Maria Hill groggily flickered her eyes open as she slowly awoke from unconsciousness. Upon finally and fully opening her eyes, she realized she was still in the interrogation room, sitting at the table, and this time across from Commander Nick Fury; who had his hands folded on the table giving her a disapproving glare. Her first instinct was to lunge headfirst at Fury, until she realized her hands and feet were cuffed by high tech chains crafted by SHIELD. She scoffed at the realization. "Let me guess...Level 8 tech?"
Fury simply shook his head. "Level 7. Courtesy of Fitzsimmons."
She couldn't help but laugh cold heartedly at that. She expected better. "That's even worse. You know I can break out of these with ease."
"No, you can't. Trust me." He quickly denied. "Don't underestimate my Level 7 agents. Especially when they're standing in a better light than you, considering how disloyal you've turned."
"Like I give a rat's ass about my 'loyalty', especially to you." She scoffed with a slight coy smirk. "Besides, I don't underestimate your agents. I just know I'm better than them. You might as well have lost your other eye because you're obviously too blind to see it."
"What's that supposed to mean? When have I ever questioned your skill set under my legion?" He inquired, to which she laughed softly again.
"Legion." She repeated with an eye roll. "Somebody thinks they're on a high horse."
"Maria!" He roared with frustration and confusion throughout his face. What wasn't confusing about this? One of his best agents and his second in command had turned against him.
"Oh, like you don't know!" She roared back. "I've been second in command here at SHIELD for how long?! And yet you've always treated me like a child! Sending low class agents to do high tier missions while you put me behind a desk? Send me to escort people to different rooms? Send me to fetch fucking candles? Really?!" Her anger boiled over as her veins became visible through her neck. She inhaled a huge huff of breathe to settle herself. "That's why I aligned myself with them. They actually respect me and trust me to get the job done."
"They? Who's they? Who's them?" Fury inquired in confusion. Hill remained silent. Fury sighed. "Fine. You don't have to tell me who 'they' are. Even if you did, whose to say I should trust you? Could be lying for all I know cause you're already just chock full of surprises today. All I want to know for now is the 'why'. Is that why you decided to go rogue? Because of a lack of respect?"
She shrugged with a smug smirk. "Isn't that why your dad went rogue from UNIT?"
With an alarmed expression, he looked back at the door and then at the see through window hoping no one was there to hear that. He then gave an angry glare towards Hill. "This isn't about me right now. You shouldn't even know that. You shouldn't even be like...this." He said with an upset and disappointed sigh.
"Then how am I supposed to be like, almighty commander?" She exuded sarcasm in her tone and arrogance in her expression. "Your obedient lapdog that's there to lick your feet so you can pat my head when I'm finished?"
"You're not supposed to be this. I think I've figured it out." He started to elaborate. "When you came to SHIELD, Coulson was your mentor. Took you in when you were just a punk orphan kid with potential who just expected the world in your hands at the snap of your fingers. He steered you straight and since the world went all screwy and he managed to leap off the face of the Earth without a trace, you were steered back backwards since you or anyone else can't remember him. All that moral sensei crap he went through with you is gone from your mind now."
She briefly laughed that off. She wasn't buying it. "How am I supposed to know whether or not you just didn't make this Coulson guy up? Maybe I'm just born to be...this."
"Trust me, you're not." He put as bluntly as possible. " Besides, there are bigger matters at hand right now...like who are you working for? Who are you giving our files to? It has to be a demon, considering the bowl of blood, and considering recent events, this is the same demon who's been possessing The Doctor. Correct?"
She remained silent before suddenly giving a casual scoff. "You know what...it's not like it matters right now. You're already too late. Now that he's in The Doctor's body, him and Crowley will make sure this world will fall to our feet."
Fury's eye lit up in surprise. "He's working with Crowley? And who's he?"
"I bet you'd like to know." She muttered with a smirk.
He shook his head as he rose from his seat. "On second thought, I already have enough to go on."
"Oh come on! For as long as I've known you, you should know I know you're bluffing!" She laughed at him.
