Alexandria (Chapter 10 of 13)
Please see the masterpost for warnings, summary, and previous chapters.
Benny sucked down the gooey red drink. “Man, that's outstanding,” he told Kevin, who had just served him. Kevin cringed and edged back half a step. Benny grinned wide, showing an array of sharp, pointed teeth. “Though I must say,” he said thoughtfully, “that jugular vein you got there does look a mite tasty.” Kevin emitted a very small shriek.
“Kevin, it's all right, he's joking,” Dean assured him. “You're joking, right, Benny?”
“Guess maybe I am,” Benny admitted. Kevin, who did not look reassured in the least, skittered over to the doorway to hover as the vampire emitted a belly laugh. Benny turned back to the table where he sat with Naomi, Sam and Dean, and Cas and his brothers, although young Alfie looked far more intrigued by his scorpion than the meal.
“Alfie, you need to put that away and eat now,” Inias urged him. “So you won't be hungry later.”
“I want hot dogs.”
“They may not have hot dogs here,” Inias told him.
“And Jasper needs his lunch,” Alfie protested, indicating his arachnid.
“What does it eat?” Dean asked. “We can ask for something from the kitchen.”
“I think it's supposed to eat insects, but it seems to be okay with small pieces of meat,” Inias told him.
Dean turned to Kevin. “Since you want to get out of here, go grab some scorpion chow.” And Kevin was gone.
“Thank you, Dean,” said Inias. Like Cas, his entire face lit up when he smiled.
“Oh, there are more of them!” exclaimed Pamela as Jess led her in. She walked straight up to a very confused Inias and put a hand to his face. “Mm-hm. Good genetics in this family.”
“But, you're blind,” said Inias.
“Yeah, thanks for the tip, hotshot. No fucking wonder I keep bumping into walls. Jess, why didn't you tell me?”
“Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to offend you,” Inias told her.
“She isn't offended,” Cas assured him. “She is utilizing sarcasm.”
“My cousin is a seer,” Jess explained. “She doesn't need eyes to see.”
“Your eyes can fool you,” said Pamela.
“She is a witch?” asked Naomi, who was standing up. “I can't break bread with such a person!”
Cas was on his feet as well. “Do not insult Pamela in my presence.”
“Okay okay okay,” said Dean, who was now also standing. “Can we not kill each other? Or bite? Or sting? We're gonna sit here, and we're gonna be nice, and we're gonna go through what the fuck is happening up North. Benny?”
Benny smiled and swept a hand between Cas and Naomi. “I dunno, brother, these two in a death match? Might be entertaining. I told you how he beheaded a fella. One stroke!” He mimed slashing with a sword.
“All right,” said Dean. “No swords, and no beheading. Benny, you wanna talk, start talking.”
Benny settled back down and crossed his hands over his stomach. The rest of them, some reluctantly, took their seats as well. “I had heard rumors of Northern types coming to beset folks like myself: folks who are just trying to make a dishonest living.”
“The pirates who attacked us,” said Cas.
“Yep, most likely. Despite this, we kept on making our runs. Our last foray up North, trying to get some more raw materials for you all. During this time, we encountered a group of refugees, including your brothers, Cas. As their story moved me, against my piratical nature, I took pity upon them, and brought them along.”
“You wanted a hostage,” griped Naomi, her eyes dark.
“Well. Maybe a little of that, too, now you mention it.” He tipped his cap at Naomi. “Not that it did me a damn bit of good. We got away, by the skin of my pointy teeth. And made sure they didn't get my ship as a prize!”
“You sunk the Lovely Andrea?” asked Sam.
“She's on the bottom of the Narrow Sea,” Benny told him. He was quiet for a time. Dean reached over and patted his back. “We'll sail again. We'll build her anew. I just need some timber.”
“Oh, yeah, we got a shitload of timber here,” said Dean.
“I'll build her of red rock this time.”
“We could fashion a ship of metal,” said Cas, who was getting a dreamy look in his eye.
Benny turned around to smile at Cas. “The trick, boy, is not to start out on the bottom of the sea.”
“No! There were iron ships before the flood. I've seen them!” He glanced at Dean. “I mean, I've seen pictures.”
Benny smiled a jagged smile. “Well, you get on that then. We'll get back to sea, one way or the other.”
“Meanwhile, we need to find space for your people,” said Dean.
“I have space,” announced Crowley, who had just arrived along with Kevin. “We cull a few and stuff them in a pie.” Kevin nervously approached Alfie and placed a plate with meat scraps before him. Alfie grabbed a knife and cut off tiny pieces of meat.
“Crowley, we're not gonna eat our guests,” Dean told him.
“We'll need to do something to feed all these inevitably hungry bellies, as well as ravenous undead.”
“Undead? I prefer to refer to myself as a blood-sucking sea farer,” said Benny.
“I am pulling my hair out, beloved leader,” Crowley told Dean. “First you put that reprehensible woman in my kitchen....”
“Ellen's run a kitchen for more years than I've been alive,” Dean told him.
“...and now you expect me to be a guardian for that mutant offspring of a kraken and a sowbug. It's tearing up my garden!”
“Is this just the day for everybody to bitch?” sighed Dean.
“Sowbug?” asked Alfie, who had looked up from feeding Jasper.
“You have a captive … sowbug?” asked Inias.
“Long story,” Dean told them. “We picked up one of the Enemy.”
“Wait. You have a creepy crawly? Here?” asked Benny.
Dean grinned. “Just a little one. It's Sammy's.”
“It's a long story,” Sam told Benny.
“What is wrong with you people?” fumed Naomi. “Now you're harboring the Enemy here?”
“Hey, we're harboring you here,” Dean snapped. “And by the way, Crowley is looking for volunteers for Enemy chow.”
“He's found out how to use them. Don't you understand?” asked Naomi. “That's the plan. He has books: all the books. And knows old magic.”
“We know. He used magic on Cas,” said Dean, putting a protective on the bladesmith’s shoulder.
“He killed the rest of the town council back in Lawrence. I saw him! They didn't have time to raise a hand.”
“She’s telling the truth,” said Inias, who still shuddered at the memory.
“Why did he spare you?” Dean asked Naomi.
“I don't know. I honestly don't know. He said he wanted someone around to tell the story. He's insane. And he's figured out old magic with the Enemy.”
“He's not using magic,” said Pamela. “Not with the Enemy.” Her voice was soft, as if she were very far away.
“How would you know, witch?” snapped Naomi.
“I know.”
Sam got up and went to crouch down beside Pamela. He held one of her hands in his. “What you showed us the other day … the Emerald Fort. That was the Enemy.”
“Yes.”
“But it wasn't magic?”
Pamela's white eyes turned to Sam, her expression, imploring. “I don't feel well.” Sam caught her as she sagged.
“Pamela!” shouted Jess, who was at her cousin's side.
“I can sense him. Metatron…” whispered Pamela.
“We're gonna get her to her room,” Sam told Dean. He watched as Sam and Jess helped Pamela out of the room, noticing that Bobby, who was looking quite concerned, hurried along after them.
Dean turned to Cas. “Bring your brothers. I got an idea.”
“We keep it out here,” Kevin explained. “Me and Jo have been watching it.”
“Jo is helping out?” asked Dean, a smile tracing his features.
“She says she'd rather be out here than hanging around with her mom in the kitchen,” Kevin whispered. They entered a small, stone-paved courtyard. Jo was sitting up on a low wall. The small creature that had tunneled into the kitchen was huddled in a corner, in the shade, and appeared to be ripping something apart with its beak.
“I think it's building a nest,” said Jo. She hopped down from the wall and approached Dean and the others. “Hey, Cas,” she said, though her eyes strayed to Inias.
“These are Cas's brothers,” Kevin told her.
“Yeah, I see the resemblance,” she said, sticking her hands deep in her pockets and continuing to gaze at Inias, who shyly smiled back.
“This is Inias,” said Cas. “And, um, this one is Alfie.” He put an affectionate hand in his littlest brother's hair. Alfie, for his part, seemed mesmerized by the Enemy.
“Are you a bladesmith too, Inias?” Jo asked.
Inias puffed with pride. “I was working as an apprentice in my brother's shop. I hope to go on helping him.” He flushed. “Um. If you'd like me to, Castiel?”
Cas beamed at him. “Of course I want you at my side.”
“I wouldn't mind learning too,” Jo said.
Dean guffawed. “You? Working at a smithy?”
