Dean tossed and turned. Every time he dozed off he saw Caleb by the car. He stared at the ceiling and tried to think of other things but his skin crawled with memories.
Kate was sleeping beside Dean's bed and could hear him tossing. She knew he was hurting. She sat up and knelt beside the bed. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, kid." Dean said.
Kate sighed. "Lying is bad, Dean."
"I just can't sleep. I'm fine. Go back to sleep." Dean said.
Kate touched his arm. "Rest." She watched his eyes grow heavy and close. She sat back on her mattress and let her hand fall to the floor. Hopefully, he wouldn't get mad over that compulsion. She placed her hand back on his arm. If she was running the risk of him being mad, she might as well make it worth it. She willed him to dream of his favorite memory with Caleb. His face relaxed and she smiled. She curled back up on her bed and fell asleep as well.
John checked on the kids after Aphrim left. Taylor was fast asleep and the other two were from what he could tell. The bunker was quiet except for the hum of appliances and the beep of Caleb's monitor. He grabbed a drink and sat back down beside Caleb. As soon as the kids were awake, they'd realize Aphrim was gone. Caleb was still critical. John was sure the only thing keeping him alive was Kate's blood. He gently removed some of the bandages to survey the state of Caleb's abdomen. He sighed deeply and replaced the dressing. "Wait and see."
Kate woke up hours later when John opened the door. "Shift change?"
John looked over at Dean. He gently shook Dean's leg and then looked down at Kate.
"He was tossing and turning." Kate said.
John tilted his head to tell her to get up.
Kate sighed and crawled out of bed. She followed John into the hallway.
"You have to stop using your abilities." John said.
Kate dropped her shoulders. "He couldn't sleep. He was just remembering what happened."
"I know why you helped him sleep. I'm telling you no more." John said.
Kate crossed her arms. "If an ability could save Caleb I'm going to use it."
John grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the kitchen and away from the bedrooms. "What you did for Caleb this far is wonderful. No one is mad about that. He wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you. I'm telling you now that you can't keep using those big abilities."
Kate groaned.
"Before you mouth off, just listen." John said. He sat her down on the counter. "Aphrim had to leave."
Kate gasped and tried to jump down.
John stopped her. "No." He took a deep breath. "She is being hunted. She was only safe here for a short period of time. Yesterday, a lot of power was used." He paused. "She is going to make it look like it was her doing."
Kate blinked. "It wasn't though. It was my doing. When did she leave?"
John stopped her from getting off the counter. "Katelyn, you cannot go after her."
Kate frowned. "We just saved her."
John sighed. "I know. She thought a lot about this and is doing what she feels is best. If you go after her, you could mess with her plan. You'd also get yourself caught or killed. If Caleb starts to struggle, we will discuss a course of action."
Kate looked toward the door.
"You do not want to run. If you leave this building you and I are going to have some major issues." John said.
"We have bigger issues." Kate whined.
"Kate, I know this sucks but I need you to be mature about it." John said.
Kate stared at him. "Like I was mature when my body got ripped apart by grace and I got stuck in hell for days before helping Taylor catch Azazel? Like I was mature when Caleb landed here and I got stuck with the job of putting his large intestine back where it used to be? If what you mean by mature is unemotional then I guess I'm going to be immature for a little while. I'm going to get ice cream from the freezer and be sad and angry. I'm going to sit with Caleb and complain about how bossy you and Dean are sometimes. Everything gets taken away. Everyone dies. I understand why she left but I get to be upset."
John was silent as he processed her words. He had forgotten just how involved she was in Caleb's care. When he left with Castiel, she was left with Caleb. He wasn't a fan of the backchat but it was easy to lose the fact that she was still a child. "What flavor do you want?"
Kate raised an eyebrow. "I'm not on your hit list?"
John sighed. "Do you want to be?"
Kate looked at her hands. "No."
John helped her off the counter. "I trusted you during that commotion. I'm trusting you now."
Kate grabbed strawberry ice cream from the freezer. "Thank you."
"If he so much as twitches, you let me know." John said.
