A/N: Hey, so I fixed the format of this. Something hooky went down when I uploaded it last time, but here is the new improved version. Hope that you like it!
The title is from the Charmed theme song. The whole version is so good. I absolutely adore it. The entire line is: I am human and I need to be loved, just like everybody else does. See I've already waited too long, and all my hope is gone...
Lance can kick some serious ass.
He's been with law enforcement for most of his adult life. It's all he's ever done and he's damn good at it. He's taken down tons of sickos and psychotics during his days, but this...this is probably the strangest situation he's ever been in.
Lance is on his back, lying on the cool ground beneath him. There are trees in the field that offer small reprieves from the midday sun currently pounding down rays. Luckily he landed down under one such tree after he was thrown. Grunting with the pain he kicks his legs up. They connect to their intended targets stomach, or what passes for a stomach, sending him reeling back into yet another enemy force. Yes, that's what they are. Enemy forces. He just can't bring himself to call them by their names.
Quickly he sucks in a deep breath while hauling himself back on two feet. Another force comes up behind him ready to strike, albeit slowly. Lance turns to deliver the crushing blow that'll disarm them first, but he stops dead in his tracks. Eyes blown wide he can only stare.
Two hours earlier:
"Well, the challenge shall be tonight then!" And he was off in a flash.
Emma thought it was strange that Pan seemed to be happy about Felicity losing. Well, he is a sociopath, but he shouldn't be this happy. This is a competition, she reminded herself as she watched Felicity shuffle back to the rooms. Pan had dumped them in front of the building when he left. It was a pitiful sight to see, but Emma needed to stone wall herself. She couldn't be friendly with any of them if she wanted to get back to Henry.
Then again, she could create allies. Maybe coerce them to throw a few fights? Maybe some of them were martyrs? After a few moments more contemplation she decided to make a move on them. But who would she align herself with first?
Emma side glanced Monroe and Rosalee who walk past her into the hall. The duo seems to be together all the time. They're probably dating. It's better to get them alone first. That way one of them could talk her up to the other. Hopefully since they're somewhat magical, too, she'll have a better chance convincing them.
Suddenly a chill runs down her spine at the sight of Sean. His posture and demeanor make her think that he's hiding more about himself. He doesn't appear too chummy with his bunk mates. Could that work to her advantage? As if he's sensing her stares he turns to her giving a faint suspicious smile. No, she'll definitely work her way up to him.
Oliver doesn't seem much better than Sean. He must've seen some things, because he has a shifty eyed look. It's as if he is trying to take everything in all at once. Right now he's talking to Diggle in hushed tones. There is definitely something going on with him if his intense stares at Felicity were anything to go by.
The brothers may be to her advantage. Their angel is naive at best. There is something akin to warmth when he speaks to them and it's fierce when he defends them. Maybe she could play the family angle. After all it is the truth. She wants to get out of here for her family. No matter the cost...
She will always find them.
A flash of tan caught her eye. She lifted her gaze to see a tan trench coat walking by the front doors. Instead of going inside he walked past them into the town. Kicking off the wall she began trailing her first target.
Think. Process. Understand. Cas needed to understand the situation in order to assess what should be done. His main goal was to safely get Sam and Dean back to their time. It was the least that he could do for them after all of the hardships that he alone had placed on their shoulders. The lies and betrayal were still too fresh for the Winchester brothers. Castiel would not be the reason that Dean is dragged to purgatory once again.
The purgatory that they'd been in last time was a dense, tense forest. Meant only for beasts of the worst kind. The air was a thick putrid scent, a mixture of blood and fear. Out there it had been kill or be killed. He has regrets now. So many regrets. He wishes that he hadn't opened the gates to let out the Leviathan. Of course they worked to put them all back, but at what cost. Dick had shot Bobby. Castiel was the one to let Dick out of purgatory. Therefore he shouldered the death of Sam and Dean's surrogate father. He also regretted leaving Dean alone in that forest. He had rationalized it by saying that he was protecting Dean by staying away. He was an angel of the Lord after all. They would sniff him out and take him down; he didn't want that for Dean. Then again, he also left for selfish reasons... snap.
Someone was following Cas. He had sensed them soon after they began their pursuit.
Now they had become even more obvious. He contemplated running. In his vast experience he knows that it's never a good thing when people take to following you. Then he remembered that they were all stuck here. Running would be pointless. Especially since there was nowhere to go and Castiel never backs down from a fight. He was, after all, a soldier.
