Chapter 10: On the Road, I-80 West/Charming
**This chapter has a different format than the others. I wrote a chapter that went the way the last couple had; one section from Jax/Cade/Dean/Sam POV and one section SAMCRO POV, but I really didn't like it much. SOOO, I tried a timeline chapter that covered bits and pieces from everyone. Hopefully, it makes sense and you guys like it!**
30 hours until Charming
Dean knew that he'd win the little race he and Sam set up simply because Sam wouldn't be allowed to drive Betty the way he wanted, petal to the metal. But Sammy gave it a good shot, nearly beating him out of the parking lot.
Cade looked over to him. "Now that you and Sammich have had your testosterone moment for the day, can we stop so I can get some stuff out of my car?" She was laughing, so he figured she wasn't all that put out.
He pulled out his cell and dialed Sam. Sam picked up right away. "Yes, Dean, I know. You won." He could hear the 'bitch-face' in Sammy's tone. Sore loser.
He grinned. "Yeah, I did." Cade smacked his thigh. "But, we need to pull off at the next exit. Cade needs some things out of Betty." He looked over to Cade a little sheepish, mouthing a 'sorry' at her that she waved away.
"Oh, yeah. Okay." Dean hit the blinker to signal he was taking the exit that was approaching. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Sam do the same.
Cade leaned over and spoke into the phone. "Thanks, Sam." As the cars came to a stop at a small gas station just off the exit. He put his cell down on the seat, knowing that the call would disconnect from Sam's end. Cade hopped out immediately.
Leaning back on Baby as he watched Cade dig through Betty, grabbing things and shoving them into one of her crocheted hippy backpacks, Sam came and stood with him, leaning into him just a little.
"Why didn't you tell me last night that one of those guys had tried to rape her?" Sammy sounded hurt and he really hated that sound. Especially when he was the one who put it there. Not much he could do about it this time.
"Wasn't my story to tell." He looked at Sam. "Jax tell you?" He already knew the answer, because he knew he hadn't told him, he knew Cade hadn't told him, so that left Jax.
"Yeah, when I hadn't shown enough murderous intent towards the club." Sam's mouth twitched in a sardonic smirk. "Although he fixed that right away." Sammy ran a ginormous paw through his hair. "This is going to be bad, Dean, and I'm not sure that any of us is going to hold any of the others back."
He shrugged. He could give a fuck if any of them decided to go ballistic on those asshole bikers. "Pretty sure we can kick their asses."
Sam shook his head with a slight huff of laughter. "That wasn't my point, Dean." Sam was grinning, and he just had to lean over and kiss that face. "But you're right, we can totally kick their asses."
He grinned back. "Damn straight." Then looked over to Betty, where Jax and Cade were talking. He raised his voice. "Cade! C'mon, let's blow this popsicle stand!" He gave Sam another kiss as he opened Baby's door. "I'm thinking, stop in Sydney?"
Sam nodded as he started to walk back to Betty. "Yeah, sounds good." He'd never say it aloud because he wouldn't want to hurt his Baby's feelings, but Betty was a beauty and he was just a little jealous he didn't get to drive her all that often.
Cade turned and flipped him off. "Slow your roll, jackass." She shook her head with a smile at her husband. "Asshole makes me ditch the last cigarette 'cause him and Sammich need a testosterone moment, and now he's tryin' to get me to do it again…" She looked back to him. "Unless you've changed your mind about smoking in Baby, I'm finishing my cigarette, in my time and then we can go." Taking a drag and blowing it out in his direction.
He flipped her the bird back with a grin. "Fine, you fuckin' hippie." He rolled his eyes at the twin smirks from Sammy and Jax. "Goddamned right I don't want you stinkin' my Baby up with that smoke." Going warm inside when he saw Cade relax a little more with the familiar back and forth between them.
While Sam worried about him or Jax losing their shit in Charming and goin' ballistic on that Chibs fucker, he was far more concerned with how tight Cade was strung right now, even if she was high as a fuckin' kite.
Those assholes in Charming are probably remembering a sweet, kind of hippie-artist girl; and while Cade could still exude that, she was also a lethal hunter who took no shit. From anyone. He was half hoping that he'd get to see her beat some dude's ass when they made it to Charming.
Finished smoking her cigarette, Cade brushed past him with a pillow and blanket in her arms. "My nicotine needs have been met, we can go now." Letting herself into Baby.
He just flipped Jax and Sammy's laughter off as they were getting into Betty, shaking his head. He would take all of Cade's snarkiness with a grin just to never hear that weird almost hollow tone that had been in her voice on the phone this morning, ever again.
Getting into Baby, he started her up and giving Cade a quick grin. "So, you think we can beat them to Sydney?"
Cade just laughed as he pulled Baby back onto the interstate.
28 Hours to Charming
Tig, who was sitting alone in their makeshift chapel, pulled his cell phone out and eyed it. He'd just finished firming up the funeral arrangements for Tom and Gemma. He felt like he should maybe let Jax know the details, so that Jax and whoever the fuck else was coming with him could make plans.
As he was going through his contacts to get the number Chibs had given him, he was debating on whether to mention the visit from what as far as he could tell, was an archangel of the actual God that really does exist. It had been a mindfucker of a last eighteen hours, to say the least.
He had talked to Dale, again, and hadn't that just not made him feel any better about the situation. When he had informed Dale about the visitor he'd had at his house this morning, the man had only given him a dark chuckle. "Well, the Winchesters and the Tellers keep some interesting company. Not surprised one of those feathered assholes showed up."
He had passed along what little information Dale had given him to Chibs, who just nodded and looked resigned to all of this being a clusterfuck.
Finally finding the number Chibs had given him, he sighed and pressed the dial key. After three rings, he was getting ready to hang up when Jax's voice came on the line.
"This is Jax." The man sounded tired as fuck, but also sounded a bit distant, so Jax's cel must be on speaker.
"Thought I'd call and let you know we've got things arranged for the funerals." He figured at this point, it's probably just best to be blunt. Jax hasn't seemed all that chatty so far. "We're having a thing Saturday night, like a visitation, and then the funerals are on Monday at the cemetery."
"Okay." Jax sounded indifferent. "Anything else?"
"Uh, yeah." He didn't want to talk to Jax about this, but he had promised Nero that he would get things straightened out with the garage and Gemma's house. "I know you told Chibs to get the lawyer to draw up papers to sign the garage over to SAMCRO, but Tom had already signed over everything to Wendy."
"Who?" Jax sounded confused and then he could hear another voice, male, speaking softly. "Oh." Dude must have known who Wendy is.
But he felt compelled to explain anyway. "She's Tom's ex-wife. Abel's mom. Tom signed over guardianship of the boys and the house and garage to her. Told her to take the boys out of Charming."
"Then have the lawyer give everything to them, then." Jax sounded confident in his answer. "I don't want any of it." Then the man's voice wavered just a touch. "Except maybe my Dad's bike."
Fuck. The one thing he had been hoping Jax wouldn't fucking ask about and of course Jax brings it up. That's just how his luck had been rolling for a while. He took a deep breath.
"Uh, yeah." He paused to light a smoke. "Tom was on that bike. It's in pieces." He winced a little. It had been a gorgeous bike, and already put back together a few times.
"Is it repairable?" Jax sounded resigned to getting bad news.
"Not sure, we haven't really had a chance to look it over." He knew he probably sounded as tired as he felt.
He could hear the other voice murmuring in the background as Jax replied. "I'm going to have someone bring a flatbed out to transport it for me." There was no 'ask' in Jax's tone, it was all order.
And he wasn't inclined to fight Jax over a fucking bike that had been John Teller's. "Yeah, that's fine. What's left of it is at the garage." He took a deep breath. "Any idea on when you might be gettin' here?"
