Just like fire, burning out the way
If I can light the world up for just one day
Watch this madness, colorful charade
No one can be just like me any way
Just like magic, I'll be flying free
I'mma disappear when they come for me
I kick that ceiling, what you gonna take?
No one can be just like me any way
Just like fire, fire, fire
Running, running, running
We can get 'em running, running, running
So I can get it running
Just cause nobody's done it
Y'all don't think I can run it
But look, I've been here, I've done it
Impossible? Please
Watch, I do it with ease
You just gotta believe
Come on, come on with me
HAMMER OF THE GODS
Beth's POV
I couldn't tell you how long I'd laid here in the darkness, floating in a pool of what could only be described as nothingness. There was no cold, no hot, no wet, or dry. It simply was - and I could no longer feel where my body ended, and the outside world began.
Even this much awareness of my surroundings hadn't existed until I'd started to wake up. At first it was just voices, snippets of conversation in an endless sea of time. Then it became concepts, places and people that I could start to recognise.
"What about the Winchesters?"
"They're looking for her…"
"Should we let them know what's happened?"
"Impossible to find them. They're still warded."
"Castiel?"
"Nothing yet."
"The meeting has been called."
"When?"
"Soon. Tomorrow."
Tomorrow? I felt a slight pull upwards, but it was so comfortable here in the dark. I stretched my awareness as far as it would go, but the silence went on for as far as I could feel.
"We need a plan."
"I have one, but Sariel, you're not gonna like it…"
Sariel?
Where was I?
With that thought a wave of fatigue rolled over me, and then I was falling back into the nothingness, where everything faded to black.
Beth's POV continued...
The next time I resurfaced, I was listening to Gabriel - I recognised his voice. I had no idea where I was or what we were doing, but it sounded important despite the joviality to his voice.
"Okay gang, so he's here," Gabriel said to the others in the room, I assumed it was at least Ezekiel.
"Room 311," I replied. But it wasn't me. It was my voice; it wasn't me speaking. I was definitely with Ezekiel, and I had a moment to ponder why I couldn't seem to move, or make my presence felt, before the conversation caught my attention.
"He can't see me first, or he'll suspect something and run. But you both have the perfect lure for the big guy."
"Lure?" A woman's voice asked, and I recognised it: Sariel.
"Mmmm," Gabriel said. "Women of course. Virgin, even better yet. You'll give him that innocent little blue eyed stare, he'll look you over… it's a done deal…"
"So, Ezekiel will come with me…."
"No," Gabriel replied. "Much as I love our Mrs Winchester… she doesn't have that … naivety about her like you do Sariel."
"Naivety?!" Sariel snapped. "I'm older than you! We're older than the planet itself!"
"And you act as if you've never walked a day on it," Gabriel said. "So, like I said, naive. Seriously Sariel, you said it yourself - you don't have time for these kinds of human trivialities. But I assure you, the gods do, they love it, and you are the perfect little treat for him, he'll probably want to make you one of his shield maidens."
Gabriel's voice dropped, and I couldn't see, but I could imagine the trickster angel circling Sariel, his eyes roving over her as he came to a stop in front of her.
"Beautiful, innocent and delicious…"
"I am not a treat," Sariel replied sternly.
The pair continued to argue. I could almost hear the internal sigh from Ezekiel as he watched the display in front of him. I could imagine Gabriel, laidback, unshaven with his messy mop of hair in need of a cut - not long, but not short, somewhere in between. Sariel, the complete opposite in her demeanour - poised and proud, her flashing blue eyes, the only untamed part of her the long red curls flowing down her back.
"Is this going to work?" Sariel asked after a moment.
"Of course it'll work, it's my plan!" Gabriel replied with a laugh.
"I'm pretty sure it's Ezekiel's plan," she replied.
"Right," Ezekiel said. "I'm going to go check out the hotel, and see how many we're dealing with."
Impala
Dean's POV
It was raining, hard, and we were still a good hour out from the city proper. Sam was throwing me those worried puppy dog looks, and if I was being honest with myself (I was, but I wasn't telling him that) he had a right to be worried. I'd been driving for seven hours straight, and I was wiped.
But I couldn't stop. I'd be there soon.
"Dean… why the hell would Beth be in Muncie, Indiana?" Sam asked, frowning at me from the passenger seat. I sighed, and glanced toward him, my eyes off the road for just a second before I turned back to watch the lines on the blacktop fly by.
"How am I supposed to know?" I muttered at him. "Who knows where Cas blew them away to."
"We've been to how many different psychics in three weeks, Dean, this is crazy," Sam said. "We might have to start considering that …"
"No!" I cut him off. "Don't say it Sam. I'm not giving up on them. Beth is strong, she'll be fine."
"I wasn't saying she wouldn't be," Sam replied. "I was going to say that the search might take some time. And you need to rest."
As if to prove me right, Sam pointed ahead of us and went pale.
"Dean? Dean look out!"
I slammed on the brakes at the last minute, and then gripped the wheel when we lost traction, hydroplaning to a stop in front of a major roadblock.
"DETOUR"
Beyond the sign now nose to nose with my car, we could see the road was starting to flood.
"Dammit!" I cursed, and backed us up slowly to the left hand turn that was the specified detour route.
Fifteen minutes later I was certain we were moving further away from Muncie, and closer to the middle of nowhere. I chewed on my lip and resigned myself to reality. Sam was right - I needed rest. So did he. And this storm was likely going to get us killed if we didn't stop, the Impala might be many things, but a boat she was not.
"Fine," I muttered, frowning at him. "We'll stop. But I don't know where on this damn backwater route…"
"There," Sam pointed, cutting my question off at the pass. He pointed to a sign, like a message from Heaven, advertising a hotel. I took the turn without hesitation, driving up the circular entrance to angle park near the door, cutting the engine.
Glancing through the pelting rain on the windshield I could see a fancy blue neon light that read The Elysian Fields.
I shrugged. "Good?"
"Yeah," Sam said, nodding. "Let's go."
Thunder crashed loudly outside as we pushed our way through the double glass doors into the lobby. Sam and I grabbed a breath from the downpour outside, shaking off the water from our hair, and I surveyed our surroundings.
This place was decked out!
To the left of the lobby was a bar straight out of the 70s with neon blue lighting that moved in waves against the back wall, a sign telling us it was the Astro Lounge.
The lobby was a buzz with people checking in, guests canoodling on the lounges by the open fire, bellhops running around and helping with luggage. I was impressed and my face showed it.
"Nice digs for once," I commented, and Sam nodded his agreement.
I walked up to the concierge - a tall skinny dark-haired man in a maroon suit whose name tag said 'Chad'. He didn't even blink at the fact that we were standing, dripping wet, in his pristine lobby.
"Checking in?" He asked.
I nodded, and commented, "busy night."
"Any port in a storm, I guess," Chad chuckled at me, typing quickly on the keyboard in front of him before pushing a form at me. "If you could just fill this out please?"
"Yeah," I said, picking up the pen and writing in our details - well, our fake details - before handing it back to him.
"Sir," Chad said. "I think you have a little shaving nick, there." He pointed to my neck, and then handed me a tissue. I took it, dabbing at the end of my jawline, pulling it away and seeing blood. I frowned, curious about how that could have happened, I hadn't shaved in days.
Sam raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged as the man in front of me held up an old fashioned key with a big number attached to it.
"Your key?"
"Oh, thanks," I said, dismissing the shaving nick and looking around. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee shop, would you?" I was starting to feel the fatigue hit me and desperately wanted a caffeine hit.
"Buffet," Chad replied with a thin-lipped smile. "All you can eat. Best pie in the tri-state area."
That got my attention.
"You don't say?" I asked, waggling my eyebrows at Sam who simply shook his head in response.
Dean's POV continued...
We took just long enough to change clothes into something dry, and then I was down in the lounge, sampling the pies. I suppose a shrink would say I was burying my feelings, along with the desperation I was starting to feel about Beth being missing. But that was just overthinking things. Sometimes pie was just pie.
