Desolation Comes Upon the Sky

Remember the Titans

February 25th, 2014

Lebanon, Kansas

Alex pushed her laptop off of her lap and kicked away the soft, white blankets of her bed. Her bed; not a motel bed. Both she and the Winchesters were back at the bunker, and they were once again settling into a comfortable, calm routine. They — upon Alex's insistence, had even converted one of the rooms directly off to the left of the library into a comfortable sitting room, equipped with a couch and a coffee table; a tv would hopefully be added sometime in the next month.

The young angel straightened her sheets and tossed her black earphones onto her laptop as she tipped her head. She could hear the water running through the pipes as Dean showered; it must be close to 10am. Dean always seemed to shower right after he got up. She listened harder, letting her grace slip out and amplify the sounds around her as she searched for Sam. She could hear the occasional rustle of pages, and she drew her grace back in. The library. Sam must be somewhere in the library. The water shut off as Dean's shower drew to completion, and Alex pulled on one of the Winchesters' old, grey sweatshirt over her black tee and exited her room.

She passed by the showers, and her wingtips twitched as she felt warm steam seep out from beneath the closed wooden door, curling around her ankles. She followed the hallway up to the library, her socks silent on the marble floor. Sam was down in the war room, his research spread out across the table with the light-up map. "Hey," she called, and the Winchester looked up at her voice.

"Uh, morning." Sam cut off with a short cough, a hand going up to cover his mouth. "Sorry. Um, I got breakfast if you're interested," he offered, but his voice rasped slightly. Alex pursed her lips; whatever had been making him cough didn't seem to be gone. "It's in the kitchen."

"Thanks. I guess I could go for food." Alex turned away, brushing off the Winchester's condition as unusual but nothing worth her immediate concern. Sam had been overworking himself lately; a small cold was unavoidable. She crossed the library and followed the smell of freshly-brewed coffee to the kitchen to where a white box sat on the counter. Doughnuts. "Breakfast of champions," the young angel quipped as she picked up one with chocolate frosting and colored sprinkles.

She returned to the warm room to see Sam standing at the sink on the far side of the wall, hands on either side of the ceramic basin and head lowered. Alex watched curiously as he spit something else up before he washed it away with water from the old pipes. "You okay?" she asked.

Sam jumped in surprise, spinning around to stare at her blankly for a second. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just ... got something in my throat." He cleared his throat for emphasis and turned back to the sink. He filled a glass with water and swirled it around his mouth before he spit it back out, dipping low so Alex couldn't see. The young angel frowned, unsure why he was being so defensive.

"Ooh. Doughnuts." Dean stepped into the room, dressed in the old Men of Letters robe he had commandeered over a white t-shirt and dark boxers. "Any left?"

"There's a box in the kitchen, and Sam made coffee for you." Alex listened as Dean walked away, and she turned back to Sam. "Cold, maybe?" she guessed when the Winchester coughed one more time. "Maybe you should take things easy for the day; you've kind of been working your ass off."

Sam looked like he was about to respond, but his lips came back together when Dean reentered the room, a cup of coffee in one hand and the last bite of a doughnut in the other. "Heard from Kevin?" the oldest Winchester inquired as he stuffed the rest of his pastry into his mouth.

"Uh, no." Sam shook his head and set his glass down on the sink. "Nothing yet."

Dean huffed in disbelief. "What's it been, like, three weeks? What's taking that brainiac so long?" He sat down at the table and pushed an open book aside so he could put it down, leaving his hands free to go up in frustration. "It's a book. Read it."