Guest: Thank you so much for your review. I'm glad you like the Mayfair stories. I hadn't heard from anyone in so long, I thought nobody was reading. As you can see I am continuing the story. Sorry for the wait. Lack of feedback and writers block was making it hard to write. Hope to hear from you again soon.

I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters found there in. Alex and the Mayfair mythology are my own.

Chapter 11

It had been two days since Henry's death. There had been a lot of discussion as to whether or not it would be wise to head to the coordinates. Ultimately, the decided to make the trip to Lebanon and see what was so important that an entire secret society had died to keep it safe.

Dean pulled the Impala to a stop in front of an old concrete structure. The place actually looked more like a fortress than anything else. A small set of steps lead down to a heavy metal door. What appeared to be a tall concrete building stood several yards behind it. From what Alex could see, at least part of the structure was underground.

She was down to using only one crutch as she made her way over to the boys.

"When's the last time somebody was in this place?" Dean asked.

"Sixty-five, seventy years ago," Sam offered.

They moved down the small set of stairs and stood before the door. Dean opened the box and removed the key. They boys readied their flashlights and weapons. Alex flipped on her own flashlight and agreed to stay behind the boys as they entered the dark room.

The door opened into a dark, cavernous space. A railing in front of them showed the end of a walkway that overlooked a massive lower level. It took them all by surprise. Not in their wildest dreams had they imagined it would look anything like this.

Sam discovered some old communications equipment stashed in a corner before making his way down the stairs. Dean and Alex split up. There was a chess board and abandoned coffee mug sitting in a dusty corner of the room. "Wow," Dean said. "Halfway through their coffee and a game of chess. Looks like whoever was manning the hub left quick."

"They were probably answering the distress call from Abaddon's attack," reasoned Alex. Her flashlight landed on a switch box mounted to the wall. She paused with her hand on the switch. "Hold onto your butts." A small spark emitted from the board when she threw the switch. The space suddenly became ensconced in light. She tripped the final lever and turned off her flashlight before turning to survey her surroundings.

Sam could hardly believe his eyes. "Son of a bitch." The space seemed to go on forever. He didn't notice his brother coming to stand beside him.

"Sammy, I think we found the Bat Cave."

"The Bat Cave?" Alex asked as she started to make her way down the stairs. "Screw that. This is better than the Bat Cave. Henry said this place was warded against everything. It's the fucking Fortress of Solitude." She waived Sam off when he came to help her down the final few steps that lead to the ground level.

The trio moved farther into the space and found another room. A massive library with a collection that would have made Bobby envious opened up before them.

"Whoa."

They spent the next few hours exploring the bunker. The scope of the place was astounding. It had everything. A shooting range, gym, garage, a kitchen, and anything else you could possibly need. It had to of taken years to build it, possibly decades.

One corridor was living quarters with enough space for each of them to have their own bed for the night. For once nobody was going to have to sleep on the couch. They all went back to the Impala and gathered their things for the night.

Alex paused at the doorway to Sam's room and watched him for a moment. His back was to her as he unpacked his things. She thought about asking him if he wanted company, but decided against it. Sharing a bed for one night because there was nowhere else to sleep and one kiss in the heat of the moment did not erase everything that stood between them.

The sound of footsteps slowly moving away from his door caught Sam's attention. He looked over his shoulder and saw that no one was there. "Alex?" He moved towards the doorway and looked towards the right. Nobody was there. He looked the other direction as he started to go back into his room and did a double take as he saw her walking the opposite direction down the long hallway.

He watched as she waved at Dean and moved down to the next room. Sam tried not to read too much into it, but he found himself analyzing the situation. Why would Alex go all the way down the hall when there is a room right there? The only thing he could come up with was that she wanted to be away from him. He was pulled from his thoughts when Dean passed him saying that he was going to go get them some food.

Sam started to turn and go back into his room, but instead decided to take advantage of the time without his brother and have a serious talk with the woman who plagued his thoughts. She was just pulling her toiletry bag out of her duffle when she noticed him leaning on the door-frame.

"Hey."

