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CHAPTER 19
The group stood there a moment trading silent, melancholy looks of resolve. Erin stashed the phone in her pocket and moved for the duffel bag Dean had put the relics in. Sam and Cass followed closely on her heels.
"We baited him, now what?" Sam asked, watching as Erin dug through the bag in search of the ring, the dagger and the vial. She propped her foot on the table and slid the dagger into her boot, then dropped her foot to the ground.
"I'll tell you on the way," Erin said eying the vial and the ring. She licked her lips and picked up the ring, hesitating for a moment. A bit amazing really, that this tiny bit of metal would turn her into a living, breathing Devil's Trap that would not only trap Ahriman and force him to take possession of her but bind them together irrevocably. The sigils on the band were lovely for something so ominous, the fluting Old Enochian script scrolled around the ring like filigree. Her death warrant.
"Do I just put it on or?" Erin asked Cass, uncertain.
"Maybe you have to hold it up to your power battery and recite your oath?" Sam suggested with weak humor. Erin chortled despite herself. It was funny how humor could still be found even in the worst moments of despair. Cass looked between them in confusion.
"The ring doesn't require an incantation. You simply wear it."
Erin, Sam and even Ruby, who had until now remained so inconspicuous that they'd nearly forgotten she was there, snickered. The moment quickly faded and Erin took a deep breath, then before she could think about it, she shoved the ring on the middle finger of her right hand.
The moment the ring was in place the Old Enochian script flared pure white and blazed hot as holy fire, welding itself to its wearer. Erin let out a yell of inarticulate pain as the ring seared the sigils it bore under her skin and onto the bone. The marks burning for an instant through her, the same way a demon did when struck with Ruby's knife, before fading as if they'd never been there, hidden.
Sam had his jaw dropped open and Ruby was wide eyed. None of them had been expecting that.
"Well that friggin' hurt!" Erin bit. "I suppose you forgot to mention the ring welds itself to you!"
Castiel was standing there with a rather surprised look on his face. "I wasn't aware putting it on would have that side effect."
"Didn't it come with a user's manual or something?" Sam asked.
"It's a relic Sam. They don't usually come with printed instructions," Ruby snarked.
"Just asking," Sam said.
Erin picked up the vial, as elegant and beautiful as the ring was, and handed it to Cass. Shortly it would hold her soul and Ahriman's, then it would be destroyed under some heavenly host's boot heel and her along with it. Cass took it, covering Erin's hand with both of his. His blue eyes looking into hers soulfully for a moment. As soon as the vial was out of her hand, Erin broke the gaze and shouldered on her jacket, and grabbed her sword.
"Let's get this show on the road," Erin said and turned on her heel. Sam grabbed his duffel bag and they followed in her wake.
In the garage, Erin stopped short as Sam diverted from the direct path to her Mustang and got something out of the trunk of the Impala. He came back holding a can of white spray paint.
"Pop the trunk," he said. Erin looked at him oddly, but she fished out her car keys and unlocked the trunk. Sam leaned into the open space, shaking the can. He proceeded to paint a Devil's Trap on the underside of the trunk hatch. When he was done, Erin was looking at Sam like he'd defiled it.
"Just in case," Sam shrugged. The 'in case' being once Erin had taken Ahriman's head and he was trapped inside her, they'd have to transport her back here to question Ahriman about the seals. Sam threw his duffel into the trunk and Erin shut it with a weary sigh.
As she went around to the driver's side and started to get in, she paused and groaned, looking over the top of the car at Ruby. The demon looked back at her expectantly. "Come on. Get in. We're gonna need all the backup we can get."
"Oh, I get to ride in the 'big girl' car now, huh?"
"Do you really want to test me?" Erin threatened.
Ruby held her hands up in surrender and got in the backseat. She knew now was not the time to argue, it might disturb her plan and it was going so well. Ruby couldn't have been happier. To be honest, she'd been trampling the desire to jump up and down with glee since the moment Erin had nay said Sam's and Castiel's pleas to find another way.
Sam got in the front beside Erin, trying to find enough space to fold his tall frame. Castiel appeared in the backseat across from Ruby.
"Ever heard of a door handle?" Ruby quipped.
"Of course," Cass said innocently. Ruby just shook her head as Erin backed the Mustang out of the garage and flipped on the headlights. It was still dark out but within an hour, it would be dawn. With her eyes focused hard on the highway before her, Erin turned out onto the road. She didn't look back.
###
"So what's the first switch, in 'bait, switch, switch'," Sam asked as they drove. They were going north, back the way they had come. Heading for the bridge that connected Sewall's Point to the mainland. Nothing but the Mustang's headlights accompanied them in the dark, past the houses of people who had no idea what really lay outside their doors or the world of the supernatural that lurked where they couldn't see.
"Well, we already 'took' the bait he laid out for us. I know he doesn't buy our unconditional surrender. He's not that stupid. So, since he's expecting us to try something, we, or rather I, am going to play right into it with something he won't see coming," Erin explained.
Her grip on the steering wheel was so tight her knuckles were white. She was scared. There was no sense in denying it. Only a fool would sign their own death warrant and not be scared out of their wits. But, Erin had faced down a lot of things in her life. Never had more depended on her keeping it together, than now. Despite her natural fear, there was a kind of relief. When this was over, it would really be over. No soul. No body. No guilt. No anguish.
"And what won't he see coming?" Ruby asked from the backseat. Again, she was crammed as far over as she could get from Castiel. Even if he wasn't actively menacing her, being this close to an angel of the Lord wasn't exactly a day at the park.
"I'm going to do what Christian asked me to. I'm going to go over to the dark side."
"You expect him to buy that?" Sam asked incredulous. Erin shrugged.
"He expects us to pull some daring rescue attempt. What's the opposite of that? It's not surrender. It's changing teams. It's what he would do and that's going to confuse the crap out of him."
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em?" Ruby summarized.
"Not quite. I said I was going to change sides. I didn't say it was going to be his side."
"Okay, now even I'm confused," Sam said. Erin spared him a wicked grin.
"Take what ya can. Give nothing back."
Sam's face relaxed in an expression of realization and he gawked at the Immortal. In the rear view, Erin could see Ruby was as astounded as Sam. Castiel, however, looked contemplative.
"Pretend surrender, then trick him by usurping what he would have, for yourself. It's an interesting plan."
