My sincerest apologies for the massive delay on this chapter. I was in the hospital for awhile and then recovering afterwards. It put pretty much everything on a standstill.

"We're here."

Dean's voice broke through the tense silence. Harry had been researching and jotting things down since they started their journey. He glanced up to catch both of the Winchesters staring back at him. Behind them two more sets of headlights pulled off to the curbside where they'd parked.

"Before we go in there I gotta ask…" Dean said cutting the engine.

Harry figured the man was going to ask a multitude of questions about the nature of his relationship with Eve. He was wrong.

"What was the real secret Death told you?" the stubborn hunter asked.

A beat of silence passed.

"Seriously Dean?" Sam sounded offended even though Harry knew, without a doubt, the taller Winchester was just as curious as his brother.

"What?!" Dean threw up his hands. "It's been killing me, what exactly could he have told him that learning his family was still alive wouldn't be the first thing on his mind?"

Harry's eyes glanced over the man. Dark thoughts brewed beneath the surface of his mind. He wondered if maybe sharing the information meant that he might change the situation. Because if anyone was capable of bending fate surely it was these two men in front of him. Time and again they had proven that destiny had no control on their actions.

But instead of confronting that thought Harry simply opened the door and slid from the car without a word. It wasn't that he felt the secret too personal to share, or even that he didn't feel they were the right people to tell. It came down to timing really. His secrets could wait. It had waited this long and it wasn't liable to change in the next few weeks while they dealt with this conundrum involving the alphas and Eve.

The Winchesters scrabbled out of the car after him, Sam throwing his brother muted looks of incredulity.

"This is it?" Eve had joined Harry at his roadside location. They eyed the big metal gate together and neither was impressed. "Who exactly did they think they were going to keep out with that eyesore?"

"Anyone with a decent sense of taste." Harry quipped before making his way forward.

The gate wasn't so much as a small deterrent. Harry simply flicked his fingers and watched it swing gracelessly inward. He could tell the Winchesters were following by the crunch of gravel behind him. Eve seemed to have stopped at the gate though. She was eying it with something akin to annoyance.

Harry glanced her way noting the scrunched eyebrows and the angels lingering undecidedly near the cars.

"There's warding." She said with not a little bit of shock in her voice.

"Warding?" Dean repeated in confusion.

"You haven't been to Earth in millennia." Harry said taking a step back in her direction and eying the ground more closely. "What are the chances they have a ward designed specifically for you?"

"Next to zero." Sam said doubtfully. "It's probably something more general and she just happens to fit the criteria."

"Well brilliant!" she snapped and Harry could see that flash of red he'd familiarized himself with. You can check 'other' on the list of reasons that I can't get in."

"It's fine." Harry said with a sigh. "We don't even know if anyone's here. There's no need to get so irritated. If someone's in there I'll make sure nothing 'untoward' happens until you have a chance to ask your questions."

She sneered at that but she stopped trying to struggle past the invisible barrier that was repelling her.

Dean was eying their angel comrades. "Cas?" he said with a raised eyebrow and a nod toward the path they were following.

Castiel approached eyes following something that was clearly invisible to the brothers. "There's angel warding."

"What?" Dean replied indignantly. "They don't even know about angels. Sam, they don't know about angels, right?"

Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "I, um… I might've said something… before…"

"Great." Dean let his shoulders slouch. "So we lost all our supernatural wildcards. All we've got is Merlin the halfcocked wizard."

Harry shot a stinging hex at Dean's leg and was amused as the man jumped around trying to rub the effects away. "Merlin the halfcocked wizard should be enough to handle it." Harry said to the angel who was now watching Dean with a concerned gaze.

Piercing blue eyes settled on his and after a second the angel nodded. Apparently that was his assent that Harry could take care of the Winchesters on his own. High praise considering how protective of them the overly serious angel got most of the time. Gabriel just waved his good bye from the car. Typical for the sweets loving ego maniac.

"The three musketeers off again." Harry commented as he swung back around. Sam chuckled a bit as he followed. Dean grumbled.

"How far off are we?" Harry asked the two men trailing at his sides. Both had been to the property. He didn't have the same advantage.

"By car it was only another minute or two." Dean supplied.

A glance in Sam's direction showed that he was obviously trying to remember despite a lack of properly clear memories. Harry frowned at that. Had he taken something as mundane as the location of the Campbell family corral? Maybe it was just foggy from the lack of 'self' attached to the memory.

It didn't take too terribly long to reach the hideout, Dean had been right. The building didn't look any more impressive than the gate had. It was all rusting metal and broken windows. They'd certainly tried to work chicken wire into the motif. It hadn't worked in their favor though.

"Your family certainly opts for the comforts in life."

Sam shrugged to his right. "It wasn't really a home to any of them. Just a place to stay in between hunts."

Harry examined him for a moment. The statement had sounded almost defensive. "Well, I suppose you two have stayed in shadier motels. At least we know hookers weren't in the beds while you were away on hunts… unless there was a serial killer in the area. Then no promises because this is certainly serial killer turf."

