Song Remains the Same

Chapter 141: And The Cradle Will Rock

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here."
― William Shakespeare

She raced across the fiery hellscape, lungs burning and heart jackhammering in terror. "Dad!" she screamed, eyes searching for him in furious panic. Snarling demons pursued closely, scratching at her with razorblade slashes. "Where are you?!"

Even as the last desperate word tore out, her foot caught and she fell—but instead of hitting solid ground, she began to plunge endlessly into an abyss of choking, fiery darkness. Shocked hands and feet scrambled for any kind of thing to catch onto as her petrified screams mocked her, promising a fate worse than death—

And then something unseen began to shake her as a distant but urgent voice began to come through: "Alex? Alex, wake up—"

The shaking and calls of her name increased to the point it was impossible to ignore, and her senses were forcibly dragged out of the subconscious. With a deep gasp, Alex jolted awake from the nightmare, finding herself confused and in an entirely different world: the quiet, safe space of her room in the bunker. It was still dark outside—the little tunneling skylight above showed deep blue of night. The alarm clock on the table beside the bed read 4:42am. Alex's tensed muscles sagged as she gained clarity back. Of course that was a dream. But it had felt so real...

Behind her in their cozy nest of blankets, Cas held her closely in one of their most common sleeping positions: spooning. His arms tightened a little, a gentle hand caressing protectively against the swell of her belly. He dropped a soft, questioning kiss onto her shoulder. "A nightmare?" he murmured in concern, voice husky from sleep. Alex nodded stiffly, squeezing her eyes shut and shuddering out a breath—the disoriented, scary feelings had her entire body wracked with trauma. "I'm here," Cas breathed quietly against the back of her neck, and Alex nodded again, centering herself and allowing a hand to join his against her womb. Slowly, she relaxed by breathing in and out steadily. This was real. Hell was in her past. Still... it left her nauseated and sweating. For a minute, she listened to her breathing regulate and heartbeat slowing, concentrating on Cas's gentle reassurance that she was safe.

They had experienced this exact scenario quite a few times within recent memory, especially the first month post-Hell: recurring grisly nightmares that always ended with a panicking Alex waking up unsure of which direction was up and down—thankfully almost always with Cas there to soothe and steady her. The terrifying dreams had tapered off a lot since that first month... which left Alex very rueful today. "Guess it was too much to hope for, thinking they were behind me." She sighed and turned herself, nestling into his ready arms and chest as she wondered if these cursed dreams would ever fucking end.

"Well, until they are behind you..." Cas returned, the implied I'll be right here not missed. Alex felt the shadow of a smile growing. She nodded faintly and pulled back enough to study the face she loved so much. A five o'clock beard, messy hair, and familiar kind blue eyes awaited her gaze. After studying her quietly for a second, he leaned in and kissed her forehead tenderly—an action that never failed to make her feel romanced in the purest of ways. Able to relax a couple degrees more, Alex settled her head down and let Cas sweetly trace errant slow touches onto the side of her face. In a growingly pleasant lull from the repetitive motion, her eyes drifted to the wall beyond Cas's shoulder where a calendar hung. And then her anxiety ticked back up a couple notches. Cas noticed her clouding look and glanced over, trying to ascertain. "What is it?"

It wasn't the cheesy flower illustration, it wasn't the month name... it was the year that had caught her dark attention. "Twenty-fourteen," she murmured tightly.