"Yeah, that's a word for it," Ruby scoffed.
"It's insane. I know. Go ahead, say it," Erin said. It was insane. Completely. And that meant it was unpredictable and it would scare the crap out of Ahriman.
"Of course. I am happy to say that, if that's what you want to hear. But that's not what I think," Castiel said.
Erin's eyebrow raised in surprise. She hadn't expected any of them to think this was a good idea, even if they would go along with it. Ruby just shook her head, she wasn't even this crazy. Sam looked at Cass, to Ruby and back to Erin and swallowed apprehensively. He'd have to trust her.
"Okay, so once you mind screw Ahriman, then what?" Sam asked.
"While he's trying to figure the whole thing out, Cass swoops in, grabs Dean, and then it's back to Plan A. I fight the bastard and relieve him of his head. Then, the rest is up to you."
Sam shook his head in wonder.
"This is either buckets of crazy… or genius."
"You'd be surprised how often the two coincide."
They drove for a few minutes in silence after that. Each of them contemplating their own place in all this. Ruby was, as always, trying to think three steps ahead so she could ensure her plan worked. Castiel was considering their failure and the inevitably bad end this was all going to come to. Sam was lost in his own guilt over letting Erin go to her death, Dean was not going to be happy and yet, Sam couldn't lose his brother.
"Sam?" Erin asked, her voice quiet.
"Yeah?" he responded, absently.
"You need to know what you're going to be dealing with once I take his head. I'm not just going to be possessed. It was a Dark Quickening that let a possession happen in the first place. Ahriman seems to have suppressed things so it's just him and Christian knocking around in there but he won't have the power he has now once he's trapped in me. The Dark Quickening may take over."
"Meaning?"
"Quickenings, souls…once they're taken they're …dormant. They have no influence on the personality of the person who took them. We gain power and knowledge but it's like getting a massive data dump in your head. But, with a Dark Quickening, the evil overwhelms you, I won't be able to fight it. Every head I've taken, every quickening from someone who was evil might surface, sometimes to the point that you end up with multiple personality disorder from hell. I don't know what or even who, I might be. Just…whatever I say and do after I take Christian's head… it's not really me. Make sure Dean knows that," Erin said.
"Sure," Sam agreed as Erin turned the car left, off the highway and on to a dirt path that was hidden by trees and darkness.
"Make sure Joe Dawson knows what happened. He'll know what to do with all my loose ends. Normally, my Watcher would do it but since mine's currently a cadaver, you just became an honorary one. And…," Erin paused a moment before continuing. "Burn the bodies. On a pyre."
Sam's eyebrows crinkled. "Why?" He knew Hunter's salted and burned the bodies of fallen Hunters to prevent them rising as ghosts or being turned to zombies by someone vile. He'd done it many times for friends and family. But, he hadn't heard many modern traditions that didn't involve cremation at a funeral home.
"Tradition," Erin answered. Sam looked thoughtful a moment.
"Never wondered why there are no Druid burial sites?"
"I will," Sam promised.
"End of the line," Erin said, throwing the car in park. Everybody blinked. She'd stopped in a tiny clearing. They couldn't see a bridge anywhere.
###
"Uh, this doesn't look like a bridge," Sam observed perplexed.
"It's close enough," Erin said exiting the vehicle. She left the driver's door open and the car running.
"Everybody out," she ordered. They obliged, if a bit bewildered.
"The bridge is two hundred, two hundred and fifty feet past the tree line," Erin said indicating the line of trees directly in front of the Mustang. It was so dark in the small glade, if not for the Mustang's head lights, they wouldn't have been able to see at all.
"We're far enough off Ahriman can't sense me and he can't see us. Cass, stay out of sight until you see an opening," Erin said. Cass nodded, though he knew, she already knew he would. It was a function of her fear. Making sure every piece was in place.
"Once I'm done with my end, well, I'll let you figure that part out because I doubt I'm going to be feeling very cooperative."
"So you're just gonna leave us down here while you go off and fight the big bad?" Ruby asked incredulous.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it," Erin confirmed. "It's Cass's job to get Dean out of there at the first opportunity. From there it's up to me to kill Ahriman. You, Dean and Sam, your job is to make sure you get the job done after I take his head."
Ruby threw her hands up in annoyance, stalking off to one side and crossing her arms over her chest. Erin wasn't fazed a bit.
"This is the part where I say something deep and meaningful but, uh, I can't think of anything," Erin admitted. She hated long drawn out goodbyes. All they did was drag out the pain. Besides she couldn't think of anything that hadn't already been said.
Castiel stepped forward, hesitant, looking for the words he wanted to say. Emotion didn't come easily for him, much less expressing it. It was something he was still very new to.
"I know you didn't want this," he said solemnly.
"Want it? No. But we, need it," Erin said.
Sam had said nothing. He entertained a pensive look for a moment then, using Castiel's conversation with Erin as a smoke screen, walked to the driver's side, pulled the trunk latch and headed for it. He began rummaging through the contents.
"For what it's worth, I would give anything not to have you do this," Cass confessed, his expression full of sorrow. Erin's throat tighten despite herself and she felt her eyes grow damp.
"Casualties of war, Cass. But…thank you," she said with a husky voice.
Castiel looked down at his shoes and Erin seemed awkward for a moment as they searched for what to do next. Erin hadn't expected Castiel to be so…open suddenly. Then her eyes landed on Ruby still standing off to one side petulantly.
"There is something you can do for me," Erin admitted. Ruby snorted in derision.
"What?"
"Make damn sure they find out what seal Lilith is going to break next."
Ruby looked surprised. It worked as an excellent concealment for the hilarity Erin's request caused her.
"Yeah, okay," she assented.
Sam had found what he wanted and closed the trunk with a quiet hand so as not to disturb the flow of talk going on.
"Thanks," Erin said uncomfortably. It wasn't the easiest thing to ask Ruby for her assistance in anything.
"No problem," Ruby said with an equal measure of discomfort.
"Is the moment over now?" Erin asked.
"Yeah."
"Good," Erin said relieved, casting about for Sam. She didn't see him anywhere. "Where's Sam?" she asked concerned. Ruby and Cass looked around and didn't see him either. The passenger side door on the Mustang slammed.
"Right here," came Sam's voice.
Confused Erin peered in through the driver's side. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of the car."