Jo glowered at Dean. “Why the hell not?”
“Jo is a little old to start an apprenticeship, but she is smart and knowledgeable,” Cas told Dean.
“See? I'm knowledgeable!” said Jo.
Dean rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Jo. You'd work at it for three days and get bored.”
“I would not.”
“Dean's right,” said Kevin. “It's a dumb idea.”
Jo rounded on him. “Oh, so I should aspire to work as a dishwasher?”
“I’m not a dishwasher. I’m a musician!”
“Alfie!” said Inias, who hurried over to the corner, where, while the adults and teens argued, the youngest De Angelus had gone to huddle with the creature. It had wrapped a thin tentilum around his small arm.
“Samandriel,” said Cas, who was now over there as well.
“She's Cecelia,” said Alfie. “And she likes the shade.”
“Your brother is a bug whisperer, Cas!”
Dean sat down on the bed next to Cas, who was slumped there, head in hands. “I abandoned my brothers, Dean.”
“But now they're here! You guys are all right.”
Cas turned on Dean. “I should have looked for them, Dean. Samandriel won't even look at me any more.”
“He'll get over it. Believe me! I've got a brother, too, remember?” Dean scooted over and tried to put an arm around Cas's shoulders.
Cas jerked away. “Dean. Goddammit. You kidnapped me and brought me here, and instead of doing my duty to my family, I got caught up in things, and I fell in love with you, and I don't know if I can put things right.”
Dean stared at him. “Awesome!”
“What?”
Dean pushed closer again. “You're in love with me. That's pretty cool.”
“Dean,” Cas despaired. “Did you hear anything else I said?”
“No, not really. No.” Dean leaned in for the kiss. After a brief moment of token resistance, Cas kissed back.
“You are really impossible, you know?” said Cas as Dean still held his face in one hand.
“I know, I know.”
There was a pounding on the door. “Not now Sammy!” Dean shouted.
“How the hell did you know it was me?” came Sam's voice from the other side.
“I know your knock. And your rotten timing.”
“You gotta get out here, Dean. Now!”
“What the hell is it now? Is Lucifer knocking?”
“No. It's worse!”
“You remember the Reverend Jim, don't you, Dean?” said John, presenting a smiling grey-haired man.
“Yes. Hey, Rev. Jim,” said Dean dutifully.
And this is Dean's friend, Castiel De Angelus,” said John.
“Oh, so you're Cas!” said Rev. Jim. “I've heard so much about you.”
“You have?” asked a very confused Cas.
“Your family makes swords?” asked Rev. Jim.
“Yes.”
“All right. Enough!” said Dean, stepping between them and pulling a flustered Castiel out of Jim's reach.
“Dean,” said John. “You need to make arrangements! I understand your brother has found someone.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “And how the hell do you know that?” demanded Dean. “I heard you split after he disappeared!”
“Your daddy knows because I told him,” said a dark-skinned woman who had been viewing the whole scene with a knowing expression.
“Missouri,” grumbled Dean.
Missouri strode forward and grabbed Cas by the chin. “He is a nice looking boy. A little scrawny. Haven't they been feeding you, honey?”
“I worked in the kitchen, in actuality,” Cas told her.
“You still have that scoundrel Crowley cooking here? Let me make a dish or two for you, fatten you up. You need to grow up to that voice.”
“I wouldn't go into Crowley's kitchen just now,” laughed Sam. “He's grumpy enough stepping around Ellen.”
“Ellen Harvelle?” asked John. “Is she here?”
“I thought you knew everything,” Dean told his father.
“I know everything, doll,” said Missouri. “I just tell your Daddy what he needs to know.”
“You should have told me about Ellen,” said John.
“Uh, Dad,” said Sam as Jess came into the room, leading Pamela. “This is Jess.”
“What the hell is she doing here?” spat Pamela, pointing across the room.
“What the hell is who doing here?” asked Dean.
“She means me,” said Missouri, narrowing her eyes. “Hello again, Pammy.”
“Don't call me that, you old fraud!”
“Hmpf.”
“I will not stay under the same roof with this quack!” raved Pamela.
“I have more psychic power in one fingernail than you do in your whole body, sugar,” Missouri retorted.
“Wait, how do you even know each other?” Sam asked, looking back and forth between the two feuding psychics.
“Every time I try to scry, there she is, nosing into my business!” sniffed Pamela.
“Who’s nosy, honey?” scoffed Missouri.
Victor poked his head into the room. “Boss, can I interrupt?”
“Please!” said Dean. He accompanied Victor out of the room, Sam following them. “We can't find the bug's - I mean Cecelia's - mother.”
Dean huffed in frustration. “You went back to where you and Sam saw her before?” Victor nodded. “Shit, I can't believe I'm calling one of those things a ‘she.’”
“No. Ash and I have been staking it out, but no luck, no sign of her.”
Dean stood and thought. “What if we go back to where Jess found Sam?”
“That's a long way,” said Sam. “And how the heck do we transport, er, Cecelia?”
“Well, she got here somehow! Look, I personally volunteer to go.”
“Can I personally volunteer to accompany you?” sighed Sam.
Dean nodded and started to walk off. “Sam, do you have any idea what the hell is between Missouri and Pamela?”
“I dunno. What's up between Rufus and Bobby?” Sam shrugged. “I imagine I'll get an earful tonight.”
Dean found Cas and Inias working in the forge. He stood for a while and watched the brothers, both pictures of intensity, their heads close together, examining a sword. Inias was applying a spell to a newly forged blade, so Dean kept his peace at the door to let the young man give it a try. He grinned as the room began to crackle with magical electricity, and then there was the bright light as the magic burned into the newly forged steel.
Cas picked up the blade with tongs and, as he quenched it, whispered something to his brother, who positively glowed with pride. It was pretty clear to Dean that despite their long separation, Inias worshipped Castiel. Cas pulled the new blade from the oil bath, and turned to Dean.
“Hope I’m not interrupting!” Dean told them.
“Inias was just trying his hand at a finishing spell.”
“Oh. Is he any good?” asked Dean playfully.
“He will be outdoing me very soon.”
Inias flushed red. It was pretty cute. “Oh, no. I’ll never surpass you, Castiel.”
Dean grinned. “I remember when my little brother would talk like that. It’s been a while. A long while.”
“Can I take a break now, Castiel? Jo is teaching me to ride horses!”
“Better you than me,” said Cas. And with a nod, Inias was out the door.
Dean watched him go. “You’ve got him working for you now?”
“Yes, he is assisting me.”
“You want to keep him on as an apprentice?”
Cas turned his head to stare at Dean. “Am I allowed to do that? I know that the fort is getting crowded.”
“Of course! He’s family. He and Alfie can stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you, Dean.”
“And you’re staying around too, right?”
Cas thought about it for an uncomfortably long time. Finally he said, “My brothers were the first thing on my mind, of course. And now that I have them near, I am much relieved. Even though they are somewhat … estranged.”
“No, Cas, you guys are not estranged! You haven’t seen each other for a while, and they’re young, so it’s probably uncomfortable right now. But look, you’re all together now, going on an outing together, you’ll get to spend time together….”
“Should I point out that Alfie is tending to his pet crawlie-bug, and Inias seems much more interested in Ellen’s daughter?”
“Dude, that’s how little brothers behave. It’s what they’re supposed to do. They’re being kids.”
“You think so?”
“Sam was just like them. Well, maybe not the whole having scorpions as a pet thing. But he’ll go off and do his own thing, and you don’t think he even remembers he has a big brother here. And then he’ll scrape a knee, or get into a fight with the girlfriend, and there he is again.”
“Sam still comes to you?”
Dean waggled his head. “Not as much as he used to. But yeah, he knows I’m there for him. It’s always been that way. Dad’s just not around much. I used to wonder about it, but I guess I’ve come to the conclusion he’s just not the type.” Dean frowned, growing thoughtful.
Cas paused before he spoke, steeling himself. “Dean, I feel an obligation to return home. To reclaim my inheritance.”
“Yeah, we could do that.”
Cas’s head went into its confused tilt. “We?”
“Sure! After we get Benny situated with a new ship, we’ll get across the Narrow Sea and grab your business from whoever the hell Metatron gave it to.”
“You intend to accompany me?”
“Should be fun! I’ve never been to the North.”
“Don’t you have obligations here?”
