15 || CAIN

"Marriage counselling? That's how we deal with this couple... we counsel them?" Dean's fed up voice rang through the phone, Vanessa having him on speaker as she organised her notes in the bunker's library.

"Aye." She replied, unbothered by his exasperated sigh that followed her. "Go get em' Buffy."

"Buffy? They aren't vampires, Ness, they're witches."

"Uh-huh, okay, gotta go now, stuff to do." Vanessa said dryly, too busy adding to her whiteboard on Leviathans to explain the joke to him.  

"Wait, hold up-"

"Oh no, tunnel... Can't... Losing... Signal..."

"You aren't even driving." Dean said bluntly, and unamused at her attempts at faking reception loss.

"Bye!" Vanessa called out cheerily before ending the call. She didn't have time to guide the boys through a simple witch case, especially not when she'd already given them her notes on that particular case and warned them to look out for Chet, the Leviathan who finds them afterwards and ends up chained up in their basement. She'd even provided them with a sketch of Chet... A bad one, but still, she was helping.

Given that the boys had given up all their old aliases, meaning the Leviathans couldn't track them, she was hoping they wouldn't be bringing Chet home this time around. And she was also hoping that Sam and Dean's own Leviathan doppelgängers didn't go on a murder spree any time soon, but if they did... she was prepared for that.

Well, Crowley was prepared for that. She'd had him station demons in all the towns she knew their doppelgängers had hit, that way if they showed up, the demons might be able to stop them quick enough so that Sam and Dean don't end up on the top of the FBI's most wanted list. Because that would be bad.

She'd also had Crowley keeping an eye on Dick Roman, that way they'd know when the Leviathans took over as him. And not to mention Garth who was stationed undercover at Sioux Falls General hospital, looking for anything Leviathan related over there. Bobby and Rufus were also keeping an eye on Biggerson's, hoping to stop them from doing whatever it is that they do with the meat.

God, she should have done this for a living instead of cooking, she was turning out to be very good at this whole base operations gig.

"Another whiteboard for you, dear." Balthazar's voice followed the flutter of his wings as he appeared in the library, with a third whiteboard for Vanessa.

This one was going to be specifically for anything relating to Asmodeus or just Princes of Hell in general.

"Ah, thank you." Vanessa smiled, her voice barely audible over the squeak of her marker as she moved to write on her second board, the one dedicated to stuff that wasn't Leviathan or Prince related.

Although the guys didn't know why she bothered writing anything on it when the board mainly consisted of the word 'redacted' written in block capitals.

"Redacted kidnaps redacted after Dick Roman dies." Balthazar read aloud, standing behind Vanessa as she wrote. "Very informative."

"Look, the guys keep complaining that I'm not telling them anything and that I'm writing all my notes in Gaelic, which thank you again for not letting me burn during my mope-"

"You're welcome."

"-so I've had to improvise and allow them to know certain things but just not in the full capacity. It's a win win situation."

"For you maybe." Balthazar scoffed just a little, but he honestly didn't really care whether she told the boys everything. He knew all of it, of course, as he was supposed to be dead so it wouldn't be of much harm for him to know the future, which he must say... He was kind of glad to find out he had died because what happened afterwards, didn't sound at all fun.

Vanessa ignored that statement, instead she moved on to her Prince of Hell board, splitting it into three different sections, one for each remaining Prince.

"Azazel is dead so that leaves Ramiel... Dagon... and Asmodeus." Vanessa said each of their names as she wrote them, underlining them in yellow as she found it fitting.

"Why did you draw a... bucket of chicken next to Asmodeus' name?" Balthazar asked, furrowing his brow a little at the obvious KFC bargain bucket she'd drawn.

"Oh..." Vanessa chuckled a little. "There was this whole thing about his vessel looking like a young Colonel Sanders... That and he wears a full white suit and has a southern accent."

"I see. Fitting." Balthazar nodded, keeping it in his mind to lookout for anyone who may fit that description in his travels.

