Chapter 7
"Thank you, Em," Grace sighed as Glory and Liberty played quietly in the small yard behind Emery's tiny rental house. "We need to figure out what's happening with Sabina before we get too deep."
"Isn't it a little late for that?" Emery asked, putting her mug of coffee down on the counter top.
Grace shrugged. "Yeah, I know," she replied. "Holden really messed with our sense of security. I feel like we're just so exposed."
"What does your gut tell you?"
Pressing her lips together, Grace sighed. "I don't know. I can't figure out what is happening lately. All my instincts are all dulled and I feel like I'm going deaf. It hasn't been this quiet in my head since before Dean and I got married."
Emery turned towards the coffee pot and gestured to it, raising her eyebrows at Grace. She shook her head in return, so Emery returned to her own cup. "Since Holden?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Grace nodded towards Liberty and Glory. "Lib's getting cocky. Cas taught her and Glory to cut themselves off from the outside world to communicate telepathically, and I'm thinking I got caught in the crossfire. I can't understand why I can't hear what they're talking about, though. Sabina lying? I haven't heard anything like that. No red flags from my brain at all. It's weird."
Smiling, Emery nodded. "Your children are very talented," she began carefully. "I tried telling your daddy the same thing about you, but he wouldn't hear it. Didn't believe it."
"All the things he saw and he didn't believe that I could do what I do?"
"I don't think he knew what you could do. He was lost before you found your potential."
Grace stayed silent, but nodded her head. Running a hand through her long blonde hair, she turned towards the girls and gestured, "Lib's gonna be a firecracker," she commented. "We had it out this morning. Gave me some attitude."
"Can't imagine where she got it," Emery replied, smiling behind her coffee mug. "You and your daddy went round and round."
"At six?" Grace asked, raising her eyebrows.
Emery giggled, shaking her head. "Honey, I heard that you gave him hell from your first breath. It's a wonder he survived through you hitting puberty. At least he had it easy with Serra."
"Because he and Serra were practically the same person."
"No," Emery argued. "You got that all backwards, hon. You and Truman Browning are one in the same. Serra is exactly like your mother was…dependable, feisty, and deadly. I think you like to forget how much you and Tru had in common."
Grace turned towards Emery and narrowed her eyes. "We fought all the time, Em," she argued. "We never saw eye to eye."
"'Cause you're both so stubborn," Emery countered. "You and Liberty are following the same path as you and your daddy, but honestly, it could end up a lot more dangerous if you don't start including her in the discussions about what she and her siblings can do. All of you are special…I've heard it since I was brought into this world, and though he was more evil than I can imagine, Ouriel taught me a lot about the balance of Heaven and Earth." She took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to find the words to continue. "I have heard more than I ever care to know about our destinies and what we'll all end up doing with our lives. Lib is beginning to tap that potential and if you don't start taking the time to talk about it with her and start training her and the others correctly, you're going to end up with a pile of problems that you and Dean are ill-prepared to handle."
"Spit it out, Em."
Emery seemed taken aback with Grace's tone, but didn't lose a step. She continued, pointing out the window towards the two girls sitting out on the patio. "They're Gatekeepers," Emery stated, squaring her jaw. "It's why there had to be four. It's always been The Four."
Grace furrowed her eyebrows as Castiel appeared suddenly next to her. Without acknowledging him, Grace stepped forward and tilted her head at her surrogate mother as she leaned towards her. "What the hell does that mean? Gatekeepers? What is that?"
Cas held up his hands, looking as confused as Grace. "Are you sure you should be saying anything about the Destinies?" he asked, staring at Emery.
"Can it, Cas," Grace spat. She turned back towards Emery and continued, "What are Gatekeepers and why didn't I know about this before now?" As Grace realized what Castiel had asked, she whipped around and tilted her head, feeling the sting of deceit. "Do you know about my kids' destiny? Why haven't you said anything?"
Emery stared at Castiel and pressed her lips together. "This whole 'keeping secrets' thing is what got her father killed, Cas," Emery said, staring at the angel in her kitchen. "Don't you think it's time the Winchesters start telling each other the truth about what is happening to them? To each other?"
