A/N So this yeah, this is a story I've been working on for years, it's been rewritten like five times and I've finally gotten it to where I like it. A lot of time and effort has gone into this story so I do hope someone enjoys it. I'll post more depending on level of interest, anywho enjoy. Also thanks to my beta you know who you are ;)
Chapter 1
The rumble of the impala ceased as Dean parked her in front of the seedy hotel. He ignored the building that looked on the verge of being condemned instead focusing on the fact that he really needed a beer and sleep, mostly sleep. He glanced over at his brother passed out in the seat next to him. It had been two months since he and Sam had ganked that pagan bitch, the whole Jesse incident, and it felt like they were finally making headway on, things. Granted there were days where he still felt that betrayal, of his brother choosing a demon over him, of starting the damned apocalypse, but those days were growing fewer and fewer.
Right now things seemed abnormally quiet. There had been no word from Cas, no angels or demons rearing their ugly heads, no leads on the colt, it set him on edge and for the past few days he'd gotten this sort of antsy feeling in his bones. He just knew something was about to rear its ugly head, and it was undoubtedly going to be apocalypse related.
"Hey, sleeping beauty." He said and his brother woke with a sharp intake of breath blinking owlishly.
Sam pulled a face at sight of the hotel. "This place in business?" He grumbled voice still heavy with residual sleep.
"It's the only place for miles, at this point I'd settle for scratchy bed sheets and crappy wall paper if it means I get to sleep." Dean said getting out of the car. Sam followed stretching after closing the door.
"I'll get us a room." Dean turned heading towards the office with a neon sign stating vacancies; only the VA and CY were lit.
A heavy set man sat behind the counter focused on an old tv mounted on the wall. He didn't even look over when Dean entered, the bell above the door ringing loudly.
"Hey, uh, can I get a room for the night, two beds." The man finally looked over a sour expression on his face as if he were looking at a particularly ugly bug on the wall. He pulled a key off a hook tossing it on the counter grumbling for money. Dean's phone started ringing as he pulled out his wallet, he set cash down on the table taking the key.
"I'll be sure to give you guy's a great review on yelp." He said and the man gave him a nasty look before focusing back in on the tv. Rolling his eyes, he dug out his phone as he left, spotting Bobby's name on the screen before answering.
"Hey Bobby." He said, silently glad to hear from the elder hunter.
"Dean, how you boy's doin' ?"
"Better actually." And this time he wasn't lying, which must have shown in his voice because Bobby didn't question it. Dean had spoken to him frequently over the past few weeks adding a friendly ear to his concerns and complaints. He hadn't been the only one to catch the brunt of Sam's betrayal.
"Good to hear kid, listen, I've got word on some strange goings on."
"Like apocalypse strange or?" Dean questioned meeting Sam's gaze as he approached the impala, his brother gave him a questioning look and he mouthed 'Bobby' back, before tossing him the keys to the room. Sam caught them easily and Dean didn't miss the look of apprehension on his face. It was one thing when Dean called Bobby but when Bobby called them the hunter typically had news, good or bad it didn't matter.
"Well, there's a hell of a lot of possible demon activity so yeah, maybe."
Dean bit back a grimace, sometimes he wished his gut would be wrong.
"There's been a few murders in town called Irragin, small dot on the map in Oregon."
He helped Sam take bags into the room. It smelled moldy and he tried not to focus too much on a suspicious looking brown stain on the floor.
"How many we talking?"
"At least three in the past four days, guy in his twenties missing a heart, girl missing her eyes and a priest that was drained dry, reports say there was a strong scent of sulfur left behind."
Dean cursed softly, drawing Sam's attention. His brother moved closer to him.
"Those are some pretty specific things."
"Yeah sounds almost ritualistic to me."
He ran a hand tiredly down his face. "Any idea on what kind of ritual?"
"Hell they could be summoning unicorns for all I know, this whole apocalypse thing has everything in a twist."
Dean snorted."Yeah, you got that right. We're about five hours outside Oregon, we'll head on over to check it out after we catch a few hours of shut eye."
