CHAPTER 10
Wanted dead or alive
Sam's grip on the steering wheel tightened as Gabriel fiddled with the radio buttons on the dashboard between them. "You know, Dean's gonna kill you for messing around with that." He started, his eyes staying on the road ahead of them as they made their way to Scythe to meet up with Bela.
"He's got other shit to worry about." Gabriel replied as he scrolled through the static filled stations. "Besides, even if the signal was clear, I don't think this piece of crap would pick up anything anyway..." He muttered, turning his attention back to the scorched scenery that was flying by his window. "You should let your brother know that the tape era is dead and just like 8-track tapes, it ain't coming back any time soon."
Sam let out a heavy sigh as he tried to keep pessimistic thoughts at bay. While he wondered why Bela wanted them to meet her in Scythe and why Lucifer had separated him from Dean; he worried about how his older brother was holding up in Hell and what it would all mean in the end. The closer they got to Scythe, the more noticeable the damage was. Trees lining the road were no longer green and the center line marking the pavement was barely visible through the thick lair of ash and soot. Though a few farmhouses dotted the outskirts of town, there was no sign of life.
"I don't get it." Gabriel suddenly started, once again breaking the awkward silence that filled the car. "Why are we going to Scythe anyway?"
"Because Bela told us to." Sam replied simply.
"So now you're just going to do whatever she tells you?" Gabriel asked, sinking into the leather seat.
"I will if it keeps us alive." The young hunter muttered, doing all he could not to butt heads with the archangel riding shotgun. "Her job is to watch over us." When the scorched sign welcoming them to Scythe came into view, he couldn't help but swear under his breath. "Holy crap." He breathed, slowing down as he maneuvered the Impala between abandoned cars that sat dormant on the road leading them into the now desolate town. The further in they went, the more catastrophic it was.
"You think this is bad?" Gabriel asked, glancing over for only a moment. "Wait till you see the downtown core..."
When Sam pulled up to a dead tree that was down across the road, he casually put the Impala in park and pulled the keys from the ignition. "Well, I guess we're walking." He announced, looking over to catch the archangel's eyes.
"You're kidding right?" Gabriel started, watching as the other man got out of the car. "C'mon Sam, this isn't exactly a good neighborhood to go out for a Sunday stroll..." He continued, reluctantly joining the young hunter.
"What's wrong, you scared?" Bela asked, letting out a slight chuckle as both turned to face her.
Sam wasted no time getting to the point. "We're here, so tell us why you wanted us to meet you." He started, pulling Bela's attention away from the archangel as he made his way over to the trunk of the Impala. "Where do we start." He continued, opening the latch to load up on guns and ammunition.
"We need to figure out why some of the angels stayed behind." Bela replied, watching as Sam and Gabriel grabbed every weapon they could conceal and carry. "You see that movie theater?" She asked, pointing the pair to a large building just up the street. "Everything beyond that building is nothing but ash burned into the ground. There is at least five angels holding up inside and though we've got the place surrounded, there's no way we can catch them by surprise."
"Doesn't your demon army outnumber them?" Sam asked, eyeing the theater and taking notice of the vacant buildings that spanned the block between them and their target. Though the buildings were still standing, all the windows had been blown out and all the walls were scorched black. "I mean there's five of them and hundreds if not thousands of you." He continued, grabbing a flashlight from the trunk.
"There's a bunch of ancient spells and sigils carved out all over the walls." Bela started, pausing for only a moment as lightning lit up the sky. "The demons can't even step foot in the building. We've taken angels down by the dozen but we haven't come across anything quite like this before... Almost looks like they locked themselves in."
"Gabriel, what are the odds that they've got Michael in there with them?" Sam asked, his gaze drifting from Bela to the archangel at his side.
"Not very good." Gabriel was quick to reply. "If Michael was hiding out somewhere, I doubt he'd have an entourage of only five with him."
"Well whatever the reason, we need to get in and find out why they're still here." Bela started, pulling out a long silver blade from the back of her coat. "And considering only the three of us and my hounds can get in, it's going to be anything but easy."
"Where the Hell did you get that?" Gabriel started, leaning in to get a better look at the large weapon in the woman's hands. "That almost looks like a Guardian Angel's..."
"It is." She interrupted, instantly silencing the renegade angel in front of her. "One of the few there is."
Sam was about to ask how she had acquired such a blade but thought it would be in his best interest not to. Bela's manipulative ways always did seem to get her what she wanted and there was no doubt in his mind that her new role in Hell was putting countless deals and opportunities right at her fingertips. "So what's the attack plan?" He asked, the rumble of thunder echoing eerily through the ruins of the desolate town around them. "Are we sticking together or splitting up?"
