Ketch Me as I Fall

"FBI," I said coldly as I held the fake badge up before me.

Cael, standing stiffly next to me in another black suit, did the same with the one I had given him. It had taken some convincing him to come with me, but Dean had said he had important plans with Cas and Elly didn't want to leave until we knew what was wrong with Ally. And I certainly wasn't about to ask Lucifer or wait on Ketch. No, Cael was my best bet in this situation.

"I'm Agent Beaver and this is my partner, Agent Williams," I said to the man in chains before us.

"They just want to ask you a few questions," Sam explained, his tone more professional than I had ever heard it before. "I will be present for them."

The man, who I had been informed beforehand was named Jason Macintosh, sat at the cold metal table, his hands folded neatly in front of him. He had pale skin, it looked almost paper thin as I could see the blue of his veins underneath it, and it was covered in small scars. Almost as if he had dragged his nails across it until he'd bled many times. He had an attentive feel about him, even as he didn't look up at us as we sat in front of him. His short, straight, light brown hair fell in front of his face as he looked down, messy and disheveled as if he hadn't had a decent shower in a few days now. A decent amount of dark stubble covered his cheeks and traveled across his jaw and chin. His arms and hands looked weak, and his long, skinny legs, gave him the look of a malnourished mouse. Even dressed in the prison's clothes, which usually seemed to fit the wearer decently, they seemed too loose for his body.

"What do they need to know that I haven't already said to the police?" The man asked, his deep voice almost sounded bored. It was a sound unfitting for the body before us.

"We're working on a case similar to yours," Cael answered. I looked him over, his face serious even if his eyes were telling to how nervous he was to do this. Angel's didn't lie easily. "We simply wanted to know more about the graves."

"We don't need any details of the supposed murders," I added with a slight smile.

Jason looked up at that. I was suddenly overcome with surprise as his dark gaze traveled over me. His brown eyes were dark and cold and he looked over us as if he were a calculating lion and not a mouse stuck in a trap. I was too familiar with that look. His thin lips curled into the subtlest of smiles before they quickly disappeared and he turned to Sam, a sudden look of uneasiness on his face.

"And you're sure this is ok?" He asked.

"Yes." Sam nodded. "It has nothing to do with the case against you. And if they overstep, I will show them out."

Jason looked back at us, his face puzzled now as if he was thinking of every possible outcome. Then he exhaled sharply through his nose and nodded. "What is it you need to know?"

I leaned forward cautiously. "You said the grave was empty."

"Yes." I waited patiently for him to continue. The silence wasn't enough for me to miss the playful curiosity in his gaze. "It wasn't just the one though. All of the graves were."

"All of them?" I asked, leaning back again. "How many did you dig up?"

"I…I'm not sure. It's all a bit of a blur." Jason licked his lips and looked towards the ceiling in thought. "I just wanted the voices to stop. So I kept digging. It might've been twelve or thirteen." Was I speaking to the real man now?

"And these voices. They wanted you to rob the grave?" Cael stepped in. "What was it they wanted?"

"Some old book." Jason looked at me directly, almost a challenge in his eyes. As if he was silently saying 'I know you see me.' "It was something called the 'Protector's Manuscript', I think. It looked like a spell book."

"Spellbook?" One of my knees began to bounce anxiously, an old tick I hadn't had since I was younger. 

But this was a good direction to take. But was I willing to so easily trust a man who seemed to be possessed? I'd have to look into the book later regardless of this. Something in me said I needed it more than I thought. Even if it only stopped whatever these voices were.

"I know it sounds stupid. It does. No bodies in the graves, voices telling me to find a book of spells…" Jason sighed and rubbed at his eyes. 

This seemed like the real man again. As if he and the thing inside of him took turns to tell his story. But there was something still there. And it dared to show itself in the presence of an angel, how ballsy. The man himself didn't seem to be crazy though. 

"Is there anything else you can remember about that night?" Cael asked, folding his arms over his chest. Maybe he had seen it too.

"I felt like I didn't have complete control over my body." There it was. "It was like I was a puppet and someone else was pulling the strings."

"Thank you so much for your time, Mr. Macintosh." I got from my seat. There was nothing more I needed out of him. "You have been very helpful."

I nodded to Cael for him to follow me, but stopped when Jason reached forward and grabbed my wrist. When I turned back around, I was staring at the predator again. His eyes cold and analytical. I felt it then, the presence of the demon in the man. I knew this one, he had gone astray once Crowley had left, and now he was here, in this man, challenging me.

"Get out of this man, Ozach." I hissed.