"Maybe your angel friend has a clue."
"I'll give him a call."
"You boys be careful, in the meantime I'll do some more research of my own, give you a call if I find out anything else."
"Yeah, thanks Bobby." He said before hanging up.
"So?" Sam pressed. He was so damn eager, still needed to prove to Dean that he could be trusted. Dean had stopped being annoyed, there wasn't much he could say or do to keep Sam from blaming himself.
"Well we haven't exactly had any word on the other horseman, could have something to do with them." Sam said after he gave him a brief rundown. He took a seat on the bed across from him.
Dean shrugged. "Bobby's gonna do some more research, in the meantime, sleep."
Sam nodded looking out the window.
"Hey, I mean it, sleep." Dean pressed. "No research, Bobby's got it handled."
Sam sighed looking down at his hands. "What if it is apocalypse related? We could be wasting time."
"Neither of us are going to be much use stopping it if we're dead on our feet, look, I'll call Cas, maybe he'll do some poking around of his own too."
Sam finally looked up at him. "Alright, okay, just a few hours."
Dean nearly rolled his eyes pulling his phone from his pocket. He knew Sam was still eating himself up about this whole thing, but honestly, at this point there was no going back.
He frowned a little at Castiel's voicemail and left a quick message, he wondered if the angel even knew how to check them.
"There, now I'm going to sleep." Dean gave him a pointed look and Sam seemed to grimace standing. He walked over to his duffel on the table and pulled out his sleep clothes, toothbrush and such, before heading to the bathroom.
The elder Winchester sighed. Sammy hadn't been sleeping like he should after this whole clusterfuck, and he had a hard enough time before. Laying back Dean stared at the yellow ceiling, doing his best to ignore the approaching apocalypse that hung like a guillotine over their heads. Like every day, it wasn't getting any easier.
*SPN*
Dean rolled out of bed, immediately noticing that Sam was already up, the sound of the shower humming throughout the room. Frowning, he stood wondering just how much sleep his little brother had gotten. Grabbing his phone his brow furrowed when there was no sign that he had missed a call, not that he wouldn't have woken if it had rang, but still.
The shower stopped and he walked to his duffel to get clean clothes. He considered trying to call Cas again a tinge of concern welling in his chest. He put it off, reminding himself that this wasn't the first time the angel hadn't responded right away, his search for God keeping him well occupied.
Sam appeared then hair still a little damp dressed in clean cloths.
"Hey, any word from Bobby?"
Dean shook his head. "Nothing from Cas either."
Sam's brow furrowed as he nodded looking a bit lost.
"Let me grab a shower and then we can head on out." Dean said hoping that their being on the road and 'doing' something even if it was traveling would get Sam out of his funk.
"Yeah ok, I'll go grab breakfast."
Dean smirked liking both that his brother was choosing to do something and considering food.
"Awesome, none that of weird healthy crap though." He said entering the bathroom.
Sam huffed. "It's not weird."
"Says you little brother!" He called back through the door.
A pause as he listened to Sam getting ready to leave.
"Jerk!"
He smiled. "Bitch!" Then he heard the door close. Yeah, things were, getting better.
*SPN*
Dean gripped his gun easily in his hands glancing around the dark forest. The old warehouse they currently stood outside of appeared quiet and abandoned with cracked windows and a no trespassing sign on the fence surrounding it. It hung at an angle and was rusting, banging lightly in the cold fall air against the fence. It was the only sound save for the brothers light breathing.
"Dean." He looked over as Sam whispered his name lowly. He gestured at a door with his head and Dean nodded.
Sam tried the knob and to both their surprise it opened easily. They winced when it gave a squeaky groan, freezing and listening intently for a moment.
Finally, exchanging glances, they both entered slowly. The room was dimly lit with hanging lights a few appearing to have blown out. What looked like some sort of ?alter? sat in a far corner of the room, candles flickering, three jars sitting in a triangle, strange writing on the floor.
"What the hell?" Dean breathed.
