Chapter 16

In the end, Sam and Dean went to take care of the ghost. I honestly thought Elly was a little bummed about it, but I'm also sure she understood why I wouldn't let her go with them. Or at least I hoped she did.

It had been two weeks since then. Hunts had returned to normal, and things had been relatively quiet. Cas had said Heaven was giving up on finding Lucifer, and as I predicted, the devil hadn't tried to escape. He really hadn't tried to cause any trouble at all. Which was weird for him but we'd take it.

Sam and Dean had been hesitant to leave me alone with the fallen angel in the basement, but I assured them that as long as he was good they had nothing to fear. It wasn't like he could get out of the trap anyway, even if he did want to cause chaos.

Cas had been working with Gabe, and it felt like we were getting somewhere, slowly but at least we were moving. Gabe still couldn't tell us what had happened to him, but he was starting to trust us again. He seemed especially calm around Sam.

We still had nothing new on Jack or Mary. As far as we assumed they were alive. But that was more of a hope now than a true feeling. They had been on the other side for a little over two months now. The idea of getting them back in good condition was starting to look dim. But Elly's 'prophecies', as I called them, kept the boys sane.

Ketch came and went from the bunker as he pleased. He didn't seem to fear Asmodeus as much anymore and I wasn't going to make him stay. I wasn't sure what he did while he was gone, but it made me a little too happy to have him return to me, even for just a night as it was most times. 

There hadn't been much from the southern gentleman demon anyway. And it was making me nervous. There had been so much fear when Gabe had suddenly been sprung on us, and now we had Lucifer too. And there was just nothing? Not to mention the way Elly and Lucifer had escaped from Hell still felt off to me. It seemed way too simple. What was Asmodeus planning?

Cael was still missing. He had never come back and wasn't answering my calls or prayers, though as much as I wanted that to be, it wasn't abnormal. But something still felt very off about it. There was just something that I couldn't shake. 

"You're awake early," Elly said, looking up from her bowl of cereal as I walked into the main room. 

"Oh ya..I…couldn't sleep," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. "I've been thinking too much."

I walked past her and into the kitchen. I opened the fridge and scanned the shelves for anything edible. I scowled at it's low contents and moved to the pantry. 

"Lower your standards." Elly came into the kitchen with a now empty bowl. "There's nothing to eat."

"I can make a run to the store later," I mumbled as I looked through the boxes of sugary cereal, they had always been Dean's favorite.

"What were you thinking about?" Elly leaned against the counter as I walked out with a box in hand.

"Honestly?" I looked over her. The bruising on her body had turned from it's dark ugly purple to bits of yellow blushing. "You."

"I'm easy to think about." She laughed, "What about me?"

"About how to keep you safe and get you home." It was the truth. I had poured through book after book with Sam. It wasn't so much the how anymore we had been looking for. We knew how to with the portal. It was collecting the last ingredient that was difficult. Lately, the boys had been talking about using Lucifer over Gabe for grace, but I had been able to persuade them away from that for now. 

"Oh." Elly nodded, looking away from me. She almost looked sad. "I thought we'd agreed I'd just stay here. No more hunts until we get things figured out." She gave me a tiny smile, "Thought I was hoping to get at least one vamp. To make up for the Twilight shit, ya know?"

I laughed, pulling a bowl out of one of the cabinets and pouring cereal into it. "We still have to 'fix' Gabe anyway. So it's not like we can send you back today or tomorrow. I've read every book we have here, and there doesn't seem to be another way."

"Would Cael or Crowley know?" It was an innocent question on her part, but something about hearing his name put a pin through my heart.

I grabbed a spoon and dug into the dried cereal. "I haven't been able to reach Cael. I'm sure he's just ignoring me though."

I tried to smile through it, but I was sure Elly knew I didn't believe those words. I gave him one mission, and he never came back from it. He had to be trapped somewhere. And if that was what happened, I would never forgive myself for putting him there. 

"And Crowley. His ways aren't always the most practical. So I'd rather not put you in his hands right now." I said through a mouthful.

