It's All in the Details
By Colleen
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own them.
Author's note: Sorry I was a little late for your birthday Kaara. Happy 18th.
Chapter 52
Bobby looked over the collection in the bunker, impressed. Even Jimmy, who came along with him, was fascinated. Henry was disturbed to see the latter, but didn't stop his Grandsons from inviting him in.
Keep your possible enemies closer, after all.
Henry stood off to the side. He'd be a fool not to notice the respect his grandsons had for Bobby. Henry himself considered him a bit… rough around the edges, but there was no denying his intelligence.
"It's one hell of a collection." Bobby picked up a book and shook his head before re-shelving it. "There's things in here I've only heard whispers about."
Henry nodded. "Yes." He looked around. "That's why…" He hesitated.
"Spit it out son."
"I understand the regard Sam and Dean have for you. They tell me you are a very good hunter, the cream of the crop. But more than that, you're a lore master."
"Like to think I know what's out there, or can figure it out given time."
"That's why I want to ask you to join the Men of Letters."
"Sam and Dean are the legacies."
"Yes, but we need more than three of us and they told me what their father didn't teach them, you did."
Bobby looked the room over again. "I don't do secret handshakes."
Henry smiled. "I never cared for it anyway."
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Crowley thought he'd felt something interesting as he made his way back home.
"Well lovey, don't you look a treat."
"I could say the same, tailor." The voice that replied was rough and a puff of black smoke followed the sentence.
"Mmm. Slight problem with a trickster, you?"
"Angel." Abaddon said, her hand to her throat to stanch the wound as more of her essence tried to leak away.
"Haven't seen you for a few decades."
"Accidental time travel." She gave him her usual pissed off glare. "I need to see Lilith."
"Ah pet, things have changed while you've been gone."
XXXXXXXX
Meg's most recent plan to get at the Winchesters, by possessing their friend Bobby, fizzled out when she couldn't find him, or the Winchesters. Crowley had also been missing for several days. She'd have torn into him (literally) if it wasn't for the fact he came back looking worse for wear and muttering about laugh tracks and residuals when he did finally show up.
Well, that and the fact that he had Abaddon with him.
The knight was injured and pissed off, but was still more powerful than ten demons working together… making the injured part, worrisome. Meg set a minion to stitching Abaddon's neck wound, while questioning her.
"An angel did this?"
Abaddon snarled.
"Not just any winged freak. An archangel."
"Michael?" Crowley asked. "Or the new one, Uriel?"
"Neither. Oww." She glared at the minion wielding the needle.
"Hate to break it to you lovey, but Raphael is dead."
"Good." She tilted her head back slightly so another stitch could be made. "Always hated him. Though I admit, not as much as the bastard that did this to me."
"Who is?" Meg asked, pacing in front of her.
"Gabriel."
"Gabriel's also dead." Crowley said.
Abaddon bared her teeth at him. "That's what I thought. Wishful thinking as it turns out."
XXXXXXXX
Zachariah looked over the latest report. Unlike the last one (where Naomi got her ass handed to her) which had been somewhat disturbing, but still enjoyable, this one was both disturbing and confusing.
"You're certain about this." He asked the angel in front of him.
The angel bowed, nervously. "Yes sir. The last seal has started to speed up in its regeneration, but more than that, it has changed. It was tainted before, but now… Whatever it is that is to be tied to it, must be demonic in nature and powerful. Perhaps as powerful as Lilith was as the first demon."
And the abomination, for all that it was… wrong, was still an angel. Powerful yes, but not demonic in nature. Zachariah grimaced. He'd been so sure. But creating a seal was two parts intention and three parts chance. You could try to shape it, but in the end it would be what it would be.
But what, other than a fallen angel, could be as close in power as the first demon and be demonic itself?
"Alistair, perhaps. The regeneration speeded up and changed shortly after he left Hell."
"Sir?"
"Send out hunter teams. The demon Alistair walks the Earth and must be found at all costs."
"Yes sir." The angel flew off to implement the orders.
Zachariah looked at the report again, and had the uncomfortable feeling he was missing something.
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One of the things Bobby moved to the bunker was the Colt and the latest batch of bullets he'd made for it. They didn't like advertising they still had the gun, so it was only used in dire need. At the time his home was the safest most accessible place to store the weapon. Cas' 'houses' were better protected, but they didn't want to rely on Cas being available to fetch it for them.
Bobby was glad to put it somewhere else. Having it in the house, even in the panic room, was an itch at the back of his mind he'd be glad to be rid of.
