(Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the following story)

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Armageddon.

Chapter Eleven.

Jay stared at Gabriel in disbelief "Aaah, I hate to point this out but…umm…we're not all that popular with them at the moment. What with that whole fu…scre…umm…" she stammered.

Dean grinned "I think what she's trying to say is they're real pissed at us. Jay especially"

Gabriel smiled at them "I understand that but the pathway has already been opened to you, so we're going to make them believe that you've chosen it" Jay put her hand up and Gabriel laughed softly "Just speak, Jay"

She grinned self-consciously "Okay…obviously you have a better understanding of this than I do…what with the whole 'Angel' thing…but from what I understand we have to actually choose the path to gain access and once we do that…" she trailed off.

Gabriel sat forward in his chair, his hands held together between his knees "You are going to choose the path"

"Fuck that!" said Dean "I mean…stuff that" he shook his head and muttered "This whole not swearing is gonna be a pain in the ass"

Gabriel laughed "Dean, Jay you do understand the whole concept of omnipotence right?" they nodded.

"But that's just the Big Dude, right?" asked Dean.

Gabriel nodded "But I've been watching you two for a while now"

"Good lord…" muttered Jay.

Dean elbowed Jay "Be proud, Jay" he grinned "I am" Jay leaned over and whispered in Dean's ear "Oh, yeah" he looked at Gabriel "That whole thing with the dagger…ummm…"

"That is SO not us" said Jay.

Gabriel smiled "I understand. You both took a tentative step down the left-hand path…"

"Shit"

"Yes, not good" said Gabriel.

"So, Gabriel…tell me, how the hell are we gonna go down the left-hand path without turning into complete deviants?" asked Jay. Dean grinned, leaned over and whispered in Jay's ear. She turned to him "I said complete, Dean" she laughed softly "And stop it"

"You don't mean that…" he grinned and she elbowed him again and pointed at Gabriel "Oh, yeah…so…how then?"

Gabriel smiled at the two of them "You'll have protection. You'll be able to travel the path without being corrupted but by all intents and purposes you will have been"

"Won't they see that? Sense it?" asked Jay.

"And how do you know they don't know you've been to see us?" he frowned "Yeah, that made sense"

"They don't, trust me. But there is one coming for you, to lead you to him"

"Lucas" said Jay.

Gabriel nodded "He will guide you but you listen to me. Your temptation, the promise 'the dark one' will make to you must involve no-one else but each other. You will need to stick together and I mean stick, you do not let the other one out of your sight and you make sure that they're aware of this"

"I really don't think we'll be a position to make demands" said Jay.

Gabriel looked at them, confusion touching his features briefly "Of course you are"

"Seriously?" asked Dean.

Gabriel looked at them, they had no idea "Yes. Have you not yet figured it out?"

"Figured what out?" asked Jay.

"That you two…and Sam and Zeke…are the key to all of this"

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Raphael smiled at the two men "Time to get to work" he walked out of the vestry, Sam and Zeke following him. He knelt in front of The Cross, gave a short prayer, performed the 'signum crucis' and rose. Zeke and Sam did the same, not because Raphael was there but because they wanted to ask for help for Jay and Dean. Raphael heard their prayers and smiled, they understood what prayer was all about, not for yourself but for others. These two were already on the right path.

They walked down the church aisle and Zeke stopped at the first pew "Raphael"

He turned "Yes, Zeke?"

"Jay…"

He smiled "She survived, Zeke"

"Yeah, I get that. But she…killed a priest"

Raphael shook his head "He wore the robes, he was no longer a man of God"

"She still killed a man…in God's house"

"She fought for her life. You all do that" he looked around "This is a Church, Zeke, it's not God's house. I know you are worried for her soul but hers is one of many that is in peril right now" he smiled "Come on"

Sam put his hand on Zeke's shoulder "They're gonna be alright, Zeke. They've got an Angel with them…I mean, what could possibly go wrong?" he grinned "It's not like he'd send them to Hell or anything right?"

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Jay and Dean stared at the Angel, then looked at each other, back to the Angel, then back to each other again.

