Ready...

"Is everybody in? Is everybody in?

Is...

everybody...

in...?

….The ceremony is about to begin..."
- Jim Morrison, An American Prayer

Rowena's eyes opened slowly, painfully. They were crusted with sleep, dry and dirty, difficult to open. She let out a low moan as she moved her hand in the soil beneath her. She made a fist and pulled out a few blades of grass, staring at it in the dim nighttime light. She looked up - noticing that she was somewhere outside - to the sky.

Clouds blotted out the stars and the moon was a half-shaped, orangeish thing, pale and dull in the dark light. She sniffed the air. The smell of flowers and decay filled her nostrils, heavy, stinking, and she coughed in revulsion.

Rowena pulled her legs under her, the earth damp beneath her dress and stood up, her legs weak. She squinted in the darkness, trying to make out her surroundings.

Gravestones.

She sniffed in defiance. A graveyard. If this was supposed to un-nerve her, then they were very mistaken.

She went cold then as she remembered exactly whom she was dealing with.

Her eyes widened and her breath came rapidly, forming small clouds in the cold night air as the memory of recent events came flooding back to her waking mind.

She began to scamper through the gravemarkers, careful over the grassy terrain, heading to what looked like a fence.

I have to get out of here...

She stopped short. Seven dark shapes had manifested themselves directly in her path. They had their heads down, staring at he ground, not looking at her...not moving.

She turned and ran in the other direction, breath steaming in the air, not daring to look back...

The figures appeared directly in front of her again.

Rowena slowed and stopped. She regarded the figures and then crossed her arms.

"Well, lambs, out with it, then," she said, putting on her best air of authority. To her credit, her voice did not break. She knew exactly who these seven beings were, and who they worked for.

They raised their heads as one, eyes flickering in alternating blue and red soft light in the darkness, and, simultaneously, all of them grinned widely at her, teeth clenched together in a gruesome parody of a smile.

Despite herself, Rowena visibly shuddered.

"What...what do you want?" she croaked out, this time her voice betraying her fear.

The shadowed figures raised their arms together, and pointed towards the center of the cemetery, their heads turning to the indicated direction. Rowena flicked her eyes in that direction.

There was a swirling darkness there, shapes moving and roiling within.

"Well, I'm certainly not going in there...!" she protested.

The figures did not respond. Rowena looked over shoulder, calculating the distance to the nearest exit, then sighed.

She knew they would never let her go.

"Well, honestly, you could have just carried me there," she sighed. "No need to get all dramatic."

One of the figures turned her head slowly towards her, the grin still evident on her face which was ghostly, featureless in the cover of darkness.

"We'd prefer it if you went willingly," she said, her voice deep and surprisingly gentle. It did nothing to calm Rowena's nerves. "It would be a shame to have to damage you before you're finished," the being continued.

Rowena huffed, narrowing her eyes at the cemetery's center.

"Fine then. Not like I truly have any choice in the matter."

The dark figure stared back, unblinking.

Rowena turned apprehensively away from that gaze and took hesitant steps towards the swirling dark. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that what waited for her there was infinitely worse than these newly forged Arch-Angels, but they needed her for something...somethign that she might be able to bargain with, that much was clear, otherwise she'd have been dead already.

Actually, that might be the easier path, she thought sarcastically.

The air around her swirled and seemed to literally thicken around her, cloying and close like smoke, but not choking away her breath. Instead, she felt an overwhelming sensation of claustrophobia, like the world itself was pressing in around her.

She looked over her shoulder, having second thoughts.

The seven figures were following almost directly behind her, watching her like a cat watches a bird in an open field. Rowena swallowed hard and turned back to the center.

She saw a shape in the swirling mist, a podium or shelf set up in the middle of the grounds, and another, larger shape behind it. She walked closer, and the forms began to resolve themselves.

