A/N: Hello my lovely readers! Sorry this update is a bit late. School has been kicking my ass lately. Ugh.
I'll let you get right to it.
Chapter 4: Hey there, Delilah.
"Cas, please tell me you mean she's a freaking violin," Dean said.
"Not that kind of instrument, Dean," Cas said with annoyance in his voice.
Sam stood up next to his older brother.
"Then what do you mean?" Sam asked.
"She's a weapon," Castiel said. "And a powerful one at that."
"She's a thief," Dean said accusingly. Madeline threw her hands in the air.
"I told you. I'm not a thief, Dean-o," she said tiredly. Dean dismissed her comment.
"What kind of 'powerful weapon' are you talking about?" Dean said putting air quotes around the words 'powerful weapon'.
"That's as far as I have gotten. You have to remember I have limited resources at the moment..." Dean gave the falling angel a sympathetic look.
"So, how do we figure this out? Is there someone out there that specializes with apocalyptic instruments?" Sam asked.
"Not that I know of," said the angel.
"I know someone," Madeline spoke up. All eyes in the room were on her.
"Really. You know know someone who specializes in apocalyptic instruments," Dean stated as he rolled his eyes at her. Madeline glared at him.
"As a matter of fact, I do. My cousin Mark in Fargo. He's a bartender downtown. He's into stuff like this."
"Oh great, another Devereaux to deal with!" Dean said as he threw his arms in the air.
"God, Dean. What the hell do you even have against us anyways?" Madeline asked.
"Let's just say I've dealt with my fair share of you bunch and I got pretty damn tired of it," Dean said.
Madeline looked at him and smiled lightly.
"You totally got screwed over by one of us, didn't you?" She said.
"Well, yeah I did. It's pretty freaking impossible not to get robbed by one of you so-called hunters."
"Not the kind of screwed over I meant, bro," Madeline said. Sam snorted in laughter as he realized what she meant. Deans cheeks burned a furious red and he looked anywhere but at Madeline.
"Who was it? Was it my cousin Delilah? It was Delilah wasn't it. Ugh, she's such a slut," Madeline was holding in laughter. Dean only looked down at his bare feet.
"Oh, dude you shoulda known," Sam said, smirking at Dean.
"You really should have been aware," said Cas. "After all, her name was Delilah." Madeline bust out laughing.
"Oh come on. Just because the biblical Delilah was a whore doesn't mean she was one," Dean said crossing his arms over his chest.
"Um, it kind of does. Her mom's name is Magdalene." With that, both Sam and Madeline snickered like school children. Even Castiel managed a small smile.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah alright lets just go find this cousin of yours, Mad," Dean said with a huff.
The siblings broke at the crack of dawn since they had already been awake. Castiel though, simply said he would find them and took off in a swish.
Usually, they would have been off sooner. But because of Madeline's injured leg and the extra gear she took around with her, it took them longer to take off than expected. Dean was not happy about that. He was moping like a sad two year old that wasn't allows desert because they couldn't take off as soon has he'd like to. Yet, most of the time was taken up by the argument that Madeline demanded to be carried to the car because of her injured leg, but after a threat from Dean, she settled on using her crutches.
Fargo wasn't a long drive from Des Moines. And when they reached the small North Dakotan city, Madeline directed Dean to the bar where her cousin apparently worked as a bartender. It was two o'clock in the afternoon.
Madeline said that her leg felt better and she refused the crutches no matter how hard Sam tried to get her to use them. She ended up limping into the bar, which was called the Jungle.
The bells jingled as Madeline pushed the door open to the nearly empty bar. A muscular looking bartender from across the room looked up. His face immediately lit up with a kind of snarky joy as he said, "Well, look what the cat dragged in," said the supposed cousin of Madeline.
She confirmed it when she retorted back; "Well, that's a damn big hairball she just threw up." Dean winced in disgust at his sisters response.
Madeline limped over to the bar and sat across from Mark.
"You look like hell, Mark," she said.
"Yeah, you're not doin so bad yourself," Mark said whilst cleaning out a wine glass. Madeline leaned over the bar and snatched a glass from the shelf and slammed it on the bar.
"Fill me up, cuz," she said seriously. Sam and Dean, who were still standing behind her, exchanged a look.
"Nah uh. I promised your mom I wouldn't let you drink with me anymore. And I sure as hell ain't breaking that promise," Mark shuddered and snatched the glass back from Madeline. For a second, Sam thought he saw her face pale. But he lost his train of thought as to why when Mark spoke again.
"Speaking of your mom, last I heard you two were squatting out in some trailer in Stanley?"
"Where's Stanley?" Sam asked.
"Few hours north of here," Madeline said, turning around. Dean realized that at some point, she had sneakily managed to snatch a beer without Mark looking. She popped the cap off by banging it against the edge of the bar and took a swig. Mark looked at her with a look of hopelessness.
Dean spoke up first.
"So, we came here to ask you a question, Mark," he said.
"And you are?" Mark asked.
