A/N: Sorry if my time is a little off, month or week wise. Laziness hit me and I really didn't want to have to go back through all the past chapters and count. Other than that, hope you enjoy! Also, listen to the song on the side if you can. It's more or less Kenzie's new theme song.
When I did wake I was no longer feverish, but my body was still sticky from sweat and my muscles were stiff and sore. I sat up slowly, and not seeing Bobby at his usual place decided to go ahead and go up to shower.
Drying my hair with a towel I looked into the foggy mirror, swiping it with my hand so I could see into it. I didn't look any different physically, save for a few bags under my eyes. I looked deeper noticing a few tears in my grace. That would make it weak, but in time they would heal as well.
I dressed and pulled a brush through my hair, thinking about what I could possibly tell Bobby. Explaining Dylan's leaving had been easy. When Bobby had asked where he was I simply pretended to have a hormonal teenager girl moment and told him I didn't want to talk about it. He'd thrown up his hands and conceded. I hated throwing one of those moments on him, or keeping him in the dark about things, but I had no choice sometimes.
I took a deep breath. I needed to help Cass. He may be a literal pain in the ass sometimes, but he was family to me, same as Bobby was. There was no telling what Naomi was doing to him, especially after he helped me escape.
"Idiot." I muttered. He should have let me help him transport us both, though waiting for me to gather enough power would have likely taken a few moments, and those had been, sadly, precious seconds we didn't have.
I opened the door, releasing steam into the hall, and made my way back downstairs, intending to put my dirty clothes in the laundry room in the basement, but was stopped when I walked past the living room. Bobby was calling my name. I groaned inwardly.
"Yeah?" I asked, maybe a little too innocently.
Bobby stood. "You want to tell me what happened the other night, girl?" Oh no. That tone. I knew that tone far too well.
"Oh that. It was just a ghost possession. I'm fine though. Don't worry." I smiled.
Why do my lying skills fail me when I need them most?
Bobby's eyebrows rose. "Ghost possession? And that's how you ended up with furniture pieces chained to your arms that took me hours to finally get off of you by sawing through the wood. And how you ended up here without a car, half dead."
I internally flinched, though on the outside I kept my face calm. "The car broke down on the way, about a mile up the road. The ghost had similar chains on her, so maybe, I don't know, she chained me up. I don't really remember anything."
Bobby shook his head. "You're not leaving my sight ever again, girl. You're on lockdown. I told you not to go after this thing alone."
I felt my temper starting to rise. "So what?" I spat. "It's not the first hunt I've been on a hunt by myself, Bobby."
"Damn it, girl! I know that!" Bobby banged his fist on the table, causing papers to scatter, and then drift slowly to the floor. "But I'm trying to keep you safe. You're on lockdown, hear me?"
I was instantly incensed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"You don't leave this house unless I know. You don't leave the yard without me being with you."
"So you're grounding me? Bobby, I haven't been grounded in years!"
"Months. Nine months. After you ran off and then came back." I stared at him, my mouth gaping, and my face flushing. "You think your brothers don't tell me anything? You'd best rethink that. If you're stupid enough to stick your neck out there, then you can still be grounded."
I spluttered. "I'm twenty-one!"
"Your brother was twenty-two if I recall when your daddy last grounded him."
"But―"
"Girl. It might be in your best interests to shut the hell up now."
I clenched my fists at my side, and swallowed hard to keep from spouting out what I really wanted to say. I ground out, "Yes, sir."
Bobby nodded. "Good. Now that we understand one another." He gave me a look. "You can help me look up some information for a hunter in Wyoming."
So I helped Bobby and tried to play good kid for a week, though secretly I was still planning a way to help Cass. If there was a way. By now they had likely wiped his mind clean and pulled everything about me out. I needed to leave, but there was no way I could do it with Bobby practically watching my every step. I put up angel wardings around the house and scrap yard when I could manage to sneak away.
The week passed without word from Cass or any sign of angels showing up to haul me back up to Heaven's interrogation room. I continued trying to play the 'good girl and hope that Bobby might finally take me off lockdown soon. I was tempted just to leave anyways, but I couldn't do that to Bobby. Sometimes I wondered if he would be able to stay sane if Sam and I both had ditched him. With the way he was drinking now I was worried he would drop dead any day now.
But he didn't. And I stayed.
I had fallen asleep on Bobby's couch again, having been rereading "The Cask of Amontillado," when I was startled awake by sound of voices coming from the kitchen.
I sat up, and rubbed my eyes. I wondered if Bobby had gone crazy and started talking to himself. Then I wondered if I should even be worried if that had happened. "Bobby? Who's here?" I called, deciding to opt that Bobby hadn't gone insane.
