Chapter 37: The Replacements part 2
"What are you going to do?" Dean asked him. "And when?"
"What you don't need to know," said Daniel. "But I will say that you should mark the end of September on your calendars."
"Daniel, do you have any idea just what it is you're doing? Do you not understand what will happen if Michael is free?" Sam asked him heatedly.
"Yeah. He'll go to Heaven and undo the magic that Metatron did and reopen Heaven to the souls and reapers to take them in. And the angels will get their leader back to take care of your archangel pal and whatever allies and plans he's made." Daniel said all of this unflinchingly.
"Look Daniel, I don't know what con the Powers spun you," Dean started.
"Con? That's rich coming from you two. You're the ones trying to con me into not doing it because you two and Castiel aren't exactly drinking buddies with Michael. I guess trapping him in the Cage with Lucifer four years ago would leave its scars."
"You're right," Sam said quickly. "Us and Michael aren't friends but you can't do this. Not this."
"Then what do you propose? Have either one of you even given any sort of thought into the situation? Because from what Kevin tells me, your only concern has been your personal vendettas and business with Abaddon, Cain and now Samael too. There are now thousands of souls stranded here on Earth and that number will keep growing. Family and friends believing that their loved ones passing are heading to Heaven only for their hopes to be dashed without them even knowing it. And if they are unlucky enough, having them turn into those new demons we fought against. Or does that not take priority over the personal problems of Sam and Dean Winchester? Do you even care about all those souls? Or about the future offspring that Samael is no doubt cooking up right now? Fifteen to Twenty years from now there will be a lot of impressionable Nephilim and demon hybrids out there for Samael and his hell cronies to get their hooks into. Did that worry not even enter your minds as you go around hunting and trying to find the ones who got on your skin?"
"No," Sam said quickly. "Of course we care but we just don't know how to help or deal with them."
"Of course not. You two just go through any job that reaches your attention until the answer just falls into your laps. Fortunately, you are not the only place that the world can turn to anymore. The saga of the Winchester brothers is coming to a close. Now the legacy of the Leonard brothers has begun. And freeing Michael and re-bring stability to the angels is just the start of what I'm going to do to restore order back into this world."
"Wow," Dean smirked. "Your pretty full of yourself for a rookie."
"Rookie? Is that what you think? That when you and Castiel broke open the angel tablet that I stumbled onto all of this then?" He shook his head. "I was in this years before that. More than even I realized."
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked.
"Do you love anime?" he asked them suddenly. "Pfft, of course not, but I do. Good drama, action and comedy too."
"Geek," Dean muttered.
Sam rolled his eyes.
"As entertaining as it is I found that anime can actually give good spiritual lessons. Like on life for example. Life, it's not meant to be limitless. It's not something that should be renewed over and over for your own convenience. Hits pretty on the nose doesn't it?"
Sam couldn't help but look back at his brother at that one. Dean didn't look at him but kept his glare on Daniel.
"Well, sorry but we can't let you do this Daniel. You see, you screwed up. Slipped and told us that you and only you can do this for them. We just have to make sure that you don't get to when the time comes."
"I'm sorry, actually no, I'm not sorry to say that you won't be able to have that. You say it's been over a day since you had me here? By now Agent Donovan has made contact with the local police and set up road blocks on all routes out of the county for your car. The Battalion's connections should also be getting ready to lock down the state in a day or two. They'll find me eventually."
"Then we'll take you out of here," Dean said unflinchingly. "We've got out of worse."
"I'm sure you have," said Daniel. "But even if you do get passed all of that, you really think they wouldn't know where you both would've taken me? Your bunker in the Lebanon, Kansas area. You forget that I recruited Kevin Tran for us."
"He told you where the Bunker was?" Sam asked horrified.
Daniel shook his head. "No. He didn't. He still has some loyalty for you both and refused to tell any of us but he's developed loyalty for us and for me as well. Take me…and you test which one of us he has more loyalty to. If you still want to bet on yourselves, and win, then you still are screwed."
"How?" asked Dean. "How would we still be screwed?"
"Simple. When I have the chance I will send a prayer to the Powers and they'll know where to find me. You can't keep me under seal 24/7 like a demon or angel. I'm still human and have real human needs, like eating and drinking. I just won't eat or drink anything and would die within two or three days. Died from mental anguish caused by Sam and Dean Winchester."
"That's crap." Dean said. "You can't make your death a loophole."
"Actually I could. Death warned you if you were responsible for mine or my brother's death in any way. Being directly or indirectly responsible is still being responsible." He looked at the pissed faces of the two of them. "So I say it again, you can't help any of it. You want to really stop Michael's return then there is only one way and that's…to kill me. No tricks or traps for you to roll out this time. My death, plain and simple. But then again, not so simple for either of you given what happens after that." He then rested his back flat to the chair and let himself be relaxed as he looked at their glum faces.
Castiel's eyes narrowed at him. "His brother? You're possessing his brother?"
Joseph nodded before he walked over to the wall where there was an ornament mirror hanging. "His name is David. He…used to be a security guard for his community's City Hall. Quite the decent human being."
"You sound as if you're close to your vessel. I must say you didn't strike me as the type Joseph."
