Chapter 1 - Dialogue With The Devil
Cas couldn't wait any longer. "How long ago did Gail leave?" he asked the room in general. "Shouldn't she be back by now?"
"Has to be at least 20 minutes ago," Dean replied. He looked at Frank for confirmation.
Frank shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."
"Twenty minutes!" Cas exclaimed. "Has it really been that long?" He sent her a message on their frequency. No response. He tried again. Nothing. "I'm going over there," he announced. He popped out immediately as his friends looked at each other, bemused. Once Cas had decided to do something, he didn't waste a lot of time on chit-chat.
Cas popped into the house, calling Gail's name, but she didn't answer. He checked the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room. No Gail. Then he popped into their bedroom. She wasn't there either, although there were signs that she had been. The sweater she'd been wearing was on the bed, and Ralph the stuffed penguin was now sitting on the bed, propped up against the pillows. He clearly hadn't moved there himself, Cas thought with grim humour, so Gail must have picked him up and placed him there.
"I really wish you could talk, Ralph," Cas said to the stuffed penguin. "Where is she?"
Then he heard the same noise as Gail had heard, and Cas went to investigate. He opened the door to the porch, and his heart stopped. There was a note pinned to it, impaled to the door with an Angel blade. And the blade was Gail's.
"Soooo. Happy to be back in the loving bosom of your family? Or do you miss the killing, and the torture? From what I hear, you were getting very good at it."
They were in the library at Lucifer's mansion. Lucifer was standing at the bar fixing drinks, and his back was to her. Gail was sitting in one of the overstuffed armchairs beside the bookshelves. She wasn't bound or cuffed, or restrained in any way. It was almost like he was daring her to try to escape. She'd tried just popping out, of course, but no dice. And he'd taken her blade from her back at the house and used it to pin a note to the door. Cas must be flipping out by now.
She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon, but she couldn't see anything. Unless she were to just grab one of the heavier-looking books and conk him on the head with it, or something. Yeah, right. He was the Devil, and she was going to take him out with a book? Was there a Bible around here somewhere? Maybe the irony would give him a good laugh before he tore her limb from limb.
"You won't find any weapons here," Lucifer said cheerfully. "Violence is so...violent, don't you think? I'm interested in talking to the Angel Gail right now, the woman with the soft heart and a quick quip. Let's leave the bloodthirsty robot in Europe, where she belongs."
He brought the drinks over to where she sat. He offered one to her, but she didn't take it. He shrugged and placed it on the table next to her. Then he sat down in the armchair facing her and took a sip of his own drink.
"So how is everyone?" Lucifer asked in a conversational tone. "Frank still aging? Rob still being a little snot? Have you and Dean made up yet? And how is your Holy husband? Has he baptized you in the blood of the Lamb yet? No, wait; that'll be my job. Though I daresay the two of you might have exchanged a few other bodily fluids when you got back from Africa. Totally understandable. I mean, it had been over a year, and I know what you two are like. I'm surprised you're even out of bed now. Oh, but I suppose you've got your priorities. Only one more little, itty-bitty item to get, and then I'm toast. Right, Gail? It's too bad you don't know what that item is, or where it is. Not that that's ever stopped the God Squad before."
Her heart started to beat faster. Did Lucifer know about Cas's visit to the Netherworld?
Lucifer sat back in his chair, taking another sip of his drink. "I have no idea what to do with you anymore," he said, gazing steadily at her. "I've tried to charm you, I've bullied you, and I've tortured you. And still, you've defied me. I push, you push back. I kill a bunch of humans, you kill a bunch of my men. I don't know whether to screw you or kill you."
"Then why don't you just give up on me, and let me go?" she said, trying to keep her tone calm.
Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Really, Gail? I expected something more original from you than that old movie cliche."
She nodded. "Fair enough. Then why don't you come back with 'I should have killed you when I had the chance', and then we'll put the cliche-fest aside?"
"Now we're getting somewhere," he said, smiling. "I think I like you best when you're sassy. As long as you're not TOO sassy. There's a fine line, you know."
"Not that you would know anything about fine lines," she retorted. "You crossed the line so long ago you can't even see it in the rearview mirror."
Lucifer's smile widened. "Hey, I'm the Devil. I have a rep to maintain, you know. What's YOUR excuse?"
Gail's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Young guy named Corey. Ring a bell?" he shot back.
She shrugged. "It was war. I did what I needed to do. Besides, we let him go."
"Yeah, and he offed himself, to use the vernacular," Lucifer told her.
Gail was taken aback for a moment, but then she shrugged. "That's unfortunate," she responded. "I guess he had a guilty conscience."
"He was an innocent," Lucifer said offhandedly. "A wanna-be. He had no idea what it's like to play with the big boys. Just like you used to be, before I toughened you up." He took another sip. "Castiel has no idea how resentful you are, does he?"
