25. Good Cop, Bad Cop (aka Good Angel, Bad Demon)
I splash cold water on my face, feeling it cool me slightly. I close my eyes but quickly open them back up. Since my episode at the witch's house, flashes have been coming back more and more. But none of them have included Alex Franco and how we made our daring escape out of Hell. I haven't seen anything either about how we were ambushed and how I got knocked unconscious.
Every time I look in the mirror, I see the old me. I see the blonde hair that belonged to my mom, the brown eyes that had always belonged to my dad. The round, kind face that deceived most. I wished for her to come back, but since Sam gave me a Hunter's Funeral, my original body is ash and dust. Here I am, stuck in a body in which I'm the only host.
My hands shake as they grasp the sink. I opted out of the latest case with Sam and Dean, mainly because of what's been going on in my mind. That, and with what my heart and mind has been telling me to do lately. No, not kill my brothers. My mind has been thinking dark thoughts, whispering for me to embrace the darkness.
But I know what I'm doing. I'm using my demonic powers for good. If anyone can do it, a Winchester most certainly can. But lately, it seems like I'm losing ground in that battle. Like my hit to the head has altered my personality more than my becoming a demon has.
I try to picture my meat-suit with blonde hair. I make a face of disgust. Probably not a good option for it. The dark hair compliments the pale complexion.
I straighten out as I feel a presence coming down the hall.
"And what do I owe this pleasure, Cas?" I ask nonchalantly.
"How'd you know it was me?"
"Sixth sense." I turn to him. "If you're looking for my brothers, they're on a case. It's just me here."
"I noticed." Cas's brows furrow. "Why is that?"
"I needed a breather."
"Are you not able to handle yourself, Josette?"
I grimace slightly. "I'm in control. I'm fine."
"You know, you Winchesters have a bad habit of saying you're fine when you're not."
"Cas, I'm all right. I haven't committed a massacre, I've been using my powers for good." I pause for about a second. "What's up?"
"I've been doing some digging for Cain."
"You're trying to find him."
"I've had no such luck."
"You wanted to ask my brothers for help?"
"Actually, I was hoping to ask you for yours."
I purse my lips. "This isn't a trap, is it? A trick to get me cured?"
"No, not at all. You said you're using your powers for good, this will help that."
"All right. I'll bite. You have any potential leads?"
"I've been trying to hunt demons down to interrogate them. I've gotten to a few, but they know nothing."
I nod slowly. "Where've you been looking?"
"Illinois."
"You need someone for your Good Cop, Bad Cop act?"
Cas chuckles. "I need an extra set of eyes with me."
"Well, you got them. We'll take my truck, it needs to get some miles on it."
I make sure to pack a bag of weapons, and grab my phone and its charger, before I head out with Cas from the bunker. It feels like old times, with him beside me in the truck. We leave his pale yellow ride at the bunker while I drive off to the road.
"You're driving awfully fast, Josette," Cas notes. "You might want to slow down a bit."
"What, just because you're on borrowed Grace you're suddenly worried if we get into an accident you'll die?"
Cas looks a bit mortified by my answer. "No, I'm more worried about civilians being hurt than myself or you. You never used to drive like this."
"So, you think demons are the way to Cain?" I ask conversationally.
"Why are you avoiding this?"
"What is there to avoid?"
"Something's bothering you. I know what's different about you, but there's something you're not telling me."
"People have to keep some secrets for themselves, Cassie. What's the point of being mysterious if you tell people your entire life story, right down to what you ate as a snack?"
"So you admit you're hiding something."
"Why do you want to know so badly?" I ask.
"I worry about you."
"I appreciate that, Cas, but it's not needed. I'm a big girl."
"I'm not saying that you can't handle your own," Cas defends himself. "I'm worried about you since you escaped Hell. Why you were allowed out."
"Hell's pretty lax because of Crowley, with all he's getting himself pulled into." I shrug. "Guess he either doesn't know or doesn't care that his kingdom lost two prisoners."
"Or...maybe it was intentional."
"What reason would someone have to bust out a Winchester, Cas?"
"I don't know, you tell me."
"How would I know?"
"How do we know that your mind hasn't been altered before you came back?"
I give him an offended side-glance. "Are you saying that I'm a spy for someone?"
"I'm saying it would be nice for me to understand what's going on with you, Josette."
"Cas, you don't need to understand it. You can't."
"Look, I've made a trip to Hell—"
I snort. "You haven't been down there for ten years. I know Hell time is much faster than here, because I know I wasn't gone that long. You haven't been tormented, beaten, cut, pulled at—you haven't been given hope only to have it ripped away from you because demons posed as the people you care about." I shudder. "You can empathize all you want, Cas, but you'll never be able to relate."
"I'm...I'm sorry that it happened to you, Josette. Truly. I had to hear it from Sam, that you...you died."
