When the Cradle Falls

Chapter Forty-Two: The Big One

Jerking up suddenly, Noah found the momentum stopped at his wrist. Blinking rapidly, he adjusted to his surroundings. He was laying on a stiff mattress that was evidentially in a motel room. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Cara quietly reading a phone book.

The room was pretty non-descript. The walls and ceilings were covered in wood paneling, a single, sad fixture blandly illuminated the room. There was an especially boxy TV sitting on a dresser with peeling paint. A window stood nearby, badly patterned green curtains blocking out most of the sunlight. There was a tightly shut bathroom door in the back corner of the room.

None of those things were alarming.

However, there were two things that immediately put Noah on edge.

First: his mother sad in a rough, wooden chair, smack in front of the door. She stared at him, unblinkingly.

Second: the reason his momentum had stopped at his wrist. Looking up, Noah saw a metal handcuff affixing his wrist to the bedframe.

"What the hell?" The boy demanded, beginning to yank at the restraint. Never one to swear, this was an extenuating circumstance.

Alice sat up straighter. Her gaze was harsh and metallic. "It's for your own good."

"What did you do to me?" Noah demanded. He knew, he just wanted to hear his mother say it.

"I'm keeping you safe."

Frowning, Noah scooted up the bed, so his wrist wasn't being pulled, but also to get as far away from his mother as he could.

"Safe? You drugged me. You've been drugging us." He tried to remember the last time he'd been awake and vaguely remembered her pressing something to his face. He didn't know what it was, but he knew it made him sleep like the pills.

"I wouldn't have to if you would just listen to me." There was a hint of frustration in her voice, but none was evident on her face.

"I don't know what you are, but you are not my mom," Noah declared for the second time.

The same as before, Alice's face finally registered a familiar emotion, making Noah wonder for a moment if he was cruel. But as quickly as he felt that, she stood up from the chair, pushing it back into the door. Striding over to her son, she stood over him, bending down close to his face. Her voice came out in a guttural snarl. "Don't you dare say that to me. I have done nothing but keep you safe your entire life."

Curling inward, Noah didn't say anything. Partially, because he couldn't believe this was his mother, but also because he hoped if he stayed quiet, she would go away.

Finally moving back, Alice looked at her son from a distance. "I don't know why you want to call your father. Everything was fine until your father decided to come back, you know. After that, everything fell apart." She sighed and ran a hand through her greasy hair. No one could remember the last time she had taken a shower.

Finally catching a whiff of herself, Alice wrinkled her nose. "I'm going to shower. I'm taking the key into the bathroom with me. Noah, you stay quiet."

As she turned to go to the bathroom, a voice stopped her.

"Mommy?"

Turning, Alice looked over her shoulder at Cara. "Yes?"

"Can I go out and get some candy? I'm hungry."

Alice nodded slowly after mulling over the request. Cara hadn't given her any reason to doubt her. "Sure. But make it quick."

"Do you want anything?" Cara asked.

Alice gave a small smile. "No honey, thank you. Ask your brother if he wants anything." With that, Alice moved to the bathroom and slammed the door. A few seconds later, the fan and water started.

When the two siblings were left in the room, Cara stood up from the bed and grabbed a collection of coins that was scattered on the nightstand.

"Cara," Noah called quietly.

Looking intently at her palm, Cara moved coins from one side to the other as she counted them.

"Cara."

Studiously ignoring him, Cara continued to count out more change than necessary for two pieces of candy.

"Cara!"

Cara finally looked up at her brother. "What kind of candy do you want?"

"I. Don't. Want. Any. Stupid. Candy!" Noah huffed as he twisted his wrist in the cuff.

"You're just gonna hurt yourself," She replied.

"Then find the lock pick kit and get me out of here."

Cara stared at him blankly.

"She's psycho. I don't know what the hell is going on with her. Give me Mom's cell. I'll call Dad." Noah nudged his chin to their mother's purse, set next to the TV.

"She'll know if you use it."

"Then how about you make some use of that phone book and you call him?" Noah demanded in aggravation. He knew she was stuck in some weird headspace but he really needed his sister back. They would have been out of this situation by now Cara was actually Cara.

"I'll get you a Kit-Kat."

"Cara don't you dare—"

Before she left, Cara turned on the TV and maximized the volume so any excess noise would be drowned out by the midday news.

Taking a key to the room with her, Cara made sure the door was tightly shut before she descended the stairs and walked around a corner of the building to the back. There were several vending machines and an ice machine. At the machine, she got a Reese's for herself and a Kit-Kat for Noah. She got her mother a dark chocolate Hershey's as well.