Gail sighed. "NOW what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the fact that you haven't forgiven him for Africa," Lucifer replied, his gaze holding steady. "He thinks you have, but deep down, you know you haven't. Not that I can blame you. What a selfish bastard he is. Living like a king, having all of his needs catered to, while you were wading in dirt and blood. It was Egypt all over again, wasn't it? He was living in the royal palace, and you were dealing with the plagues. Notice a pattern?"
Gail rolled her eyes. If he was trying to sow the seeds of discord between her and Cas, he'd have to try a lot harder than that. Although she had to admit that there was some truth to what he was saying. A small part of her DID still resent it. But it was all over now, they were back together, and things would be better going forward. Assuming she survived this little visit with the Devil, of course.
"As far as my brother goes, a little grey is a very distinguished look for him, I think," she said to Lucifer with a half-shrug, settling back in her chair. Hey, if he wanted to pretend to be civilized, so could she. "Rob is a teenager now, going through the usual teenage things. Dean and I are just fine. And Cas and I love each other very much. In fact, our marriage has never been stronger. So, nice try. You must be losing your touch."
"So it's denial, is it? OK, suit yourself." Lucifer pointed to her untouched drink. "Have a snort, Gail. I know you like to have a drink or three once in a while. Just one of your many non-Angelic character traits, the ones that endear you to me. I wonder where that side of you comes from? Anyway, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow, you may die."
"Then why not avoid the Christmas rush and just kill me now?" she asked him sarcastically.
"Now what fun would that be?" Lucifer responded. "Come on, Sarah, drink up. I know you like to have a good time."
"Yes, I do, when I'm in better company," she said tartly.
"See, that? Right there? That's the line I'm talking about," Lucifer said, frowning.
"Sorry/not sorry," Gail replied. "And as for the drink, I'm not too thirsty right now. Maybe you want to have it. I'm sure there wouldn't be anything in it, like a drug or anything, would there?"
"You insult me, Gail," Lucifer said, but his eyes flashed red for a moment. "Here I am, just trying to be a good host..." He reached out and snatched her drink from the table. Then he looked at it for a moment. "Fine. If you think you're too good to have a drink with me, we'll just have to knock you down a peg or two," Lucifer said, raising his voice. He snapped his fingers, and the double doors leading into the library from the hallway flew open. Two Demons came into the room.
"Make sure our guest is as comfortable as can be," Lucifer told the Demons. "Treat her with all the respect she deserves. She's a VIP. It's not every day that an Original Angel comes to stay with us."
One of the Demons looked at Gail, puzzled. "An Original Angel?! The only woman Original I know of is - "
Lucifer grinned. "Yup. Meet Gail. She's Castiel's wife. She'll be gracing us with her presence for a while. See what I did there? Who knows, maybe her husband will drop by, for a special guest appearance. If we treat his wife in the manner she deserves, I'm pretty sure we can expect to see him. Eventually."
The Demons grabbed Gail. She thought about fighting back, but really, what would be the point? She had no weapon, and even if she could have used her golden beams to knock Lucifer's minions around, Lucifer could still obliterate her with a wave of his pinky finger. No, it was best to use her brain, instead of trying futilely to use her powers right now. If he'd intended to kill her outright, he would have already done it. He was using her as bait, to lure Castiel. But it sounded as if he wanted to play with them a little, first. If she kept her eyes and ears open, she could probably figure out what to do. The key was not to panic, she told herself, as the Demons hustled her out of the room.
Lucifer looked down at the drink he still held in his hand. Then he snapped his fingers again, and the glass disappeared. Damn. Well, you could lead a whore to water, but you couldn't make her drink, he supposed. Then he grinned. Double damn. That had been a really good one. The problem was, there was nobody here to hear it. His ranks had gotten very thin. Mark was dead, Jason had flitted off somewhere, and Paul was still in Europe, at last report. Although why Lucifer was bothering to keep him there was a mystery even to himself. The war was over. The death squads were done. He would barely be able to scrape up enough minions to sit a jury right now.
OK, so she wouldn't drink the Kool-Aid willingly. Truth be told, if she had, Lucifer would have lost a lot of respect for her. And he actually had come to respect her quite a bit, despite how he came across. She held her own with all of those Alpha men in her circle, and by all accounts, she usually came out on top. She had killed the crap out of untold numbers of his men, and she refused to show her fear of him. She still thought she could outsmart him. Maybe he would even let her. But there would be plenty of time to decide that later. The game was just beginning.
Cas was pacing the floor of the library in the bunker. What were they going to do? How was he going to find her this time?
"He's taunting me," he said through clenched teeth. "The note is deliberately vague. If he's holding her hostage, why does he not just say so, and state his terms?"
Sam was holding the note in his hand now. Cas had unpinned it from the door, pocketing Gail's blade, and then he had frantically winked himself back to the bunker after having read the note. It hadn't taken long; the note was very succinct.
