Unexpected Destinies Chapter 191
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,196
Summary: Dean and Michael arrive at Lisa's house.
PRESENT
Surprisingly, Dean didn't find Ben where he expected to find the boy and, for a blissful fraction of a second, he thought that maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe it hadn't actually been a vision, or maybe it was a vision of something that was yet to come. He hadn't really given it any thought at all, simply reacting as if there were no doubting the veracity of what he and Michael had seen. Perhaps that had been a mistake? It had just felt so real though.
The next instant Dean's doubts were dispelled as Ben came crawling backwards into view, eyes wide and one hand at his very red throat. Following the boy's eyes, he felt his blood freeze in his veins as he caught sight of not one, but two hellhounds fighting. They were snarling and biting, scratching and just tearing into each other for all that they were worth. Just beyond that, he saw Crowley and he assumed that one of the two hellhounds belonged to the demon because, just like his pet, Crowley was locked in what definitely looked like deadly combat. The shock of seeing the normally sleek and hands off demon in the demonic version of hand to hand combat shocked him into place for a split second, but the moment that he recognized the demon that Crowley was fighting with as the one that had accosted Ben in the vision and tried to kill the boy, Dean sprang forwards.
Maybe things weren't quite as they'd first appeared in the vision, but Dean didn't really care much beyond the fact that Ben had clearly been attacked and that demon who had done so needed to die.
"Dean?" Castiel demanded worriedly over their bond.
Dean batted the inquiry aside, hating to do so, but knowing that he simply couldn't afford to be distracted now of all times, not with hellhounds present. Just fighting off the gut wrenching instinctual terror that came with seeing them was already taking far too much effort and he knew that some of that had to be leaking out through the bond, not to mention the sheer panic that he'd felt earlier. So there was no doubt whatsoever in his mind that Castiel would come, he just couldn't focus on that right now even if it helped him ward off his terror. His bond mate would never let them have him again, nor would his bond brother for that matter.
The one thing that the hellhounds were good for was noise as they were making a hell of a lot of it. It meant that Dean didn't need to worry about masking the sound of his approach or worry about the commotion caused by the fight behind him where he knew that Michael was dealing with the other demon who had been hurting Lisa. Luckily of the two demons that he was approaching, it was Crowley who noticed him first and the demon was quick to take advantage of his presence. Instead of continuing to fight as he had been, Crowley switched tactics, tripping up his opponent and sending him staggering backwards, straight towards him.
Not about to let the opportunity slip, Dean lunged forwards with the knife and stabbed the demon in its right arm. The demon cried out, turning to look at him in shock and agony.
"That's for daring to come here," Dean growled viciously before he pulled the knife free. "And this is for hurting Ben."
With that, Dean stabbed the demon in the chest and watched with satisfaction as it died, hard.
"You've got excellent timing there, cupcake," Crowley stated, clearly trying not to pant as he dusted himself off and straightened his suit.
Dean's eyes flashed briefly towards Crowley but then he was already turning to bring his attention back to the hellhounds. There was a brief flutter of wings and then a strangled yelp that cut off abruptly as an angel sword stabbed straight through the head of one of the two hellhounds. Unsurprisingly the blade belonged to his husband who had a fierce and foreboding look on his face. For a brief second there was a flash of satisfaction, but then Castiel's attention shifted to the second hellhound and his angel pulled his sword free.
"No!" Crowley cried out, stepping forward as he snapped his fingers. "Growley, heel!"
Dean turned to look at Crowley with narrowed eyes before a weight collided unexpectedly with his side and he looked down to find Ben clutching at him with one hand while the other was still at the boy's throat. He held Ben's gaze for a moment before looking to the demon that he'd killed. If Crowley hadn't interfered when the demon had, then he might not have been in time to save Ben so, much as he hated to admit it, he owed Crowley.
"Get him out here," Dean ordered, suppressing a shudder as he looked at the hellhound slinking around behind the demon.
"Growley, go home," Crowley instructed, then looked back at him. "You could see him."
It hadn't even occurred to Dean that he shouldn't have been able to see the two hellhounds as he never had been able to before, but he didn't let it bother him. After all of the other things that he could now suddenly do that he hadn't been able to do in the past and which no human should be able to do, this was just another small drop in the bucket. Albeit a very useful drop, but just a drop nonetheless.
