not strong enough, supernatural [ 2 ]

055. meeting metatron

Sam is sitting at the map table with research while Larissa is sitting across from him and feeding Athena. Dean walks in, carrying a tray of food.

"All right, here we go. John Winchester's famous cure all kitchen sink stew. There you go. Enough cayenne pepper in there to burn your lips off, just like dad used to make." Dean puts the tray in front of Sam and he pushes it away.

"Yeah, want me to do the whole airplane thing with the spoon?" Dean asks. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I-I don't..." Sam says, his voice soft and quiet.

"Days, Sam. It's been three days." Dean says, pulling a thermometer out.

"When'd you get that?" Sam asks, not recognizing it as the one they have for the kids.

"When you started throwing off heat waves." Dean says. "Here." He holds it out to Sam who stands up, stumbling.

"Enough, Dean. Please." Sam says.

"The bloody handkerchiefs, the fever, the shaky legs... this is not good." Dean says as Natalie and Jacob walk in.

"Well, I'm not good. And I'm not going to be good until we can start moving again. Until I can start the third trial." Sam says.

"Trial? I wouldn't let you start a moped. Your wife doesn't even let you hold Athena if you're standing up. We're on the rails with this thing, okay, and the only way out of it is through it, believe me, I know. And you know how bad I wanna slam the door on all those sons of bitches. But you gotta let us take care of you, man. You gotta let us help you get your strength."

"This isn't a cold. Or a fever, or whatever it is you're supposed to feed. This is part of it all. Those first two trials... they're not just things I did. They're doing something to me. They're changing me, Dean."

Dean's phone buzzes and he takes it out.

"It's Kevin." He says.

"Finally." Sam sighs. Dean opens Kevin's message on the laptop and Larissa walks over to watch it. Athena makes a noise, holding her hand out to the screen when she recognizes Kevin's face.

"Sam, Natalie, Jacob, Dean, Larissa, I've set up this message with some software on a remote server so it'd send itself to you if I didn't reset it with a command once a week. Which means I didn't reset it this week. And there's only one reason I wouldn't. Which means if you're watching this, then I... then I-- I'm dead."

"I'm dead, you bastards! So screw you, screw God, and everybody in between! Crowley must have gotten to me. And the one thing I know is that I won't break this time. Not sure how I know, but-- but I do. I've been uploading all my notes, the translations, I'm sending you the links so you can get all of it. You guys are gonna have to try to figure out the rest. I'm sorry. I know it was my job, but I-- I couldn't... I'm sorry."

Dean angrily shoves a stack of books off the table.

"Damn it!"

Athena flinches and starts crying at the loud noise and her uncle's shouting.

"It's okay, baby. Hey, hey, it's okay." Larissa starts to comfort her, leaving the room.

+++

Sam is sitting at the table in the library and printing Kevin's translations. Libby walks in and goes over to him.

"Hi." Libby quietly says.

"Hey, baby." Sam mumbles, grabbing a couple of papers off the printer.

"You want some chocolate milk?" Libby asks, holding the small bottle out to him. Sam weakly smiles at her.