"No," Sam said resolutely.
Immediately, Erin turned to Cass. "Get him out of the car." Castiel looked torn. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on here.
"Sam, get out of the car. Don't be an idiot," Ruby snapped.
"No," came his reply.
"Cass make him get out," Erin insisted. Castiel shrugged his arms in an open gesture.
"Sam and Dean never do what they're told. It seems every time I ask them to do anything they do right the opposite."
Erin gave a frustrated huff. "Get out of the car Sam. We don't have time for this," she said leaning so she could see him through the open door. He leaned so he could see her.
"No, we don't. So get in the car."
Erin turned back to Cass with a plaintive look, exasperated. She even looked to Ruby for assistance. The demon was as at a loss as she was and Cass could only shake his head with the same exasperated expression. Blowing out a breath Erin submitted and got in the car, but she didn't close the door.
"Get out of the car," she said again.
"No," Sam said pulling out his handgun and checking the clip, then flipping it to hand it to her grip first. "You want to make this look good right? Well, it doesn't get better than having me as a hostage."
"No. Absolutely not," Erin said shaking her head vigorously.
"Dean's my brother. I'm going," Sam insisted pushing the gun at her. Erin just stared back at him in defiance. Sam sighed.
"Erin, it's like Dean said… we're not letting you walk into hell without some backup."
"No," Erin bit.
"We've been stuck in the same fox hole together for a week. You put people in a situation like that and something happens. Earlier tonight, in the kitchen, you and Dean, Cass. Dean trying to take your place. All of us trying to find a way out of this. That proves it.'
Erin still stared at him, her eyes boring holes in him.
"Family doesn't end with blood, Erin," Sam said sagely.
Erin was so touched and choked up she couldn't find words to express herself. Instead, she took the gun, tucking it in her waistband and said, "I could just knock you out."
Sam laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
Erin grinned wanly and shook her head.
"So are we gonna sit here all night, or are we gonna go save Dean?"
Erin said nothing, she just shut the car door and put the car in reverse.
###
Erin stopped the car at the entrance to the bridge, the Mustang's headlights illuminating the narrow strip of concrete in their glow. She put the car in park and glanced at Sam beside her. He looked ready to face down the devil himself.
"You know this could go very wrong," she pointed out.
"Me and Dean have pulled off harder than this," Sam countered undeterred. Erin gave him a skeptical look. Again, she tried to dissuade him. Bad enough that her fate had been sealed the moment she agreed and put on the ring; they didn't need to lose Sam too. This plan wasn't exactly flawless. It could go bad in a million different ways.
"We could all die."
"I'm not leaving you or my brother alone out there. You made your choice. I've made mine."
Erin sighed. He was right. What right did she have to stay him, when she'd fought for the right to give up her own life in this fight?
"You're out of your mind but…okay."
Sam grinned at her. "Then I'm in good company."
Erin gave him a wan smile in return. At once sublimely jealous and touched by the devotion Sam had for his brother and his brother for him. She should be so lucky. Their bond was all she'd hoped hers and Christian's would be. All she'd thought it was. "Dean's lucky to have you and you're lucky to have him. Never forget that." Before Sam could respond she stepped out of the car and pulled her sword from beside the driver's seat. Sam followed, shutting the door as quietly as possible. In the distance they could see the headlights of another car stopped on the opposite side of the bridge, obscured by the fog that had rolled in off the ocean so close to dawn. The light made the misty substance almost glow. Two human shaped figures could be seen making their shadowed way toward the center of the bridge.
Erin walked for the bridge, stopping just shy of where road stopped and the bridge started, worrying the hilt of her sword in her hand. She took a deep breath as Sam stepped up beside her. Somewhere she found her resolve and Sam watched as the vulnerable woman fell away, replaced with the weapon two thousand years of pain had wrought and Castiel had honed. The only thing that betrayed her was a slight shiver and sharpening of her eyes. Sam knew automatically she could feel Ahriman out there and he could feel her. That unknowable link between all Immortals zipping down the line to vibrate in her skull.
"When Dean is in the clear, get as far back as you can and stay there. Quickenings can be rather…explosive. No matter what I do or what I say, until one of our heads rolls, you have to trust me," she said looking at Sam with eyes that burned like cold flames. It was a little frightening. Sam swallowed and nodded.
"Wait for the opportune moment," Erin said ominously.
Then, her back straight and her gait sauntering, she strode out onto the bridge with all the arrogance and confidence of someone who knows they've already won. It was so convincing even Sam, striding at her side like they were in some whacked out version of a spaghetti western high noon show down, had a hard time reconciling what he knew to be true. That Erin, despite two thousand years of life and fighting, was scared out of her wits. He endeavored to assume as much of the same air as he could. In his opinion, he was much less successful.
They strode, there was no other word for it, down the middle of the bridge. Beyond, at the center, waited Ahriman and Dean. Even if they couldn't see their faces yet, it was easy to tell which one was which. Ahriman stood straight and tall, a hanger sword gripped firmly in his free hand. The other held up a flagging and battered Dean. He sagged on the bonds that held his wrists behind him, barely able to stand. Around them, the fog swirled with every step, puffing up to surround them like a wraith. If Sam hadn't been here, if this had been a movie, he'd have been laughing at how over the top it was.
When they were within visual distance of Ahriman and Dean, it became apparent how bad off Dean really was. Had Ahriman not been keeping Dean cruelly on his feet he'd have been on his knees. He was bloodied and broken, though, true to his word Dean wasn't dying—yet. His jaw was severely swollen and so was one of his eyes. It was patently obvious he was in a great deal of pain. It was hard to tell how much damage Dean had sustained but it was substantial. Sam fought not to look concerned. A brief glance at Erin proved that somehow, she hadn't batted even an eyelash at the sight of Dean pulverized like a spun glass figurine.
Again, Sam was struck by that little thread of fear. The knowledge that Erin hadn't lost a fight in two thousand years, that she'd been a brutal killer, a pirate and God only knew what else. That somewhere beneath the tough but still human façade lurked something as cold and calculating as Castiel when he was angry. That she was not completely human, no matter how strongly Immortals clung to their human halves. He tamped down on it and kept his face a mask of confident bravado. Within a few more paces, they were close enough for a voice to be heard if it were thrown.
"Heady tonic, holding life and death in the palm of one's hand."
