On the First Day

The Hunter strike group moved silently in the breezy night towards the police station. The Heralds and their Priests had been using it as a staging area for the entire Bronx area, and the possibility that there was important internal logistics information inside was too high to take a chance to pass up a recon mission.

Especially since they had seemed so damned gone in the past 24 hours.

The Resistance had noticed the odd pattern of behavior from the Priests and their government, police and military contacts about a day ago; the number of Callings for hybrid contact had cut off to, as far as they could tell, zero. The Portals placed in homes in occupied territory had cease to pulse altogether, and the installation of new Portals in homes that didn't have them yet had stopped.

The Priests themselves had stopped daily gatherings and preaching, again, without warning. And no one had reported spotting an actual Herald in that period of time as well, which in and of itself was highly unusual – the sadistic bastards seemed to get off flaunting their power over people on an hourly basis.

There was no chatter on monitored internet or the Resistance's intercepted internal radio bands as to why this had happened, it just had.

They needed answers. And with Castiel and Crowley off God-knows-where, the Hunter leaders had taken it upon themselves to take action.

When they reached the open area leading to the front entrance and garage, the leader stopped short and held up a hand, going through several silent gestures. The team flowed out into the shadows rapidly, ghosting into the areas not covered by CCTV cameras and flanking the points of entry.

The leader pulled out a smartphone and positioned the shield over it to cover the glare and light from the screen, glancing up and checking the doors again and finally frowning.

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

The strike-team leader turned on the phone and opened up the message app to Headquarters.

EastCoastIrish: All quiet here. It's spooky as hell. Proceed anyway?

HuntersDen: Isn't that actually normal for you?

The leader paused and grimaced.

EastCoastIrish: I sincerely hope you mean the spooky part, otherwise we're going to have a nice chat.

HuntersDen: *Hands Up* Sorry, trying to lighten the mood. Bad joke. Really bad joke...

EastCoastIrish: Got that right. What's the story?

c is spooked. They've either all gone home, or they're prepping for something. Something big.

EastCoastIrish:T hink they're gonna hit us?

HuntersDen: I hope not. But can't be too careful. Better procced on mission – see if you can find anything.

EastCoastIrish: Roger that.

HuntersDen: And Eileen?

Eileen winced. No names on open channels was a standard rule. They must have been just as nervous as she was to slip up like that.

EastCoastIrish: Yes, GARTH?

There was a long pause before he replied.

HuntersDen: Oh darn. Sorry, you're right. My bad...anyway...please be careful.

Eileen closed her eyes tightly and nodded to herself. This was Garth being protective, sure. It was kind of cute, if in a slightly patronizing way. But she could take care of herself. She shuddered slightly, remembering the near miss with the British Men of Letters. If she hadn't caught on to them hunting her and substituted herself out with a Shape-Shifter...

She shivered again, goose-bumps on her skin. Sure, it was a monster, but it had no idea that she had set it up like that. She still felt pretty guilty about it. She had practically fed it to those ruthless bastards.

She shook her head to clear it and held her hand into the air, signaling the strike team. In a blink, the two nearest the front entrance ran by the glass doors, trailing nearly invisible wire behind them. Simultaneously, two shadows ducked into the entrance to the parking garage, using the other point of egress.

Eileen watched intensely as the wires went taut, then flashed as they were ignited. There was a small popping noise and a micro-bloom of light. Eileen blinked her left eye in the darkness, clearing out the spots before it – she had kept her right eye squeezed shut, preserving her night vision – and saw that the flash-incendiary wire had quickly melted away most of the glass under the metal locking bars on the front door. She gestured again and her and her three-man fire-team ran up, crouched low. She reached under the melted glass and pressed on the pushbar.

The door clicked open.

She slid in rapidly and eyed the camera in the corner, covering the doors. This was the tricky part. If anyone was watching...

She took a deep breath, waved her team forward and ran for the area under the front desk. They had already known from previous surveillance that the desk itself wasn't manned for some reason, or they would have all tried to get in through the garage.

She crawled to the edge of the desk and poked her head around towards the desks of the police station.

Empty.

She felt a jolt of adrenaline. None of this made any sense.

Where was everyone?
She gave the 'All-Clear' sign and stood up, her rifle held out in front of her just in case it was actually a trap. She scanned the empty room and let out a slow, careful breath before stepping out from behind the desk and walking slowly forward into the office.

She took another good look around and nodded for her team to cover her. She sat down at the nearest desk and flicked the computer on. Once it was booted to the password screen, she inserted her USB stick into it, and the program to hack the system started running immediately.

There was a glance of movement from the corner of the office near the stairwell, and Eileen glanced over. Her two team-members already had their rifles trained there. It was only the other fire-team, coming up from the garage. Their leader shrugged and gave her the 'All-Clear' sign as well.

