Unfound
Chapter Forty-Two
"Jack!" Harry said. He sat up. "It's alright, it's just Jack," he said quickly to his friends. None of them seemed comforted from the proclamation and still stood, ready to defend him.
Jack came into the room.
"Harry," he said, starting to walk towards him when he saw that he was being held at wand point by Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Ernie. He put his hands up. "I'm not going to hurt him. I need to get him back to Hogwarts."
"It's alright," Harry repeated.
Slowly, they lowered their wands.
"But you set off the wards," Ernie said, the slowest to do so. He didn't know if he could trust this kid who was powerful enough to set off the wards at the hospital.
Jack frowned. "There was a barrier that was in the way," he said. "But I just pushed past it. Castiel sent me."
"Castiel?" Harry said, surprised. Also, he winced a little at the expression on Ernie's face. The wards at Saint Mungo's were particularly strong – because they needed to protect the sick. Having to fix them would be a big pain.
"Yes. He spoke with Sam and Dean and they want you back to Hogwarts. It's why I'm here. Can we go now?"
"Yes," Harry said, getting to his feet.
"Wait!" Hermione said. "Don't get up – you just…"
"I'm fine," Harry brushed her off. "And don't worry, Ern, I'll fix the wards on the way out. Let's go, Jack. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, meet me back at Hogwarts?"
He wasn't going to question the necessity of him going if both Castiel and his brothers thought he was unsafe. He also didn't wait for a response from his friends. He strode towards Jack. "I can fly on my own."
Jack just nodded and disappeared.
III
Dean had a flashlight and was shining it at the circuit control panel that was, of course, locked. He slammed his fist against it in frustration. "All right," he said turning to Sam. "The garage?"
"I was thinking maybe the air vents," Sam said.
"Do you think we'll fit through them?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged. "It's worth a try. You go the garage and I'll see what I can find."
They split up.
Half an hour later, they both met back up in the kitchen, frustrated.
"I think the walls are reinforced steel," Dean told Sam. "And I just bounced off the doors. Got a bruise."
"I can see that," Sam said, noting the large bruise on Dean's face, where he was currently holding a beer to ice it. "Found choke points in the duct systems. Don't think either of us can fit through them."
Dean sighed in defeat. "Didn't think it'd be so easy, anyway. All right – you're the brains of this operation. What next?"
Sam thought. "My magic didn't work. I tried that first. I have…wait a second," a lightbulb had gone off.
"What?"
"My wizarding magic isn't working. But we're in a giant vault loaded down with – with occult books and lore. There's gotta be something somewhere in here – an item or spell…some hoodoo that can reverse the lockdown."
"Great. To the books," Dean said, moving the beer from his face to his mouth.
"To the books," Sam agreed.
III
Harry flew just outside of Saint Mungo's.
He could see again. The grace that it must have taken Jack to break through the wards and fly here from Hogwarts made him stronger. Whatever Jack had done had completely collapsed the protections. Everything except the ones that kept Muggles away. Which helped prevent at least one disaster.
This was going to take him a second.
He started the work to rebuild them when he noticed movement behind him.
It made his heart beat fast. So, he worked faster with quick movements with his wandblade.
Harry could feel eyes on his back. A lot of eyes.
He stopped for a second and slowly turned.
Behind him, there were two dozen people. No. Not people. Demons.
They grinned nastily at him, all standing in a line.
He raised his wandblade.
"Now, now, Harry, I thought we'd become better friends than that."
His heart stopped.
Emerging from behind the row of demons was someone he never thought he'd see again.
He straightened up and did his very best to not appear frightened. This demon had tortured him. Had kept him helpless. Had nearly killed him. But he hadn't succeeded, in the end, and he sure as hell wasn't going to get the drop on him this time.
Harry prepared himself to fight.
Asmodeus chuckled. "I come in peace," he said in his southern drawl. "I'm not interested in a hospital full of diseased witches and wizards. They won't be able to give me what I need. You, however, can."
"I'm not giving you anything," Harry hissed.
Asmodeus laughed again. It made Harry's stomach sink.
"Maybe not yet. But you will. You see – at this very moment I hold somethin' that is very dear to you."
Harry narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, you won't ask? Not to worry my boy. I'll tell you – the Messers Winchester are currently slowly suffocating. That Bunker of yours – which, you hid well, I will admit, but I was able to find it."
Harry was ready to immediately fly to the Bunker.
"I wouldn't, if I were you," Asmodeus said as if he could read Harry's mind. "See – I've learned a couple of tricks. You go near that Bunker – and that includes using those wings of yours to fly in, well, let's just say no one, includin' those brothers of yours would be comin' out."
"Why would I believe you?" Harry spat. "Demons lie."
"Sure, we do. But when have you known me to lie to you, young Harry? Of course, you're welcome to test it out. The blasts probably won't kill you after all. You're made of sterner stuff than that. You've already proven that to me. But I can't say the same of your poor, mortal, brothers."
Harry tried to think fast. "If they die you don't have any bargaining chips left."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Asmodeus said with a sick grin. "You're forgettin' where I just escaped from. I also have someone there who you might be willin' to bargain for."
