Honourable Mentions:
Kiss4Angelz: Don't fall off your chair, you won't be able to keep reading if you injure yourself lol But thank you :D
Keefer: Things get worse before they get better ;)
WhatTheF-ckHaveYouDoneLately: Welcome back! Lol
Haniel strolled along the broken path leading through the cemetery, his hands in the pockets of his white overcoat, gloved in leather and doing all they could to avoid twitching in excitement. Crowley sat before the large gateway, busily reading from the tome Haniel had provided for him, Zeruch standing directly behind to oversee the progress. It was all coming together, majority of the sacrifices had been made, bodies piled high in front of the door, rancid and ready.
The demon chanted the last piece, the emphasis he put into it showed his eagerness to see everything come undone. Haniel watched as that familiar grin crept onto his lips, the cruel one that failed to hide any of his intentions. Crowley looked up toward the gates, waiting patiently for something, anything to happen. But nothing did.
"How are things?" Haniel smiled, cold eyes sweeping over the book as he stepped in front of the demon's concerned gaze.
"Well you tell me," Crowley looked up with a furrowed brow, "This is your ancient magic, should something have happened already? How does this work?"
"Soon." The ex-angel waved a finger, kneeling down across from his business partner, "When it starts to open we'll know, it takes a bit for things to get moving. I still need to add your and Zeruch's blood to the mix and one more sacrifice."
"And then what happens?" Crowley seemed a bit annoyed though he hadn't snapped yet, which was something he usually did when pissed off so Haniel wasn't too concerned.
"And then the timer counts down." Long slender fingers trailed across the edge of the book before Haniel pulled it closer to himself. "Each soul that is meant as a sacrifice will be sucked inside, one by one until they've all been assimilated by the gates. When that happens it will start to open. Should take about week."
"Sounds long and tedious." Crowley frowned, the creases in his features darkening as he thought it over, "Any way to quicken the process?"
"Rumour has it that mixing in the soul of a local speeds it up to be only half a day." As Crowley slowly lifted his gaze to view Haniel's face he felt a tremble of fear run down his spine, the demented look in those calculating eyes and the sneer accompanying them made him want to vomit. But he didn't get the chance. The world seemed to spin all at once and while he tried to focus on anything he realized he was staring up at the ceiling, Zeruch's bloodied blade lowering in a strange arch, or it looked strange from his vantage. The sword glimmered before vanishing, made up of pure energy and more than capable of killing any demon it'd come across. He tried to speak but no words came out, tried to move but his body wouldn't respond.
And then Crowley realized it; his head was no longer attached.
Haniel had risen and walked across the room, his boot coming down on the fragile skull of his enemy, a sick chuckle escaping him as he listened to the crunch, feeling the bone crack and splinter beneath his weight. "Goodbye, you little stain."
Zeruch looked at the bodies for a moment, all piled and rotting unusually quickly. He figured it was because of where they were located, directly in front of the door to damnation. He lifted his forearm and slit it easily with the tip of his middle finger, holding it over Crowley's body and letting their blood mix. "I don't know if I want to know, but I'll ask anyway."
The sound of his angel's partial annoyance caught Haniel by a bit of surprise, brown eyes flicking up to view the golden haired man's posture. Trying to read into it. "Ask away," he prodded gently, calmly strolling around to see Zeruch's face a little better.
"When hell opens, what do we do? What then?"
"Then we watch." Haniel's expression remained in his usual neutral though his eyes darkened in something that Zeruch wished he could understand. Something had broken in his leader, a long time ago it had broken but now it was shattered. Haniel was twisted past the angel he would have been, or should have been. "Watch and see how it ends."
"What makes you think it will end?" Zeruch didn't rightly feel like stopping any of it at that point, majority of the angels that followed the seraph didn't know half the things Zeruch did, and despite knowing he didn't alter his path. Haniel was looking to take the world down with him and after losing Rochel Zeruch didn't want to continue. If the other had a plan to finish it all then he'd follow anyway.
