Bring 'em Back Alive Part 2
Apocalypse World
Ketch was working on a remedy for Dean's wound. Dean was propped up on a rock and was clearly in quite a bit of pain.
"Taro root, trace of arsenic… basidiomycota… and…"
"Why don't you just skip the birdseed, give me the flask?" Dean grunted.
"Your shortness of breath and delirium are symptoms of a poison the Men of Letters use to disable monsters in the field," Ketch explained.
"Of course it is," Dean muttered, not expecting anything different.
"My guess is that the bounty hunter used a similar toxin to coat his bullets to hobble his prey… at first."
Dean glanced up at Ketch. "What do you mean, 'at first?'"
"Well, if—if the antidote isn't administered, then the victim dies a particularly gruesome death," Ketch admitted.
Dean scoffed and shook his head. "You guys are such dicks."
"Yes. Well… guilty." Ketch prepared to administer the cure. "Now then… this will smart. There we are. Good lad." He praised while Dean attempted to control his pain. "Good lad. Good lad. Here we go, just a little more. Right? There we are."
~/~\~
Lebanon, Kansas
Sam sat on a chair at the end of Gabriel's bed, while the archangel stared absently ahead. Sam sighed heavily and got up to leave. Sam stopped and turned to look back at Gabriel, to give it one more shot.
"Gabriel, you have to dig yourself out of this hole," Sam started. "Look, I know you think it's safer inside. No more torture. No more pain. No more expectations. I've been there. You were nothing like your family. You sure as hell weren't like your dad. Me either. And just like you, I got out. Or I-I thought I got out. But then… then my family needed me. And this is my life. No matter how many times I tried to fight it, this is what I was put here to do. Through this life, I met Angie, a-and we have two amazing kids. This is where I make the world a better place. And sure, yeah, hookers in Monte Carlo sounds great, but your family needs you. Jack, your nephew, needs you. The world needs you. We need you," he begged. "Gabriel, I need you. So, please, help us."
Sam stood there for a few moments, and his shoulders slumped when he only received silence. Sam blinked back oncoming tears and once again turned to leave the room.
"Porn stars," Gabriel spoke up, catching Sam's attention. "They were porn stars, Sam."
As Sam turned around to face Gabriel, the archangel's eyes glowed bright blue.
~/~\~
Apocalypse World
"Okay," Dean grunted as he struggled to keep walking. "Okay, okay, okay, okay." He stumbled and leaned against a nearby rock.
"This is absurd," Ketch noted. "You must rest."
"Okay, look… I-I'll give you that… anti-poison merit badge award, okay? I do appreciate it, but… we're running out of time. So… how about you rest? I'm gonna keep going." Dean started to walk again before promptly collapsing. "In five minutes."
"Good plan." Ketch nodded. "Perhaps we can use this moment to revisit the Charlie issue."
"Not gonna happen," Dean grumbled.
"To your point, we are running out of time. We don't know where your mother, Angela's father, and Jack are. We don't even know if we'll find this Charlie. And if we do, a rescue may be impossible and stupid. I propose we return home, regroup, reinforce ourselves, and we may have a shot at saving everyone."
"All right, look, I'm gonna…" Dean grunted as he pulled himself up. "Repeat myself. Charlie's not gonna give the angels what they want."
"Your Charlie wouldn't."
"They're gonna kill her, 100 percent, and I'm not…" Dean trailed off.
"What?" Ketch pressed. "What's the story you're not telling me?"
"Charlie was like family," Dean answered. "She was a sister to me. She did more for me, Sam, and Angie than I can even say. And she was…" he clenched his jaw. "She was butchered. And we couldn't get there in time, and I…"
"You feel you failed her."
"I know I did."
"That, I understand," Ketch mumbled.
"Uh, hello? What about your story you're not telling me?"
"Oh, I've had many failures… friends and colleagues who have died on my watch. Only difference is, I didn't… try to save them. 'Duty' and all that… rubbish."
"Well, you do suck." Dean sassed.
"What the hell? Perhaps rescuing this Charlie will wash some of the stain off my hands."
"Impossible and stupid, huh?" Dean smiled. "You say that like it's a bad thing. Come on."
~/~\~
Lebanon, Kansas
Gabriel inhaled his grace as Sam, Angela, and Castiel watched on hopefully.
"Is it helping?" Castiel asked.
"I… I don't know." Gabriel admitted.
Angela was about to say something when her phone started ringing. "Hello?"
"Angela," Asmodeus' voice rang through and Gabriel flinched at the sound of his voice. "I hope you're having a pleasant day. It's come to my attention that you have something that belongs to me, and I'd like it back."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Angela lied.
