There was no longer a reason to ditch the Impala. Sam and Dean had barely made it to Castiel's side before there was an explosion a little ways off. The limo Eve had ridden in was a smoldering crater in the ground. But they didn't have much time to focus on that.
A gut wrenchingly terrible scream filled the air. Just seconds later the angels were gone, and Sam knew that couldn't be a good thing. Sam made his way around the smoking ruins of the street they'd parked on, subconsciously noting that the impala seemed fine despite having been parked relatively close to the explosion. A few dings here and there but nothing Dean wouldn't be able to fix with a couple of days of grunt work.
He spotted Ellen kneeling on the ground and ran to her side. "What's wrong?" he asked in a rush falling onto his knees at her side. He only belatedly realized the cry earlier had come from her lips. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Her eyes didn't seem to focus on him. Instead they were fixed on a piece of asphalt not six feet from their location. A smear of red and grey decorated its face.
"Ellen?" Sam asked again, unsure. Something caught his eye. Laying there in the rubble was a crumpled sheet of paper pinned under a small notebook he'd seen Harry grow quite attached to carrying around lately. A sense of dread settled in his chest as he moved to grab it.
Just three things were printed on the page. It looked like it had been torn from the notebook it was pinned under. Had this been what Harry had been stealing glances at when he thought no one was watching? Sam couldn't make heads or tails of what the message might mean.
'LEL, Not alone.'
That one indecipherable note was all Sam needed to know that the thing they'd been avoiding had finally happened. Heaven had gotten their hands on Harry, and in doing so, they'd gotten their hands on a weapon so powerful the Earth itself could be ripped in two.
It had been awhile since Harry had died last. He couldn't hold back the groan that accompanied the slow reanimation of his cells. It was such an unpleasant process. It only seemed all the more unpleasant in his weakened form.
He tried to remember what had taken him down but nothing was coming to mind.
He cracked open his eyes to see a rather unsettling sight. All around him was white. Pure white. The kind of white that humans never really could manage to create. The imperfections of Earth seemed to limit just how clean you could truly get something.
No, this was definitely more along the lines of Heaven's handiwork. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It would do no good to panic. He had a splitting headache anyway. The kind of headache that told him that his recent death had something to do with head trauma.
He raised a hand to his forehead and was surprised to find himself unshackled. Perhaps they hadn't thought he would come to so quickly.
Harry made to shift only to find his lower body uncooperative. He eyed his legs with confusion. He squinted. If he focused just hard enough he could see the faint outline of something holding him there.
His body was a sharp contrast to the room around it. He was all dirt and grime and blood cased in black silk.
"Good evening. I assume you're enjoying the hospitality of Heaven." A pleasant, but obviously authoritative voice spoke up quite suddenly from his side. It took all his self control not to whip his head in that direction.
"Could use a bit more color." Harry said eying the woman as she made herself visible. She moved in front of his chair but a few steps away like she was afraid he might dirty her clothes. "And you really need to have a talk with reception."
A small smile lit her face like she was ecstatic he had even spoken to her.
"We're glad to see you're doing better." She said, not acknowledging his fake requests. Maybe she had more common sense than the average angel. "I'd heard of your recovery abilities but they're quite remarkable to witness in person."
His eyebrows drew together. Exactly how long had this odd angel been standing behind him? "It's bad manners to watch someone while they sleep."
"You'll have to forgive me." She said and suddenly she was drawing up a chair and they were in a strange office instead of the blank white canvas of a room he'd been alone in.
Harry blinked. His eyes travelled the too white walls to the glass desk before meeting the woman's eyes. "Nifty." He said sardonically.
She leaned forward, hands folded under her chin as she examined him like a specimen in a lab. "You," she started, looking mildly amused. "You are certainly a hard man to find. We've been looking for months."
"You've spent all this time looking for me and I don't even know your name." Harry said eyes roving the blank canvas of an office. "I think I have a stalker."
She smiled slightly at that. "Naomi." She supplied. "Not that names will help you much."
Harry didn't think that deserved dignifying with an answer so he focused on flexing his legs beneath the restraints.
"We made those special. Just for you." The angel piped up again. She was surveying him a lot more closely than was completely comfortable.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is your end game here?" Harry said returning her scrutiny now that he'd gotten a hold on his peripherals. "You can't kill me, and I couldn't care less how much of a hissy fit Michael throws I'm not going to help him mutilate the planet. Isn't it about time he moved past the whole 'apocalypse' plan anyway?"
She turned to fish something out of her desk so he continued.
"I mean, Lucifer's back in the cage, and I doubt even Sam Winchester can be led down that road of good intentions twice. And Lucifer's sort of pivotal to your whole scenario."
