Disclaimer: "Supernatural" is not mine. I make no money nor do I intend any kind of infringement with the use of character names, "Supernatural" multi-verse or themes. I only intend to kill the plot tribbles. There is some language, spoilage for seasons up to and including 6. No slash.

A/N: I owe my munchkin for the frequent interruption to the pacing of my work on this chapter. It would have been out sooner, but for the constant neediness of children. Oh, well. It is good to be home with her for a while before school starts again and I enjoy being able to hang out doing stuff with her and write when I can. Thank you, thank you to dulcinea54 for whipping the muse. Sometimes, the muse turns its back and ignores me, but when a third party gets involved, it listens much better!

Chapter 10

Night had fallen and the humans were in the cabin. Seth could hear their strident calls through the log walls but Seth just couldn't deal with the woman and the hunters bickering and yelling. He longed to return to his grove and put all this drama behind him. He even considered seeking the Veil and joining the armies of the Fae. Anything was better than staying here and enduring the humanity in the cabin.

Suddenly, one of the hunters stormed from the wooden door, slamming it closed behind him and nearly ran to the sleek, black car sitting in front. He walked passed it fuming and cursing. He slammed his hands against the trunk and spun around, leaning aggressively on the rear end of the metal beast. Seth observed silently. Clearly, the man felt the same as the Re'em. Seth felt his lips curl upward in a smile.

Seth walked slowly and carefully toward the hunter. The night air didn't bother the giant creature, but he could see the human was starting to shiver. He couldn't tell, though, if it was the night air or something else. Seth could tell the hunter had a warrior's spirit and of all the creatures he had encountered, a warrior was able to earn his respect better than anything else. He did, however, remember that the man was still a hunter. Hunters were responsible for the fact that he was alone. His mate and their offspring were killed by hunters.

"You will find the child?" Seth asked quietly.

Dean looked up at the ancient creature. His eyes softened then hardened again. "This is because of you."

Seth nodded. "They want me, yes."

"Why?" Dean asked.

Seth took a deep breath and gazed up to the stars above. His graceful movements shimmered with a silver light in the soft white glow from the moon. "It's a very long story." He closed the distance between himself and Dean. He leaned against the trunk of the Impala very near the hunter. "Let's just say, I am very old, very powerful and they really need a weapon that cannot be stopped by heaven or hell." Seth grinned to himself.

"Except you can be. You just have to have the right tool, right?" Dean's voice carried with it an edge of violence. Seth recognized the whisper of hate and rage in the man's voice. He could sense in the man that if he had a tool to destroy a re'em, the hunter would willingly oblige.

Seth remained quiet and still next to Dean. Seth typically didn't enjoy being this close to one such as Dean. He was anything but innocent and the waves of impurity were as clouds of putrescence flowing from him. But, there was also that about him that convinced Seth that this man was righteous. It was a contradiction Seth found disquieting. Dean looked at the giant, his eyes never leaving the silvery re'em even when Sam joined the two of them.

"I want to hear it, the whole story, from the top."

***SPN SPN SPN****

The Creator insisted that his Celestial children show deference to the humans on the planet. Many of the Host immediately followed the order of their Father. Some did so but did not really feel it in their hearts. Others, like Lucifer, flatly refused. Luciferians were immediately cast from Heaven for their crime.

The Host of Heaven had travelled between the planet the Creator had made and their home freely for generations. Angels had interacted with humans and frequently interfered in their lives and destinies. Occasionally, some of the angels Fell in order to live more openly with humans. Some of the angels Fell in order to follow Lucifer. But, the intermingling was not exactly discouraged by the heavenly Father. It had, in fact, been passively allowed. He didn't raise a fuss and not many had looked askance- Until Lucifer corrupted Lillith.

Lillith was vain and young. Her temptation was relatively easy to accomplish. Lucifer cooed to her promises of love and power. She received neither from her human husband and she felt that the angel was earnest in his promises. She died and became a demon because of the corruption of Lucifer. She wasn't the first to bear a child of an angel, though she was the first to do so in defiance of Law- man's law as well as God's.

Michael ordered Gabriel to call the Host home. Most of them returned to Heaven. Those who followed Lucifer were barred. Those who Fell for humans chose to stay with their mortal mates. And then, Michael closed the Gates, locking the Fallen and Luciferians out of Paradise. When it became known that God forbid the creation of Nephilim in response to Lillith's corruption, there was despair among the Fallen. It further added to their despair when God called down the rain. Forty days and forty nights of rain. Not a light drizzle, but a monsoon and the land was swallowed in water.

In the time between the rain and Heaven's Gates locking closed, there was a battle between Michael and his Fallen brother. Michael locked Lucifer in a cage and sent the Luciferians to Hell. Demons created after Lillith, the Nephilim, and the Fallen remained on the planet. And they were handed a Death Sentence. Nephilim and Fallen were not permitted to board the ark God had the human build. There was plenty of room. It was bigger on the inside… don't ask. The rain would fall and all creatures, celestial and infernal would die in a wave of water that would consume everything in its path as if Famine itself fed it.