"Um…about that." Elly cleared her throat. "How did…What spell did Crowley use to keep you alive?"

I almost choked on my food, taken aback by her question. I coughed a few times and looked up at her, "Why are you asking?" I coughed out.

"Lucy said…"

"Lucy?" I interrupted her. Great she'd given him a nickname.

"That's just what the fans call him. I'm used to saying it, sorry." She ran a hand through her hair. "Lucifer told me what he thinks it was. I was just…curious to know if he was right."

My gaze narrowed. The devil would certainly know about the old magic, but had he told her the truth? "What exactly did he say, Elly?"

She pushed herself off the counter, suddenly nervous. "Forget it. You don't have to tell me. It's ok." She waved the question from the air where it still hung and went to leave the room.

"I'll tell you about what happened to me if you tell me why you keep leaving your room to go sleep at his feet."

My words must have sounded harsher than I meant them. Elly froze in her steps, keeping her back to me and clutching herself tight.

"I…I keep having nightmares." She all but whimpered.

"And you go to him? Why not come to me? Or Sam or Dean?" I stared down at the bowl of bright colors.

"You're usually…busy." She harshly shot the word. I could've argued, but she was right. I was busy most nights when Ketch was here. "And…" Elly trailed off. I pushed from the counter and took a few steps towards her. "I think he understands." She finished slowly, testing the words.

The jealousy flooded my chest before I was aware of its existence, and I took a slow breath to steady myself. I didn't want to hurt her again. I didn't want to push her away.

"What does he understand?" I questioned, doing my best to keep my voice steady.

"I don't…I'm not sure…" She shook her head, still refusing to turn and look at me. 

"Are you having dreams of Hell?" Elly answered my question with a nod. "Ones where they torture you?" She nodded again. "Elly, we all understand that. Please come to us."

"But I wasn't tortured, Alex!" She turned towards me sharply. Tears were streaming down her face, "I don't know where these dreams come from! And they're driving me insane. I haven't slept in days." Her hands went to her face and she sunk to the floor. "They feel so real. Like I'm there. I wake up gasping and screaming in pain. So. Much. Pain!"

"Elly…"

"But he fixes it." She looked up at me, eyes red and watery. "I don't know how but he does. I don't want to go to him, I promise I try not to. But I do, and he makes it all go away. Sometimes I still can't sleep. They scare me too badly to try, but…" She wiped tears from her cheeks.

I carefully walked over to her and knelt beside her, pulling her into me. "You promise they didn't do anything to you?"

"I remember being taken, and then I woke up in the cell and we escaped. I don't know what else to tell you." Elly whispered.

"It's ok," I cooed, "I wish you would have told me."

"I don't want to be a bother…"

"You're never a bother, Elly." I kissed her forehead, "Don't ever think you are." She nodded and wiped more tears from her cheek.

"Your turn." She said with a broken laugh.

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I don't know what to call it."

"Are you a dream walker?" Elly asked.

"No." I shook my head. "What did he tell you?"

"He called you some sort of 'Joint-eater'."

I sat down beside her and took one of her hands. I was going to tell her everything I knew when a loud crash came from the hallway. I immediately shot up, hand pressed to the gun at my hip.

"Stay." It was a whispered order as I pulled the gun free and carefully made my way towards the noise.

More crashing came from the hall as I got closer. It sounded closer to a trapped, wounded animal than it did one of the boys or Ketch. I passed by the door to the storage room where Lucifer sat, it was still firmly shut. That was good. I rounded a corner, gun cocked, and trained on where the sound was rather than what I saw. And what I saw wasn't pretty.

What waited for me there was Cael, leaning against a now broken shelf, one of his arms appearing broken and several other places cascading blood onto the floor. His back was to me when I entered, but he quickly turned when he heard the sound of my gun cocking. His dark eyes held fear unlike any I had seen in him before. I holstered the gun and rushed to him, barely catching the angel as he fell to his knees, pulling more of the shelf with him.

"What the hell happened to you?" I said, using my arm to support him as much as I could as I attempted ot take him to the main room.