I picked up two different dishes, I had apple pie and lemon meringue - which did remind me of Beth as it was her favourite. Next to me a little round-faced accountant looking guy grinned, and reached for a pecan pie.
"Heaven, right?" He asked.
I chortled, reaching out for a chocolate truffle on top of yet another delicious looking dessert. "Trust me, pal… better." I grabbed the truffle and popped it into my mouth, turning around and heading back to our table.
As I wandered in Sam's direction, I saw a dark-skinned, beautiful woman in skimpy red dress sitting by herself at the table stirring a martini whilst lost in thought.
I swallowed the truffle in my mouth and stopped beside the table.
"How you doing?" I asked. That imaginary shrink had no case on me being in denial and reverting to childish behaviour when in a crisis. No case at all. It wasn't like I wanted to do anything with her, just wanted to see if I still had the look.
"No," she said.
Apparently I didn't.
That got me.
"But…"
"No," she said again, turning dark eyes up to look at me. Now that was Beth all over.
"Oh lady, I'm just, you know…" I'd never been at a loss for words before! What the hell was wrong with me?!
"I understand," she said, all tight lipped. "And no."
"Ten-four, yeah" I nodded, and I high-tailed it out of there.
I sank, a little sheepishly, into the chair opposite Sam at our table, clunking the pie down, noting that my brother was eating vegetables. At an all you can eat pie buffet?! Even with that he was glued to his phone, a frown permanently etched on his face.
"Sam, unpucker, man. Eat something," I said, even gesturing to his untouched roast dinner. "Then we should hit the road."
Sam did look up then.
"What? In this storm?" He asked. "It's...biblical. It's friggin' Noah's ark out there," he said.
"Yeah, and we're eating pie," I said. To be fair, I was eating pie. I didn't know what he was doing. I dug into the lemon meringue and stuffed it in my mouth. I told myself that was not a response to missing Beth, nor was the need to get back on the road.
But who was I kidding?
"Dean, come on," Sam said. "How many hours of sleep did you get this week? What? Three? Four? Bobby and Jefferson have feelers out, okay?"
I grumbled, taking another bite of pie.
It didn't help.
"We have talked to every hoodoo man and psychic in close to twelve states," Sam continued.
"Yeah well, I'm not giving up."
"Nobody's giving up," Sam said, leaning in to low his voice. "Especially me. But Beth would want us to be working on a way to beat the devil too, right?"
"I'm not doing anything til I find her," I said. "She's close, I can feel it."
"Okay, fine - we keep looking and I'm sure we'll find her soon, but Dean… you're no good to me burnt out," Sam replied with a frown.
I looked up at the room around us, and my head shot up.
Beth?
I startled, blinking, but the brunette I'd seen was gone.
I'm imagining things.
"Yeah, yeah okay, maybe you're right," I conceded with a nod. I was exhausted, and the espresso I'd just downed with chocolate pecan pie earlier had done nothing to lift the fatigue.
"Come on," Sam said. "We've got the night off, we can't go anywhere in this weather, let's… I don't know, try to enjoy it?"
I sighed. It was impossible to enjoy anything, including this damn pie, while I knew Beth was still missing, and I told Sam so. He smiled sadly at me and nodded in reply.
"Okay, I get it. At least try and get some sleep?"
I stabbed at the apple pie this time and shoveled a piece into my mouth.
"Yeah fine," I said, just to keep him happy.
Sleep wasn't as blissful as it sounded. The dreams came like a tidal wave, consuming me. Frightful, awful dreams about Beth, locked away in a place she couldn't escape. She was floating in darkness, and I was powerless to get to her. I knew, I just knew, that whatever was going on with her, if I didn't get to her soon, she'd be lost to me forever.
Beth's POV
I was finding my way to the surface more and more, but not enough to actually call out to Ezekiel. It was as if a wall were between us. I could hear him, and the angels with him talking, and a light had started to appear, like seeing into a cloudy crystal ball. Glimpses of my surroundings - a fancy hotel - and lots of people who were not what they seemed.
Ezekiel moved easily along the corridor and through the lounge, not pausing for food. I was vaguing aware that my body was starving because it hadn't eaten in weeks, but the angel didn't feel hunger, and therefore he did not eat.
We crossed the lounge, into the lobby, and then down another corridor that led to the other wing of bedrooms. We had a purpose, but I didn't know what it was. That however became a little more clear as we reached the back rooms of the hotel.
Rounding the corner, we saw a couple of humans struggling with an oversized dark skinned man and an older man who was just as strong in that aura-of-authority manner.
There he is. I heard Ezekiel think, but when I asked for clarification, I got nothing.
We froze, but they'd seen us. They didn't even stop to question, the older man threw out his hand and zapped us.
Flying back, we hit the wall, and then suddenly, there was light all around me and it was no longer hazy. I gasped, and then everything crashed down around me.
I was quickly hauled to my feet by the African man. I swayed unsteadily, reaching for the wall, and shaking my head. Behind me, his companion held up his hand again, and a couple of energy pulses flew at the humans who had been fighting him. They squawked and fell to the floor, unconscious.
"Who are you?" I said, glaring at the man who had sent what I could only describe as a lightning bolt at me.
Ezekiel?
My silent call to the angel inside went unanswered. I didn't like that at all.
Whatever had happened, the angel wasn't present. I had to assume the lightning, or energy pulse, had knocked the angel out. And consequently, I had risen to the surface and regained control of my body.
I searched the appearances of the men in the hallway, noting that there was nothing particularly distinguishing about the African man - he could have been anyone. But the Nordic looking chieftain was different, he had a patch over one eye, and I reflected on this.
Gabriel and Sariel had been talking about gods, and there weren't too many gods running around minus an eye. Coincidence? Well there was also the lightning - that wasn't normal.
"Who are you?" He asked, his eyes running the length of my body, curious. "You're not human."
"Neither are you," I pointed out.
"You are not one of us, either," his companion said, taking me by the arm. "What do you want to do with her?"
I tried not to let the fear settle into my eyes, but it was definitely there. Without Ezekiel, I was outnumbered and outmatched.
"Bring her with us," the man said. "I want to know more."
Dean's POV
Sam was leading us down the corridor toward our room, I was looking around at how lush and decadent the whole place was. We hadn't stayed in a place like this for as long as I could remember. Certainly not since the whole Lucifer thing had gone to Hell in a handbasket.
Then I saw the couple.
They were pawing at each other by the door next to our room, giggling and kissing just like newlyweds.
I stared for a moment, and then I smiled, nudging Sam as he worked at getting the key in the door.
"Oh, what are you twelve?" he asked, frowning slightly.
I scoffed. "I'm young at heart," I said dismissively. Sam opened the door and let us in, I followed, quickly moving to cover the heaviness in my heart.
Reality was the couple had reminded me of Beth, and our fun nights where we couldn't keep our hands off each other. I looked around the room and whistled: she would like this! Dark wooden panelling, slick white table and chairs, two doubles with satin red covers. Not to mention chocolate!
"Wow, look at this," I said. "We're like the Rockefellers. Chocolates!" I reached down to a pillow and picked up a little chocolate in gold foil. "You want yours?" I asked Sam, pointing to the other bed.
Sam rolled his eyes at me. "Knock yourself out."
I chuckled, grabbed his, and started to unwrap it. I simultaneously picked up the movie listings on the nightstand and read through them, and then smirked at Sam.
"Casa Erotica 13 on demand," I commented, laughing to myself.
Sam was doing his frowny-faced thing. I couldn't quite tell if it was in response to the porn, or the room, or the meaning of life: with Sam it wasn't always clear.
"What?" I asked.
"Isn't this place… a little in the middle of nowhere?" He questioned.
"So?"
"So what's a four-star hotel doing on a no-star highway?" He asked.
I shrugged, not really concerned. What did it matter anyway? It was here, and we were checked in, the rain had settled in for the evening. At least we were holed up in the Impala sleeping there.
There was one thing that seemed to be at any hotel we landed at.
Moaning.
On the other side of the wall, the couple from outside were going at it, moans, bed banging; they hadn't wasted any time. I instinctively glanced at my watch, an old game from when Beth and I were much younger and used to time the lovemaking sessions of our motel neighbours, and again was reminded of her absence.
