Chapter 10
"How long do we have to keep doing this?" Dean asked in a tense fake smile.
Sam looked at the public in pain. "I don't know." The cheers and applauses continued. "Maybe forever." They laughed again. "We might die in here."They laughed again.
Dean snapped his head to the public. "How is that funny?" they laughed again. "Vultures."
The door opened, and a bloody Castiel appeared. The public cheered and applauded. Dean's and Sam's eyes widened.
"You okay?" asked Dean.
"I don't have much time." said Castiel.
"What happened?"
"We got out." said Castiel.
"We?" asked Dean.
"From where?" asked Sam at the same time. Castiel shook his head. "Listen to me. Something is not right. This thing is much more powerful than it should be."
"What thing? The Trickster?"
The door flew open again, and Lily stumbled to the wall, coughing and trying to breathe deeply. Sam drew in a shaggy breath. Dean's eyes widened.
"If it is a Trickster" said Castiel, eying Lily worriedly.
The Winchester brothers looked at each other, and then back at Lily. She gasped and looked up. Her skin was full of scratches, and her eyes were bleeding.
"Lily..." Suddenly, before Sam or Dean could approach their sister, Castiel was thrown back to the wall. The audience gasped, and the Winchesters jumped. A figure danced to the door, making a funny pose. Sam and Dean jumped again, not having expected to see the Trickster. Lily, on the other hand, widened her eyes.
The audience broke in cheers and applauses.
"Thank You!" smiled the Trickster. "Thank you!" he closed the door, still smiling at the public and pointing at them with a fond smile. "Please stop" he said in a happy voice. Castiel got up quickly, duck tape taped his mouth, and his eyes were wide in astonishment after seeing him. Castiel looked at Lily, wide eyed, but a duck tape had appeared on her mouth too.
"Hi, Castiel" said the Trickster, still smiling.
Castiel looked at Sam, then back at the Trickster. His eyes trying to say something. The smile on the Tricksters lips disappeared and he raised his hand in a hushing gesture. Castiel disappeared.
Sam and Dean were still shocked after seeing Lily, but they we even more shocked after discovering the Trickster knew Castiel. And after seeing the powers the Trickster had, power enough to make an angel disappear...they had no words.
Dean managed to talk. "You knew him? Where did you just send him?"
"Relax. He'll live," said the Trickster, making a gesture with his hand. Then he seemed to think about it. "Maybe…."
The audience laughed softly. Dean glared at them before approaching the Trickster. "I'm done with the monkey dance, okay? We get it."
"Yeah? Get what, hotshot?"
"Playing our roles, right? That's your game?" grunted Dean.
Lily hated to hear how his voice sounded more rough and gruff than the last time they met. But she hated more to see the pained look on Sam's eyes when he looked at her.
"That's half the game" said the Trickster.
Sam teared his eyes away from Lily. "What's the other half?"
"Play your roles out there."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know—Sam, starring as Lucifer. Dean, starring as Michael," said the Trickster in a announcer of television voice. "Your celebrity deathwatch. Play your roles."
"You want us to say yes to those sons of bitches?" asked Sam, his tone of voice incredulous and confused.
"Hells, yeah. Let's light this candle!" said the Trickster animatedly.
"We do that, the world will end." said Sam pointedly.
"Yeah? And whose fault is that?" said the Trickster, looking at Sam in a way that made Lily want to kill him. It wasn't Sam's fault! He just made the wrong choices!
"Who popped Lucifer out of the box, hmm? Look, it's started. You started it. It can't be stopped. So, let's get it over with."
Sam bitchfaced the Trickster. Lily closed his eyes, shaking her head. She knew why the Trickster was saying that. He wanted it to be over. It was his family, after all.
"Heaven o Hell, which side you on?" said Dean.
"I'm not on either side."
"Yeah, right. You're grabbing ankle for Michael or Luicfer. Which one is it?"
The Trickster half chuckled without humor, and got closer to Dean. "You listen to me, you arrogant dick. I don't work for either of those S.O.B's, believe Me." his tone was dangerously serious.
