"I don't think about the end game. I've got lots to occupy
my mind. It's the rage that keeps me going." -Terry Pratchett
<< That's the Ketch >>
Dean and Dakota were in the middle of a very intense staring contest when their FBI phone started ringing. Dakota grins as Dean blinks when he shifts his eyes over to the phone. He glances back at his daughter and furrows his brow when he sees her wide smile.
"You lost." She says in a sing-song voice, Dean rolls his eyes. "Now, answer the phone. Shoo shoo."
"Watch it." Dean replies, pointing at her with his eyebrow raised.
Dakota shrugs innocently as Dean answers the phone.
"Hello?" He asks in faux politeness. "Yes, this is Agent Russell."
Dakota and Sam exchange a glance.
"I did give you my card, yeah." He confirms to whoever's on the other line. "Really? What kind of questions?" He grabs the notepad and starts to write down what the person is saying. "Okay, and when was this? What did he look like?"
Dakota perks up and her eyes widen, her heartbeat picks up as she drags in a sharp breath. Hope filling her chest rapidly.
"Yeah, no, we will check into it. Thank you very much." He hangs up the phone, Sam and Dakota's eyes dart over to meet before Sam blurts out his question.
"What was that all about?"
"Jack?" Dakota presses, leaning forward.
"That was a manager at the Stampede Motel, place we stayed in Dodge city." Dean informs.
"Right." Sam agrees.
"Guess his front desk clerk went missing right after some dude showed up asking questions about Jack."
Dakota sighs, her hope deflating as she sinks back in her chair.
"You get a name?" Sam questions.
"Nope. But...from his description?" Dean drawls. "Evil Colonel Sanders."
Sam raises his eyebrows in confusion.
"Asmodeus." Dakota fills in.
"Tracking Jack." Sam guesses.
"Yeah, which means he's two steps behind him, which means we need to find him fast." Dakota rushes out, standing up just as fast.
"I should say." Ketch's voice fills the library.
Dakota and Dean stare at him with gaped expressions. Sam shifts in his seat awkward.
"What the hell is this?" Dakota seethes, not even realizing she echoes Dean's question.
"He's in chains." Sam points out like it was obvious. "There's no bathroom in the armory. And he hadn't eaten in, like, a day and a half."
"So?" Dakota presses, leaning her hands on the table in front of her.
"Do I look like I care?" Dean snaps.
"Judging by your rage, my brother must've behaved very badly. I understand your mother is the one who killed him?" Ketch muses, not really looking for an answer.
"And he had it coming, after what he did to her." Dean hisses, Dakota could detect the emotion in his voice.
"Hmm." Ketch hums. "And how is she now?"
Dean stares him blankly, before clenching his jaw. "She's good." He spits out. Dakota places a hand on his back.
"Would you put him back? Hmm?" Dakota smiles sarcastically at Ketch before giving Sam a pointed glare.
Sam sighs, pressing his lips together and making a shrugging gesture. He ultimately follows his order and drags Ketch back to the dungeon.
Dean pulls out his phone, taking a couple steps away from the table, tugging Dakota along with him. He glances over his shoulder before switching the phone on speaker.
"Cas, any news on Jack?" Dean questions the angel.
"We need to find him fast." Dakota jumps in, announcing her presence to Cas.
"Nothing yet, but...interesting things are happening. We..."
"What, bubba?" Dakota presses when Cas suddenly breaks off.
"Yes, I would like to see you, too, the sooner the better." Cas says weirdly.
Dean and Dakota exchange furrowed looks as the call disconnects.
"Cas?" The two call out at the same time.
After Dakota insisting they go find Cas, the Winchesters piled into the Impala. The youngest hunter was in the backseat biting her nails anxiously, she was worried after the weird ending to Castiel's phone call.
He did say that he wanted to see them, maybe that was his way of asking for help. Well, either way he was going to be getting help from them. Dakota made sure of that.
"Something doesn't feel right, dad." Dakota speaks up as they pull up to the bar they pinged Castiel's location.
"I know." Dean agrees. "Stay close."
"Stay alert, gotcha." Dakota continues.
Dakota follows behind their family as they walk into the bar, the lights were off so Dean pulled out his flashlight. Sam copies his action, Dakota not far behind. Dean and Sam both had their guns drawn, but Dakota got her gun taken away--so she just had her switchblade out.
