Chapter 9

"Thanks for coming Bobby."

"Yeah well when you mentioned a certain someone in trouble, I just had to get over here. I brought some company." The grizzled hunter pointed with his thumb as he walked into the room that the Winchesters occupied with an unconscious angel. Close on Bobby's heels was Cerebus looking a bit homely in his Rottweiler hell hound magnificence.

Dean looked at the hell hound as he came in and took a seat next to Sam. "What about the claws of doom?"

"Tending to the rats," Bobby replied, not in the mood to entertain notions about the fool cat that was his personal bed warmer. "So anyway can one of ya idjits tell me how you lost Angie and from the backseat of the Impala?"

"We didn't lose her," Dean offered feeling foolish that he was even giving this, "She just… disappeared."

"And how do you think that happened?" Bobby looked at Sam and Dean. This was bad in his view since he was certain that whatever was going on had to do with this fool idea that Angela was up to and keeping the boys in the dark. "She's not a demon."

Sam looked at Dean and idly began to rub Cerebus' head. It was comforting and the hound rested his head on his knee. Sam then looked at Bobby and said, "We think that it was an angel took her and it wasn't Cas."

"Well obviously it wasn't Feathers here," Bobby replied in sarcasm as he motioned towards the unconscious angel lying on the bed. "And what happened to him?"

"We don't know," Sam replied. "He just showed up like this."

"We think it was a demon…"

Bobby moved to look at Castiel who was passed out and made a face, "Eh it was no demon. Looks like something Angie would have done if she were pissed off enough." He frowned at what he was looking at since he knew that Angela was capable of dealing such damage but she would have suffered a bit to her person.

"Okay so would Angie kick his ass?" Dean looked at Bobby as if he knew all the answers. "Is she pissed at Cas?"

"What am I? Yer damn crystal ball?"

It was tense since all three were surrounding an unconscious angel. Bobby was agitated because it seemed like this was a bigger mess than it had to be. The boys were just plain worried and Dean's best reaction was to take it out in anger and it was enough to annoy Bobby and warn them not to take attitude with him.

Sam looked around to think. He rubbed Cerebus' ears and thought about it. It was what Castiel told them before he passed out. Maybe that was what they needed and he was shrewd enough to guess that if Angela was working on something and didn't want to tell them, she would have told at least Bobby… so he really couldn't be that upset with her. Maybe what Castiel had muttered might help. "Okay, Bobby, have you heard of anything going lately like omens and stuff… angels getting whacked?"

Bobby looked at Sam and wondered how much did the kid suspect what was going on. As far as he knew, Angela hadn't said a word about her activities but certainly found plenty to bug him with. Certainly he was kept busy with that librarian of her. When he wasn't being helpful in an annoying way, the librarian was nearly blowing up one of the rooms he had an ongoing experiment in. That librarian did have good taste in whiskey though.

Looking at Sam and then Dean, he asked, "What do you mean exactly?"

"Mercy and Truth are the key and grace of combined power forever be," Castiel managed to pipe up even though he was unconscious.

"Great, he learned how to rhyme," Dean said for lack of anything else to say. "So we really got nothing." He looked at Bobby and saw the look on his face. The look told him something was up and he aimed to follow it through even if he had to go extreme in getting it from the older hunter. "Bobby?"

"I don't know…"

"Bobby, please," Dean countered, "We don't have time for any secrets. I know you may have promised her and you kept your word but…"

"Bobby, she may be in trouble," Sam added. "She would do the same."

Bobby took in both expressions the boys were giving him. Dean was more like someone kicked his dog and Sam was doing the puppy eyes that no one could say no to… except maybe her and she rivaled his when she wanted to. He knew he made a promise to not say anything but he wondered if she took into account something like this or even thought of the possibility.

Just promise me that you won't say anything about what I am doing… unless it is something that can't be said no to.

Inwardly he growled at the memory of that. She knew they would beg and Sam would use his greatest weapon. She set him up but he wasn't angry at that. Rather he was relieved since it meant that the boys would be on the same page as she was. Of course the repercussion with this latest piece of drama crap was something they would have to work out. He looked at the pair and said, "What Cas is saying is a reference to what is called an essential."

"An essential?" Sam looked at Dean with a look of confusion. "What is that?"

