Chapter 4 – Divide And Conquer
"There. That should do it," Rowena said. She handed the sword to Cas after using it to cut through the ivy that was covering the bunker's outer walls. Boy, this had better work, Gail thought fervently.
The redheaded witch raised both of her arms in the air and said a couple of incantations, just for good measure. A moment later, the ivy began to shrivel up and turn brown, like leaves do in the winter. Then, it disintegrated altogether.
Rowena stood back, looking satisfied. "Well, ye may need a broom and a big dustpan, but I think you'll find the inside of the place to be safe, now."
Gail patted her front pants pocket, where her Angel blade was. "Don't worry; I have an app for that," she quipped. In this case, she would be only too glad to be Sam and Dean's cleaning lady.
Cas cocked his head to the side, and then a moment later, his expression relaxed. "Bobby just reported that Sam and Dean are back to normal. He's seen them both, and spoken to them. The enchantment is gone."
"What did they say to him?" Gail asked eagerly. "Are they still mad at us?"
"Well, he didn't actually..." Cas faltered for a moment. "He didn't actually appear to them as himself. He possessed one of the female housekeepers, so that he could get inside their room and see that both of them were all right."
Gail and Rowena looked at each other, and then the women burst out laughing. "I always told him he had nice legs," Rowena joked.
After a moment, Cas extended the sword back to Rowena for her to take, handle-first. She took a beat to realize how big this whole thing was: She had just saved Sam and Dean Winchesters' lives. Was she crazy? But, on the other hand, she and her daughter had just shared a laugh. And, most importantly, she had just handed a sword to Castiel, turned her back to him, and her head was still attached to her body. To Rowena, that was real progress.
Feeling so warm and fuzzy, the red-haired witch smiled at the Angels. "I'll get this back to Marie's place," she told them, gesturing with the sword. Then her smile faded a little. "Even if SHE doesn't honour certain agreements, I honour mine. Having said that, though, I guess I have some fences to mend in that regard. I'm sorry we weren't able to apprehend Alice. If I'm able to find out any information about her, I'll let you know. Oh, and, about those Codices..."
"Can you please be kind enough to keep them safe for us, until we can deal with Vincent?" Cas asked her, using his old-world manners. He even dipped his head a little as he said it. Rowena almost did a double-take. Now, she knew the key to getting along with these men: save Gail's life. Ever since the witch had brought the Angel back to the parade float unharmed, and with the sword in hand, both Castiel and Frank had been much nicer to her. Rowena could definitely get used to that.
"Aye, I'll keep them safely hidden until you're ready to receive them," she said softly, venturing a wry smile. "I only wish that I could help you with the translations, but you'll need the Codex for that."
Cas sighed. Yes, he was aware. And while it seemed as if they had turned a corner in their relationship with the man's mother, Cas didn't hold out any hope that the same would hold true when it came to the King of Hell.
But that was another problem, for another day. Both Angels thanked Rowena again, and then Gail gave the witch the gentle push, teleporting her back to New Orleans.
The two of them stood there behind the bunker in the chilly night air. Cas had already put his jacket on his wife's shoulders, and he was staring straight ahead now, looking thoughtful.
"I know, right?" Gail said, correctly reading his thoughts. "It's great that they're back to themselves again, but the question now is: where do we go from here?"
Cas nodded. "Exactly. The crisis may have passed as far as the spell goes, but the situation remains the same."
They were both silent. That was true. Nothing had changed, not really. Bobby had told Cas that Damien was still with the brothers, and the kid was still doing the father-son act with Sam.
"And, how about Michelle?" Gail piped up now.
That had been another thing: they had no idea how to tell their New Orleans friend that her fiance was not the man she thought he was. Where was their proof? Everybody else they had known from Les Rebelles Blancs was dead. Cas ought to know, since he had killed almost all of them himself. They couldn't go running around accusing a Head of State of being a racist, murderous bastard. Not without some kind of proof, that was for sure. Not to mention their belief that Benoit Levesque and Dr. Roarke were setting up some kind of Reich over there, using Vincent's "special" progeny as potentially deadly weapons. Right. That sounded like the plot of a bad spy movie, or something.
They still had a little time to figure out what to do about that whole mess, but the clear priority right now was getting Sam and Dean away from the Beast.
"I think we need to divide and conquer," Cas told his wife. "We'll get Bobby and Gabriel to go with us. Two of us will talk to Dean, and two of us will talk to Sam. I think that you and I should see if we can get Dean outside Damien's sphere of influence. If we can, I believe we can convince him of the truth."
"Or you could just slap your hand on his head, and show him," Gail said irritably.
Cas looked at her face, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Let's just look at that as Option B," he said to her, and then he took her hand.
But when they got to Heaven, the Angels ran into another obstacle: Gabriel was nowhere to be found.
The couple stood in the High Office with Bobby, waiting, but the Archangel was not responding to God's messages. Then Cas tried, then Gail, but there was no response. They'd popped around looking for him, but he wasn't in any of the usual spots. Nor was he in any of the unusual ones. Gabe had, apparently, taken a holiday.
Bobby was seething. "The one damn time we need him for something. Unbelievable!" he exclaimed. "Maybe I oughta think about putting those tracking chips they make nowadays in some of you guys."
Cas was expressionless. He knew that Bobby was just blowing off some steam. He always knew where Cas was, and how to reach him. Gail, too. But, even though it had been a while since his Brother had been that way, Cas was aware that Gabriel was much more capricious than himself. Castiel had almost always been the dutiful soldier, whereas Gabriel was a free spirit. It was just unfortunate that he had picked this particular point in time to express that freedom.
Still, they had to work with the hand that they'd been dealt. Even though Bobby was not the Father, he still held the Office, and they had the extra benefit of the fact that he was an authority figure to Sam. Cas and Gail were going to go with the original plan, which was to spirit Dean away when he left the motel room to get beer, or food. Fortunately, they could count on the fact that this would occur sooner, rather than later.
Bobby brought Cas and Gail to the motel where the Winchesters were currently residing. Gail noted with amusement that the Impala was parked right outside their room. For experienced Hunters, they sure didn't seem to be too concerned about covering their tracks. Then, she stopped smiling. The last time they'd seen the brothers, they had said that they would kill any Angel who came near Damien, and they hadn't been kidding. Maybe the fact that they weren't covering their tracks was more ominous than funny.