Kate nodded. "Yes sir." She gave John a quick side hug. "I'm just going to go be angry for a bit."
John nodded and watched her shuffle out of the kitchen. He went to his room and sat down on his bed. He rubbed his worn face and spoke softly to Mary. Kate's words reminded him that he put too much weight on Dean at a young age. Kate was just ballsy enough to call him out on it to his face.
### ###
Sam woke up with Jess laying beside him. He stared at the ceiling and rubbed her elbow. He hadn't gotten any updates and that was probably a good thing. He felt her stir and moved his hand up to brush hair from her face. "Good morning."
Jess blushed. "Good morning." She sat up and smoothed her hair down.
Sam smiled. "You look good like that"
Jess rolled her eyes. "How'd you sleep?"
"Really well." Sam said. Dean would be horrified that all they did was sleep but Sam was happy.
"Any news?" Jess asked.
Sam looked at his phone. "Nope."
Jess laid back in the crook of his arm. She picked up his hand and ran her fingers along his palm, feeling of the callouses. "How's it feel to not have to work all the time?"
Sam shrugged. "School is work."
Jess ran her thumb over the rough skin. "School doesn't do this."
Sam sighed. "No it doesn't."
"What does your brother do?" Jess asked.
Sam froze. "What do you mean?"
"The accident wasn't his first accident. I just wondered." Jess said.
Sam bit the inside of his cheek.
"I guess you will just stay mysterious." Jess said.
"I thought that was part of my charm." Sam replied.
"I'd like to know if my boyfriend is part of the Russian mob." Jess teased.
Sam smiled. "I'm not part of the mob."
"CIA?" Jess asked as she rolled over.
"Not CIA."
"Is your dad DB Cooper?" Jess asked with a smile.
Sam grinned. "Close." He kissed her. "Although, if that were the case I wouldn't need a scholarship to get into this place."
"Brains are better than money anyway." Jess said. "Oh, are you in witness protection?"
Sam relaxed as he realized she wasn't going to actually grill him. "How do I get you to stop asking questions?"
Jess smiled. "distract me."
### ###
Kate ate her ice cream and watched Caleb. She grieved Aphrim and cried for a while. After she exhausted her tears she threw away the empty container and rested her elbows on Caleb's bed. "When you get better, I'm going to need more stories. I want to know what happened when Dean got arrested as a teenager. I need you to get better. Dean needs you to get better." She touched his face and frowned. He felt a little warm. "Cas, can you pop in?" She prayed.
Castiel put his hand on Kate's shoulder.
"I am banned from using abilities. Can you check him?" Kate asked.
Castiel placed a hand on Caleb's head and scanned him. "His white blood cell count is elevated."
Kate groaned. "Probably means there is an infection. Is there any way to get him to a hospital?"
Castiel shook his head. "No."
Kate sighed. She looked at the notebook with Caleb's vitals and the medications he had been given. "He is on an antibiotic already." She rubbed her face. She didn't know enough about medicine to change anything and Bobby and Dean had made sure she never tried again. "I don't like waiting and seeing."
Castiel studied Kate. "Healing is gradual."
"I know. Do you know what happened to Aphrim?" Kate asked.
Castiel sighed. "I do."
"Is she gone?" Kate asked.
Castiel looked uncomfortable. "This is not a conversation I should be having with you."
Kate blinked slowly. "Why? If you tell John or Dean, they are going to have to tell me. This way cuts out the middle man and then they don't have to feel guilty while explaining."
"Then, yes."
Kate frowned. "Did it help anything?"
Castiel nodded. "She took three others down with her."
"Naomi?" Kate asked.
"No." Castiel said.
Kate sighed. "One day I hope I get a chance to punch her in the face."
Castiel didn't respond but stayed by Kate's side.
