Sweet Child of Mine

The group sat in the motel room. Dean and Sam had taken Charlie to the hospital, but were now standing in front of Cadence with Bobby as she sat on one of the beds. Everyone had their eyes on her, visibly upset. Cadence sat cross-legged on the edge, her fingers playing with the bandage covering he cut.

“So um… are ya’ll gonna say something, or are you going to just stand there? Because if this is how it’s going to be, then I’m going back to school-”

“You’re not going anywhere, Cadence,” said Ellen, who sat in the couch.

“Well, if you’re all on guard duty, have fun.”

Bobby jumped forward and grabbed the girl by the front of her shit, pulling her up to his face, “What the hell is wrong with you, girl? Huh? Is this how your mother taught you to fight? Witchcraft?”

“It was a simple spell, Bobby.”

“No spell is a simple spell, Cadence,” said Dean, “Especially when you have to cut your God damned hand!”

Cadence pushed Bobby away and fixed her shirt. “Dean, Sam, I told you about the necromancy…. Bobby, you were the one who ratted me out… don’t act like this is a new thing.” Pushing her way past everyone she went to the door, “Unless you all want to take a trip to the police station, I suggest we skip town.”

“What is wrong with you, Cadence,” asked Ellen, “Witchcraft? Do we need to talk?”

Cadence sighed as she pulled on her jacket, “No. It’s over… a phase I went through while I was mourning.”

“A phase is when you drink your self dead, Cadence.”

“Yes, Ellen, but when you loose Jo to a bunch of blood thirsty demons, and after Bobby’s managed to get you off the bottle and talk you out of suicide…. After all of the thoughts and memories come flooding back into you, try not to be tempted by necromancy, okay? Right… so are we leaving now or not?”

The group was quiet as they watched Cadence wrap her scarf around her neck. Jo watched her friend move and shook her head, “You’re a bitch, Caddy.”

Cadence stopped at Jo’s use of her old childhood nickname. Looking up she looked at her friend and said, “I’m sorry you feel that way, Jo.”

“Ever since you got out of that hospital you’ve been cold… borderline sociopath.”

Cadence looked at her friend, her face as cold and emotionless as a statue. The group looked at the young girl and a cold chill ran up their spines. Castiel tilted his head to the side, confused as to what happened to this girl to make her so dead on the inside. He watched as the girl pulled on her coat and walked to the door.

“I need to go to my dorm and grab clothes,” she said, “If you guys are just going to stand there, I’ll walk.”

Castiel turned to watch the group’s reaction. No one moved, so he looked back at Cadence. She nodded and opened the motel door and walked out. Thinking this might be a bad idea, Castiel walked out after her.

Looking over her shoulder, Cadence saw the angel walking after her and sighed, “The clergy is always trying to get me alone,” turning to look at him as he caught up with her she said, “I thought you guys liked little boys.”

Castiel turned his blank face to her and said, “I don’t know what you’re referencing.”

Cadence gave a little smile and shook her head, “Yeah… I forgot that you haven’t been on Earth in the past… millennium.”

Castiel didn’t say anything in response.

“So… why are you following me?”

“I’m… keeping an eye on you.”

“Make sure I don’t run away?”

“Yes.”

Cadence nodded, “You have nothing to worry about, Angel Boy… I’m too far in this to get out now.”

Castiel said nothing. Together they walked down the sidewalk, Castiel not bothered by the cold, but Cadence hunched over as a gust of wind sent snow into her face. She found herself walking closer to Castiel in hopes of getting warmer. Castiel noticed her closeness and was unsure as to what to do.

Sniffing Cadence asked, “Um… Castiel?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t know how it works, but um… do you think you could like… zap us to my dorm building?”

Castiel wrapped his arm around Cadence’s shoulders and the next thing she saw was her dorm. The two stood in the middle of the floor while Cadence got use to the warmth. Pulling off her gloves Cadence said, “Thanks.”

“Do you need help packing?”

Cadence shook her head, grabbing a duffel bag, “No… I’m grabbing a few things, then we can leave.”

Castiel stood where he was, staring out the window. Cadence cleared her bed, “Do you want to sit down?”