Bodies were scattered everywhere blood pooling on the floor. But that's not what gave them pause.
There was a slender dark haired woman laying in the middle of it all, face down arms thrown out in front of her, bloody fingers inches away from a blade...and two large brown wings that protruded from her back, stretched halfway out on either side.
"Is that an angel?" Sam said staring.
Dean shrugged. He'd never actually 'seen' an angels wings before, save for the shadow of Cas' the first time they'd met.
They glanced at each other again before slowly making their way towards her. Dean reached her first pausing before kneeling down, Sam stepping up beside him. He scanned her prone form then the wing closest to him. The feathers looked like any other though mard with blood.
"Have you ever seen-"
"No." Dean replied before Sam could finish.
"Is she, alive?" Dean glanced up at him, giving him an 'how should I know' look then looked back down at her. He reached out towards her neck, would an angel even have a pulse?
Just before he could touch her, one of her wings twitched and he jumped nearly falling backwards. He barely managed to catch himself, quickly scrambling to his feet. Both he and Sam aimed their guns down at her. There was a tense pause but when she remained still; Sam spoke.
"Guess that answers that question, I , think she's breathing."
Dean did note a very slight rise and fall of her back indicating shallow short breaths.
"Maybe we should try calling Cas again, he could-" Sam's next words were cut off by wet coughing and they both whipped around to locate the source. Laughter followed as they zeroed in on a woman sitting slumped up against a wall. Her face was half mard by blood a stream dribbling down her chin. More blood stained her probably once pristine dress suit, the source looked like a stab wound to her right shoulder.
"Somethin' funny?" Dean demanded gun raised brow furrowed.
Sam reached around and pulled out Ruby's knife.
"Sam Winchester." The demon sneered grey eyes shifting to coal black. "I know someone who would very much like to get his hands on you."
"The hell happened here?" Dean pressed.
"You boys are so sure you can stop it all," She smirked. "It's cute."
Dean glared at the demon cocking his gun. "You gonna tell us what happened here or am I gonna enjoy putting a bullet in your head early?"
It coughed again spitting blood out onto the floor. "She was too late to stop us," She said gaze shifting behind them briefly."And so were you, which seems to be a current trend for you Winchesters."
Dean clenched his jaw lifting the gun a little higher gripping it tighter. "Last time I'm gonna ask, what were you assholes doing here?"
"I'm not at liberty to say, but you'll find out soon enough I'm sure, when the Abomination finds you." She said casting them a bloody grin.
Frustration flaring Dean spared a glance at Sam, who immediately took a step forward. But before either of them could reach the demon it stiffened and suddenly fled from it's vessel.
As it left Dean followed it's last line of sight, because the sudden fear he saw in its dark eyes were not trained on them, and he turned.
Castiel stood there, but his focus was on the woman lying on the floor.
"Cas." Dean said lowering his gun, watching the angel.
He looked, surprised, shocked even staring down at the woman intently as if she might suddenly disappear.
"Uh, Cas, do you know her?" Sam asked, exchanging a look with Dean.
"No." Was Castiel's low reply but couldn't seem to stop staring at her.
"Ok so why the staring contest with the back of her head then?" Dean questioned.
"Because, she shouldn't exist." Cas said after a pause, finally looking at them.
"Isn't she, an angel?" Sam asked glancing down at her.
"Not quite." Cas looked around. "What happened here?"
"Actually we were hoping you could tell us." Dean said as the angel approached the ritual looking area. He seemed to be suddenly acting as if the woman wasn't there, focusing on the symbols and jars.
He picked one up examining its contents.
"They summoned something." He intoned.
"The Abomination?" Sam supplied and Cas looked up at them sharply. The spark of alarm in his eyes made them stiffen.
"We need to go." He said striding back towards them.
"Whoa hold on wait a sec-" Before Dean could finish, he felt a familiar disorienting tug and rush of air, and they were back in their hotel room.
"What the hell?" Dean said looking over atan equally confused Sam.
Cas appeared then the strange woman in his arms. Her wings were gone and he carefully laid her on a bed.