But Dean smirked. "Hmm. Oh, you're somebody's bitch." The Trickster nearly growled as he grabbed Dean's shirt collar and threw him against the wall, making pressure on his neck. Lily whimpered against the duck tape.
She was looking at the Trickster and Dean with pain. She had though she knew the Trickster. Hell, after their little moment in the church before going to hell, she though the Trickster was more like her than she would like to admit. But now, seeing how angry he was, seeing how he was hurting her brothers, she forced herself to remember she didn't really know him. He was an angel, a creature that was as old as the world itself. She didn't even know his real name.
"Don't you ever, ever presume to know what I am."
For a long moment, The Trickster glared at Dean, still making pressure on his neck. Sam didn't moved, Lily didn't, either. None of them could. Then, the Trickster let go of Dean's neck roughly, though he still had him gripped against the wall.
"Now, listen very closely," he said, looking back at Sam and Lily. "Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna suck it up, accept your responsibilities, and play the roles that destiny had chosen for you."
"And if we don't?" asked Sam.
The Trickster turned back to Sam, a nasty smile on his lips. "Then you'll stay here in TV land...forever." he then caught Lily's eyes, and he had another idea. "And she goes back to hell."
There was a tense pause in where Sam and Dean shared a long look.
"Hell's demons must be missing her so bad. They crave her skin, her screams, her pained expression..." he taunted, making Lily close her eyes as she tried not to cry in front of her brothers. "And there are 300 channels...and, uh, nothing's on."
He snapped his fingers again, and this time, Sam and Dean disappeared, leaving the Trickster alone with Lily. She gasped as the duck tape disappeared from her mouth roughly.
"Seriously, your brothers are so annoying," the Trickster said, like if he hadn't just threatened to send Lily back to hell.
"Why did you do it?" she asked, not even glancing up to look at him.
"What? Threaten those idiots? You know well why—"
"No. Why did you rescued me from hell?" her voice was soft and unnerving, but the Trickster saw tears leaking out of her apple green eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked, frowning. She looked so much better than in hell. Yes, true, he may or may not have tortured her and Castiel...but he didn't exactly hurt her. It was all in her mind. He just showed her what she was trying to forget. And Castiel? He was so easily fooled. A little glimpse of Dean getting hurt and he was already over the edge. But Lily was definitely better here than in hell...Then why did she looks so hurt? "You didn't want to be rescued?"
"Not by you," she spat, glancing up at him. "You're a monster."
The Trickster dropped the candy he was eating on the table, and approached her with slow movements. He crunched down until he was the same height as she was. He cupped her face with a rough movement. "Careful there, Lily," he said, his eyes shining dangerously. "I raised you out of hell. I can put you back there with a snap of my fingers."
"That's what I'm talking about," she said. "You're an angel! How can you be so cruel?"
The Trickster laughed. "You clearly don't know much about angels. And do I need to remind you? I'm not an angel anymore. I stopped being one a long time ago. I'm a Trickster."
"You say that, but if you really were you wouldn't be doing this," Lily said.
"Doing what?"
"Rescuing me from hell; Forcing Sam and Dean to accept their fates..."
The hand that had started to soften itself of her face tightened his grip again. "Don't. Ever. Try. To. Understand. My. Reasons. I said I'm not an angel. I'm not. We may have something in common, but don't you dare try and understand me, because you never will."
"You're hurting me," Lily said as she tried to move away from his grasp.
The hand tightened for a second, and then he dropped it. She winced and tried to move away. He only shook his head.
"Sorry," he said, too low for Lily to hear. "I'm sorry, Lily." Then he cleared his throat. "I have things to do," he said, high enough for her to hear. "I will be back soon. Don't try anything or you'll go back to that place. Understood?"
...
"I don't think we killed the Trickster..."
"I can't believe I'm riding my brother," Dean grumbled as he drove.
"Shut up," said Sam, his voice sounding irritated.
"Okay," Dean said. "Stake didn't work. Now what? This another trick?"
"I don't know. Maybe the stake didn't work because it's not a trickster."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you heard Cas, he said this thing was too powerful to be a trickster. And he brought Lily back..."
"Yeah...and did you notice the way he looked at Cas? Almost like he knew him."
"And how pissed he got when you brought up Michael and Lucifer."