Once again, he heard the other voice murmur in the background, and Jax's sigh. "Sometime Friday night. We're aiming for Elko before we stop for the night, we're about an hour and a half from Sydney, Nebraska. I'll let you know when we leave Elko. Talk to you then." And Jax was gone.
He looked at his phone. Jesus fucking Christ this was going to be bad.
"Oh, you have no idea. Bonnie and Clyde have Moose and Squirrel with them." A smarmy British accented voice came from behind him. "Trouble follows those four like a loyal dog."
Tig turned to see a shorter, stout man with dark hair and eyes, wearing a very sharp suit. "Who in the fuck are you?" Then, as what the man said sank in, he sighed, running a hand over his face. "Fuck. Are you another one of those angel dudes like that Gabriel, who just fucking showed up at my house this morning?" He was already fed the fuck up with these assholes popping in and out at fucking will.
There was a pronounced smirk on the other man's face. "That would be a no." Then a sly grin. "I would be from the 'other side', if you must know."
"The other side?" He frowned for a second before he connected the dots. "Oh."
"Crowley." The man, demon, what the fuck ever he was, extended a hand. "King of Hell."
He had been shaking Crowley's hand, but let go the moment he heard 'King of Hell'. He took a couple of steps back. "What the actual fuck?" Then shook his head. "I thought Lucifer was the King of Hell."
Crowley shook his head. "Dear Luci is all locked up nice and tight in his Cage." Then that smarmy fucking smirk was back. "And thanks to the flannelled foursome, I have managed to rise to the throne."
"Wait, I thought Jax and his wife helped stop the Apocalypse, why the fuck would they help you?"
The King of Hell gave a little pout. A pout! So, he put up placating hands. "Sorry, had no idea you were so sensitive." With a little smirk of his own.
Crowley's eyes flashed red and he was suddenly up against the far wall, barely able to breath. Trying like hell not to clutch at his throat, he managed to get a hand into his kutte, and pull his gun. The second he had it clear, it was out of his hands and at Crowley's feet. He cursed in his head, as there were black spots on the edge of his vision. This was a hell of a way to go, suffocated by nothing, just for being a smart-ass.
The next thing he knew he was sliding down the wall, sucking in all the precious oxygen he could. When his breathing started to even out, he opened his eyes and saw Crowley looking down at him.
"When someone tells you they're the King of Hell, you probably shouldn't mock them, don't you think?" A quirked eyebrow accompanied the smirk on the demon's face.
He shrugged. "I've always been a more 'live in the moment' guy." He knew he shouldn't be mouthing off to the King of Hell, but, ya know, he had to be him.
"And that's why eventually you'll be down with me." Crowley was matter of fact.
He swallowed. Yeah, he might have had an inkling that if there really was an afterlife, he probably wasn't going upstairs, but to have confirmation that your ticket has already been stamped for Hell? That was more than a little freaky.
Crowley pulled him out of his head by a clap of the hands. "Well, now, on to business." The King of Hell eye's narrowed. "You say Gabriel has been here? Any other angels show their faces?"
"Other angels?! What the fuck? What other angels?" He really did not need this shit right now. He was about ready to call Jax back and tell him to fucking forget it, they'd fucking mail him the goddamned papers and he could fucking mail them back and the club wouldn't have to deal with all this angels and devils bullshit.
"Oh, you'd be dealing with it regardless, Alexander. And trust me, you'd rather have the flannelled foursome here than not." Crowley's voice interrupting his internal screaming. The King of Hell sounded sure of himself. "You see Tom Teller's soul has well, gone missing, shall we say."
"And 'gone missing' means what?" He threw himself into his chair at the table, running his hands along the outline of the Reaper. "He's either in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory as far as I know. Isn't how that fucking works?"
Crowley sat down across from him. "Heaven and Hell, yes. Purgatory is actually for monsters." Another fucking smirk. "But, that's neither here nor there, you see, Tom Teller was supposed to follow his mother to my domain, but he has yet to arrive." The smirk was gone replaced by a seriousness that made Tig nervous. "And according to the snooping Cassie has done upstairs, he isn't there either." The King of Hell drummed his fingers on the table. "And his soul doesn't seem to be lingering here."
He was confused. "Wait, if Tom isn't in Heaven, and isn't in Hell, where is he?" He put his hands out. "I mean, isn't there only two sides that would want him?"
Crowley sat and stared at him for a few minutes, then took an annoyed breath. "Normally, yes." Crowley stood. "But this is far from normal. If Cassie shows up, tell him I've already checked and he's not here." Then snapped his fingers and disappeared.
He started to bang his head against the table. Not hard, just hard enough to try and wipe Crowley's words from his head. Then he sat up. Who the fuck was Cassie and how the fuck would he know if they showed up?
28 Hours to Charming
"Dean, 'Exile' is not the Stones best album, "Let it Bleed…" Cade was interrupted by her phone going off. "Why the fuck is Sam calling me?!" She answered. "Yeah, Sam?"
Dean's smile dimmed at the serious tone in Sam's quietest voice over the speaker. "Can you call Bobby and tell him he's gonna need to bring his flatbed to Charming? Jax wants his Dad's bike."
He glanced over to see Cade's jaw clenched and her lips quivering just the slightest, so he stepped in. "Yeah, Sam, we can do that."
"Thanks." Sam hung up on them. Apparently Jax had heard from someone in Charming. Glancing back to Cade. "You okay?" Reaching a hand out, relieved when she just gave it a quick squeeze then let it go.
"Yes. No. Maybe." Cade gave the elegant little snort that she gives when she's frustrated. "I just get the feeling there's more to this than funerals and signing some fucking legal papers."
Cade rolled down the window and took a hit off what she called a 'dab pen'. He had okayed her hitting it when she had proven that if a window was rolled down, she wouldn't be stinking up his Baby.
"Something just feels… off." Cade went on after she had rolled the window back up. "I don't what it is, but it just feels like we're walking into something."
He thought before he responded out of hand with a blanket 'it'll be okay'. Over the years, and especially after Dad had taken Cade to meet Missouri, he had learned to trust Cade when she said she had a feeling about things.
"You are." A voice startled them from the backseat. It was only due to years of this kind of shit that he barely swerved out of his lane.
"Cas, what have I told you about popping in while I'm driving?!" He growled out.
"Not to do it." Cas blithely replied. "You did not get into an accident, Dean. And I would have stopped it before it could have happened anyway."
Cade just rolled her eyes, stopping him from retorting. "Cas, what do you mean?"
He looked at Cas in the rearview mirror, he looked as tired as he had seen the angel look in a while. "You look like shit, Cas. What the fuck is going on? Can't it wait until we deal with Jax's bio family shit?" He refused to call them Jax's family. They weren't anymore. Cade was. Him and Sammy were. Bobby, Jody, and Cas, too. But not those SAMCRO assholes. They could fuck right off.
"Tom Teller's soul has gone missing." Cas's rough voice blunt and to the point as always. "Crowley swears that Tom Teller is not in Hell. I have not been able to detect his presence in Heaven." Then a note of what the fuckery entered the angel's voice. "And Crowley says his soul isn't lingering in Charming."
"What the fuck?" Cade sounded as weirded out as he was. "Is there somewhere else he could go? I thought it was Heaven, Hell, or ghost until one of us sends you to your intended destiny." Cade threw her hands up. "So, in the end it's still one or the other."
"Normally, yes." Cas sounded mildly offended. "But, there is one other place…" He saw Castiel's eyes go wide. "I must go." And the next thing he knew he was looking at an empty backseat.
Cade looked at him with wide blue eyes. "That was pretty fucking weird." She reached to roll the window down again. "Even for Cas."
"Yeah, it was." He reached for his own window handle. "Gimme that thing when you're done." It wasn't a shot of whiskey, but it was something. "And text Sam to let him and Jax know what Cas just told us." Then, as she handed him the pen. "And call Bobby." He shook his head. "We're probably gonna need him for other than the flatbed alone."
