Ch 57
Dean made it a quarter mile before his phone started ringing. He silenced it without checking to see who was calling and tossed it onto the seat next to him. It didn't matter whether it was his brother or his girl. He'd seen his brother running after him, heard River scream his name. He wasn't going to stop. He wasn't going back no matter how bad he wanted to. He was angry and ashamed at himself for getting backed into this corner. They'd been pretending for months like they had options other than this. Just like before when it was his soul and an eternity in Hell on the line. Except this time he wasn't afraid. Not anymore.
All it had taken was a stranger to tell them what they already knew: nothing was going to be ok. And despite what the demons thought about him, he wasn't going to sit back and let the world end. Not when he now knew for sure this was the only way to stop Lucifer. He had a couple stops to make, a couple people to call, and then he'd summon Michael and get the show on the road. He turned the volume up, hoping 'Ramble On' would drown out the sound of the ringing coming from the glovebox where the stash of spare phones was.
"Son of a bitch!" River yelled as the Impala's rear lights disappeared.
Sam ran back towards the motel. "I'll get us a car. Get our stuff and Cas!" He yelled running past her towards a line of abandoned cars parked along the deserted street. She screamed in anger and frustration and ran back to her room. She grabbed her duffel bag from the foot of her bed where it had been left when Leah and her zealots had snagged her then ran back to Dean and Sam's room. Castiel still lay unmoving on one of the beds, his chest rising and falling shallowly.
"Casie wake up, Angel." She murmured to him swinging his legs over the side of the bed and pulling him to a sitting position.
His blue eyes fluttered open, "What's happening?"
"Dean's gone AWOL. We gotta go. Come on I got you," she pulled one of his arms over her shoulders and with her other arm grabbed him around the waist.
"I-I can't fly...I'm too weak," he said as his legs almost collapsed causing River to stagger as she dragged him towards the door. A set of headlights swung into the parking lot as Sam drove towards them.
"I know...don't worry about it Angel. Why are you so god damned heavy?" she muttered. " We need to find that stupid stubborn son of a bitch before he kills himself," River told him. Sam's hot-wired car screeched loudly as he slammed on the breaks. He was out of the car and running toward them before it settled back on its rear wheels. Sam grabbed Cas under his other arm and together they loaded the Angel into the backseat. Sam shifted the car back into drive as River jumped into the passenger seat next to him. "Get to the highway," she told him as he barreled through town. "I'll hack the cameras as soon I can. Figure out what direction he went in..." she told him while she dug her laptop out of her bag. Sam nodded and stomped on the gas pedal. Even with such a short lead Dean and the Impala would be miles ahead of the hunk of junk Sam had scrounged up. Dean would keep off the highways and away from cameras as long as he could. With his warding, his smarts and his god damn need to fix everything Sam had little faith they'd catch Dean in time. He looked across the seat to River who had her phone to her ear listening to the empty rings and her laptop open waiting for some sort of internet signal.
"What the fuck are you doing? Why now? You Peace the fuck out, now? Asshole! I'm going to kick your ass so hard your fucking great grandchildren are gonna walk funny," she yelled into the phone. "What the fuck, Sam? Did he say anything to you?"
He shook his head,"No. He's just been…off. Negative, quiet, extra brooding." Sam shook his head and gave her a sarcastic smile. She was too focused on the traffic cameras to respond to his joke.
"He's headed north," she said finding the Impala on a traffic camera about fifty miles ahead of them. Her eyes flicked across the screens, brows furrowing, "No damn it…he's gone. I can't fucking find him…where the fuck did you go?" She furiously smashed buttons on the laptop, searching cameras in a hundred mile radius. Dean had disappeared off the highway as quickly as she had found him. She checked a local map trying to figure out the exits and where he might have gone. There were too many winding roads running in too many different directions. "Where would he go, Sam?" she asked. "Friends? A favorite bar or strip club?"
"We got about as many friends as you do," Sam answered. "Which is none." River's shoulders dropped and she sat back silently scrolling through still images and short grainy bursts of video from the highway cameras. By dawn River realized Sam had steered them towards South Dakota.
"When in doubt go to Bobby's," she said quietly as they pulled into the Singer salvage yard.
By the time they dragged Cas out of the car and up the wheelchair ramp Bobby was waiting for them at the front door. He took a long look between Sam's clenched jaw, the dark circles under Rivers's eyes and Cas's sweaty, gray face. "Where's the other Idjit?" He asked. River shook her head. "Balls," Bobby muttered under his breath before wheeling himself back inside. "What happened to him?" He called over his shoulder indicating Castiel.
"The Whore of Babylon knocked him on his ass with some sort of nasty demonic hoodoo," River grunted as she and Sam lay Cas down on the couch. He murmured some sort of thanks and then fell back to asleep.
"Did you say the Whore of Babylon?" Bobby asked. Sam nodded. "Ah hell…did you get her?"
"Yeah Dean-the-true-servant-of-heaven-Winchester ganked the evil cunt," River sighed. "And then he fucking ditched us…Papa Bear, he's gonna do something really fucking stupid. Like crossroads-deal stupid." She pressed her fingers into her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Alright….we'll find him," Bobby said matter of factly. Bobby and River started making phone calls while Sam tried to get a ping off one of Dean's phones. The cell phones were quickly a dead end; Dean had turned them off or destroyed them. Bobby called Rufus and Sheriff Jody Mills to put a BOLO out on Dean and the Impala.
River tried more than a few long shots. "No, Harry, Dean is the short one-the shorter one…Have you seen him or not…no I don't want to talk to Ed…." She paced the kitchen restlessly, rubbing the back of her neck, listening to either Ed or Harry. "Sounds like a woman in white. Find out what she regrets and make the bitch face it… Of course you want to film it. An IR camera would probably work…Just don't get yourselves killed…If you see Dean just call me ASAP. No I'm not pregnant…Jesus, I get knocked up one time…" She muttered hanging up the call. She turned around to face Sam who wore the same worn out look as her. "Anything?" she asked him.
He shook his head, "He's off the grid. I tried a couple of his ex-girlfriends-" River cocked an eyebrow. "Girlfriend's probably too strong of a word…ex-booty calls?" Sam offered and she couldn't help but smile at him. "They haven't heard from him."
"I shouldn't've said anything about Zachariah," she mumbled tiredly. "I shouldn't've got my ass kicked again-"
"Look, whatever Dean is thinking about doing-it's on him. All we can do is try and stop him." Sam told her. She nodded and rubbed her face.
Castiel stirred on the couch, sitting up unsteadily. His blue eyes narrowed to suspicious slits taking in the piles of books and empty fast food wrappers. "How did we get here?" he asked.
"We drove…How's your head, Barney?" River asked him turning towards the coffee pot.
Castiel cautiously ran his fingers along his hairline, "My head appears fine."