"Hi," she said. "I thought you left with Dean."

Sam shook his head. "No. Actually, I was wondering if we could talk."

Even with her back to him, Sam could see the tension in her face. He could picture perfectly the way her jaw clenched before she put on her most indifferent face and turned to look at him.

"Okay." She took a seat on the bed. "What about?"

"Us."

She nodded and looked at the floor. Sam came and sat on the opposite side of the bed. He wanted to sit next to her and hold her hand, reassure her that he was where he wanted to be. But he also knew he needed to give her space. "I didn't realize there was an us." Those words cut him deep.

"I don't see why there can't be."

It was exactly what Alex had been hoping to hear. Every fiber of her being called out to her, urging her to turn around and throw herself into his arms. The voice inside her head was the only thing that kept her from doing so. It was the voice that said he could change his mind. It was Crowley's voice telling her that while she was tied to him, he was no longer tied to her. If he willingly left, she wasn't sure if she could take it.

"What about Amelia?"

Sam was confused. "What do you mean?"

"You love her Sam." He started to protest, but she continued. "Okay, maybe that was too strong a word. But you can't tell me she doesn't mean anything to you. You shared almost a year of your life with her Sam. You had a house, a dog, the normal life you always wanted. That's not something that's in the cards for me. I love you, Sam. I really do, but I don't want to wonder if you're thinking about her at night when you're holding me. I can't live like that Sam. I want to be your first choice."

The words struck an all too familiar chord. "That's exactly what she said." That got Alex's attention. She watched as Sam stared into the distance, losing himself in the memory. "When you left I went to see her. It was so easy to just fall back into everything with her. I wanted to. I wanted to just live my life and forget that anything had happened. She knew about you, not that you were a hunter or anything. Just that I had loved you. Somehow she got the idea that you and Dean were on a mission together in the military and never came home, so that's what I let her believe. I never told her about hunting. When I told her you were alive, she told me to make a choice because she didn't want to wonder if I was going to take off running the moment you called."

"And what did you decide?"

"Dean called saying you needed our help. I told her goodbye and I left." Alex nodded. She was debating turning and kissing him when she felt the mattress move as he stood. "You needed help so I left without a second thought. I can't help but think there is more to what's going on than you're telling me." She seemed surprised. "I know you too well for you to ever really hide anything from me, Alex. Just know that I'll be here when you're ready. I'm here because I chose to me. This is my life. It's what I want." And with that, he walked out the door.

The night had been full of memories. Every dream Alex had was a memory of her and Sam. She relived their first meeting, first dance, his death, their first time, dying for him, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. All of it. But they were all shaded. There was a shadow looming over all of it. Every memory was tainted by Crowley's words and her own fear that one day Sam would walk away.

She kept hearing his voice say the only reason any of those wonderful memories had happened was because their souls were bound together. If Sam had been given a choice, he never would have chosen her. All of those memories would be nothing more than fantastical dreams filling her head each night. Those words gave birth to the nightmare that had awakened her. She had watched as Sam and a woman she assumed was Amelia laughed at her. Sam's velvety voice saying she was just a placeholder until he could have what he really wanted.

Alex had bolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat, after seeing Sam kiss her. The image still played in her mind when she walked into the library to see Sam going through the dusty volumes.

"Hey."

He looked up at her. "Hey."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to figure out where all of this came from."

She moved closer to him. "Want some help?"

"Sure."

They spent the next hour trying to trace the source of the power keeping the bunker alive. Alex used Sam's laptop to track the source while Sam tried to look through the ledgers for construction records, but they found nothing. Everything seemed to be a dead end.

Dean entered the room in a gray bathrobe. "Morning."

"Morning," answered Sam without really looking up.

Alex looked at Dean out of the corner of her eye. She did a double take. "Where the hell did you get that?"

"I found it hanging in the bathroom." Alex shook her head and went back to work. "By the way, the uh water pressure in the Letters' shower room is marvelous."

"Yeah. I still can't figure out how we even have water," Sam said as he carried another volume to the table, "or electricity."