Cade handed the pen over wordlessly as she started to type on her phone.
27 Hours to Charming
Bobby was runnin' around like a chicken with its head cut off when Sheriff Jody Mills knocked on his front screen. "Hey old man, you in here or have you finally managed to drink yourself to death?" Jody's voice full of wry humor.
"Shush, you." He hollered from the kitchen. Giving her a wave as she walked into the kitchen. "Thanks for comin' and lookin' after things while I go deal with idjit children." Trying to sound put out at having to go.
"Pfft." Jody slapped his arm. "Don't try to sell me that bull, Bobby Singer, I know you. You've been stewing here since you got the news, just itchin' to go with them." A distasteful grimace flashed across her face. "You don't trust those bikers any more than I do." Jody sat down at the table. "So, what do you need me to help with, so you can get on the road."
He felt gratitude right down to his bones. He and Jody may had gotten off on the wrong foot; but as soon as the lady knew the truth about the supernatural, he couldn't deny that she has become one of their closest allies. Her and her wards were becoming part of this family that he had started cobbling together from the first moment John Winchester brought a tiny Dean and toddler Sam into his home.
"Thanks, Jody." His voice gruffer than normal. Must have gotten somethin' in his throat. "I'm just worried one of them is gonna go after the piece of work that went after Cade before Jax was disowned."
"They did that boy a favor." Jody shook her head. "They would have poisoned a good man."
He bit back a smile. While Jody loved all four of the 'kids', she had a soft spot for Jax that she didn't have for the others. He wasn't sure if it was the innate charm that Jax possessed, or the fact that Jax dealt with Jody's maternal streak better than the others. As Jax once said to him. "Jody is a piece of cake after dealing with Gemma for nineteen years."
"Yeah, they would have." He went and grabbed each of them a beer out of the fridge. "Think about what happened with his brother." Popping the tops on both cans and handing one to Jody.
Jody took a drink. Then grimaced. "I'd rather not, thanks."
The two of them sat there in silence drinking their beers for a couple of minutes. Finishing the last of his, he threw the can in the trash, and stood up. "I guess if I want to even try to catch up to them, I should get goin'." He looked around, trying to think if there was anything else he would need. He couldn't think of anything, so he started heading for the door.
Jody stopped him with a hand on his arm. When he turned, she just hugged him, hard. He awkwardly returned it, patting her back.
When she let go, Jody took a couple of steps back. "Now get out of here." He couldn't interpret the shaky smile she was giving him. "Go make sure those four troublemakers don't get arrested or something equally as dumb."
He tipped his trucker hat to her. "I'll try my best, Jody." He shrugged with a slight smile. "But you know as well as I do, that stupid just finds those four and makes itself right at home."
Jody laughed and lost that awkward look that made him worry a little. "That it does." Walking with him out to the flatbed sitting in the middle of the yard. As he climbed into the truck, Jody leaned back on her cruiser. "Just make sure if stupid shows up this time, you make sure it's a short visit."
"Amen to that Jody, Amen to that." He grinned at her as he started the truck. "I'll keep you updated."
He could hear her holler as he started to creep out of the yard. "You better, Bobby Singer! Or you might come home to a thoroughly cleaned and organized house!" Lobbing a pretty decent threat at him. If she did that, he'd spend the next decade trying to find shit.
He waved a hand out the window in acknowledgement, chuckling to himself. When he reached the first stop sign about a mile from the scrapyard, he pulled out his phone and sent Cade a text, letting them know that he was on his way.
Leaving Sioux Falls, he pointed the truck south towards Omaha where he could catch onto I-80 and head west. In the Chevelle, he'd have taken back highways until he could catch 80, but the flatbed did better on interstate highways. He hated to lose the time but couldn't avoid it if he wanted to be able to move by the time he reached California. Damned suspension. It was on a list of things for Dean or Jax to look at the next time one of them was at the house for a spell.
He mentally shrugged, there wasn't a damned thing he could do about it now other than just deal as best as an old battered man could.
24 Hours to Charming
Cade looked out the windshield, half-open eyes enjoying the sunset they seemed to be driving towards. The four of them had stopped in Sydney a couple of hours ago to gas up, use facilities, and get snacks (Dean). Her and her husband had switched places. Jax hadn't gotten any sleep, so he had planned to crash in the back of Baby until they hit Evanston, Wyoming.
Rolling her head to the side, she looked over to Sam as she took a hit off her dab pen. She chuckled at the small frown that appeared on Sam's face. "Don't worry, Sammich, you won't get a contact high." Blowing the smoke out the window.
"It's Sam." There was a slight smirk on his face.
She waved a hand at him, indicating that she really did not give a flying fuck. "Dude, I let you tell an entire high school I was your older, hot girlfriend that you lived with." She gave him a sweet smile. "I can call you Sammich until the day I die."
"God, that school was awful." Sam laughed, then shot her a sideways smile. "But I really don't remember you calling me Sammich for life as part of that deal." The smile grew a little. "Never having to touch a dirty dish while we were there? That I remember."
"It was implied Sammich, it was implied." She laughed back at him. "You know you love it. Just like when Dean calls you Sammy." Still chuckling. "Makes you feel all special." She was teasing him, just a little. If he truly didn't want her to call him Sammich, he would have really put his foot down years ago.
Sam rolled his eyes at her. "Maybe." Then smiled. "You can never tell Dean."
She mimed zipping her lip. "Never."
Both her and Sam laughed at that. Then Sam went quiet for a few minutes and she knew that didn't bode well for her. He either wanted to ask how she was or he wanted to talk about what Cas had passed on to them.
"Spit it out, Sammich, before you jam the gears in your head." Time to bite the bullet.
"What do you think about what Cas had to say?" Well, at least he wasn't asking her to talk about her feelings.
She shrugged. "Honestly, until we get there, I'm trying not to." She wasn't really lying, she'd given the matter a couple of thoughts and then decided there wasn't much she could do about it at the moment, and she had other things to brood about.
Sam shot her a sideways look that said he didn't believe her in the least. "Really."
Rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses, she nodded. "Really. Can't do a damn thing about any of it right now, and Sam, I'm just trying to deal with even going there." And that was the truth. Every time she thought about having to be back in that place, she could feel her heartbeat pick up, and not in a good way.
Sam took his right hand off the steering wheel and opened his arm in invitation. She settled right in, laying her head on his shoulder. The two of them sat quietly as the music played low in the car.
After a few minutes, she felt Sam sigh and give her a small squeeze. "I know this is hard for both of you, but…"
"You have the feeling that someone is using this as a power play and they want leverage over my husband for some unknown reason?" She was pretty sure that was where Sam's head had gone, and if it hadn't, she had just opened a new worry path for him.
"Uh…yeah." Sam didn't sound surprised that she had drawn the same conclusion. Just disappointed that he didn't get to expound on his thought.
"I've thought of it, and once again Sam, we can't really do a damn thing until we get there other than speculate." She slipped out from underneath Sam's arm and went back to her side of the bench seat. Taking a hit from her dab pen and blowing it out the window, she sighed. "And to be honest, until it directly affects us, I really don't give a flying fuck about Tom Teller's soul." She felt the anger boiling. "I hope it's found and sent straight to Hell." The anger started to spill over. "As far as I'm concerned, that whole fucking MC can go to Hell."
Sam reached over and grabbed her knee, trying to calm her. She took a couple of deep breaths. "Sorry, Sam. I shouldn't unload on you."
Patting her knee, Sam gave her a small smile. "That's okay. Just remember this time you guys aren't on your own. You got me and Dean, and Bobby is on his way."
She smiled, and she was aware that it had more than a hint of mischievousness to it. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?!" Her grin grew. "Because I have a feeling you three will have to be babysat as much as me and Jax." She laughed.
