Shattered: The Sequel to Mirrors

Penguins

Ash leaned her head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. It had been three days. Three. Fucking. Days. And as far as she knew, there wasn't much of a chance of her getting out. Abaddon was pissed as hell, pacing back and forth outside Ash's cell door, barking orders at any demon who came in. So apparently they hadn't gotten to Sam. Ash took that as a victory. She hoped her friends were okay, after everything they had done for her. 

It was on the fourth day that Abaddon looked at Ash and she knew. She wasn't sure what it was in the demon's eyes that told her. It was either Ash would help them get Sam Winchester, or Ash was going to die. Well, the demons could go fuck themselves. Ash wasn't going to do a damn thing for them. Her hand slid in her pocket as Abaddon left the room for the first time. She had a piece of paper, which she quickly folded into an origami penguin. She took a  small pencil she had smuggled in her hoodie pocket and scribbled down the note. Next was the powder from her front left pocket which she dumped all over the paper. She pulled out a lighter from her right pocket and set the note on fire. 

She watched it burn with a bit of satisfaction and an overwhelming sense of sadness. She wished she was scared, fearful for her own life. But more than anything she was just sad she wouldn't get to live any more of it. 

Dean walked back into the house. After his fight with Gabriel, he had gone for a walk. He had stood outside Anna's apartment for a good thirty minutes, willing himself to knock on the door, to spend the night. But he couldn't. He couldn't because every word Gabe had said was in his head. Cas crying into his chest, the way his hair smelled...the taste of honey in his mouth. And whether Dean wanted to admit it or not, he had feelings for the angel with a crooked halo and broken wings. Not that he was going to do anything about them. Dean was going to do what Dean did best, and that was ignore his feelings. But for the time being, he couldn't leave Sam alone to deal with everything. 

He threw his jacket at the pile of clothes on the table and walked into the living room. Most of their ragtag family was in there. Benny looked absolutely exhausted, to the point where he didn't even react to the fact that Kevin was asleep on his arm. Charlie and Gilda were sharing an armchair, and Adam was chewing on his fingernails. 

"Where's Alfie?" Dean asked him. Adam gestured upstairs. 

"Helping Castiel with his wings," Adam explained. 

"Okay...where's Michael?" Dean asked instead. 

"In the kitchen. With Meg. Apparently, she got a message from Ash. He's trying to figure out preparations now so that we can figure out how to get her," Adam said, yawning. 

"You all look exhausted. We aren't going to be doing anything tonight, go sleep," Dean said, gesturing for all of them to go upstairs. Adam nodded and went down to the basement. Gilda and Charlie went up the stairs holding hands, and Benny just picked up Kevin, who was still passed out. Dean crossed to the kitchen. Michael was holding Meg in a hug as the girl sobbed into his arms. It was weird to see someone who should be falling apart being strong for everyone else. 

When Michael saw Dean, he nodded his head to the counter. Dean walked over to it and picked up a piece of paper. On closer examination, it was an origami penguin. On the front, it said, "To Meg". Dean wasn't sure if he trusted to unfold it so he turned it over. Unfold the damn piece of paper, Meg. Don't be a wuss. Dean couldn't help but smirk at the teen witch's sense of humor. He unfolded the piece of paper and read the note inside. Hey...not exactly how I wanted to say goodbye. At the moment, it doesn't look like there's any good way for me to get out of this, and I think we both know that. I promise I'm not going to do anything to help them, no matter what they do to me. Do me a favor and look after Sam, would you? I like that kid. And I like you. I think I could have loved you too....and I know the feelings mutual. I'm not blind. -Ash

Dean looked over to Michael who was currently shuffling toward the door. He gestured for Dean to wait there as he walked Meg up the stairs and presumably got her into bed. Dean raided the fridge while he waited, but there was nothing good in it. Lucifer always did all the shopping. If he hadn't been thinking about how much the thought hurt, he would have wondered when he had remembered that. 

"Hey. You read it?" Michael asked. Dean nodded. 

"Meg okay?" Dean asked. 

"No, but can you expect her to be?" Michael said. Dean stared at him. Did Michael realize the irony of what he was saying? Dean wanted to ask if Michael was okay if he wanted to talk. But he didn't think he would get a legitimate answer anyhow. 

"So...what's the plan? It's not like we know where Ash is," Dean said. 

"No, we do," Michael pulled out a scrap of a map and handed it to Dean. "Look, I want to go tonight. Bring Alfie, Balthazar, Crowley. We'll leave Gilda behind and Castiel can't come in his current state." 

"What about me?" Dean asked. He wrinkled his nose as he realized he sounded like a whiny child. Apparently, Michael found it amusing because he smiled. Dean tried not to focus on how quickly the smile was clouded and Michael's face returned to it's stoic and serious expression. 

"I want you to come. If you can get along with Gabe," Michael said. "He's been through a lot." Dean couldn't take it anymore. 

"What about you? You've been through a lot," Dean said. Michael looked at him, green eyes filled with tears. 

"Yeah...I'm...doing my best," Michael mumbled. 

"You're acting like nothing happened," Dean said softly. 

"Because if I think about it too long, I'm not going to be able to function. Right now denial is better. I can't...I can't let you guys down because I..." Michael trailed off. Because I lost the love of my life. Because I can't seem to figure out how to breathe without him. Because I'm a shell of who I was without him. "Well, you know." Dean nodded. He didn't know. He couldn't imagine. But he knew Michael was in pain, no matter how put together he seemed. 

"Well," Michael said, rubbing his hands together. "Then let's go get Sabrina back, what do you say?" 

The idea for this chapter was mostly courtesy of our favorite teen witch, @cosmoswitchyvibes so I hope it came out as you wanted it lol. So...I'm having horrific growing pains in one of my legs, and I'm fucking eighteen years old and haven't grown since the sixth grade. I sure as hell don't think I'm going to now, so the pain is just cruel. Anyhow..I'm going to try to write another chapter, but I probably won't publish it till the morning. Or I'll sleep because it's almost one in the morning. I don't know. 

I have the honor to be your obedient servant.