River snorted. "You want some coffee, Casie? Or maybe some blueberry vodka?" she called over her shoulder while she set out a line of cups and started pouring coffee. A shudder ran through Castiel at the mention of alcohol and he shook his head.
Bobby rolled into the kitchen tucking his cellphone into his shirt pocket. "Rufus ain't got any leads. That idjit's gotta mess up sooner or later…. Thanks, girl." Bobby said taking the offered mug from River. She leaned heavily back against the sink holding her own cup of hot caffeine.
"I'm going to try Chuck again," Sam told them. They'd tried to reach the Prophet a half dozen times already and had got nothing but his nervous voicemail message.
"Becky's probably got him tied up in her red room," River muttered over the rising steam from her coffee. "I need to Irish this shit up. Bobby, where's the whiskey?" Bobby procured a half-full bottle of Wild Turkey from the side of his wheelchair. She took the bottle and tipped a healthy dose into her coffee then handed it to Sam. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she sloshed coffee down her shirt in her hurried attempt to answer it. Whoever was calling was calling from unknown number. "He-Hello?" She swallowed trying to slow her stammering heart.
"Hey, Sweetheart." Dean's deep voice did nothing to calm her nerves.
"Where are you? What are you doing?" Her voice cracked. Suddenly Sam and Castiel were at her side, pressing in too close for comfort trying to hear what Dean was saying.
"I'm alright. I just wanted to let you know everything is gonna be alright. I mean it this time," he said quietly.
"Bullshit, where the fuck are you, D?" She said elbowing past Sam and Cas.
Dean sighed, "You're not gonna find me-"
"Whatever you are thinking about doing just fucking stop. This isn't how it fucking ends," She said cutting him off.
Dean was silent for several long seconds. "I love you," he finally said.
River closed her eyes. Her phone shook against her ear. She could count on one hand the number of times he had actually said those words. He didn't need to say it, at least thats what she told herself. He showed it in the way he wrapped himself around her while they slept, in the way he kissed or touched any new bump, bruise or scar she got on a hunt, the way he always opened her beers and always made sure to ask what the vegetarian options were when they went out to eat. "I know you do. I love you too, please-" She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice even.
"Do you know how different our lives might've been if I'd answered that call instead of Dad? Or if we'd have met just a few months earlier?" Dean paused again. "Maybe we would'a settled down somewhere…with the boys." He sniffed and cleared his throat.
Tears ran down River's face and she wiped them away, "Dean, please…don't do this."
"I practiced what I was gonna say to you. What I wanted you to tell Sammy and Cas and Bobby…I love you and that's all there is. When I see myself happy, I see you. When I see a future, I see you. When it's over and Michael is done then we can try to have a life together if you still want me…I said I was going to protect you. This is how keep all of you safe-" Dean told her. His eyes drifted to the scene outside his car. Through the fat drops of rain pelting the glass he saw the Rabbi standing on the corner. His traditional Payot shaking around the sides of his face as he dipped and bowed with the intensity of his end times sermon. He wore a clapboard sign around his shoulders with a hand painted warning in English and Hebrew: "The End is Nigh. Pray and Repent."
River took in a sharp breath, "No! No, Dean. I don't know what Michael or Zachariah has told you but there won't be an after. Gabriel told me what happened to his vessel, to the man inside. He obliterated him! Michael will destroy you. He doesn't care about you, about us…you will be nothing but an empty shell. Me and Sam will be pillars of salt if we're lucky. Don't fucking do this!"
"I love you and I gotta do this because I'm the only one who can." He didn't say goodbye. He snapped the flip phone in half and tossed the pieces onto the floorboard before he could hear River sob his name.
"Dean! Dean!" She screamed into the phone. "No! Sam, no! He can't do this!" Sam grabbed the phone out of her hand and yelled into it as River covered her face with her hands finally breaking down. Sam ran to his laptop trying to figure out a way to trace Dean's call. Bobby hung his head and took a long swig from the bottle of Wild Turkey. Castiel ran his hand along his jaw, his blues lit with fury. It took several long moments for River to compose herself. Her angry sobs petering out into wet hiccups. "Stupid stubborn asshole," River mumbled wiping tears off her face. She grabbed her cup of whiskey and coffee off the counter and walked towards the back door.
"Where are you going?" Sam called after her.
"I'm gonna watch the sunset." She answered letting the rusted screen door slam in her wake. Bobby's ancient weather-beaten porch swing gave a nails-on-chalkboard squeak a few seconds later. Sam settled into the swing next to her, swinging one long arm over her shoulder and she leaned into his warm chest and said, "I love you, Sam."
He turned his head and kissed the top of her head. "Love you too, shorty." He replied. They sat quietly for several minutes drinking their coffee and watching as the sun disappeared behind the towers of wrecked cars. The screen door slammed again followed by Cas's heavy footsteps and the quiet swish of Bobby's wheelchair. Castiel leaned against one of the wood pillars crossing his arms over his chest.
Bobby parked his wheelchair next to the swing. "So we're just gonna sit here and wait for the world to end?" He asked. River and Sam nodded.
"Good a place as any," River said. "I'm all out of ideas. Unless you got an ace up your sleeve?" He grunted and slouched back in his wheelchair.
His thought of the scroll hidden under his mattress, "I might got something…"
River leaned over and cocked an eyebrow at him, "And?"
"And…I gotta explain a couple things to you first-" He began.
Castiel grunted and rubbed his temple. "You alright Casie?" River asked the Angel. He didn't answer in English but growled several Enochian words. River drew in a shocked breath, "Castiel, do you kiss your mother with that filthy fucking mouth?"
The Angel glanced over his shoulder at her, his blue eyes narrowed. "I don't have a mother." He said then disappeared.
"He's such a god damn drama queen. At least Gabriel never singed my eyebrows when took off…" River muttered taking another sip of coffee. "So Papa Bear, that plan of yours..."
Dean stepped out of the Impala. The rain had stopped a few minutes ago. The air was crisp and refreshing as the Rabbi continued his curbside sermon. "Brothers and Sisters, the Angels speak to me! There is still time to make yourselves righteous in their eyes!"
The Hunter strode calmly forward stopping a few feet from the man in the clapboard sign. "I'm Dean Winchester." He said loudly over the mans preaching. The mans prophetic ranting faltered and he looked at Dean wonderingly. "You know who I am?" The holy man nodded. "Tell your bosses I wanna parlay." The man fell to his knees rapturously, hands clasped and began praying loudly in Hebrew. Dean tucked his hands into the pockets of his jacket wondering how long it would take for one of the feathered dick bags to show up. He didn't have to wait long. A firm hand clamped down on his shoulder. He wrenched his head around and came face to face with Castiel. "Cas?" He choked out surprised. Cas's eyes were blazing with cold blue fury. For a split second Dean was sure he could see the same light radiating through the Angels skin. Castiel picked Dean up and tossed him into the alley behind the Rabbi. He bounced off the brick wall letting out a pained grunt. Castiel marched towards him, his tan trench coat billowing behind him. Dean scrambled to his feet, hands outstretched towards Castiel, "Cas, please."
