With a deep sigh, Lou rubs her forehead and closes her eyes. What the fuck is happening here!?
There they are, sitting in the car waiting. Sam takes his usual spot in the passenger seat while Lou's behind the wheel. Peeking into the rearview mirror she sees Castiel peering out the side window from the backseat of the Impala, his forehead set in concentration as his eyes are hard on nothing in particular. They're waiting for Missus Tran after a frantic call received from her a few hours ago. She called just after Castiel flew in unannounced when he should be locked in Purgatory to speak to them about the prophet problem they are in the middle of.
What the fuck is her life right now?
"I want to be popping bottle caps and researching poltergeists," Lou grumps as she slumps lower in her seat, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Don't pout," Sam says quickly, swatting her knee.
"Dude, this sucks," Lou spells it out. "Missus Tran is scary and she's also a friggin' idiot when it comes to our type of stuff. She just takes Kevin and runs? Seriously? We could have helped them! They wouldn't be in this mess if they stuck with us!"
"You forget… you tried to kill Missus Tran," Sam reminds her.
"I tried to kill Crowley!" she gets very upset.
"I doubt Kevin distinguishes between the two considering Crowley was possessing his mother at the time," Castiel speaks up while never looking away from the side window.
"No one asked you, wings!" Lou gets pissed off, still unsure and still uncomfortable with the angel that used her soul to become god not three years ago.
"Hey, take it easy," Sam calmly requests.
"Sorry," Lou says but doesn't mean it. She shoots him a look to remind him that she shouldn't be expected to like the angel at all. Sam just nods and gives a sympathetic look to her, sharing an apology with her. Lou rolls her eyes and continues to wait. "Can't believe Lizzy sent him to us," Lou mutters quietly.
Sam gives her a warning look.
"We're not babysitters," Lou whispers.
"And I am not deaf," Castiel speaks up when he can clearly hear her. He makes hard eye contact with her through the rearview mirror. "Despite our past encounters, I am a worthwhile being to know. Elizabeth wouldn't have sent me to you if I was not useful within the situation. I suggest you learn to at least work with me instead of hurl insults. It'd be far more productive."
"You used me," Lou reminds, stubborn on the fact. She knows how important he is to the rest of her family but grudges die hard, especially something as huge as their specific past.
"And I have proven myself since then, I like to think," Castiel rebuts sharply. "I took Sam's Cage burden away from him, did I not?"
"You unleashed that shit on him when you went rogue!" Lou fights back and turns around in her seat swiftly with much anger. "You broke the wall! That was your fault!"
"Lou, knock it off," Sam tries but Castiel holds a hand up to stop him.
"Sam, I feel this conversation is long overdue. Clearing the air between us may be the only way to mend anything here," Castiel sees clearly. He stares at Lou's challenging expression for a moment. "The wall in Sam's head was never going to hold, not long term. I believe by the time he reached middle age, if he were to survive that long within his lifestyle, he would have been a nonfunctioning disaster and that's putting it lightly. Without my intervention his life would have been over. Would you prefer the Sam you have now? Or the Sam that wouldn't even be able to recognize you in just a few short years?"
Nothing coming to mind to answer that, Lou bite her tongue hard.
"I took on Sam's burden as I understood clearly that I messed up. I messed up harder and in bigger ways than I could ever put to words and I am ashamed by it. I know I shouldn't be here right now, with any of you. I am aware that I need punishment and penance for my actions, and I tried to do that. I tried to spend my time in Purgatory paying for what I did to the universe. That's what I wanted. But I'm here now. I don't know why but I'm here and I'm part of your sister's life and your significant other's life. I'm even a part of your nephew's life. We have to live together. It seems I'm not going anywhere any time soon so we need to get along peacefully. And you need to find a way to get past what I did. It isn't fair that I ask that, not in the least, but this is for the sake of your family."
As he stares straight into her, as if pushing her to dare disagree with his assessment, Lou's heart pounds. What the hell can she say to that? He makes so many good points… all the good points really. And her family has accepted him into their lives even despite his flaws and fuck ups.
"I don't trust you," she tells him.
"I don't blame you for that."
It's a good answer. "And you know I'll be watching you like a fucking hawk… especially around Sammy."
"You do not need to do that but I completely understand why you feel that way," Castiel concedes. "I feel I will prove myself to you eventually, much like Dean has done."
Turning around in a huff, Lou sits back in her seat now angrier than before. She wants to hate him but he makes it so damn difficult to.
