Chapter 53: Closing windows of opportunity

[Author note: apologies for the delay - the events of the last week have made it incredibly difficult to write, but I realise it's important to keep going. So, I've managed to throw myself back into the story and hopefully will get this finished soon. Here's a short chapter but another one is written and I'll post it very soon as a means of saying sorry for the longer wait.

Take care of yourselves and most of all keep safe and keep smiling.

Previously in chapter 48:

Despite the drugs, Dean managed to focus and do what he was told, lifting his eyes to look directly into Trevor's eyes. As he did, he saw a faint blue hue and he tilted his head slightly. Still in a daze and drugged, Dean tried to grasp the situation. "You can't be … you can't be him?"

It was then that Dean thought he saw Michael looking out from Trevor's eyes. But it wasn't until the eyes glowed a brighter blue that he realised it was the archangel.

"M..Michael!?"

"Shusshhhhhh. Oh how I wish I could just jump bodies and take back what is mine. But we'll have to wait just a bit longer for the sword to be connected to the warrior once again."

Dean didn't know whether to cry tears of relief, joy or fear. Was it really better to be rescued by Michael? Was he swapping one form of servitude for another? The phrase 'jumping out of the frying pan into the fire' sprung to mind. But before he could form a witty retort, the archangel grabbed him by the jaw and leaned in and kissed him.

Immediately Dean felt the familiar pull of Michael's grace as it fought to gain access but both knew it couldn't happen due to the singular connexion. Instead Michael stopped trying, and continued to kiss the elder Winchester. Whether it was the drug or the shock of the archangel kissing him, Dean failed to do anything. Instead he stood pressed up against the side of the wall and let another powerful creature take from him something he did not freely want to give.

Whether Michael had sensed Dean's unease or whether he had overheard the heavy footsteps coming towards them, the archangel moved back. Within seconds he had raised two fingers to Dean's head and lightly tapped them against Dean's head. Immediately the hunter felt his world spiral downwards as he fell into darkness once again.

As he fell to the floor he heard the familiar English accent of one Mr Arthur Ketch as he summed up the situation so well, " ah bloody hell!"

Ketch's POV:

Looking down at his watch, Ketch realised he had fucked up the timings. It was nearly 9.30am and he was meant to be meeting Sam, Cas and everyone else down at the hidden doorway to the tunnel about 10 mins ago. Instead, he had been waylaid with plots and subplots. The last few hours had been busy, but he knew he had a very narrow window of opportunity and he couldn't afford to mess any of it up.

Fortunately he had indicated to Sam that his timings were subject to whatever obstacles he had to navigate and had insisted that if he was not present at the rendezvous point, it was advisable for everyone to continue with the plan. Shrugging off his annoyance, he considered his options. He had two really, the first was to meet up with Sam and his merry band of volunteers and then lead them up towards Dean or he could go and liberate Dean and begin their descent. Both were possible, but the thought of leaving Dean any longer than he had to was grating on him, especially if he was in the company of the slave named Trevor.

Over the past few days he had heard so much gossip from humans and vampires alike and all of it had centred around Dean. Or to be more accurate, the discussions centred around how much longer before the hunter would break completely. If he was honest, he had been tempted to place a bet, as some vampires were 'running a book' and the odds of Dean breaking were set at him crumbling within hours, not days. It was that information that helped make Ketch's mind up. He would forego meeting up with Sam. Instead, he would make his way up the back hallways towards the suite and hope his plans would work out.

As vampires very rarely used the servants network of passages to move around the house because it was beneath them, it came somewhat as a surprise to come across Kate. Despite her choice of course, he was more surprised that she was physically making her way towards her lover's quarters. From his network of sources, she was apparently meant to be under safe keeping down in the basement, courtesy of Valentin and Bridget's protection. Hidden and out of reach of Viktor.

So it was with great intrigue and interest to see her scurrying along the quiet servant's corridors. There hadn't been any noise outside, so Bobby must still have been undetected, and given that Viktor was one step away from decapitating her himself, meant she had risked exposure for something more serious. If Ketch had to guess he would place his money on the vampire having found out about the new guests in the basement.

As much as Ketch needed to press on, he couldn't proceed onwards towards Dean until he had verified what had spooked Kate out so much? He had assumed it was Sam and Cas's arrival, but he couldn't leave anything to chance. Armed with an extra mission, Ketch changed direction and decided to follow her.

