Piper wrung her hair out under the awning in front of the very nice hotel they'd found in the thunderstorm. Dean stood with her, looking around. "Whew. Nice digs, for once."

Piper smiled and nodded, tossing her still wet hair over her shoulder. "It's pretty fancy."

He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck. "We should see about getting separate rooms," he murmured, his low voice making her toes curl in her sneakers.

She laughed and pushed at his chest. "Dean, Sam will murder us if we do that " She picked up their bags and kissed him chastely. "Come on, handsome, let's see if they have coffee."

Instead, he put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her close to kiss her senseless. Despite her objections, Piper dropped her bag and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him back fiercely. When he nipped at her bottom lip, she opened for him eagerly. She sucked on his tongue lightly, smiling against his lips when he shuddered.

She was pulled out of her haze at the sound of the hotel's door opening and Sam's noise of displeasure. "Are you guys kidding me? Jesus, get the fuck in here."

Dean smiled and bent to pick up their bags, keeping one arm around her. "Sammy's in a bad mood," he whispered, his green eyes sparkling.

She smiled up at him, heat still curling through her lazily. "Probably because you're incorrigible."

He grinned at her and she led them inside, all warm and fuzzy in her heart. She smiled at Sam winningly, and he smiled back. There had been no heat in his words, even though Piper knew he was anxious about stopping tonight.

Dean was looking at the bustling lobby. "Busy night," he commented to the front desk clerk.

The clerk smiled. "Any port in a storm, I guess." He chuckled and slid a form across the counter. "If you could just fill this out, please."

Piper smiled politely. "Sure."

As she finished the form, the front desk clerk looked at Dean. "Sir, I think…" He pointed to his own neck. "Shaving nick there."

Dean put a hand to his neck, and when he looked at it, Piper saw the blood there. She frowned, her mind racing as the clerk gave her the keys to the room. Did he shave today?

Dean didn't seem perturbed, but ice touched the base of Piper's spine as her husband gave the clerk a friendly smile. "Oh. Thanks. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee shop, would you?"

The clerk waved his hand to one side. "Buffet. All you can eat. Best pie in the tri-state area."

Piper's worries to a backseat as Dean's face lit up. "You don't say?"

xxxxx

Piper couldn't shake her negative feeling when they sat down to eat. Sam, apparently, felt the same way.

"We should hit the road, Dean."

Piper sighed as Dean snorted. "In this storm? It's-"

"It's biblical." Sam interrupted. "Exactly. I-it's fuckin' Noah's ark out there, and we're eating pie."

Dean sighed and put his fork down. "How many hours of sleep did you get this week? What? Three? Four? Bobby's got his feelers out, so does Garth, so does Piper, okay? We have talked with every witch doctor and root woman in twelve states."

Sam sat back. "Yeah, well, I'm not giving up."

Piper frowned. "Nobody's giving up. Especially me. We're going to find a way to beat the devil. And we will find Cas, we will find Adam. But you two are no good if you're burnt out, and we could barely drive anyway, Sam."

Dean looked offended. "Excuse you, I'm an excellent driver."

Sam ignored his brother and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, okay."

Dean nodded. "Come on, we've actually got the night off for once. Let's try to enjoy it."

xxxxx

An extremely suspicious Piper walked out of her and Dean's room later, intending to look for Sam. To her surprise, he was already in the hallway, striding towards her. She frowned, noting that there was blood on his neck, when she felt something bite her on her own. Her hand flew up to it, and her eyes widened when she felt the blood there. "What the fuck?"

"Where is everybody?" Sam asked.

"Blood magic," Piper breathed in horror as realization dawned. "Someone's using blood magic on us."

Sam frowned. "What?"

"It's the only thing that makes sense. Dean didn't shave today, and why the hell would my neck be bleeding?"

Dean came to stand next to her, seeming to come out of nowhere. "Let's go find out what's going on here." She nodded and followed him down the stairs to the lobby.

xxxxx

When they got there, he was still grumbling. "One night off, is that too much to ask?"

Piper patted his arm sympathetically and moved toward the kitchen, the only room that was closed off to her view. She stepped in and started looking around, listening to Dean come in behind her.

As she looked through a cupboard, he stopped at the boiling pot on the stove. He picked up a ladle and made a face. "Please be tomato soup. Please be tomato soup."

She turned away, but turned back at his sound of disgust. He was dropping the ladle back into the pot with a look of disgust that told her it was not tomato soup. "Motel hell."

"Guys! I found where everyone went."

