Heaven's Child ≫ SPN

25. Bad Moon on The Rise

The following week was unusually cold. The kind of cold that seeps into your bones and leaves you shivering with gooseflesh up and down your arms. The frigid temperature was accompanied by a low rumble in the clouds and relentless mist that dampened the town, enriching the color of the leaves on the trees and darkening their barks.

Thomas didn't show up the next day to school. Or the day after. Or even the day after that. His absence left our plan to protect him until something came after him with a huge hole. Dean tried to talk to his mom as FBI but she says she couldn't stop him if she tried. At least we knew that Thomas came home safely every night; Sam checked in on him with Mrs.Goldberg.

After a few days of Thomas not showing up, Dean and I handed over our hair nets and took on our white collar suits instead. We left Sam at the school to keep an eye on the rest of the kids, but more specifically the last kid left on Thomas's baseball team. Sam tried to talk to his parents into moving out of town for a bit but they couldn't—they lived off the bakery shop they owned here. And this was part of why Sam and I weren't talking.

"Good. They shouldn't have to leave. We're going to end this soon, anyway."

"The kid's life is in danger!" Sam snapped immediately, loud voice bouncing around the cramped motel room. I couldn't understand where his sudden anger came from, but I matched his tone of voice anyway, locking him in an angry glare.

"What the hell was that?"

He pursed his lips and looked away. "Nothing."

"If you want to say something—"

"You're attitude. It's reckless and it's stupid."

"A Winchester telling me that I'm reckless and stupid," I scoffed. "That's rich. You two shot Lucifer in the face!"

"Learn from our mistakes! We did that, and failed to save an entire town!"

"What's going on in here? I could hear you two shouting from the other end of the block," Dean walked in with warm food, small droplets of rain all over his jacket and hair.

"Nothing," I mumbled, looking away from Sam and grabbing the food out of Dean's hand. Dean studied my face but I didn't allow him to figure anything out. I took the paper bag and started to unwrap my burger quickly.

"Sam?"

"I'm fine," he responded rigidly, taking a burger out of the large paper bag too. But instead of unwrapping it, "I think we should call Cas and take you home."

"Excuse me?" I started before swallowing my food, but he spoke over me and I him.

"You and I both know Alec is close. We know nothing about him or how powerful he really—"

"I'm not some child you can order around. I don't know how else to put it to you—"

"—and if you die because you half ass this—"

"I survived a hell of a lot more on my own. I don't need you to protect me—"

"—then we could avoid anyone else getting killed because of you."

"—at this point you're just slowing me down."

We both froze after that, taking in the last thing the other said.

"Alright—let's just—" Dean tried, but I cut him off.

"Anyone else?"

He sighed and looked away.

"You think the boy and the angel are my fault."

"That's not what I meant."

"I'm sure it's not," I muttered as I collected my coat and slammed the door after myself.