For a few minutes he was convinced she was directly making her way towards her mate Bridget's quarters, but she turned and headed towards the guest wing. This peaked his interest so he turned and followed, but halted when he realised she had met not one, but two Grand Masters. Holding his breath, he peered around the corner and was surprised to see both Frederick Fischer and Heinrich Richstein in conversation with Kate. 'Interesting!' As he thought about his options, Ketch muttered a brief incantation that nulled his immediate aura, making him basically invisible. In short, the powerful vampires, who were currently meeting around the corner, would not have sensed his presence. He would have had to jump out and scream at them for them to know he was there.

Useful as his spell was, it didn't lend much to helping him fully hear the beginning of the conversation, especially as the spell tended to muffle sound. He was pissed off that he was unable to ascertain, with great accuracy, everything that was spoken. Though, he did manage to get the key points and that would have to do him.

Listening he was surprised at Kate's fear. The young female was more than spooked as she told both Grand Masters that Sam Winchester was most definitely in the building and was searching for his brother. She also imparted to them that there was a sizeable band of hunters with him and had advised them that she was planning on grabbing Bridget and making a run for it and if they had any sense of self-preservation about them, they would follow suit.

As much as he was surprise by her honesty and directness, Ketch was more shocked by the entirely different responses from both ancient and powerful vampires. On hearing the information, Frederick Fischer was annoyed. Ketch picked up words like 'inconvenient' and 'puts plans back'. But it was the vampire's decision to run that surprised the former British Men of Letter's assassin.

Throughout the entire summit, Frederick had made a constant play for Dean. He had pushed the boundaries in the meeting, demanding the elder Winchester be given to him so he could present Dean practically as a gift to the archangel Michael. So, it was both strange and confusing that the Fischer Clan would abandon their quest so easily. In fact, Ketch was curious as to why they didn't fear Michael more? Surely, giving up on his orders so quickly would not go down well, when they would return and would have to explain to the archangel as to why they came back empty handed.

With more thought, Frederick's behaviour did not make sense at all. Daring to look closer, Ketch edged around the corner and watched Fischer's body language. He could instantly tell the vampire had decided to cut his losses. The rapidly moving of the hands as they were thrown up in the air in wild abandonment told Ketch the vampire didn't care. He also overheard the words, 'nothing's worth dying for' and the phrase 'if he wants him, he can come get the hunter himself.' It was clear, Frederick was more afraid of Sam Winchester than he was of the archangel Michael.

On hearing the last phrase, Ketch couldn't help but smile. So it seemed that Michael's so call loyal vampires were not really that bothered and had little respect for their new 'boss'. That little nugget of information was worth filing away to be analysed further, whenever he got the chance to consider the next step in the fight against Michael. That's if everyone managed to get out of the bloody Volkov mansion in one piece.

Ketch watched as Richstein tried to get Fischer to stay, but Frederick was having none of it and the vampire's departure was marked by a strong shove, followed by a swift getaway. Shifting his attention from Fischer towards Richstein, Ketch could tell that the sudden removal of a serious player off the chessboard had annoyed the other Grand Master. Ketch was sure the vampire was furious as he watched Heinrich paced back and forth, whilst raising his voice.

The upside to this new found rage, was Ketch could at last hear the conversation. Listening closer, he overheard Kate say, "Grand Master Heinrich, Frederick and his clan might be many things, but they're survivors. Even he fears how this is going to end, and he's amped up on archangel grace. Maybe you would be wise to cut your losses and leave as well?"

It was clear to Ketch that Heinrich did not like her suggestion as the female vampire found herself flung against the wall. "Listen you pathetic and miserable excuse for a vampire. I know Bridget might tolerate you, but I tend to agree with Viktor. You're impulsive and a coward. No wonder you lost your first mate. Remind me Miss Kate, was it not due to your rash thinking well over a decade ago that led to the death of your mate? And correct if I'm wrong, the Winchesters were involved then?"

Kate seemed to physically shrink into herself, but despite Heinrich's tone and vindictiveness she didn't dare contradict. So he continued. "You see, it's very difficult to take someone like you so seriously. You make decisions based on emotion and not strategic thought and when the situation becomes a little difficult and you're required to personally invest in it, you turn tail and run, don't you?"