Sam read the note aloud: "'If you want to find Narnia, look for a place you would feel at home'." His brow furrowed. "Not much to go on."
"I assume he's talking about you, Cas," Dean chipped in. "Where YOU would feel at home."
Cas could barely breathe. Where WOULD he feel at home? Wherever Gail was, that's where. He never should have let her go by herself. But their house was as well-protected as it could be. Yes, the candlesticks were here at the bunker, but that wouldn't have mattered, if she had been in the house. She had to have stepped outside. But in any event, it didn't really matter how Lucifer had gotten her, only that he had.
"Heaven?" Chuck speculated out loud.
"A church, somewhere?" Bobby chipped in.
Cas frowned. He knew they were all trying to help, but: "He's being deliberately ambiguous, just to torment me!" he shouted.
Frank was livid. "What the hell is he trying to pull, Cas? Why would he take her now?"
"Just to screw with us," Sam said angrily. "It's what he does."
"He knows we're close, now," Cas mused aloud. Had Lucifer somehow found out about Cas's visit to the Netherworld? My God; Gail knew what the last item was, and she knew where it was. Well, the city it was in, at least. What if Lucifer tortured her for the information? "We have to find Narnia, and we have to find it now," he said fretfully.
They all thought about it. How the hell were they supposed to figure out where Lucifer's compound was from a vague clue like that?
Suddenly, Dean said: "Paul."
Everyone's heads turned to look at him. Cas could have kicked himself. Of course Paul would know where the compound was. But the question was, where was Paul?
The Demons took Gail to a windowless room in the basement of the mansion. There was a sleeping bag and a thin pillow laying on the floor, but that was it. No other furniture. Nothing that she could use to fashion into a weapon.
"You're lucky the Boss is feeling magnanimous today," one of her captors said. "Originally, he was planning to hang you from the ceiling."
"'Magnanimous'?" Gail repeated with a smirk. "That's a pretty big word for a Demon."
"You just keep on smiling," he said to her. "Your husband tortured the crap out of me years ago, before he killed me. How I would love to return the favour."
They slammed the door shut on her, and she heard it lock. She'd seen the sigil painted on the outside of the door, and there were some symbols inside on the walls, too. She tried to wink out anyway, but she couldn't, of course.
Gail crossed over to where the sleeping bag was. She sat down on it, then started to think.
A week later, things remained status quo. Every day, Lucifer's minions would come and get Gail, bringing her upstairs to the library. And every day, Lucifer would be sitting there in his armchair, having a drink. His flunkies would sit her down in the chair opposite, and Lucifer's soliloquy would begin. How Castiel didn't really care about her, or about any of them. Lucifer had known his Brother for centuries; she had only known Castiel a few short years. Gail only thought she knew her husband, but she was wrong. She should ask Jason sometime about the shenanigans he and Castiel pulled during the Angel wars. Then she might look at him a little differently.
"Where IS Jason, anyway?" Gail had asked Lucifer. "Why isn't he with you? Did he get a better offer?"
Lucifer frowned. He'd like to know that, too. Jason had his nerve, just walking away from the game like that. Nobody walked out on Lucifer. The trouble was, Lucifer had no idea where the vampire was. Absolutely no idea. He should be able to see him. Why couldn't he see him?
"Why? Are you that anxious to feel his teeth in your neck again?" Lucifer sneered. "Is Castiel not doing it for you any more in that department? My offer still stands. Just so you know."
Gail kept herself calm. If he was going to do that to her, wouldn't he have done it by now? He'd have to kill her first, of course, but that wouldn't have stopped him from trying, she was sure.
Every day they would spar like that, and every day he would have a drink poured for her that she would refuse. Then, once she had pissed him off enough, he would have her thrown back into her cell, and the process would be repeated.
A few days later, he'd had it. He picked up the drink she had refused yet again and hurled the glass against the wall, shattering it. "You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met!" he shouted. "No wonder nobody wants you around!"
"I've heard this spiel from you before," Gail said, rolling her eyes. "Flip the record over, will you? Let's see: my parents didn't want me. Waaah, waaah. Castiel doesn't love me. Boo hoo. If you wanted me to fall for that old chestnut, you shouldn't have sent those death squads out my way. It was hell on wheels, if you'll pardon the expression, but this last year toughened me up like you wouldn't believe. You have no idea. Ask Dean, he'll tell you. I'm a bitch, now."
Lucifer was seething. His hands were opening and closing as he tried to decide if he should just haul off and smack her one. This was unbelievable. She wasn't one bit scared of him, or if she was, she was hiding it like a champ.
"I will take apart everyone you love, starting with your husband," Lucifer said, leaning forward and pointing his finger at her.
For a second, the urge to bite his finger clean off was so strong she was almost dizzy with it. This was ridiculous. "I don't know what the hell you're trying to prove, but I will never, I repeat, never, sit here and have a drink with you," she hissed at him. "So you can sit here in someone else's home acting all Masterpiece Theatre, but we all know who and what you truly are."
