based off 12.07

rock never dies

~*~

"I mean, it has been a few weeks. Maybe we should go back to the bunker," Juno said turning to Castiel.

"Lucifer could still be out there, jumping person to person. Or, he is still using Vince Vincente as a vessel," Cas suggested.

"Yeah, but Vince hasn't surfaced since Rowena sent his body to the bottom of the ocean. It's not like anyone's ever going to find him," Juno said as she put another shirt in her travel bag. "Plus, Crowley has pestered me to the point where I'd rather gut myself than him."

"Yes, I know he is irritable. It will only be, hopefully, a little while longer," Castiel said walking towards Juno.

"Do you know how many times he asked me only yesterday if we've had sex yet?" Juno asked raising an eyebrow.

"What did you say?" Cas asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"I said none... Because the answer is none," Juno said confused. "Was I supposed to say something else?"

"No," Cas said immediately. "If you had said anything else he would have begun to bother me about it."

"Oh, so he can annoy me but not you?" Juno asked folding her arms over her chest as she faced Castiel.

"Yes," he answered honestly. "But only because I like it when you're frustrated. It's... cute."

"We're way past flirting, Asstiel," Juno said as Cas began to slip his arms around her waist. He leaned forward, beginning to pepper kisses up and down her neck. "Hey, hey, that's cheating. You're trying to please me to make me not mad at you."

"Is it working?" Cas asked looking back at Juno.

"A bit," she said averting eye contact. A sudden knock at the door made both of them groan audibly, a laugh from Crowley echoing outside.

"Come on, lovebirds. Time to leave the cage," Crowley cooed from the door. Juno let out a small whine as she let her head fall back in frustration.

"Someone kill me," Juno groaned holding out the 'e'.

"I would rather that not happen," Castiel said as he pulled her arms down to pull her out of the room.

"Please, I don't want to. He's going to make me play pool and I'm going to lose. I can't lose again. I'm horrible at pool," Juno begged as she was trying to walk backward towards the bathroom to lock herself in.

"I don't like it any more than you do," Cas told her as he grabbed her arms to pull her back to the front door. Juno let out a huff in defeat, accepting her fate as Cas opened the door. Crowley smiled at the two.

"Done fighting?" he asked.

"Shut up," Juno snapped at him. She walked out of the room, Crowley pulling her back.

"Ah ah, no driving today," he said wagging a finger at her.

"It's Tuesday?" Juno asked, her voice breaking.

"Sadly," Cas said with a sigh. Crowley grabbed both of them, teleporting to the bar. Juno looked up with a sigh, the three stepping inside. She immediately sat at the bar with Cas as Crowley was elsewhere already. The bartender set two glasses in front of them, Juno taking her eyes to the TV. Her eyes widened at who she saw.

"Cas," she said hitting his arm. He looked over, then saw her gaze was on the TV. He looked at it as well, noticing who was on there as well. "Call Sam and Dean." Cas nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket. He called Dean, pulling the phone to his ear.

"Hello, Dean," he stated. Juno stayed staring the TV as she was concentrating on Vince Vincente. Cas looked over at Crowley who was now sitting at the bar eating taquitos with ranch. "Unfortunately... Actually, yes. Look at the news."

"We're here in front of Death Siren Records with Vince Vincente," a reporter said on the TV.

"Yes, it's, uh, it's great having the band back together again. In the studio, feeling pumped. Haven't felt this fired up in ages," Vince said bouncing up and down slightly.

"A lot of people saying that your style of rock could never make a comeback in today's landscape. What do you say to them?" the reporter asked as she pointed the mic towards Vince.

"Go to hell," he said looking directly at the camera.

"We don't know," Cas said after a beat. "Yeah, but we don't know. We don't –" Crowley took the phone from Cas's hand, slamming it on the counter and pressing speaker.

"Hello, boys. Long time. We team up to save the world, and then bupkis. You don't call, you don't write," Crowley complained to them.

"Yeah, we don't care," Dean snapped at him.

"Crowley – Lucifer," Sam stated.

"Lucifer. Think about it. Of all the extinct rock acts, Ladyheart are the most Paleolithic. A major label sponsored comeback in 2016 for those dinosaurs? It doesn't feel like a wholly natural turn of events, does it?" Crowley explained to them.