"I admit I didn't strike myself like that either but I've found myself to be quite taken and fascinated with the Leonards. At first, I only came to them because I needed a vessel when Lucifer was free. I originally wanted Daniel Leonard."
"You wanted the Saint as your vessel?"
"He wasn't the Saint then. He was only a near 17 years old boy with common issues for boys his age. Except for one thing, he could perceive angels…demons as well. He didn't really understand what he had been seeing or sensing during his life."
"He had the gift," said Castiel dully.
There were humans that could see demons and angels that way but they were not very common.
"He was happy to finally have some answers. Turned out that he was able to see them shortly after the death of his mother. When I told him that I needed to have a vessel to fight in the Apocalypse, he asked if he could take some time to take in the truth of everything. He promised that he would do what he could to help me do my duty. Normally, I would've insisted for his consent but with how he asked for some time and the respect he gave for my duty, I felt that merited for some compromising on my part."
"How kind of you," Castiel slurred.
Joseph disregarded the sarcasm. "Well, I gave him two days. However, his brother started to grow worried about him. You see, Daniel became quiet and withdrawn in a way that just wasn't himself that David thought he was in some sort of trouble. On the night that Daniel was going to give me his consent, he said a heartfelt goodbye to David as he was leaving for work and it scared him so David instead decided to watch and follow him that night. He followed Daniel to our meeting place and, though not as strong as his brother, was able to somewhat make me out as I descended to speak to him. David made himself known and…after hearing the story he prayed to me and asked that I take him instead of Daniel. Said that his brother had so much to give to this world as he was and he wanted to let him have that. David said that he would give more than ever if he gave himself to me and so I granted his request and took him as my vessel over his younger brother."
Castiel had heard many stories of other angels in the acquiring of their vessels but he had to say that Joseph's was one of the most compelling he had ever heard before.
"I must say, it can't be easy for someone to look upon his brother so much of the time and constantly remember that it's not really him."
Joseph frowned and shook his head. "No, it isn't. David's feelings and hopes for his brother, after a while, I couldn't help but explore them for myself. Daniel's work with the Battalion and later his interaction with my fellow Powers helped to make me see that he did have so much to give in the world, as he was. I wasn't his destiny but our fates were intertwined." Joseph actually broke into a small laugh. Castiel was surely surprised as Joseph's reputation didn't paint him as one with a semblance of a sense of humor. "Now thanks to him I have my own pouts of philosophy here and then. Both of these brothers, David and Daniel, they have their deep moments. I think they get that from their mother. I'm still surprised to find myself so attached to two humans like this."
"I believe I can understand that," Castiel said with some empathy.
He could understand Joseph's feelings. When he first met Dean he wouldn't have imagined that he would grow so attached to him or to Sam. They were originally just an assignment that grew to be much more.
But then Joseph finally turned away from looking in the mirror to look back at the bound angel. "You could understand Castiel but you can't compare. There are quite the differences between our situations. For starters the attitudes of our humans."
"What do you mean?"
"The Winchesters, they seemed to have been born and raised to neglect and disrupt order. And the Leonards, they seemed to have been born and were raised to uphold and protect it."
"Sam and Dean always do what they can to protect people," Castiel defended.
"Do they?" Joseph countered. "Cause it seems they do what they can to protect each other over other people. After all, Dean allowed that wretched whoremonger Samael to inhabit his brother. His brother who happens to be a powerful vessel, especially for an archangel who used him to regain a good degree of his strength and rebuild his wings."
'Among other things,' Castiel added silently. "He didn't realize who he was."
"That's no excuse Castiel. If that was what it took Dean would've allowed Lucifer himself to possess his brother to save him. This is all your fault you know."
"My fault?"
"The Winchesters, you consider them your friends, right?"
"Of course I do," he said at once.
"But you don't treat them as friends Castiel. You treat them like your pets. You spoil them. Every time they come to you they always ask you for something unreasonable and you fulfill their requests. Time Travel, resurrecting their friends, fixing hell-torn souls, performing any miracle you can for them when they call for you. You should've tried saying no to them, especially to that spiteful child Dean once in a while but you just hate to see him unhappy. That was never meant to be our role." Joseph started to pace. "We're angels Castiel, not a miracle service. They are humans and should be allowed to be humans which means handle what is thrown at them to the best of their abilities, not yours. If they were meant to have these boundless miracles then our Father would've created them to be capable of them. Humans have limits as they should have them or they will never appreciate their humanity."
"Did Michael tell you that?" grunted Castiel.
"No…Daniel Leonard did," he said surprising him. "He appreciates his humanity. Like he once told me: you can't pick and choose. You have to take the good along with the bad in whatever you decide. As I said before, he has his deep moments."
Castiel and Joseph were quiet for a moment.
"What is he like?" Castiel asked after a few moments of this. "The Saint."
"Daniel?" Joseph smiled. "He's quite bright for someone his age. He's strong, determined, and loyal to his friends, comrades, and to his ideals." He then let a laugh loose. "He's not what I would call devout. He has his own beliefs on what it means to be a good person that I've come to respect. I'll admit, I didn't think much of him at first. He was like an annoying little bee buzzing constantly in my ear with his constant prayers to me. Always wishing me well and to take care of his brother and let him know that he was fine. His prayers to me were so distracting in my duties that I actually brought him to the Battalion to try and get him to focus his time and energy elsewhere." Then Joseph smiled. "Looking back, I'm surprised that all of this didn't make me realize that he was a Heavenly Saint."