The man chuckled on the other side of the wall, and then something slammed the wall. Hard. And then again, enough to make the bricks move and the TV nearly fall down.
Sam was already moving to the door, and I was right on his heels.
The door into the next room opened without protest when we tried the handle, it was unlocked and no one shrieked when we walked in.
"Hello?" Sam called out, tentatively poking his head around the room, and then stepping further in when it became apparent that we were alone.
The bedding was messed up, no surprise there given what had been occuring minutes ago, but what I hadn't expected was to find the room vacant. Not a single sign of either of our lovebirds.
Sam moved to the bed, examining the wall, and I glanced around the room, looking for some clue. As I stepped onto a shaggy white rug, a light caught my eye, and I reached down - finding a diamond ring in among the fibres of the rug.
I picked it up and showed it to Sam.
Now that wasn't right…
Back at reception, the same smiley concierge was working. I walked right up to the desk and he looked from me to Sam with a quizzical gaze.
"The, uh, the room next to ours…" I started, pointing back down the hall. "The couple that are, uh, joined at the lips… have you seen them?"
"Mr and Mrs Logan - the honeymooners?" Chad asked. We nodded. He thumped quickly on his keyboard and then looked up at us, smiling. "They checked out. Is something the matter?"
Sam scoffed, leaning a little closer. "They… checked out?"
"Mm-hmm," Chad said with a forced smile. "Just now."
"Really?" Sam asked. "It seemed like they were, uh…." he chuckled, glancing at me for assistance. I just shrugged - what was I gonna say?
"Like they were in the middle of something," Sam finished.
"Yeah," I agreed. "It's kind of weird for honeymooners to check out without this." I held aloft the ring I'd found, getting a concerned look from Chad.
"Oh dear," he said, reaching out and taking it from me. "I'll just put that right in the lost and found. Don't you worry. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
He hadn't been particularly helpful. And the way he was looking at us: like a deer caught in the headlights? I knew enough to know when someone was trying to give me the run around.
"Uh, no," I said, seeking to set his mind at ease. "No, we're good."
"Super-fantastic," Chad smiled, and then he turned back to the paperwork he had been sorting behind him.
I nodded for Sam to follow as I led us away from the desk.
"Creepy," Sam said, as soon as we were out of earshot.
"Broke the needle," I agreed, we exchanged a knowing look - one that told me that we both knew something strange was going on around here, and our resident concierge had something to do with it. He was setting my skin on edge, and I suppressed a shudder from running down my spine.
"All right, well, I'll scope out the joint, and you keep an eye on Norman Bates here," I said after a moment.
Sam sighed, looking over at Chad at the desk, then he nodded.
"I mean, one night off," I complained. "Is that too much to ask?!"
I was starting to think nothing would be okay ever again.
Beth's POV
I soon found myself in a luxurious suite, a large bed covered in furs by the window, and in the centre of the room was an open fire pit with a inverted funnel-like hood and flue. Flames lapped at the wood in the pit, casting a soft and welcoming light out into the otherwise dark room.
Once inside I was pushed into a chair, the African man narrowing his eyes at me and then pointing a finger.
"Stay," he said.
I glared at him, but I didn't move as he exited the room. There was still one other god in here with me, and he could throw lightning. I didn't like my changes of either getting across the room before he could hit me, or surviving another hit.
I instead watched his movements. He was almost effortlessly gliding around the room, pouring himself a drink from a pewter jug into a goblet at the bar. He then tossed another log on the fire, crouching down to stare into the flames for a few moments.
"You're Odin," I said after a moment, and he took a sip of his drink, turning to look contemplatively at me.
"So you know me," he said, standing up and walking toward me. "Tell me, how did you withstand my lightning?"
I shrugged, playing it off. "Luck?"
He chuckled, and reached out to stroke a finger down my cheek.
"I doubt it. No, there's something different about you. I intend to find out what."
I smiled, but didn't give him any further information.
"Sorry I can't help you," I said.
"Oh, don't worry my dear," he said with a grin. "We have ways of making you talk. We're going to tie you down, dissect you, and eat you up. Believe me, you'll spill your secrets before we're done."
I swallowed hard, stilling myself and putting on my poker face.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, channeling my best Dean impersonation. "Well bite me big boy, because you haven't seen nothing yet."
Odin raised his eyebrow at me, and I could practically see the mirth in that deep, dark abyss.
"Well, that much you have right..." he whispered, leaning in until our lips were almost meeting. It was all I could do to hold my composure and not back down. I kept thinking… what would Dean do? What would Dad do? They wouldn't back down, so neither did I.
Just the same, I had a sinking feeling that it wasn't going to be easy to get out of here.
Dean's POV
I exited the elevator, EMF machine in hand and walked down the hallway. Nothing seemed to be throwing it off. I sighed, sight intent on the needle, step by step down to the last rooms.
Step, nothing; step, closed door; step, another closed door; step, light flicker?
I looked around.
No, nothing.
Step, silence; step, bored now; step, mmmm pie; step, step, elephant; step, wait.
Elephant?
Had I really just seen a room door open and an elephant holding a towel?
I stopped and shook my head.
Man I really was tired.
I backed up with a few steps and looked into the room.
There was a large, dark-skinned man, wrapping a towel around his torso. He spotted me, and let out an indignant noise.
"This ain't no peep show man!" He snapped at me, slamming the door shut.
I shook my head again.
Okay, I'm seeing things. But was I? I had definitely seen an elephant!
As for the peep show, why had he left the door open? Exhibitionist!
Or did this have something to do with what was going on here?
I needed to run it by Sam.
The rest of the search yielded no further interest, and I was soon back in the lobby.
"An elephant?" Sam asked after I told him the story. I nodded, leading us toward the front of the building. We needed our weapons; I wasn't sure what was going on, but we were at least in agreement that something was going on.
"Yeah," I said.
"Like, an elephant?" Sam asked.
"Like, full on Babar," I nodded.
"So what the hell is…." Sam paused, looking around us. The lobby and restaurant area which had been buzzing with activity not half an hour earlier was now completely dead. "Where is everybody?"
He didn't wait for an answer, instead pulled on the double doors leading outside to the car. They didn't budge.
"Let me guess…" I said. "They're locked."
His expression told me all.
Great!
"So what… the roaches check in, they don't check out?"
Sam turned to me. "Think about how we got here. That detour on I-90? The friggin hurricane?"
"You saying we were led here?" I asked.
"Like rats in a maze."
I sucked in a breath and then let it out. Dammit, I hate it when he's right! But what were we dealing with? Angels? Demons? Something else? Whatever it was it had to be pretty powerful to set a hurricane on us to detour us to their flash little hotel.
I glanced around, nodding toward the restaurant. Seemed to me the only place we hadn't been yet was the ballroom and kitchen.
We crept quietly into the kitchen, which was looking just as abandoned as the rest of the place right now, except for the soup bubbling on the stove. I looked down at it, my stomach sinking, and having flashbacks of Temple of Doom running through my mind.
"Please be tomato soup," I said to the red hot liquid, reaching for the ladle and stirring it around. "Please be tomato soup…" Eyeballs floated to the surface. I glanced at Sam, shuddering.
"Motel Hell."
Sam inclined his head to a walk-in freezer in the corner with the conspicuous padlock on the handle. He walked over to the door and looked in the small window, jumping slightly when one of the hotel guests - the round faced little accountant fellow from the pie buffet - smacked his hand against the glass.
"Help us!" He yelled, his voice muffled by the glass. "Get us out!"
Immediately I was by Sam's side and he reached into his jacket for his lockpicks.
"Hurry up!" I said, watching as he knelt down to start working the lock.
"I'm going as fast as I … can…" his voice trailed off, and he looked over my shoulder.
I sighed.
"There's somebody behind me, isn't there?" I asked, the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
We didn't stand a chance. These guys - whoever they were - were strong. We fought, but found ourselves thrown across the room, landing on serving carts and then we were tussled up and dragged out of the kitchen, through the restaurant to the ballroom by a couple of large brutes.