Then, a creature of the Fae emerged from the misty Veil. A bargain was struck. Demons and half-demons were sent to Hell. But Hell hungered for the souls of the Fallen celestials. They were not permitted in Heaven and, therefore, Hell believed they should be the beneficiaries of the doomed souls. The Fae refused but agreed that after seven years, the number of souls would be remitted. The Veil was opened and the celestial refugees became inhabitants of the Fae. Before the close of the portal, another creature approached the emissary of the Veil. He walked forth with a young human woman at his side.

"Will you take this creature with you?" The young human asked the fairy.

The fairy looked with speculation at the creature in front of her. "Do you wish to travel into the land of the Fae?" she questioned the giant of a man in front of her.

He looked at the young woman. Tears ran down her face as she returned his glance. She was begging forgiveness for her part in his capture, his mate's demise and the fact that he was unwelcome with the others on Noah's boat.

He stroked her face gently and nodded. He turned to face the fairy.

"Will you come as this?" She gestured to the human form the creature assumed. "Or will you come in your true form?"

Seth snorted at her. His eyes filled with tears that went unshed. His form shimmered and the creature that stood before the fairy was an enormous silvery-white equine nearly the size of an elephant with light grey mane, tail and long hair from his chin. His most prominent feature was the spiraling black horn protruding from the center of his forehead. Green, red, yellow and blue arcs of electricity sparked from its base to tip. He was magnificent. He pawed the ground with enormous silver hooves creating the sound of bell chimes with each strike. The human walked to him, placed her hand on the smooth bridge of his nose. He snorted softly into her hand and pushed it forward with a confident shove. She laughed quietly and threw her arms around his strong, muscled neck. She felt his muscles twitch with suppressed pleasure.

"It is quickly growing time, Re'em. Will you come and submit to my queen's commands in exchange for your freedom from this place?"

Seth looked at the fairy with solemn eyes, silver and sparkling with sadness, and nodded his head emphatically. The portal through the Veil opened to reveal the world beyond, the world of the Fae.

***SPN SPN SPN***

Seth relayed his tale to the Winchester brothers in a solemn voice, quiet and filled with pain in the telling. He did not die because he was the first. He was the Alpha of the Re'em. There were only a few that were ever alive anyway. He was called Svaðilfari at the time that the queen of the Fae farmed him out to help in the creation of a great wall. He regretted that period of time for many reasons.

He was released from his bond to the Fae during the human Middle Ages, for which he was incredibly grateful. Since that time, he managed to elude human hunters, incite hopeless romantics who witnessed him in his grove to write bad poetry, and to accidentally avert a war by lying in the path of a great army headed for India. He travelled through the land of the Fae when he attempted escape from some Hunters during the turn of the 19th century and came out in the United States.

He stayed in areas that were not inhabited by many people. He stayed in human form for the most part. He knew it was easier to hide out as a tree spirit, ghost or forest spirit in the world in which he found himself. He would occasionally wander into human areas in order to overhear news from the inhabitants. He seldom needed material goods of human creation, but when he felt the desire or need, he would pilfer what he required and head back into the forests.

"I have been used as a weapon before." Seth admitted quietly. He narrowed his eyes to barely slits in which the brothers were able to discern a silvery liquid filling the wells beneath grey orbs.

Sam regarded the still form of the Re'em. The giant creature towered over him as a statue, motionless and, except for the tear that silently fell, emotionless. He considered the guarded expression of the creature and tried to think of what it reminded him.

Sam noticed that the re'em had shown the most emotion and connectedness with the world when recounting his past. Although he told his story in the matter-of-fact tones and neutral phrasing that would remove the giant from the pain of the telling, he was struggling with the ancient memories. This was unlike any story he can remember being told. It was history, and yet, the creature had lived it. It must be agony knowing he can never get back those moments, that he would live this life alone without family or friends. Sam paused in his reflection to spare a glance at his brother.

Then, it occurred to him, that is where I have seen that look. His brother had the same guarded and pain-shadowed expression as the re'em. It occurred to him that he had seen that expression on Dean when they had returned from the conversation with Joshua in the Garden at the center of Heaven. He had seen it when Castiel had given up his search for God. He saw the expression before Sam went to Lucifer to say, "Yes." He had no way of knowing how often he had seen the expression during the time he had travelled with Dean before Death returned Sam's soul, but he saw it now.

Dean took all the information he gained from the narrative and compartmentalized the things he needed to remember, discarded the things which he felt were extraneous or that he didn't really understand and stowed the rest away for closer examination later.

"Can you find him?" Dean asked suddenly. "Can you… you know… track him or something?"

Seth considered the hunter and grimaced. "I am not a wolfhound, human. But,… yes, I can find him. I can locate him if I get close enough to his location." Seth stopped to consider a moment. "I am currently unable to sense him, though. And that worries me."

"Doesn't that just mean that you're just not close enough? Maybe we can…"

Seth shook his head. "I should be able to sense him if he is on the same continent. I have a very long range." He tilted his head, "Unless, he is under wards to deter my detection."

"How bad will this be… if they are able to make you into a weapon? What can they get you to do?" Dean asked after a moment of silent introspection.

Seth shrugged. "It depends on what they do to the Innocent. He can tell them to shove it, or he can tell me to follow orders." He looked out into the darkness surrounding the clearing. "How strong is the boy?"

Dean straightened and he demonstrated a look of defiant pride in Ben. "He's a Winchester."