Piper followed the sound of Sam's grim voice to find him picking the lock of the walk-in freezer. People were banging on the door from the inside.

She ran over and tried to soothe them through the window. "It's going to be okay, we're going to get you out."

"Hurry up!" Dean snapped from behind her.

Sam turned to give him a bitchface. "I'm going as fast as… I… Can…"

Piper turned and her eyes widened. "Oh, dear," she said softly.

Dean winced. "There's someone behind me, isn't there?"

xxxxx

"The archangels," The goddess Kali started, "the only thing they understand is violence. This ends in blood. There is no other way. It's them, or us."

Piper was reeling. She'd never seen so much power in a room, and she'd been with archangels. She was as human as it came, and the little hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. Oh, dear, she thought again.

"With all due respect, ma'am," the "clerk" from the front desk said, "we haven't even tried talking to them."

Without warning, the man began to choke on his own blood. Piper put a hand over her mouth, and Dean wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her close.

"Kali!" Baldur shouted.

Kali was still glaring at the "clerk." "Who asked you?"

The doors behind them flung open and Piper whirled to see Gabriel standing there.

"Can't we all just get along?" he asked cheerfully.

Dean opened his mouth, presumably to say, "Gabriel," but his words were choked off in his throat. So instead, Piper turned to look at the archangel. "Loki," she said formally.

He winked at her. "Hey, precious." He looked at the Winchester brothers. "Sam! Dean! It's always wrong place, worse time with you muttonheads, huh?"

"Loki," Baldur bit out.

Gabriel grinned. "Baldur! Good seeing you, too! I guess my invitation got lost in the mail." The tension between the two men was thick.

"Why are you here?"

"To talk about the elephant in the room! Not you," Gabriel snapped when Ganesh stood, indignant. "The apocalypse. But first things first." He turned to Piper, Sam, and Dean. "The adults need to have a little conversation. Check you later."

Piper blinked, and they were in their room again. "Holy shit," she said softly.

"Tell me about it," Sam said vehemently. "And by the way, the next time I say let's keep driving, let's keep fucking driving."

"Done," Piper agreed. "What the fuck are we going to do?"

Dean shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "I… I don't know. Grab those poor saps outta the freezer? Gank a few freaks along the way, if we're lucky?"

Gabriel appeared behind Dean, and sent him and Sam flying across the room. "You stupid bastards," he hissed, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"Gabriel," Piper snapped.

He shook his head, still staring at the brothers. "You idiots, what the hell did you drag her here for? They're going to kill you out there, and you think, what, they're just gonna let her go?"

"Okay, well, first of all, they did not 'drag' me here," Piper said nastily, moving to help Sam and Dean to their feet. "And second of all, what the hell do you care?"

Gabriel groaned. "One of two women I've ever given a damn about, and she's bitching at me for coming to save her. What's happening to me?"

Piper rolled her eyes, but felt her heart warm toward the archangel. "Save it. Do you have a plan?"

"Do they have a chance?" Sam asked quickly. "Against Satan? Do those gods out there have a chance?"

"Really, Sam?" Dean asked incredulously.

"You got a better idea, Dean?"

"Bad idea," Gabriel said, "Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint. So let's get going while the going's good, huh?"

Dean nodded. "Great. Why don't you just zap us outta here, then?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Would if I could, but Kali's got you by the short and curlies. It's a blood spell. You kids are on a leash."

Piper frowned. "I knew it."

Gabriel winked at her. "I can take care of it, precious."

She frowned harder. "What does that mean?"

Gabriel grinned and pulled out a tube of breath spray. "It means it's time for a bit of the old black magic." He sprayed into his mouth while Piper rolled her eyes.

Dean just glared at the archangel. "Okay, yeah, well, whatever. We're gonna take the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer with us."

Gabriel shook his head again. "Forget it. It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks outta here."

Dean opened his mouth, but Piper interrupted him. "I'm not going anywhere without the other people, Gabriel. So go do whatever it is you need to do, we can get out of this ourselves."

Gabriel groaned again. "Precious, honey, dollface, you're killing me."

She glared. "Call me dollface again and I will be."

He sighed heavily. "Fine. Go get your kids out of the freezer."

xxxxx

They were tossed unceremoniously back into the ballroom after a failed rescue attempt, and Piper thought this time they might not make it out.

She tried to make her peace with that when her eyes landed on Gabriel glaring at Kali. "How long have you known?"

The goddess shrugged. "Long enough."

Dean helped Piper to her feet, then looked over at Gabriel. "How's the rescue going?"