Looking down at the coins in her hand, Cara's head turned to the side. Walking over slowly, she found herself in front of a payphone. Robotically, she placed the coins into the feeder, and when there was enough, she began to press buttons in a familiar pattern.

The phone hadn't even rang once before the line was picked up.

"Yeah?" A gruff voice asked.

Cara spoke lowly and quickly. "We're in Deadwood, South Dakota. Gold Country Inn. I think we're staying the night here. Where are you?"

There was an inhalation on the other end. "I'm still at Uncle Bobby's. Baby, listen, on a map, we're less than four hundred miles away. I'm gonna be there in four hours. What's your room number?"

Cara thought for a moment. "I think it's 217."

There was a sigh. "We're leaving now."

"You should hurry."

"Why is that?"

"We're here but Noah is upset. Mom handcuffed him to a bed so he wouldn't leave."

Cara thought he hung up for a minute. "Dad?"

"I'm gonna be there as soon as I can."

"I can stall Mom if I have to. There's an old ghost town here. We're also near the Black Hills forest." Cara had paid attention this time to where they were going. It seemed like the world was becoming clearer and clearer for her, like she was climbing out of some deep tunnel she had been trapped in.

"You do what you have to do to keep yourself and your brother safe, okay. I will find you."

Cara believed that. "Okay. I have to go. I told Mom I was getting candy."

"You did a good job, sweetheart. I love you."

"You too," Cara said, gently setting the phone back into its cradle.

When she returned to the room, Alice was still in the shower and Noah was huffing in exasperation, wrist raw from pulling.

Opening the candy for him, Cara placed it towards his freehand.

In a fit of anger, Noah launched it away, causing it to sail onto the floor. He continued to mutter to himself angrily, pulling at the cuff.

Cara grabbed the discarded candy and roughly grabbed Noah's free hand. She slapped the candy onto it. "Eat it."

"I don't want it," he retorted.

Grabbing the back of his neck, she pulled him towards her ear. "Dad is coming."

Pulling away, Noah looked at her face. "What?"

"I called him. He's at Uncle Bobby's. We're in South Dakota. He's gonna be here in a few hours."

"How?"

"Doesn't matter. I never told you that. Right?"

Nodding slowly, Noah relaxed against the headboard. "Right."

"Act upset. But not so upset that she makes you sleep again. Okay?"

Noah nodded wordlessly.

"Cara," Noah said, as she moved back to her own bed.

"Huh?"

"Do you remember what the demon said to you—what Murmur said."

She was still. "I don't wanna talk about. Not right now."

"Cara—"

"Later."

He could live with that for now, in the certain crazy circumstance they were in. At least she was acknowledging the demon had said something.

"This conversation never happened." Fixating herself back on her bed, she held the candy in her hand, letting it begin to melt.

A few moments later, their mother emerged from the bathroom wearing matching plaid pajamas. She flopped down onto the nearby couch. "I don't know about you two, but I am exhausted."

Noah gave her an evil glare. "Are you ever going to let me go?"

"No I will never let you go. Not from me."

He huffed. "Fine. Then when are you gonna uncuff me?"

"Maybe when I know you can behave."

"When can I call Dad?"

"I told you we're better off without him."

"Why?"

"I told you."

Huffing loudly, Noah made an effort to flop back onto the bed as dramatically as he could. "Can I at least get some real food besides this stupid candy? Like a pizza?"

Chewing on her lip, Alice mulled over the idea, making sure the key to the cuffs was securely in her pocket. Standing, she reaching into her purse and pulled out the burner phone, buried deep inside. "What kind of pizza do you want?"

"What kind do I usually get?" Noah asked, sarcastically.

Alice huffed. "Pepperoni. I know that. Cara you pick the cheese off your so it doesn't matter. Right?"

Cara nodded wordlessly. She was now mindlessly flipping through the channel guide.

It took about an hour for the pizza to show up, and then about an hour and a half for them to eat it. After they were done, Cara suggested they watch an old movie—with lots of commercials—to pass the time. Alice seemed content with it, knowing one kid was contained and the other was uncharacteristically agreeable and docile. Throughout the entire thing, Noah was indignantly huffy to a perfect degree—enough that Alice would send warning glares to him, but not enough that she would drug him again.

While they watched their crappy movie, Noah was silently protesting. The whole time, he was watching the clock, hoping, and waiting for his father to show up.

BREAK

Somehow both Bobby and Sam had convinced Dean to stay until they had heard from Cara again. As soon as he had gotten the call from Cara, Dean was halfway in his car before both men pulled him out at asked him what he was going to do, knowing Alice was planning on moving in any direction at any point. As suspected, it seemed she had conveniently dumped her current phone after Cara called her—but it seemed like she was doing that whenever they stayed somewhere too long.

