With the warlock gone, and a heap of new – and pretty disturbing – information to process, Dean was at a loss. Not only was Clarence's father suspiciously happy to see his son, but he told them that damn curse on Crowley wasn't even his. It belonged to Death. Who the hell in their right mind would make a deal with Death? And why would Death be so willing to give extra lives to someone with such evil intentions? To be fair, Dean had only spoken to Death once, and that was well over twenty-five years prior to this mess. But he thought that Death was a pretty chill guy; or spirit or whatever. He didn't seem like the type that would hand out deals like a crossroads demon, but maybe Dean was wrong. There was only one way they were going to find out for sure... and that was to talk to Death directly.
But before diving into a risky plan to summon Death, Dean wanted to talk with his family and make sure they were okay. Especially Jude, Clarence, and Crowley. Jude and Clare were obviously shaken up by everything the warlock said; all those overly-caring phrases. Dean was skeptical about how sincere Clare's dad really was, but there was no way to test the theory that he might be lying, because he was gone now. Plus, Dean had no clue how much worse Crowley's wound was. Time was running out fast and they needed to focus on one thing at a time. So, after rallying everyone together in the dungeon, Dean requested that Cas and Gabe fly everyone back to Bobby's house. All four adults, all four kids, and Gabe's dog showed back up in the salvage yard in seconds. Jessica, Oliver, and Gabriel almost immediately headed inside, but Dean and the rest lingered back.
It seemed like Clarence was having a pretty tough go of this. His head was down and his eyes were vacant, as if he was numb to the rest of the world around him, even though Jude was still clinging to his hand. And because of the flight, Jude was holding onto Cas's arm with his other hand; face buried into his Papa's trench coat as if he was trying to keep himself from throwing up. Cas pet the back of Jude's head comfortingly, but his eyes were on Dean. The angel was giving him one of those 'what should we do, now?' looks. And Dean knew that the first thing he needed to do was talk the boys down.
"Hey," he began, reaching out to pat Clare's shoulder, "You gonna be alright, kid?"
Dean was giving Clarence a chance to say whatever was on his mind; a chance to let other people know exactly how he was feeling. But maybe he didn't even know how he was feeling, because he nodded and shrugged it off.
"We've gotta save Crowley," he muttered blandly, shifting the attention back to the big picture.
Dean shared another look with his angelic husband, who seemed equally concerned for the demon and their son. There wasn't much else they could do for the boys other than be there for them.
"That's right," Dean agreed, turning to Sam and nodding toward the back door, "I think we should talk to Bobby. See what he thinks about this Death thing..."
Sam silently agreed and led the way into the house. What had been a chaotic scene a few hours before was now quiet and somber. In the study, Rowena and Bobby were working at a steady pace; transferring soaked bandages back and forth from Crowley's abdomen. Crowley himself was frozen in a wincing position, with his arm and fist braced over his eyes and his teeth clinched. Even from the kitchen, Dean could tell that the black markings had stretched further across his body. The demon's entire stomach was dark and painful looking, inching up his chest and nearly reaching his throat. Damn, the curse was fast. If they didn't do something soon, Crowley was going to be in real trouble...
"Clare," Dean heard Jude's timid voice whisper behind him, "Do you want to talk about -?"
Before Jude could even finish his sentence, Clarence was stepping away from the group and entering the study to kneel down next to Rowena and Crowley. The guy clearly didn't want to talk about anything that was happening, even to Jude. Dean turned around to give his son a half hug along with Cas.
"It's alright, buddy. Clare just needs some time," he reminded as kindly as he could, "Why don't you just keep him company until he's ready to talk?"
Jude nodded at his father's suggestion and slowly ventured into the study to help Rowena and Clare with Crowley's herbal medicine. In the meantime, Bobby took the opportunity to step away and meet the other Winchesters in the kitchen.
"What the hell happened? Why ain't the curse broke yet?" he asked in a hurry, voice anxious and a bit heated.
Luckily, Cas, Sam, and Gabriel were all standing near Dean and helped him deliver the bad news to their worried uncle.
"The curse wasn't made by the warlock. It was made by Death," Sam explained.