And the smug smile Sam tries to hide from her doesn't help. It makes her blood boil a little harder. Luckily, a car pulls up next to their parked one and lets them know Missus Tran has finally arrived, giving Lou something else to focus on.
The three get out of the Impala to greet her.
"You can do this, can't you?" Missus Tran blurts out as she exits her car, eyes wide and frantic. "You guys can get him back?"
"We hope to," Sam nods as he walks around to meet her, ready to do what it takes to get Kevin out of the situation he's in.
"How did Crowley find you?" Lou has to ask first of all, the question killing her.
"Oh, I hired a witch and she ratted us out," the mother rolls her eyes and admits begrudgingly.
"A witch? Why'd you hire a witch?" Sam wonders aloud.
"To make demon bombs, of course!" Missus Tran impatiently informs them. "These are Kevin's notes." She gives Sam a spiral notebook.
"You have any idea where Crowley took him?" Lou asks her.
"No. But, uh..." she trails off as she walks for the trunk of her car. Using the remote fob on her keychain she pops it and opens it up to reveal a black-eyed man stuffed inside. "This guy might."
Lou immediately smiles devilishly at the sight before her while she pulls Ruby's knife out of an inner pocket of her jacket. She twirls it once like the expert she is and grips it hard. "Damn, Tiger Mommy. You sure you weren't a hunter in a past life or something?"
Missus Tran looks at her with annoyance. "Just find out where my son is."
"Ten-four," Lou nods as she points the tip of the sharp blade at the demon, Sam standing tall by her side with a slight smirk on his face over the triumph the older woman had. "Let's talk."
Arriving at the old factory in Atlantic, Iowa in the late hours of the night, Lou parks the Impala with Missus Tran pulling up right behind them.
"She might punch me in the face for this," Lou warns Sam when she looks over at him, a pair of handcuffs in her hold.
"As long as you don't tell her where those cuffs were just a couple days ago," Sam lightens up and opens his passenger side door before she can retort. They both get out and Lou heads straight for Missus Tran's driver's side door of her Prius.
As soon as her door opens Lou reaches inside, not letting her have the time to get out. Swiftly Lou cuffs Missus Tran's wrist to the steering wheel, locking her inside her own car.
"Sorry, Mrs. Tran," Lou bashfully tells her as she takes a few steps back and makes sure she's out of swinging-fist-range.
"Wait! What?!" she yells back as she pulls her arm a few times, seeing that she's absolutely not going anywhere.
"You can't come with us," Lou explains. "This is the kinda shit we do really well. You need to sit tight and let us handle this one."
"Are you serious!?" Missus Tran yells at her.
"Dead serious," Lou tells her, quickly pushing the trunk release button on the open driver's door.
Sam takes the opportunity. He now has the demon killing knife and he opens the trunk, looking at the captured demon inside that's still curled up inside. "This it?" He points to the factory.
"Yeah, that's it," he confirms.
"Great," Sam nods once. "Exorcismus te, omnis imundus spiritus…."
"My son is in there!" Missus Tran tries to fight back.
"Which means Crowley already has leverage," Lou spells it out clearly. "He doesn't need another hostage. We aren't risking your life too."
With a loud yell, a cloud of black smoke erupts from the trunk and dissipates into the ground. When the body the demon had been riding doesn't move Sam presses a couple fingers to its neck.
"He didn't make it?" Lou asks, standing next to Sam now and checking in on him.
"Damn it," Sam shakes his head with disappointment before slamming the trunk, frustrated.
"You ready?" Lou asks him.
"Yeah. Cass?" Sam asks, the angel still hanging back by the Impala, a little awkward with the way he spoke to Lou before.
"I'm ready."
The three walk into the factory together, armed and ready.
And Missus Tran now realizes they truly are leaving her behind. "Oh, come on!"
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Sitting in a room inside the factory, Kevin sighs and tries to keep his calm. His hand is radiating in biting pain, the stump of his pinky throbbing after Crowley so lovingly cut it off to inspire him to listen to the demands set on him. He's still covered in the blood of a possible future prophet that Crowley so adoringly blew up. And he's still reeling from the threat Crowley put on her mother so dearly.
This is bad.
This is where he breaks and gives Crowley what he wants. He's only so strong. He's only human
Piece by piece, one section at a time he's been spelling out the least important parts first. He's stalling. He knows what happens when he reveals what's really on this tablet to the King of Hell.
And out of nowhere the stone tablet starts to shake in Kevin's hand.