The voices fell silent. I put aside my book and stood before making my way into the kitchen, only to be met with the sight of a familiar figure sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. My throat closed and I felt unable to speak though I opened my mouth to do so.
Dean turned and stood slowly, taking a step towards me, his hands held out in front of him, a gentle smile lighting up his features. "Hey, Kenzie girl."
The first thought that registered with me was that this might be a dream, but I discarded that quickly. Then, I moved fast, drawing my silver knife in an instant and lunging at him. Apparently Dean hadn't been expecting me to do so because he barely lunged out of the way in time. My knife nicked his right arm before Bobby grabbed me about the waist and pulled me back.
"It's him, girl! I already checked him."
I stared, wild-eyed and panting. I calmed myself enough to look into his soul. He was intact and completely himself. Dean gave me another small smile, and when Bobby let me go I lunged at him again, only this time dropping my knife first before throwing my arms around him.
"You-you were dead." I whispered.
"I know." Dean whispered back, holding me tightly. "But not anymore."
"How?" I asked, pulling back enough to look at his face.
Dean shared a glance with Bobby before gingerly rolling up the sleeve on his left shoulder. I gasped at the pink burn in the shape of a handprint. "What the hell?" I touched it lightly, and then drew my hand back, cringing at my own choice of words.
Dean shook his head and replaced his sleeve. "I'm not really sure. Me and Bobby were thinking some high-level demon may have pulled me out."
I shook my head, baffled. Then suddenly Bobby gave me a hard look. "Wait a second, this better not have anything to do with the incident two weeks ago. Does it, girl?"
"Incident? What incident?" Dean also turned a hard look on me.
I stared at them, my eyes wide. "You think I did this? I didn't, Bobby. I told you, it was a just a pretty high level spirit and it possessed me. It didn't have anything to do with a demon, I swear."
Dean studied my face. Finally, he nodded. "Alright. We believe you." He clapped me on the shoulder. "Let's go find Sam. You heard any word of him?" He moved towards the living room once more.
I shook my head. "Not a word in four months. I called him though, and so has Bobby."
Dean nodded calmly enough though I could see the quiet fury in his eyes. Since I was still quite fluent in brother speak I translated it to, 'How could Sam just leave our sister like that? We always promised her, and Dad, that we would take care of her. I'm gonna kick his ass for taking off and scaring Kenzie and Bobby.'
He honestly looked angry enough to rip Sam a new one.I put a hand on his arm, and gave him a serious look. "I want half."
Dean flashed me a grin. "One-third."
"Five-sixteenths."
"Two-fifths."
"Four-tenths." I saw Dean trying to do the math, not that he'd ever been much good at it. Finally he gave me a hard look, though this time it was underlined with fraternal affection.
"Fine. Whatever. As long as I get first go."
I grinned. "It's a deal."
Dean worked quickly, calling the phone company that most all of us hunters used. He got the address and as we were rushing out the door, grabbing duffels with weapons and clothes I muttered, "Wedge Antilles. Why didn't I think of that?"
"Because you're more a Lord of the Rings nerd than Star Wars geek." Dean grinned.
I rolled my eyes, but didn't comment. It felt good to have someone to bicker in a nice way with again.
* * * * * *
Several hours later we arrived in Pontiac. We made our way quickly down the hallway after checking with the front desk to find Sam's room. I reached up to knock on the door marked with the correct number, and it swung open almost instantly to reveal a half-dressed, dark-haired young woman. My eyes widened in shock, though I realized she looked awfully familiar. Maybe I'd seen her before, but I couldn't place it.
"So where is it?" She asked, annoyance in her tone.
Dean and Bobby shared a confused look. "Where's what?" Dean asked.
She raised her eyebrows. "The pizza...that takes two guys and a girl to deliver?"
"I think we got the wrong room," Dean muttered, turning to go, just as a gorilla sized, grim-faced, tousled sandy-haired individual came into view.
"Hey is..." Sam froze.
It was quiet for a moment, until Dean broke the silence with a husky, "Heya, Sammy."
Sam's eyes flitted to each of us, though they shot back to Dean as said brother moved into the room. Suddenly, Sam whipped out a knife, lunging at Dean. The woman screamed and Bobby and I darted into the room, each taking one of Sam's arms and pinning them behind his back. I twisted his arm upward as he struggled until the knife fell from his grasp. I didn't care if it hurt. I was taking my revenge, starting now.
"Who are you?" Sam screamed.
"Like you didn't do this!" Dean accused.
"Do what?"
Sam's struggles grew wilder. Bobby spoke quickly. "It's him. It's him. We've already been through this. It's really him."
Sam froze again. "What..."
Dean took a cautious step forward, his voice softening. "I know. I look fantastic, huh?" He smiled faintly.