Kate wrote down a new set of vitals and went back to watching Caleb. She wanted him to heal as quickly as she did but it was likely that type of wound would take a while for her too. She reminded herself that she had already gotten him far beyond what anyone had expected. Would it have been more kind to let him go? Would his recovery be painful? She wanted to give him another bag of blood but John trusted her. After her spell about maturity, she wasn't going to press her luck. She was surprised she made it out of the kitchen without major repercussions. She knew he didn't want to let Aphrim go but made the hard choice. He always had to make the hard choice. It didn't mean his choice was always right, like leaving Dean to raise Sam but he did what he thought was best. She heard shuffling and looked up.
Dean rubbed his eyes. "I woke up and you weren't there."
"Yeah, I've been awake for a couple hours." Kate said.
Dean would have heard her leave. "Did dad go to bed?"
"Yep." Kate said.
"I must have been sleeping pretty hard." Dean said.
Kate blushed. "I helped you sleep."
"You compelled me?" Dean asked.
Kate slumped. "I told you to rest and made sure you had happy dreams."
Dean very gently popped the back of her head. "Ask me next time."
Kate hugged him. "I can always make you dream about peeing your pants next time."
Dean chuckled. "I was dreaming about sneaking into one of those pools with the water slides and stuff. It was during the night and we spent hours there. No one ever caught us."
"That is your favorite memory?" Kate asked.
Dean rubbed his chin. "One of them."
"I was going to pick memories of stuff you've told me that are funny but most of those stories ended in John catching you." Kate said.
Dean smiled. "Yeah, I don't want to relive those." He looked at the empty tub of ice cream in the trash can. "Breakfast?"
Kate groaned. "I chewed John out and then came in here and ate the rest of the ice cream and told Caleb that you both were bossy jerks sometimes."
Dean raised an eyebrow.
"That is the short version." Kate said.
"Only you, kid." Dean said and ruffled her hair. "I'm going to go get actual breakfast and some coffee. What do you want?"
"Sunshine." Kate said.
Dean rolled his eyes.
"You asked."
Dean poked her side. "I'll bring you something. Keep doing what you're doing."
Kate leaned over to Caleb. "See what I mean? Insufferable."
Dean smiled and shook his head. He wanted to know the story behind the ice cream. He sent Sam a message and sat his phone down.
Sam got the message and rolled his eyes. He sent back a message that said that he wouldn't give Dean an answer either way.
Dean smirked. 'Fine, be a bitch about it.'
Sam scoffed and put his phone down. Dean's topic of conversation was a good sign, even if it was annoying.
Millie scampered down the hallway and found Kate.
Kate scooted back and picked Millie up. "Where were you all night?" She held Millie and relaxed into her seat. She smiled when she felt Millie's purr radiating through her chest. Cat's purred at a frequency that healed, but not the kind of healing Caleb needed. It would be really cool to have a cat that healed though. She could hear Dean getting pans out and wondered how anyone would sleep through the racket. She closed her eyes and let her mind wander for a few minutes. She checked the time and put Millie down and scrubbed her hands. She placed her fingers on the side of Caleb's neck because the pulse made her feel better. His skin was warmer and that worried her. She gently felt down his side and froze when her fingers hit moisture. Her heartbeat quickened and she yelled for Dean.
Dean heard Kate yell and took off running.
"Get John!" Kate said.
Dean spun and sprinted down the hallway to get John.
Kate tore open a fresh set of bandages and tried to find the source of the new bleed. She pulled the old bandages back and gagged.
John slid into the infirmary and looked over her shoulder. "Damnit." He scrubbed his hands and arms and helped her.
Dean paled.
Kate's hands were shakey. "That looks bad."
John steeled himself.
"Uh, nec-necro." Kate tried to remember the name of what she was looking at.
"Necrosis, the tissue is dying." John said.
Kate's hand slipped and she closed her eyes tight. She fought the urge to throw up and slowed down. "What if.. what if something is in there?"
Caleb's monitor started beeping loudly.
Dean cleaned his hands. "How can I help?"
John shook his head.
Dean swallowed hard. "What can I do?"
John washed his hands again. "Kate, step back."
Kate shook her head. "Taylor and I can't heal if something is in the wound. What if something is in this."
John touched her. "Kate, we looked."
Kate glared at him. "You are ready to let him die anyway. What will it hurt if I look again?"