"I know. And you should know that when I bluff, that means I'm desperate and when I'm desperate, I go to unpredictable lengths." He gave a stern eye as he leaned over her, resting his hands on the table. "You've made me very, very desperate." Remembering what a desperate Fury is capable of doing, that wiped the smirk off her face for once into a slightly worried expression as Fury made his way out the interrogation room. He walked passed Melinda May, who was standing in front of the glass window outside the door, and without turning to her, he said-
"Agent May, I hope you know that whatever you heard about my father in that room cannot ever leave that room. Understand?"
She gave a simple nod. "Understood, sir."
Meanwhile, in the SHIELD infirmary...
"Ouch!" Gwen yelped out as Ianto swabbed her wounded forehead with a wet rag. "Not so hard!"
"That's what he said." Jack whispered beside Gwen while pointing to Ianto, which made her giggle. Ianto just gave Jack a wry stare.
"Very funny, Jack." Ianto gave a sarcastic grin as he continued to tend to Gwen's wounds. "Don't your SHIELD buddies need you in the meeting room now?" He inquired; still bitter about how Fury saw Gwen and himself as useless liabilities. Gwen felt the same, but was in too much pain to express it.
"Well, they'll have to wait." Jack reassured with a warm smile. "The only buddies I care about are my Torchwood buddies right here." He came in between his mates and wrapped his arms around them both with a smile.
"Ouch!" Gwen yelped again when Jack wrapped his arm around her. He quickly removed his arm once she did and stared at her with concern.
"Geez, Maria really put a wailing on you, didn't she?" Jack grimaced at the bruises on Gwen's face and arm. The bruises on her face weren't as bad, but she still had blood to wipe from her mouth and stitches sewed on her cheek.
"Yeah, until I got a lucky shot on her." Gwen pointed out with a sigh. The fact she barely made it out of her scuffle with a SHIELD agent alive made her feel more inadequate than she did when people at SHIELD referred to Torchwood Three as a low tier organization compared to them. Jack sensed this almost immediately.
"Hey, people at Torchwood don't get lucky. We get even and you used your instincts to get even. That makes you better than half of these SHIELD guys. More than half if you ask me." Jack spoke sternly so Gwen would take every word into consideration. Jack hated seeing any of his team members feeling put down so he did what he could to be a proper motivation. He then turned to SHIELD doctor Dr. Streiten, who stood by off to the sides. "No offense." He told the kind hearted doctor.
"None taken." Stretiten replied with a warm smile. "Before her...unfortunate deceit...Agent Hill was revered as one of our top agents. She didn't earn her position as second in command for nothing so the fact that your friend Gwen's internal organs are still intact are a sign that she fought valiantly. He'd never admit it, but I'm sure Commander Fury would be honored to have you, any of you, amongst his ranks."
"See?" Jack asked Gwen with a smile.
She just blushed without answering. "I really think you should go back to the meeting room, Jack. Ianto is caring after me. We're covered. I've got to call Rhys and tell him I'm safe. You're better off where you're needed."
"She's right, actually, Jack." Dr. Stretiten butted in. "With this breakthrough with The Colt, I assume both Commander Fury and Professor Song would have plans for you."
Jack sighed reluctantly. He looked at both Ianto and Gwen with skeptical looks. "Alright, fine. Ianto, you take care of Gwen. That goes double for you, doc." He looked at Dr. Stretiten with a grin.
"You have my word, Captain." Stretiten jokingly saluted Jack. "Me and your boy here...who I might add is a tremendous medical doctor in his own right...will get her patched up and stitched up in no time."
"Alright." Jack nodded before he kissed Ianto on his forehead and then did the same to Gwen. "I shouldn't be long and don't be so bummed out you two! Play your cards right, I might be able to get Fury to get you both to work." He left the room. He scurried through the halls of SHIELD's base, which were filled with agents in a frenzied panic over the news of Agent Hill's betrayal. Jack barged his way through everyone until he finally entered the meeting room to see Dean, Natasha, Rose, and River Song surrounding Sam, who was sitting at a table typing things out on a laptop.
"So get this..." Sam started off before being interrupted by Jack.
