Chapter 10: Infernal Affairs part 2
Rowena was quietly sitting in that dark cell with some light shining down on her from the only window in there. She started hearing some distant footsteps that were starting to get louder and closer. She braced herself when the door started to creak open and she saw that demon that had caught her and threw her in that cell.
He stepped inside and was smiling devilishly at her. "Boss will see you now," he told her.
Before she knew it, she was being pulled and pushed into what seemed to be a makeshift throne room though it had seen better days. The doors were nearly off their own hinges and there were some scorch marks on the floor that seemed recent. But despite that, the podium and throne at the front of the room seemed undamaged and Crowley was sitting quite calmly and comfortably on it. Nearby, leaning against the wall calmly, was Zepar and he tilted his head as he brought out his bottom lip a bit at the sight of the witch. Rowena was pushed until she was just a few feet from him.
"Mother," Crowley grunted, giving her a small glance.
"Fergus," Rowena mirrored back in the same tone.
"Crowley," he spat back. That wasn't his name anymore.
But Rowena didn't bat an eye. "Fergus," she repeated back to him.
"Sassy," Zepar mumbled as he calmly paced over for her. "I like sassy redheads. A bit older than what I typically go after but, I can make an exception," he said raising his eyebrows a little seductively.
Rowena gave him a look. "And who are you? You're no demon."
"No, thank God for that. Literally." His words made Crowley roll his eyes behind the angel's back.
But Rowena looked him up and down and her lips rose to a smile. "You're an angel."
"A fallen angel," Crowley put in.
"Oh, the good kind then," Rowena said as she tried to return Zepar's charming smile back at him.
"I'm not that good, though…I can be good at more fun things."
"Yes, well then perhaps you can be that good somewhere else. I'd like to have a private word with my mother."
Zepar finally broke his gaze from Rowena to face Crowley. "Of course." He then turned back to Rowena. "Another time," he smirked. The sound of flapping wings was heard and he was gone.
Crowley's narrowed eyes lingered on where the angel had disappeared from for a moment before he let an amused scoff out. "So…you haven't changed." He then turned to his a pointed look to his mother before he let his eyes go to the demon to signal that he leave them.
When Rowena was fully released, she relaxed herself as she looked him up and down. "But you sure have. King of Hell, bravo. I always knew my boy was meant for big things."
Crowley's eyebrows rose. "Really? Because I remember that you said that I would die in a gutter, covered in my own sick."
Rowena sighed. "I was motivating you to do better. To aim higher and clearly, it worked. Demons are ruled by you and you have fallen angels working with ya. You did much better than I could ever had hoped." Crowley kept the skeptical look on his face and she narrowed her eyes. "How did you die?" she asked, curious.
Crowley's face hardened. He leaned forward and started speaking in a low but hard tone. "The point is…you hated me."
That made her roll her eyes. "Oh please."
"You said that you'd be back in a flash and you disappeared. I was eight years old! Eight!" he roared out.
"Now you're being dramatic!" she said back, her own face hardening as she started raising her own voice.
"I didn't even have a father!" he said not losing a beat.
"Of course you had a father!" she cut in. "You were just conceived during a Winter Solstice Orgy, and it wasn't like I was taking names." But Crowley angrily looked away from her. "What do you want me to say? I…I had a disagreement with the locals. When they set their hounds on me I had to leave!"
"And never come back?" he stepped in. "For hundreds of years?!"
"I also had some…problems with the Grand Coven. And there were some accursed Druids that were after me. Wanted my head, I had to go into hiding," she sighed before she smiled. "But, I'm here now. I'm here with you now. We have a second chance. We can be a family again Fergus," she told him in a small voice.
But he just stared at her with that same hard expression on his face. "Crowley," he spat at her. "And I have a family."
A small laugh escaped Rowena. "Who, the demons?" Her expression became sorrowful. "Any one of them would stab you in the back if they thought they could get away with it."
Crowley wouldn't admit it but he agreed full heartedly with that statement. "And you wouldn't?" he asked doubtfully.
"No," she denied. "Because we're family. We're blood. You can trust me." He shook his head and looked away from her. "I can help you," she pressed.
