Chapter 28
Then:
Cola gives his usual excited greeting, leaping up and licking my knuckles until I kneel down and hug the tiny terrier tightly, scratching behind his ears.
"Hey, boy, did you miss me?" He barks in affirmation.
"He's not the only one," Gabriel admits when I finally let go of Cola and get to my feet again, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "You okay?"
"I will be," I answer honestly. It feels as though I'm never going to be okay again, though, but I know better. I know I'll see Adam again someday if Michael did keep his word, and at least now I'm safe at home with my idiot big brother.
I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.
Now:
We start trying to track Castiel the next day. It had been a pure fluke the last time we had found him; Sam had called us when Castiel had appeared. But weeks go by without any sign at all of the wayward angel, and before I know it, it's nearly the end of April. The weather's gotten warmer, flowers have begun to appear on the trees, and Castiel is nowhere to be found.
"You know, we might have to consider that he could be-" Gabriel begins one day.
"Not unless there's proof." We've had this conversation several times before, and my answer's always the same. "And wouldn't we have found him if he was dead?"
"Not necessarily." Gabriel shuts the book on summoning spells and snaps his fingers. A few bundles of herbs and vials of ingredients appear on the table. "He could have just dissipated if he was pure energy at the time."
"That's reassuring," I deadpan as he pours the ingredients in varying measures into a small clay bowl, draws a few sigils in chalk onto the bowl's side, and tosses a lit match in. A cloud of purple acrid smoke goes up, but there's no other reaction.
"Well, that's the last spell I know." Gabriel grimaces as he sits back in his chair, clearing up the remnants of the spell with a wave of his hand. "We're not gonna get a hold of Castiel unless he contacts us somehow."
"Awesome." I pinch the bridge of my nose as worry sets in for the hundredth time that day. Sam and Dean haven't called in a few days, either, which doesn't really make me feel any better.
"Hey. We'll find him." Gabriel squeezes my shoulder before gathering the books on the table and setting about putting them back. I can only hope he's right.
It doesn't escape me that I hardly give anything back to Gabriel, for all that he's given me: a home, a family, someone to call on if I'm in trouble, the list goes on. I feel selfish for it, though, and to make up for it, I try doing little things like offering to make chocolate chip pancakes when I know he can zap them up himself if he so chooses, or asking him to teach me more Enochian, which I've almost completely got the hang of. It doesn't ever seem like enough.
Finally, one day not long after we give up on tracking Castiel down, I get my chance to give back.
It's the middle of the afternoon, but the dark gray clouds outside make it look like nighttime. It's raining hard and thundering loudly, lightning flashing every now and then as I make my way in to search for Gabriel. I find him sitting at the window, lightning illuminating his outline briefly before darkness takes over again. Every light in the library's off and I decide not to turn them on as I sit across Gabriel on the window-seat.
He looks up when he registers my presence, smiling wryly. "Hey."
"Hi." I nudge my foot against his. "You okay? You don't usually mope in the dark."
"I'm not moping." He looks affronted.
"Dude, the lights are off and you're staring out the window. You are so moping."
He makes a face at me. "I'm fine, Ariel."
"You don't look fine to me." I shuffle over until I'm leaning against him, and he wraps an arm around my waist, resting his chin on top of mine.
"Just thinking about a few things."
"Like what?" I prompt and he pokes my side.
"Drop it, kid."
"And if I don't?" I raise an eyebrow up at him.
He rolls his eyes. "Pushy." I grin and lean back against his chest. "It's just the usual. I left Heaven to get away from the fighting and now I'm back in it, and I have to be in between Michael and Lucifer, just like before."
"And that's 'cause of me, isn't it?" His hand is near mine, so I let our fingers intertwine. "If I hadn't come back-"
"Don't go there," he cuts me off sternly, "I'm glad you're here, and I wouldn't have you anywhere else. And I would've been drawn back into the fight sooner or later, whether you were here or not. You just sort of...moved things along faster, I guess."
"Sorry," I mumble.
"Don't be. Love you." He presses a kiss to the top of my head and falls silent again, tilting his head to stare out the window.
I watch the raindrops slide down the glass before looking back up at Gabriel. "For what it's worth, I love you, too."
He glances down at me, brown-gold eyes shining in the darkness as he smiles faintly. "It's worth everything, trust me." We settle for watching the storm outside in contented silence.
Everything changes when Gabriel gets a phone call while I'm skimming through a book on different herbs aimlessly in the kitchen. His expression is tense, his responses clipped, and I look up as he snaps his phone shut.