"Oh, I will princess, in just a second." The man's face spread into a wide grin. "But you watch your back. He's coming for you."

"He?" I turned back to him fully. "Who's…"

The man winked at me before his head snapped back and the demon exited his body in a woosh of black smoke. It filled the air and floated around us for several seconds before plummeting towards the floor and disappearing. It left the smell of sulfur in the air and a charred ring on the floor. I was thankful now that no one was in the room behind the one-way mirror and the cameras were off.

"I…he was a…" Sam said quietly as Jason's head fell forward again and he collapsed onto the table, out cold but alive.

"He was hidden cleverly, Sam. It's ok." I grabbed my brother's shoulder and pulled him from the room, Cael on our heels.

Sam nodded at the guards who had been just outside the door once we were out of the room. They entered and carefully removed Jason from the room, not seeming to care that he was still unconscious.

"Well. That answers one question and asks a whole lot more." I sighed as we buzzed through a security door.

"We can ask Rowena if she knows anything when she comes in later," Sam said, seeming less shaken now.

"Do you think you can look for this book, Cael?" I asked, turning to the angel, who was fidgeting with the tie around his neck as we walked back into the sun.

"I am not going to become your Castiel." He grumbled. "You already have me training the girl."

"Oh, I know you like it, even if you won't say it out loud." I winked at him, smiling at the dusting of a blush that came across his cheeks. "You're doing your job well with that anyway. Especially if she can take on a pack of juiced-up vamps on her own."

My car door creaked as it opened and I slid into the passenger seat.

"Alexandria, dear child." Rowena cooed as she pulled me into a hug. The smell of black pepper, incense, and cinnamon surrounded me as I relaxed in her arms. She was like another mother to me. Especially after all the years with Crowley. "Oh, how I've missed you. It's been so bothersome to work with just your brothers. You're looking good, sweet."

"It's thanks to you and Crowley I look this good, Rowena," I said softly.

She pushed away from me and clicked her tongue softly as she smiled at me. It wasn't long until her eyes locked on her next target though and she quickly moved on to Elly.

"Elizabeth darling! Is that really you?" She said as she pulled Elly in the same way she had with me. 

"Hi." Elly choked out as she hugged the witch back. "It's been too long."

"I'd say. Look at how you've grown dearie." Rowena pushed her back by the shoulder and looked her over. I smiled. "And you have a wee lass?"

"I...I'm here." Ally said from behind her mother, drawing Rowena's attention to her. "I'm Alex. But everyone here pretty much calls me Ally right now."

She held her hand out, but Rowena pulled her into a crushing hug as well. Ally shot me a look over her shoulder, one that told me she wasn't exactly ok with the witch being so close to her. I laughed a little. There were a few things I had learned about Rowena and one of them was that she was going to hug you as long as she wanted to, whether you liked it or not.

"You look so much like your mother when she was younger, dear," Rowena said as she finally released the girl.

"You knew my mother when she was younger?" Ally asked.

"Aye, she was a little older than you when I met her. And my, what beautiful eyes you have." Rowena marveled.

"My dad calls me 'Sapphire' because of them," Ally explained, a small blush dusting her cheeks.

"Oh, and who is your father?" And there was going to lie the issue.

"About that, Ro. That's why we need your help." I cut in, the witch's attention coming back to me. "Ally is a Nephilim."

"Oh…" She didn't seem as excited now. She had grown used to Jack, but it had taken a long time. "And the archangel?"

"Jack is her stepbrother. If that helps." I winced.

"Absolutely not," Rowena said, picking her bags back up off the floor. "It was nice to see you again, and to meet you, but I am not doing this."

I jumped in front of her. "Come on, Ro." I pleaded, arms outstretched to block her more. "Elly needs your help. Please, Rowena."

"I'm not going anywhere near the spawn of the literal devil!" She hissed out, clutching a bag to her chest.

"She's better than Jack." I tried. "And Lucifer isn't even here. I made sure Sam took him out earlier. And he's not even anything like you remember him being." The last part was a lie on my part. I hadn't believed he had changed much at all. But I needed her to stay.

"Please, Rowena," Elly begged, coming to stand on her other side and place a kind hand on her arm. "Or leave 'The Book of the Damned' and I will figure it out on my own."

Rowena paused, then held up a finger. "The only time yer getting this book will be when you rip it from my cold, dead fingers."

"Then please help my daughter," Elly said.

"What's wrong with her?" Rowena sighed, relaxing a little.

"I sold my soul to save my mom," Ally spoke up now, making us all turn toward her again. "I've had issues since then. I get angry easily. I feel like I'm doing the right thing and then it turns out wrong."