"It's insane," Alex said. "None of the county records show this place. It's completely off the grid. From what I can tell, they don't even have records of lines coming out this way."

"Are you online?" asked Dean. Alex nodded. "They had internet in the 50's?"

With an exasperated sigh, Alex held up her phone and wiggled it at him. "Hotspot."

"Oh well," Dean nodded, "I am putting that under the 'ain't broke' column. Listen, guys, let's not go all geek on this stiff, okay?"

"Geek?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Dean started looking around the room. "I mean, don't – don't get me wrong." He lifted a scimitar from it's display stand." This stuff is awesome, and it looks like they ran a real tight outfit here, but I'm just saying, you know, don't uh, don't think that they knew some big secrets that we don't know."

He started to waive the sword around, making Alex very nervous. "Dean, put that thing down before you cut your leg off." Sam turned to see what his brother was doing. Dean quickly pulled himself out of the pose he had been striking. Alex just shook her head and went back to the computer.

"Dean," began Sam, "they were a secret society."

"Which means they made crap up and wore fezzes and sashes and swung around scimitars."

Alex didn't even look up from her typing. "That you still need to put down."

"They probably didn't even sharp –" Dean started to run his finger along the blade expecting it to be dull. He quickly jerked his hand away when he cut his finger on the razor sharp edge. "That's very sharp." Alex raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a look as if to say oh really? Before shaking her head and getting back to work while Dean put the sword back on it's stand.

Alex closed the laptop and stood. "I'm gunna go fix us some breakfast." She left the room.

The boys proceeded to discuss the validity of the knowledge housed within the structure. Dean remained skeptical of the whole affair while Sam seemed eager to uncover all the bunker had to offer. "Dean look, I think we might have something here – something that could help us, help humanity."

"He's got a point, Dean." Alex said as she came back into the room, carefully balancing three plates of food with the arm not holding her crutch. Sam rushed to help her. She smiled at him in thanks. "You know damned well that we could us a break. What if this place is it?" She wasn't just thinking about hunting. Sam and the missing pieces of their souls were never far from her thoughts. Henry's words about nothing ever being truly lost had been playing on repeat as she's made the eggs and bacon. Perhaps this place could tell her how to put everything back together.

Dean's voice suddenly pulled her from her thoughts. "Man, Alex, I've missed your cooking." She gave him a small smile.

"Yeah," Sam said. A beat passed. "I've missed you."

The smile left her face as she turned her awe struck gaze to his. She could tell from his expression that he was being sincere. She just wasn't sure how much of it she could put faith in.

After two weeks, the bunker was starting to feel more like home. It was becoming comfortable. A routine began to develop. Every morning Sam would rise early and go for a run. Alex would make breakfast while Dean started going through boxes full of random artifacts. Later on, Sam and Alex would start indexing everything so that they could find it more easily in the future.

They were doing just that when Dean came into the room with his phone to his ear. "Okay. Bye." He ended the call. "So that was Kevin?"

Alex looked up from her work. "How is he?" She'd always had a soft spot for the prophet and often thought about him. Sam had told her a little about what had happened while she'd been away. Him going off on his own was regrettable, but ultimately she could see the need for it.

"You know. He's okay. I guess. In his corner, hacking out his Da Vinci code."

"Has he found anything?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head as he pulled a beer out of the fridge. "Nothing actionable yet." He took a drink of the cool liquid. He tilted the bottle towards Alex. "Garth says hi by the way."

"Oh he called?"

"Yeah he's with Kevin. He's trying to find something on Cas, but he's coming up empty."

Alex became confused. "He's trying to find a way to get him out?"

The boys looked at each other. Surely they'd mentioned his return at some point, but as they thought about it, they realized that they had indeed forgotten to mention it. They'd been so caught up in Henry, Abaddon, and the bunker that it had completely slipped their minds.

"Uh," Sam cleared his throat. "Cas is back."

"What? How?"

"We don't know. That's one of the things we've been working on."

She looked to Dean. "Have you tried praying to him? He's always listened to you more than the rest of us."

"Yeah. He's not answering."

"And there's no clue as to how he got back?"