Mom, Harry thought. A spark of hope lit up in his heart. Maybe she was alive. But that just meant that he had even more to lose.
He was beginning to panic now. "What do you want?"
"I want you, of course." Harry was about to respond, but Asmodeus interrupted him. "Oh no, not right at this moment. You can have some time. By my calculations, Sam 'n Dean will have about two days of air left. I have my terms. I'll take nothin' but your complete and total surrender."
"And what does that mean?"
"It means that not only are you going to turn yourself over, but you'll also do it with a vial of your delicious grace, already extracted. As a sign of good faith, of course. And you'd best be doing so before time runs out."
Harry clenched his fists. "I'll just kill you now," he growled.
"Ah, ah," the demon said, as he sidestepped the incoming attack. "If you do that, you won't be able to protect those poor, sick, people in the hospital."
That made Harry swiftly turn. Sure enough, about half of the demons who had been standing with Asmodeus before were now on their way to the hospital. One was even approaching the doors.
Harry yelled in frustration before making the split-second decision to go after the demons who were about to attack the hospital. He could always get Asmodeus later.
He flew right in front of them. He smote the first two and stabbed three of them in quick succession.
Then he heard the screams.
They were coming from inside the hospital.
He flew in. The last two demons (he must have miscounted) were on the attack. One was holding back about three witches and wizards while the second had a young witch, probably in her 20s, no older than Teddy, by her throat and he was squeezing tightly.
Rage burned in Harry.
He had just promised that he would protect these people. His eyes flashed a dangerous green. He stormed over to the demon with his hand around the witch's neck, and palm out on his forehead, smote him out of existence.
The second one looked like he was about to make a run for it. He briefly considered taking this one hostage, to find out what Asmodeus had planned and where he was holed up so that he could get to Sam and Dean. But then the demon used his magic to slice a large cut into one of the people he had been holding back. The man, who looked to be the young woman's father, slumped down on the floor, blood pooling beneath him.
You bastard, Harry thought. The demon stood no chance. Harry closed the gap between the two of them and stabbed the demon with his wandblade. Light flashed under its skin as it died.
He heard sobbing and he turned to the family behind him.
They were all gathered around the fallen man, trying to cast healing spells, but none of them were taking. Harry strode towards them.
"Please," a woman pleaded with him. "Please don't hurt him."
Harry stopped mid-step. These people were scared of him. He took a deep breath.
"Here, let me help," he said gently. He went over to the family. The young woman from earlier was cradling the man's head in her arms. He reached out with his hand…
"NO!" one of the other children yelled.
"It's ok," Harry said. "I'm not going to hurt him. I'm just going to…" he didn't even need to touch the man. He just moved his hand over the wound and closed it with his grace. The man gasped – alive.
"I'm sorry," Harry said.
He flew out of the hospital, ready to go for Asmodeus. But, of course, the demon was long gone.
Harry thought about flying to Kansas, to seek out the Bunker himself, but he realized that he was weakened and wouldn't know where to start figuring out how to get to his brothers. With a sigh – he flew back to Hogwarts. Between his friends, Castiel, and Jack, they'd figure it out. He just hoped it would be in time.
III
"I think I've got something," Sam said. He held up the book he was reading and read from it to Dean, "When the Romani people were forced to assimilate in Europe, the, uh, the Romani used a spell, the Abrogation ritual, as an act of rebellion against their persecutors. The Devla turns back complex mechanical processes, resets equipment, machinery."
"What's it take?" Dean asked, interested.
"Seems like pretty basic ingredients," Sam said, scanning the list. "Oh," he said.
Dean raised an eyebrow.
"The mechanisms "must be anointed with the blood of virgins.""
"Well, that takes you and me out," Dean said. "Too bad Jack isn't here. Alright, well, then, I guess we keep lookin'," he glumly turned back to the book he had been reading.
"Or we fake it," Sam suggested.
"What's that now?"
"We fake it," Sam repeated. "I mean, I've read half a dozen purification rituals in the last hour. If we used one of those on – on our blood…"
"Then what? Revirginize it?"
"Maybe." He looked at the book again. "We purify the blood, then do the spell. It's a two-step, hybrid magic."
"And you think that's gonna work?"
"We've got to try something. It's already been twelve hours. If someone was going to come to our rescue by now, they would have already."
Dean hadn't allowed himself to go down that road. "You think that – "
"I don't think anything," Sam interrupted. "Harry was in the hospital. Maybe he's not woken up yet. And who knows if Jack has the juice to spring us. If they even know it's a problem."
"Fine, let's try it then."
"You're going to have to do the actual magic again," Sam said. "I don't know, even with whatever they put around the Bunker, that having a wizard would work."
"Fine, fine. You brew the thing – I'll practice the incantation," he sounded confident, but Sam could tell that he was a little shaken. But he couldn't concentrate on whatever hang-up Dean was having. They needed to get of there. Harry's life may depend on it.
After he had assembled everything, he turned to Dean.
"You need to cut your hand and recite these words," he said. "Then step one will be complete."