A long second passed, and Dean finally understood what was happening.
"Son of a bitch." he said.
"What?"
"I think I know what we're dealing with."
...
"All right, you son of a bitch!" yelled Dean at the sky. "Uncle! We'll do it!"
"Should I honk?"
Dean glanced back at Sam just as the Trickster approached, walking with a smug look. "Wow. Sam, get a load of the rims on you."
"Eat me."
The Trickster smirked, and walked over to where the boys wanted him. He looked back at them with a big smirk. "Okay, boys, ready to go quietly?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast. Nobody's going anywhere until Sam has opposable thumbs."
"What's the difference?" the Trickster said. "Satan's gonna ride his ass one way or another."
Dean gave him his best glare, and the Trickster rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers. Sam emerged from the backseat of the car.
"Happy?"
"Tell me one thing. Why didn't the stake kill you?" asked Dean.
"I am the Trickster." he shrugged.
Sam clicked his lighter, the flame emerged immediately. The Trickster made a confused face. What were they doing now?
"But maybe you're not."
Sam dropped it to the ground. All around the Trickster a circle of fire engulfed him. He looked at it shocked, then at the Winchester's again. How the hell...?
"Maybe you've always been an angel."
The Trickster laughed uneasily, trying to seem nonchalant. "A what!? Somebody slip a Mickey in your power shake, kid?"
But Dean just smirked. "I'll tell you what. You just jump out of the Holy Fire, and well call it out mistake."
The Trickster chuckled. But quickly he realized the Winchester couldn't be tricked anymore. He got serious. The place changed. They weren't on the woods anymore, now they were back at the old place they were when it all started. The Trickster was clapping. "Well played, boys, well played. Where'd you get the Holy Oil?"
"Oh, you might say we pulled it out of Sam's ass."
Sam turned to his brother. Dean shrugged innocently at him.
"Where'd I screw up?" the Trickster wanted to know.
"You didn't," Sam admitted. "But nobody gets the jump on Cas like you did."
"Mostly," said Dean. "It was the way you talked about Armageddon."
"Meaning?"
"Well, call it personal experience. Nobody gets that angry unless they're talking about their own family."
The Trickster's face was a mask, but Sam and Dean could read him better now that they knew his secret.
"So which one are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?" asked Sam, his best bitch face on.
The Trickster looked at him seriously, not making any attempt to hide his calm demeanor. "Gabriel, okay? They call me Gabriel."
The shock on the Winchester's faces was the best response anyone could ask for. One of the most famous angles, and it was the Trickster.
"Gabriel?" said Sam. "The Archangel?"
"Guilty,"
"Okay, Gabriel. How does an Archangel become a Trickster?"
"My own private witness protection." at Dean's blank face he continued. "I skipped out of heaven, had a face transplant, and carved my own little corner of the world...till you two screwed it all up."
"And what did daddy say when you ran off and joined the pagans?"
"Daddy doesn't say anything about anything," Gabriel said, annoyed at the question.
"Then what happened? Why'd you ditch?"
"Well, can we blame him?" Dean said, making Gabriel look at him. "I mean, his brothers are heavyweight douche-nozzles."
"Shut your cake hole," Gabriel warned. "You don't know anything about my family. I loved my father, my brothers—loved them. But watching them turn on each other? Tear at each other's throats? I couldn't bear it, okay?! So I left. And now, it's happening all over again."
"Then help us stop it!" said Sam.
"It can't be stopped," Gabriel said.
"You want to see the world end?" asked Dean incredulously.
"I want it to be over!" Gabriel yelled, tired of it all. Desperate for them to comprehend. Why did they have to ask so many questions? "I have to sit back and watch my own brothers kill each other, thanks to you two! Heaven, Hell—I don't care who wins! I just want it to be over!"
"Well, it doesn't have to be like that!" Sam said. "There had to be some way to—to pull the plug."
Gabriel laughed at his innocence. "Oh, you do not know my family. What you guys call the Apocalypse I used to call Sunday dinner. That's why there's no stopping this—because this isn't about a war. It's about two brothers that loved each other and betrayed each other. You think you'd be able to relate."
Dean looked at Sam.