I was shoved forward, taking the room in almost instantly. It was decked out to the nines! A variety of people, men and women, from all different walks of life were standing around. They turned to look at us as we were pushed into the centre of the room.
"Something tells me this isn't a Shriner convention," I joked to Sam.
"Dinner is served!" Chad, the concierge, announced at the same time, waving his hand to a serving cart with a large tray, and in the middle of it was a couple of baked human heads, apples in their mouths, like they were a stuffed pig at a banquet.
Everyone erupted into applause, and then a tall, dark haired man turned to smile in our direction.
"Ladies and Gentleman, our guests of honour have arrived."
Guests of honour?
What the hell was he talking about?
Dean's POV continued...
I couldn't believe my eyes and what was happening. If you looked around the room, they were all wearing name tags! They'd all take seats around the conference table, settling in with barely a murmur, while Sam and I had been forced into armchairs at the end of the U-shaped table formation.
I took in the names of some of the people present and cringed - Ganesh, Zao Shen, Kali, Isis, Baldur…. Even I knew enough to know this was a nightmare.
The tall, dark and handsome god whose name tag indicated he was Baldur, stood up at the head of the table, where he was seated with Kali - the beautiful Indian woman I'd tried to hit on earlier.
He held up a champagne flute, clinking against it with a fork, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming. Although in all my centuries, I never thought I'd see this. This many gods under one roof -"
"Gods?" Sam whispered in my ear.
"Now, before we get down to brass tacks, some ground rules. No slaughtering each other. Curb your wrath. Oh, and keep your hands off the local virgins. We're trying to keep a low profile here."
"Oh we are so screwed," Sam muttered. I was looking for the exits, because he was right, and we needed to run, first chance we got.
"Now, we all know why we're here…"
"But, we're not all here," Samedi said, standing up and leaning on the table. "Where is the Odin?"
"Right here!" A voice announced from the doors as they swung open, and an older man entered, practically dragging a dark-haired woman into the room, past our chairs, and then let her go - she staggered a few steps in front of us and then caught herself, standing up to look around the room, wide-eyed and worried.
"Beth?"
It slipped out of my mouth before I could stop myself and I stood up, staring at the one person I'd been searching for over the last few weeks.
Beth's POV
"Dean!" I gasped, seeing the last person I'd expected to see in the room. Beside him, Sam sat up to attention, casting a concerned look around the room.
"What is going on here?!" a dark haired man asked, on his feet and staring. "Who is that?"
"Exactly what I'm trying to find out," Odin replied. "Not human, not god… something in between."
One of the only two women in the room circled the head table to the centre of the room where I was on display, her eyes flashing dark fury as she snarled at me.
She looked me up and down once, and then she reached out, grabbing me around the throat and lifted me off my feet.
I gasped for air, grabbing at her arms. I pushed down, trying to break her hold, but I wasn't strong enough.
"No!" Dean yelled, and he started toward us, stopping when the same woman threw out her free hand. He clasped at his throat, an invisible force choking him.
I saw red. Not just in how she was killing Dean, but in the clothing she was wearing. It brought me back into myself. I pulled on all the self-defence training that John and Dean had ever given me, and I went within, calmly tapping into the warrior, and then I lashed out.
I brought my knees up and kicked at the woman's stomach, connecting with a grunt. She doubled back and her grip on my throat loosened. This was enough for me to bring my arms down hard on hers, and she was forced to let go. I fell to the floor, gasping for air, and then rolled several feet away before jumping to my feet.
Several feet away Dean sucked in a deep breath as he was able to take a new breath.
"Dean!" I called out, running toward him. He grabbed me, wrapping his arms tightly around me.
I saw the woman compose herself, and then her arms went up in flames as she stared me down, the fury dripping from her. I had a moment to think this was how I was going to die, but Dean wasn't having any of it. .
He spun me around until he was positioned between myself and the angry goddess.
"You kill her, you kill me," he said, glaring at her.
"Kali!" The dark haired man on the other side of the table called out. "Enough!"
His voice seemed to steady the goddess. She didn't look at him, but she listened, staring at me as the flames died down and she resumed a normal, human appearance.
"I've killed entire armies for less," she warned, glaring at me.
"Not today sister," Dean replied. "Not on my watch."
His arms around me, the press of his chest to mine… it caused a huge rush of relief to wash over me. It was short lived, granted, given the situation we were in. But he was here, in my arms, and I wasn't going to be letting go any time soon.
"She's clearly mated to this one," the blonde woman announced. "She might be useful."
"But I found her," Odin said. "She is technically mine."
"Bite me," Dean said, glaring at the one-eyed asshole.
"Oh that can be arranged," he threatened with a grin.
"Enough," the god whose name tag read Baldur, said.
I stiffened slightly, Dean pulled me a little tighter against him, and looked down into my eyes with concern. I didn't like what was going on here, we were too vulnerable and definitely outnumbered.
"Dammit you have the worst timing, have I told you that?" Dean said, trying to smile at me, but the gesture fell short of his eyes.
Dean's POV
When I looked back at Kali to read her mood, she glared but she returned to her place at the head of the tables, ignoring us. I took the opportunity to put yet more space between us. There was a couple of gods loitering around near the doors, we weren't going to be able to escape, so I sat at a loveseat nearby, pulling Beth down on to the cushioned surface with me.
"Let's continue," Kali said, as if nothing had happened. "The Judeo-Christian Apocalypse looms over us. I know we've all had our little disagreements in the past. The time has come to put those aside and look to the future. Because if we don't… we won't have one."
Everyone in the room murmured slightly between themselves at this observation, but they didn't argue.
"Now we do have two very valuable bargaining chips," Baldur announced, looking at us and raising his hand in our direction, pointing toward first me, then Sam.
"Michael, and Lucifer's vessels."
Oh, shit… I didn't know what was worse. That they knew we were vessels, or for some incomprehensible reason Beth was also here. I felt sick.
"The question is, what do we do now?" Baldur continued, looking from one god to the next. "Anybody have any bright ideas? Speak up, this is a safe room."
The Chinese guy whose name was Zao Shen started speaking in mandarin, or at least I assumed that's what it was, pointing at us and then throwing his hand in the air.
"Kill them?" Ganesh questioned, obviously understanding what had been said. "What, so the angels can bring them back again?"
Odin, leaned back in his chair. "I don't know what everyone here is getting so worked up about," he said, waving a casual hand in the air. "It's just a couple of angels having a slap fight! There's no Armageddon.
"Everybody knows, when the world comes to an end, the Great Serpent Jormungandr rises up, and I myself will be eaten by a big wolf!" He chuckled, leaning closer to the man on his left and grinning.
The big bald Chinese guy was rolling his eyes and then started to mutter in chinese again.
"Oh yeah?" Odin responded, clearly understanding more than I did. "Any why is that? Because your beliefs are much more realistic? The whole world's getting carried around on the back of a giant turtle?" He laughed again. "Ha! Give me a break!"
Zao Shen swore at him in Chinese and Odin's eyes narrowed, leaning forward in challenge.
"What are you gonna do about it?"
"What the hell is going on here?" I asked, looking at Beth.
"Uh… well there's mention of Valhalla," she replied, "I'm assuming this fellow wants to kill Odin for being a dick."
I liked this. Maybe they'd kill each other and we could get away without issue.
"Dean, we need to get out of here," Sam whispered, leaning closer to me as the gods continued to fight across the table. I looked around, seeing that everyone was caught up in chuckling at the exchange between Odin and Zao Shen. Perhaps we could make it to the doors….
I nodded at Sam, and then stood up with Beth. The three of us sneaked toward the door, but before we could get very far, the chandelier overhead crashed to the ground, splintering glass everywhere. We turned to see Kali with her hand in the air.
"Stay!" She ordered. It was clear she wasn't going to be putting up with any disobedience.
"The Apocalypse - it's happening, like it or not," Kali continued. "We have to fight. The archangels - the only thing they understand is violence. This ends in blood. There is no other way - it's them, or us."