"Help me," he mumbled. "How? With your hocus pocus? I already have own little witch for that."
"But they're not like me," Rowena tried to argue. She was a centuries old witch and hoped that her accumulation of spells and rituals could tempt her son to see her value.
"And," Crowley cut in harshly. "Unlike you, I know he is loyal. Not to mention scores of other witches and down on their luck gutter rats pray to me every other day. They all come to me. Worship me! You, my mother, left me!"
Rowena bowed her head down at that. "I know that you're angry." She then started to slowly move for him. "You hate me, and…if you want to keep me locked away, then so be it. But, know that I'll always be your mother. And I'll always love you." She then went and placed a soft kiss on his head.
Crowley just sat there in silence as his mother just softly rubbed at his shoulders and his back.
Jeremy was put in handcuffs that were then wrapped around a chain that was bolted into the floor of the prison transport. He was staring down at his chained feet as the links jingled together. The van hit a small bump which made him finally snap out of his stupor and look over in the direction of the driver's seat behind a wired gate. He could see two people behind it and he could dimly hear them talking with one another though couldn't make out what they were saying exactly.
"Where are we going?" he asked out at them. But the men didn't say anything. "Hey, where are you taking me?!" he asked more loudly.
The one in the driver's seat knocked his hand against the gate. "Pipe down in there!" he hollered back at him.
Jeremy let his back flatten against the wall of the truck. He sighed out as he let himself slag down where he sat. He stiffened when he heard that the gate was opened. It was Agent Victor Morales.
"Don't mind him. It's been a long day and he's a little cranky," Victor tried to joke but Jeremy just turned to look away from him.
"We're about ten minutes out," the driver told Victor.
"Let me know when we arrive," he told the driver.
"Yes sir," the driver called out as Victor closed the gate behind him.
Victor then moved to sit calmly in front of Jeremy. The man wasn't looking at him but keeping his eyes firmly on the ground. "Cates," Victor softly said to him. "Or Jeremy? Can I call you Jeremy?" Jeremy just kept silently looking away. "Cates then." Victor exhaled deeply and leaned back. "You can relax. Nothing's going to happen, not to you at least."
Jeremy finally looked at him. "What do you mean?"
"You'll know soon enough when we meet with the others."
"Others?" Jeremy mumbled.
Victor then moved to scratch the top bridge of his nose. "So...I've got to ask. What's your story Cates?"
Jeremy narrowed his eyes a bit. "What?"
"Your story," Victor repeated. "I mean, every hunter has a story, right? Some messed up way they got into hunting. Usually they lost someone or were nearly killed or eaten by some monster or the other and you decide to arm yourselves to get payback and even if you get it, you don't stop," he explained. "That's how it usually goes, right? So, what's your story?"
"You don't know what you're talking about," Jeremy mumbled.
But Victor let a small smirk find its way onto him. "Hmm...let me take a stab in the dark here. It...wouldn't have anything to do with your father, would it?" At that Jeremy's gaze shot back at him. "I checked your file, remember? Your personal history was on it. When you were 18, you and your father had gone out on a mountain hike. Your father had been killed on that trip. The cause of death was listed as being mauled by an animal and the mountain rangers guessed it had been a bear. But, you had said it was something different, didn't you? You said it was a-
"Monster," Jeremy mumbled in.
Victor nodded. "But the rangers dismissed it since you had also suffered some injuries and thought it was just trauma."
"What's your point?" Jeremy cut him off.
"My point," Victor said with his tone starting to get a little hard. "Is that I know what brought you into this life. Now...I want to know, why do you stay? What made you go passed your first hunt? Passed your first year? Hell, passed your first ten years?" Victor then took out his badge to show it to him. "I know why I do this. Why I put on this badge and why I still put it on day after day. Year after year. I wanted to stop monsters too though the monsters I went after didn't have fangs and claws but that doesn't make them any less lethal. I haven't been a fed long but I've still seen some people do monstrous things. Look them in the eye and see something less than human. I want to help people, protect people from these kind of monsters. Now, I'm helping to help and protect people from a different kind. These monsters do monstrous things for a living. When you look them in the eye, there is no humanity in them. Because its all been burned away. And I don't want to stop them any less than the ones I've dealt with before."