It took a moment for Sam to realize the deepened contralto voice full of dripping grandiosity had come from Erin. They broke through the fog and looked directly at their adversary in that moment, Erin's voice never losing the completely fearless tone.
"I've been there. I know."
Ahriman sneered at them, wrenching Dean closer to him and bringing his sword up to Dean's throat. The sky was moonless but the cars' headlights glinted off the razor sharp edge of the blade lethally. Sam gulped discreetly in trepidation. Erin's eyes flickered briefly to the blade and then back to Ahriman with not a shade of emotion.
"Erin," Ahriman scoffed with disdain. "Even for you this is idiotic."
"Don't do it Erin," Dean pleaded in a muffled voice; his jaw so engorged it hindered his ability to speak properly. Erin favored him with a disturbingly snide smile and then forgot him. Sam was beginning to get truly worried. He knew what the plan was, but Erin was flirting with disaster.
"Is it?" Erin mocked and then tilted her head as if considering something. She looked alarmingly like a cat playing with a mouse before it pounces for the final kill. "Who am I talking to anyway? Ahriman? Christian? Or both?"
Ahriman looked at her askance, unable to believe that Erin was stupid enough to believe that she could save Dean in a head on confrontation with the likes of him.
"You don't believe I'll kill him?" Ahriman threatened, pulling the sword blade along Dean's throat so a thin trickle of blood was left in its wake. Dean grunted and gritted his teeth in anger and pain. Erin glanced at the injury and away without a thought. She huffed once and shrugged.
"Kill him."
Sam's eyes bugged in shock. Despite knowing the plan, despite knowing about Erin's subterfuge, the last thing he'd been expecting was for her to outright tell Ahriman to kill his brother flippantly. She'd told him to trust her but this was pushing it. Sam clenched his jaw and held his ground, casting his brother a worried look. Dean's good eye reflected it and confusion. His brother didn't know what to think. Frankly, neither did Sam.
Ahriman laughed. "You think I'd fall for that?"
Again, Erin shrugged, casually examining her sword blade and then propping on the pommel with her elbow. "Fall for it. Don't fall for it. Doesn't make a difference to me."
Ahriman's brow furrowed. He wasn't sure how to take that but the sword blade at Dean's throat never wavered. "You're serious?"
"Deadly," Erin said deadpan. Ahriman's eyes widened slightly and for a bare half a second the sword at Dean's throat tipped as if the demon was no longer so certain Erin wasn't bluffing him. Sam grabbed the tiny movement as a sign that Erin's ploy was working, though he was no longer certain on whose side Erin was playing, her performance was so convincing. "You see, I got to thinking about what Christian said. And he's right. Humans are short lived, weak, mortal. We are better than them. Always were. So go ahead kill him."
Ahriman's stance shifted an inch, wary and uncertain. The sword blade quivered again. Dean rolled his good eye at his brother in disbelief.
"In fact," Erin said standing on both feet again and pulling Sam's gun from the back of her waist band and cocking it so fast none of them saw it coming. She pointed it directly at Sam's heart. Sam stumbled back in surprise, his heart beat racing. "You can have this one too. Call it a…display of my intent."
Pain or no pain, now Dean was pissed, she'd betrayed them as far as he knew and she'd just handed his little brother over to a demon to be gutted. His eyes blazed and his teeth were bared. "You bitch." He snarled. Erin merely gave him a scornful look. She shifted her gaze back to Sam and looked at him expectantly. Sam moved with his hands up, he didn't have much choice even if Erin had switched sides. She could drop him like a stone right now and both he and Dean would be dead.
Slowly he made his way over to Ahriman's side of the bridge and to his utter disbelief, Ahriman let go of Dean. Sam stepped into the space it left, just behind his brother and moved to help him. Erin clicked her tongue in warning and Sam saw the gun was still leveled at him and his brother menacingly. "Uh uh," she warned in a sing song tone. Sam ceased his movement and Erin gave him a penetrating look. Sam tried to read it. Did she mean for him to stay where he was? Was there some reason she didn't want him aiding Dean? Whose side was she on? Had this whole mission been a cleverly constructed scheme? Sam no longer knew. Dean was on his knees, barely able to lift his head or remain upright but his anger at being betrayed fueled him.
"You back stabbing bitch," Dean growled. His voice made all the more bitter because he'd cared, he'd dared to even think he was in love with her. He'd been willing to die to save Erin and she'd betrayed them as utterly as he'd accused Christian of betraying her. Erin couldn't be bothered to give him the time of day. She ignored him like he wasn't even there.
Ahriman's raucous laughter drowned Dean out, vibrating in the stillness of the dark. "I knew you couldn't resist the temptation of real power," he said with a self-assured voice. He stepped a pace in front of Dean and Sam. Erin stepped a pace to the side, her arms wide and sword blade slack in a what-can-I-say motion.
"I remember what wielding power felt like with Trajan. All those years torturing and killing. But you and Christian," Erin said pausing to suck in a savoring breath as if her thoughts were pure bliss. Erin stepped backward a pace and unconsciously Ahriman stepped forward, keeping the distance between them even. "What you two are planning, now that's power. I want to taste that, to have that at my finger tips," she said casting Sam a brief glance.
Sam realized some part of Christian still had some control. He was reacting on instinct, never let your opponent get an advantage on you, never let them decide on the distance between you. He'd accepted that Erin didn't care if Dean and Sam lived or died. Now they were useless to him. As incapacitated and weaponless as they were, they weren't a danger in Ahriman's eyes. That left only her as a potential threat. Sam also realized Erin was manipulating that. She was drawing Ahriman away, one step at a time. She'd also positioned Sam and Dean within a breath of each other. When Cass saw an opening, they'd both be easy to retrieve and pull to safety.
Erin hadn't switched sides after all, it was all a very carefully executed dance. Dean however, didn't know it and Sam knew he couldn't tell him. Not now. It would blow their cover.
"After all we did. You spineless, gutless, bitch!" Dean snarled again. Erin ignored him, her eyes locked on Ahriman like a heat seeking missile.
Sam said nothing. He wasn't sure he could be convincing enough not to endanger their plan. But, Dean's anger and hurt were very real. His words only lent it credence. It was a good thing all Dean could do was rail or their whole plan would be blown. Sam knew he'd have tried to kill Erin himself then and there, if he'd been able to so much as lift a finger. Again, Sam wondered if Erin had planned it that way and thought, "Does she plan it all out in advance or does she just make it up as she goes along?"
