Hi, guys. So...Death's Door. That was one heck of an episode. Poor Bobby! Well, I'm using him anyway, regardless of what may or may not happen after the hellatus.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
Sam opened the door.
"Hey, boy. Long time no see."
"Hey, Bobby," Sam sighed, and the shorter, baseball cap-wearing man threw his arms around him.
"It's been too long, Sam," Bobby said gruffly from his spot around Sam.
"Yeah, Bobby," Sam echoed quietly. "It's been too long."
Gabriel appeared just inside the house, watching the two men that were practically father and son. They'd been through at least three Apocalypses, hundreds of deaths, and more demonic sons of bitches than Gabe could even hope to count. This was the man that Sam had loved more than even John Winchester, had spoken of so highly in his youth while Dean went on to be the obedient little soldier. For a moment, he silently observed the exchange before tentatively speaking up. "Hello, Bobby."
Sam and Bobby pulled out of their embrace and looked at the archangel. Bobby's eyes, as usual, narrowed instinctively at the sight of the being he'd once known as a Trickster. Then the grizzled hunter's gaze softened. "Gabriel," he acknowledged. "I guess you can say that I'm here to help."
Gabriel nodded. "That's good to hear."
"Bobby? Is that you?" All three men looked over at the other house on the lot and saw Dean striding towards them. When the hunter got close enough, his tired face broke into a wide smile. "Hey, Bobby!"
Bobby chuckled wearily at Dean. "Hey, ya idjit." After patting the Dean on the back, Bobby turned to Sam and Gabriel again. "I have all my stuff in the truck…"
Gabe snapped his fingers. "It's all in the formal living room now." He grabbed Bobby's arm and dragged the man into the house. He barely gave Bobby any time to take in the sights of the house before sitting the grizzled hunter down at the kitchen table.
"So, care to introduce me to your little flock of children, Sam?" Bobby gestured to the three wide-eyed kids that stared at him with hazel and amber eyes.
Sam, who had sat down at the head of the table, gestured to each of the children. "The baby boy is Elijah Luke, the little clone of me is Madison Lenore, and this is our little psychic, Jessica Faith. She's the reason that I called you over here."
"Hello," Bobby said awkwardly to Jess, who stared boldly back at him. "Can you tell me what happened, Jessica?"
"My name is Jess," Jess corrected before continuing. "I saw a girl like me named Damaris Winchester. She was all cut up and dirty and big guys made of light with wings were there too. They were saying lots of weird words."
"Like what, Jess?" Gabriel suddenly broke in. "You never told us about the words."
Jess ducked her head embarrassedly before she announced, "They said three words that I didn't know: vessel, Seruf, and seraph."
"Vessel…they took Damaris to be a vessel?" Sam yelled, pounding his fist down on the table, not noticing how his angelic powers had flared up and had scorched a fist-shaped mark into the table.
Bobby put his hand on Sam's shoulder, and then withdrew- Sam's shoulder was burning hot. "Sam, calm down. I have a book that might have some more information on this kind of thing."
"Then get it," Sam hissed through clenched teeth.
Before Bobby could get up, he felt a probing in his brain and then Gabriel raised his fingers in a lazy snap again. A musty leather-covered book appeared in front of Bobby. The hunter raised the bound pages and flipped through them. He came to a particularly well-worn piece of yellow paper and read aloud. "Seraphim, the oldest and most powerful creatures of Heaven, are creatures of extreme power. They are so powerful and their holiness burns so powerfully that they cannot take a human as their host. Only a child with the blood of an angel may be a vessel for a seraph. For Seruf, the prince of fire, only a child born with the blood of angels and demons in their human blood may host that seraph's power. A child, unless there are certain circumstances, must at least be sixteen to host a seraph." The hunter glanced up from the book. "So we have time to find your daughter," he assured Sam and Gabriel.
Gabriel sighed. "But did you say that there was the possibility of 'certain circumstances?' Because I am not liking the sound of that."
"Circumstances meaning that either the child willingly accepts the seraph before they turn sixteen or that the seraph is born with the child," Bobby explained. "So technically, any one of your children or Dean's could be hosting a member of the seraphim."
"Oh, shit," Sam moaned. "They could be all holy already?"
"Daddy, what's a seraph?" Madison spoke up quietly, and all eyes turned to the brown-haired child. The younger Winchester girl stared again at Sam. "And who's Damaris?"
"She's none of your business!" Gabriel yelled suddenly, and then he angrily snapped. Madison, Jessica, and Elijah all disappeared. Then, ignoring the startled stares from Sam and Bobby, the archangel brought out his holy sword, lighting it up with lightning.
"Gabriel, what the fuck are you doing?" Sam yelled.
Gabriel squared his shoulders and hefted his crackling sword. His amber eyes were burning with a fury that Sam hadn't seen since when the archangel had taken them to TV Land. He widened his stance and then glared at Bobby and Sam. "Let's light this candle, bitches."
And then he disappeared.
Damaris was scared.
She was more scared than she'd ever been in her life. And it had only been about five years that she'd lived.
