Chapter 1 - Calling Out Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft
Gail's body fell to the floor as the blood poured out of her throat, and the battle was on.
The space on the airplane was limited, but everyone in their group was very experienced at dispatching Demons, and the shock of seeing him cut Gail like that had galvanized them.
Cas was enraged. The knife that the Demon bastard had used to cut Gail wasn't even an Angel blade. He hadn't been trying to kill her, he had only been looking to inflict maximum pain. But the action backfired. Cas's eyes blazed bright blue. He flung his arms out to the sides, knocking the Demons who had been holding him by his arms into the overhead bins, rendering their vessels unconscious. He rushed over to where Gail lay and put his hand on her throat, healing the wound.
Tommy yelled incoherently, shoving one of the Demons into another. They crashed into the beverage cart and it rolled down the aisle into another Demon, who had his knife raised, about to stab Frank, who was being held by two other Demons. The Demon holding the knife on Frank was knocked off-balance by the cart, and the knife flew out of his hand. Sam caught it neatly with one hand, wrenching his arm out of the grasp of another Demon and stabbing him with it. Then he reached down and scooped the Demon knife he'd been forced to drop when he'd been attacked. He started working his way down the aisle to where Cas and Gail were, stabbing Demons and throwing their corpses aside on the way.
Dean was already there, fending off Demons while Cas was healing Gail and helping her to her feet. One of them punched Dean in the face and slashed his torso, and Cas reached out with his other arm and put his hand on Dean, healing his bleeding wound.
"Thanks," Dean said breathlessly. He stabbed the Demon who had attacked him, then glanced at Gail. "You OK?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said dazedly, touching her throat. It was wet with blood. She absently waved her hand over herself to clean the blood, and then she realized how silly that was. Look around her.
Cas grabbed the Demon who had stabbed Gail by the shirt front and punched him in the face. He knocked the Demon's head into one of the overhead bins so hard that it left a dent. Then he stabbed the Demon with his Angel blade, over and over again.
"You're using the wrong knife, buddy," Frank called out to Cas, who looked up at him with a cold grin. "No, I'm not, Frank," Cas replied calmly. Then he resumed stabbing the Demon. It was screaming in pain.
Many of the passengers were screaming now too, shrinking away from the combatants. But a few of the men and one of the women were helping now, holding the unharmed Demons still for Cas's group to deal with.
"Thanks," Jody said to the woman, who had one of the Demons in a headlock. Jody stabbed him, and the woman shoved his body under the seat to make more room in the aisle. The bodies were starting to pile up now. Frank and Sam had the longest legs, so they were stepping over the bodies, but Cas had no such reservations. Once he'd finally dispatched the one who'd cut Gail's throat, he straightened up and made his way back to her, stepping on the Demons' bodies as he went. He only wished he weighed more. It was an irrational thought, he knew, but his blood was boiling.
So was Frank's. He'd been happy to see Cas carve that guy up. It had been a shock to see that Demon bastard cut Gail's throat like that. She seemed OK now, thank God, but it had been a horrifying sight nonetheless. And it must have really hurt, before Cas got to her. He touched his own throat briefly. He couldn't even imagine how that would feel.
It had hurt, a great deal, in fact. But right now, Gail was so hopped up on adrenaline that she had already forgotten what it had felt like. She had Dean on one side and Sam on the other, and they were killing Demons on either side of her, shielding her. It was sweet, but she wanted to contribute, so she popped out from between the brothers and reappeared beside Tommy. "Let's go," she said, grabbing his hand.
She winked him into the cockpit. There were two other Demons there, standing behind the pilot and co-pilot, who were also Demons. Tommy and Gail fought the guards. Gail took the Demon she was fighting by surprise. Because of her small stature, he hadn't expected her to fight as tenaciously as she did. He slashed at her twice, but she evaded him. Then she grabbed him and stabbed him in the shoulder. He yelled in pain, charging her, but she sidestepped him and pushed him into the Demon who was fighting with Tommy.
Suddenly, they were all flung against the wall of the cockpit as the plane started to nosedive. The Demon pilot turned around to look at the combatants, grinning. "You can keep fighting if you want, but it won't matter in a minute, when this thing is laying in about a million pieces on the ground. Good luck," he said, and he and the co-pilot popped out of the cockpit, and into the body of the plane.
Tommy and Gail were still tussling with the other Demons, arms and legs everywhere, and it was hard to tell whose limbs were whose, in the dim lighting of the cockpit. The plane was going down fast. Gail needed help. She called out to Cas on their frequency, and he popped in immediately. He seized the Demons and pulled them off of Gail and Tommy, flinging them to the other side of the cockpit.