Jeremy was silent for a moment as he seemed to try and contemplate what he just said when the van seemed to go over some rough terrain. Jeremy and Victor could feel that the van had left the paved road. After another minute, the gate blocking the front slid open.
"We're here Victor," the driver called out to him.
Before he knew it, Jeremy was pulled to his feet and the chains were unlocked from the van's floor. He was then taken out of the back door and blinked his eyes as he found himself in what seemed to be an old, condemned shipyard. There were a few other vans and cars nearby and they were parked into an oddly shaped semi circle. There were over a dozen men with guns, most of them were in law enforcement uniform or were wearing suits. They all had their eyes on a group of roughly half a dozen people in handcuffs and chains who were kneeling on the ground. Jeremy recognized most of them. They were fellow hunters.
One of the armed men, Phillip Dawson, nodded his head over to them. "Victor, you finally made it."
"Traffic was a bitch," Victor joked as he went and took Jeremy and placed him with the other hunters and pushed him down to kneel like they were. He then went over to join the others as most of them moved to put their handguns away though some of the others kept theirs firmly in the hunters' sight.
"So, we can start now?"
Victor nodded. "Yeah, why don't you kick it off Riley?"
Riley cleared his throat. "Alright, I'm Riley Ackerman. I'm a police detective. A real one," he stressed to them the word real which made one or two actually roll their eyes but Riley paid it no mind. "And these other men here with me, they're all real officers, feds and agents as well. Now, I'm sure that all of you have had at least brush with the law in your...line of work," he decided to put it. "But, none of the ones who dealt with you knew just who and what they were dealing with."
"And do you think we don't know who we're dealing with?" one of the hunters chose to speak out. "We know who you all are. You're part of that brigade or whatever that works for the angels."
"Actually, it's more of a Battalion," Phil said with a bit of a smirk before it settled and he became serious. "And we don't work for the angels, we work with them."
"Oh right, you work for that snot nosed Jesus wannabe," snorted another hunter. "Or is it that Fed fanboy of his?"
Like lightning, the hunter found a fist slamming into his jaw. Victor had stomped over and struck the hunter with the hardest punch he could throw and then moved to keep laying it on him. Immediately, the others moved to grab Victor and pull him away.
"Cool it Victor!" Dennis told him as he hands hooked on his shoulders.
Victor grit his teeth and pulled away as he went and stomped off a bit. He started to breathe deeply and tried to calm himself down. Hearing the insult against Logan had set him off. The pain was still a little fresh for comfort.
The hunter who he had hit managed to pull himself back to a kneeling position. His lip was now bleeding and he moved to spit out some blood. "You're crazy."
"You're an idiot," Dennis spat at him. "You have no idea who you just insulted. Two good men that are better than you will ever know."
"More like two dewy eyed morons that think they're some kind of heroes," another hunter piped up. "You act like you know what's really going on in this world but you can even begin to guess what this life can bring. You make a living going after punks and you think you can handle what's really out there? This isn't some case file you get handed by an asshole suit, this is for life. You have no idea what you're messing in."
"And you're the experts, is that it?" Phillip said as he rested his hands on his hips. "You all go through some kind of experience, maybe you get attacked by some thing or see someone get killed by one and you take off on the road. That means you understand what's going on? That you know more about a life of duty than us?" His words made the hunters glare at him and Phillip just shook his head and snorted at them. "Hunters really are crazy. They go through living hells, literally, and deal by looking for more? How does that make any sense? You don't take people who were in a hostage situation and sign them up to a SWAT team. We know the risks, we've seen the risks, hell we've taken the risks. We know what we're doing. Are you sure you're not the ones that have no idea what you're messing in?"
"If you were, then you wouldn't be taking what Sam or Dean no doubt told you about us to heart," Riley calmly chimed in. "I'm sure that to all of you they must seem like heroes or idols considering who've they tangoed with. But, did you know that over half of those were ones that they set loose to begin with? The demon Lilith, Lucifer, Leviathan, and Abaddon. They defeated them, yes, after they broke them free to try and save their family or settle their petty personal issues. And now, they've helped release the angel that actually trained the Devil himself, one of them was recently a demon and are close frenemies with the King of Hell himself. Are you sure we're the ones that don't know what we're messing in?"