"Nope."

They all fell into silence for a while until Sam presented them with a case he had found. Alex jumped at the opportunity to get back out there, but Sam was quick to stop her. "You're not going."

"Like hell."

She was bowing up for a fight until Dean stepped in. "He's right, Alex. You just started limping around here without the crutches. You're not going on a hunt until we know you're at 100%."

For a moment, she thought about arguing. Pain went through her leg when she shifted her stance and put her full weight on it. "Fine. I'll stay here. Just promise me the two of you will be careful." Her eyes drifted to Sam. He gave her a weak smile.

"I promise."

Alex filled her time alone with study and strengthening her injured leg. She and Sam had done a pretty good job figuring out the library before the boys left. There were a few books in particular she'd stumbled across in that time that she now found herself reading in depth.

While going through the dusty volumes, Alex had happened to flip a manuscript open at random. A word caught her eye. Soulmates. It confirmed everything she already knew about soulmates sharing a Heaven and being drawn together. There were countless stories to support it. But that wasn't what she was really after. She wanted to know if Henry had been right.

She decided to broaden her search to souls in general. That was when she stumbled upon a journal written by Leo Tolstoy. Her eyes went wide. She shook her head. There's no way. Careful not to damage the delicate leather binding, she took the book down from the shelf. The first line was a quote from the famous author that she knew all too well. All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love. It then continued on into something more that she'd never seen before. My soul is irrevocably bound to another's. Because of this, I have gained insight into the human soul that few have obtained.

Alex began walking to the table as she read. Her eyes never left the age yellowed pages as she pulled out a chair and sat. Each sentence made her feel more hope than the one before.

The soul is more than a small piece of the human animal. It is a complicated web of emotion and spirit that gives us life. While there are several aspects of the soul that are moved by various entities, it is as a whole, a tangled web that is impossible to untangle. Each thread leads to the next and leaves an indelible mark upon it until it is impossible to distinguish one from another.

Some areas of the soul are more strongly connected than others. It is a concentration of spirit that radiates throughout the human body, but it is not the only place in which these aspects can be found. It is therefore impossible to eradicate a single portion of the soul. It's shadow would still loom of the expanse of existence.

She read the passage again and again, her body becoming lighter as she did. There was hope. Crowley may have not succeeded after all. A smile formed on her face. Perhaps things would work out in the end. Now she just had to figure out what all of that meant for her, for Sam, and for the woman he'd left behind. Then she read something that made her doubts return again

That being said, to remove a portion of the soul is to damage it beyond repair. To have something as vital as one's own essence removed

would not leave them unchanged. While the shadow would yet remain, the entity in and off itself would be forever altered.

Alex closed the book and hung her head in despair. The only way to fix this was to get the piece of Sam's soul back. She just didn't know how she was going to get it.

"Alex we're back!" Dean yelled as he walked into the bunker, Sam close behind him. There was no answer.

"Alex!" Sam called.

They moved into the library looking for the woman. A faint thudding sound could be heard coming from somewhere inside the bunker. Sam signaled for Dean to be quite. "Alex!" More thudding. "You hear that?"

"Yeah."

Drawing their weapons, the boys slowly started moving towards the sound. They stopped outside the closed gym door. Dean signaled silent countdowns to Sam before slamming the door open.

They both put their guns away when they found that the sound was nothing more than Alex punching and kicking one of the heavy bags. Her back was to them, headphones in her ears, as she worked the bag. Left. Left. Right. Left. Kick. Kick. Right. She stopped when she heard the door bang against the wall.

She turned to them with a smile. "Hey guys." She took the buds out of her ears. "How was the hunt?" They looked at each other briefly before telling her it was fine in perfect unison. She knew the boys well enough to know that when they did something like that there was a story there, but she let it go. They made it home. That's what's important.

"Looks like you're on the mend," said Dean.

Alex looked down at her workout clothes and then back to the boys. "Yeah. I'm feeling pretty good."