"Crowley's lead was a dead-end so we're back to square one for now... I've been trying to decipher the demon tablet but I keep getting bad headaches." Vanessa gestured to the tablet she'd finally managed to pry the location of from Lucifer.

He made her spend the entire day walking around a dream version of Dublin zoo, telling her facts about the first ever animals created. And while it was interesting, and she actually had a nice time, all she was really interested in was the demon tablet. Which for some reason had ended up buried underneath the It's a Small World ride in DisneyWorld.

Crowley did not appreciate having to go there to get it for her. He still had the song stuck in his head.

"At least Lucifer's grace allows me to read Enochian so I don't have to do multiple translations one after another." Vanessa mumbled, shrugging her shoulder a little as she gestured to the one page she'd managed to fill from the tablet. It wasn't even anything useful either, she'd ended up translating everything about Hellhounds of all things... Which if she wanted to know about, she'd ask Crowley himself.

"Sounds fascinating." Balthazar replied, in a tone that suggested he thought the opposite.

"It's not." Vanessa muttered, the squeak of her pen once again filling the air.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of Vanessa filling her new whiteboard with everything she knew about Princes, and other information she didn't know that came from Balthazar, and Crowley when he popped in. There wasn't anything that told her how to track one, which meant she was still no closer to finding Asmodeus and being able to rescue Gabriel.

"Vanessa, I'm back with the bone of Sister Mary Constant." Castiel's voice followed his wings as he appeared in the library, said bone in hand.

"Oh, good, thank you Cas." Vanessa clicked her pen closed, setting it on the pen holder as she approached the angel. "We've got the weapon, and he blood, now all we need is to find Dick Roman and stab him in the neck."

"Easier said than done, I'm afraid darling." Crowley replied, sipping a cup of tea with his feet up on the table. "I still haven't got the foggiest whether little old Dick has been taken over or not."

"Maybe that's because you're sitting here drinking tea instead of out doing your job." Balthazar muttered, also enjoying a cup of tea along with a scone Vanessa had made.

"Says you." Crowley mumbled into his cup, shooting Balthazar a glare. "Aren't you also sitting here drinking tea?"

"Unlike you, I don't have a job." Balthazar said smugly, followed by a rather loud slurp of tea.

"Enough, I'm too tired to listen to your domestic squabble." Vanessa scolded, setting the bone aside and rubbing her eyes.

"You need to get some rest." Castiel said seriously, the dark circles under Vanessa's eyes told him she'd once again been sneaking into the library at night to work on whatever the hell she was doing in here. Honestly he'd lost track at this point.

"I'm fine." Vanessa yawned, blinking a few times as she tried to stare at the demon tablet, the thing seemingly shaking as she looked at it. Her eyes waving in and out of focus as the words tried to reveal themselves to her.

"Your nose is bleeding." Crowley said worried, both him and Balthazar sitting up straight as Vanessa wiped at her nose with the back of her hand.

"S'fine." She mumbled, her attention not moving from the tablet.

"It's not bloody fine." Crowley said sternly, getting to his feet and literally snatching the demon tablet from her. "You need to slow down before you hurt yourself."

"I'm grand, now give me that." Vanessa went to grab the tablet only for Crowley to pull it away from her. "Crowley, I'm serious, give me the tablet."

"And I'm serious. Get some rest and then, only then, can you have this back." Crowley shook the tablet in his hand before he tossed to to Balthazar who tucked it into his inner pocket, agreeing with Crowley.

Caring dad mode activated.

"You both annoy me." Vanessa said clearly annoyed, glaring at them both before she turned on her heels and stomped away in a huff.

"Better we annoy her than let her work herself to death." Crowley sighed, running his hand down his face. Having an unofficial child from the future really was hard work.

"Do the boys know about this?" Balthazar asked towards Castiel, who was staring at the spot Vanessa had last stood in.

"I don't think so." He shook his head, attention falling onto Balthazar. "She's pretty good at hiding it from them."