"Are you sure that we should use my blood? You've got to be more of a virgin than I am. Easier to purify." Sam shot him a bitchface. "Alright, alright, I know," Dean said. He took the knife that Sam handed to him and recited the words as his blood dripped into the bowl. A light white came out of the blood. Dean looked pleased with himself. "That's what's supposed to happen, right?"
"Yeah," Sam said. "That was step one. Now, step two. You've got to carry this one." All of this annoyed Sam. He never thought that being a wizard would be so inconvenient.
"Fármichi, fármichi, mashuna parra, mashuna parra," Dean chanted.
There was a rumbling sound and the table started to shake. The lights flickered on and off and the electricity crackled.
"It's working!" Sam said.
"Don't sound so surprised," Dean grumbled.
"It's working!" Sam said again, just excited. The lights began to come back on as the two of them looked around the room with wonderment.
It was short-lived. The Bunker powered down again.
Dean looked to Sam for an explanation. "Did we do it wrong?"
Sam frowned. "No, I don't think so. Maybe it's not just wizarding magic that's been blocked. Maybe it's earth magic as well."
Dean sighed.
III
Harry flew into the Great Hall.
Jack and Castiel were there, waiting for him.
"What took you so long?" Jack demanded.
"I ran into an old friend," Harry said.
Castiel, who had been standing by Jack, looked at him with concern. "Asmodeus?"
"How'd you know?" Harry asked, lingering anxiety from the earlier attack still keeping him on edge.
"I spoke with Dean and Sam earlier. They told me that he had returned. It's why we sent Jack to you. Nothing so nefarious," Castiel said. Harry wasn't sure, but he almost detected – sadness, in the angel's tone.
"Right, right, sorry Castiel," Harry said.
"What did Asmodeus say?" Castiel asked with dread.
"He said that he's trapped Sam and Dean in the Bunker. And they're going to run out of air in the next two days unless…"
"Unless what?" Jack asked.
"It doesn't matter."
"Why not just fly straight there?" Castiel asked amazed that Harry hadn't already done that. Even if it were a suicide mission, that's what he had come to expect from the middle Winchester.
"He said – he said that if I entered the proximity some sort of explosion would occur that would kill Sam and Dean," Harry explained.
"And you believed him?"
"I didn't want to risk it. I'm weakened – surely you can sense that. I thought that I would come back here, regroup with you, Jack, and my friends when they figure out where I am, and we could work together to get them out."
Castiel blinked back in shock. He never would have thought that Harry would turn to his friends before just acting in doing what he thought was right.
"Don't look so surprised," Harry muttered.
"I'm impressed," Castiel said. "What does he want in exchange for their safety?"
"He wants me to surrender to him. Not only my whole self but with a vial of grace already prepared for him." He felt sick just at the thought. Harry had endured a lot in his life and he willingly go back to that… He would only do that for the lives of his brothers. And only as the very last resort. It made him feel cowardly that he would even hesitate but he wasn't sure he could survive – mind intact, that sort of torture again.
Castiel sucked in a breath, "You can't do that Harry."
"Not yet, at least," Harry said.
"No, never. It's not what Dean and Sam would want."
"We don't know what they bloody want do we? I'm assuming that they want to live," Harry bit back.
"And they will," Castiel said. "Don't underestimate them. I've made that mistake too many times. We can work on getting to them and I'm sure that they are also working on a way to get out."
"What if they can't?"
"Can't we just kill Asmodeus?" Jack asked.
Both Harry and Castiel turned to Jack, shocked to hear those words come out of his mouth. He had never shown any tendencies towards violence before.
"He's evil, right?" Jack asked, unsure why Harry and Castiel seemed surprised. This is what they did right. "He hurt you," he said to Harry.
"He did," Harry agreed. "The problem is that we have to find him first. And Sam and Dean might not have enough time…"
"Oh, that's not a problem," Jack said. "I – "
The doors to the Great Hall were flung open. Hermione came running in, out of breath.
"Harry!" She said in relief. Hot on her heels were Ron, Ginny, and Ernie.
"That took you long enough," Harry said.
"We don't all have wings that we can use to fly wherever we bloody want," Ron said.
"Harry, you left the hospital without being discharged," Ernie said, sounding offended. "How can I be your official Healer if you don't let me heal you."
Harry snorted. "Are you my official Healer?"
"Of course," Ernie bristled. "Who else would be?"
"I healed him once," Jack said. "Harry, can I be your official Healer?"
"Sure, Jack," Harry said fondly. The boy looked thrilled. "You hear that, Ernie? Jack's my official Healer and he's the one who pulled me out of there."
"That is unwise," Castiel frowned. Jack looked offended. "You can't have an infant be your Healer, Harry. That's ridiculous."
Harry burst into laughter.
Castiel narrowed his eyes, unsure as to why what he said was funny. He suspected that Harry was making fun of him, as he and his brothers often did.
"Harry, what happened outside the hospital?" Hermione asked. "And I can't stay long because whatever you've done has caused quite the commotion."
"Something about you killing over half a dozen demons, bringing a man back to life, and saving the entire hospital if the whispers are to be believed," Ernie said.
"I didn't bring him back to life," Harry frowned. "He wasn't dead."