"The essentials are a set of seals that if broken could also contain a power that the one who does the breaking can use like a special weapon or something," Bobby explained from the bare bones she gave and the research he had done by bugging the faculty at the academy.

"What kind of weapon?"

"Don't know," Bobby replied. He gave a warning look when Dean was about to start on one of his rants. "Each seal is specific. Each is described in detail and supposedly the results can make the omens we've seen thus far look like fireworks."

"Described in detail? Where?" Sam was anxious to get started. The research he could handle in this.

"That's the thing. There is one piece of writings that contains descriptions of all the essentials and we don't have it but neither does the other side."

"Whaddaya mean Bobby?" Dean frowned at that wondering if this was going to be one of those things that would bite them in the ass big time.

"She has it doesn't she? Angie?" Sam looked at Bobby for confirmation. He didn't know how he knew but it sounded like something she would do. She would be the only one to possess the lore that would relate to this. It wouldn't surprise him if she her storage units had more of that. After all that was where she got what she needed to hide Hibah from the angels.

"She does. It's called the Epistles of Joshua, the Warrior of Megiddo," Bobby replied after a prolonged sigh. "Supposedly it contains details to other things like the vaults of the Ancients and histories of the lost cities of myths as well."

"Wait a minute," Dean paused the conversation as he remembered something, "Sam remember when the demons that attacked us at the diner said they were looking for the headpiece of Megiddo?"

"Yeah? You thinking the same person?"

"I'm thinking someone told us that it was story," Dean replied crossing his arms over his chest. "She lied to us Sam."

"Not really. For a long time the Epistles were said to be nothing more than a theory," Bobby replied, "The same goes for the headpiece. No one is really sure as to what it looks like and no one was sure that the Epistles existed."

"Well they're very real," Dean countered. "So maybe she went looking for the headpiece."

"She was looking into it the last time we spoke."

"What is the significance of the headpiece?" Sam was curious about that. The demons wanted it badly and Angela virtually told a lie straight to his and Dean's faces to keep the fact that it did exist a secret. She would only do that if she was protecting him and Dean (Rule Number One) or if she had made a promise to someone else regarding it.

"The headpiece is the key to translating the Epistles. The language is older than the dead languages I've seen."

"It's a decoder pin?"

Leave it to Dean to simplify it enough to make sense in his world. Bobby looked at him and replied, "Something like that. It is also a key and necessary to locate the pieces of Joshua."

"Pieces as in body parts?"

"No ya idjit, pieces of his armor."

Sam thought about it while Dean spat back a mouthful of sarcasm towards Bobby and the two went at it. He looked at Cerebus who was lying down and heaving a sigh. He wasn't getting help from there but it was something to look at while he thought about it.

The one thing he was familiar with was the whole thing about soul weapons. Absolution he had seen close up and it made him willing to believe in the fact that weapons like Absolution existed and really were alive. They had unique qualities to them. Orion's belt worked the same way. Sam had noticed how it reacted while it was on Angela's wrist in certain situations. What if…?

Looking at his brother and Bobby, he posed, "What if the essentials are tied to this headpiece? Each being a piece to a whole and when they are all broken…"

"A little farfetched but I'll bite," Dean said once he thought about it. "Though I don't quite get it. I mean what other thing has been used as a key, that Orion thingie?"

"That was an essential Dean," Castiel said.

The three hunters turned to see Castiel sitting up. He looked better now and his injuries had time to heal. "The Sun and Moon seal that bore recognition to Ragnarok, the Norse tellings of the Apocalypse, was an essential."

"Hold on. You mean that thing Angie wears…"

"The Sun and Moon seal released a weapon, the wolves that would have devoured the sun and moon. Orion's belt was created by Artemis and could tame any beast," Castiel explained. "Orion decided to strengthen the seal since it can only be worn by a hunter. Hence that seal. It was broken but the Malachi prevented the wolves from being unleashed."

"Yeah so…"

"The Malachi is the key to the Epistles," Castiel interrupted. He looked at the three hunters. "The Malachi is the earthbound angel hence she was chosen and one of the few to bear information about the essentials."

"The translations," Sam confirmed. "She knows the language. Then why did she go to you Bobby if she could read it?"

"She doesn't know unless another told her," Castiel explained.

"Okay does that explain why she is missing?"