"Who was that?" I've never heard him sound so irritated before.
"Kali." The Hindu goddess of destruction? "There's a Pagan meeting, let's go."
"Why am I coming?" I demand even as I get up. I know about his life as Loki, but I'm surprised he's dragging me into it when he tends to keep me out most of the time.
"Because the reason they've called the meeting is because they've captured Michael and Lucifer's vessels."
It takes a moment to sink in. "They've got Sam and Dean?" I realize.
"Yep." Gabriel grasps my shoulder and I'm in an opulent hotel room the next second. "Wait here." He then disappears and I sit down at the edge of one of the beds. I can see Sam and Dean's duffel bags in the corner, which gives me some sort of relief. The next second, the owners of those bags pop in, looking angry and shocked.
"Okay, did that just - holy crap," Dean says first, sounding as if he's surprised at the sound of his own voice.
"Yeah, tell me about it," Sam adds, grimacing, and then sees me. "Ariel!"
"Hey." I wave at him and allow him to engulf me in a hug. At least I expect it this time.
"What the hell's going on?" Dean demands the instant Sam lets go.
"Hell if I know." I shrug. "All Gabriel tells me is that there's some kind of Pagan meeting and you two are here, so we should get going, and then I'm here and he's off doing something else."
"Yeah, apparently he's masquerading as Loki downstairs." I guess I should've expected that. "Wait, did you know about this?"
"Dude, my brother's been a Trickster for the past couple hundred years." I raise an eyebrow. "Of course he had to create an alias for himself. You guys have any idea what's happening?"
"Hey, all we know is that the storm of the century's going on outside-" Sam gestures to the pouring rain outside. "-and we pulled in here to get out of the bad weather, and then all this crazy shit started." He turns to Dean. "By the way, next time I say let's keep driving, uh, let's keep driving."
"Yeah, next time," Dean snaps back, rubbing the back of his neck. "Okay, so what's our next move?"
"Uhh, grab those people out of the freezer, I guess?" Sam suggests.
"There are people in a freezer?" I echo, bewildered.
"Yeah, don't ask," Dean dismisses. "So what, we just bust 'em out? Gank a few freaks along the way if we're lucky?"
"And when are you two ever lucky?" Gabriel's appeared on the couch across the room and I decide everything makes more sense near him, so I migrate over to the couch, letting him throw an arm around my shoulders.
"You know what, bite me, Gabriel," Dean retorts irritably.
"Maybe later, big boy." Gabriel winks and I groan.
"Can you guys not, please?" The last thing I need to see is my big brother flirting with anyone, whether he's serious or not.
"The hell are you playing at, man? Luring us here and setting your Pagan friends on us?" Wait, is Dean seriously accusing Gabriel of putting us in this mess?
"You think I'm behind this?" Gabriel rolls his eyes. "Please, I'm the Costner to your Houston. I'm here to save your ass."
"And besides, he's been on Team Free Will for a while now, why would he put you here?" I point out defensively. Gabriel squeezes my shoulders briefly.
"Those guys are either gonna dust you, or use you as bait. Either way, you're uber-boned," he adds to the Winchesters, "I'm just here to pull you two out of the fire."
"Weren't you the one saying that you wanted this to be over?" Sam asks. "If Armageddon happens tonight, then that's the end of it."
"Well, the end is still nigh. Michael and Lucifer are gonna dance the lambada, but not tonight. Not here." I can't believe there's actually a time and place for the Apocalypse. Trust God to be punctual about this sort of thing.
"So why do you care?" Dean asks, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"I don't...care." Gabriel looks sheepish. "But me and Kali, uh...we had a thing."
"Seriously?" I give him an odd look. "You and the Hindu goddess of destruction?"
"What can I say? Chick was all hands." He grins and I shove his arm off me, making a face at him.
"Too much info."
"Do they have a chance? Against Satan?" Sam cuts into our bickering.
"It's a bad idea. Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint," Gabriel admits, "So let's get going while the going's good."
"Okay, great. Then why don't you zap us out of here?" Wow, Castiel's disappearance is really making Dean a dick.
"Would if I could, but Kali's got you by the short and curlies. It's a blood spell."
"Those exist?" I ask and Gabriel nods.
"Given the right amount of power, yeah. You boys are on a leash," he adds to the Winchesters.
"So what does that mean?" Dean asks.