"Alright, dude…you gotta be a little more specific than that"

"Of course. First off, you've been getting headaches" they both nodded "they're not headaches, it's a summoning and you two aren't the only hunters that have been getting them. So far, eleven hunters have gone over…"

"Lucas wasn't getting the headaches" said Jay.

"Lucas is a different story. Let me finish. 'The dark one' has been targeting hunters because of you have the skills most people don't and you have the knowledge of the other hunters, their capabilities and their weaknesses. They're his weapon against our army. You need to understand that hunters have always been the ones destined to fight in the 'Apocalypse'. What you all do now, although important, invaluable work is more or less practice"

"So we've been in…training for this?" Jay asked and Gabriel nodded "But I'm a more a 'banisher' than a hunter…I mean, I don't actively go out and hunt poltergeists, spirits and other nasties…I kinda specialise in demon destruction. It's a little different"

Gabriel smiled "You use a sword?"

She nodded "But I'm not anywhere near as good as Zeke, Dean or Sam. I mean, I can protect myself but…"she shook her head "That's why Zeke or Lucas was always with me"

"Jay, you'll be fine. And you have an advantage" he smiled "You've already used your 'mojo', as you like to call it, in Hell. You can use it again without consequence and 'the dark one' knows this. That's why he wants you" he looked at Dean "and you, Dean"

"I'm not a banisher, Gabe"

"No" he smiled "But he sees in you what you fail to acknowledge"

"Does he? And what would that be?"

"A darkness. A part of you, deep down inside that is capable of turning completely to him if pushed in the right direction. You are a powerful hunter, Dean. A powerful man. You were chosen to guard your brother for a reason. Sam isn't the only one that is vulnerable to the demons, Dean" he smiled "Sam has more of a conscience though"

"Yeah, I kinda see that...conscience thing, I mean...but..." he looked at Jay and laughed "I'm gonna be doing a lot of guarding, cause she'll be 'banishing' her ass off…do you know how many demons there are down there?"

"She won't be 'banishing', Dean" he turned to Jay "Tell him what you can do"

"I'm not allowed" she said.

"What?" asked Dean.

"I can't tell you" she stated firmly.

"Jay, now really isn't the time to be going all 'secret service' on my ass"

She looked at Gabriel "You know the oath I took. If I tell, I can't pass it along and the 'banishers' die out"

Gabriel smiled "Jay, who am I?"

"An Angel"

"An Arc-Angel. I'm pretty high up on the ladder, so if I say it's alright to tell, then it's alright to tell. You won't be breaking your oath"

"You sure?"

"Jesus Christ, Jay! He's a goddamn Angel! Listen to him!"

Jay stared at Dean opened mouthed "Aaah, Dean…" she motioned her head towards Gabriel "You just dropped 'the big blasphemy'"

"Fucking hell…sorry, Gabe. No offence intended to the Big Boss and His son" he grinned sheepishly.

Gabriel shook his head with a smile "The swearing I can handle, Dean…the 'big blasphemies'? Not so much" his eyes blazed a brilliant blue for an instant and they saw the power held within them.

Dean nodded "Sorry, dude" he turned to Jay "Well?"

"Shit…okay. Remember how, back in Hell when you were trying to take me through the Gates and I drew that big scary line in the sand?"

Dean nodded "The one that killed 'em if they tried to cross it. Yeah, I remember"

"Yeah, well…I can kinda do a little more than that" she said.

"Will you just tell me" he said with exasperation.

"Show him, Jay"

She sighed and stood, turning to face Dean "Okay, you just have to understand that this is a safety thing, I've only ever used it once before, it's not something you just do, like a party trick or anything, We, I mean banishers, only use it when we have no other means of escape okay?"

"Ooookaaaay…" said Dean. He looked at her "You're not gonna shoot yourself again are you?"

She laughed softly "Noooo" she sighed "Just watch okay? And don't freak out"

He laughed "Okay, so I'm gonna freak out…but go on"

She nodded, closed her eyes and whispered quietly in the language he'd heard when he'd seen her complete the 'banishing' for Sam; he watched as her form started to shimmer, the same way heat does as it rises off the bitumen and he stared open mouthed as he looked at his brother.