"Go!" Cas yelled at Tommy. Their friend was trying to crawl against the tilt of the plane, but he wasn't strong enough to make it on his own. Cas let out a frustrated breath. He grabbed Tommy with both hands and hauled him to his feet, then took him over to the pilot's chair and slammed him in the seat.
As Tommy belted himself in the chair, Gail was gaping at Cas. How was he able to keep his balance? She was hanging on for dear life to the back of the co-pilot's seat so that she didn't go flying across the cockpit. Then she looked down at Cas's feet, and her mouth fell open. He was levitating!
The two Demons rushed Cas, but he grabbed them and slammed them together, stunning them. He killed one, but as he turned to the other, It said, "Screw this," and disappeared.
Tommy was pulling back on the yoke as hard as he could, and the plane began to level out. Cas was able to put his feet back on the ground now, and he rushed over to Gail, who was struggling to stand up. Cas put his hand on her arm, healing a stab wound that she didn't even realize she'd incurred. Then he helped her to her feet and eased her into the co-pilot's chair. "Thanks, sweetie," she said, trying to catch her breath.
Tommy was on the radio, letting Air Traffic Control that he was looking to come in for a landing.
"I'm going to go back and check on everyone," Cas told Tommy and Gail. "I believe that the Demons will all be dead now, but I need to see if there were any injuries incurred in the dive that I can heal." He gave Gail a quick kiss on the forehead, clapped Tommy on the shoulder, and then popped out.
Once Tommy had received his landing instructions, Gail looked at him and said, "You were wonderful, Tommy. There are a lot of people who owe their lives to you today."
He smiled wearily. "This is what it's all about, Gail, right here. Saving lives. Helping people. Now I get why those guys have made it their vocation. You're amazing, Gail. You, and the guys, and Cas? Wow. I just...wow."
Gail got up from the chair and leaned down to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "I'm going to go see if I can help Cas. How long till we land?"
"Not long," he advised. "Fifteen minutes or so."
Gail nodded. "OK, Tommy. I'll let Cas know."
When she left the cockpit and walked through the galley at the front of the plane, Gail heard raised voices. Everyone was gathered in the front part of the First Class section, and they were arguing.
"Gail, talk some sense into him," Frank said when he saw his sister. He nodded his head towards Cas, who had a Demon pinned up against the bulkhead, holding a knife at his throat.
Gail's forehead wrinkled. "What's going on?"
Cas glanced at her, pursing his lips. "His boss is so fond of sending messages, I thought we should send one back," he said in a clipped tone.
"And I say we just kill the son of a bitch," Frank said.
"You don't understand, Frank," Cas said impatiently. "Lucifer needs to know that he can't just pull something like this and not expect a proportional response."
"And what's proportional, Cas?" Jody argued. "We've killed all his disciples, for lack of a better term, and no humans have been killed. That's a win-win for us, and it's the correct response."
Cas looked at Gail again. "What do you think?" he asked her.
Gail was looking at him speculatively. She had no idea what he'd had in mind, but he had a funny look on his face. She could tell he was furious. A few dozen dead Demons had only whet his appetite.
"Frank and Jody are right," Gail said, "but so is Cas. This has been the best resolution we could have hoped for, but I also agree that Lucifer has to get a message from us." She thought a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I've got it," she told them. "It's kind of crazy, but I think I know what we should do."
Cas took a deep breath and then nodded. If he hadn't been menacing a Demon, he would have smiled. She was amazing. With just a couple of sentences, Gail had been able to make him see that he was getting carried away, while still supporting him at the same time. He looked at the Demon, then drove his knife into Its chest, killing It.
Then he looked at Gail again. "What do you propose?"
"I think we should leave a handful of passengers intact," Gail told him. "We'll tell them we're Angels, and that Lucifer is responsible for the hijackings. Then, when they're being interviewed by CNN and all the TV stations, they can be our conduit. We'll tell them that we're watching out over the human race, but that we need their help. If everyone bands together to resist him, he will lose. Let's tell him that." Her lips twitched, despite the seriousness of the situation. "Maybe we can get a rough, tough guy to give the Devil the finger, or something."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Sam asked her. "Won't that just stir him up even more?"
"Look around you, Sam," she said, eyebrows raised. "He's not exactly idle now, is he?"
Cas was staring at her. His first instinct had been to refuse. What she was suggesting was outrageous. He had spent untold centuries operating in the shadows away from human notice, and now, Gail was proposing that they should use a very public forum to not only announce their presence here, but to throw down the gauntlet to Satan?