"That sounds perfectly normal and human. Now if you'd excuse me." Rowena tried to push past me again, but I caught her shoulder and held her in place.

"Rowena. Her soul is disappearing or gone already and she's becoming unstable." I said. "You're the only solution we have to keep her from becoming a nuke."

Rowena stopped, probably trying to think of another way out of the situation that didn't end in faking her own death again or incurring the wrath of the Winchesters. In the end, she sighed in frustration and lowered her bags to the floor again.

"And the father knows." She said.

"Yes." I nodded, lowering my hands.

"I will see what I can do." Rowena turned on her heels. "Come take a seat, dear."

Ally took a few steps towards the map table and sat down as Rowena walked up to her again. The witch took a seat beside her and took one of Ally's hands into hers.

"So…you're a real witch?" Ally asked.

"Yes, dear," Rowena replied. "I'm not one of those silly sideshow entertainers."

"How long have you been practicing magic?" Ally seemed excited now.

I smiled and took a step towards Elly. "She'll be ok." I tried to reassure her.

"Don't start, Alex." She sighed. "I don't need false hopes."

What else was I supposed to say here? There were only so many ways I could help with this. "Why don't you go pick up something for dinner? I'll stay here with the kid."

"Two hundred years?!" Ally gasped. "You're so beautiful."

Rowena laughed softly. "Thank you, dearie."

I looked over Ellt again, her arms folded over her chest. Her expression was unsure and anxious. She nervously bit at her lip.

"I won't let anything happen to her. I promise." I pushed, taking her shoulder gently. "Go for a drive. You can take my car if you want."

"Alright." She sighed, lowering her arms. "Is everyone going to be back tonight?"

"As far as I know." I shrugged. "Ketch even said he would be back tonight, or at least that was the text I got this morning."

Elly nodded. "I'll be back soon then." She agreed. I pulled my keys from my pocket and handed them to her. She stepped over to Ally and kissed her head softly. "I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to go pick up some food."

And just then. The lights flickered back to life and the room was thrown into the bright light for the first time in three days. I heard Dean laugh from the stairwell to the basement before he appeared at the top of the stairs, grinning widely.

"Let there be light!" He said triumphantly.

I laughed at him softly. "How'd you finally get it back on?"

"It was trying to boot up in aux power, but with the generators being dead it couldn't get a good charge." He declared, whipping his hands off on his shirt as he rounded the table. "But once I threw the switch for main power, it started up like a dream."

"I…did you say 'main power'?" I asked, suddenly cold.

"Ya. Why were you running in aux anyway?" It wasn't his fault. He hadn't known. I hadn't told them.

"I was…"

Cut off as a steak knife came whizzing through the air and just past the tip of my nose. I had leaned back just in time for it not to slam into my cheek. I turned to where it had been thrown from and stared into the green eyes of a pale older woman. Her lips were pulled back into a tight smile, dirty blonde hair was pulled back professionally to give her almost a receptionist look. Her hand was still frozen in the position she had released the knife, her other hand still holding one, manicured nails gleaming in the new light. She was still dressed as nicely as the day I had locked her back away in the sigils above the bunker's power supply.

"Oh." The woman pouted. "Seems I missed."

"Who is that?" Dean asked, everyone else in the room seeming to still be frozen by her sudden appearance.

"That…is Mrs. Butters. A…" I started to explain.

"Oh my." The old woman said before she was in front of Dean. "I'm sorry boy, I haven't introduced myself yet. "I'm Mrs. Butters. The Men of Letters personal assistant in this location." She did an odd curtsy and stood again to shake his hand gently. Then looked back at me, her eyes becoming cold once more. "And you should not be here." 

"Ya ya. It's been a few years since you last tried ot kill me, Grandma." I sighed. "Can I at least explain this time before we start?"

Mrs. Butters tutted softly and turned to Dean. "My dear boy, how can you live with such a thing?"

"What do you…Alex?" I should've explained this to them sooner.

I sighed again. "She doesn't like that I'm a demon. She was more or less trapped and attached to the bunker by the Men of Letters in the fifties." I tried to explain as I kept an eye on the woman. "She's a wood nymph. And she believes I'm all evil and there's no saving me or any reason to give me a chance to prove myself."

"Because there isn't deary." Mrs. Butters said.

"Whoa," Dean said. "I can vouch for her. She's trying to do a good thing here."

"I have yet to see that from a demon, my boy." Mrs. Butters continued to glare at me.