"Why'd you bring her?" Dean demanded eying her distrustfully.
"She won't hurt you." Cas insisted.
"Yeah, what makes you think that?"
"She's a guardian." He replied as if that was supposed to placate them.
Dean rolled his eyes but Sam spoke quickly, knowing if his brother did now it wouldn't help them get the info they needed.
"What's a guardian?"
Castiel seemed to hesitate eyeing her prone form.
"They are angelic beings, lower class like cherubs but stronger," He looked towards the ground, as if this part was hard to say. "I believe that they are the reason angels are seen by man as more, benevolent then they are."
"And that's supposed to make us feel safe?" Dean challenged. Sam couldn't blame him. They hadn't had much luck with these angels, who claimed to be doing the right thing, what made Guardians any different?
Castiel sighed a slight put upon expression on his face, the look was becoming more frequent the longer he spent with them.
"Guardians, they've always been different, I find it very hard to believe she'd cause you any harm."
Dean still looked unconvinced, but he put his gun away, Sam reluctantly doing the same. It wasn't that they didn't trust Cas, it's just that their track record with these kinds of things wasn't great.
"You said she shouldn't exist?" Sam inquired cataloging the information and making a note to call Bobby to check the lore.
"Their kind was killed by demons, all of them were thought dead but, it appears that may not be the case." A confused furrow appeared between the seraphs brow.
"So you're saying there could be more of them?" Dean asked not seeming to like the idea.
"I, doubt that." He said causing the hunters to frown.
"Why?" They spoke in unison.
"Because, if anyone would want to stop the apocalypse it would've been them." A melancholy air seemed to hang about him as he spoke. "If they were all still around, they would've-more then likely-disagreed harshly with the decision."
"And you didn't think to mention them?" Dean said with a pointed nod at her, and Castiel glared.
"They were thought to be dead."
"Well, clearly not."
"Look, maybe we should worry more about the Abomination?" Sam said hoping a change in topic would clear the air a little, not that a new villain brought good vibes or anything.
Dean grabbed a beer from the mini fridge, sticking close to the prone figure.
"Cerberus." Castiel corrected and the two blinked at him.
"Cerberus?" Sam looked startled. "As in guards the gates of hell?"
"Yes." The angel confirmed, seeming relieved by the change of subject.
"Three heads? Giant dog looking thing?" Dean asked with a slight gesture.
"I, suppose it does look somewhat dog like." Castiel looked unsure of the comparison.
"Like in Hercules." Dean nodded and Sam gave him a look. "What?"
"Dude, you've seen that movie?"
"Yeah, so." The elder Winchester looked suddenly uncomfortable and Sam chuffed logging that away to tease him about later. The thought of Dean watching a Disney movie was to much to pass up.
"Why'd they summon him?" Dean asked, obviously wanting to direct the conversation away from him.
Castiel shook his head. "It is believed that Cerberus can-"
Suddenly the woman stirred drawing attention back to her. Tensions rose and Dean quickly set down his beer in favor of drawing his gun. Castiel gave him a somewhat exasperated look but didn't comment.
Sam drew his own and they waited.
*SPN*
The first thing Evelyn noticed was that she was laying on something soft, on her back, a far cry from the cold hard ground of thewarehouse. Her body ached, grace diminished as it struggled to heal her. The injures she'd sustained were mostly healed now, though some pain remained. One of the many perks of falling.
Before opening her eyes she tried to cast out her senses, gauging her surroundings for danger. She frowned as a particularly bright presence caught her immediate attention, it took her only seconds to recognize what it was and her eyes flew open.
She was on a bed, not chained down, a moldy scent hung in the air, the ceiling discolored, blankets scratchy beneath her. Sitting up quickly she immediately found the source of her alarm. The angel stood meters from the bed and her eyes widened. Scrambling away she felt her back hit the wall, a pillow falling to the floor.
They'd found her. Her grace was still to weak, she couldn't fly away. The angel-or at least its vessel-canted his head brow furrowing as if in confusion.
