The End | {BOOK 5}

27| Base Camp

Lucifer and Cass passed by the door, and Lucifer smiled at my mom and then backtracked to talk to her.

"Hey, Mama," he sassed. "Miss me?"

Instead of answering, my mom just delivered a powerful jab punch to Lucifer's jaw, knocking him on his heels.

"That's a yes?" he smirked up at her.

"Let's go!" Cass dragged Lucifer away.

Sam and Dean had come over just in time to see the punch.

"Nice shot," Dean complimented my mother.

"Yeah. No kidding," Sam added. "Hey, um, we should really go look for Jack and get back home before it's too late."

My mom shifted uncomfortably following his words, and I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"I, uh... Guys, um... about that," she began. "I'm not going back."

"I'm sorry. What?" I demanded.

"I- Ellie... I know what you went through to come find me."

I scoffed, crossing my arms as I glared at her.

"But these people are being slaughtered," my mom continued. "They need me here."

"No, I need you, Mom," I corrected her angrily. "I do. We have been mopping up the world for years. Years. We have been knocked down. We have been possessed. We've lost friends. We've lost family. We've lost each other. And we never walk away, ever. And sometimes, we should've, because not every fight everywhere can be won. It just can't. Right?"

I turned to look over at Sam and Dean.

"Tell her."

"I think your mom made up her mind," Sam said.

"See? Wait. What?"

"Your mom doesn't want to leave these people," Sam told me. "So let's take 'em with us."

"They'll never leave their home," my mom shook her head. "They'll never leave their cause."

"I'm not saying abandon the fight. I'm saying we get them somewhere safe, then we all figure out a way to take down Michael. Then once we do, they can come back and save their world."

Dean and I both eyed Sam skeptically, but he was looking over at my mom. She smiled, obviously pleased with the plan he'd created.

"You'd do that for them?"

"Well, we got... what, nine busting out?" Dean shrugged. "What's a few more? How many are we talking?"

My mom bit her lip, doing some quick math in her head.

"Twenty-five."

"Okay, well, getting an extra twenty-five through that rift, that might not be possible," I pointed out.

"Cass, hey," Sam greeted him as he walked over. "Any update on Jack?"

"He's back."

"Great. Where is he?"

"He's with Lucifer."

Sam and Dean hurried over to where Lucifer and Jack were, but before Cass could follow, I grabbed his arm.

"Cass, actually, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

My mom walked off, giving us some privacy.

"What is it, Eleanor?"

"Back before Jack was born, when my mom and I were on the way to the lake house, we talked. She told me how there were some complications with my birth; that she and my dad prayed for a miracle..."

I swallowed, hoping he would catch on to what I was trying to ask him about.

"She mentioned that you... you showed up and..."

"Gave you some of my grace," Cass finished, nodding. "It's true. It's also part of the reason you were more prone to hearing my voice in your head before your other powers developed."

"But... why?"

"I told you once that you and Dean are soulmates and I was the guardian angel assigned to both of you," Cass reminded me. "When you were born and Emilie and James prayed for a miracle, I knew I had to intervene somehow."

"Because I was supposed to be the Ecclesia," I rolled my eyes.

"Yes."

"And you killed my mom."

"Eleanor-"

"All so that, what?, the Winchesters would come visit more often?"

"Eleanor, you have to understand-"

"Oh, I understand perfectly, Cass. I'm going for a walk. Tell Dean I went to clear my head."

I didn't give him time to respond, turning on my heel and walking off into the woods.

⁘

 We had moved to the base camp at Singer Auto Salvage not long after I'd returned from my walk. We had also learned that the cuffs couldn't really hold Lucifer in this world, and he was just going along with the plan so he could prove he was a 'team player'. While we met with the leaders of the survivors, a soldier came in and whispered something to Bobby. They agreed to have a vote over whether or not to go along with Sam's plan.

"That's all we ask," Dean said.

"Thank you," Sam added.

As the three leaders filed out, Bobby approached us.

"Just got news about Charlie and Ketch. Goin' after the execution squad went sideways. They're the ones who got ambushed."

"Where did they hear about this execution?" I asked him.

Sam and Dean hurried off, bringing back the young man who supposedly gave Ketch and Charlie the tip about the angel squad.

"What do you want from me? I didn't do nothin'."

"We're thinking you did," I replied calmly, arms crossed over my chest.

"Did you tell Ketch and Charlie about the angel kill squad?" Sam demanded.

Behind the young man, Cass paced slowly while Bobby stood off to the side observing. The young man's eyes darted over to Bobby before looking back at the brothers and me.

"I... yeah."

"So you set 'em up?" Dean questioned him.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," came the defiant answer.

Dean and I stood motionless, staring him down coldly as he met our matching steel glares. Beside me, Dean's eyes flickered to Cass, giving him a barely imperceptible nod before looking back at the young man once more. Cass's eyes began to glow with grace and he placed his hands on either side of the kid's head, yanking it back. The young man immediately started screaming in agony at the pain Cass was inflicting.

Over by the wall, Bobby flinched minutely at the sound and Sam was watching, seemingly slightly disturbed by the torture. Besides the movement of Dean's eyes as he gave Cass the okay to stop, he and I didn't move or react. When Cass let go, eyes returning to normal, the young man's head hung forward and he coughed.

"You wanna try that again?" Dean asked him calmly.

⁘

We managed to save Ketch and Charlie. They were being tortured by the Apocalypse World version of Cass. Our Cass was the one to distract and kill him while we freed Ketch and Charlie. When we got back, Bobby told us that everyone including him voted to come with us through the rift back to our world. So, we had a lot of people to take with us and only a few hours left to do it.