A/N: I'm posting early today because I won't be around later for the normal time.
Part IV
Dean stared at the bottom of the iron box where the Seal was supposed to be. Except there was nothing in there.
He shot a dubious look at Cas. "What the hell?"
The angel gaped in equal incredulity. "I don't understand."
"Is this another of Gabriel's tricks?" Dean scowled. He picked up the box off the pedestal to look underneath it, but there was no secret compartment or hidden latch to reveal one. He looked around the cavern where something might have been thrown into a corner and overlooked. Nothing.
Cas's throat bobbed. "Someone…must have already gotten to it," he said, voice thin with the gravity of the situation.
Dean, however, was pissed.
"So we just went through all that for nothing?" He tossed the empty container on the ground where it thunked in the dirt. "Frickin' awesome."
Cas's shoulders drooped. He looked around helplessly for a moment before saying, "We should head back."
Dean shook his head in frustration, but it wasn't like there was anything left to do here. And so with defeated postures, they turned to make their way back out through the tunnel. At least the shooting fire obstacle had shut off, maybe because the 'course' had been completed. Too bad there wasn't actually a prize at the end of it.
Who the hell could have gotten here first? Had Heaven figured out what they were up to already and made a preemptive move? But angels couldn't touch that box, so, Hell? How had anyone found its location anyway when it was supposed to be a carefully kept secret?
Dean sighed. It wasn't like Gabriel didn't have a big mouth sometimes, and there was that stint he did with the pagan deities. Did Dean really expect the archangel to have kept quiet all these millennia about what was probably a good story?
And so what about the other Seal? Would Sam and Balthazar find it gone, too? Well, guess they could all kiss this long shot plan goodbye before they'd even had a chance at it.
Daylight permeated the darkness up ahead as the opening came into view, along with trees and bushes outside. Dean put his flashlight away. Now he'd have to endure another trip through the ether on top of everything.
Dean stepped out into the open, only to pull up short in paralyzed fear as he came face to face with his most haunted nightmare standing only thirty feet away.
For a moment, he wondered if he was hallucinating like back in the cave, if this was still one of Gabriel's tricks.
But the demon that had tortured him in Hell looked just as surprised to see him.
"Well, would you look at this," he said, voice somewhere between a growl and a hiss, high-pitched and gravelly like glass on a chalkboard. Beady eyes peered out of an angular face with a long chin. His light beard and short hair had a dusting of snow, as though he'd been out in the woods for a prolonged period.
Dean couldn't breathe, couldn't move, but he started when Cas stepped up beside him, brushing his shoulder.
"Alastair," Cas said darkly.
The demon's eyes flashed with fury. "Angel." He quickly schooled his expression. "Now what brings you two all the way out here?"
Cas narrowed his gaze. "You don't know?"
Alastair shrugged blithely. "I was tracking a demon around these parts. Crafty little devil, keeps eluding me. But I know he was here."
He took a step to the side, and Dean couldn't help but flinch. Alastair's lips curled upward at that.
"My quarry may have given me the slip, but lo and behold what I found instead," he went on, honing his sharp gaze on Dean. "My favorite chew toy."
Dean hated how weak his body suddenly was, how just the sound of the demon's harsh rasp was enough to cripple him. And after that vision he'd just had…no, he couldn't go back. He'd lied; he wouldn't survive it again, not even a day…
Cas stepped in front of Dean. "I'll give you one chance to leave."
Alastair bared his teeth. "I'll leave, alright. But I'm taking back what you stole from me."
Cas pushed Dean behind him a few feet, and he stumbled as static prickled on the air. Blue wisps rippled down the angel's shoulders.
"You will never touch him again," Cas growled.
With a roar, his panther erupted in a surge of grace, an iridescent aurora in the shape of a great cat encapsulating the angel's human form. Both figures' eyes glowed blue.
Alastair snarled in return, and a burst of black smoke exploded around him, a serpent's head rearing up. Unlike the snakes of lesser demons, this one looked like a dragon, minus the wings. Dean's blood froze in his veins.
Alastair charged, and Cas launched forward to meet him head on. The panther and wyrm collided with a clash of gnashing teeth and electric sparks. Alastair tried to duck past Cas's shield, but the panther swiped a paw at him that knocked Alastair to the ground. His wyrm, however, snapped at the feline's shoulder with hideous fangs that sank into rippling blue with stormy black.
