouldn't kill to get his hands on some of that soil but he was pretty sure taking Cas on a plane ride across the ocean was a stupid idea. Not to mention he really hated flying.
"Actually, yeah," Sam offered. He looked up with an expression that said he already knew Dean wasn't going to like his idea. "You said you talked to an angel named Hezrial, right? Maybe we can call him back and ask him to go get some for us."
Dean blinked at Sam and resisted the urge to reach across the table and shake his brother like a maraca. "Did you miss the part where I said I banished him? Painfully? After he threatened to take Cas?"
"I know, Dean, but he might be our only option," Sam said. "We need someone who can get there and back quickly. Crowley can't do it because you said the grave site is under a mosque. That makes it holy ground so no demons and we don't know any other angels that can help us right now." He looked imploringly at his brother who was staring at him as if Sam had lost his mind.
"Ok, on the list of bad ideas we've had so far, this one is right up at the top," Dean snapped. "He's not gonna fall for that sigil trick twice, Sam. I call him and he's gonna come here and try to take Cas away. I am NOT letting that happen," he stated firmly. "Besides, what makes you think he's even gonna answer me after what I did? He'll probably just smite my ass from whatever cloud he's sitting on right now. Hell, CAS kicked my butt all over the place when I did it to HIM and he LIKED me." Dean slouched back with a surly look plastered on his face.
"Dean, you said Hezrial seemed to honestly care about Cas," Sam tried again, "If we have a way to stop the bad guy that's after him, you don't think he'll want to help? I mean, what other choice do we have? How long do you think we can keep running?" Sam leaned forward to catch his brother's full attention. "Dean, Gabriel is running out of time and so are we. We almost got caught back there. Next time we might not be so lucky," he said with emphasis, the memory of his flight through the woods still sharp in his mind. The fear he'd felt while trapped in the pipe with Legion standing just above him wasn't something he could explain to Dean but he knew they wouldn't stand a chance if they didn't find a way to take Legion out of the picture once and for all.
Dean grumbled under his breath. He hated it when Sam made sense, especially when it meant he would have to do something he really didn't want to. Sadly, he was beginning to think Sam was right. With Gabe missing and Cas barely able to sit upright, much less fly anywhere, they had no one they could turn to who could get them the soil from holy ground. Hezrial had seemed like a nice enough guy right up till he tried to take Castiel away but worry gnawed at Dean that he wouldn't be able to keep the angel at bay a second time and he wasn't willing to consider the option of losing track of their friend until he was back to normal. Running from town to town aimlessly in the hopes that the demons wouldn't find them wasn't exactly a plan either though and Sam was irritatingly right when he said Gabriel was running out of time. Even then, the brothers couldn't be sure the archangel hadn't already been turned into holy grout but they had to keep hoping. Dean rubbed at his temples and wished silently for some other option to present itself but when no meteors struck him to end his misery and no magical solution popped up, he cussed quietly and turned his eyes skyward. Screw you, God. Screw you sideways and running, he thought bitterly toward the heavens. "Alright, fine. I'll try to call him again. You keep Cas here and paint a sigil near you. If he shows up and gets stupid, I wanna be able to send his ass right back out the door before he can snatch Cas."
Sam nodded and snapped his laptop closed, slipping up from his chair to go make preparations. Dean looked down at his friend and tried to still the worry he was feeling. His gaze was met by the tiny figure propped up in his lap and the angel flicked his wings once in what Dean had begun to realize was a sort of greeting. He wasn't sure how he was going to protect the infant and he knew the other angel was going to be less than thrilled to see him again but the danger of Legion getting to Castiel was a more terrifying concept than anything Hezrial might do and Dean knew he'd gladly risk the possibility of a beating if it meant keeping his friend safe. He watched as Castiel wrapped tiny fingers around one of his own and pulled the hand to his chest where the infant pressed his cheek against it. In the background Dean could hear Sam getting everything ready and a small part of him worried that this was the last time he'd get to see the child if Hezrial had his way.
Finally, and with great reluctance, he handed the angel over to his brother and set out to find a safe place to make the call to Heaven. There would be no evangelists in that small community to which Dean could go and request an audience so he was forced to make things up as he went. He headed for the tiny one room church he could see in the distance, opting to just leave the Impala where she sat since it wouldn't take long for him to walk the short distance. He wasn't sure if this would work but he figured that a simple prayer might be a good place to start. He wandered into the cool interior of the church and made his way to the little altar crouched at the opposite end. His only company was a priest with hair long since silvered with age who nodded politely at him when he entered. Dean made his way down to the first pew and slid into the seat. He looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching before finally looking up at the ceiling of the church. It made him feel a little less silly to at least be talking in the general direction of Heaven rather than just spouting out words to the air around him. "Uh…hi," he began lamely, uncertain of how to proceed. "It's me…Dean. But you already knew that…" He paused and shook his head. Great, now all of Heaven was going to think he wasn't just a jerk, he was also an idiot. "Look, about that whole sigil thing, you're not gonna take that personal, right? I mean, come on. You threatened to kill me, I sent you back to…ok, I don't really know where that sends you but let's just call it even, alright?"
Dean glanced around again before continuing. "I need your help, ok?" he said as humbly as he could manage. "Cas needs your help. We know how to stop Legion but we can't do it alone. Please." The church around him remained silent and Dean scanned it over carefully to make sure the angel wasn't hiding in some corner waiting to scare the crap out of him since all of Heaven's messengers seemed to delight in doing just that. There was no sign of the angel though and Dean sighed before looking skyward again. "Hezrial? Hez? Can I call ya Hez? I mean, ya banish someone, ya kinda feel like ya know 'em, right?" He laughed nervously and looked around again before continuing. "Look, I know I'm not your favorite person right now but this isn't about me. It's about Cas and right now he needs you. If you give a crap about your brother then you'll show up and help." The minutes ticked by with no answer and finally Dean rose from the pew in defeat. He was going to have to try a different way of getting Hezrial's attention apparently. He slipped quietly back to the back of the church and slid out into the sunshine of early afternoon, his mind buzzing with ideas on how to convince an angel to come back and have a chat after having banished him painfully to God knew where the last time they met.
He didn't make it more than a few steps before a set of hands latched onto his shirt with an iron grip and wheeled him around, slamming him into the side of the church hard enough to knock the wind from him. When he opened his eyes, it was to stare into the face of the very angel he had been looking for. A burning ferocity lit those brown orbs as they seared into Dean's own and he managed a lame smile as he felt the grip on his clothes tighten. "Oh hi," he said as brightly as he could manage, "I guess you got my message."