The Angel grabbed his jacket roughly in one clenched fist and yanked Dean towards him, "I fell for you!" He seethed slamming his other fist into Dean's face and knocking the hunter off his feet and into a pile of plastic bags full of rotten trash. Dean saw bright spots behind his eyes and heard a funny high pitched ring in his ears.
"Cas-" Dean mumbled his head still spinning. He grabbed weakly for Cas's coat. Cas swatted his hands aside and punched him again. This time Dean tasted blood as Cas's fist smashed into his lips.
"I disobeyed! For you! I am an outcast! I've lost everything for you!" Castiel yelled dragging Dean to his feet. Dean felt like he'd been hit by a truck. Pure rage was rolling off Castiel in hot waves.
"Please-" Dean begged through swollen lips.
Castiel sneered. "I gave you everything and you repay me with cowardice." Before Dean blacked out he felt Castiel's warm fingers touch his forehead.
"Bobby you got anymore of that wine?" River yelled as she bent over in front of the fridge searching through stacks of old take out boxes. Bobby had conveniently drawn a blank when River tried to steer their conversation back to his plan so she'd given up and decided to drink more. The kitchen light flickered and a sudden draft sent a shiver down down her spine. "Holy fuck Cas! Dean, oh god! Sammy!" Cas appeared in the kitchen in front of her with Dean hanging limply from his arm. Dean's face was bruised and swollen. "Shit, Casie what happened..." She cried running to Dean's other side, he moaned when she maneuvered herself under his arm. Sam skidded into the kitchen with Bobby hot on his heels.
"I did." Cas growled. "I'll put him downstairs. Sam get handcuffs." Sam took one look at his brothers beaten face and the stony mask plastered on Cas's and nodded compliantly.
Castiel carried Dean down the narrow staircase and dropped him onto the small cot in Bobby's ghost proof bug out shelter. "How'd you find him?" Sam asked quietly as River kneeled beside Dean applying butterfly bandages to a gash in his eyebrow.
Cas sighed, "I heard a prayer from a mentally unstable man the Angels have been using as a spy."
Dean slowly opened his eyes and blinked them back into focus. "You shouldn't have stopped me." He mumbled.
River helped him sit up. "So, he should have let you commit suicide?"
Dean's forest green eyes narrowed, "It's not suicide. We both know how things are going. How they are going to go."
"We don't know anything Dean. We're still here, we're still us..." Sam said stepping towards him. Dean tried to stand and realized his wrist was handcuffed to the bed.
"Fucking really? Let me go," he demanded yanking on the chain.
River shook her head and stepped back, "Nope. You're staying right there while we figure something out that doesn't involve you jumping off the deep end."
"Figure what out? We haven't had a lead on the Horsemen in weeks. We are out of time and I'm not gonna watch my brother say yes to the Devil and I'm not gonna watch you die!" He yelled. River sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
Cas stopped pacing and glared at him. Sam crossed the room towards his brother, "We aren't out of time, Dean."
Dean scoffed, "Eight months of us getting our asses handed to us and tonight. Tonight is when the magic is going to happen?"
"Bobby's working on something." Sam told him.
Dean laughed, "Well, What is it?" Sam closed his mouth and looked at River, they didn't know what the plan was or if there really was a plan. "Right. That's what I thought. This is the only way and you god damn know it! This is how we save people!"
"The only way? You're gonna die Dean if you say yes to Michael! A whole bunch of fucking people are gonna die! " River yelled back. "There is another way! We will find Pestilence and Death and we will deal with them. And you can either put your big girl panties on and help us or you can stay down here! Because I-I am not going to let you die again! Sam isn't gonna let you die again!" She gathered her dressing supplies and angrily stuffed them back into her bag careful not to leave anything Dean could use to pick the lock on the handcuffs. Sam and Castiel turned away from Dean and headed for the iron door of the shelter.
"Riv, baby wait. Ok! Ok, I'm not thinking clearly uncuff me and we can talk." Dean said trying to keep his voice even and calm.
"We can talk with the cuffs on. You got something to say, Winchester? You had a lot to say a couple of hours ago," she said.
Dean looked at his feet, a faint pink tinge spreading across his cheeks. "You know how I feel. About you. About us. What I said was the truth and that's why you have let me do this."
"And that's exactly why you are going to stay chained up down here." River smiled and shook her head, "There's been a flu outbreak in a village in Columbia, reports of omens, demonic possessions, a two headed calf was born yesterday. Me and Cas are going to check it out. If Pestilence is still there we'll find him."
"Bullshit, Princess. You're not going anywhere. Cas is a big boy he can go alone," Dean said yanking on the handcuff again.
"We've already discussed it and Cas isn't going alone. He's too weak to defend himself against more than a couple of demons at a time. Enjoy your staycation at Casa de Singer. Ruminate on how much you hurt Castiel's feelings…We'll leave the nightlight on for you." River told him as she shut the iron door in his face. The screech of metal on concrete followed them up the stairs as Dean tried to drag the cot towards the door.
Sam turned to face her at the top of the stairs. "You sure you don't want me to go with Cas." He asked.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Sammy. After those fucking demons in that church you should probably stay off the radar for a bit. If it's a trap…fuck it, I'm not worth anything to them anyways. They'll kill me quick… Probably… Hopefully." She said smiling at him. "Casie, you ready?" She called down the hallway were Castiel had walked ahead.
Bobby rolled towards them, maneuvering his wheelchair around piles of books and stacks of newspapers, "Cas ain't here."
"What do you mean he isn't here? He was just here, Bobby. What the fuck?" River yelled pushing around him towards his sitting room. The sun was just rising, bright early morning light leeching in through the dirty windows illuminating the very empty room. The only sign that Cas had left in a hurry were the several pieces of papers and candy wrappers that were fluttering slowly to the ground. River cursed again under her breath and pulled her phone out of her back pocket. She jabbed her finger at the screen and waited for Cas to answer. Cas's ringtone blared loudly from somewhere on Bobby's desk. She swiped at a pile of newspaper clippings and found his old-man flip phone. "God damn it, Castiel." She muttered angrily.
"What the hells going on up there?" Dean's voice drifted up from the heating vents in the floor.