"It means it's time for a bit of the old black magic." Gabriel pulls a can of breath spray from who-knows-where and spritzes his mouth with it.
"Dude, eww, you are not seducing a goddess into giving you their blood," I groan.
"What?" He gives me an innocent look.
"Well, at least don't tell me about it, my ears are still innocent." He pats my shoulder reassuringly.
"Okay, yeah. Well, whatever. Well, we're gonna take the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer with us," Dean decides.
"Forget it. It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks outta here," Gabriel counters immediately.
"They called you 'Loki,' right? Which means they don't really know who you are?" Dean raises an eyebrow.
"I told you, I'm in witness protection." Gabriel frowns, not sure whether this conversation's going.
"Well then, how about you do what we say, or we tell the, uh, Legion of Doom about your secret identity. They don't seem like a real pro-angel kinda crowd."
"You did not just threaten him," I cut in, narrowing my eyes at Dean.
"Ariel-" Gabriel begins quietly, grasping my shoulder.
"No. How much have we put on the line for you two?" I snap at Dean, who has the decency to look chastised. "We have dropped everything to help you stop the Apocalypse, a fight that neither of us really wanted to be a part of. So don't you dare turn this around on him like he's the bad guy here!"
"Ariel, it's fine," Gabriel insists, pressing his hand down on my shoulder. I glance back at him and he gives me a look that clearly says "Don't push it," so I reluctantly give up, even though I'm still furious on his behalf.
I join the Winchesters in setting the hostages free while Gabriel goes off to seduce Kali, much to my disgust - there are some things about my brother I don't want to know at all - but I refuse to speak to Dean. It suits him fine, since he's been throwing glares at me as soon as Gabriel left, and Sam is awkwardly caught in between us, casting us both worried looks.
"No, n-no, please!" a man screams and we peer around the corner to see him being pulled out of the freezer and into the lobby by two men. One of them pulls out a cleaver and I bury my face into Sam's chest as the man shrieks in horror and then suddenly falls silent.
"It's too late," Sam murmurs to Dean. We wait until the men - whom I now know to be Pagan gods - leave with the dead man's body before heading for the freezer, where people are screaming for help. Sam pulls out his lock-picking kit and sets to work while Dean and I stand guard, Dean passing me a wooden stake silently. I grasp it tightly, relieved to have a sharp object in my hands. I guess that's the angelic nature in me. No wonder I'd been so good with knives when Bobby had first started training me.
Suddenly, Dean is tossed against the wall and an Asian man steps into the room, hand extended. A name tag pinned to his shirt reads "Zao Shen." Assuming he's a Pagan god, too, I raise my stake, but with one flick of his wrist, I fall backwards. The god pins Sam against the door, his forearm at Sam's throat as the hunter chokes, and I grab for the stake again, forcefully stabbing it into the god's back. He freezes and then crumples, letting Sam fall back to the ground.
Massaging his throat, Sam gives me a thumbs-up, but as he reaches for the door handle, he's slammed against it by an invisible force and held there. I whirl around, stake held high again, but am pushed back against the wall beside Sam. My head hits the wall hard and I see stars. Dean is forced to his feet, too, and I see our new attacker: an overweight Indian man with dark skin, holding out his hand with a smirk. His name tag reads "Ganesh."
That Indian god with an elephant for a head? If I wasn't in such a dangerous situation, I'd be positively fangirling.
We're led wordlessly to a large room with a sign that reads "Elysian Fields Grand Ballroom," which is set up like a conference hall. Many gods are gathered at a table - I catch names like "Odin," "Baldur," and "Mercury" briefly when Dean, Sam, and I are shoved into the room - and I see Gabriel sitting in a chair near the head of the table, a slender Indian woman standing in front of him with her hand extended to hold him in place. Sam and Dean are shoved into chairs, but Ganesh holds me in place, his large hands grasping my shoulders painfully.
"How goes the rescue?" Dean deadpans and Gabriel shoots him a dry look.
"Well, surprise, surprise. The Trickster has tricked us," the woman says coldly.
"Kali, don't," Gabriel says quietly.
"You're mine now. And you have something I want." She reaches into his jacket and pulls out a gleaming silver blade that looks very similar to the one I had lost. I'm starting to wish Michael hadn't taken it now. "An archangel's blade from the archangel Gabriel."
The gods around the table start murmuring to each other, surprised by the revelation, and I struggle against Ganesh's grip.
"Okay, okay. So I got wings...like Kotex. But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer," Gabriel insists.