"Is there a particular reason that you've been pursuing me for the past ten minutes?" Castiel says as he grinds to a stop. His trench coat swirls as he turns to his admirer.
The blonde in the red leather jacket, likewise, comes to a halt. She gives a brief upturn to her lip and says, "I just wanted to talk" raising her hands in a defensive position at the combative look Castiel gives. "I'm Emma". Slowly Emma moved one hand to be suspended between them as the other moved to hang by her side.
Castiel merely glowered at her hand a moment before deciding to shake it. He then cocked his head to the side contemplating what her motive could be. "What is it that you'd like to discuss with me?"
"Do angels have families?" She sighed while staring into his eyes.
"Yes. We are all children of the lord. I have many siblings. Most have perished or fallen. Why do you ask?"
"I have a son back home. His name is Henry" she sighed sadly.
Castiel was still confused for a moment. Why did she want to tell him about it? "I don't understand"
"You were talking about how you would do anything for your family. For Sam and Dean. You must really care about them"
"I do" after a slight pause he added, "Oh. I see. You wish to bond with me over families?"
Emma gave a smile before nodding her head.
"Very well then," Castiel said, "what is Henry like?" He walked over to the bus stop and sat gingerly on the bench. Although, he seriously doubted that any busses would stop here. He gestured at the seat next to himself in a silent offer of comfort. This was an odd situation for everyone. Castiel was still wary of the other 'players' in this twisted game, but here was a sweet mother who only wanted to share her thoughts. She needed comfort. Emma reminded Castiel what it meant to be an Angel. To be there for humanity. But what's more? Castiel also needed some comfort.
"Henry is such a sweet boy. He's twelve. Regina, the woman that I'm with, is actually his adoptive mother. I missed out on a lot of time with him," she sighed sadly while turning her eyes to the ground.
Her form hunched over in the fading sun, seemingly worn out, reminded him of his fallen brothers and sisters. Some of them had the same sense of defeat surrounding them. The image made him hurt by association. This was never his intention. In a way, this game was partially his fault for inadvertently helping Metatron come to power. "Now that we're here I'm worried that I won't get another chance. Every time that I get him back the opportunity slips through my fingers. Do you know what's that's like?"
It was Castiel's turn to look down. He stared at his folded hands resting on his lap for a long moment. "I do," he said lowly.
"Is it the boys?" She said gesturing vaguely with a thumb over her shoulder.
He nodded. "Yes...the problem is that every time I try to help, I always end up hurting them. So you understand that I can't do that anymore?" He understood what was happening. And he wanted to make her understand as well. Her face became one of confusion rather than understanding as it had been a moment earlier. So before she could form an answer he lifted his hand to stop her. He stuck out a single finger to punctuate his point. "I rebelled against Heaven to stop the Apocalypse from happening. Sam and Dean had a large part to play but I thought I was doing the right thing by stopping it. Sam ended up stuck in a cage with the extremely angry Archangel Lucifer and Michael's souls being tortured" he added a second finger to the list of abuses he let loose on the ones he called family. "When he finally returned, I broke the repression of his memories to slow them down, so that I could betray them to take over Heaven. I inadvertently let loose the Leviathan. The leader of which killed the man who had been like their father" Another finger went up, "When we finally defeated the Leviathan Dean was dragged with me to the real purgatory where I gave up and left him to fend for himself" yet another finger, "recently I tried to close the gates of Heaven. This way all of the angels would be stuck inside the gates to work out their problems. Unfortunately, Metatron lied to me. It caused all of the Angels to fall. We're locked out of Heaven and some are trying to become dictators against the rest of us. This is another mess that Sam and Dean have been cleaning up. Do you understand why I can't throw this game for you? I sympathize with your situation, but I cannot be the reason that those men are stuck in another form of Hell"
They both sat silently for a few minutes. Just looking at each other. Both pitying each other...and themselves. Finally, Emma broke the silence. "I was abandoned because of a curse that Regina cast. Everyone was locked out of the Enchanted Forest. I was the 'Savior'. The only man that I had ever trusted enough to love betrayed me. He sent me to jail for crimes he committed, while I was pregnant with Henry. I had Henry while I was in jail. I couldn't keep him" she took a deep breath then looked back up into Cas's eyes. "When I finally broke the curse I found my parents and Henry, but then he was kidnapped by his father's fiancé. I spent weeks tracking him down. When I had found him again, Pan had talked him into sacrificing his heart in order to gain ultimate power. Somehow we managed to save him only for Pan to switch bodies with him; trying to spread a new curse...it really never ends. We had just managed to get rid of Pan when we were brought here. I hope that you understand why I can't throw anything for you either. I will always find a way back to Henry" she said slowly rising to her feet.