"Can she at least try to prove herself?" Elly said now, seeming to be over the sudden shock of this event. "Please allow us to show you she is good. We can talk about it over dinner."

Mrs. Butters turned to her, looked Elly over, then turned to Rowena and Ally who were still seated at the table, and back to Dean again. She seemed to study them all before carefully looking back at me and thinking over her answer carefully.

"I suppose one little dinner won't hurt." She finally settled on. "What will we be making?"

"Can we try Winchester Surprise?" Ally asked, her voice small as she spoke into the tense room. 

I smiled carefully. "Sure kid. I'll make you a list, Elly." I took cautious steps towards the table and grabbed for a pen and some paper. 

I wrote the list, keenly aware of Mrs. Butters eyes still on me as I wrote, and then handed it to Elly. She nodded and started towards the stairs that led to the door. I stepped to the other side of Rowena as I heard Dean turn back to Mrs. Butters and start asking her questions about the bunker and what she'd done for the Men of Letters.

"Well?" I asked Rowena as I sat next to her.

"It seems you have many problems, child." She muttered to me. I rolled my eyes. "And real magic isn't a quick thing. It's going to take time. Be patient with me." I leaned back into the chair and listened as she continued to Ally. "I need you to relax again, sweet."

"Alright," Ally replied, nodding.

"Well?" I asked again hours later as Rowena finally released Ally from whatever trace they had been in.

"I'm going to go lay down…" Ally muttered, standing with a hand to her head. Her skin was pale and looked sickly.

"Drink some water, dearie. Magic can use a lot of energy." Rowena called after her. Then she turned back to me, folding her hands on top of the table, her red lips pursed.

"Yes?" I pushed again.

"You and your brothers…" She sighed.

"What's wrong Rowena?" I didn't want to play these games with her. Her tricks and roundabout way of answering simple questions had always grated on my nerves.

"It's difficult to explain. She's burning through her grace at a high rate now that she has no soul." Rowena's manicured nails tapped on her book as I struggled to understand what she had said.

"Well, that's exactly what happens to angels when they're low on grace, right?" I doubted it was that simple but it would be refreshing if it was. "We just need to get her more?"

"I don't think it's that simple. Once the grace is gone, she'll be left with nothing." Rowena sighed. "She will be a heck of a monster. Not human, not angel. Something entirely new and perhaps dangerous."

"That still doesn't sound like the end of the world." I tried to weigh the options in my head. It would seem easier to just ignore it and let the kid keep going as she was. But what else could happen to her if we couldn't stop this?

"Who's to say." Rowena shrugged. "She could live with it, or she could burn up herself and die a painful death. I honestly recommend wrangling her soul back from your hounds before that."

I ran a hand through my hair and rubbed at my face, breathing deeply. "That's how we fix this then?" I asked from behind the shield of my hands.

"I'll read through my book, but at the moment, that is the only idea." She said, tapping the thing lightly. "There isn't enough grace in the world to make up enough to keep her going for long."

"Thank you, Rowena," I muttered with another long breath. What the Hell was I supposed to tell Elly and Lucifer? I wanted to tell them the truth. I should tell them the truth. But at the same time, I didn't want to hurt them more. "I have another question for you if you don't mind."

"What is it?" Rowena asked. I could hear her thumbing through pages of the book now.

I uncovered my eyes and looked at her. "Have you heard of the 'Protector's Manuscript'?"

She froze, a page still in her fingers for a few seconds before she gently put it down. "Where did you hear about that book?"

"A case I'm working on." I sat up now. "What is it?"

"It's dangerous witchcraft you should not be messing with, dearie. Best to forget you ever heard of it." Rowena hurriedly busied herself with the book again.

"What aren't you telling me?" I asked, fully invested now. I leaned forward and reached across the table, slapping a hand down on the section of the book she was reading. "Rowena, why would someone be looking for that book?"

"That's nothing you need to worry about." She continued not to look at me, as if she could read through my hand.

"Graveyards are coming up empty, people are hearing voices telling them to kill others and are losing control of their bodies, and they're being asked to find this book in the empty graves," I stated, bluntly filling her in. "I think that's definitely something I should be worried about."

"Right…" Rowena paused for a moment and finally looked up at me, her deep bottle-green eyes worried. Maybe my tone had been too harsh. I hadn't meant to get frustrated with her. "A long time ago, there was someone who went by the name the 'Witch of Endor'..."

"Never heard of her." I found myself interrupting as I withdrew my hand.

Rowena rolled her eyes. "Do you know nothing of the Bible?"