Cas jerked away, breaking the hold. The panther let out a yowling hiss and struck back, but the serpent was agile and darted out of the way, snaking in underneath. Its amorphous head swept in low and rammed itself into Cas's core, slamming Cas to the ground and flipping the panther onto its side. Before the cat could get up, two stubby arms billowed out from the wyrm and raked its talons into the panther's belly.
"Cas!" Dean yelled as the feline roared in pain. He wanted to run to his friend, but he was like David in the middle of two Goliaths.
Alastair strode over to Cas and kicked the angel so hard that his human and animal forms went crashing into a tree together, bark splintering under the impact. They hit the ground with a dull thud and sputtering of grace. Then the demon turned, and once again Dean lost all control of his faculties.
He tried to retreat as Alastair started toward him, but tripped over some moss and ended up tumbling backward against a tree, which caught his fall. By the time he scrabbled upright, Alastair was looming over him, tendrils of tenebrous smoke writhing about the demon's shoulders.
Alastair reached down and wrapped steely fingers around Dean's throat. "I'm going to enjoy taking you back to Hell," he sneered.
Dean pushed one hand against the granite arm as it shoved him back against the tree, but it didn't budge. The vision was coming true…he hadn't even taken the Seal and it was coming true…
Alastair leaned in close, his scratchy voice and prickly beard coarse against Dean's cheek. "And you are going to scream for me," he whispered. "I'll teach you all my tricks. And maybe, one day, if you're a good boy, I'll let you up to try them on someone else."
"No," Dean ground out past a throat half closed. He fumbled with his other hand to reach inside his jacket for an angel blade. He didn't have the leverage, and his vision was going spotty, but he managed to grasp the hilt and pull it free. Dean struck out with the only angle he had, which unfortunately only grazed the demon, but it was enough.
With a raging bellow, Alastair dropped him and staggered back a few steps, an orange glow briefly flaring between two ribs.
Dean doubled over in a coughing fit, eyes watering, but he saw the furious glare Alastair shot his way.
"I'll show you how to use a knife, boy."
A flare of blue light nearly blinded Dean for a second, and then Cas was tackling Alastair. The two unearthly beings rolled in a tangle of human limbs and stormy auras. The panther regained its feet first and immediately lashed out at the wyrm, scoring its claws down the serpent's face. The smoky shape shrieked and reared back, one eye a blurred patch of fog. Slivers of lightning spat out from the other pupil.
Alastair roared and leaped up to punch Cas in the side of the head. The angel went down on one knee. The panther's head snapped downward, teeth bared, but the demon clenched a crackling fist and delivered an upper hook to the cat's jaw that sent it reeling backward.
Alastair then lashed out and grabbed Cas by the throat. "I should put you on a rack," he seethed. He punched Cas while holding him in place. "You come into my house? Steal my things?"
Dean shakily stumbled to his feet, hand cramping around the hilt of the angel blade. Raising it high, he broke into a sprint toward Alastair's exposed rear, and stabbed the blade straight into his back. The demon arched backward with a sharp gasp, and Dean twisted the blade.
Cas surged upward and planted a hand flat across Alastair's forehead. The angel's eyes blazed like sapphire suns, and Alastair screamed. Dean staggered backward, throwing an arm up to shield his face as brilliant orange light exploded from Alastair's mouth and eyes like a sun had just gone supernova inside him. The wyrm shrieked and blew apart.
A second later, Cas removed his hand, and the demon dropped, wide vacant eyes staring up at Dean.
Cas's panther staggered and then began to melt away. Cas shot a hand out to catch himself on a tree trunk, and Dean snapped himself out of his shock.
"Cas!" He rushed forward, roving a worried gaze over the angel and trying to figure out what injuries he'd sustained.
"Dean, are you all right?" Cas asked earnestly.
Dean's throat hurt, and he was feeling pretty shaken, but he'd live. "Yeah, I'm fine. How 'bout you?"
Cas grimaced. "I think I need a… 'breather,' before I attempt ethereal flight."
"Yeah, sure," Dean said, finally reaching out to take Cas's arm and help him slide down the tree trunk into a sitting position. There didn't seem to be any physical wounds that were bleeding, which left the spirit ones that irked Dean because he couldn't help treat those. He sat down beside the angel, both of their backs resting against the large spruce.
For several long moments, neither of them said anything. Cas's eyes were closed and he appeared to be meditating or something, or maybe just conserving strength to heal his injuries. Dean wasn't really sure how that bit worked.