"And what of his limits?"
"Oh, he has his limits alright. He knows this for a fact. His interest in far eastern philosophy has actually played a strong part of winning the respect of myself and the Powers. He accepts that even though he could receive such miracles from us, that doesn't mean he should. He may be young but his moral maturity is far beyond his years." Joseph leaned against the wall and folded his arms. "But he does still let youth show. I remember when he asked me if I could teach him how to fight. So eager. I'm surprised that I said yes. I've never trained a human before. And it showed even more greatly the day of the Fall. His perception of us allowed him to watch as our wings burned off our backs in perfect detail. He was upset for days."
"That, couldn't have been easy for someone like him to witness."
"No, it wasn't. But as terrible as it was, he was able to rise above it, on his own. No angelic intervention of any kind. Perhaps there is a lesson for you to take from that Castiel."
There was a knock on the door. "Enter." Joseph said.
One of the humans in the Battalion answered. "Forgive me sir but we've just received a message from Gadreel."
Sam had to steal a car further down the road from the run down barn they were squatting to make his supply run. Daniel's threat still fresh on their minds they couldn't afford to be sloppy. He normally would stop at a small Gas n' Sip but he felt that it might be safer to be in a place with a lot of people. He drove to a good sized supermarket with its own parking lot to get all the things they needed. It was the early afternoon so there were so many people already walking about to get mixed up in.
He came out of the market a little over a half hour later and was heading for the car when he noticed something off the corner of his eye. He bared a moment to turn his head a bit and saw that it was that man that was with Logan Donovan that shot at them the other night. He was dressed in a dress shirt, tie and had a brown trench coat on and was calmly walking for Sam's direction but kept a discreet pace as he did. Sam calmly kept walking as if he didn't notice him at all. Sam made a turn to go around the building to the loading area. He spared a look back to see that he was still being followed. Sam saw a corner up ahead and thought it might be perfect for ambushing this guy and made a run for it. He could hear the guy running too behind him. Sam was getting ready to toss his bag of groceries and pull out his gun as he made the turn but instead froze before he could run down it. Two other guns were pointed right at him as his path was blocked with three men. Sam took everything in and saw that he was surrounded by four people. One of them was Logan Donovan who had surprised him with another guy dressed as a uniformed officer. The third man that was there he dimly recognized from memories he had from Samael's actions. He was an angel.
He turned around to see his pursuer pull out one of his own at him as he came up behind him. "What's your hurry Sam?" that man said.
"Let me guess, you guys in the Battalion?"
The three humans displayed the Michael symbol on their cuffs to him.
"How did you guess?" the one in the trench coat said. "Detective Riley Ackerman," he introduced himself.
"Phillip Dawson," the uniformed cop said before moving for him. "Hands up."
Sam huffed before he dropped his bag and held his bare hands up. Dawson pocketed his gun as he frisked Sam and took his gun, switchblade, phone and wallet.
"I think you can keep this," he said putting the wallet back but not before he pulled out all of Sam's fake IDs. "But not these. I am still a cop and I wouldn't feel right letting you having them."
"And we can't have that," Sam mumbled. He dropped his hands when the cop stepped away from them and looked at the angel. "I know you. I've seen you before."
"Yes," he nodded. "From when Samael had been possessing you. I'm Gadreel."
"Alright, what do you want?" he asked all of them.
Donovan glared at him. "Sam, you're a smart man. I think you already know what we want. If you really didn't then you wouldn't have been trying to avoid us by acting out of character. Using a different car and not going to a cheap store."
"How did you find me?" Sam asked them.
Donovan answered him. "Well, with how you usually are, we guessed that you would try to not keep to your usual habits. It was only a matter of time before you had to get supplies for yourselves so we staked out places where you wouldn't usually go and we had your usual sort of haunts under the supervision of the local authorities. It was only a matter of time."
Sam shrugged. "Impressive."
"Sam, you and your brother have Daniel Leonard," Gadreel said with a slight glare. "We want you to return him to us, now."
"And before you can think of trying anything," Ackerman said before pulling out his phone. "Take a look at this."
Sam looked at the screen to see a photo of Castiel tied up in a chair.
Dean was standing off to the edge checking their bag of weapons. He was reassembling a handgun and his work was the only noise inside the big, wide barn.
"You know," Daniel said out of nowhere. "That's the third time you've stripped that same gun." Daniel sounded annoyed. "I think its fine."
Dean dropped the gun on the makeshift table hard. "You know, when Sam gets back, he'll have duct tape."
"Good, but until he does then I guess I should make the most of it, shouldn't I?"
Dean got to his feet. "If you're going to do that then I'll let you do that by yourself."
Dean started on his way to leave the barn but Daniel got some words out.
"You know Dean, I don't know why you're determined to run from me so much."
Dean broke into a chuckle. "Running? From you? As if squirt."
Daniel just rolled his eyes. "You know, you shouldn't so quick to write me off. I am your opposite."
"My opposite?" Dean repeated jokingly.
"You are the Ramses to my Moses. The Tubal to my Noah," he continued. "They were just like you, thinking that they were above everything and could have the world as they want. The other Saints tried to set them straight the nice way and we all know what happened to them when they tried to do it the hard way."