After a couple of hours of Angel surveillance, Dean came out of the room. Cas and Gail were relieved to see that he looked like his usual self. Even though Bobby had assured them that the spell was broken, it was still good to see it for themselves. The other good thing was that he was alone. The trio exchanged glances. There would never be a better time.
As Bobby winked himself into the motel room Dean had just exited, Cas and Gail popped themselves into the Impala. Cas put his hand on Dean's head, rendering his friend unconscious. Then he transferred Dean to the passenger seat and took the wheel, with Gail in the back. They had agreed that it would be best for Sam and Damien to think that Dean had merely driven away, and that Bobby was just there to check on their welfare. If Sam suspected a conspiracy, or if the Beast did, things could go south in a hurry. Bobby could merely say that he'd wanted to talk to Sam alone, because Sam's brother was more hard-headed. Bobby was the only one of them who would be able to get past the sigils that the Winchesters had painted on the walls in their room. Although Gabriel might have, if the brothers had kept the symbols fairly simple.
Cas drove the car to a neighbourhood bar, telling Gail in a wry voice that if Dean was going to be angry with them, at least Cas could buy their friend a couple of drinks, to help calm him down. Besides, it was a good idea to take their meeting in a public place, until they could determine just how angry Dean was going to be.
Before Cas woke Dean up, he frisked the elder Winchester for weapons, looking specifically for an Angel blade. As he pulled the various weapons out of Dean's pockets, Gail looked on in astonishment. Guns, knives, even brass knuckles...how many of these things did Dean have concealed on his person? And how was he even able to walk around, with all that stuff weighing him down?
The Angels looked at each other, and Cas's lips twitched. "I know," he said, as if she had voiced the thought aloud. "I've often wondered how he does it, myself."
Once Cas ran out of pockets to check, Gail let out a sigh of relief. "No Angel blade," she said softly. Maybe he had softened in his stance towards them.
But Cas gave his head a brief shake. He wasn't finished, yet. As Gail looked on, open-mouthed, her husband reached into Dean's sleeve and pulled out a Demon knife. Then, in an even more surreal sight, Cas reached up Dean's pants leg, and out came the Angel blade that Cas had known his friend would have somewhere on his person. It was a good thing he hadn't had to keep looking. Cas thought wryly. He was aware that Dean had even more hiding places on and around his body for weapons, but Cas would just as soon not check them, if he didn't have to. The search was mainly just a formality, anyway. Cas doubted that Dean would attempt to attack them in public. That was another reason he'd brought their friend here.
Cas pocketed the Angel blade. "I'm going to come around to the passenger side to wake him up," Cas told Gail. "Then, I'll teleport him into a stall in the mens' room. If you can take those weapons back to the bunker, then come back inside the bar, and we'll all have a chat."
"OK, sweetie," Gail agreed. Her lips twitched briefly. "Don't wait for me to order those drinks, though. He's bound to be pretty pissed off."
A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting in a booth in the bar. Dean was knocking back his third shot, now. He had calmed down a bit, but as Gail had predicted, the elder Winchester had been angry when he'd realized what Cas had done.
But it was kind of strange, Gail was thinking, because Dean had seemed a lot angrier over having been abducted and stripped of his weapons than he was at them, personally. Finally, after he'd finished his drink, Dean looked at his friends and sighed.
"OK, so what are we gonna do about this?" Dean said wearily.
The Angels exchanged glances. "We wanted to talk to you, to see if there's any way we can convince you that we're telling you the truth," Cas said in a quiet tone.
Dean was silent. Gail took that as an encouraging sign. At least he wasn't issuing death threats. Yet.
Cas was thinking the same thing, so he pushed on: "We've known each other for quite a while now, haven't we, Dean?"
The elder Winchester nodded, taking a pull on his beer.
Cas glanced at Gail, and then he looked back at Dean. "Then you know that I have frequently been evasive in the past, when it comes to Heavenly issues," Cas went on, and now, Gail's face broke into a smile. She couldn't help it.
"Should I call him Captain Obvious, or do you want to?" Gail quipped to Dean.
His lips twitched a little. "Actually, I was thinking about calling him something else, but with you here, I guess I'd better not," Dean said dryly. "Cas is liable to punch me in the face for using language like that in front of you, and I'm not packing any more, thanks to you guys."
Cas persisted: "Therefore, you should know that if I tell you and Sam that Damien is Vincent's son, not Sam's, and that the child is the Beast of the Apocalypse, don't you suppose I have a reason for that?"
Dean was silent for another moment. He sighed again. And then, he said something that surprised the Angels: "I know, Cas. I believe you."
Gail was astonished. "WHAT?!" she exclaimed. "You believe us? Just like that?"
"Yeah," Dean said simply, taking another drink from the beer bottle. "There's something up with that kid. I didn't know it then, but I'm pretty sure I know it now."
Gail looked at Cas. Well, holy moly, she said over their frequency. Miracles DO happen.
He smiled briefly. With a little help and a slight modification from me, he told her. But, still...
"How do you mean?" Cas asked their friend, aloud.
"I dunno," Dean said, looking thoughtful. "Just...something. Some kind of a vibe."
"What about Sam?" Gail inquired eagerly, but Dean was shaking his head.
"Nahhh," the elder Winchester said. "He's still Team Damien, all the way. That kid's got Sammy wrapped around his little finger." He paused, letting out a short laugh. "'Damien'. I guess I should have gotten a clue, right there."
"I guess that was Vincent's idea of a joke," Gail said acidly. Now, it was her turn to sigh. "I feel like I should apologize, for some reason. I mean, the guy's my father."
This time, Dean's laugh was genuine. "Your brother's the Beast. And, for once, I'm not talking about Frank," he teased her.
Gail made a face. "Settle down, Egbert," she teased him back.
Cas allowed himself the luxury of a smile, just for a moment. It was good to see the two of them interacting this way, after all that time of being apart from the brothers, and the animosity towards them that the men had expressed when they had parted back in December. But then, Cas got serious again. "We will all have to think of a way to deal with the situation, going forward," he told Dean. "Bobby is there right now, but he is not going to confront the Beast. He's just there to talk to Sam, the same as we are here to talk to you."
Dean nodded. "Divide and conquer," he said, and Cas's eyebrows rose, causing his friend to grin. "Like you said, this ain't my first rodeo with you," Dean added. Then he sighed heavily. "Does the kid really have to die, Cas? I mean, he's just a kid."
"If he is allowed to live, and Vincent is able to find the False Prophet, the world as we know it will cease to exist," Cas said grimly.