“I do. But look, we’ve gone away to Alexandria, and nothing disastrous happened, right? My dad’s here, and so is Bobby. And Sam is getting old enough too.”
“And what will you do in Lawrence, Dean? That is, when I am conducting my business?”
A smile crept onto Dean's lips. “Huh. I guess I’ll try and stay out of trouble.”
Cas sat back, a pensive look on his face. “Perhaps….”
“What?”
“Perhaps I should set up Inias and Samandriel to run the business. And … I could come back here?”
“That would work!” said Dean. “So, you know we’re gonna take off for a couple days?”
“Yes, to find the Sapphire Fort. Inias has already asked if he can accompany you. I’ve told him that he has my approval.”
Dean looked at the floor. “Aren't you coming along too?”
“My place is here, preparing our armaments.”
“You could take a day off. I could order you to take a day off.”
“Dean-“
“Yeah, I know. I know. We’ve both got obligations.”
“I’ll be here when you get back.”
Dean stepped forward, grabbing Cas’s belt and pulling him close. “You’re here now.”
Cas smiled. He reached over and laid down his tongs, and then draped his arms over Dean’s shoulders. “You are impossible, you know.”
“I know. I know.”
They placed Cecilia on an old trailer and Dean drove the truck it was hitched to. Kevin road shotgun, and the various “bug tenders,” Jo, Inias and Alfie, rode in the back with the Cecilia. Sam drove Jess and Pamela in the Impala up ahead. It was admittedly unusual for both Sam and Dean to be absent from the Red Fort at the same time, but Dean decided it was warranted as their father was still in residence, though there was no telling how long he would linger. Dean found himself half hoping John would be gone by the time they returned.
Kevin looked out the back window for the tenth time that hour, leading Dean to comment. “I think she’s all right back there.”
Kevin nervously glanced back once again, viewing the big crawlie-bug now draped under an old blanket. “Oh! Yeah, I think it’s fine.”
“You weren’t looking at our guest,” Dean noted. He glanced up into the rear view mirror, tilting it around for a good look. Alfie had fallen asleep next to the bug, resting on the blanket and snoring contentedly. It was like a kid and his dog. If the dog had been the size of a baby rhino. With tentacles.
On the opposite side, Jo sat beside Inias. They were chatting about something, and sitting a just a little bit too close.
Dean grinned. “Cas’s little brother is making friends fast.”
Kevin looked flushed. “Is that … appropriate?”
“It’s normal behavior. Believe me.”
Kevin looked dubious.
“You sweet on Jo?” Dean teased.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“I’ll tell you a secret. When she was a kid, she had a little crush on me.”
“You?” asked Kevin. Dean nodded. “Ew!”
Dean threw his head back and laughed.
“I mean,” Kevin backpedaled. “You’re like a million years old.”
“Thanks,” said Dean. “But look, let me tell you about Jo. She’s always known what she likes. And she’s not afraid of how it looks, or if anybody else approves or disapproves.”
“She likes knives. And guys who make them.”
“I just bet there are girls who like guys who play cello!”
Kevin stared at Dean. “What? Way the fuck out here?”
“Hey, check out Pam backseat driving.” They both looked up ahead, where Pamela was leaning over the back seat, pointing up ahead. She, Sam and Jess appeared to all be chattering.
“What do you think is going on?”
“Haha. Sam is trying to tell her there isn’t a road in the direction she’s pointing. I bet she wins the argument anyway.”
Castiel stood up on the roof and watched until Dean’s vehicle disappeared over the horizon, now, too late, regretting he did not relent to Dean’s continued blandishments and go along with them. It left a small empty place in his heart, being separated from his brothers so soon after finding them again. And, needless to say, Dean’s outrageously large bed seemed empty without Dean’s presence. He wondered, not for the first time, how he had gotten so attached so quickly. For so long his whole world had revolved around his little family. And now it seemed his family had grown by leaps and bounds.
“Hey, dude, you wanna play cards?”
Cas broke into a smile as Ash and Victor approached. “It’s very good to see you recovered, Ash.”
“Hey, nothing can keep me down,” said Ash with a big grin.
“We got a good game going,” Victor told him. “Benny is trying to win enough money to build a new ship.”
“I suppose I will be contributing heavily to the fund,” sighed Cas, as Victor slapped him on the back and led him down the stairs.
“I don't believe this.” Dean had spent the afternoon just wandering around the remains of the Sapphire Fort. They had taken a couple of wrong turns, but they had finally arrived an hour ago. Unlike Dean’s family home, the Red Fort, had been carved out of a mountain, this place had been erected smack in the middle of the desolate plains, each stone painstakingly dragged or magicked from a quarry far away. Even with the main wall shattered and broken it remained impressive, a fallen giant, larger even than the great Onyx Fort.
“This was supposed to be another fairy tale. Like a bug's hoard.”
“I found the bug's hoard,” said Sam, with a smile.
“What do you think happened?” asked Dean. “Was it an earthquake?”
Sam pointed, and Dean squinted across the desert. A part of the wall and the structure behind had crumbled. It looked as if it had been hit by a giant hammer. “If you look closely you can just see the remains of the crater.”
Dean stared at the territory surrounding the ruins. “So, you think it was the Enemy?”
“Yeah. It looks like it's the same as what happened to the Emerald Fort. At least in Pam's scrying. I’ve tried searching the records for it before. This must have happened generations before we arrived on the scene. It was abandoned over time, and nobody ever kept very good records. I guess when Jess and Pam's family was the only one remaining here, they laid down a bunch of misdirection spells to keep people away. But Pamela says she had to disable most of them for them to bring me back. That's the only way we found our way here.”
Sam wandered over towards the most damaged part of the facility, and Dean followed him. “If this is near a tunnel entrance, it could be that the creature undermined the foundation by mistake.”
“You mean when it was tunneling around?” asked Dean. “So basically this place was built too close to a bug highway.”
Sam ducked inside one of the rooms. Dean shrugged and went in after him. After all, he was curious as well. “Oh, shit!” he said as his eyes adjusted. “I see why they abandoned it!”
Sam was looking around as well. As things didn’t tend to rust out here, the metal components, though damaged, were still recognizable. “Was this the generator?”
“Bingo. The main generator. I didn’t pick up on it from outside. The Red Fort has an old generator room like this.”
“An old generator room? I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. It was redesigned, centuries ago. See? You can tell how the venting is going out the side of the wall here?” Dean approached a stretch of wall that was still mostly intact and stuck a hand in one of the slits cut there. “There’s an old wives tale - one I think is true - that the Enemy is attracted to the fumes. That’s why you only run cars on highways. So, for the generators, we vent everything upwards now.”
“Dean. The generator at Ellen and Jo’s outpost: is it possible that’s why it was attacked?”
“No, no way. That’s a smart idea, but Ellen had it all set up right. And that wasn’t even the part of the building they hit.”
“Then I wonder what happened?”
“I guess we’re all wondering that. One thing I know, Lucifer helped it along.”
“We’re gonna look around!” Jo announced, tugging on Inias’s hand. Pamela had said she was going to do something called a scrying, and it sounded interesting, but Inias thought it might be nice to go along with Jo. He hadn’t expected to like the South too much, but it was kind of exciting here. First there had been pirates - actual vampire pirates - and then he’d found his big brother again, and then there were real live monsters here!
And then there was Jo, who liked to talk about swords, and made him feel sort of fluttery in his stomach. She kept hold of his hand as they walked out. “Stay in sight of the building!” Jess yelled after them. So now they were going to walk around an abandoned fort.
“Scrying is boring,” grumbled Kevin, who always seemed to tag along, and always seemed to be in a bad mood. Life wasn’t quite perfect.
“Pam wants to talk to Bobby,” said Jo, as if this held some deep significance.
“Ew, gross,” said Kevin. “He’s like a million years old.”
“Why shouldn’t she want to talk to him?” Inias asked.
“He’s so old,” explained Kevin.
“He’s a good guy,” Jo shot back.
“He’s too old for her.”
“Should she date you instead?” Jo giggled.
Oh. It finally made sense. Inias stopped before a broken place in the wall. “I wonder what this is?” he said, almost to himself.
“It doesn’t look like they use this part anymore,” said Jo.
Inias nodded and slipped inside.
“Hey, I don’t think we’re supposed to go in this part,” Kevin scolded.
“They said to keep in sight of the building!” said Jo, who then darted inside. Kevin, despite his objections, sighed and went after them.
