It was raining hard by the time the brothers pulled into the parking lot of the shabby strip mall that had been exactly thirty minutes away, just as Cas had calculated. Dean pulled the Impala into a spot that was a good distance away from the building they planned on entering, letting out a breath as he surveyed their surroundings.
"Can't say I would've predicted that the doorway to Heaven would be inside a pizza joint. I feel like burgers are a little more heavenly, don't you think?" he quipped. Sam smiled a little and shook his head in amusement, casting a glance at the unimposing building with Vincent's Pizzeria spelled out in large red letters. A few pedestrians were wandering the length of the strip mall, though many had been discouraged by the rain, leaving the parking lot mostly vacant.
"Ready?" Sam asked, subconsciously feeling for the gun tucked into his jacket. He switched it over to the waistband of his jeans, and then glanced back at his brother.
Dean nodded and Sam got out of the car, quickly making his way to the trunk and opening it, attempting to duck underneath it to escape the worst of the rain. He flipped open the hidden compartment that housed their arsenal, grabbing an angel blade and a few small flasks of holy oil that had been filled prior to their departure. As he continued to peruse the contents of the trunk, he noticed a new addition to the set-up he had long since memorized. A thick gold cloth was tucked against the far left side of the compartment, wrapped around something thick and heavy looking. Sam reached for it curiously, wondering if it was another angel blade Dean had stored last minute, or maybe a vat of holy oil.
Somehow, Dean's hand got there first, his fingers shooting out to grab for the cloth while simultaneously shoving Sam aside. The reaction seemed automatic and instinctive, Dean's fingers sliding naturally along the shape of whatever was beneath the cloth and pulling it quickly back into the side pocket of his jacket.
"Really Dean?" Sam growled. "What is that?"
And even as the words left his mouth, Sam knew. He knew exactly what it was.
"Crowley gave you the First Blade," he stated cooly, suddenly oblivious to the rain soaking into his jacket.
"Yeah."
Just 'yeah.' Like it was no big deal. Like the fact that Dean now carried an ancient, brutal weapon with unknown side effects wouldn't have been something Sam needed to know before they ran blindly into a damn pizza place to take on who knows how many angels, guns blazing. Sam huffed out a disbelieving breath and shook his head.
"And you were going to mention this to me when?" he finally managed to grind out after a moment, resisting the urge to start throwing punches. They needed to get moving soon, Sam knew. The Impala was probably pretty well known at this point (by angels and demons alike), and there was only so long they could stand in this parking lot before one of Metatron's followers caught on. Even so, he couldn't just let this go. The fact that Dean had neglected to share this information with him seemed like yet another betrayal, one that could've been easily avoided if his big brother was using half his brain.
"I'm telling you now," Dean muttered. He had the good sense to at least look embarrassed, but it did nothing to quell Sam's anger. The rain continued to pelt down as the brothers stared at each other, water running down both of their faces, weapons grasped loosely in their hands.
"How long have you had it?" Sam finally asked.
"Look, can we not do this now? Can we just be happy for the insurance and go gank some angels? Cas and Gadreel will be here any minute," Dean reasoned, gesturing to Vincent's Pizzeria with one hand, the other beginning to unwrap the cloth around the Blade. He tossed the cloth back inside the trunk and slammed it shut, the First Blade now exposed, shimmering menacingly as raindrops slid down its jagged edge and onto the ground.
Sam nodded, knowing that regardless of how he felt right now, they needed to move. "Fine," he said, stuffing the angel blade and holy oil into his pocket and starting to make his way towards the pizzeria. Dean followed after him, Blade now also hidden, moving quickly towards the entrance. The first step of the plan was to avoid civilian casualties, which had certainly been well managed by the storm, though the brothers had no way of knowing whether there were any innocent bystanders who had still decided to stop in for a pizza at the worst possible time. Priority number one would be clearing those people out. The next step was basically to create the biggest distraction possible, allowing for Gadreel and Cas to make their entrance and quickly get through the doorway and into Heaven. Simple on paper, but there were a ton of factors involved. A ton of things that could go terribly wrong. As usual, Sam thought glumly as they approached the door.
Sam motioned for Dean to follow after him, but before he could make the first move, Dean straightened up suddenly. He winked at Sam and then proceeded to stroll through the door like he owned the place, a cocky smile plastered on his face. Sam froze, emotions ranging from surprise to fury in the span of just a few seconds before he automatically straightened up to follow after Dean, unwilling to let his brother's newest suicide run become a success.
Dean approached the young, blonde woman behind the front counter of Vince's, resting his elbow casually against it. Though as Sam came to stand beside his brother, he could see that Dean's right hand was wrapped around the Blade in his pocket. Dean glanced around the diner, taking inventory of all the empty tables; not a pedestrian in sight. According to Gadreel's intel, all so-called employees at Vince's were in fact angels, and Sam caught sight of a few of them through the window leading to the kitchen, though none had seemed to notice their entrance quite yet. The blonde behind the counter was also oblivious, busy pressing buttons on the cash register in front of her. She didn't bother looking up until Dean spoke.
"Hey sweetheart, you guys do carryout right?" Dean smiled, waggling his eyebrows at her.
The girl looked up from her cash register and stiffened the moment her eyes rested on Dean. He continued to grin, even as her mouth curled into a threatening scowl.
"Winchester," she snarled, reaching for her hidden angel blade with practiced speed and precision.
But Dean was quicker.
Before Sam could blink, the First Blade was buried in the angel's chest, her hand frozen halfway to retrieving her weapon, mouth flying open in shock as white light began to seep out from every part of her, enveloping the room. Sam winced as her final piercing scream filled the air. He pulled out his own angel blade as the remaining angels became aware of the Winchesters' presence. There were at least seven more, Sam counted quickly as they flooded through the kitchen door and stalked towards the front counter. He could almost find it funny, these guardians of Heaven with dough-covered aprons and visors with Vincent's scrawled across the front, except for the fact that they all also held their own angel blades. And they all looked pissed as hell.
Dean seemed frozen in place, still standing near the front counter where the blonde angel had fallen, not reacting when Sam called his name. Sam took a panicked step back towards the entrance, trying to gain a few more seconds before they were completely under attack. He reached out a hand in an attempt to pull Dean with him, not daring to take his eyes off of the squadron of angels advancing on them. His fingers found the solid shape of Dean's forearm a second later, and he almost wished he hadn't. Dean was practically vibrating, breathing hard, the First Blade still gripped in his hand. Luckily, the contact seemed to snap Dean out of his trance, and he shoved away from the counter just as an angel blade whistled through the air, mere inches from where he had been standing.
Sam didn't have time to check the expression on his brother's face because in the next second, the angels were upon them.
More to come on Thursday! I'd like to thank you guys for reading/reviewing as usual, and for those of you back in school/starting up again, best of luck this year!