Desolation Comes Upon the Sky

Do You Believe in Miracles?

"Drop the blade, Dean!" Sam's voice broke through the darkness, urgent and pleading. "Dean. Look at me!" There was a cry of alarm, and Alex groaned, trying to open her eyes, but her body was unresponsive, too shocked to move. "Let it go!" she heard the Winchester insisted. "Let it go! Let it go."

The voices faded away, and the next thing she knew, her eyes were opening, but the brothers were nowhere in sight. Alex blinked twice, her vision swimming, and she curled her toes in her boots at the throbbing in her head. What had happened? She could taste blood, and the young hunter reluctantly flicked out her tongue to taste her lips. Definitely blood.

That was right. Dean's elbow had knocked her out. Right after he had attacked Gadreel. Alex's eyes fell closed as footsteps approached, her stomach roiling nauseously. "Are you okay?" The voice was Castiel's, and Alex cracked open an eye to see that the seraph was kneeling in front of her, his face dark with concern.

Her mouth initially refused to form words, and the young angel could only groan. She struggled to sit up, grunting out her thanks as Castiel held her steady. "Where's Dean?" Her head throbbed, protesting the change in position, and Alex gingerly touched the side of her head.

"Downstairs. We've confined him to the dungeon for the moment." Concern still laced his voice, and after a moment's pause, Castiel added, "Can I get you anything?"

"Uh, uh — yeah. There's an icepack in the freezer." Alex brushed off Castiel's help as she pushed herself to her feet. "Where's the First Blade?" Her gaze followed Cas' on the ground, and she bent down to pick up the jaw bone as the seraph walked away. It was the first time she had held it, and the young angel ran her fingers down the length of the mylohyoid line, ending at the leather straps that enveloped the handle. "We should keep this far away from him." Her fist closed around the handle, eyes closed as she tried to feel the power that lay within the bone, but there was nothing.

Footsteps approached, and Alex looked up as Castiel returned, ice pack in hand. "You should put that down." The seraph held out the cold compress, and Alex pressed it up against her temple.

"Crowley wanted me to have the Mark, you know." Alex twisted the Blade again, watching how the yellowed teeth caught in the light. "Cain insisted on giving it to Dean."

"I'm glad he did." Castiel's hand covered hers, and Alex reluctantly relinquished her grasp on the weapon. "Look at what it's done." His touch lingered on the back of her hand for only a second longer before it pulled away, and the seraph placed the Blade down onto the table. His gaze flickered past hers before he added, "We'll find Gadreel after I have a word with Dean."

Gadreel. She had completely forgotten about the injured warrior. Alex's head snapped back to where the angel had fallen, but he was nowhere in sight; only a pool of blood remained on the floor. "W-where'd he go?"

"I don't know." Castiel disappeared down the hall, and Alex followed, unsteady at first, but gaining her footing as she went. They circled past the living quarters and descended the stairs, and Alex hesitated as they stepped into the storage room. The door was closed, and Castiel knocked on the metal shelves. "Sam. It's us."

The doors opened, and Alex stepped into the dungeon. Dean was standing there, arms folded across his chest as he glared at the three of them. "The hell if you think I'm riding the pine on this one, guys."

"Something's wrong with you, Dean." Sam's voice was sharp with exasperation, and Dean's lips curled angrily. "And until we figure out what, this is where you have to stay."

"And you two are gonna do what? Take on Metatron yourselves?" Dean scoffed loudly, and Alex shoved her hands into her pockets with a scowl. "That's smart — oh, no, wait." He nodded towards Castiel. "No, you — you lost your angel army. And you," he added to Sam, "— now you're trying to lock up the one guy who has a shot at killing the son of a bitch! Hell of a plan, fellas."