Chapter 10: The Huns
Fish- and bird-shaped kites flew overhead in the light dusk breeze as dancers, musicians, and a group of very serious drummers led an impromptu parade down the main street of the Imperial City. Citizens crowded along the edges of the road, having heard of the great heroes who had defeated the Huns in the mountains, all of them eager for a good look at these brave alphas and betas. Anyone with a teenage pup, especially an omega without strong offers, eyed the soldiers like desserts at a buffet, wondering which ones they might be able to approach with a marriage contract offer. The soldiers themselves, most of them on foot now with Castiel still riding his stallion in front of his soldiers, were not interested in a party.
Castiel rode his horse two lengths behind Metatron, who was smiling and waving at the front of the military parade as if he had actually destroyed an entire army by himself. His superior on the Council walked in front of him and just behind the acrobats, telling everyone to "Make way for the heroes of China!" Ketch was a tall alpha with a taller ego who had jumped at the chance to volunteer to lead the parade welcoming the soldiers back from fighting the Huns. He was the Minister of Works, a position he had been appointed to after mating one of Castiel's omega cousins, Mick Davies, though by all accounts he was a competent man and popular enough in the City itself. Imperials did not hold many of the Council spots, but mating one of them was a respected step on the path of gaining an appointment.
Cas would normally enjoy a military parade through the City, especially in celebration of such a major victory, but his heart wasn't in it. Cas was sullen and withdrawn, a dark mood shared by most of his men, and he felt like an imposter getting credit for Dean's spectacular strategy of dropping a mountain's worth of snow on top of the Hun army. He would never have thought of it, but that boy had the ability to be a brilliant military tactician if he were ever given the chance. No hope of that now.
"Dad?"
Cas glanced down at the teenage girl walking beside his horse, bright blue eyes carrying some of the same burden he felt in his heart. "It's nothing, Claire," he murmured, hoping not to be heard by the crowd. "I was just recently reminded of another parade in this city twenty years ago, and I got a little nostalgic."
"I thought you were upset because you missed Dean."
Cas swallowed the lump in his throat and looked away, staring at his horse's neck and struggling to gain control of his scent. "Yeah, that's who the parade was for."
"Oh."
Balthazar, as the highest ranked Imperial in the regiment, carried the flag, the same one that had marked their rocky outcropping on the mountain where the Huns had perished. He walked behind Castiel's horse, as despondent as his leader, not even looking up when his niece joined him. Anna, Benny, and Charlie followed him in a neat, somber line, the rest of the soldiers behind the huge dragon puppet operated by eight dancers, only their legs visible.
No one except Metatron was happy to be there that night; while he had been upset that Cas let Dean live on the mountain, he had been grinning ever since his meeting with the Emperor upon their return. As expected, he immediately told Chuck about the omega boy who had infiltrated the camp and destabilized the unit before being left alive in violation of the law, so Cas had been sure to let his father know, when they met shortly afterwards, who was really responsible for the avalanche and for saving his life.
"This is John's son?" Chuck's voice echoed in Cas's mind as he thought back to their meeting.
"Yes, the omega boy."
"The baby you held on his Naming Day? Rowena was fond of him."
Cas had nodded and looked at his hands, the action certainly surprising to his father. Alphas did not drop their eyes or look away from a superior, but this was his father and he was struggling to keep his emotions contained. "Yes, I remember that."
Chuck had looked down at his papers then, a clear dismissal which Cas was quick to respond to. He bowed and backed out of the room, only turning when he reached the door. He paused as his father spoke again. "It sounds like he would have made a fine soldier, if he were born alpha."
Cas had looked over his shoulder at that, staring at his father's gray head for a long moment before replying. "I think it's pretty clear that he made a fine soldier, regardless." With that he spun around, his cloak swirling behind him as he left the chamber. It was unheard of to try to get the last word with the Emperor, but Cas hadn't been in the mood to care about Imperial customs. And now, all he could think of was a pair of green eyes and a scared boy shivering on a snowy mountaintop a hundred miles from home.
Then, suddenly, he wasn't remembering those eyes anymore. Dean called out his name as he rode up beside him, barreling through the crowd on a horse that trained to break through crowds of civilians just as easily as warriors. "Dean?"
Dark jade eyes met shocked blue, the boy's scent controlled but still clearly omega. He hadn't bothered to use all of those oils and herbs he must have brought with him to the Crystal Lake Camp so many weeks ago in order to hide as an alpha, and Cas was distracted by that gentle scent for longer than he was willing to admit. "The Huns are alive! They're in the city!"
Cas's shock turned to anger as he shoved his alpha down and straightened his back. No matter what he wanted, the omega was disgraced and certainly not legally a soldier. He barely heard Dean's words before snapping back at him. "You don't belong here, Dean. Go home." He kicked his horse and closed the gap with Metatron, hoping that Dean would leave before the old scribe caught sight of him.
Dean set his jaw and kicked Khan forward, moving beside Cas again as he tried to get the alpha to meet his gaze. "Cas, I saw them in the mountains. You have to believe me." Cas looked at him at that, eyes narrowed and sparking with red. "Why should I?"