Sam's eyes had followed Alex's when she had looked down. The tight black athletic pants and tank top left little to his imagination. Her taught stomach was exposed to his gaze. There were a few scars there that he didn't remember seeing before, but it had been quite some time since he'd been privileged to the sight. His imagination flashed with images of the two of them together.

Alex realized that Sam had fallen quite. "You okay, Sam?"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Uh, I-I'm good."

Dean could feel the tension in the room and decided to make an exit. "Well," he slapped Sam on the shoulder, "guess I'll let you get back to it. Don't hurt yourself."

She assured them she wouldn't and went back to what she was doing, unaware that Sam had lingered a few minutes longer to watch her.

Alex finished her workout and decided to go back to her room and get cleaned up before making dinner. It felt good to sweat and be active. She'd missed it. Something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye as she passed Dean's room. She did a double take and about tripped she was so surprised by what she saw.

"Wow."

Dean placed the photo he'd been looking at on the table and turned to her. He spread his arms in a gesture that displayed the room around him. "What do you think?"

The room was actually quite impressive. There was nothing fancy about it, but then again there was nothing fancy about the hunter it was meant for. Dean's favorite weapons were mounted on the wall. A simple bed sat against the center of the back wall. The shelf above it and the desk held various knick-knacks and mementos. Everything about the room screamed hunter. It screamed Dean Winchester.

Alex nodded as a smile formed on her face. "It's you."

"I know right!"

She couldn't help but chuckle at the excitement he showed. It was a rarity for her to see her friend this way. It was something she wished she could see more often.

"What do you know?" Sam asked as he came to stand beside Alex in the doorway. "Wow." Dean was practically bursting with pride. "Not bad." His face fell.

"Not bad?" Alex put a hand over her mouth to stop the laugh that was threatening to break forth as she prepared herself for what she knew would be a rather amusing reaction from the elder Winchester. "I haven't had my own room… ever. Not even at Bobby's. Sorry, Alex."

She waived it off. "It's okay. I've got to get used to it sometime."

Dean nodded. He hated making his best friend sad. Finding out that they'd lost Bobby had hit her hard, but she was slowly getting used to the idea that he was gone. As much as he had hated her living to go up there on her own, seeing what was left of the place she had once called home helped give her some closure.

"Anyway," he continued, "I'm making this awesome. I got my kickass vinyl. I've got this killer mattress." He sat on the bed and petted it affectionately. "Memory foam. " He pointed to his chest. "It remembers me."

Alex's attempt to hold back the laughter ended as a small strained chuckle escaped. You're such a dork.

"And it's clean, too. There's no funky smell. There's no creepy motel stains."

"Enough hot water for all three of us," added Alex.

"Exactly. This place is awesome!"

Taking a small wrapper from his pocket, Sam took the piece of gum he had been chewing out of his mouth and tossed it towards the small wastebasket near the dresser. He missed, but it didn't seem to bother him. Sam just shrugged before resuming his lean against the door-frame.

"Really?" Dean asked in exasperation.

Sam held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry." He picked up the wrapper and put it in the trashcan. Examining the room again as he stood, he had to admit that it was pretty nice. He just wasn't going to say anything to his brother. It was more fun to make him twitch anyway.

Dean huffed as he rose to his feet. "I'm gunna go fix us some grub." He walked past Alex and started moving down the hall.

"Okay." Alex suddenly realized what he said. "Wait a minute. Did you say you were going to cook?" He didn't answer. She turned to Sam and found him examining the photo Dean had been looking at when she arrived. "You've got poison control on speed dial right?" she joked. Sam looked up at her for a moment before looking back at the picture. "What's that?" She moved closer and looked over his shoulder to the photo of a beautiful blond woman holding a young boy.

"It's Mom." He picked up the photo.

"Is that Dean?"

"Yeah. I didn't know he had this." He put the photo back down. They both look so happy.

Alex could see the pensiveness in the set of his shoulders and looked up at him. "You okay?" she asked as she placed a hand on his arm.

He covered her hand with his much larger one. "Yeah I'm good." He gave her hand a small squeeze before letting go of it and nodding towards the door. "Why don't you go get cleaned up. I'll make sure Dean's not trying to kill us."