"Oh, you'll get this alright." Jack winked at Sam before walking up behind him and starting to rub his shoulders. Sam still managed to look at Jack with narrow, crossed eyes.
"Is your vocabulary like...98% innuendo?" He asked Jack.
"99%." Jack corrected. "And I only do it for the cute ones." He said with a hearty chuckle.
Dean stood nearby, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh...Captain...could you...not hit on my brother? It's a little awkward from here. Mind waiting til I'm not around to pull a move like that again?"
Jack jokingly sighed with a smile. "Only because you asked politely." He told Dean as he removed his hands from Sam's shoulders and stuffed them in his own pockets. "So, any idea where The Colt is yet?"
"We might actually have a break on it right now." Sam answered.
"Not that we have much of anything to go on." Dean admitted. "Every time he reads from that stupid book, Loki just speaks in crap riddles."
"Technically, its the book speaking in crap riddles. Loki just reads from it." Sam pointed out. "You know how screwy the dark arts are."
"Dark arts, smarts arts. The things he said just don't make any plain sense." Dean argued.
"They makes sense. They just need to be deciphered." Sam disputed.
"Did they make sense to you, Jack? You were there." Dean turned to Jack for clarification. "Did it make any sense when he said The Colt 'belongs now to a saint called Death, who lives in a rhino in a city of sinners', cause it sounds like nothing but malarkey to me. It's malarkey, isn't it?"
Jack nodded with a shrug. "I gotta give it to Dean there, Sam. It doesn't make a lick of sense."
"It does. Trust me. Like I said, it just needs deciphering. Which I think I've done." Sam pointed at the laptop screen that showed an exterior shot of a strip club.
"That a strip club?" Dean asked with wide eyes as he leaned towards the screen. "Sam, I don't think this is the right time to go get your rocks off at a strip joint. I mean, if you need a break, we can go to Hooter's but believe me, we're only going for the food."
Sam gave Dean his infamous 'bitch-face' with an annoyed pout. "Look at the name of the place. 'The Spearmint Rhino'? 'Lives in a rhino'! And the strip club is in Las Vegas. City of Sinners, like Loki said."
Jack gave an impressed, but still unsure, look at Sam as he folded his arms. "That's some nice detective work, Sam. I'll put it right up there with Sherlock Holmes himself." He gave small hints of condescending sarcasm in his voice while speaking. "Only you got a couple holes in this theory...all having to do with Death. Why would Death be living in a strip club? Who even lives in a strip club to begin with?"
"And why would Death have The Colt?" Dean added. "In the grand scheme of it all, we'd be going on nothing but a hunch."
"If a hunch is all we've got, then I say let's take it." Rose said.
"My thoughts exactly, Mrs. Tyler." River added herself. "Me, Sam, and Dean will head out right away."
"Woah there, just the three of you? What about me?" Rose asked.
"And me?" Jack piped up.
"It's nothing personal. Jack, I need you to lead the forefront in my absence." River told Jack, to which he chuckled a bit; feeling a bit offended.
"Right, because the guy who can't die is the perfect human shield, right?" Jack questioned. He was legitimately offended. Fury already told him that his ability made him essential for the mission. The fact it kept being brought up made Jack feel that his ability was shortly becoming a gimmick to one up the bad guys. As if no one could see his legitimate skills as a soldier and as an agent because they couldn't get passed the fact he couldn't die.
River groaned. "That's not what I mean-"
"Save it." Jack interrupted with a passing hand gesture. "I need to check on my teammates. You know, the people on this mission who actually give a good damn about me." He said as he walked off. River sighed as she knew that as much as she wanted to clear the air with Jack, she didn't have the time. There were more pressing matters at hand. She turned to Rose.
"You need to stay here with Fury. Considering his former second in command's betrayal, he's going to need someone by his side to foresee this whole operation." River explained to Rose.
"Fury's a big boy. He can handle himself. I've sat by the sidelines for too long already so I'm coming with you and that's final." Rose held her ground.