"Okay, good point." Sam laughed back.
"All ribbing aside, Sammich." Her smile died down some. "I'm glad we don't have to do this alone." Her smile fled her face, and the dread was back. "I'm not sure we'd be able to handle it."
"Well, you don't have to." Sam's eyes were back on the road.
She was over this conversation and wanted it to be done. "You want a granola bar? They…" Nodding her head towards Baby behind them. "Don't want to stop for food until Evanston. That's like four hours from now."
Sam nodded. "Sure. Anything to drink?"
The sun dipped below the horizon as she was listing the contents of the beverage cooler to Sam.
19 Hours to Charming
Jax stretched his back as he lit a cigarette while waiting for the others to finish up in the diner they'd stopped at here in Evanston. He fucking hated Wyoming. Ever since they'd found out the gate to Hell was here, every time they were in the state, it was like he could feel the evil.
Smiling, he kissed his wife as she wrapped herself around him. "Done eating?"
"They're boxing up my fries. I'll finish those in the car." She took a drag of his cigarette. "Are you up for driving?"
"Why?" He grinned. "Tired of not being able to smoke in your own car?" He teased.
"Fuck, yes!" His wife rolled her eyes. "If the window is down, it shouldn't fucking matter. Hell, it shouldn't matter, because it's OUR car!"
"Are you bitching about the fact that I don't want lung cancer?" Sam snarked from behind her. When Cade turned to flip him off, Sam handed her the to-go box with her fries.
"Thanks." Cade said, after taking the box. "And yes, I was bitching about the fact that I am unable to do as I want in my vehicle while you are driving."
He just rolled his eyes at Dean and the two of them started walking towards the cars, knowing that Sam and Cade would follow, arguing to the last second.
Dean nodded toward Betty. "You get enough sleep to drive?" Dean glanced back at Cade. "She's too high to even contemplate driving." Dean put a hand up. "Not judging. You know I don't give a fuck."
Dean really didn't, unless they were on a hunt. Then, Dean was a little stricter about weed usage.
"Yeah, I managed a couple of hours between Sydney and here." He looked back to where his wife and Sam were standing toe to toe with grins on their faces as they continued to debate. He smiled looking at the two of them. Looking over at Dean, he could see a similar smile on Dean's face. For all their tough-guy personas, he and Dean were saps when it came to the two people in front of them. "But I'm not gonna lie, I'll probably pass out the minute I hit a bed in Elko."
"Yeah, me too." Dean sighed. "Should we go break up debate club over there? Get this show back on the road?"
"Probably should." He chuckled.
It took Dean and himself a couple of minutes to extract Cade and Sam from their debate, which had morphed into some weird debate about freedom of expression. As bad as Dean and Sam could be sometimes, they took a backseat to Cade and Sam. Dean and Sam usually turned mean and would end when feelings were hurt, or punches were thrown. Sam and Cade on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed debating each other and would switch sides in the middle just to be able to keep going. It was as exhausting as it was entertaining.
As he and Dean were hauling their respective better halves to the cars, Dean grinned over. "See you in Elko. First one there books the motel!"
That shut Cade up immediately and she looked over to him with a look of mock (or not so mock) fear in her eyes. "Sugar, we gotta beat them to Elko. Dean picks the worst places to stay."
He couldn't disagree. "Let's get motorin' then, babe."
14 Hours to Charming
Sam woke when he felt Dean nudge him in the ribs. Looking around, he noticed they were pulling off on the Elko exit. He cracked his neck and looked over at Dean. "Did we beat them here?" Silently hoping that somehow Jax and Cade made it to Elko before they did. The two of them picked far better places than Dean did.
Dean rolled his eyes. "That would be a no. Passed us about twenty minutes ago." Slight smirk on his brother's face. "With Cade flipping me the bird the entire time."
He laughed. "You really didn't think that with booking the hotel on the line, that she wouldn't be bitching Jax's ear off about making sure they're here first?!" He looked down at his phone that had just gone off. Picking it up, he sees a text from Cade.
"They're at the Ramada." He gave an internal cheer. National chains were always a little cleaner than local places that were cheaper. Dean went for cheap. Cade and Jax went for cleanliness. Seeing Dean's frown, he tried to placate him in the best way he could. "They have a free breakfast." Checking the page that he had Googled. "Breakfast buffet."
"Think they have one of those waffle making stations?" Dean was warming to the idea of a free breakfast.
"Maybe. Take a left at the next block, should be right there." He was glancing at the map on his phone.
Pulling into the parking lot, he saw Jax leaning on Betty's trunk, bag in one hand and phone to his ear. As they pulled in next to him, they could hear Jax. "Hold on a sec, Bobby." Jax lowered the phone and looked at them. "Room 148. Two Queens. Figured we wouldn't be here long enough to need two rooms." He tossed them a key through Baby's window. "Cade's probably already in the shower." Then grinned. "Make sure you two stay awake long enough to let me in."
Dean grinned as he shut the ignition off, and got out of the car, heading for the trunk and their duffels, him following as usual. "Sure." Then Dean nodded at the phone. "What does Bobby want?"
Jax shrugged and pulled the phone back to his ear. "Sorry, Bobby." Not looking sorry at all. "We're in Elko, at the Ramada." Jax looked worn to the bone as he leaned on the car behind him.
Drifting closer to Jax after retrieving his duffel from Dean, he could hear Bobby's voice, tinny through the cel phone. "I'm about six hours behind you idjits. Stay put until I get there. With all this nonsense goin' on, makes sense for all of us to get there at the same time." The tone in Bobby's voice implying that the older hunter felt this was going to be a shitshow from the second they arrived in Charming. At this point, he couldn't really disagree with Bobby; considering what Cas had told Dean and Cade, it probably was going to be the shitshow Bobby was envisioning.
"Yeah, we can do that." Jax dropped his bag at his feet and grabbed a cigarette from his flannel pocket and lit it. Putting the phone to his chest for a second, Jax looked over to him and Dean. "Cade took the cooler in with her, it's got beer." Jax's not very subtle way of letting them know he wanted to speak to Bobby privately.
Dean grabbed him by the elbow and started pulling him towards the motel. Going in the side entrance to the building, they found the room was just inside the entry. Letting themselves in, he could hear the shower going. Looking down, he could see that Cade had set the salt lines before getting in the shower.
Dean dropped his bag in front of the bed closest to the door. Cade knew better than to even try to claim that bed. Striding to the bathroom door, Dean knocked. "Cade, me 'n Sammy are out here." Not wanting Cade to freak out when she stepped out of the bathroom.
"Beer is in the cooler! Be out in a few!" Cade hollered over the water.
He'd already set his bag down and was half laying on the bed, propped up on his elbows. Dean sat down on the chair at the small table, pulled up the cooler lid and began to peruse. "Hey Sammy, you want an IPA, a porter or a stout?" Shaking his head with a small smile and a roll of the eyes. "Or a jalapeno ale?" Dean's voice raised. "Jalapeno beer, Cade? What the fuck?"
The water had shut off a minute earlier and the door opened, and Cade stuck her towel-wrapped head out. "Don't knock it, jackass. Makes for a fine red beer." Cade's eyes turned to him. "There should still be some bottles of tomato juice in there."
Both he and Dean looked at each other and shook their heads. He groaned a little as he stretched. "I think it's a little late for jalapeno anything."
Cade shrugged as she was shutting the door. "Suit yourselves."
Dean grabbed two IPAs, popped the tops with his ring, came over and sat down on the bed beside him, handing him one. They each took healthy gulps before setting them aside and getting out of boots and flannels.
By the time Cade got out of the bathroom, he and Dean were lounging on their bed; Dean with a beer in one hand and the remote in the other. Unwrapping the towel from around her head, she frowned slightly. "Where's my husband?"