Sam's eyes watered as he stepped forward, grabbing Dean into a hug. Some sort of tension fell off of me, and I felt suddenly much lighter than I had in years.
We were together again. The three Winchesters against the world.
As my brothers pulled away the woman, who was still standing by the door, asked, "So are you two like...together?"
Sam blinked. "What? No. No. He's my brother. And, um, this is my sister." He gestured to me. I gave a small wave.
"Uh...got it. I...I guess. Look, I should probably go."
"Yeah. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Sorry."
I plopped down on the bed while lover boy and his girl got dressed. Once Sam had seen the girl out, he sat down next to me, pulling on his boots. Dean and Bobby stood over us ominously, their arms crossed over their chests. I winced internally, glad I wasn't on the receiving end. Sam seemed too overjoyed to notice tough.
Dean's jaw was tense as he asked, "So tell me, what'd it cost?"
Sam looked up, and smiled distractedly. "The girl? I don't pay, Dean."
"That's not funny, Sam. To bring me back. What'd it cost? Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?"
Sam sat back. "You think I made a deal?" He asked, his tone disbelieving.
"That's exactly what we think." Bobby added.
"Well, I didn't."
"Don't lie to me." Dean's voice was low, and he reminded me of our father when someone was in trouble.
Sam stared at him. "I'm not lying."
Dean advanced on him slowly. "So what now, I'm off the hook and you're on, is that it? You're some demon's bitch-boy? I didn't want to be saved like this." His voice rose with every sentence.
Sam stood angrily. "Look, Dean, I wish I had done it, alright?"
Dean grabbed Sam's shirt and I stood, ready to intervene if need be. "There's no other way that this could have gone down. Now tell the truth!"
Sam shoved Dean's hands away. "I tried everything. That's the truth. I tried opening the Devil's Gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in Hell for months. For months, and I couldn't stop it! So I'm sorry it wasn't me, all right?" Sam seemed close to tears. "Dean, I'm sorry."
Dean's face softened. "It's okay, Sammy. You don't have to apologize, I believe you."
To tell you the truth, I was kinda hoping Sam had had something to do with this. It made it much harder for us now. Apparently we were all thinking the same thing because Bobby said, "Don't get me wrong, I'm gladdened that Sam's soul remains intact, but it does raise a sticky question."
Dean finished for him. "If he didn't pull me out, then what did?"
I shook my head and we fell into silence for a few moments. Finally, Sam looked up. "Why don't I grab us a few beers?"
We nodded assent and Bobby moved to take a seat on the couch and Dean on the table. I moved towards Sam, intercepting him before he could reach the fridge. He stared at me as if suddenly realizing I was here.
I looked him hard in the eye for a long moment. Then I reached up and slapped him. Hard. His head snapped to right.
"What the hell was that for?" He cried, reaching up to rub the red spot on his cheek. Both Dean and Bobby turned to watch us.
"You left me!" I screamed. "Why? What reason could you possibly have?" I clenched my fists to keep from hitting him again because the next time I did it wouldn't be a simple slap.
Sam dropped his hand, his eyes saddening. "Look, Kenzie, I was having a hard time."
I cut him off. "A hard time? You were having a hard time! What about me? I thought you were supposed to take care of me! You promised, Sammy. You and Dean always said you would, and you left me." I wasn't crying. I wasn't going to. But even though I was still working towards not being quite so angry, I had to let some slip.
"What do you want me to say?" Sam's voice was hard.
I gave him an incredulous look. "I don't know! Maybe a 'sorry' couldn't hurt."
Sam threw his hands up. "Fine. I'm sorry. You happy?"
"I looked everywhere for you. I thought you might have been dead." My voice was hollow.
Sam's face softened again. He looked down a little shyly. "I am sorry, Kenzie. I should have called."
I still hated him for leaving me. But I had missed him. And there would be lots of time for more revenge later.
I lunged at him, latching onto his waist and embracing him tightly. Sam seemed surprised at first, but he hugged me back. I felt like I was about five years old again, wrapped in my big brother's arms while he reassured me Dad was going to be fine even though he hadn't come home yet, or when he had and had been drunk.
I helped him get the beers after we'd pulled away. Bobby and Dean had opted to stay silent during my rant. That had probably been their smartest choice.
"So what were you doing around here if you weren't digging me out of my grave?" Dean asked, taking the beer I handed him.
We all looked to Sam expectantly as he and I sat on the bed side by side. "Well, once I figured out I couldn't save you, I started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback."
"All by yourself." Bobby's tone was accusing, though just slightly teasing. "Who do you think you are, your old man?"
Sam seemed a little sheepish. "Uh, yeah, I'm sorry, Bobby. Like I said, I should have called. I was pretty messed up."