River sighed. She really didn't want to argue again and Rose did have a point. "Fair enough." She then turned to Natasha. "Agent Romanov, tell your Commander that Rose and I had to leave with the Winchesters right away. If he needs anything or something goes awry, he can call."
"Yes, ma'am." Natasha nodded before walking off.
"Hey, can you tell Cas that we had to bail too? Don't wanna leave him in the dark or nothing like that. Tell him we'll be back before he knows it." Dean called out. Natasha nodded again before finally leaving the room.
"Follow me." River said as she walked on. "Vegas is just a couple hours away and we have better chances of getting The Colt if we go right now." She added as Rose and The Winchesters followed her lead.
"Gotcha." Dean nodded, stuffing his hands in his pockets as they walked. "So, we taking some high tech copter or somethin'?"
"I was hoping for something a little less conspicuous, but more stylish." River corrected.
"Like what?" Sam inquired.
As they made their way through SHIELD's interior, they came across the SHIELD vehicle storage facility. With a slight but eager grin, River plopped on the lights and unveiled the Impala sitting right in front of them. And right beside it, a red 1962 Chevrolet Corvette. Granted, no one at SHIELD (except Fury) knew or remembered who it belonged to, but they didn't know what else to do with it so they just kept it. As soon as he caught eyes on his baby, Dean was ecstatic.
"Awesome. Now that's what I'm talking about!" He spouted as River tossed him the keys and he sprinted over to the driver's side.
"Shotgun." Sam made his way towards the passenger side before being basically pushed off to the side by River.
"Like hell you are." She told him. "As your current commanding officer, I refuse to sit in the back and I demand shotgun." She practically gave Sam her best impression of a mom voice.
With a sigh and a slouch, Sam gave in. "Yes, ma'am."
Feeling as if she's won, River couldn't help but smile proudly. "Good boy. Now, straighten your back." She told him cheekily as he did just that and headed towards the back with Rose while River hopped on the passenger's side without hesitation. This was the closest moment in a long time where Sam wondered if this was what it felt to have a mom; badgering you to sit proper and what not.
"Look, I don't care who's shotgun as long I drive her at the end of each day." Dean said; doing what he'd call laying down the law of the car. "And professor or commander or not, shotgun's still gotta shut their cake hole when it comes to whatever tunes I play." He glanced at Sam and Rose sitting in the back through the rear view mirror. "That goes double for bottom guzzlers in the back. coppice?"
"I'm sorry, what's a bottom guzzler?" Rose cringed in confusion.
Sam just shrugged, but he knew his brother well enough to know he didn't know either. Dean probably just said it to sound cool, Sam thought. So to appease his brother, he just nodded in his direction and agreed. "Coppice."
And just like that, the foursome drove into the sunset heading for Las Vegas.
Meanwhile...in SHIELD's research division...
John was sitting across a table from Bruce, who sat there fidgeting his thumbs together awkwardly. Amidst the chaos erupting from Agent Hill's betrayal, no one had the chance to tell him why he was needed at the research division yet. John shifted in his seat just as awkward. He didn't have anything to do in the lab and he was so terrible at small talk, he didn't want to bother trying small talk with someone who, apparently, turned into a not so jolly green giant if he's rubbed the wrong way. Sherlock was at another table close by, doing God knows what at this point. From their perspective at the table, he was just taking notes and looking through a telescope.
On the other side of the room, Simmons was trying to calm down Fitz, who paced up and down the room in a paranoid fit while biting his nails.
"Leo, I know this is all a bit hectic, but-"
"Oh, hectic isn't the right word for this, Jemma!" Fitz interrupted in a panicked tone. "We have had a mole right underneath our noses and we were taking orders from her! Who knows how long this has been going on! What if we unknowingly made some sort of weapon of mass destruction because she told us to?! What if there are other moles?! What if she poisoned us?! I mean she was just in here an hour ago! Who's to say she didn't slip some biochemical toxin in my coffee?!" He then paused in his steps as a sudden fearful realization melted into his expression. "Bloody hell! Where's my coffee?!" He then proceeded to frantically search the room before Simmons held him tight by his shoulders to try and keep him still.