Kali smirked. "Surprise, surprise. The Trickster has tricked us."

Gabriel winced. "Kali, don't."

"You're mine now," she said evenly, "and you have something I want." She reached into his jacket and pulled out the angel blade. "An archangel's blade, from the archangel, Gabriel."

There was discontented muttering, and Piper winced. Gabriel shrugged. "Okay, okay, so I got wings, like Kotex. But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer."

Kali glared. "He's lying. He's a spy."

Piper snorted, and the goddess whirled. "Something to say, you little bitch?"

Dean stiffened beside her, but Piper just shrugged. "If he's a spy, he's a terrible one. I mean, if he was a spy, he would have already called the other archangels down here."

Kali looked at Gabriel, who nodded eagerly. "I'm a runaway, Kali. I'm trying to save you. I know my brother. He should scare the living shit out of you. You can't beat him, I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends-"

"Your story," the goddess spat. "Not ours. Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on earth? You pillage and you butcher in your God's name. But you're not the only religion, and he's not the only God. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong. There are billions of us. And we were here first. If anyone gets to end this world, it's me." Something like regret briefly flashed in her face. "I'm sorry."

Kali stepped forward and stabbed Gabriel in the chest. Piper screamed and turned away as a huge flash of white light lit the room for a moment.

Oh, no, oh, God… Piper wished that she was just upset because their best chance of escape had just died, but that wasn't it. She had… Liked the archangel, his unwillingness to help stop the apocalypse notwithstanding. And now he was another among her friends that was dead.

"This is crazy," the "clerk" from the front desk breathed.

Kali was smiling, but Piper thought it looked disingenuous. "They can die. We can kill Lucifer."

"All right, you primitive screwheads!" Dean shouted suddenly, walking forward. "Listen up!"

"Are you out of your mind?" Piper hissed, walking forward with him.

"Outta options, kitten," he said shortly, not looking at her. "Now, on any other given day, I'd be doing my damnedest to, uh, kill you. You filthy murdering chimps. But, uh, hey, desperate times. So even though I'd love nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks, I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna help you ice the devil. And then we can all get back to ganking each other like normal. You want Lucifer, well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages. But me, Sam, and Piper, we can get him here."

"How?" Kali's eyes had narrowed suspiciously.

Piper stepped forward to stand next to Dean and took his hand. "First, you let the people in the freezer go. Then we'll talk."

Dean nodded. "We can either take on the devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally."

xxxxx

"I heard you in there," Gabriel said earnestly from the backseat of Baby, where he'd surprised Dean. "Kali likes you. You can get close. Lift the plasma, then we vamoose."

Dean shook his head incredulously. "No. Hand over the real angel blade. Better yet, sack up and help us take down Lucifer."

"You can't be serious?"

"Deadly."

Gabriel snorted. "Since when are you butt buddies with a bunch of monsters? That's all they are to you, aren't they?"

Dean shook his head. "It's a bad idea, but it's the only one we've got."

Gabriel shook his head and grabbed Dean's shoulder. "Dean, you gotta get Piper out of here."

Dean frowned. "Why do you care?"

The angel groaned. "Because, I don't know why. But the only two beings I care about are in there, and you have the power to get one of them out. Get her out of here, Dean."

xxxxx

"So you're going to summon Lucifer." Kali said skeptically.

Sam nodded. "Sort of. I just need you to squeegee some stuff from my ribs and he'll come running."

"Breaking them would be easier," Kali purred.

Piper stepped forward to snap at her, but was interrupted by Dean coming back in. He came over to stand next to them.

"Show's over. Sword's a fake, and Gabriel, he's still kicking. I hate to break it to you, sister, but you've been tricked."

Before anyone could respond, the lights started to flicker. Piper looked up frowning. "What the fuck?"

Baldur frowned, too. "What's happening?"

There were screams from outside the ballroom, and a wet explosion.

Sam paled. "It's him."

Kali approached them. "How?"

"Does it matter?" Dean snapped. "Shazam us outta here, would you?"

Baldur came to stand with them, too. "We can't."

Piper's stomach rolled when Lucifer walked in either a friendly smile on his face. "Of course you can't. You didn't say 'mother, may I?'" He nodded. "Sam, Dean, Piper, good to see you again."

He looked terrible. There were big patches of raw skin on his face, and he was pale and drawn. If she didn't know better, Piper would have thought the devil wasn't feeling well.

Baldur snarled and stalked forward. Kali blanched. "Baldur, don't!"