His gaze kept getting drawn to Alastair's body. The fact that his torturer was dead should have brought Dean some relief, shouldn't it? But it didn't. It only reminded him of the horrors he'd experienced all over again. That fear had paralyzed him, almost prevented him from fighting back. That wasn't him. That wasn't the hunter his father had raised.
"Stop beating yourself up," Cas said quietly, voice low and extra gravelly with exhaustion.
Dean threw the angel a perplexed look. "And how would you know that's what I was doing?"
Cas pried one eye open to gaze at him pointedly. "I can sense it."
Dean crossed his arms defensively. "The bond letting you read my mind now?"
"No." He opened both eyes and shifted slightly with a wince. "But it lets me sense the gist of your emotions when they're particularly strong. And you're radiating frustration and guilt. The first is understandable, but the second is unnecessary. You shouldn't be ashamed of the trauma you went through, or the effect it has on you."
Dean looked away, throat constricting painfully. He was silent for several long moments in which Cas might have gone back to meditating. Dean didn't check when he started speaking again in barely above a whisper,
"Back in the cave, with the Seal…I was told that taking it would lead to me getting dragged back to Hell."
"It wasn't true," Cas automatically replied.
Dean shook his head and tipped his head back, still finding it difficult to breathe. "Maybe not taking the Seal being a direct cause, but it could happen another way." He turned back to his friend. "I never thought I would see Alastair again. And here he was, and he almost…" He broke off with a choked sound. "We're at war, Cas. With demons. Who's to say I won't get dragged back into the Pit?"
Cas didn't answer right away. "If it ever happened," he finally said. "I would come for you."
Dean closed his eyes at the unfettered surety and devotion in that simple statement. He'd known it, deep down, but the confirmation washed over him like a balm to his frayed nerves.
He let out a shuddering breath. "I know."
There was another beat of silence between them.
"I was confronted by a vision of Lucifer," Cas confessed.
Dean frowned, and turned to look at him, but Cas's gaze was fixed on his lap.
"He told me that no matter what we do, someone I love would end up either being dragged into Hell forever or killed." Cas shook his head. "I know that casualties are expected in war. But I'm not just fighting alongside fellow soldiers, but alongside my family and closest friends. To lose any of them would be devastating."
Dean nodded sagely. "Same here. But…I think that just means we'll fight even harder to protect each other."
Cas finally looked up, a small smile gracing his face. "That's true. I certainly will."
Dean smiled back. "Me too."
And hey, sheer will and stubbornness alone had pulled him through some pretty dire situations before. Whatever was coming, they'd face it. Together.
Gabriel stared at the Seal resting on the top of his desk. It had been so long since he'd laid eyes on it. Such a simple looking trinket with the power to move Hell. If it was reunited with the other three pieces.
"This Alastair didn't have the Seal?" he asked, looking up at Castiel and Balthazar who were standing on the other side of the desk.
"No," Castiel replied gravely. "But he said he'd been tracking another demon in the area."
Gabriel's mouth pressed into a grim line. That was really bad news. He honestly hadn't expected anyone outside of his own men to get past all the traps he'd set, let alone the last one.
He flicked another look at Castiel and asked gently, "How is Dean?"
"I think he still has some things he needs to come to terms with. But he'll be fine. He and Sam have gone back to Camp Chitaqua, but they said they'll be ready to return as soon as we locate the other Seals."
Gabriel nodded. He was quite impressed by the Winchesters' fortitude, though it no longer surprised him at this point.
"Dean isn't the only one who has things to come to terms with," Balthazar spoke up harshly. He planted his palms on the desk and leaned forward. "Why didn't you warn us about that last trap?"
Gabriel winced. Ye-ah, that had been a gross oversight on his part. "I honestly didn't remember."
"Bull. You had to spend a lot of time crafting that spell, tailoring it so it would tap into an individual's greatest fears." He jerked away from the desk, eyes blazing with rage and hurt. "Why would you make it so personally cruel? That's low, even for you, Gabriel."
"Balthazar," Castiel said quietly. "It was meant to keep people away."
"There are a dozen other spells he could have chosen instead," the other angel snapped. Balthazar whirled back to Gabriel. "You've always been eccentric, Gabriel, but never once have I thought you enjoyed torturing people."
Gabriel sighed. That was because his band of Merry Men didn't know everything about his time as a Trickster. He'd enjoyed tormenting humans quite a bit, then. Granted, only the ones who deserved it…
But that didn't change the fact that he'd caused pain to his family.
