I take a deep breath as I get my head through the dirt and grass. What the hell happened? Last thing I remember is... being in a psych ward being tormented by Lucifer. I stumble around for a bit while I get my footing back. Did I die? I must have. Went for that long without sleep, my organs must have shut down.
Shit, though. I hope Dean didn't do anything... Or Sam. I make my way through this field that I find myself in and find a road or... highway and start walking while the sky is thundering.
I walk for a couple hours before a car appears. I check my boot. At least I was buried with a knife. The car seems to be swerving a little bit. I run into the middle of the road and wave the car down. It comes to a screeching halt right before it hits me.
"Please, I need a ride." I say. I get no answer from the man in the car but he doesn't drive away either, I take that as my invite to get in. "I'm Ashlee." I introduce myself.
"Kevin." He says. Then his phone rings. "Ahh!" He picks it up and answers. "Who? I... I had to take my mom's car. I-I think I had a seizure or something." Suddenly this dude is like, in a trance or something. "I've been chosen. It's my birthright... I'm supposed to keep going. I'm not allowed to stop." He puts the phone down and then makes a turn on the road.
Well, seeing as this is something that seems... weird, I better stick around.
***
After a few hours we get to... the same hospital I was at when I was seeing Lucifer? What the hell? Kevin runs inside, and comes out not 2 minutes later holding something.
I notice two people chasing after him, making me start running towards them too. Kevin gets tackled to the ground.
"I'm a... K-Kevin Tran. I'm in advanced placement. Please don't kill me." I hear Kevin say as I get closer. A woman has him pinned down. Meg.
"I'm not gonna kill you." The man says.... Wait, Sam.
"Sam." I say.
"Ash." I haul Kevin to his feet.
"Hiya."
"What are... how are you alive?"
"So neither of you did anything then?" I clarify.
"No." Sam takes out a knife, it gleams in the moonlight. Silver. I roll out my sleeve and stick out my arm. Sam puts a little cut in my arm and then hands me a flask. I take a sip. Holy water.
"It's me, Sammy." I say. He pulls me in for a hug.
"We'll figure this out." He says to me then turns to Kevin and tries to take the bag that he's holding from him.
"I'm sorry. I... I don't know why, but I can't let go of this."
***
"You really stepped in it, kid. Oh, man." Meg says. We're back in my old room in the hospital. Sam explained to me on the walk here that after I died, Cas took away the hallucinations, what he could, as a punishment to himself. Dean right now is apparently talking to Cas, so I'm waiting for them to get back.
"All I know is, this is... it's for me. I'm supposed to keep it." Kevin tells her.
"Good luck."
"But you don't know what it is?" Sam asks, getting a head shake in return. "Open it."
Kevin unzips the bag and pulls out two pieces of stone. He fits them together and the mold back together in a flash of white light. He picks up another piece and adds it. It's a...
"It's writing." Kevin says.
"Yeah. Yeah, we get that."
"What's leviathan?"
"What? You can read it? Is that what it says?"
"Sort of. It hurts a little. Like looking through somebody else's glasses, but I think it.. it's about Leviathan, how it came to be. God locked him up far away, right? Like in jail... because they're so... they're... they're real, aren't they?"
"Yeah, Kevin. They – they are. And they're here. Does it say anything about how to kill them? 'Cause that's – that's kind of been a problem."
"I don't know. It's not like reading reading. It's hard to focus on it too long."
Suddenly the lights start to flicker.
"Sam. Something's up" Meg says.
"What?" I ask. Kevin looks at Meg and screams scrambling backwards on the bed.
"Kevin, hey, hey, hey. Kevin." I say, trying to reassure him. The lampshade breaks as a woman appears in the doorway.
"Demon." The woman says. Another man appears. The woman makes a hand motion which sends Meg flying into the wall. "A demon whore and a Winchester... again." Both Sam and I take a step toward Kevin. "Step away from the prophet!"
"Who, me?" Kevin asks.
"Sole keeper of the word on earth, we are here to take you."
"What do you mean 'take'?"
"Kill the demon, her lover and the girl." The woman says to the man.
"That's not how it.. we're not-" Meg starts. The man holds out one of his arms, Meg slashes him with an angel blade. The man retracts his hand in pain.
"Where did you get that?" The woman asks, furious. Castiel suddenly appears.
"Castiel?" The man asks. Cas smiles.
"Hi." He says.
"You're alive?"
"You." The Woman says.
"Hello, Hester."
"You smote thousands in Heaven. You gave a big scary speech. Then you were gone. What the hell was what?"
"Rude, for one thing."
"Where have you been?" The man asks.