"And the reason the warlock is still alive is because Death resurrects him every time he dies. Some kind of stupid deal they made about killing demons. He and Death are total Frat bros or something," Gabe sighed.
"The warlock is also gone. Because he vanished after I smote him," Cas admitted boldly.
Bobby blinked between all four men in his kitchen, his aged face growing pale under his faded blue hat.
"Death?" he repeated, shaking his head, "How the hell are we supposed to get Death to break a curse?"
"Find him and ask him nicely?" Gabriel mumbled sarcastically.
"That rests on the possibility of us actually finding him and getting him to speak with us, first," Cas pointed out.
"We could summon him. We've done it before," Sam reminded, "Look, we're going to have to do something. We need to come up with a plan fast. I mean, Crowley doesn't have much time, guys."
"Sam's right. I'm done waitin'. I ain't sittin' here and watchin' Crowley suffer anymore," Bobby denied, voice tainted with pain, "Y'all remember how to call him in?"
"I know how to do it," Cas assured, stepping forward, "However, I don't think that this house is a suitable place to summon Death itself. I suggest we stage this encounter elsewhere."
"Fine with me. What place you fellas got in mind?" Bobby asked, glancing around.
A moment of silence followed, in which everyone pondered a meeting place. If there was one thing Dean knew about Death, it was that he loved to eat. Deep dish pizza and pickle chips were among his favorite things. At least, from what Dean could remember. And if Death was drawn to good eats, he knew a few places that would serve the purpose. Maybe even one close by.
"I've got an idea," Dean quietly mentioned.
Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the yellow neon sign glowing in the window above his head. The words flashing in bright colors were so hilarious that he didn't know whether to laugh hysterically or cry from the perfection.
"Frank Johnson's World Famous Wienies?" he read aloud, eyes falling to the smaller words underneath, "A delicious meaty flavor in every mouthful? …Oh my Dad, Dean-o. I knew you liked meat-swords, but wow, not to this extent. You just adore having a wiener in your mouth, don't you?"
"Zip it, shorty," Dean hissed, tossing Gabe a glare, "I only ate here once, okay? But they've got this thing called the 'Kansas City Baseball Bat', which is basically just a deep-fried, bacon-wrapped Twinkie on a stick that -"
Gabriel didn't even hear the rest of Dean's sentence because he was too busy laughing. Holy shit! Could these puns and innuendos be anymore obvious?! This place should just change its slogan to 'We love dick almost as much as you do. Come eat with us.' Gabe had to reach over and hold onto his husband's arm just to stay standing as he doubled over with laughter. But Sam, for some reason, didn't find it as funny as Gabe did.
"Okay, Gabe. We get it. It's funny," Sam grumbled, pulling Gabe back to an upright position, "Now, can you please focus? Crowley's life is at stake."
Gabe giggled a few more times – having seen that the diner mascot was a smiling, waving hotdog pouring mustard on itself – before coughing and trying to settle down. Sam was right. The poor ol' king of Hell was all dinged up and only getting worse, and they really needed to get the guy some help.
"Alright. I'll try my best. Scout's honor," Gabe offered, even raising up the three fingers as a promise.
The rest of the guys – Sam, Dean, Cas, and old man Singer – tore their annoyed looks away from Gabriel and placed them back on the diner ahead. The place was empty, due to it being after hours, and only the neon sign was on. All the other lights were out, which was a good thing. That meant the Winchesters would be able to sneak in and summon Death no problem. And if Death had a thing for puns and hotdogs, this would be an even easier piece of cake.
Castiel led the way inside by casually breaking through the flimsy lock and turning on a few lights with his grace. Bobby and Sam made themselves useful by moving a few tables out of the way while Dean headed back into the kitchen; probably to see if he could find one of those deep-fried Twinkies. In the meantime, Gabe assisted his little bro with gathering all the ingredients necessary to summon the dust bowl that was Death.
"I hope you know what you're doing, Cassie," Gabe muttered to the seraph while the two of them were alone, "The bag of bones you're about to call has the power to reap us too."
"I'm aware," Cas replied, "but I will do whatever it takes to see that our family remains intact."