Lucifer had looked at her with red, glowing eyes, and for a moment, Gail was sure that he was going to reach out a little further and just snap her neck like a twig. But instead, he bellowed for his minions to come and take her away again.
Lucifer sat down at the library desk, and once he'd stopped shaking enough to write in a steady hand, Lucifer wrote another note for Castiel. Then he called for another couple of his Demons to come and deliver the note to the bunker.
"You won't be able to get near the place but put the note on a rock and heave it at the door, as hard as you can," Lucifer instructed them. "The door is metal. If you hit it hard enough, they'll hear it."
The Demons looked at each other uncertainly. "Will Castiel be there?" one of them asked him.
"I'm counting on it," Lucifer said. "The note's for him." He stared at the men. "Don't tell me: Castiel killed you, or tortured you, or both. He's a scary guy. He gave me a bo-bo. Waaah, waaah. Well, sack up. Geez. His wife's got more balls than any of you."
They took the note from him without another word, and then they popped over to the back yard of the bunker.
"Give it here," one of the Demons said to his companion. He had found a good-sized rock and was taking the rubber bands out of his pocket. "I was a pretty good pitcher on my college team."
"You can have it," the other Demon said. "I'm outta here."
"What do you mean?" the first Demon said.
"What I said. Lucifer's crazy, and I'm not sticking around to see what'll happen when Castiel shows up at the compound," his companion said. "I'd rather take my chances with Crowley. I'd do the same, if I were you." Then, he disappeared.
The first Demon shrugged. Then he pegged the rock he was holding at the bunker door, as hard as he could, hearing the satisfying CLANG! sound, and the subsequent echo. That would probably have been about 92 on the radar gun. Not bad, for being so out of practice.
But he made sure that he was gone by the time the bunker door opened.
Sam looked around. That had been odd. Then he looked down and saw the rock with the note.
"'They're pretty, and sweet-smelling'," he read the note aloud to everyone gathered in the library area, "'and I'm not just talking about your wife. Although she is, too.'"
Cas rushed over to Sam, grabbing the piece of paper from his friend's hand. Cas's jaw was clenched. If Lucifer was trying to drive him crazy, this was exactly the way to do it. Another ambiguous clue, coupled with the nauseating image of Lucifer being close enough to Gail to smell her. Cas was going to tear Lucifer apart when he found him.
"'Pretty, and sweet-smelling'," Sam said. "Flowers. Gotta be flowers."
"OK, so put that together with the first clue," Frank said eagerly. "Flowers, and a place Cas would feel at home. How about that Secret Garden place you guys like to go to in Vegas? That place got a lot of flowers?"
Cas was startled for a moment. Could it be? But then, his face fell. No. There had been a lot of ferns and palm trees there, but he couldn't recall any flowers. Still, it had been a good idea, and he told Frank so now.
"Just to be on the safe side, I'll pop over there for a moment," Cas said, clapping Frank on the shoulder. He looked at Gail's brother with compassion. This was eating him alive too, Cas knew. Everyone in the bunker was working overtime, trying to brainstorm ideas. This almost felt like the time she had been Sarah, but it felt different, too. This time, Cas knew that Lucifer had her, and the Devil was taunting him with these so-called clues. Baiting him. And Cas would very happily take the bait. Soon, Lucifer would get carried away with his own hubris, and he would make a mistake. But Cas wasn't going to wait that long. He just couldn't. He couldn't afford to take that chance. When a wild animal felt cornered, it tended to lash out.
Cas popped out of the bunker and into the Secret Garden. He and Gail had been there enough times for him to know that there was a spot beside the panthers' cage where he could materialize without being seen. He walked around the Garden, quickly but casually, so as not to call attention to himself. But it was no use. There were no flowers here, and no Gail. They were looking for a compound. Still, he'd had to look.
Cas returned to the bunker just long enough to advise everyone that the Secret Garden had been a dead end. "But please, keep brainstorming, everyone," he said. "Any idea, no matter how far-fetched it may seem. Please. We have to keep trying." Cas's throat closed up, and Dean threw him a sympathetic glance.
"Isn't there a way to track down Paul?" Frank said, frustrated. "Don't you guys have some kind of a spidey-sense, or something? Kevin always knew that there were Demons nearby, even before we saw them."
"Yes, but they have to be nearby," Cas responded. "The last we saw of Paul, he was in Africa. Then, he'd said he was going to have to go back to Europe."
"He's still technically a Demon, ain't he?" Bobby piped up.
"Yes, Bobby," Cas answered patiently.
"Then wouldn't Crowley be able to find him?" Bobby asked.
Cas's head snapped up. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of that? Because he was crazy with worry, that was why. "I'll be right back," he said tersely.
He winked himself over to the crossroads, calling Crowley's name.