"Whoa," Kevin quietly says, blinking a few times to clear his vision.
"Kevin?" Crowley asks, pausing in blowing on the small, colorful pinwheel in his grip to look at the prophet.
"Hold on. This is different. It's… it's not text from God. It's like a personal note?"
Crowley sits a little taller with that. "A personal note from God?"
"No," Kevin answers, wrinkling his brow as he tries to understand the tablet. "From... the angel... Metatron."
"The scribe... and suck-up," Crowley grumbles with distaste. "Took down God's word, picked up his cleaning… blah, blah, blah."
"It's like a… a farewell note."
One eyebrow arched, Crowley bids, "Go on."
Reciting what he reads, Kevin tells him, "Upon completion of this task, I take my leave of my master in this world. So ends the transcription of the sacred word for the defense of mankind. Into the hands of God's children thus passes the compendium of tablets."
"Compendium?" Crowley asks with a very keen interest, pinwheel now dropped and forgotten.
"It's a collection of things, especially one systematically organized."
Crowley rolls his eyes. "I know what a compendium is, Kevin. What does Metatron mean?"
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
After separating and pissing off his wife by leaving her with the angel she's still on the fence about, Sam makes his way down a long hallway. He used the one and only demon bomb the Trans were able to make to blow away some demons that had cornered him and now, demon-killing knife out and ready, he's looking for the stolen prophets he's damn sure must be here.
When he reaches a pair of doors that looks just suspicious enough, the wooden plank barring it closed from the outside, Sam lifts the wooden piece and tries to open them. They don't budge. Fuck picking locks.
Sam kicks the doors open with a hard shove, both swinging open harshly. When he enters the room and sees the bloodstained octagonal table in the middle he fears the worst. It's a lot of blood.
"Oh, no…."
One at a time, the future prophets stowed away in the room peek up from behind the lighted table that belongs in any clichéd evil lair.
"Hey," Sam awkwardly greets when so many people come out of hiding, clearly hoping he doesn't appear to be evil himself. "I, uh... I'm here to help."
"You're not one of them?" a man with glasses and a white push broom mustache asks in a quiet voice.
"No, no way," Sam shakes his head. "I generally think of Crowley as a dick."
"Get us out of here," a woman asks of him, her voice taxed with fear.
"I'm gonna…." Sam stops when he sees movement behind some crates to his right. When he looks he can just see the boy from the articles online peering around a concrete block. His tone softens immediately when he sees him. "Aaron?"
The little boy's eyes go wide when the man knows his name.
"Hey, Aaron," Sam crouches to the floor, once more the innocence and vulnerability of the young kid reminding him of Sammy. "I'm Sam."
The boy remains hesitant.
"It's okay, kiddo," Sam tries to assure him. He points to his eyes. "No black, see?"
Aaron nods and crawls out of his hiding place. He stands up and looks to Sam with confusion and worry.
"You wanna get out of here, maybe?" Sam tries for a comforting, easy voice. It seems to work. Aaron runs over to him. He hugs the much larger man and Sam takes the opportunity to scoop him up and sit him on his hip like he does with Sammy all the time. Once the kid is securely with him he stands tall and looks to the rest of the group. "I'm getting you all outta here. Come on."
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"We're very near Kevin," Castiel informs as he searches with Lou. He can feel his proximity to the prophet.
"You can tell that?" Lou asks, eyes still darting about as they make their way through the factory. Her salt round-loaded sawed-off is in her grip and her heart is pounding… just like she loves it. She might have missed this feeling more than she's admitted before now.
"I can focus in on certain people of import, like prophets, yes," Castiel simply answers, eyes also peeled as they move.
"And like Lizard?"
"Yes. Samuel too," Castiel explains. "Though, I would add Sam and Dean into that group these days also. Having been around them so much and having had our… I guess I would call it friendship, become so strong it's affected my senses."
Lou doesn't say anything much to that, not sure what to say anyways. She's obviously left off his the list.
"I sense you're upset by this?" Castiel mentions, reaching out to grab her shoulder and stop her at the end of a hall. He steps in front of her, blocking any threat from getting her first, and peers around a corner carefully. When there's nothing there he walks ahead of her, feeling more comfortable that way.
Lou knows what he's doing but says nothing of it. "Not upset. Just recognizing that there's a name purposefully left off that list.
Castiel stops short and turns on her, eyes hard on her. He narrows them and tilts his head to the side a little. "You think I would let something happen to you? As if you mean less to me than the others?"