"Oh, I believe you do. And I'm-a give you one chance to return him to me. No harm, no foul."
"I'm hanging up," Angela replied firmly.
"Do not hang up on me!" Asmodeus snapped. "Gabriel is of no use to you in his current condition. Should you choose to resist me, I will have no choice but to take him by force. I will reduce you and that sad little bunker of yours to ashes. You got 10 minutes to decide. Now you can hang up, darlin'."
~/~\~
Apocalypse World
Dean and Ketch approached the P.O.W. camp and Dean noticed the silo.
"Silo. No, he wasn't kidding."
"Gratifying," Ketch mumbled. "Now what?"
Dean reached into his bag to prepare the weapons. Meanwhile, inside the P.O.W. camp, the angels prepared to execute Charlie. The prisoners were lined up against the fence and the Commander came out of the building.
"The Resistance will be broken," he addressed the prisoners. "It is being broken," he assured as two other angels tied Charlie to a post. "One by one, your leaders are being rooted out and destroyed. Soon, there'll be none of you left."
"No!" Charlie cried out. "No! No!"
"For high crimes, the prisoner, Charlie Bradbury, like all traitors before her, will be executed."
Charlie struggled against her binding as the executioner came outside holding a large blade. Meanwhile, Dean and Ketch frantically organized their weapons.
"All hail Michael." The Commander smiled darkly.
The executioner raised the blade just as Dean threw a grenade. The prisoners fled as it exploded while the angels looked around. Dean and Ketch began firing their weapons and the Commander easily teleported away.
"We gotta get you outta here," Dean untied Charlie.
Charlie's brows furrowed in confusion. "Who the hell are you?"
"No time! We gotta go now! C'mon!"
~/~\~
Lebanon, Kansas
Gabriel held his head in his hands, rocking back and forth while Castiel looked on in concern. Sam and Angela returned to the room.
"Gracie and Henry are in her room," Angela noted.
"All right, I did what I could to help the bunker's warding," Sam started. "But who knows if it's enough. How's he?"
"I don't know," Castiel answered.
Suddenly, the lights in the bunker cut out and the emergency generator and alarm kicked into action. Gabriel looked around frantically as the bunker became engulfed by red lights.
As Sam, Angela, and Castiel, angel blades in hand, walked down the corridors, they noticed that the warding was illuminated. They walked into the map room and a few demons ambushed them. Sam stabbed one of the demons, killing him, while another one tackled Angela. Meanwhile, Castiel fought another demon, eventually getting the upper hand.
Sam ran over and pulled the demon off of Angela and leaned down, stabbing him directly in the chest. Sam pulled Angela to her feet and looked her over.
"Are you okay, baby?" Sam asked concernedly.
"I'm good," she nodded. "Thanks."
Suddenly, she, Sam, and Castiel were thrown across the room. Asmodeus sauntered into the room confidently.
"Your warding wasn't designed for the likes of me, Samuel. I've come to claim what's mine."
Two other demons came out, dragging a terrified Gabriel with them.
"Oh, I missed you, boy," Asmodeus smirked at the archangel. "I'm-a have to punish you rather severely, I'm afraid." He added as the demons dragged Gabriel to the top of the balcony. "And as for you three.."
Asmodeus flicked his hands and Sam, Angela, and Castiel immediately started writing in pain.
"Aah!" Angela cried out in pain.
"Ugh! Aah!" Sam grunted.
On the balcony, Gabriel's eyes glowed blue and he was no longer cowering. He threw the demons down the stairs and Asmodeus looked up in surprise.
"Gabriel!" he shouted. "What are you doin', son? You know too well what I can do to you. I broke you!" he continued as Gabriel healed himself. "You're too weak!"
The light glowed around Gabriel and Asmodeus threw a ball of angel grace in his direction. Gabriel easily deflected it and stood tall.
"Not anymore. Oh, and by the way, I always hated that dumbass suit."
Gabriel gestured towards Asmodeus and set him on fire. Sam, Angela, and Castiel were released from his hold as Asmodeus died painfully.
~/~\~
Apocalypse World
Dean, Ketch, and Charlie were trudging through the snow and headed back to the rift.
"So, to recap, there's another world, a 'better' world, with no Michael, and it has another me?" Charlie questioned.
"Well, had." Dean corrected.
"And you were friends with her. Me? Her?"
"Yes. Very."
"How very?" Charlie asked skeptically.
"Well, she was into chicks."
"Oh." Charlie smiled. "I like her."
"Look, I know this is a lot of information," Dean replied. "Everything I'm telling you, okay, but… we're running out of time here. I need to know where the Nephilim is—Jack. And—and my mom and sister-in-law's dad are with him, right?"
"Mom? Dad?" Charlie's eyes widened.