She nodded and walked away. Pausing at the door, she turned and looked at Sam over her shoulder to give him a reassuring smile. Seeing the photo had put him in a mood. They had once had a conversation about how all of the bad in his families lives was because of him.

It was shortly after Dean's deal had come due. Sam had made his way through most of a bottle of Scotch and confessed that he thought everyone would be better off if he had never been born. They'd gotten into a pretty big fight over that. She knew by the look on his face that he was having one of those moments again. He couldn't help but think that way sometimes, and it broke her heart.

Another shelf worth of books were spread out on the table in front of Sam and Alex. While they had already gone through and indexed a good portion of the library already, there was still a lot for them to go through. It would take them a long time to work their way through all of it.

"Hey a little help here," Dean called from the doorway. Alex looked up from the book in front of her and found Dean standing in the doorway, a plate of food in each hand and a third balanced on his right forearm. She quickly moved to help the man carry the plates over to the table.

He sat one of the plates in front of his brother. "What are you reading?"

"Sort of, uh, everything," said Sam.

"Oh, good. Somebody's gunna have to dig through all of this, and it ain't gunna be me."

Alex took her seat across from Sam and watched as he slowly examined the burger that had been placed in front of him. "You made these."

"We have a real kitchen now."

"Yeah I know," said Alex. "I'm the one who spends the most time in it." She looked from the hunter to her plate and back suspiciously. "What did you do to it?"

"Nothing." Both his brother and his best friend looked at him in disbelief. "I'm nesting, okay? Eat."

It took them a moment to believe that the food was safe. Eventually Dean got tired of waiting for them to take a bite and decided to just dig in. Once they saw him take a bite, Sam and Alex followed suit. Alex suddenly became suspicious again when she saw Dean pause and smile at his brother. What did he do? Then she heard the sound of pleasure coming from Sam.

Dean's smile grew. "Huh? Yeah."

"Wow," Sam said with a mouth full of food.

Alex took a bite of the burger. "Oh my god," she said. "This is really good Dean."

"You're welcome."

They ate in silence for a moment until something occurred to Alex. "Wait a minute. If you know how to cook then why the hell do I end up doing all of it?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know how to make pie."

She was just about to berate the man when his phone began to ring.

"Yo." Concern quickly took over his features. "What? Kevin?" That quickly got the other hunters' attention. "Kevin?!"

"Something wrong?" Sam asked.

"Guess."

They quickly stood, grabbed their plates, and made haste for the Impala.

The metal boat was eerily silent as Alex and the boys prepared to enter. They all drew their weapons as Dean led them into the room. There was no sign of the young prophet.

"Kevin?" Sam called out. "It's us." Still no answer.

They fanned out around the room and began looking for clues as to what had happened. Dean opened the door to another compartment and found Kevin on his knees puking his guts out.

"Found him."

Sam came over to his brother in the doorway and made a disgusted face when the boy continued to vomit into the toilet.

Now that the prophet was found, Alex started to take in the state of her surroundings. Trash and other unidentifiable objects littered the floor. Dirty dishes were piled everywhere. She'd know that he was staying on Garth's houseboat, but now that she'd see it, she was pissed.

"You guys left him alone in this?" She gestured to the room around them as Kevin continued to rid his stomach of it's contents. "When was the last time you checked on him?" The boys fell silent and looked away from the enraged woman. "That's what I thought."

The young man in question stumbled from the bathroom and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Hey guys. Hi Alex."

She quickly returned his weak smile. "Come here you." She held out her arms and made her way over to the young man. Her arms quickly came around him in a fierce hug. As she held him close, a foul stench invaded her nostrils and forced her to pull away. "Dude you smell."

"Yeah. Sorry," he replied in a nasally voice

"When was the last time you took a shower?"

He sniffed. "Not sure. I don't really remember." He took a few steps and fell into a chair that was seated at what appeared to be his work desk as he wiped blood away from his nose with his sleeve.

"Wow!" Dean exclaimed. "You look like hammered crap." Alex smacked him on the arm. He raised his arms and gestured as if to say well he does.

