CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Nyx looks around and sees that they're in a motel room. "No." She looks back at Cas as she shakes her head. "No, take me back now. You stupid, feathered son of a bitch, take me back right now!" She snaps as she hits his chest.

"I'll be back." He steps away from her and then disappears.

"N—" She puts her hand over her mouth as she turns around. She freezes when she sees two familiar faces looking at her.

"Nyx?" Dean takes a step toward her, but she steps back and bumps into someone.

"Nyx?" Elena's​ voice gets her attention, and she turns to look at her sister.

"Oh my God, Elena." She quickly pulls her sister away from the two angels. "Is she okay? Please tell me that she's okay. Damon wouldn't answer us, he just ran for a doctor, and then we ran for the room. But Cas showed up and—"

"She's okay." She tells her, and Nyx sighs in relief as she wipes tears from her face. She feels the scratch under her fingers and that, mixed with the cast she's still wearing, adds to the anger that she's already feeling.

"She's alive?"

"Yes." Elena nods. "The doctor used the defibrillators, and I did chest compressions, and she... She woke up."

"Oh, God..." Nyx exhales as she buries her face in her hands.

"Um... Who's the guy who kidnapped us, and how are we with Sam and Dean?" Elena asks, and Nyx looks at the angels.

"Trenchcoat over there is Castiel — our own personal stalker. And the asshole next to him is Uriel." She tells her.

"Uriel?" She backs away from him. "The one who—"

"Yep." Nyx nods as she keeps Elena behind her. "So, if you'll excuse us, we'll just be hitching a ride back to Mystic Falls now."

"Don't you want to know what happened to you two after you saved Elena?" Uriel asks, and the girls both stop walking. "That white-hot pain in your heads."

"Great, now we have two stalkers." She tries to sound angry, but they can all hear the fear in her voice.

"Gilberts and Winchesters." He looks between the two sets of siblings. "You are needed."

"Needed?" Dean questions. "We just got back from needed!"

"Now, you two mind your tones with me." He looks between Dean and Nyx.

"No, you mind your damn tone with us." He says as he steps forward, and Sam quickly gets in front of his brother.

"We just got back from Pamela's funeral." The younger Winchester tells the angels.

"Pamela — you know, psychic Pamela? You remember her." Dean says. "Cas, you remember her. You burned her eyes out."

"She's dead?" Nyx asks, and they look at her.

"She died saving one of their precious seals." He tells her before looking back at the angels. "So, maybe you can stop pushing us around like chess pieces for five fuckin' minutes!"

"We raised you out of hell for our purposes." Uriel tells him.

"Yeah, and what were those again? What exactly do you want from me?" He questions.

"Start with gratitude. From both of you."

"Oh, my apologies." Nyx says, and they look at her. "Thank you for threatening to kill my little brother. And thank you for abducting me from the hospital where one of kindest people that I have ever met is fighting for just a little more time with the people she loves."

"Dean, Nycole, we know this is difficult to understand." Cas says, and they look at him.

"And we..." Uriel interjects. "...don't...care."

Nyx's phone is buzzing in her pocket, and she wants to answer it, but she's afraid of what Uriel will do if she tries.

"Now, seven angels have been murdered — all of them from our garrison." He tells them, and they all turn their attention to him. "The last one was killed tonight."

"Demons?" Dean asks, and he shrugs. "How they doin' it?"

"We don't know."

"I'm sorry, hold on." Nyx says. "We care, why?"

"Excuse me?" Uriel looks at her.

"I don't give a rat's ass about your murdered friends." She shakes her head. "You wanted to kill Anna. I'm supposed to believe that you give a damn about other angels?"

"You mind your—"

"Tone. Yeah, you said that." She nods. "So, uh... It's been a long, um... Well, three years, so... Just tell me now, who are you gonna kill if I don't help you this time?"

"Is that all you think we do?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"So far that's all I've heard." Elena says. "It is what you said last time, isn't it? That you were gonna kill Jeremy if she didn't tell you where some girl was?" She questions, and the boys look at each other.

"If you don't help us, and angels keep dying, the seals will all break. Lucifer walks free, and everyone you love dies." Uriel says.

"What the hell do you want us to do about it anyway?" Nyx questions. "I mean, I have a broken arm and the remnants of a concussion from the last time I went up against a demon. And that wasn't even one with the means to kill an angel. It's a little out my league, definitely not Elena's area of expertise. And, I gotta tell you, I don't think the boys can swing it either."

"We can handle the demons, thank you very much."

"Once we find whoever it is." Cas says, and his colleague looks at him, shutting him up again — a fact the other four all notice.

"So, you need our help...hunting a demon?" Dean asks.

"Not quite." He speaks up again as he steps forward. "We have Alistair."

"Great. He should be able to name your​ triggerman."

"But he won't talk." He says. "Alistair's will is very strong. We've arrived at an impasse."

"Yeah, well, he's like a blackbelt in torture. I mean, you guys are out of your league." He tells him.

"That's why we've come to his student." Uriel says, and the girls both look at him, clearly confused. "You happen to be the most qualified interrogator we've got."

"Dean." Cas looks at him. "You're our best hope."

