Chapter Text
"So, get this..."
Dean looked up from the lore book he was reading, and Mary stirred in the chair she had fallen asleep in a couple hours ago. Both expected something on the British Men of Letters- they hadn't found anything useful on them in three days, and it was making everyone tense. Not to mention Cas, who had been gone for a week. He had volunteered to help find whatever he could on the British MOL after they got Sam back, but no one had heard from him since, which is why Sam felt guilty when he saw a spark of hope in his brother's eyes.
"There's, uh- two missing kids in Indiana-" Sam began, stone faced and not looking up from the screen of his laptop. Dean's expression immediately hardened.
"How the hell is that gonna help, Sam?! With the crazy Brits doing who knows what and now Cas is MIA, what's the point of a case?" Dean raised his voice and slammed the book closed. Mary was now fully awake and clearly concerned, mouth slightly open. She looked like she wanted to say something but wasn't sure what.
"I don't know, but we can't do nothing! We've gotten nowhere with the MOL, and we've checked every book we have! What if there is nothing to find? They seem pretty good at covering their tracks- what do you want me to do?" Sam shot back, exasperated.
"Then we look harder, Sam! We must've missed something. And Cas- he's got to be somewhere. We can't just go off on side missions and ignore family that could be in danger. Besides, really? Two missing? It doesn't even sound like a case in the first place." Dean spouted off, now standing and gesturing with his hands by holding them out open-palmed at his sides and slapping them back against his thighs. Mary shifted uncomfortably. Was this how they always were?
"It's not just two missing kids," Sam said, glaring at Dean from behind the screen. Returning his focus to the article, he continued, "There have also been sightings of a 'faceless man', and this is all in the same town. But the biggest part is that when I checked Cas' GPS on his cell, his last identifiable location wasn't too far from there." Dean's expression changed again, molding into a look of surprise with some leftover anger and resentment. His jaw clenched slightly. As he was about to respond, Mary cleared her throat.
"So, when are we leaving?"
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Mike was pacing in the basement, hands folded behind his back. Dustin and Lucas exchanged similar glances. Eleven sat on the couch, nervously watching Mike and not moving.
”You’re sure he wasn’t one of the ‘bad men’? You didn’t recognize him at all?”
Eleven nodded solemnly. The atmosphere grew tense as the room fell silent, no one moving. The tension wasn’t released until Mrs. Wheeler called down, making everyone jump.
”Everyone get washed up for lunch!”, she said, probably standing in the doorway at the top of the basement stairs by the sound of her voice.
”I’ll bring you something back,” Mike whispered to Eleven as she crawled back into her nook under the blankets. The boys ran upstairs to wash their hands, leaving Eleven alone.
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Dean was growing more anxious as he drove. Cas still wasn’t answering his calls or prayers. Sam was riding shotgun, finally beginning to fall asleep. Mary was still awake, letting herself drown in the impala and studying Dean when he wasn’t looking. Dean’s eyes were full of grief, she noticed. She frowned. What had he gone through in the past thirty years? He looked exhausted, eyes sunken and green irises duller than they had once been. His hands were rough and scarred, but still skilled. She saw that he had picked up on the jaw-clenching John used to do. Her attention turned to the smell of the impala. It had changed a lot. It used to smell like John- his cologne, his clothes… now it was different. Dean had taken care of her, but she now smelled of burnt salt, dirty leather, and sex. Not that the last one was new, thanks to Mary and John. Mary was pulled out of her thoughts when Dean spoke.
”So, uh, mom- I don’t think it’d be a bad idea if you stayed behind when we get there-”
”That’s not gonna happen, Dean.”
”All I’m saying is, if Cas is in trouble and he’s a friggin’ Angel… ”
”Then you can use all the help you can get. I’m not letting my boys go in alone.”
Seeing there was nothing he could do, Dean sighed. Stubbornness apparently ran in the family. But it’s a bit different when-
”SHIT!” Dean yelled, sliding the impala sideways. Everyone was forced to lean, fear taking over. When the dust cleared Sam had been jolted from his almost-sleep, and Mary stared at the road, now out of the side window, in confusion and horror. Sam and Mary both realized Dean was missing, but spotted him on the road after a brief moment of terror. The terror returned again when they saw he wasn’t alone.