"I think our best bet is to split up." Bela started her eyes drifting from one man to the other. "I'll take the front, you two go around the back." Sam gave her a nod as he pulled the gun from the side of his belt. "Once inside, make your way up to the third floor, stay by the stairs and wait for my signal."
"What's that going to be?" Sam asked, swearing under his breath as the crack of lightning shattered the sky above their heads. When a Hell hound suddenly stepped out from the other side of the Impala, his grip on the gun tightened slightly.
"He'll know." Bela replied simply, pointing down to the hound as it took a seat by his feet. "When he leads, you follow." She informed, turning to make her way towards the theater. "Make it quick boys, we don't have all day."
The trio hurried down the street and split up as planned when they reached the scorched shell of a building; Gabriel and Sam heading down an alley for the back while Bela casually made her way towards the front entrance. With the Hell hound trailing their every move, Sam couldn't help but feel intimidated; the vicious beast that collected souls for a living may just as well have been the one that had come for Dean. When they turned off the street into an alley he paused in his steps, his eyes catching those of a small group of standing near the back entrance. On any other day he would have started firing the moment he caught their black eyes, but today, he was on their side and they had the same goal in mind. Stepping over trash and debris that littered the pavement, he made his way towards them, Gabriel and the Hell hound following closely. "Any sign of them?" He asked, watching as the demons lined up to face him and the Hell hound obediently took a seat by his side.
"No." One of them replied as he leaned forward to pull open the large door they had gathered around. "We can't go inside, so if you run into any trouble at all, get out of there as fast as you can."
Sam gave the demon a nod before catching Gabriel's eyes and quietly slipping into the back of the movie theater. Following the long hall, they made their way towards the front of the building, pausing as they reached an open door. Guns drawn, the pair stepped out into the larger open room, a lobby of some kind that branched off into the multiple theaters. Unsure of just what they might find lurking the darkness with them, they carefully studied their new surroundings with the limited illumination of a single flashlight. The first thing Sam noticed was that everything in sight was covered in a fine lair of soot, leaving him to wonder just what had happened the night Michael touched down. Though there were signs of intense heat, not everything had been completely incinerated or obliterated like the center of town had been; it was almost as if a shock wave or a wall of fire had rippled out like a drop of water moving along the surface. "OK, there are the stairs." He whispered, pointing Gabriel towards two open doors to their far left. "We make our way up and find a place to lay low until we get the signal."
"Why are you whispering?" Gabriel asked, pausing as the other man turned to face him; flashlight in hand. "They're angels, Sam... There's a pretty good chance they already know we're here."
There was a moment of silence as Sam caught Gabriel's eyes and let out a sigh. "If they don't know, I'd rather not give it away." He growled as the continuous thunder rumbling overhead resonated eerily through the devastated room they were in. When he turned to make his way towards the stairs and walked into Castiel, he couldn't help but swear under his breath. "Damn it Cas." He hissed, trying to calm his racing heart as Gabriel chuckled to himself. "You scared the shit out of me... You're lucky I didn't shoot you dead." He continued, using the flashlight to get a better look at the angel that had suddenly appeared.
"My apologies." Castiel replied simply, his eyes scanning the carnage surrounding them.
"Cas why are you here?" Sam was quick to ask, his mind instantly drifting to the depths of Hell and the brother he didn't see there at Castiel's side. "Why isn't Dean with you."
There was a moment of silence as Castiel looked over to catch the other man's eyes; his heart sinking at the thought of what Dean was doing down below. "You're brother is still needed in Hell." He replied simply.
Sam swallowed hard as he watched the angel's eyes drift away from his stare, something wasn't right. "Cas..." He started, his voice doing little to lift Castiel's eyes off the floor at his feet. "What do they want with him?"
"Can we please have this conversation when we get the Hell out of here?" Gabriel cut in, hastily changing the subject as he pointed the young hunter towards the stairs across the room. "Right now, we need to get up there and back the bitch up."
There was a moment of silence as Sam's gaze drifted from Castiel to Gabriel, the archangel's dire warning now the only thing he could think of. "Right." He muttered, first looking down to the Hell hound at his side before looking up at the stairs across the room. "Alright, stay close and follow me." He said, trying to keep his focus on what they were doing and why they were there. Making their way over the clutter that covered the floor, Sam lead the way up the stairs, pausing on the second floor landing as the crack of lighting took him by surprise; splintering the silence and reminding them all that the fierce storm was nowhere near over. As they continued up to the third floor, his grip on the gun tightened as the Hell hound at his side let out a low growl. The first thing he noticed was the light coming through a crack in the closed door just down the hall; the second thing he noticed were the footprints on the soot covered floor in front of him. "She's already up here." He whispered, glancing over his shoulder as Castiel pulled out his blade. When the Hell hound beside him let out another snarl and stepped out in front of him, he knew now was the time. "Here we go." He informed, following the beast right up to the door and watching as it walked right through it. Without hesitation, he loaded the gun and kicked open the door; the five angels inside instantly turning to face him. "Don't move." He shouted, taking aim as the angels reached for their weapons.