Gabe smiled fondly at his sibling as he slid a sacrificial bowl in front of him. There was something so admirable about the way Cas said and did things. He was always so sincere and to the point; so prepared to do the right thing no matter how difficult. Though he was too embarrassed to admit it, Gabriel often wished that he could be more like his rebellious, blue-eyed little brother...
Dean eventually made it back from the kitchen, carrying a plate full of 'Kansas City Baseball Bats' and a few other treats, including what looked to be cheese balls, banana chips, and chocolate eclairs. He carefully positioned the plate full of goodies on the counter next to Cas's bowl, as if he was hoping that the food would be the first thing Death saw. With their edible peace offering ready, Cas paused to share a confident look with Dean before filling the bowl with blood and saying a Latin phrase.
Gabriel could tell that Castiel altered some of the words, though. Instead of summoning and binding Death, Cas was simply calling him to join them at the diner. More of a request than a forced summons. The rest of the guys waited and searched around the inside of the building, looking to see where Death might decide to pop up. It had been a long time since Gabe had seen the old bastard – a few hundred-thousand years, at least – so he wasn't sure what to expect. From what Gabe remembered, Death was like one of those old men who always hated when kids were on his lawn – but instead of yelling at them to get off, he just killed them. Dude had a killing fetish ten miles long.
But as he stood between to his little brother and tall husband, Gabriel felt a shift in the air. It grew colder, calmer, and somehow a little more difficult to breathe. There was no denying that a strong presence had appeared in the diner with them. Gabe looked up to see Sam whip his head toward the left and he followed the kid's line of sight toward the entrance. The glass door of the diner was standing open and there was a shadowed figure standing in the doorway. It was tall, slender, and holding a walking cane. The hem of the figure's long coat was eerily still, as if the person wasn't even breathing or moving. It looked like some kind of prop for Halloween and it gave Gabriel chills. Holy shit. Was Death always this freaking creepy?
For a second, everybody just stood there and gazed cautiously at the unmoving figure. Nobody said a word for a long time and it was really starting to get on Gabe's nerves. What was with all this ridiculous tension? They were here to talk, not have a staring contest.
"Well. I guess the 'death' of the party has arrived," Gabriel whispered toward his husband, trying to break through the weird vibe in the room.
"Gabriel," an icy British voice murmured from the doorway, "God has made many things, but you are perhaps his most annoying, ill mannered, childish creation. If at all possible, I would like you to refrain from attempting anymore jokes for the duration of this meeting. Otherwise, you should not speak at all. Are we clear?"
Gabe's jaw nearly hit the floor. Whoa! What the hell?! Who the hell did he think he was talking to?! The archangel felt the urge to roll up his sleeves, stomp toward that bastard, and give him a piece of his mind. But then, he felt the distinct grip of Sam's big hand on his wrist. There was a very real sense of dread in Sam's eyes, as if he was terrified of Death and what he might do if Gabe tried anything stupid. To console his worried moose, Gabriel closed his mouth and gave Death a hateful glare instead. The figure in the doorway nodded once.
"Good," the accented tone confirmed before turning toward the others, "I assume there's a perfectly sound reason you asked me to come here. Other than to share a meal."
A boney finger jutted out into the light to point toward the plate of food on the counter. Dean immediately reached over to twist the plate around invitingly.
"Uh, ac – actually, this is just a gift," he offered nervously, "We, um, just wanted to ask you a few questions while you eat. If that's okay..."
Everyone stared at Death's shadowy form afterward, waiting to see what his reaction would be. At first, he didn't even move. He only stood there in the dark, observing the group like some kind of creepy mannequin. Eventually, Death stepped slowly into the room and into the light, revealing his long nose, large forehead, and thin, down-turned lips. The guy looked more like a ghost than a horseman. His steps echoed around the silent diner as he made his way over to the counter to look at the plate Dean made him. He scanned all the items on it before slowly sliding onto the stool at the counter. He propped his cane against the wood, picked up a banana chip, and gingerly slid it into his mouth.
"You have five minutes," he mumbled between his crunches, "Make them count."
"We need you to break a curse," Singer jutted over to practically beg, his voice shifting higher when Death's eyes fell to him, "Uh, please. Your honor."
"What curse?" he muttered blandly as he picked up the eclair to take a bite.
"The one you put on the blade that you gave to a warlock named Caldwell," Dean explained.