There was a stone pedestal, on which sat a large, leather bound book and a large, burning candle to read it by. Rowena recognized the book instantly and twisted up the corner of her mouth. At least she knew what they needed her for. It lay open to a page near the back. A stool had been set up beside the podium, and a small high writing desk with pen and paper for notation, all ready to go.

Behind this arrangement and about twenty feet off was an eight-foot tall inverted cross, shining and metallic in the night. Rowena squinted at it and shivered, noticing that there was a large shape twisting and working itself around it – a serpent with dull green scales, it's tongue flicking in and out, tasting the dank, funereal air. She looked past the gruesome totem, and seeing nothing else, turned her attention back to the Book of the Damned.

She leaned over the pages and began to examine the spell inside.

As she read, the night air seemed to still itself; moving slower and slower, growing colder and damper. Her wry smile began to fade as well, with every sentence that she read.

"Th...this?" she stammered, stepping back. "You want me to cast this spell?" She spun on the seven Heralds standing silently behind her and shook her head. "Look, I, of all people, have no problem whatsoever with you lads taking over Heaven and Hell, believe me. I know no one deserves it more than you do. Do ye get it? I'm on your side!" she pleaded, placing a hand over her heart. "But you do realize what this spell would do if I cast it? What it would unleash on this world? Even you two can't handle that kind of power..."

Rowena winced as a jet of bright orange flame ignited behind the inverted cross, lighting up the darkness in painful rcontrast. Shielding her eyes and squinting, she turned her head slowly back to the symbol of the Heralds.

Two twin, mirrored forms of fire ran up to the sides of the cross, and their tips formed into heads , hovering, facing each other. Rowena watched in morbid fascination as the flames began to resolve themselves into faces, which turned towards her, their fire-wreathed eyes glaring at her, through her...

"Oh, Witch," a voice spoken in tandem came out of the flames and darkness itself. "We have been handling this power since this all began. Read the spell. Cast it. Or believe us, you will learn exactly what it means to become our enemy."

The flames began to fold in upon themselves, then vanished, plunging them all back into the cool dark night. Rowena blinked and swallowed over the huge lump that had formed in her throat.

She looked back at the book, tears running down her face. She sniffed and ran a shaky hand under her nose.

"Right then..." she whispered chokingly. "I suppose that I'd better get started."

"Father...forgive me for asking...or don't; you are, after all, the final judge on pretty much...everything..." Gabriel said slowly, wide-eyed, "But...WHERE IN THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME!" he roared, his arms flying over his head.

Chuck lowered his head and smiled. "Yeah...sorry Gabriel...I really, really am..."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, staring at him. "Wait, I know that form, don't I? You're that writer guy...Chuck or something, right?" He snapped his mouth shut. "How is it that I can suddenly recognize you now?"

Chuck raised his eyes at Gabriel and shrugged.

"Yeah...yeah, right..." Gabriel muttered. "You can just turn it on and off again, anytime you want, can't you?"

Chuck gave him a wink, pointing at him.

"Wait, who is he again...?" Jesse drawled, confused. "He's your Dad?" He scrunched up his forehead. "How is that, you two are like the same age, far as I can tell."

Gabriel looked at Jesse then back a Chuck, jerking a thumb at him. "And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that you aren't letting him in on your little secret."

Chuck shook his head. "No, actually. That wasn't me." He frowned. "Your brothers drained him of all power. No longer is he not a cambrion anymore, but he seems to have a serious gap in his memory and perception to literally anything supernatural." He snapped his fingers, and Jesse closed his eyes and slumped back in his chair, snoring peacefully. "He doesn't need to hear this, either," Chuck muttered.

Gabriel considered Jesse for a moment. "Huh," he said dismissively. "Will he get it back?"

Chuck shrugged. "Beats me."

Gabriel's eyes widened. "'Beats' you? 'Beats' you? How exactly, is that even possible? Don't you, by definition, know everything?"

Chuck levelled his eyes on the Archangel, his face turning serious. "I am guessing that by now you've discovered with whom we're dealing with, right?"