Eileen's frown deepened in worry as she turned back to the computer screen. Damned peculiar.

The program finally cracked the password and the desktop came up. Eileen immediately navigated to the Email program and looked for all of the most recent internal memos.

She blinked in surprise. There was only one Email for the entire day. Her eyes widened when she read who the sender was.

It simply read: "Your Gods"

She felt the blood drain out of her as she clicked open the Email. There was no text, just an attachment, that apparently had already been saved to the desktop. She swallowed heavily and navigated to it.

It was a video file, titled 'SeventhDay'.

She double-clicked it open.

The screen filled immediately with a couple of faces that made Eileen's stomach drop. Staring seemingly directly at her were Sam – her Sam – her heart immediately felt a cold, hard pang of pain- and Dean Winchester. But their...their eyes...she felt herself choke and a tear involuntarily started rolling down her cheek. She brushed it away in frustration and pure anger as 'Dean' started to speak.

"This is for all of the Faithful. Our time is truly now come. All of the struggle and war and hate and fear will come to an end. We have finally inherited the Kingdom, and you are all invited. So, if you are truly the Faithful, and wish to see what Paradise truly is..."

The screen faded and an image of a lustrous garden filled with multi-colored plants and strange animals filled the screen. The field of view panned around slowly, showing a view so perfect, that even Eileen felt her breath catch.

"Then come to us. Come to the New Eden. Leave this flawed Creation behind. Because it's time, it's time of conflict, and disease, and death, and pain, and jealousy, and war and hatred. It's time - is finally over."

The screen shifted to 'Sam', who shrugged, a mischievous and sarcastic smile on his face. Eileen felt a surge of pure hatred for the monster that had stolen him from her.

"Or stay there. Your choice. But know this – you stay, we will not be there to protect you anymore. And who knows what's going to happen with all of those Herald Portals if we're not there to watch over them..." He winked.

The screen faded, and a set of glowing, golden numbers appeared in a azure blue, white-clouded sky.

'40.741895 lat; -73.9075000 long'

The video ended. Eileen blinked and looked at her team, who were also staring at the screen, dumb-founded. She frowned, pulled up Google Maps and entered the coordinates quickly.

The address came up and she titled her head in confusion.

It was in the city...at the corner of Queens Boulevard and 58th. She scanned around the map and felt a cold shudder.

There was also a large cemetery right there.

That can't be good, she thought, quickly texting all of the information back to Garth, along with a copy of the video file.

After five minutes of so, Garth texted back.

HuntersDen: I don't get it, I thought you said it was in New York...

Eileen frowned, puzzled.

EastCoastIrish: It is, just type in the coordinates.

HuntersDen: I did. It came up in California, right near us.

EastCoastIrish: Then you typed it in wrong...hang on a second.

Eileen copied the numbers from the video onto a Post-It and entered them into the chat window.

EastCoastIrish: '40.741895 lat; -73.9075000 long'

HuntersDen: Uh, Eileen?

Eileen sighed.

HuntersDen: YES?

She hoped that her obvious frustration came through.

HuntersDen: Those aren't the coordinates that are on my video...are there multiple video files?

Eileen frowned, checking.

EastCoastIrish: Nope, just the one.

HuntersDen: Hang on a sec. I want to see something.

She waited for at least ten minutes, her team shuffling nervously, continuing to keep an eye on the entrances and exits.

HuntersDen: OK, that is pretty weird...and cool, too.

EastCoastIrish: Mind explaining?

HuntersDen: I sent the video to like 5 different bases across the country.

Eileen rolled her eyes. She hated deliberate drama.

EastCoastIrish: And? This time without the pregnant pause?

HuntersDen: Oh, sorry . I do that a lot...yeah, different coordinates on every video. Same data, different addresses. Always local.

Eileen bit her lip, thinking.

EastCoastIrish: I'm thinking portals or meeting points. Check it out?

HuntersDen: Please do. Oh and...yeah, you know.

She smiled.

EastCoastIrish: I'm always careful. Wish me good hunting.

Eileen didn't wait for a reply. She turned off the computer and faced her team.

"Alright folks, we're moving out. Queens and 58th. Stay alert, we might be going to the Garden of Eden - and we might not like the current management very much."

Judah stayed on his knees for a long time as Asgard shook and rumbled around them, literally breaking apart. Gabriel, Castiel and Crowley stood a little ways off, conferring.

"What do we do with him now?" Crowley asked. "Is he completely powerless?"

Castiel shook his head. "I have no idea. From what he told us, Michael stole the power of Creation from him. What is God without that?"