I quirk my mouth. "I was wondering how that message got to you." I clear my throat.
"If I'd had enough strength in me, I would have come for you. I would have risked everything to pull you out and bring you back."
"Yeah, well, I guess I didn't need it. I got myself out." I hold my head up a little higher.
"Yes, you did."
I sigh. "Look, I know the idea of me being a demon makes you uncomfortable. But, this is going to benefit us all. So far, it has."
"You've murdered."
"Those men deserved it, and you know it, Cas." I sniff. "They were monsters. The worst kind are human nowadays. They make creatures like us seem like kittens." I see Cas flinch out of the corner of my eye. "And, hey, when we bag ourselves a demon, I'll be the muscle," I tease, nudging him. "I'll let you be the talker."
We don't spark up much conversation after that. The drive is mostly tense silence that neither of us seems to want to fill.
Once we arrive in Illinois, I heavily rely on my sixth sense to find demon presence.
"Got one," I whisper to Cas. In the dark, I can see the Average Joe with red hair. But I can also see his true face. "I'll bag him, you set up what we need, okay?"
"Be careful."
I kiss Cas firmly on the mouth. "Always am." I hear him sigh after me as I cross the street, nearly being run over by a speeding car.
The man is just idling on the sidewalk, seeming to enjoy the scenery.
"I come in peace," I say as the demon starts.
"Shouldn't be here," the demon hisses. "He could strike any minute."
"Who?"
"Cain."
"Cain?" I repeat slowly. Already, this is going great. "You've seen him?"
"Yeah."
"Wait...why are you afraid of him? Aren't we on the same side?"
The demon scoffs. "Is anyone on the same side anymore?"
I nod in thought. "True." And I sock the demon hard across the face and knock him out. I look around, making sure nobody saw. It's an empty street. Grunting, I heave the demon's body over my shoulders and cross the street.
"Really, Josette?" Cas asks, giving me a disapproving look.
"Hey, unless you had a better plan," I say, adjusting the limp body on my shoulders. "Come on. Let's set up before he wakes up."
Cas and I enter an abandoned building. We get the demon seated in a chair while Cas draws the Devil's Trap around it in red paint. I poke one of my fingers with the angel blade that I've come to use. I see a prick of red. It's still very sharp. Good.
"You still want to be the muscle?" Cas asks me.
"Hey, as long as we got him strapped down, he won't do much," I say. "Besides, he's messing with a Winchester should he choose to pick a fight."
Once Cas gets the trap working, I step into it, sending a hard slap across the demon's face. He starts and glares at me, exposing his own set of black eyes.
"Oh, you bitch," he snarls. "What's the meaning of this?!"
"You were right, bucko, nobody's on the same side anymore." I keep the silver blade at my side. "Now, you're gonna sing, or I'm gonna make you. If you're smart, you'll choose the less painful route."
"What do you even want to know?"
"Cain. Anything you got on him." I circle the chair like a vulture. "His location, preferably."
"Why do you want to know? You want to offer yourself up as a sacrifice to him?"
I roll my eyes. "None of your business why I want to know where Cain is, buddy." I groan, hearing one of the phones ring.
"Gonna answer that?"
"Not at this moment," says Cas.
"You're wasting your time, both of you."
"Just tell us where he is," I snap.
"I don't know where he is. Me and Cain ain't friends like you've convinced yourself we are. He kills demons. Low-level guys like me keep our distance. If you had an ounce of brains in you, you would stay away too."
"You sure about that?" From behind the demon, I cut into his arm with the angel blade.
"All right! All right!"
I scoff. "Chump."
"Easy," Cas tells me. I pout.
"He's been seen, past few months, making passes through Bogg's marsh, one county over," the demon says. "No one knows why, what for. Like I said, we keep our distance."
I move around to the demon, who's lost his black eyes and has them at their normal color. I point the blade tip right in front of his eyes. "And that's all you know."
"Yes. Yes, I swear."
I sigh, lowering the angel blade. The demon exhales loudly in relief. "Okay then." I thrust the angel blade into him, and his screams of pain are music to me. I smirk. "Thanks for your help." As I rip the blade out, I turn, and I've got Cas staring at me. "Oh, like you wouldn't have done it." I begin to walk towards him, but a barrier stops me. Oh, right. The Devil's Trap. "Uh, Cas?"
"You've got the blade, scratch it."
I use the angel blade to scrap off pain to break the barrier. "So, one county over. Up for a field trip, Cassie?"
"How are we going to know where Cain has hit?"
"Oh, I'm sure we'll know when we see it." I go to my phone. Missed call from Dean. I can always reach him once Cas and I find something. "Let's get going."
**Yay, the Cassette duo is back in business! I remember their first case they embarked on together. [proud mother tears]**