It was terrible. It had been since all those times that she had cried and screamed and fought them.
Them being the seraphim, of course.
Seruf was angry. He'd said so. And when Seruf wasn't happy, nobody was.
The seraphim didn't like it when she struggled.
They'd hacked off her hair; had slashed down her face. And Damaris had screamed when Seruf had personally burned a sigil into her wings.
He'd hissed as he'd branded the symbol into her wings with his extremely powerful, fiery Grace. "You are mine now, Damaris Grace Winchester. My sigil on your wings- forever."
And now she was in the room again. It was a yucky room, but Achaiah had been nice and had given her a bed and a few broken toys to play with. So she sat on her bed, swinging her legs and singing quietly to herself. She didn't even know what the tune was; she just remembered it from a long, long time ago. It always made her feel better.
A sudden snap interrupted the song. Damaris looked up and saw a short man holding an electric sword in his hand. He had longish, blondish hair and bright orangey eyes that looked very angry. Damaris didn't recognize him. "Hi," she said tentatively. "I'm Damaris. What's your name?"
The man's tense face suddenly relaxed. He ran to Damaris and picked her up with a laugh. Damaris tried to squirm out of her arms; she'd learned not to trust people. But then the man put her down on the ground and knelt to her level. "Damaris," he whispered. "It's so good to see you."
"Who are you?" Damaris demanded again.
The man smiled grimly. "I'm Gabriel Winchester. I'm an archangel. That's all you need to know right now, but I'm here to help you. Can you help me help you?"
"Yes, Mr. Winchester," Damaris replied obediently. She'd learned that obedience didn't get her hurt.
"Please, Damaris," Gabriel said, "call me Gabriel." Then he snapped his fingers and the door to the room flew open. The electric sword reappeared in Gabriel's hand. Damaris whimpered in fear at the sight of the blade, but Gabriel just grinned and scooped Damaris up in his arms. "Come on, angel girl," he chuckled. "Let's go raise a little Hell."
Damaris bounced in the archangel's arms as they stormed through the hallways that were so familiar to her now. Occasionally, she would call out directions to guide Gabriel to where the seraphim gathered. They arrived at the large, bronze doors.
The doors themselves were incredible. There were nine panels- four on each of the two doors, and one that was in the center of the doors. It was obvious that the middle panel would split apart when the doors would open. Each panel depicted a face with a sigil beneath it. "Chaylon, Itael, Achaiah, Vehuiah, Elemiah, Jeliel, Cahetel, and Barakiel," Gabriel read the first eight panels. Then Damaris noticed that the archangel glared pointedly at the center panel, which shone with a disembodied fiery glow. "Seruf," Gabriel snarled, and Damaris shivered at the raw fury in her new friend's voice.
"So are we going in?" Damaris inquired quietly.
Gabriel looked into Damaris's eyes. He grinned wickedly. "Yes we are, angel girl," he hissed amusedly, and then he lifted a leg and kicked the bronze doors inward with a resounding clang.
The seraphim were all gathered in the center of the room, as they usually were. Since they did not have truly human vessels, the seraphim were just in their typical forms as humanoid light forms. Each looked different, but one stood out. It was a bright red being whose form crackled with what looked to be holy fire. The seraph looked over at them, his form taking a more defined shape as it strode towards them, spreading its massive wings for emphasis. "Gabriel," its voice boomed. "The 'Strength of God,' the 'Prince of Fire.' Long time no see, little Trickster brother. Good to see you."
"Seruf," Gabriel growled back. "Seraphic prince of fire. The only being of Heaven that can survive contact with holy fire. Can't say I can return the feelings."
Seruf's form glanced at Damaris, who was hiding her face in Gabriel's neck. "So I see you found my favorite pet," he commented calmly, as if describing the weather. "I must admit I'm surprised that it took you this long to figure it out and come back to reclaim her." The seraph paused. "Like lost baggage, almost."
Gabriel put Damaris down and went into his true form, storming towards the seraph with rage crackling across his being with fire and lightning. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY DAUGHTER LIKE THAT, YOU EVIL SON OF A BITCH!" he roared, hefting the holy blade as it elongated into a fiery spear.
The seven other seraphim chuckled. Seruf glanced backwards at his brethren with amusement before returning his burning gaze to Gabriel. "Now, now, Gabriel. Let's not do anything rash here," he drawled out lazily. "You don't want to get yourself hurt. Remember- our little circle hates you and your pitiful band for killing Vehuiah."
Gabriel's true form's fire diminished just enough to show his human vessel. "You still need me and my family to be your vessels. Otherwise, you're useless on Earth. You need us to survive," he shot back at Seruf with contempt dripping from every syllable.
At this, Seruf raised a spectral finger and waggled it, and a hint of a smile appeared where the seraph's mouth would be if he had a human form. "Ah...I beg to differ, little brother. You see, the rest of the seraphim and I have made sure to have a bit of insurance just in case of these kinds of difficulties." He gestured to one of the seraphim- Damaris knew it was Jeliel- and ordered, "Fetch them."