"You bellowed?" his Brother said dryly. "You know, I do believe my feelings are hurt. I was going to send your Missus a lovely Thank You note for the completely non-denominational gift she gave me over a year ago, but then you both left the grid."
"Cut the crap," Cas barked. "You know very well where we were, and what we were doing. Your friend Lucifer has abducted Gail, and you're going to tell me where his compound is, and you're going to tell me now."
"Believe it or not, if I knew where it was, I would tell you," Crowley said calmly. "I owe all of you a debt of gratitude. Hell has been completely revitalized. You've sent me so many souls over the past year I'm thinking of building an annex. Not to mention all of the Demons who have left Lucifer's employ to return to my Kingdom. I guess that dental plan of his just wasn't cutting it."
"So you truly don't know where he is?" Castiel asked, his shoulders slumping. He knew his Brother very well, and he could tell that in this particular instance, Crowley had nothing to hide.
"No, I don't," Crowley stated. "And I'll tell you something else: If you do flush him out, and you want to finish him, I'm willing to help you do it."
Cas regarded him suspiciously. "Why the change of heart?"
Crowley smirked. "Assuming I had one, of course. We need things back the way they were, Cas. Heaven and Hell. God, and me. A place for everything, and everything in its place. Lucifer is a dangerous lunatic. Everyone knows that."
Castiel pursed his lips. "Can you locate Paul for me?" he asked Crowley. "He might be my only way to find Lucifer."
Crowley nodded. "All right, Castiel. I'll send out the eye. We've got to get her back. I'm already looking forward to my completely non-denominational chocolate bunny."
Cas gave him a double-take. Crowley was smiling now, instead of smirking, as he usually was. Cas started to speak, but his Brother held up his hand. A moment later, Crowley said, "Got him. He's not where he's supposed to be, though."
"How do you know where he's supposed to be?" Cas asked suspiciously.
"Calm down, Castiel," Crowley told his Brother. "He's supposed to be in Europe. I know that because there were a handful of Demons there, supposedly under his command, that are with me, now. They parted ways just after Christmas. He's in Africa, starring in a revival of A Raisin In The Sun. But actually, in this instance, they're all raisins, I suppose." Crowley put a hand to his mouth, but he was smirking again. "Whoops. Don't tell him I said that."
Cas was staring at Crowley incredulously. Suddenly, the King of Hell had become Frank, with the quips and the one-liners. What had gotten into him?
But Castiel would concern himself with that another time. He had the information he needed. "I'll be in touch," Cas said curtly, and then he winked himself away.
"I need to know where Lucifer's compound is," Cas said without preliminary. He'd winked himself over to the village where they'd spent Christmas, and sure enough, there was Paul, helping the townspeople to fix the church's roof. The sight would have done Castiel's heart good if he wasn't so frantic about Gail.
"Yissa!" a few of the men exclaimed, and those who were on the ground prostrated themselves, while those men who were up on the roof simply bowed low.
"Hello, Castiel," Paul said. He paused, wiping his brow. Then he descended the ladder and came down where the Angel stood. "I believe that's the customary greeting. Now, try it back."
"He's got Gail," Cas said, and Paul's smile disappeared. "Oh, no," he said. "No, Cas."
"Where's the compound, Paul?" Cas repeated.
"I don't know," Paul replied.
Cas gritted his teeth. "What do you mean, you don't know? You were there!"
"I know, but he modified my memory too, the last time I was there," Paul said anxiously. "Now, I can't recall. All I can think of is 'Narnia'."
Cas let out a frustrated breath. This was unbelievable. Everyone had been there, yet no one knew where it was. "Let me search your mind," he said desperately. "Maybe I can pick up a clue. Something. Anything."
"OK, Castiel. Search away," Paul said. He was tempted to make a wisecrack, but then he refrained. Now was not the time. Lucifer had Gail, and Lucifer was out of his damn mind. That was why Paul had deserted his post. He was no fool. Lucifer was a shoot-the-messenger kind of dude.
Cas put his fingers on Paul's forehead as the townspeople looked on, awestruck. Castiel closed his eyes, concentrating. Narnia. Narnia. Damn it! But then, inexplicably, he got the image of a large plate of noodles. Narnia. Noodles. Noodles?
He took his hand away from Paul's head. "Why are you thinking about noodles?" Cas barked.
Paul's forehead wrinkled. "Noodles? Why would I be thinking about noodles? I don't eat!"
"I don't know, but you are," Cas shot back. "I saw a big plate of spaghetti, a loaf of bread, and some wine."
"That used to be my favourite, when I was a human," Paul replied thoughtfully. "There's nothing better than a big ol' pasta dinner, when you're starving. Oh, great. Now I'm hungry."