John tensed.
"Dad, let her." Dean said.
Kate pulled the bandages away and gently felt around the wound. She felt something sharp and held her breath. "There is something here."
"Describe where." John said.
Kate did her best to explain. "I don't think it is a bone."
John moved the light so that Kate had better visibility. "See if you can remove it."
Dean grabbed fresh bandages for Kate. "Take a breath."
Kate ran her finger down the sharp object to find the end of it. She gently pulled on it and removed it from his abdomen. She dropped it in a pan and stepped back.
John repacked the wound. "What is it?"
Kate washed her hands and the object. She held it up to show Dean and John. "I think it is a claw."
Dean took the claw from her.
"That looks about right. It must have broken off the tip." John said.
"The tip?" Dean asked. "This is an entire claw."
John shook his head. "Not from what I saw."
"Maybe Caleb will heal now." Kate said.
"That tissue died. I don't know if that is fixable." John said.
"You also didn't think there was anything left in there." Kate said.
Dean's eyes got wide. "Kate."
Kate saw the look on John's face and turned red. "Sorry. I mean, I don't want to give up hope."
"Thin ice." John said. "We will continue to keep an eye on him."
Kate felt of Caleb's head. "You know how in war movies, when things are dire, the platoon sergeant or whatever yells bad words and orders people around to save their life?"
John snorted. "This isn't a war movie and you need to take it down a notch."
"I got carried away on the power high." Kate said. "I told you to stop the car and I'm amazed you did."
Dean kicked Kate's foot.
John met eyes with Kate. He saw the twinkle in her eye. "Are we in a dire situation right now?"
Kate licked her lips. "That is subjective."
John raised an eyebrow. "You had your time to be mad."
Kate shrugged. "It is a healing process."
"Wait, what happened?" Dean asked.
John sighed. "Aphrim left."
Kate held the broken claw in her hand and avoided Dean's eyes.
"I had to break that news to Kate and she needed some time to work through the emotions." John said.
Dean furrowed his brows. "Is she gone for good?"
"Yeah, Castiel said she took out three other guys." Kate said.
John and Dean both looked at her.
"What? He stopped by. I couldn't scan Caleb so he did." Kate said.
"You didn't think to say something?" Dean asked.
Kate chewed her lip. "It has been a weird morning. Ow." She said as the tip of the claw opened her finger.
"Yeah, that is sharp." Dean said. he took the claw from her hand and looked at her finger. "Damn, that is really sharp."
Kate's finger healed. "I'd like to look at that under a microscope."
John checked Caleb's wound. "I do believe this is progressing."
Kate handed him a skin marker. "Told-" She saw John's face and snapped her mouth closed.
Dean shook his head and whispered. "Are you trying to commit suicide?"
Kate shook her head quickly. "That isn't how I'd want to go."
"When you are 105 years old your obituary is going to mention you being a smartass until your dying breath." Dean said.
"It would match yours then." Kate said.
Dean tilted his head. "Touche."
Kate turned back to John. "I apologize for the sass."
"Mhm. How about getting started on those assignments." John said.
Kate groaned.
Dean nudged her. "Come on before you say something."
Kate followed him. "You should help me get those done."
Dean scoffed. "No, I am done with school."
Kate sat down at the table with her folder. "Where is Taylor?"
Dean looked at the time. "Still asleep I think. No, sit." He said as she started to stand. "Work on those. I'll check on him." He opened Taylor's door and touched Taylor's shoulder. He caught Taylor's fist to his left eye and stumbled back.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry." Taylor said as he shot out of bed.
Dean took a deep breath. "I'm waking you up with cold water from now on."
"I was having a dream and I didn't mean to." Taylor said quickly.
Dean blinked his eye. "Even without your abilities, that right hook is impressive."
Taylor sat down on his bed. "You can punch me back."
Dean looked at him. "Why would I do that?"
"Uh, well." Taylor said.
Dean motioned for him to walk with him. "What were you dreaming about?" He got a bag of peas from the freezer and put them on his eye.
Taylor groaned. "David."