"I was already turned and sent to Purgatory for four years so… yeah. I do." She's honest, a specialty of hers. And if he cared wouldn't he have attempted to help her out with all that?
"Back then… I was different. Regrettably so," Castiel admits, eyes lowered to the ground as he turns back around to lead the way to Kevin. "I like to think I have improved since then. I know the importance you hold for the people I consider important to me. For that fact alone I would give my life for yours without thought. Plus… I will always be in your debit for what I've done to you."
Shocked by the angel once more, Lou stays quiet. No, she hasn't forgiven him for using her soul like he did on his God-power trip. But it's easier to see him as the tragically misguided being that he is these days.
Hearing something close behind her, Lou turns sharply to find a demon behind her. Quickly she raises her knife to stab the demon but it's faster than her and he sends her flying into a bunch of chains hanging from the ceiling in the hallway corner.
The demon then stretches out a hand towards Castiel. The kinetic force it sends out makes the angel take a couple steps back in weakness. He shakes the attack off as swiftly as he can and steps forward to cover the space between them. He places a hand on the demon's head and smites him without hesitation, the demon's eyes and mouth bursting forth with white light.
Lou blocks her eyes as she struggles to get back on her feet, the brightness making her shield herself. When it's over, the demon's body crumbling to the floor lifelessly, she opens her eyes again just in time to catch sight of Castiel trying to steady himself against the hallway wall. He's struggling to recover from burning out the demon, his strength very clearly not all there.
"Whoa!" Lou calls over as she runs the rest of the way over to him as she starts to fall. She catches him by the shoulders and tries to get him back on his feet. "What the hell? Thought you guys were all powerful and shit?"
The way Castiel's eyes slide over to hers with an annoyed and guilty expression gives him away.
"You're not back to your old self, are you?" she questions him with high concern.
"Not entirely." The answer is simple and clear.
"Would've been nice of you to bring that to my attention before we busted into the King of Hell's lair, dude," Lou complains with the truth. Once he's back on his feet, back leaning into the wall, Lou looks him square in the eyes. "Can you handle all this?"
"I'm fine," Castiel lies right away.
"And you've been hanging around Sam and Dean too much. Don't lie."
"I'm… well enough."
"You better be," Lou pokes him in the chest with her index finger. "I'm not dying today just because you're weak. Let's go. You said Kevin's near."
"That door," Castiel points to the closed door a few feet ahead.
Lou nods with excitement, ready to get their honor student/prophet back once and for all. She sprints over and tries the knob. Locked. As she pulls out her lock pick set, Castiel is impatient.
"Lou, I'm going in." He takes a few steps closer to the door.
With a look of audacity, Lou tells him,"No fucking way you are. Not without me."
"I'll be just fine."
"You're not strong enough," she reminds him.
He doesn't listen and disappears right in front of her eyes.
"Fucking angel…" Lou gripes as she sets to picking the lock again, moving even faster than before.
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
"So… there are more tablets?" Crowley sums up with the information that a compilation of tablets exists. "More than 'Leviathan' and 'Demon'?"
"I… I'm not totally sure but it sounds like it. Yeah," Kevin responds, sitting in his chair still. How hopeless. He's down a finger and trapped here, forced to translate the tablet for the King of Hell. He's clearly on his own.
But then the sound of fluttering wings fills the room and everything changes.
Blowing out a hard, disappointed breath, without even peering at the angel Crowley greets, "Castiel. Fresh from Purgatory. I wish you'd called first."
"Crowley," Castiel nearly growls with anger to see him well and thriving.
"Which Castiel is it this time? I'm never sure," Crowley asks, standing from his seat and making eye contact with his old partner. He takes a few steps until he's standing on the opposite side of Kevin's table. "Madman or megalomaniac?"
"Kevin is coming with me," Castiel wastes no time in making his mission clear.
"I think not. The Prophet's playing on my team now."
Castiel's angelic sword drops into his hand from his trench coat sleeve and he holds it up. He makes it clear that he's willing to fight to get the prophet back.
Crowley, never one to shy away from a good fight, holds up his hand and his own knife materializes out of thin air in his grip.
Kevin, knowing what's coming, wisely stands up and backs away a few steps, looking to press his back to the wall. He watches the angel and demon stand across the table from one another with hate in their eyes.
"So, this is how it's going to be?" Castiel makes sure, internally debating how he can make it out of this alive.
"Oh, it's all very West Side Story, but let's be logical," Crowley tells him while slightly bored. "You look like hell, and I should know. You're not up for this."
