Disclaimer: No profit is gained by this piece of fan work. The SPN characters belong to Kripke, not me.
Sam and Bobby walked into the study and quickly stumbled to a halt at the half naked woman on the couch.
"What the…."
"She came here last night after Cas decided to visit me…" Dean said as he came back into the room from the kitchen with a cup of coffee. He quickly explained Castiel's visit before going into Naeara's. "She told me that the answer to breaking the door down is with an old American author. One that a Campbell tracked down to interrogate."
Bobby's eyebrows furrowed. "I read something like that in one of the journals…a female hunter named Moisha Campbell."
"Moisha?" Sam asked.
"From the New York Campbell's," The older man said. "But I remember reading her journal. Let me go see if I can find it." He turned around and left.
Sam shook his head and went to sit in the chair behind the desk as Dean went over to Naeara to check her back. The younger Winchester shook his head. "So how'd she get like that?" He asked nonchalantly.
"Trying to get information about purgatory for me," Dean answered as he pulled the blanket back over her. He was satisfied that her stitches held during the night.
"You really trust her Dean?" Sam looked at his brother, who looked up at him. Dean walked over to Sam and leaned down onto the desk.
"As much as I did Cas before he pulled this stunt." He said truthfully. "At this point, she's the only supernatural person I trust."
Bobby marched back into the room glaring a bit. "Our pal, Cas didn't stop in last night just to mend fences."
Both Winchesters looked at Bobby, before Dean straightened, slowly blinking in exasperation. "What did he do?"
"Stole something."
"What?"
"The journal of one, Moisha Campbell," Bobby answered.
"Moisha?" Sam asked.
"Of the New York Campbells," Bobby said. "Luckily I made copies." He grinned at them. "Hi, nice to meet you: Bobby Singer, paranoid bastard."
The three men tucked into the journal and began reading parts of it. They were skimming to see what author tried to open the gate to purgatory before.
"Got it…" Bobby alerted the other two. "H.P. Lovecraft!"
"Am I supposed to know who that is?" Dean looked at the older hunter questionably.
"Horror writer? 'At the Mountains of Madness'? 'The Call of Cthulhu?"
Dean glanced at Sam. "Yeah…" The boy with the G.E.D. brought his coffee to his lips. "No, see I was too busy having sex with women."
"Fun times I'm sure," Naeara murmured as she sat up, holding the blanket to her chest. Dean put the coffee down and went to sit next to her. "'m fine." She answered before he could ask. "So apparently the douche-angel has been dabbling in thievery?"
"Do you know anything about this?" Bobby asked.
"No," She answered. "It is not my realm of knowledge to know about the gateways. I am surprised that someone has tried before."
Sam crossed his arms. "Well we know it was HP Lovecraft and that he held a party on that date. Now what?"
"Look for descendants of the party," Naeara answered as Dean's phone rang.
The hunter pulled out his phone and furrowed his eyebrows. Opening it, he answered. "Ben?"
"There are men in the house. They killed Matt. They got mom. They're coming, I can hear them." The young teen said.
Naeara watched as Dean sat up straight. She snagged his spare plaid button down and put it on quickly. She listened as he interrogated the boy, before standing up and pulling out her phone. She signaled to him, she'd get one of her people over there. She quickly made a call to a Lampad nymph that she knew was in the area. After talking with the nymph and explaining the situation, she walked back in the study to see the men looking solemn.
"What happened?" She asked carefully.
"Crowley has Ben and Lisa." Dean said looking at her. "And as long as we sit on our thumbs they are safe. What about you?"
"I have Lampad going to their home," Naeara said.
"Lampad?" Sam asked confusedly.
"Nymphs of the Underworld," Bobby explained. "Will they be able to find Ben and Lisa?"
The witch shrugged. "It depends on the demon's ability to cover their tracks. If Crowley is as good as I've been hearing, it might take a while."
"You think Cas knows about this?" The younger Winchester looked at his older brother.
"We got to assume he does." Dean looked up at Naeara. "What about you?"
"Sticking with you guys for a while," She answered. "I can put a ring of protection around the yard if you want to keep both angels and demons out."
"No," The older Winchester said before Bobby or Sam could agree. "Save your power. We might need you ready for later."
The witch nodded as she looked at the older hunter and younger Winchester. "So what now?"
"I'm going after them." Dean said as he began to walk toward the kitchen.
"I'm coming with you!" Naeara and Sam said at the same time. Bobby stood up and looked at Dean.
"No Sam," The hunter turned to look at his brother. The witch shivered as she saw the anger in the man's eyes. "You and Bobby stay on the Lovecraft thing. Cas is already way ahead of us."
"You got to be nuts if you think I'm going to let you go off alone with an injured witch as backup." Sam said.
