Dressed to Kill
Rowan turned to her Draugar, seeing that Bjarni was gone. Hadn't she come back with them? Rowan glanced at Agmundr and then at Raganhar with a frown.
"Bjarni was summoned." Raganhar quickly replied.
"One of our sources probably has information." Agmundr then added, which reassured Rowan. She couldn't be happier to have them around. She turned to her brother, seeing him finally getting off his rock.
"So, we're just going to wait around for Abaddon?" Fenrir asked, looking eager for some unknown reason. "What? Got to have an entrance?" he asked and Rowan looked casually at him, giving a slight smile.
"What's a Death Goddess without an entrance?" Rowan asked and her brother glanced around at the woods.
"Waiting in a forest while her rival is off killing." Fenrir said which got him an elegant frown from his sister. "I swear you're acting different in that dress." He said and when she arched an eyebrow, he grinned. "More posh." He added and she seemed to be ignoring his comment.
"It's called class." She replied looking at her nails. As she stared at them, a glossy black covered her pale nails. She smiled with pride and glanced at her brother who didn't seem to understand the transformation his sister had undergone.
At that moment, Bjarni returned, looking a little concerned.
"Abaddon is going back on Crowley's deals, collecting the souls early and torturing them to create a much larger support team for herself." Bjarni said and that didn't seem to be all. "She also got some demons to gather some people in order to lure out the Winchesters. She must have figured they have Crowley." she concluded and Rowan felt a surge of panic running through her veins. This wasn't good at all.
"Well, it seems we won't be waiting around, at least not here." She said, looking at her brother with a sort of seriousness in her eyes. "Mind helping out?" she asked him.
"You mean act like a guard dog?" he asked her and she approached him with a slight smile.
"More like the sharp teeth bearing down on breaking-and-entering assholes." Rowan replied, which made her brother grin. She thought he'd like that. She looped her arm with his, glancing at the Draugar. "To the Men of Letters' bunker, my friends. I'll find a way to slip you in." she added, envisioning the foyer of the place just underneath the front door.
Fenrir glanced around that bunker, as if his mind couldn't comprehend being in location A and then location B in a split second. As he adjusted, Rowan turned to the wall, sensing the wards left long before the Winchesters. She could sense the wall of protection like she could visibly see it. And she could also break it if she wanted to. However, that wasn't her intention.
If Crowley could be held in the dungeon, that there was obviously a loop hole somewhere.
And Rowan found out easily enough. She pulled them into the bunker like she would a soul from a deceased body, finding that the ward only suppressed demonic power, but not the vessel. Her Draugar would be useless here, but she refused to leave them out there if Abaddon and her demons were ever to find them.
They stood beside her, looking around at the place.
"Stay here." Rowan said and began walking up the steps, her heels clacking against the tiles of the floor. She could sense where the Winchesters were and she turned down the corridors, careful to not make too much noise. She turned into the doorway of the kitchen, watching them eat while deep in thought, unaware they had guests.
She couldn't help but feel nostalgic just looking at them. The last time they had seen her she was just a college student who had faced a monster, never to be the same again. Now, despite what they fought to prevent, she remembered that she was Hel, Ruler of the realm of the dead.
"Sorry I didn't leave a note." Rowan said, startling the two brothers who dropped their food on the table and jumped up, as if ready to fight or flight.
"Rowan?" Sam asked as they looked at her. She was definitely a different person compared to the girl they brought to their home. Her long black lace dress had them staring at her like they were enchanted by her beauty.
"Hel, to be exact, but you can still call me Rowan." She replied, stepping in with a friendly smile. She took notice of the concern in their eyes and knew they would be questioning if she was an ally or a frienemy. "Sorry to let myself, but it's important." She added, gesturing that they sit back down. Sam gave her his chair and got himself a stool from the counter. When they were seated, Rowan began with her friends because if she didn't, they'd question if they could trust her. "Just to let you know, my friends are, what you'd call, demons." She said and Dean immediately glanced at Sam with alarm in his eyes. "Please relax, they were my guards before Lucifer got hold of Helheim and tortured them into demons. They're loyal to me and don't pose a threat. Plus, they're as harmful as a basket of kittens in this place." she concluded, which still didn't reassure the Winchesters.
"You said it was important." Dean said with hard eyes, making Rowan smile as he resembled Fenrir in a mild way.
"Abaddon plans to lure you two out into an ambush." Rowan said bluntly, which seemed to satisfy Dean, only it was bad news that unsettled him as much as it did his brother. However, there wasn't just worry in Dean's eyes as he locked gazes with Sam. There was a silent conversation going on in between them and Rowan was pretty sure it had to do with the First Blade. "You better not be considering Crowley's suggestion." She said, which got them to look at her with stunned expressions.
"How did you know?" Sam asked and she gave him a slight smile.
"Let's just say I can be in two places at once." She replied and glanced at Dean, knowing he was the one that was susceptible to falling into Crowley's bad idea. "The First Blade does have a price, one you don't want, trust me." Rowan said and glanced at Sam as she continued. "You would need the Mark of Cain which is what makes the First Blade so deadly to everything. That is some serious bad shit." She concluded and glanced at Dean, narrowing her eyes as if to deter him from this idea.