"And what, you think you're here to set me straight the nice way?" he asked with a bit of a laugh.
"No, I guessed you would have to be handled the hard way a long time ago."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Junior, I don't know what those Powers have been dosing you with but it sounds like if anyone needs to be set straight, it's you."
Daniel didn't show any change at all. "No, it's you alright. In more ways than one. It's not your fault, It's how you were raised."
"You don't know jack squat about how I was raised," Dean said rolling his eyes.
"No? When you were 7 your father took you out in a crash course in shooting and it was one of the happiest moments of your childhood. When I was 7 my father gave me a stern run through on how guns weren't toys that still gives me chills when I so much as touch one."
"Bummer for you."
"But one of the biggest things that need to be set straight is how you treat your brother."
Dean's mocking face melted away. "Leave Sam out of this."
"Actually this is more about you than Sam. You have serious clingy issues. Has anyone told you that the tighter you grip then the more slips out of your fingers?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It means that Sam is over 30 years old now Dean in case you hadn't noticed. I don't think he needs you to wipe his nose anymore."
Dean snorted both at him and the picture that fell into his head. "You're trying to say that I treat Sam like a baby?"
"Well don't you?" he said raising his eyes at him. "You don't respect him as the man he is. You've never stopped treating him as that six month old boy that you carried out of the burning house. Always undermining his decisions and trying to pull him out of the fire without letting him crawl out on his own. You're his brother, not his father. Sam is only going to take so much. In fact, who's to say that he has already had it?"
Dean face hardened. "You don't know what you're saying."
"I don't? Dean, I'm actually not speaking as a Saint here. I'm speaking as a baby brother myself. My brother David is seven years older than me. He's looked out for me my whole life. He really had to step in after we lost our dad. He was my age actually when that happened and looking back…I can't imagine what always went through his mind to take care of a 14 year old and work through to try and follow his dream of being a cop. And the thing was that, he didn't make it," he said a little sadly. "He didn't make the cut but despite his problems he still made sure to look out for me with what I needed."
"Because he loved you. I say that as a big brother myself. I had to raise Sam the same way."
Daniel snorted. "No you didn't. You raised Sam for you. It was what you needed. You tried to raise him to forget his wishes and dreams in life so he would always stick with you 24/7 as you pursued your dream of being a hunter like your dad. David wanted to be like our dad too but not at the expense of what I wanted."
"Don't act like you know what Sam wants because of what the angels or those books tell you."
"And don't act like you know all because he keeps sitting beside you day after day and you know what he allows you to know. After all, he doesn't seem to know beyond what you allow him to know. Like what is around you now."
Dean gave himself a once over. "Around me? What are you talking about now?"
Daniel squinted his eyes. "There's…something around you. If I didn't know better I would swear it's a demonic aura. But, it's not a lot. Usually, with demons it's a clear outline I see. But with you…it's almost like its leaking out somewhere. Though it looks clearest around your right arm."
Dean knew he was somehow seeing the Mark of Cain. But what did what Daniel was seeing mean? When Cain gave it to him he said that it would grant him the ability to use the First Blade. He never said anything about it doing anything else. What was it doing?
"That's none of your business."
Daniel narrowed his eyes. "You seem quite nonchalant by what I just said. You'd think you would be more concerned…unless." Then Daniel shook his head in…disappointment? "Oh, just when I didn't think you couldn't fall further. You've sold your soul, again, haven't you?"
"I didn't sell my soul half-pint."
"Sure? Selling your soul doesn't always involve sharing spit at a crossroads Dean. There's more than one way to skin a cat and more than one way to sell out." He then narrowed his eyes. "And from what I can see you didn't give it up for quite so 'noble' a reason this time. Sam's life was saved when you shoved Samael down his gullet."
"You know what, I'm not listening to this anymore," answered Dean.
"Why? Is what I'm saying making you uncomfortable?"
"You know what," he roared. "I've just about had it! If you know what's good for you, you'll stop now," Dean threatened.
"Or you'll do what Dean? I'm the one foe that you can't gank to get away from. You're going to have to grow up and bear me and take everything I give you like a man for once."
"You come marching in and you expect me to walk in step," he said mockingly. "Not for your number."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "There you go again, joking and mocking everything like a baby. You always do this Dean. Your entire life, with everything it's had to offer you. Everything that you know. All the privilege and certainty given to you on life and even yourself that many people would chop their right hands for and all you do with it is turn your nose and whine like a baby. Wah, why can't I live my life? Wah, why didn't Dad tell me this or tell me that? Wah, why do I have to be a hero? Wah, why do I have to go to Hell? Wah, why do I have to lose Sammy? Poor me, Poor me, Poor Me!"
Dean gave a yell before he went and punched Daniel across the face. "Just shut the hell up!" he said after he did.
The force turned Daniel's head to the side in a flash. Daniel slowly turned his face back to look at Dean. His expression hardened a bit but he had his eyes reconnect with Dean's.
"Looks like that struck a nerve. Did I hit a little too close to home on that one?"
Dean let loose another punch. "Stop acting like you know me! Know Sam! You don't know anything!" he growled at him.
The side of his lip was cut but Daniel just turned his head to stare back like before. "You know the sad part?"
Dean punched him again. "Shut up," he repeated.
