Song Remains the Same

Chapter 140: Touched By An Angel

"The saddest thing about betrayal...
is that it never comes from your enemies."
- Unknown

The Next Morning

Kevin Tran rubbed at his dry, irritated eyes. If he ever got out of this damn place, he swore he was gonna need glasses to see. His vision from staring at tablets and lore for hours every day was total trash these days—and so was his health, both physical and mental. Being a 'prophet of God' might have sounded cool to some in theory, but in reality, Kevin was miserable and didn't even know who he was anymore. The bright-eyed advanced-placement teen with dreams of a career in politics had crumbled away, leaving behind a twenty-one year old who was jaded, depressed, sad, and lonely. The only thing that really kept him going was the thought of someday, maybe being able to finish his prophet work and return back to normal life. But... if the Winchesters were any metric to measure by... he'd probably seen the last of 'normal' a long time ago.

He resisted the pit of despair that particular line of thought threatened to launch him into. Heaving a weary sigh, Kevin glanced at the clock across from the table he hunched over. It was just before eight in the morning—not that it really meant anything except he'd been sitting in this chair for over seven hours now. Time had lost all meaning to him at this point. In the bunker there were very few places with any natural light or views of the outside world, so his circadian rhythm was pretty much null and void for the past two plus months. Vaguely, he tried to remember the last time he'd eaten or had anything to drink. His body hurt from how sedentary he'd become—and he longingly remembered the days he'd taken for granted: Going for a walk 'just because' as he listened to nerdy podcasts. Worrying about exams and grades. Stressing over the thought of getting a summer job. Man. Thinking about who he used to be was sad and weird. Life no longer had room for anything but angels, demons, and terrifyingly high stake shit.

Dark eyes scanned over the overwhelming sea of papers, reference books, codexes, and ciphers scattered across the table in front of him and as usual, Kevin felt absolutely incapable of dealing with the lot in life he'd never asked for but couldn't escape. He plunked his elbows onto the solid oak table, moaned in exhausted frustration, then buried his face in his hands, trying to find some something that would make his current existence less wretched.

Presently, he heard the sound of someone approaching but didn't bother looking up to see who. The Winchester brothers and Bobby passed through the library a few times a day (when they were here at all). They didn't tend to talk to him unless they needed something from him—they sort of skirted around him guiltily the rest of the time. Sometimes Bobby sat with him and grunted a few things in his general direction, but other than that... nada. So Kevin was surprised when he heard whoever it was stop directly across from him—and then the sounds of objects being set down and a chair moving. Great. Bobby was either setting up shop, or someone wanted a favor. Already annoyed at whoever was sitting across from him, Kevin uncovered his face and then straightened, surprised to see Alex there. She'd set down a to-go coffee cup and a brown paper bag labeled 'Mia's Café & Donuts To Go!'

Confused—because she and Cas had returned with Sam and Bobby last night and Dean very tellingly hadn't—Kevin watched her nudge the items his way like they were meant for him. Used to eating soggy fast food leftovers or freezer food that Dean and Sam threw his way, Kevin was immediately suspicious. "What's this?" he asked dubiously. "Bribery?"

Her face showed slight surprise then hooded humor. "Can't I just get you a coffee and breakfast without an ulterior motive?"

Kevin didn't trust the lightheartedness. "Doubtful." He immediately regretted his sullen attitude and took a second to dig deep for a more polite response—he wasn't really in practice with being social anymore. He'd been running and hiding for too long. "Sorry, I'm... I'm just exhausted and this tablet is..." he trailed off because it was beyond words.