"She's not missing," Castiel said as he made to get up. He was still a little weak but he could work with it. It wasn't as bad as before. "She is with another who holds a piece of knowledge. She can read about the seals. The demons want the headpiece but they will need her."

"That's why we got so many angel occurrences," Sam said with sudden clarity, "They know about them but not the specifics. They're guessing."

"Yes but Lilith will figure it out that the Malachi is the key to reading the Epistles," Castiel said. "Right now they are after the Mercy and Truth seal and the Blade of Joshua. The blade is a necessity and we can't let the seal be broken."

"We know that."

"It can't be broken or Absolution will not have a chance."


Angela opened her eyes and lifted her head. She felt the dirt pour from where it landed on her body and slowly looked around. She was inside the cave that was for sure. Turning to look behind her, she could see a wall made of rubble and rock and some of the dirt was still falling. She slowly got to her feet and dusted herself off as best as she could.

The wall was a bit thick but she could hear noises on the other side. She could make out Gabriel getting excited and she made a slight face, "Oh boy is he getting a lot of fun."

The last time Gabriel had a good tie with demons was the day he rescued her from hell. At least that was how he put it. She remembered him being pissed as hell and there was such a thing as an angel being a scary being. She witnessed it and needless to say it was an interesting experience that she would rather be not repeated in her presence.

Sighing, Angela looked at her person. Absolution was on her back and it was still there. Her chakram was at her belt and there was the bag of trick she always carried over her shoulder. She couldn't help it, "All I'm missing is the bullwhip and the hat."

There was some crumbling and she turned. She put her hand into the bag and found the book that she kept with her; the Epistles really couldn't be parted from her since she actually found it and had the audacity to keep it locked in her Atlántida chest until she realized that she would need it to find the essentials. It was a bitch to hide even when doing nightly reading and Sam just happened to knock on her door. Pulling it out, she held it in her hands and Orion began to glow.

"Alright I get it. Time for a mission," Angela said at the glowing gem. "Though I still don't get why you just stay with me. I am not of the hunter bloodlines."

Orion hummed and she could feel the buzz on her wrist. It felt interesting since she was used to Absolution humming in her hand. She made a slight face and replied, "Yeah well you try that line on someone that really believes in that… Just kidding."

Sighing Angela opened the Epistles and flipped it to the middle. It seemed pointless since she had been trying to translate it for days but when she flipped it to the section on the battle that separated the two graces she found that she was reading in detail what was written. She paused, confused, "Wait a minute. I just read the headpiece. I couldn't read this."

She patted herself down and found the headpiece in her jacket pocket and held it up. It was attached to a chain to allow for it to hang around the neck. She held up both to examine them side by side. It wasn't too hard since there was some light and her night vision was better than animals attuned to it. What she found was that the writing was identical. She made an unladylike snort, "Well that part was a story."

Not wasting time Angela started forward since that was the only way out. The way out was the way forward. She was well familiar with that axiom way back when her father started training her. Putting the headpiece around her neck, she walked forward with the book open to the mentioning of the Sword of Joshua. She paused and read what the description spoke of. She closed it and put it in her bag. "Okay, let's move forward."

The cave was pretty much a one way road with the occasional veering off to dead ends… literal dead ends where the edge dropped off into vast nothingness. There were also a lot of spider webs everywhere at those ends. She wasn't even going to go there. Sometimes you didn't go looking for trouble if you were trying to find something.

Since it was getting darker, Angela fished out her flashlight from her bag. It lit everything pretty well until she came to a junction. There were thick cobwebs over all three tunnels and they all went a fair distance. If she picked the wrong one she would lose time and possibly meet a deadly end. Trying to explain that one to the boys would be a doozy and they were already pissed at the fact that Gabriel decided to take her here and her cell phone didn't work. So there was going to be explanations all around as well a few icy glares and…

Angela moved her light up to take a look. The Epistles just gave a description of the cave itself but no map. So that was not helpful. "This is so much like El Dorado," Angela muttered as she looked at the cave walls.

It was rather a relief when she found glyphs on the walls. It was just a matter of reading them properly. She shone her light on the walls to look at them. She murmured the words in the correct language as she went over them. She stepped back when she found the story of Joshua of Megiddo or rather the story about his sword.

"So that's how it is. Sounds almost like a fairy tale," she muttered to herself as she studied the glyphs.