Dean glared back, his own eyes swirling with gold as anger threaded his scent. Cas's alpha couldn't understand that Dean's gold could mean fury as easily as lust, so some part of him wanted nothing more than to grab this omega and run away somewhere private where he could do something about this tension between them. Still, the laws held him back, even when Dean moved Khan in front of Cas's horse and forced the stallion to stop, a kind of power move that Cas would expect from an alpha but never an omega. "Why else would I come back? You said you trust Steve. Why is Dean any different?"
The boy had a point; Cas did still trust him, and he knew that Dean wouldn't have risked coming to the Imperial City unless something had happened on that mountain. Maybe he was right, maybe the Huns really were here, but Cas had seen the avalanche. Certainly nothing had survived that. He forced his face into a mask of indifference and rode around Dean's horse, refusing to meet his eyes again as he returned to the parade.
Dean looked down at his five friends, all of them willing to meet his gaze but not willing to break the laws and speak with a disgraced omega. "Keep your eyes open," Dean warned them. "I know they're here."
Drummers beat a deep, booming tempo from the edges of the parade route, colorful fireworks screaming overhead as Dean slid off his horse to join the crowd and look for the Huns. From Khan's head, Kevin glared down at his charge, one hand on his hip. "Now, where are you going?" the dragon demanded.
"To find someone who will believe me," Dean answered as he trotted into the crowd inside the outer gates of the Imperial Palace. This was the final destination of the parade, and the army would meet the Emperor on the stops of the palace itself. The Huns would almost certainly be heading toward the leader of China, and Dean knew that he had a duty to protect him. He might be an omega, he might have been cast out of the army, but he wouldn't let that stop him.
The crowd, mostly nobles and wealthy commoners, pushed toward the foot of the stairs leading to the palace as the parade started the climb toward the Emperor. Most of them carried paper lanterns in red and green, some round and others oblong, while the rest waved the red-and-gold dragon flag in honor of the Emperor. The fireworks overhead increased in color and frequency as Emperor Chuck slowly descended to the large dais from which he routinely addressed his people, two of his younger female concubines holding fans to block his path.
Chuck reached the dais and the concubines raised the fans to allow him past, bowing and backing away as the gray-haired man met the parade. He wore robes of gold and red, his official house colors, and kept his hands tucked in his oversized sleeves. Chuck had always struck a most regal figure, never a step or word out of place, and even in his later years he stood straight, if not actually tall, and his bright blue eyes were free of infirmity or senility.
Most of the parade had faded away into the crowd before the group reached the stairs, Castiel and Metatron leaving their horses at ground level. Metatron, who had carried Dick's sword back from the mountain, handed it to Castiel with a slight bow, clasping his hands together as he faced the Emperor and waited for the prince to offer over the weapon of their enemy. Behind the pair, the dragon puppet moved closer, its bells jingling as the dancers carrying it shifted their feet. Cas half-turned his head to glance at them out of the corner of his eye, remembering Dean's words that the Huns had to be in the city already. The drummers went silent as the fireworks ceased, and Ketch rang a huge gong near the doorway of the palace itself. The citizens gathered below the palace quieted and stared up at their Emperor, waiting to hear what he would say.
Chuck raised his arms, looking out across the crowd as he raised his voice so that it could carry to the edge of the courtyard. "My children, heaven smiles down upon the Middle Kingdom. China will sleep safely tonight, thanks to our brave warriors." Castiel looked down at the sword in his hands and sighed, unable to prevent himself from thinking of the brave warrior who had saved his life and dropped a mountain of snow on the Hun army. Dean should be here, receiving the Emperor's praise, but Cas had sent him away.
Down in the crowd, Dean went up the first citizen he could find, an alpha by his scent and stance. "Sir, the Emperor's in danger," he warned, grabbing the man's shoulder. The man gave an offended huff and pulled away, intentionally distancing himself from the omega. "But the Huns are here." Dean turned to another man, a bigger one wearing more expensive clothes, and tried again. "Please, you have to help." That man also pulled away, dismissing Dean with a growl and refusing to meet his eyes. Dean looked around, but it seemed that the crowd had pulled away from him specifically, standing closer to each other in order to avoid him. Kevin walked up to his side, clearly finished with the whole hiding thing, with one hand on his chest and his nose turned up. "No one will listen."
Kevin turned his head, ears turned down to telegraph how utterly unimportant he found the conversation, and finally met Dean's eyes. "Huh? Oh, I'm sorry, did you say something?"
"Kevin," Dean growled, already tired of being ignored and not willing to accept that kind of behavior from his own guardian dragon.
"You're an omega again, remember?" Oh. Right. Dean had been terrible at his omega lessons, but it would be the ultimate breach of protocol for an alpha or beta to speak to an unrelated omega in public without the omega's guardian dominant present. There were people in his own town who would bend that rule a little, but none of these strangers would risk their honor to even acknowledge his existence. Maybe he should have put his alpha disguise back on.