Sam, on the other hand, was watching the young boy carefully. There were dark circles under his puffy, half lidded eyes, and they seemed so unfocused that he wasn't sure how the young man was still functioning.

"Are you sleeping?"

"Not really?"

"Are you eating?" Dean asked his own concern now raised.

"Hot dogs mostly."

Alex sighed and exchanged a look with Sam and Dean who was now running a hand down his face. "Sure, yeah - breakfast of champions. Look, I'm gunna feel dirty saying this, but you might want a salad."

"And a shower," added Alex.

Kevin nodded. He knew that he had been neglecting himself, but the mission was important. They were going to close the gates of Hell for crying out loud. What was a little less sleep compared to that?

"I'm serious, Kevin," Alex said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "You're no good to anyone if you kill yourself trying to read that tablet."

"I know, and I've been getting bad headaches and nosebleeds, and I think maybe I had a small stroke. But it was worth it."

"What was worth it?" Sam asked.

A grin spread across the prophet's face as he turned towards the veritable giant. "I figured out how to close the gates of hell."

Alex grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "Are you serious?" His smile grew as he nodded.

Kevin looked to Dean. The older Winchester just stared at him. "You…" A smile broke out on the man's face. "Come here, you smelly son of a bitch." Dean grabbed him and hugged the boy so tight he actually lifted him off the ground.

Sam began clapping while Alex just laughed at the sight. "Okay, okay," said Sam. "So, what does this mean? What are we looking at?"

They followed the young man to the wall of notes Alex had noticed earlier. He started talking them through what he had found. Alex's eyes went wide when he said it was a spell. If that was really all it took, she should be able to have this finished by dinner time. He handed a piece of paper to Dean. She and Sam read it over his shoulder.

"It's just a few words of Enochian, but…"

She didn't like the way he trailed off. "But what, Kevin?"

"The spell has to be spoken after you finish each of the three trials."

Sam's brows knit together. "T-trials like, uh, like Law and Order?"

They just wished it was that easy. Apparently it was going to be a little more in-depth than that. Kevin compared them to the trials of Hercules. "The tablet says, Whosoever chooses to undertake these tasks should fear not danger, nor death, nor… a word I think means getting your spine ripped out through your mouth for all eternity."

"Good times," Dean said flatly.

"Yeah," said Alex. "Sounds like fun."

The prophet went on to describe a series of three tests that they would have to pass. Once each trial was completed, the person undertaking them would speak the spell. It sounded simple, but if a lifetime as hunters had taught them anything, it was that there was always a catch. That catch was the first trial.

"You've got to kill a hound of hell and bathe in its blood."

Alex shivered at the mention of the beasts she had once controlled. The image of Jo's face when she set one on her flashed across her mind, still every bit as vivid as the day it had happened. She paid no attention to the Winchester's arguing until Kevin asked them how they would find one.

"Crossroads," she said. The boys turned to look at her and found her staring off into the distance with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hellhounds are the preferred choice for collecting a debt. Our best bet is to find somebody that made a deal 10 years ago and wait for Fido to answer the dinner bell." She uncrossed her arms and took a few steps towards the boys. "It won't be easy, but it's at least it's somewhere to start."

Dean clapped Alex and his brother on the shoulder. "Okay, sounds good. You get on the net," he said as he pulled away. "See what you can dig up." He gestured to the door behind him. "I'm gunna go for a supply run because we need goofer dust, and the kid needs to eat something that's not ground-up hooves and pigs' anusess." He started to leave, but paused and turned back to his companions. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Just go get the kid some food, Dean," Alex said with a sigh. He gave her a little salute and left, closing the door behind him. She turned back to the young boy she'd grown so fond of a while back. "Go get yourself cleaned up. We can hold down the fort for a while."

He looked skeptical. "You sure."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. We're good." Kevin thanked them and went to go get cleaned up. "Hey." He looked back. "Mind if we use your computer for a bit?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Go ahead."

"Thanks."

Once the door to the lavatory was closed, Sam and Alex exchanged a rather concerned look. "I'm worried about him," she said as she took a seat behind the computer.