"You think you own the planet?" The god asked in a low, vicious voice. "What gives you the right?"

Baldur confronted Lucifer, but before he could get close enough to hurt him, Lucifer stabbed Baldur through the chest, ripping his heart out with his hand. Baldur fell to ground, dead.

"No one gives us the right," Lucifer said dispassionately, "we take it."

Kali growled and flames started to dance up her arms. Piper turned in unison with the brothers, and they dove behind one of the tables as flames erupted through the room. Piper peeked over the table to see Lucifer punch Kali in the face, knocking her to the ground.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Piper turned to see Gabriel. Despite everything, she smiled. "Joining the fight?"

He smirked. "Better late than never, huh?" He leaned around her to put a DVD in Dean's hands. "Guard this, with your life."

Gabriel stood, angel blade in hand. He strode over to where Kali lay on the ground. "Luci," he said jauntily, "I'm ho-ome."

Lucifer frowned and started forward, but stopped when Gabriel raised the blade. "Not this time." He held a hand to Kali, who accepted it and stood. "Guys!" Gabriel shouted, not taking his eyes off of Lucifer. "Get the girls outta here."

Dean took Piper's elbow and led her away, with Sam doing the same for Kali.

Lucifer's words were ringing through the hallway as they ran away. "Over a girl. Gabriel, really? I mean I knew you were slumming, but I hope you didn't catch anything."

They ran to the Impala, Dean pulling his keys out as they did.

Kali was upset when they ushered her into the car. "Lucifer is going to kill him. Why would he do this?"

Piper put a hand on the goddess's arm as they pulled away. "Because he loves you."

Kali looked at her, surprised. "Why would you think that?"

Piper smiled sadly. "He looks at you the way Dean looks at me."

xxxxx

They dropped Kali off a few miles away. Piper was frowning. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Kali looked at her coldly. "I am a goddess. Of course I will prosper."

Chastened, Piper nodded. "Okay, then." She let the silence reign for a few moments, then, "I'm sorry for your loss."

Kali glared at her. "You're a hunter, you're sorry for nothing."

Piper shrugged and leaned into Dean when he came to stand next to her. "I'm a hunter, but I'm in love. I'm sorry you lost that."

Kali stared at her for a moment, an unidentifiable emotion flickering in her haughty gaze, then disappeared.

xxxxx

Piper was glaring at the laptop screen on top of the Impala. "Did an archangel give us porn to watch? Because I will find a way to slap him."

"Sam, Dean, precious!" Gabriel said happily, pulling the fake mustache off of his lip. "You're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Well, if you're watching this, I'm dead." He held his hands up mockingly. "Oh, please! Stop sobbing, it's embarrassing for all of us. Without me, you've got zero shot at killing Lucifer, sorry!" The smile slipped off of Gabriel's face. "But you can trap him. The cage you sprung Lucifer from? It's still down there. And maybe, just maybe, you can shove his ass back in. Not that it'll be easy. You gotta get the cage open, trick my bro back into it. And uh, oh yeah, avoid Michael and the God squad. But hey, details, right? And here's the big secret, Lucifer himself doesn't even know, the key to the cage? It's out there. Actually it's keys, plural. Four keys, well, four rings. From the Horsemen. You get 'em all, you got the cage. Can't say I'm betting on you boys. But, uh, hey! I've been wrong before."

There was a sudden, somber air around the archangel, and it pinged at Piper's heart. "Precious, if you're there, I'm sorry. I hope I helped, and if I died, I hope it makes up for some of the shit I pulled. And Dean, you were right. I was afraid to stand up to my brother, not any more. So this is me, standing up."

Suddenly, Gabriel whirled and grabbed the woman in the video, tossing her onto the bed. "And this is me, laying down."

Sam winced and shut the laptop. "Ugh."

Piper stared at the laptop, emotions swirling through her.

"How the fuck are we gonna get Lucifer in the cage?"

xxxxx

Hi everyone! Here's my notes:
I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or the characters. (heartbroken)
Reviews, comments, and kudos give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.
If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.
**Happy holidays, beautiful readers! I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a good time, and everyone who doesn't ALSO had a good time. I actually celebrate Yule, and in case you aren't familiar, that means I stayed up all damn night and am now exhausted. On top of that, we're fostering five-week-old puppies (named Winch and Chester, wink wink), so the next chapter may take an extra day or two.
**Thank you, as always, for sticking with Dean and Piper. I worry sometimes that this fic isn't as exciting or interesting as some others, so for those of you that are still here, I am grateful from the bottom of my heart. I love you guys.