"Ben," Castiel said, approaching them. "I can heal you, but I'll need to touch your forehead in order to do so. Is that okay?"
The words drew Dean's attention back to the boy and he found that Ben had retreated around him so as to be on the far side of his approaching bond mate.
"It's okay, Ben, he won't hurt you," Dean assured, somewhat surprised by the behavior as Ben had seemed fine with his husband before.
Ben hesitated for another moment before stepping out from behind him and moving towards Castiel. Knowing the boy was safe, Dean turned his attention to Michael and Lisa. As he'd known would be the case, the other demon had been neutralized and his friend was crouched before Lisa, already attempting to do the same that Castiel was with Ben.
"Lisa," Dean said, drawing her attention. "It's okay, h- she's with me. She's an angel, like Cas."
Crowley snorted. "Sure, an angel, and I'm just a crossroads demon. Aren't you forgetting a rather important qualifier there, cupcake? Like, oh, I don't know, perhaps the word arch?"
"You really enjoy taking your life into your own hands, don't you?" Dean questioned.
"Actually, I'm wondering what else you're keeping from me."
"Pot," Dean began, pointing at the demon before doing the same to himself. "Kettle, black."
Ben laughed and Dean looked at the boy who was looking at his husband in amazement. "That... it... it's all gone!"
"Welcome to angel healing, mate," Crowley said dismissively. "I'd say you're lucky to know Deano here, but really you're not seeing as you'd never have been in this situation in the first place if it wasn't for knowing him."
"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded harshly.
"Exactly what I said, cupcake."
"Ben!" Lisa cried out, scrambling to her feet as soon as she was fully healed and rushing for her son.
"Thanks, guys," Dean said to both Michael and Castiel as he watched Ben submit to a frantic hug.
Rather than replying, Michael simply reached out and brushed two fingers over Milton's forehead and the man's color improved. Instead of immediately waking up, though, the man remained unconscious and Dean frowned. The look of disapproval on his archangel's face told him all that he needed to know, though, and he rolled his eyes. Of course his bond brother had to take offence to the man who Lisa had replaced him with, never mind the fact that her kicking him out had led to his current relationship with Castiel. Angels, really.
"What happened here?" Castiel asked, looking around at everyone.
"They wanted to know where Dean was," Lisa replied, still clutching Ben to her but Dean could see the look of relief on her face when she caught sight of Milton's improved condition.
"How did they get in?" Dean questioned. "I put Devil's traps under all of the mats at the doors and salt under all of the window sills. They should never have been able to get into the house." The way Lisa looked away made his heart sink. "Lisa, what did you do?"
"She got rid of the mats," Ben replied instead when his mother didn't immediately respond. "She was afraid that Milton would see the sigils someday."
"Lisa!"
"How was I supposed to know? You said that demons weren't all that common."
"In the past! I said that they used to be quite rare."
"Yeah, so what are the odds of them randomly coming here? Forgive me for thinking that you'd have warned me if we'd become a target because of you!"
The words were like a slap in the face and Dean took an instinctive step back, guilt rising sharp and swift within him. Then his bond mate was at his side, a hand at his lower back.
"You of all people should know how even events of unlikely probability can happen to you," Castiel said, voice hard and unforgiving. "Changelings are quite rare and uncommon as well and yet you were the victim of one before."
"Your knowledge of the supernatural should also have allowed you to discern that something was amiss lately with the rise in phenomena and events unexplainable without the supernatural," Michael added, rising to his feet and moving back to the demon that he'd felled earlier.
"That happened after I got rid of the mats," Lisa stated.
"So why didn't you call me?" Dean demanded. "You know I would have gladly come back and redrawn the sigils."
"Because Milton's only just gotten over the last time he met you," Ben responded with a smirk.
"No thanks to you," Lisa frowned.
Ben shrugged. "Not my fault he's insecure."
"What did you do, Ben?" Dean asked, curious despite himself.
"I might have pointed out certain desirable qualities which you have that he doesn't."
"Like everything?" Castiel inquired.
"You know, for once I need to agree with you, twinkle toes," Crowley said, looking at Milton for a moment with distaste before turning to Lisa. "What were you thinking?"
"Hey!" Dean protested, stepping between the demon and his former girlfriend. "You leave her alone, Crowley."
"Not the best move, being protective of an ex before your current flame, cupcake."
The strangled sound that Ben made told Dean that the boy was aware of all of the innuendo as well as all of the layers of meaning in the words themselves and he closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath. When he opened them once more he glared darkly at Crowley.