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.
Gabriel clicked his tongue and whistled. How come they didn't get it? Were they dumb? "You sorry sons of bitches. Why do you think you two are the vessels? Think about it. Michael—the big brother, loyal to an absent father. And Lucifer—the little brother, rebellious of daddy's plan. You were born to this, boys. It's your destiny! It was always you!" Gabriel extended his arms in extravagance and said. "As it is in heaven...so it must be on earth. One brother has to kill the other."
"What the hell are you saying?"
"Why do you think I've always taken such an interest in you? Because from the moment dad flipped on the lights around here, we knew it was all gonna end with you. Always."
There was a long silence in where Sam and Dean tried to assimilate that.
"No," said Dean then. "That's not gonna happen."
"I'm sorry," Gabriel said, and he meant it. "But it is."
Sam and Dean both looked so...so...so sad it honestly broke Gabriel's heart. He knew how it felt to have to do something you didn't want to. Looking at them, he saw Lucifer and Michael. "Guys, I wish this were a TV show. Easy answers, endings wrapped up in a bow. But this is real life. And it's gonna end bloody for all of us. That's just how it's got to be."
Sam and Dean stared at each other for a long time, organizing their thoughts. The new information was too much for them.
"So, guys...now what? Stare at each other for the rest of eternity?" said Gabriel.
Dean reacted first. "Well, first of all, you're gonna bring Cas back from wherever you stashed him—"
"And Lily, too." added Sam.
"Oh, am I?"
"Yeah, or we're going to dunk you in some Holy Oil and deep—fry ourselves an archangel."
Gabriel looked at Sam, and seeing the same fierce look on his eyes, he snapped his fingers. A panting Cas appeared with Lily at his side. He had an arm around her waist, helping her up.
"Cas, you okay?" asked Dean immediately. "Lily?"
"We're fine," he replied without taking his eyes off Gabriel. "Hello, Gabriel."
"Hey, bro." Gabriel replied, a smirk on his face. "How's the search for daddy going? Let me guess, awful." he said it in a harsh tone, but at the end of the sentence his eyes shined with hurt. He perfectly knew how it was not being able to find their father. Then he made a face at Cas.
Lily tried to stand alone, but she ended up staggering. Sam managed to catch Lily before she could fell. All the exhaustion from being in hell one second and the other in earth was too much; without counting the hell Gabriel made her live for hours.
"Relax," Gabriel said rolling his eyes. "She's okay."
"I'm okay," she nodded slowly, but Sam didn't let her go.
"We're out of here," Dean said. "Come on, Sam."
They all started to make their way towards the door.
"Uh...okay. Hey—guys?" called Gabriel, afraid of being left there for all eternity. "So—so, what? Huh? You're just gonna—you're gonna leave me here forever?"
"No. We're not," Dean said. "Because we don't screw with people the way you do. And for the record...this isn't about some prizefight between your brothers or some destiny that can't be stopped! This is about you being too afraid to stand up to your family!"
Gabriel's face was totally heartbreaking. His eyes were wide, since he wasn't used to being talked like that, and he looked like somebody had smacked him. Serves him right, Lily thought.
Dean turned. He broke the crystal and pulled down the lever. A ring sounded, and water fell from those things on the ceiling that was used by people when there was some fire. Gabriel looked up as the water started to fall.
"Don't say I never did anything for you." Dean called as he turned and left. His family right behind him. Cas was the only one that made eye contact with Gabriel before leaving. Lily untangled herself from Sam's arm and turned to look at Gabriel. He didn't look at her; he was busy trying not to cry.
...
"Right now, I wish I was back on a TV show," Dean was saying as she and Cas closed the door and approached them.
Sam chuckled softly. "Yeah, me too."
"Me three." Lily said. All seemed so different from when she was alive...So many things had happened...She glanced around. It seemed like such a long time since she'd been outside. Even the sky looked different.
She felt someone wrapping his arms around her, and was surprised to see it was Dean. He hugged her tightly, and kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're back, sis."
Lily tried to drown her tears. "Yeah, me too..." At least now they were together again. And she was going to help them. She still didn't knew how, but she was going to.
She was sure of that.