"A pasta dinner?!" Cas repeated. He was completely confused now. Italy, maybe? Everyone who'd been around for centuries knew that pasta wasn't really Italian, but now, his mind was free-associating. Somewhere that he would feel at home, with flowers, and pasta. "Our wedding?" he said softly. Or, the cathedral, maybe? No, that was ridiculous. The reception hall? The hotel? The restaurant where they'd found the Heaven Tablet? But, what would any of that have to do with Lucifer's compound? No. He was sure that was all a red herring. He was looking for zebras.
Cas had been muttering all of this aloud, and Paul had been looking at him, waiting for him to finish. "Zebras?!" Paul exclaimed now. "Well, you ARE in Africa. But what the hell are you talking about, Castiel?"
"I don't know," Cas said despairingly. "That's just it. I don't know."
"Is there anything we can do for you, Yissa?" one of the townsmen asked him. They'd all seen the distraught expression on his face. "Do you need us to take up arms again?"
"No," Cas said sadly. "No." He put his hand on the man's arm. "Thank you." He looked at Paul. "I'll be in touch if there's anything else."
"I still have your number," Paul told him. "I'll give a call, if I remember anything."
Cas nodded. Then he winked himself away, as the townspeople all gathered around the farmer whose arm he had touched. One by one, they all touched the man's arm too, murmuring something in their own language. Paul looked on, bemused. Boy, did he have a lot of jokes running through his head right now. But he'd better not make any smart remarks. The people were letting him help because he was another strong back and pair of arms, but they still looked at him with wary suspicion. It was only the fact that Castiel had advised them that Paul was a friend that was keeping him alive at the moment. But that was OK. Paul was doing this for himself as much as he was doing it for these people. The road signs on the path to redemption were pretty clear at this point.
He said a silent prayer for Gail, and then climbed back up on the roof.
This was beyond ridiculous now. If there was anything that Gail had learned in the past couple of years, it was the truth of the old adage: the Good Lord helps those who help themselves. She was done waiting. The longer she was here, the more potential there was for something really bad to happen.
The Demons who escorted her to her cell every day had gotten lax by now, and she had taken to acting very docile and defeated when they came to collect her. One of them was ahead of her, unlocking the door of her cell with his back to her, and the other one was behind her, but not immediately behind her. And neither of them had a hand on her at the moment.
Gail shoved the Demon in front into the door, and his head hit on the metal. Then he slumped to the floor. She dove for his belt, where he had the Angel blade. She pulled it out and whirled around. The other Demon was rushing her, and she slashed at him with the blade. He stepped back, avoiding the knife. She ran forward and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him towards her. Cas had taught her that this was a move that the enemy generally wouldn't expect, and she had found that to be true. She slit the Demon's throat with the knife, and then she ran towards the stairs as he fell to the ground.
She almost made it. Gail had ascended several steps when she felt herself being grabbed from behind. The Demon who'd been stunned had risen from the floor and lunged after her. He knocked her down, flipped her over, and wrenched the blade from her hand.
He put it to her throat. "You little bitch," he growled. "Just give me an excuse. Castiel tortured me for hours."
Crap. There was nothing she could do now. He was a big one, and he was pinning her to the staircase. She could see in his eyes that he was deadly serious. He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet, then marched her back to her cell and shoved her inside, slamming the door shut. He'd shoved her so hard that she lost her balance, falling face first onto the concrete.
Well, that had been a big bust, hadn't it? She got up slowly, rubbing her knees. Ouch. Too bad she couldn't heal herself, because she was sure that she was bleeding in at least a couple of places now.
Gail crawled over to the sleeping bag and sat on it, thinking furiously. She'd known her powers wouldn't work in here because of the sigils, but she'd been hoping, if she could get further away from the symbols, that her powers would come back. But she'd tried to blast those Demons, and she'd been unable to. What was this house, just one big, stupid sigil?
As she sat there in the darkness, feeling herself for injuries, the door to her cell suddenly opened and Lucifer walked in, accompanied by a human man.
"You're just bound and determined to be a troublemaker, aren't you?" Lucifer said. He snapped his fingers, and a light from up on the ceiling went on. She looked up. Nope. Way too high for her to reach, to break the glass. Gail was still thinking in terms of weapons.
Lucifer saw her looking, and he shook his head. So, she was still scheming. He should have figured as much. And now, she had cost him another minion. She hadn't killed the Demon whose throat she'd cut, of course, but he had smoked out, leaving his meat suit behind.
"Since you won't accept my kind hospitality willingly, I'm afraid we're going to have to escalate," Lucifer told her. "Meet Quinton. He's our resident chemist. He's the genius who put together the concoction for those chemical bombs we were using a while back. You remember those, don't you?"
She glared at him, saying nothing. But now, Quinton was taking a syringe out of his pocket, and her heart skipped a beat. Oh, crap.
"You're wasting your time," she told him, as calmly as she could. "Those bombs didn't work on Angels."
"I'm aware," Lucifer said. "But this is a new, improved formula. We need to do a beta test, and since you're the only Angel around..."