"Cas has absolutely nothing to be afraid of and he damn well knows it!" Dean retorted, though he could tell from the tendril of emotion that leaked from his tightly shielded bond mate that he was in for a round of possessive sex at some later point.
The thought was more distracting for the arousal it ignited deep within him than anything else.
A groan from behind him drew Dean's attention back toward Michael in surprise as he hadn't expected the archangel to allow Milton to wake up anytime soon. The groaning, however, was not coming from the douche, but rather the second demon and he glanced at his friend in shock.
"It seemed prudent to keep at least one of them alive in order to learn what they hoped to achieve here," Michael explained.
Oh, that made a lot of sense, though Dean could admit that might be precisely why it hadn't occurred to him before now. He hadn't really been thinking, but rather reacting to a threat against someone he cared deeply for. Even though he knew that Ben wasn't his son, they'd definitely bonded (at least in the human sense of the word) in a way that he'd never done with anyone else but Bobby who wasn't family.
"I can tell you what they wanted," Crowley stated. "Deano here. See, Malachi over here was one of the demons who got out of Hell when Lucifer briefly opened the portal on Devil's Island."
"So he told Lucifer about Lisa and Ben?" Dean demanded fearfully.
"Unlikely. Malachi fell from favor some centuries ago and never quite managed to regain his original position."
"You believe that he was hoping to do so by capturing Dean or alerting Lucifer to his location?" Castiel postulated.
"You got it in one, twinkle toes."
"Wait, Lucifer, Lucifer?" Lisa demanded, voice high with panic and disbelief. "As in the devil? I thought you said that he was caged?"
"It's a long story," Dean replied, feeling a headache building behind his eyes.
"So why don't you start with how in God's name they knew about us?"
"That is a very good question," Michael stated, pulling his demon captive to its feet. "Well?"
"I won't tell you anything," the demon spat though Dean could already see the terror in its eyes as it took in all of the power rolling off of Michael in waves and realized just what it was dealing with here.
"I will let you know what I find," Michael told them before he flew off with the demon.
"Who was that?" Crowley demanded.
"My older brother," Castiel deadpanned and Dean had to bite back a laugh at just how dry his husband was able to make his voice.
He'd been such an awesome influence on his angel.
"Is this really how we're going to play this, cupcake?"
"Yep."
"I just saved them for you," Crowley growled, gesturing at Lisa and Ben.
"And believe me, I'm grateful for that, but don't pretend that you did it for anything other than the fact that you knew if I'd ever learned that you could have prevented an attack on them and hadn't, that I'd have either dismembered you myself or thrown you to Lucifer and let him do it for me."
They glared at each other for a few moments and Dean refused to be the first to look down.
"I won't forget this, Winchester."
"Oh, please, Crowley, you know that I'll remember what you did here in the future. I'm not the one who double crosses his allies and stabs them in the back as soon as it's convenient to do so."
A half smile crossed the demon's face before Crowley tipped his head forwards briefly. "Touché, cupcake. I'll be seeing you then."
And with that, the demon vanished, leaving just Dean and Castiel with Ben, Lisa and the still slumbering Milton. Before he could ask, his husband had already cleaned up all of the blood and bodies, leaving just minor signs of a struggle. He couldn't help but wonder just what Lisa was going to tell Milton in order to explain all of this. Somehow he didn't think that the man could handle knowing the whole truth.
"Thanks, Cas," Dean said.
Instead of replying verbally, his bond mate came to stand back next to him and brushed his arm with his wings.
"Dean, what the hell is going on?" Lisa demanded, finally relaxing her harsh grip on her son. "And don't give me the 'it's a long story' excuse either. They came into my house and attacked my family, I think I have a right to know!"
"Okay, long story short, the Apocalypse is back on and Lucifer's out of his cage and trying to take over. We're trying to stop him and those working for him, which has made us his targets."
"And through you, us."
"Yes, so it would seem, unfortunately. Look, Lisa, I promise you that if I'd had any idea that this could happen, that I'd have done all that I could in order to prevent it."
"So now what?"
"Now we wait for Michael to figure out how they learned about you in the first place and whether they told anyone else."
"Which there is a good chance that they didn't do," Castiel added. "If Crowley is right and Malachi orchestrated this attack in order to regain Lucifer's favor, then he would not have informed anyone else of his intentions for fear of them trying to usurp his idea and using it to further their own position."