But then, he took a beat, and he thought about it for a moment. Maybe it WAS time to make their presence known. Just because something had always been a certain way, didn't mean that it had to be that way for all eternity, did it? Look at the ancient laws they had rewritten. Look at how Bobby had introduced computers and modern methods into Heaven. And how about Cas and Gail's own wedding, where they had turned the tables by agreeing that Castiel would vow obedience to Gail? Not everyone in Heaven approved of those things, he was aware. But as far as Cas was concerned, these things had all been good. So maybe it was time to rip a few more pages from the rule book. Lucifer certainly had.
Still, his indoctrination in the ancient ways ran deep, and he protested: "I don't know if we should do that, Gail."
"Why the hell not, Cas?" Dean said, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Isn't it about time? People need to know that not all of you guys are dicks. They need to know that something bigger than them is out there, fighting the good fight." He gestured to the passengers. "Look at what some of those guys did. They started to help us. Just like those guys on 9/11. All they need is hope, Cas."
Gail was looking at Dean with her mouth open. "I don't even know what to say, Dean. I'm just so impressed with you, right now," she said to him.
He looked at her suspiciously. "Sarcasm?"
"No," Gail said sincerely. She moved forward to kiss him softly on the cheek. "No," she repeated softly.
Cas regarded his wife and his best friend. He too had been moved by what Dean had said. Sometimes they didn't give Dean enough credit for his intelligence, and his insight. "Come with me, please," he said to his group. "We don't have much time." They could all feel that the plane was starting its descent.
Cas asked their human friends to select six passengers to be their spokespeople, and to give them the message they wanted to be relayed. Then he and Gail hurried back to the Economy section and quickly started to modify everyone else's memories. Then the Angels popped their human friends into the cockpit just as Tommy was powering down. As soon as the plane had come to a halt and the engines were turned off, they winked out of the plane.
Back in the bunker, they all gathered around the TV to watch the continuing coverage on CNN. The newscasters were talking about the first two flights that had landed safely while showing a shot of the third plane, which was now sitting on the tarmac. SWAT teams and emergency crews were cautiously approaching the plane.
"As we wait to see what the authorities will find when they board Flight 136, we'll recap what we know so far, which is very little," the anchorman was saying. "The three planes were all hijacked roughly an hour ago while they were in the air, making the approach to McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Presumably, the hijackers were passengers on the flights, although it is a mystery as to why they would have waited until the flights had nearly landed to make their move. The three flights do not seem to have any connection to each other, yet they were all taken over simultaneously. But from that moment on, the mystery deepens. Flights 63 and 151 landed safely at McCarran International a short time ago, despite the fact that both of their pilots and co-pilots were found murdered in the cockpits. Also dead are the men who were presumed to be the hijackers. Not a single passenger was harmed, but reportedly, none of them can provide any explanation to the authorities as to what might have happened on those flights, or how the planes were able to land safely."
He put a hand to his ear. "We have a reporter at the scene. Nick, what do you have for us on Flight 136?"
A voice-over: "The reports that are coming in are astonishing. It should be noted that these are preliminary reports only, but as the first few passengers disembark, they are echoing the accounts that we heard from the people who were on the first two planes. The only difference in this case so far seems to be that the hijackers on this plane were approximately triple in number." A pause, then the disembodied voice said, "We have a small group of passengers who are refusing to be taken away by the authorities until they can talk to the media. They say they've got a message they urgently need to deliver to the public." Another pause. "We'll have video in three, two..."
Suddenly, a shot of the reporter who had been speaking appeared on the TV screen. He was standing on the tarmac holding a microphone. Standing with him were four men and two women, the people that the Winchesters and Frank and Jody had picked to deliver their message.
"First off, I just want to say that our hearts went out to you during your ordeal," Nick said to the group.
A large, muscular man grabbed the microphone. "Yeah, yeah. Hearts, flowers, prayers, whatever. We're here to tell everyone what really happened. Those terrorist bastards took over the plane, just like 9/11. But then, some men and a couple of women just suddenly appeared, and they started kicking their asses. They killed them all, and then one of them landed the plane."
"They appeared?" Nick said incredulously. Someone had handed him another microphone. "Where did they come from?"
"Heaven," a woman said. The burly man was sharing the microphone with his fellow passengers. "They were Angels," the woman said.
"Angels?" Nick repeated. "Do you mean that literally?"
"Yeah," the male passenger said. He seemed to be taking charge now. "They told us that they were Angels, and that they had a message for the Devil."
Cas looked at their human friends, eyebrows raised. Dean shrugged. "We didn't have a lot of time. It was just easier that way."
Chuck grinned. "Welcome to the dick club," he quipped. Dean gave him a double-take, but then he had to smile. Chuck had gotten him good there.
"And what was this message?" the reporter asked the group.
