Song Remains the Same

Chapter 34: For Me, It's You

"You were looking down on me, lost in outer space.
We laid underneath the stars, strung out and feeling brave."
- Our Lady Peace

What happened?

That was Alex's first coherent thought as she came to. She last remembered seeing Cas on the floor in pain—so when she'd seen the stake just lying there, she remembered thinking what the hell, right? Worth a shot. Well, apparently not. She recalled trying to kill the Whore and then being sent flying across the room where she'd hit a wall. She didn't remember anything after that—and it was also probably why her head hurt so bad. Shit. She blinked a couple times, eyes adjusting to a dark room. She was lying on a rigid motel mattress. And that's when she realized that there was the substantial weight and warmth of someone beside her. Lying beside her.

Even as she was turning her head and trying to see who it was, he spoke. "You're awake." Cas's face was so close that they were practically nose to nose.

Alex jerked her head back in surprise, then regretted the decision, cringing and shutting her eyes tightly against the sudden ripple of pain in her temple. "Ow."

His relief was replaced with worry. "Are you all right? Is the pain very bad?"

"I'm fine, I—" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the blood trickling out of his nose. She pushed herself up a bit to see him better. "Are you okay?"

Her question seemed to strike him as odd. "I'm fine."

She automatically went to wipe the blood away from underneath his nose. "You don't look fine," she said almost accusingly, her thumb dashing away the streak of red. Her eyes darted up to his, which were already looking into hers. Her thumb froze in place and her breath caught. And that's when Alex heard a familiar sound—Sam clearing his throat.

Startled as she realized that she and Castiel were not alone, Alex looked up in the direction the noise had come from, using her elbow and forearm to push herself up more. Sam stood a few steps off, his arms crossed and a sullen expression on his face. He had a bloody nose too. "Sam!" Alex exclaimed. "What happened to you?!"

Her brother grew even more brooding at the question. "Dean happened to me."

Alex sat up all the way, confused as fuck. She didn't see Dean anywhere, and automatically opened her mouth to ask where he was, then went silent before she'd even asked a thing. Something was very wrong. She could tell from Sam's face. She looked at Cas silently, whose expression only furthered her realization that something had happened. Fearing the worst, Alex looked back at Sam in dawning horror. Her voice dropped in volume. "W-where is he, Sam? Where's Dean?"

Sam's eyes fell away from hers and his jaw clenched. "Gone."

Her stomach dropped. "What do you mean 'gone'?" Did Sam mean that Dean was dead? Her heartbeat was jabbering in her chest painfully as she waited for an answer in blank terror, remembering what she'd said to Dean last and how she'd left things with him. It was like every worst nightmare she'd ever had was closing in on her, every horror she could imagine coming true... and then, behind her, still reclining on the bed, Cas's deep rumbling voice explained:

"We believe he's gone to... say yes to Michael."

It should have been a relief after what she'd assumed a few seconds ago, but it wasn't. This was almost worse. Alex looked back at Cas in confused denial—no—no way, Dean wouldn't have done that! But Cas remained grim and resigned like he saw no other explanation. Flabbergasted, Alex whipped her head back at Sam, who nodded heavily. And Alex was filled with sudden, misplaced anger. "Well why didn't you stop him?!"