However, as Dean was again contemplating getting into Baby and just driving west, he received a call from a payphone. Again, it was from Cara, but this time she was less cryptic and seemed more alert.

She let him know where she was.

But there was one thing that haunted his thoughts.

Mom handcuffed him to a bed so he wouldn't leave.

Once Dean heard that, he was like a tornado. Moving quickly over the entirety of the house, he grabbed the few articles of clothing that had fallen out his bag. Determinedly, he shoved them back in and once again grabbed the keys for the Impala. Throughout the entire exchange, he listened to Cara, assuring her that he would be there soon as he could.

Once the phone was hung up, Dean was about to pass through the front door when Sam and Bobby showed up like they had several times in the past few days.

"Move," Dean said.

Sam crossed his arms. "You can't just drive in the general direction. What if they went—"

"Cara just called me. They're in Deadwood. Not far from here. She also said Alice has Noah handcuffed to a bed."

Both Sam and Bobby were silent, as they were when Dean relayed the news that Alice was drugging the kids.

Dean sighed. "This time I know where they are. Cara said they're spending the night. There is something seriously wrong with Alice and if you two are gonna try to stop me from getting to my kids, I hope you're prepared to kill me dead because I ain't stopping for anything less."

Sam and Bobby looked at each other. Both of them could hear the sincerity in Dean's words. It was something they always heard, but the conviction this time was at a different level.

With a sigh, Sam moved to the side. "Give me a minute. I'll get my stuff."

Nodding Dean looked to Bobby.

The old man lowered the brim of his hat. "I'll be ready."

And within five minutes, the three men were screeching down the highway.

The movie was stupid. A girl was dating another guy but her true love was pining for her. It was a typical hallmark movie. Cara seemed to enjoy it. Alice was lounging on a chair between the beds. She hadn't laid in a bed in probably close to a week, and somehow she didn't care. Looking to her left, Noah was sullenly watching, occasionally scratching at his cuff. She didn't want to do it, but he hadn't left her any other choice. How else was she going to keep him safe? He wouldn't listen to her so what else was she to do?

Leaning back into the chair, Alice redirected her attention to the TV and tried to enjoy the film. Was that what she and Dean were? Were they the couple that seemed perfect but one of them ended up realizing they weren't? Or were they the slow burn that was meant to be? She was thinking it was the former. Driving had given her a lot of time to think. And the common denominator in her children being hurt was the supernatural. And when did that start? With Dean?

So maybe she was cruel. Maybe she was a bit unhinged. But actually, she was seeing clearer than she ever had. They couldn't see it now, but if she gave them enough time, both kids could forget their former lives. They could start a fresh one, without the memories of fathers and monsters. Alice had endless energy to build them into healthy and new people, safe and free when she felt they were ready.

Settling back further, Alice finally felt herself relaxing.

That was until there were heavy footsteps coming from outside the door.

Sitting up quickly, she looked between her children, cursing herself that the closest weapon was in the bag near the front door.

And before she could even stand, the motel room door was kicked to the floor, heavy boots parading over it.

Dean, Sam, and Bobby all had their weapons drawn, not sure what to expect.

What they found was Noah, closest to the door, arm turning purple from where he had been cuffed to the bed. Between the beds was Alice, sitting up like a gargoyle. On the other bed was Cara, who stared with a curious intensity.

As Dean surveyed the room, he felt calmer and tenser at the same time. He could see both of his children were alive. But at the same time, he saw the distress within both children.

"How the hell did you find us?" Alice asked. She had done the opposite of everything Dean had taught her about being found.

"Cara. Cara, c'mere," Dean commanded, holding out an arm, ignoring Alice.

As Cara jumped up from the bed, Alice stood as well. Bobby and Sam painfully trained their guns on her. They heard what she had done.

Scoffing Alice loosely held up her hands. "Really?"

Dean stepped forward, weapon pointed at the woman he loved. "Don't move. Cara: come here now."

Moving quickly, Cara skirted past her mother and towards her father.

Once her arms were reaching for him, Dean counted on Bobby and Sam's weapons. Dropping his gun, Dean bent down and pulled Cara into a tight hug, a hand cradling the back of her head. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

She nodded into his chest.

"You're so brave. I'm so proud of you."

"I wanna go home," she whispered.

"We will," Dean assured. As he stood, he made sure he kept a hand on Cara's shoulder. He raised his weapon. "Sam, get Noah the hell out of there."

The younger brother nodded and moved towards the boy.

"Leave him," Alice demanded, stepping forward.

"What did I say?! Don't move!" Dean yelled, taking a step, so Cara was hidden behind him.

Surveying the scene, Alice saw how Dean kept their daughter hidden behind himself.

She didn't like that.

"What do you think you're doing, Dean?" Alice asked.