"That means the rest of that was true?" Ginny asked, knowing Harry well enough to know that he would have denied more if he could. "You're leaning into this hero thing a little literally, aren't you?"
"Does that mean your powers are back?" Ron asked.
"Mostly," Harry admitted.
"Since when?" Hermione asked. "And how?"
Harry wasn't sure how to answer those questions. His powers had been slowly sorting themselves out as Jack became more comfortable with his own. But only he and Castiel knew that.
"Doesn't matter," he muttered.
No one bought that for one second. Hermione was about to start grilling him, but he didn't let her.
"What matters right now is that Sam and Dean are in danger. Yeah, I killed some demons, but not the big one. Asmodeus. He currently has them trapped in the Bunker. They only have a couple of days before they run out of air."
"And I was just suggesting," Jack said, annoyed that it had taken them this long to get back to him. "That we kill Asmodeus and rescue Sam and Dean."
"Jack, we don't know where Asmodeus is," Castiel said gently.
"I do," he said.
Everyone's eyes snapped to the Nephilim.
"I can find him by just thinking about him," he explained.
"How?" Harry asked. He couldn't do that. He had no idea where Asmodeus was.
Jack shrugged. "I don't know, I just do. He's been talking to me, maybe that's why."
"What has he been saying?" Harry asked horror in his voice.
"He's been trying to convince me to come and join him. Said that he was working on getting my father back and that I have a great destiny." Jack saw the concerned faces of everyone around him. "I don't talk back to him," he said. "You don't need to worry. But I know where he is. So, we can go kill him and save Sam and Dean."
Castiel and Harry shared a worried look.
"How about we make a plan first?" Hermione asked, suddenly exhausted from everything.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," Harry agreed. "But we don't have long."
"But long enough for me to check you out and make sure you're alright," Ernie said.
"Fine," Harry said, agreeing to that. More than anything he wanted to get Castiel alone to talk about this development. "How about we start with the easy question? Jack – where is Asmodeus?"
III
Dean came back into the library, which he had stormed out of earlier that day. Neither of them had slept much – knowing that they were up against the clock. He unfurled some blueprints on the table. Sam looked at him with a question in his expression.
"Ok, we have exhausted brains, so I say we try brawn," he said.
"How?" Sam asked, perking up. It was better than the whole lot of nada he was coming up with.
"Walls," Dean said. "Now the garage, the Crow's Nest, these are all reinforced steel walls, right?" He pointed at those areas on the blueprints. "But right here, that's nothing but concrete. And right there, that's an old sewer pipe, goes straight up to the surface…"
"Which gets us out. And with the key, we should be able to override the shutdown." Sam completed the thought. Then he tilted his head in thought. "So, wait a second. We're just gonna…"
"Straight Shawshank this bitch," Dean said with pride.
The two of them got the gear they needed together and faced the concrete wall. Sam stood a couple feet away from Dean and his pickaxe. With a little too much glee, Dean swung the axe. Debris came flying off the wall and covered both brothers in dust.
"Goggles?" Sam suggested.
Dean grunted, trying to rub the dust out of his eyes. "Yeah."
They grabbed a pair of goggles each and Sam got his own pickaxe.
In sync, they took alternating strikes to the wall. Concrete was flying everywhere and they had barely made more than a dent in the wall. They were both covered in sweat and exhausted.
"Yeah," Dean said, stopping and leaning against the wall.
Sam groaned. "Oh yeah." They both sat down, backs to the wall.
"We earned a break," Dean said, out of breath.
"Yeah," Sam agreed.
"We'll get there," Dean said, not wanting to lose faith.
"No," Sam said quietly. "No, we won't." Sam twisted around to look at the wall that they had been hammering at. "We're not going hit dirt for three days. Two, if we're lucky. I know you feel it – the air, it's thin," he inhaled, "And it's getting thinner. How did this happen?"
"What part?" Dean asked, knowing that Sam was right and no amount of optimism was going to fix this problem. But he had to keep it together for Sam.
"All of it."
"Yeah," he said, dejected. "You know, it wasn't long ago, I thought we had it made. We saved the world. We got Harry back. We had Mom back. We got Cas back. I mean, it wasn't perfect, but still, we had 'em. And now…"
"Now we've lost them all," Sam completed for his brother. Because they both knew that Harry not being here was because he either couldn't be or because he didn't know. And they had no way of reaching him. "Is this how you pictured it?" Sam asked. "The end?"
"Oh, you know it's not," Dean said. "I always thought we'd go out like…Butch and Sundance style."
Sam chuckled. "Yeah. Blaze of glory."
That gave him an idea. "Blaze of glory," he smirked. "Son of a bitch." He closed his eyes, leaned against the wall, and smiled.
Sam knew he should probably be worried. Instead, he just gave Dean a questioning look.
Dean stood up. "Follow me."
III
"My blood?" Sirius asked.
It had been a mad couple of days with Crowley. The demon had explained the whole process. How he had, reluctantly, killed one of his Hellhounds. And how he had released some kid that he had tortured in life from Hell. And how he was going to cure himself of being a demon. They had run around, making preparations, and now, they were finally at the final step.
"Yes," Crowley said, holding back an insult because he needed a wizard for this.