Several hundred miles away Castiel touched down between two giant pine trees. The deep earthy smell of wet earth and aseptic sent of pine needles of the forrest were a welcome relief from the aroma of old food and dust that permeated Bobby Singer's home. Castiel had heard something strange over Angel radio. A soul had been called back from Heaven and a retrieval team had been dispatched to collect him and his newly resurrected body. Since Castiel was already on Earth and in a vessel he made it first. Dry leaves crunched under his shoes as he made his way forward, his grace acting like a compass and leading him to the burial spot. The earth churned as someone underneath was digging his way out. Castiel shoved his hands down into the mossy earth and grabbed the cold hand blindly searching for a way out. He pulled the body out of the grave as two more Angels landed next to him. Cas dropped the man on the ground where he lay unconscious. He pulled his Angel blade from the folds of his jacket and faced his brothers.
"Traitor!" One of the Angles spat at him. It was the only word uttered before they attacked. Weakened as he was, Castiel was still a skilled warrior. Within moments his brothers lay dead at his feet. They had been over confidant, believing their righteous anger would be enough to slay him. The pain of their deaths cut him as deeply as if he had been stabbed with their Angel blades. He heard another alarm sound over Angel Radio, their deaths had already been noticed in Heaven and another, bigger retrieval team was being mustered. Castiel grabbed the man off the ground, flapped his wings and disappeared from the forrest.
River and Sam sat across from each other at Bobby's kitchen table, each with their laptop open and following up on the reports of the flu outbreak. Reports were slowly being filtered through the CDC, the flu strand from China had all but disappeared, mutating into something new. The death rates were stalling, people were sick and afraid but at least they weren't croaking by the thousands. The news was doing a good job of ratcheting up the panic, warning that this could be the calm before the storm. Medical experts were on full alert, holding press conferences beseeching individuals to get their flu shot as soon as they were available. There had been riots at a few clinics in China when rumor spread they were stockpiling vaccines for government officials and the super wealthy. A biotech company was promising a new, more effective vaccine to be available in a few weeks with enough doses to be distributed globally. "I don't fucking get it," River muttered closing her laptop and looking at Sam.
He raised his eyebrows, "What?"
"Why is the flu killing less people now? I would think Pestilence would want to thin the herd a bit before he releases the Croatoan virus….and how is it gonna go global? Chemtrails? Contaminated salad mixes?"
Sam let out a deep breath and shook his head, "I don't know. I don't really want to know."
"River! Lemme outta here!" Dean's voice disembodied voice drifted through the floor. "At least give me a conjugal visit. I'm bored!" He whined.
She laughed, "I like it when he begs."
"Yeah that's TMI. Thanks for that," Sam muttered.
A heavy thud sounded from the sitting room followed by Bobby letting out a startled, "Balls!" River and Sam leapt up form the table and rushed into the next room where they found Bobby sitting at his desk slack jawed starring at Castiel. The Angel had an unmoving, mud covered man slung over his shoulder. He dumped the man on Bobby's sagging threadbare couch. "Who the hell is that?" Bobby demanded.
"Holy shit, that's Adam," River answered. She suddenly had her hands wrapped around Sams upper arm tight enough to hurt him. "Why? Casie why'd they resurrect him?"
"I don't know." Castiel answered. "I have to make sure they don't find him." He touched Adam's chest and the man moaned in his sleep as Castiel's Enochian sigils were burned into his ribs.
Sam grimaced as Rivers fingernails dug into him. "Riv, your velociraptor claws are gonna tear my arm off." She jumped and released his arm mumbling an apology. "I'm gonna get Dean." Sam slipped past her before she could latch back onto his arm.
"This can't be good…this can't be good, Cas." River mumbled as she started to chew her thumbnail.
"Do one of you party crashing jackasses want to tell me what the hell…what the hell?" Dean stopped his grumbling and stared at the still unconscious young man dripping mud onto Bobby's grimy floor. "Is that-"
"Your brother, Adam, yes." Castiel said finally tearing his eyes away from Adam to turn and look at Dean.
River continued to nibble nervously on her fingernails and Dean swatted her hands away from her mouth. "That's a bad habit. Knock it off."
"Well you said taking a handful of Xanax was a bad habit too..." River told him. "The gang's all here wake him the fuck up, Cas. " The Angel nodded and touched Adam's forehead.
He shot off the couch as if he'd been given an electric shock. "Where is Zachariah?" Adam demanded after taking several deep, rasping breaths.
"Hey pal, how 'bout you sit back down. Zachariah isn't here," Dean told him.
Adam wiped a thick streak of mud off his face and glared at Dean, "Don't 'hey pal' me Dean. I'm not in the mood for your bullshit." Dean's eyebrows shot up and he shared a silent look with Sam. The real Adam had been dead before they'd ever met him, murdered and eaten by a Ghoul. They had never met the real Adam and he should know nothing of them. "I know who you are. The Angels warned me about you two. Said you'd would try to get in my way."
"Did that bald fuck tell you they're your brothers?" River asked. Adam gave a slight tilt of his head indicating an affirmative. "What else did he tell you?"
He crossed his arms over his chest, "I wanna a shower. And then maybe we can talk."
River let out an annoyed whistle, "Glad to know the snarky fucking attitude is a Winchester family trait."
Sam gave Adam a friendly smile and said, "Cas, why don't you show Adam to the shower."
"Just when I thought things couldn't get any more fucked," River muttered watching as Dean and Sam's newly resurrected half-brother followed Cas out of the sitting room and up the stairs.
Dean sighed, "Tell me about it. Can you uncuff me now?"
"No," Sam, River and Bobby answered simultaneously.
"Oh come on!"
River hooked her arm through Dean's and walked them towards the kitchen, "It's kind of refreshing to see someone other than me tied up. Help me make some coffee."
Adam was done with his shower and dressed in some of Dean's spare clothes by the time the coffee was done brewing.
The hunters and the Angel gathered in front of Adam. The younger man bounced his feet nervously. "Look if it's all the same to you, I need to get going. Ok? I'm kind of on a time crunch here," he said taking the cup of coffee River offered him. He took a sip and grimaced, "Can I have some cream and sugar?"
"Does this look like Starbucks to you?" She said as she leaned back on top of Bobby's desk between Sam and Dean, who leaned over the back of a chair. Adam set the coffee down on the floor near his feet and remained silent.
"How about you start from the beginning?" Dean asked once he realized Adam wasn't going to be the one to break the ice.
Adam took a deep breath, "Well after I was eaten alive by some freak monster-"
"You remember that?" Dean cut in.
He shook his head. "Yeah every single minute of it...Anyways I woke up in Heaven, I guess, it my Senior Prom. My date was Wendy McPherson, we were making out by the punch bowl."
Dean nodded, "Sounds like my kind of Heaven. Did you get to third base?" River kicked his knee and mouthed 'Really?' rolling her eyes at Dean the professional big brother.
"Keep going Adam," Sam encouraged.
"These…Angels popped in and Wendy was gone. They said I was chosen-"
River leaned forward, "Chosen for what?"