Up on the dais, Castiel held out Dick's sword, a well-crafted blade that had been hammered into a wave-like shape. He wasn't sure if it was a common choice among the Huns or if Dick had wanted his sword to be special, but the Chinese preferred straight swords so it certainly looked exotic to the commoners below. "Your Majesty, I present to you the sword of Dick Roman." He held the sword out as he moved into a bow, a position change he had practiced many times in his life. When he was standing before Chuck as the leader of the Chinese Army, or at least what was left of it, they weren't father and son and had to obey all of the Imperial formalities.
Chuck paused for a moment as he looked down at his son. "I know what this means to you, Captain Novak. Your brother would have been very proud." Chuck knew that Castiel had been very close with Zachariah, certainly closer than he was to his father, so the young captain would be feeling that loss acutely. Castiel looked up at the praise, gratitude in his sapphire eyes as his father reached for the sword.
Before Chuck could take the weapon, one of the dragon dancers who had slipped free of the puppet jumped forward and grabbed the leather-wrapped hilt and hurled it toward the roof of the palace, the weapon sticking itself into the tiles above the building where they had been shooting off the fireworks. The two men there, who had ducked when the sword came flying at them, leaned out from their station to see where the weapon had gone. One of the figures on the crest of the roof moved, the shadows parting to reveal a tall man in heavy furs who reached out to extract the sword and hold it up for all to see. Cas, who had ignored the performer in favor of watching the sword fly, recognized Dick Roman instantly, grabbing the hilt of his own sword. He had procured a new one from his collection to replace the one he left in the burnt-out village, and it looked like he was going to need it sooner than anticipated. Dean had been right; somehow Dick had survived that avalanche.
Cas had his sword half-drawn when chaos exploded behind him. The dragon dancers ripped themselves free of their puppet, swords drawn as they roared and attacked. Cas caught two of them with his sword, unable to stop the others as they dashed forward and grabbed the Emperor by his arms, carrying him into the palace. One of the men Cas was fighting shoved him to the ground as all of them followed the other Huns into the palace, pulling the great doors shut behind them. Cas recovered and returned to his feet quickly and ran after them, yelling "No!" as his father vanished from his sight.
The five soldiers who had been walking directly behind the dragon puppet ran up the stairs after him, Benny leading the charge. "Come on!" They got to the doors just as they closed and were barred from the inside, Cas pulling on the heavy rings and banging on the metal to no avail. The doors of the palace were meant to keep invaders out, and even he did not know how to get them open once they were locked. From overhead, Dick laughed maniacally and headed into the palace proper, determined to make use of his men's victory in grabbing the Emperor.
Cas rallied his soldiers quickly, pointing to one of the lion statues beside the great doors. The warriors tipped the statue on its side and lifted it, using it as a battering ram to rush the doors, all of them clearly ignoring the fact that the great doors opened outward. They could theoretically bend the metal enough to break the doors in the opposite direction, but it was going to take a lot longer than they had; certainly the Hun leader intended to execute the Emperor. Dean, who had finally reached the top of the stairs, watched a couple of hits before looking around, hoping to see a better option. "They'll never reach the Emperor in time," he mused out loud, eyes stopping on the tall stone columns that held the roof three stories up. He climbed the last flight of stairs and whistled at the soldiers to get their attention, offering a lopsided grin when they all looked his way. "Hey guys, I've got an idea." Without waiting for an answer, Dean turned and ran around the side of the building where the columns should lead into a secluded part of the palace itself, knowing that he was going in whether anyone followed him or not.
Balthazar, Anna, Charlie, and Benny looked over at Cas before dropping the statue and running off after Dean, having decided as one to put their trust in him again. They didn't care that he was technically dishonored and they really didn't care that he was an omega; the only thing that was important right now was that Dean was a fellow soldier who wanted to save the Emperor. Cas watched them leave, a question swirling in his blue eyes.
Dean pointed at the columns as the other four joined her, and all of them remembered their first test at the camp, the one that Dean had figured out before all of them. "What's up there, in that overhanging building above us?"
Balthazar and Anna looked at each other, the Imperials answering as one. "Concubine quarters." Balthazar took a step back, not seeing any light. "They're empty now; it's likely that all of them and the young pups were evacuated with the threat of the Huns on the horizon."
"As soon as we get into the palace they will spot us; the armor is a dead giveaway."
Dean nodded in agreement with Anna, pointing at a small building tucked against the outside of the palace. "Laundry, right? That room doesn't have access to the palace grounds, but I'd bet it's full of concubine robes. I still have some of my scent blocking lotion for Balthazar and Benny to cover up that musk, and together it should be enough to get us across the grounds and get the drop on the Huns."