"You haven't had any coffee today! Leo! You have to get a grip!" Simmons raised her voice ever so slightly enough to get her point through Fitz's skull. "If things do get worse from here, this is no time for panic!"
"Oh contraire! For all intents and purposes, this is the perfect time for panic!" Fitz sat down and tried to calm his nerves by grabbing a seat, sitting down, and trying to take slow breathes, though he slowly began hyperventilating, which was met with a groan from Sherlock.
"Dr. Simmons, will you please hurry and calm your boyfriend's nerves somehow? It's annoying and I'm busy." He proclaimed rather coldly.
"Sherlock." John groaned simply while giving Sherlock a mild glare, though his gaze only met the back of Sherlock's head.
Simmons just rolled her eyes and groaned. "I'm trying the best I can and for the last time, Sherlock, he is not my-"
"Ahem." Bruce cleared his throat and slowly rose from his seat, beginning to approach Fitz. "Pardon me, but, um, first off...kid, you look like you might need one of these." Bruce pulled out a small container filled with pills from his jacket pocket and pulled one small pill from it.
"What's that?" Fitz asked hesitantly. "What's in it?"
"Just something Tony and I have been working on to calm my...you know...nerves." Bruce said with air quotes. "He says it's like a pain killer, but it reduces stress and, of course, anger. Heightens your happier senses too. Your endorphins. Relaxes your mind and your muscles. It-"
"Dr. Banner, with all due respect, and please, don't be angry with me, but I just need to know if it'll work because I'm on the verge of a freakin' panic attack." Fitz stated as he tried his best to inhale and exhale slow breathes.
"Uh...yeah, it takes a while to kick in, but when it does, it works it's magic pretty fast." Bruce nodded and handed it to Fitz, who quickly swallowed it whole.
"I feel better already." Fitz said after a few seconds and a deep breathe.
Bruce gave a slight smile and a nod before addressing all the faces in the room. "Great. Now that that's taken care of, I'd just like to know why am I here? None of you have notified me yet on why you called me in here and it's just been panic and awkward silence since I stepped in this-" Before he could finish, Sherlock walked up behind Bruce and stabbed him in the shoulder with a rather large needle.
"Sherlock!" John gasped, as did Fitz and Simmons; Simmons more so given that the drug that Bruce gave him was slowly taking it's affect and he was surprisingly calm about the situation more than John and Simmons. "What the hell?! You don't just walk up to people you barely know and stab them with needles! We've talked about this!"
"Ow!" Bruce yelped before turning to Sherlock. "Ok...new question...why'd you just give me a shot?"
"Oh my God, Dr. Banner, I am so sorry on his behalf!" Simmons started to panic herself. "Please don't be angry! He's not really a people person! He doesn't understand that that wasn't okay, which by the way, that was so not okay!"
"Oh, my sincere apologies, Dr. Banner." Sherlock said, not sounding very sincere. "I meant no harm. Just had to extract some blood."
"Why?" Bruce asked rather confused.
"Well, seeing as Gamma radiated blood seems to be the most powerful source of energy currently on this planet, it could prove useful in trying to create a portal to another universe, which will be necessary to retrieve this 'Coulson' fellow. According to my notes and this blood extraction, your Gamma DNA will be just the right match." Sherlock explained quickly.
"If your notes are right, then you should know you'll need a lot more than my blood to do the job, if this little experiment even works. How do you even think you're gonna create this portal? Some sort of machine or half-assed Delorean?" Bruce asked dumbfounded.
"First off, I am aware. Second, I'm working on it. Third, we won't be trying to take just your blood." Sherlock put bluntly. "We'll be trying to extract all of your gamma energy."
"Impossible." Bruce scoffed. "I've tried for years to get rid of the Gamma inside of me, along with The Hulk. The military's tried. The government's tried. Hell, SHIELD has tried but no one seems to get the job done."
"I'm not just anyone. I'm Sherlock Holmes. If you don't know what that means, then I sincerely suggest you do your research and look me up." Sherlock stated with every ounce of smugness slithering through his lungs. "Now, shall we begin to prove you wrong about me?"
Elsewhere, in Clint's shooting range...