Henry looked over the gun, clearly awed.
"I thought it was a myth."
"Most of us did. Kills pretty much everything."
"Actually," Jimmy said, sitting off in one of the reading alcoves, flipping through a book. "There's five things that gun won't kill. Not sure what they all are, but Lucifer's one of them."
"I thought it was designed to kill the demonic." Henry said.
Jimmy gave him a look, like Henry ought to know better. "Lucifer is an Archangel."
"So, it doesn't kill Archangels?"
Jimmy shrugged. "Don't know if that was the deciding factor. All I know is, it won't work on Lucifer."
"What about Abaddon?"
Jimmy shrugged. I don't see why it won't work on her. It killed Azazel and Lilith. Abaddon may be one of the first fallen, the first born demons, but Lilith was the very first. And it killed her just fine."
Henry put the gun carefully back into its case. "Good."
XXXXXXXX
Henry watched Dean watch Sam as the younger man happily buried himself in research, surrounding himself with books. He hadn't realized it when they first met, but Sam truly was Men of Letters material.
Dean…
The man snorted, noticing the expression on his grandfather's face. "Yeah, Sammy's a big geek. Me, not so much."
"I'm certain you're capable."
Dean cut him off. "Oh, don't get me wrong, I can do the research, I just don't enjoy it the way he does. Sam was at Stanford, Pre Law before, well, before. He was always meant to be in something like this." Dean watched his brother a little longer. "Guess Adam would fit in as well."
"Who's Adam?"
Sam looked up from his books when he heard the sound of Dean slapping himself on the forehead.
One explanation later, and a horrified Henry tried to sum it up.
"You're telling me John got a young woman in the family way, and never did the right thing by her?"
"Er… To be honest, we think Kate didn't tell him about it at the time." Sam told him. "We'd have to ask her to be sure. Dad left her his number, in case she ever needed any hunter help, but from what we heard, she didn't call it until Adam started asking about Dad when he was twelve or so." Sam shrugged. "She raised Adam under her own last name. Given the stuff that's been after us, it was probably for the best."
"And, where is Adam now?"
"At school. He's Pre Med at the University of Wisconsin. Dad tried to keep them out of the hunting stuff."
"Why do I feel disturbed that you said 'tried'."
Dean took over. "When we went to see them, to tell them about Dad… and to check into… things."
"Things?"
"C…Kaseva put some protection on them, but… a ghoul that dad had taken care of when he met Kate had kids and they were looking for payback. With that and Loki sticking his nose in, Adam found out more than we were ready to tell him at the time. We told Kate about the supernatural shortly after and when the ghouls became a problem, they were dealt with. Other than that, the two of them have been staying out of the family business."
"Although I think." Sam said then. "That Adam is just waiting to finish school before trying to convince us to…" He shrugged. "Teach him at least the basics." He looked around the room. "If we do, I'd rather it be from the research side of hunting, rather than the physical hunting. If you want, we can see about getting together with them during one of Adam's school breaks."
Henry nodded. "Yes, I would like that." He was still feeling a bit disappointed in his son, for allowing such a thing to come to pass. However, while he might wish John had done the right thing and married the woman, he had no intention of taking out what he saw as his son's failure on the young man who was his youngest grandson.
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They introduced Rufus to Henry a few days later. Bobby vouched for him as a researcher, but Rufus, being even less of a joiner than Bobby, declined the invitation to the Men of Letters. He did offer to work with them whenever necessary though. He also suggested they get hold of Deana Campbell and Ellen Harvelle and consider storing the prophet's alternate histories at the bunker.
"Alternate history?"
"There's two versions," Rufus explained. "He's been publishing the version that was suppose to happen, while we've been reading the stuff that he's been hiding. The stuff that really has been happening. Since Lucifer would already be Walking the Earth in the original, we prefer the new and improved version."
"Ah." Henry nodded. His grandsons had covered some of that in their explanation. "I'd like to see both versions, if I may."
Bobby nodded. "We'll haul them up next trip. Safer storage anyway."
"My thanks."
XXXXXXXX
Alistair exorcised another angel, then killed the vessel by snapping its neck. The things were like cockroaches lately, every time he turned around there was another one in his way. It was almost enough to make him give up his quest to find the Righteous Man.
Almost.
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Anna stared at the vial of grace in her hands. Across from her, her parents sat, their hands clasped together. They had come to accept, for the most part, the truth about her. They loved her still, and said they would accept her decision, but in their hearts they did not want her to go.