Castiel knows he has to prove himself now. Crowley isn't afraid of a fight with him, especially with his currently weakened state showing through so clearly. Making a calculated decision, Castiel makes a show of what he is with what little strength he has left.
Bright, angelic light starts to glow from within him. Soon it shines outward from his body, illuminating the dark room as his eyes light up a very vivid blue.
The first hint of concern and possibly fear makes its way into Crowley's expression. "Maybe you can get it up, but you can't keep it up."
Intensifying the display, light glowing brighter, shadows of Cass' opening wings appear on the wall behind him.
"You're bluffing!" Crowley gets downright scared now.
"Do you want to take that chance?" Castiel asks, only getting more intimidating by the second.
Knowing his time is up, Crowley reaches for the stone tablet on the table. Seeing the quick movement, Castiel raises and lowers his sword over the table, smashing it along with breaking the table in half. Crowley swiftly disappears while still holding one half the tablet, taking it with him.
The moment the demon is gone the kinetic lock on the door releases. Lou them bursts into the room, stumbling a bit. When she rights herself and stands, she gets a look around the room. A shattered table, a bloodied prophet, and an ailing angel.
Quickly she runs for Kevin. "Jesus, kid! Are you alright!?"
Kevin's wide eyes look right at her. "Been better."
"You look like you've been beat to shit," Lou admits, checking him over. "But besides being down a finger you look pretty damn good. Surprisingly."
"Most of the blood isn't mine," Kevin looks down at his clothing.
"Been there," Lou laughs a little and changes her focus to Castiel.
He's now lying on the floor limply.
"Grab that," Lou tells Kevin while pointing at the half of the tablet left in the room. He listens as Lou runs to Castiel and helps him onto his feet. "You alright, wings?"
"I've been much better before," Castiel simply answers, steadying himself with a palm pressed to the wall. "We should leave here."
"In case the King Ass-Fuck comes back? Couldn't agree more," Lou nods at Kevin. "Let's go. Your mom's outside."
"Mom came?" Kevin asks with hardly veiled excitement to know she's alright and safe.
"You think she wouldn't?" Lou laughs and slings one of Castiel's arms around her shoulders. "Let's boogie, kid."
It's just after two in the morning when headlights shine through the living room, letting the occupants know they have an arrival.
"About god damned time," Lizzy says as she and Dean both get up immediately. They head outside, ready to see and speak to their family after several days away.
"Hey," Lou greets as she steps out of the Impala from behind the wheel, a smile on her face to be home.
"Hi," Lizzy greets quickly back and hugs her tightly. "You guys good?" she wonders over her sister's shoulder.
"Yeah," Lou nods and pulls away from the embrace. "Well, Sam and I are good."
Lizzy's face drops. "What's wrong with Cass?"
"Nothing's wrong with me," the deep voice answers for her as Castiel gets out of the backseat of the car. He stands tall and tries to keep Lizzy from worrying.
"That why you took a nap on the way back here?" Sam challenges over the car roof and looks at Castiel.
"Nap!?" Lizzy smacks Castiel on the shoulder. "Angels don't nap! What's wrong?"
"I'm… a little weak, I guess…"
"Cass, man. Don't lie," Dean steps in and looks at the angel hard. "What's going on?"
He sighs. "After retrieving Kevin and everything… why is the focus solely on me?"
"Because you popped out of Purgatory out of nowhere with no explanation and now I'm finding out you're weakened," Lizzy reminds him. "How would we not worry about you?"
"I am an angel. Don't waste your time being concerned about me. I will get my strength back. You need to only concern yourself with Kevin and Samuel."
His eyes shift around a bit as all four humans stand around him, looking right at him with a total lack of acceptance.
"You're still a shit liar," Lizzy says to him, a hint of lightness in her tone to relax him.
"And your mouth still needs to be washed out with soap," Castiel quietly remarks.
Lou huffs a solid laugh at that, enjoying the comment. "At least he's funny, right?"
Lizzy rolls her eyes. "Whatever. So, is everything taken care of?"
Sam answers for them all and starts his breakdown of where they are now. "Everything's good. Garth is gonna lay low with the Trans. I guess he has a boat somewhere close enough that..."
Everything suddenly changes. The sounds of a suburban neighborhood at night, crickets and the occasional gust of wind, all cease at once. Instead Castiel finds himself in a white, nearly sterile looking office and the people he'd just been conversing with are all gone.