The angel placed a small vial in between the two of them. It contained nothing. A stopper was wedged in the top but the bottle was empty, a fact which Harry was actually slightly thankful for. After his run in with Lucifer's mind controlling potion he'd been just the slightest bit worried that maybe the rest of the angels had gotten their grubby little fingers on it as well. For the time being Harry was happy that Lucifer was as greedy as the legends made him out to be.
Still, Harry eyed the vial speculatively. She'd put it there like it had purpose. Like it should be sending a message. Whatever the message was, he wasn't getting it.
"You're right of course." She said, standing. "Lucifer is in the cage. We have no way of unlocking it. At least, we have no way yet. Still, even if we could release Lucifer, why? Michael is stuck in a loop of self doubt."
"Let me guess." Harry butted in. "You don't have the same problem?"
She smiled as she leaned against the edge of the desk right in front of him. "I'm afraid all angels are facing self doubt at this moment. The loss of direction we've been struck with after your group stopped the apocalypse… it was astronomical. Heaven was shaken to the core. But from the ashes of a weaker Heaven I hope to raise my brothers and sisters to their true potential."
Harry snorted. "What exactly would your true potential be?"
"We are the army of Heaven. God's foot soldiers. But our Father has abandoned us. And an army is useless without a commander. Without a purpose." There was a fanatical gleam in her eye. "Michael and Lucifer were supposed to be our keys. If they cannot fulfill that role we simply need a new plan. And I was startled to admit that the best plan of action had been under our noses the whole time."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm not about to run around burning half the world just because you think it's what should be done. I'm not even sure how God could think it was an appropriate plan in the first place."
Naomi wasn't leaning on the desk any more. She was standing just a foot or two in front of Harry holding that damned empty bottle like it was her salvation. "I'm happy to say that we won't require your approval."
Harry saw the shine of a blade sliding down her sleeve. He made to intercept her swing but at some point during the conversation his arms had been pinned like his legs. He could only watch as she drew her blade across his throat in a quick arch.
Blood spilled and a gleam filled Naomi's eyes.
"This is definitely bad." Dean said as they all trudged into the hotel room he'd just bought for the night.
"Thanks Dean-o, we hadn't noticed." Gabriel snapped, already near the window. He'd arrived before them in true angel fashion. Of course Dean had still had to foot the hotel bill. Go figure.
"It's more than just bad." Sam said leading in a shell shocked Ellen and a frowning Eve. Ellen plopped herself onto the pull out couch ungracefully. "It's weird."
Dean gave his brother one his patented 'do you want to elaborate' stares.
"Right, we know the angels have been trying to find Harry since he showed back up here on Earth. But how did they find us? We didn't do anything differently this time and Harry was behind angel warding when they showed up anyway. They shouldn't have been able to track us."
"Are you implying," Eve asked taking a dainty seat on the severely battered coffee table. "That one of us may in fact have tipped off the angels?"
A ripple of unease seem to sweep through the room as everyone started to doubt everyone else.
"That not what he's suggesting." Dean said in attempt to draw everyone's attention away from that thought. "What are you suggesting?" he finished, not having come up with an alternative.
"Maybe someone's carrying something that's tagged? Maybe the angels found a way to track someone who hasn't been hidden from them."
Dean's eyes flicked to Ellen and Jesse. Had Castiel ever hidden her from the angels like he'd done for the brothers?
"It doesn't matter how they found us." Ellen spoke up. "They already got what they wanted. It just matters that we take the fight to them."
"It does matter." Sam insisted but gave the woman a worried glance. She'd never been so militant in the past. "They've had hits out on us pretty much every time we've met in the past. I doubt that's changed just because they got their hands on Harry. It might even be worse. They're probably expecting us to mount a rescue mission now. That means they're on high alert."
"If they wanted us dead then why back off today?" Dean spoke up hands raised as his body language spoke volumes on anger and irritation. "We weren't ready for them If they wanted us out of the picture they could've-"
"They could've tried." Castiel agreed. "But we had unknowns in the group and they would have taken heavy casualties even if they were only facing us. With Eve added in I doubt they would have stood a chance."
"If Heaven's really as shaky as we've been hearing lately Mikey couldn't afford to lose that many of his loyal lemmings." Gabriel added.
"Well, nice as this is, I think this group has just about surpassed its usefulness to me." Eve butted in. A disinterested look was etched into her delicate features.
"So what, you come here, get Harry captured and then bail instead of helping us find him?" Ellen was standing now, hands baled into fists. "You're pathetic."
"Ellen," Sam's voice pleaded in a sympathetic warning.
Eve's eyes were cold and hard as they landed on the woman in front of her. "I have problems of my own. I came here for help, not another mission." She said matter of factly. "Harry was a tool. A useful one, yes. But a tool nonetheless. A broken tool is worthless, and by the time you've retrieved him broken is what he will be."