Castiel stood beside Clint as they were in a special part of Clint's shooting range. A part made specifically for his arrows. Clint shot six straight arrows at a target, just like how anyone would shoot a bullet a target in a shooting range. He did this with ease and then turned to Castiel with a grin.
"See that?" He asked Cas. "That's what I'm talking about. The thing about shooting arrows is that you gotta be precise and to be precise, you've got to keep your eye on your prize and then you strike. Kinda like how a punk kid would keep his eyes on a pair of converse shoes every day until he finally decides to just swoop in and take 'em. In case you were wondering, yeah, I was that kid so if I could take out some cheap shoes, you can take out some dickhead angels who mess with you. This just makes things a whole lot easier." He handed his bow and a couple arrows to Cas. "Go ahead. Give it a shot." But Castiel wasn't responding. He was just staring off into space. It wasn't that Cas was completely out of it or anything or in deep thought. Cas was talking with Naomi inside of his head.
"I assure you, you're better off leaving right now." Naomi warned Cas. "The angel tablets should be your top priority right now. Not saving a planet filled with a low level species that doesn't care if you're alive or dead."
"First of all, humans are more than just some low level species and how many times must I tell you, Dean isn't like that." Cas said with a quick shake of his head. "You don't know him like I do. Besides, the angel tablets are useless when Kevin Tran has gone M.I.A."
"M.I.A?" Naomi gasped.
Castiel nodded. "It's an acronym. It stands for-"
"I know what it means." Naomi rolled her eyes. "Why didn't you notify me The Prophet was missing?"
"I've been a little preoccupied for the last few hours."
"By shooting arrows with some secret agent?" Naomi shook her head with disdain. "I was right. The Winchesters treat you as nothing but a baby in a trenchcoat. How long until either of them just leaves you by yourself one day weeping with your trenchcoat in your hands? Especially Dean.
"For the last time, he's not like that." Castiel tried to convince Naomi, even if he wasn't 100% sure himself.
"Regardless, The Prophet must be found ASAP. You do know what ASAP means, don't you."
Castiel nodded reluctantly. "As soon as possible.
"When you're done playing second fiddle to movie spies and sad excuses for hunters, I expect results. As soon as possible."
"Cas? Cas?" Castiel snapped back into reality to feeling Clint slap his back. Clint was standing beside Natasha; both with equally concerned faces. "You alright, man? Looked like you were day dreaming there. Honestly, I didn't even know you angels could zone out just like humans do."
"I'm alright." Castiel reassured.
"Well, Dean told me to tell you him and Sam will be back." Natasha spoke up. "He's on a mission with Agent Tyler and Professor Song. They're expected back in a day or two."
And just like that, a depressed expression fell upon Castiel when he came to the conclusion that Naomi was right. At the end of the day, he was an angel and Sam and Dean saw no worth in him; not even to bring him into a mission. To them, he was just a baby in a trenchcoat and no matter what, Castiel owed his allegiance to his fellow angels. He knew what he had to do now. "When Dean returns, tell him I'm sorry."
"For what?" Clint asked.
Without answering, Castiel vanished within a blink of an eye.
A few hours later, on the open road...
Dean was still driving down the road in the desolate, empty night. His road passengers were all in a deep sleep. Dean was slightly groggy in the sleep department himself, but when lives were at stake, it was like he had drank 10 gallons of caffeine. It made him alert, nothing was going to put him to sleep, and nothing was going to stop him.
All of a sudden, he slammed on the brakes, causing all of his passengers to jerk in their seats. "Good thing ya'll got seatbelts, huh?" Dean asked with a slight chuckle.
"Dean, what the hell?!" Sam angrily sputtered as he wiped his eyes.
"Relax. Just wanted to let you all know we're here." Dean explained, to which all three passengers looked out their windows to see Dean had just parked in some back alley. "It's ok that I parked in the back, right? Figured sneaking through the back looking is a little less suspicious than going through the front and asking strangers if they've seen a long pistol called The Colt." He asked River.
"No, it's fine. What wasn't really fine was slamming on the brakes like a maniac." She said as she stepped out the vehicle.