The hunters all had skeptical and disbelieving looks on their faces.
Jeremy especially. He remembered how Sam and Dean saved him from that demon Abaddon last year. "You're lying," he gasped out.
Victor finally turned around to face them again. "Oh, we are, are we?" He then brought out the phone that Logan had confiscated from Dean weeks ago. "This is how we found all of you. Dean Winchester's phone. We managed to take it off him a few weeks ago. You're all on his list of contacts, hunters and other supernatural savvy connections that he has but those aren't the only ones." He then went and scrolled down the list until he got to the one he needed them to see. "Seems he also has the King of Hell himself, right here on speed dial. And from the history, they tend to talk to each other more often than you'd think," The hunters either glared at the phone or their jaws fell slightly as they stared blankly at it. He then went and pocketed it. "Maybe its high time that you all heard the real story about Sam and Dean. After that, maybe we could finally get down to business."
The door of the cell was pulled open just before Rowena was manhandled back into the cell by Gerald as Crowley followed silently behind. Her fellow demon prisoner was shocked to find that they all came charging in and backed away towards the wall. Gerald pushed Rowena to the ground as he readied her chains. He yanked her up and was getting ready to re-shackle her.
"Stop!" she cried as she pulled her hand free. She then looked back at her son. "I know who's been smuggling souls up from Hell."
"Really?" Crowley grunted. "Pray, do tell."
She then turned and looked over at Gerald. "Him."
Gerald sucked his teeth. "What?"
The prisoner then lifted herself up. "It's true my lord. Gerald, we made a deal."
Gerald quickly looked over at Crowley. "She's lying," he said fast and defensive.
"Why?" Rowena cried. "Why would she lie?"
Gerald narrowed his eyes as he went and pushed Rowena to the wall and began to choke her.
Crowley watched him do that to his mother for a moment before he went and huffed out in discomfort. "That's enough of that Gerald," Crowley said calmly to him.
But Gerald wasn't stopping. He only moved to grip her throat even harder. "I'll kill you bitch!" he spat at her.
"That's enough Gerald," Crowley repeated, still calmly but a bit more sterner than before. However, Gerald wasn't stopping. Rowena could barely let out any cries at all from her throat. Suddenly, his grip loosened when an angel blade found itself lodged in through the back of his head. Crowley then viciously ripped it out. "I said that was enough Gerald," he told the fallen corpse.
Rowena went to rub at her throat as Crowley moved to walk out the room. "Thank you," she said in a soft tone.
Crowley stopped at the doorway and then looked over at her. "Coming?" he asked after a moment.
Crowley then moved on and Rowena went to follow on after him. However, the demon prisoner stopped her.
"Rowena," she hissed at her. "You said that if I lied, you'd get me out of here."
Rowena made it to the door and looked over at her. "And I will darling. I'll be back in a flash."
She then moved to close the door and lock it behind her.
Dean was pacing right by the Impala as he was on his phone.
"Yeah, spread the word. Everyone should go to ground for a while. Yeah, okay." Dean then hung up and let out a frustrated sigh out as Sam came out of the station. "Anything?"
Sam shook his head. "No, Jeremy wasn't in. Apparently, he was taken out to be transferred in an armored car into federal custody under Morales' supervision a couple hours ago. Since it isn't in the Sheriff's jurisdiction, he doesn't know where they went."
"In an armored car? Do you think we can hack it's GPS and find where they're taking him?"
"No," said Sam. "Morales ordered that the transport go dark. Seems they're not taking any chances.
Dean hated to admit it but that was a smart move. These Battalion members may be in over their heads to mess with angels and demons but they sure weren't stupid. "Where do you think they're taking them? Wayne Manor?" The Paradise Pavilion seemed like a good out of the way spot to hold some hunters.
"Maybe," Sam mumbled before he caught sight of the phone in his brother's hand. "Reach anyone?"