"How dare-" Ellen stepped forward but found her path blocked by Castiel. Then angel had the usual serious set to his face but somehow the gaze seemed harder as it landed on the Mother of Monsters.
"I think it's time you left." He said blandly, like he was commenting on the weather.
The two stared at each other for a long, tense moment before a smile spread slowly across her porcelain face. "I was thinking the same thing." She said before swiveling on her foot and making for the door. "Jesse."
The cambian glanced around the room for a second before following. Sam would describe the look on the kid's face as almost apologetic.
The minute the door closed behind them the tension in the air decreased by half. That solved one of their problems. For now at least they wouldn't have to worry about hunting down the demons behind the monsters disappearances. Harry needed their help more than the alphas and Eve did. And even if that weren't true he'd certainly earned their help.
"So now that that's out of the way," Gabriel swung his chair around so he could straddle the back. "what's the game plan?"
"I don't suppose any of you can just… pop into heaven?" Sam asked rubbing the back of his head to diffuse the massive headache building there.
"Yeah, sure. Let me just drop right into Michael's lap and tell him I'd like to spend the rest of eternity in a cell." Gabriel snarked.
"So we can't go poking our noses into Heaven without a plan." Dean said, stepping in on his brother's behalf. "Point taken. We need someone on the inside."
"Not gonna be easy." Gabriel said shaking his head. "We'd need someone who's there already. If we try to send someone up they'd know in minutes. Not exactly a whole lot of time to plan a rescue mission."
"Ash." The name blurted from Sam's mouth before he could think twice about it. He saw Ellen tense beside him. Every eye in the room was focused on him.
"You want to elaborate?" Ellen asked with narrowed eyes and what was obviously a fair amount of restraint.
"We, uh, Dean and I, we got shot. Little over a year." Sam said hand travelling the short distance to his chest subconsciously. "We ended up in Heaven and we ran into Ash."
"I'm sorry… you were dead." She asked, blinking rapidly. "Does this happen to you boys a lot?"
"More than even they realize." Castiel answered for them with a nod.
"You talked with Ash." She said, trying to wrap her mind around it.
"He was happy." Sam rushed. "Well, as happy as he could be. His Heaven actually looked like the Roadhouse."
A sad smile played on the woman's lips.
"Ash might work, but how do we get in contact with someone on the other side?" Dean asked, frown tugging at his lips. Then his eyes flicked to Castiel. "How'd you talk to us when we were there?"
"A very complicated spell." Castiel replied then shook his head. "And I'm afraid it wouldn't work with your friend."
"What? Why?" Ellen protested. She had a lot she wanted to tell Ash. She was hoping maybe, just maybe she could apologize for him dying. It may not have been directly her fault but he'd burned alive in her roadhouse. It felt like her fault.
"The spell works best with the recently deceased and the stronger the connection between the caller and receiver the better the reception."
Ellen's mind shifted to Jo immediately and she wished it hadn't. Could she even handle that call if she made it?
"Bobby." Dean saved her from her self destructive path. "There's no one up there we can trust more than him, right?"
Ellen saw Sam cringe at the mention of the older man. Apparently he'd taken his surrogate father's death no easier than she had. She missed the old grump, but she refused to believe Heaven could be any worse than the hellhole Earth was right now.
Castiel flinched at the mention of the old hunter but his eyes immediately switched from guilty to indifferent agreement. "The bond you two share with Bobby Singer may be strong enough to hold the connection." He consented.
Sam felt something warm spark in his chest at those words. They were going to talk with Bobby again. Would they be able to see Bobby again?
"What do we need?" Dean asked yanking a pen out of a cup on the table. His eyes locked on Castiel.
Castiel shook his head. "Nothing you two can get." He said waving away the pen and paper. "It mostly has to do with a medium."
"Tick tock, tick tock." A melodious voice half hummed to itself. In the pale moonlight one could barely make out the slip of a woman it belonged to.
She skirted along the edge of a water-logged brick road singing a simple song to herself as she walked. In her trail the darkness seemed just a little thicker and the world just a tinge more dangerous. A stray moonbeam caught a curl of her pale hair and she stopped just a moment to ponder the light before wandering on her way.
Her singing started back in earnest. "His eyes are as green as fresh pickled toad, his hair is as dark as a black board. I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. :)
I hope everyone's having a good holiday season. Sorry about yet another delay. Shall we just expect them at this point and be surprised when they don't happen? ^.^;
Regardless, another chapter out. Hope you enjoyed. Another one will be up soon hopefully. Thanks for your patience.
'Til next time!
~Kanathia