Desolation Comes Upon the Sky

Stairway to Heaven

September 18th, 2014 
Monett, Missouri

"Alex." A hand on her shoulder had Alex jerking awake. One arm flew out, knocking away the intruder's touch, while the other grasped her weapon. She scrambled up into a sitting position, fists clenched, and Castiel stepped back, his hands rising in an innocent gesture.

"Shit." Alex let her angel blade fall onto the floor where she was sleeping, and she groaned as the rush of adrenaline began to fade. "What the hell, Cas? What do you want?"

"There's been an attack." Castiel stretched out his hand, and Alex let him help her to her feet. She winced at the pain in her back, and she looked back down at the makeshift bed of her sweatshirt and a ratty blanket that had been shoved into the corner of an empty office. "White light was reported at an ice cream shop down in Missouri, and afterwards, all occupants were found dead."

"Angel kill." Alex brushed her fingers through her hair and brought it back in a ponytail. "Okay, great. One of Metatron's?"

"I don't know. I've called the Winchesters, and they've agreed to meet us there." The seraph led the way down the hall, and Alex followed, doing her best to smooth down her wrinkled clothes as they stepped into the main control room of Castiel's faction. She felt all eyes turn onto her, but she ignored them as she made her way along the edge to where Castiel's office sat, encased in walls of glass.

"Castiel." Hannah stood beside his desk, and she gave the seraph a barely perceptible nod as they entered. "Any news?"

"Nothing yet. I'm taking Timaeus and some of his men down with me. The Winchesters will be meeting me there; their insight might be of some value." Castiel looked down at Alex, and the young hunter gave a small nod of agreement.

"I'm guessing that Alex will be joining you as well," Hannah concluded, and Alex narrowed her eyes slightly, unable to read the emotions on angel's face. However, they were gone too quickly for her to decide if they were against or for her favor. "Then you won't be at roll call," she added as she turned back to Castiel. "Shall I stay behind and conduct it for you?"

"That would be wonderful."

"Mama!" The sound of Ashiel's voices had Alex turning to watch the fledgling run across the room. He almost careened into another angel, who barely sidestepped in time, muttering a word beneath his breath as he watched the fledgling continue on, unperturbed. "Mama, you — you're up now."

"Yes, I am." Alex scooped him up into arm with a grin, and Ashiel giggled happily. "Where have you been, little man?"

"I-I went ... out." Ashiel wrapped his fingers in the strings of her hoodie, stumbling as he tried to express his thoughts. "I got to swing."

"You got a swing, huh? Exciting." Alex smiled over at Castiel before she gently extracted her sweatshirt from the fledgling's grasp. "Hey, Ashy, Cas and I are going to go on a little trip. But maybe when we come back we'll have some friends for you, huh? How does that sound?"

"I ... I wanna come." Ashiel looked between her and Castiel, and his face fell into a sullen frown when neither of the angels gave in to his insistent demands. "Mama."

"No, you have to stay here. We won't be gone long." Alex put him down onto the ground and knelt down next to him. "Tell you what. When I get back, we'll go out for ice cream. I bet it's no fun being cooped up with these boring old angels." Her words were lost on the young child, and Alex ran her fingers through his hair lovingly before she nudged him off towards Hannah. "I'll see you in a bit."

"We'll be back soon," Castiel promised Hannah as Alex got back to her feet. "Until then, you're in charge." Hannah nodded, and Alex followed Castiel down the hall and out of the building.