Damaris trotted forwards and grabbed onto the leg of Gabriel's pants, not even cowering from the flames that licked at her arms from the archangel's form. "What's going on?" she whispered up at Gabriel.
The short angelic being glanced down at the five-year-old. "I don't know, but I'm afraid that the answer will be exactly what I'm fearing."
"Gabriel and Damaris, I'd like to introduce you to my new projects," Seruf announced. He stepped aside and revealed a group of three people. One was Kyriel, the formerly rebelling angel who had been turned by Vehuiah. The others were Adam Milligan and a tiny infant.
"What the...?" Gabriel began, but Seruf broke in with a chuckle.
"You see, you're not the only ones who can bring Winchesters back from Hell." He turned to glance at the small family he had created. "However," he pondered, "the children won't be as powerful since Adam will not be receiving any sorts of enhancements, like Sam and Dean. Regardless of that, though, they will still be adequate vessels for me and my siblings."
Gabriel swept Damaris protectively into his arms, spreading his wings to show his power and his refusal to be cowed. "You'll never get away with this," he snarled.
"Au contraire, little brother." Seruf was turning away now. He waved his hand lazily. "I have no use for the little child now that I have a perfect vessel factory. Anyways, this child here-" Seruf placed a glowing, translucent finger on the forehead of the baby in Adam's arms. "This child's soul never had a chance against the might of a seraph. As we speak, our good friend Jeliel is settling in." Seruf glanced back at Gabriel and Damaris. "Go. Leave. We have to train Jeliel in the ways of not destroying this human's precious body." He began laughing, a horrible, crackling, evil sound that carried all the might of God in a single sound.
Gabriel, the youngest archangel, hefted Damaris in his arms and turned away from the oldest of the most ancient level of Heaven. "Let's go," he stated calmly, but Damaris could tell that her friend was seething on the inside.
"Go where, Gabriel?" she asked innocently, honestly having no idea as to where this archangel was taking her.
"My dear little angel girl," Gabriel whispered affectionately, "we're going home."
And then they were flying.
All Sam could wonder was where the hell Gabriel had gone.
Thankfully, his husband had only snapped their children into their rooms and not Antarctica in his sudden fit of rage (he had done that before). Of course, all of them were a bit shaken by their father's spontaneous outburst, but then the girls had spotted Bobby and had immediately taken an interest in his beard. Eli now sat in Dean's arms.
Dean, Castiel, Joshua, and Emily had all come over after the little 'wrath of God' incident to catch up with Bobby. The hunter already knew all of the children by name and had started affectionately referring to them as 'the little rugrats.' They were all half-listening to the TV in Sam's family room while the older three children played and Elijah and Emily were held in the grown-ups' arms.
Of course, all of the grown-ups but one.
"When do you think he's going to get back from wherever he went?" Dean asked while lying on his back on the floor next to the couch.
Sam glanced down at his brother. "Truthfully, that all depends on where the hell he went."
For a moment, the adults fell silent, processing that statement in their heads for a moment.
Cas, who was sitting next to Bobby on the couch with Elijah in his arms, put in, "He was always a hothead, even as an angel. Of course, he wasn't a Lucifer kind of hothead, but he was still a hothead. He'll be back after he simmers down."
"I hate to break it to you, Cas," Bobby commented gruffly, "but he had an electric holy archangel sword in his hands when he disappeared. I think it'll take a while for him to cool down."
"Or not!" Gabriel's voice singsonged from the entrance to the family room. For a moment, everything was silent as all heads in the room turned to the archangel. Even the TV seemed to have muted itself in order to maintain the atmosphere as all eyes traveled from Gabriel to th child he held in his arms.
She was blond. She had wings. She had bright amber eyes like a certain mischievous archangel.
"Holy mother of God," Sam managed to gasp out. That was all he could accomplish because the child in his husband's arms was the one person that he thought he'd never see ever again. But here she was, in the flesh.
Damaris.
"Surprise," Gabriel whispered. "I know it's a couple months before Christmas, Sammy, but I got you a present."
Sam stood up slowly, walking to his husband and long-lost daughter. Jess stood up too, looking curiously at Damaris. Sam suddenly wrapped his gargantuan arms around Gabriel and Damaris, beginning to cry loudly with great heaves of his back. "You're back," he managed to announce between sobs.
"Sammy," Gabriel said gently. "You know that she'd always come back."
Everybody else in the room got up and walked to the embracing family. Madison, Jess, and Joshua approached first, wrapping their own tiny limbs around Sam and Gabriel's legs. Then came Dean and Cas, who each hugged their respective brothers. Bobby, who was holding both Elijah and Emily now, went in for the hug next, and for a moment, they were all a single mass, a single family with sons and daughters and a grumpy old drunk for a grandfather, with Damaris in the very center of it all.
Because they had always known that she'd come back.
Yay for chapters! Pretty please review this! This was mostly a fluff chapter, but we get into the nitty-gritty of the seraphim next chapter. REVIEWS ARE LOVE!