"Talking to Bobby." He stood and made his way to the bathroom after grabbing a pair of shorts and his toiletry bag. "He wants us to wait here until he can meet us." Stopping at the doorway of the bathroom. "Said he's about six hours behind us."
"Okay." Cade didn't sound surprised in the least. "Maybe by the time he gets here, I'll actually give a fuck about all of this." The bitterness that was there earlier today when the two of them had been alone was creeping back in.
Not even trying for a response, he went into the bathroom and shutting the door behind him, he sat down on the closed toilet seat, feeling his shoulders slump. He could hear the soft murmuring of Dean and Cade in the other room. Hopefully Dean would have her in a better place by the time Jax comes in.
Letting his mind wander as he got out of his jeans and into his shorts, he stood at the sink and brushed his teeth. He couldn't imagine any other reason for someone to snag Jax's brother's soul; leverage with Jax for some reason. What other importance did Tom Teller have other than that when it comes to the world that they inhabit? Nothing he could think of.
Stepping out of the bathroom, he didn't even bother hiding his grin. "And you call me the girl, Dean." Watching Dean braiding Cade's hair.
Dean just shrugged as Cade rolled her eyes. "Just practicing for when your mop gets this long, Sammy." Unable to hide the smart-ass smirk on his face.
He threw the sock that he'd just taken off at Dean's head, to Cade's dismay. "Oh, hell no." Shaking her head as much as she could while Dean was braiding it. "No throwing socks when I'm in the line of fire. I don't need that rankness anywhere near me."
Before he or Dean could come up with a retort, there was a knock on the door. Getting up, he looked out, seeing Jax. Opening the door, Jax stepped over the salt lines and looked at the scene in front of him, shook his head, sat his bag down by the cooler, and reached in and grabbed himself a beer.
"Bobby said he'd be here in about five hours or so." Jax sounded exhausted. "So, we should be up and movin' before then." Jax's mouth twitched into a wry smile. "I'm pretty sure if Bobby has to wake us up, somebody is getting ice dumped on them."
They all chuckled warily, because Jax wasn't necessarily joking. If Bobby got here and they were all still crashed, Bobby would break in and dump ice on whomever was closest to the door.
Cade, realizing this, grinned at her husband. "That would really suck for these two." Nodding her head back towards Dean, looking up at his brother with the same grin.
"Yeah, yeah." Dean groused good-naturedly. "There, you're done." Flicking her ear, as his brother looked over to him and Jax, sitting at the table. "If we wanna be awake by the time Bobby gets here, we should probably hit the sack." Getting off the bed and heading towards his duffel.
He, Jax and Cade just nodded, and the four of them went about the business of getting settled for the night.
10 hours to Charming
For the second morning in a row, Chibs found himself pulling his bike up to the curb in front of Tiggy's place. When Tiggy had called him to let him know that he'd spoken with Jax, his VP had asked if he'd swing by before heading out to Red Woody. When he'd asked why, Tig had just said he'd explain it all in the morning.
His head was throbbing, thanks to the bottle of whiskey he'd nearly killed last night, trying to block the last week from his mind. As he ambled up the walk to Tiggy's front door, Venus came flying out.
"Alex is inside, Filip." Her southern accent wrapping around the words like a honey glaze.
He stopped briefly to kiss the proffered cheek. "I'm not runnin' ye off, am I?" Not that he really cared. If Tiggy needed to talk here, that meant Tiggy didn't want anyone else to know; and he had the feeling that included Venus.
"Of course not." Venus glanced back towards the house. "I'm not sure what happened yesterday, but whatever it is, it has Alexander rattled." Her voice lowered. "He wouldn't even talk to me about it." She looked genuinely concerned.
"Don't worry, lass." He patted her arm. "I'll get it out of him."
She nodded. "I'm sure you will." Venus looked back to the house again. "He's waiting, and not patiently." A small smile on her face conveying that Tig's lack of patience was a foregone conclusion. "I'm off, tell Alexander I will call him later." Quickly walking towards her vehicle.
He nodded to himself and made his way inside. "Tiggy?!"
"In the kitchen!" He could hear kibble being tossed in a bowl.
Following the sounds, he made his way to the kitchen. By the time he reached the doorway, Tiggy's mutt was on him. "Hey, girl." Giving the dog a quick pat as Tig sat down at the table.
Tiggy whistled and the dog went and laid down at his VP's feet. Tig slid a second cup of coffee over to him. "I know why all this crazy shit is goin' on." Sitting back in his chair, Tig's blue eyes were troubled.
"Ye plannin' on spillin', or are we just gonna sit here and cry into our coffees?" He was already tired of all this bullshit.
"Tom's soul is missing." Tig sounded rattled as hell.
He sighed. "Aye, Tigger. That's what usually happens when ye die, your soul goes missin'."
Tig shook his head. "Nah, man. I mean 'missing', like neither Heaven or Hell has any idea where it is." He waited for a punchline, but none came.
He just gaped at Tiggy for a minute before his brain came back to him. "How do ye know this?!" He reached for the joint that Tig had lit and took a hit. "Is that why that angel is here, did he come see ye again, too?"
Tig took the joint back and hit it hard. After he finally released what little smoke was left in his lungs, the man shook his head. "No, not an angel." Tig's eyes widened, and his VP looked as freaked out as he'd ever seen the man. "Try the King of Hell." A nearly hysterical laugh left Tig's mouth.
"Lucifer was here?!" He laid his head on the table. Angels and Devils were too much. He could handle the chaos that Tom had left the club, but he wasn't sure if he was equipped to handle this shite.
"No, apparently a guy named Crowley is the King of Hell. Said Lucifer is locked up in some cage." Tig's voice hadn't lost any of the tension that had laced his tone since he spoke to Tig last night. "And he told me to tell an angel named Cassie that Tom's soul isn't here either." He raised his head in time to see Tiggy roll his eyes. "Never mind I wouldn't know who the fuck this Cassie is unless she came up and slapped me."
"Wait." He sat back up, trying to wrap his noggin around all this shite. "You're saying the King of Hell paid you a visit?"
"Uh, yeah." Tig rolled his eyes again. "Haven't you been paying attention?" Tiggy leaned across the table. "This is a clusterfuck and a half and we are so far out of our depth that it isn't even funny." Tiggy's voice calm and serious as all fuck. "At this point, I think we're going to need to fucking kiss Jax's feet so that they'll stay and help us deal with this shit."
"I don't think it's Clyde's feet you'll have to be kissing." He turned at the accent from home, and spied a stocky, well-dressed man with dark hair and a smirk on his face. "As much as the three alpha males don't want to admit it, Bonnie runs that little show of theirs…" The man looked at him and he could have sworn he saw a flash of red in the man's eyes. "And I think you'd have to do far more than kiss her feet to get her help." The man gave a dangerous grin. "She's more likely to let all of you burn, isn't that right, Filip?"
He looked over to Tig. "King of Hell, I'm assumin'?" Tig just nodded. He turned back to the demon. "Aye. She probably will." He closed his eyes with the shame.
"What do you want now?" Tiggy's voice not as aggressive as the words he spoke. His VP sounded as weary as he was.
"Just to tell you that I've spoken with Castiel." He opened his eyes to see the King of Hell still smirking. "He has been informed that our wayward soul is not here."
"Castiel?" Tig looked confused for a second. "Is that the Cassie you were referring to yesterday? I thought that was a chick angel!?"
The King of Hell rolled his eyes. "No. Castiel is officially the angel of Thursday." The demon rolled his eyes. "But, unofficially, he is Dean Winchester's very own guardian angel."
Guardian angel? His heart stuttered. Was Gabriel hangin' around because he was Jackie or his wife's guardian angel? It took him a moment to calm the rising panic. He tried to hide it by lighting a cigarette, but the demon seemed to know what was going through his head.