Death paused to swallow his bite and delicately dab the edges of his mouth with a napkin.
"Ah. Caldwell. The demon killer," he recited, his eyes traveling to Dean as he shook his head, "I never gave him a blade."
Gabriel glanced around at the rest of the guys, seeing equal amounts of confusion. What? Death never gave the warlock the blade? Obviously, one of them was lying. And Gabe was more inclined to believe Death over a rapist demon killer. At least Death was honest, right?
"Well, he stabbed my husband with a cursed blade and said that you made it," Bobby spat.
"Then he has spun you a fascinating tale," Death concluded, "Will that be all?"
"No, wait," Dean said, "He said that he made a deal with you. That for every demon he kills, you give him an extra life. Is that true?"
Death paused again to bite into one of the cheese balls, but nodded his head.
"That one is true," he agreed.
"Why?" Cas blurted, his eyes narrowed and head tilted, "Why would you make that kind of deal with him?"
"I see no need to explain my actions to the likes of bacterium such as yourself, but if it means speeding up five minutes..." Death sighed, "I don't make deals often. But when he came to me and offered to kill as many demons as he could get his grubby paws on, I simply couldn't turn him away. I'm extremely old and my... job... is slowly losing its luster. If a worthless being wants to help me further the end of a race, so be it. I assume he cursed a blade to make things easier for himself."
"But if that curse belongs to him, how are we supposed to make him break it?" Dean asked, "We can't exactly threaten his life if you're just going to give him another one."
"An astute observation," Death nodded, sitting his 'baseball bat' down and moving to get up, "but also not my problem. The Twinkie was a bit overdone, Dean. Next time, gift me with something a little less greasy, hmm?"
Death turned to leave, but Dean instantly rounded the counter to jump in front of him, holding both hands up.
"Wait!" he almost shouted, "Look, man, we've gotta do something about this. If you can't break the curse, then why don't you just break your deal with the warlock? That way, we can kill him permanently if -"
"He's doing a relatively fine job of killing demons. I see no need to end my contract with him," Death argued.
"Then make a new deal. With us," Dean blurted, "If you want dead monsters, we'll give you dead monsters. Sam and I have taken down hundreds of them."
Death paused to study Dean's face, and his sunken eyes twinkled a little bit. It gave Gabriel the chills.
"That's a tempting offer..." he croaked in a whisper, "Very well. You want to make a deal?"
"Yeah. What do you want us to do?" Dean asked.
"I want the soul of a Winchester," Death stated.
Every other person in the room nearly gasped in unison. What? Death wanted one of their souls? Which one of them?! And why?!
"Wh – what?" Dean breathed.
"Yes," Death nodded, "If you wish for me to end my contract with Caldwell, I want one of your souls as compensation. Sam or Dean. The choice is yours."
All of the guys in the room looked between the two hunters in horror. That bastard wanted either Sam or Dean?! Hell no! He couldn't have either one of them! Especially not Sammy! Gabriel wrapped his entire arm around his husband's lengthy torso for good measure, daring anyone to take him away.
"Why?" Dean barked, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"You and Sam kill hundreds of monsters. You said so yourself. But you see, if you hadn't killed those monsters, they would have killed thousands of people. Maybe even millions," Death pointed out, "Demons, angels, humans – I don't care which race dies out first. I just want this job to be over with as quickly as possible. And you hunters are slowing the process to a mere crawl. I'm tired of waiting. You want that curse broken and warlock dead? Fine. But the cost is a Winchester's soul."
The diner went absolutely silent for an entire minute. All of the people in the room glanced at each other with varying expressions, all wondering the same thing. How could Death ask them to do such a thing? They couldn't give Sam or Dean's soul away like that! The guy was out of his mind! How could he back them into a corner like that?! After seeing that no one else was going to say anything, Death placed both of his hands on his cane and blinked at Dean.
"I'll give you time to think about it," he offered, "Call me when you've made your decision."
And the guy was gone.
Gabriel barely comprehended that Death had left the room because he was too preoccupied with the feeling of Sam's body breathing in and out inside his arm. Sam's heart was beating, his lungs were working, and Gabriel couldn't even begin to imagine what he would do if he had to give that away. Sam couldn't die. His soul couldn't be given to Death. It just couldn't. Gabe would never allow it.