"Still God, probably," Gabriel answered dryly, all hints of his normal humor and good cheer gone. "Just not a very helpful one, outside of the information that he can give us."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Castiel asked, eyes flashing in annoyance. "You sound disappointed that you can't exploit him or something,"

"No Cas, because having an All-Powerful deity on your side is a bad thing, right?" Gabriel shot back.

"He wasn't exactly on your side, Fly-Boy," Crowley cut in. "As a matter of fact, he tried to fricassee you..."

"Yeah, well, maybe he's changed his mind about that, now..."

"Since he can't do it..." Crowley grumbled bitterly. "Why is that, exactly? Destroying something isn't exactly the power of Creation..."

"Because it's all about will," Judah said quietly. He had risen and was now standing near them. He gave them a tight-lipped smile and turned to look out at the great battle of Ragnarok, which was showing signs of finally ending. The sky was turning darker and darker by the minute, and rifts of darkness that appeared to lead to nothingness had started to appear and crack the land like a spiderweb.

"It was about the will to create a fire that would consume an Archangel. So it is about Creation...technically speaking."

"By the way, thanks for that 'Dad'," Gabriel sneered in anger. "Tell me why I shouldn't just leave your sorry ass here. Or kick your powerless butt from here to the next Apocalypse?"

"Because it would solve nothing. And I'm still your Creator."

Gabriel took a dangerous step near Judah and glared venomously at him.

"That was a rhetorical question. I haven't decided yet."

Judah smiled. "No. You won't. You're still figuring out if you can use me for somethi..."

Gabriel's fist flashed out faster than Castiel or Crowley could follow, and Judah was lying on his back groaning five feet away a second later. He tried to sit up and rubbed at his bleeding lip.

"That's it," Gabriel growled, turning away. "I'm out of here. You two can figure out what to do with that, but I am out of the equation."

Castiel watched him walk away before calling out.

"Gabriel, wait!"

Crowley put a hand on his shoulder. "Let him go, Castiel. Besides, can you really blame him?"

Castiel turned towards Crowley, a look of confusion on his face.

"No, Crowley, I agree with him completely." He looked back towards Judah, who was trying to sit up before shaking his head in disgust and looking back at Crowley. "But don't you remember? We need to at least warn Gabriel of the danger he's in. Make sure he's in a safe place."

Crowley's hand tightened on his shoulder.

"I think he already knows that, Castiel let him go."

Castiel looked at his hand and frowned. He shook it off and squared up in front of Crowley.

"Allright. What are you not telling me?"

Crowley looked stunned.

"Whatever do you mean?"

Castiel sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He suddenly grabbed Crowley's coat and pushed him up against a stone protruding from the hillside, holding him above his head.

"You do realize that every single time that you say that, that you are lying to me, right? More importantly, that I am not stupid enough to forget it?"

Crowley smiled tightly and grunted. "OK, Castiel, put me down and I'll tell you."

Castiel scanned Crowley's eyes angrily and rapidly and then, with obvious reluctance, lowered him to the ground and let him go.

"Well?"

Crowley held up a placating hand.

"Allright, Castiel...remember when I told you that I didn't know where Gabriel was?"

Castiel looked wary. "Yes...?"

"I did...we both decided it was better if only I knew where he was and what he was doing."

Castiel rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, turning away and wiping a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Crowley...!" he hissed.

Crowley kept his hand up between them. "I know...I know, Castiel, but it's like I told you, if one of us were captured, any information they managed to get out of me would be instantly considered completely unreliable..."

Castiel snorted. "Not a surprise..."

"Exactly. See? So we assured each other to only use that information in case of emergency."

Castiel blinked in disbelief. "Crowley...isn't the whole world technically an 'emergency' right now?"

"Look Castiel, there are emergencies, and then there are emergencies..."

Castiel stared at him for a long time with his jaw open, then he shut it and shook his head. "Whatever. Fine. Have it your way. At least one of us knows where Gabriel is...let's just get go collect Judah over there and get out of this Realm before it gets eaten."

He turned back to Judah.

He was gone.

Castiel began spinning around, scanning everywhere. Crowley, catching on, began to look around as well.

"Gone...? How...?"

Castiel sighed and put his hands on his knees. "He must not be completely powerless..."

Crowley closed his eyes in frustration. "Castiel...tell me, please tell me that we did not just lose God Himself..."

Castiel didn't answer, just shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh that's just great. Because having that particular loose cannon out there makes our lives so much easier..." Crowley grumbled.

"We can't do anything about that now. Now we need to get out of here and re-group. Michael and Lucifer just increased their power levels exponentially, and we need to figure out what we can do about that."

Crowley frowned. "Won't they just destroy everything now?"

Castiel stared evenly at him. "No. That would be...preferable actually. It's the alternative that we should be worried about."