"Why me?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"You're a readily available human," Crowley responded.
"No, I'm not," Sirius said. "Or, I wasn't. You brought me into this whole mess – this closing the Gates of Hell business because you want something about me – specifically."
"Ah. You are a bit cleverer than I gave you credit for," Crowley said. "It's not so much you as it is your kind."
"A wizard? There are plenty of those around too. We may be under attack by demons now, but I bet you could have convinced one of them in less time it took to bring me around."
"Your kind," Crowley said. "I'm not talking about wizards. This ritual requires purified blood – and we'll do all of that, but I think you already have a leg up on that."
"You wanted me because I'm a pureblood," Sirius said, mind swimming. "Really? What a load of bunk. The only people who think that my blood status makes me special or different are a bunch of inbred bigots who are terrified of change."
"That may be," Crowley said evenly. "But it's in the name. And names have power. Look. I'm not the self-sacrificing sort. But if this ritual has to kill me, it's got to kill me. But I want to have a fighting chance. And you'll give me that."
"Fine. But what's in it for me? These trials are meant to kill you, right? Why isn't a world without demons and you a win-win situation for me and Harry's safety. Don't think that he hasn't told me about you."
Crowley sat up a little straighter. "I've never done anything to hurt Harry," he said. "If he told you otherwise, he was lying."
Sirius snorted. "You think I'd believe you over him? But no, I suppose he didn't mention you doing anything specific. But you have hurt his brothers. And that is something he takes umbrage to."
"But do you?" Crowley challenged. "There's no love lost between you and the Winchesters, is there?"
Crowley had a point. Sirius didn't like Harry's brothers. Nor did he trust them. They were sanctimonious busy-bodies that spent far too much of their time taking advantage of Harry's power and money and not enough trying to be a family. Not that they could be. Sirius was Harry's family. Even if the younger one was a wizard, they would never understand him the way that Sirius and Harry's friends in England did.
"I think, also," Crowley continued, worried that his point wasn't convincing enough, "you enjoy a little adventure. What harm is there in me being alive? I'll leave you and yours alone. I won't be a demon anymore so what I could do to you anyway?"
Sirius wasn't fool enough to believe that this demon who had risen to be King of Hell would ever truly be powerless.
Crowley decided to push his luck by trying one more thing. "And what do you think Harry would think of you successfully pulling this off? It might be enough to get him out of the clutches of Moose and Squirrel and back to Merry Old England. After all, if demons aren't a threat anymore, they won't be in as much danger anymore. His savior complex won't require him to be at their sides anymore."
The demon watched as those words sunk in. He kept his smile to himself, but he knew that he had him.
"Alright," Sirius agreed. "And as you said, you may not live, anyway."
"Exactly," Crowley said. "Now. Have you ever had your blood drawn? Because that's step one."
III
It was just Castiel, Jack, and Harry in the room. Ron had left to go call Charlie and Luna. Ernie didn't need to be involved in all of this and had left shortly after confirming that Harry was alright. Hermione had to run to the Ministry to give some explanations, but she was due back at any moment. Ginny had gone to put members of the DA on standby, in case they were needed.
The time that they had passed talking, discussing, and planning was beginning to make Harry feel restless. He was worried about the amount of air left for Sam and Dean to breathe.
"Are you sure that the killing curse will be strong enough to kill him?" Harry worried, asked Castiel. "I've never tried it on Prince of Hell."
"It will be," Castiel reassured him. Of course, Castiel wasn't sure about that at all. But it didn't matter, he had something better that he would slip to Harry before they departed on this mission.
Harry ran his hand through his hair in a way that was reminiscent of Dean and he let out a long breath. "Alright," he said, setting his jaw, which, Castiel noted, was very much like Sam.
"We should be heading out soon," Jack said. "I don't know how much longer he's going to stay in the same place."
"You're right, of course, Jack," Castiel said. "Why don't you go and find Ron?"
Jack nodded and left.
"I found something," Castiel said quickly to Harry, knowing that they didn't have a lot of time.
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"It's a spell book – I think possibly the first one ever. They are from before the fallen angels were made mortal."
"Ok," Harry said, not sure what this had to do with him or their current situation.
"It includes spells for killing demons," Castiel said.
"I already know a spell that kills demons," Harry said. "I believe it was designed to kill demons. Wizards have just been using it against the wrong enemies."
"That won't be enough for a Prince of Hell."
"But you just said…"
"In front of Jack. I don't think he's ready for this level of magic yet. He's getting better – learning to focus on wizarding-level spells has refined his ability to control his own magic. But it will take years for him to be mature enough for this."
"And you think that this new spell will kill a Prince of Hell."
"It's not new, Harry, it's very, very old," Castiel corrected.
The situation was too serious for Harry to roll his eyes. "Alright, what is it?"
"I've written it out for you here – phonetically. I know that your pronunciation of Ancient Egyptian is terrible. Intent will not be enough for this one. And it might still be more magical power than you have. But I think it's a risk we've got to take."