Daniel didn't shut up. "The sad part is-"
Dean had punched him again. Dean's eyes were blazing and he was burning up inside. Everything around him was red save for the young man in the chair. With that punch Daniel seemed to be more in focus than anything else. Hurting him made his focus sharper so he kept hurting him with a handful more punches.
"Just shut up already!" Dean howled.
Daniel could only see a glimmer from his left eye and his right cheek burned. His nose was bleeding as was the corner of his lip. He was breathing a little deeply but he still kept his calm gaze on him.
"Why? What's wrong? I've only said the truth but then again the truth is always upsetting when you choose to live a lie. Another good line from a good anime that I think applies here. And here's another upsetting truth, I might be the one that looks like Hell but it's you who's destined for it and you'll be dragging Sam along with you, like the good older brother you think you are."
Dean landed a kick to Daniel's chest and caused his chair to fall back with his back flat to the ground and his feet dangling from the bottom. Dean also went over to him and brought out Daniel's own angel blade to his throat.
"One more word," he threatened.
"What Dean? We both know you're not going to do anything. You know…I might be taking the beating but it's you thats been beaten and I didn't have to lay so much as a finger on you," he said calmly with a small smile. "Your opposite."
Dean bared his teeth and he raised his hand holding the knife.
Sam pulled the car close to the barn and left the engine running as he ran for the door. "Dean!" he shouted as he opened it.
The barn was quiet save for some light rustling in the far corner. Sam could make out someone sitting off in against the wall that was moving just a bit. He also noticed that the chair that Daniel was tied to was turned over and feet were dangling, still as a statue. Not a sound was coming out of him and for a split second, he thought that Daniel was dead. He was about to run for him but the sound of his name stopped him.
"Don't worry about him," Dean mumbled from where he was. "He's fine. Believe me, if he wasn't then you would've known in a snap."
Sam went over to his brother and saw that his hands were red. "Dean, what happened? What did you do to him? You didn't…?"
"No," he said quickly. "He's just knocked out. I…wanted to though. I was just so mad. He just wouldn't shut up and…I just wanted him to be quiet. I…I wanted to kill him. I knew what would happen if I did but…for a second, I didn't care. I didn't care what would happen to you."
Dean sounded so broken there for a second and Sam felt for his brother. But, they didn't have time for Dean to be feeling sorry for himself.
"Listen Dean, we don't have time to deal with that now. Daniel's friends have Cas."
"Cas?" They had hoped that their angel buddy had stashed himself somewhere after that mess with those demons but it looks like they caught him like the two of them caught Daniel.
Sam nodded. "Yeah Dean. I ran into Donovan, that angel Gadreel and some others from the Battalion on my supply run. They cornered me and said that if we want to get him back then we have to give them Daniel back."
Dean looked up to Sam's face. "You mean, a trade?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah. They said that the trade should be at sunset. If we don't show up then…"
"You sure they weren't bluffing?"
Sam shook his head. "No, it wasn't a bluff. They definitely have him."
Dean looked at his watch. "Sunset? That's over two hours from now."
"Yeah, so we better get moving."
The coordinates that Donovan gave Sam lead them to a condemned motel off the highway. The two of them arrived there about a half hour before sunset and gave the place a once over to make sure that they weren't walking into a trap. It seemed like they were the only ones here. The only sounds were the knocks against the trunk.
Sam looked over at it. "Dean, do we have to keep Daniel in there?"
"The trunk's warded. We can't take any chances." He then looked at his watch. "What the hell's keeping them?" Dean asked. "If they don't have Cas, I'll"
What Dean would do was never found out as two long vans pulled up into the motel's space. Sam and Dean could make out Donovan behind the wheel on one of them before he opened the door and came out with a shotgun at his side. Half a dozen other men all came out of the van as well as Gadreel. These men were all Battalion members as they could make out the leather cuffs on all of their wrists.
"Where's Daniel?" Donovan asked immediately.
"Where's Cas?" Dean asked back.
Donovan looked back at the opposite van and nodded his head. The window pulled down and Castiel's face was seen.
"Dean," he cried out before the window re-closed.
"Now, where is Daniel?" Donovan asked again.
Sam huffed before he slowly went to the trunk and lifted the hood to reveal Daniel bound and gagged with dried blood on his hands and face. Suddenly, all of them had their guns aimed at them. Sam and Dean pulled out their guns too.
"You bastards," one of the Battalion men spat.
"We bring your jacked angel pal in a comfy back seat and you lock the kid in a trunk?" Donovan said pointing his shotgun for Dean's head.
Gadreel came forward. "Drop your weapons," he ordered them. Sam and Dean kept their guns firm. "I won't pretend to be an expert in firearms but I do know math and seven guns can shoot more than two. Drop them," he repeated. "I'm sure that this can be done with no one having to be shot."
"But if that's what you want," a new voice sounded.
Sam and Dean saw Castiel with his arms tied behind him and he was being held by someone that they recognized. They saw him from the photo in Daniel's wallet though he looked older. It was his older brother David.
Sam lowered his gun slightly. "David Leonard."
He smiled. "Yes and No. This is David Leonard but I am not him." Sam and Dean were confused for a moment before David brought out an angel blade in his free hand. But the blade was bigger than other angel blades they saw. He then held it at Castiel's throat. "Drop the guns, Now," he ordered.