"So you think you can just join me. Stand by my side and reign like warlords over the pathetic humans on this sad little planet?" Ahriman hissed with delight. Erin gave him a condescending tilt of her head.
"Oh no. Not at all. We both know the problem with power. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. I want it. But I don't share."
Ahriman gaped at her. "You really think you can kill me? You?" he derided. Erin gave him a mocking shrug and grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"Christian warned me you were a crafty little bitch. You had this planned all along didn't you? Foist off the Winchesters on me, have me kill them and then you kill me and take everything for yourself. Everything tied up nice and neat. Impressive. Where's the angel? Tell me, did you plan this with that slut demon of theirs?" Ahriman said with real admiration.
Erin stepped half sideways and half backward again. Predictably, Ahriman moved with her. Now he was three ample steps from Dean and Sam. She frowned. The last bit of the demon's monologue she hadn't been expecting but she went with it.
"He's…indisposed at the moment. And Ruby?" She snorted in derision. "No. I don't make deals with demons.
"What have you done to Cass?" Dean barked with a gasping breath. Still Erin ignored him. It dawned on Sam why she wouldn't acknowledge Dean. To do so might break her façade, she might show emotion and that would get them all killed. Ignoring him made it seem like she couldn't care less about him, when really it was everything but.
"So not only did you trick me, you tricked the Winchesters," Ahriman chuckled. "Oh what a tangled web we weave."
Erin moved again and Ahriman matched her, drifting further from Dean and Sam. "I was just waiting for the…opportune moment."
Opportune moment? Sam almost panicked. Erin had told him to wait for the opportune moment but what was he supposed to do? Frantically he tried to figure it out. Sam focused all his concentration on Ahriman willing his abilities to the surface. He was chock full of demon blood courtesy of Ruby. Maybe he could at least distract the demon.
"I apologize. I underestimated you," Ahriman said. Erin grinned wickedly. Sam reached out with his gift, grabbed the demon's essence and pulled for all he was worth. Ahriman's back bowed and he screamed in pain. It wasn't all Sam had hoped for but it was enough. He let go of the demon.
"Yes . You did," Erin bit. At that instant, a rush of air and the sound of rapidly beating wings was heard. Cass appeared, grabbed Sam and Dean and was gone.
Ahriman gaped, his head swiveling between where Sam and Dean had been, and Erin, in disbelief.
Erin shrugged dismissively as she dropped into a defensive stance. "I lied."
"Harridan!" Ahriman roared, enraged that he'd been played like a violin.
Erin gave him an icy glare, her sword swinging up. "You want me? Come and get me," she dared.
Anger blind, Ahriman eyes flipped to an enraged crimson and he rushed her as the first sounds of crossed blades rang out in the dark.
###
Castiel set Dean down as gently as possible in the sparse grass beside the Mustang. Sam's attention had been torn instantly between his brother, by whom he knelt, and the clang of metal coming from where they'd been only a second before. He caught sight of Ahriman running headlong into Erin. She deflected his crazed lunge and pivoted, causing the demon to overextend and stumble. She brought her own blade up and then down again in an arch for a strike, but Ahriman blocked her blade.
"Cass?" Dean rasped in astonishment. "You're alive?"
Sam returned his attention to his brother, who was clutching his ribs and panting in pain, too weak to stand. Castiel reached forward and touched him briefly on the forehead. In a blink, Dean's injuries disappeared, leaving him as hale and hearty as he'd been before Ahriman had laid hands on him.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Castiel asked innocently. Dean got to his feet still gaping at the angel.
"Erin said…I thought she killed you."
"Obviously you were mistaken," Castiel pointed out.
"Thank God for that. You got here just in time. The bitch fed us to Ahriman," Dean spat in fury.
"Dean," Sam said trying to cut short the impending tirade of Dean Winchester brand rage he knew was coming.
"She's been screwing us over from the jump. Man, when this is over I'll kill her myself," Dean continued. Castiel looked from Dean to Sam and back with mild surprise. Ruby, who hovered in the shadows, said nothing.
"Dean," Sam tried again. "She saved your ass." Dean swiveled around and gawked at his little brother.
"You call selling us out saving our asses?" he sputtered.
"She didn't sell us out, Dean," Sam tried to explain but his brother cut him off.
"Oh I'm sorry. No, she just tried to kill Cass and have us ganked to clear her path to world domination!"
"It was a con. We were all in on it," Sam pitched over his brother's raving. Dean stopped short, his mouth snapping shut for a moment.
"Wait. What?"
"Dude, she saved your ass," Sam repeated.
"But she said…," Dean started, confused.
"She said what it took to make Ahriman look left when she went right."
Dean paused a moment to absorb that, to really think about the circumstances.
"So let me get this straight," he said, "She Kansas City Shuffled-a demon?"
"Yeah, pretty much. It was the only thing she didn't think he'd see coming."
Dean thought about it a moment more as the guttural sounds of battle echoed down the bridge. "I didn't see it comin'," he admitted, then added after a beat, "I love that woman."
###
Erin's initial advantage over Ahriman due to his confusion and anger was fading fast and she'd yet to get in more than a handful of blows that would so much as make a fledgling Immortal stagger. She hadn't been able to get in close enough to use the dagger Cass had given her without giving herself away either and she was getting her ass kicked. Already a gash had healed over in her left upper arm, her sleeve soaked with blood, in her side was another, the flesh barely mended. Something had to give soon or she was done for.
Ahriman came in for another attack, his blade coming down in an overhead cut. Erin brought her blade up in an overhead block and caught the blade. She tried to force it away in a parry but Ahriman was determined the attack should succeed. He braced his sword arm with his free one, trying to use his body strength to shove Erin's blade down.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you," Ahriman spat.
Erin grabbed Ahriman's free arm and attempted to push him back. Ahriman had the choice of letting Erin's move win or releasing his grip on his sword arm. He let go and Erin immediately enveloped his blade, circling it with her own throwing it away from the line of attack. Ahriman stepped back with his heel to keep his balance and Erin shifted her grip on her sword, bringing the pommel up in a jab under Ahriman's chin and slamming hard into his jaw. Dazed Ahriman stumbled backward.