Dean was about to respond, but before he could, Sam had finally released the cuff from Noah's wrist.

The boy shot off the bed like a bullet. He crashed into Dean, wrapping him in the tightest hug he could manage. As before, Dean dropped his weapon and wrapped Noah into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry. You're safe now," he muttered lowly, making sure he had a tight grip on both children. Finally finally he knew they were safe.

And in that moment, he realized they were only truly safe with him.

Not even their own mother anymore.

"You can't take them from me," Alice said. She took a step forward, the safety coming off Sam and Bobby's weapons.

Not even hearing the safety of the weapon stopped Alice from moving forward.

Both Sam and Bobby tensed, not knowing what to do. They weren't going to shoot her—not until they were sure it was a monster.

Dean glanced back at his children, huddled like terrified puppies near the motel room door.

"Sam," Dean said, keeping his weapon ready, but not pointed at Alice, he turned his head to his brother. "Take them out of here."

"No!" Alice yelled taking a step forward. She was only a few feet away from the barrel of Bobby's gun.

Shaking his head, the old man reached into his pocket, pulling out holy water, salt, iron, and silver. He tossed them onto the bed closest to her.

Crossing her arms, Alice looked down at the items strewn across the patterned bedspread. "Are you serious?"

"Afraid I am, dear. You know the drill."

"I am not a fucking monster," Alice growled. She poured holy water and salt over her hand, and made microscopic cuts with the iron and silver.

As she moved through the procedures, everyone else in the room watched without breathing, waiting for pain or even just a flinch.

However, there was no reaction.

Throwing the knife back onto the bed, Alice recrossed her arms. "Are you happy? I'm not a monster."

Dean's stomach turned as his vision began to tunnel around the crosshairs of his gun.

"Sam, Bobby, take them outside."

Upon hearing that, Alice reanimated. She rushed forward, sternum crushing into the end of Dean's gun. "No. Don't take them from me. Don't you fucking take them! Cara! Noah! CARA! NOAH!" Alice voice increased in volume once the door shut.

Unconcerned with the fatal weapon pressed against her chest, Dean dropped it onto the bed and started to push her back until her legs met the edge of the bed, forcing her to sit down.

"Look you need to calm down. I just wanna talk," Dean said, hands raised.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you pointed a fucking gun at me!" Alice said.

He kept his hands raised, trying to placate her. "Look, I wanna help you and the kids. I just want what's best for everyone. But for that to happen, you need to talk me through what is going on. Can you do that?"

A big pacified, Alice nodded, still looking wary.

Nodding, Dean sat across from her, on the other bed. Taking in her appearance, he felt like he barely recognized her. She was freshly showered—or at least had wet her hair. But that wet hair was uncombed and beginning to dry in strange clumps. There were deep bags under her eyes. Dean knew that was something people always said, but the purple half-moons beneath her eyes were startling. "When was the last time you slept?"

Hearing that out loud kind of jarred Alice a little bit. Set back by the words, she thought about it. Other than one or two hours. "Last night."

Dean nodded, unconvinced, but didn't push the issue further. "So are you gonna tell me why you just up and left without a word? You know I've been going out of my mind in worry. When I didn't hear from you, we sent Seth because he was closest. And he finds your credit cards cut up and phone smashed. And I know you got fired from your job. Did…is someone making you do this?"

"No one made me do this."

"Then why? You left with no word."

She raised an eyebrow. "Not unlike you, huh?"

"Every time I ever left I told you I was going."

"Even when you stayed gone for years at a time?"

"Yeah, maybe the first time was my fault, but the second time, you told me to go. Don't forget that."

She rose from the bed. "And maybe all that is true. But before you, everything was fine. There were no monsters."

"Yeah but you were in a supernatural fortress living with Jan."

Alice gave a slight snarl. "Well things have certainly escalated since you came back into our lives."

It did hurt. The insinuation that Dean had just dropped by the other day for the first time. When really, he been aware and thinking about them ever since he found out Cara was a baby. This was strange. Because Alice never held the hunting life against him, but now there was a strange accusatory slant in everything she said, like it was his fault.

"And what about Noah?"

Upon hearing that names of one of their children, Alice took an unconscious step forward. "What about him?"

Dean almost keeled over in disbelief. "Well I was talking about how the demon somehow got to him when he was a baby. You know that bastard did. I know we've been dancing around the issue, but it happened. I wasn't there then.

"Oh and secondly since we're on the subject, you want to tell me why the hell I found our son handcuffed by his own mother? And you wanna explain the sleeping pills and chloroform for that matter?" Dean was beginning to grow angry again, thinking about what had happened to Noah.

Bristling, Alice actually sat back down. She crossed one leg tightly over the other. "Who told you I did those things?"

