"WAKE UP!"
Dylan burst into Sam and Dean's hotel room. Both boys shot up, pistols in hand and pointed at Dylan.
She nodded slowly. "Note to self: don't jump out of nowhere in an effort to prank the Winchesters…because they will shoot you."
Sam rubbed his forehead, putting his pistol back under his pillow. "And don't you forget it." He admonished.
Dylan grinned and plopped onto his bed. "Wake up!" She repeated, more quietly.
Dean coughed. "I think the fact that our eyes are open is evidence that we're awake."
"Oh, right." Dylan sent him a smile. He sighed heavily.
"What time is it?"
"6:30!" Dylan answered brightly. Dean groaned loudly and fell back onto his pillows. "WHHHYYY?!"
Sam chuckled, throwing his legs over the side of the bed. Dylan scrambled over and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Are you getting up?" She whispered into his ear.
He smiled. "I think so."
"Good!" Dylan smiled and squeezed his neck, then let go.
Bobby entered the room, sending the disheveled brothers a smirk. "Feel lucky. She's been pestering me for over an hour."
Dean made a face.
"Cheer up, Dean." Dylan ordered. "Bobby found you a case!"
"Is there something I can kill?" Dean questioned.
Bobby shrugged. "Most likely. If nothing, it's an interesting one."
Sam brightened. "Interesting how?"
"Well…no ones died. But they all suffered crazy injuries, all on the same day; one accident a week for the last three months."
"Three months?" Dean sat up. "First; I'm assuming they're not accidents. Second; How's it not been noticed?"
"They're not all hurt the same way." Dylan continued the explanation. "One's from a dog bite, another food poisoning, one was hit by a truck, one shot in a gas station mugging, another a piano actually fell on them, and they survived."
Sam's eyes widened. "Were any of them electrocuted?" He demanded.
Bobby frowned. "Yeah, actually."
Sam's face scrunched up and he shook his head. "And they all got hurt on a Tuesday?"
Bobby nodded slowly. "You hear about this case?"
Dean sighed heavily, knowing where this was going. "No…but something similar."
Sam and Dean shared a look.
"What ties them together?" Dylan asked.
Bobby shrugged. "They all ate at the same diner right before their accidents, and all at the same time." He shrugged. "1pm."
Sam growled. "Impossible. He's dead."
Bobby frowned. "Am I missing something?"
"Gabriel." Sam and Dean said together.
Dylan's eyes widened. "I'm going to call Cas." She pulled out her phone.
Sam reached for his laptop angrily. Bobby marched out, and Dean sighed.
"I guess that means we're getting up now?" He asked a little mournfully.
"How did I get stuck with you?" Dean grumbled, standing in "Bubba's Dinner" suit-clad, with an equally suit-clad Dylan in tow. She shot him a glare.
"I dunno, I guess you're just lucky." She answered sarcastically.
Dean pursed his lips. "Or something."
"You know what Dean? Bite me." Dylan snapped. Dean would've responded had the owner not approached them at that very moment.
"Are you er…Bubba?" Dean asked.
Bubba nodded. "What does FBI want with me?"
Bubba was tall…and HUGE. Not fat huge, but muscled big. He towered over Dean, not to mention Dylan. Bubba was bald, blue-eyed, and blind. Dean started.
"You….cook?" Dean asked surprised.
Bubba crossed his massive arms. "What?" He snapped. "You think because I'm blind I should just stay home and do nothing?"
"Not at all, sir." Dylan interrupted smoothly. "Your dedication is admirable. We'd actually like to speak with you about the rise in freak accidents that have been occurring around town recently."
"Whoa…I ain't got nothing to do with that lady."
"We believe you." Dylan answered soothingly. "We just want to make sure there's not someone out there hurting people, hurting YOUR customers. But we need your help to do that."
Bubba relaxed. "Alright. What do you want to know?"
"What's with the kid?"
Sam shrugged, avoiding eye contact.
Bobby coughed and Sam relented.