"Awww, geez. Great," Dean said with a glum expression. "I have no idea how we're gonna get Sammy on board for that. He really thinks that kid is his. I don't think he's going to just step aside and let you stick a knife in Damien."
"I'm not so sure I'll be doing that," Cas replied, looking thoughtful. "You saw what happened at the bunker. The Chosen One tried to kill the Beast with Gabriel's blade, but he was unable. So was Gabriel. An Archangel. Therefore, I won't be able to cause him any harm, either. So, until we figure out how to slay him, I suggest that we appear to have remorse for the attempt on Damien's life. We'll tell Sam that we were mistaken, and that we freely accept him as a member of the family, now."
Dean sat back, looking at his friends. "Terrific. So we're gonna lie to Sam, and then plot to kill the kid behind his back? When did we become the bad guys?"
Cas frowned. "I have had to do many of those kinds of things before, in my service of Heaven. Believe me, if there was any other way..."
"Yeah, Cas, I know," Dean said, sighing again. He looked at Gail. "I guess I owe you both an apology. Sammy and I said some pretty harsh things to you guys, the last time we saw you."
Gail nudged her husband. "Sweetie, can you check your phone for the weather report? I think Hell just froze over," she quipped.
"You think you're really funny, don't you, Griselda?" Dean said irritably.
Gail shrugged. "Not really. I'm just trying to lighten up a very dark situation," she said honestly.
"Well, hold onto that thought, because Sammy's not gonna be in the best mood when he sees you guys," Dean said, and then he drained his beer. "All right, come on. Let's get this over with."
Things were quiet when the trio got back to the motel. Bobby and Damien were sitting at the table, playing cards. Bobby was teaching the boy how to play Go Fish, and Crazy Eights. Normal kid stuff. But as they played, he was also trying to get a read on the boy. How evil WAS Damien, exactly? How much did he know? What were Vincent's plans? He couldn't be too overt about it, but Bobby did manage to pick up a couple of nuggets. He now knew that Damien had killed Becky, and that the boy wouldn't hesitate to kill any one of them, too, if he felt like it. Luckily, the child was still a bit too intimidated to try to go up against God, or any of the higher-ranking Angels, one on one. That was why Bobby felt safe enough to attempt what he was about to suggest.
Cas and Gail had made their apologies to Sam. The younger Winchester had been angry at first, but Bobby had paved the way somewhat by behaving normally towards Damien, and now Cas and Gail were trying their best to do the same.
After they'd all had a few minutes' casual conversation in which any meaningful subjects were carefully avoided. Bobby put his cards down on the table, both literally and figuratively. "Look, I think it's great that we're all talking like civilized people again, but we all know we're gonna have to talk about what's really been going on," he said with a frown, looking at the Winchesters. "Tell you what: now that the ivy is gone and the bunker is safe again, why don't we just go back there and hash things out?"
Sam and Dean exchanged glances. "What do you think?" Sam asked his brother.
Dean gave him a shrug. He thought it was a damn good idea, but he didn't want to appear too eager, either. "I wouldn't mind sleeping in my own bed for a while," he remarked.
"OK. Deal," Sam said with a brief nod. He looked at Damien. "Come on; I'll help you pack your stuff."
Damien smiled. "It's okay, Dad. I can do it." He hopped off the chair. "Thanks for teaching me how to play cards, Grandpa."
Gail was seething inside. That little bastard. How dare he? Damien passed her and Cas on his way to the cot that Sam had borrowed from the motel, and set up beside his own bed. The child was still smiling, and Gail's eyes narrowed. He'd better not get too comfortable, she thought.
Cas was looking at Sam, his heart clenching at the expression his friend wore. Sam was watching Damien with a look of love on his face that would have been heartwarming under other circumstances. This was going to break Sam's heart.
Once the Winchester brothers and Damien were packed, the Angels transported them all to the bunker. Dean had protested about leaving his Baby behind at the motel, but Bobby had waved his hand and told him that the Impala was now parked safely in the bunker's garage. Cas and Gail exchanged quick glances, trying to recall an occasion when Bobby had ever done that before.
And then, God had one more surprise: "After you, Damien," he said, gesturing expansively toward the entrance to the bunker.
The boy felt apprehension for a moment, but then, he shrugged to himself. He'd been able to get in there before, hadn't he? He hadn't done anything even remotely evil since he'd been here last. Well, unless you counted sneaking sips of Dean's booze, when his "uncle" and Sam weren't looking. Actually, Damien had kind of enjoyed staying with the Winchesters for a while. They had treated him well. Spoiled him, even. After a little encouragement on his part, they'd ended up telling him far more than they probably should have about the cases they'd dealt with over the years. The only thing he'd sort of blown was the opportunity to find out more about Castiel, and the Angels' plans for him and his father. Every time Damien had tried to bring the subject up, the brothers had shut him down, saying that they didn't want to talk about it. Telling him that they would protect him, no matter what. Well, Damien didn't need their piddly little protection, he needed intel. Now that their scheme to kill him had backfired so spectacularly, what else were Castiel and the others cooking up?
But it was Becky who had proven to be Damien's undoing, this time. Sam opened the metal door that led down the stairs to the bunker. "Go ahead. It's OK," he prompted Damien in a gentle voice.
The problem was, Damien couldn't. The door might as well still be closed, for all the progress he was able to make. It was like a giant hand was pushing him away from the opening. He tried to move forward, but the harder he tried, the more difficult it was. Finally, the Beast gave it one more mighty effort. But just when it felt like he was going to be able to penetrate the invisible barrier and pass through the doorway after all, the hand pushed back once more.
Damien stumbled backwards a couple of steps, looking up at Bobby. What had the old bastard done?
"I brought God's Seal down from the Office," Bobby said casually, answering Damien's question. Even though he hadn't spoken it aloud. "I traced the door frame with it, then walked around the place and sealed up some of the cracks. There shouldn't be any more evil plants invading the premises. Of any kind," he finished sharply. Then he looked at Sam, who was standing by the door, open-mouthed. "Sorry, Son," Bobby added in a more subdued tone. "I just had to make sure."
As Sam looked at the boy he'd believed to be his son, Damien's expression grew dark. "You meddling old man," he said to Bobby, sounding eerily like his real father. He raised a hand, and Bobby staggered. Then Damien smiled, looking more like a Demon than an innocent child. God was vulnerable.
The Beast raised both arms, but Cas stepped in front of Bobby, his eyes blazing bright blue. "You will not raise your hand against God!" he shouted.