Instead, he's greeted by an uptight, suit-clad woman sitting behind a desk with folded hands. Smiling tightly at him and her back if stiff with overly done perfect posture. "Hello, Castiel."
Looking around him, high alert coursing through his form, Castiel asks, "Where am I?"
"You don't know?" she asks him, surprised. He shakes his head no. "You're home, Castiel."
"Heaven?" he questions, the place unrecognizable to him. The woman, which he now assumes is also an angel, nods once in the affirmative. "I've never been here before."
"Not many have," she tries to assure him. "My name is Naomi. We rescued you."
"From Purgatory," Castiel finishes the thought for her to be sure he understands.
"An incursion of angels, which cost us many lives. Consider these chats your repayment."
Chats? He has no idea what she's speaking of. "I don't understand."
Naomi smiles at him. "Tell me about the Winchesters. All of them."
On autopilot, Castiel starts to answer. "The Prophet is being kept safe. The tablet has split in two and the Winchesters are going to be trying to recover the missing piece." Castiel blinks hard once as he takes a step back with surprise. "Why am I telling you any of this?"
"It's not your concern," she tells him in what she thinks in a warm manner. "Help the Winchesters, come when they call. You will report in to me regularly and you will never remember having done so."
"No," is his instant reaction to the directive. "I won't do that."
Naomi's smile widens. "You will."
"I won't," Castiel sternly repeats.
"I understand that you have gone against the task set before you and become far too close to the humans in your charge through the past years. But you're still an angel. And you'll still be loyal to Heaven… whether you think you will or not." She pauses, still grinning. "Now, as you were. They won't even notice you were gone."
And instantly he's snapped back into the reality he'd just left, hardly a minute has passed.
Sam's still speaking. "...track down the other piece. You're with us on this one, right, Cass?"
The angel pauses, blinking the jarring moment away. What just happened? He doesn't really remember. He just blanked out….
"Cass, you okay?" Dean asks the silent angel with sheer worry when he sees how off he looks.
"I'm… I'm fine. And, yes, I'm with you, if that's all right," Castiel manages to answer.
"Only after you take some time off," Lizzy sternly stipulates, grasping onto Castiel's forearm and gently pulling him towards the house. "Come inside and take a load off, okay? Catch up with us."
"Inside…." Castiel looks up at the small yet lovely house he's heading for. His feet stop in their path, Lizzy snapping her attention to him with concern. "Elizabeth. This house… it's yours."
"Yeah…" she answers slowly, not getting it.
"You live here? You and your family?" he checks.
"Yes, Cass. We all live here."
Castiel does something he's never done before. He hugs her, a hug that he initiates, and he holds for a few seconds. Once he can feel her arms come around his back and return the embrace, he explains himself. "This is everything I've ever hoped you'd find."
His voice is so quiet she's sure she's the only one that heard it. The moment may still be awkward with the stiff and unusual way he hugs, his form never relaxing into it, and it may be weird to hear such a sentiment come from an angel but Lizzy smiles with her chin on his trench-coated shoulder. He's trying.
"Come check out our home," Lizzy tells him, backing away from the hug to look up at him. He looks good but tired. The exhaustion is radiating off of him in waves. He needs a rest.
He nods and follows her inside, the entire worn group following.
He can't stop looking. He can't. His eyes are glued and his entire being is in awe.
Samuel Robert Winchester… supposed to be Judah… is asleep and happy. And he made that happen. He's responsible for his existence and he couldn't be more proud of that.
Sammy's wild, dark hair is peeking out of the covers, his one cheek smushed to the pillow under his head in his car shaped bed, and he's knocked completely out.
From the doorway Castiel can just feel how content and happy the little boy is in life. He's a happy child, very much like Lizzy was when young. Very much like Dean was until the horrible night his mother left the Earth. He sees so much of the two of them in the small child. It's wonderful. It fills him with warmth and accomplishment.
No matter what he's done wrong and how many times he's failed, Castiel has this. His one crowning achievement. He's brought about all the hope for the world in one tiny, pure package.
"Still zonked?"
Castiel turns abruptly with the sound of the low whisper, finding Dean walking towards him to peek in just behind him at his son.
"He's very much under," Castiel answers, eyes back on the spitting image of the righteous man standing to his side. "And he's a happy child, Dean. I believe you've done quite well in Elizabeth's absence."
"Yeah, well, he's only gotten happier once Lizzy got back," Dean admits.
"He does love his mother dearly," Castiel nods with delight. "I'm glad he found it simple to let her back in."