"Hope," one of the other men said. "They wanted us to know they're watching over us, but that we have to resist evil, too. We all have to do our part. If we do that, we can all defeat the Devil, together. I'll tell you what: I haven't prayed in years, but now I'm going to start again."
"Me, too," the other female said. She was a young girl, who had a wistful smile on her face. "Especially if all of the Angels are as handsome as those ones were. Wow. I wish I'd been able to take their pictures and show you. But one of them told me that since they're celestial beings, if I tried to take their picture, my cell phone would explode in my hand."
Frank was grinning proudly as Cas looked at him, open-mouthed. "I know. Pretty good, right?" Gail's brother said.
"Frank, you shouldn't have said that," Cas chided him. "It's not true."
"Well, of course it's not true," Frank replied, "but it worked, didn't it? No photos of any of us popping up on social media."
Cas pursed his lips. He didn't approve, but it was too late to do anything about it now.
"The men WERE really good-looking," the middle-aged female passenger confirmed, "and there were two women, also. One of the women was fighting and killing the terrorists alongside the men, and the other woman was a short little thing. She and another one of the male Angels disappeared. I guess they must be the ones who landed the plane."
"Hey, look at me. I'm an Angel," Tommy said, grinning.
"You certainly are," Barry said warmly. He and Tommy were holding hands. Barry hadn't let go of his boyfriend since the group had returned to the bunker. He'd been so worried about them all.
"And I'm a co-pilot," Gail said pertly. Then she affected a pout. "But everybody called the guys handsome, and no one called us pretty," she said to Jody.
Jody shrugged, smirking. "Hey, it's the young girl who said that. I'm pretty sure we were more or less invisible to her."
Gail nodded. Fair enough. She had grown used to feeling invisible around females when she was with Cas and the Winchesters.
"Hey, I'm as straight as they come, but even I have to agree that those guys were really good-looking," the burly passenger said, reclaiming the microphone.
Gail threw up her hands. "Oh, come on!" she exclaimed, exasperated.
Frank was smirking. "Don't worry about it. That guy's probably batting for Barry and Tommy's team. Look at him. I say he's deep in denial."
"Well, whatever the case may be, I think Tommy deserves a medal for what he did today," Gail remarked. She smiled at Cas. "Is there such a thing as honourary Angel status?"
"If not, there should be," Cas replied. "You saved a lot of lives today," he said to Tommy. "You should be very proud."
Barry squeezed Tommy's hand, and Tommy smiled. But now, the enormity of what they had just been through started to get to him, and his body started to shake. My God. Thank God for his friends. "So, the bottom line is, everybody needs to stand up for what's right," the muscular male passenger was saying now. "If we band together and help the Angels, we can beat the Devil. In fact, one of the Angels told me to give Satan one of these, and I'm gonna give it to him with both barrels." The man raised his hands, showing his middle fingers.
Everyone in the bunker laughed, even Cas. Dean was grinning. "Sorry, Cas," he said. "Couldn't resist; didn't try."
"That is excellent," Frank said, stretching his arm out to give Dean a high-five.
Then the officials moved in, and the passengers of the plane were herded onto a bus to take them to the police station to be interviewed. Nick turned back to the camera and said, "Angels. The Devil. While the officials begin their investigation, we are left to wonder exactly what transpired on those mystery flights. Back to you."
Sam grabbed the remote and put the broadcast on mute. "Well, I guess all's well that ends well," he said.
But Cas was frowning. He supposed that was true, but: "We need to get that Tablet," he said. "Lucifer is trying to push us; we need to push back."
"I have an idea," Tommy said. "Hold on." He took his cell phone out of his pocket and called one of his old contacts, telling the man he needed a favour. He outlined what he wanted his friend to say as the others listened, impressed. This could be just the thing they'd needed to turn the situation to their advantage.
After Tommy hung up the phone, he said, "Turn up the volume, Sam. We should hear what I want to hear in a few minutes. Eugene knows what he's doing. He'll rattle their cages."
Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, the anchorman advised that a report had just been received that the hijackers of the planes had been terrorists, looking to repeat the events of 9/11. But instead of New York City, the intended targets had been the Las Vegas Strip, the military base near the mountains, and Area 51.
Cas looked admiringly at Tommy. "That was a very good idea," he told their friend.
"Yeah, that should give them a wake-up call," Tommy said with a grim smile. He rose from his chair, bringing Barry with him. "But right now, I think I want to go and rest for a bit. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I'm feeling pretty worn out. But I'll keep my phone on, and if I hear from Wyatt, I'll let you know right away, Cas. I have the feeling that'll be sooner now, rather than later."