"Yeah," Dean sighed out. "I managed to reach a few of our contacts and they said they would make sure to put the word out. Anyone who hasn't been grabbed yet is going to keep a low profile, well an even lower profile I guess."
Sam nodded. "I just wish I knew what this was about? Why would the Battalion start going after hunters? I thought they were just dealt with demons and did chores for the Powers."
"Uh, I don't know," Dean grunted out. "Maybe they might be a bit pissed from when we went and broke into their little country club a few weeks ago."
But Sam narrowed his eyes. "I don't know, maybe-"
Dean saw the look on his face. "What?"
"It's just...I don't know Dean. This kind of feels a little much for being pissed about some breaking and entering. I can't help but think they're might be taking this a bit personally."
Dean felt a sudden itch from his arm and went to scratch it as his fingernails brushed the area where the mark was. At that, he had sudden flashes of him taking the First Blade and sticking it into Logan Donovan. He could hear the man's pained final cry as well as see his new dimmed eyes staring back at him. He then saw the other people he killed at the manor that day. Killed and became covered in their blood. But, Sam hadn't seen and also didn't seem to know any of that. Sam had started to ease off him when it came to everything he did when the Mark had a hold on him. The last thing he wanted was to bring it all back again.
So he did what he did best: Lie through his teeth. "Well who knows what's going through the heads of Heaven's fan club. For all we know, this is some kind of sick job that Daniel or maybe even the angels gave them. With their head dick free from Lucifer's box, who can guess what they're doing now."
Sam gave his brother a small look for a moment before he nodded. "Then what do you think we should do?"
"We do what we always do, we take care of it. You and me."
With that, Dean moved to get into the driver's seat to start the car up. Sam followed Dean's movement as he narrowed his eyes. He knew his brother well enough by now to know that his final tirade there was some kind of deflection. He knew something about all of this and either Dean didn't want him to know, was uncomfortable to talk about it, or both. With everything Dean had going on right now, he couldn't help but worry about what else was happening with him. As Sam moved to join him in the car, he was resolute in the fact that he would find it out and, whatever it was, would help Dean through it.
For the last three hours, the Battalion laid down everything they knew of the Winchesters and what they've done. Everything from when the Devil's Gate opened, the Apocalypse, the War in Heaven, Eve, The Leviathan, The Hell Trials, The Fall and now the Mark of Cain and Dean's recent partnership with Crowley. Many of the hunters cut in as they were talking, either asking questions or speaking their doubts but the Battalion talk them down every time. After they were finished, there was about ten minutes of silence as they let it all sink in. All their gazes were focused on the ground before Jeremy suddenly lifted his head.
"What now? Just what exactly are you going to do with us?" he choked out.
"What do cops always do when they book someone but are after something bigger?" Phillip was silent for a moment before he answered his own question. "Make a deal."
"You want to make us a deal?" one of the hunters asked. "What kind of deal?"
Victor looked over in his direction. "You hunters will still do what you do best, hunt monsters. Vampires, werewolves, ghosts, ghouls, goblins, killer clowns from outer space and all that wicked crap. However," he said stiffly. "From now on, anything demonic or angelic that you find, you stay out of it."
One of the hunters gave him a look. "What? You can't be serious."
Victor gave him a bored sort of side look. "Do you think we went through all of this to be funny?" he asked with no hidden sarcasm. "We're dead serious. Demons and Angels are off limits to all of you. Steer clear and if you do manage to stumble into something, then you'll call us. We will take care of it."
The hunter scoffed indignantly. "And if we don't feel like steering clear."
"Then you'll find yourselves in a cell," Phillip told them. "We have all of you now and know where to find you. Follow our rules and we'll make sure that you're all free and clear. We'll even protect you if you run into any trouble."
"Within reason of course," Riley cut in. "We are still with the law here."
"Of course," Phillip nodded. "But, break the deal and we'll toss your asses into the darkest and smallest jail cell and you'll never see the light of day again. And it's no threat. We're very well connected, we can easily make that happen."
"Why?" Jeremy spoke out. "Why not just lock us away? Why even try to make a deal with us?"