"Maybe Lucifer found a way to heal his vessel," Juno suggested.

"Yeah, but still...I mean, what the hell?" Dean questioned.

"He's in L.A. I'll see you there," Crowley said. He hung up the phone, pulling sunglasses out and putting them on.

"Where are you going?" Cas asked.

"I know a guy," Crowley stated. He disappeared, Juno holding her arms out in shock.

"It's Tuesday, man," she said tilting her head.

"Let's go," Cas said getting up from the bar. Juno followed suit, walking out of the bar. She paused when she realized Crowley had zapped them here.

"We have no way to get back to the motel," Juno said with a sigh. "Alright, we'll get back there somehow, find a hotel to stay at in L.A. and then hit the road."

"Good," Castiel said nodding. Thus commenced the long, long road trip.

*****

Juno parked the truck in the lot, getting out as Cas did as well. They turned to the hotel, walking in to see Sam and Dean sitting on a few of the chairs.

"Sam, Dean," Cas said, the two standing as they looked at him.

"Hey. You consider switching up your duds there? Bit stiff for this town," Dean said referring to Cas's clothes.

"He could be an agent or something," Sam said with a shrug.

"Yeah, maybe a third-tier agent," Dean remarked.

"At least I don't look like a lumberjack," Cas said tilting his head at Dean.

"Okay, enough. Guys, where's Crowley?" Sam asked.

"He said he'd meet us here. Frankly, I appreciate the break. It's been weeks, and he's been right there, just talking and talking and talking," Juno said staring at the ground as she remembered the horrid moments. "It's relentless." Juno paused when she realized Crowley was approaching.

"Don't listen to her," he said with a sigh. "The lovebirds and I are all but inseparable."

"Lovebirds?" Sam and Dean questioned at the same time. Juno and Castiel both looked away, pretending they didn't hear what Crowley had said.

"Uh, you find anything?" Sam asked as he glanced between Crowley and the other two.

"Yes. Vince Vincente is riding with the Devil," Crowley informed them.

"Okay, so what now?" Dean asked. Crowley held up a key card to the hotel.

"I suggest we go check out his room. Vince is scheduled to be in the studio all day, so we're covered," Crowley said lowering his hand.

"How'd you get the card?" Juno asked turning to him.

"This is L.A. I know a lot of people," Crowley said with a smirk. He pointed at the receptionist, the four following him to the elevator. They got off on Vince's floor, Crowley showing them into the room.

"Well, looks like there was some kind of a fight," Castiel said glancing around.

"Oh, Cas," Juno said patting his arm with a sigh.

"Mm. Yeah. Some kind," Dean said holding up a pair of panties.

"Look at this. Rock star biographies. Like, all of them, from Aerosmith to ZZ Top. It's like he's studying how to become famous," Sam said picking up a few books. Dean opened up a pizza box, frowning as he realized there wasn't anything left.

"Well, so what, Lucifer's a dork?" Dean questioned as he picked up a guitar.

"That's good to know," Juno said as she threw away one of the bras on the couch.

"Look at this – 'The seeds of a ripe dragon fruit drizzled with exactly 1 ounce of Acacia honey, prepared in a ceramic bowl – no plastic,'" Cas said as he showed Crowley the binder. "What is this spell?" Juno hit Dean's arm as he was strumming the out of tune guitar, Dean glaring back at her momentarily.

"It's breakfast. It's Vince's rider. I've seen worse," Crowley said as Cas closed the binder.

"I don't get it. Lucifer could be taking over Heaven and Hell right now, and instead, he's trying to act out some rock god fantasy?" Sam asked as Cas sauntered into the bathroom.

"Yeah. Who wouldn't?" Dean asked still strumming the cords out of tune.

"I found something," Cas said walking back out of the bathroom.

"What is that?" Juno asked grimacing at the blood small object in Cas's hand.

"It appears to be a human tooth pulled out by the root," he announced. They all looked around uneasily, knowing they had to go test its DNA.

*****

The group of five now stood in front of the doctor who seemed very concerned that five FBI agents were working the same case. Nevertheless, he told them what he knew.

"Mrs. Greenfield has lost a lot of blood and there'll be no fixing those scars, but she's stable" the doctor told them.