"Well, apparently Cas ran her into while he was knee-deep in the purgatory scheme. She said something that made him change his mind, and he felt grateful enough to keep an eye on her."
Bobby nodded slowly. "Got attached, did he?"
Sam smirked. "Oh yeah." Then he sighed. "But I can't blame him."
"You a bit attached yourself?" Bobby assumed. Sam shrugged.
"Bobby…she's smart. SO smart. And a great hunter, at least as far as I've seen. Dean's been hesitant to actually let her out into the field."
"I wonder why." Bobby said dryly.
Sam rolled his eyes. "She was hunting when we first saw her…and alone, at that."
Bobby raised his brows.
"Then we ran into her a few more times; and every time she saved our skins." Sam added. "So we asked Cas about her the next time we saw him. He told us she was alone, and Dean reluctantly agreed to let her tag along with us for awhile."
"But?"
"But…besides research and interviews, he won't let her do much else. And he avoids her like the plague."
"She's a teenage girl: I'm surprised you're not doing the same."
Sam thought about it, then shrugged. "I don't think she's all that young, actually. Not old enough to drink…and not old enough to be on her own though." Bobby chuckled.
"What?" Sam asked.
Bobby shook his head. "The big brother routine looks good on you." He grunted.
Sam smiled, not denying it. "You think?"
Bobby nodded "I do. If you say she can handle herself, I believe you. Give Dean time to wrap his mind around it, and he'll calm down."
Sam nodded thoughtfully.
"How's she handling traveling with the Winchesters?"
Sam laughed. "It's weird..she fits right in. Takes none of Dean's attitude, has a mind like an encyclopedia, is quick on her feet, great with people, and having her with us feels…comfortable. Right. Is that weird, having just met her?"
Bobby shook his head slowly, a gleam in his eye. "Not at all boy. Sometimes, it just happens like that."
"Alright, I'll bite."
"I'd rather you didn't, it was just a joke." Dylan looked up from her notes in time to see Dean grimace.
"What?" She asked patiently.
"People…they just seem to respond to you. How do you do it?"
Dylan smirked. "I am what most would call, a people person."
Dean rolled his eyes and Dylan sighed. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I just like people…maybe they can sense that."
Dean nodded. "Fair enough. All right; well, Bubba told us he's heard the same female voice every Tuesday since the attacks started, but the waitresses can't place a face."
"So she can disguise herself?" Dylan guessed.
"Or change her face." Dean muttered.
"Is that something this Gabriel guy could do?" Dylan probed.
"Only when he was masquerading as the trickster Loki."
Dylan snickered. "You thought HE was Loki?" She laughed again. "That's rich."
Dean narrowed his eyes. "Why is that funny?"
Dylan's face went blank. "It's not funny. When Gabriel was impersonating Loki, did he ever appear female?"
Dean shook his head quickly. "Never."
"Well then how about a female friend?" Dylan pressed. "Someone who knew him well enough to reenact some of his pranks?"
Dean shook his head. "Angel Gabriel's a douche estranged from his family." Dean went silent as an idea hit him.
"And trickster Gabriel?" Dylan asked. Dean shook his head and pulled out his phone, eyes bright.
Dylan waited patiently.
"Dean?" Sam answered his phone. "I just got done with Bobby, he's headed home-"
Dean interrupted Sam to bite out one word, and Sm growled.
"Summoning spell then. I noticed an abandoned barn just outside of town. I'll grab the supplies and meet you there."
Dylan followed Dean to the car, only speaking once they were on their way, and only long enough to repeat the word Dean had said to sam.
"Kali?"
Dean just nodded.
"Kali."
Dylan pouted from the loft of the barn where Dean had banished her, watching the summoning spell go down from afar. The ritual looked complex, but Dylan watched nonetheless…just in case.
Kali appeared in a swirl of smoke, arms crossed.
"Winchesters." She snarled.
Dean inclined his head. "Long time no see."
Kali hissed.
"Care to tell us what the big deal is?" Dean asked lightly.
Kali tossed her head. "What do you think?"