"And that's supposed to be comforting?" Lisa demanded.
"Mom-" Ben tried to interrupt.
"- How do we know that some other demon won't just come up with the same idea on his own?"
Dean had no response for that and he looked at his angel. "Cas, you can hide them from demons, right?"
"To a certain extent, yes, but that might just have the opposite effect of making them even more of a target of interest should anyone realize that we went to so much effort to hide them."
"Lucifer and Simiel might be looking for exactly that kind of move on our part," Dean realized, closing his eyes.
"So, what, we do nothing?" Lisa shrieked.
"Mom!" Ben exclaimed. "Let Dean think."
"Let him think? They nearly killed you, Ben! Do you know what that demon nearly did, Dean? Ben was almost strangled!"
"I know, I saw," Dean replied softly.
"What do you mean, you saw? You weren't even here yet!"
"Dean?" Castiel inquired.
"It was a vision, okay. Mike and I were meditating with the crystal and... I don't know, it just came out of nowhere."
The news disturbed his bond mate, but Dean couldn't worry about that just now. No, he had to find a way to ensure that the both of them, but most especially Ben, were safe. He wasn't sure what he'd do if they were attacked again or died because of him. They didn't deserve this just for having known him and letting him into their lives and home for a few weeks.
"How about the Vatican?" Castiel suddenly suggested. "You've said that they have great power within your society, so perhaps they could arrange for Lisa and Ben to be housed somewhere safe and protected without drawing any undue attention to them."
That... that was actually a brilliant plan, Dean realized with rising excitement. Neither Lucifer nor Simiel would ever consider the Roman Catholic Church a real threat, their arrogance and pride simply wouldn't allow it, so neither of them would be paying any attention to the Vatican's actions. If he and his bond brothers kept out of all of the arrangements, then the Vatican should be able to make Lisa, Ben and Milton vanish without a trace. Plus, given that the Roman Catholic Church were well aware of what was out there, he knew that whatever safe house Colonel Anrig chose would be not only fully demon proof, but protected against all other forms of supernatural creatures as well.
"The Vatican?" Ben asked, incredulous.
Chapter 192
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,196
Summary: Dean and Michael arrive at Lisa's house.
PRESENT
Surprisingly, Dean didn't find Ben where he expected to find the boy and, for a blissful fraction of a second, he thought that maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe it hadn't actually been a vision, or maybe it was a vision of something that was yet to come. He hadn't really given it any thought at all, simply reacting as if there were no doubting the veracity of what he and Michael had seen. Perhaps that had been a mistake? It had just felt so real though.
The next instant Dean's doubts were dispelled as Ben came crawling backwards into view, eyes wide and one hand at his very red throat. Following the boy's eyes, he felt his blood freeze in his veins as he caught sight of not one, but two hellhounds fighting. They were snarling and biting, scratching and just tearing into each other for all that they were worth. Just beyond that, he saw Crowley and he assumed that one of the two hellhounds belonged to the demon because, just like his pet, Crowley was locked in what definitely looked like deadly combat. The shock of seeing the normally sleek and hands off demon in the demonic version of hand to hand combat shocked him into place for a split second, but the moment that he recognized the demon that Crowley was fighting with as the one that had accosted Ben in the vision and tried to kill the boy, Dean sprang forwards.
Maybe things weren't quite as they'd first appeared in the vision, but Dean didn't really care much beyond the fact that Ben had clearly been attacked and that demon who had done so needed to die.
"Dean?" Castiel demanded worriedly over their bond.
Dean batted the inquiry aside, hating to do so, but knowing that he simply couldn't afford to be distracted now of all times, not with hellhounds present. Just fighting off the gut wrenching instinctual terror that came with seeing them was already taking far too much effort and he knew that some of that had to be leaking out through the bond, not to mention the sheer panic that he'd felt earlier. So there was no doubt whatsoever in his mind that Castiel would come, he just couldn't focus on that right now even if it helped him ward off his terror. His bond mate would never let them have him again, nor would his bond brother for that matter.
The one thing that the hellhounds were good for was noise as they were making a hell of a lot of it. It meant that Dean didn't need to worry about masking the sound of his approach or worry about the commotion caused by the fight behind him where he knew that Michael was dealing with the other demon who had been hurting Lisa. Luckily of the two demons that he was approaching, it was Crowley who noticed him first and the demon was quick to take advantage of his presence. Instead of continuing to fight as he had been, Crowley switched tactics, tripping up his opponent and sending him staggering backwards, straight towards him.