“It’s pretty dark,” said Kevin. Inias spotted some dried branches on the floor. He twisted them together, and then, taking out a lighter, lit the top to create an improvised torch. Jo grinned, and, when Inias reached back his hand to her, she took it. He found he liked the feeling of her small hand in his. He smiled and led the way, Kevin a small dark cloud taking up the back.
They came to a very large room that looked mostly still intact. Inias’s heart raced when he saw the anvil. “Oh! Do you know what this is?”
“A big, scary room?” asked Kevin.
“This is the smithy! And it’s mostly intact.” He was moving around the room now, checking out the forge.
“You think you could still use it?” Jo asked.
“We’d have to make sure everything was ventilated. Get some lighting in here. But, yeah!”
Kevin sighed. “You come out here and you wanna make swords? Isn’t that your job?”
Inias stopped and studied his grumpy friend. He tilted his head. “We could look for the main kitchen.”
“I hate the fucking kitchen!”
Inias looked at Jo, who rolled her eyes. “You could come work with us, in the forge?”
“I need to be careful with my fingers.” Kevin held up his hands, wiggling his digits. “I’m a musician.”
“I guess I don’t understand. What does music do?”
“What do you mean what does it do? It’s beautiful!”
Inias shrugged. “We should get back. We need to tell Dean about this, so he can tell my brother.”
Kevin shook his head, turned, and started to make his way back out, cursing as he barked his shin on a piece of broken wall.
“After my brother finishes training me, I can run a shop of my own,” Inias told Jo quietly.
“I could help,” Jo told him.
“Yeah, you’d be great!”
One thing Cas had learned in his time at the Red Fort, it was fruitless to draw to an inside straight.
He sat down his cards and sighed, having already contributed, he thought, more than his share to Benny’s ship building fund.
“I think I’ll go down to the kitchen for something to eat,” said Cas. “Can I bring you anything?”
“I can’t believe Crowley likes you,” laughed Victor.
“That rascal don’t like nobody,” said Benny, who was gloating, though not too badly, over his winnings. “If’n he has some type B negative, I wouldn’t object.”
“He doesn’t have human blood, Benny,” laughed Ash.
“And how do you know?” asked Benny.
“Cas worked down there! Cas knows better!”
“Benny, would B positive be acceptable?” Cas asked, completely straight-faced.
“Maybe a little AB positive?” said Benny.
“I will check.”
Ash stared, open-mouthed, as Cas left the room, struggling to hide his smile. “You guys are shining us!” he heard Ash demand of Benny.
Cas made his way downstairs to his old stomping grounds, the kitchen complex. It was between meal services, so it was relatively empty. After greeting people he knew, Cas grabbed a tray and began to fill it up with bread and cheese and sausages.
“Come to steal more of my staff?” barked Crowley.
Cas nodded to his old boss. “Chef. You didn’t object when I sent you that new cutlery.”
“True, I will always forgive you for your knife fixation. Which, by the way, I find ridiculously attractive. If you should ever dump that Winchester boy….”
“Not likely.”
Crowley leaned closer. “So, what word about Lucifer’s whereabouts?”
“You know as much as I do.”
“Likely I know more. I used to work for that miscreant.”
“There’s no new movement. I wonder if he has given up?”
“No,” said Crowley. “Believe me. I know the man all too well. Lucifer will never give up. Not ‘til he’s got what he wants.”
“Aiiii!” Dean had literally jumped when he felt the tentacles curl around his leg. He turned around to see Cecelia the crawly-bug looking up at him.
“I think they don't see very well,” said Sam, who had just arrived with the others. “They spend a lot of time in the dark. That's why she likes to touch you.”
“I … don't like it,” said Dean, who nevertheless squatted down and reached out a hand, like you would to a dog. Her sensitive front feelers glided over his arm and up to his face. Then she poked his side, and Dean emitted a strangled gasp and fell on his butt.
While the creature hovered over him, wiggling tentacles, Sam rushed over to help him up. “Did she sting you?”
“Ticklish,” sputtered Dean. “No, I'm all right,” he told Cecelia as the rest of the crowd giggled.
“If you’re through clowning around, I think we're ready to head out,” said Sam.
“Are we all going?” Dean asked.
“I'm staying here,” said Pamela. “I've been trying to set up contact with Bobby. And it hasn't been working. Maybe when it's quiet.”
“Bobby, huh?” said Dean, wagging an eyebrow at Sam.
“Hey, I saw that,” Pamela told him.
“Saw what?”
Pamela shook her head and let Jess lead her back into the building while Cecilia and her young keepers turned and began to walk out in to the desert.
Dean hung back a moment. He looked over at Sam. “Last time we tried this, didn't end too well, I guess.” Sam sighed.
They walked for what seemed like hours in the bright sun. Dean checked his watch and realized it was only half an hour. He was unfamiliar with this territory, and that put him on edge.
“This is it,” Sam finally said. “This is where Jess found me.” Cecilia appeared to be getting excited, although Dean wasn't really certain. She was skittering around in circles, kind of like a dog would do. If you had a dog with twenty legs and tentacles that is. And then she dashed away.
“Alfie! Wait!”
Dean turned to see Sam running off after Cas’s little brother, who had in turn set off after Cecilia when she suddenly bolted. “Everybody, stay put!” Dean yelled.
As Dean ran after Sam and Alfie, he noticed Jo had thrown protective arms out blocking both Inias and Kevin from going forward. Maybe Kevin has a chance after all, he thought.
He crested a dune in time to see Sam tackle Alfie to prevent him from disappearing down a hole in the middle of a small rock formation. “Cecilia!” screamed Alfie, who was clawing at Sam's arm. “She's my friend!” he protested.
There was a distant rumble.
“Get up. Up on those rocks. Now!” shouted Dean, who was already climbing.
“But we wanna talk to the mommy!” protested Alfie.
“Yeah. From the outside this time. Sam!”
Sam had hefted Alfie over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran frantically towards the formation. There were already little hillocks forming in the sand at the bottom of the depression. Dean grabbed Alfie and pulled him up, and then held out a hand to Sam and dragged him up as well. Sam clambered to the top, and caught Alfie in a hug. But the boy seemed to have quit struggling, and was now gazing in awe at the boiling ground below.
The ground started to vibrate. “Fuck, it's a big one,” said Dean. “Everybody! Down!”
The insomnia had come upon Bobby Singer in his sixth decade of life. If he had been the philosophical type, he was not, he would have regarded it as perhaps karmic penance for a youth spent as someone who could fall asleep atop a mountain of rocks while a smith hammered nearby.
At three am, more or less, every night, and then continuing until the crack of dawn, his restless mind would awaken.
After a month or so of tossing and turning, Bobby, being the practical sort, had given up fighting the early morning restlessness, and instead used it as an opportunity for an early morning patrol of the grounds. It was a good time to catch lookouts on swing shift who had nodded off. It was actually a pleasant experience: Bobby loved kicking the snoozing bastards in the shin and seeing them fall all over themselves. Served them right for tossing back too many glasses of wine at dinner.
He thought he had found one, up on the north section of the roof. He trod carefully, so his boots wouldn't squeak and give away the game. This one seemed awfully still, actually.
Bobby crept closer and gave the guy's shoulder a good shake.
There was soft thud as he fell over.
“Soldier?” said Bobby softly.
He knelt down beside the man, and rolled him over. That's when he saw the bloody gash where the guy's neck had been slashed ear to ear.
“Balls.”
Fast as his aching legs could carry him he hurried down the stairs and then back up to the position of the next nearest sentry. He found the man slumped over, again with a gash to his throat.
He leaned over to examine the wound, touching a finger to the man’s neck. On the edges of the wound the skin was red and burnt, a sure sign of a blade that had been magicked.
Bobby’s mind reeled. He pushed down his regret over fallen comrades: time enough for that later. Somebody had penetrated their defenses with magic-powered weaponry. There might not be time to sound an alert. And they were present overstocked with civilians, but short-handed on troops. Especially with the Winchester brothers off on some bug hunt, he didn’t reckon they had the manpower for a full on battle right now.
Pushing down the panic rising in his belly, Bobby hurried back down into the building and towards John Winchester’s room. After a quick scan up and down the corridor, he knocked softly, and entered when he heard the muffled response from the other side of the door.
Bobby entered the darkened room. “John? We got a problem.”
“Yes. You do.”
Stars burst in Bobby’s field of vision, and he slumped to the floor as the world went black.