The gods started to mumble to each other and then the little concierge spoke. "With all due respect, ma'am, we haven't even tried talking to them."
As soon as he'd spoken he started to choke up blood, doubling over and clawing at his tie.
Kali was simply standing there, giving him the death stare like she was freaking Darth Vader or something.
"Kali!" Baldur chided after a moment, and this was enough for the goddess to let go of whatever psychic hold she had on Mercury, who stopped gasping for air.
"Who asked you?" Kali said to the man, who this time remained silent.
You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.
I was frantically trying to think of how I was going to get Sam and Beth out of here alive when the doors to the room swung open again, and then Gabriel sauntered into the room with a goofy grin.
"Can't well all just get along?!" He asked.
Beth's POV
Being here with Gabriel had never been part of the plan.
But then, neither were Dean and Sam!
Recognising Gabriel, Sam tried to say his name, but was cut off by the angel snapping his fingers and blocking his windpipe long enough to silence him.
"Sam! Dean… it's always wrong place, worst time with you muttonheads, hmmm?" Gabriel grinned, waltzing past us and into the centre of the tables.
"Loki," Baldur said with a roll of his eyes, and Dean sucked in a breath, realising in an instant that they had no idea of Gabriel's true identity.
"Baldur," Gabriel said cheerfully. "Good seeing you too. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail."
"Why are you here?" Baldur asked.
"To talk about the elephant in the room," Gabriel said.
Ganesh growled, and started to rise to his feet, Gabriel held out a placating hand to the very large Indian man.
"Not you. The Apocalypse," he continued. "We can't stop it, gang! But, first things first…."
Gabriel turned to look at us.
"The adults need to have a little conversation," he said, meeting my eyes meaningfully. "Check you later."
He snapped his fingers and with a headrush we went from sitting in the ballroom, to standing in a hotel room.
Beth's POV continued….
"Okay… did that…" Dean stumbled over his words. "Holy crap!"
"Yeah, tell me about it," Sam said, turning to me. "Beth?"
Dean didn't even stop to consider I was in the middle of trying to reply to Sam before he grabbed me in his arms, crushing me against him.
"Where the Hell have you been?!" He asked, burying his face into my hair.
I wrapped my arms around him, holding him just as tight as I breathed him in - leather and pine - the perfect combination.
"I… I don't know."
"You've been gone for weeks!"
"Weeks?!" I asked, pulling back slightly so I could see the worry in his eyes.
"Yeah," Sam nodded, coming to place his hand on my shoulder. "We've been worried sick."
"I'm sorry," I said, shaking my head. "I don't know what happened. I've literally been awake half a day. I didn't know. And I had no idea you were here..."
"So why are you here?" Dean asked, frowning back at me.
"We're here for Odin." Sariel said as she entered the room, closing the door behind her.
Dean sighed, his arms still holding me securely, as if he was never letting go again, but he turned to look at Sariel.
"And who are you?"
"Sariel," she replied.
He snorted, shaking his head. "Angels."
"She's a friend of Ezekiel's," I said, "we can trust her."
"Trust her?" Dean asked. "Did I not mention you've been MIA for weeks?"
"And we couldn't find you," Sariel replied. "To tell you what had happened to Beth."
"What d'you… what… wait… what do you mean, what had happened?" Dean spluttered, turning to look at me, slightly alarmed.
"Are you? The… and the the…" he couldn't even get the word out, the fear sitting there so poignant.
"We're fine," I assured him. I squeezed him to me, arms wrapped around his waist.
"At Van Nuys, Cas zapped us all out of there, it was the only way to clear the room so you could get to Adam," I started. "But something happened to me, I … I don't know, it was like I lost consciousness from the experience. It was so painful and raw, I just retreated into my own mind, I guess."
"So Ezekiel was left driving the car?" Dean guessed. I nodded.
"I'm sorry Dean," I said.
"It's not your fault," he whispered, then he glared at Sariel. "But you guys, not bringing her back to us - that's on you!"
Sariel shrugged and nodded. "That is fair. But, like I said, we couldn't find you. And we had a mission that was higher priority."
Dean opened his mouth to argue, but I shushed him, shaking my head. With a growl, he let it go and shook his head, turning to Sam.
"By the way, next time I say we need to keep driving, uh, let's keep driving."
Sam rolled his eyes and nodded at me. "Then we wouldn't have found Beth."
"Guys," I said. "We have got much bigger things to worry about."
"Right," Sam agreed, nodding. "So what's our next move?"
Dean's hands clenched ever so slightly on my hips, and he looked down at the floor between us, thinking it over. I knew what it was like to push all those feelings and emotions behind a wall so you could get the job done. He was doing it, right in front of me, and when he had finished, he looked up - all business.
"I-I-I don't know. Grab those poor saps outta the freezer? I guess? Bust 'em out? Gank a few freaks along the way if we're lucky?" He suggested.
"And when were you ever lucky?" A voice sounded from behind us. We turned, and Gabriel was lounging on the couch, his eyebrow cocked in our direction.
"Well you know what, bite me, Gabriel," Dean sneered, turning to face him. I noticed he kept one hand on my waist, even as he moved away.
"Maybe later, big boy," Gabriel winked.
He stood up and looked me over. "Ezekiel?"
"No, he's … not awake," I said. "Odin hit me with a lightning… bolt… thing, and when I got up, he was out."
Gabriel sighed, running a hand over his face and looked at Sariel.
"We knew something was wrong. You went missing, and those damn markings on your ribs do not help us to find you! Are you okay?"
"Of course she's not okay!" Dean snapped.
"Dean," I said softly, patting his arm. "I'm okay."
"Well…. I'm not," Dean muttered under his breath. He shook his head, then he turned back to Gabriel, frowning.
"And you're here. I should've known," Dean continued. "I mean this had your stink all over it from the jump."
Gabriel laughed, and stood up. "You think I'm behind this?"
"Please," he scoffed. "I'm the Costner to your Houston. I'm here to save your ass."
"You wanna pull us out of the fire?" Dean asked skeptically.
"Bingo!" Gabriel said. "Those guys are either gonna dust you, or use you as bait. Either way, you're uber boned."
"Wow," Dean said, shaking his head. "Because a couple of months ago you were telling us that we need to 'play our roles'. You're uber boning us!"
"Ohhh, the end is still nigh," Gabriel countered. "Michael and Lucifer are still gonna dance the lambada, but not tonight. Not here."
"Gabriel!" I said, frowning at him.
"And what do you care?" Dean asked.
"I don't care," he shrugged, I cocked my head sideways at him, this was not the angel I'd seen before. "But, me and Kali, we uh… had a thing. Chick was all hands, what can I say? I'm sentimental."
"You're also full of it," I snapped. "What happened to getting Odin and stopping the end of the world?"
"What?!" Dean asked, looking at me incredulously.
"Well, that plan has gone all to Hell in a handbasket now my dear," Gabriel said.
"No," I shook my head. "We can still get to him."
"Get to him?!" Dean protested. "What are you talking about?"
"What the hell is going on here?" Sam asked.
"Angel business," Gabriel said, standing up, turning to look at Sariel. "And screw the mission, we are done here."
Sam sighed. "Do they have a chance? Against Satan?"
"Really, Sam?" Dean asked.
"You got a better idea, Dean?"
"It's a bad idea," Gabriel answered. "Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint. So let's get going while the going's good, hmmm?"
"We can't just leave, Gabriel!" Sariel snapped. "We still have a shot at Odin."
"No. We have a fleeting window to get out of here with our wings still attached."
"Okay," Dean nodded. "Great, why don't you just zap us outta here then?"
"Would if I could," Gabriel said, opening his hands to us. "But Kali's got you guys by the short and curlies. It's a blood spell. You boys are on a leash."
"Then get Beth out of here," Dean said.
"No!" I spluttered. "No way."
"Beth," Dean looked at me, exasperated.
"Are we really gonna do this again?" I asked, smacking him in the chest. "God dammit Dean!"
He paused, conflicted.