He wasn't sure why he was goading the tall man but the jokes were there and the air was tense anyway so why not?

Dean didn't seem nearly as hung up about the jokes. Harry was pretty sure he'd even heard a small chuckle at the serial killer one. Though he was sure the man would deny any hit of amusement should he be asked.

"Shall we?" Harry gestured to the front door which swung open with the hand movement. The door hinges creaked but were abruptly cut off by a loud bang as a gun discharged narrowly missing Harry's left ear.

Dean had his gun out and pointed at the door in about a quarter of a second. Sam hesitated a moment longer but followed his brother's lead.

"Don't shoot!" Sam called toward the door.

Silence followed the statement and then a tiny bit of shuffling like the person on the other end of a short hallway wasn't sure what to do. "Sam?" a female voice echoed from the doorway unsurely.

"Yeah, it's me." Sam said reassuringly. He lowered his weapon marginally and moved closer to the door.

Harry bit back an 'I don't think that's wise' comment. Instead he settled for throwing up a small shield in front of the reckless hunter. Sam may feel a sense of companionship from his 'soulless' days with them but Harry didn't trust them not to shoot him on sight. They certainly seemed twitchy enough.

Much to his surprise the woman revealed herself but she was flanked by another surly looking man toting a large gun of his own. That gun stayed pointed firmly on Harry, though the wizard was amused to see it momentarily twitch in Dean's direction.

"Isn't this one big happy family reunion?" Harry said with a snort. "Someone break out the six pack and potato salad."

"Who are you?" the man's voice didn't sound any happier about the situation than Harry felt.

"Who is he Sam?" The woman reiterated before Harry could so much as consider answering the question himself.

"And why's he here?" this time Harry was surprised to see the man nod in Dean's direction. The sneer on the man's face clearly said he didn't think much of the elder Winchester. "Thought you went running back home to mommy. Or did you scare her off too?"

"I'm sensing a bit of hostility here. Someone want to cue me in?" Harry stage whispered in Dean's direction only making whatever insult Dean had on the tip of his tongue sputter out as he shot Harry a 'what the hell' look.

"Hey, whoa. Come on, let's put down the guns. We can talk about this when no one's at risk of accidental lead poisoning." Sam said hands raised in a peace seeking manner.

Harry didn't miss the look of confusion that brought to the woman's face. She didn't lower the gun either. Not a good sign.

"Alright, look, have you got a group leader we could talk to? Someone a bit more… diplomatic." Harry suggested.

"You think that's funny?" the aggressive man swung his gun back in place and looked like he was itching to try out its short range damage.

"Not particularly. I have some good blonde jokes in reserve though." Harry said with a smile.

"Where's Samuel?" Sam asked trying to keep attention from focusing on Harry, afraid the wizard was going to get himself hurt. He had no idea how much magic Harry had gotten back but he'd been talking with Cas lately and he'd heard about how feeble the man had been when he'd first returned.

His question did seem to cause the woman pause though. Her eyes flickered to the door and then back to Sam. "You mean you don't know?" she asked with confusion.

"Don't listen to them, Gwen. They're trying to confuse you."

"Yeah, it couldn't be that we just really don't know." Dean piped in.

Gwen frowned heavily.

"I'm starting to think I walked into some sort of vendetta." Harry muttered.

"Gwen, look at me." Sam pleaded. "We just want to talk. Where's Samuel?"

The man opened his mouth to talk but Gwen beat him to it. "Missing."

"Missing?"

"For a few days now." She nodded. "We went on a hunt. He was supposed to do something afterward but he never showed back up."

"A hunt…" Harry said, regaining his footing in the conversation before the brothers could. "I don't suppose that hunt took place in Radcliff."

He could see the two tense and out of the corner of his eye he just barely saw a glint before a bullet was speeding at his eye socket. It hit the barrier and just stopped there levitation in mid-air as a reminder it hadn't hit home for reasons besides the sharp shooter's aim.

"Holy hell." Dean muttered.

His cousins seemed to have the same sentiment but mostly because they were surprised the stranger wasn't laying in a crumpled heap on the ground. It didn't take long for the man to break from his stupor though and with that came the freeing of a particularly large machete and a lunge toward Harry.

Sam moved to intervene but Harry just stunned the hunter and watched him take his spot on the ground next to the now used bullet.

"Damage control." Harry gestured at Dean, who was uncharacteristically still during the abrupt showdown. Dean snapped out of his stupor grinning slightly at the fallen hunter. He moved to block the door so Gwen couldn't retreat to the building. It was her home turf and of she got back in Harry had no idea how hard finding her again would be.

Gwen herself didn't seem to know where to turn. There wasn't much she could do about Dean blocking her escape. "What's going on?" she finally decided to spit out though clearly she was freaking out at least a little if the way her eyes kept darting to the downed man were any indicator.

"We really did come to talk." Harry said with a sigh.

"And I'm Marilyn Monroe." She retorted.

"He's telling the truth Gwen."

"And why should I believe you?" she said swinging the gun to Sam. "You're not acting anything like the Sam who hunted with us. It's a little suspicious that you'd go missing for weeks and then showing up acting completely different don't you think?"