"Yes. They're from our world, too."
"Uh… Last I heard, they were fighting somewhere in what remains of Dayton, Ohio." Charlie answered. "But, I don't… Wait. Mom? Dad?"
"Yeah."
"Any why would I believe any of this?"
"Because of that." Dean pointed to the glowing rift.
Charlie's mouth dropped in disbelief. "Wow."
~/~\~
Lebanon, Kansas
Sam, Castiel, Angela, and Gabriel were in the map room. Angela held Henry while Grace sat on Sam's lap.
"Whoa. Too much information," Gabriel started. "Okay, slow down. I'm not… processing."
"And there's more," Castiel sighed deeply. "Michael wants to come to this Earth and destroy it, and we may need your help to fight him."
"What?"
"Yeah." Sam breathed out a small laugh. "Welcome to the team."
"Uh… Yeah. Not so much." Gabriel replied. "I mean, thank you for the rescue and for the redemption arc. But, uh, I'm not really a team guy, so… I'm gonna bounce, okay? Um, but, you know, it's been, um… What's the opposite of fun? That."
Sam frowned deeply and his eyes filled with disappointment. "No, Gabriel, don't—you—you can't just walk away. If Michael comes here, he will end this world."
"And the last time the world was ending, I put my money on you. I think you can pull it off again."
"No," Castiel replied firmly. "You cannot turn your back on your father's creation."
"Castiel… my father turned his back on his creation." Gabriel reminded. "Guess it just runs in the family."
"No, Gabriel, please." Angela practically begged. "We need your help."
"Sorry, sweetcheeks." Gabriel shook his head before he disappeared.
~/~\~
Apocalypse World
"Okay. The thing's gonna be closed any minute. We gotta go."
"Dean, you need to go through," Ketch replied. "Bring back Sam, Angela, your angel, and Gabriel and the bloody Navy SEALs, whatever help you can get. But I should stay."
"Wait," Dean frowned. "What?"
"If we're going up against Michael, we need to be ready. We need to know what he's up to, where your mother, Robert, and Jack are."
"I'm staying, too," Charlie added.
"Are you kidding me?!" Dean snapped. "You got Michael and a billion angels on your ass."
"Dude, this is my home!" Charlie argued. "My friends are here and they're in trouble. If you really do have a way to take down Michael, get back here and do it. Until then, this is my fight."
"I don't wanna lose you again," Dean admitted.
"That's not your call." Charlie reminded.
"Dean, it's closing." Ketch nodded to the rift.
Dean looked at the rift and back at Charlie, handing her the gun with the angel-killing bullets. The Commander and several angels walked down the path.
"Go!" Ketch ordered.
Dean jumped through the rift while Charlie and Ketch began firing.
~/~\~
Lebanon, Kansas
Dean stumbled back through the rift and landed in the bunker.
"Dean!" Sam exclaimed. "Dean! Hey! Hey. Hey. You're hurt."
"No, no." Dean shook his head. "I'm fine. I'm fine."
The rift started to disappear and Sam frowned.
"Hey, the—the—the rift, it's…" he started as it closed. "Where's Mom and Robert? Where's Jack?"
"Long story—so Mom, Robert, and the kid, they're not with Michael anymore. Ketch and Charlie are staying back to try and find them. There's a Charlie over there. She kicks ass."
"Charlie Bradbury?" Angela asked in disbelief.
"Yeah." Dean nodded as he took in the mess in the bunker. "What's this? What—what… What'd I miss?"
"There was a demon incursion, led by Asmodeus," Castiel answered.
"Sorry, Asmodeus got in here?"
"Yeah, and—and—and Gabriel killed him," Sam replied.
"Gabriel? That's great. So, he's back. Where is he?"
Sam, Angela, and Castiel visibly deflated at the question.
"He just left," Castiel said after a beat of silence.
Dean frowned, confused. "What do you mean, he left?"
"Um… We asked Gabriel to help us, and then… then he said 'no.'"
"He doesn't get to say 'no!'" Dean snapped. "We still have his grace though, right? Sam? Angie?"
"Uh, we—we used his grace to—to heal him," Angela explained. "So, it—it's gone. It's all gone."
"So, if it's gone, then that means that we can't open that door again. If we can't open the door, I should've never come back!" Dead yelled and he threw his hand across the table, scattering things onto the floor. "Son of a bitch!" he roared and Henry started to cry at the noise. "Every time!"
"Shh, shh, it's okay, baby." Angela cooed at her son.
Dean put his hands on his head and turned away from his family. "Every time we get close, it always falls apart. Every freakin' time."
"Dean… we will find Gabriel. We will." Castiel assured.
Dean dropped his hands in defeat. "We better."