The two of them kept their heated gazes on him before they dropped them to the floor. They then kicked them over to the side.
"So, you're an angel," said Sam.
He lowered the sword from Castiel's neck. "Yes. I'm Joseph."
"Joseph. Leader of the Powers. That Joseph?" asked Dean.
Joseph eyes turned to Dean but before he could talk he narrowed his eyes at the sight of him. Something wasn't right with this human. But he brushed it off and nodded regardless.
"The one and only. I must say…I've wanted to meet the two of you for the longest time. Granted, I didn't expect it to be quite like this." He went around to Castiel and undid his bonds. "Release Daniel."
Sam and Dean stared ahead and Castiel nodded over at them. The two of them shared a look with each other before they went and lifted him out of the trunk. They undid the bonds on his wrists and pulled out the gag. Daniel wobbled over when they let him go and Joseph pushed Castiel to walk over to them. Gadreel stepped forward and put this fore and middle finger on Daniel's forehead and healed him off the injuries he got and his face was cleaned again.
"You're fully healed."
"Thanks Gadreel," he said as he blinked to adjust his eyes now that they were healed. He then looked upon Joseph. "Joseph, it's nice to see that you came for me."
The angel shrugged. "Your brother has been clawing up my insides to have me make sure you were okay."
Daniel gave him a small smile. "Right, of course."
"What happened to you?"
Daniel shrugged. "Oh, I just shared some words with Dean Winchester."
The men all glared their eyes at the older Winchester who just stared back at them all with a hard look.
Riley Ackerman cleared his throat. "What now?"
The former tension returned as all of their eyes fell from Daniel and back to the Winchesters.
Daniel huffed before he stepped forward. For a second it looked like he would go to them but he went passed them to the Impala. He opened Dean's driver's seat door.
"What do you think-" he started.
Several clicks were heard as the Battalion re-trained all their guns on them. Daniel just kept shuffling through the car before he came out with an angel blade.
"This," he said holding it up. "Is mine." He then put it inside his sleeve and then walked back to the others. "Let's get going."
"So, that's it?" Sam asked them. "You're just going to up and go?"
They just turned around to look at them.
"I agree," Donovan said. "The least we can do is break an arm."
"Easy Logan, they're not worth it." Daniel said holding a hand to stop him before looking back at the Winchesters.
Joseph stepped forward and his eyes glowed and his stance changed. He wasn't as stiff and stern as he was a second ago. Both Castiel and Daniel saw that Joseph had returned control back to David.
"Yeah," David said folding his arms. "Believe it or not, you're not the center of our universe. You can't do anything to hinder us now so go. Track and kill all the vamps, weres, ghosts, goblins and ghoulies you want. You're hunters so hunt, we don't care. Yet, matters of Heaven, Hell and Earth are now officially out of your hunter jurisdiction. They're matters for the Battalion now. So stay out of the way. Oh," he said dropping his tone. "Lay one finger on Daniel again and believe me, monsters, demons and angels will be the least of your worries."
Joseph then retook control. "I couldn't have said it better myself."
Daniel let a smirk escape him at the feeble joke attempt before he hopped into the van before everyone else started in themselves. Gadreel spared the Winchester one last look before he went to go into the front seat of the van. That van was the first to drive off and the other van was almost full again. Donovan was the only one not in as he just stood outside the door to the driver's seat.
Then he took his shotgun and let loose two quick shots at the Impala's rear window. It was completely shot away and the whole back seat was showered in broken glass.
"Whoa!" Dean shouted but was stopped when Donavan cocked his shotgun and pointed it at him and the windows rolled down and more guns came out to point over at them.
"Now you can up and go," Donovan said before he opened his door and jumped in before quickly pulling the van out.
Samael was lounging himself in a lazy boy chair, his eyes closed to blind him to the world, when the sound of wings was heard behind him.
"How did it go?" he asked without so much as opening them.
"See for yourself," said Metatron.
Samael spun the chair to look upon Metatron standing in front of two new angels. They were in the bodies of a woman and a teenager. They were looking ahead with attentive postures and calm looks on their faces. They both were staring right at Samael.
Samael smiled. "Marilyn," he said to the woman. He then turned to the teen. "Barbatos," he said to him before taking the sight of both of them in. "Those new vessels become you."
Barbatos gave himself a once over. "It's younger than I would prefer…but I think I could get used to it."
Samael nodded before looking to Marilyn. "And you," he said coming over and running his forefinger across the bottom of her cheek. "You are as lovely as ever."
Marilyn giggled to herself. "You haven't lost your touch Samael. You're still as charming as ever." She looked him up and down. "And you still have a talent for finding appealing visages."
That made Samael smile back smugly at her but made Barbatos nearly gag and Metatron rolled his eyes at the display.
"Alright, you can flirt and flatter each other later," Barbatos huffed. "Can you explain what reason we have to take these two over the vessels we already had? What makes this boy I'm in and the woman Marilyn is so special?"
"They are Dean Winchester's once not loving family?" Metatron answered. "What?" he said to the looks his brothers and sister were giving him. "I read. Lisa, Dean's loving fling a good sixteen years ago. And Ben, the closest thing Dean's ever had to a kid."