"FUCK ME!" he jumped up off the bed.

"Calm down, Dean" said Jay…or rather Sam. She looked like Sam and she sounded like him.

"Calm down? Are you fucking serious?" He watched as 'Sam' closed his eyes, whispered, shimmered and Jay was standing in front of him again.

"Okay, I know you're like super-freaked out….but…"

"How the fuck can you do that?" he asked.

"It's a defence mechanism…kinda. It was set up a long time ago, when 'banishers' were hunted almost to the brink of extinction. It keeps us safe when we're being hunted"

"So, what you look like now…the Jay Thomas I know…is that what you've always looked like? Or were you someone else?"

"No, I've always looked like this. That was just a …mask. And like I said, I've only ever used it once, when a demon was after me. They don't know we can do that, he thought he lost me in a crowd"

"Je…I mean, shit" said Dean as he started to pace "Why didn't you tell me you could do this?"

"I'm not allowed to tell anyone. If I do, without Angel permission of course, I can't pass on my knowledge to the next 'banisher', the one that'll replace me eventually"

"This is seriously messing with my head"

"Well get used to it, Dean. That's your secret weapon and Jay is going to teach you how to do it"

"What?" Dean and Jay said in unison.

Gabriel laughed "Jay is going to teach you how to be a 'banisher', Dean. And you two are going to bring down 'the dark one's' army from the inside"

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Zeke, Sam and Raphael walked out of the Church and into the sunshine. The cop was still there, still pale and now had a nervous twitch. He looked and Zeke and Sam "You two …umm…get…find…is it all okay in there?" he stammered.

Zeke nodded "Seems everything has been contained, the contamination was minimal"

The relief on the cops face was almost comical "Thank God for that! I was in there" he shuddered then looked at them "Well you two have a good day then"

Zeke and Sam nodded and headed towards the Chevy.

"Before you ask, he couldn't see me" said Raphael.

"Why not?" asked Sam.

"He has no need to" and he got into the backseat of the car and rested his arms across the back rest.

Zeke got into the car and turned to him "So where to?"

Raphael smiled "California"

"Can you be a little more specific?" asked Sam as he seated himself next to Zeke.

"Death Valley" said Raphael with a smile.

Sam laughed "You gotta be shitting me?"

Raphael shook his head with a smile "No, Sam. Death Valley is the battleground"

Zeke started the car and the engine roared to life. He pushed his foot down and the Chevy shot away from the church "I thought Armageddon was in Israel?"

"Armageddon is a battle, not a place. And the countdown has already begun. You'll be give the tools and the means to fight this battle but the outcome depends on you"

"Us?" asked Zeke.

Raphael nodded "You two and Jay and Dean have a special insight. You've been to Hell and you've survived it, relatively unscathed. And you two, know how demons think" he turned to Sam "You've had a powerful demon inside you, Sam. A demon that was high up in the Infernal Army, you know how they battle, how they move their army" he looked at Zeke "And you, Zeke…well, how many minds of demons have you been in?"

Zeke laughed softly "Too many"

"So you have an advantage. You understand how they think and you know how they battle. You use that knowledge when you lead your army. Now push your foot to the floor, Zeke; time is of the essence"

"Can't you like…transport us?" asked Sam, he shook his head and muttered "I sound like Dean"

Raphael laughed "And miss out on a ride in this car? Not likely"

Sam turned in his seat "So what exactly are we going to do…apart from the battle, I mean"

"I'm taking you to meet your army" he smiled at the two men "You two will lead God's army against 'the dark one's'"

"Just us?" asked Zeke, he looked in his rear-view mirror at Raphael "Surely there are others more capable than we are?"

"Angels, for one" said Sam.

"We will be there. But the battle of Armageddon must also be fought by mankind. You two, and other hunters will lead that army" he sat forward and rested his arms on the seat in front of him "What all hunters have been doing is training for this moment. Now is the time to put that training into practice"

"And Jay and Dean? They'll be meeting us there?" asked Zeke.

"Yes, you will see them on the battlefield" said Raphael.

"Why don't I like the way you said that?" asked Sam.

"Because Jay and Dean will be fighting from the other side"

To be continued…