NEXT
Benny sucked down the gooey red drink. “Man, that's outstanding,” he told Kevin, who had just served him. Kevin cringed and edged back half a step. Benny grinned wide, showing an array of sharp, pointed teeth. “Though I must say,” he said thoughtfully, “that jugular vein you got there does look a mite tasty.” Kevin emitted a very small shriek.
“Kevin, it's all right, he's joking,” Dean assured him. “You're joking, right, Benny?”
“Guess maybe I am,” Benny admitted. Kevin, who did not look reassured in the least, skittered over to the doorway to hover as the vampire emitted a belly laugh. Benny turned back to the table where he sat with Naomi, Sam and Dean, and Cas and his brothers, although young Alfie looked far more intrigued by his scorpion than the meal.
“Alfie, you need to put that away and eat now,” Inias urged him. “So you won't be hungry later.”
“I want hot dogs.”
“They may not have hot dogs here,” Inias told him.
“And Jasper needs his lunch,” Alfie protested, indicating his arachnid.
“What does it eat?” Dean asked. “We can ask for something from the kitchen.”
“I think it's supposed to eat insects, but it seems to be okay with small pieces of meat,” Inias told him.
Dean turned to Kevin. “Since you want to get out of here, go grab some scorpion chow.” And Kevin was gone.
“Thank you, Dean,” said Inias. Like Cas, his entire face lit up when he smiled.
“Oh, there are more of them!” exclaimed Pamela as Jess led her in. She walked straight up to a very confused Inias and put a hand to his face. “Mm-hm. Good genetics in this family.”
“But, you're blind,” said Inias.
“Yeah, thanks for the tip, hotshot. No fucking wonder I keep bumping into walls. Jess, why didn't you tell me?”
“Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to offend you,” Inias told her.
“She isn't offended,” Cas assured him. “She is utilizing sarcasm.”
“My cousin is a seer,” Jess explained. “She doesn't need eyes to see.”
“Your eyes can fool you,” said Pamela.
“She is a witch?” asked Naomi, who was standing up. “I can't break bread with such a person!”
Cas was on his feet as well. “Do not insult Pamela in my presence.”
“Okay okay okay,” said Dean, who was now also standing. “Can we not kill each other? Or bite? Or sting? We're gonna sit here, and we're gonna be nice, and we're gonna go through what the fuck is happening up North. Benny?”
Benny smiled and swept a hand between Cas and Naomi. “I dunno, brother, these two in a death match? Might be entertaining. I told you how he beheaded a fella. One stroke!” He mimed slashing with a sword.
“All right,” said Dean. “No swords, and no beheading. Benny, you wanna talk, start talking.”
Benny settled back down and crossed his hands over his stomach. The rest of them, some reluctantly, took their seats as well. “I had heard rumors of Northern types coming to beset folks like myself: folks who are just trying to make a dishonest living.”
“The pirates who attacked us,” said Cas.
“Yep, most likely. Despite this, we kept on making our runs. Our last foray up North, trying to get some more raw materials for you all. During this time, we encountered a group of refugees, including your brothers, Cas. As their story moved me, against my piratical nature, I took pity upon them, and brought them along.”
“You wanted a hostage,” griped Naomi, her eyes dark.
“Well. Maybe a little of that, too, now you mention it.” He tipped his cap at Naomi. “Not that it did me a damn bit of good. We got away, by the skin of my pointy teeth. And made sure they didn't get my ship as a prize!”
“You sunk the Lovely Andrea?” asked Sam.
“She's on the bottom of the Narrow Sea,” Benny told him. He was quiet for a time. Dean reached over and patted his back. “We'll sail again. We'll build her anew. I just need some timber.”
“Oh, yeah, we got a shitload of timber here,” said Dean.
“I'll build her of red rock this time.”
“We could fashion a ship of metal,” said Cas, who was getting a dreamy look in his eye.
Benny turned around to smile at Cas. “The trick, boy, is not to start out on the bottom of the sea.”
“No! There were iron ships before the flood. I've seen them!” He glanced at Dean. “I mean, I've seen pictures.”
Benny smiled a jagged smile. “Well, you get on that then. We'll get back to sea, one way or the other.”
“Meanwhile, we need to find space for your people,” said Dean.
“I have space,” announced Crowley, who had just arrived along with Kevin. “We cull a few and stuff them in a pie.” Kevin nervously approached Alfie and placed a plate with meat scraps before him. Alfie grabbed a knife and cut off tiny pieces of meat.
“Crowley, we're not gonna eat our guests,” Dean told him.
“We'll need to do something to feed all these inevitably hungry bellies, as well as ravenous undead.”
“Undead? I prefer to refer to myself as a blood-sucking sea farer,” said Benny.
“I am pulling my hair out, beloved leader,” Crowley told Dean. “First you put that reprehensible woman in my kitchen....”
“Ellen's run a kitchen for more years than I've been alive,” Dean told him.
“...and now you expect me to be a guardian for that mutant offspring of a kraken and a sowbug. It's tearing up my garden!”
“Is this just the day for everybody to bitch?” sighed Dean.
“Sowbug?” asked Alfie, who had looked up from feeding Jasper.
“You have a captive … sowbug?” asked Inias.
“Long story,” Dean told them. “We picked up one of the Enemy.”
“Wait. You have a creepy crawly? Here?” asked Benny.
Dean grinned. “Just a little one. It's Sammy's.”
“It's a long story,” Sam told Benny.
“What is wrong with you people?” fumed Naomi. “Now you're harboring the Enemy here?”
“Hey, we're harboring you here,” Dean snapped. “And by the way, Crowley is looking for volunteers for Enemy chow.”
“He's found out how to use them. Don't you understand?” asked Naomi. “That's the plan. He has books: all the books. And knows old magic.”
“We know. He used magic on Cas,” said Dean, putting a protective on the bladesmith’s shoulder.
“He killed the rest of the town council back in Lawrence. I saw him! They didn't have time to raise a hand.”
“She’s telling the truth,” said Inias, who still shuddered at the memory.
“Why did he spare you?” Dean asked Naomi.
“I don't know. I honestly don't know. He said he wanted someone around to tell the story. He's insane. And he's figured out old magic with the Enemy.”
“He's not using magic,” said Pamela. “Not with the Enemy.” Her voice was soft, as if she were very far away.
“How would you know, witch?” snapped Naomi.
“I know.”
Sam got up and went to crouch down beside Pamela. He held one of her hands in his. “What you showed us the other day … the Emerald Fort. That was the Enemy.”
“Yes.”
“But it wasn't magic?”
Pamela's white eyes turned to Sam, her expression, imploring. “I don't feel well.” Sam caught her as she sagged.
“Pamela!” shouted Jess, who was at her cousin's side.
“I can sense him. Metatron…” whispered Pamela.
“We're gonna get her to her room,” Sam told Dean. He watched as Sam and Jess helped Pamela out of the room, noticing that Bobby, who was looking quite concerned, hurried along after them.
Dean turned to Cas. “Bring your brothers. I got an idea.”
“We keep it out here,” Kevin explained. “Me and Jo have been watching it.”
“Jo is helping out?” asked Dean, a smile tracing his features.
“She says she'd rather be out here than hanging around with her mom in the kitchen,” Kevin whispered. They entered a small, stone-paved courtyard. Jo was sitting up on a low wall. The small creature that had tunneled into the kitchen was huddled in a corner, in the shade, and appeared to be ripping something apart with its beak.
“I think it's building a nest,” said Jo. She hopped down from the wall and approached Dean and the others. “Hey, Cas,” she said, though her eyes strayed to Inias.
“These are Cas's brothers,” Kevin told her.
“Yeah, I see the resemblance,” she said, sticking her hands deep in her pockets and continuing to gaze at Inias, who shyly smiled back.
“This is Inias,” said Cas. “And, um, this one is Alfie.” He put an affectionate hand in his littlest brother's hair. Alfie, for his part, seemed mesmerized by the Enemy.
“Are you a bladesmith too, Inias?” Jo asked.
Inias puffed with pride. “I was working as an apprentice in my brother's shop. I hope to go on helping him.” He flushed. “Um. If you'd like me to, Castiel?”
Cas beamed at him. “Of course I want you at my side.”
“I wouldn't mind learning too,” Jo said.
Dean guffawed. “You? Working at a smithy?”
Jo glowered at Dean. “Why the hell not?”