Dean looked to Sam, who shrugged. "Alright…Hard way it is." He slid out his knife and Kali's eyes widened. Dean tilted his head.
"Wait, Sammy." Dean laid a hand on his brothers arm, then looked up to the loft. "I have an idea."
"Hi." Dylan smiled warmly, and Kali just looked back, slightly stunned.
"The Winchesters are sending a child to do their dirty work?" She smirked. "OH, how the mighty have fallen."
Dylan's smile took on an edge, and her eyes narrowed. "The only one who's fallen is your ex, and the Winchesters are still here." She jerked her head to where the brothers stood, watching. "They're giving you a chance here, but if you refuse to take it, to talk to me, I'll leave now." Dylan took a few steps back. "I hear their interrogation technique is a bit more..thorough, but if you'd prefer that," Dylan turned.
"Wait!" Kali cried out. Dylan turned back, eyebrow raised. "What do you want to know?" She caved.
Dylan smiled once mkore. "Loki. You're well aware he's not exactly who he says he is?"
Kali snorted. "Of course I am. None of us are." Dylan raised her eyebrows and waited.
"They mythology that we are created from, Loki and I as well as the others…it is shifting."
Dylan frowned. "Into what?"
Kalie sighed. "In essence, I and Baldr and the others…we are spiritual beings birthed from belief in us. We retain physical bodies only so long as that belief in us is not only maintained, but unchallenged.
"So.." Dylan furrowed her brow. "You exist because people believe you do, and there was no proof that you or your namesake existed otherwise?"
Kali nodded.
"And.." Dylans eyes widened. "With the introduction of the living breathing legends, Thor and Loki and the rest of them…you and your "Council" or whatever are no longer relevant."
"We are fading." Kali agreed sadly.
"So what do the Loki-Alike pranks have to do with your fading?" Dylan snickered slightly at her own joke.
"It was aware to all of us that Loki was not who he said he was….but also that he was powerful enough to help us."
"The prank accidents then…they're some kind of weird summoning ritual?"
Kali nodded. "Yes."
Dylan jerked her head, and Dean and Sam stepped forward.
"You're hurting people." Dylan said flatly. "You can't think we'll allow that, whether you're fading or not."
Kali huffed. "I do not want to hurt humans. They are the very reason that I exist. But the more powerful the being is that we are trying to summon, the more of their presence needs to be felt on earth….and it is not yet powerful enough."
"What kind of a spell is this?" Dylan asked.
"It calls upon the spirits abilities. If their…proclivities are still active on earth and fresh blood is spilled, the spell should pull the spirit from wherever they are back into physical existence."
"From wherever?" Dean clarified.
Kalie nodded
"Even heaven?" Dean pressed.
Kali raised her brow.
"Or Hell?" Sam added.
Her eyes widened.
"Or wherever angels go when they die?" Dylan asked.
Kali choked. "A-Angel?" She thought hard. "It should still work. It explains the need for more sacrifices, and perhaps an angel artifact might be necessary to call upon that part of his physiology."
Dylan furrowed her brow. "Conference!"
She pulled Sam and Dean a few feet away. "I have a crazy idea...What if we helped her?"
Sam sputtered. "Help her bring Gabriel back? No!"
"I'm with Sam." Dean agreed. "Why would we want that?"
Dylan crossed her arms. "Well, one, she'd stop hurting people. Two, she wouldn't DIE. Three, she'd owe us a favor, and four, you'd have another Ally."
"You haven't met Gabriel." Dean snorted. "I wouldn't exactly call him an ally, either."
Dylan rolled her eyes. "You don't want me to call him an Ally? Fine, I'll call him something else…Cas' BROTHER." Dean and Sam shared a look. "Remember Cas? Your best friend, whom has given up practically everything to help you, having to fight his own FAMILY…and the only family who actually like him is I dunno…DEAD, and you have the opportunity to bring one of them back and you don't want to because he's a douche?" Dylan shook her head slowly. Sam sighed.
"What's your plan?" Sam asked finally.
Dylan grinned.