"It wasn't meant to be torture."
Balthazar snorted. "What do you call seeing everyone you love slaughtered?"
Gabriel's gut clenched in sympathy. Even Castiel looked away, a muscle in his jaw tightening. None of them had shared the details about their visions when they'd returned, only to say that they'd been warned away from taking the Seal, that the visions seemed to prey on their greatest fears.
"It wasn't meant to be torture," he reiterated. "It was a test. I figured that someday, the Seals might be needed, and true heroes would go looking for them. The visions tapped into your greatest fears because only heroes are willing to stand and defy them."
Balthazar shook his head in disgust, apparently not satisfied with that explanation. "And what would have happened if any one of us had failed to pass your test?"
Gabriel had the decency to look abashed at that. "Uh, you would have stayed trapped in a mini pocket dimension for eternity."
Castiel's brows rose in dismay.
Gabriel grimaced apologetically. "I couldn't exactly let anyone who got that far leave and come back with others to try again. But I knew you wouldn't fail," he added.
Balthazar made a harsh sound in the back of his throat. "You couldn't know that."
Gabriel lifted his chin. "Yes, I could. If I had any doubts, Balthazar, I would have let Anna go instead."
"I wouldn't wish that experience on her," the angel snapped.
Gabriel's shoulders heaved. "You'd spare her that. You'd spare any one of them that. You think too little of yourself, Balthazar."
The other angel worked his jaw for a silent moment before he pivoted and simply stormed out. Gabriel sighed. This was why he wasn't cut out for the big brother role, at least not the responsible, teacher one. The one with the pranks and jovial tricks, yes. But not the one who had to teach and guide and basically be a father at times since God was long gone.
He glanced up as he realized Castiel was still there. "Want to air your grievances?"
Castiel's brow furrowed. "No. I understand what you intended." He looked over his shoulder at the empty hall where Balthazar had retreated, then back. "It's just…we live with those fears every day. They've come true in ways already, and…"
"And you wonder why we keep fighting," Gabriel finished.
"No, I know why. But…what if victory is just as unbearable as defeat?"
Gabriel suddenly felt the weight of the world pressing down upon his shoulders. He rarely let himself envision what the world would be like if they somehow found a way to stop the Apocalypse. The earth was still in ruins. Heaven would be…there was no telling what state Heaven would be in. And the rest of them?
"I think about that, too, sometimes," he admitted. "And I'm afraid I don't have an answer for you."
Castiel nodded soberly. "Dean said family will fight harder than anything for each other. I think he believes that will give us an advantage."
Gabriel's mouth quirked, and he cocked his head in agreement. "I'll take that bet."
He was glad to see a tiny tug at Castiel's lips, but then the other angel turned serious again.
"If the final test was to measure worthiness, then who could have gotten to one of the Seals already?"
Gabriel's gaze hardened. That was the million-dollar question. "Not many."
"But not an angel."
"No." Not unless they were working with someone else of a different species, and Gabriel found that highly unlikely.
Castiel paused. "Do you think it could have been the demon Alastair was tracking?"
Gabriel ground his jaw. "Honestly? It's possible."
Castiel canted a confused look at him. "But demons don't possess selflessness or valor."
"No, but if the demon isn't afraid to face his greatest fear?" He shrugged. But then the question became—who? And who was he working for? Was Lucifer trying to obtain the objects that had the power to cast him back into the Cage? And if he already had one Seal, that was gonna be hard to retrieve. As would the other two, which Gabriel had no idea where to find.
He picked up the medallion on his desk and fingered it in his palm. Well, they'd gotten one, at least.
It was a start.
…
NEXT TIME
A hulking dude wearing biker leather spoke up from the invading gang: "Put your weapons down, and nobody has to get shot."
Dean flicked his gaze over the intruders, not liking the odds. He glanced at Ellen and Jo and Risa, who were casting questioning looks his way, ready to follow his lead.
Cas stepped forward, eyes dark like gathering storm clouds over a roiling ocean. His grace began to shimmer in opalescent ripples around him. "I suggest you be the ones to put your weapons down."
The leader narrowed his eyes sharply, but didn't appear afraid. Instead, he grabbed a small oval device that'd been clipped to his vest, and threw it on the ground at his feet. Dean had only a split second to see what looked like a sigil smolder to life. And then the object exploded.