"He's lying." Kali's dark eyes flick to me. "He even brought an angelic accomplice." The gods all turn to look at me and I squirm uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
"She's human," Gabriel argues.
"Not really. Not entirely." Kali twirls Gabriel's blade between her fingers expertly as she approaches me gracefully, and I swallow as the tip of the blade is pressed beneath my chin, forcing me to look up at her. "What are you?" she murmurs, her dark red lips barely parting. I remain silent, frozen with fear, and the blade presses harder against my skin. "Tell me," Kali persists, her voice harder now.
"Let Ariel go, Kali," Gabriel protests, "She's got nothing to do with any of this."
"Then why is she here?!" Kali demands, not tearing her eyes away from me.
"She's my sister, okay?!" Kali finally lifts the blade away from my skin slightly, a prompt for Gabriel to continue. "She's a fallen archangel, she left Heaven centuries ago. I helped her hide from our brothers."
Kali seems to consider this before pressing the blade against my neck again. A thin rivulet of blood runs down my throat and she pulls out a vial from her pocket, collecting the blood in it. Damn it, now I'm trapped here, and I assume Gabriel is, too. Kali tucks the vial along with the three others on the table before looking up at Gabriel.
"You've been spying on us."
"I'm not a spy, I'm a runaway," Gabriel sighs, "I'm trying to save you. I know my brother, Kali. He should scare the living crap out of you. You can't beat him. I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends-"
"Your story. Not ours." Kali finally walks away from me and stops in front of Gabriel again, his own blade poised at the hollow of his throat. "Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on Earth? You pillage and you butcher in your god's name. But you're not the only religion, and he's not the only god. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong."
I can feel icy fear clutching at my chest as Kali trails the tip of the blade over Gabriel's heart.
"If anyone's going to end the world, it's me." She pulls the blade upwards, preparing to strike, and I struggle harder against Ganesh's iron grip. "I'm sorry." She stabs Gabriel and he screams, his eyes flashing white before the entire room lights up. Another cry echoes with him, and I can't recognize whose it is. It takes a while before I realize the raw, wounded screams are coming from me as the light dies out, leaving Gabriel slumped lifelessly in the chair as Kali pulls the bloody blade out, her expression carefully blank.
"No, no, Gabriel-!" I'm kicking and flailing against the Hindu god holding me, tears streaming down my face as I send prayer upon prayer to anyone listening.
Not him, not my brother, please, please, please...
It's a different pair of arms around me now, and I vaguely register Sam holding me up so that I don't collapse on the spot. I hang limply in his arms as silent sobs wrack my body.
Kali hardly spares us a look as she says quietly, "They can die. We can kill Lucifer." Sam turns me around to press my face against his chest for me, and I crumple against him, unable to do anything else.
Vaguely, I hear Dean carefully say, "All right, you primitive screwheads, listen up."
Sam sounds horrified as he says over my head, "Are you out of your mind?"
"I'm out of options." I keep my face buried in Sam's chest as Dean continues, "Now on any other given day, I'd be doing my damnedest to, uh, kill you...you filthy murdering chimps. But, uh, hey, desperate times. So even though I'd love nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks, I'm gonna help you." There's a clink of glass and I lift my head to see Dean pouring himself a drink. Seriously, of all times. "I'm going to help you ice the Devil. And then we can all get back to ganking each other like normal. You want Lucifer? Well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages. But me and Sam, we can get him here." He knocks back the glass of whiskey.
"How?" Kali asks warily, arms crossed. Gabriel's blade is still in her hand.
"First you let those main courses go. Then we talk. We can either take on the Devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally." Dean grimaces, waiting for the goddess's response, and she merely raises an eyebrow, intrigued.
And that's how Dean and I find ourselves ushering people outside while Sam keeps an eye on the gods in the hotel. I can barely speak more than a few words, but it's enough to reassure the hostages.
"It's okay, go, you're okay." I nudge people out of the hotel and they race to their respective cars, revving them up and leaving the parking lot quickly. Soon enough, the Impala's the only car left, and Dean claps my shoulder.
"You okay?" I shake my head "no" and his expression pinches. "Listen, about that stuff I said before..."
"No, it doesn't matter." I swallow the lump in my throat, but then a rustling noise distracts me.
"Psst." What the...? A familiar mop of dark blonde hair pops up in the backseat of the Impala. "Dean! Ariel!"
"The hell?" Dean's eyes widen as he looks up at the car.