"Oh, come on. Where's your sense of humor? I said I was sorry." Dean said sincerely, though the smirk on his face wasn't the most sincere.
"Jerk." Sam murmured as he stepped out the Impala.
"Bitch." Dean murmured back with an eye roll as he stepped out the Impala.
"Idiots." Rose rolled her own eyes before stepping out.
All four snuck inside through the backdoor with ease. For a strip club, The Spearmint Rhino was rather lacking in the security department. After walking passed a few rooms, they walked into a room that seemed empty and dusty. What caught their eyes was the fact that there was the room was clearly bigger than the other rooms. Almost as big as a warehouse interior; or at least half of it's size. They saw a roundtable that had a box on top. Dean was the first to approach the box. Just as he was about to lay hands on the box, a card, an Ace of Spades card to be exact, flew in and swiped his hand, leaving a small cut.
"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Dean growled as him and the others looked around to see where that card could have come from.
"Didn't anyone teach you not to touch what isn't yours?" A young-ish American voice sneered in the thin air.
"No, but someone taught me how to kick some ass. I can show you if you show your face." Dean threatened.
"Nah, see I'm not much of a scraper. I'm a lover. Not a fighter, though if I had to fight, I could just keep doing this." And just as the voice finished, another card flew passed Dean's ear. All four intruders were lost as to what was happening.
"Stop that!" Dean growled again.
"Or what?"
"Nothing." River spoke out. "Look, whoever you are, we didn't come to fight or play games."
"I don't play games." The voice suddenly was heard back at the table. Everyone turned back to the table to see the voice had now manifested itself into a caucasian man in his mid-20's now sitting at the table. "I play magic tricks."
"How'd you get there so fast?" Sam asked.
"Magic." The young man said with a cheeky grin; now twiddling with the Ace of Spades card that grazed Dean's hand.
"However you got there, who are you and where's the Colt? In fact, where's Death?" Rose asked.
"I'm Jack Wilder. Don't worry about it. And I am Death." He made sure his answers were short and sweet. "Now, tell me who you are, how'd you get here, and what do you want with The Colt?"
Meanwhile, back at SHIELD...
Loki was back in his containment cell and Thor was pacing back and forth in front of it; eyes stern and solely on his brother. He'd been doing much of that for the past few hours since he returned Loki to his cell. Loki simply laid on his side on the ground, growing weary and annoyed of watching his brother.
"Having fun, brother?" Loki asked with a cheeky grin.
"Peachy." Thor answered dryly.
"Well, I'm not." Loki answered as he laid on his back. "Watching you quiver and pace became tedious 2 hours ago."
Thor suddenly stopped in his steps, practically insulted at Loki's accusation. "When have I ever quivered?"
"You don't have to watch me like I'm some bloody child." Loki groaned as he began to cross his legs on the ground and face his brother. "It's not like I'm going anywhere anytime soon."
"Loki, I am not doing this for my own amusement." Thor rolled his eyes while crossing his arms.
"Then why? Because you don't trust me?" Loki questioned, though he was already sure of the answer. He just wanted to hear it through Thor's lips, if only because he knew how much it would eat his brother up inside remembering how times have long changed since their childhood.
"No. Not anymore." Thor said with a heartbroken sigh. "If I don't stay here, someone else could wander in and you could try to trick them into letting you out of this cage. Like you tried with the tall human."
"His name is Sam." Loki unexpectedly gave a defending spout.
Thor gave a rather surprised expression. "Do I sense sentiment in your voice?" He asked curiously. "How strange. You've always been so quick to ridicule my own sentiment, especially for human beings."
"Of course I don't have sentient for the 'tall human'." Loki disagreed; using air quotes. "And I wasn't trying to manipulate him into doing any of my bidding. Just a conversation. It's not like you gave me anything to occupy my time here. You've even confiscated my spell book, until your friends let me out again to use me as their personal lapdog once more. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to make sure I die of boredom."
"You must not know any better if you think we see you as a lapdog." Thor shook his head in disappointment of Loki's claim. No matter what horrible deed Loki had done, he was still his brother to Thor at least and he could never look down on or demean his younger brother in any way.