"I do" he replied holding his hand for her to shake. When she did grab his hand he added, "I hope that everything works out for us all"
"So do I" she nodded. Then she turned and started walking away toward the hotel. Castiel just stood watching her. He didn't want to ruin things for his friends but he desperately resolved to find a way to get Emma back home to her son also.
"It's time for a duel ladies and gentlemen." Pan said appearing again. In a flash they were all in the theater again. This time with only one giant floor to ceiling screen. There was a single timer on the far side of the wall next to the side of the screen. It was set to five minutes. "Let's enjoy the show, shall we? If they don't kill all of the zombie warriors then they save their hides another weak."
Oliver and Detective Lance were in a large clearing. Pan had dumped them saying that all zombies must be killed within five minutes or they would be condemned. A large buzzer sounded and bodies came into view. They both realized that they didn't have any weapons on them when they were dumped. As if by magic, a sword appeared in Oliver's hand while a bow and arrow appeared in Lance's.
The bodies were advancing closer toward them. It only took a quick glance to each other before they switched weapons. Lance took a deep breath before turning the tables. He ran at the approaching hoard in a matter of seconds. "Zombies need to have their heads dismembered right?" Lance called across the expanse that they were now separated.
"Yeah. Aim for the heads detective. I have your back" Oliver answered in a cold, detached voice that Lance instantly recognized as the Arrow. He instantly was upon the zombies chopping and thrusting.
Brain matter flew.
Blood splattered and dripped with intent.
Arrows flew.
Legs and fists connected to stomachs and heads.
Suddenly Lance was thrown down from behind. He swung his legs up to crash his attacker back into another. They fell like bowling pins. He jumped up to his full height. Two swift movements saw the end of those two. Quickly he turned to attack the next one when he was met with his daughter.
"Laurel?" He asked staring mesmerized at the enemy in front of him. Her eyes were sunken in. Her features paled. He couldn't move. All that his body was capable of doing was gaping at a zombified version of his own blood.
Felicity moved next to Emma when the timer began. Sometimes she would ask questions that Emma answered for her. "You had to fight a zombie army?"
"Yeah. When we first got to the forest, there was a powerful witch who had taken over. She hates Snow. She didn't want us to get back to our realm so she sicked her zombies on us" Emma answered only looking to the screen. Pointedly ignoring the way Hook turned to gauge her emotions at witnessing others endure her misfortune.
"Did you have a sword?" She then asked.
"Mhm," she hummed in reply. "Mary Margaret had the arrows. She's great at archery...My turn?" Emma asked. Both women had their eyes permanently glued to the screen and subsequently the ever present decline of time.
"Sure"
"Is he like that a lot?"
"No. He's usually a broody type. This is his Arrow mode. All he knows when he's like this is his need to protect. He's like a robot. 'Survey area, destroy threat, protect innocent'. It's kind of incredible" Emma hummed her agreement as they took notice of the time. There was only one left and twenty seconds to kill it.
Oliver glanced around him. He was unsure of their time left but all zombies seemed to be neutralized. All except the one currently harassing Lance. Why wasn't he killing it? They couldn't let Felicity and Diggle down. If they dropped out now then that would decrease the duos odds for making it to the end.
Oliver rushed to Lance's side and noticed why he wasn't moving. He, himself, was struck I mobile for a breath while he took in the sight of Laurel Lance.
10...
Oliver found his brain again.
9...
Felicity shook her head sadly. He could never kill Laurel. Even fake her.
8...
Lance was placing himself between Oliver and Laurel so that he couldn't harm her.
7...
Zombie Laurel attacked Lance from behind.
6...
Oliver pushed Lance out of the way.
5...
Oliver apologized before slicing through Laurels neck.
4...The clock stopped. "Congratulations gentleman! You live to fail another day!"
A/N: I hope you liked it. Is it alright to follow through the different viewpoints? Let me know what you think. I wanted to have this up the other day for pi day, but it was not meant to be. I failed Dean Winchester. I had cake on pi day...sigh...