Dean had made his way across the room while Sam was talking and now he picked something up, speaking as he did so. "Oh yeah," He held the flowered bra up higher. "I really feel your pain."
Sam blushed, and Dean sat down again on the other side of me. "Anyways, uh, I was checking these demons out of Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here."
"When?" I asked.
"Yesterday morning."
"When I busted out." Dean stated.
"You think these demons are here 'cause of you?" Bobby asked.
"But why?" Sam and I spoke concurrently.
"Well, I don't know-some badass demon drags me out and now this? It's gotta be connected somehow."
Bobby pursed his lips slightly. "How you feelin', anyway?"
"I'm a little hungry." Dean admitted.
"No, I mean, do you feel like yourself? Anything strange, or different?"
"Or demonic? Bobby, how many times do I have to prove I'm me?"
"Yeah. Well, listen. No demon's letting you loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They've gotta have something nasty planned."
Dean retorted. "Well, I feel fine."
"Okay, look, we don't know what they're planning. We got a pile of questions and no shovel. We need help."
I nodded, agreeing with Sam as Bobby spoke again. "I know a psychic. A few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking."
"Hell yeah, it's worth a shot."
Bobby nodded. "I'll be right back." He stepped out of the rom, opening his cell.
Dean made to follow him, but Sam suddenly stood also. "Hey wait. You probably want this back."
Sam reached under his collar and pulled out a cord. I realized it was the amulet that Sam had given Dean that Christmas when I was four. I found myself fingering my own necklace. It had been a gift also, though not from Sam. Dad had given it to me when I was ten, telling me to always keep it safe because it had been my mom's. He'd pulled it off her body when she died.
I shook my head, coming back to the present just as Dean was slipping the amulet back on, and Sam was asking, "Hey, Dean, what was it like?"
"What? Hell?" He shrugged. "I don't know, I, I must have blacked it out. I don't remember a damn thing." I studied him, wondering if he was lying. I had gotten pretty good at picking up on lies too. Must have been the whole angel grace thing. I didn't think he was, but I couldn't tell. Hey, I'm not perfect!
Sam was nodding. "Well, thank God for that."
Dean scoffed, looking down. "Yeah."
I still couldn't decipher him. Stupid brothers.
* * * * * *
Once Sam had packed, and Bobby had called, we made our way out to the parking lot again.
"She's about four hours up the interstate." Bobby called as he climbed into his car. "Try to keep up."
"I assume you'll want to drive." Sam pulled out a set of keys and tossed them to Dean who stared at them in awe before chuckling and grinning gleefully.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" He ran his hand along the side of the Impala lovingly. "Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?"
I rolled my eyes, opening the door to the backseat and climbing in, my duffel in tow from where I'd pulled it out of Bobby's truck. Dean and Sam quickly joined me, though Dean's loving reunion with the car was ruined by the sight of an IPod plugged into the stereo.
"What the hell is that?" He demanded.
"That's an IPod jack." Sam explained matter-of-factly.
Dean turned a glare on him. "You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up!"
"Dean, I thought it was my car."
Dean sneered before cranking up the car. Some pop song began playing, and Dean quickly ripped the IPod out, tossing it in the back, narrowly missing my head.
"Hey!" I cried, slapping his arm.
Dean stepped on the gas and I flew into the back of the seat as he backed out. I rolled my eyes before leaning back against the window, and stretching out my legs.
I sighed contently, and closed my eyes. "You know, I kinda missed my place." I opened my eyes again and grinned.
Dean chuckled, and Sam smiled faintly, but he seemed a little distracted. I was still taking some revenge on him, so I dug a little bit into his soul, all while staring at the back of his head. I was met with a blank wall. A shield? There was no way Sam could do something like that on his own.
Just what had he been doing these past four months? I suddenly remembered when Emma and I had seen Ruby back at that warehouse in Floyd. A connection began to grow in my mind. That Ruby had had brown hair, same as the girl in Sam's room. And their voices had sounded similar. My eyes widened as the realization hit me. I gripped the edge of the leather seats to keep from hitting Sam right then and there.
There was a decision left for me. I could either tell on Sam (obvious choice at this moment, as I was utterly pissed at him), or wait and see if he told Dean himself about Ruby (highly unlikely given the lying nature of my family).
For now I picked the easier choice and decided to leave it up to Sam. We had only just reunited, and I wasn't going to rain on anyone's parade right now. Besides, I was pretty tired. The incident the week before had drained me more than I thought, leaving me sleeping more than usual to compensate for the missing grace.
I dozed a little on the way to Pamela's. I noticed Sam doing the same. Though at one point I heard my brothers talking lowly, probably so as not to disturb me.
"How'd you and Kenzie make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you."