"It's me."
Gabriel's heart leaped into his throat at the sound of Sam's voice. The archangel turned to the side to fully look up at his husband, who seemed weary and sad, but fully committed.
"I'll do it. I'll go," Sam sighed, "I've lived a good life and I -"
Sam didn't get to finish his sentence – because Gabriel reared back and slapped the piss out of him. Sam groaned and held his reddened cheek, nearly glaring down at the archangel who hit him.
"Ow!" he grumbled.
"Don't you ever say that again, you giant beautiful prick!" Gabe shouted, feeling tears rise in his own eyes, "You are not some chess piece for Death to play with, okay?! You are my husband! You are Jessica's father! And you arenot going to sacrifice yourself for anyone else ever again, do you hear me?! Stop trying to be a martyr! Stop being such a selfless moose! Stop breaking my heart, dammit!"
After Gabriel croaked the last sentence with a broken voice, he threw himself at Sam; burying himself into the chest cavity of the person he loved most in the world. Sam's musk alone was able to make the moisture escape his eyes. Though his words – and violent actions – were a bit extreme, Sam still found it in him to hug Gabriel back. His long arms circled the archangel and Gabe had to hold in a sob. See? Sam didn't really want to give his soul away, either.
"Gabe's right. You're not doing it," Dean agreed, "... I am."
"No, you most certainly are not, Dean," Castiel immediately rebutted, flashing closer to him with a fierce look in his eye, "Jude, our family – everyone needs you. And I need you more than anyone."
"What else are we supposed to do, Cas? Huh? Let Crowley die?" Dean snapped.
A sharp inhale came from Bobby's side of the room and everyone else glanced over to see that he had hidden his face with the bill of his hat. He was looking down at the floor, but Gabe could tell that he was holding back tears because of the way his bottom lip was quivering.
"I... I was thinking of that," he mumbled, voice high pitched and full of grief, "I don't want the ol' bastard to go... but I know he wouldn't want any of you to trade places with him, either... If somebody's got to die, Crowley will offer to be the one to go. I know he will... I just... I hate seein' him go that way..."
Somber silence settled in the room again as everyone listened to Singer's pitiful sniffles. Gabriel hated this stupid situation. None of them deserved to die. Together, the Winchester family had saved countless people! The whole world, even! If anyone deserved to die, it was the prick who thought he could tear them apart with a deal... Gabriel blinked away his own tears and stood up straight, slowly letting go of Sam as a brilliant idea formed in his head. Of course! Why hadn't he thought of that before? It was so obvious!
"Wait a minute. None of us have to go," he breathed, looking around at the rest of his family.
Of course, they all gave him confused and annoyed looks, but he expected that.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked, feeling a smile grow on his face, "We just have to kill Death."
Bobby tilted his head and Dean rolled his eyes with a groan, both in disbelieve that Gabriel could suggest something so bizarre.
"I'm serious," Gabriel continued, "If we kill him, his deal with the warlock will end. And if the warlock can't come back to life, we can kill him too. And then Crowley's curse will be broken and his workforce will be safe. See? It's a win-win-win!"
"He's right," Bobby said, finally looking up again, "Crowley told me all about contracts. If one party's dead, the contract is void. Especially ones bound with blood magic or a ritual."
"But we're not talking about some random guy, here. We're talking about Death," Sam breathed, sounding bewildered, "The Death. We can't just kill Death!"
"Actually, we can," Castiel argued with a nod, "Death has a weapon – a powerful scythe – that will reap any being in the universe, even our Father. If we were to acquire it and use it on him, we may be able to end his life."
Dean sighed dramatically and rubbed his own forehead.
"Wait. Let me get this right," he grumbled, "Not only are you suggesting that we kill Death, but that we kill him with his own damn weapon?"
Castiel nodded to his husband, his face void of humor. Gabriel, on the other hand, was smiling brightly. He felt like he had just solved the world's most difficult and heart-wrenching puzzle. For a moment, Dean seemed completely at a loss. He only shook his head and tossed his hands in the air, as if he couldn't believe that he was even hearing this crazy plan. But he eventually bit his lip and swallowed a huge gulp.