"Oh, yeah? Who's going to stop me? You, Cas?" the boy sneered. "Your so-called Chosen One and a mighty Archangel couldn't." He waved his arms, and Cas was pushed back. Blood started to pour out of the Angel's nose and ears.
Gail waved her arm and, because Damien's attention was elsewhere, she was able to knock him down, onto the ground. He scrambled to his feet and then stared at her.
"My mother hated you, because she knew that Sam was into you," Damien said to Gail. "She used to talk to me, when I was a baby. She said she wanted to get you alone, and carve her name into your chest with an Angel blade. That was the same knife I used to kill her. It might be the same one I use to kill you, too."
Sam was in shock. Five minutes ago, he'd thought that everything was going to be all right. Now he could see how wrong he'd been, about everything.
Bobby stepped around Cas. He appreciated his lieutenant's loyalty, but no snot-nosed little Beast was gonna stand there and -
Damien flung his arm in Gail's direction, and she went flying into the bunker wall. It was too bad his father had told Damien he wanted the Angels left alive. Maybe they could negotiate, later on. But that didn't mean that he couldn't inflict a little pain, in the meantime.
"Stop it!" Sam yelled, and the boy he'd thought was his son laughed. "Oh, believe me, 'Daddy', I'm only getting started," Damien said smugly. He gestured towards the sky, and suddenly, fireballs began to fall in the field behind the bunker.
"Everybody, inside! NOW!" Bobby shouted. He tried to wink them all into the bunker, but he was unable to do it. Damien was staring at him now with red-rimmed eyes, and that evil grin was back on his face. Was the kid actually preventing Bobby from using his powers?
Bobby wasn't about to take the time to find out. He yanked on Sam's arm, practically pulling it out of its socket. "Get inside!"
Then Dean rushed forward, propelling his younger brother through the bunker door. But then, Dean came out again. He went to Cas, who was on his hands and knees, still struggling to move. The Beast had compromised Castiel's powers, too, and the blood was still flowing from the Angel's face.
"Get...Gail...inside," Cas said to Dean, gritting his teeth with effort as he tried to pick himself up off the ground. Dean stood there for a moment, looking indecisive. Gail was recovering from the hard body slam into the bunker wall she'd received, but Cas was looking like a victim from a slasher movie. Damien was standing there grinning, and a couple more fireballs fell from the sky, a little closer, this time.
Gail had her blade out of her pocket and she staggered forward now, pointing it at Damien. The boy laughed. "You're kidding, right?" he said to her. "If God can't kill me, what makes you think YOU can?"
"I'm Vincent's daughter, and you're his son," she said as calmly as she could. Not willing to call him her brother. She would choke if she tried to use that word to refer to the little - "I might be the only one of us who can," she added enigmatically.
As Gail picked up her stride, advancing on Damien with the knife, the expression on the boy's face grew doubtful. He was evil, but he was still a child. Without Vincent's guidance, Damien was unsure. Gail could have a point. He had asked his father when they were hanging out together in the Caribbean how Vincent had gotten that black mark on his face, and the Voodoo Priest had told him about Gail having killed JD. DID she have the capability of hurting Damien?
No way was he taking that chance. Damien was only nine years old. He had to survive till ten, to help Vincent achieve the Apocalypse. Damien still wasn't sure what was in it for him, but if the plan included inflicting pain, and lots of it, Damien was definitely on board.
Right now, though, he'd better save himself. But he wasn't above a couple of parting shots, first. Sam had come back out of the bunker, unwilling to stay inside when his family was still out here, exposed to danger. Damien looked at Sam now, with a cold, flat stare. "I know you're disappointed I'm not your son, Sam," Damien said to the younger Winchester bluntly. "But, a guy like you, who does what you do, he has no business having a kid, anyway. Deep down, you know that, don't you? But, you know what? If you'd really wanted to have kids, you would have quit Hunting a long time ago. But you didn't. So don't expect anybody to feel sorry for you because you didn't get that 'normal life' you said you always wanted. That was your decision, Sammy. Well, yours and Dean's, that is. Maybe if you'd been man enough to stand up to Dean years ago, you wouldn't be in this mess, now."
"Shut up," Dean barked, and then, predictably enough, Damien turned on him. As the fire burned on in the field behind the bunker, the boy was backlit in the most savage way, looking like a pint-sized Satan. Looking more evil than Lucifer had ever looked. Gail remembered somebody once telling them that there were greater evils out there than Lucifer. Who had told them that? She could no longer recall. They had come across so many people in their travels, who had issued so many vague, cryptic warnings.
Damien was looking at Dean now, smiling that sly smile of his. "And what about YOU, Dean? You talk a big game, but when it comes right down to it, you're pretty useless, aren't you? All those weapons of yours, all that tough talk, and what are you left with, at the end of the day? A brother you forced into The Life, a girlfriend who doesn't want to take on your baggage, and a liver the size of a pea. Some hero you are. If YOU had a kid, all you would be able to teach him about would be murder, and self-loathing."
Damien looked at Bobby. "You know what, 'Grandpa'? I actually have to hand it to you. Considering what you've had to deal with over the years, it's a wonder you've been able to keep it together. But, you're going to lose. Nice guys finish last, right?"
The Beast looked at Cas with contempt. "And, you? I'd need all day to talk about what's wrong with you. My Dad seems to think you're kind of a big deal, for some reason. But look at you now, on your knees because I put you there. Me. I'll give you a pass this time because you changed my dirty diapers a few times, and because my mother said you were good to her when she was pregnant with me. But the next time I see you, you'd better show me some respect, Cas."
Then Damien regarded Gail, and the sly smile returned. "I'm not sure if you're the best one of this group, or the worst, 'Sis'. I don't think Vincent knows what to make of you, either. He still thinks you're going to come over to our side, for some reason. I guess we'll see. I have my doubts, but what do I know? I'm just a kid."
Damien waved his arms once more, and just like that, he was gone.
The five of them stood there, stunned into silence for a moment.
Then Bobby sighed. "We'll be right in, Boys." He waved his hand, sending Sam and Dean into the bunker. Once the Beast had gone, God's powers had returned. That had been a disturbing turn of events. Especially since Bobby had been more or less juiced up by handling God's Seal to put the extra protections on the bunker. But all of that had meant nothing to the kid. At least Damien had been kept out of the bunker, though, and as hard as it had been on him, at least Sam knew the truth, now.
Bobby bent down to help Cas, because Cas was the nearest to him. But Cas was already getting to his feet. His strength was back, and the bleeding had slowed to a trickle.