"Oh, is guinea pig more suitable then? Perhaps lab rat?" Loki humored Thor, who gave that same burdened expression.
"Loki..."
"It's the truth and you know it!" Loki barked. "The sooner you accept that, the better we'll all be off."
"I don't know if we can be well off. Not until things were like they used to." Thor sighed and turned his back on his brother before suddenly pausing in his steps.
"Things will never be like they used to! You are not my brother and you never will be! Can you get that through your thick skull?! Answer me!" Loki angrily stood up and pounded the glass in frustration, but alas, Thor did not answer, nor did he budge for that matter.
"He can't hear you, kitten." Crowley appeared suddenly behind Loki. Alarmed, Loki put his fists up to his face. He was never accustomed to hand to hand combat (he deemed it too barbaric for his liking), but without a weapon or the use of his spells, he'd have to settle for it. "Put those things down. Neither of us are worth much in the scrapping department. We'll just embarrass ourselves." Crowley convinced Loki, to which Loki reluctantly put his fists down to his sides.
"What do you want?" Loki asked hesitantly.
"Just a moment of your time. Well, two minutes to be exact. That's how long the spell will last until it wears off."
Loki's eyes furrowed in confusion, until it finally donned on him who he was dealing with. He grinned and his eyes widened in excitement as to who was probably standing before him. "Oh...I get it. You're the witch that is running this entire 'end of the world' plan and you want to recruit me."
"Basically." Crowley nodded.
Loki scoffed. "Well, look elsewhere. I don't want to destroy this world. I'd rather conquer it."
"Who says we can't do both?" Crowley pointed out. "If not for me, do it for your brother."
"What are you playing at, little man?" Loki asked out of confusion.
"It's no secret that Thor loves this planet. He loves the Earth more than anything else. More than baby brother. Why not make him quiver when you let everyone on this planet bow before you and then let him watch as you turn it to dust? Join me and take the one thing that he loves more than anything in the universe; more than you?" Loki was taking Crowley's words into deep thought. "All I need is a quick yes or no. What do you say?"
Moments later, the spell finally wore off and Thor came to. "Look, brother, I understand how you might feel, but you must understand that-" He turned back to the cage and paused in devastation to see his brother gone. The cage was empty.
"Loki? LOKI?! BROTHER?!"
DISCLAIMER: I'm sorry to announce this, but it is very likely that this will be the last chapter I write. At least for now. I just don't have it in me to write this story anymore; for a number of reasons. For one thing, since writing the last chapter, I am no longer a fan of the show Supernatural and I've grown to have very mixed feelings over The Eleventh Doctor and because of these feelings, it'll be awfully hard to continue writing a story about characters I no longer feel a strong connection with. With those excuses in mind, the biggest one, honestly, is that I'm just not feeling this story anymore. I had at least another 15+ chapters to go with this fic, but I just no longer feel the drive to do so. I started writing this story a little over a year ago and because of my personal affairs that have prevented me to keep writing chapters, I hadn't been writing like I wanted. Now that I finally have the time, I don't have that drive any more. It's one thing to be bored of a story you used to be very passionate about writing. It's a whole other when you no longer even feel connected to these characters so I must call this a book end for now. As much as it pains me to do so and as much as I hate to disappoint the lot of you who have waited so patiently for me to continue this story and have given me so much praise and concern for this story in my messages and my comments, I know that you could all tell if my heart's not in it and if your heart's not in anything and you just pull along with something solely because you feel obligated to do so for others, the finished product usually ends up being crap and I'd rather end it unfinished instead of ending it on a crap note. One day, I may decide to continue writing this, but for now, I don't see myself writing another chapter any time soon. If you're curious on how I would have continued/finished this story, feel free to message me and I'll tell you but I don't think I'll be actually sitting down and writing another chapter for this story very soon. I'd rather pursue with other stories that I actually feel connected with; stories I'm keen on beginning writing on soon so if you're not super pissed at me for this flop, you can look forward to those. Again, I apologize for this inconvenience.