"Then I guess we're gonna kill Death with his own damn weapon," he groaned, "But if we're gonna attempt this crazy-ass plan, we need to hurry up and get it done. We don't have a lot of time."
"Agreed," Singer nodded sagely, his sadness slowly being replaced with hopefulness, "I say we head back to my place and talk to Crowley about it first. He might be able to give us some advice."
"Evil advice?" Gabriel asked with a wink.
"Probably so. But we're gonna need it," Bobby finally smiled.
Sam and Gabe stood by while Bobby and Dean grouped around Castiel, all preparing to fly back to Bobby's house.
"I just want everyone to remember that this was not my idea, okay?" Dean said, "So when it inevitably blows up in our faces, I'm not to blame."
"Take heart, Dean. This plan will not fail," Cas predicted sweetly.
Dean only gave the seraph a weary look before the three of them – he, Cas, and Bobby – disappeared from the room. Gabriel reached back to take his moose by the arm and fly away with him, but Sam reached up to grab his shoulder instead.
"Wait," he requested softly.
The large man slowly pulled the archangel closer to him in the diner, so that he could cup Gabe's face with both hands. Gabriel held onto Sam's wrists as he looked up into his large, serious eyes. The kid was tender all of the sudden; loving and careful.
"I'm sorry for scaring you, Gabe," Sam almost whispered, his low voice calm and honest, "I just wanted to help and I didn't think of you and Jess first."
Gabriel nodded inside Sam's warm hands, feeling a billion butterflies burst free in his stomach.
"Sorry I slapped you," Gabe offered in return.
A giant smile flashed on the moose's handsome face, making the butterflies swarm faster in Gabe's belly.
"That's okay," he nodded, his smile dimming back into seriousness, "I know how much you love me."
Gabriel gulped, feeling his heart surge.
"You better know," he breathed in a playfully threatening tone.
Sam smirked back before finally lowering his pretty mouth to Gabe's. Gabriel plunged into the kiss fully, reaching up to tangle his fingers in Sam's long hair and smothering him with tongue. It lasted a few solid seconds before Sam pulled back to grin and reach toward the counter.
"You want to try this 'baseball bat', don't you?" Sam asked, holding up the bacon-wrapped Twinkie on a stick.
"Geez, it's like you're inside my head, moose," Gabriel chuckled, taking the stick from Sam so that he could chomp a huge bite from the fresh side, "Mmm... Death is an idiot. This shit is amazing."
The sound of Sam's laughter made Gabe's heart soar. It was his favorite sound in the world, other than their daughter's giggle, and he was glad that he would never have to say goodbye to that sound.
Because they were going to kill Death with his own damn weapon.
(Author's Note: For the record – as you could probably tell by this chapter – I absolutely hate when Sam or Dean willingly sacrifice themselves; as if they don't know their own worth. The show does it waaay too often. And I know that the whole 'selfless hero' motif is admirable and sweet, but come on! It's so needlessly dramatic and heartbreaking! That's why I had Gabriel slap Sammy in this chapter; because I secretly want to do it to the boys every time it happens on the show. Lol. XD (This is probably hypocritical of me, because I'm actually using one of the show's other over-used tactics, which is to have the boys kill their opposition until they accomplish their own desired outcome. But, hey, I say Crowley is worth it. lol) ;D I hope that my interpretation of Death was close to canon. He made this chapter pretty fun to write. And I know that we didn't get to see or hear much of Clare's reaction to his father this time, but it's coming. I promise. :) Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing! And for putting up with my weirdness. I adore every single one of you, and hope you have a wonderful Halloween! :) The next chapter will be out soon! :)
Deanstiel's Daughter, Hey there, darlin! :D I know that Ollie's decision to drop out instead of proposing was pretty surprising. But, he has his reasons. (Of which we will be exploring with him in next week's chapter.) ;D But you're right. Things can't be happy all the time. Sometimes we need the bad to remind us of how lucky we are to have the good. :) Yeah, Caldwell is not the best person. But I promise that Clarence will have plenty more conversations with him in this story. (Whenever he dies, Death kinda just resets him; like dying in a video game. Just restart from the last save. Lol) I'm so glad that you enjoy writing those kinds of scenes too! I liked having Gabriel talk to Jessica like that back in Seeds. I agree, it is really fun to write. :) Ha! Yes, Sam and Dean do pretty much have Death on speed dial. (Death is probably sick of seeing them at this point. Lol!) XD I'm so glad that you are enjoying the story, darlin! And I hope you enjoyed this 'Death' chapter as well. :) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you are doing well! Have a great Halloween! :D
