this is me trying, spn [ 3 ]

003. heart eyes

They're sitting in the library, Cas sitting at one of the tables alone and shackled so he can't attack them.

"So that was the last of the neighbors, just like the rest." Sam says before realizing that Dean's spaced out. "Dean? Dean?"

"Yeah." Dean says, knocked out of his trance.

"You okay?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Dean says.

"Just saying we got nothing. No one saw anything unusual going on at the house the day the baby disappeared." Sam says.

"If this is truly the darkness we're talking about, it's more of a time bomb than a baby." Cas says.

"Yeah, but it is still a baby, right? I mean, the darkness I saw was an adult. So it still has to, uh, grow up." Dean says.

"The Darkness is almost infinite power. I'm not sure what "growing up" means in this case." Cas says.

"Well, God kicked this thing's ass once before, right?" Sam asks.

"I'm sorry. Do we look like God?" Libby quips. Sam instinctively goes to answer, but frowns, not used to the sarcastic comments coming from her.

"Wh-- I-- we-- uh..." Sam stammers. "Can you control other people?" He asks Ophelia.

"Okay, if I was gonna control annoying baby number one, I'd make her do something to benefit me a lot more. Not just mouth off." Ophelia says.

"I'm 12." Libby says.

"Yes, but you'll always be "annoying baby one" to me." Ophelia grins, pinching her cousin's cheek. Libby slaps her hand away, grumbling something under her breath that Ophelia is sure to be offensive.

"Yeah, it'd be nice if he put down the Mai Tai and show up for work." Dean says.

"I wouldn't count on it." Cas says.

"It's possible he's around. Closer than we think, you know?" Sam says.

"What makes you say that?" Dean asks.

"I believe he made a fairly definitive statement when he walked away." Cas states, standing up, but is stopped by the chains around his ankles and wrists.

"Sorry about those, Cas. Till we know what's going on with you, you're still a bit of a wild card, you know?" Dean says.

"I hate to point this out, but you both know who we might need to help deal with the Darkness." Sam says.

"Don't even say it." Dean says.

"I hate it, too, but he was God's scribe. He did hear about everything." Sam says.

"That's just like saying it." Dean says. "Cas, you all right?" The angel lowly growls a bit and is shaking like he's cold. Larissa grabs Athena off the floor, holding her in her lap.

"It's the spell." Cas says.

"We were hoping your angel wiring would fight it off or... slow it down at least." Sam says.

"It appears I simply respond differently from humans." Cas says.

"If you were human, you'd be gone. With you, it's like it's digging deeper." Dean says.

"You know, Rowena's the only one who can remove it." Sam says.

"We're doing everything to find her, okay? But so far, we got nothing." Dean says.

"Well, it's getting worse." Sam whispers.

~ ~ ~

"Come on, Crowley, pick up. I've left you a dozen messages." Dean says before hanging up, leaving another message. "Why isn't he answering?"