"At least he got past the fact I'm a witch and is centered on the injured part." Naeara murmured as she looked at Bobby, causing the man to grin. "Bobby, you can take care of the case right?"
"Guys…"
"Bobby, this is a big ball. We can't drop it now." The older brother's eyes were hard as they stared at his father-figure.
The older man looked at Dean for moment before agreeing. "Fine, but how are you three going to find Lisa and Ben?"
Dean and Naeara looked at each other.
Dean crossed his arms as he watched Naeara light the ingredients in the bowl. Sam stood next to his brother as the light bulbs around them began to burst and spark.
"Bloody angels…" They heard Naeara murmur before a familiar sound of wings was heard.
"I'm sorry boys," All three hunters turned to see the angel on top of a car with a champagne class in his right hand. "Do I look like a manservant to you?" He paused. "No? Then quit ringing for me, please!"
"Would you prefer male whore?" The witch said smugly. Sam glared at her as Dean looked at the angel.
"This is important Balthazar!"
"I was drinking '75 Dom out of a soprano's naval when you called. That was important."
Naeara rolled her eyes as Dean's eyebrow rose in interest.
"Crowley's alive." Sam said without preamble. Balthazar looked up at the Winchester his face falling slightly before he tried to cover it up.
"Well you've been scooped." He said as he came down from the car. "Cas already told me."
"Well did Cas tell you that he is Crowley's butt buddy, you smug little dick?" Dean questioned the angel knowing Castiel didn't.
Naeara watched as Balthazar blinked. No, the angel didn't know anything about Castiel's partnership. This will not bode well for him if he does help the Winchesters. She put her hand to her lips in thought.
"Excuse me?"
Sam stepped forward moving toward him. "Hand-shake deal. Go halfsies on all the soul in purgatory. He filled you in on that?"
Balthazar's mouth hung open a little bit. No, Cassie didn't tell him that. He recovered quickly though. "Well yes, yes! Of course he did."
"Yes, of course…" Sam said smugly. "We can read it all over your face."
Dean quickly interrupted as the angel stared at Sam. "Crowley and Cas took two people who are very important to me."
"And I care about this because…." He drawled out the last word.
"Because…"
"Because maybe there is a shred of decency under your angel-doucheness," Naeara interrupted Dean, looking at the angel as she stepped past the Winchesters. She watched as the angel lifted his drink up to finish it off. Narrowing her eyes, she waited until he was finished before the glass shattered within his fingers and turned into dust as it fell. "Because they are innocent and don't deserve to be pulled into your war."
Balthazar looked at the woman in front of him. "I see you've gained a new Scooby member."
The witch stared at him before she continued. "I'm going to let that slide."
"Balthazar, they are innocent people and I'm asking for your help." Dean said cutting off Naeara.
"Hm…I see." The angel said nonchalantly. "Fair enough…" He answered before flying off.
"Son of BITCH!" Dean shouted into the yard as he turned. He walked away from the two a little bit, his jaw flexing.
"Look Dean, let's just call Cas maybe he doesn't know about…" Sam tried.
"We're not calling Cas."
"Yeah but Dean…"
"We're not calling Cas!" The older Winchester stated firmly glaring at his brother.
"So what then?" Sam couldn't believe how stubborn his brother is being.
Naeara looked out into the sky thinking to herself. They couldn't wait until the Lampad got the information they needed. They needed a more direct approach. "The demons…"
"What?" Sam asked as Dean turned to her.
She turned to look at the brothers, her eyes glowing dim orange. "We go after the demons. What is a King if he doesn't order someone to do his dirty work?"
"I'm begging you do you understand?" Sam waited a moment before shaking his head. Castiel still wouldn't answer them. If anything, he thought that the angel would have answered if Dean was beginning to crack, but he got nothing.
"Trying to pray for Castiel?" Naeara asked as she came from behind some of the cars. She was dressed different now. She was in a pair of mountain boots, tight jeans and Henley shirt that looked suspiciously like Dean's. He assumed she got some of them from one of her nymph pals when she was making calls earlier. "I would have told you sooner. That's not going to work."
Sam was still trying to trust the woman. Just something about her set off his instincts. "How would you know?"
"Because he's trying to pop open purgatory," She answered. "Why would he waste time for his friends?"
The younger Winchester frowned, but didn't say anything to contradict her.
"Listen, why don't you relax. I'll watch over Dean." Naeara suggested putting a bit of power into her voice. Sam nodded and walked away, not looking back at the woman. She sighed as she lifted a hand to her forehead and rubbed it. Dean's not going to like it that she did that. Looking up she walked toward the door of the warehouse before stopping. Screams of the demons could still be heard from inside. "I hope you are happy Castiel. You are effectively letting Dean dying more swiftly than what Crowley could do." She turned and glared at the angel that she knew was invisible to all human eyes.