"You OK, Cas?" Bobby asked his friend.
"Yeah," the Angel said gruffly. He was extremely unhappy at the moment, and fearful, too. If Damien was now able to neutralize their powers, what else might he be able to do in the future, once he matured?
Cas rushed towards Gail, even as she was rushing towards him. "Are you all right?" he said, reaching for her.
"I'm fine; just a little sore," she reassured him. "Hold still for a second, so I can clean you up." She waved her blade hand over him, removing the blood.
"That was some bluff you ran," Bobby said to Gail, as she was doing it.
She gave him a tight smile. "I know, right? But, I had to try it. If he hadn't had doubts, we might have been toast, though."
Bobby sniffed the air. "Speaking of which..." He gestured to the fire in the field. The smoke from it was becoming acrid. Remote location or no, Bobby was surprised the fire department hadn't arrived yet. Oh, well. Time to take charge. "Cas, if you'll come and help me with that, we'd better put it out, before it gets out of control."
"I'll go inside, and make sure Dean has the booze on the table," Gail said, half-jokingly. "After what we just witnessed, I think we'll all need at least one." She frowned. "Sam's going to need more than that, probably. What a rotten, sucky situation. See you in a minute." She gave Cas a quick kiss on the cheek, and then she winked herself inside.
Several drinks later, the group had gone from angry, to somber, to apologetic, and now, they were at what Gail had dubbed the "Kiss-and-make-up" stage.
That included humour, of course. Dean was now expressing extreme jealousy that Frank had been with them on a float in an actual Mardi Gras parade. "Man," he whined. "I can't believe I missed that! The barbecue, the booze..."
"...the bare boobs," Gail added, smirking. "That's a lot of B's. We could add beads and babies to that, and then we'd have a whole bunch!"
"Were there lots of girls flashing for beads, or is that just a myth?" Sam wanted to know.
"Oh, no, that's true," Bobby chipped in. "I've seen it, myself." In fact, as his friends had been talking about Mardi Gras, he had been reminiscing rather warmly about the time that he and Rowena had been there. Bobby was glad that Ro had helped his friends the way she had. It was much easier on him when they were all getting along. He knew her behaviour had been questionable in the past, but it seemed as if Rowena had really turned over a new leaf, now. Good. Good.
"Well, I wish I had seen it," Dean said glumly. "That kind of thing is wasted on you guys," he added, looking at Cas and Gail. "Well, I hope Frank enjoyed himself, at least."
"Except for the extreme fear he felt when they thought that Rowena had abducted me, I think he did," Gail said, a dry tone creeping into her voice.
Cas took her hand and gave it a squeeze. He and Frank had been frantic when Rowena had first disappeared with Gail, of course. Then Cas had received the message that she was all right, but that hadn't really helped much, because they hadn't known where she was, or if Rowena's intentions were honourable. But after some discussion and a lot of fuming, it was actually Cas who had convinced Frank to calm down, in the end. His sister was a capable warrior, he had reminded Frank, and Cas didn't think that Rowena would dare to double-cross them this time. As it turned out, the witch hadn't. But it had still been an immense relief for the men to have received Gail back, safe and sound.
"Hey, why don't we call Frank, and see if he wants to join us for a drink?" Gail proposed.
"That's an excellent idea," Cas said eagerly, pulling out his cell phone. He wanted more time to think about the Beast, and what they were going to do about him. Besides, Frank needed to be informed that Damien was out there somewhere, on the loose. Cas doubted it would come down to an issue of the safety of Frank or his family, but he had been wrong before.
Gail was looking curiously at Sam, but she was trying to be surreptitious about it. He wasn't his usual self, but he seemed a lot less devastated than she thought he would have been. Not that she wanted him to be, of course, but... Then, she remembered: when Bobby and Cas had come in from putting out the fire, they had each put a hand on Sam, at the same moment, speaking words of consolation. She had thought it to be a very sweet and caring gesture on the mens' part at the time, but now, she was wondering if there had been more to it than that. A little divine modification, maybe? Not that they would want Sam to forget all about the incident; that wouldn't make any sense. But maybe, in the interests of compassion, they had toned down the recollection of the violence and vitriol Damien had demonstrated. It was going to be hard enough for Sam to deal with his feelings about the boy, as it was. Her heart went out to him.
But, for the time being, there was Frank. Gail's brother was like a breath of fresh, cool air during circumstances like these. Cas had popped over to get Frank, who had been excited to get the invitation. It had been really weird for him when the brothers had been separated from the rest of the family, too. Cas had briefed him on the unfortunate scene with Damien outside the bunker, so Frank was determined to keep the mood light, as only he could.
"So what's it like, getting old overnight?" Frank said to the brothers as soon as he saw them.
Dean took his cue from Frank. The elder Winchester knew that he and Sam were going to have to have a serious talk or three at some point about Damien being an evil-ass voodoo kid from Hell, but right now, all Dean could handle was a couple of drinks, and a laugh or two. His own memory remained intact, and the stuff that the Beast had said was running through Dean's mind now, like one of those earworm songs. In a manner of a couple of seconds, Damien had managed to poke at the two most painful areas of Dean's life. Hardly a day went by that the elder Winchester didn't feel guilt about having coerced his little brother into the Hunting life. Sam could say all he wanted that he was here willingly now, and Dean supposed he might even mean it. But if it hadn't been for Dean's cowardice back then, Sammy could have had an actual son. A real family. Instead, he'd gotten Becky, a scheming stalker, and the damn Beast of the Apocalypse. Like Gail, Dean was sure that Bobby and Cas had done a little modification on Sam. But Dean was all for it, and he loved his friends for having helped Sam like that. They would get through this latest crisis together, like they always did, and Dean would stuff his guilt down his gullet with booze, junk food and sarcasm. Like he always did.
"Why don't YOU tell US what it's like?" Dean asked Frank, smirking. "Or doesn't your house have any mirrors?"
"Pour me a drink, Winchester," Frank shot back, plunking himself down in the chair on the other side of his sister. "That is, if your arthritis isn't acting up too badly."
"Thanks for helping us out with that, Frank," Dean said in a sincere tone, and Frank was disconcerted for a moment. But then, the elder Winchester added, "So, now that you and Rowena are getting along so well, when you go out on your first date, is she gonna pick you up on her broom?"
"What the hell are you babbling about?" Frank said irritably, taking a drink from the glass Dean slid across the table.