Gabriel leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, letting out a low whistle. "Oh yeah I did. Never thought I'd live to see that."

Chuck nodded. "Well, they have tapped into the other side, the Darkness, the Old Ones, whatever you want to name it. They've been using that power, Gabriel. And I...I can't counter that. You know that."

Gabriel leaned forward and nodded slowly to himself. "Yeah...something about balance, right? Always has to be a balance..."

"Exactly, Chuck replied, nodding. "Or everything annihilates itself. And it would very likely take me with it. Look, I know you don't remember this, but I just spent a long, long time dealing with resolving a breach where the Darkness escaped. I just can't deal with that again. I'm still recovering from that and as such am literally not strong enough to do so."

Gabriel's eyebrows shot up. "A breach? Reaaaaaaaaaally? What came through?"

"Showed up as my sister," Chuck mumbled. He looked up, noting the look of confusion on Gabriel's face before waving his hand dismissively in the air. "Don't ask. Seriously. Don't ask."

Gabriel blew out a breath and nodded. "You got it pop. So - what are we gonna do we do about Heckle and Jeckle out there?"

"Do?" Chuck replied, frowning. "We're not going to 'do' anything about them." He shook his head. "No one can even know I'm even here."

"Um, excuse me, Dad?" Gabriel answered, shocked. "But, you can't exactly stay on the bench on this one. If there was ever a time for divine intervention, it's now..."

Chuck sighed. "I just told you, Gabriel. They've accessed and are using power from the other side. If I interfere with that..."

"Oh. Right. Pfffewwwww." Gabriel said reflectively, making a gesture of an explosion with his hands.

Chuck nodded. "Exactly. Which is why I have to erase your memory of all this once we're through talking."

"Yeah...wait, what?" Gabriel stammered. "Wh...why do you have to do that?"

"Because no one can know I'm here," Chuck answered, shrugging. "But I want to help out as much as I can, so I'm staying close. As close as I can without it getting too dangerous, anyway. They've caught me once already, but luckily, didn't use any dark energy on me – didn't see me as a threat."

"Then why show yourself to me at all?"

"Well, feedback mostly," Chuck answered. "And...well, I did miss you..."

"You...you missed me?" Gabriel answered, flabbergasted. He barked out a laugh. "You could have showed up at any time..."

"No, Gabriel...no I couldn't," Chuck barked in reply, waving his hands. "You split yourself into so many different parts, it was never really you."

Gabriel stayed silent, then nodded, dropping his head. "And now it is..."

Chuck nodded. "And now it is."

Gabriel let out a deep breath and looked up, leaning forward in his chair, hands clasped in front of him. "I'm the last one. You know that. They kill me, and the game's over."

"We're a long way from that, son. Besides, I said I'm helping, right?"

Gabriel nodded.

"I got people looking out for you Gabriel. Trust me on this."

"Are you...are you going to make me forget now?" Gabriel asked hoarsely.

Chuck nodded at him, his eyes moist. "Until next time, son."

Gabriel smiled grimly. "I really hope that there is a 'next time', Dad."

Chuck snapped his fingers just as the door to the little office chamber burst open. Crowley, Castiel, Sam, Dean, Charlie, Garth and all of the ex-Heralds came storming into the room.

"Gabriel!"

"Is he OK?!"

"Chuck! Is Gabriel OK?"

"Please tell me they haven't got to him..."

"He's awake!"

"Did anyone try to attack...?"

"Gabriel, are you all right?!"

The voices sought to drown each other out in a cacophony of shouts. Eventually, it became clear to everyone that Gabriel was OK, and everyone began to calm down.

"So, priority one, gents and damen," Crowley grunted, pointing at Gabriel. "He's the key to all of this. We keep him safe and sound."

"Got a place in mind?" Dean asked.

"Oh yeah," Crowley answered, looking up at Castiel.

"Where?"

"Where Angels fear to tread m'boy. Where angels fear to tread."