Sam shrugged. "Well, she tried. She couldn't."
"What do you mean, she couldn't?"
"She fired this, like, burning light at me, and...didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something."
"Immune?"
"Yeah. I don't who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that."
"Huh. What about Kenzie?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe the same." He didn't sound certain, and I wasn't about to contradict him.
"What about Ruby, where is she?"
"Dead. For now."
Dean paused before asking, "So you've been using your freaky, uh, ESP stuff?"
"No."
"You sure about that? Well, I mean, now that you've got...immunity, whatever the hell that is...just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you've got going on." If I wasn't pretending to be asleep I would have rolled my eyes at his over-protectiveness.
"Nothing, Dean. Look, you didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go down that road. It was practically your dying wish."
I fought off a scoff.
There was another pause. "Yeah, well, let's keep it that way."
It was early morning when we finally arrived at Pamela's. After introductions were made she led us into the living room so we could help her set up for the séance.
I was studying the symbols on the tablecloth Pamela had spread out when I heard Dean ask, "Who's Jesse?"
I turned to see a tattoo across Pamela's lower back reading "Jesse Forever."
Pamela chuckled and stood. "Well, it wasn't forever."
"His loss." Dean commented.
Pamela walked by him with a smirk. "Might be your gain."
I heard my brothers whispering to one another, but all I caught was, "Hey, I just got out of jail. Bring it."
Pamela passed by them again, winking at Sam as she spoke. "You're invited too, grumpy."
Dean turned on Sam sharply. "You are not invited."
I smirked and turned to Pamela. "Don't I get an invite too?" I asked with a grin.
Pamela laughed. "Sorry, kid. My door don't swing that way."
"Good. Neither does mine."
She laughed again.
Once she had finished setting up her candles and lighting them she gestured for us to sit. We did so.
"Right. Take each other's hands." She instructed. I took Dean's and Sam's while the others took each other's hands tentatively. I off an eye roll. "And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched." Dean jumped.
"Whoa! Well, he didn't touch me there."
I stifled a gag.
"My mistake." Pamela added seductively.
Dean seemed nervous suddenly. He pulled off his outer shirt and rolled up the sleeve of his t-shirt to reveal the handprint he'd shown me earlier. Sam seemed shocked by it. Pamela, on the other hand, laid her hand on the mark, and Dean took my hand again.
"Okay." Pamela closed her eyes and we followed suit. She started to chant. "I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle." The television screen flicked on and my eyes flew open. So had Dean's, but Bobby, and Sam remained impassive as Pamela continued, "I invoke, conjure, and command...Castiel?" My heart leapt into my throat. "No. Sorry, Castiel. I don't scare easy."
"Castiel?" Dean asked. I hoped Dean and Sam couldn't tell I was shaking.
"It's name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back." The table started to shake. "I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face."
Everything shook harder and the static noise intensified. Bobby and Dean had their eyes open now. We shared some wary glances.
"Maybe we should stop." Bobby suggested.
"I've almost got it." Pamela insisted. A horrible thought rose in my mind. If Castiel showed her his true face (assuming it was my Castiel) and she couldn't see an angel's true face...
"I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!"
The flames of the candles flared straight up into the air. Pamela screamed and her eyes snapped open. They were filled with flames. She collapsed, and the noise and shaking stopped almost instantaneously.
Bobby leapt forward, grabbing Pamela and lowering her to the floor. "Call 9-1-1!" He shouted.
Dean and Sam jumped up to help, but I could only sit there, stunned. I could have said something. Stopped her from continuing. I knew what could have happened. Why had I said nothing?
I heard Pamela sobbing. "I can't see! I can't see! Oh god!"
And I could only stare at the patterns on the tablecloth.
* * * * * *
After the ambulance had hauled Pamela away Bobby insisted we grab a bite to eat while he went to the hospital. Dean agreed to this though I could tell he was feeling a little guilty.
My brothers seemed to have forgotten me. I did have random spells when I would fall silent and contemplative though, so I guess they weren't too worried. When we arrived at the restaurant I told Dean to order the same as he, (which was most likely a cheeseburger) to help keep a façade of being alright. I made my way to the restroom.
Really I went in there to try and give Cass a call, but he didn't respond. Had Cass really been the one to pull Dean out? It wouldn't make since to, now of all times. But what else could have burned that poor woman's eyes out? And she had said his name was Castiel. Though demons did like to screw with us a lot, and it wasn't really a secret to the supernatural world anymore that we were tight.
Unfortunately, as I figured, Cass never showed.
Sam and I returned to the table to sit down just as the waitress left.
"What'd Bobby say?" Dean and I asked simultaneously, before throwing an annoyed look to one another.
"Pam's stable. And out of I.C.U."
"And blind, because of us."