"Cara. She called me when you were in Idaho. Right after you drugged our son for trying to call me."

"She did what?"

"Obviously they're both so afraid of you that they called me in secret. What does that say about you?"

"What the fuck do you want me to say, Dean? I was protecting our children and I am not going to apologize for it!"

There was something off about her. She was aggressive and frenetic.

"Do you understand what our kids have been through?"

"You mean with all the fucking demons?" She nearly yelled.

Set back on his heels, Dean tried to understand what was happening."Yes, I understand that. I was there. But what about their lives after that? They're scared Alice. Of you. You have to see that."

Alice frowned like she was about to cry. "All I've ever done is protect them."

"Then why are they afraid of you?"

"They're not! They just don't understand!" Alice called.

Dean knew this before he even walked in the room. She wasn't possessed. But she wasn't herself.

"Are you on drugs?"

Staring incredulously for a moment, Alice was slack faced before she started to laugh. "You think I'm high? Really? The most I do is-"

"Tequila shots or cigarettes?" Dean asked.

"If you wanna know I haven't had a cigarette since Cornwall," Alice replied, referring to the trips a few months ago when Cara almost drowned. Since then, Alice had not gotten drunk. "You of all people really wanna talk about drinking?"

"Look, I'm just wondering. You're not yourself, here Allie. And I don't know if you understand how serious this situation is."

"I mean you pointed a gun at me so I figured it was pretty serious, isn't it?"

"Alice, what is going on with you?" Dean pleaded. None of the tests had worked, so as far as he knew, she was not possessed or a monster.

And he didn't know what to do with that.

"I'm trying to keep Cara and Noah safe!"

"But you're not! Like I said they're scared of you and have obviously been trying to get away. If them safe you wouldn't be trying to drug them with sleeping pills and fucking hold a rag filled with chloroform to our son's face!"

Alice's face flickered through several emotions. "I was doing my best!"

There were a few more seconds of silence as her voice changed and there was a pitiful sound in her throat as she slumped over.

Reacting immediately, Dean stood in front of her. "Are you okay?"

"I need you. Dean I I need you."

Before Dean could say "what?" Alice was on her knees, hands expertly loosening the belt that was around his hips.

"Wait, Alice-" Dean began with hands up, as the zipper began to fall

And before the zipper was all the way down, Alice had grabbed the gun that Dean had discarded. She took several steps back and cocked it. "Let me go."

"Allie, come on."

"Look I'll do it. Gimme my children."

"Not when you're holding a gun to my chest."

"You wanna die, Dean?"

"I want my children to be safe."

"Not when you hunt hellspawn!"

"What if I stop?"

Alice paused. "I don't believe you."

"Then let me show you."

Before Alice could respond, Dean wa

s already in front of her, his arms moving up and down hers.

Alice sighed in relief.

And then pulled the trigger as Dean ran his hand near her wrist.

There was a painful scream and Dean flew back into the other bed-the one Noah had been handcuffed to.

"You just fucking shot me!" Dean yelled.

Bending down, Alice kissed his cheek. "Put pressure on the wound. Use something sterile. If not use your plentiful supply of alcohol. You're not taking my kids from me again."

With that, Alice stepped through the room, swift to leave Dean dealing with a bullet wound.

Bobby and Sam were lounging on the outside of the Impala-both kids were passed out or just silent in the back of the Impala.. Neither had even tried to argue for the front seat.

The conversation was about what Dean would say.

That was until they heard a gunshot.

Both had their weapons drawn, but before she could ascend the stairs to the room, Alice emerged,a gun pointed at them, as she approached the stairs.

Sam and Bobby immediately shielded the back seat of the Impala.

"What's going on?" Bobby asked. His voice was casual and soothing.

Stepping down to the ground floor, Alice straightened her arm. Dean had taught her how to shoot, after all, so she was ready.

"Where's Dean?"

"I shot him," Alice replied, a hollow tone pervading her speech.

Immediately both men cocked their weapons.

"Where?" Sam asked.

"Does it matter?"

"Yeah it does, Alice!"

She began to laugh maniacally, like everytime the Joker tried to take down Gotham.

"He'll live, okay? He'll live if I get my children."

Bobby and Sam moved forward, moving the target away from the kids in the back seat.

"Where did you shoot him?" Bobby asked.

Alice sighed dramatically. "The arm. Now gimme Cara and Noah."

Both men wanted to shrug their arms in exasperation, but Sam stepped forward. "You're serious?"

"Obviously, Sam."

He nodded his head. "Then why did you feel it was your right to take the children away from their father without his knowledge?"

"They were in danger."

"How would you feel if Dean took the kids from you without telling you where he was taking them."