"I don't know that it will, I just think it might." Haniel ran his hand along the gate, feeling the reverberations below his fingertips. "It's ready. Let's go, there's a man I need to see before all of this." He walked across to Zeruch's side and in a flash they were gone.
Chuck fell back against a wall and exhaled heavily, feeling a massive strain on his entire consciousness as he worked. Nothing about what he was doing was easy and Lucifer's power was hardly sufficient to pull it off but it was better than nothing. If he'd had his own strength he'd have been long done by now, but he was without that luxury now. "C'mon tough guy, just a little longer and you can solve all of this." He muttered to himself, pushing back up and moving back toward his creation when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Solve it all, hmm?" Haniel's disturbingly casual voice shook Chuck down to the bone.
"Haniel-AGH!" Chuck cried out when he felt the crushing grip on his limb, Zeruch was obviously present and he wasn't being too friendly, bringing his father down to his knees. "Jesus!" Chuck cursed, or what would normally be a curse. From him no one was entirely sure. "What are you-"
Haniel covered his mouth and smiled, "After all of this time you have the nerve to use my name? I don't think so, let's take a moment now to show you something." His hand slipped away from Chuck's mouth and motioned toward Zeruch who swiftly gathered them both up and transported them, flying over the city where the last battle had taken place.
Chuck looked below and tried to turn away though a rough hand on his face forced his attention back down. He would have fought against it except the grace he'd taken from Lucifer was in use and no longer inside him. He felt an ache in his chest as he gazed below. The bodies of the dead had been gathered by the angels, the corpses from all over the world were piled high in a sick display.
"Do you know what you're seeing?" Haniel asked, his eyes drifting down to view the summit of their mountain of death. "It's a show for you, Father. Can you see it? What we've done?"
"You did this." Chuck snapped, his teeth grinding together as he fought against his stomach that demanded he wretch at the sight. "You started all of this! And for what?" He shot his glare toward the smiling twisted man, "What are you getting from this?"
"The satisfaction to know you finally realize that we're here."
"I always knew you were there, Haniel." Chuck tried to say though the snarling growl his words had gotten him silenced him for a moment longer.
"Then you're a bigger fool than I thought." And just like that Haniel's anger vanished, or at least from view, that smile had returned and his almost innocent tone seemed all the more rotten knowing everything he'd been doing. "Regardless, it's all done and over with. I just wanted you to see it."
"What now?" Chuck dared to ask.
"Everyone's been asking me that lately," Haniel shrugged, "You'd think people would be more creative with their answers, or maybe smarter to see where I'm going with all of this."
"Do you even know where you're going with all of this?"
"Can't say that I do. But I do have an answer for your question," Haniel glanced at Zeruch who made a landing nearby the base of the bodies. "It's time to display what I've learned as the Gates' keeper and the one in charge of disciplining the other angels."
The hunt was on and everyone was busy getting ready, Sam had gotten everyone prepared, as many as were available to fight. It wasn't going to many, that was for sure. Only the strongest angels were able to get their powers back up high enough to make a difference in the upcoming fight. It was scary, Sam knew, but they'd have to do what they could. The world was going to be hit harder than angels could accomplish, even if only half the planet remained the humans that were left needed them.
"Looks like it's just us," Sam looked over the team assembled, the usual suspects staring back at him. Michael reached over and took Bela's nervous hand, her eyes darting to his and watching the calming way he smiled to her, his composure definitely helped in the situation. Garth gave a salute, Balthazar responded with a short wave. Raphael and Annie nodded firmly. Sam's gaze shifted to the other side of the room, catching Jet's smirk and Camael's stiff and subtle shift of agreement. Rochel didn't do anything other than stare, though his eye contact was fierce and Sam didn't make a point of challenging it for long, finally exchanging a glance with Dean and Castiel, the two strongest their team had to offer.
"We confront Haniel, take him out if introducing Rochel doesn't work." Dean said simply, "Sounds like a piece of cake."
"Sounds like," Sam furrowed his brow, "Doesn't mean it will be. We don't know what state Zeruch's in, we don't know if he'll be in his right head and will recognize Rochel so be prepared for the worst, alright?"