Ketch watched as the female vampire bowed her head. The Richstein Grand Master continued. "No! This is not the time for emotional decisions. This is the time to reassess. You see, up until now, we Richsteins really haven't had a stake in the game, not when Viktor held the elder Winchester. But, given our previous discussion, there's an advantage to taking out the younger, Mr Sam Winchester. After all, he is the human that physically killed our Alpha Father. It is only fitting that he should perish."

Ketch couldn't miss the smile that spread across Heinrich's face. Kate had managed to muffle something, but the next comment from Heinrich worried the former British Men of Letters. "Yes, that's a better plan. I can't think of a better way to ascend to a position of Alpha than to take out Sam Winchester and then as leader of our entire vampire race, I get to choose gifts from each Clan, and what fitting gift than Dean Winchester. Besides, the older Winchester also needs punished for his crimes and I can think of numerous ways to extract a punishment."

It was clear to Kate that she was not going to change Heinrich's mind. Instead, Ketch watched as she wished him good luck and told him she would find Bridget and convince her to leave. Kate managed to find her courage as she walked away, turning her head to look back, she said the retreating figure of Heinrich Richstein, "better an alive coward than a dead fool."

As she passed by, Ketch managed to hide in one of the many rooms. Sighing with relief, he couldn't help but inwardly wish Kate the best of luck. His first impression of her had been that she was impulsive and easily manipulated, but as he watched her run to try and save her partner, he felt a small sense of respect. Despite everything, the young vampire was willing to risk her life ending, either by Viktor's or Sam Winchester's wrath, and all to save the person she loved.

That very sentimental thought made Ketch shake himself. Enough time had been wasted loitering, albeit, with intent. He needed to haul ass back towards the Grand Master's suite and towards Dean, especially as Richstein knew Sam was in the building. And if Richstein knew, there was every possibility that it wouldn't be long until Viktor or Valentin knew and then getting Dean out of the building was going to be next to impossible. With that thought he took off back towards Dean and Trevor.

As he marched back towards the older Winchester he turned over all the possibilities he had for escape in his head. It was too dangerous to take Dean down through the centre of the house, not when every vampire would be on the move. Just as he spoke, he heard gun fire coming from inside the house, just as explosions went off outside. The 'cat was completely out of the bag' now and he had no other option. Out of time and quickly running out of possible avenues for escape, Ketch ran over the buildings schematics in his head.

Other than going down through the centre of the house and out the front door, there was only one real route to take, but that would require using the servant corridors, which were located down a floor and at the other end of the building, which would mean having to go through the biggest and most important section of the house – the grand hall. Dreading the journey Ketch knew he would have to take, he picked up the pace and practically sprinted back towards Dean.

In days to come, when Ketch would look back, it would seem as if it all happened in slow motion. After taking off in a sprint towards the older Winchester brother, the former assassin had taken no precautions to hide himself, so he knew he was making noise. But it was what he thought he saw as he came running round the corner, that warranted a "ah bloody hell!"

As he played the scene back in his head, he was sure Trevor had done something to make Dean pass out. So much so, the words had flown from his mouth before Ketch had had a chance to think more strategically. As he contemplated that he might be facing something much stronger, he attempted to play for time and play dumb.

"What happened? I thought the plan was for us to help Dean get out of here? Why's he unconscious?" As he spoke, he attempted to check Dean for any serious damage, or more damage that he already had sustained. As he did, Trevor quickly replied, "I don't know Sir. He was in bad shape when I got to him. I'm surprised I managed to get him out of the room. He was so determined to walk by himself, but I don't know whether it was all too much for him or whether there's something else going on."

'Oh I'm sure there's something else going on!' Ignoring his thoughts and intuition, Ketch considered his response, but was beaten to it when a rather nervous sounding slave continued. "All I know is he started to get dizzy so I stopped and let him lean against the wall and then the next thing I knew he was fainting. Just as you were arriving."

He had to give the slave credit, he was making a great attempt at coming across as worried about Winchester. Silently observing Trevor for a few minutes, Ketch turned his attention back towards Dean. Thinking over his options, he realised he had no choice, he had to play along with the unknown enemy in his midst, otherwise he'd never get Dean reunited with his brother. So he replied. "Hmph.. I suppose we have to be grateful that you were able to get him this far before he collapsed. Mmmmmm.. though I rather feel this may slow us down and we have a small window of opportunity to get out of here."