Castiel looked at her, then back to the window, “I’m fine standing.”

Cadence rushed around, packing clothes, her computer, her chargers, anything else she needed, then she grabbed a picture off her wall and shoved it into the bag. Zipping it closed, she slung it across her body and went over to Castiel.

“Ready?” she asked.

Castiel placed his hand on her shoulder and they left her dorm and reappeared in the motel room. Cadence set her bag down and stood awkwardly while everyone got ready to leave. Castiel again stood and stared in front of him.

Bobby came forward, “You’re coming with me, Cay… we’ve got research to do.”

Cadence sighed, “Okay.”

Castiel looked up, “Chuck is in trouble…. I’ve got to go.”

Cadence frowned, “Chuck?” But before she could get an answer, Castiel was gone. Turning to Bobby she asked, “Who’s Chuck?”

“He’s a prophet,” said Dean.

“A prophet? Like ‘I-can-see-the-future’ prophet?”

“Yeah… only it’s our future.” Dean pointed at himself and his brother.

Cadence scoffed, “Sucks for Chuck.”

“Yeah.”

Everyone got ready and soon they were leaving. Bobby, Ellen, Jo, and Cadence piled into Bobby’s truck while Dean and Sam left to go God knows where. Bobby honked as he drove past the brothers, then we left to go to South Dakota.

~

Bobby pulled into the junk yard that surrounded His home and Cadence found her heart beating heavily in her chest. Getting out of the cab, she grabbed her bag and followed Bobby inside after saying goodbye to Ellen and Jo. Looking around she smiled as everything was exactly the same as when she left it. There were still piles of books in every corner, most of them threatened to topple over, spilling yellowed pages all over the floor.

Walking forward, Cadence placed her hand on one of the books, rubbing the dust off. Cleaning her fingers on her pants, she smiled as she turned around, “Looks like you haven’t used your books in a while.”

A sharp pain came as Bobby hit her over the head with the butt of a riffle. Cadence blacked out, falling to the floor, the pile of books falling over her body.

~

Waking up, Cadence winced as her head ached. Outside the light was dim suggesting late day. Sitting up the books that were on her fell with thuds to the floor, the pages flipping shut. A buzzing sound came from under the volumes of lore and Cadence let it go for a moment before realizing it was her phone. She moved books looking for her cell, which she found under a book about angelic lore. Looking at the caller ID, she saw a number that she didn’t recognize.

“Hello,” she asked.

“Cadence! Jesus Christ, I’ve been calling for an hour.”

She moaned, “Dean? How did you get my number?”

“Never mind that, are you okay?”

“Um… yeah, I guess…. I got hit in the head…. I don’t think Bobby’s going to fair well when I get a hold of him.”

“Yeah, about Bobby… listen a lot of stuff just went down.”

“What?”

“Yeah, Cas is dead, Sam and I ran into some angels in upstate New York, but then Castiel was there, and now we’re back here, and Cas is somewhere, and Bobby’s in the hospital-”

Cadence’s headache went away, “Bobby’s in the hospital?”

“Yeah… he was um… stabbed.”

Cadence felt her eyes fill with tears as the concept hit her. Getting up, she grabbed a pair of keys from the wall, “Where are you?”

“We’re at a hospital.”

Cadence locked Bobby’s front door, making sure no one was able to get in. “Dean, I’m going to meet you there, what state are you in?” Turning around Cadence screamed at the sight of another body being in front of her.

“What is it,” asked Dean.

“Jesus Christ, Castiel.”

“Cas?”

Castiel hung up the phone for her, “Come… this place is swarming with demons.”

Cadence gripped the front of Castiel’s trench coat and soon found herself in a hospital room with Dean and Sam. Bobby sat in the bed. Cadence went over to him, “How is he doing? Is he okay? Will he be okay?”

Dean came over, “He’s fine.”

Cadence stroked Bobby’s head as she looked down at him. Dean watched as Cadence played the part of the grieving daughter. He felt a twinge of awkwardness as he watched, like he wasn’t supposed to be there. Taking a step back Dean joined his brother.

Cadence turned to Dean and Sam, “What happened?”