Quinton approached Gail. "Roll up your sleeve," he ordered her.
She stared up at him. "Obviously, you haven't met me," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Go to hell."
"I told you," Lucifer said to Quinton cheerfully. "You owe me twenty bucks." He snapped his fingers and suddenly, Gail was cuffed and bound. Quinton knelt down beside her and pulled up her sleeve, then injected her high up on the arm, near her shoulder. And he didn't do it gently.
Quinton stood up and looked at Lucifer. "We should see some effects in about ten minutes," he told him.
"Great," Lucifer said heartily. The men stood in silence for a moment. "You're dismissed," the Devil told Quinton. The man looked at him blankly. "Buzz off," Lucifer said. "I'll call you when I want you."
Quinton frowned, but he left the room. Lucifer snapped his fingers again, and a chair appeared, out of nowhere. He sat down on it and continued to look at her.
"I'm considering putting this new chemical out there," he said conversationally. "But I want to make sure it works on those pesky Angels, too. Some of them just don't know when to give up."
"You're right. We never give up," she said to him. "Why should we, when we're so close to defeating you?"
"Is that what you think?" he scoffed.
"Yes, that's what I think," she retorted. "Your numbers are way down, and you're getting desperate now."
He looked at her sharply. "Now what would make you say that my numbers were down?"
Gail cursed herself. Crap. Paul had told them that. She thought fast. "Well, they must be," she said. "We've been killing your men for a year now."
He regarded her suspiciously. Then he nodded. "So you have."
Gail was starting to feel a little strange now. Was it just the power of suggestion, or was the substance working on her?
Lucifer saw the expression on her face change, and he started to smile. Dammit. No wonder she wasn't very good at poker. "I hate to tell you this, but I don't feel sick," Gail told him. But she felt strange, nonetheless.
"You're not supposed to feel sick, you're supposed to feel angry," he responded. "Are you feeling angry, Gail?"
She rolled her eyes. "You're holding me here against my will, jabbing me with needles, and you're asking me if I'm angry? And they call my husband Captain Obvious."
But she WAS feeling angry now, and not just for that reason. In fact, she was starting to feel enraged. How dare he? How dare Lucifer come to her house and take her here, imprisoning her like this? Hadn't he put her through enough already?
"Of course you're mad at me," Lucifer remarked. "That's a given. But how do you feel about all of your so-called friends and family now? You don't see any of them here, coming to your rescue, do you?"
"They don't know where the compound is," she said. "'Narnia. Narnia.' That's all we got from those stupid idiots we tortured."
"True, but I've sent Castiel a couple of very excellent clues as to our location," Lucifer said smoothly. "He obviously doesn't care enough about you, or he'd be here by now. He's probably gone back to Africa. We all know how much he enjoys being worshipped and catered to. You told him he could forget about being treated like that at home, didn't you? So he's obviously decided which scenario he prefers."
Gail knew that Lucifer was full of it, but as the chemical permeated her bloodstream, she started to resent Cas, anyway. Her husband claimed he didn't enjoy it, yet every time she turned around, there he was, being worshipped and catered to. He HAD let them suffer the effects of the plagues in Egypt before he'd come and gotten them, hadn't he? Frank had gotten boils, and she'd had so many dead frogs in her room she'd had to be rescued. Then, they'd been robbed at gunpoint for the water they'd saved, and there had been dead animal carcasses all over the lobby of their hotel, stinking up the place and rotting, inviting flies and other insects.
Then, when they'd been in Paris, Cas had played the role of a male chauvinist pig, and he'd played it very well. They had been undercover, of course. Intellectually, she knew that. Still, it occurred to her now that he'd taken to that role a little too easily. And the worst part was that she had exhorted him to treat her that way, wanting to maintain their cover. It was easy to subjugate someone when you had their full permission, wasn't it?
And look at the year they'd just had. It had taken such a toll on all of them, yet her husband had emerged unscathed, hadn't he? Didn't he always? Not only that, but he'd found a whole new set of people to kowtow to him and tell him how great he was. And while she had been in Europe killing Demons and humans and turning into Rambo, Cas had been wandering around Africa, acting like Charlton Heston playing Moses. Pre-NRA, of course.
Gail was taking deep breaths now, trying to fight the way she was feeling. It was chemically induced, she reminded herself. It wasn't real. Lucifer liked to screw with people. Sam and Bobby had told them all what kinds of psychological games he liked to play.
"Too bad Cas isn't here right now, isn't it, Gail?" Lucifer taunted her. "You'd probably like to rip him a new one."
"Yes, I would," she blurted out. And part of her would, too. But it was a moot point, wasn't it? He wasn't here right now. Was he? She felt a surge of hope, and the adrenaline associated with that was enough to beat back her anger for the moment and replace it with a wave of love. Lucifer was wrong. Cas would be going nuts looking for her. Lucifer was a liar. Sending Cas clues. Yeah, right.