Adam smiled proudly, "To save the world."
"How you gonna do that son?" Bobby asked. Castiel stood silently behind them arms crossed over his chest.
"Me and an Archangel are gonna kill the Devil." Adam continued.
"What's the Archangels name?" River asked. They all knew the answer but wanted to know how much Adam had been told by the Angels.
"Michael. I'm his vessel. His weapon." He answered. Dean scoffed and looked up at River and Sam.
"Cas is that possible?" River asked.
Castiel tilted his head thinking quietly for several long seconds. "Possibly." He finally answered. "He is John Winchester's bloodline and Sam's brother. It is not perfect but I suppose it is possible…the Angels are moving on from you Dean."
"Bullshit, Cas. All these months of Dean being 'the chosen one', the only one that can help Michael defeat Lucifer. Why now?" River said
Cas sighed, "They're desperate. Lucifer is gaining power every minute he walks the Earth. The Angels are losing. Michael will be defeated without his vessel. Perhaps Heaven has lost faith in Dean."
Sam stood up, "No, Cas. River's right this is bullshit. What about destiny? And now they have a Plan B?"
Adam looked between the strangers in front of him. "Look this has been a great family reunion but I got a thing…" He said standing up and moving towards the kitchen. Castiel appeared in front of him causing him to take a step back.
"Sit the fuck down, Adam. We aren't done here," River said quietly. "Did Zachariah tell you what's going to happen when Michael and Lucifer have their little fight night?"
Adam turned around to face her, "I know there's gonna be some collateral damage-"
"Collateral damage? Half the world is gonna burn. If Michael loses then the other half is gonna wish it fucking burned." River said. "You have no idea, no concept of what we've faced to get to this god damned point. We have to stop them. Michael and Lucifer."
"They warned me about you. Said you hate them and you would say anything to turn me against them." Adam told her. River ran her hands through her hair and shook her head.
"Look, Adam. The Angels are lying. Whatever they've told you…it's a lie." Sam said putting a hand on River's arm. "There doesn't have to be a fight. There is another way."
Adam crossed his arms over his chest making him look a lot like Dean when he got annoyed, "Great. So what is it?"
Dean smiled, "Well we're working on the power of positive thinking. We've all been reading 'The Secret'. You know: believe it and make it happen."
"Shut up, Winchester." River muttered.
"I get it, you don't know us. But I am begging you to just give us time." Sam continued.
'Why should I?" Adam asked.
"Because they're your blood. Your family." River told him.
The younger man shook is head, a stray piece of dirty blonde hair falling over his eye. "You have no right to say that to me."
"John Winchester was your father. Same as theirs. Like it or not," Bobby said.
"John Winchester was some guy would blow into town once a year take me to a baseball game and fuck my mom. He wasn't my dad," Adam replied. "My family, my only family was my mom and if I do my job and help Michael defeat Lucifer then I get to see her again. So no offense but I don't a shit about any of you or anyone else for that matter."
River rested her head between her hands muttering, "Fuck."
"Alright, enough," Dean said standing up. "I'm done. Uncuff me and let me go."
"Excuse me?" River said looking at him.
"You heard him, he doesn't give a shit about us. He says yes to Michael and we're all dead." He said. "And I'm sorry but I'm not getting a real Rocky Balboa feel from you, kid."
"The hell's that supposed to mean?" Adam asked.
"It means you can't beat Lucifer." Dean told him. " So give me the key Princess and let me go."
"I don't have the key, baby. Cas does." River smiled at him.
"Why is he handcuffed anyways?" Adam asked them.
River tilted her head and a shot a glance at Dean, "Because I like it kinky. And if you don't sit the fuck back down I got a fuzzy pink pair you can wear too." Adam looked unsurely at her then up to Sam who nodded. He slowly lowered himself back onto the sagging couch. Dean took the opportunity to try and attack Castiel. His bound hands frantically pulling at the pockets in Cas's trench coat trying to find the small handcuff key. The Angel gave an annoyed sigh, clasped Dean by the back of the neck and they both disappeared. Dean's disgruntled voice boomed through the air vents yelling "Son of a bitch!" as Castiel again slammed the iron door in his face.
"So I'm on house arrest?" Adam asked as Castiel reappeared.
A few hundred miles away Zachariah stood in front of the empty grave. Displaced earth and the two dead Angels the only signs of what had transpired. He smiled smugly. Thus far the Winchester's and their friends had escaped his attempts to coerce Dean into fulfilling his destiny. He thought he had had the perfect bait using River's own mind against her. A few more days and he was sure he would have broken her and in turn broken Dean's will to refuse. Damn that traitor Castiel and whatever he had done to break his connection with that red headed bitch.
Zachariah had left Heaven in disgrace knowing it was only a matter of time before Raphael sent the Powers to smite him. He shuddered at the memory of witnessing the Powers in action an eon earlier when his former supervisor had been pink-slipped. But Michael, in his infinite wisdom, had given him another chance to ensure Dean Winchester's consent. The Archangel needed his vessel before Lucifer or his two remaining Horsemen gained any more strength. Heaven knew it was only a matter of time before Sam would give in to the Morningstar and if that happened before Michael had a suitable vessel all of their plans would be for naught. So, Zachariah had pulled out all the stops; ordering a full resurrection and a potential altering of an individuals Heaven was real heavy hitter stuff. He saw this as not only redemption but an unofficial promotion. Now all he had to do was wait.
Dean had quieted down a few hours ago, probably falling asleep to help pass the time leaving the house in an uneasy silence. River rolled over and looked up at the dark ceiling mentally tracing the outline of the brown water stain. Castiel had decided to cancel their excursion to Columbia and instead disappeared to parts unknown to try and find out some intel on why the Winchester's half brother had been resurrected. Her stomach growled and she realized she didn't remember the last time she'd eaten anything; sustaining herself on nothing but coffee since Dean had bounced from Blue Sky then been wrangled back by Castiel. She checked her phone and noted it was almost her turn to watch Adam anyways. The younger man was a flight risk and couldn't be left alone. Sam had taken the first shift trying to engage Adam using friendlier tactics then River was known for. Bobby had, as per his usual routine of late, passed out drunk at his desk leaving Adam to sit on the couch chanel surfing and Sam in the kitchen on his laptop.
River padded quietly into the kitchen tapping Sam on the shoulder to rouse him from his half lidded stupor. "Hungry?" She asked as he straightened up wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He shook his head no. "Adam you want something to eat?" She quietly called out to him.
"Sure." Came his apathetic response.
"Sure," she repeated sarcastically. "I was resurrected by a bunch of douchebag Angels to help end the world but I'll take a PB and J first. Sure-" She kept mumbling to herself as she slapped their sandwiches together.
Sam chuckled, "You sure you're up to the next five hours?"