Dean shrugged. "That explains this."
"I am so sorry." Taylor said again.
Kate looked at Dean's eye. "Holy crap."
Taylor put his head in his hands. "I am really sorry."
Dean looked at Taylor. "It is okay. You didn't mean to do it."
John entered the kitchen. "What happened?"
Taylor paled. "I, I.. I accidentally punched him."
John sucked air through his teeth. "Got you good."
Dean shrugged. "I remember you kicking me across the room when I was little."
John stepped around Dean to get coffee. "Because you tried to run and jump on the bed after I had been on a three day hunt and had just fallen asleep."
Kate giggled. "Why did you do that?"
"I don't remember. I hit the wall and lost all of my memory." Dean said.
John clapped Dean on the back. "I always thought you acted differently from all the times you got dropped as a baby."
"Wait, who dropped me?" Dean asked.
John sipped his coffee. "Bring me a plate when the food is done."
Dean put the peas down. "I got dropped as a baby?"
John winked and left the room.
Kate grinned. "Did you really hit the wall?"
Dean shrugged. "I can't remember." He turned back to Taylor. "What was David doing in this dream?"
Taylor sighed. "We were in this place that had a bridge. He was trying to get me to do something and using Nate and Ellie as collateral."
Dean leaned against the counter. "What was he trying to get you to do?"
Taylor hung his head. "I don't know really."
Dean could see that Taylor didn't want to talk about it. "Was this a dream dream or a vision dream?"
Taylor shuffled his feet. "I don't know."
"Was it David or another demon situation?" Dean asked.
Taylor sighed. "Can I have time to process?"
Dean nodded. "Take your time." He put the peas back on his eye. "Kate, how are those assignments going?"
Kate whined. "You got punched. It distracted me."
Dean raised an eyebrow.
"I'm doing them."
Taylor was quiet as he sorted through the vision/dream. He tried to keep his anger and fear in check but David could open that wound so much more easily than anything else. The dream felt so real and it scared him. "I'm going to call Bobby."
Kate perked up. "Oh, I want to talk to him too."
Dean snapped his fingers. "No, worksheets." He set a timer. "If you don't have that side of that worksheet done by the time this goes off I'm going to bust your butt."
Kate pulled a face. "That isn't fair."
"You have been fighting it. It is easy stuff for you and at this point you are just fighting it to fight it. I'd focus, you just wasted a minute arguing." Dean said.
Kate growled and went back to her homework.
Taylor excused himself and called Bobby. "Hey, can you find out where David is?"
Bobby furrowed his brows. "I can try. What's going on?"
"I just had a nightmare and would just feel better if I knew where he was." Taylor said.
"I'll do my best. How is Caleb?" Bobby asked.
Taylor walked back down the hallway. "I actually don't know." He saw John by Caleb's side. "How is he?"
"Kate pulled that claw from him a little while ago and it looks like he is healing faster." John said.
"Do you mind passing the phone to John?" Bobby asked.
Taylor handed John his phone and looked at the claw.
"John, do you know why Taylor would be wanting to know where David is?"
John paused. "No."
"Okay, figure it out. Is Caleb on the mend?"
"He had some necrotic tissue before Kate pulled that thing out. I don't know if that will heal." John said.
Taylor held the claw up. "We should put this on a necklace for him."
"It may be too sharp for that." John said.
Taylor felt of the tip. "Whoa."
"Keep me updated. How is Kate?" Bobby asked.
"Walking that thin line of hers." John said.
"We'd be worried if she didn't. I'll try to put eyes on David. You try to find out what is going on with Taylor."
John ended the call and handed Taylor his phone. "Taylor, take a seat."
Taylor sat down in one of the chairs and looked at John aprehensively.
"Why do you want to know where David is?" John asked.
Taylor looked at the floor.
"Do I need to revisit our previous conversation?" John asked.
Taylor snapped his head up. "No, sir."
"Then start talking." John said.
"I don't really want to." Taylor said.
"Tough, talk."