Harry scowled. He had tried to explain to Castiel a million times that humans couldn't just pick up languages like angels could and he had never heard anything like Ancient Egyptian. Castiel had responded by saying that he was an angel, so he should no longer be constrained by human limitations and the discussion always ended there because neither of them would move from their positions on the topic.
"Thanks," is all he muttered, instead.
"You're welcome," Castiel said, not understanding the sarcasm.
Ron and Jack returned to the room. "Charlie and Luna went to check the Bunker out. On top of confirming that the warding Asmodeus described is real that there are about three dozen demons around the perimeter."
"So even if Sam and Dean manage to get themselves out the wards will be set off?" Harry asked, spotting the problem immediately.
Ron nodded grimly. "They think so, yes."
"Fuck," Harry cursed. He knew they had to do everything to get Sam and Dean out, but he also knew, without a doubt, that his brothers weren't just sitting in the Bunker twiddling their thumbs and waiting to die. Even if they didn't know about the air supply, they would sense the inherent danger.
"Charlie's working on taking it down," Ron said. "But they could use some backup. So, I'm going to take Bill and the four of us are going to work on it, to try and get it done as quickly as possible. But that means that I can't go with you," he said sadly to Harry.
"I didn't want you to go with me!" Harry said, horrified at the very idea of bringing one of his capable-of-dying friends on this suicide mission. He knew better than anyone what Asmodeus was capable of. "In fact, I wonder if we should gather anyone who might be vulnerable to him here at Hogwarts. That way he won't be able to kidnap anyone else."
"There's no time," Castiel said.
Harry knew he was right. But that didn't mean that he liked it.
"Hermione wanted me to give you a message too," Ron said. "She said that you need to remember that the whole world knows your back now."
Harry groaned. That added a level of complication that he had honestly forgotten. "Right," he said. "Although, I'm not going to let that stop me from doing what needs to be done."
"You never did," Ron said.
Fair, Harry thought.
Ron clasped him on the shoulder. "I'm off to help Charlie and Luna. But you know…"
"Yeah, I know," Harry said. The two of them didn't need words to communicate that Ron was wishing him the best and demanding that he come back alive.
"Good. See you soon," he left the room.
"We have to go," Castiel said as soon as Ron had gone.
"Yeah, we do. But we've got something to take care of first. Official Healer Jack – let's get to the infirmary."
"You cannot be serious," Castiel said with no small amount of displeasure in his voice.
"Of course not, that's my godfather," he flew with Jack to the infirmary.
Castiel took a moment to wonder, not for the first time, if he was being punished by his father for his past sins. Not that he didn't deserve it, but dealing with three Winchesters was cruel and unusual. As quickly as his feet could take him, he started jogging to the infirmary.
"About time," Harry remarked with a smirk when Castiel arrived. He glared.
Jack was looking down at the needle, uncertainly.
"Alright Jack, no need to keep stalling," Harry tilted his head to the side so that Jack could inject the needle.
"Harry, I'm not sure…"
"It's fine," Harry said. "I can take it."
"I just – I don't want to…"
"I know," Harry reassured. "But I need you to."
Jack gulped. He had felt the damage that had been done to Harry's body the last time that he had his grace extracted in this way. The thought of being responsible for that kind of pain now made his stomach flip. With shaking hands, he brought the needle up.
"Let me," Castiel said gently, taking the syringe from his hands. Jack did his best not to look relieved. "May I?" he asked Harry.
Harry gave him a short, jerky, nod. He was glad that the angel was taking over. He shouldn't've asked Jack to do it in the first place.
Castiel's hands were steady as he did what needed to be done. Harry did his best to yell out when he felt the extraction come out, but couldn't stop his face from scrunching up.
"Sorry, sorry," Castiel murmured as he finished up. He pressed two fingers to Harry's forehead and healed the external damage caused.
Harry took a few gasping breaths before pulling himself together. His head still throbbed and he was slightly dizzy, but, all in all, it was better than the other times this had happened to him. They didn't have much time and he knew that.
"Right. Are you going to fly with me or Jack?"
"Are you sure you're alright, Harry?" Jack asked, concerned.
"Fine," Harry responded. "I – I'm a little weak, but I think that it'll be fine."
Jack didn't look convinced.
"I think it would be safest to go with Jack. For him," Castiel responded to Harry.
Harry nodded. To his surprise, he found that he trusted Cas. "Ok. I'm ready."
III
"Finally," Dean said with a smile as he opened the trunk of the Impala.
"Dean, no," Sam said.
"Dean, yes!" Dean disagreed. "Come on, Sammy, you can't deny that it'll do the trick. I've had this thing for so long. Been waiting for the perfect moment to use it."
"You haven't been waiting for anything," Sam said. "The only reason you haven't used it yet is that I've been able to talk you out of it each time."
"Are you gonna try now?"
Sam sighed. "No. But this is officially the dumbest plan you've ever conceived."
"Really? You think it was stupider than that time in the Chesapeake Bay?"
Sam winced a little at the memory. "Yeah. Dumber than that."
Dean considered. "Alright. I can live with that. Come to papa," he said to the weapon that he pulled out of the trunk.
"If we die, I'm never going to let you live this down," Sam said.
