Ketch Me if You Can

Chapter 16

In the end, Sam and Dean went to take care of the ghost. I honestly thought Elly was a little bummed about it, but I'm also sure she understood why I wouldn't let her go with them. Or at least I hoped she did.

It had been two weeks since then. Hunts had returned to normal, and things had been relatively quiet. Cas had said Heaven was giving up on finding Lucifer, and as I predicted, the devil hadn't tried to escape. He really hadn't tried to cause any trouble at all. Which was weird for him but we'd take it.

Sam and Dean had been hesitant to leave me alone with the fallen angel in the basement, but I assured them that as long as he was good they had nothing to fear. It wasn't like he could get out of the trap anyway, even if he did want to cause chaos.

Cas had been working with Gabe, and it felt like we were getting somewhere, slowly but at least we were moving. Gabe still couldn't tell us what had happened to him, but he was starting to trust us again. He seemed especially calm around Sam.

We still had nothing new on Jack or Mary. As far as we assumed they were alive. But that was more of a hope now than a true feeling. They had been on the other side for a little over two months now. The idea of getting them back in good condition was starting to look dim. But Elly's 'prophecies', as I called them, kept the boys sane.

Ketch came and went from the bunker as he pleased. He didn't seem to fear Asmodeus as much anymore and I wasn't going to make him stay. I wasn't sure what he did while he was gone, but it made me a little too happy to have him return to me, even for just a night as it was most times.

There hadn't been much from the southern gentleman demon anyway. And it was making me nervous. There had been so much fear when Gabe had suddenly been sprung on us, and now we had Lucifer too. And there was just nothing? Not to mention the way Elly and Lucifer had escaped from Hell still felt off to me. It seemed way too simple. What was Asmodeus planning?

Cael was still missing. He had never come back and wasn't answering my calls or prayers, though as much as I wanted that to be, it wasn't abnormal. But something still felt very off about it. There was just something that I couldn't shake.

"You're awake early," Elly said, looking up from her bowl of cereal as I walked into the main room.

"Oh ya..I...couldn't sleep," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I've been thinking too much."

I walked past her and into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and scanned the shelves for anything edible. I scowled at it's low contents and moved to the pantry.

"Lower your standards." Elly came into the kitchen with a now empty bowl. "There's nothing to eat."

"I can make a run to the store later," I mumbled as I looked through the boxes of sugary cereal, they had always been Dean's favorite.

"What were you thinking about?" Elly leaned against the counter as I walked out with a box in hand.

"Honestly?" I looked over her. The bruising on her body had turned from it's dark ugly purple to bits of yellow blushing. "You."

"I'm easy to think about." She laughed, "What about me?"

"About how to keep you safe and get you home." It was the truth. I had poured through book after book with Sam. It wasn't so much the how anymore we had been looking for. We knew how to with the portal. It was collecting the last ingredient that was difficult. Lately, the boys had been talking about using Lucifer over Gabe for grace, but I had been able to persuade them away from that for now.

"Oh." Elly nodded, looking away from me. She almost looked sad. "I thought we'd agreed I'd just stay here. No more hunts until we get things figured out." She gave me a tiny smile, "Thought I was hoping to get at least one vamp. To make up for the Twilight shit, ya know?"