She nodded and told him, "Go to bed. I got this." She handed Adam his sandwich and he took it without even grunting a 'thank you'.
"Just don't shoot him." Sam gave her hand a supportive squeeze as he walked past her and headed up the stairs to his bedroom. Bobby was still asleep at his desk so River tucked a pillow under his head and he snored softly, one hand still wrapped around his empty bottle of whiskey. Adam sat silently in front of the TV for a few more hours while River curled up in the chair in front of Bobby's fireplace with a book on Apocalyptic lore. Eventually the archaic writing and constant need to cross reference names and places made her eyelids heavy. She yawned, stretched, put the book on the floor and decided it was time for more coffee. Adam was asleep slumped over on the couch with a bubble of drool ready to drip out of his open mouth. She tossed an afghan over him on her way back to the kitchen. The moon was high and bright in the post-midnight sky giving River more than enough ambient light to move around Bobby's kitchen to set up the coffee pot. She tapped her fingers impatiently on the chipped wood counter waiting as the coffee slowly dripped into the stained glass carafe.
A floorboard squeaked behind her and she turned around holding her mug of fresh coffee. Adam stood in the near dark still half dazed from sleep. "Adam? You want some coffee?" She asked him. He didn't answer but his hazel eyes flicked to a spot behind her. The hairs on her arm stood up as the air in the kitchen filled with static electricity. River spun on her heels to face the presence behind her. A pale stranger in a crisp suit had appeared in the kitchen. "What the hell is this?" She cried stumbling away from him and hitting her hip on the corner of the dining table. Her cup of coffee slipped out of her hand and dropped to the floor.
The sound of the shattering mug roused Bobby. "Will you idjits...balls!" He had a blurry eyed, split second vision of River, Adam and an unknown intruder before the three disappeared from the kitchen. "Balls!" He grumbled again. "Sam git your ass down here!"
A door upstairs opened and Sam's heavy footsteps thudded on the floor above. "River! Please tell me you didn't shoot Adam-" He appeared at the base of the stairs, his longish hair sticking up at all angles and still buttoning his flannel shirt. "Where the hell are they?"
Bobby rolled around the desk starting at the now empty kitchen. "Gone."
"What do you mean gone? They left? River wouldn't have gone-" Sam said.
"I didn't say they left, Son. I said they're gone. They were here and now they ain't. There was someone else here, guy in a suit and he's gone too." Bobby told him.
"Shit..." Sam muttered as he started inspecting the kitchen for clues. "No sulfur…."
"The Angels took them." Castiel said reappearing in Bobby's sitting room. His blue eyes narrowed, forehead creased with worry.
River and Adam found themselves in a lavish room. Classic paintings depicting Angelic beings from every culture adorned that walls. The furniture belonged in a palace. A long dark wood table sat in the middle of the room where bucket of ice cold beer and a silver platter of paper wrapped, greasy cheese burgers were waiting. River recognized the room as the same one Zachariah had kept Dean prisoner in while Sam was spiraling towards breaking the last seal. She ran towards the door at the far end of the room. The door blinked out of existence as she reached her hand towards the doorknob. "No!" She screamed banging her fists off the wall. "What did you do?" She yelled spinning towards Adam. "What did you do? How did they find us?"
Adam shrugged, "Zachariah asked where I was. So I told him."
"You told him?"
He nodded and sat at the table pulling the tray of burgers towards him. "Relax. Once I seal the deal with Michael I'll have Zachariah take you back. They weren't supposed to bring you along-"
River gave a short, sharp laugh. "Seal the deal with Michael. You stupid-" She took a deep breath trying to remember Adam had no knowledge of the life she and the Winchester's shared. He had been kept deliberately separate, apart and ignorant of the dark side of the world. "There is no deal with Michael! Not with you. Don't you get that? We are bait you shit head!"
"I'm chosen. Zachariah told me."
"That dickbag will tell you anything to get to what he wants. The Angels are liars. They don't give a shit about you! About your mom-" She started. "They've been playing us since day one. They let a demon murder my sons! They let Dean go to Hell and Sam be manipulated into letting Lucifer out of the cage in the first place. They've been rooting for the end of the world since we grew legs and crawled out of the ocean!"
Adam laughed and twisted open a bottle of beer, "Man, you are wound tight. Have something to eat-"
River pushed the platters of burgers and beers onto the floor. "Zachariah is using you, Adam. You are not Michaels true vessel." She said slamming her palm onto the table. "Dean is. And he's gonna come here and try to rescue us because he's a stupid son of a bitch….we need to get out of here!"
"I always knew you were smart for a mud monkey." Zachariah said appearing next to River. His hands clasped behind back and a look of smug contempt on his pointed face. She shrank away from the Angel in disgust. "Oh no, no, no I'll be taking that." One of his soft, manicured hands grasped her wrist hard enough to make her gasp in pain and stagger to her knees. With his other hand he pulled at the ring Castiel had given her.
River struggled against him, "NO!"
"Would you rather I rip your hand off?" He asked squeezing her wrist tighter. She shook her head once and relaxed her fingers. Zachariah slid the ring off and held it up to the light, inspecting the deep blue of the ancient stone in the center. The ring caught fire and melted into nothingness between Zachariah's fingers. He wiped his hand on River's shirt and turned to Adam. "Well champ, you performed top notch. Following orders like a good little grunt." He said clapping him on the shoulder.
The younger man gave him an unsure smile and looked down to River who still kneeled on the floor taking deep breaths. "Thank-thank you…um," he cleared his throat nervously. "So are we ready?"
Zachariah tilted his head and raised his eyebrows quizzically, "Ready for what?"
"To you know…call Michael or however it works." Adam said.
"Oh yes…well this is very difficult but," His voice took a well-practiced empathic edge. "I'm afraid your position has been terminated at this time."
"Wh-what …what?" Adam stammered.
"Yeah you see, these are difficult times and cuts must be made. And I may have stretched the bit about you being the 'Chosen One'." Zachariah said. Adam pushed up from the table knocking over the chair he was sitting in. "She's a smart cookie that one. You led us right to her." The Angel tipped his head towards River without looking at her. "And she's right. You are bait. The thing you should know about your big brother Dean is: he has a martyr streak in him a mile wide. How could he resist rescuing the woman he loves and his baby brother? Why, he would do anything to keep his family sa-" Zachariah's pompous monologue was cut short as he screamed in agony. A blinding white light erupted around him as he was forcefully banished from the room.
"Fucking bald rat faced dick bag," River muttered through her teeth as she stood up and revealed the Enochian banishing symbol she had scrawled at her feet. She dropped the bloody piece of the broken beer bottle back onto the floor and tightly closed her fist to try and staunch the bleeding. "Believe me now?" She asked Adam.
He nodded and said, "Did you kill him?"