She gripped the vial tighter. She didn't know what to do, and Castiel was not answering her calls.
"I'm afraid he's incommunicado at the moment."
Anna tried to stand and get in front of her parents so quickly, that she ended up on her rump. Her father stood and stepped in front of her.
"You will not take her." He and his wife had missed the archangel turned pagan god the first time he'd looked in on Anna. Loki/Gabriel had stuck around invisibly just long enough to get an idea of how her parents were dealing before continuing to look for Cas.
Loki held up his hands in surrender. "Whoa, whoa, nobody is taking anybody."
Anna got to her feet. "Dad."
Her father looked back at her, then sighed and stepped to one side, behind them her mother stood and came up on the other side of her husband, slipping her arm into his.
Anna frowned at Loki. She still couldn't get a read on him, even though she was sure she ought to know who he was.
"It's cool." He told her. "Castiel heard you calling, but there's no way he can come right now, so I'm here for him."
"I… I don't think you can help."
He waved a hand towards the light of her vial of grace leaking through her fingers. "Same old, same old. You're trying to decide if you want to stay human, or become an angel again."
Startled, she pulled the vial of grace to her chest. "Yes."
"So, what do you really want to do? Not should do, want to do."
She blinked at him a moment. "I want to be human." Behind her, her parents grabbed onto her shoulders and lightly squeezed.
"Okay, then."
"But, I don't think I can be." Reluctantly, she stepped out of her parent's embrace. "There's too much, all of it, in my head. Sometimes, it feels like it's going to explode."
"I could, probably, make you forget it, but I don't think it would be a good idea. I can however, dull it down. You'll still have the memories, but they won't be front and centre. You'll get the occasional drifting thought, but it will require some effort to really remember. The life you'll know the most is the one you've been living."
"So, no head exploding?
"Yup." He said, giving extra pop to the p at the end of the word. "I can also set you and your folks up with new lives in a new country. Break your trail here and put you someplace they won't think to look for you right off the bat. Stay low, and all this may even blow over."
"You can really do that?"
He nodded.
"Who are you, really?"
"Now that, would be telling."
XXXXXXXX
Cas was still weak, but Jimmy could feel how annoyed he was.
"You set them up with a new life, in Rome?" Jimmy asked the Archangel in front of him. "The hub of Christianity. The place most likely to recognize what Anna is?'
"And the place where they'd be the least likely to expect her. They all have new identities and I've warded her and her parents, heavily. No one will physically recognize them, not even people they've known their whole lives. No one will ever notice that she's anything but human, not unless she activates her grace. And yes, I warded the grace as well. Anyone that looks at it just thinks it's a pretty pendant, and then they forget about it. I even back tracked their existence, with their permission. Everyone believes they've been there for the last six months. Anna and her family know everything they need to know about those six months, I even gave them a language download, so they'll fit in better."
Jimmy rubbed at his head. "Cas is flipping out in here."
"It'll be fine. I've got alarms on them just in case. If it screws up, I'll fix it."
"You couldn't have just sent them someplace…"
"What, out of the way? Not enough people around. They would have been much more noticeable. Trust me. I know what I'm doing. I've been hiding in plain sight for a very long time. All she has to do is hide for one human lifetime."
"He really hopes you're right."
XXXXXXXX
Four shadowy figures met around a table.
"So, it's a bust again, isn't it?" One said, dabbing at his nose with a handkerchief.
"It could still happen,." Another said, tapping his ring against the table top.
The third took in a raspy breath and wheezed out a laugh. "Always hoping you are. Don't blame you, so hungry am I."
The fourth, a tall thin man who was somehow more terrifying than the other three put together, braided his fingers together and set his hands down on the table. "It really was the wrong time for it."
The first to speak coughed into his hanky. "At this rate it will never happen."
The skeletal man looked vaguely annoyed. "No, it will. Lucifer is unlikely to learn his lesson and admit he was wrong and ask for forgiveness." He shook his head. His old friend still held some optimism that the boy would learn, but he found it to be unlikely.
"Eventually, he will break free. It just won't be this millennium. I'm rather glad of it. I'm getting tired of pretending to be bound. I'll give it some more time, then Lucifer can just wait until the next Righteous Man comes along in the next thousand years or so.
The ring tapper banged his fist down on the table. "But it could still happen now."
Everyone else in the room just sighed and shook their heads. War never knew when to give up. Death decided to make sure to sit on him and the other horseman for the duration.