"We are forbidden from telling destinies," he stated simply, obviously giving into the hard-trained part of being an angel.
"Yeah," Emery nodded somberly. She gestured towards Grace, using her index finger to point at her, "She was forbidden once, too."
Castiel's lips were pressed into a thin line and he folded his arms across his chest, looking angry. "I will not responsible for the changes discussing this topic will bring. Emery," he scolded, "you know more than anyone that as soon as a destiny is realized, it has the potential to change."
"She and the rest of them have the ability to take what I tell them and use it for good. We might be able to finally get ahead of the monsters in this world, just once," Emery sighed and put her hands on her hips. "Ouriel kept secrets like the rest of you angels. Telling his secrets is what saved her life." Emery pointed at Grace with her index finger again and stared hard at Cas.
Grace watched the exchange, practically falling over with anticipation. "Holy shit, someone tell me what is going on."
Castiel and Emery stared at each other a moment longer and finally, Cas took a deep breath, huffing it out and uncrossing his arms. "I have no idea what is in store for the Winchester children," he said quietly. "But I still feel that they should find out when it is time."
Emery raised her eyebrows, "The time is now, Castiel."
Turning back to stare at Emery once more, Grace raised her eyebrows. "Well?" she asked. "What now? What else could possibly happen to us?"
"It's not something that will happen to you," Emery began, leaning on the countertop behind her. "The process has already begun. It began when you dreamed of Dean."
Grace's eyebrows lowered slowly, releasing the angry expression on her face. "I should have never gone into that bar," she whispered.
"Of course you should have," Emery argued. "You have never been so happy as when you have been with that boy, no matter what you have been through. Think about the outcomes…Serra and Sammy, the houses, the kids. All of that could happen because you went into that bar."
"Yeah, and being hunted by angels, being almost killed by Crowley, being dragged to hell, being stabbed and losing Faith the first time…all of that happened because I walked into that bar, too."
"Grace, just shut your trap and let me tell you what you want to know. Try your best to stop feeling sorry for yourself, while you're at it," Emery said, annoyed. "You have it way too good to wallow in the pity parade for much longer. Suck it up. You're alive."
Closing her eyes and holding in the argument that sat on the edge of her tongue, Grace took a breath and glanced outside, seeing that her children still played out in the tiny yard. "Fine," she replied. "Just tell me."
"A Gatekeeper is exactly what it sounds like: a chosen person to guard the gate of a particular world. In this case," Emery explained, "there are four. There are always supposed to be four."
"And what gates are they supposed to guard?" Grace asked, closing her eyes.
Taking a deep breath behind her, Castiel answered quietly, realization hitting him hard. "The only ones that really matter," he whispered.
Emery continued, "Earth, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory."
Grace's mouth slowly dropped open and she reached with one hand to cover it. "You're talking literally about the Gates. Why? Why my kids?"
"You had to have known something would come of your children," Emery added quietly. "Dean is Michael's Vessel. You're half angel. You both were chosen for greatness; to protect what we have."
Licking her lips and turning away from Castiel and Emery, Grace covered her face with both of her hands, trying to keep control of her emotions. The lights in Emery's small kitchen flickered, forcing Emery to glance at Castiel. He kept eye contact with Em and pressed his lips together, lifting his eyebrows momentarily. The lights flickered again as Grace stumbled to the chair at the kitchen table and as she sat down, the incandescent bulbs grew brighter and brighter until suddenly, every glass bulb in the kitchen exploded, sending tiny shards of glass in every direction.
"Gracie, get control," Emery whispered, walking towards her surrogate daughter, extending her arm to comfort her. "I'm so sorry to be the one to tell you, but you had to know. Someone had to tell you."
Grace was crying now, supporting her face with her hands as she rested her elbows on the table. Liberty and Glory turned in tandem towards their mother from the backyard and stared into the kitchen through the sliding glass door.
"Stop, Gracie," Emery consoled as another light bulb, this time in the living room, grew so bright that it broke into pieces. "You're bursting my lights, honey."