Not about to let the opportunity slip, Dean lunged forwards with the knife and stabbed the demon in its right arm. The demon cried out, turning to look at him in shock and agony.
"That's for daring to come here," Dean growled viciously before he pulled the knife free. "And this is for hurting Ben."
With that, Dean stabbed the demon in the chest and watched with satisfaction as it died, hard.
"You've got excellent timing there, cupcake," Crowley stated, clearly trying not to pant as he dusted himself off and straightened his suit.
Dean's eyes flashed briefly towards Crowley but then he was already turning to bring his attention back to the hellhounds. There was a brief flutter of wings and then a strangled yelp that cut off abruptly as an angel sword stabbed straight through the head of one of the two hellhounds. Unsurprisingly the blade belonged to his husband who had a fierce and foreboding look on his face. For a brief second there was a flash of satisfaction, but then Castiel's attention shifted to the second hellhound and his angel pulled his sword free.
"No!" Crowley cried out, stepping forward as he snapped his fingers. "Growley, heel!"
Dean turned to look at Crowley with narrowed eyes before a weight collided unexpectedly with his side and he looked down to find Ben clutching at him with one hand while the other was still at the boy's throat. He held Ben's gaze for a moment before looking to the demon that he'd killed. If Crowley hadn't interfered when the demon had, then he might not have been in time to save Ben so, much as he hated to admit it, he owed Crowley.
"Get him out here," Dean ordered, suppressing a shudder as he looked at the hellhound slinking around behind the demon.
"Growley, go home," Crowley instructed, then looked back at him. "You could see him."
It hadn't even occurred to Dean that he shouldn't have been able to see the two hellhounds as he never had been able to before, but he didn't let it bother him. After all of the other things that he could now suddenly do that he hadn't been able to do in the past and which no human should be able to do, this was just another small drop in the bucket. Albeit a very useful drop, but just a drop nonetheless.
"Ben," Castiel said, approaching them. "I can heal you, but I'll need to touch your forehead in order to do so. Is that okay?"
The words drew Dean's attention back to the boy and he found that Ben had retreated around him so as to be on the far side of his approaching bond mate.
"It's okay, Ben, he won't hurt you," Dean assured, somewhat surprised by the behavior as Ben had seemed fine with his husband before.
Ben hesitated for another moment before stepping out from behind him and moving towards Castiel. Knowing the boy was safe, Dean turned his attention to Michael and Lisa. As he'd known would be the case, the other demon had been neutralized and his friend was crouched before Lisa, already attempting to do the same that Castiel was with Ben.
"Lisa," Dean said, drawing her attention. "It's okay, h- she's with me. She's an angel, like Cas."
Crowley snorted. "Sure, an angel, and I'm just a crossroads demon. Aren't you forgetting a rather important qualifier there, cupcake? Like, oh, I don't know, perhaps the word arch?"
"You really enjoy taking your life into your own hands, don't you?" Dean questioned.
"Actually, I'm wondering what else you're keeping from me."
"Pot," Dean began, pointing at the demon before doing the same to himself. "Kettle, black."
Ben laughed and Dean looked at the boy who was looking at his husband in amazement. "That... it... it's all gone!"
"Welcome to angel healing, mate," Crowley said dismissively. "I'd say you're lucky to know Deano here, but really you're not seeing as you'd never have been in this situation in the first place if it wasn't for knowing him."
"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded harshly.
"Exactly what I said, cupcake."
"Ben!" Lisa cried out, scrambling to her feet as soon as she was fully healed and rushing for her son.
"Thanks, guys," Dean said to both Michael and Castiel as he watched Ben submit to a frantic hug.
Rather than replying, Michael simply reached out and brushed two fingers over Milton's forehead and the man's color improved. Instead of immediately waking up, though, the man remained unconscious and Dean frowned. The look of disapproval on his archangel's face told him all that he needed to know, though, and he rolled his eyes. Of course his bond brother had to take offence to the man who Lisa had replaced him with, never mind the fact that her kicking him out had led to his current relationship with Castiel. Angels, really.
"What happened here?" Castiel asked, looking around at everyone.