"So are you hoping to hold our vessels as ransom?" Barbatos asked him as he folded his arms.
"Yes," said Samael. "However, there is more to them than was written in those books."
"Ooh a director's cut," Metatron said unenthusiastically. "There's a reason for those you know."
"Think if it more as a plot twist. Who doesn't like those?"
Metatron seemed to think on it for a second before he folded his arms. "Depends if its good or not."
"Don't worry," Samael said with a proud smirk. "You won't be disappointed. This will definitely be a story to remember."
"Then I'm looking forward to it." Metatron smiled.
"I don't think that Dean Winchester will share in that. He and his brother Sam will soon play right into my hands. I can tell you what the plan is now if you like."
Metatron seemed to think about it for a moment before he shook his head. "With build-up like this. Sorry, no spoilers. I'll wait for the premiere," he smiled for a moment before his face went serious again. "But, despite having a plan for the Winchesters, that still leaves the Powers," he pointed out. "True, they might not be as plentiful as they once were but they haven't lost any of their luster. They are more determined than they have ever been."
"Oh," Barbatos cut in. "Don't worry. Leave them to me. I have a score to settle with them, especially Joseph. I can't wait to remind all of our brothers who is the true power of the Powers."
"You shouldn't be so quick to rush after Joseph Barbatos," Metatron said to him in a low voice. "He is the one that beat you down last time."
"Joseph got lucky," Barbatos fumed. "Once and I'm the one who taught him what he knows of battle in the first place but I didn't teach him everything I know. Not to mention that I led the Powers long before he did."
"Don't be foolish Barbatos," Samael said actually sounding and looking serious. "You've been locked up for millennia and Joseph has been fighting and leading the Powers for all of that time. There is a reason that I haven't rushed to confront him. Joseph has served at the right hand of Michael and say what you want about my older brother but Mikey wouldn't have a fool in his corner. He is not an enemy to be taken lightly."
"Neither am I," he growled back. "Remember who needs who here Samael."
Samael rolled his eyes and sucked on his teeth. "It seems good ole Luci projected too much of himself to his prime general."
"There were reasons that Lucifer had me as his right hand." Barbatos huffed out through his nose before he brought down both of this angel swords. "It would not wise to mock me, especially a horny drunkard like you."
"Is that a threat Barb?" Samael brought down his own sword, it was black in color but still shimmered from the light of the decorative chandelier overhead. "Because you're forgetting who was the horny drunkard that taught Lucifer most of what he knew."
The calm and joking manner that Samael usually carried himself with evaporated and he was now full on glaring at Barbatos who had his narrowed eyes staring back at the archangel but seemed to be on edge. His eyes went to Samael's archangel blade for a second before meeting his hardened eyes. Marilyn was off to the side and switching her eyes from Samael to Barbatos like they were engaged in a tennis match.
Just then Metatron walked up and held his hands at the two of them. "Whoa," he said with a cheesy smile and nervous laugh. "Okay, why don't we put the blades down? We're all adults here and on the same team. We all may not want exactly the same thing but they all involve making sure that the Powers and their precious Saint Daniel don't stand in the way. To do that we all have our respective roles to play out. Let's build on each other, not knock each other down. Let's leave that for our enemies to do, not us."
"Metatron is right," Marilyn said. She then went over and started to stroke Samael's arm. "Besides, this is supposed to be a happy time. I want our first time after so long to be soft and happy, not rough and mad."
Barbatos rolled his eyes back but put his swords away. "Fine. I'll save my rage for when it is time to deal with Joseph."
That made Samael draw his sword back too. "Good on you." Samael's suave smile returned. "And you Marilyn. You haven't lost your exquisite charm," he said making her smile in response. He then looked at Barbatos. "Your fire is still as hot as ever Barbatos. We just need to let it rage at the right time and place. Trust me, when the time is right, you'll have your shot at Joseph. You've waited so long. What's a little more time?"
Barbatos' face was hard as stone but a small smirk soon broke through. "Perhaps you have a point. I waited millennia…what's a few weeks?"
The alleys that the Winchesters, Battalion and the Demons all fought in saw the vans drive into them. They soon stopped and the doors all opened. The Battalion and angels all stepped out. They all set off with Daniel in the lead.
"Why did we need to come back here?" Riley Ackerman asked Daniel.
"We have to pick up something," he explained as he retraced his steps.
"What?" Gadreel. "We took everything when we pulled out.
"Not everything," Daniel said before making the turn into the corner where Dean had caught him.
He went to the wall and removed a loose brick at the floor and pulled out a small first aid pouch.
Joseph narrowed his eyes. "What's that?"
Daniel unzipped it and showed the syringe he had plunged into Sam that night. Daniel hadn't just injected Sam with morphine to escape him. After he pumped in the morphine he had pulled on the plunger before he pulled it out to refill the syringe.
"The blood of Michael's banisher," he explained with a calm smile.
He handed the syringe to Joseph who handled it like it was gold. "Beautiful. Just beautiful."
"I still say that we shouldn't have let the Winchesters just go," Logan Donovan vented for the third time since they drove off. "We could've at least made arrangements to have them locked up. They did kidnap you and that would've kept them quite busy and out of the way at least for the time before Michael is freed."