“Jo is a little old to start an apprenticeship, but she is smart and knowledgeable,” Cas told Dean.
“See? I'm knowledgeable!” said Jo.
Dean rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Jo. You'd work at it for three days and get bored.”
“I would not.”
“Dean's right,” said Kevin. “It's a dumb idea.”
Jo rounded on him. “Oh, so I should aspire to work as a dishwasher?”
“I’m not a dishwasher. I’m a musician!”
“Alfie!” said Inias, who hurried over to the corner, where, while the adults and teens argued, the youngest De Angelus had gone to huddle with the creature. It had wrapped a thin tentilum around his small arm.
“Samandriel,” said Cas, who was now over there as well.
“She's Cecelia,” said Alfie. “And she likes the shade.”
“Your brother is a bug whisperer, Cas!”
Dean sat down on the bed next to Cas, who was slumped there, head in hands. “I abandoned my brothers, Dean.”
“But now they're here! You guys are all right.”
Cas turned on Dean. “I should have looked for them, Dean. Samandriel won't even look at me any more.”
“He'll get over it. Believe me! I've got a brother, too, remember?” Dean scooted over and tried to put an arm around Cas's shoulders.
Cas jerked away. “Dean. Goddammit. You kidnapped me and brought me here, and instead of doing my duty to my family, I got caught up in things, and I fell in love with you, and I don't know if I can put things right.”
Dean stared at him. “Awesome!”
“What?”
Dean pushed closer again. “You're in love with me. That's pretty cool.”
“Dean,” Cas despaired. “Did you hear anything else I said?”
“No, not really. No.” Dean leaned in for the kiss. After a brief moment of token resistance, Cas kissed back.
“You are really impossible, you know?” said Cas as Dean still held his face in one hand.
“I know, I know.”
There was a pounding on the door. “Not now Sammy!” Dean shouted.
“How the hell did you know it was me?” came Sam's voice from the other side.
“I know your knock. And your rotten timing.”
“You gotta get out here, Dean. Now!”
“What the hell is it now? Is Lucifer knocking?”
“No. It's worse!”
“You remember the Reverend Jim, don't you, Dean?” said John, presenting a smiling grey-haired man.
“Yes. Hey, Rev. Jim,” said Dean dutifully.
And this is Dean's friend, Castiel De Angelus,” said John.
“Oh, so you're Cas!” said Rev. Jim. “I've heard so much about you.”
“You have?” asked a very confused Cas.
“Your family makes swords?” asked Rev. Jim.
“Yes.”
“All right. Enough!” said Dean, stepping between them and pulling a flustered Castiel out of Jim's reach.
“Dean,” said John. “You need to make arrangements! I understand your brother has found someone.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “And how the hell do you know that?” demanded Dean. “I heard you split after he disappeared!”
“Your daddy knows because I told him,” said a dark-skinned woman who had been viewing the whole scene with a knowing expression.
“Missouri,” grumbled Dean.
Missouri strode forward and grabbed Cas by the chin. “He is a nice looking boy. A little scrawny. Haven't they been feeding you, honey?”
“I worked in the kitchen, in actuality,” Cas told her.
“You still have that scoundrel Crowley cooking here? Let me make a dish or two for you, fatten you up. You need to grow up to that voice.”
“I wouldn't go into Crowley's kitchen just now,” laughed Sam. “He's grumpy enough stepping around Ellen.”
“Ellen Harvelle?” asked John. “Is she here?”
“I thought you knew everything,” Dean told his father.
“I know everything, doll,” said Missouri. “I just tell your Daddy what he needs to know.”
“You should have told me about Ellen,” said John.
“Uh, Dad,” said Sam as Jess came into the room, leading Pamela. “This is Jess.”
“What the hell is she doing here?” spat Pamela, pointing across the room.
“What the hell is who doing here?” asked Dean.
“She means me,” said Missouri, narrowing her eyes. “Hello again, Pammy.”
“Don't call me that, you old fraud!”
“Hmpf.”
“I will not stay under the same roof with this quack!” raved Pamela.
“I have more psychic power in one fingernail than you do in your whole body, sugar,” Missouri retorted.
“Wait, how do you even know each other?” Sam asked, looking back and forth between the two feuding psychics.
“Every time I try to scry, there she is, nosing into my business!” sniffed Pamela.
“Who’s nosy, honey?” scoffed Missouri.
Victor poked his head into the room. “Boss, can I interrupt?”
“Please!” said Dean. He accompanied Victor out of the room, Sam following them. “We can't find the bug's - I mean Cecelia's - mother.”
Dean huffed in frustration. “You went back to where you and Sam saw her before?” Victor nodded. “Shit, I can't believe I'm calling one of those things a ‘she.’”
“No. Ash and I have been staking it out, but no luck, no sign of her.”
Dean stood and thought. “What if we go back to where Jess found Sam?”
“That's a long way,” said Sam. “And how the heck do we transport, er, Cecelia?”
“Well, she got here somehow! Look, I personally volunteer to go.”
“Can I personally volunteer to accompany you?” sighed Sam.
Dean nodded and started to walk off. “Sam, do you have any idea what the hell is between Missouri and Pamela?”
“I dunno. What's up between Rufus and Bobby?” Sam shrugged. “I imagine I'll get an earful tonight.”
Dean found Cas and Inias working in the forge. He stood for a while and watched the brothers, both pictures of intensity, their heads close together, examining a sword. Inias was applying a spell to a newly forged blade, so Dean kept his peace at the door to let the young man give it a try. He grinned as the room began to crackle with magical electricity, and then there was the bright light as the magic burned into the newly forged steel.
Cas picked up the blade with tongs and, as he quenched it, whispered something to his brother, who positively glowed with pride. It was pretty clear to Dean that despite their long separation, Inias worshipped Castiel. Cas pulled the new blade from the oil bath, and turned to Dean.
“Hope I’m not interrupting!” Dean told them.
“Inias was just trying his hand at a finishing spell.”
“Oh. Is he any good?” asked Dean playfully.
“He will be outdoing me very soon.”
Inias flushed red. It was pretty cute. “Oh, no. I’ll never surpass you, Castiel.”
Dean grinned. “I remember when my little brother would talk like that. It’s been a while. A long while.”
“Can I take a break now, Castiel? Jo is teaching me to ride horses!”
“Better you than me,” said Cas. And with a nod, Inias was out the door.
Dean watched him go. “You’ve got him working for you now?”
“Yes, he is assisting me.”
“You want to keep him on as an apprentice?”
Cas turned his head to stare at Dean. “Am I allowed to do that? I know that the fort is getting crowded.”
“Of course! He’s family. He and Alfie can stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you, Dean.”
“And you’re staying around too, right?”
Cas thought about it for an uncomfortably long time. Finally he said, “My brothers were the first thing on my mind, of course. And now that I have them near, I am much relieved. Even though they are somewhat … estranged.”
“No, Cas, you guys are not estranged! You haven’t seen each other for a while, and they’re young, so it’s probably uncomfortable right now. But look, you’re all together now, going on an outing together, you’ll get to spend time together….”
“Should I point out that Alfie is tending to his pet crawlie-bug, and Inias seems much more interested in Ellen’s daughter?”
“Dude, that’s how little brothers behave. It’s what they’re supposed to do. They’re being kids.”
“You think so?”
“Sam was just like them. Well, maybe not the whole having scorpions as a pet thing. But he’ll go off and do his own thing, and you don’t think he even remembers he has a big brother here. And then he’ll scrape a knee, or get into a fight with the girlfriend, and there he is again.”
“Sam still comes to you?”
Dean waggled his head. “Not as much as he used to. But yeah, he knows I’m there for him. It’s always been that way. Dad’s just not around much. I used to wonder about it, but I guess I’ve come to the conclusion he’s just not the type.” Dean frowned, growing thoughtful.
Cas paused before he spoke, steeling himself. “Dean, I feel an obligation to return home. To reclaim my inheritance.”
“Yeah, we could do that.”
Cas’s head went into its confused tilt. “We?”
“Sure! After we get Benny situated with a new ship, we’ll get across the Narrow Sea and grab your business from whoever the hell Metatron gave it to.”
“You intend to accompany me?”
“Should be fun! I’ve never been to the North.”
“Don’t you have obligations here?”
“I do. But look, we’ve gone away to Alexandria, and nothing disastrous happened, right? My dad’s here, and so is Bobby. And Sam is getting old enough too.”