Sam shifted his weight back and forth, then said, “Well… Bobby was possessed by a demon and um… stabbed himself with a blade that we had that could kill demons.”

Cadence stood there, “Bobby did this to himself.”

The brothers nodded.

“Wait… I’m sorry, did you say a blade that could kill demons?”

Dean nodded.

“There’s no such thing.”

“Well apparently there is.” Said Dean.

“Where is it now?”

“The ah… the demons have it.”

Cadence nodded, “Fantastic.” She drew out the word.

Bobby moved and muttered, “Cay?”

Turning to the old man, Cadence replied, “Yeah, Bobby... I’m here.”

Opening his eyes he said, “Cay… are you alright?”

She nodded, “Yeah… just a little sore spot, but I’m okay.”

“I didn’t-”

“I know.”

A gust of wind could be heard, and upon turning the group found Castiel gone. Dean threw his hands in the air only to have them slap his side, “Well, don’t let us keep you from whatever.”

A doctor came in after that, stopping for a moment to make sure he wasn’t interrupting anything, then said, “Hello, Mr. Singer, I’m Dr. Thorton.. I um… am the one dealing with your case.”

Bobby frowned, “Well… deal away, how am I?”

“Ah, well, when you were stabbed the blade destroyed some of the tissue that connected to your legs. We tried to correct the damage but… it is not likely that you’ll be able to walk again.”

Cadence, Dean, and Sam gasped as the news sank in. All eyes turned to Bobby, and they took a step back as they watched the red fill his face.

“Not likely to walk?” Bobby’s voice boomed in the small space. Dr. Thorton jumped, the folder he held almost flying from his hands. Bobby leaned forward, “Why you snot nosed son of a bitch! Wait until I get out of this bed… I’ll use my game leg to kick your freakin’ ass! Yeah you better run!”

Dr. Thorton ran out of the room like Bobby had just drawn a gun. The group watched as the door closed softly behind him. Cadence turned to Bobby, not sure of what to say. Dean and Sam stood on the other side of the bed, looking at Bobby, much like Cadence, confused and lost for words. Bobby turned to the brothers and said, “Do you believe that yay-who?”

Dean took a step forward and said, “Screw him, you’ll be fine.”

Sam twitched his head, moving his hair out of his face, “So let me ask the million dollar question… what do we do now?”

Bobby looked away and answered, “Well… we save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It’s bad. Whoever wins, heaven or hell, we’re boned.”

Cadence stood off to the side of Bobby’s bed, not exactly knowing what was going on. Having been out of the hunting game for so long she was more out of the loop than she was rusty.

Dean took a step forward, “What if we win? I’m serious. I mean screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. Hell they want a war? They can find their own planet. This one’s ours, and I say they get the hell off it. We take them all on, we kill the devil – hell we even kill Michael if we have to – but we do it our own damn selves.”

Bobby looked at him cautiously, “And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?”

Dean scoffed, “I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED… and a give ‘em hell attitude, and I’ll figure it out.”

Bobby looked to Cadence, then Sam, then back to Dean, “You’re nine kinds of crazy boy.”

Dean shrugged, “It’s been said,” coming over he said, “Listen you stay on the mend… we’ll see you in a bit.”

The two brothers made to leave, but Bobby turned to Sam.

“Sam. I was awake. I know what I said back there… I just want you to know… that was the demon talking. I ain’t cutting you out boy, not ever.”

Cadence looked at Sam and thought he was going to tear up. Giving a sigh he said, “Thanks Bobby.”

“You’re welcome.” Bobby shrugged, “I deserve a damn medal for this, but… you’re welcome.”

Cadence smiled a little at his response. The Winchesters left, leaving Cadence alone with Bobby. Turning to her he said, “I’m sorry I hit you, Cay.”

She scoffed, “You just need to be thankful you weren’t you at the time… or I’d have come and kicked your ass.”

Bobby smiled, “Dean’s full of shit, ain’t he?”

Cadence laughed, “You saw through that?”

“Oh hell yes.”

“You know he said it for you, right?”

Bobby nodded.

Cadence sat down in the chair next to Bobby’s bed and the two continued to talk, seeing that this was the perfect time to catch up.