"But we need a weapon to kill Abaddon. The First Blade might be the only thing." Sam said, not liking the idea, but not seeing anything else.
"Are you suggesting something else?" Dean asked her and she smiled at him. "What else could kill Abaddon?" Rowan's smile turned dark as she sat back in the chair.
"You're looking at it." she replied, her voice suddenly chilling, as were her eyes that had turned dark.
"You can kill Abaddon?" Sam asked and she smiled at him.
"I predate Abaddon. I'm Hel, a death deity. Crowley was confident of that." Rowan said, that got them to narrow their eyes at her, repeating those words in their minds.
"I knew that son of a bitch was lying." Dean said and Rowan gave a slight grin.
"He doesn't lie as much as he withholds information." She corrected, sitting forward in her chair. "And I'd say you both have that in common." she said, getting Dean to meet her eyes. "Crowley helped me remember who I was, knowing I could take out Abaddon. Of course, he did that so his rival could be eliminated and he didn't tell me he's King of Hell, but you have to understand it's his nature to be conniving." Rowan said and the brothers just stared at her with a hint of repulsion on their faces. Was she really defending Crowley? They couldn't comprehend it and she didn't want to explain why she liked Crowley so much.
Then, Sam's expression changed, as if there was something he absolutely had to get off his chest.
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you." Sam said and she looked at him with soft eyes. "We thought we could give you a chance to live a normal life if you couldn't remember." He added and she gave him a warm smile.
"I was bound to remember at some point and that was my decision to make, not yours." Rowan said softly, despite how cold the words seemed. "But it's all forgiven." She added, which made Sam relax. "Now, before we continue talking about Abaddon, I have to tell you Sam that if you don't rest, you'll find yourself in a coma." She concluded, which alarmed both brothers.
"What?" Sam asked.
"It's because of the trials, right?" Dean asked and Rowan nodded, meeting his worried eyes for a brief moment, then looking back at Sam.
"I can see that death lingers on you, draining you. I can help." She said, standing up and standing before Sam, her hands out, palms up. "Give me your hands." She said softly, meeting his eyes with warmth.
"How can you help him?" Dean asked and she smiled.
"Considering my father was an Archangel and death is my business, I'm gonna say healing Sam, removing that cold hand of death that's stuck on you." Rowan said and her smile widened as Sam placed his hands in hers, looking a little hesitant and nervous. "You're going to feel a slight tingling sensation. Don't be worried." She concluded and focused her attention on what she sensed within Sam. She was drawing it out, taking it into herself. She could see glowing lines on Sam's arms, traveling up his hands and transferring into her own where the glowing lines disappeared.
"Feels more like an electric jolt." Sam replied with a nervous smile, which got her to let out a small laugh.
"It won't last long." She replied, feeling that poison that had been in Sam all this time, slowing killing him. It had no affect on her, as if she was immune. Then, the glowing lines were completely out of Sam and he already looked better. "How does that feel?" Rowan asked him.
"I feel reenergized." He replied, smiling at her with an immense amount of gratitude in his eyes. She smiled and him, giving his hands a slight squeeze.
"Good. You two should take better care of yourselves. You both need to rest more." She said, glancing at Dean. "You both deserve a bit of TLC because if you don't take the time to relax, the world will have its two greatest heroes so tired that they won't be able to fight their way out of a paper bag." She concluded, making Sam let out a small laugh and getting Dean to smile a bit.
Then, to ruin the moment, Fenrir stepped in, looking at the Winchesters with a cold hardness in his eyes. When Dean looked up at him, Rowan released Sam's hands and turned to her brother.
"Don't be rude." She said and sat back down in her chair. "This is my brother, Fenrir." She introduced. "He's not as fierce as he looks." She concluded and Fenrir snorted in response.
"I'm exactly as fierce as I look." He added and approached, staring mostly at Dean who seemed a little unsettled, but determined not to let some guy stare him down in his own home.
"Now, for the evening, whatever you do, I want you to stay here with Fenrir while I take care of Abaddon." Rowan said, getting no argument from the Winchesters despite any discomfort they have about the whole situation. She got out of her chair, smoothing out her dress. "And leave Crowley to me." she concluded, getting Dean to stand up in protest.
"Crowley is –" he began, but she calmly lifted up her hand, getting him to cut his sentence short.
"I will not negotiate." Rowan said, her voice and expression stern despite her calmness. Dean didn't seem to like that, but he didn't seem stupid enough to argue with a Death Goddess. "You both have my word that no harm comes to you. I appreciate what you have done for me and if you ever need my help, I'll be around." She concluded, giving them a soft smile, then turning to her brother, giving him a tender tap on his muscular arm as he had crossed his arms over his chest, looking like a bouncer to keep the hunters in the kitchen. "Be nice." She said smiling up at him and then walking out of the kitchen so gracefully.
Her little chat with Crowley was going to be either pleasant or business, which to Crowley probably would be one of the same.