Fighting would be her only option, she knew she stood little chance, but they wouldn't take her without one. Tensing further, her blade appeared to her out of the ether.
"Hey." A male voice said harshly and she looked over to see two men, pointing guns at her. Her brow furrowed, she hadn't sensed them.
Ok, this took a weird turn, two humans, and an angel? Were they working together? It seemed unlikely though she wouldn't put it past the angels to try anything to find her.
She clenched her jaw before speaking. "Who the hell are you? Where am I?"
*SPN*
The moment the sword slipped into her hand Dean threw everything Cas had saidabout her not being dangerous out the window. Though her reaction upon seeing the angel was noteworthy. She had her back pressed up against the wall, dark eyes wide and filled with alarm as they trained on the seraph. Too much like a cornered animal, too unpredictable.
"Hey." He growled sharply drawing her gaze. Confusion mixed with fear now as she eyed them and after a moment, finally spoke.
"Who the hell are you? Where am I?" Her tone was sharp, demanding, contradicting the fear in her eyes.
Sam, always the mediator, lowered his gun a little ignoring his brothers look. He lifted a hand in placation. "Take it easy."
"You were found lying unconscious in a warehouse surrounded by dead bodies." Castiel spoke up and her eyes zoomed towards him again.
"Demons," She said lowly. "They were demons."
"We know." Sam said, tone even and calm, though his gun was still trained on her.
"What we want to know is why you were there." Dean demanded and further confusion seeped into her features.
"You're a guardian." Castiel said as if that explained it.
She glared at him, and if looks could kill Dean was sure the angel would be dead.
"There are no more guardians." Her tone was almost menacing eyes boring into Cas, and if looks could kill, Dean was sure the angel would be dead.
Something else burned in her gaze though, and Dean suddenly realized what it was having felt it enough times himself. Hatred, smoldering and fierce and it was directed at Cas.
The angel seemed confused by her hostility. "But-"
"Ok, why don't we just start over." Sam interrupted suddenly, wanting to keep tensions from rising any further. Having two celestial beings square off in the motel room wasn't something he particularly wanted.
He put a hand on his chest. "I'm Sam," He gestured at Dean. "this is my brother Dean, we just wanted to ask you a few questions about what happened at that warehouse."
She seemed to frown at that, studying them, then her eyes widened.
"Wait, Sam and Dean Winchester?" A look from one to the other.
"Uh, yeah." Sam glanced at his brother, feeling a slight apprehension. Maybe he shouldn't have readily given out that information.
"The one and onlys." Dean said with a sort of nod, seemingly undeterred.
"Shit." She breathed looking stunned, and alarmed.
"What is your name?" Castiel asked and she looked at him sharply. This time, she seemed to study the angel, though there was still some hostility.
"You're Castiel?" Was her soft non-reply.
"Yes." He readily answered.
Another pause and Dean looked ready to say something when she finally spoke, reluctance maring her tone.
"Evelyn."
"You were named after an eighty year old woman?" Dean chuffed and she glared at him."
"No." She all but spat and his eyebrows lifted at the ferocity of that one word. "And as for what happened in that warehouse, I wasn't able to stop it, the ritual." This admission seemed to irritate her, a bit of shame in her tone.
"Yeah, a demon told us, something about summoning the Abomination?" Dean said eyeing her for reactions.
"Cerberus." Sam provided, but instead of answering she seemed to go pale.
"Did you kill it?"
"What?" Dean asked, wondering what part of what he'd said had her looking scared.
"The demon." She snapped.
"Uh, no, no it got away." Sam said exchanging a look with him.
This only seemed to distress her further.
"Why worry about one demon?" Castiel asked brow furrowed gaze on her. After a long moment of her seemingly trying to compose herself she spoke.
"I know who you are Castiel," Her gaze shifted from staring at her boots back to him. "I know you don't, haven't, affiliated with the host because they'd probably kill you on site, but that demon? It'll talk, and it will tell everyone about me. Eventually the other angels will catch word." Her fists clenched in the bedding as she spoke.