"Well, since you didn't kill her, I just assumed that you and her are - " Dean began, but Frank pointed a finger at him. "Finish that sentence, and you're a dead man," Gail's brother said darkly.
"All right, settle down, you two," Bobby growled. He took a drink, and then his beard twitched. "Besides, if you're gonna be asking anybody about how it feels to be old, you should be asking Cas," he added, looking at Gail's husband.
"Hey!" Gail objected, but Cas smiled gently. He saw what Bobby was trying to do. Their friend was attempting to keep things humorous, without letting the men wander into a potentially sensitive area. Maybe they'd forgotten that Bobby and Rowena had once been romantically involved.
Suddenly, Sam piped up, but his question was of the serious kind: "Do you guys really think Rowena has reformed herself?"
They were all silent for a moment, and then it was Cas who spoke: "She was the one who told us about the sword and how we could obtain it, even though there was nothing that compelled her to do so, at the time. Revenge may motivate her in the future, should we ask her for her help to stand against Vincent and Abbadon," the Angel stated, looking thoughtful.
"She saved your lives, boys," Bobby added. "Two Hunters. Guys who've made it their life's calling to do people like her in. I'd say she's making a pretty compelling case."
"And, she promised Cas she would give him those Codices she's got, when the time is right," Gail chipped in.
The brothers looked confused, and then, they remembered. "Oh, yeah. The codpieces," Dean joked. "Ancient documents. Booor-ing. What I want to know is: When do we get to kick some Voodoo Priest ass?"
But no one had an answer for that. Suggestions started to fly around the table. Maybe they should go down to the Caribbean again, and see if they could pick up his trail. But then what would they do, even if they did? They still had no way to kill Vincent. Or the Beast either, the Angels thought. But they didn't say that out loud, of course, in deference to Sam. Not even Frank was going to touch that subject at the moment.
But there was one other subject that Gail's brother had been dying to broach, ever since Cas had told him back at his house that they were currently filling Sam and Dean in on all their adventures in New Orleans. "Did you get the chance to tell these guys about Michelle and the Fuhrer?" Frank wisecracked. He had waffled a few times about the President of France, but now that they were back home, Frank was once again convinced that Benoit Levesque was a racist. Nearly every day, he was seeing disturbing news reports about the guy and what was going on in his country, under his leadership. Maybe Michelle didn't really know much about the man's politics. They were an ocean apart, weren't they?
"What?" Dean said sharply.
They proceeded to tell the brothers about running into Michelle, and finding out the shocking news about the identity of the man she was engaged to.
"Oh, and it gets better," Gail said, her voice laden with sarcasm. "Benoit adopted one of the kids from the compound, who just happens to be black. Gee, I wonder why he might have done that. This boy he adopted, Jerry, is a sweet kid, but he's got some pretty awesome powers. The trouble is, he doesn't know how to control them. And we're almost positive that Levesque will have the other ones that he and our old buddy Dr. Roarke took from the compound working for him, too. And I doubt they're doing good things." She looked around the table at the men. "You know what? Maybe we're going about this whole Vincent thing all wrong."
"What do you mean?" Cas asked her.
Gail turned to him. "Remember a while back, when we were talking about using the information we have, and Rob's and my memories, to track Vincent's surviving kids down? Well, we know where eight of the most powerful ones are right now, don't we?"
Dean was staring at her. "What are you trying to say?"
"I think I might have an idea," Sam remarked. His expression was hard to read.
Frank was looking back and forth at the Angels, and then the brothers, and then back at the Angels again. Suddenly, his jaw dropped as he zeroed in on his sister. "You're kidding, right? Wait: before you answer that, let me just get Rob's shrink on the Speed Dial. See if he can give you an emergency appointment."
Bobby was exasperated. He was an intelligent man, but he hadn't really been included in a lot of the discussions this group had had about Vincent, or his kids. "What the hell are all of you babbling about?" he said irascibly.
"We're not necessarily talking about what these guys think we're talking about," Gail said, somewhat nonsensically.
Bobby levelled her with a withering glare. "Oh. Well, that clears that right up, then."
Gail's lips twitched. "Sorry, Bobby. What I mean is that these guys probably think I'm talking about killing them."
"Well, aren't you?" Sam asked her.
"Like I said, not necessarily," she insisted. "Maybe we should see what's going on over there, and find out if it needs our intervention, or not. And while we're there, we can find out what those 'kids' are up to. If they're helping him create another Reich, I think we can all agree that we need to do something about that. But, you know what? There's an angle we haven't tried, yet." Gail was warming to her subject now. Ever since she'd run that bluff outside the bunker, chasing Damien off with it, Gail had started to wonder in the back of her mind if there might not be something to what she had said, after all. Maybe, if a group of Vincent's own progeny went up against him, they could do some real damage. It was worth a try. They didn't have any other ideas at the moment anyway, did they? At least this was something productive they could do in the meantime.
Gail made her case, and somewhat surprisingly, Bobby was the first one to weigh in. Or at least it was surprising to Gail, because he'd never met Benoit, and he hadn't been along on the Paris Tablet mission.
But Bobby had a point to make, and he made it very well: "Ya know, contrary to what young Rob might believe, I wasn't around for World War Two," their friend said dryly, but with a bit of humour, too. "There were a bunch of guys in my old home town who were, though. Some of them used to drink with my father, at some of the watering holes downtown. He used to bring me there sometimes, when I was a little kid. Not so little that I didn't understand who those guys were and what they stood for, though. At least that was one thing that miserable son of a bitch of a father of mine taught me right. I respected those men, but I was also a little bit scared of them. You could see something just behind their eyes when they looked at you, something more terrifying than the scariest monster we've ever had to kill. You can see it in Hitler's eyes, too, if you watch some of those old news reels. Gail's right. I think you should go there, and if there's business to take care of, you have my full blessing to take care of it. I'll stay in Heaven and do my job, but I'll back you up, if you need me to. There's not gonna be another genocide, not in Europe, or anywhere else. Not on my watch."
Cas was thrilled to hear Bobby speak like this. Like a real leader would. The instant that Gail had brought up the subject, Cas was all in. The idea was extremely appealing to him on a number of different levels, some of them very personal. It had always bothered Cas that Benoit Levesque had managed to slither out of their grasp. And to make it even worse, he'd done so twice: once in Paris, and then again, at the compound. Dr. Roarke had gotten away, too. Roarke. Cas had a very good reason to see that evil Angel dead, and he was certain that no one would fault him for carrying out that particular execution.