"I should think his current behavior an improvement." Harry scoffed.

"Why, because he's one of your lackeys?"

"No, Gwen, because…" Sam swallowed harshly. "Because when I was with you guys before I didn't have my soul. This is me, the real me."

"The full package at least." Harry agreed.

Gwen certainly hadn't been expecting that little nugget of information as she quickly clammed up. She didn't look so sure any more. She seemed to be mulling the thought over in her head. "If you came here to talk…" she lowered the gun, obviously realizing that even if they meant her harm the gun was pretty useless now. "Why did you kill Christian?"

"Christian isn't dead." Sam said placating. He turned to Harry for confirmation. "Right?"

"Just stunned." Harry assured her. "I lift the spell once we have our answers."

"What are you?" she said, eying Harry.

"Wizard." Harry said with a grin.

Her nose wrinkled. "A witch."

"No, wizard. Two different things I assure you."

She took a deep breath. Her fingers look like they were itching to pull a trigger. "What do you want?"

"We had a few questions about your extracurricular activities."

"The hunt in Radcliff?"

"Amongst other things."

She frowned. Her eyes flicked to Christian then back up. "I won't say anything until you prove he's not dead."

"I reserve the right to stun him again if he does something stupid." Harry snapped his fingers and they all watched as the downed hunter sprung into motion. He was on his feet in less than two seconds and eying them all in a disoriented manner.

"Now, we've established that your merry group of hunters went to Radcliff. What were you hunting there?"

"Werewolves." She answered simply.

Harry shook his head. "Why?"

Her eyes narrowed, and Christian seemed to finally focus on what was going on around him.

"What do you mean why?" he spoke up glaring. "They're werewolves."

"Right, but you haven't been killing them." Harry reminded him.

They both looked a little shocked that he knew that much.

"Where have you been taking them?"

Gwen winced.

"And whose idea was it to start taking them?"

"Who wants to know?" Christian spat back.

"Their mom." Dean answered.

Christian snorted.

"Yeah, sad part is I'm not joking."

That earned him a muddled look.

"I'm starting to think you two aren't the masterminds behind this project, but I'll go ahead and inform you of the mess you stepped in." Harry said with a hint of irritation. "The mother of all monster creation just stepped out of monster hell because someone's been fucking with her kids. Now, personally I wouldn't be involved except the topic is sort of concerning really. I mean I despise torture of anything living regardless of its food source. Long story short though you'd be wise to spill the beans. You're making powerful enemies kids. Not really smart if you like this plane of existence."

Michael unfolded his legs and then crossed them the opposite way. He was fairly unamused by the fact that he'd been asked to a meeting with Naomi and she'd so far yet to show herself. He glanced at the angel in the corner playing secretary today. Naomi used to stand there like that until he'd promoted her. He was wondering if perhaps he should rescind that particular decision. Was three thousand years too long to take back a promotion?

The door swung open neatly to reveal a beaming Naomi.

"Fantastic news." She said making her way hastily to the seat opposite Michael. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

He'd have assured her he didn't mind except he did, so he stayed silent and waited for her to get to the point.

"I've been mulling over the Potter debacle for weeks. Trying to figure out a way to utilize his powers once we've gotten hold of him."

"We do still have to find him first." He reminded her with a frown.

"Of course, but we have found a way to at least study his powers in a more controlled environment." She said with an airy quality to her voice. "Left in his control he'd just use them to find a way to escape again possibly killing our brothers and sisters in the process. But we've been looking into the ways of removing Grace."

"Removing Grace." The very thought was blasphemous and Naomi felt the room shake as Michael uttered the words.

"We think the essence of his power is very similar to that of Grace in an angel. We think that the methods of removing Grace could be applied to removing his source of magic from him."

Michael felt his fists ball out of his own accord. The thought repulsed him. Every fiber of his being screamed that even mentioning something of that sort would be akin to turning one's back on God himself. It had its merits thought, didn't it? It would get the job done.

"It's not what you wanted to hear. I know." Naomi had stood. "But the armies of heaven grow restless. Without power I fear they will lose their way."

"It is your job to make sure they don't." Michael reprimanded.

"We can turn a few, yes. I have that much ability. But an army?" she shook her head. "They question orders because the plan they've all been told to follow has fallen through. If the final act of God doesn't work what will?"

His brothers and sisters questioned their faith much as he did. How could their father stand by and let this happen. If it continued much longer surely the angels would start to fall from grace. Could Michael stand by and watch countless number of his brethren fall to Earth, faithless.

Could he really tear the essence of a man's soul from his body?

Of all times for his father to be absent, now was certainly the worst.

"I will think about it." He assured her. "For now we still must find him."

She nodded. "Hopefully it won't be much longer."

There we are. Another chapter, another question. And Michael is back.

Sorry thre wasn't more happening this time round. We'll get back into the action soon.

Well, I'm tired as tired can get. Someone send caffeine and a better body for me to inhabit. I'd be appreciative.

Til next time!

~Kanathia