Lowering her hands and staring at Emery, Grace furrowed her eyebrows and practically shouted, "Oh, I'm sorry about your lights, Em. Two of the Gatekeepers and I will stop at the piggly-wiggly on our way back through town." Grace didn't attempt to hide the sarcasm in her words, but instead squeezed her eyes shut, rubbing her face with her hands. "I can't believe this. I can't believe that we just can't be normal," she slammed her hand down on the kitchen table and behind them, the sliding glass door shattered. "It's all I have ever wanted! I thought by surviving our way through hunting and the apocalypse, that maybe, just maybe, someone upstairs might eventually have mercy on us and we would finally get to just exist."
Emery's kitchen window exploded out towards her front yard, forcing her to wince. "Grace, you need to get control of yourself," she whispered. "Your babies are watching you."
"They're -" Grace cut off and glanced around, finally realizing what she had been doing unconsciously. "God, I'm sorry, Em," she sobbed, rubbing the tears out from under her eyes. "I can't control it right now. I can't control anything right now."
…
Dean turned towards his youngest daughter as she began to cry. "What's wrong, Pot Roast?" he asked, moving towards her as she sat on the floor. As soon as he took another step towards her, she vanished right in front of his eyes. "Holy shit," he whispered, glancing around. "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit."
Everett turned from his place on the floor to face where his baby sister had been sitting only seconds before. "Where is Faith?" he asked his father quietly. "Where'd Faith go?"
"I don't know," Dean replied, running a hand through his hair. "It's okay." Dean breathed. "It's okay, Ev," he repeated, trying to comfort himself almost as much as his son. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Grace's number automatically. "It'll be okay. Don't…don't freak out."
Grace's phone rang and rang, but she didn't pick up the other line. Dean could feel himself falling further into a panic, but took a deep breath, closing his eyes and very quietly, he asked the room, "Faith? Baby, come on back."
Everett stared at his father, waiting as patiently as he could, but the small, faint Mark of Cain pulsed on his arm.
Taking another deep breath, Dean asked, "Cas? A little help, here?"
…
Castiel's ice blue eyes flicked towards Grace as she regained control. "Dean just prayed for me," he said quietly towards Emery.
"What?" Grace turned towards Emery and Castiel. "Why?"
"I don't know," Castiel replied, "Do you want me to go to him?"
Grace turned to watch her older daughters as they walked towards the house, but they both turned as Faith crawled after them. "Faith just appeared," Grace whispered, pointing towards the small yard.
"What?" Emery shouted, running to the broken window. "How?"
Liberty and Glory turned towards their baby sister and knelt down to greet her, almost as if they expected her. "I can guarantee that's why Dean just prayed for you, Cas," Grace commented quietly. "I left her and Everett with him. Go to Dean and calm him down. I'll call him right now." With that, Castiel nodded and disappeared.
Slowly and carefully, Glory and Liberty came through the broken window, "Momma, what's wrong?" Libby asked, stepping over the metal frame of the door and tiptoeing thought the piles of broken glass. "I could feel the air."
Almost forgetting her original emotions, Grace shook her head. "It's okay, baby," she replied. "I was upset and lost control for a minute."
Staring up at her mother with piercingly blue eyes, Glory tilted her head. "Why?" she asked. Faith stopped on the border of the grass, waiting patiently for someone to pick her up and carry her over the shards.
Grace got up and stepped through the glass, scooping her daughter from the ground. "Should we break the news to Gama Em?" she asked Faith, wiping her face. Grace looked up at Emery and took a deep breath. "I guess it shouldn't surprise you that this one can already travel 'cross dimensionally' as Cas puts it."
"She can teleport herself?" Emery asked.
"Yeah."
"How long has she been able to do that?"
Grace shrugged and held the baby close, breathing in her scent. "Long enough to be discovered by Cas. We haven't even told Dean yet. He's probably close to tears right about now." Grace picked up her phone and saw that she had three missed calls from her husband. "Well, that's why he asked for Cas. My phone is on silent."
"Big day," Emery commented.
Grace made a face, nodding slowly. "Getting a little sick of it," she replied. "I'd like a small day."
"You and me both, kiddo."