"This is Sam and Dean. My brothers," Madeline explained.
"Winchester?"
"Yup," Madeline confirmed.
"No shit!" He said surprised.
"Total shit," Madeline muttered into her beer.
"Alright. Whatever question you guys got, hit me with it."
"Mark, what do you know about apocalyptic instruments?" Sam asked.
"Apocalyptic whaty-whats?" Mark asked.
"Madeline told us you're kind of an expert on the biblical apocalypse," Sam explained. Dean had his arms crossed over his chest and looked doubtfully at Mark and Madeline.
"Yeah. But not on instruments of the apocalypse. I didn't know there were any such thing," Mark said.
"Do you know someone who might?" Madeline asked, biting her lip.
"Well Levi might've...But since-" Madeline silenced him with a glare.
"Ryan. I'd ask Ryan." Madeline took a long drink from the beer.
"He's up in Williston right now. Why do you need to know, anyways?"
"Just curious. Ya know, since I started the apocalypse and all..." Sam said sarcastically.
"So we'll go find Ryan then," Madeline said.
"Great. Another member of the Adams Family to deal with," Dean complained as he rolled his green eyes.
"Family friend actually," Madeline said sharply. Dean looked down at his shoes.
"Well who got his panties in a twist?" Mark asked.
"Take a guess," Madeline said.
"Delilah?"
"Delilah."
"Could we just go already before the sun sets? Its friggin Alaska here," Dean shouted.
"Dude," Mark said. "You really shoulda-"
"I shoulda known. Yeah, I get it."
After promising Mark that she would come back to visit when she found anything out, Madeline, Sam and Dean left the Jungle and stepped out into the brisk November air. Madeline breathed in the familiar smell of an oncoming blizzard and relaxed for a fraction of a second before turning around and seeing that Sam and Dean were actually shivering. Their teeth chattered as their arms were crossed tightly over their chests. Madeline smirked.
"What's the matter? Never felt a little cold before?" She asked.
Dean, trying not to reveal how cold he actually was, managed to choke out though chattering teeth; "How in the hell is it this cold outside?"
"It's North Da-freakin-kota. What'd you expect?" She retorted as she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I dunno. South Dakota maybe? And how come you aren't cold?" Dean said still quaking in his boots.
"You mean Baja Dakota? That's where we flock to for winter. Up here, we got thick blood," she said. She turned on her heel and walked towards the Impala with Sam and Dean trailing slowly behind her. She suddenly bumped into a person who blocked her way. She had been walking so fast she almost ran him over.
A look of panic washed over her face when she saw him. But a look of joy was on the young mans face as he realized he remembered her.
"Madeline?" He said. His brown eyes grew wide. He was rather tall. About Sam's height really.
"Cole," Madeline said calmly.
"Wow! It's so good to see you!" The tall and gangly boy who looked only to be about two years older than Madeline tried to hug her, but not before she quickly ducked under and dodged the embrace. His back was now to Sam and Dean.
"It's been so long! I mean, I haven't seen you since that night a couple months ago. I'd love to catch up with you some time," he said hopefully. Madeline looked up at him.
"See Cole, I'd love to. But unfortunately I'm too busy digging my own grave. Maybe next time I'm in Fargo," she said with mock happiness. Cole opened his mouth but nothing came out. Instead, he ducked his head away and continued walking to his destination, shoving his way past Sam and Dean.
"Well that was brutal," Dean muttered. "But I gotta give you props for being a real heartbreaker."
"You gotta do what you gotta do. Kid doesn't know what he'd be getting himself into," she said looking past Dean. Sam stepped a bit closer to his sister, hands shoved in pockets and shoulders hunched.
"What did he mean 'that one night'?" He asked. In response, Madeline turned around, whipping Sam in the face with her long, dark brown hair that smelled surprisingly like citrus, and walked towards the Impala.
Dean reached out and grabbed her by the crook of her elbow and spun her around.
"Tell us how you know him," he said.
"Later," she snapped.
"No! None of this 'later' crap. You're gonna tell us right now." Madeline grabbed Dean's wrist and twisted until he winced and let go of her elbow. She had a surprisingly strong grip for someone with such a small frame.
"I meant, I highly suggest that you two chickens get in the car before you freeze your balls off due to your low tolerance for cold," she said as she continued walking on muttering something about how it was barely below thirty degrees.
"So, what are you whoring around for?" Dean asked once they were all in the car.
"Dean," Sam warned.
"Nobody said I was whoring around," Madeline said from the back seat.
"I did," said Dean.
"How do you know him?" Sam asked.
"School."
"Don't lie to us," Dean said.
Madeline's pale cheeks flushed as she shifted in her seat. The cold had finally hit her and she felt her arms covered in goosebumps. Dean exhaled slowly and pulled the car out onto the empty road.
"I was working a job a while back with Mark. Just a couple of ghosts. Nothing big. Cole knew something about them. He was in the house that those things were in and he knew where they were buried. Course, he was too scared to say anything. So I had to do what I had I do."