The main image she came to showed Joshua holding his sword up towards the sky. Lightning had struck it and from the sword emerged two beings. Angela raised her brow at that image as she put the pieces together. The beings had the faint outlines that were unmistakably angel wings. "Seriously? Now this is really starting to look like a fairy tale."

"Does it really matter? After all it is tied to a seal."

Angela turned and flashed her light on the unmistakable form of Ruby. At the same time her eyes flashed their orb light. Upon seeing it was Ruby, she lowered her hand that she had raised, prepared to use an offensive, and said, "There is still such a thing when you have little to none in terms of evidence… What are you doing in here Ruby?"

Ruby looked at Angela, keeping her distance while trying to avoid the spider webs. "Well for one making sure that you haven't been kidnapped by the other side. That would certainly be a big blow to our side since you are going after Lilith."

"Our side?"

"Oh please, don't argue semantics." Ruby narrowed her eyes at Angela. "You know what the hell I mean. Ever since you left Magic Town you've been running around and poking at sleeping giants. You didn't think anyone was going to notice?"

"Of course they would notice. Most of the meals and deals division knows Cary is my stoolie," Angela replied. She crossed her arms over her chest. "The nice thing is that I always have a backup plan."

"Right and how well does that work for you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Angela replied with a force smile. Her tone was less than friendly and gave indication that she was willing to snap. "So what are you doing here Ruby? How did you get in?"

Ruby snorted in an unladylike fashion. That really didn't matter since it was a matter of life and death. "I'm trying to help you. If anything happens to you not only does the whole plan against the Apocalypse and Lilith go to hell but I get two bitchy and whiny Winchesters on my hands. What is it about you that they turn into big babies?"

"I make really good pie."

"Don't be cute."

"I'm serious." Angela gave a smirk at the fact that a simple answer was the truth. Well it was a little thing. She really wasn't completely sure but Dean and Sam were clear that she was family to them so that was good enough for her.

"Whatever," Ruby snapped. She wasn't in the mood for the whimsical streak of Angela. "Look, the reason I'm here is because I can get in here. The place is not completely demon proof."

"I can see that since you're here."

"Both sides want the Sword of Joshua. It is the key to the seal that Lilith wants to break."

Angela decided to play cute, "You don't say. You know I was thinking that Lilith was after a seal too. The Blood and Grace seal is a nice one. After all the signs are all there, the missing and dead angels."

"Don't be stupid. You know that it is an important seal… it is an essential they are after," Ruby snapped back. "And they don't know the whole story but willing to go after half-truths."

"What is that?" Angela looked at Ruby like she was a clueless grad student.

"You are really getting on my nerves."

"Funny because I think the same thing about you."

"Stop it," Ruby hissed. She didn't have time for this. "Look if I can get in here, that means the others can. They just haven't because you have a guardian angel guarding the door but they will come. They want the sword."

"And here I was thinking that they wanted the headpiece," Angela replied. It wasn't a secret about what the demons wanted. After all they tried earlier and it she managed to get them to think that they were chasing fairy tales and hokum.

"They want it all. The Epistles list everything."

"And what makes you think that I know anything about anything?" Angela took a few steps forward so she was toe to toe with Ruby. She had dropped her arms so they were closer towards potential weapons.

"Please. You are the Malachi. It makes sense to them."

"Pretty poor argument," Angela replied in a soft tone that sounded cold. "It could be that I know who has it."

Ruby sighed. She wasn't going to win on this considering that Angela seemed to have the means to rebuff whatever she said and there was good reason. They didn't trust each other and they were both stubborn enough not to give in. "Don't be a pain in the ass. I am here to help you get through the cave and get the sword. It is related to the seal."

Angela studied the demon. She knew that Ruby had done a lot to try and gain the trust of the Winchesters in the past. She could grudgingly admit that the demon came in handy at times but it was as she had told Sam: handle with care. The fact that Ruby was here meant that they could get in and she could expect surprises. Enemy of my enemy seemed to apply. She pointed in a direction, "This way."

"How do you know that?"

Angela was about to point when she heard something. Ruby heard it too and tensed up. They stood back to back automatically and looked around. They turned as they looked, not seeing the large, dark shape slowly descending from overhead.


A/N: Looks like Bobby is spilling some beans and Ruby joined in the hunt with Angie. Looks like fireworks and answers abound. Keep watching for more Their Eyes Once Watched God...