Charlie grinned as she loosened her armor, the other three quickly following suite. Dean was already dressed only in his pants and top, leaving his armor on Khan with most of his supplies, so he headed to the small building and grabbed enough clothes for everyone. They were quick to rub lotion over their major scent glands, Dean giving them each a quick coating of white face makeup, eyeshadow, and lipstick that should match what the concubines would wear in public. Anna, who had seen her half-siblings' dams all of her life, was able to help everyone perfect their outfits, even handing out fans that had been tucked in with the washing. They moved over to the columns, each of them pulling out a long silk scarf to use as a rope to climb, Dean looking over at a quick tap on his shoulder. Cas, who hadn't changed out of his armor or put on any scent blockers, untied his cape and wrapped it around the column, smiling as he waited for Dean's signal. The omega smiled warmly at his captain before turning back to his column and pulling his sash taut, beginning his climb to the top. The other five followed.
Edgar and Gaines carried the Emperor through another set of doors and up a flight of stairs to the room where Dick would be waiting for them, having memorized the floorplan months ago in preparation for this attack. Valente and Chet, who had opened the doors, headed back into the palace proper to guard against intrusion by any of the leftover Chinese army. Edgar and Gaines took the Emperor to a balcony that overlooked the courtyard below, standing behind him as the gathered people murmured from the ground and watched anxiously. Dick Roman swung down from the roof overhead, grinning maliciously at the Emperor as he offered a greeting of "Boo." He stepped onto the wide balcony and crouched in front of Emperor Chuck, their eyes level for the moment before he turned to Edgar. "Guard the door," he ordered, waiting for both of his men to run back down the stairs before stepping off the balcony and standing in front of his enemy. He had hated the Emperor of China for twenty long years and now at last he could destroy this man.
Dick walked around the Emperor, glaring at the man who refused to meet his eyes. "Your walls and armies have fallen," he taunted, "and now it's your turn." Leaning in close, he barked his demand, the one thing he really wanted from this short, graying man. "Bow to me."
Edgar and Gaines returned to the doors at the bottom of the stairs and pulled them closed, drawing their swords as they prepared to meet anyone who might make it into the long, red-curtained hall. Their fellow Huns joined them, all of them listening to the loud boom of the battering ram coming from the huge doors half a palace away. They were confident that the Chinese Army would never break through in time to stop their leader.
Dean peeked around the edge of a doorway halfway down the great hall, counting the Huns quickly and noting that all of the ones he had seen in the mountains were downstairs except for Dick Roman himself. Pulling back, he turned to his four friends, quickly adjusting a couple of robes and hairpieces. "Okay, any questions?" He kept his voice to a whisper, hoping that the hanging curtains nearby would be able to muffle any sound from reaching the Huns.
Benny glanced down at his robes and tilted his head. "Does this dress make me look fat?"
Dean glared at the burly alpha and raised his hand as if to slap him, stopping when Benny raised his hands in surrender. Pulling his scarf up and opening his fan, Benny headed out into the main hall, Anna, Charle, and Balthazar on his heels. They didn't smell like alphas, and as long as they took small steps and kept their eyes averted they would at least look like submissive betas or maybe even omegas. One of the Huns called out, "who's there?" as the group entered the light, Charlie and Anna giggling even louder as the five soldiers approached the group. Benny tripped, but Balthazar jabbed him with an elbow to get him back on his feet.
"Concubines," one of the Huns answered, reaching out to force his fellow soldier to lower his sword. Even in Hun culture, the submissives were not dangerous and certainly shouldn't be injured when their fight was with the Emperor and his warriors. These men and women were not part of the battle, they were just walking through their home.
"Ugly concubines," his partner answered as he lowered his weapon. While two were women, which was his personal preference, they were clumsy looking and lacked the grace he would have expected from the Imperial Court. Two of the men, one burly and bearded while the other was lean and lanky, were terribly unattractive, not even smelling like proper omegas, though the fifth concubine did. He was certainly the prettiest of the men, with jade green eyes almost glowing above his fan. One of the men, the big bearded one, winked over his fan, and the Hun offered a sneer in response. The first Hun, when the tall man giggled and whispered something to his friend, offered a friendly wave, encouraging the small group to approach them. No reason not to be sociable.
An instant later, he regretted that decision. As soon as the five were close enough, two of the men flashed bright red eyes at the Huns, the warning coming only seconds before the attack. With no weapons, just insane combat skills that they had been practicing at the training camp, the five took out the entire group of Huns, kicking, headbutting, flipping, and bashing skulls as needed. The last one standing, an archer, grabbed his bow and an arrow, Dean kicking both out of his hands before elbowing him in the gut and flipping him onto the ground, kneeling on top of him and using that same bow to hold the Hun's head up to prevent a counterattack. Looking up toward the hallway, Dean called out to his captain. "Cas, go!" Castiel, sword in hand, rushed past his men and through the doors to the overlook, determined to save his father from the Hun leader. He didn't have time to think about it at the moment, but he would later remember how proud he was as he watched the five soldiers put all of his training to use in defeating the last of the Hun warriors.
On the balcony, Dick drew his sword as he finish the circle around Emperor Chuck. "I tire of your arrogance, old man. Bow to me!"