"Right, right." Dean waved his hand, "So-"
"Guys!" Anna shoved the door open, her hair a slightly frazzled, eyes wide and frantic as they darted around the room. "I just saw something." Lucifer entered after her, apparently having decided to spend time with his sister for the last little while.
"What?" Dean, Sam and Jet all said in unison, the Winchesters glancing at their new addition to the 'no-patience' club before looking back at Anna, who seemed unfazed by their outburst.
"Chuck, Haniel's got Chuck!" She looked terrified, like she was about to fall into hysterics at any moment. "I saw it, I don't know how… Through our bond I felt it and when I looked… Haniel's torturing him. We have to save him! He's just as important as stopping the gates!"
Sam looked stuck for a moment but this was no longer fully his decision to make. "Of course," Castiel stepped forward and touched her shoulder gently to calm her, "Dean and I will accompany you, the rest," he looked at them, "Go with Sam to the gates, figure out how to stop it."
"We should come with you," Balthazar insisted, his eyes showing the concern he tried to hide in his voice. "You can't take Haniel on your own."
"Only we can," Castiel looked determinedly stern as he locked gazes with his long-time friend, "There's nothing more you can do against Haniel, just go with the others, guaranteed he'll have the gates guarded."
Balthazar looked like he was going to protest but nodded; Castiel knew what he was doing. Jet looked over at Dean to see if he agreed with his angel's decision and saw no doubts there. "Sounds good enough to me, Anna you can carry Dean, Cas, and Rochel with you?"
"Definitely." She looked anxious to go and no one could really blame her.
"Then go." Jet gave them a wave, "We'll take care of the gate but you guys better kill that bastard for the rest of us."
"You know we will, man." Dean pat him on the back, knowing that there were a lot of people who would like to go after Haniel, Sam and Gabriel in particular who had a run in with them much earlier on. "Give 'em hell."
"Funny guy." Jet smirked.
Anna gathered them up and took off, not bothering for the prolonged goodbyes. Sam looked over at Gabriel nervously, all of them were starting to feel like there was something wrong with the set up.
"Why would he start the gate thing and then take off to bother Chuck?" Gabriel finally asked as the angels started to get ready for whatever was coming up, their angelic armour glistening brilliantly even in the artificial lighting. "And why are these things always so goddamn shiny?"
"It's to distract the kids with ADD," Balthazar grinned. "Which I'm starting to think Haniel might have."
"Funny," Michael mused solemnly, his eyes darkened with the thoughts of everything that was coming down on them. "I really don't think Haniel has a method for any of this. He's just literally screwing around to see how bad he can make things."
"Which I think is far scarier than anything else," Raphael added, "With most evil people you have an idea as to why they're doing it, their motive. Haniel's just insane."
Lucifer walked in and leaned against the doorway, watching his brothers for a moment before speaking up, "I want to come with."
Michael looked at him seriously, "You're useless right now, Lucifer. You'll just get yourself killed."
"Hell is my domain, you'll need me to be able to close the door if it opens, or if it's open already. If Haniel's abandoned it that means he's done there, doesn't it?"
No one spoke for a few seconds, glanced exchanged before Gabriel looked up, "Then you'll have to come, but just remember that it's going to be insane over there."
"I'm aware." Lucifer nodded, his hand twitching nervously, something that the other archangels noticed immediately. He was scared, of whatever was about to happen, he was scared. "But I have to do this."
Michael walked over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "So be it."
Author's Notes:
Heya guys, sorry for the late updates. School is kicking my ass all over the globe. I stole the time to write this because work no longer has internet so I can't do this at work anymore :( sad faces all around over here because that was the only time I had to do this! I am trying so hard to keep these interesting and I hope you're all still in it, the end is rolling up and it's close ish? I think? I don't know how long it'll take to get there from where we are because I tend to add random crap lol
Anyway please review and give me love because I'm starting to think you all will abandon after it's taking me so long.