"Yeah me too. The sooner we can get this thing over with the better of he'll be." She nodded.

They spent the next half hour taking turns researching and bouncing ideas off of each other and trying to find leads. It was a slow process, but each search they did yielded a few more results than the last. They paused in their work when Kevin reemerged saying how much better he felt now that he was human again. Alex looked up from the computer and gave him a soft smile before going back to her search.

"Hey, Kevin," Sam said, "buddy, you got to slow down."

"What?"

"Get some shut-eye. Take a day off. Open a window."

"He's right, Kevin. You've got to start taking better care of yourself," Alex said.

"No." The boy was visibly upset by their words. "You said nuking Hell - that's how I get out. That's how I go home."

Sam leaned across the table towards him. "Right, it is, but you can't live like this."

"You think I want to?" He stood once more and began to shout. "I hate it here. I can't leave because every demon on the planet wants to peel my face off. I can't talk to anyone except you guys or Garth, when he swings by, or my mom. Right? And when she calls, all she does is cry. I just… I need this to be over."

His words wounded Alex's heart. She knew what it was like to feel trapped in a life you never chose. It was not something she would ever wish on anyone. Her one comfort in that time had been that she wasn't alone. She'd had Sam and Dean there supporting her and carrying her through. Kevin was allowed no such luxury. He'd been forced to hide away in a floating metal box while the world went crazy all around him.

She took hold of his hand and drew his attention down to where she still sat in front of the computer. "It will be over soon, Kevin. I promise."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I'm going to end it for you."

There was authority in her speech leaving no room for argument. The certainty with which she spoke actually scared Sam. He worried about what she might be planning. His thoughts were cut short when Dean came barging back in through the door.

"Did you know there are, like, 6000 kinds of tomatoes?" he asked as he sat the bags of groceries down in front of them. Alex handed the computer to Sam and took the bags to the kitchen area to start making them all a real meal. "Did you find anything?"

Sam began to explain a lead in Idaho that you had found. It was decided that the three of you would leave shortly after dinner. The game clock was winding down and you needed to be there when the buzzer sounded.

Once dinner was done, Alex gave Kevin a giant hug. "Take care of yourself okay? I mean it."

He nodded against her shoulder. "Okay."

With one final pat on the back, she moved away to let the boys say goodbye. Sam gave him a quick hug and told him to call if he needed anything before joining Alex at the door. Dean picked up one final bag from the table and headed towards him.

"Work on step number 2, and, uh, if you come across anything about Hellhounds, drop a dime, okay? 'Cause between the - the claws and the teeth and the whole invisibility thing, those bitches can be… real bitches. I mean Alex can see them, but Sam and I are screwed."

Kevin's head snapped in her direction. "You can see Hellhounds?"

"Mayfair," she shrugged. He nodded as if that one word had explained everything.

Dean reached into the shopping bag and pulled out two bottles. "I got you a present." He handed the first bottle to Kevin. "The, uh, blue ones are for the headaches, and the greens are for pep." He handed him the second bottle. "Don't O.D." He smacked Kevin on the arm and went to join the others at the door.

"Thanks?" Keven said, a little unsure of what was going on. First Sam and Alex tell him to take it easy. Then Dean does this? He was so confused.

The trio of hunters closed the door behind them and headed for the Impala.

"You sure about that?" Sam asked.

"About what?" Dean replied as he opened the driver's side door."

Alex slid into the back seat. "The drugs you just gave Kevin." He gave her a questioning look in the rearview mirror. "The kid is killing himself to translate that tablet. Literally. Don't you think giving him something that could put him in the grave that much faster is overkill?"

"Alex, we are on the one-yard-line. It is time to play through the pain."

"Easy for you to say," she muttered under her breath.

Most of her words were drowned out by the sound of the Impala starting up, but Sam had caught what she said. He turned and gave her a sympathetic look. He agreed with her. Kevin was going to drive himself to an early grave if he wasn't careful. All they could do now was try to finish these trials as quickly as possible so it could all be over.

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