The invisible angel frowned as the woman turned. Could she see him? That's impossible. No human was supposed to see him like this.
"I can see you stupid," Naeara said as she crossed her arms.
"How?" Castiel asked. "You are a mere human witch."
"Now I basically am until my juices are back up to par." She answered with a roll of her eyes.
The angel didn't comment on that, but stared at her. She quickly waved her arm, putting a sound barrier around them. She didn't want the Winchesters to hear her yelling. He tensed up as he felt the air shift around them. This witch…was no ordinary witch. She was something more.
"Do you understand what you've done?" Naeara looked at the younger being. Castiel's eyes narrowed as he watched her. "You don't do you?" Shock ran through the woman. How could he not understand how the bond he has with Dean? "You ignorant fool." She said instead not wanting to go into the bond. "You are going against everything Dean ever stood for!"
"I am trying to save them." Castiel replied.
"By handing over a lot of souls to that damned wannabe King of Hell!" She shouted. "If you know anything about the Winchesters, you know that they made their mistakes with demons already! You, as an angel, should know better! And as their friend, should not be repeating their mistakes!"
"You know nothing."
"Perhaps, but know this your refusal to turn away from this choice is tearing into his very soul. I can't say if he will or won't forgive you, but he will be changed irreparably because of this."
Castiel stared at this woman. What she said couldn't be true. Dean just didn't understand what he needed to do in order to save him and everyone. "I am doing what needs to be done. Dean will eventually understand that."
The witch tilted her head to the side. "You don't know Dean like you think you do then. I thought you would know him because you graced his soul…but apparently I was wrong." She let her arms down and marched past him.
"Will you tell Dean…"
She spun back toward him. "I am not your messenger!" Naeara's eyes glared at him. "You know the situation. Lisa and Ben are in Crowley's hands…your hands! We are finding answers the only way we know how no thanks to you!" She turned back and headed off in the direction Sam went. "If you want to talk to Dean, do it yourself. He could use a break from his hellish ways."
The angel's chest tightened. Dean couldn't be torturing again. Had he pushed his human that far? What about Lisa and Ben? If Crowley really did take them, he was harming Dean. Castiel knew that he had to do something to help them. He had to go talk to Crowley.
Naeara looked at the platinum blonde, almost white, haired woman standing before her. She had left Sam with a message for Dean telling them she was meeting one of her contacts to get information about purgatory. This meeting was taking place on neutral ground. The cemetery of a Greek Orthodox Church is Athens, Georgia. Her contact was wearing a pale pastel green toga dress with a wreath of leaves in her hair. On her arms were golden arm bands. Her eyes were a deep moss green and shined brightly in the dark. This was one of her informants from her network. Nesio was a Meliae Nymph. The Meliae were nymphs of the ash trees. The woman looked at the witch with a grim expression.
"I bring news from the oracle of the Maiden and from my sistren." The nymph said.
"The news from your sistren, then yield me the news of the oracle." Naeara answered.
The blonde nodded. "Two angels spoke of purgatory. The bonded one plans to take in all the souls of the creatures residing in. The snarky one spoke of it being too dangerous and much for him."
"Which means if Castiel can't control it, they will control him or take him, along with a sizable portion of the world, out?"
"That is what we understood from it." Nesio agreed.
"And the oracle?" Naeara's lips thinned. News from the oracle was almost always as double bladed sword.
"She has seen the death of the angel known as Balthazar."
"And…does she want me to stop it?"
"I know not the will of the oracle." Nesio frowned at the woman. "She has seen many things if the angel Castiel continues his path. Transformation and agony being the first and foremost. She sees the balance of the world tipping into dark favor."
Naeara nodded, contemplating on what to do. "Does Persephone know of this prophecy?"
"I am to deliver it to her now."
"Tell her to contact me, for I know not what to do."
The nymph bowed her head. "As you wish." She commented before leaving the witch by herself.
Naeara put a hand to her chin. She began to wonder who exactly would kill the angel. From what she gathered, this plan of Castiel's is not looking to kind for their side. Shivering, she frowned. She did not want Dean to get caught up when the killing started, but she knew the human enough to know he would not just stay on the side lines. She knew she had to prepare for any possibilities and worst case scenarios. The witch only hoped that Castiel would stop being so blind to the sign his Father gave him, because it was slowly dying with each decision made.
She twitched as she heard Dean suddenly crying out for in anguish. Her traveling powers were tapped out. She wouldn't be able to make it to Dean in time for whatever was happening. Her heart clenched as she felt the self-hate and pain emit from the human. She only hoped that whatever was going making him like this would work out okay. If not…she wasn't too sure what she would be able to temporarily mend.