"Dyl…it's been three days. You told Kali your plan right away and she's been grinning ever since. I think we….the people who have taken you in…would like to know what's going on."
Dylan sat across from Dean and Sam at Bubba's diner, a silent Kali with them. Dylan had promptly promised the boys not to tell Cas anything until they were sure it had worked, and then had grabbed Kali and spent the last few days whispering secretively with her.
"You've waited three days you can wait…" Dylan looked down at her watch. "Five more minutes."
"Wait for what?" Sam pressed. Dylan just shot him a look and he glowered. He waved down a waiter. "Could I get this salad to go?"
The waiter shot the table a look. "You could. The question is why would you want to?" Sam bristled, but Dean smirked and Dylan laughed outright. The waiter winked in Dylan's direction and strode off.
"Why is a waiter wearing a hairnet, that's the question." He muttered.
Dylan smirked. "I think he just has issues.
Sam poked his salad sadly.
A few minutes later… at one pm exactly, a man standing at the cash register began to choke. The Winchesters shot up but the man in the hairnet beat them to the choker, performing the Heimlich with confidence. After a few hard blows, the man spewed out whatever it was that had been blocking his airways. Before he even took his first unrestricted breath, hairnet-waiter-guy was gone, and the Winchesters were left calming the man down. Dylan darted after the object the man had spewed out while they were busy.
When the group met outside at the impala, Dylan was grinning brightly, something clutched tightly in her fist.
"What is it?" Sam asked. Dylan allowed her prize to drop into Sam's hand, and Dean and Sam stared at it.
It was a black feather…covered in blood. As the group watched, the feather turned bright white, then the blood disappeared…and then the feather disintegrated altogether.
After a few moments, Dean shrugged. "Now what?"
Dylan made a face. "I dunno. That was as far as my plan went."
"Well." Sam sighed.
"That was a bust."
"I thought it would work." Dylan muttered.
"Thought what would work?" Cas poofed in, head tilted in interest. He wore jeans and a tshirt again, looking entirely too normal for comfort.
"That's what I want to know."
Kali stood in the corner, arms crossed. "Now what?" She snapped.
Cas looked over in surprise. "Who are you?"
"Gabe's ex." Dylan reported, turning back to Kali.
Cas frowned. "What's going on?"
Dylan grinned brightly at him. "I used one of the feathers I had from your last molt to aid in a summoning spell to bring Gabriel back."
Cas frowned. "Why would you want to bring Gabriel back?" Dean threw up his hands.
"That's what I'm saying!"
Cas half-turned. He smiled. "Hello Dean."
Dean huffed. "It's been a while since you've actually acknowledged me." He half-grinned back. "Hey."
"It's alright to tell Dean that you like me better, Cas." Dylan grinned.
Cas shrugged. "I wasn't going to say anything, but…" Dean huffed.
Dylan shrugged in apology at Kali. "Kali was hoping to bring Gabe back so he could help her from fading…but my plan was a bust." She straightened as a thought came to her. "Wait….we haven't tried something yet."
"What?" Sam asked, curious despite himself.
Dylan beamed. "Porn."
Everyone shot Dylan a look of disbelief. She ignored them in favor of reaching for the remote and clicking to a 900 channel.
"No! No, no, no." Dean ripped the remote from her hands, but the second he turned to the tv, the remote changed…into a pure white feather. Sam eyed the feather in shock.
On the screen, two knocks sounded on the door and a woman in questionable dress went to answer the door.
Two similar knocks pounded on the door of the hotel room the odd group occupied.
"Kali, it's for you." Dylan blurted out. Kalie sent Dylan a searching look, and as the woman on the screen touched the doorknob, she marched over and threw the door open.
The screen went blank, but no one was paying attention, too busy staring in shock at Gabriel, dressed in a delivery uniform, smirk in place.
"Miss me?" He asked brightly. He winked at the Winchesters, nodded at his brother, and raised a brow in Dylan's direction. She waved. He directed his smirk towards Kali.
Kali smiled in relief...then decked him in the face.
Dean smiled. "Alright." He looked at Sam and Cas. "I feel better now."