“And what will you do in Lawrence, Dean? That is, when I am conducting my business?”
A smile crept onto Dean's lips. “Huh. I guess I’ll try and stay out of trouble.”
Cas sat back, a pensive look on his face. “Perhaps….”
“What?”
“Perhaps I should set up Inias and Samandriel to run the business. And … I could come back here?”
“That would work!” said Dean. “So, you know we’re gonna take off for a couple days?”
“Yes, to find the Sapphire Fort. Inias has already asked if he can accompany you. I’ve told him that he has my approval.”
Dean looked at the floor. “Aren't you coming along too?”
“My place is here, preparing our armaments.”
“You could take a day off. I could order you to take a day off.”
“Dean-“
“Yeah, I know. I know. We’ve both got obligations.”
“I’ll be here when you get back.”
Dean stepped forward, grabbing Cas’s belt and pulling him close. “You’re here now.”
Cas smiled. He reached over and laid down his tongs, and then draped his arms over Dean’s shoulders. “You are impossible, you know.”
“I know. I know.”
They placed Cecilia on an old trailer and Dean drove the truck it was hitched to. Kevin road shotgun, and the various “bug tenders,” Jo, Inias and Alfie, rode in the back with the Cecilia. Sam drove Jess and Pamela in the Impala up ahead. It was admittedly unusual for both Sam and Dean to be absent from the Red Fort at the same time, but Dean decided it was warranted as their father was still in residence, though there was no telling how long he would linger. Dean found himself half hoping John would be gone by the time they returned.
Kevin looked out the back window for the tenth time that hour, leading Dean to comment. “I think she’s all right back there.”
Kevin nervously glanced back once again, viewing the big crawlie-bug now draped under an old blanket. “Oh! Yeah, I think it’s fine.”
“You weren’t looking at our guest,” Dean noted. He glanced up into the rear view mirror, tilting it around for a good look. Alfie had fallen asleep next to the bug, resting on the blanket and snoring contentedly. It was like a kid and his dog. If the dog had been the size of a baby rhino. With tentacles.
On the opposite side, Jo sat beside Inias. They were chatting about something, and sitting a just a little bit too close.
Dean grinned. “Cas’s little brother is making friends fast.”
Kevin looked flushed. “Is that … appropriate?”
“It’s normal behavior. Believe me.”
Kevin looked dubious.
“You sweet on Jo?” Dean teased.
“No. Absolutely not.”
“I’ll tell you a secret. When she was a kid, she had a little crush on me.”
“You?” asked Kevin. Dean nodded. “Ew!”
Dean threw his head back and laughed.
“I mean,” Kevin backpedaled. “You’re like a million years old.”
“Thanks,” said Dean. “But look, let me tell you about Jo. She’s always known what she likes. And she’s not afraid of how it looks, or if anybody else approves or disapproves.”
“She likes knives. And guys who make them.”
“I just bet there are girls who like guys who play cello!”
Kevin stared at Dean. “What? Way the fuck out here?”
“Hey, check out Pam backseat driving.” They both looked up ahead, where Pamela was leaning over the back seat, pointing up ahead. She, Sam and Jess appeared to all be chattering.
“What do you think is going on?”
“Haha. Sam is trying to tell her there isn’t a road in the direction she’s pointing. I bet she wins the argument anyway.”
Castiel stood up on the roof and watched until Dean’s vehicle disappeared over the horizon, now, too late, regretting he did not relent to Dean’s continued blandishments and go along with them. It left a small empty place in his heart, being separated from his brothers so soon after finding them again. And, needless to say, Dean’s outrageously large bed seemed empty without Dean’s presence. He wondered, not for the first time, how he had gotten so attached so quickly. For so long his whole world had revolved around his little family. And now it seemed his family had grown by leaps and bounds.
“Hey, dude, you wanna play cards?”
Cas broke into a smile as Ash and Victor approached. “It’s very good to see you recovered, Ash.”
“Hey, nothing can keep me down,” said Ash with a big grin.
“We got a good game going,” Victor told him. “Benny is trying to win enough money to build a new ship.”
“I suppose I will be contributing heavily to the fund,” sighed Cas, as Victor slapped him on the back and led him down the stairs.
“I don't believe this.” Dean had spent the afternoon just wandering around the remains of the Sapphire Fort. They had taken a couple of wrong turns, but they had finally arrived an hour ago. Unlike Dean’s family home, the Red Fort, had been carved out of a mountain, this place had been erected smack in the middle of the desolate plains, each stone painstakingly dragged or magicked from a quarry far away. Even with the main wall shattered and broken it remained impressive, a fallen giant, larger even than the great Onyx Fort.
“This was supposed to be another fairy tale. Like a bug's hoard.”
“I found the bug's hoard,” said Sam, with a smile.
“What do you think happened?” asked Dean. “Was it an earthquake?”
Sam pointed, and Dean squinted across the desert. A part of the wall and the structure behind had crumbled. It looked as if it had been hit by a giant hammer. “If you look closely you can just see the remains of the crater.”
Dean stared at the territory surrounding the ruins. “So, you think it was the Enemy?”
“Yeah. It looks like it's the same as what happened to the Emerald Fort. At least in Pam's scrying. I’ve tried searching the records for it before. This must have happened generations before we arrived on the scene. It was abandoned over time, and nobody ever kept very good records. I guess when Jess and Pam's family was the only one remaining here, they laid down a bunch of misdirection spells to keep people away. But Pamela says she had to disable most of them for them to bring me back. That's the only way we found our way here.”
Sam wandered over towards the most damaged part of the facility, and Dean followed him. “If this is near a tunnel entrance, it could be that the creature undermined the foundation by mistake.”
“You mean when it was tunneling around?” asked Dean. “So basically this place was built too close to a bug highway.”
Sam ducked inside one of the rooms. Dean shrugged and went in after him. After all, he was curious as well. “Oh, shit!” he said as his eyes adjusted. “I see why they abandoned it!”
Sam was looking around as well. As things didn’t tend to rust out here, the metal components, though damaged, were still recognizable. “Was this the generator?”
“Bingo. The main generator. I didn’t pick up on it from outside. The Red Fort has an old generator room like this.”
“An old generator room? I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. It was redesigned, centuries ago. See? You can tell how the venting is going out the side of the wall here?” Dean approached a stretch of wall that was still mostly intact and stuck a hand in one of the slits cut there. “There’s an old wives tale - one I think is true - that the Enemy is attracted to the fumes. That’s why you only run cars on highways. So, for the generators, we vent everything upwards now.”
“Dean. The generator at Ellen and Jo’s outpost: is it possible that’s why it was attacked?”
“No, no way. That’s a smart idea, but Ellen had it all set up right. And that wasn’t even the part of the building they hit.”
“Then I wonder what happened?”
“I guess we’re all wondering that. One thing I know, Lucifer helped it along.”
“We’re gonna look around!” Jo announced, tugging on Inias’s hand. Pamela had said she was going to do something called a scrying, and it sounded interesting, but Inias thought it might be nice to go along with Jo. He hadn’t expected to like the South too much, but it was kind of exciting here. First there had been pirates - actual vampire pirates - and then he’d found his big brother again, and then there were real live monsters here!
And then there was Jo, who liked to talk about swords, and made him feel sort of fluttery in his stomach. She kept hold of his hand as they walked out. “Stay in sight of the building!” Jess yelled after them. So now they were going to walk around an abandoned fort.
“Scrying is boring,” grumbled Kevin, who always seemed to tag along, and always seemed to be in a bad mood. Life wasn’t quite perfect.
“Pam wants to talk to Bobby,” said Jo, as if this held some deep significance.
“Ew, gross,” said Kevin. “He’s like a million years old.”
“Why shouldn’t she want to talk to him?” Inias asked.
“He’s so old,” explained Kevin.
“He’s a good guy,” Jo shot back.
“He’s too old for her.”
“Should she date you instead?” Jo giggled.
Oh. It finally made sense. Inias stopped before a broken place in the wall. “I wonder what this is?” he said, almost to himself.
“It doesn’t look like they use this part anymore,” said Jo.
Inias nodded and slipped inside.
“Hey, I don’t think we’re supposed to go in this part,” Kevin scolded.
“They said to keep in sight of the building!” said Jo, who then darted inside. Kevin, despite his objections, sighed and went after them.