Infuriatingly, Chuck just stood there stoically with his hands tucked into his long sleeves, even with the tip of Dick's sword touching his beard. Chuck had never been a warrior; he had been the fifth alpha son of the last Emperor and Empress, one of a pair of twins that were very small and not expected to survive. He and his twin sister Amara had been raised mostly by their tutors and older half-siblings, only seeing their birth parents a couple of times a year. When they were twenty, their older brothers died serving in the army, in a raid to push the Huns back over the border decades earlier. Suddenly and with no warning, Chuck had become the heir to the throne, immediately mated to Naomi and groomed to take over the Middle Kingdom when his sire died. He was a scholar, not a soldier, so he fought Dick with his words alone. "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it."
Dick's eyes turned crimson as he raised his sword, already tired of dealing with this old man. "Then you will kneel in pieces!"
Chuck grunted as a body forcefully moved him aside, Castiel jumping in between Dick's sword and his father's neck. Dick's strike slid off Cas's sword, the force of the hit landing on the stone of the floor as Cas fell onto his back. The prince kicked Dick's sword away in that moment of unbalance, the follow-through knocking dick back against a pillar on the edge of the balcony. Cas rolled to his feet and swung his sword at the Hun, but Dick grabbed his wrist, forcing him to drop his weapon, and threw him over the balcony. The crowd below gasped, but Cas grabbed the pillar and swung around, kicking Dick in the head and tossing him back to the floor. He let his momentum carry him to land on top of the Hun, punching him once in the face before the older man swapped their positions. Cas struck Dick's chin with the heel of his hand, flipping them again as he gained the upper hand and pinned the Hun face-down.
Dean and the other soldiers ran up the stairs at that moment, Dean spotting the struggle between his captain the Hun leader as he waved toward Chuck. "Benny, get the Emperor!"
Benny ran up behind Chuck and offered a quick bow. "Sorry, Your Majesty." He wrapped one arm around Chuck and ran for the edge of the balcony where the lights were strung, Dean already waiting with his silk scarf folded over top of the heavy rope. Benny grabbed the scarf in one hand, his other arm wrapped securely around Chuck's waist as he jumped, ziplining down the rope to the crowd waiting below. Dean ushered his other friends to follow as Cas held Dick down, the Hun's furious, "No!" catching the omega's attention. He had been moments from taking the line to the ground, his scarf wrapped over the rope, but he stopped to make sure Cas would be alright on his own.
Dean looked over in time to see Dick free one arm from Cas's hold, elbowing the captain in the face and breaking free. Stunned, Cas was unable to fight back as Dick stood and slammed their foreheads together, Dean wincing as Cas collapsed. Dick grabbed the alpha and threw him to the other side of the balcony, only a few feet from the rope leading to the ground. Dean looked down to see Balthazar and Anna waving him down, calling for him to follow, but there was no way he could leave Cas. The captain was unconscious, just as he had been on the mountain, and Dean could no more leave him now than he could then, regardless of the many reasons why he should be practical and make his own escape.
Dick spotted him, wrath swirling in his crimson eyes, and started trotting across the balcony to the omega standing between the prone army captain and the pillar holding the lantern rope that the other soldiers had used to escape with the emperor. Dean leaned down and grabbed Dick's sword, the oddly-shaped thing having fallen nearby during the battle with Cas, swinging it with all of his might into the pillar and slicing the rope free. His escape route was gone, but at least Dick wouldn't be able to ride down the line to find his friends and the rescued emperor. Dick reached out and tried to grab the falling rope, but it was too far and he had to watch, helplessly, as it collapsed among the hundreds of cheering, defiant Chinese citizens thronging the courtyard of the palace.
"No," he murmured, eyes searching the crowd frantically for the bright robes of his greatest enemy and temporary captive, unable to catch even a glimpse of Chuck among the tightly-clustered bodies below. He leaned back and roared his fury at the sky before grabbing his sword and turning to face the soldiers who had denied him his victory. He had been just one stroke from ending the life of that old man, and the warrior who had interrupted them must now die.
He found the concubine-robed omega helping the red-cloaked warrior wake up, the warrior pushing the concubine away as he rose to his knees and drew a pitiful knife. "You," he growled as he kicked the knife away, dragging the tall captain to his feet by the knot of his cloak. He had no idea where the concubine had gone, but he was too consumed with his desire for revenge to care. "You took away my victory!"
"No!" Dean cried, throwing his shoe at Dick's head to stay his strike. The shoe bounced off of the Hun's thick skull and made him turn, Dean pulling himself to his full height and puffing out his chest as he had done the whole time he masqueraded as an alpha. He silenced whatever scent he might be producing and calmed his eyes to present only determined grayish jade, offering the slightest of a snarl. "I did."
Dick's face fell as shock chased the red from his eyes. "The soldier from the mountains." How had he not recognized this warrior underneath the omega robes; the boy even smelled like one. Still, there was no mistaking that steely gaze as belonging to the blond who had used a cannon to drop an avalanche on his army, killing nearly all of them. He dropped the army captain, raising his sword as he advanced on the omega warrior, determined that this time he would not fail to end his quarry. Someone was going to die for his inability to defeat China, and it might as well be the boy who destroyed his army. Dean slipped his shoe back on and bolted, knowing that Cas would be able to get out on his own if he could just keep Dick occupied.