There was a dangerous chuckle from beside him. He turned and saw another dangerous smile on Crowley's face. "Figuring out that the archangel may have a little more tangible reason for being here?" The smarmy tone of the demon's voice was like a viper rising before the strike. "He is rather fond of Bonnie and Clyde, now that I think of it."
"Jax and his wife have an archangel as their guardian angel?!" Tiggy sounded subdued, nearly awed. Tiggy also sounded like it was one more tick in the box that would officially make this more fucked up than their lives already were.
He understood where Tig was comin' from. Tom had wrapped up a lot of their problems before, well, before; but they were still having to clean up the mess that the years of lies had made. This whole mess with Jackie, angels, demons, and other things SAMCRO had no idea about was somethin' they really didn't need right now.
Crowley shrugged with a smirk. "Who really knows with the archangel? Especially one that takes a millenia long break from Heaven to become a Trickster God?" Not bothering to elaborate any further. Seemed like both angel and demon were enjoying watching them squirm.
He and Tiggy sat there and stared at each other, having a silent conversation that consisted mostly of 'this is going to be a colossal clusterfuck', and the other one agreeing.
He looked over to the King of Hell, feeling weary down to his soul. "If ye don't have anything helpful to contribute, just fuckin' leave." He took a sip of coffee. "It's too early and I'm too hungover to deal with this shite right now."
Tig's eyes widened and his VP was giving him a look telling him to shut his gob, and fast. He shook his head and went on.
"We don't know shite about what's goin' on with Tommy's soul and we don't know shite about this world Jackie lives in now." He loathed himself just a little for the sheer desperation in his tone. "So, unless ye're gonna sit down and explain some shite and actually help us, can ye just please leave us to grieve our brother in peace?!"
The casual arrogance that had been on the demon's face since he had arrived, seem to soften a little. But before Crowley could speak, Tiggy blurted out.
"What the fuck? I make a little quip and you nearly kill me. He basically tells you to fuck off and you look almost sorry." Tig's arms across his chest in defiance, but he could see fear in the former Marine.
"It's about respect, Alex." Crowley's eyes were truly flashing red, he hadn't imagined that earlier. He was going to need several drinks after this was done. Several.
Crowley went on. "You insulted me, he…" Crowley turning to him. "Asked me, granted, rather profanely, to please leave." The King of Hell turned back to Tig. "But don't fret Alex; one day, you and I will have plenty of time to teach you the difference."
Then just fucking blinked out of existence. He looked up at Tig, who looked a little green around the gills. He couldn't blame his brother. He knew a promise when he heard one.
8 hours to Charming
Jax was surprised that the four of them were up and heading down to breakfast when Bobby pulled into the motel parking lot with his flatbed. He exchanged a look with Dean as the two of them watched it bounce over the potholes. Dean sent Sam and Cade along to find them a table in the dining area off the lobby.
Dean let out a low whistle. "Man, I bet Bobby's back is killin' him. We're gonna have to look at that suspension before we make the trip back."
He hated to think of even asking SAMCRO to use the garage, but if it meant that Bobby wouldn't bounce his way back to Sioux Falls, he'd suck it up. "We can ask the club if we can use T-M."
Dean's eyes widened for a second before they became resigned. "Yeah."
The two of them waited silently as Bobby got the flatbed parked and made his way over to them, stretching the entire way. After pulling each of them into a fierce hug, Bobby stepped back, shaking his head.
"I'm too goddamned old to be bouncin' halfway across the country." Gruff voice full of affection contrasting his words. Bobby gave him a long look. "Well, ya look better than I thought you would." Bobby never being one to beat around a bush.
"Managed to get some sleep." He replied with a shrug. He really didn't feel like talking about the rest of it until he at least had some food in him. "Cade and Sam are waiting at the breakfast buffet here. You hungry?"
Thank Chuck, Bobby took the hint. "I could eat." Then looked back to the flatbed. "Don't suppose I could get one of you to drive that thing for a few hours, let an old man get some sleep?"
He clapped Bobby on the shoulder as he steered the man towards the motel entrance. "I can do that, you can ride with Cade." He didn't mind. He kind of wanted a little time to himself, try to sort out some of the mess in his head before they hit Charming and they'd all be on high alert.
Breakfast was eaten in a leisurely fashion, the five of them shooting the shit, delaying even thinking of the inevitable for as long as they could.
After grabbing their bags and other stuff from the room, he climbed up into Bobby's flatbed. Before he could get the door closed, his wife swung herself up and onto his lap. "You sure you want to drive this thing?" What she was really asking was if he really wanted to be alone.
"Yeah." Giving her a quick kiss, with a little grope. "Bobby dropped everything, least I can do is let him get a little sleep."
"Okay." He knew that she understood he needed the time alone. "Bobby said he'll take back over once we hit Reno." Giving him another kiss before jumping down from the cab of the flatbed. "See you there." Before his wife could walk off, he called her back.
Leaning against the open cab door, she raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" Impatience in her tone, her boot tapping on the pavement.
"You and Bobby take the lead, I want Dean behind me in case the suspension on this thing takes a dump." He didn't think it would, but Dean behind him would spot it coming and at least give him a heads up.
"Probably a good idea." She looked up at him with a look of resignation on her face. "We should get going if we want to make it there before dark."
"Yeah." He looked over towards the Impala. "You'll tell Dean that they're going to follow me?"
"I could probably be persuaded to do that." A tinge of mischief in her eyes.
"Really?" He smirked back. "What would it take?" Playing along, enjoying the fact that his wife didn't look resigned, pissed, or anxious.
Tapping a finger on her chin, pretending to rack her brain, she smiled up at him. "I think maybe a kiss or two, would do it."
"I suppose I can do that." Giving her a wink and a grin as he leaned down and kissed her. "Now go tell Dean, and let's get movin'."
His wife popped off a jaunty one-finger salute as she ambled over towards the Impala, calling out the plan to Dean, who just revved Baby's engine in response.
Not even thirty minutes into the drive, a voice from the passenger side startles him just a little. "Hey, kid." He glanced over to see Gabriel sipping on a soda.
"Any particular reason you're here?" He sighed. Gabriel showing up couldn't be good, the archangel usually only showed his face when things were not going well at all.
"I can't just pay my favorite human a nice visit?" Gabriel's honey-brown eyes trying for innocence and not getting anywhere close. "Fine." The archangel rolled his eyes. "I know who has Thomas's soul. But that's all I know. Abbadon is using some seriously ancient magic to hide them." Gabriel sounded annoyed that he had been stymied. Then again, there were few things in the universe more powerful than an archangel, so he was sure that Gabriel's ego was taking a hit.
"Who's Abbadon?" At least they now had a name, if nothing else.
"Knight of Hell, thought they were all gone." Gabriel sounded serious for a change. "Except for Cain."
"Knight of Hell?" That didn't sound good at all. "What the fuck? And what do you mean that you thought they were all gone?"
"Kid, the Knights of Hell were some of the first demons after Lilith." Gabriel shrugged. "Including Cain."
"You mean as in Cain and Abel?" Why he even asked such a stupid question was beyond him, of course it was. "Never mind." He'd try to grab a cigarette, but the flatbed was bouncing around too much for him to try and go through his pockets for them.
Gabriel bumped his shoulder and he turned to see the archangel holding a lit cigarette. Taking it from Gabriel, he took a long drag, thinking as he exhaled.
"I'm guessing this means that someone is looking to dethrone Crowley?" It seemed to be the logical assumption. "Or is this another apocalypse situation?" Fingers crossed for the former.
"Got no idea, kiddo." He glanced over to see the annoyance back on Gabe's face. "Like I said, ancient magic. It's like they just disappeared from the universe."