"Hell is exactly what happened," Cael mumbled, "Alex, you need to know something…"

"You can tell me after we get you fixed up." I supported him more the closer we got to the front room.

"No, you need to know now." Cael pushed away from me, sending himself to the floor once again, "He sent me as a message. He's on his way for Gabriel."

I looked down at the angel, his dark coals holding only fear and pain. He was telling the truth, he always told the truth. And in this case, that was a very bad thing.

"Then we need to get out of here." I said, pulling him to his feet again, "Elly!" I called as we came into the large open room.

She came running from the kitchen almost immediately. A look of shock on her face as she took in Cael.

"We need to go," I said simply, helping Cael into a seat.

"Are we taking him with us?" Elly asked.

"Yup, but we need to make sure everyone else is out first," I said, my mind was going a mile a minute to figure everything out.

Gabe was still too far gone ot move, and moving Lucifer was going to be difficult without the boys here. But Elly needed to be safe and Cael needed help we couldn't wait on. There had to be a way through this. There had to be a way to save everyone.

"Cas!" I yelled into the room, and he was there. I could see his eyes looking hastily around the room, taking in every detail. "The boys are hunting right?"

"Yes." He replied, "What can I do to help."

"Cael said they're coming for Gabe. We need to get him out of here." I replied, moving to the table and fishing for a piece of paper and a pen. "I need you to listen Elly." I peered up at the blonde as I scribbled on the paper, "I need you to go and make sure the car is packed. I'm not sure when we'll be back. Find Ketch and have him help if you need it. I think he's still sleeping."

"Right." She said, racing from the room.

"We can't move Gabe," Cas said strongly, "You know we can't."

"And we can't have Asmodeus get his hands on him again." I shot back, "Can you heal Cael enough so he can help?"

"I can try," Cas replied with a sigh. "What are we doing with Lucifer?"

"He's here?" Cael asked through a wince as Cas moved to him, "I thought he would have run off by now."

I brushed Cael's comment aside and focused on Cas. "He seems to listen to Elly, she'll keep him in check."

"That might not be the smartest choice," Cas grumbled, his hand glowing gold with grace. "But I'm not sure we have another one."

I opened my mouth to ask how we should tell the boys but was interrupted by a scream coming from the hallway. My feet moved long before my brain connected it to Elly. I ran faster than I ever thought I could, pushing myself to find her before she could be taken from me again. 

"Elly?!" I said, pushing the door to my room further open and barreling inside.

I stopped dead inside to door. She was there, alive, facing me, face as red as a cherry, and eyes wide open like she'd seen a ghost. I looked past her to Ketch, who was laughing hysterically on the bed, nude. I panted, looking between both of them.

"What happened? I thought you were being kidnapped again…" I breathed, pulling Elly into a hug.

"Why do I only ever see him naked?" She mumbled into my chest. "Why don't you ever wear pants!" her demand directed at Ketch, who only chuckled. She pulled away from me, her cheeks still red. "I'm going to pack the car."

I let go of her, letting her leave the room, and walked back towards the main room, head down, embarrassed.

"You really should wear clothes more often," I said, looking at my choice of partner.

"She should learn to knock." He said smugly.

There was a part of my brain that wanted to leave him here, but I knew my heart wouldn't let me. "Get up and get dressed. We're leaving, all of us." I tried to make it sound as much like an order as I could.

"Why? What's happened?" Ketch said, all laughter gone.

"Asmodeus happened." I left him with those words, leaving him to dress and join the rest of us.

"Cas, I'll take care of Cael and the others. Can you get Gabe out of here?" I walked over to Cael, pulling him from the chair and taking some of his weight again. Cas had done a good job of sealing most of the wounds and Cael's arm wasn't broken anymore, but I could still feel just how weak he was.

"Where exactly am I taking him?" Cas asked.

I scooped the paper I'd written an address on early off the table and handed it to him, "It's a little house outside Redford Tennessee. I still pay rent on it. We can stay there until we figure the rest out. I'll get ahold of the boys on the road."

"Are you sure you can manage them all by yourself?" Cas questioned, "Elly can't fight, Cael is injured, and Lucifer…"

"We'll manage Cas. Get Gabe and get out of here."