Dean flew down the stairs and slammed the door at the bottom behind him, the latch falling in place from the force. Dick rammed the door a couple of times, Dean closing his eyes as he tried to decide what to do next, dashing down the hallway as Dick's fist broke through the wood of the painted door. Kevin met him in the hallway, having hung back when the soldiers attacked the Hun guards in case his skills were needed, Cri-Kee riding on his back. "So, what's the plan?"
"Um . . ."
"You don't have a plan?!"
"Hey," Dean snapped, trying to hold his robes up so he could run at a reasonable speed, "I'm making this up as I go." He slid to a stop beside one of the windows, eyes lighting on the fireworks pavilion visible across the way. Plan. "Kevin," he called, pointing at the pavilion, the dragon hopping up onto the window sill.
"Way ahead of you, brother. Come on, Cri-Kee." Kevin grabbed the cricket in one paw as he jumped on a dark purple butterfly kite floating nearby, guiding the wings to force it to fly toward the fireworks pavilion and the veritable trove of weapons sitting there. Gunpowder was used for two things in China, cannons and fireworks, and both were equally deadly.
Dick finally smashed through the door at the bottom of the staircase, running into the hallway to find his prey. He turned a corner and found the omega soldier staring out a window, probably looking for an escape route, the boy dashing away quickly when he spotted the Hun. Dick swung his sword at the soldier and missed, breaking a wooden column with the force of the blow. The soldier ran and Dick gave chase, swinging again and bringing another column to the floor as the soldier scrambled up a third one. Not stopping to wonder how the young soldier could be so adept at climbing wooden columns, Dick swung his sword at the base of it and broke it, watching as the heavy piece of wood crashed through the thin walls and dangled its end over the crowd below.
Dean held onto the column as it fell, swinging himself on top of it and finding his balance in the flexible palace slippers he had borrowed from the wash room. More than half of the column was still inside the palace, so at least it wasn't likely to fall, but as soon as Dick took a single step onto it, Dean jumped for the decorative supports under the roof to get out of reach. He looked over at the fireworks pavilion as Kevin used his kite like wings to glide gracefully to a landing on the back edge, catching the attention of the two operators who had been shooting off the rockets all night.
Kevin folded his butterfly kite wings, lowering his voice to its deepest register as he called out to the two men. "Citizens, I need firepower."
Both of them gasped and backed away trembling, the shorter one gathering the courage to ask, "Who are you?"
Kevin raised his wings, still half-hidden in the dark, and growled, "your worst nightmare."
That did it. Both fireworks operators jumped out of the pavilion for the dubious safety of the roof below where they could drop into the palace courtyard and run for their lives. They had no intention of upsetting whatever angry, dark-winged spirit that had been.
Dean pulled himself onto the roof, ignoring the gasping and cheers from the crowd below. He did hear someone call, "on the roof!" and a follow up of "look" from a second voice, but he drowned out the rest in order to concentrate on getting rid of Dick Roman for good. He made it to the wide beam at the top of the roof and turned to look at the fireworks pavilion, raising his hands to try to measure the distance. His plan was still kind of half-cocked, but if Kevin could do his part, it would work just fine.
Dean was taking a few steps back to get a more accurate measurement when Dick Roman jumped through the roof, shattering the support beam. Seriously, what was this Hun made of? Dean gasped and jumped back, eyeing the sword in Dick's right hand as he weighed his options. Dick stalked toward him, breathing heavily with a hint of red ringing his irises and Dean backed away, searching his concubine robes for any kind of weapon. He pulled out a fan, a colorful paper thing favored by the submissives in court, noting that the two arms were made of a sturdy, dark wood that was likely from a foreign land. Dick chuckled and opened his stance to strike, glad to finally have this soldier backed into a corner with no escape, no backup, and no weapons. "It looks like you're out of ideas."
Dick struck, Dean leaning to the side so the point of the sword went through the center of his fan, breaking the slender supports and tearing the paper to shreds. He folded the fan with his free hand and twisted it, jerking Dick's trapped sword out of his hand and tossing it into the air. Dean followed through with his fan twirl, grabbing the sword in mid-air and spinning it to toss the fan away. Raising it in an attack stance with his free hand held in front of him, Dean offered a triumphant grin. "Not quite." He thrust the tip of his sword at Dick's throat, glancing behind him at the dragon who had just landed on the other end of the roof. "Ready, Kevin?"
Kevin threw his arms down, tearing his paper wings away to reveal a huge rocket-shaped firework tied to his back. "I am ready, baby!" Kevin breathed a quick burst of fire on a stick he had taken from the fireworks pavilion, holding it to the cricket standing on one of the rocket fins. "Light me!"
Across the roof, Dick seemed to catch onto the plan, growling as he lunged at Dean. The omega buried the tip of his sword in the roof and lowered his body, kicking off with one foot and swinging around in a half-circle to slam his foot into Dick's chin, knocking the Hun back. Dean released the sword and fell to one knee, swinging his other leg in a circle to knock Dick's feet out from under him. Cri-Kee lit the fuse as Dean freed his sword, turning to bury through a loose piece of fur that was part of the Hun's pants and into the wood of the roof, effectively trapping Dick there.