"And she cut herself?" Castiel questioned.

"She carved his name into her chest. 'Vince Vincente.' Didn't skip a letter. And she cut deep," the doctor explained.

"Thanks, Doctor," Dean nodded. The doctor walked off, everyone turning to each other. "Well, again, what the hell?"

"I'll go talk to her," Crowley stated.

"No. No, no, no, you won't," Sam said as everyone put their arms out in front of Crowley.

"Juno, Cas, stay here. Keep an eye on him," Dean told the two. Sam and Dean began walking away, Juno watching sadly as her last hope to get away from Crowley walked off.

"Well... together again," Crowley said with a smile.

"Yay," Castiel sarcastically answered.

"Should I leave so you two can-"

"Shut up, Crowley," Juno snapped at him.

"Women," Crowley said looking up at Castiel. Cas furrowed his eyebrows at Crowley in disappointment as he turned and walked away. Crowley met Juno's gaze as she had her arms crossed and an eyebrow rose. Crowley whistled, beginning to follow after Castiel. Juno nodded slightly in victory, trailing behind the two. Sam and Dean eventually approached the three with more information.

"So the show is tonight?" Castiel asked looking between them.

"That's what she said," Sam shrugged.

"Can Lucifer even sing or play an instrument?" Juno asked.

"I doubt they offer intro to guitar in the cage," Dean joked, no one laughing.

"Like it matters. What Lucifer made that woman do has got nothing to do with music. It's about devotion," Crowley said like they should've known.

"Come again?" Dean asked.

"You little people wouldn't understand, but I've been a king. Having people look at you like you're everything, knowing that once they buy in, you can make them do anything, it's intoxicating," Crowley said as if he was remembering specific moments.

"Well, that's super creepy," Dean said pulling Crowley out of his trance.

"Okay, so this concert, all these people, what is – what is Lucifer planning to do?" Castiel questioned.

"Nothing good," Sam answered him.

"Is Rowena –"

"Dear Mother says that once we catch Lucifer, she'll show, no sooner," Crowley said cutting Castiel off.

"Well, without Rowena, we're outgunned," Dean said.

"With her, we're outgunned," Crowley corrected.

"It doesn't matter, guys. This is our shot," Juno said to stop their bickering. "We just gotta find out where he's playing tonight."

"All right, let's get to work," Dean stated.

*****

Castiel and Juno stood outside the building for Death Siren studio as they were waiting for the rest of Ladyheart to show up. Vince hadn't come out of the building, yet. Now they were just waiting.

"So, when Lucifer was possessing you, what did it feel like?" Juno asked looking at Cas.

"Uh, well, most of the time I was just sitting in front of a TV with bad connection which was really annoying because none of the good shows would play," Cas said with a sigh.

"Okay, not that part. When you actually had to regain control to talk to us, what was going on?" Juno asked furrowing her eyebrows.

"It was almost like we were choking each other, but I had slightly more air. Like we were both drowning, but I was just coming up for water. And when I left, I got pushed under the surface again," Cas explained as he stared at the ground. Juno frowned, knowing he seemed distressed by his own words.

"Hey," Juno said turning to him. She brought a hand up to his face, Cas calming at her soft touch. "It's over. We're gonna get him, Cas." He nodded slightly, then leaned down and pressed his lips against hers softly. They pulled back at the approaching footsteps, the two turning to see the rest of Ladyheart walking their way. Tommy looked up at the two, evident worry in his eyes.

"Tommy," Castiel stated.

"Guys, I'll meet you inside," Tommy told the two others, then turned to Castiel and Juno. "Agents. What are you doing here, man?"

"Investigating Vince, same as before. You hear what happened to Roseleen?" Castiel asked him.

"Yeah, that was, uh, it was awful. But, I mean, come on, man," Tommy scoffed, "she cut herself, right? It wasn't like..."

"You know that's not the whole truth," Juno said cutting him off. "You know Vince isn't Vince." Tommy rolled his eyes, shaking his head at her words.

"Where's the show, Tommy?" Castiel asked.

"Man, I don't know what the hell's going on with Vince, all right? All the royalties on our hits dried up years ago. I got two daughters in college. I know what I told you and I know what I saw, but..." Tommy trailed off, averting their gaze.