Gail got up and went over to where the men stood. She took Tommy's face in her hands and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Tommy," she said to him. "On behalf of all of us."
Cas was right behind her, and he pulled Tommy in for a hug, also thanking him.
"I think I might want to take some flying lessons now," Barry quipped, and they all laughed. Then the men walked down the hall to their bedroom.
Gail looked at Cas. "So, since we have a few minutes, I have a question for you."
"What is it, my love?" he asked her, taking her hands in his.
"What the heck was that, back in the cockpit of that last plane?" she asked him. "You were levitating, Cas."
"He was what?" Sam asked, astonished.
Cas gave them a sheepish grin. "Yes, it's true. I was just as surprised as Gail was. I've never actually been able to do that before. Desperate times, I suppose. I had to defend my wife."
Gail was slowly shaking her head. "Just when I think you can't get any more amazing, you manage to do it, anyway," she remarked, smiling at him.
Cas smiled, but he was distracted now. "I did let that one Demon get away, though." Gail knew what he was talking about. Cas had managed to kill one of the two Demons that she and Tommy had been tussling with, but the other one had popped out before Cas could dispatch him, too. Actually, she was amazed that more of them hadn't done that. She supposed the fact that they had just stayed there and let themselves be murdered only proved the point that Dean had been making all along: Demons were really, really stupid.
Gail shrugged. "You can't win them all, Cas. With any luck, he's back with Lucifer now, telling him how fearsome we are, and that he should just give up."
Cas smiled faintly. "If only." But she was trying to keep his spirits up, and he appreciated that. He embraced her, kissing her softly on the forehead.
"Anyone want a drink?" Dean said.
The Demon who had gotten away had indeed gone back to the compound to report to Lucifer what had transpired. Lucifer was also sitting in front of the TV watching CNN, and he was in a towering rage. How on earth could you deploy that many Demons to get a job done and end up with all of them but one dead, and each and every human still alive? As the young people said, this had been an epic fail. And now, the anchorman was saying that the hijackers had been terrorists, trying to target the Strip and Area 51? Where the hell had that come from? And when that guy had looked at the TV camera and given Lucifer the one-finger salute with both hands, it had taken every ounce of self-control he had not to blow the TV set up with a wave of his hand.
"Come with me," Lucifer had said to the returnee. He grabbed him by the arm and marched him outside to the front lawn. He bellowed for the Demons to come, and when they gathered, he made the Demon tell his compadres what had happened.
When he'd finished, Lucifer glared at the assembled Demons. "See, this is what happens when you have stupid, useless idiots working for you," he seethed.
"Hey, we did everything we were supposed to do," the Demon protested. "They just killed the crap out of everybody. Castiel was like a wild man. I was lucky to get out of there alive." He was sweating bullets now. Why the hell had he ever come back here? Lucifer was going to rip him to pieces.
"Is that so?" Lucifer asked. His voice was very calm now, almost conversational. "Let me ask you something: are you a Demon?"
The Demon was puzzled. What a weird question. "Ummm...yeah."
"OK, well, I was just wondering," Lucifer said mildly. "Because the last I checked, DEMONS COULD TELEPORT!" he yelled.
Funny that that had never occurred to any of them. But it had all happened so fast. "You weren't there," he said defensively. "You don't know what it was like."
Lucifer's blood was boiling. "No, you're right. I wasn't there," he replied. "If I had been, I can guarantee you that there would be a pile of dead humans at my feet, and a couple of dead Angels!" he raged. "But at least Castiel did me a favour by culling the stupid ones for me! Maybe I should send all of you black-eyed bastards to him. Then only the ones that survive would be deemed fit to serve me!"
The assembled Demons stirred, and there was some grumbling in the ranks now. They might not be Mensa members, but they knew when they were being insulted.
Before he could stop himself, the Demon blurted out, "If you're so capable of killing Angels, then why is Castiel still alive?" Then he clapped his hand over his mouth. He definitely should not have said that. But Lucifer had just made him so damn mad.
Lucifer turned his head slowly to look at him, and his eyes were blazing red. He snapped his fingers, and the Demon exploded. Then Lucifer looked back at the crowd. "Who out there agrees with what he just said?"
Paul was fighting hard to keep a straight face. He was standing behind Lucifer, but sometimes it was hard to tell what the Devil knew, and what he didn't. As it was, every time they made eye contact, Paul felt as if Lucifer was looking right into him and knew that Paul was frantically trying to think of a way to derail his plans. But that could just be Paul, being paranoid. But if he was paranoid, so was Lucifer. He hadn't let Paul out of his sight since Mark had been murdered.
None of the Demons spoke up, of course, but a few of them suddenly rediscovered their ability to teleport, and a couple of dozen of them disappeared.