"Oh Inias. Hester, I... I know you want something, answers. I... I wish it could be that. There are still many things I can teach you. I can offer, um, well, perspective. Here." Castiel points his finger at Hester. "Pull my finger." She doesn't move. "Uh... Meg will get another light, and I'll blow it out again. And, well, this time, it'll be funny, and we'll all look back and laugh."
"You're insane." Hester says.
"Hey." Dean says as he shows up in the doorway. "Heads up, Sunshine." Suddenly all the angels disappear. Angel-banishing sigil. "All angels blown back to their corners. We got like three, four hours tops." Dean scans the room, then his gaze lands on me. "Ash?"
"Dean." I say. We walk towards each other. Next thing I know, I'm enveloped in his arms, finally breathing in his scent. I feel him bury his head into my hair. We pull apart, well out of the hug but he still keeps an arm around me.
"What is that?" Dean asks.
"It's uh... Kevin Tran. He's uh, in advanced placement."
****
"So, these leviathans, these monsters are real. And angels with wings?" Kevin asks.
"No. Uh... no wings. No anything." Sam explains.
"No junk. Junkless. So, Kevin, you can, uh, read the chicken scratch on the God rock." Dean says.
"Uh, I..."
"That is back in one piece I see. And you're saying that there's some sort of a "How to punch Dick." recipe in there somewhere?"
"I-I don't know what you're saying, but it seems kind of like an "in case of emergency" note. What did they mean by prophet?"
"Oh, no. Really?"
"Yeah. Yeah, that's what the angel said." I answer.
"I don't want to be a prophet."
"No. You don't at all." Dean tells him.
"Lady and gentlemen, we've got to start running and hiding. Or do you want to tangle with those wing nuts twice?" Meg asks.
"I'm sorry. Did you say 'we'?" I ask.
"I'm on the angels' radar now. You think I don't need a little safety in numbers?"
"Alright, we'll go to Rufus' cabin. Kid can do his book report there." Dean says.
***
I'm stuck in the front seat between Sam and Dean while Meg and Kevin are in the back.
"Oh God." Kevin says.
"What?" Meg asks.
"Nothing. Nothing. Just.. my life... my future... my girlfriend... my mom's car." Meg's phone starts ringing.
"Yeah. Yeah, Castiel, it's me." She answers.
"Cas? Where? Where is he?" Dean asks.
"Shut up."
"I'll stop speaking."
"No. No, Cas. You talk... Perth? As in Australia? ... What dogs? He says he's surrounded by unhappy dogs." She says to Dean. "Oh. Okay. He's at a dog track in Perth. Yeah, they're unhappy because the rabbit's fake. Listen, we're on highway 94, north of St. Cloud, Minnesota, just passing mile marker 79."
"Ah!" Kevin yells. I look in the backseat and Cas is now seated between Kevin and Meg
"Kevin, this is Castiel." Meg introduces.
"You're one of the angels?" He asks.
"Boop. Meg, are you hurt?" Cas says.
"Shut up." Meg says.
"Cas, what happened back there? Who were those guys?" Dean asks.
"They're from the Garrison, my old Garrison. Looks like Hester's taken over. We were assigned to watch the earth. Often, it was boring. The wars were very boring and the sex, you know, the repetition. Anyway, I was, uh... I was their captain. Isn't that strange?"
"Cas, why are they pissed at us now?" Sam asks.
"You know, those racing dogs were absolutely miserable. They can only think in ovals."
"Cas, don't make me pull this car over! Why are the angels after us?" Dean says.
"Are you angry? Why are you angry?"
"No, I'm... Please, can we just stay on target?"
"There is no reason for anger. They're only following protocol. If the Word of God is re vealed, a keeper of the Word will awaken, like this hot potato right here."
"Please stop that." Kevin says.
"Anyway, Garrison code dictates you take the keeper to the desert to learn the word away from men."
"What kind of sense does that make? He has to tell us so that we can use it." I say.
"That's God and his shiny red apples."
"I can't live in the dessert. I' applying to Princeton!"
"Okay, you know what? Screw the Garrison. We need the tablet to end Dick Roman's 'Soylent Us" crap." I say.
"If you want the Word, you'll have to duck Hester and her soldiers."
"Yeah, you're in our corner, right, Cas?" Sam asks.
"No, I don't fight anymore. I watch the bees."
***
Cas is drawing a symbol on the wall in the chalk.
"Let's leave off the angel-proofing sigils or I'll be expelled too."
"As long as we're invisible to your Garrison buddies, it works for me." I say. Cas comes to sit next to me and Sam when he's done
"You seem troubled. Of course, that's a primary aspect of your personality, so I sometimes ignore it."
"Okay. Um... right now I'm just wondering about you." I tell him.
"What about me? You're worried about the burden I lifted from you... a little too late."
"I was done for. I died. Do you see Lucifer?"