"It's different."

"How?" Sam asked.

"Because I'm the one that has been raising them! Dean's just some man that pops in a few times a year for a few days!"

There was silence from both Bobby and Sam, glad the kids were tucked away in the car, hopefully the sound of their conversation muffled. And in that silence, both men were actually glad Dean was not there, either. They knew something like that would crush him-since Dean already thought he was barely a father to them anyways.

"Alice, let's just talk about this, okay? We can figure this out, something that'll work for everyone."

She scoffed, shaking her head, straightening the arm that held the gun. "If that's what you wanted to do, you wouldn't have busted down the door pointing a gun at me. Like you are right now."

Lowering his weapon slightly, Sam gave Bobby a side nod, the older man reluctantly moving his gun so it wasn't aimed at Alice.

"Can we talk now?" Sam asked. He wasn't going to Alice to put her weapon down, even though it was putting him on edge. He could see just from how wildly her gaze moved around, she was almost feral.

"About what?"

"What's been going on?" Sam kept his voice calm. "We haven't heard from you in a while. We were worried."

His tone seemed to serve in placating Alice a little bit. Her aim on him slackened a bit. Next to him, Bobby was silent, not trying to draw any attention to himself.

"I'm keeping them safe." Alice had repeated it so many times since they had gotten there, that it was beginning to sound wooden, stilted. Like it was a recording someone had put on loop, to the point where they had heard it so many times it was starting to lose meaning.

Sam nodded in understanding. "I know. All you have ever done is keep them safe. But Alice, can you acknowledge that the kids were scared because they didn't know what was going on?"

Alice's mouth twisted up into something sour. "They're better off not knowing."

"And the rest of us?"

The placating tone Sam had been trying for suddenly sounded patronizing to Alice.

She took a step forward, the arm holding the gun at him and iron rod. "Don't you fucking talk to me after you're the reason for the demons. It all started with you, Sammy."

Almost as if there were war drums surrounding him, Sam was suddenly a middle schooler again, one with floppy hair and a large textbook. He looked across the library to a shy, pretty teenager-one who had been familiar with his brother. The teenage girl looked at him with a scared face, only to look away, like she had seen something she shouldn't have.

And now that same girl-now a woman-was waving a gun in his face, with a wild, feral expression.

Features dropping, knowing that it was his fault, Sam took a step back, but did his best not to raise his gun. "I know. It's all my fault. I know that. But I've also learned that running from it won't stop it."

Incredulity was the dominating feature that arranged itself over the woman's features. No one was listening to her. She was the only one that could keep her children safe. Everyone else had been maimed, injured, possessed, and scarred by monsters. But not her. Sure she had been in a scuffle with a ghost and demons, but she had been wholly unharmed. She didn't know if it was God or just stupid, dumb luck, but there was something there.

And she couldn't abandon that.

"Watch me."

The second time that night, Alice pulled the trigger.

Just as she pulled the trigger, Bobby did the same.

Two gunshots that happened within a fraction of a second caused a chain of events.

First, the opposite door of the Impala opened, the gunshots finally pulling Cara from her foggy haze.

Second, the motel room door opened and Dean threw himself down the stairs, a reddened towel wrapped around his upper arm.

Third, Sam spun to the ground with the bullet that had been lodged in his shoulder.

Fourth, Alice flopped onto her back, spread eagled, save for one hand at her stomach, where a blossoming stain was beginning to appear over her thin long sleeved shirt. She breathed in sharply.

"Bobby, what the hell did you do?" Dean immediately exclaimed. Forgetting the blood gushing from his own arm, he bent down next to Alice, immediately placing pressure on the wound. She gasped in response to the pain, blood gushing from her mouth.

"She shot your brother...and she shot you!" Bobby yelled back, helping Sam up from the ground, leaning the younger man against the Impala.

No one had noticed as Cara had moved around the back of the vehicle so she was standing just a bit behind her uncle and surrogate uncle, watching the scene with dawning horror, like a robot being awoken to consciousness for the first time.

She remembered everything, she did. But there had been a part that had needed to shut everything away. Not knowing why, a numbness, like novacane, had seeped throughout her body, until she was a floating consciousness in a corpse, not a human.

But every little thing happened. The pills in the drink. Her mother never sleeping. Her brother screaming to call their father. It had built and built and it finally cracked when she both parents and her uncle were shot.

Cara stepped up as herself-articulate, opinionated, and stubborn-and commented on what a cluster fuck the whole scene was.

For a moment, everyone stopped and turned to her. Surprised by the language from such a little girl, but also the fact she was clear-eyed and alert.

"Cara?" Dean asked, standing up from Alice, amazed by his daughter. Over the phone, she had sounded dopey and lethargic, and here she was: the opposite of that, finally there as the little contrarian she always was.