Lucifer gritted his teeth. He'd better try to calm down. The way he was feeling right now, he could just wave his hand and obliterate the whole lot of them. But he needed the numbers for Armageddon, and he didn't want to send only humans out against Castiel's people.
He snapped his fingers and reappeared in the mansion's library, then he went to the bar and poured himself a stiff drink, pondering his next move.
Most of the Demons that had disappeared from Lucifer's compound were roaming around the streets now, unsure of what to do with themselves. They were very much like a lot of the Angels were: directionless. Without a leader to tell them what to do, many otherworldly beings tended to drift. The Angels had the structure of Heaven's daily business operations to keep them going, but the Demons that remained on Earth had no such purpose.
Which was why a number of them eventually ended up going back to Hell. Even though they were certain that the King would subject them to excruciating and creative tortures for having defected to Lucifer's camp, they slowly started to migrate back to their home.
But they were surprised when they got there. When they popped back in to the intake area, which was the only place that Crowley's minions could access on their own, the King had already been standing there, as if he'd known that they were coming. And, astonishingly, he had shaken the hand of each and every returnee, and welcomed them back.
Crowley gathered all of the returnees in the conference room, and he told them to help themselves to a drink. Then he sat down and drank with them. He was channeling his former persona as King Arthur, having social hour with the Knights at the Round Table. You could catch more flies with honey, or whatever the expression was. When the first group of Demons had arrived from Lucifer's compound, bringing the Devil's message, they had been cowering with fear. They really had been between a rock and a hard place. It was a suicide mission, yet they didn't dare refuse Lucifer's orders.
Crowley had seen an opportunity here. It sounded as if Lucifer was starting to show his true colours now, one shade of which was his utter incompetence as a leader. So Crowley had offered the original landing party commiseration and succor, and they had decided to stay in the Kingdom when he had promised that there would be no repercussions for their defection. Then Crowley had read Lucifer's scribbled message, and he had almost laughed out loud. So, Armageddon was nigh, was it? Lucifer was just waiting to get the magic number of 144,000, and then he was going to lay waste to the Earth. He was just letting Crowley know, as a courtesy.
Crowley's eyebrows rose. Really? Well, wasn't that nice. But the Demons he had sent to see Crowley had also advised that Lucifer had deployed other teams of Demons to the Earth, but they didn't know what for.
And now, the new arrivals were telling Crowley about the hijacking of the planes, and the bloody result for their side. He couldn't believe it. Where did one start? On the surface, it would have seemed like a viable enough plan. But Crowley knew Castiel well enough to know that he would not capitulate to Lucifer's demands. Had Lucifer forgotten about Egypt? Castiel had set a number of innocent humans up for slaughter there, just to establish his credibility. Castiel wasn't nearly as loath to let humans die as Lucifer seemed to think he was. But in this instance, no one had ended up dying except for the hapless Demons that Lucifer had sent to those planes. Crowley almost felt like laughing at Lucifer's naivete.
But in the meantime, the defectors were defecting back, and Crowley told them to spread the word: If anyone else wanted to return to the fold, they would be welcomed with open arms. After seeing the mistakes that Lucifer was making, the King told them that he wanted to rebuild and rebrand Hell. It takes a village, a thousand points of light, blah, blah, blah. These guys seemed to be buying it. And maybe Crowley even meant it. But for right now, his primary concern was getting his numbers back up, and revitalizing Hell. For a short time, Crowley had thought that he could align himself with Lucifer, but that had been folly. That would have been like trying to co-rule with a chimpanzee; it might appear to be an intelligent primate, but you knew that sooner or later, the diaper would come off, and then there would be feces all over the place.
Crowley smiled at his analogy, startling the Demons. Could it be? A kinder, gentler King of Hell? One or two of them asked for and received permission to install a suggestion box in the hallway outside Crowley's office, and a third was granted leave to go back to Lucifer's compound undercover, to be Crowley's pipeline for information. While there, he would work on his brethren, trying to convince them to return to Hell. One or two more days like today, and he was pretty sure that the defections would begin to increase.
The King of Hell poured himself another drink. Things were definitely on the uptick now.
Barry and Tommy had cuddled for a while, then they had cried a bit together when Tommy had confided what it was like on those planes. And then Tommy had fallen asleep for a couple of hours. When he woke, Barry was spooning him, and they ended up making love. Then Tommy dozed off again, smiling.
Just before dawn, Tommy's cell phone rang. He reached over to the nightstand where it sat and looked at the display. "Wyatt," he said to Barry.