Lucifer had been enjoying winding her up, but now, he was kind of regretting the fact that Castiel wasn't here. The way his wife had looked a moment ago, she might just fry Cas herself, and do Lucifer a huge favour. But the clues he'd been giving Castiel had been deliberately vague. Lucifer had been planning to milk Castiel's torment for a while.
He rose from the chair and snapped his fingers, making it disappear again. "I've got a news flash for you, honey," Lucifer sneered. "There was no chemical in that shot. Absolutely none. It was a saline solution. The anger and hatred you felt for your husband just now was all yours. Chew on that for a while." He swept out of her room and slammed the cell door shut behind him. An instant later, the light on the ceiling went out, plunging her into darkness once again.
Lucifer sat down and wrote out another clue, and then he summoned the Demon who had delivered it to the bunker the last time.
Minutes later, Dean was holding the note, and Cas was looking over his shoulder at it.
"'Gabriel is looking down on me from his peaks, and I don't mean metaphorically'," Dean read aloud.
Predictably, Cas was angry. These days, he spent every moment of his time alternating between feeling scared and being angry, and the latter emotion was coming to the forefront now.
But Sam was racing to his laptop. "I think he's finally given us something we can use!" he enthused. He started typing away. "Peaks. Gabriel," he said aloud. "The San Gabriel Mountains! They're in Southern California!"
Cas raced over to where Sam sat, with Dean and Frank hot on his heels. The men all looked down at the laptop.
Frank's heart sank. "That doesn't exactly narrow it down," he said morosely. "Look at all the cities around there. Not to mention the desert regions."
"Hey, a few minutes ago, it was the whole planet," Sam pointed out. "At least we have a region to work in, now. And now that I think about it, it makes perfect sense. This whole area falls under the jurisdiction of Los Angeles County. Los Angeles. The City of Angels. A place where Cas would feel at home."
They all looked at each other. It fit, all right. "What about the flowers?" Dean asked.
Sam was typing away. "I'm working on it."
Gail sat in her cell, thinking about what had just happened. A saline solution. No chemicals whatsoever. Wow. Assuming that Lucifer had been telling the truth, which was a big assumption, she had some work to do on herself, apparently. She started thinking about her feelings. Analyzing them. Gail thought she'd cured of the old passive-aggressive way that she used to react to things, but obviously, she'd been wrong. If she got out of this alive, she would have to try to fit in a discussion with her husband into their busy schedule.
But in the meantime, she'd better put her mind to work thinking of an escape plan. The next time, the chemicals could be real. The next time Lucifer came to visit, who knew what he would have in store for her?
She shifted her position on the sleeping bag. Her rear end was falling asleep. It was kind of silly to give an Angel a sleeping bag, when you thought about it. It wasn't like she was going to zip herself up in it and go to sleep, or anything. Still, it was better than sitting on a cold, hard concrete floor.
Zip herself up! She started fumbling around. Yes, there was a zipper on the side of the sleeping bag. It wasn't much, but maybe it was something. She felt the material in the dark. If she could only see what she was doing! Still, if she worked it, Gail was fairly confident she could pull the zipper out of the sleeping bag by tearing at the stitching. She dug her fingers in and begun.
"I'm telling you, Master, that's what I saw," the Demon was saying.
Lucifer had sent out the Eye, and he was currently talking to the inside man he had in Africa. His spy had the improbable name of Wolfgang. And Wolfie, as his Demon buddies had dubbed him, had jumped into the meat suit of one of the villagers from the little farming community that Castiel had last called home. That was how Lucifer had known that their merry little group had gone back to the bunker. But now, Lucifer had called Wolfie for a routine status report, and he was being told something extremely interesting.
"Castiel was at the church," the Demon was telling Lucifer. "He called up to one of the men on the church roof, asking him where your compound was. I couldn't see the guy's face, because the sun was in my eyes. But when he came down the ladder, I thought I recognized him. And then, when Castiel started talking to him, he called him Paul."
"Paul? Paul," Lucifer had said, astonished. "Our Paul? My Paul?"
Holy crap, Wolfie thought, bemused. How many times could you say "Paul" in ten seconds? "Yes, Sir," he confirmed.
Lucifer gripped the book he had been holding and ripped it in half, straight down the middle. Then he glared at it and lit it on fire with his eyes, just for good measure. That bastard. That snake in the grass. Raphael's son, in bed with his father's killer? Who would have ever believed it?
"Thanks for your report," the Devil said to Wolfgang. He kept his voice calm, but he was absolutely livid. He popped himself over to Africa, to the coordinates that Wolfie had been speaking from. Wolfgang was startled by his sudden appearance.
"Nobody likes a snitch, Wolfie," Lucifer told the Demon. He snapped his fingers, exploding poor Wolfgang from the inside out. Then he waited in the shadows until he saw Paul walk by. He grabbed Paul from behind, and then they were gone.