"He has his moments but it's been easy enough. He's a good kid," Dean shrugs it off.
"That he is. I can tell," Castiel agrees easily.
Dean smiles a little, always happy to speak about the one little light in his life that makes everything far more than worth it. He then pats Castiel on the shoulder. "You doing alright?"
Unsure of how to answer that, Castiel hesitates. He knows something is wrong with him beyond the weakness he's felt upon returning but he isn't sure exactly what it is yet. "I'm here. That's what matters, especially now that a way to possibly close Hell exists. I would like to help with that if I can."
Dean smiles slightly. "Well then, strap in, Cass. This one's probably not gonna be a cake walk."
Castiel's head cocks to the side curiously.
"It's not gonna be easy," Dean clarifies.
"Right," Castiel nods in agreement. He glances back at Sammy sleeping before looking at Dean. "Doesn't matter. Just imagine a world for your family with no demons. Imagine what that could be like."
"Not sure I can," Dean admits, brow furrowed as he immediately thinks of his mother. A world without demons just three decades sooner could have meant a completely different life for the entire Winchester family. Dean might never have shot a gun or watched the light go out of so many pairs of very human-looking yet inhuman eyes. The toll it's all taken would be completely taken away. He'd still have his mother in his life and that hole in his heart wouldn't still, after all these years, be there.
As if Castiel can see his thoughts, the angel tells him, "If this feat can be accomplished then it will be as close to a guarantee as we are going to get that Samuel will never grow up with the pain that you have. He will always have all of his family with him."
The simple idea that Sammy would ever feel that horrible loss, that sheer anguish, and have to live every day with it like Dean has makes him want to cry right then and there. Just a year back Dean was certain Sammy was going to live like that, his bright and beautiful and exceptionally loving wife dead. Anything he can do to avoid that from happening, he will.
"Then… I owe it to some people to lock those douche bags away for eternity. If it's possible, we're getting it done."
Castiel hears it clearly. He may have only be back from Purgatory for a short time, only have seen Dean again for a mere day's worth of time, but he's seen how different he is. He's calmer, deliberate. He has a handle on his emotions far more than he's ever managed to previously. The man has grown up and become an exemplary human and father… but the tone he just used right then, vowing to end the evil scum that's taken so much from him, is the old Dean. That was the pure soul wrapped up in a shell of ruthless killer that he's been for most of his life.
Only the loss of Mary can keep that fire in Dean burning so hotly.
Castiel just nods once, not sure vocally how to respond otherwise. He's lost other angels before, he's lost his absent Father even, but he cannot comprehend the true devastation Dean's seen through the loss of the one woman he needed most in his life.
"Come on. Let the kid sleep," Dean says, nodding to the stairs for the angel to follow him downstairs. When he gets there he sees Lizzy plopping a box of leftover cold pizza on the coffee table and Sam and Lou diving in. Dean laughs as he takes a seat next to Lizzy on the loveseat while she mutes the television. "Been a while since you ate?"
"Breakfast maybe?" Lou tries to recall right before she takes a massive bite of food.
"Yeah, can't say I miss that mess," Lizzy huffs a laugh at their old schedule. Her life has taken such a crazy and happy turn that she's still in awe of it.
"But it was worth it," Sam says around his own bite. "Kevin and Missus Tran are safe. That's a rare win for us."
"Amen to that," Dean nods.
"And thank you for finding them," Lizzy adds in. "I was so worried about Kevin. He's a really good kid."
"He's been through the ringer," Lou tells her sister, sipping on the beer she has in front of her. "But he's hanging tough. He's pretty determined to get the gates closed so if anyone is going to figure it out it's that kid."
"He is smart…" Lizzy comments while looking over her shoulder to the still standing angel to her side. "Cass, dude, sit down a minute. Relax."
He looks at her, eyes a little shifty, and he walks for the upholstered chair in the room. He takes a seat but his back remains stiff and upright.
"You sure you're okay, man?" Dean has to question again, something clearly agitating the angel.
Castiel lies all too easily. "I'm fine. Just… drained."
"You wanna sleep here?" Lizzy offers. Castiel looks at her funny. "I know it's weird and all but… maybe sleeping a full night and being here will help."
"I mean, where else you gonna go, right?" Dean asks, reaching for a cold slice and taking a big bite.
Dean makes a good point. Where else would he go? Heaven? No, he can't go back there after all he did. And at least here, in this house, he's somehow still wanted. "I don't know where I would go."