Kevin's rocket went off, propelling him, with Cri-Kee clinging to his tail for dear life, across the roofline. It hit Dick as he was frantically trying to pull out his sword, and missed Dean who had slid down to lay on the slanted roof itself instead of the beam on top. Kevin managed to grab the hilt of the sword as he flew past, the force of the hit having ripped Dick's clothes as it sent him hurtling toward the fireworks pavilion. White and blue smoke from the firework filled the air above the roof as Dean pulled himself back up and grabbed Kevin, running toward the opposite side of the building. "Get off the roof, get off the roof, get off the roof," he repeated to himself as he ran, concentrating on not slipping and falling to his death. Dick's final scream filled the night as he hit the fireworks pavilion at full speed, the building instantly engulfed in flame as the huge rocket lit all of its fellow colorful gunpowder-filled party favors.
Fireworks shot out in all directions, mostly into the sky, and exploded in blue, green, red, and every color in between. Dean reached the edge of the roof moments before the multi-colored explosion reached him, jumping off the building and throwing Kevin free as he used both hands to grab one of the lanterns to ride it toward the ground, even as his friends had used the lantern line to escape earlier. He knew that Kevin would be able to land on his own, both being smaller and more durable than a squishy human, and as a dragon spirit he was virtually indestructible. Dean lost his grip above the palace stairs, falling on Cas who had finally made it out of the palace himself. They both rolled a couple of times, ending up on their backs as Dick's sword, still smoking from the explosion, landed in front of them.
Kevin skipped across the landing a few yards away, laughing maniacally as he watched the utter destruction he had wrought, slowing to a stop just in time to catch Cri-Kee out of the air. "You are a lucky bug," he chuckled as he put out the fire on the cricket's left antennae. Above them, the fireworks continued to explode uncontrollably while the crowd screamed and cheered from the ground below.
Metatron stomped angrily down the stairs of the palace, his hat smoking as black clouds billowed out of the building behind him, clipboard still tucked against his side. "That was a deliberate attempt on my life!" he bellowed, glaring daggers at the small group gathered on the landing below him. Anna, Balthazar, Charlie, and Benny had rejoined their captain and friend, still wearing their colorful concubine robes as they moved closer to Dean. "Where is he?" Metatron demanded as he reached the group. "Now he's done it." Charlie pulled Dean back, Benny and Balthazar clustering closer to him as Anna moved to stand behind her brother. Castiel held his arms out and puffed out his chest in an obvious alpha threat, one Metatron was not stupid enough to ignore. He stopped advancing but did not stop yelling as the other four soldiers started to back away, putting some distance between Dean and the irate scribe. "What a mess! Stand aside. That creature's not worth protecting."
Cas leaned forward and pointed over at Dean, getting in Metatron's face and offering a hint of red in his eyes. "He's a hero."
"He's an omega," Metatron countered snidely, offering a self-satisfied smirk. "He'll never be worth anything."
That was just about all Castiel could handle. He reached out and grabbed Metatron by the front of his robe, raising him into the air and growling directly in his face. "Listen, you pompous . . ."
"That is enough." The careful, measured words cut through Cas's anger and buried anything else he might have said to the scribe. They both looked up as Chuck himself emerged from the fading smoke, his imperial hat missing but every other fold of clothing and strand of hair in perfect position. He waved his arms out to silence his son and servant, descending the stairs as he folded his hands and joined the small group of soldiers in silence. Metatron scurried off to the side, always eager to hide in the Emperor's shadow, but none of the soldiers moved even if none would meet his eyes.
Castiel stepped forward, hands out in supplication. "Your Majesty, I can explain."
Chuck held up one hand and silenced his son, waving his hand in an order for the soldiers to part. While reluctant, they did obey, all of them closing their eyes and bowing their heads as they moved back to reveal a tall, blond male omega wearing concubine robes that fit him oddly well. While Chuck did not have any official male concubines, he did have omega sons who were still young enough to live in the concubine quarters with his half-blood pups, and Gadreel especially liked to wear robes like his mother from time to time. This lovely navy-blue dress was his, the red collar accented by the red sash, that color helping to bring out the bright jade in the omega's eyes. Chuck recognized the boy, of course, and would have known him for John Winchester's first born even if he had not heard Metatron's report on the matter. Dean, for his part, stepped forward to accept his fate, bowing almost to the waist as omegas were expected to do when meeting any high-ranking alpha, and especially the Emperor.
Utter silence seized the crowd as they waited with baited breath for the Emperor to judge this omega boy who had killed the Hun leader. Metatron stood to one side behind Chuck with his brush raised, ready to record his master's orders in regards to the disobedient boy. "I have heard a great deal about you, Dean Winchester," Chuck began, his steady, wise voice carrying across the silent courtyard. Dean looked up at that, still holding his bow as he met the Emperor's eyes. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese Army, destroyed my palace," —at this point he did raise his voice, waving an arm at the fireworks pavilion that had been blown away and was still on fire, only part of what would have to be rebuilt— "and you have saved us all." He raised his hands to his chest and lowered them in a gesture of gratitude, his voice soft again and full of a gratitude he rarely needed to show.