"And you don't care who pays the price?" Castiel questioned, trying to maintain eye contact.

"Sorry," Tommy said. He turned, walking into the studio. Castiel and Juno both sighed, then looked at each other.

"Well, Sam and Dean took the manager, Crowley's going through his link. I don't know where else to look," Juno said with a sigh. An idea popped into Juno's head, the girl brightening at it. "Unless..."

"That's your stupid ideas look. What are you planning?" Cas asked studying her face.

"You're right. It's stupid," Juno said with a slow nod. "I'm gonna do it anyways." She leaned up, pressing her lips against Cas's. He returned it almost immediately, but Juno pulled back. "I'll see you tonight. Hopefully this works for me."

"I still don't know what you're planning," Cas said as Juno was beginning to back away from the studio.

"It's probably better if you don't know," she told him. She turned, beginning to run down the street. She held her arm out for one of the Uber's, then climbed in. "Hold on, I'll give you an address in a second." She pulled up where Sam and Dean were supposed to meet the manager, then gave the address to the driver. In less than five minutes, they were there. Juno climbed out, noticing the manager walking out of the restaurant. Juno checked for cars, then quickly ran across the street. She was happy to see the manager staring at her phone. She took that as her cue. Juno ran up to the manager frantically, hoping this would work. "Oh. My. God. You're Vince Vincente's new P.R. Manager. Oh, my god. I so wish I could go to the show tonight. You know, one of my friends said she got into the show and I was so jealous of her because, you know, I've been a fan way longer than she has. And-"

"Okay, okay, slow down," the manager said holding her hands up. "Look, Vince has reached maximum occupants for the show. But, your friend could bring a plus one. Wouldn't do too much damage."

"Awesome! Where is it?" Juno asked pulling out her phone.

"Your friend should know," the manager said with a smug smile. She walked past Juno, the red head letting out a small sigh.

"Great," she said, then turned. She rose her hand in hopes that an Uber would stop. When nothing stopped, she realized she would have to walk back to the hotel.

*****

Juno walked into the hotel as Sam, Dean, Crowley, and Cas were all sat around in a circle. They all seemed to have nothing as well, and each of them looked hopeful when Juno walked up.

"You got anything?" Dean asked.

"No," Juno sighed. She plopped on the couch next to Cas, letting her head fall onto his shoulder.

"So, what happens now?" Cas asked looking around. Sam and Dean pulled out their phones to do more research, Cas picking up a magazine from the table, and Crowley pulling a magazine out of his coat. A few minutes had passed, Juno still leaning her head against Cas's shoulder. His phone buzzed, Juno cringing at the feeling it sent up into her head. She leaned up, Cas looking at the text. "Guys." Everyone's heads snapped to him as they realized what the text was.

*****

The five stood a few meters away from Club Meteor as people were filing into Vince's show. Cas had tried calling Tommy a few times, still getting no answer on each try.

"Tommy's still not answering," he said.

"Well, he got us here. That's what matters," Dean said slamming the trunk of the Impala.

"Enochian handcuffs. That's your move?" Crowley asked nodding at Dean.

"They held me," Cas stated.

"You're not him," Crowley retaliated.

"We have no sure bets here, okay? Anything that we use is gonna be like popping BBs," Dean sighed out.

"Oh, great pep talk. Go, team," Crowley said.

"Guys, we're here to do more than just take a shot at Lucifer," Sam informed them.

"We are?" Crowley asked sarcastically.

"Yes, we need to save the people inside, too," Sam said like it should've been obvious.

"I'll take Lucifer. He's my responsibility," Castiel offered.

"No, he's not," Sam snapped at Cas. "He's all of our responsibility."

"Well, the only way you'll clear that crowd without drawing fire is if he's otherwise engaged," Castiel informed them.

"Engaged in what, Cas? Killing you?" Juno asked turning to Castiel.

"Cas, you'll last...three minutes tops," Sam stuttered out.

"Then I'll buy you three minutes," Cas told them. Juno hit his arm, Cas looking down at her sorrowfully.

"Make it four," Crowley followed up. They all looked at him in shock, Crowley recognizing their bewildered looks. "What? I help."