"And we still have no clue who we're dealing with." Sam added.
"That's not entirely true." Dean countered.
"No?"
"We got a name. Castiel, or whatever. With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us.
"You're crazy."
"Absolutely not." I added vehemently.
"We'll work him over. I mean, after what he did?"
Sam blinked. "Pam took a peek at him and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face to face?"
"You got a better idea?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact I do." Sam retorted. "I followed some demons to town, right?"
"Okay."
"So, we go find them. Someone's gotta know something about something."
Dean shrugged as the waitress returned with three plates of pie, setting them down in front of us.
I looked to Dean. "Pie? Seriously, Dean?"
Dean gave me an innocent look as Sam thanked the waitress. I picked up my fork, rolling my eyes, but then I realized the waitress was pulling up a chair to sit down.
Dean smirked. "You angling for a tip?"
"I'm sorry. Thought you were looking for us."
Her eyes flashed black, and I mentally kicked myself for not realizing it sooner. I had been too distracted. I looked up to the other people in the diner and realized they also were demons. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I mentally berated myself.
I fought off a curse as one demon stood to lock the door before taking up guard duty in front of it.
The waitress' eyes returned to normal, though now I could see her true face. She was low-grade. All of them were. Which meant they probably had some big boss behind them.
"Dean." The demon waitress began slowly. So it would be one of those days where they wanted to play with their food first. Abso-freakin-lutely great. "To hell and back. Aren't you a lucky duck?"
"That's me." Dean retorted snidely.
"So you just get to stroll out of the pit, huh? Tell me. What makes you so special?"
Dean grinned crookedly. "I like to think it's because of my perky nipples." The demon seemed unamused (as were Sam and I), and Dean frowned. "I don't know. Wasn't my doing. I don't know who pulled me out."
"Right. You don't."
"No. I don't."
"Lying's a sin, you know."
Dean sat back. "I'm not lying. But I'd like to find out, so if you wouldn't mind enlightening me, Flo..." He trailed off, cocking a brow.
"Mind your tone with me, boy." She warned. "I'll drag you back to Hell myself."
Sam and I shifted to an offensive position, our hands creeping towards our weapons. Dean held up a hand to stop us though, and we leaned back warily.
"No, you won't."
"No?"
"No. Because if you were you would have done it already. Fact is, you don't know who cut me loose. And you're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answers. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad boss demon. I'm guessing at your pay grade that they don't tell you squat. Because whoever it was, they want me out. And they're a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send me back. But don't come crawling to me when they show up on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose."
The demon's face darkened. "I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs."
Dean leaned forward, narrowing his eyes, and smirking confidently. I rested my hand on the hilt of my knife, the other drifting to my boot where I'd secured my angel blade.
Dean threw a punch at her. Then another. Her head snapped back both times, before she looked back to him, glaring daggers, but now there was a hint of anxiety in her gaze.
Dean narrowed his eyes. "That's what I thought. Let's go, Sam, Kenzie."
We stood, and Dean pulled out a ten dollar bill. He threw it on the table like an insult. "For the pie." He spat.
We hurried out and across the street, our stances tense. My hold on my silver knife hadn't relaxed.
"Holy crap, that was close." Dean said as his smart-ass façade faded away.
"We're not just going to leave them in there, are we, Dean?" Sam asked. His tone scared me. It didn't even sound like the Sammy I knew.
"Well yeah, there's three of them, probably more, and we've only got one knife between us."
"I've been killing a lot more demons than that lately."
I wasn't about to offer up my own information on the topic. I didn't need both brothers pissed at me. I could barely handle it when one was. Though, I still wasn't certain what I would say if one of them asked what I'd been up to the past four months. Maybe I'd get lucky and it wouldn't come up.
I shook my head, realizing that Dean and Sam were still arguing.
"Not anymore. The smarter brother's back in town." Dean retorted cockily.
"Dean, we've got to take 'em. They are dangerous."
"They're scared. Okay?" Dean turned to look Sam in the eye. "Scared of whatever had the juice to yank me out. We're dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time."
Sam finally conceded though he shot Dean 'the bitch face,' and I heard him mutter something under his breath.
We did eat eventually. That's about all Dean's done since he got back. We returned to the hotel for the night, and started in on a stack of books Bobby had left with us.
Eventually I drifted off, still holding the book of lore that I'd read simply for show. (Though not that I really minded. Myths had always been my thing.)
It was a few hours later that a rush of Enochian filled my head. I winced and groggily opened my eyes. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror on the ceiling.
It was splintered.
I was up in seconds. The room was shaking and I heard Dean shouting. I sprinted to his side, realizing he was covering his ears. I did the same as it dawned on me that he must be hearing the Enochian, but he couldn't understand it so it sounded like a high-pitched ringing noise.