Kats1997, Awww, I'm so sorry for playing with your feelings, darlin! *hugs* (Pssst. Don't worry. You won't be confused about Caldwell for long. Trust me. Lol) ;) And his reaction to Jude and Clare being engaged? I hadn't thought of that, but now I think I will add it in! :D Thank you so much for inspiration! And for reading and reviewing! :D Have a great Halloween, darlin! :)
GeekGirlForLife, Aww, darlin, I totally understand. Caldwell is one of those characters that likes to play with your head and emotions. But not to worry. You won't be conflicted about him for long. His true colors are going to shine through soon. (trust me. Lol) ;D Yas! I love it when Cas gets all smitey! XD But honestly, I think Castiel was sick of hearing him talk about Meg and the other women he raped like they were pieces of meat. Cas couldn't help himself. Lol! ;D omg, me too! I wish people on TV shows would be more honest with each other! It would save so much angst! :D Our baby Jude would never lie to his Clare bear. ;) I'm so glad you are enjoying the story, darlin! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Have a great Halloween! :)
Classical E Centric, Aww, thank you so much darlin! :D Yes, you are absolutely right. Crowley and Rowena probably do have Death on Speed dial. (Too bad the boys didn't talk to them first in this chapter, huh? Probably would have saved a lot of time. Lol) XD Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, darlin! Have a great Halloween! :)
gothichic, Hey there, my sweet and funny SPN bestie! :D Haha! I'm so sorry for all the emotions, but omg! I love 'Friends'! Gabe, how did you know?! XD (Gabriel is totally Chandler, so I guess that makes Sam Monica. Lol!) XD I would love it if Gabriel actually broadcast their lives, because I would listen to/watch it all the time! It's never boring. Lol! ;D Yeah, Ollie and Jess were in rough shape at the beginning of last week's chapter. Though, I think talking to Jude helped him a tiny bit. :) And yes! I agree! Clarence took the news of his real father being alive like a champ! He was so confused and emotional at first, especially when he told his own life story. But with Jude there, he felt confident enough to finish everything he needed to say. Jude is Clare's rock! :D I'm so glad that you are proud of our baby, because I am too! Lol. :D I agree; Clare's life story is much sadder and heartbreaking than Caldwell's. The warlock's parents may have worked him like a dog, but at least they didn't throw him off a bridge and abandon him in a river as a newborn. And yes! Caldwell did lie! That curse really does belong to him, not Death! It just makes you wonder; what else was he lying about? ;) I guess the biggest mistake that Caldwell made was touching Jude. Nobody lays a finger on Castiel's baby and gets away with it. Especially demon rapist/murderers. :D I think Cas enjoyed smiting him more than anyone else he has smote. Lol! XD Ah yes, there is still so much more story still to come! But I hope that you enjoyed our first encounter with Death in this chapter, darlin! :) I promise we will hear more about Clare very soon! :D Thank you so so so so much for reading and reviewing as always, hon! Love ya! Talk to you again on PM soon! And Happy early Halloween! :D
Jawn Lennon Aid, Aww, darlin, you know I don't mind how late reviews are! I am simply happy that you enjoy the story at any time! :D I don't blame you for not wanting to call Caldwell 'dad' (Believe me, he does not deserve that title anymore than Metatron deserves a Noble Peace Prize.) ;D Oh yes, Clarence has a million questions, and some of them might get to be answered later in this story, but for now he is hiding safely inside his fortress of emotional walls. Lol. (Don't worry, Jude's a good climber and he will scale those walls pretty easily) ;) All the praise must go to Castiel for doing what everyone else only wanted to do. Yay for smiting rapist murderers! XD Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, darlin! I'm so glad you are enjoying the story! :) I'll talk to you again soon, and have a great Halloween! :)