"Well, perhaps they should know." Crowley sighed, finding himself in need of something stronger than tea right about now. "Whatever you do, don't give her that tablet back until she's gotten some sleep and eaten something that isn't chocolate." He gestured to the pile of empty Wagon Wheel wrappers laying next to one of her whiteboards.

"Of course dear." Balthazar replied, always enjoying the unamused look on Crowley's face when he called him dear. But Vanessa always did say they were like an old married couple, so why not act the part?

"Good, I must get going... see whether Dick Roman has gotten Leviathan-ed yet." And with that, Crowley was gone.

"When are Mario and Luigi anyway?" Balthazar asked with a sigh, leaning back in his chair again.

"On a case." Castiel replied, taking a seat and looking a lot less comfortable than Balthazar was. "Witches, I think."

"Ah, the married couple... Yes, I remember Ness telling me all about that one."

"She told you?" Castiel's head did the tilt, as Vanessa called it, his brow furrowing as he looked over at Balthazar.

"Yes, she told me everything. I know all about the future I never lived to see." Balthazar muttered, taking a long sip of tea.

"Why would she tell you everything and not us?"

"Because she likes me. And because I wasn't around in said future so there's no harm in me knowing. But I have got say, some rather crazy stuff went down. You should be glad that she's here to stop it."

-

"Hey Nessie..." Lucifer said cautiously as he peeked around the door of Vanessa's dream bunker bedroom. "Can I come in?"

"Whatever." Vanessa mumbled, lying on her back on the bed, annoyed that it had gotten to the point where Castiel had to literally put her to sleep in order for her to actually get some rest.

"What's the matter?" Lucifer sat on the edge of her bed, the mattress sinking a little beneath her.

"Castiel put me to sleep." Vanessa mumbled, sitting up on her elbows as she frowned. "And Crowley took the tablet off me. Said I can't have it back until I get some rest... Can you believe that? I'm here trying to save all their asses and they put me to sleep."

"Well you have only been sleeping a few hours a night." Lucifer pointed out, cringing a little when she frowned.

"Okay whose side are you on?" Vanessa said a little offended. "You're in my head, you're supposed to be on my side."

"There aren't any sides, Nessie. They're just trying to look out for you before you work yourself to death." Lucifer replied sternly, his arms folded and a serious look on his face.

Lucifer had named himself Vanessa's third unofficial dad... which really made her feel like Sophie from Mamma Mia, and it didn't help either when Lucifer started singing Abba songs when they would hang out together. His favourite was Waterloo.

"Why are you so focused on finding Asmodeus?" Lucifer asked as he watched Vanessa shuffle up the bed and lean against the headboard.

"Um hello, he has your brother, remember? Gabriel? The handsome looking Trickster?"

"You think he's handsome?" Lucifer nose scrunched up at her words, surely they weren't talking about the same Gabriel.

"Not the point, Luci. The point is that Gabriel is being tortured, and I can save him a hell of a lot sooner that he was in the show."

"I understand that, I do. And I appreciate your eagerness to rescue my little bro, but that can't be the only reason you're giving yourself migraines all the time trying to read that damn tablet." Lucifer poked Vanessa's arm playfully, watching her hide a smile from him before she sighed.

"I hoped that if we found Gabriel in time then he would be able to deal with Abaddon when she shows up." Vanessa ran her hands down her face.

Abaddon was the only part of this story she didn't know how to stop without following the canon of the show. Sure she could stop the boys sewing her back together after they shot her with a devils trap bullet and cut off her head. But that was just a temporary solution, she needed Abaddon dead permanently and preferably without Dean having to receive the mark.

"How does she die in the show?" Lucifer asked curiously, for some reason Vanessa's memories of it seemed to be fuzzy, thanks to his father he reckoned.

"Dean kills her. After he receives the mark of Cain and finds the first blade."

"Cain..." Lucifer whispered, looking down at the floor before back up at Vanessa. "I take it you know the truth about him and Abel?"

"I do." Vanessa nodded, eyeing Lucifer who seemed to not like the fact that she knew how he made Cain kill his own brother. "I don't blame you for the things you did, Luci. You were corrupt, the mark corrupted you and your father did nothing to help you. Instead he locked you away rather than just do what a father should do and talk to you. Or even listen to you."