But the matter of the offspring was going to be a much more polarizing one, Cas mused to himself. If it could be proven that they were willingly assisting Benoit with his racist agenda, that would almost be the preferable option. All of Vincent's progeny save for Jerry were of legal age or older, so all of them had the ability to form intent. Unless they were being held captive and coerced, there was no excuse. And Cas very much doubted that was the case. From what he'd been given to understand, the individuals in question possessed some formidable powers. After all, that was why they had been taken from the compound in the first place. Would people who had those sorts of talents, for lack of a better term, have been successfully kept in harness for this long, without there being some kind of an incident? No; Cas believed that these people were very willing participants in whatever kind of political operation Levesque was running, over there.
A part of Cas was conflicted, though. If he and Gail and the Winchesters went overseas, did that mean that they were just supposed to cross their fingers and hope that Vincent didn't find the False Prophet while they were gone, to complete the Triad?
Bobby read the look on his lieutenant's face correctly, and he sent a message over their frequency now, assuring Cas that that was another reason Bobby was returning to Heaven. Sooner or later, Gabriel would turn up, and when he did, Bobby was going to press the Archangel into service. Gabe was probably on a bender, or with a woman, or both, Bobby's voice said dryly in Cas's head. He hadn't brought up the whole Beast of the Apocalypse thing out loud out of deference to Sam, and he wasn't mentioning this last little bit about Gabriel out loud in deference to Gail, and her feelings. But everybody was gonna have to get themselves girded up for some straight talk soon, Bobby grumbled, or they were going to have to start passing notes around, like in Study Hall. Ignoring Cas's puzzled expression, Bobby told him he would also get Kevin and some of Heaven's other scholars hitting the books, to see what they could find on the Triad.
Suddenly, Frank's expression morphed into a strange mixture of what looked like curiosity and disgust, both at the same time. Gail was giving her brother the side-eye. "What are you thinking?" she asked him.
"What's the deal with that Demon?" Frank asked the group. "What's her name? Abbadon? What the hell kind of name is that, anyway? Sounds like a Swedish pop group, first thing in the morning. Get it?" he added, tickling his sister.
"Stop it!" she exclaimed, swatting at him.
"It's a long story, Frank," Cas said wearily. "Why do you ask?"
"Humour me," Frank replied calmly.
Dean sighed. He gave Gail's brother a quick synopsis of the experiences they'd had with Abbadon, with Sam and Cas adding a comment or two along the way.
When Dean had finished, Frank sat back in his chair. "Wow," he commented softly. The men waited for the inevitable punchline, but for the moment, Gail's brother had nothing. No jokes, no smartass comments. He'd had no idea about any of that, Frank thought. None. It was one thing to sit around drinking and cracking jokes, but it was another to realize that if things had gone a different way, he and these men might have been bitter enemies. If Cas hadn't made Crowley give Frank back to Gail, and ultimately, to their extended family, it could have been Frank the men sat here being so contemptuous of.
Finally, Gail's brother recovered enough to say, "I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I'm not gonna make any jokes right now. What I AM gonna do is..."
He stood abruptly and walked around Gail's chair, to where Cas was sitting. "Can you stand up for a minute?" he asked his brother-in-law.
Cas was puzzled, but he did as Frank requested. Then, Frank surprised him. Gail's brother pulled Cas to him for a big bear hug. "Thanks, Cas," Frank said quietly. "Thanks for everything."
Gail and the rest of the men were looking uncertainly around the table at each other, unsure of how to feel about what they were witnessing now. It was unlike Frank to be so demonstrative.
Cas felt the same way at first, but then Frank pulled out of the embrace and said, "I was a Knight of Hell too, remember? Everybody in this room knows that. I was so far gone that I actually killed you, before my amazing sister brought you back to life. But you not only forgave me, you brought me back, in every sense of the word. Then, all of you accepted me into your circle, when it would have been so easy just to write me off. I met the only woman I've ever loved because of you guys, and we built a life together, raising our kids to be good people once they grew up. And now, Rob has, and Angela is the light of my life, just like her mom was. You did that, Cas. You. I could spend the rest of my life trying to come up with the right words to thank you, and I would never be able to do it right."
Cas's eyes were red-rimmed now. "You just did, Frank," he said softly. "You just did."
There was the sudden sound of a chair being pushed back from the table, and both men made an "Oof" noise as Gail launched herself at both of them. She was sniffling now, as all three of them shared a group hug.
"Awww, geez," Dean said, although his voice was thick when he said it. "Have another drink, Frank."
But then, as the trio were disengaging from the embrace and collecting themselves emotionally, Sam suddenly spoke up. "I need to apologize to everyone," he said in a subdued tone.
Bobby nodded slowly. There. Now, they were finally getting somewhere. He guessed that Sam had been spurred on by the touching scene he'd just witnessed, and Frank's show of honesty and vulnerability.
"What for?" Dean said to his brother. "You thought Damien was your son. You were only trying to protect him."
"Yeah, but I just feel so stupid," Sam insisted stubbornly. "You guys all tried to tell me, but I wouldn't listen. I just wanted him to be mine so badly that I couldn't let myself believe that he was what you said he was." Sam frowned, his expression sad. "He killed Becky. His own mother. Regardless of how we all feel about her and what her role may or may not have been in all of this, she didn't deserve to die that way."
Cas's lips pressed together briefly. He didn't necessarily agree. From what Gail had told him, Becky had been well aware that Damien was not Sam's child. Whether she had been complicit with Vincent in the boy's conception or not was unclear, but the fact of the matter was that Becky had brought the Beast of the Apocalypse into Castiel and Gail's home, on Christmas Day, passing him off as Sam's son. Some things were unforgivable.
But Becky was gone now, and as Cas, Gail and Frank re-took their seats around the table, Dean poured his brother a hefty shot of whiskey.
"You know, I can't believe I'm about to say this out loud, but there's somebody you guys could call on, if you want to track Vincent down," Frank said, pouring himself another shot as well.
"Who?" Bobby asked Gail's brother curiously. "He's shielded from me, and Rowena tried her best tracking spell. I don't know of anything else we could try. That guy's got some really ancient mojo going on."
"I didn't say we necessarily try to find HIM," Frank remarked.
Dean was puzzled. "Uhh...isn't that what you just said? Like, just now?"
Frank smirked. "Yes...and, no. Dust off that FBI badge, Winchester. I didn't say we have to find HIM, just to track him down. He's in the process of assembling his A-Team, right?"
Cas was bemused. "In a manner of speaking, yes."