The moment the door swung open was the moment Bela appeared at the back of the room. With her long blade in hand, she wasted no time killing the closest angel to her before the others even realized she was there. In the blink of an eye Sam watched nervously as one of the angels turned towards Bela and the remaining three set their sights on him and his renegades. He took aim with his gun but Gabriel was the first to pull the trigger; shooting dead one of the angels and stopping the other two in their tracks. "I said don't move." He repeated, his gaze drifting over to Bela as she got the best of the angel she was fighting with and plunged her blade into his chest.
Taking aim at the remaining two, Sam stood his ground as Castiel and Gabriel moved to surround them. Now outnumbered and obviously surprised at how fast their brothers had gone down, the pair seemed ready to comply and do as they were told. "Drop the blades." He growled..
There was a moment of silence as the pair watched Gabriel reach over to grab their blades off the floor. "How did you kill an angel with..."
"We're going to be asking the questions." Bela was quick to interrupt, instantly silencing the angel as she got their attention. "I want to know what you and your little gang were doing here." When neither gave her a reply, she took a step forward and passed her long silver blade from one hand to the other. "The outside of this building is covered in demonic warding Sigils... One of you is going to tell me why" She continued.
"To keep demons out." One of the angels replied, a grin to the corner of his lips as he watched her eyes narrow.
"Don't be smart with me flyboy." She growled. "We ran you out of town days ago, so TELL me why you came back." When again neither gave her a reply, she let out a whistle, her gaze drifting to the doorway as two of her Hell hounds stepped into the room. "Tell me or I'm going to send you down below." She threatened, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I'm sure Dean Winchester is going to be able to get an answer out of you..."
Sam's heart sank like a stone as he watched the angels in front of him quiver at the mention of his older brother's name. When he looked over at Castiel and the other angel looked away, he now knew without a doubt what his brother was up to in Hell.
"Now I'm going to ask again, why are you here?" Bela repeated, watching as her Hell hounds circled the pair of angels in anticipation.
"Because those were are orders." The first angel started, his eyes locked on one of the beast as it watched his every move.
"Why." She asked again, smiling as one of the hounds let out a menacing snarl.
"We don't know why, ok?" The second angel replied, taking a nervous glance at the woman before turning his attention back to the beasts. "When the bounty went out for the Winchester brother's heads, we were told to come out here and wait for further instructions." There was a moment of silence as Bela and Sam exchanged a quick glance. "That's all we know, I swear."
"I think there's more to it than that and I think you know where Michael is." Bela continued, whistling to get the Hell hounds' attention. "Get 'em boys..."
"I swear that's all we know... You've got to believe us." The angel pleaded, watching in horror as the Hell hounds moved in and Bela stepped aside. "Please..."
"We'll see if that's true after Dean's done with you downstairs." Bela replied, looking on as the massive beasts moved in.
Sam took a step back as the Hell hounds jumped at the angels and knocked them down to the ground in front of him. The sight made his heart stop and his breath catch in the back of his throat, this was what had happened to Dean and he couldn't witness something like it again without hearing his own brother's painful screams in the back of his mind. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, the sound of the raging storm outside doing little to drown out the chaos playing out in front of him. When the room once again fell silent and he looked down at the bloodied, mauled bodies on the ground in front of him, his mind started to race and his blood ran cold. "Cas." He started, his voice barely above a whisper as he turned to face the renegade angel to his right. "Is Dean torturing Angels in Hell? Is that why Lucifer wanted to split us up?"
There was a moment of silence as Castiel caught the young hunter's eyes, knowing that the last thing he really wanted or needed to hear, was the answer to the question he'd just asked. "Yes." He replied simply, watching as the expression on Sam's face instantly changed. "Sam, I trie..."
"I don't want to hear it Cas." The young hunter was quick to interrupt, his eyes catching Gabriel's before he turned to make his way out the door and into the hall; the others following. Just the thought of Dean torturing angels in Hell made him feel sick to his stomach. Though Gabriel had warned him nothing good would come out of their deal with the Devil, never in a million years would he have thought his older brother would sink back into his old ways. Dean had always been, after all, the strong one, the right one, the good son... When the Hell hound at his side froze near the top of the stairs, Sam paused in his steps; his attention instantly turning from his scattered thoughts to his dark surroundings.
"What is it?" Bela asked, looking down the dark stairs ahead of them as she watched Sam use his flashlight to glance around the abandoned movie theater.
Sam hushed her as he gestured down to the Hell hound at his side. "Something's wrong." He whispered, reaching for his gun as the beast let out a low growl, its back arching at the faint sound of shuffling somewhere among the distant debris.