"Believe me, we don't want to," said Victor. "Personally, I would prefer we just lock away every single one of you gun crazy hunter lunatics out there and throw away the key." The faces on all the hunters hardened a bit at 'lunatics' part. "But, whether we like it or not, hunters are important. We might be trained to deal with demons and help the real angels but the rest is out of our hands. You're vital in keeping monsters at bay and from overrunning us and we don't need more problems to add to the growing list. We're here to try and clean up the mess, not add to it."
Dennis stepped forward. "I'll be honest, the way that some of you guys do your job, it makes me sick. But, it's still a job that I know has to be done. We're still tracking down more of you but it would great if you were to help spread the word. To every hunter you know and every one they know. When it comes to angels and demons you hunters are out of your jurisdiction. Stick with the slimy and scaly monsters of the night. Matters of Heaven, Hell and Earth are now our department."
The hunter from before lost his sneer and his face fell at the hard glare in Dennis' eye. "You're serious. You're actually red tapping us."
"We're drawing a line," Dennis said stiffly. "We handle anything to do with Heaven and Hell and you handle anything that goes to Purgatory. Run into anything demon or angel related, you call us. We run into anything monster or spirit related, we call you."
"So, what? We stay on our side and you stay on your side, is that it?" Jeremy asked them.
"Well, if you want to put it that way, yeah," Victor nodded before he held up his finger. "But there's also one more small thing we want from all of you."
"What's that?" the sole female hunter asked.
"The Winchesters." At Victor's mention of them, Phillip, Dennis and Riley faces all hardened.
"What about them?" Jeremy asked.
"We want them," Victor said in a low and harsh tone. "And you're going to help us with that. We know enough that they usually keep to themselves. However, they occasionally reach out to others like you. If they contact any of you, we want you to contact us right away."
"Why? What are you going to do?" one of the other hunters asked.
"That's also out of your jurisdiction," Dennis said to him. "All you have to do is just help put them in our direction."
Phillip nodded. "If they reach out to any of you, try to ask for anything, send them our way. Or...tell them to go hell, again."
"Why would any of you help them now anyway?" Riley went to put his hands into the pockets of his slacks as he stared the hunters down. "Just look, look back at what's happened, what they've done. Face the facts people. All of us, we're all here in this mess right now, because of them. And right now, what they're doing will revolve on trying to keep Dean Winchester from becoming a full demon, again. Who knows what that will mean. Maybe this time saving a Winchester will involve punching a hole in the universe and releasing a cosmic horror into the world."
Riley's words made a chill fall down each of the Battalion member's spines. For all they knew, that's what it might just take.
Victor's hands tightened at his sides before he took a deep breath and move to stand center in front of all the knelt hunters. "And it's time for it to stop." Victor then moved to stand in front of Jeremy. "Once and for all and you can help us do that. Finally make it all just...stop."
Jeremy let a heated sigh out. "Do we have a choice?"
"You do," Dennis chimed in. "But you're going to have to make it here and now. You could choose to stand with the guys that keep screwing the world over for each other and don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and their messed up family dynamics...or you could work with guys that care about people and actually want to leave the world better than it was when they started."
"So...what's it going to be?" Victor asked the hunters as a whole. The hunters all were silent for a moment before Victor decided to put one last say in. "Us, or those...monsters?"
At that word, Jeremy rose his head up straight and then held up his cuffed hands. Victor went over and caught his eye and an eternity seemed to pass between them in that moment. Victor then blinked as he went and took his keys and unlocked Jeremy's cuffs. Soon after, one after the other, the other hunters' cuffs and chains all fell ceremoniously to the ground.
End of Chapter 10
A/N: Sorry for the long delay. I've been working on my Teen Wolf story and then I suffered from slight writer's block but I think I'm over it now. Seems the Battalion is ready to 'lay down the law' when it comes to the Supernatural. But, what are they really after?
The next chapter will have Sam and Dean look up people dying in mysterious ways that just seem to be freak accidents. They seem to think maybe someone with psychic abilities might be behind this but when they find that angels are following the same leads, it seems to be much bigger than they thought.