Tommy's ex-boyfriend was talking softly. "Adrian came to see me late last night," Wyatt said. "He was freaked out about the hijackings, and I told him that your friend Cas knew who was behind them. I said if he got your friends the credentials they'd been asking for, they could prevent another 9/11."
Tommy was astonished. "What?!" he exclaimed.
Wyatt smiled. "Look, Tom-Tom, you can't fool me. I know you too well. You're being really mysterious, and so is Adrian. Everybody's lying to everybody. So why shouldn't I get in on the action? The bottom line is, we're all going to get what we want here. Adrian's gonna do it. He called some of his high-level contacts last night, and a couple of low-level ones too, and your friends will have their credentials this morning. So does it really matter how that's going to happen, or why?"
Tommy sighed. "I suppose not. "So, how are we going to do this?"
"Bring your people to Eunice's Diner on I-91. Do you remember where that is?" Wyatt asked his ex.
"Yeah, I remember, Wyatt." Tommy and Wyatt used to go there for breakfast on rough mornings, after they'd been partying all night. The diner was located several miles from the Las Vegas city limits. It had the best, greasiest breakfasts around, and it was very unlikely they would run into any of Wyatt's crowd there. If there was anything that Tommy couldn't face when he had a massive hangover, it was a bunch of hung-over drag queens.
"We'll take their pictures and they'll have their IDs by the end of breakfast," Wyatt said. "Adrian's got a lot of pull."
Tommy let out a relieved breath. "That's great, Wyatt. I'll let them know. And, Wyatt? You're doing a very good thing."
"I know," Wyatt said cheerfully. "I'll wake Adrian up in about an hour. Please tell me that one of your guys is Cas; I'll need that long to fix myself up. Does he like butch, or femme? Dean was pretty butch, but I can go full drag, if it'll help my chances. Maybe Cas is looking for a change of pace."
Tommy put his hand to his forehead. Oh, God. "Don't bother," he told Wyatt with a faint smile. "We all had a pretty late night here, too. Just come as you are." Wyatt would find out soon enough, when Cas showed up for breakfast, glued to Gail. But Tommy had better not say anything right now. Until the group actually met with the General, it wasn't a done deal yet.
Tommy said goodbye to Wyatt and got dressed, walking out to the library area. Cas and Gail were cuddled up on the couch, watching TV. He told them about Wyatt's call.
"That's wonderful, Tommy," Cas said enthusiastically. "I'll wake Sam and Dean and then we'll get ready to go."
Tommy made a face. "Just to let you know, Wyatt still thinks you're...game," he finished, somewhat lamely. "And he sounds very, very interested."
"Well, too bad for him," Gail bristled. "The only hand on Cas's leg today will be mine."
Tommy grinned. "Message received. That's OK; if General Greene has agreed to do this, it doesn't matter whether Wyatt gets in a snit or not. He'll just have to get over it."
An hour or so later, Cas and Gail, Sam, Dean and Tommy were ready to leave.
"I'd say to give Wyatt my best, but I'd be lying," Barry said to Tommy with a wry expression.
"Don't worry, I'm only there as the go-between," Tommy told him. "I'll make the introductions, but then I'm going to step back. You can come with us, if you want."
Barry shook his head. "No. This is too important. I wouldn't want my presence there to start anything." He smiled wearily. "Besides, I know Wyatt's not going to try anything with all of those guys there."
Tommy returned his smile. "Are you kidding? I'm old news. He probably won't even notice me, not with all this other eye candy." He gestured to Cas and the Winchesters.
"And then here I come along, Mrs. Buzzkill," Gail said, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe I should just stay here with Barry, then."
Cas smiled, taking her hand. "I don't think so," he said to her. He gestured to Tommy. "Now, give Barry a kiss and then take my hand," Cas said to their friend. "It's time for us to go."
Tommy grinned. "I can't wait to see Wyatt's face when you show up hand-in-hand with Gail."
"Score one for the battleaxe," Gail quipped, and they all laughed. Seconds later, they were gone.
The introductions had been made, and Gail and the men were all sitting around a table in the centre of the diner. Adrian had paid the staff off to hang the Closed sign at the front door and draw the blinds. Then he had paid them extra to leave, once everyone had their breakfasts in front of them. He had snapped photos of Cas, Gail, Sam and Dean with his cell phone and sent them to his contact, who was currently making up the necessary ID badges.