"They wanted to know where Dean was," Lisa replied, still clutching Ben to her but Dean could see the look of relief on her face when she caught sight of Milton's improved condition.
"How did they get in?" Dean questioned. "I put Devil's traps under all of the mats at the doors and salt under all of the window sills. They should never have been able to get into the house." The way Lisa looked away made his heart sink. "Lisa, what did you do?"
"She got rid of the mats," Ben replied instead when his mother didn't immediately respond. "She was afraid that Milton would see the sigils someday."
"Lisa!"
"How was I supposed to know? You said that demons weren't all that common."
"In the past! I said that they used to be quite rare."
"Yeah, so what are the odds of them randomly coming here? Forgive me for thinking that you'd have warned me if we'd become a target because of you!"
The words were like a slap in the face and Dean took an instinctive step back, guilt rising sharp and swift within him. Then his bond mate was at his side, a hand at his lower back.
"You of all people should know how even events of unlikely probability can happen to you," Castiel said, voice hard and unforgiving. "Changelings are quite rare and uncommon as well and yet you were the victim of one before."
"Your knowledge of the supernatural should also have allowed you to discern that something was amiss lately with the rise in phenomena and events unexplainable without the supernatural," Michael added, rising to his feet and moving back to the demon that he'd felled earlier.
"That happened after I got rid of the mats," Lisa stated.
"So why didn't you call me?" Dean demanded. "You know I would have gladly come back and redrawn the sigils."
"Because Milton's only just gotten over the last time he met you," Ben responded with a smirk.
"No thanks to you," Lisa frowned.
Ben shrugged. "Not my fault he's insecure."
"What did you do, Ben?" Dean asked, curious despite himself.
"I might have pointed out certain desirable qualities which you have that he doesn't."
"Like everything?" Castiel inquired.
"You know, for once I need to agree with you, twinkle toes," Crowley said, looking at Milton for a moment with distaste before turning to Lisa. "What were you thinking?"
"Hey!" Dean protested, stepping between the demon and his former girlfriend. "You leave her alone, Crowley."
"Not the best move, being protective of an ex before your current flame, cupcake."
The strangled sound that Ben made told Dean that the boy was aware of all of the innuendo as well as all of the layers of meaning in the words themselves and he closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath. When he opened them once more he glared darkly at Crowley.
"Cas has absolutely nothing to be afraid of and he damn well knows it!" Dean retorted, though he could tell from the tendril of emotion that leaked from his tightly shielded bond mate that he was in for a round of possessive sex at some later point.
The thought was more distracting for the arousal it ignited deep within him than anything else.
A groan from behind him drew Dean's attention back toward Michael in surprise as he hadn't expected the archangel to allow Milton to wake up anytime soon. The groaning, however, was not coming from the douche, but rather the second demon and he glanced at his friend in shock.
"It seemed prudent to keep at least one of them alive in order to learn what they hoped to achieve here," Michael explained.
Oh, that made a lot of sense, though Dean could admit that might be precisely why it hadn't occurred to him before now. He hadn't really been thinking, but rather reacting to a threat against someone he cared deeply for. Even though he knew that Ben wasn't his son, they'd definitely bonded (at least in the human sense of the word) in a way that he'd never done with anyone else but Bobby who wasn't family.
"I can tell you what they wanted," Crowley stated. "Deano here. See, Malachi over here was one of the demons who got out of Hell when Lucifer briefly opened the portal on Devil's Island."
"So he told Lucifer about Lisa and Ben?" Dean demanded fearfully.
"Unlikely. Malachi fell from favor some centuries ago and never quite managed to regain his original position."
"You believe that he was hoping to do so by capturing Dean or alerting Lucifer to his location?" Castiel postulated.
"You got it in one, twinkle toes."
"Wait, Lucifer, Lucifer?" Lisa demanded, voice high with panic and disbelief. "As in the devil? I thought you said that he was caged?"
"It's a long story," Dean replied, feeling a headache building behind his eyes.
"So why don't you start with how in God's name they knew about us?"
"That is a very good question," Michael stated, pulling his demon captive to its feet. "Well?"
"I won't tell you anything," the demon spat though Dean could already see the terror in its eyes as it took in all of the power rolling off of Michael in waves and realized just what it was dealing with here.
"I will let you know what I find," Michael told them before he flew off with the demon.
"Who was that?" Crowley demanded.