"I try to avoid it. My whole life being something out of a religious nutjobs idea of fun, never really gave me the want to read it. It's just old shit anyway." I explained with a shrug. 

"The old shit is important too, little one." Rowena continued. "King Saul sought this 'Witch of Endor' to summon the dead prophet Samuel's spirit to help him defeat the Philistine army."

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked lazily.

"The 'Witch of Endor' wrote the book thousands of years ago. But she never died, supposedly. She pops up all over history though." Rowena looked damn at the book in front of her again. "Alice Young, and Grace Sherwood to name a few. But you would probably know her most by the name Bridget Bishop."

"The first witch killed in the Salem Witch Trials by Abigail." I nodded, interested again.

"There's some hope for you yet, dear." Rowena teased lightly. She closed the book and rested her arms on it gently. "She wasn't killed."

"Shocking," I said sarcastically. "Do any of you witches ever die?"

"The ones who are good enough with magic never really do." She replied with a smile and wink. Rowena sat back in the chair, pulling the book onto her lap. "That book holds some of the oldest spells known to us. Most are probably forgotten or have never been heard of because the book has never been proven to be real. It's never been historically documented anywhere, even when she pops up. I doubt there's even anything about it on the internet."

"Then how do you know about it?" I briefly glanced upward at the sound of the bunker door opening in the tunnel above. Sam must be back from his drive with Lucifer. My attention returned to Rowena quickly in hopes she would keep talking.

"Just rumors through the ages." She shrugged.

"Why are they searching for the book in graveyards?" There was a small crash upstairs and I winced a little.

I needed these answers. There was no time for dealing with Lucifer and the fight he wanted to have. But Rowena looked like she had lost the want to talk about it. She got to her feet and grabbed her bag from the floor beside the table, shoving the book into it.

"Rowena, please." I almost begged. "Why would they be searching graveyards for this book?"

"It was said to have been buried away with Bridget Bishop's body." She said reluctantly, her gaze dragged upward now too, eyebrows scrunched together.

"But if she never died, then where's the body?" I jumped ot my feet to stand in front of her again. She looked dead set on leaving this time though.

"I don't know the answer to that question, sweet." She smiled at me softly. "I will keep looking for something to help the girl, But I really should be…"

We jumped as the metal door above was opened and then slammed closed again. I looked up through the metal grates and could just see Ketch through them. He was clutching his side and stumbling towards the stairs. He reached for the railing before collapsing and tumbling down them instead. 

"Ketch?!" I gasped, sprinting to where he lay at the bottom now.

I dropped to my knees and pushed him onto his back so I could see his face. His eyes were closed, making it all the more clear that one was black and bruised. There was a long scratch down the left side of his face, splitting his eyebrow and smearing the side of his face with blood. More cuts littered his body, splitting the white button-up he wore and staining it red. One of his hands still clutched at his side as he took shaky breaths. There was a large pool of blood under his hand. I immediately started to unbutton the shirt to see the damage beneath it, my fingers shaking as I went. His torso was bruised in many places, stamped black and purple as if he was suddenly trying to be a Dalmatian. The spot where he clung to his ribs, was the worst, I had to lift his hand away from it to see the deep gash there.

I replaced his hand with mine and tried to push energy into it to heal him, but nothing happened. No cold, soothing energy. No deep blue glow. No wince of pain as the wound started to slowly close. The wound didn't even flinch under my hand. I couldn't. Why couldn't I? What the fuck was going on with me? 

I turned to the witch. "Help me, please."

The witch's heels clicked across the stone floor quickly. She lowered herself to her knees and took one of his arms. I grabbed the other and together we lifted him, carrying his exhausted body to a chair at the table. Ketch groaned as we rested him into it.

"It looks like he cracked a few ribs," Rowena said, stepping to his other side.

"Can you do something?" I pleaded.

"You can't?" I bit my lip and looked away from her. I looked back at Ketch, his face scrunched up in pain. "What is the point of being a demon queen if you can't heal your beau?"

"Don't make fun of me," I said softly, my fingers still shaking as I ran them gently through his hair. 

"Go get me some water to clean him up with. I can heal him," Rowena said, nodding. "But it's going to take some time. I'm not instant like the rest of you."

I nodded, absentmindedly going to the kitchen, grabbing a towel, and wetting it in the sink. I returned and started to clean up his side as Rowena dug through her bag.

"Alexandria," She said softly. "I need five candles please."

I nodded, laying the now bloody towel on the table. "Anything else?" I said as I turned to leave the room again.

"Some salt, too," Rowena added to the list.