I fell beside him as the ceiling mirrors fell and shattered, covering us both in bits of broken glass. I cried out when a piece lodged itself in my leg as I hit the ground.
I heard someone else shouting, and looked up to see Bobby in the doorway.
Everything fell eerily silent.
Dean and I looked at one another, our eyes wide with fright. Even I was uncertain of what had happened.
Bobby was beside us in an instant, helping our shaky forms off the floor.
"What happened?" He asked.
Dean and I shared a look. "Not sure." Dean said, his voice shaking only slightly. He was ever trying to play the hero.
Bobby shook his head. "Where's Sam?"
Dean and I looked up, the sudden realization that our middle sibling was missing finally sinking in.
I barely registered the pain in my leg as we shakily gathered our things and hurried out to the parking lot. The Impala was gone, which most likely meant Sam had stolen it (well, borrowed, whatever). We climbed in Bobby's truck and he gassed it, all of us wanting to put the hotel in our rearview mirror.
"How you two kids doin'?" Bobby asked.
Dean wiped some blood off his face. "Aside from the church bells ringing in my head, peachy."
I reached down to scratch an irritating itch on my leg, only to have my hand come away bloody. I stared at it for a moment. "Um...can someone pull this piece of glass from my leg?"
Dean snapped around. "Why didn't you say you were hurt?"
"I forgot."
Dean sighed and gestured for me to put my leg up on the dash. He turned the light on and looked around the wound for a moment before gently, yet quickly tugging the glass out. I hissed, and bit my lip to bite back a cry of pain. Dean dug out a first aid kit and rolled up my pant leg before carefully cleaning and dressing the cut. He wiped his hands on a handkerchief.
"You think you'll be alright until we get somewhere where we can get you stitched up?"
I nodded. "I think so. It wasn't very deep or long."
Dean nodded his agreement, though he still threw an arm around my shoulders as he dug out his phone and dialed Sam's number. After a moment I heard him ask, "What are you doing?" Another pause. "In my car?"
I strained my ears to listen and barely caught Sam's voice. "Force of habit, sorry. What are you doing up?"
"Well, uh, Bobby's back. We're going to grab a beer."
Both Bobby and I gave Dean incredulous looks. He held up a finger.
"All right, well, uh, spill some for me, huh?" Sam sounded distracted. Dean must have noticed it too.
"Done. Catch you later." He hung up.
"Why the hell didn't you tell him?"
"Because he'd just try to stop us."
"From what?" I asked.
"Summoning this thing."
It was the second time tonight that me and Bobby stared at Dean in shock.
"It's time we face this thing head-on."
"You can't be serious!" Bobby asked.
"As a heart-attack." 'The determined voice.' I hated it when he did that sometimes. It almost never ended very well. "It's high noon, baby."
"We don't know what it is." I interrupted. If it was Cass I needed to keep him secret. The last thing my brothers and Bobby needed to know about was angels. "It could be a demon, it could be anything."
"That's why we've got to be ready for anything." He pulled out the demon knife. "We've got the big-time magic knife, you've got an arsenal in the trunk."
"This is a bad idea." Bobby tried.
"Yeah, I couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?"
"We could choose life." I muttered. Dean was so going to kill me once he found out I'd been lying to him for almost three years.
"Look, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after me. That much we know, right? I've got no place to hide. I can either get caught with my pants down again," Dean made a face, "or we can make our stand."
"Dean, we could use Sam on this."
"Nah, he's better off where he is."
I bit my lip and shook my head, fingering my cross necklace.
Cass, I thought. If you can hear me, don't do anything stupid.
* * * * * *
I felt a flutter of anxiety as we waited.
My only hope was that this wasn't Cass and maybe it was just some crazy big-ass demon. Not that that was much better.
I rubbed my leg gingerly over the bandage. Dean had sewed it up while Bobby had been preparing everything we needed for the ritual. I took a deep breath. It sounded shaky to my own ears, but hopefully the other two wouldn't notice.
Dean had instructed me to stay to the back lines if things got a little hairy during their confrontation. He didn't want me opening to wound on my leg again. I had barely managed not to roll my eyes. He was far too protective as of late.
"Are you sure you did the spell right?" Said brother asked, his feet swinging nervously from where he was perched on the worktable. Bobby gave him a glare that would have made even the toughest of men cringe.
Dean held up his hands. "Fine. Touchy, touchy."
I let out another long breath. I was starting to agree with Dean. Maybe Bobby hadn't done the spell right. Or maybe Cass wasn't stupid enough to actually come down. Maybe he actually listened to me for once.