"That's the first time anyone has ever said that to me." Lucifer said quietly, a small smile rising on his face which Vanessa mirrored.

"Well, maybe if someone had said that to you then things would have went very differently. But I'm kinda glad they went this way, otherwise I wouldn't have anyone fun to hang out with in my dreams."

"Now you're just trying to flatter me." Lucifer said with a small scoff as he nudged Vanessa's shoulder gently before she gasped a little. "What? What is it?"

"That's it... Cain." Vanessa whispered, her eyes widening a little. "Maybe he knows where to find Asmodeus or at least how to track him down."

"Whoa, wait a minute... You can't just go knocking on Cain's door, he'll kill you." Lucifer said worried, not very well liking the idea that Vanessa wanted to visit a Knight of Hell.

"He won't. He's not like that anymore." Vanessa told him as she shuffled off her bed and turned to him. "I need you to wake me up."

"Nessie..."

"Please, Lucifer. Wake me up." Vanessa pleaded, although this was the easier part. The hard part would be pleading Crowley to take her to visit Cain. And then having to deal with Sam and Dean once they found out, that wouldn't be fun.

"Fine, but just... Be careful." Lucifer warned, pointing towards her before his fingers touched her forehead, and then next thing Vanessa knew, she was awake.

Just as she'd expected, getting Crowley to agree to take her to visit Cain wasn't the easiest thing Vanessa had ever done. But once she promised him that when they got back she'd eat proper food and get a full nights sleep, he obliged. And thankfully it wasn't too hard to find Cain once Vanessa had mentioned him living somewhere in Missouri.

"Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?" Crowley said a little nervously as they stood at the end of Cain's drive.

"No." Vanessa replied immediately. "Just stay quiet and for God's sake be nice if he speaks to you."

"Rude, I'm always nice." Crowley mumbled as he jogged a little to catch up with Vanessa who was quickly making her way to Cain's front door.

Vanessa wouldn't lie and say she wasn't nervous, because she was. Not only about Cain just straight up killing them but also incase she said the wrong thing and made him want to go down the path of killing his descendants... then there wasn't really anything they could do to stop him. Which is why she needed to be even more polite than she'd been with any of the others, that way maybe Cain would just stick to his bee-keeping life once they left instead of the life of bloodshed and violence.

"Who are you and how did you find me?" Cain asked the minute he opened his front door, which Vanessa hadn't even knocked on yet.

"Cain, my name is Vanessa Monroe and I, uh, I was wondering if I could speak with you? May we come in?" Vanessa said sweetly, watching as Cain's brow furrowed a little bit as he tried to get a read on her.

"You're no demon. Nor an angel... Why is a human hanging around with the King of Hell?" Cain asked suspiciously as his gaze landed on Crowley, making him shrink under the intense glare. "Better yet, how do you know who I am?"

"I, uh, I'm from the future... Which also happens to be an alternate universe... One where all this is a TV show and the supernatural doesn't exist." Vanessa rambled out, chuckling a little nervously as Cain just looked at her before he nodded.

"So you're the future girl?"

"You know about her?" Crowley asked and immediately regretted when Cain shot him a look that said 'shut your mouth or I'll do it for you'.

"I'm retired, I'm not dead." Cain muttered before he looked back at Vanessa, and his look seemed to soften as it did. "Come in." He stepped aside, surprisingly allowing both Vanessa and Crowley into his house, where they took a seat on the couch while he made a pot of tea.

"Oh, thank you." Vanessa said politely as he handed her a cup, one that was similar to the China set that Balthazar had given her. A Knight of Hell making her tea... she could cross that off her supernatural bingo card.

"So, what can I do for you?" Cain asked as he settled into his own seat facing him. He couldn't help but wonder what a girl from the future could possibly need him for.