At least I knew we had plenty of that lying around. And I was able to find the candles rather easily after a few moments. I made a mental note to thank Sam for the progress he had made on reorganizing the bunker later. It was slowly coming back together because of his efforts. I went back to the main room with the items, choking a bit on the strong smell and I walked in. I coughed as I handed Rowena the candles and a small bowl of salt.

"It's not even that strong of a scent." She grumbled as she took the things from me. She lit more incense then set up the candles in a small circle between four bowls and lit them as well. "Go get me some hot water, please. The hotter, the better." She instructed, holding one of the bowls out to me.

I nodded again and went back to the kitchen, turning the hot water on full blast and waiting for it to heat up as hot as it could go. The waiting even those few seconds was horrible. It couldn't have been more than a minute, but every minute felt like one I wasn't at his side helping.

I filled the bowl and returned it to Rowena, who dumped a heavy amount of salt into it before placing it back into the formation on the table. One of the others seemed to be just plain water, one looked ot hold a little dirt and the last was filled with the smoldering incense.

"Anything else?" I asked anxiously.

I felt like I needed to be doing something, anything to help. I knew a few cracked ribs and a slice like that was nothing to be worried over. God knew the man had survived worse, and that wasn't what had worried me. He had told me this was the last job he would do for his employer. He had promised me that. But the way he had explained his employer to me before leaving hadn't made the man sound very willing to let Ketch go. He hadn't even been willing to give me a name for the mystery man.

"Just let me work." She answered, dripping some type of oil onto the candles, making each hiss in turn.

I nodded and made my way back to his side, gently fusing with his hair again and placing a kiss on his forehead. Ketch winced softly.

"How are you feeling?" I asked softly. It was a stupid question, but knowing he could talk at all would make me feel just a little better.

"It definitely smarts." Ketch groaned, his eyes still shut tightly. His arm reached behind the chair and snaked against my leg, pulling me gently closer to him.

"It was him, wasn't it? Your employer?" I asked.

Ketch nodded.

Rowena turned from the table with the steaming bowl, it now looked like a weird combination of sludge. A mixture of everything in the other bowls.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat this, it's going to hurt." She said as she scooped a handful of the gunk from the bowl.

"You're sure that'll work?" I asked apprehensively.

"You're not the one doing the healing, are ye?" Rowena shot back, slapping the goo right onto the open wound.

Ketch groaned, his grip on my calf tightening. He hissed through gritted teeth. "Damn you."

"Oh, don't be such a wee babe," Rowena commented as she rubbed more of whatever she had made into the injury. Ketch continued to hiss through his teeth.

"Is he going to be coming after you?" It was a question I didn't want to ask, but needed to answer to anyway. Would we need to hide, or fight?

"The odds are high, love," Ketch said, the answer almost inaudibly through his teeth.

"Does he have any idea where you are?" The bunker was warded against most, heavier now that we had full power, but that didn't mean we needed another attack.

"No idea."

"Right." I nodded in thought for a second. "I need to make a phone call. You got this, Ro?"

"Yes, hun." She replied, focused on the candles again.

I reached down and squeezed his hand gently before taking a step back from him. "I need to know his name, Ketch."

"I don't know it." He said. "I've never met him. Just worked through phone calls. He found me, kind of thing."

"Where's your phone?" I asked.

"Riding jacket. It's on my bike." he leaned back in the chair, breathing already more stable. "It's a restricted number."

I nodded and started up the stairs towards the garage. I took the stairs two at a time. I pushed through the garage and got a good idea of what the loud crash had been moments before.

Ketch' motorcycle was in the middle of the garage floor. It lay there on its side, the glass from a mirror lying shattered around it. It hurt my heart to see it that way as I walked forward and grabbed the jacket that was still draped over the back of the seat. 

I dug through the pocket until I found his cell phone in an outer pocket, the screen cracked now. Thankfully it still turned on and was readable. I pulled up his contacts and most recent calls, finding the restricted number easily. It was the number he had called the most, besides mine. I tried to call it from his phone, only to be greeted by a robotic woman's voice telling me it had been disconnected. I sighed and put his phone into another pocket as I retrieved mine. I called Sam.

It was a few rings before he answered. "What's up?"

"Can you trace a disconnected number?" I asked.

Sam paused on the other end and I chewed on my tongue as I waited for him to reply. "I can probably search the number and tell you who it might have belonged to. But I wouldn't be able to tell you where they are unless it was turned on. What's wrong?"

"I need you to come home." I would explain when they got back.

"What happened?" His voice was stern now.

"I'll explain when you get back." I sighed, impatient. "But please hurry. I'll make sure Rowena is out of here before you get home."

