Survive, Boy, Survive

Chapter 31

I woke up,
I heard Zeke say" I must say, Dean, I'm very uncomfortable with this whole trip. Investigating crimes involving angels or anything involving angels puts me, and therefore, Sam, at risk."
Dean said" Well, family business, Zeke. Okay? If we ignore this, Sam's gonna think that something fishy's going on."
" Then I trust you will be discreet."
" Wait, if you know where we're going, that means you've been listening in. Are you hearing everything between me and Sam?"
" No. Just a word here and there. I have better things to do with my time than eavesdrop, like heal your brother."
" Okay, 'cause here's the thing-" Zeke left, Sam came back,
He said" I mean, I was gonna say, it seems like it's getting really quiet out there, you know. Not a peep from the angels, even buddy boyle goes off the air and stops recruiting for them."
" Obviously a calm before the storm."
" Yeah, maybe."
" What?"
" That sign said Fort Collins, 50 miles."
" So?"
" So, last time I looked, like, 12 seconds ago, uh, Fort Collins was 100 miles." I gulped,
" Hey, man, ever since that goddess got her hooks into you-"
" No, it's more than Vesta. I mean, this kind of thing's been happening to me- Like, like, there are chunks of time just missing. Like, there are times when I'm... not here."
" Well, like I've said-"
" Yes, the trials. I know. I heard you. I heard you when you said it the last week, and the week before that and the week before that."
" Yeah, because damn straight the trials. They wracked you, man. You're not up to warp speed yet, okay? But you will be. Would I lie?"
———
We were at a bar, Cas was working the case too which was weird.
Cas said" It is so good being together again. You know, this is my first beer as a human. I hope it's okay, me joining you."
Sam said" Why wouldn't it be okay?"
Dean said" You know, Cas, are you sure you're ready to jump back into all this? I mean, it seemed to me like you'd actually found some peace."
Cas said" Hey, you once told me that you don't choose what you do. It chooses you. Huh? I'm a part of this. Like it or not."
Sam said" All right, well, then, in that case, we have to figure out, uh, who are we up against, what do they want, and how do we stop them."
" Well, Bartholomew wants to reverse Metatron's spell. Presumably to-to retake Heaven once his following is large enough. That's according to April."
Dean said" The reaper you banged."
" Yeah, and you stabbed."
" Yeah. She was hot."
" So hot. And very nice."
" Mm."
" Up to the point she started torturing me."
" Yeah. Well, not every hookup's perfect."
Sam said" All right. I'm gonna get us another round."
Cas said" Nah. I'll get it. You know, I've never done this before."
Dean said" One beer, he's hammered." Then I saw Zeke," Oh, boy."
Zeke said" Well, what are you going to do about this?"
" About Cas?"
" He is a beacon, Dean, pulling every angel from miles down on our heads."
" All right, you know what, Zeke? Level with me. What is it that you're so afraid of?"
" I told you. When I chose to answer your prayers and heal Sam, I chose sides. That means I'm not in good standing with certain angels."
" Okay, well, you know what? Cas isn't in good standing with any angel, all right? But here he is, ass on the line, fighting the fight. So tell me, what makes you so special?"
Cas said" Here we go. Three brewskies."
Zeke said" I'm going to get something out of the car." He walked away, I covered my head with my arms, squeezing my eyes shut.
———
Kevin said" Dean, there may be nothing in here. Crowley said the spell that cast down the angels was irreversible."
Dean said" Yeah, well, screw Crowley. Why would you think that anything he says is true?"
" This part is nearly indecipherable. Almost like when Metatron wrote it down, he wanted to keep the words hidden, even from prophets." Sam walked in,
He said" Hey."
Dean said" Hey. Check this out. Another angel attack."
" What? Where?"
" Utah. A, uh, college bible-study group and their, uh, guest speaker- some top-shelf church lady. Insides scorched out, kids' eyes were missing, but not the church lady's."
" So, she was an angel, too?"
" Sounds like. Uh, and she sang soprano for the, uh, melody ministry glee club."
" Okay."
" The club goes to its gigs on a bus, so when I checked with the Wyoming cops, they said that a witness saw the same bus leaving the biker bar not long before the bodies were found."
" So, church-lady angel was at both killings?"
" I'm guessing that she and whoever she's running with killed Bartholomew's bikers at the bar and then bart's boys hit her back."
" When she was recruiting those students to be vessels."
" Wow. A bunch of kids."
" Kevin. Clock's ticking."
———
Dean said" Hey. You seen Sam?"
Kevin said" He went out."
" Where?"
" I don't know. You notice he's doing that a lot?"
" Yeah." This his phone rang, I yawned, and followed Kevin, I was eating cereal out of the box.

Dean said" I need a spell, asap."
Kevin said" Everyone always needs a spell, and it's always asap."
" All right, listen to me. An angel can't be expelled by another human. Only by the host, right? Well, what if there was a way to power down the angel so that it wasn't in charge for a few seconds?"
" What?"
" For instance, if-if hypothetically, I wanted to speak with the vessel but not have the squatter listen in."
" Why?"
" Why? Kevin, we've got tons of possessed humans out there. You with me? And when the angels kill each other off, the humans are taking it in the teeth, so what if I wanted to clue the human in so that he or she could spit the angel out? That would be a good thing, right?" My entire body froze, my eyes glowed, no, no, no, no, no, no!
" Uh... yeah."
" Okay. So, hit the tablet. Let's go."
" Now?"
" Yesterday, Cinderella." He walked away, I followed, as black smoke began to swirl around my legs.
I said" What happened?" We turned into the hallway, he ignored me," Dean, what happened?!"
" Nothing, hypothetical." I breathed heavily, then raised my chin, he was pinned to the wall.
" What happened?!" My voice changed, I breathed heavily, black smoke circled up my chest now," What happened?! What happened?!" I punched the wall, it cracked, denting in.
" The angel played us. Ezekiel... Cas said he died in the fall. We don't know who's possessing Sam."
I mumbled" No..." He was let go, the black smoke surrounded me as fear replaced the anger.
" River, I've-" The smoke took over-

Dean grabbed my arm as he passed me, dragging me with him. We walked into the map room and saw the angel kill Kevin,
Dean said" No!" We ran for him," No! No! Kevin?!" Then I was pinned the wall, Dean was pinned to the pillar." Sam?"
The angel said" There is no more Sam. But I played him convincingly, I thought."
" How did you..."
" I heard you talk with Kevin Tran tonight. Alter a sigil... even the slightest... alter the spell. Sorry about Kevin, but ultimately... it's for the best. I did what I had to." The angel walked away, I was let go, I dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. I heard the bunker door open then close,
" Kevin? Kevin?" My eyes glowed as tears slid down my cheek.