"Why are you concerned about angels knowing you're alive?" Castiel inquired further.
She shook her head harshly, looking away.
Castiel seemed to study her more intensely if it were possible. "You're hiding, from the angels." He said, not looking any less confused. "Why?"
"Like you don't know." Her voice was low, filled with emotion.
Dean glanced at Sam though his brother looked as lost as he felt.
"I know that demons slaughtered your kind that they-" Cas started but she cut him off harshly.
"What?" Her brow furrowed. "Demons?" She scoffed, shaking her head looking away for a moment before turning back."Don't you dare try to feed me that, I was there! I saw it!" At this point tears shimmered in her eyes sadness, hatred and anger seeming to battle for dominance. She sat up gripping her blade and Dean and Sam stiffened.
"Hey!" Dean snapped waiting till she looked over at them, giving the guns a sour look. "Why don't we all just take a breath and focus on why you were brought here, huh?"
Silence fell the two just seeming to stare at each other.
"Cerberus," Dean demanded. "Why did they summon him?"
"Dean." Cas' tone had both Winchesters looking over at him. The angel was staring towards the curtains, gaze sharply focused.
"It's him." His angel blade slipped into his hand and curses flew around the room as the door suddenly burst open. Evelyn scrambled off the bed, her own blade still in hand.
A balled man with a goatee stepped in dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans. His eyes glowed a dark red and a loud growl reverberated through the room.
Swirls of black smoke suddenly appeared beside her and Dean and two men almost identical to the first appeared, both with glowing eyes. The only differences were a scar across the left eye of one and the mangled right ear of the other. The trio effectively had them all penned in.
"Well," The one in the doorway growled in a deep baritone. "that was easy."
"Cerberus." Castiel muttered earning a sharp look from the Winchesters. The intruder grinned showing sharp canine teeth.
"Dean Winchester," His face morphed into a snarl. "The one who managed to escape hell." Smoke steamed out of its mouth, the stench of sulfur filling the room.
His gaze shifted to Cas and narrowed. "And the angel who helped," He looked the seraph up and down. "I'm surprised you survived, your grace still bares the scars." A wolfish grin. "I'm going to enjoy ripping your wings off," A predatory gleam entered his eyes as he squared in on Dean again. "and dragging you back to hell."
"That's not happening." Dean growled, this whole turn of events bringing more questions than answers.
Cerberus chuffed giving the guns barely a glance. " 'Fraid those won't work on me boys." His voice was taunting, self satisfied smirk in place.
"Can't win this fight gentleman, might as well give in." The monsters eyes gleamed with evil intent and took a step forward.
"Funny," Evelyn said making him pause, look at her. "That you're the demons lap dog now right?"
Dean and Sam exchanged looks. 'The hell is going on?!' 'Dunno' Sam shrugged slightly.
Cerberus' eyes narrowed again studying her. The counterpart closest to her leaned in a little, breathing deep.
"What are you?" He said after a moment as if contemplating her scent.
"Doesn't matter," She replied. "What matters is the fact that you, can't kill them." A nod at Dean and Sam. "They won't let you."
Cerberus snarled, a red circle glowing around his neck for a moment. "Damn demons."
Dean smirked not sure where this was going but wanting to hold things off for as long as possible. "So they have you on a leash huh? Well that must really chafe."
Cerberus snarled. "How I let a little whelp like you escape hell-"
"Oh, so you let me?" Dean chuffed tauntingly. If there was one thing he loved doing, it was giving the bad guys shit.
"Dean." Sam sighed lowly in slight annoyance and he gave him a reassuring glance, even though he felt little.
This whole thing was turning into a shit storm, and they needed to get out, now.
Cerberus looked ready to snap, eyes burning red. "That doesn't mean I can't kill the angel, and maim you!"
With that he lunged forward. Everything seemed to slow, Sam and Dean fired, but Evelyn and Castiel made eye contact.
In that instant she placed a hand on Sam's shoulder and he Dean's.
An enraged bellow followed them into the ether.