"Dean…" Sam cautioned from beside us. Dean glared over at his little brother, looking up to meet his challenging stare. They had clearly been discussing their approach to me in my absence, and this time Sam was going to win.
"Dammit!" Dean muttered, and I could see the reasoning going through his head. He let out a short breath and then pulled me into his arms again. "You will be the death of me, you hear?" He said it, but there was a relenting in that voice, a tone that told me I'd won this round.
I smiled into his shoulder, and then looked up at him. "Ditto."
His lips found mine in a crushing force, taking my breath away as time seemed to stand still. I felt as if he hadn't kissed me in months, his lips pressed to mine, tongue flicking out to dart inside my mouth, drawing out the little moan it always caused.
Behind us, Sam cleared his throat, and we reluctantly pulled apart.
"This isn't over," Dean whispered, getting a smile from me.
"This reunion is almost too sweet, even for me," Gabriel complained. "Guess I have to do all the work around here."
"What does that even mean?" Sam asked.
"It means, it's time for a bit of the old black magic," Gabriel replied, pulling a breath spray out of his pocket and spritzing his mouth with it.
"Gabriel?" Sariel asked, crossing her arms. "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to Kali, of course, to seduce her and get the boys' blood back," he answered. He paused, observing her with a goofy grin.
"Jealous?" He then asked.
Sariel scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "And why would I be?"
Gabriel frowned, but it was short lived.
"Okay, well while you're doing that we're gonna go rescue the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer," Dean said.
"Forget it," Gabriel said. "It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks outta here."
"They called you Loki, right?" Dean asked. "Which means they don't know who you really are."
"Told you," Gabriel nodded. "I'm in witness protection."
"Okay," Dean said, his voice dropping a pitch lower. "Well then how about you do what we say, or we tell the, uh, legion of doom about your secret identity?"
"Dean!" I gasped.
"What? They don't really seem like a pro-angel kinda crowd."
"I'll take your voices away," Gabriel countered, not missing a beat.
"We'll write it down," Dean replied.
"I'll cut off your hands."
"Well then, people are gonna be asking, 'Why are you guys running around with no hands?"
I gaped at the ridiculousness of the entire exchange, but I had to say, it did amuse me a lot that Dean was using his old sass to bamboozle the angel. It was like years ago, when his target had usually been his unfortunate brother.
Gabriel glared at Dean as the pair of them stood in the most ridiculous stand off I'd ever heard.
"Fine!" Gabriel said after a moment.
Dean's POV
Gabriel disappeared. Sariel too. I paced the room, thinking about everything going on. How we couldn't just leave, even though we wanted to.
"Okay, well I'm not waiting around for some angel to come to our rescue," I said finally. "Let's get those people out of the freezer, then we can decide whether to storm this Kali woman's room and kill everything in our path."
I was angry.
Then I looked at Beth, and the way she was strapping weapons to her body - a knife back into that thigh sheath, and a wooden stake into the back of the black jeans she had on.
I felt a surge of relief rush through me. Weeks. It had been weeks of not knowing what had happened to her. I still didn't have the full story, but now was hardly the time.
Sam was right beside us, and then I opened the door, leading the way quietly through the lobby toward the kitchen.
'No!" Someone cried out, and I froze. Beth paused behind me, her breath ghosting the back of my neck. Sam was behind her.
"N-no! Please! Gah!" Someone yelled, and then there was movement in the kitchen!
I scrambled us back toward the elevators, and we hid behind a wall near the lounge as Odin, Samedi and Zao Shen dragged some poor schmuck out through the swinging kitchen doors and laid him out on the bar, holding him down.
I took a step out from the wall, intending to go to his assistance, but Beth grabbed me, pushing me back out of sight.
"It's too late," Sam whispered. I fought every instinct in my body, but they were right. There was the sickening squelch of blood as Zao Shen took a meat cleaver to the man's throat and his screams fell silent.
"We can still save the others," Beth said softly. We waited, watching for anyone who might stumble across us. Before long, the the gods left the bar, taking their dinner with them, and we were quick to go to the freezer.
Sam knelt down, picks in hand and was working the lock. Surely our luck wasn't going to hold with everything going on.
As soon as I thought it, I felt hands grab me. Right on schedule.
I saw a flash of Zao Shen as he picked me up and threw me across the kitchen. I hit a stainless steel bench with a bang, and struggled back to my feet as the god moved on to grab Sam around the throat, pushing him up against the door in a choke hold.
Sam gasped for breath.
I stumbled to my feet, reaching for any kind of a weapon.
Then Beth flew from around the corner, stake in hand, and rammed it right into Zao Shen's heart from behind. Her eyes shone dark and angry as she twisted the point, and the god cried out in pain, releasing Sam as he fell to the floor dead.
"Where the Hell is Gabriel?" I asked as Beth stepped back, looking down at the God and catching her breath.
"I don't know," Beth said, shaking her head. "But we need to move, quickly."
"Sammy?"
"I'm working on it," he replied, back at the lock.
On the other side the people hammered and begged at the window, crying to be let out. My heart was thundering in my chest, we were cutting it too close, and Gabriel had been gone too long. Something wasn't right.
I stepped up to the doors leading back out into the lobby and then one of them swung open, hitting me square in the face.
Everything went black.
Beth's POV
"Dean!" I called out, seeing the door fly open and smash him in the face. I ran to his side, kneeling down, and then I felt someone grab me from behind. They were fast.
I struggled, throwing my weight backwards to catch them off guard, but they were expecting it and countered the shift. I broke free long enough to lash out with a punch, but then something hit me over the head.
Beth's POV continued...
I came to in the ballroom, sitting in a chair, Dean and Sam standing behind me. Gabriel was also seated at one of the tables, a look of defeat to his shoulders.
"How long have you known?" He asked, looking up at the Indian goddess Kali who was towering over him with an unhappy look on her face.
"Long enough," she replied as Dean and Sam were forced into chairs next to me. This time the other gods took up guard around us.
"How's the rescue going?" Dean asked, rubbing at his forehead and grimacing. Gabriel threw him a rueful smile. I sighed, dropping my head back against the chair.
"We are so screwed," I muttered.
"Well, surprise, surprise," Kali said a little louder, turning to face the gods in the room. "The Trickster has tricked us."
"Kali," Gabriel said with a stern look. "Don't."
"You're mine now," she said, lowering her voice and moving to sit in his lap. "And you have something I want…" The goddess ran her hand down his chest, reaching into his jacket, before grasping an item and pulling.
With a flash of silver, Kali brandished an angel blade in the air, earning surprised looks from her companions.
"An Archangel's blade," she announced. "From the archangel… Gabriel." She stood, backing away from the angel as he smiled, raising his hands up in the air in self-defeat.
"Okay! Okay!" Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. "So I got wings, like Kotex. But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer."
"He's lying," Kali replied. "He's a spy."
"I'm not a spy," Gabriel scoffed. "I'm a runaway. I'm trying to save you."
Kali rolled her eyes, shaking her head in disbelief.
Gabriel leaned forward. "I know my brother, Kali. He should scare the living crap out of you."
He raised his voice, turning to look at the other pensive gods in the room.
"You can't beat him! I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends…"
"Your story," Kali interrupted Gabriel. "Not ours." She shook her head in anger.
"Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on Earth? You pillage and you butcher in God's name. But you're not the only religion, and he's not the only God."
"And you all think you can just rip this planet apart? You're wrong! There are billions of us! And we were here first. If anyone gets to end this world...it's me." Kali whispered, leaning in toward Gabriel and gently caressing his cheek.
"I'm sorry," she continued and then she stabbed him with his own angel blade.
"No!" I cried out, rising up, only to have a hand firmly push down from behind, pinning me to my seat.
I watched in horror as blinding white light burst from his mouth and eyes, and he screamed as the blade entered deeper into his body, falling silent eventually as his dead vessel collapse in its seat.
Kali was blinking back tears, staring at Gabriel's lifeless body.
Where the hell was Sariel?! I wondered. Then I noticed, Odin was missing too. She'd gotten to him, I hoped, but at what cost?
"This is crazy," Mercury muttered from across the table.