"Act natural!" Gabriel hisses back, but I'm already halfway to the car. Dean rolls his eyes as he follows us, but I'm too busy throwing the door open and sliding into the car before hugging the life out of my brother. "Whoa, Ariel," he chuckles, startled, "Been taking your vitamins lately?" I squeeze him tighter, burying my face into his shoulder wordlessly, and he wraps his arms around me when I sniffle. "Aww, kiddo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
He's real. Oh, God, he's real and he's safe. I tilt my head to press a kiss to his cheek before clutching him tightly again.
"Man, there is nothing natural about this at all. We thought you were dead," Dean snaps as he gets into the front seat.
"Yeah, I can tell." Gabriel gestures at me the best that he can with me clinging to him like a limpet. "You think I'd give Kali my real sword? That thing can kill me!" I smack his shoulder, not caring if it hurts my hand, and he rolls his eyes at me goodnaturedly.
"Then what do they have in there?" Dean presses.
"A fake. Made it out of a can of diet orange Slice." Gabriel sounds proud of himself as he clears his throat and adds, "So, uh, go snag our blood, would ya?"
"What?"
"I heard you in there. Kali likes you. You can get close. Lift the plasma, then we vamoose." Gabriel gestures vaguely to all three of us.
"No. Hand over the real blade," Dean says stubbornly, "Better yet, why don't you sack up and help us take down Lucifer?"
Gabriel stiffens and I finally chance letting him go slightly. I still clutch his hand in a death grip, though. "You can't be serious," he says.
"Deadly." Dean scowls.
"Since when are you butt-buddies with a bunch of monsters? That's all they are to you, aren't they?" Gabriel tilts his head, though I can see the sheer panic on his face at the thought of meeting Lucifer. I can't blame him; I'm not looking forward to seeing the Devil again, either.
"Alright, you know, Sam was right. It's nuts, but it's the best idea I've heard, so unless you have a better one...?" Dean raises an eyebrow expectantly.
"Well, good luck with that. Me? I'm taking Ariel and blowing Jonestown." Gabriel's arm wraps firmly around my shoulders, leaving no room for argument. "Those lemmings wanna run off a cliff, that's their business."
"You know, I see right through you. The smart-ass shell, the whole 'I could give a crap' thing? It all goes to shit whenever you're around the kid, anyone with eyes can see that. Believe me, it takes one to know one."
"That so?" Gabriel's voice is falsely casual, but he squeezes me close all the same.
"Yeah, and maybe those freaks in there aren't your blood, but they are your family, just like her."
"They just stabbed me in the friggin' heart!"
"Maybe, but you still give a crap about 'em, don't you?" The scowl on Gabriel's face says it all. "Now they're gonna die in there without you."
"I can't kill my brother," Gabriel says quietly at last. I keep forgetting that Lucifer is our family, too, and to kill him would be to kill the brother I once saw in Heaven's infirmary, laughing and teasing me and Gabriel with warm, kind words. It hits me like a freight train, then; I don't want that archangel dead.
"Can't or won't?" Dean asks and when Gabriel doesn't respond, he snaps, "That's what I thought."
"You're such a hypocrite," I accuse, finally speaking for the first time, and Dean's shocked eyes turn on me. "As if you'd kill Sam if it came down to it." His jaw clenches and he gets out of the car, slamming the door shut. Gabriel's arm tightens around my shoulders and I turn into the embrace, curling up against his chest. He leans his head against mine and I answer his silent question. "I'm staying."
"Ariel," he begins quietly, pulling back slightly to look at me.
"They're my family, too, even if Dean's a total idiot." Gabriel's lips quirk upwards. "I can't let them get hurt, not if I can do something about it."
"It's suicide," he warns me.
"I've been there before." I smile wryly at the grimace on his face before leaning up to press a kiss to his forehead. "You don't have to look out for me all the time."
"'Course I do." He chucks my chin lightly. "I'm your big brother. Kinda my job."
"Not this time, it isn't." I give him one last squeeze before reluctantly letting go and getting out of the car. "If you're going, I'll see you at home."
"Yeah." His voice is quiet as he stares down at his clasped hands in his lap, frowning. I force myself to shut the door behind me and return to the hotel.
Okay, I know Ganesh in Supernatural was African-American, and that annoyed the HELL out of me. So I made him Indian, as he is a Hindu god. (and that had nothing to do with the fact that I'm Indian nope not at all -shifty eyes-)
Prepare for the feels and leave reviews! :)