"No. I just booted his ass out of here for a bit. I can't stand his greasy fucking voice." She told him. " When he comes back he's gonna be fucking pissed. So we need to find a god damn way out of here." She turned on her heels, eyes scanning the room mind racing through different ideas to get out. "No way. The door is back. Adam lets go." She grabbed his arm and drug him towards the door that had reappeared.
"We don't even know where we are," Adam said following her.
"Doesn't matter. Anywhere is better than here," she said. "We have to get out of here before he comes back." She flung the door open and she and Adam were instantly thrown across the room slamming into opposite walls and sliding to the floor dazed.
Zachariah strode in clicking his tongue impatiently. "Now I was more than willing to let you two die in peace. It seems its going to be a bit more….messy now." He snapped his fingers and River and Adam clutched at their stomachs groaning in pain. "Imagine: Dean walking in and seeing you two drowning in your own liquified internal organs. Well, that might just push him over the edge…" River whimpered as a fresh torrent of churning pain ripped through her. Adam coughed across the room, bright red blood splattering his lips as he curled into a fetal position. Her stomach rolled and she barely had time to turn her head to the side before she vomited chunky, black and red gore.
Sam and Castiel stood silently outside the iron door of Bobby's ghost proof fall out shelter. "He's going to be pissed. You know that right?" Sam said to the Angel. Castiel nodded his head. They unlocked the door and Castiel swung it open on its screeching hinges. The noise roused Dean who sat up and glared at his brother and friend. "Time to rise and shine." Sam said stepping into the shelter.
"Is it yard time already? What do you want?" Dean asked.
Sam took a deep breath, "Adam and River are gone."
Dean shot up, the handcuff around his wrist jerking the bed several inches off the ground. "What?" He yelled.
"The Angels have them," Sam said.
"Didn't you do the thing with his ribs?" Dean bellowed at Castiel.
"I believe Adam must have tipped off Zachariah in a dream." Castiel told him.
"I'm gonna rip that son of bitches lungs out!" He yelled. "Where are they?"
Sam tucked his hands into his pockets. "The room where they took you."
Dean's green eyes darkened with anger, "You sure?" Castiel nodded.
"Cas checked it out. The place is crawling with Angels." Sam began. "It's pretty much impossible to penetrate; a no shot-in-hell, hail-Mary kind of thing."
"So…pretty much another day in paradise. What are we gonna do?" Dean asked.
Sam withdrew his hand from his pocket, the small silver handcuff key clutched between his fingers. "We are all going together. Michael needs you and…you're the only play we have."
"This is a trap. You two realize that?" Sam and Castiel nodded. "This is the only way Zachariah can force our hand. Get me where he wants me, make me say yes.…and I'm warning you now. I'm gonna say yes." The handcuff slid off his wrist and Dean rubbed the raw skin. "You get Adam and Riv and you run. You run and fight as long as you can."
Sam shook his head. "You're not gonna say yes Dean. I know you. When it comes down to it. You'll make the right choice."
"We're leaving now," Castiel said grabbing each brother by the shoulder. He unfurled his invisible wings, Dean felt something warm brush against his cheek then they were being ripped through the atmosphere. Colors and shapes blurred together. Dean thought he was going to yak and then, thankfully, Castiel landed. Dean shook his head to clear the lingering motion sickness. A jumbo jet flew overhead, its booming engines disrupting the background noise of honking cars and wails of police and ambulance sirens. Ugly palm trees with thick thatched trunks and low hanging spindly fronds dotted the horizon.
"Where the hell are we Cas?" He asked.
"Van Nuys, California." The Angel answered. He led them through an abandoned lot overgrown with dead weeds and piles of trash towards a large industrial building.
Dean looked around disbelieving. "The Angelic hideaway is an abandoned muffler factory in Van Nuys?"
Castiel nodded, "Where did you think it was?" They stopped outside the factory doors. The paint that once proudly identified the company name long since faded and peeling in the unforgiving California sun.
"Tell me again why we can't Shazaam in there, grab River and Adam and bounce?" Sam asked.
Castiel turned quietly towards them. "Because there are at least five Angels in there." He looked over his shoulder nervously scouting their surroundings.
"Well you're fast," Dean told him.
The Angel gave him a tight smile. "They're faster." He loosened his blue tie and pulled it over his head tucking it into one of the pockets of his coat. "I will get rid of them. You two grab River and Adam. This is our only chance."
Dean put his hand on Castiel's arm. "Wait, you're gonna face off against five Angels? Isn't that suicide?"
Castiel shrugged and started to unbutton his dress shirt. "Maybe it is. But then at least I won't have to watch you fail. Too bad I can't say the same for your brothers or River. I'm sorry but I no longer have the faith in you that they do." He pulled a box cutter out of another pocket and handed it to Dean.
Dean raised his eyebrows and took the knife. "What the hell do you want me to do with this?" Castiel told him exactly what his plan was. After Dean was done he tossed the knife aside and watched as Castiel gingerly buttoned his shirt around the bleeding wound in his chest. The interior of the building was dark. Rank water dripped from broken pipes and mixed with pigeon droppings to make a revolting sludge that coated most of the cement floors. Castiel's keen ice blue eyes roamed over the dark corners of the building, his grace reaching out to sense the presence of any of his brothers or sisters. They were near. They would sense him and in turn be drawn to him. A small building appeared out of the shadows. Dark, broken windows and rotted wood panels made it seem long empty and forgotten. The first of his brothers appeared out of the darkness, his Angel blade slashing at Castiel's neck in a deadly arch. Cas dodged the first attack and sent the other Angel sprawling to the floor. He was on him in an instant. The Angel's blade turned against its owner as Cas plunged it into the heart of his attacker. The Angel screamed, his grace exploding out his eyes and mouth in a brilliant white flash of light.
Four more Angels appeared surrounding Castiel on all sides. They slowly circled him, keeping their distance for now. He tossed the blood covered blade aside. "What are you waiting for! Come on!" He yelled at them in Enochian. They took his challenge and attacked as one. Castiel waited until they were a half pace away before he ripped his shirt away exposing the Enochian banishing sigil Dean had carved into his chest. With one bloody hand he ignited the sigil expelling not only the four Angels attacking him but also himself from the building.
River's eyes flitted open as she heard what sounded like faint screams from somewhere outside the room she and Adam were trapped in. Adam still lay across the room. His face was pale and covered in sweat. She rolled onto her back, too weak to stand. It was an extremely unpleasant sensation to feel your body rotting from the inside out. The door behind her slowly opened and she groaned, "Go fuck yourself, Zachariah."
"That's not a very nice thing to say, sweetheart." Dean said softly kneeling beside her as he wrapped his arms under her shoulders and knees.
Her eyes sprang open and she pushed one shaking hand to his chest."No. Dean it's a trap. Run."
