Song Remains the Same

Chapter 9: Happy Freakin' Halloween

"Soak the place and light the flame."
- Bullet for My Valentine

Alex and Castiel remained sitting on the bed in silence for all of three minutes, which was when the familiar sound of the Impala could faintly be heard outside. Alex immediately felt her nerves spike. What kind of state would Dean be in when he saw that she'd crawled back? Beside her, Castiel appraised her as she stood and faced the door with her arms straight at her sides. She didn't have any more time to think about how she would react. The sound of the key sliding into the lock made her pulse hammer. Geez, you'd think a bloodthirsty werewolf was coming in... it's just your brothers. The door opened, revealing a familiar hulking form. Sam's face immediately registered shock and relief. "Alex! Oh my god!" He came forward without hesitation as if to embrace her, then noticed the other two men in the room. He moved toward his sister protectively, already reaching for his gun in his waistband as his voice became hard. "Who are these guys?"

Castiel had risen to his feet and Alex hurried to talk Sam down. "No, it's okay, it's okay." She gestured that Sam should leave weapons out of it. Behind her twin, the door darkened as Dean came in. His expression went from surprised to pissed in one second flat. Alex decided ignoring Dean would be best for now and didn't look at him, instead motioning at the angel who Sam scrutinized questioningly. "Sam, this is Castiel—the angel." A starstruck quality made Sam's face drop.

The angel nodded a stuff greeting. "Hello, Sam."

"Oh my god!" Sam exclaimed, then his eyes went wide in embarrassment. "Er—uh—I didn't mean to—sorry. It's an honor, really, I—I've heard a lot about you." Sam held his hand out for a handshake.

Castiel stared at the outstretched hand with what Alex could only guess was confusion. Even as she thought that he looked at her like he was asking for an explanation. She stared back, wondering why he was so daft. "Shake it. Shake his hand." It was sort of cute if he really didn't know, but— "It's a greeting," she explained, mystified as she tried to figure it out. Had he really never seen a handshake? Surely he had.

As if to illustrate the point, Sam shook his hand up and down in the air. Castiel seemed to understand and put his hand into Sam's. "It is an honor to meet you, Sam Winchester. The boy with the demon blood." Sam's face fell slightly and Alex gave Cas quite the look. "Glad to see you've ceased your extracurricular activities," the angel continued, which alerted Alex to some good news indeed: Sam had stopped. Thank god.

"And let's keep it that way," Uriel commented passively, still facing out of the window with his back turned to them.

Dean, who hung back with an unhappy expression on his face, regarded Uriel harshly, then looked at Castiel and Alex for an explanation. "Anyone gonna introduce this guy, or...?"

"Heaven's biggest douchebag," Alex answered before Castiel could.

Dean met her gaze, scowling. "And just where the hell have you been?"

She shook her head. Not with the angels here. "Later."

"You bet your ass," he shot back.

Castiel approached Dean, oblivious to the siblings' conversation, and focused on something else. "The raising of Samhain, have you stopped it?"

Samhain. Why did that sound familiar? Dean looked from his sister to the angel testily. "Why?"

"Dean, have you located the witch?" Castiel sounded short on patience.

"Yes, we've located the witch," Dean replied curtly.

"And is the witch dead?"

"No, but—" Sam started.