"Yeah, yeah," Dean said. He was done admiring it. With his signature smirk, he lifted the grenade launcher and headed toward the wall. If this didn't get them through, nothing would.
III
Before they could depart, Castiel put a hand on Jack's arm to stop him. Jack gave him a questioning look.
"Jack, we need more from you than what we just discussed."
"Why wait until now to tell me?"
Castiel sighed. "Harry – he's not the best at accepting help. And if I told him what he was doing would involve, he would insist on doing it all on how own. But you see that he still isn't at his strongest, right?"
"He used a lot of grace to heal that wizard," Jack said. "Not so much that he can't do magic anymore."
"Right – but this is big magic. I fear that if he does the spell that I just gave him on Asmodeus on his own, the depletion will kill him."
"Cas!" Jack admonished. "Why would you do that? Are you trying to kill him again?"
"Of course not!" Castiel responded, horrified. It was bad enough that he had to endure the suspicion from everyone else, but he didn't think that Jack worried about that. "That's why I need your help. I gave Harry a spell that he can use to kill Asmodeus. But what I didn't tell him was that it was a spell that could be done by two people. I need you to perform the first half – before we go into the room."
"What happens if he does the spell by himself?"
"Nothing. It won't hurt him but it also won't kill Asmodeus. Which would put us all in great danger."
"What do I need to do?"
Castiel felt pride run through him. Jack was good. Willing to help. Quickly, he explained what he needed.
"Do you think you can do that?" He asked. "You can tell me if not, we can try and find another way."
"I can do it, Castiel," Jack said with confidence.
Cas smiled. "Good. Now – let's go."
III
Harry landed outside of Asmodeus' lair. From the outside, it just looked like a regular, abandoned warehouse, but he could feel the demonic energy coming off of it.
He took a second to center himself. He had used a lot of the grace that he had been building up while at Hogwarts with Jack, but he was sure that he had enough to face Asmodeus.
If he died in this fight, his brothers would raise Heaven and Hell to come to find him and kill him again, he was sure. Which would be a lot of work on their parts, really, and Harry wanted to spare them that.
Preparing himself, he felt in his pocket to make sure that the grace they extracted was there. It was.
He flew into the room. Directly in front of the demon. He felt it as Jack and Castiel arrived. He hoped Asmodeus didn't.
The demon was also alone and appeared completely unconcerned.
"I'm here," Harry said. "Just as you wanted."
"Give up already? I thought you'd last a bit longer. I suppose you're not as strong as I thought you'd be. And I can practically smell that sweet, sweet, grace of yours in your pocket. Maybe you're still broken from our last little bit of time together," he sneered.
"I don't gamble with my brother's lives," Harry growled.
"I was countin' that, to be honest. But you've already broken one of my stipulations. Jack, son, why don't you go ahead and come on out from there?"
Jack stepped out from behind a pillar.
"You leave him out of this," Harry demanded, pretending to be shocked to see the Nephilim. "Jack – go back to Hogwarts," he commanded.
Jack tilted his head at Harry. "I wanted to meet Asmodeus."
Asmodeus smiled. "You don't know how happy that makes me, young Jack. And it will make me turning Harry back into my pet all the sweeter. You here for your daddy, Jack?"
"Yes," Jack said. "I would like to meet him. Is he here?"
"Not yet, my dear boy," Asmodeus said. "But he will be, soon. And then the two of you will reign over Heaven and Hell together. And everythin' in between. He's seen it just as I told you."
"You've been talking to him?" Harry asked Jack angrily.
"I – " Jack hesitated, as if scared.
"No need to be scared of him, Jack," Asmodeus said like honey was dripping off his tongue. "You are his superior in every way. You don't have to answer to the likes of him or the Winchesters anymore."
"I have been, Harry, I'm sorry. But you and Sam and Dean won't answer any of my questions about my father. I have to know him, he's the only parent I have left."
"And he is a fine father, indeed," Asmodeus said. "I've always enjoyed serving at his side."
"Don't believe him, Jack," Harry ground out. And then he stopped hesitating and flew directly in front of Asmodeus, angelblade out, as he stabbed the Prince of Hell with it.
For a second, Asmodeus' eyes closed. Harry certainly felt the blade go through him and the demon slumped back on his throne. With a quick sleight-of-hand, he swiped his fingers through the blood that came out of the wound.
Harry hadn't thought that would work and he moved a little closer to see if he had actually killed the Prince of Hell.
Only to be rewarded with a hand on his neck, gripping it tightly.
Harry choked and gargled as the demon nearly crushed his windpipe, but held him just shy of that.
"That was stupid, Harry," the demon drawled. "And I'm so going to enjoy destroying that fight in you. I won't make the same mistakes that I made the last time. You think I treated you inhospitably before? You've no idea the hell that awaits you."
Fear shone in Harry's eyes – although he still couldn't speak.
"Wait!" Jack cried out.
Asmodeus snapped his attention to the young man, dropping Harry into a heap at his feet. As Harry stirred to get up, Asmodeus physically held him down with his magic.
"You – you don't have to hurt him," he said, his voice trembling a little.
The demon squeezed a little tighter.