Dean cradled her to his chest and stood up. "I know."
"Ah, Dean. Right on time." Zachariah's sanctimonious, oily smiling face appeared before them. "You didn't really think it would be that easy did you?"
Dean shook his head. "No. Did you?" He said as Sam burst into thought he door behind Zachariah. The hunter swung an Angel blade at his neck but Zachariah merely flicked his wrist and sent Sam sprawling across the room towards Adam.
"Now, I have been patient Dean. But now is the time for action," The Angel raised his hand and River coughed a mouthful of blood onto Dean's shirt. Adam cried out in pain, curling into a tighter ball against the burn in his stomach.
"You son of a bitch! Let them go!" He yelled. A shudder of pain ran through River and she pushed at Dean's arms to be let go. He bent down and set River back on the floor where she leaned tiredly against the wall.
Zachariah chuckled and lazily sat on the table in the center of the room. "I thought I was up for the proverbial pink slip when I failed to reel her in. And in my line of work a firing is pretty damn literal. But the big boss he saw through the fog of my failures and gave me this opportunity." Sam stirred and slowly pulled himself to his knees. "And everything is playing out…like destiny. You, me, your hemmoraghing family." He nodded at Sam who began spitting up blood. Dean looked down at his dying family. "You're finally ready. Aren't you?" Zachariah asked gently. River wrapped her arms around her stomach and cried silently.
"Stop! Please. Stop it." Dean pleaded.
"What will you give me in return?"
Dean clutched his fists helplessly, Sam collapsed back on to his stomach choking on blood, Adam cried out for his mother, River gave up trying to stay upright and slid back to the cool floor. "Damn you, Zachariah. Yes, ok! Yes I'll do it!"
"Dean! No," River sobbed. Zachariah gave her a look pure contempt, his nose and forehead crinkled Ike he smelled something dirty. She cried out and retched more dark blood onto the pristine floor.
Zachariah laughed, "She doesn't look to good does she?"
Dean didn't dare look down at her. "You're a bastard. Call Michael down here and I'll sign on the dotted line!"
Zachariah stood up and scrutinized Dean. His upper lip shook, and he shifted nervously on his feet as every second that passed was a second closer to Sam, River and Adam bleeding out on the floor in front of him. "How do I know you aren't lying?" The Angel asked.
Dean waived his arms in frustration. " Do I look like I'm lying? Let's do this!"
Zachariah gave a self-congratulating nod and closed his eyes. "He's on his way. You know Archangels they always have to make a grand entrance."
"Great," Dean sighed. " Now of course I've got some stipulations."
Zachariah's smile faltered. "What?"
"Heal them now."
"Done." The Angel snapped his finger and the pain and blood was suddenly gone. River let out a shaky breath and crawled towards Sam.
"They are untouchable. Do you understand? My family is to be protected." Dean said turning away from Zachariah.
"Fine."
Dean looked down at Sam, River and Adam and winked. He winked at them like they were hustling a couple of rubes in a pool game and not facing momentary death. The fear and torment that had been clouding his face instantly gone. He was back to being Dean; relaxed, confidant with his bad-boy charm turned to full throttle. River grabbed Sam's big hand in both of hers as a strange sense of dreadful anticipation made her whole body shake. He turned back towards Zachariah as a high pitched whining vibration rattled the paintings on the wall. "Now of course that's not all I want-"
"Anything Dean. Anything in all of heaven and Earth is yours. You are The Michael Sword, the vessel of our mightiest warrior. We have waited for you." Zachariah's face lit up with maniacal, zealous grin.
"I want Michael to kill you." Dean said. River's grip on Sam tightened, she bit her lip to stop from laughing frantically.
Darkness clouded Zachariah's zeal. His shrewd eyes narrowed, "Excuse me?"
Dean stepped closer to the Angel. The whole building was shaking now, the vibrations of Michael's descent rattled through their bones. A high pitched buzzing whine echoed around the room. A dazzling opalescent white light bled through the walls. "You heard me. If Michael wants my sweet ass he has turn you into a piece of charcoal." The sound of Michale's voice was becoming painful. Adam clapped his hands over his ears and yelled.
Zachariah laughed and grabbed Dean around the collar. "You really think Michael is going to go for that? After I've delivered him to you? Do you know who I am?" He yelled.
"You think Michael wants a brown nosing assclown thats never seen a real battle or his vessel?" Dean yelled over the deafening rumble. Paintings fell off the walls, priceless vases and statues toppled over.
Zachariah pressed his face closer to Dean, their noses almost touching. "Michael's not going to kill me. I am his faithful servant!"
"Maybe Michael won't kill you. But I am." Dean yelled as he pulled Castiel's Angel blade from his jacket pocket and stabbed Zachariah through his neck. The Angels let out a gurgled surprised scream before his grace exploded out of his eyes. Dean pushed the dying Angel away from him. His wings left a scorched imprint on the wall behind him.
River scrambled to her feet pulling Sam with her. "Adam! Move your ass!" She screamed at him. The younger man got unsteadily to his feet, hands still clasped to his ears. Dean grabbed River by her free hand and charged toward the door. Adam suddenly stopped in the middle of the room, Michael's light completely engulfing him. He stared into it transfixed and nodded as if he had been asked a a question through the roaring.
Dean pushed River and Sam through the door before turning back to his younger brother. He had all but disappeared in the blinding light. "Adam! Run!" He yelled. The building shook again causing Dean to stagger. He took an unsteady step forward before a hand latched around his arm and yanked him through the door. The door slammed shut a second later trapping Adam in the room. The sound of the door broke Adams trance and he realized he was alone in the room. Michaels voice still filling his head, the light of his immense grace surrounding him but he was suddenly afraid. He ran towards the door but it was sealed shut. "Dean! Sam! Help me!" He yelled frantically banging on the door.
Dean tried to rush back towards the door but River held him fast. "You can't get back in! Michael is coming!" She yelled at him. The small inner building gave another great shudder. The light seeping through the boards dazzled them and they staggered back covering their eyes. Then all was silent and dark. Sam opened the door to the room and found nothing but a rotting, empty old office. No sign of the beautiful room, Adam or even Zachariah remained.
"You think he's ok?" Dean asked as they left the dank building. The sun light and smoggy air was refreshing.
"I don't know." Sam replied.
River looked up as another jumbo jet boomed ahead and took a deep breath. "Are we in L.A.?" She asked.
"Van Nuys, Princess."
"No shit. I know a great Indian place in Van Nuys." Dean and Sam stopped and turned towards her. "What? I want a mango lassi before the fucking world ends."
Dean took her hand in his. His calloused thumb rubbing little circles on the back of her hand. He pulled her close, his free hand pulling her face towards him. "I love you." He murmured against her lips.
"I know." She answered kissing him.