"Well, first of all, I just wanted to say that I'm not here to drag you back into anything... I know you don't wish to return to that, uh, life..." Vanessa chuckled a little nervously. "I just have a question that I was hoping you might be able to answer."

"I appreciate that... and your honesty, you don't see that often in humans. Especially those who know about this world." Cain said, sipping his tea before setting his cup down with a clatter on his saucer. "Ask away, dear."

"I was wondering, hoping mainly, if you might know where Asmodeus is? Or if you might know a way that we can track him?"

"And what might you need from little old Asmodeus?" Cain asked curiously, and not the least bit surprised that she knew of the Princes and the fact that they're not dead.

"He, uh," Vanessa glanced to Crowley, wondering if mentioning Gabriel would be the right move. But Cain should know the truth, and he would probably be able to tell that she was lying anyway. "He had Gabriel, the archangel."

"Does he now? My, my, he's gotten brave." Cain replied, taking another sip of tea. "And you wish to rescue him?"

"I do." Vanessa nodded. "But unfortunately in the future Gabriel is held for seven years and no one knows where, which is why I was hoping you might know of a way we can find Asmodeus."

"Well, lucky for you I know the exact spell you need." Cain's words made Vanessa fill with relief and happiness, finally she'd be able to do something to help move things along. "And I'm willing to give it to you."

"Just like that?" Vanessa asked hesitantly, people never usually just gave things out without looking for something in return so this was a surprise.

"Just like that." Cain nodded, leaning forward to set his cup and saucer down. "I like you, Vanessa. You're polite, you speak honestly. That's not something you see a lot of these days. And honestly, I always hated Asmodeus, so if you plan on using this spell to kill him, then that's just an added bonus."

"Oh, um, well thank you. Very much." Vanessa breathed out, smiling and unsure what to think about the father of murder liking her after having only just met her. She really did seem to have a certain charm about her that made demons and other supposed evil beings take to her. It was strange. But she liked it.

"You're welcome." Cain nodded, a simple piece of parchment appearing in his hand. "It's a relatively easy spell, nothing your companion here won't be able to help you with." He handed her the parchment and she smiled.

"Thank you, Cain. For the spell and for the tea... Nice to be around someone that knows how to make a decent cup of tea." Vanessa huffed out a laugh, making Cain smile a little which honestly unsettled her just a small bit.

"How do you plan to kill Asmodues once you find him?" Cain asked curiously, watching as his question made Vanessa chew on her lip a little.

"I hadn't thought that far yet... We don't really have any weapons that would work on him but I'm sure we'll figure something out." She replied optimistically as she got to her feet, not wanting to intrude on Cain any longer.

She was still surprised at how easy that went, a lot easier than she would have expected. And she was a lot more surprised when Cain told her she was welcome anytime for tea, as long as she came alone and told no one where he lived or that he was still alive. Which he also threatened Crowley to keep quiet about too. That was fun to watch, not for Crowley himself, but for Vanessa.

Now she couldn't wait to get back to the bunker. The good news had made her feel hungry for something that wasn't Wagon Wheels and she was hit with a wave of tiredness over the relief of not having to look through the demon tablet.

So after she'd gotten some proper food in her and had a nap, it would be time to come up with a plan on just how she was going to deal with Asmodeus. But first... first they needed the deal with Dick Roman and put an end to the Leviathans before it was too late.

-i have been writing this chapter for ages now and i honestly don't know what to think of it but i hope you guys like it!

i wanted a way to introduce cain into the story so i figured having him help with asmodeus would be good so i hope y'all don't mind that and don't worry, i won't be rushing into them saving Gabriel as they still need a weapon against Asmodeus and they still have leviathans to fight but i wanted to speed it up a little so vanessa would be more focused on the dick roman of it all for the time being

and also i didn't want to clog up the book with too many cases from the show so that's why sam and dean are working the witch one in the background... i may have Vanessa join them on a couple but not many as I often hate following the show too much in fics, it's what makes me lose interest in writing them and why i prefer writing ones that don't follow canon at all

but yeah, hope you like this chapter and i have no idea when the next one will be out... bye! :)