Dean looked up in shock at the last part, eyes widening as the Emperor closed his eyes and bowed to him from the waist. Metatron glanced over, dropping his clipboard and brush as he realized what was happening, falling to his knees with his face and hands on the ground. When the emperor bowed to someone, which never happened, the rest of the world prostrated. The other five soldiers also moved onto their knees as Dean stood up straight, watching in shock as his friends placed their hands on the floor and bowed their heads, the same thing he had done on the mountain in the snow when he was begging Cas to accept him. Unable to believe what he was seeing, Dean turned to look over the waist-high wall on the landing, amazed to see the hundreds of people in the courtyard below also fall to their hands and knees to honor him.
At the bottom of the stairs, even Khan bowed his head, Kevin crying from his perch on the horse's back. "My little baby is all grown up and savin' China." He looked down at Cri-Kee, who was just as proud as him, and sniffed. "You have a tissue?"
Dean turned back to the Emperor, bowing his head as the shorter man looked over his shoulder. "Metatron?" he called, waiting for his minion to scurry to his side.
"Your Excellency?"
"See to it that this man is made a member of my council."
Metatron, brush raised, stuttered at the command. "Member? What?" Thinking fast, certainly not interested in seeing an omega in a position of power, Metatron regained his composure as he answered. "But there are no council positions open, Your Majesty."
Chuck nodded in acceptance. "Very well." He looked back at Dean and aimed a thumb toward Metatron, something completely out of character for him in public. "You can have his job."
"What? I . . . my . . ." Metatron fainted at the suggestion, his clipboard and brush falling on top of him. Chuck managed not to chuckle, but he couldn't help but admit that the sight of his loyal, aging scribe out cold on the ground was amusing.
"With all due respect, Your Excellency," Dean replied, "I think I've been away from home long enough." He had never intended to be in the army this long, just long enough to save his family from the dishonor of not answering the conscription notice, but now he wanted nothing more than to see his parents and younger brothers again.
Chuck tilted his head in acceptance as he reached for the heavy gold chain around his neck. "Then, take this," —he hung the necklace with its heavy gold pendant around Dean's neck, the mark of his house that would be clearer than any proclamation that the boy had the honor of the Emperor— "so your family will know what you have done for me." He leaned down and lifted Dick Roman's wavy sword off the ground, presenting it to Dean with both hands. "And this, so the world will know what you have done for China."
Dean stared at the weapon and pendant, overcome with emotion, and he let his omega decide what to do. A moment later, he found himself hugging the emperor, the old man smiling at the gesture as he returned the heartfelt embrace. From a few feet away, Benny looked over at Cas. "Is he allowed to do that?" The three Imperials just shrugged; it hardly mattered what was allowed, the boy had done it.
Dean turned away from the Emperor and returned to his friends, accepting hugs from Anna, Charlie, Balthazar, and Benny in turn. He approached Cas, wondering if the captain would accept him now, remembering their nights in the older man's tent where they cuddled for warmth. Cas smiled at him, bright blue eyes warm and open, but it became clear instantly that the alpha had no idea what to say. "Um . . . you . . . you fight good." He offered Dean an awkward shoulder pat, and the boy's face fell.
"Oh," he managed. "Thank you." He walked past the captain, all hopes of a future with the man crushed, but he knew better than to let his disappointment color his scent. He tucked Dick's sword into his sash as Khan climbed the stairs, easily mounting his horse even in omega robes. He patted the stallion's neck gently, taking the reins in one hand. "Khan, let's go home." He had seen a mapmaker's shop along the main street during the parade; he would stop there for a moment and see if there was an easier route home around the south of the mountains since his own village was half a day's ride south of Crystal Lake Camp so he might not have to go through the snow alone. The horse, always in tune with his rider, whinnied in agreement as he spun around and leapt down the first set if stairs, trotting across the landing toward the second one as the crowd cheered below.
Castiel sighed as he watched Dean fade from view, leaving the stairs and the courtyard to vanish into the city proper. He would never see that omega again, and his alpha was furious at him. What was he supposed to do? Chuck, as always knowing what his children were thinking, joined the prince on the edge of the landing and stared out across the city. He had apparently found his hat, the thing tucked in one arm as he gestured with his other. Chuck cleared his throat, only speaking when his son was looking directly at him. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all."
"Sir?"
The Emperor glared at his offspring, having been certain that the boy would comprehend. He needed to have a conversation with the tutors if his own son couldn't get the reference. He turned fully toward Castiel and aimed his thumb in the direction Dean had gone, making eye contact to ensure that his son understood him. "You don't meet a boy like that every dynasty." He took his hat and placed it on his head with a huff, spinning and walking back toward his palace. Most of the damage would be contained easily and he needed to meet with his ministers now that the threat was well and truly gone.
Castiel turned back to stare across the city, a slow smile lighting his face. That he understood.