It breaks Lizzy's heart to hear that. She leans over and grabs his knee, making Castiel look right at her. "You are always, always welcome in this house. Whenever."
She takes her hand back and starts up a conversation with her sister and brother-in-law.
And Castiel watches on. While he was gone the group has repaired themselves, grown as a unit, and they're happy. It fills him with pure delight to see this as they all have earned it but… he just hopes it stays that way.
Ringing….
Ringing….
More ringing….
"What he fuck?"
Inhaling and lifting her head off the pillow, Lou looks next to her in bed. With the sunny morning she can easily see that she's alone. It's Sunday and it surprises her. Granted, Sam is an earlier riser these days now that they have a home and a routine. He runs every damn morning. Lou gave up on that shit years ago. Why Sam doesn't is beyond her. But after being on the road and the whole Crowley encounter, she figured he'd still be asleep with her.
Not so much.
With her hangover hitting her a bit, she tries to open her eyes enough to find her cell phone on the nightstand. Getting back that late and drinking that much with Lizzy was a bad idea. She searches blindly, hearing a book drop to the carpet in her bedroom when she knocks it off the nightstand accidentally, before finding it.
One look at the screen has her confused. The area code is from her home state of Massachusetts. She doesn't receive calls from there very often these days.
Curious, she answers the call and brings the phone to her ear. She flops onto her back, head nestled into her pillow once more, and closes her eyes. In a groggy voice she greets, "Yeah?"
"Uh… Lou?"
"That'd be me," she confirms for the clearly hesitant guy on the other end. Assuming it's a fellow hunter, she asks through a yawn, "What you got for me?"
"I, uh… Lou I need your help."
Opening her eyes, she wrinkles her forehead as she looks at the ceiling of the bedroom. That voice is familiar. "Okay… who is this?"
"Louie, it's me."
Louie. There's only one other person still alive outside of Lizzy that calls her that. And this mystery caller just called her that.
Back upright and sitting bolt straight with the realization, Lou inhales deeply once. "Holy shit. Derek?"
"It's me," her brother tells her, his tone a bit shaky. "I need help, Louie… and I'm pretty sure only you can help me."
TO BE CONTINUED…
Yes, I'm taking a break with a cliffhanger. Try not to kill me! I've been dying to do a Derek story for a long while. Felt like unfinished business!
PROMPT CHALLENGE!
Here's what I'm doing. To keep me writing and to get my brain off the story line of the series, I'm accepting prompts for my next fic! I will be posting them in a single story, each chapter a new prompt. Here are the rules:
1) Submit prompts here in the review/comment section of this chapter. I don't have Tumblr or any other account to submit them to so here is just fine with me. If you'd like to review the chapter, do that first and then add on the prompt. I will be posting the prompt you submitted when I post what I've written based off of it so try to make it grammatically correct if you can. :)
2) I am taking all different kinds of prompts, not just series based ones. Lizzy, Lou, and Sammy are not a requirement for a prompt but if you want them in there sounds great. This can be completely AU and in a different time period or world. Or your prompt can absolutely be within cannon. It can involve any of the side characters from the show or maybe characters that you ask me to make up. It can be from any season. Go nuts! You can submit a prompt about medieval times or include a crossover with another show... which I've never done before. If you try for a crossover I just hope I'm within the fandom to write it and if I'm not I'll let you know. The world is your oyster!
3) I will NOT be writing the following things: Wincest, Destiel, incest of any kind, or the whole Alpha/Omega thing. Related people getting it on is not my cup of tea. And even if you want a non-related Sam and Dean... it's still Sam and Dean to me. Can't do it. And the whole Dean/Cass thing is something I just haven't quite figured out just yet, personally. No judgment or disapproval for those that see a whole deeper level to their relationship. Do your thing! That's why this fandom rocks... among other reasons. But it's just not in me. And the Alpha/Omega thing is way over my head. I don't think I understand it, honestly. Sorry if that kills anything for anyone out there.
4) A chapter long idea only. I don't think I'm going to be writing the usual 100,000+ word stories based on any single submitted prompt. I would like to do a chapter only per prompt but remember that my chapters tend to be as long as 10,000 each. If it's a prompt I really love, maybe a couple chapters. So nothing more than that!
I think I covered it. I really, REALLY look forward to what you all come up with! I hope many of you create fun ideas and hand them over to me. If you have questions, feel free to ask. I've never done this and I can't wait to hear from any and all of you! BRING IT!