Taylor sighed. "I had a dream or a vision. Maybe it was just a lucid dream. David was threatening to hurt Ellie and Nate if I didn't do something. I just want to know where he is so I don't worry."
"What was he trying to get you to do?" John asked.
Taylor shook his head.
"Bobby can find him and you don't need to know where he actually is." John said.
Taylor blew air through his nose and looked at the wall.
"Taylor."
Taylor stood up. "There's your solution. I'm going to go to my room."
John stood up as well. "Park it."
Taylor bristled.
"Anger and David are a bad mix for you. Park it and talk." John said.
Taylor felt John's hand on his shoulder, turning him back toward the chair. He sat down and stared at a spot on the wall.
"Is this about what you told me?" John asked.
"No." Taylor said.
John sighed. "You know the drill."
Taylor looked into John's eyes. He was pressing his luck. "I had to make a choice between killing Kate or him killing Nate and Ellie."
John sat down. "That doesn't make sense."
"It could have been a shifter or demon but David may just be that messed up. I want to know where he is so he can't hurt anyone." Taylor said.
"Bobby will find him. I don't think it is a good idea for you to know his location though." John said.
Taylor swallowed. "You don't think I can control myself?"
John raised an eyebrow. "I think that is a really big temptation and I don't like repeating lessons."
Taylor winced. "Point taken."
John checked the edges of Caleb's wound to see if it had healed more. He had a bit of excitement seeing that it had healed much faster. "This is looking a lot better."
"Can I give him some of my blood to help?" Taylor asked.
John sighed. "We don't know if he would react badly to it."
Taylor grabbed the claw and cut his finger with it. He dripped blood onto a piece of dressing that John had removed from Caleb.
John gave Taylor a look. "You and Kate both must be on the same thing today."
Taylor blushed. "It didn't sizzle, that is a good sign."
After a few tests, John decided that it may be their only hope. The necrosis was spreading although the other tissue was healing. He drew a little of Taylor's blood into a syringe and gave it to Caleb via IV. He sent up a quick prayer that the intervention didn't kill him faster than the wound would.
Taylor held his breath. He would be crushed if he made the situation worse. "Nothing is happening."
John watched Caleb for any change.
Dean heard metal clattering and took off running to the infirmary. "What the-"
Caleb was standing, looking down at his stomach, watching it heal rapidly. He looked up at Dean with blue eyes.
Dean approached him slowly. "Caleb?"
John got up from the floor. "Are you okay?"
Taylor was wide-eyed on the floor.
Dean turned to Taylor. "What did you do?"
Taylor swallowed. "I forgot our blood does weird stuff when it mixes."
Caleb's eyes faded.
Dean clapped him on the back. "How are you feeling?"
Caleb groaned. "Like I've been gutted."
John checked the wound. He pressed on Caleb's abdomen. "Does that hurt?"
"No but I feel a little funny." His knees grew weak and he sank to the floor.
Dean slowed his fall. "Let's get you to a bed."
John helped Dean move Caleb. "Are you dizzy?"
Castiel appeared behind Dean. "What did you do?"
Taylor squeaked. "I gave him some of my blood. I think it mixed with Kate's."
Castiel pushed Dean to the side and put his hand on Caleb's head. "He's healed."
"Did I mess up? Did I send off a signal?" Taylor asked.
Castiel listened for anything on angel radio. "There is only chatter about Aphrim."
"Wait, what happened to Aphrim?" Taylor asked.
Caleb started to scratch his arms. "Guys, I feel like I'm on fire over here."
Castiel reacted quickly and cut Caleb's wrist. A white substance flowed from the wound and vanished. He healed the cut on his wrist.
"What the hell was that?" Caleb shouted.
"When humans take on grace, it can burn them from the inside out... like nuclear energy." Castiel said.
Caleb shot out of the bed. "Holy hell."
Castiel put his hand up to silence everyone. "That can't be."
"What is it?" Dean asked.
Castiel turned to Dean. "There is chaos in Heaven."
"Why?" Dean asked.
"Gabriel," Castiel said.
"Who is Gabriel?" Dean asked but Cas vanished. "Who the hell is Gabriel?"