"Great. So, basically, other than a name, we know nothing." Taking a last drag of his smoke before stubbing it out in the ashtray. If he thought it would keep all of them out of this bullshit, he'd turn them all around and go hang out at the bunker until this whole fucking thing blew over.
"You know you can't do that." Gabriel sounded like he understood the impulse. "And a name is a start." Then Gabriel threw something down on the seat between them. "And I have the feeling she may be looking for this."
He glanced down to see a... well, it looked like a blade, kind of, but it wasn't of any metal he recognized. In fact, it looked more like a fossil. "What the hell is that?"
"The First Blade." Gabriel sighed. "Cain made it from the jawbone of an ass. It's only powerful in conjunction with the Mark."
"The what?!" He shook his head. "I think the history lesson is gonna have to wait until we've stopped, and we can all hear this." He glanced over to the archangel. "I don't want to have to try and remember all of this and answer questions from Bobby and Sam."
The archangel let out a long-suffering sigh. "I suppose." Another glance over while trying to keep the flatbed in its lane, saw one not-thrilled archangel. "You may as well summon Crowley at the same time." Gabriel grimaced a little. "We'll probably need his input on this."
"You don't think he's in on this?" He couldn't see any reason that Crowley would be; the demon liked the throne and it sounded like this Abbadon would be a threat to it. But, with demons, you never knew, so it was a prudent question on his part.
"No. Even though he's King of Hell, technically Abbadon is above him, her being a Knight of Hell and Crowley being a Crossroads demon. Only Luci and the Princes of Hell are higher than a Knight." A slight smirk in Gabriel's tone. "And I doubt any of us wants any of the Princes of Hell that are still around to show up. Or Luci out of his Cage."
Risking having the flatbed drift into the other lane, he took his right hand off the wheel and held it up in a 'stop' gesture. "What part of later did you forget?" He shook his head again with a slight smile. "We'll be stopping in Reno. See you there." Hoping Gabriel took the hint.
"Fine, we'll do it your way, kiddo." Then the passenger seat was empty.
Sighing, he looked down at what Gabriel called 'The First Blade' and felt himself shudder just a little.
This was going to be bad. No doubts about it.
Shaking his head, he pulled out his cell phone and called his wife. He'd let her break the news to Sam and Dean.
4 hours to Charming
Bobby woke up when the car started to veer off towards the exit to what he assumed was Reno. Stretching as well as he could in the classic Chevy, he heard Cade chuckle a little as his bones popped. "Laugh all you want to, Missy. This will be you in a few more years."
"What do you mean will be, old man?" Cade laughed. "I already have half my spine sound like popcorn when I get up in the morning." Turning into the far end of a truck stop just off the exit.
"Why are we parked clear out here?" He glanced around as his flatbed pulled in not far from where Cade had parked the Chevy. "Shit, I didn't dream that call from Jax, did I?"
Cade patted his shoulder as she lit a cigarette before stepping out of the car. "No, unfortunately, you didn't." Then nodded towards the Impala as it was pulling up. "At least you managed to sleep through me telling those two." She shook her head with a grim smile. "Dean is not happy that he's gotta be the one to summon Crowley."
He barked out a small laugh, because he knows he's supposed to; it was funny to see Dean squirm under Crowley's obvious fascination with the older Winchester boy. But it wasn't funny that they were gonna have to deal with some more Heaven/Hell bullshit on top of the family drama they'd already been heading towards.
Jax made his way over to them, something wrapped in a cloth in his left hand. As the younger man kissed his wife, Jax passed him the keys to the flatbed. "That thing's suspension gets fixed before we leave Charming." He chuckled to himself at the glare the young man threw towards the truck. "Getting thrown into walls by a pissed off spirit has done less damage to my back."
"It was on you and Dean's 'idjit do' list." He tossed back. "But it's been awhile since any of ya have been up to my place." He didn't mean for the guilty looks that crossed the faces of all four kids. Dean and Sam walking up as he was talking. "I figured one of you would be by soon, so I didn't worry about it. Hell, don't think I've needed the thing in the last six months."
Dean and Jax nodded, as Sam took an interest in what Jax was holding. "What's that?" He had to admit, he was curious himself.
"Gabe called it the First Blade He said Cain made it." Jax opened the cloth and what was in it had the shape of a blade, but…
"What the fuck is that? That's no blade." Dean jumped in with both feet, as always. "And Cain? As in Cain and freaking Abel?!" Shaking his head with annoyance, he pulled out his cel phone. "Cas?! Get your feathered ass here! NOW!"
"Baby brother isn't gonna be much help there, amigo." Both he and Dean turned to see Gabriel standing behind them, as Cas appeared.
"Dean." Cas barely acknowledging Gabriel. "Crowley will be here shortly, you will not have to summon him." They could all see the relief on Dean's face.
"Thanks, Cas." Dean smirked at Gabriel. "At least he saved me from that." The smirk faded, and he was again reminded that Dean Winchester, regardless of the boy he had known and the man he'd become, could be as hard and cold as John ever was. "What the hell is that," Pointing to the object in Jax's hand. "And what the fuck is all of this shit about Knights of Hell and Tom Teller's soul?"
He opened the Chevy door and took a seat, he had a feeling this was going to take more than a minute, and damn it, his back was still givin' him trouble.
As Gabriel started to pace around, Dean and Sam leaned back onto the Impala's hood. Cade hopped up on the trunk of the '57 and looped an arm around Jax's shoulder pulling him to her.
Looking over to Cas, Gabriel then looked back to the five of them. "I'm going to try and make a very long story, very short." Popping some sort of candy in his mouth. "So, try and hold off on the dozens of questions I'm sure will come."
"Just get on with it, Gabriel." Cade sounding impatient, and a little off.
They all looked up at Cade, she usually wasn't short with Gabriel. Other than still being a little pissed the archangel had put Sam through hell not long after Dean had grabbed him from Stanford, Cade liked Gabriel. Jax leaned into his wife. "You okay, babe?"
"That thing is giving me the heebie-jeebies." Pointing to the object in her husband's hands. "There's some seriously bad mojo attached to that thing."
Gabriel walked over and plucked the object out of Jax's hands and dropped it onto the car floor beside him. "I think that will have to ride with you." The archangel mused.
Gabriel then started to speak of times before humans even walked the planet, the Darkness that Chuck had created the archangels to help contain; the mark that Lucifer wore that precipitated his fall; then of Cain and Abel and deals made.
Looking over at Sam and Dean, he could see the two of them look at each other with the familiar arc of Cain and Abel's tale.
Gabriel continued talking about Cain becoming the first Knight of Hell and how Cain was feared by all sides, until Cain fell in love with a human; a woman who forgave him all of his previous sins; living happily with her until Cain's demonic family came calling, forcing Cain to kill all of them other than Abbadon.
By the time Gabriel finished, he was sure that all four kids were as worried as he was. This Abbadon bitch was powerful and she had Tom Teller's soul. He knew, regardless of the estrangement between Jax and his younger brother; Jax will be out for blood.
Dean was the first to speak up. "So, basically one of the most powerful demons, one that took out the entire Men of Letters, has Tom Teller's soul for some reason that none of us can figure out?" Dean threw up his hands. "Awesome. Just fucking awesome."
"She wants the throne, Squirrel." Crowley's smarmy voice slithered through the air. While, he could admit the usefulness of the demon at times; he still found Crowley annoying. "Then after she's conquered Hell, she'll set her sights on Heaven and Earth."
"Why Thomas?" Jax's voice was flat, nearly emotionless. Like this was a case and not about family.
As Crowley shrugged, Jax's eyes narrowed and his voice became harder. "Bullshit, Crowley."
It wasn't Crowley who answered. It was Gabriel. "Matricide is just as good as fratricide to Abbadon, Jax." The archangel's voice matter of fact, yet still trying for a little gentleness.