The bar was completely trashed inside, they shined their flashlights around so they could see the destruction.
Dakota bites her lip, Dean jerks his head to the side to signal Sam. Dakota keeps her hand against Dean's back, her switchblade brushes against his jacket as they walk. Dakota shines her flashlight around, keeping her hand on Dean so he knows that she's not far.
"Where is everybody?" Dakota whispers.
"There's nobody here." Dean answers, speaking louder than Dakota.
A voice shouts out in anger, placing their hand against Dakota's forehead. She flies backward, crashing into a table and groaning.
"What the hell?" She asks as she pushes herself up. "How the hell does something like that happen?"
"Not the time!" Dean grunts out as he fights against the woman that shoved Dakota.
Sam goes to help Dakota up when two people drop down behind him, he quickly fires two shots at them. They recover and attack him.
Dakota scrambles to her feet as she spots one of them try to come up behind Dean. She immediately jumps at them, grabbing the demon's wrist to keep their blade away from her.
She climbs up the demon, keeping her grip around his wrist, as she throws her legs up around the demon's neck. She twists her whole body, throwing both of them on the ground as she gets the blade from the demon's grip.
She receives an elbow to the face, but she ignores the pain as she slams the angel blade into the demon's chest--killing it.
She looks over to see a demon with its arm around Dean's throat, holding the Winchester's blade away from them. Sam kills his demon, but the one that started the fight kicks him into the wall.
She watches Dean stare at Sam helplessly, Dakota jumps to her feet. She runs toward Sam, slamming her body into the back of the demon. The demon recovers and slashes at Dakota, nicking her cheek.
The Winchester hisses in pain, kicking the demon's chest. Sam slides the blade of a fallen demon, but he wasn't fast enough.
"Dakota!" Dean strains, trying to warn her as the female recovers and tackles Dakota. She pins the Winchester to the ground, raising the blade up. "No!"
Sam attempts to move forward, ignoring the pain that flares up. Dakota yelps as she pushes against the demon, trying to keep it away from her face.
Before Sam could get any further, the demon begins screaming and her veins glow as she dies. Dakota kicks against the ground, scooting far away from the demon and whoever killed it. Her back hits a table, her wide green eyes meet Sam's hazel ones.
Dean elbows the demon off of him, taking the blade and killing it quickly. Relief floods his expression when he notices Dakota's safe, he rushes over and crouches next to her.
They notice Ketch standing there with the now bloodied angel blade. Dean picks Dakota up and places her on her feet, cradling her face and checking her for any injury. She nods her head as he places his thumb against the cut on her lip.
She winces and pulls away from him, assuring him that she's okay.
"H-how did you get out of the armory?" Sam questions Ketch, glancing at Dakota with a concerned look. She nods at Sam, giving him a soft smile. "Y-y-you...chains...." Sam couldn't comprehend Ketch's escape.
"Lock pick." Ketch shrugs like it was obvious. Dakota glares at her uncle as Sam's face turns into shock. "If you'd done the prescribed cavity search, as you should've, you'd have found it."
"You didn't pat him down!?" Dakota hisses.
"I, uh, grabbed some weapons from your toy box and a motorcycle from your garage, et voila." Ketch continues, ignoring Dakota.
"You took my motorcycle?" Dakota complains.
"You can't drive yet." Dean points out under his breath, Dakota just replies with an elbow.
"What's become of your angel?" Ketch asks, glancing over at Dean.
Dean raises his gun, cocking it with a blank expression. His arm was draped across Dakota's shoulders.
"Not sure." Dean seethes, Ketch stares back at the two Winchesters with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow. Sam just looks confused by his family's actions.
"But we are sure about you, Arthur." Dakota continues for her dad. Shock fills Sam's expression, Dakota represses a sigh.
Sam suddenly lunges forward, taking the angel blade from Ketch's hand. He moves to stand next to Dean and Dakota, glaring at Ketch.
"You know, I gotta hand it to you." Dean adds. "That paper trail you cooked up, pretty impressive. But my gut, her gut, they both told us that it was baloney."
"Looks like our guts were right." Dakota sneers.
"See, I've been in it with you, Arthur." Dean drawls. "I've seen your moves. We've gone toe-to-toe. And I saw that look in your eye when you asked about our mom."