Gabriel swallowed hard as his eyes scanned the darkness around them. "We need to get out of here." He started, his grip on the gun tightening as he turned his attention back towards the room they had just come from.
"Angels?" Sam asked, following Gabriel's eyes down the hall as Castiel turned on the spot.
"Archangels" Gabriel was quick to reply, loading his gun as one of them appeared in the open doorway just down the hall. "And lots of 'em."
When on of them suddenly materialized on the landing next to him, Sam barely had the time to react at all. Though he managed to avoid the sharp blade in the archangel's grip, he wasn't quick enough to take a shot at her before he took a kick to the gut that sent him down the stairs. It all happened in a matter of only seconds but by the time he stopped himself from falling and pulled himself back up, a dozen or so archangel's had moved in without warning. Gun in hand, he started shooting them down; starting with the one that had Castiel by the throat and then the one that had Bela on the floor. Taking aim, he set his sights on the pair that were moving in on Gabriel, shooting both down as the renegade reloaded his gun. One after another the archangel's fell, the light of their scorched wings illuminating the entire room just long enough for Sam to reassess the situation and lock onto a new target.
He was so focused on putting a stop to the struggle between Castiel and one of them, that he never saw the archangel standing behind him until it was too late. When that blade sliced into his shoulder, everything else going on around him just seemed to disappear. He swore to himself as he fell to his knees in the stairs, the gun dropping from his hands. Against the pain, he dodged the blade and got to his feet, taking a punch to the face before he kicked the archangel away just long enough to grab his weapon off the soot covered steps. Stumbling back, he loaded the gun and took a shot, swearing under his breath as he pulled the trigger and nothing happened; he was out of bullets. As he reached for another gun and the archangel prepared to take another swing, Bela stepped out of thin air and wasted no time killing the archangel in front of her.
"You need to get out of here." She said, reaching out to pull him up off the steps." Though she was covered in blood, the pain didn't seem to bother her at all.
"I'm not leaving without them." Sam replied, sucking in a breath as he felt the muscles in his shoulder protest the movement.
"My job is to keep you safe." She hissed, her gaze darting up the stairs as Gabriel fired a shot and another archangel collapsed to the ground. "You first, then them." She continued, catching his eyes with a hard gaze.
Before Sam could say another word, she reached out and grabbed him by the arm, instantly moving him from the battlefield inside to the small group of demons gathered by the back door outside. He swore under his breath as he watched the demons gather around him, Bela was no where in sight. "Where is she?" He demanded, his eyes catching those of a woman to his left.
"She went back inside." The demon replied, leaning in to take a better look at the gash in the young hunter's shoulder. "We would have come for you if only we were able to get in..." She continued.
Sam swore again as he slipped a hand into his jacket to examine the cut. He could feel the warmth of his own blood as it seeped through his fingers and even the slightest touch sent pain trickling down his left arm. Though it hurt like Hell, at least he was still alive. Feeling just as helpless as the demons gathered around him, he turned his attention to the scorched building as he waited for any sign of the trio that were left battling it out inside. When Bela suddenly appeared to his right and let a battered Castiel fall into the hands of waiting demons, he knew that she was doing all she could to uphold the contract. In an instant she was gone and the storm continued to rage over head as he waited nervously for the woman to return with Gabriel. The seconds dragged on and each one was more excruciating than the one before. When Gabriel stepped out of thin air with Bela cradled in his arms, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Though they were all in rough shape, at least his little group was accounted for. "Is she alright?" He asked, his eyes catching Gabriel's as the demons moved in to check on their leader.
"A few cuts that need to be looked after, but she should be fine." He replied, noticing the dark red blotch that now covered most of the other man's shirt. "How about you?" He asked, passing the unconscious woman to her waiting minions.
Sam sucked in a breath as he made his way over towards Castiel, unconscious and bloody, but still breathing. "Just a cut." He replied vaguely, studying the renegade angel before turning his attention back to Gabriel and taking notice of the blood streaming down from a gash in his hand. "Hey Gabe, have you ever seen so many other Archangel's in one place before?" He quietly asked, swallowing the lump caught in his throat as he thought of what such an attack could signify. "I mean, other than up in Heaven?"
There was a moment of silence as Gabriel wiped the blood from his hand onto his torn jeans. "No, I haven't" He replied, his gaze drifting back to the building they had come from. "Archangels command their own personal armies, there's no reason for them to gather like that without their soldiers."
"Let's get back to Bobby's place." Sam replied as he eyed the demons that were gathered around Bela. "We can figure it out there."
"What do you want us to do?" One of the demons asked, turning to catch the young hunter's eyes.
"I want you to put them in the car." Sam started, pointing to Bela and then to Castiel. "I'll take them with us to Bobby's while you guys do another sweep of the town to make sure there aren't anymore archangels around."