"They can die," Kali announced, pulling herself together. "We can kill Lucifer."
Beside me, Dean too was gathering his thoughts. He cleared his throat, and then rose from his chair, looking around the room.
"All right you primitive screwheads," he said. "Listen up."
"Dean!" I whispered urgently.
"Are you outta your mind?" Sam asked beside him.
"I'm outta options," he replied, looking from Sam to me, then standing a little taller and turning back to the rest of the room. "Now on any other given day, I'd be doing my damndest to uh…. Well kill you. You filthy, murdering chimps."
I gaped at him, my mouth falling open.
"But uh, hey, desperate times," he chuckled, shaking his head and looking down at his empty hands. "So even though I'd like nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks, I'm gonna help you." He wandered over to the bar, stopping to pour himself a whiskey as he clearly thought through what was coming next out of his mouth.
I wasn't sure I was in agreement with this. In fact, I was still reeling from Kali having killed Gabriel! My mind urgently cycled through all the Kali mythology I'd ever read, what could kill her? She was going to pay for doing that!
"I'm going to help you ice the Devil," Dean continued as if nothing was out of the ordinary, nursing his drink as he leaned casually against the bar.
"And then we can all get back to ganking each other like normal. You want Lucifer? Well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages…. But we can get him here."
"How?" Kali asked.
"First you let those main courses go," Dean negotiated. "Then we talk. We can either take on the devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally."
He smirked, finishing his statement by raising the whiskey to his lips and taking a sip.
Dean's POV
They actually agreed!
I was floored. But I took the win, and before I knew it I was waving the poor hostages in the freezer out the door to cars as they fled the hotel in a frenzy.
I waited until I saw the very last person leave and then started to walk back inside.
These gods, they weren't stupid. They soon figured out that Sariel and Odin were missing, and started asking why Beth was at the hotel. They were keeping her under watchful eye until I returned. I had no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't be the first one getting eaten if this deal when sour.
"Pssst!"
I stopped, looking around for the source of the sound.
"Dean!"
It was Gabriel's voice!
I frowned, looking at the Impala, and then saw the angel in the back seat with the window open.
"Don't look at me!" He instructed and I very unnaturally turned toward the hotel, frowning.
"Act natural," Gabriel continued. "Get in."
I swallowed hard, and then moved around to the front seat, climbing in. Yeahhh, this didn't look suspicious at all if they were watching me. Whatever, I rolled with it.
"Man," I said once I was in the car. "There's nothing natural about this at all. I thought you were dead. Beth's about to murder that she-witch of yours."
"You think I'd give Kali my real sword?" Gabriel scoffed. "Why do you think Sariel wasn't coming to my rescue? That thing can't kill me!"
"Then what do they have in there?"
"A fake," Gabriel shrugged. "Made it out of a can of diet orange Slice."
Huh.
"So uh, go snag our blood would ya?" He asked after a pause.
"What?!"
"I heard you in there," he said. "Kali, she likes you. You can get close. Lift the plasma and then we vamoose."
"No," I disagreed. "Hand over the real blade and summon your little red headed back-up in. She looks like she has more balls than you. Better yet, why don't you sack up and help us take down Lucifer."
"You can't be serious," Gabriel said, his smile falling off his face.
"Deadly."
"Since when are you butt buddies with a bunch of monsters?" He asked. "That's all they are to you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, okay, all right. Sam's right - it's nuts. But it's the best idea I've heard, so unless you have a better one?"
"Well, good luck with that," he said, nervously hitting the back of the seat. "Me? I'm blowing Jonestown. Those lemmings wanna fun off a cliff, that's their business."
"I see right through you," I said. "You know that? The smartass shell, the whole 'I couldn't give a crap' thing? Believe me, it takes one to know one."
"Is that so?" Gabriel challenged.
"Yeah," I replied. "And maybe those freaks in there aren't your blood, but they are your family."
"They just stabbed me in the friggin' heart!"
"Maybe," I nodded. "But you still give a crap about them, don't you?"
"Dean…"
"Now they're gonna die in there, without you," I pressed.
"I can't kill my brother," Gabriel whispered. "And Sariel? She can't kill him either, though she's probably got a better chance than me."
I scoffed, shaking my head. I'd heard this story before too - and I knew where it led.
"Can't?" I asked, after a moment. "Or won't?"
Gabriel was all seriousness now. He stared me down, refusing to answer the question, but we both knew he didn't have to. I had my answer.
"That's what I thought,' I said, and I opened the car door, getting out into the cool night air. I felt the weight of the world settle on my shoulders again as I looked up at the motel. I had to get back inside before they decided we weren't worth the bargain we were trying to set up.
Summoning Lucifer was a colossally bad idea, but right now it was the best one that we had. I was kind of hoping that these gods were actually going to be capable of pulling off this crazy ass stunt.
Beth's POV
While Dean was outside, seeing to the freedom of the hostages, Sam and I were negotiating the deal with Kali and Baldur. The other gods had left the room to eat, or do whatever it was that they did when they weren't here.
"So you're going to summon Lucifer?" She asked.
"Sort of," Sam said. "I just need you to squeegee some stuff of my ribs and he'll come running."
This was a bad, bad idea.
"Breaking them would be easier," Kali said just as Dean barged back into the room.
"Show's over," he announced to my surprise. "Sword's a fake, and Gabriel, he's still kicking."
I felt a rush of relief ripple through me to know that the archangel was still alive. But we were hardly out of the woods yet!
"I hate to break it to you sister," Dean continued, coming to a stop in front of Kali. "But you've been tricked."
The lights flickered, causing everyone to stop talking as we looked up to investigate what was occurring.
"What's happening?" Baldur asked, taking a few steps toward the doors that led back into the lobby.
Someone screamed out in agony from outside, followed by more screams, and the continued flickering of lights.
"It's him," Sam said, his breath becoming short and erratic as he fought back the panic attack.
"How?" Kali asked.
"Does it matter?" Dean asked, moving to place his hand at the small of my back. "Shazzam us out of here would ya?"
"We can't," Baldur announced, his stare coming to fixate on the open door to the lobby.
Lucifer.
Standing in the doorway.
He was still wearing his other vessel - but it was deteriorating much like Cas had told me would happen when an archangel didn't find their perfect host. Nick's skin was white, and flaking off in places on his face leaving large red welts.
Lucifer took a few steps toward us, and I thought my heart might stop beating - we had to get Sam… all of us, out of here!
"Of course you can't," he said. "You didn't say 'mother, may I?'" He paused to nod in our direction. "Sam, Dean, good to see you again."
Baldur took a few steps toward the archangel, placing himself in the middle, huffing his chest as he stared at Lucifer.
"Baldur," Kali cautioned. "Don't."
"You think you own the planet?" Baldur growled. "What gives you the right?!" He launched himself toward the archangel, swinging a fist. Lucifer reacted, reaching forward and ramming his hand into Baldur's chest and out the other side - a bloody hand in the air.
He paused as Baldur gasped for air and then spat out blood.
"No one gives us the right," Lucifer replied. "We take it." And he pulled his arm back out of Baldur, the god falling to the ground dead.
Beside us Kali's face became enraged. Suddenly her body gave off an intense heat, and flames flared from her hands, engulfing her arms as she pointed toward the angel and sent a stream of fire toward him.
Dean grabbed me, pulling us behind a table to take cover, Sam doing the same.
Kali's flames hit Lucifer and then fanned out all over the angel, hot, scorching, and yet when she stopped, pulling her power back, he was unscathed!
Lucifer lashed out at Kali, backhanding her and sending her flying into a table.
"Are you guys okay?" Sam whispered.
"Not really," Gabriel answered, and we spun around to see the archangel crouching beside us. He gave Dean a meaningful look.
"Better late than never, huh?" He asked, and then pressed a DVD into Dean's chest. "Guard this with your life."
I looked up over the table as Gabriel scooted out from behind it, seeing Lucifer moving toward Kali, who had fallen to the floor. He was about to stomp down on her, when Gabriel raised his hands and then used his power to throw his brother across the room into the ballroom doors.