"What? Is our family cursed?" She pleaded, waiting for an answer.

"Sweetie, we're not-"

For a few more seconds, the sound blocked out from her ears. It was different that before. It wasn't due to her funk, just the situation. She watched as her mother moved quickly to her car-parked next to the Impala. Alice climbed in, shut and locked the door, revved the engine, and dangerously maneuvered out of the parking lot.

It was only after the white car was gone that Cara returned to her premorbid state of being a middle school difficulty.

"Where the hell is she gonna go?" Dean demanded, taking several giant strides towards the empty parking space that had previously occupied Alice's car.

"Who the hell knows? With how she's acting, that's a complete wild card," Bobby said. "Boy, c'mere and let me see your wound."

Not moving, Dean still looked off to the road, as if he wished hard enough, he would appear wherever she was. After all, she had been potentially mortally wounded.

"Dean!" Bobby repeated, forcefully.

"What?!" Dean whipped around, half paying attention to what the man was saying. All he could think about was Alice Alice Alice. He had finally found her. They were both shot and now she was gone, like she had never even existed.

"Come here and let me see your injury. Come and take care of your kids, huh?" The older man's voice softened. "Look, we found her once, we'll find her again."

"Not when she's bleeding out of her stomach," Dean commented out of the corner of his mouth.

Bobby nodded. He hadn't wanted to shoot Alice. For over a decade, she had been family. But in the end, he was the only one that could see ahead without fogging up the future. "I had no choice; I thought she was shooting to kill."

"She didn't though!" Dean stated.

"She handcuffed your kid to a bed and drugged them!" Bobby yelled back, as he handed a rag for Sam to apply to his own shoulder.

"Dean she shot us," Sam implored. "She's not in her right mind. We were right to intervene."

"Dad, there's something wrong with her."

Cara and Noah were the two things that ever grounded Dean. Hearing and seeing Cara being in a sound state of mind claimed some paternal instinct within him.

Dean moved to his daughter, ignoring Bobby as the older man wrapped a tourniquet around his arm. Dean placed his hands on either side of her face. "Are you okay?"

The air pierced like an icicle. Cara hadn't responded as herself since Murmur. "I'll be okay. I hope Mom will be to too. But you need to know what she did."

"What? What did she do?"

Cara looked around, decisively. "Not here."

Dean nearly balked, mostly from the pain radiating from his arm.

"In the car. Noah needs to remember too."

"Cara-"

Not responding, she opened the passenger door of the Impala and pointed for Dean to climb in. Incredulously, he looked back at uncle and brother and slowly scooted across and until he sat behind the wheel of the car. Hand still on the door, Cara turned back to look at the other two men. "Just give us a few minutes." They nodded slowly. Next, Cara slid in beside her father through the passenger side and closed the door. Noah was quiet, disturbed by the sounds in his head, which this time sounded like a car taking a turn took quickly, causing the side tires to pop over a curb.

"Noah."

Pupils constricting into focus, Noah slid over to the middle of the backseat. From the front Cara was looking at him. It wasn't like before where her attention and vision were mottled, as if each eye was looking in a different direction.

Leaning forward, Noah's hand curled over the front of the seat, near her shoulder. "You're back?"

She frowned, finding it unnerving to hear Noah respond in such a way. But she supposed it was true. She was there. She had been there, just numbed down, cocooned within herself, giving herself time to process what had happened.

"I'm sorry it took so long. I couldn't find my way back."

Dean turned sickly hearing that.

"What did you want to tell us?" Noah asked.

Dean turned automatically. "How did you-"

"I heard it."

Stomach turning once again, Dean nodded and tried to make it seem like everything was okay, even though shit was approaching a level he hadn't seen since his father died and children were possessed, all in one fell swoop.

Beside her father, Cara stiffened for a moment. "What did you hear?"

Noah shrugged carefully. "I'm not sure. I know you wanted to tell us something. I just...I heard you talking-I couldn't make out what you were saying. But I could tell it was important."

In that moment, the trio contained within the Impala all seemed to realize-to their own degrees-how powerful Noah's pre-cognizance was becoming.

"You're right," Cara admitted, after a few seconds, taking in the news, contemplating on what to say next, deciding the truth was better than not.

"Do you remember anything? About Murmur."

Ashamed, Noah slumped back into his seat, arms crossed, head bowing down.

"Hey you don't need to be ashamed, buddy. It wasn't you. I know you know that," Dean interjected upon seeing the dejected body posture.

"I don't remember anything. Some flashes, but not much." That had been different that before.