"My older brother," Castiel deadpanned and Dean had to bite back a laugh at just how dry his husband was able to make his voice.
He'd been such an awesome influence on his angel.
"Is this really how we're going to play this, cupcake?"
"Yep."
"I just saved them for you," Crowley growled, gesturing at Lisa and Ben.
"And believe me, I'm grateful for that, but don't pretend that you did it for anything other than the fact that you knew if I'd ever learned that you could have prevented an attack on them and hadn't, that I'd have either dismembered you myself or thrown you to Lucifer and let him do it for me."
They glared at each other for a few moments and Dean refused to be the first to look down.
"I won't forget this, Winchester."
"Oh, please, Crowley, you know that I'll remember what you did here in the future. I'm not the one who double crosses his allies and stabs them in the back as soon as it's convenient to do so."
A half smile crossed the demon's face before Crowley tipped his head forwards briefly. "Touché, cupcake. I'll be seeing you then."
And with that, the demon vanished, leaving just Dean and Castiel with Ben, Lisa and the still slumbering Milton. Before he could ask, his husband had already cleaned up all of the blood and bodies, leaving just minor signs of a struggle. He couldn't help but wonder just what Lisa was going to tell Milton in order to explain all of this. Somehow he didn't think that the man could handle knowing the whole truth.
"Thanks, Cas," Dean said.
Instead of replying verbally, his bond mate came to stand back next to him and brushed his arm with his wings.
"Dean, what the hell is going on?" Lisa demanded, finally relaxing her harsh grip on her son. "And don't give me the 'it's a long story' excuse either. They came into my house and attacked my family, I think I have a right to know!"
"Okay, long story short, the Apocalypse is back on and Lucifer's out of his cage and trying to take over. We're trying to stop him and those working for him, which has made us his targets."
"And through you, us."
"Yes, so it would seem, unfortunately. Look, Lisa, I promise you that if I'd had any idea that this could happen, that I'd have done all that I could in order to prevent it."
"So now what?"
"Now we wait for Michael to figure out how they learned about you in the first place and whether they told anyone else."
"Which there is a good chance that they didn't do," Castiel added. "If Crowley is right and Malachi orchestrated this attack in order to regain Lucifer's favor, then he would not have informed anyone else of his intentions for fear of them trying to usurp his idea and using it to further their own position."
"And that's supposed to be comforting?" Lisa demanded.
"Mom-" Ben tried to interrupt.
"- How do we know that some other demon won't just come up with the same idea on his own?"
Dean had no response for that and he looked at his angel. "Cas, you can hide them from demons, right?"
"To a certain extent, yes, but that might just have the opposite effect of making them even more of a target of interest should anyone realize that we went to so much effort to hide them."
"Lucifer and Simiel might be looking for exactly that kind of move on our part," Dean realized, closing his eyes.
"So, what, we do nothing?" Lisa shrieked.
"Mom!" Ben exclaimed. "Let Dean think."
"Let him think? They nearly killed you, Ben! Do you know what that demon nearly did, Dean? Ben was almost strangled!"
"I know, I saw," Dean replied softly.
"What do you mean, you saw? You weren't even here yet!"
"Dean?" Castiel inquired.
"It was a vision, okay. Mike and I were meditating with the crystal and... I don't know, it just came out of nowhere."
The news disturbed his bond mate, but Dean couldn't worry about that just now. No, he had to find a way to ensure that the both of them, but most especially Ben, were safe. He wasn't sure what he'd do if they were attacked again or died because of him. They didn't deserve this just for having known him and letting him into their lives and home for a few weeks.
"How about the Vatican?" Castiel suddenly suggested. "You've said that they have great power within your society, so perhaps they could arrange for Lisa and Ben to be housed somewhere safe and protected without drawing any undue attention to them."
That... that was actually a brilliant plan, Dean realized with rising excitement. Neither Lucifer nor Simiel would ever consider the Roman Catholic Church a real threat, their arrogance and pride simply wouldn't allow it, so neither of them would be paying any attention to the Vatican's actions. If he and his bond brothers kept out of all of the arrangements, then the Vatican should be able to make Lisa, Ben and Milton vanish without a trace. Plus, given that the Roman Catholic Church were well aware of what was out there, he knew that whatever safe house Colonel Anrig chose would be not only fully demon proof, but protected against all other forms of supernatural creatures as well.
"The Vatican?" Ben asked, incredulous.
Chapter 192