Immediately Erin swung for the demon's midsection but he'd recovered enough to narrowly avoid being gutted. Erin stepped in a cross over, retreating and circling her opponent. "You didn't really think it would be that easy did you?" she mocked.
"You might be clever Erin Morgan, but you haven't got the strength to win against me," Ahriman boasted and lunged.
Erin stepped out of the blades path and spun bringing her blade around in a sweeping motion so she'd already be en guarde when Ahriman regained his footing. But he'd stalled, stopping his momentum at the last second, and when Erin completed the spin he grabbed her wrist, wrenching it. She almost lost her hold on the blade but he pulled with such force he tossed her several feet. Erin rolled with it coming up on her feet and attacked him with a backswing as he advanced.
Ahriman had apparently regained enough composure to fight as a demon and not a human or an Immortal. With a gesture he picked Erin up and flung her back down the length of the bridge in the direction she'd come. She hit the ground like a ton of bricks, a sharp gasp escaping her. She coughed and choked, blood filling her mouth, and spit it out. The landing had broken bones she could tell.
Ahriman came striding down the bridge with a gleeful smirk.
###
At the end of the bridge, the others stood abreast, watching with rapt horror and fascination. This was how Immortals fought. It was brutal and it was bloody, albeit with less demonically fueled flying sessions.
"This isn't a fight, it's a massacre!" Dean exclaimed as Erin went sailing through the air like a thrown doll. Unconsciously he took a step forward, instinct driving him to intervene, to do something instead of just standing there like a bump on a log while Erin was pummeled. It was obvious she wasn't gaining any ground and she had already taken a beating that would have put down anyone but one of them.
Castiel's hand griped his shoulder firmly to stop him. "You cannot interfere."
Dean looked at him incredulous. "Why? Because of the Rules? Screw the Rules. She's going to get killed. I'm not an Immortal," he bit and made to shrug Cass's hand away.
"You really think you have a better chance against Ahriman than Erin does?" Sam admonished sadly.
Dean's face contorted in heartache. He knew he didn't, but it went against every fiber of his being to do nothing. It made his bones itch and set his teeth on edge. The woman he'd gone and stupidly fallen in love with was out there risking her life for innumerable others. How could he let her do it alone?
"It took guts for her and Sam to go out there and twist Ahriman into an emotional wreck to save you and you're going to throw it all away by barging back in, guns blazing, completely useless? There's gratitude for ya," Ruby snipped. Dean glared at her. Ruby gave him a smug grin back.
Dean's expression fell and he looked at Sam desperately. "How can we just stand here and watch? It goes against everything Dad ever taught us."
Sam looked as saddened as his brother. "Because we have no choice."
Not finding the response he was seeking from Sam, Dean looked at Cass in anguish. "She's going to die."
Castiel's gaze dropped to the ground, blue eyes shadowed with sorrow. "I know. We always knew."
All any of them could do was look on with pained faces as Erin coughed and spit blood. As Ahriman descended on her like a vulture.
###
Erin struggled to get up, trying to ignore the pain of shattered bone knowing it would knit. Blood stained her teeth and lips and her breath came in ragged gasps as Ahriman hovered over her, his sword raised for a killing blow. "Stupid girl. Christian, Dean, Sam. You're really willing to die to protect them. I told you, your sentimentality would be the death of you." He swung and Erin rolled to the side at the last second.
Ahriman's blade hit pavement with a shower of sparks. The demon bellowed in anger at being thwarted and whirled wildly around his sword striking steel with a resounding twang. Erin was already there.
Ahriman's mouth twisted into a demented sneer. Their blades were locked. Erin knew she didn't have a chance against Ahriman. Not when he could throw her around like a ragdoll. A direct attack wasn't working. But Ahriman wasn't the only one in the body she fought. If she could coax Christian out she had a chance.
"Come on. Don't you want a piece of me?" she teased.
Ahriman gave her a contorted smile, his eyes still red as blood. "I've already got a piece of you."
"I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to Christian," Erin said looking him steadfastly in the eye.
Ahriman pushed with his blade forcing Erin to disengage and circle again, looking for an opening. "Sorry. He's not home right now."
"Oh yes he is," Erin snapped. "Seems I was right after all wasn't I, Christian. Hiding behind a demon? Are you that scared you'll lose? Or are you just a coward?" she provoked deliberately, speaking to her brother, whom she knew still lurked inside his body, still watched, hidden somewhere in the recesses of his mind.
For a moment, Ahriman's eyes flicked back to normal, Christian's blue ones taking over and then the demon wrenched back control. Clenching his fist, Ahriman struck out, grabbing something inside Erin and twisting. She groaned in pain, her knees starting to buckle as her heart and lungs seized then he flicked his wrist. Erin skittered across the bridge, her back hitting the cement railing and nearly flipping over it to fall in the channel below. Ahriman 'jumped' from his place across the bridge's narrow expanse to right by her side, his blade pressing down on hers across her throat. Erin griped her blade, narrowly keeping the demon from beheading her with her own sword.
"You can't fight your own battles, Christian. You never could. That's why I had to do it for you," Erin grunted still trying to draw Christian out.
Ahriman grimaced and pushed harder on the blade. Erin's brushed her throat dangerously close, leaving a thin line of blood. "It's not going to work Erin," Ahriman told her.
"This isn't how it's done. You know the Rules. You think I smothered you, that I should have let you fight your own battles? Then prove it. Fight me, Christian," Erin kept trying, ignoring the demon's insistence that it wouldn't succeed.
###
"She losing," Sam hissed worriedly. They could all see Erin pinned like a fly to the bridge railing, perilously close to losing her head.
"Have faith, Sam," Castiel encouraged him.
Dean scoffed, "In what? That she can get her head hacked off?" Castiel turned his head and pinned him with a steely look.
"Erin is a seasoned Immortal. She lives by the sword, you don't."
"Yeah and now she's going to die by it!" Dean exclaimed.
"She's a weapon, a finely honed one. Immortals don't fight by force alone. Have faith. She will win," Castiel reiterated. He refused to consider otherwise. He couldn't, the alternative was unthinkable. Ahriman free to wreck havoc over the world and no one able to stop him. The idea was chilling.