Wyatt was sitting in-between Adrian and Tommy, and he was pouting. They had totally lied to him. Not only was Cas not gay, or even bi, but he was as straight as an arrow, and completely in love with his wife. She was actually a pretty cute little thing, but he hated her at the moment. Or, more accurately, he was extremely jealous of her right now. She and Cas were sitting close together across the table from him, and Cas was being very demonstrative with his affection for his wife. At first, Wyatt thought Cas might be playacting, or overcompensating. But after a few minutes, he could tell that the love between them was genuine. When their coffee came, Cas even put the creamer in his wife's cup, and he stirred it for her, too. She was obviously used to him doing that, because she sat patiently, waiting for him to complete the ritual. That had softened Wyatt's heart a bit. He would love to have a relationship like that. But Wyatt knew he'd have to clean up his act, first. No quality guy was going to put up with his promiscuity, and his late-night partying.
It was also a surprise to find out that Dean was straight, too. When Dean had shown up this morning with another guy, Wyatt had just assumed that they were a couple, and that Cas and Dean were both sneaking around behind their respective spouses' backs. Which had only made them more attractive to Wyatt. He had been figuratively licking his chops, picturing various scenarios involving himself and Cas, himself and Dean, and ultimately, the three of them, together. Dean's boyfriend Sam was also very handsome, and he was very big. Wyatt had looked him up and down, wondering if the cliche was true. Maybe, if Sam was fed up with Dean and Cas sneaking around on him, he would be looking for a little payback. Would he even fit in Wyatt's bed? Of course, there were other ways to skin a cat. So to speak.
But Wyatt's bubbles had been burst right, left, and centre on that score, and now he sat picking at his breakfast and sulking.
General Greene sat back in his chair, regarding the quartet curiously. He had asked them a ton of questions but gotten very few real answers. This man Cas seemed to be the group's leader. He did most of the talking as Sam and Dean ate breakfast. Strangely, Cas did not eat a bite, nor did his wife. Adrian was reminded of the being they had locked away at the base. It must just be his imagination, but Cas and Gail gave off the same sort of vibe as that individual. And Cas had been giving him the same sort of non-answers.
"Do I have your word that you're only looking to remove this mysterious object?" Adrian was asking Cas now.
"Yes," Cas confirmed, nodding. "I can promise you, the Tablet is of no use to you, but our acquisition of it will help to save mankind." He gave Gail a brief smile. "My apologies. I mean to say humankind."
Adrian's forehead wrinkled. "You speak as if you're separate from humans. And I notice you're not eating. Who are you, or more to the point, WHAT are you?"
"Is it really necessary that you know that?" Cas countered.
Adrian pursed his lips. This man was every bit as frustrating to talk to as the one they were holding. The only difference was the attitude. Cas was more soft-spoken and serious, whereas the other one was sarcastic and defiant. Adrian was thinking furiously now. Was there a connection here? Then his cell phone rang. It was his contact, letting him know that the credentials were ready.
"I'm taking a huge leap of faith, here. I just want you to know that," Adrian told them. "I'm putting everything on the line."
"And we appreciate it," Sam told him. "You can trust us. We're the good guys."
They all stood to leave. Cas had been planning to tell the General that they would follow him in their vehicles, although they had none. When they had left the bunker, they had first popped over to the hotel in Enoch, where they had been staying. They had checked out but had left the vehicles parked there. Frank and Jody were just getting up when the group had been leaving for the diner, and Cas had asked Chuck to wink the couple over to Enoch to get all of their vehicles. Each of the three of them could take one of the cars and drive them back to the bunker. Once Cas found out where they were supposed to go to pick up the credentials, he and Gail had been planning to pop Sam and Dean and Tommy over there, after General Greene and Tommy had left the diner.
But suddenly, there was a noise overhead, and as Cas's head snapped up, he saw a light fixture falling from the ceiling, right above Gail's head. He had already been holding her hand, and he reflexively winked them both over to the other side of the room.
Crap. As the light fixture came crashing down from the ceiling, landing at the spot where Gail would have been standing, Adrian was staring at Cas, open-mouthed. So much for that. The General said, "OK, that's it. No one is going anywhere until you tell me what you are."
Cas sighed. "We're Angels."
Adrian's eyes narrowed. "Angels? Would you by any chance be the same Angels who rescued the passengers on those so-called mystery flights?"
"Yes," Cas confirmed.
"Then why didn't you just say so?" Adrian asked him, frowning.
"Strictly speaking, we're not supposed to make our presence known," Cas told him.
"And, let's face it, a lot of people wouldn't believe us, anyway," Gail added.
Adrian's mind was racing again. Angels? Hmmm. Did that mean that the captive they had back at the base was an Angel, too? Would he and Cas and Gail know each other? Could the two of them elicit his cooperation, then? Now, the General was wondering about the operation as a whole. He had promised Cas that he would get them into the base, and he would keep that promise. But he hadn't actually said anything about getting them out.
"Let's go get your credentials," Adrian said, smiling.