"You slept with him?" Sam asked.
"Please. The guy only got to second base before he spilled everything," she said.
"So is that what you do? Whore around for information? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's a form of prostitution," Dean said.
"It's a last resort. I do what I have to do to get the information I need."
"Doesn't matter. You're seventeen. You shouldn't have to do stuff like that," he said.
"Yeah? And just what were you going when you were seventeen, Dean?" She asked sweetly.
"She has a point," Sam said. Dean shrugged his shoulders.
"I may have had to do some slutty stuff to get a job done, but hey. I'm no Delilah. Right, Dean?" Even from the back seat, Madeline could tell Dean was making an ugly glare directed towards her. She smirked a lopsided grin and leaned back in her seat, propping up her bad leg on the length of the backseat.
They checked into a place that night on the outskirts of Fargo called the Black Gold Motel where they decided they would stay for a couple nights before paying Ryan a visit in Williston.
Madeline could now fully walk without her crutches at that point, though she was still weighed down by a heavy limp. She seemed confident that within the next couple days, she would be fine.
Once settled in the motel room, Madeline made way for the door saying that she was going to walk across the street to the small gas station market for food, claiming she would be back soon. But before Dean could even tell her to get some pie, she was already out the door.
Madeline was greeted by the brisk, ice cold breeze and smiled at the smell of the ice in the wind. She was surprised that Fargo wasn't already buried knee-deep in snow already since it was already November. She dismissed the thought and walked across the empty street to the market. She had nearly crossed the street when Castiel appeared in front of her suddenly. He had startled her so much that when she instinctively reached for her knife tucked into her waistband, she slipped on a patch of ice and would have fallen directly on her back if the angels quick reflexes hadn't caught her in time.
"Gah!" She shouted regaining her posture. "Do you realize I almost freaking knifed you?!" She said flailing her knife around angrily. Castiel looked at her with his eyes squinted in confusion.
"I apologize. But I needed to speak with you urgently, Madeline," he said.
"So urgently you couldn't wait until I crossed the damn street?" She said as she brushed flying strands of dark hair out of her flushed face.
"Well, I merely followed your energy. But the exact location to your whereabouts is unknown until-"
"It was a rhetorical question, angel boy," Madeline interrupted. She shoved her way passed him and continued on her way to the market.
"I understand your rhetoric-"
"Why are you here so urgently again? I forgot you didn't answer when I almost sliced you up. Wouldn't want that to happen," Madeline said as Cas trailed behind her fast pace into the store.
"Why not?" He asked as the warmth of the small store embraced them both.
"Because you and I both know that you're angel juice is draining fast and pretty soon you're not going to be able to make all your boo-boos go away," she said as she started grabbing several items off the shelves and stuffing them into the basket.
"How do you know that?" He asked.
Madeline turned and looked up at Cas. He wasn't much taller than her but she still had to look up to look him directly in the eyes.
"You're the angel. Why don't you read my mind and tell me?" She gave him a lopsided smirk as he looked deep into her eyes in frustration. She sighed and said, "Dean talks in his sleep. That's how I know."
"I came here to ask you about your brother Levi," Cas said, changing the subject back to topic. Madeline's pale face drained of all color. She briskly walked over to the small coffee station and filled up two large paper cups full of black coffee. She was filling up a third when she finally spoke.
"Want one?" She gestured to the coffee.
"How did he die?" He asked, ignoring her offer. Madeline looked down at her shoes and sipped the coffee.
"Ya know, it's not bad. Are you sure you don't want some?" Castiel stepped closer.
"Tell me how he died," he said in a low voice.
"Cas, answer the question dammit! Do you want the coffee or don't you?!" Her shouts grabbed the eyes of the sixteen-year-old boy standing at the check-out counter.
"Only if you answer my question, Madeline," Cas said. "How did Levi die?" Madeline hobbled over to the checkout counter. Cas grabbed her by the crook of her elbow and she dropped one of the coffee cups.
"Hey!" Said the checkout boy. "You have to pay for that coffee!"
Madeline whipped her head around.
"I'll pay for that coffee when you pay for your blow-up girlfriend, kid," she hissed. The zit-faced boy blushed and turned away.
"Thought you knew," Madeline said to Cas. "You certainly knew about him in the hospital and I never said a word about him."
"I should know. But I found that you are exceptionally good at blocking your thoughts from me. I could not break through the barrier you had placed in your mind," said the angel.
"You're not the first angel I've tangled with."
"That, I know." Madeline fidgeted in her place, as if gaining up the courage to say sometime. Instead, she stepped in closer to Castiel, deadly green eyes looking into crystal blue, and said, "Don't you dare tell Sam and Dean." She leaned in and started to whisper into the angel's ear.
Hope you enjoyed that. I also hope you enjoy my little Destiel implementations =) And my smallish cliffhangers. I enjoy putting those in. I know it wasn't that great and there wasn't much action in this chapter but next one will be a big one =)
Constructive criticism is welcome and even encouraged!
Review =)