Cas nodded and disappeared from my sight. I pulled Cael up a bit to get a better grip and pulled him from the room and towards the garage. Ketch met us in the hall and took the angel from me. I thanked him and told him to continue to the garage, stopping myself in front of the door I wasn't looking forward to opening. If it had been any other situation, I'd have left him behind in a heartbeat. But I couldn't do that to Elly.

I took a deep breath and pushed the door open and entered the room where Lucifer sat. He looked up at me, confusion and concern in those sky-blue eyes.

"Someone screamed." He said. I stopped at the edge of his circle, willing myself to move further. "Is everything ok?"

"We need to leave. You're coming with us. Understood?" I pulled a knife from my pocket and flipped it open. I knelt and scratched a clean line through the paint on the floor.

"Why?" he was suspicious. I didn't blame him.

"Asmodeus is coming, and as badly as I want to leave you here, you two would be a horrible match. And I'm not going to risk sitting here like I did in Wichita." I walked behind him and untied his ropes. "And Elly would kill me if I left you behind."

Lucifer looked like he wanted ot say something, but remained quiet as he was freed. I pulled him from the seat and kept a good grip on him as we moved along the passages to the garage. When we entered I wasted no time shoving him into the bask seat next to a broken Cael. Elly was in the passenger seat, and Ketch waited beside the car on his bike.

I got into the driver's seat, started the engine, and tore from the garage, only looking back to make sure Ketch was still there and the garage door closed.

"Elly, can you grab my phone?" I asked. She reached across the center console and dug into my pocket, "Call Sam."

She nodded as she pulled it out and pushed a few buttons before passing the phone to me. I put it to my ear and looked into the rearview mirror at Lucifer where he stared out the window. I looked at Cael as the phone rang, he was focused on the road ahead of us.

"Hey. What's up?" Sam answered in a chipper tone.

"When you're done with your hunt. Go to Redford, Tennessee. Green house on Walnut Street. Meet us there." I instructed. "The bunker isn't safe. I'll explain later."

"Right, gotcha." Sam's voice was serious, "We'll see you there, stay safe."

"You too," I replied before hanging up and putting my phone in a cup holder.

I reached for the radio to turn something on but froze and slammed on the brakes as a large explosion sounded behind us. I jumped out of the car and looked back at the black smoke that rose into the sky where the bunker once sat. My heart pounded in my chest.

I didn't register Ketch stopping beside me until his hand grabbed mine, "We should keep moving."

I nodded numbly, knowing now that there would be nothing to go back to. I stepped back into my car and looked down the road, still frozen.

I jumped when Elly's hand took mine and we took off again. I held her hand, a new emptiness in my chest. My home had been destroyed again. It had been many times, this was nothing new to me. But for some reason, this time hurt so much more. 

"It'll be ok," Elly said softly.

"Thank God you made it," I said, falling into Cas as he came around the corner of the small living room. "Everything ok? How's Gabe?"

Cas hugged me back before releasing me, "We shouldn't move him again." Cas replied.

I looked behind me as the front door opened. Elly wandered inside with Lucifer close behind her, and Ketch came in supporting Cael. He rested Cael on the couch and Elly took one of the chairs, Lucifer standing beside her. They started whispering to each other.

"I didn't know you owned a house," Ketch said softly as he came to my side.

"This was my father's before he died." I explained, placing my hands on my hips, "Cas, come with me. We'll start putting up sigils and wardings to protect the house. Ketch, can you unpack the car?"

"Of course." He smiled at me softly. 

"Elly, there's a basement. Will you please draw an angel's trap and make Lucifer comfortable in it?" I continued to instruct. Elly nodded in understanding, and I tried to ignore the glare from Lucifer. "Let's go Cas."

I left the hose, having given everyone their orders, and took Cas to the shed to find spray paint. We managed to find a box of old cans and Cas took a few.

"Draw traps in front of all the doors." I gave more directions as I moved back to the car, searching for salt.

When I'd found it we went back to the house and started spraying the walls with as many protection symbols as we could. In the end, it was a mixture of everything we knew, a fair share of them being in Enochian. I could thank Cas for those.