Cara nodded. "Well, Murmur smashed my brand new pink Razr-"

"I know that-"

"Just wanted to make sure," Cara responded, almost cheekily, which was actually comforting to hear that sarcasm that usually grated on their nerves. "But you don't remember anything else?"

Noah shook his head, feeling guilty, wondering why the first time he had remembered everything and this time nothing.

"Well I was at home because of most of my class being sick. But anyways-there was a knock at the door and it was Murmur. I didn't know immediately, but I knew something was wrong after a while."

"Just spit it out," Noah demanded, knowing there had to be something more to her story.

"You made me hear something in my own head."

"Like me talking to you?" Noah asked.

Cara shook her head. "No. I don't know. It was so loud-like maybe what you hear when something is wrong. Could've been a crash or someone yelling. I couldn't tell. But it made me faint."

Noah balked. "I don't remember that."

"It wasn't you. It wasn't," Cara insisted, grabbing his hand that was clutching the front seat.

"So you're saying this thing can hurt others?" Noah nearly cried.

"I wasn't you," Cara assured, gripping his hand tighter, ignoring how his powers were apparently growing.

"But it can!" Noah persisted.

"Can you do it now? Do it to me," Dean insisted.

"I can't," Noah insisted, not even trying.

"It wasn't you," Dean concluded, maybe too soon.

Still, Noah, slumped back in agitation, guilty, but still he was there. He knew now it was too much that everyone didn't get along, but couldn't his family at least be okay? That's really all he wanted.

Thinking back, Cara was Cara again. Dad was there. Sam and Uncle Bobby were.

But everyone was shot.

"Where's Mom?" Noah suddenly asked. He was nearly disgusted in himself it took him this long to ask about her.

There was silence. "I don't know. She left," Dean said slowly and carefully.

Noah nodded slowly. He had heard her get shot and knew she left, but he was hoping his father had some extra information he wasn't aware of.

In any other situation, Noah would've felt sicker and worse for what happened to his mom, but that was no longer that case, ever since she had handcuffed him to the bed. Proceeding that, any emotion he felt about her was hollow.

Not wanting to be accused of being any more of a bad person that he already was,he accepted the answer and shut his mouth.

There was a crescendo of silence, pressing against the boundaries of the car.

In the front seat, Cara shifted and cleared her throat softly. "There's one more thing."

Noah retracted his hand from the seat. "No more. Not now."

"It had to be now."

"Why?" Noah demanded. He didn't shout, but there was definitely force in her voice.

"Because if I don't say it now I don't know if I'll be able to find my way back."

Upon hearing that, Noah clamped his mouth shut and swallowed louder than she was talking. He sat back against the seat, putting more space between himself and whatever bombshell had kept her imprisoned for too long.

Dean and Noah sat back apprehensive silence, waiting for Cara to reveal The Big One.

And she did.

"She left me in the river."

Honoring the tradition of long silences in the Impala, Dean took in several deep breaths, as if ready to phonate, but ultimately decided it was not worth the any of the thoughts running through his mind-something that he really hadn't experienced with anyone but Alice and the kids. Normally, he was ready to spew his thoughts as soon as someone made him feel less than okay.

"Who, Mom? When did she leave you in a river?" Noah asked, breaking the quietude.

"You weren't there," Cara replied, quite immediately.

He would've responded with "obviously" but actually had no idea if he was there or not? Was that when he was possessed for a second time? The guilt barometer began to rise again.

"I—"

Before Noah could finish his thought, Dean turned towards his daughter. "That's what the demon said?"

"Yeah."

Silence.

"Was I there?" It seemed to take all the air in the Impala to say that.

Turning her head to her brother, Cara frowned in confusion. Then she remembered he didn't recall anything from the possession: a good thing.

Cara shook her head. "You weren't born yet," she further implied.

"What? When did—"

"I wasn't born either."

"Then how—"

"She was pregnant with me, Noah," Cara replied with a maximal level of bitterness. The old, hollow past had been replaced by her old, score-keeping self.

"She was pregnant?" Noah asked.

Cara nodded. "With me."

Frowning, Noah shot up his hands. "Yeah?"

Dean was glad it seemed like the first iteration of demons had faded from his children. He thought maybe their innocence had leeched away at the demons—he hoped.

But apparently it had not.

"Cara."

She swiveled her body in the front seat, so she faced him.

"What?"

"You think we would ever let anything hurt you?"

Before she could respond, Dean opened the front door of the Impala, Dean forced himself out. He motioned for Cara to remove herself.

Next, he opened the back door. Noah emerged, still hooked on Cara's of the event. He tried to make everything feel fine.

Looking at his wounded brother and uncle, Dean nodded. They were alive. Looking back to his kids—they were alive and uninjured.

So his current predicament:

Where was Alice?

What the hell was wrong with Alice?

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