"Now Jack, don't tell me that the Winchester's sentimentally has worn off on you? I think that your father would find that most displeasing. This man does not care about you. He only seeks to control you for his own purposes."
"It's not that," Jack said.
"Oh?"
Jack hesitated. "He doesn't know that I know, but he and I – we're connected."
"Jack, no," Harry managed to gasp out from his position on the floor before another hand gesture from the demon made him seize in pain as he fought against the hold.
"Connected you say?"
"Yes," Jack confirmed. "We need each other. If he dies, I die."
Asmodeus smirked. "Oh, then you have nothing to worry about son, I have absolutely no intention of killing this cretin. That would be rather counterproductive. I have much better uses for him."
"If you hurt him enough, you hurt me," Jack said.
That was enough to distract Asmodeus into losing his concentration on the spell that was keeping Harry on the floor.
"What's that now? Surely, you're not suggestin' that the son of Lucifer is a weakling like this sorry excuse for an angel?"
"Our connection – if he's magically weak, so am I. And vice versa. I need him."
Asmodeus stroked his beard and sat back down on his throne. "That's a very interestin' development. Very interestin' indeed," he smiled unpleasantly and Harry could practically read his thoughts. He was thinking about how he could get two for the price of one.
"Yes. I don't know my father very well, but I believe that he wouldn't want that for me. Is that wrong?"
"It is not, child," Asmodeus said. "Don't worry, I won't hurt a hair on this one's pretty little head. After all, there are other ways to get what I need. Join me, Jack. You can help me bring your father over from Limbo and the two of us will become his favored children and he will bestow upon us many gifts."
"Lucifer is not my true father," Jack said.
That was the code phrase.
Harry quickly rose from the ground, where he had been pretending to be hurt, and held out his hand. His wandblade came zooming over to him (from Castiel's coat). Before Asmodeus had much of a chance to do anything, Harry jabbed the blade into the demon's chin, impaling it while he recited the spell that Castiel had given him.
This time there was no question. Asmodeus' eyes stayed open while Harry watched the life drain out of them.
"Problem solved," Harry said.
III
"And then, if you follow this path of magic, you should be able to unlock…" Charlie was instructing Bill, who was sweating as he worked on unlocking the ward that would, they discovered, explode anyone who entered it.
The long-haired curse breaker had worked with Charlie Bradbury before but he couldn't help but admire her brilliance each time they met. Her way of seeing curses had completely revolutionized the field. Or, it would, once they got some of the papers they were working on together published. (It was remarkable how difficult that was proving to be because Charlie was a Muggle. She had offered to just let Luna take the credit, but her girlfriend had refused to take what was rightfully Charlie's.)
He was ashamed to admit that, at first, he had held a little of the same prejudice that they had been facing from the establishment of the field. Bill couldn't understand how a Muggle with no practical experience in magic could possibly understand the complex art of curse-breaking, but he had indulged his younger brother in giving her a try.
And he had been blown out of the water. She didn't use the right words (she used a lot of Muggle terms, like code-breaking and hacking) but she could understand the structure of a curse or spell better than anyone he had ever met before.
Gringotts had even offered her a job. The goblins didn't care one bit about someone's magical status, they only understood talent when they saw it. Of course, she had turned them down (something about not believing in working for the Man, he had tried to explain that they weren't men, they were goblins, but she had just laughed and said no again), but it really spoke to her abilities.
The three of them had been working on this ward – which was just an elaborate curse, for the last day and a half. Ron had been keeping watch with Ginny to make sure that none of the scores of demons that were around the area noticed or bothered them.
They had finally figured out the sequence, and it was none-to-soon, as Charlie estimated that the Winchester brothers only had a matter of hours before the air in their Bunker ran out.
Charlie had explained how to disentangle the wards to him already, but he had a difficult time following and was relying on her step-by-step instructions.
He did the wand movement as she instructed and they watched as a glimmer in the air disappeared.
"I think that did it," he said.
"Luna?" Charlie turned to her girlfriend.
"It's gone. You did it!" She gave her a huge hug and a celebratory kiss.
"Bill did most of the heavy lifting," Charlie said humbling, once they had pulled apart.
"Nuh-uh," Bill said. "You get all the credit. It would've taken me weeks."
Charlie thought about it for a second. "You're right, I am awesome."
Bill laughed and clapped her on the back.
All of a sudden, they heard a huge explosion. It was so loud that all any of them could hear was a ringing in their ears.
Chaos reigned for a couple of minutes. There was debris in the air and the demons seemed to be completely unsure of what to do, but they were running away from ants.
What had been joy dissolved into grief.
How did I get it wrong? Charlie thought, tears running down her face.
There were no words to say. They all just looked at the scene with abject horror. Guard duty was forgotten as Ron and Ginny stood in a line with Bill, Charlie, and Luna.
Several minutes passed.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" A familiar voice said behind them.
Charlie was the first to turn. Standing there, covered in soot and with a shit-eating grin on his face, was Dean Winchester.
A little bit of action this chapter, eh?
There are several things in this chapter that should make you suspicious. But I won't tell you what they are – I'll let you wonder on your own.
As always, thank you so much to everyone reading this fic! We're getting close – I can hardly believe it.
See you next week.