"Glad you believe. But Erin is getting her ass handed to her," Ruby put in. Castiel gave her a sidelong glance of wrath and she dropped into silence. Her plan had gone too well up until now for her to risk getting smote because she'd pissed off the nerd angel but, she had a valid point she thought.
"Once Erin has taken Christian's head she'll be vulnerable for only a few moments after the quickening. We'll have to restrain her before she regains control," Castiel said, refusing to entertain the notion that Erin might still lose. Discussing instead what they had to do once she won.
"If she even gets that far," Sam said, pointing toward the fight. Erin was still trapped against the railing, trying desperately to keep her own blade from slicing her head off like a Guilllotine.
"What do we do if she loses?" Dean asked fearfully.
"Pray it doesn't come to that," Castiel advised him.
Dean swallowed apprehensively. He had a feeling that might actually be a good idea. He didn't want to consider what would happen if Erin lost. Castiel's avoidance of a direct answer alluded to the horror it would be.
###
Ahriman's eyes flickered, red, human, red, human. Christian was fighting him for control. His face convulsed with the effort it took to keep his hold on the host he was in, but the sheer strength he was exuding trying to chop Erin's head off kept his blade down on hers. Then, Christian's will overpowered Ahriman's and the weight on his blade let up. Erin pulled herself out from under it and danced away.
When he turned to face her, still poised to fight, it was Christian's face she looked into, three hundred years of resentment and reined in spite drawn in the lines of his frowning mouth, the cold blue of his eyes.
Erin looked back at him with deep sorrow and regret. "I know you hate me. If I could do it all over, go back and change it, I would. But I can't."
"Too little, too late," Christian growled, closing the distance between them and engaging her blade. Erin parried and struck back. He matched her. His movements were more fluid that Ahriman's had been, displaying the grace and agility of someone who'd been taught how to handle a sword well. Erin knew she could beat Christian when she couldn't beat Ahriman. The only question left was did she want to?
"I was so busy trying to protect you, I didn't see what it was doing to you. For that I'm sorry," She said her blade bound to his. He cast it off.
"You should have trusted me. You should have had faith in me," Christian bit, thrusting his blade into the open space his parry had left. Erin slide her sword down the length of his with a shing, and tossed it out of the attack line then twisted again, slicing across his arm and leaving a deep gash. He yelped with pain but even as he did so, the cut healed.
Erin's face clenched with heartache. "I know."
###
The others watched as the tide turned.
"That's not Ahriman, it's Christian," Sam said, noticing the change in how he moved, the anguish Erin displayed visible even at this distance.
They were no longer watching a battle between a demon and a nephilim. They weren't even watching a battle between two Immortals, not really. They were watching one sibling kill the other.
"The sinner shall rise and slay their brother," Castiel murmured with reverence and sorrow. Sam and Dean exchanged a pained look, none of Cass's melancholy awe in their expressions. For them this was a tragedy. One they'd managed to stave off many times before in their own lives, one sibling having to kill the other for the greater good.
Neither had to ask what the other was thinking. In the end, would they end up the same way as Erin and Christian? Was it inevitable?
###
Erin and Christian traded blows, first one driving the other then changing places. Erin had a purpose; she needed her brother to know, even if he'd never understand, that she was sorry. She was also wearing him down but she didn't know how long he could keep control away from Ahriman. He had to be battering around in Christian's skull in a rage. This would have to end quickly.
"You aren't sorry. You just wanted to be the one in control! The one with the power," Christian spat his voice full of scorn, coming at her with a flurry of blows.
"It was never about power, Christian. It was about family. You protect family," Erin said ducking him. He advanced again and Erin counter attacked, forcing him to block or be skewered.
"Like you're protecting your new little family? You're going to give your life to protect some pathetic humans? In sixty years they won't even be alive!" he bit disdainfully, looking for a new opening.
Erin was faced with a problem, she could wear him down but she still didn't have a way to get to him with the dagger before she tried for his head. Their sword blades kept them too far apart and she couldn't kill him until she'd gotten him with the dagger. She had a thought, then quickly hid it before Christian could read her expression and discover what she intended to do.
"That's what family does. That's what you never understood. My life was forfeit the moment I realized you'd chosen a demon over me," Erin said attacking him again. This time she came in fast and hard, forcing him to fight without thinking, to rely on everything she'd taught him. The sword knows what it wants to do, don't fight it, she'd once told him.
Christian fought back, blocking and parrying until he saw an opening. One Erin deliberately gave him. He spun out of the line of attack and back in, ducking low and cutting across the back of her knees, hamstringing her as she had done to Trajan two thousand years ago. It was the only effective counter attack he could use and she had known it.
Erin sank to the ground on her knees, her legs cut out from under her, at Christian's mercy.
###
Dean's heart stopped and he leapt forward. Erin was on her knees, helpless. She'd lost.
"No!" he cried out.
Only Castiel's arm across his chest like a steel bar kept Dean from rushing out there onto the bridge to try and stop Christian. Beside him, Sam's jaw was slack with horror and doom. Even Ruby was in a state of shock, she'd been certain Erin would win. Castiel's face was unreadable.
"Wait," Cass commanded.
###
Christian raised his blade for the deathblow. Erin's gazed up at him, panting and in pain. Surreptitiously she worked her left hand down her leg toward her ankle.
"It was always about power," Christian snarled and brought the blade down. Erin's right arm arced back, catching Christian's blade behind her head with her own and her other came up and out like a snake striking. She shoved the dagger Cass had given her, kept sheathed in her boot until now, up under Christian's sternum and into his heart. Where it struck there was a small electrical burst and then nothing. With little more than a spark, Ahriman's and Christian's invincibility had been nullified. Erin had been expecting something more…spectacular, to be honest.
Christian's eyes went wide as saucers in disbelief; he gazed down at his abdomen like he couldn't understand what he was seeing.
"I learned that from Methos," Erin said, still on her knees.
Christian raised his head and looked at her, his mouth gaping. "You cheated," he gasped as the sword fell useless from his hands to the pavement with a clatter. He sank to the ground beside her, his hands clutching feebly at the dagger buried in him, blood seeping from around the blade.
"There's no such thing as a fair fight, Christian," Erin said sadly, struggling to her feet. Her legs worked again but she was still wobbly.
"But the Rules…," Christian rasped. He was fading quickly. His heart was unable to circulate enough blood to keep him alive and unable to heal itself, all his advantage with a demon inside of him gone.