“It’s pretty dark,” said Kevin. Inias spotted some dried branches on the floor. He twisted them together, and then, taking out a lighter, lit the top to create an improvised torch. Jo grinned, and, when Inias reached back his hand to her, she took it. He found he liked the feeling of her small hand in his. He smiled and led the way, Kevin a small dark cloud taking up the back.
They came to a very large room that looked mostly still intact. Inias’s heart raced when he saw the anvil. “Oh! Do you know what this is?”
“A big, scary room?” asked Kevin.
“This is the smithy! And it’s mostly intact.” He was moving around the room now, checking out the forge.
“You think you could still use it?” Jo asked.
“We’d have to make sure everything was ventilated. Get some lighting in here. But, yeah!”
Kevin sighed. “You come out here and you wanna make swords? Isn’t that your job?”
Inias stopped and studied his grumpy friend. He tilted his head. “We could look for the main kitchen.”
“I hate the fucking kitchen!”
Inias looked at Jo, who rolled her eyes. “You could come work with us, in the forge?”
“I need to be careful with my fingers.” Kevin held up his hands, wiggling his digits. “I’m a musician.”
“I guess I don’t understand. What does music do?”
“What do you mean what does it do? It’s beautiful!”
Inias shrugged. “We should get back. We need to tell Dean about this, so he can tell my brother.”
Kevin shook his head, turned, and started to make his way back out, cursing as he barked his shin on a piece of broken wall.
“After my brother finishes training me, I can run a shop of my own,” Inias told Jo quietly.
“I could help,” Jo told him.
“Yeah, you’d be great!”
One thing Cas had learned in his time at the Red Fort, it was fruitless to draw to an inside straight.
He sat down his cards and sighed, having already contributed, he thought, more than his share to Benny’s ship building fund.
“I think I’ll go down to the kitchen for something to eat,” said Cas. “Can I bring you anything?”
“I can’t believe Crowley likes you,” laughed Victor.
“That rascal don’t like nobody,” said Benny, who was gloating, though not too badly, over his winnings. “If’n he has some type B negative, I wouldn’t object.”
“He doesn’t have human blood, Benny,” laughed Ash.
“And how do you know?” asked Benny.
“Cas worked down there! Cas knows better!”
“Benny, would B positive be acceptable?” Cas asked, completely straight-faced.
“Maybe a little AB positive?” said Benny.
“I will check.”
Ash stared, open-mouthed, as Cas left the room, struggling to hide his smile. “You guys are shining us!” he heard Ash demand of Benny.
Cas made his way downstairs to his old stomping grounds, the kitchen complex. It was between meal services, so it was relatively empty. After greeting people he knew, Cas grabbed a tray and began to fill it up with bread and cheese and sausages.
“Come to steal more of my staff?” barked Crowley.
Cas nodded to his old boss. “Chef. You didn’t object when I sent you that new cutlery.”
“True, I will always forgive you for your knife fixation. Which, by the way, I find ridiculously attractive. If you should ever dump that Winchester boy….”
“Not likely.”
Crowley leaned closer. “So, what word about Lucifer’s whereabouts?”
“You know as much as I do.”
“Likely I know more. I used to work for that miscreant.”
“There’s no new movement. I wonder if he has given up?”
“No,” said Crowley. “Believe me. I know the man all too well. Lucifer will never give up. Not ‘til he’s got what he wants.”
“Aiiii!” Dean had literally jumped when he felt the tentacles curl around his leg. He turned around to see Cecelia the crawly-bug looking up at him.
“I think they don't see very well,” said Sam, who had just arrived with the others. “They spend a lot of time in the dark. That's why she likes to touch you.”
“I … don't like it,” said Dean, who nevertheless squatted down and reached out a hand, like you would to a dog. Her sensitive front feelers glided over his arm and up to his face. Then she poked his side, and Dean emitted a strangled gasp and fell on his butt.
While the creature hovered over him, wiggling tentacles, Sam rushed over to help him up. “Did she sting you?”
“Ticklish,” sputtered Dean. “No, I'm all right,” he told Cecelia as the rest of the crowd giggled.
“If you’re through clowning around, I think we're ready to head out,” said Sam.
“Are we all going?” Dean asked.
“I'm staying here,” said Pamela. “I've been trying to set up contact with Bobby. And it hasn't been working. Maybe when it's quiet.”
“Bobby, huh?” said Dean, wagging an eyebrow at Sam.
“Hey, I saw that,” Pamela told him.
“Saw what?”
Pamela shook her head and let Jess lead her back into the building while Cecilia and her young keepers turned and began to walk out in to the desert.
Dean hung back a moment. He looked over at Sam. “Last time we tried this, didn't end too well, I guess.” Sam sighed.
They walked for what seemed like hours in the bright sun. Dean checked his watch and realized it was only half an hour. He was unfamiliar with this territory, and that put him on edge.
“This is it,” Sam finally said. “This is where Jess found me.” Cecilia appeared to be getting excited, although Dean wasn't really certain. She was skittering around in circles, kind of like a dog would do. If you had a dog with twenty legs and tentacles that is. And then she dashed away.
“Alfie! Wait!”
Dean turned to see Sam running off after Cas’s little brother, who had in turn set off after Cecilia when she suddenly bolted. “Everybody, stay put!” Dean yelled.
As Dean ran after Sam and Alfie, he noticed Jo had thrown protective arms out blocking both Inias and Kevin from going forward. Maybe Kevin has a chance after all, he thought.
He crested a dune in time to see Sam tackle Alfie to prevent him from disappearing down a hole in the middle of a small rock formation. “Cecilia!” screamed Alfie, who was clawing at Sam's arm. “She's my friend!” he protested.
There was a distant rumble.
“Get up. Up on those rocks. Now!” shouted Dean, who was already climbing.
“But we wanna talk to the mommy!” protested Alfie.
“Yeah. From the outside this time. Sam!”
Sam had hefted Alfie over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran frantically towards the formation. There were already little hillocks forming in the sand at the bottom of the depression. Dean grabbed Alfie and pulled him up, and then held out a hand to Sam and dragged him up as well. Sam clambered to the top, and caught Alfie in a hug. But the boy seemed to have quit struggling, and was now gazing in awe at the boiling ground below.
The ground started to vibrate. “Fuck, it's a big one,” said Dean. “Everybody! Down!”
The insomnia had come upon Bobby Singer in his sixth decade of life. If he had been the philosophical type, he was not, he would have regarded it as perhaps karmic penance for a youth spent as someone who could fall asleep atop a mountain of rocks while a smith hammered nearby.
At three am, more or less, every night, and then continuing until the crack of dawn, his restless mind would awaken.
After a month or so of tossing and turning, Bobby, being the practical sort, had given up fighting the early morning restlessness, and instead used it as an opportunity for an early morning patrol of the grounds. It was a good time to catch lookouts on swing shift who had nodded off. It was actually a pleasant experience: Bobby loved kicking the snoozing bastards in the shin and seeing them fall all over themselves. Served them right for tossing back too many glasses of wine at dinner.
He thought he had found one, up on the north section of the roof. He trod carefully, so his boots wouldn't squeak and give away the game. This one seemed awfully still, actually.
Bobby crept closer and gave the guy's shoulder a good shake.
There was soft thud as he fell over.
“Soldier?” said Bobby softly.
He knelt down beside the man, and rolled him over. That's when he saw the bloody gash where the guy's neck had been slashed ear to ear.
“Balls.”
Fast as his aching legs could carry him he hurried down the stairs and then back up to the position of the next nearest sentry. He found the man slumped over, again with a gash to his throat.
He leaned over to examine the wound, touching a finger to the man’s neck. On the edges of the wound the skin was red and burnt, a sure sign of a blade that had been magicked.
Bobby’s mind reeled. He pushed down his regret over fallen comrades: time enough for that later. Somebody had penetrated their defenses with magic-powered weaponry. There might not be time to sound an alert. And they were present overstocked with civilians, but short-handed on troops. Especially with the Winchester brothers off on some bug hunt, he didn’t reckon they had the manpower for a full on battle right now.
Pushing down the panic rising in his belly, Bobby hurried back down into the building and towards John Winchester’s room. After a quick scan up and down the corridor, he knocked softly, and entered when he heard the muffled response from the other side of the door.
Bobby entered the darkened room. “John? We got a problem.”
“Yes. You do.”
Stars burst in Bobby’s field of vision, and he slumped to the floor as the world went black.
NEXT