"So why don't you cut the crap?" Dakota snaps, her and Dean taking turns cutting into each other's explanation.
"Actually, everything I told you is true." Ketch assures. "Well, except for the, uh, twin brother thing. I am separated from the British Men of Letters, laying low because they will kill me for desertion. I make a rather good living as a sort of soldier of fortune, deep underground, for a certain sort of clientele who appreciate my skill set. And I do use the name 'Alexander.'"
"How the hell are you still alive?" Dakota exclaims.
"I believe you're familiar with the witch Rowena MacLeod?"
"So?" Dean presses, sounding exasperated.
"She was captured by the British Men of Letters some years back." Ketch answers. "I discovered she'd sewn a powerful charm into her body that could bring her back should she be killed. I struck a deal wherein she did the same for me in return for allowing her to escape."
"So after we dumped your body, you--" Sam's cut off by Ketch.
"Good as new. Only problem is, once the device is used, it needs to be recharged."
"Which is why you're hunting for Rowena." Dean and Dakota conclude together, glancing briefly at each other.
"Well, sorry." Dean apologizes sarcastically. "Lucifer burned her up. She's dead."
Ketch's expression changes. "Is she?"
"Why'd you come here?" Dakota couldn't help but ask. "You could've run."
"Did it ever occur to you, Dakota, that I might actually be one of the good guys?"
"No." Dakota states bluntly, dead faced. "Not even once."
"You and I were soldiers in opposing armies who were at war."
"I am not a soldier." Dakota hisses.
"Aren't you, though?" Ketch rebukes.
"Well, the thing about war is, one side wins." Dean spits, raising his gun higher and taking aim.
"I suppose you're right." Ketch drawls before throwing something on the ground.
A loud popping sound followed by an explosion fills the air, the Winchesters grunt as they stumble back. Dakota coughs harshly at the smoke filling the room, Dean fires his gun at Ketch, hitting the man in the shoulder.
They chase after Ketch, shoving against the door that the man blocked with something. The Winchesters finally get through, stumbling over each other. Dean aims at Ketch, ready to fire but the man is moving too fast for him to get a good shot. He lowers his gun, swearing under his breath.
The Winchesters share angered looks.
"I'm going to call Cas." Dakota announces, still worried about the angel.
Dean ushers her back to the Impala, insisting they head home to regroup. Dakota pulls out her phone and presses Castiel's contact.
"Hello, Dakota." Cas greets her.
"Hey, bubba. Are you okay?" She questions him. "We--we--we tried to track you down, but you were gone. We ran into a bunch of demons. What's happening?"
'I'm sorry. I'm fine." Cas assures, his voice sounds a little odd. "I tried to call and warn you guys, but I couldn't get a signal."
"Well, what's going on?" Dakota presses, glancing at Dean in the rear-view mirror.
"I'm following a very interesting lead." Cas informs her, Dakota's eyes narrow as she listens to his voice. He sounds like Cas, but the way he's speaking is completely different than the angel. "I'll fill you in when I know more. See you soon, Dakota."
"Bye, bubba...." Dakota trails off, pressing end call. She looks up at Dean, he glances at her with a furrowed brow.
"What? Is he okay?" Dean asks.
"Uh, yeah, I think so. He just sounded different. Not like himself."
"I'm sure he's fine, bug, maybe he was just busy." Sam tries to assure her, giving her a soft smile. She forces a smile back and nods.
"Hey, dad? Sammy?" Dakota questions.
"Yeah?" The two chorus each other, exchanging brief looks.
"Do you think now that Ketch knows about Jack, that he'll try and kill him?"
"I think that Ketch has always known about Jack, just now he knows that he's important to us." Dean answers slowly, glancing occasionally at the nodding Sam.
"Jack's not going to trust Ketch, especially if he mentions us. Jack's smart, baby, he's going to be fine. We're going to find him before anyone else gets the chance to." Dean reassures her, giving her a smile.
Dakota nods her head slowly, letting Dean's words sink in. She gives her family a smile before laying down, turning her back to them and shutting her eyes.
She's barely aware of a jacket being laid on top of her, the scent that fills her nose tells her that it's Dean's jacket. She mumbles out a 'goodnight' before falling asleep.