"The Game has always been about survival. You know that," Erin said stepping up beside him.
"So this is how it ends? You chose Dean and Sam Winchester over me? So much for family," Christian bit between pants of pain.
"Family, Christian? You don't know the meaning of the word. I'm saving you the only way I have left," Erin breathed, raising her sword with tears in her eyes.
"This is your salvation? You've a cruel mind Erin," Christian hissed. Erin tightened her grip on the pommel.
"Cruel is a matter of perspective. You forgot the most important rule. In the end… there can be only one," Erin said in a whisper, her voice breaking. Then, she brought the blade down, severing Christian's head from his neck.
She dropped her sword, her jaw clenched in anguish and grief, waiting for what she knew would come.
###
The others looked on in thrilled shock as Erin pulled another last second save out of her hat. Then Dean and Sam winced, and looked away, unable to watch a sister kill her brother. Castiel's face was still unreadable, but his eyes told the story well enough. He knew he was watching whatever remnant of Erin there was left, die with Christian.
There was an odd, unnatural silence once Erin's blade passed through Christian's neck and his head rolled. None of the normal sounds of insects or night birds, not even the sound of the ocean could be heard.
"I'll be damned. She did it!" Ruby whooped. The other three threw her a castigating look. Ruby was mystified. "We won!"
"Nobody won," Dean said tightly. Sam's brow furrowed and his mouth was taut with sympathy. He made to go out on the bridge, to go to Erin's aid, but, it was Dean, who had formerly been so desperate to do the same, who grabbed his arm, stalling him.
"You do not want to be out there in the middle of a Quickening. Trust me," he said. Sam stepped reluctantly back. He didn't understand why Dean was stopping him now. Dean motioned with his head out to the bridge and Sam turned his gaze back.
A hum started from somewhere, maybe everywhere, building from a sound that was almost imperceptible to human ears until it was like a live power line arcing. The middle of the bridge was slowly becoming covered in a mildly glowing mist that seemed to be emanating from Christian's headless body. Erin was looking down at it as if it were an encroaching tide of acid, taking one unsteady step back at a time, almost as if she was afraid to let it touch her.
Threads of red-tinged electricity crawled haphazardly over Christian's inert form, growing larger and slithering across the ground as if they were in search of something. Erin kept backing away. The tendrils swarmed over Christian's sword, then Erin's, spiraling hungrily down the blades to the hilts like it was a living thing that had expected something to be there that wasn't. It hissed and popped angrily, then shot off in a many-fingered arc finding what it sought.
The bright red coil wrapped itself around one of Erin's legs and she stiffened as anyone suddenly caught in the grasp of the equivalent of five hundred thousand volts of electricity would. Overhead, thunder clapped with abrupt suddenness, clouds that hadn't been there before darkening and roiling, casting what wan predawn light there was back into darkness. Bright blue-white lightning chased over the belly of the clouds, crackling wildly. Sam could feel the charge in the air, the hairs on his arms standing on end.
A crimson thread swelled and branched off striking Erin in the torso and she screamed, back arching, arms flung wide, her head tossed back as the Quickening built and ravaged her. There was something disturbingly wrong with the angry glow of the energy. Black smoke rose, hellborn, from Christian's form and flowed like lava over the ground seeking out a new host.
Lightning struck down from the sky like a great spear thrown from Heaven with a tremendous boom. It entered through Erin's back and lifted her off the ground. She still screamed. In anguish or in pain, Sam could only guess. Then, the real fireworks started.
None of them could move. They were frozen in place. Even Dean and Cass, who knew what a Quickening was. Dean had at least seen one on TV and Cass must have seen many throughout his unknowably long life. But still they stood wide eyed in awe as red energy mixed with the blue- white from the lightning and arched off Erin, racing down the bridge and jumping along the railing on unseen lines. The black smoke swirled up into the air, questing. It closed around Erin, spiraling in an ominous dark miasma.
The sound alone was deafening. Some of the tendrils split off striking trees near the bridge and setting them alight. One hit a nearby power line exploding the transformer with a sonic bang. They all flinched, ducking to avoid anything that might strike them. Other erratically crackling tongues of energy roved unchecked, setting even the pavement on fire. Sam could only gape.
The black smoke worked its way up to Erin's head, her mouth open in a scream and forced itself down her throat. Red electricity blazed through the blanket it laid. A huge vine of bluish white-red energy licked over the end of the bridge, jumping from railing to tree and then over their heads, striking the Mustang and threading out over it. All the windows burst at once, sending shards of glass everywhere.
The foursome broke apart to avoid being pierced by the flying razors and threw their gazes back to the center of the bridge. Dean's expression was tortured, his jaw set and his eyes pained. Cass looked utterly torn. Ruby seemed more like she was watching the best movie ever. Had Sam been able to see his own face, he would have seen his forehead wrinkled and his expression empathetic and horrified. Erin was being forcibly possessed by Ahriman while at the same time absorbing the Quickening, the soul, of Christian and every other Immortal he'd ever killed. All of them twisted and warped beyond recognition into a Dark Quickening.
The smoke, Ahriman in his true form, was still snaking his way inside Erin. Then, suddenly, the smoke jerked as if something had a hold on the end already inside her. It flailed wildly, trying to back out. The glyphs the ring had made under Erin's skin, on her bones, blazed pure white. Brighter than all the electricity running rampant over her body and anything else it could get to. Ahriman gave one last desperate jerk and was sucked in. The glyphs faded. A final branch of red light snapped up from Christian to whip around Erin and across her skull like a fiery hand, fingers gouging into her eyes and invading her mouth. Somehow she still managed a heart rending howl.
With no warning, the lightning from the sky dissipated, leaving Erin suspended only by the blood red tendrils that held her like an angry fist. Then, they too disappeared and she fell, striking the pavement with a heavy thud and didn't move. The clouds receded as if they'd been drawn back like curtains by an unseen hand, leaving the sky clear and star-studded again. The first light of Dawn peered over the trees on the other side of the bridge.
The fire still blazed on the bridge. It swarmed too high for Dean or Sam to dare try to pass through it. Cass stepped forward, striding out on the bridge and blinked out in mid-step, reappearing beside Erin. With a downward motion of his hand, the fire on the bridge tamped itself out, though the inferno around them still burned. Dean, Sam and Ruby raced for Erin's fallen form.