When those were done, I gave a bag of salt to Cas and Elly and we went from room to room pouring it in front of windows and doors. Every last entry point I could think of got lined with as much salt as we could use.

On a final trip to the car, I found as much holy water and car irons as I could and brought them back inside with me. Once there, I closed and locked the door, then did a sweep of the house to double-check everything. It must have been a few sweeps because soon Ketch was catching me by my shoulders and pulling me to look at him.

"Relax." He spoke softly, "It's ok. Everything is as safe as you can make it, love."

I nodded and sighed, "I know. I'm just…nervous. Nothing is ever really safe." Ketch gave me a kind smile, reminding me of the reasons I'd fallen for him in the first place. "I need to check on Elly." I said, stepping away from him, "Elly?" There were footsteps up the basement stairs and she appeared at the top of them seconds later, "Are you ok with sleeping on the couch tonight? I don't want you to leave my sight."

"Alex.." Ketch warned.

"Of course," Elly reassured, "I understand."

"Good." I sighed, "I don't know what else to do to keep you safe. You still have the knife?"

"Yup." She answered.

"A gun?" I asked, a hand going to rub my temple.

"Is that wise?" Cas asked, stepping into the small space.

"I agree. I think I'd end up hurting myself." Elly laughed nervously.

"Right. Do you at least know the words to an exorcism?" I threw out, unsure of what else to check. 

"You don't my nerd obsession skills?" She teased with a smile.

"Ok, ok." I smiled back, bouncing on my toes. "Am I missing anything?" I asked, looking back at Ketch.

"She'll be fine," he answered.

I nodded and ran a hand through my hair. "You've got watch duty over Cael and Gabe, ok Cas?"

Cas nodded, "Of course."

"I'm going to go check the trap you made, Elly. Then I think we all need some rest." I huffed, heading for the basement.

I took the stairs slowly, preparing myself mentally for if he wasn't there, but I rounded the corner at the bottom and found him there. He was indeed in the center of an angel trap drawn crudely on the floor in what I could only guess was Sharpie. Lucifer sat on the floor, looking at his hands. He looked up at me, a light in his eyes fading as he saw who had come to see him.

"You'll make everyone dehydrated with the amount of salt you used." he teased, looking around the room that I had put a decent amount of salt in.

"Shut up," I grumbled.

"Don't let them take her again." Lucifer demanded, "They already tortured her enough with the nightmares. She doesn't need to have any more. Her mind can only be damaged so much."

I wanted to ask what he meant but decided against it for the time being. We could have a nice long chat about it later when I knew we were all safe again. I could tell how tired I was too, the anxiety of the day pulling at my bones. We could talk another time.

I turned around, leaving the devil with a nod as I went back up the stairs, making sure the door was shut tight behind me. I motioned to Elly once I got to the main level again, having her follow me to the living room and the couch.

"I can move you up to my room tomorrow. But for now, I'd feel more comfortable waiting for the boys down here." I said to her. 

Elly nodded and sat down on the couch. There was already a blanket and pillow there for her. I sat down in the old recliner that sat more or less in the corner, facing so the whole room was in view of whoever sat there. I could see Ketch out of the corner of my eye, hovering in the doorway between this room and the hall that led to the upstairs. 

"Alex?" Elly asked, interrupting my thinking.

"Yes?" I answered, eyes refocusing on a window looking out into the backyard.

"Are you going to get some sleep too?"

I felt a smile pull gently at my lips. Even when faced with danger she was concerned about my wellbeing. "I will when the boys get here. Then we'll take turns on watch. Right now," I straighted in the seat, "My job is to keep you safe. And your job is to sleep."

"Ok." She said softly. "Goodnight, Alex."

"Good night, Elly."

I listened to her get comfortable on the couch for a while. Eventually, the room fell quiet and became filled with the soft sounds of sleep. The hours dragged on and on. Soon sleep began to burn my eyes and pull at my bones. Eventually, I got up and took to pacing the room to keep myself awake. It was going to be a long night.