"Don't worry Agent Donovan," Joseph said as they headed for the cars again. "Something tells me that they're going to have their hands full regardless." He then looked at Daniel. "Did you notice something about the older Winchester?"
"Dean?" Daniel asked before he nodded his head. "Yes. I did notice. He's done something…to himself."
And though Daniel had put on a brave front the entire time he was beaten, he was actually glad for it because the pain helped take his mind off the freezing bout of fear it made run into his bones.
"So Daniel's brother is being used as Joseph's meatsuit," said Sam.
Night had long fallen but the three of them were still there in the same spot to clean up all the glass broken from the shot rear window.
"Yes," Castiel grunted. "And if this threat from Death applies to both Daniel and his brother than that means that Joseph is protected by it as well. If anything happens to either of them Death will condemn one or both of you." Castiel then tensed up. "And you say that the Powers and the Saint are planning to free Michael from the Cage?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"I didn't think that could be done. The Cage is supposed to be near impregnable. I can't imagine a human, even if he is the Saint, is able to penetrate it."
"He seemed pretty sure of himself to us Cas," said Dean. "He also said that he had Kevin help him."
"The angel tablet," Castiel breathed out. "Did he say anything else?"
Sam ran a frustrated hand over his hair. "Daniel said that he would free Michael at the end of September."
"September?" Castiel narrowed his eyes. "Of course. September 29th. The Feast of Saint Michael. It's a holy time dedicated to Michael."
"Awesome…so what the hell do we do?" Dean calmly raged as he tossed off some of the glass he cleaned off from the back seat. "If we don't stop them then we'll have that chief dick Michael topside again."
Castiel shook his head. "I'm not sure there is anything that we can do. With what we know we can't do much. We need to find out more."
"Should we really be doing anything?" Sam asked.
"What are you saying Sam?" Castiel asked.
"Yeah, there has to be a way around this," Dean tried to argue. "Cas is right. We need to know more about this. We can still find a way to stop those dicks from doing whatever they need to do to let Michael out without even touching them."
"That's just it though," Sam cut in. "Are you sure we should stop them?"
"Sam," Dean almost shouted.
"Look, I'm just saying that maybe Daniel has a point. Heaven is locked up tight and so many souls are still stuck down here and aren't able to be at peace. If Michael could open it up again then everyone can get back to Heaven where they belong. And…Michael would also be able to take out Samael."
Castiel frowned. "Sam does raise a good point. The longer that Heaven stays restricted than the more souls get stranded on Earth to become targets for Abaddon's twisted perversions. And Samael might be too powerful for us to deal with ourselves."
"Like Lucifer was?" Dean argued. "We didn't roll over to Michael when they said he was the only answer."
"This is different Dean," Sam argued.
"How?!" he raged.
Castiel stepped in. "Last time Lucifer didn't have a vessel and his attention was divided with his demons confronted on multiple fronts. Samael already has his vessel and has his wings against the angels that have lost their wings. Not to mention that Samael is the one that taught Lucifer most of his famous tricks. He is not prone to repeat Lucifer's mistakes. Michael is the only one to have ever kept him in line."
"Dean," Sam said softly. "I know you don't like it but we have to face facts. And the truth is that we got lucky last time. I don't think we can hope to get lucky again."
Truth. That word. Dean felt something heat up in him as he remembered Daniel use that word on him. "Lucky?" he snapped. "You call what happened Lucky? You got locked in the Cage and you came out of that a near drooling mess and you call it lucky? You guys are giving up but I'm not. That's the real truth here!"
Castiel narrowed his eyes. Something about Dean didn't seem right. He had felt something stir when Dean lost his temper. His instincts drew him to Dean's right arm. "Dean…is there something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," he said as he waved his right hand to shrug off Castiel's concern.
However, Castiel caught Dean's hand in mid motion and quickly rolled down his sleeve. He rolled it down to expose a mark he dreadfully recognized.
"Dean," he said letting him go. "What have you done?"
Dean rolled his sleeve down. "It's a means to an end. To gank both Abaddon and Samael."
"Dammit Dean," Castiel started.
But Dean wouldn't have. "Save it. Your minds are already made up. You want to roll over for the Saint Dan and his Powers, go ahead. I'm actually going to do something and end that bitch and bastard once and for all. Maybe that will snap you out of singing Kumbaya for their 'Free Michael' plan before they hatch it in two months."
Dean went off to the driver's seat in the Impala and start the car. Sam and Castiel shared a concerned look at each other before they moved themselves to get in the car themselves so they could finally leave this place. As the car pulled into the highway, Castiel couldn't help but remember what he heard from Joseph. About how Dean was spoiled by him always swooping in and undo the consequences of his choices. Something told him that the consequences of this wouldn't be something that would just go away this time.
End of Chapter 37
A/N: I hope you like the twist of having both Lisa and Ben Braeden return. Lisa's actress is the same but I've decided that for an older Ben Braeden that the one that portrays him should change to help it feel like this isn't the same boy that looked up to Dean. The new portrayer for him is in my profile. There are only two 'episodes' left for this 'season'. The next season will be in a new story so there should be only four or five more chapters left.
The next episode is called Hellraiser. Dean begins to get increasingly irritable after the encounter with Daniel and Joseph and Sam worries. The Ghostfacers stumble on what seems to be real intensive ghost activity which is more serious than anyone could have guessed.