He paused, brandishing his angel blade, and puffed out his chest as Lucifer climbed to his feet.
"Lucy, I'm home!" He announced in a latin American accent.
Lucifer rolled his eyes and stalked toward Kali, clearly intent on finishing the job, when Gabriel stepped in from of him, his sword raised.
"Not this time," Gabriel said. He reached down and helped Kali stand, pushing her back toward us. "Guys! Get her outta here!" We hurried forward, Dean taking Kali's arm and pulling her to the side and around the pair of angels, leading us toward the exit. Gabriel moved beside us, his weapon drawn in warning to Lucifer.
Lucifer scoffed. "Over a girl. Gabriel, really? I mean, I knew you were slumming, but I hope you didn't catch anything."
We reached the doors, and Gabriel was standing between us and Lucifer as his brother stared him down.
"Lucifer," Gabriel said. "You're my brother. And I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks."
Beth's POV continued….
Sam kept us moving through the lobby and out the doors to the car.
"I'm not getting in that thing," Kali protested when she saw the Impala.
"Just get in the car, princess," Dean said, opening the door and gesturing. She sighed, but didn't argue. I hesitated, glancing back toward the hotel.
"Beth, in, now," Dean said.
"But…"
"No, we aren't a match for this," he argued. "Not yet."
"Go," Sariel said, materialising suddenly beside us. She was no longer wearing the robes she'd been dressed in earlier, but instead had on the same shining silver armour I'd seen her wear when we'd first encountered each other in Heaven. Her angel armour. "I've got this."
"Can you?" I asked.
"I don't know," she admitted. "But two of us will be better than one. And I'm Michael's twin. If anyone can take Lucifer down…"
I nodded.
"Good luck."
"You too," she said. And then she was gone.
I didn't wait for further instruction, hurrying to get in the back of the car with Kali, Sam having already taken the passenger seat. Dean waited for me to get inside and then slammed the door shut, running around to the driver's seat and starting the engine.
The last thing I saw as we pulled away from the hotel was the blue lights of the neon sign and it's promise of the Elysian Fields.
EPILOGUE
Beth's POV
We'd waited to hear something from Gabriel or Sariel. Anything. But nothing came. Kali disappeared almost as soon as we were clear of Lucifer's influence. We had nothing to go on, other than the DVD that Gabriel had given Dean.
Pulled over to the side of the road, Sam took the disc from the cover that read Casa Erotica 13 and put it into the laptop.
A red screen with rolling credits and cheesy porno music playing in the background declared that all the actors in the film were over the age of 18 and had consented to the filming.
The title faded to a beautiful blonde woman on a bed, flipping through a magazine while dressed in sexy lingerie and clear, plastic heels.
Dear Diary. Being a high powered business president is super-fun. But sooooo exhausting. Sometimes, I just need to relax. I need Casa Erotica.
There was a knock at the door on screen, and then someone announced "Room service!"
"Come in!" The woman called out.
Sam was frowning at the screen. "Gabriel wanted you to guard this with your life?"
"Maybe he's a fan," Dean shrugged, his eyes glued to the screen.
I shrugged and nodded. "It is a good one," I said.
Sam gaped at the pair of us, clearly at a loss for words.
"What?" I asked. "Hey, we have varied tastes in … film."
"Film?" Sam scoffed.
"Hey! It's a genre!" Dean protested.
On the screen, the hotel door opened and then Gabriel entered with a big fake mustache and service waiter's outfit.
"I've got the kielbasa you ordered," he said in an over-the-top accent, holding a silver tray with a silver cover on it.
"Oooh. Polish?" The woman asked him.
"Hungarian," he announced, dropping the platter and then advancing on the bed. He grabbed the girl, who knelt on the bed, around the waist and with a growl, kissed her lavishly while muttering in another language. The scene continued in your typical staged porno way, and Sam shook his head.
"What the hell's going on?" He asked.
As if hearing what Sam had said, Gabriel turned to the camera, smiling.
"Sam, Dean, Beth," he said. "You're probably wondering what the hell is going on." He pulled on the mustache over his lip and peeled it away, revealing a clean shaven face underneath and a goofy grin.
"Well, if you're watching this, I'm dead," he announced. "Oh please! Stop sobbing! It's embarrassing for all of us."
Dean looked at me, gauging my reaction. I smiled sadly and reached a hand out which he took, squeezing it lightly.
"Without me, and I assume Sariel - she's not dumb enough to stay out of this fight - you've got zero chance of killing Lucifer, sorry! But…. you can trap him."
Dean's eyes narrowed slightly at this revelation, and we all moved a little closer to listen.
"Not that it'll be easy," Gabriel said, sitting down on the end of the bed in the motel room on the film, the girl he'd been kissing earlier was simply lounging around in the background as he spoke.
"You gotta get the cage open, trick my bro back into it. And uh, oh yeah, avoid Michael and the God Squad," Gabriel said. "But hey, details, right? And here's the big secret, Lucifer himself doesn't even know - the key to the cage? It's out there." He pointed in no particular direction, then leaned in toward the camera, lowering his voice.
"Actually it's keys, plural," Gabriel whispered, holding up four fingers. "Four keys, well, four rings. From the Horsemen. You get 'em all, you got the cage."
Dean and I exchanged a look - one that said 'we have two already!' before we turned back to the screen, breathless.
"Can't say I'm betting on you guys," Gabriel continued. "But, uh, hey! I've been wrong before."
"By the way, Beth, I know you've still got Ezekiel inside of that hot bod of yours…. I assume you still want him out. If he's kicking around in there, I had been working on a new vessel - tell him to look up Rita Sullivan in Bridgewater, New Hampshire. She's the one he needs. If Sariel got Odin out, maybe there's still a chance for him to pull off a miracle."
I stared, trying to contact the silent angel inside of me. I hoped he was still alive. I assumed he was, but I had no idea how I was going to wake him up to get him to jump ship.
"And Dean, you were right…." The blonde girl crawled up to Gabriel and nibbled on his earlobe as he stoically continued to speak. "I was afraid to stand up to my brother, not any more…"
On screen, Gabriel stood up, the blonde girl moving behind him and running her hands along his chest before starting to take off her bra.
"So this is me, standing up," Gabriel said to us, his face changing from serious to cheeky. "And this is me, lying down!" He cocked an eyebrow at us, then spun toward the girl, growling and starting to nibble on her neck. She giggled and he pushed her back down on the mattress and starting to undress her, kissing and rubbing against her.
Sam looked distastefully at the screen while I tried to process everything we'd just heard - the scene on the screen not marrying up. With a jerk on his hand, Sam closed the laptop cover, shutting off the video.
"Horsemen, huh?" Dean asked, switching topics almost instantly.
Sam shook his head and shrugged.
"Well we got War's," Dean pointed out. "We nicked Famine's. That's two rings down. Collect all four?" He turned to me with a question in his eyes.
"All we need is Pestilence and Death," I said, biting my lip.
"Oh, is that all?" Sam scoffed.
Dean shrugged, looking from me to Sam. "Well, it's a plan."
"So where do we start?" Sam asked.
"New Hampshire," I said. "We can get Bobby and Jefferson to start looking for omens on the other Horsemen, I've got unfinished business."
Dean nodded, sliding his hand into my hair and pulling me close enough for him to kiss my forehead.
"You got it," he murmured, his lips still pressed against my skin. "Let's go."
Sam grabbed the laptop, climbing into the back seat, and I nodded to myself when Dean let go of me, taking the driver's place.
Maybe we hadn't managed to kill the Devil - yet - but we had a better lead than we'd had yesterday, and the most important part was that we were all together again.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Song for this chapter is Just Like Fire By Pink
Hope you enjoyed it! I will be detailing what happened between Lucifer, Gabriel and Sariel over in Where Angels Fear To Tread when I get to that part of the timeline - obviously things have changed up a bit, but overall I feel like that's their story to tell, not for Dean or Beth to observe when they're literally running for their lives.
Please be sure to leave a review, I'm always looking forward to feedback and hearing that you enjoyed the chapter, it inspires me to keep writing!