"No." Dean says as he looks back up at the angels. "No way. You can't ask me to do this, Cas — not this."

"Slow down. Back up. What the hell is going on now?" Nyx questions.

"You don't know?" Cas asks as he looks at her, confused.

"No, I've been a little busy trying to keep a sociopath from murdering the residents in my town." She tells him. "I'm a little out of the loop on this end."

"It doesn't matter." Dean says, refusing to look at her. "Because I'm not doing it."

Uriel steps forward and they all look at him, the twins moving closer together. "Who said anything...about asking?" He questions, and then the angels, the twins, and Dean all disappear from the motel room, leaving Sam completely alone.

"Damn it!" He yells as he looks around.

—

Nyx pulls her phone out of her pocket, and the angels look at her. "We were kinda in the middle of something when you popped in and stole us. Give me five minutes, huh?"

"Two." Uriel says, and she glares at him as she answers her phone.

"Jo?" She turns away from them. "I got worried when I saw Kai at the hospital. Are you okay?"

"We've been trying to get ahold of you and Elena. Stefan said that some guy showed up and took you. Are you guys okay?" She asks.

"Yeah. It was just the angel — Castiel. We're fine, but we're not gonna be home for a while. Tell me that no merge of any kind happened. And please, for the love of God, tell me that Liz is still doing okay."

"Liz is doing well, considering. We're gonna keep her here to monitor her." She says, and Nyx nods.

"And I'm talking to you, so... No merge? Liv and Luke — are they okay?"

"I was going to merge with Kai, but Luke showed up and stopped it."

"That's good news. Why do you not sound happy about it?" Nyx questions.

"Luke and Kai merged instead." She tells her.

"But..." She shakes her head. "They— They aren't twins. How could they..."

"Kai spent eighteen years in the prison world, and today was Luke and Liv's birthday. They're both twenty-two." She explains. "It seems to have worked."

"Who won?" Nyx asks, tears filing her eyes, but she doesn't answer her. "No. No, he— He didn't wi— He ca..."

"Kai won. Luke's dead." Jo tells her, and she nods, containing her tears.

"Jo, I am so sorry. I know I didn't know Luke, but he seemed like a good guy. And he's your brother. I... I'm sorry." She says.

"It's not your fault." She says. "Anyway, I got the results of yours and Elena's tests. You're both perfectly healthy from a medical stand point. Your concussion's gone. Your arm will heal, and so will the K in your cheek. There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with your sister. But I did find one thing in your tests." She says. "You were nauseous and light headed, so I ran another test for you."

"Okay. And what'd it say?" Nyx asks, confused.

"You're pregnant, Nyx." Jo tells her, and her eyes widen.

She swallows the lump in her throat and takes a deep breath. "So, we're both perfectly healthy then?" She asks.

"Yes, you're both healthy."

"Told you you didn't have to coddle us. We are a strong bunch — us Gilberts." She says.

"Do you want me to keep this to myself, so you can tell Stefan on your own." Jo asks.

"Yeah." She nods. "And, uh... Tell Caroline and Liz that we're sorry. We'll be home as soon as we can. And tell them we love them."

"I will." She says and then hangs up.

"Nyx?" Elena steps forward, but jumps when her sister chucks her phone and it breaks into multiple pieces on the wall.

Nyx pushes her hair back as she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, trying her hardest not to cry. There's a part of her that wants to be happy about the pregnancy — she knows that Stefan wanted a family at some point now that he's human again. But there are so many reasons that this is absolutely terrible timing.

For starters, they haven't been together all that long. And their lives are dangerous. She's afraid to be with the two kids that she already has. Kai.

"Nyx?" Elena rests her hand on her sister's shoulder, causing her to jump. "What did Jo say?"

"Uh..." She clears her throat, wiping the tears from her cheeks before she turns to face them.

"We don't have time for this." Uriel says.

"Shut up!" Elena snaps as she looks at him.

"Well, the results for all of the tests that Jo did on us came in. We're both perfectly healthy. I mean, besides this nuisance and the thing that makes me hate mirrors." Nyx motions between her cast and the K.

"Right. And the reason your phone is shattered?" She asks, and her sister's eyes fill with tears. "Nyx, what's wrong?"

"Luke's dead." She says. "He merged with..."

"Liv? She won?"

"Kai. He merged with Kai." She tells her. "He lost, and Kai won. So, now he's the powerful leader of the Gemini coven."

"I know that that's bad, but why are you crying?" She asks. "What am I missing?"

Nyx looks at Dean. "I'm sorry." She says, and he shakes his head. "I tried. We had a plan, I swear. I thought it would work."

"It's not your fault." He says. "You were trying to save the others too. I understand."

"No, I should've listened to you. Again." She shakes her head. "I keep doing what I think is right, and it keeps ending with our kids getting screwed over. I'm so sorry."

Dean walks over to her and wipes tears from her face, cradling her face in his hands. His eyes settle on the K for a moment, but he decides against asking about it for now. He takes a deep breath as he meets her gaze again.

"This is not your fault. You had no way of knowing how this would play out." He tells her. "We'll find a way through this, we always do. We'll protect our kids. Nobody's gonna hurt them. I promise you that." He says, and she nods as she calms herself back down, taking a deep breath.