He could see Jax swallow heavily as the other three kids looked as solemn as church mice; Cade's arm tightening around Jax's shoulder. It was Cade who broke the silence that had fallen over them all.
"Well, this is just gonna be all sorts of apocalyptic fucked up now, isn't it?" Her southern drawl as dry as the Nevada desert.
The archangel, the seraphim, and the demon all shrugged in unison. Gabriel being the only one of the three willing to open his mouth. "Well, my buttercup, it certainly has the distinct possibility of going that way." Gabriel extended his arms out to indicate all of them. "But if anyone is going to be able to stop it, it's us." The archangel rolled his eyes just a bit. "Not like this would be the first time." Gabriel's voice was still bitter.
He nodded as he looked to the kids to see the four of them trading dark looks. A few years ago, some rouge angels tried to free Michael from the Cage that Chuck had put him in with Lucifer. Things had gotten dicey and had Gabriel not been with them, Cade probably would have died during that whole mess.
Shaking his head to clear the image of Cade, death pale and covered in her own blood, he eased himself up from the front seat of the Chevy. "Well, ain't much we can do about any of it right now." Stretching his back, he looked at the others. "And right now, this old man has to take a leak and get some coffee." Turning and walking off towards the truck stop.
As he heard the chuckles trailing behind him, he gave a one-fingered salute as his mind was spinning. He was starting to think that Abbadon's choice of Tom Teller wasn't intentional, Tom Teller just happened to be the kind of blackened soul she could twist to her advantage. Because the way both Crowley and Gabriel spoke of her, it sounded like she had been out of the Heaven/Hell loop for quite some time. It was possible she had no idea of the hornet's nest she has stepped into, snatching Tom Teller's soul.
With that thought, he filed the subject away. Until they had more information, there wasn't a damn thing any of them could do. Hopefully, this will be less of a clusterfuck than he's starting to think it will be.
After taking a leak and getting his coffee, he ambled out to where the cars and truck were parked and conferred with the kids for a moment, he climbed into the flatbed's cab and resigned himself to bouncing into Charming.
1 hour to Charming
Tig flipped his phone shut and shook his head as he walked back into the chapel where only Chibs and Hap were left after a very tense Church where he and Chibs had to explain what the fuck was going on. The guys had been skeptical of what he and Chibs were telling them until Hap and Quinn started to chime in with all the weird shit they had seen as NOMADS.
"Wha's wrong now, Tiggy?" Chibs sounded bone tired. And looked like twelve miles of bad road. The dark circles under the Scot's eyes a contrast to the silver sheen of the scars on his cheeks.
"That was Jax." Knowin' he sounded tense. It had been decided when Jax called they would head out and escort Jax and the others to Red Woody. "He said to stuff the escort." Then dropped the hammer. "And he wants to meet at T-M." He shook his head at the question in the new President's eyes. "Tried to get them to come here, but no dice. He wouldn't budge." A note of fondness crept into his voice. "You know that Jax was always more stubborn that Tommy. Hell, he could out-stubborn Gemma when the kid put his mind to it."
That got a weary chuckle out of Chibs. "Aye, that he could." Chibs waved him to sit down. He took his new seat, still trying to get used to the new perspective. "Where were they?"
"About thirty miles east of Stockton." He lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke towards the chapel door. "Said they'd be at the garage in about an hour." Chibs and Hap nodded.
He could tell Chibs didn't want to ask the next question, but it came out whether Chibs liked it or not. "How'd he sound, Tig?"
"Like I was the last person he wanted to be talking to." And that was the truth. Jax had been curt and to the point, as if talking to any member of SAMCRO was the last thing he wanted to do. "Once I agreed to meet at the garage, he basically hung up on me."
He could see Chibs' shoulders slump as he relayed the information about Jax. He could understand; with all the weirdness going on, they would need Jax and the other's help. And he had to admit, Jax wasn't sounding too helpful.
As he and Chibs sat there in their growing unease, Hap cleared his throat. "I'll let the guys know to be at the garage in forty-five." The practicality of the new SAA's tone breaking the mood. They couldn't do shit about things they didn't know a damned thing about, so they needed to concentrate on the few things they could control.
Hap got up from his seat and headed out the chapel doors.
He looked over to Chibs, who looked back at him, the weariness and grief packed away for the moment, and only a grim determination in the dark eyes. "Well Tiggy, let's go see how much of a clusterfuck this is really going to be."
He found he really had no snappy comeback for his old friend; so, he just stood and gripped Chibs' shoulder for a moment. "I'm not gonna lie and say it'll be alright, because I don't have a fuckin' crystal ball to show me the future. But, I will say, with all the shit SAMCRO has been through in all its years, we'll manage to weather this storm, too."
At least he was trying to convince himself of that as he followed Chibs out the chapel door.
0 hours to Charming
Chibs gave a low whistle as the '57 Chevy the color of gunmetal, crept into the lot, followed by a flatbed that was bouncin' around like the suspension was shot, and then a black '67 Impala.
Tiggy leaned over. "I suppose if you have to ride around in a cage, that's one way to do it. That's some gorgeous Detroit steel."
He nodded as the cars and truck came to a stop. Two men stepped out from the Impala. They had to be the Winchesters. They looked like the mugshots that had been in the files Jarry gave him. And while he had taken note of their particulars, for whatever reason he was surprised at how huge the one was. Hell, the lad was bigger than Ope. The other was about his height, but broader through the shoulders, and looked as dangerous as a viper.
The two stopped at the flatbed as an older man was stepping out. Although the man was probably in his sixties, he moved with the precision that spoke to time served in the military.
The three of them moved to the '57 where Jackie and his wife had their heads together, words spilling from their mouths. The smaller Winchester, Dean, he thinks is the right name, knocked on the window softly. Jackie and his wife pulled apart and each opened a door.
Jackie looked older for sure, beard making sure of that, but even from where he stood, he could also see that Jackie was strung tight. The older man at Jax's shoulder whispering furiously in his ear.
Jackie's wife looked nearly the same as when she had last been in Charming. She was leaner, the soft curves replaced by hard muscle. Her hair was longer, and a bit wild; like it was a warning unto itself. A subliminal way of letting others know that she was no shrinking violet.
The three others stood slightly behind, flanking Jackie and his wife, as if to protect them from SAMCRO. He supposed that was fair, considering how things had gone down when Jackie had been disowned and thrown out into the world by Clay and Gemma, the rest of them just standing by.
He stepped forward, Tiggy on his heels. He extended a hand to Jackie, who paused before shaking it. "I'm glad yer here, Jackie."
Jackie's eyes were cold and his voice nearly emotionless when he responded. "You got those papers for me to sign?" Tiggy hadn't been wrong, Jackie wanted nothin' to do with them, and they were probably going to have a bitch of a time getting Jackie and the others with him to help with this angel and devils bullshite.
"In the office." He turned back to the fellas. "Rat, go grab the envelope on the desk in the office." Rat running off towards T-M's office.
Turning back to Jackie and the others, he stood in front of Jackie's wife, knowing that if he was going to ask for their help, the demon was right; he'd have to make amends with Jackie's wife.
Taking a deep breath, he went to speak. "Lass, I…"
They were the only words he could get out before he found himself on his knees, barely able to breathe, with a gun barrel touching his forehead.
Looking up, he could see that Jackie and the others already had guns pulled and pointed at the rest of the MC before any of his guys could even clear theirs. Holy hell, the big fella was holdin' a sawed-off like it was a cap gun.
He swallowed heavily. He knew he had scared her all those years ago, and he wasn't so naïve to think that she had just forgiven and forgotten the incident; but this was the last thing he had expected.
He glanced at the men surrounding her. Not a one looked surprised, and none of them were making any moves to get her to lower her weapon. In fact, both the older fella, and the smaller Winchester had glints of amusement in their eyes.
He closed his eyes. He had no control here, and whatever happened, would happen.