"I did at first. But that was... It was a projection of yours, I think, sort of an after taste. Now I more see... well, everything. It's funny. I was done for too. The weight of all my mistakes, all those lives and souls lost. I... I couldn't take it either. I was... I was lost until I took on the pain you had. It's strange to think that that helped, but-"
"I know you never did anything but try to help. I realize that, Cas. And I'm grateful. We're all grateful. And we're gonna help you get better, okay? No matter what it takes."
"What do you mean, 'better'?"
***
Meg walks into the cabin and stops right before the devil's trap that was drawn on the floor. Sam turns on the lights.
"Didn't expect to see you back." Sam says.
"Yeah, not without the king's army." Dean says.
"Knife." I say to her. She hands me the angel knife.
"Typical. I save our bacon, and you're sitting here, waiting by a devil's trap. Seriously, I just killed two of Crowley's men. I could have gone the other way on that."
"It's true, incidentally. There's other demons' blood on that blade." Cas says.
"Look, I'm simpler than you think. I've figured one thing out about his world, just one, pretty much. You find a cause, and you serve it. Give yourself over, and it orders your life. Lucifer and Yellow eyes, their mission was it for me."
"So, what? We should trust you because you wanted to free Satan from Hell?" Dean asks.
"I'm talking 'cause' douchebag, as in reason to get up in the morning. Obviously, these things shift over time. We learn, we grow. Now, for me currently, the cause is bringing down the King. And I know we'll need help to do it."
"Crowley ain't the problem this year." I say.
"When are you gonna get it? Crowley's always the problem. He's just waiting for the right moment to strike. I know what I'm supposed to do. And it isn't screw with Sam, Dean and Ashlee or lose the only angel who'd go to bat for me." After exchanging looks with me and Dean, Sam goes over and breaks the devil's trap.
"This is good, harmony and communication. Now our only problem is Hester." Cas says.
"What?"
"Well, here, we're hidden from the Garrison, but when you killed a demon, you put out a pretty clear beacon."
"We need better angel-proofing now."
The door breaks and bursts open. Hester and a different man appear in the room.
"You took the prophet from us?" Hester says.
"I'm- I'm sorry?" Cas says.
"You have fallen in every way imaginable."
"Please, Castiel. We have to follow the code . Help us do our work." The man says.
"He can't help you. He can't help anybody." I say.
"We don't need his help... or his permission." Hester says. She nods to the man who nods back. The man disappears. "The Keeper goes to the dessert tonight."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back off. We're actually trying to clean up one of your angel's messes! You know that."
"He's right. An angel brought the Leviathan back into this world, and they begged him. They begged him not to do it." Cas says.
"Look, just give us some time, okay? We will take care of your Prophet." Dean asks.
"Why would we give you anything... After everything you have taken from us? The very touch of you corrupts. When Castiel first laid a hand on you in Hell, he was lost! For that, you're going to pay." Hester walks towards Dean.
"Please. They're the ones we were put here to protect." Cas says.
"No, Castiel." Hester says giving Cas a backhand. He falls to the ground. The other angel holds up two fingers stopping me from going to help Cas. "No more madness!" She punches Cas. "No more promises!" Another punch. "No more new Gods!" A few more punches and then she pulls out an angel blade.
"Hester! No!" The man says. "Please! There's so few of us left." She punches the man in the face.
"You wanted free will. Now I'm making the decisions." She says to Cas. She raises the blade. I watch as Meg stabs her from behind, killing her.
"What? Someone had to." Meg simply says.
***
"These are strange times." The man says.
"I think they've always been." Cas says.
"I wish you'd come with us."
"Oh, I'm not part of the Garrison anymore. I'm sorry." Dean walks over to where Sam, Kevin and I are sitting at the table. Kevin gives Sam a notebook that has the translations from the tablet.
"Thanks Kevin. Not a lot of people could have handled this." Sam says.
"You doing alright there, 'Chosen One'?" I ask.
"Yeah."
"Are you ready, Kevin Tran?" The angel asks. Inias appears with another angel.
"Bring the Keeper to his hime. We can watch over him there." Inias says. The three angels disappear with Kevin.
"I couldn't find Meg anywhere." Dean tells us.
"Yes, well, she enjoys laying low." Cas says.
"Here. 'Leviathan cannot be slain but by a bone of a righteous mortal washed in the three bloods of the fallen'. Uh... it says we need to start with the blood of a fallen angel." Sam reads Kevin's notes. The brothers and I look over at Cas.
"Well, you know me." He holds out a small bottle. "I'm always happy to bleed for the Winchesters." Cas hands the bottle over to Dean, which is filled with blood.
"What are you gonna do, Cas?" I ask.
"I don't know. Isn't that amazing?" Cas smiles then disappears.
"Well, let's get to work." Dean says.