"Right. We'll be there in twenty."

I hung up, pushed Ketch' bike upright and against a wall, and headed back to the front room.

"Rowena, they'll be back soon, if you want to leave," I announced as I entered the room.

Ketch was sitting up now, trying to button up a new shirt Rowena must have fetched for him. He looked stiff but obviously felt better than before.

"He should be right as rain in a few days," Rowena explained as she blew out the candles. "It's a slow healing, but if he rests for the next little bit, he should be fine."

"Thank you, Rowena," Ketch said, offering her a kind smile.

"I don't need your thanks, tyrant." Rowena spat. It made me smile.

"I'm not the English government." Ketch reminded.

"Doesn't mean that your people didn't steal out homes and livelihoods." Rowena huffed, returning her focus to packing her bag yet again.

"That was hundreds of years ago." Ketch sighed.

"Cuts are still fresh, I'm afraid." Rowena picked the bag up off the table and came over to me, pulling me into a hug. "It was nice to see you, dear. I'll let you know if I find anything for the girl."

"Thank you for always being there whenever we need you," I said, hugging her back.

"Aye." She said, pushing away and smiling. "You all owe me a million favors." She left the room without another word.

I hesitantly made my way over to Ketch, sitting against the table next to his chair. I reached for him and buttoned up the last few buttons of the shirt he seemed to be struggling with. 

"You're going to have to tell my brothers," I mumbled, half of me hoping he wouldn't hear the comment.

"I don't need their help." He grumbled.

"They need to know, Ketch." I sighed. "And until you're healed, you can't do this yourself."

"I will take care of it."

I groaned out of frustration as I buttoned the last of his shirt up. "You're impossible. You can't even take care of yourself! Look at the mess you're gotten sucked into!"

"I didn't have a choice!" He shouted.

"That's not what you told me." I scoffed.

"How was I supposed to tell you that they were blackmailing me?!" That was new.

"Arthur!" I shot from the side of the table and started to pace. What was with this man and his constant lies or half-truths? Why was he like this? "We're in this together. What do you not understand about that?"

"They threatened to kill you." He looked at me, silver eyes clear. "I couldn't let that happen."

"I'm a goddamn demon, Arthur!" I hissed. "I can more than take care of myself."

"You don't think I couldn't notice that you couldn't heal me tonight?" He asked, anger now simmering in his eyes. "What makes you think you could take them on? Because they've noticed it too, Alex. You're not strong anymore."

I stopped pacing, dropping my hands back to my sides. "Just because I was too stressed to do something, does not make me weak."

"We're back!" Sam called from above, halting our fight.

"Come on down!" I called back.

"They know, Alex," Ketch said, quieter now. "They know something is up. I didn't believe everything they said, but I wasn't about to let them hurt you."

"We can discuss it more later," I grumbled. "Right now I want to figure out how to keep you safe, jerk."

"I'm the jerk?" He scoffed.

"What's going on?" Dean asked, appearing from down the hall. "I heard yell…The fuck happened to you?"

"Hang on." I tossed Ketch' phone to Sam as he came to the bottom of the stairs. "It's the last number called."

"Right." Sam immediately sat at the table once he'd caught it, pulling out his laptop and getting to work.

"What's up?" Dean asked again as he rounded the table, beer in hand.

"Where's Lucifer?" I asked.

"He flew in a little bit ago, and said he wanted to check on Ally," Sam answered.

"Can you get me one, Dean?" I asked, sitting at the table. 

I lowered my head into my hands and sighed heavily. There was a soft clink next to me and I looked up at the dark bottle now in front of me. I snatched it up quickly and opened it greedily, drinking from it as soon as the cap was gone. I put it back down on the table and looked between both of my brothers, then at Ketch.

"We have a problem." I started, then corrected myself. "'Ketch' has a problem."

"I told you I can take care of it myself." Ketch snapped.

I could feel the weight of Sam and Dean's eyes on us. But when I looked back at them again, they were each doing their own thing. Sam was typing hastily and Dean was staring down at his hand, looking like he wanted nothing more than to disappear.

"I told you he started killing again." I gestured at Dean with the bottle. His fuchsite eyes darkened at the reminder. "Well, he tried to quit. And now they could be coming for him."

"And we need to help him why?" Dean asked, Sam slapped his arm. It would've normally made me laugh, but this wasn't the time to do that. "I think he probably deserves it." Another smack from Sam. "Would you stop that?"

"As mad as it has made me," I said, taking another sip of the bitter amber beer. "I do still love him and we should help him. He's injured after all."