"OK, so, here's another question for you: what would happen if he lost a key member, before he had them all?" Frank went on.
Cas looked at Frank, startled. After a moment, he said, "Honestly, Frank, I have no idea." The Angel's head was spinning, now. It was such a simple question on the surface, but the implications were enormous. What WOULD happen? Would the apocalyptic event, whatever it might turn out to be, still be able to proceed, if one or more of the Triad were missing from the picture? The topic had never come up, not in any of the theological lessons or discussions that Castiel had ever had, over the millennia.
Frank was smug for a moment, but then, his smile turned genuine. "I'll bet you none of those old-timey Biblical guys, or whoever came up with this stuff, thought of something as devious as what I've got in mind. When you guys were telling me that story about Abbadon, it occurred to me that there's somebody else who would be highly motivated when it comes to getting rid of her, once and for all."
"Don't say it," Dean groaned, but Cas was nodding. Of course. As much as he hated to admit it, Frank was making a very logical point. "Crowley," Cas said tersely.
Dean threw his hands up in the air. "There. You said it."
Frank half-shrugged. "Hey, I know we all hate him, but from everything you've told me, he'd be the best resource in this case. You've heard of 'it takes one to know one'? Well, maybe it takes one to catch one. What do you think?"
Cas looked calmly at Bobby. Their friend scowled. "Fine. I'll request a Summit," God said wearily.
Gail's forehead wrinkled. "If he does have a way to locate her, what do we do, then?" she asked the men.
"Interrogate her, to begin with," Cas replied softly.
They were all silent for another minute. Everyone sitting around the table knew what Cas wasn't saying, because everyone who was sitting around the table had done what Cas was alluding to, at one time or another.
Finally, Frank finished his drink and set the glass down on the table. Dean gestured with the bottle, but Gail's brother shook his head. "Nahhh, I'd better hit it. My alarm guy is coming over in the morning."
"Your what what?" Gail asked her brother, puzzled.
Frank grinned. "I've got a guy coming in tomorrow, to put one of those state-of-the-art sensor alarm systems in the house. That way, I'll be able to bust Dean, the next time he slips the lock to raid my kitchen."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Hey, if you want to know who's eating you out of house and home, look no further than that six-foot beanstalk you've got living there. Maybe his girlfriend likes to eat, too."
Cas was agitated. "Frank, if you feel your home needs extra protection, we would be glad to - "
But his brother-in-law interrupted him, shaking his head. "Look, Cas, I appreciate what you're getting at, but it's not Vincent I'm thinking about. If he was gonna mess with us, he'd have done it, already. And if you guys are right, and hurting his kids hurts him, I've got the best insurance policy for that, right there in the place. Rob's his son, too, as much as I hate to acknowledge that, out loud. But, last time I looked, Alice was a human," he added pointedly.
Cas and Gail exchanged glances, frowning. Frank was right, of course. Not all of the individuals who were a danger to their family were otherworldly beings. Now that a bit of the smoke had cleared from the confrontation with Damien, Gail realized that was actually her biggest regret about that excursion to Marie's place. If she had been able to bring Alice back with her, then...what? What would they have done with the woman? Turned her in to the police? Right. Sure. And just what kind of evidence did they have, proving that Alice had killed anybody?
"Don't worry, I'll call you guys if we need backup," Frank went on, rising from his chair. "I think we're gonna be OK. It's just a precaution. I really doubt she's gonna sneak into the house one night, like a cat burglar. But if she did, me and Rob have got a plan in place. We've already talked about it. And Suzanne's training is coming along nicely. Actually, I was gonna ask you guys if it's okay to bring her here to the workout room once in a while, to start practicing with those fake weapons you've got. Remember those, kiddo?" he added, looking at Gail.
She smiled fondly. "I sure do." Then, she laughed. "What a weird family we are."
Frank laughed, too. "Yeah, I see your point," he remarked. Then he walked around the table to where Sam was. "I just wanted to say how sorry I am about the way things turned out," Gail's brother said to the younger Winchester. "You deserved better, Sam. Any kid would be lucky to have you for a father."
Tears prickled at Sam's eyes as he stood up from his chair. "Thanks, Frank. Thanks a lot. That means a lot to me," Sam said softly.
The men shared a brief hug, and then Frank turned to Gail. "Come on, kiddo, take me home."
Once the brother and sister were back at his house, Frank looked at Gail, his expression grim. "Promise me you'll be careful over there in France, okay?"
She gave him a half-shrug. "Yeah. Sure. I always am."
Frank put his hands on her shoulders. "Listen, kiddo. I know you feel pretty invincible these days, because you've got your Angel thing going on, and I know you know how to fight, and - "
"And, I have Cas, and Dean, and Sam, and all of you, looking out for me," Gail reassured him, nodding. "Thanks for what you said to Cas, by the way. I know that meant a lot to him. It meant a lot to me, too." Then, because they were who they were, Gail poked her brother in the stomach. "Hey, what's with all this sentimental stuff, all of a sudden?"
"All of a sudden? What do you mean? I've always been sentimental," Frank objected.
"Is that your story?" she said, her lips twitching.
"Well, OK, maybe not," her brother admitted. "But it's never too late to change, right? Look at how much YOU'VE changed."
Gail raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" she asked him teasingly.
"It's a good thing," Frank reassured her. "Now get lost, and let me get some sleep."
She laughed. "So much for sentiment, I guess."
Frank grinned. "Yeah, well, it's a process." He chucked her under the chin. "Now, go get that Nazi bastard, rescue our buddy Michelle, and bring me back some good cheese. But watch out for those kids of Vincent's, OK? Rob told me about some of the stuff that went on in that compound. I know you're an Angel, and I know you can fight, but from what I heard, some of those kids can kill people without even laying a finger on them."
Gail was silent for a moment, thinking about what Frank was saying. She knew he had a point, because she'd seen some fairly disturbing things in the compound. Things that might have ended up being extremely deadly, if they hadn't been operating in such a controlled environment. It was true that she and Cas were Angels, but they occupied vessels that were subject to the laws of physicality, didn't they? What if there was a fire, or an explosion, and their essences were trapped inside their vessels? What then? Ricky had been capable of lighting people on fire, just by looking at them. Jason was a vampire, and he'd been reduced to ashes in seconds, when Ricky had gotten angry at him. Yeah, they'd better not get too overconfident. Any of them.
"I'll call you before we leave," Gail told her brother, stretching up to kiss him on the cheek. Frank nodded, giving her a squeeze.
Moments later, she was gone.