I touched the pocket of my jacket where Dylan's photograph was tucked. I wondered where he was and I felt a stab of sorrow pierce me. It had been weeks since I'd seen him. I tried calling a few times, but the number had been disconnected. I refused to believe he was dead. I wouldn't do it.
The wind seemed to pick up in an instant, and I was torn from my thoughts. The loose pieces of sheet metal flapped against the side of the building. The entire building began shaking. We all three sprang to our feet.
"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind." Dean ventured. The lights blew out, showering us in shattered glass. The unmistakable high pitched voice of angels filled the room and the windows shattered as well. Thunder rumbled, shaking the whole room, and lightening flashed outside.
The doors flew open and I realized there was a figure standing just in the doorway. I wasn't sure whether to curse his presence or cry for joy that he was alright.
Castiel, in all his trench-coated glory stood before us. He'd taken that man's vessel form again. He looked around the room, seemingly impressed at the wardings that had been put into place, and possibly also making sure I hadn't spilled any of the ones I'd learned from him. I wasn't exactly worried. I was pretty sure Cass wouldn't hurt any of us, and I knew for a fact that Bobby and Dean didn't have any instruments that could kill or harm an angel.
Bobby recovered first, riddling Cass with bullet holes. They had no effect of course, but Bobby seemed shocked. He and Dean shared a look, as Dean gripped the demon knife. "Who are you?" He asked.
Cass moved closer slowly. He didn't look at me. "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."
Dean scoffed. "Yeah. Thanks for that."
He lunged forward, driving the demon knife deep into Castiel's chest. Dean's eyes widened when it had no effect. Castiel gave him an annoyed look before reaching down to pull it out and drop it to the ground. Bobby came next, with an iron rod, only to have Cass grab it and touch two fingers to Bobby's forehead. He watched as Bobby's knees fell out from under him and he collapsed to the ground.
Dean glanced at me, his eyes wide with fear. I made sure to put on a frightened face as well. We looked back to Castiel who spoke. "We need to talk, Dean." He looked at me. "Alone."
Hell no. I thought to him.
Cass didn't act like he'd heard me as he moved over to examine a few papers covered in various wardings and spells.
"She stays." Dean snapped.
Castiel glanced up at him, and then over to me before shrugging. "Very well."
Why the hell are you here, Cass! He didn't respond yet again. Typical.
Dean moved over to Bobby to check his pulse. I stayed where I was, frozen beside the table.
"Your friend's alive." Cass spoke without looking up.
Dean gave me another glance before rising. "Who are you?"
"Castiel."
"Yeah, I figured that much. I mean, what are you?"
Cass looked up, his solemn gaze reminding me of the first time I'd met him when I'd died. "I'm an Angel of the Lord."
Dean stared at him. "Get out of here. There's no such thing."
Castiel pressed his lips into a thin line. "This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith." He had moved towards the center of the room as he spoke. Lightning suddenly flashed behind him, illuminating Cass' large black wings.
Dean swallowed hard. "Yeah, well some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes."
Cass sighed. "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be...overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that."
"You mean the gas station and the motel?" I asked. It wasn't really a question.
"That was you talking?" Dean added. Castiel nodded. "Buddy, next time, lower the volume."
"That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."
I could see Cass' true form, and hear his real voice. I suppose it seemed logical to think my brother could also.
"And what visage are you in now, huh? What, holy tax accountant?"
"This?" Cass grabbed at the trench coat. "This is...a vessel."
"You're possessing some poor bastard?" Dean seemed appalled.
"He's a devout man, he actually prayed for this."
"Well, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?"
Castiel frowned. "I told you."
"Right. And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?"
"Good things do happen, Dean."
I felt my heart leap to my throat as many puzzle pieces seemed to fall into place, though the overall picture was still blurry.
"Not in my experience." Dean retorted, though less sure now.
Cass moved closer to him. "What's the matter? You don't think you deserve to be saved?"
Dean ground his teeth. "Why'd you do it?"
Castiel stepped back. "Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you to do."
I froze. This was just like when Cass had brought me back. Which meant that it probably wasn't out of the goodness of his heart. Or any of the angels for that matter.
Since Cass hadn't let on that he knew me, which he may not if the angels had wiped his mind, I spoke as though I still didn't know him either.
"What do you mean? What kind of work?"
Cass turned to look at me, his eyes narrowing. "This does not concern you." I felt him analyzing me, but I blocked my mind the way he had taught me to. He watched me carefully for several more moments before turning back to Dean. "We will debrief you later on what we need. For now, I must return to Heaven."
He was gone in an instant and Dean started, not used to the rapid appearance and disappearance of angels. I was, but I didn't even try to pretend I wasn't. Dean didn't notice, which was good. I was too busy being pissed at Zachariah and Naomi and mentally cursing them in Enochian to care.