"Just heal him," Sam said with a shrug, looking over the screen again.

"Not an option." Ketch offered, keeping the explanation from my lips. "They threatened her. I was only trying to protect her and now it's gotten out of hand."

"You fucking sucked our sister into this?" Dean demanded, taking a sudden step towards Ketch.

"You don't scare me," Ketch smirked at him, his eyes dark.

"I found out who the number belongs to," Sam said, breaking up the tense slightly. "Ernest White."

"Oh," Ketch said, the anger disappearing from him.

"Who is that?" I asked, the name sounded familiar but I wasn't sure why.

"He was the one I was supposed to deliver Gabriel to," Ketch said, nodding now. 

"Ah…" I whispered. "So I missed one."

"Yes. You missed one." Ketch reaffirmed.

"So what do we need to do? Does he know where to find you?" Sam asked, closing his laptop now.

"Or I can take care of the problem now," Dean grumbled. I shot him a glare.

"Absolutely not," I growled. "We'll just have to be ready for it. He knows something about us if he's willing to threaten someone so close to us." I turned to Sam ."Can you keep an eye on that phone number? See if it comes back online?" Sam nodded and I turned back to Dean. "Just make sure the bunker is stocked with whatever we need. We've taken on the BMOL before. We can do it again."

"We did almost die down here because of them if you forgot," Dean said, bitterness in his voice as he looked down at Ketch. 

"But you didn't." I reminded sternly. "You both got out. And we'll do it again if we have to."

"We can do this," Sam assured. "And now that I know who it is, I can try to locate him. So no worries."

Dean moved over to Ketch and I got to my feet, prepared to step between them if things got ugly. Dean grabbed the collar of Ketch' shirt and pulled him up by it, the fabric wrinkling in his hand. Ketch stared back at him, the challenging look in his eyes matching the deadly smirk on his face. 

"If anything happens to my sister because of you, I will personally take care of you." Dean threatened his voice deep. "And I won't feel any heartache about it. Family comes before things like you."

Ketch' smirk didn't falter. "I could say the same thing to you, Dean. You get my dear lover in much more trouble than I do." The smirk fell as the threat left his mouth. "I will not hesitate to put you down like the dog you are if she dies because of you."

Dean let go of his shirt, and Ketch fell back into the chair.

"Go to bed, Ketch." I breathed. "Rowena said you need rest."

"I'm fine."

"Go, Arthur," I growled, unable to stop the noise as it rose from me. "Just, go."

His eyes wandered my face for a second before he finally nodded and stood. It pained me to watch him hobble out of the room, rubbing at the back of his neck before he disappeared down the hall. The room was silent for several moments before anyone even dared to move.

"Alex, do you…"

"No, I don't want to talk about it." I interrupted Sam. "Thank you. I'm sorry for any trouble he has caused." I got to my feet and left the room as well, stopping by the kitchen to dispose of the bottle in my hand before going to my room.

My hand rested on the doorknob and I sighed. I pushed open the door and silently entered the room. It was only lit by a single lamp on a bedside table, just enough to see. I found Ketch lying on the bed, shirtless, though there were clean white bandages wrapped around his middle. One of his arms was draped over his eyes.

"Ketch…" He didn't answer, didn't even move. "I'm sorry for yelling." I started. There was still no response.

I sighed and went to the side of the bed. I sat on the edge softly before laying down on it and rolling gently into his side. His other arm wrapped around me and pulled me closer, surprising me just a little.

"I'm sorry I lied to you." He said softly. "I was just trying to keep you safe."

"Thank you." I sighed. "But please, just come to me next time."

"I promise." And I knew he meant it.

I waited a few seconds before saying anything else, letting his promise clear the air of the tension between us. 

"I'm not sure how to tell Elly what's wrong with her daughter," I said into the room.

"Then make something up." I closed my eyes and relaxed against him, listening to his steady breathing. "Tell her Rowena is working on it."

"I can't just lie to her," I said.

"It's not a lie." He pointed out. "Rowena is working on it."

I thought it over. Maybe he was right. I wasn't sure what else to do anyway. I didn't want her to worry, but I also wasn't sure this was the time to tell her the truth. Not when she would have millions of questions and worries, things I had no answers to yet. Maybe it was better to just wait until I knew more. 

"Alex!" A younger voice called from the other side of the door. "Dean's going to show Mrs. Butters how to make Winchester Surprise! Come on!" 

I couldn't help but smile at the excitement in Ally's voice. She almost reminded me of myself when I was younger. When I still believed in happy endings.

"We should probably go join them."