Chapter 18

"So where is he?"

"Calm down Kess."

"No. Now I have a name. I want blood!" Kesset started moving his wings, not caring that he was knocking things over and in danger of knocking his friends aside.

Dean had his arms raised trying to calm the Avian down along with Sam but Kesset was having none of it. The elder Winchester took in the guard's appearance as the wings came out and fluttered angrily. He noticed the coloring had darkened considerably and there seemed to be a dark shadow that crossed Kesset's face. His normally windblown hair was even more agitated and the reddish brown eyes were bright and glaring. The kid made a formidable figure. "Kess, come on. All we have is a name. Not a location."

"Then I will get it out of the fiend." Kesset glared at Dean while glancing to where Austin was holding onto their prisoner. "Move aside."

"No way man." Dean pondered the wisdom of this since he had seen Kesset move and it was pretty impressive and scary. "Kess, what you've got in mind…"

"You can't reason with them. Give him to me." Kesset growled as his feathers rose up in agitation. His hands were clenched in fists.

"Keep that freak away from me."

"Shut up," both the Winchesters said as they glared at the renegade being held by Austin.

"Hey I'll talk but it won't necessarily be what you want to hear. I don't give up secrets," the weasel face countered. He then gave a lecherous grin towards Hibah and said, "But I will talk to her. We could talk about a lot of things."

Dean normally was the one to get up in arms and violent. It was almost unexpected when Sam stomped over and gave a hard shove on the weasel, sending him into the wall. It was hard enough to leave a dent and it had Dean inwardly wince especially when Sam spoke in that low and cold tone, "Don't even think about it. Now tell us where this Carter is."

The weasel looked stunned at the fact that he had almost been shoved through the wall. He was willing to take his chances with Kesset but with Sam… it was different. There was something about the man that had the inklings of fear spark up and it was one that he didn't like. He looked at Sam and the glare he was getting from the man.

Kesset was not in the mood for the delay and flexed his wings, "Let me at him."

"Kess," Dean warned. Even he could see this could get ugly and fast.

"Stand back!"

At that moment Hibah stood up and glared at Kesset. At the same time she spoke firmly in the language that Dean always thought was swearing when uttered harshly. Seeing her stand up to Kesset, who clearly looked ready to beat off anyone who was not going to let him have his way… Dean was scared and Sam was merely watching while maintaining a hold on the weasel. This whole thing was just… crazy.

Hibah stared at Kesset much like animals vying for alpha position. She let her power flow to show her authority. It was risky since Avians were temperamental and she saw that Kesset was unraveling; it was one of the things that she had seen done once with the newer recruits back home. She had her goddess powers as well as her angelic ones and it seemed those were in the forefront as she stared down Kesset. "Stand down," she ordered.

"Kess," Sam's voice entered low and firm.

Kesset looked at Hibah and then Sam. Sam wasn't directly challenging him but the authority was there and he was impressed with it. He recognized Hibah's authority since she was royalty and it was automatic. Between the two of them, his training kicked in despite his instincts to just take charge and start ripping heads off. "Fine," he said lowering his wings. He gestured at the weasel, "You better tell them everything or else."

Everyone watched as Kesset turned and stalked off to a corner. Sam and Dean weren't surprised when he turned and crossed his arms over his chest. He looked like one of those statues. He wasn't going anywhere and his training was kicking in. Dean looked from the guard and then to Hibah and said, "Nice work Ninja."

"Training, Amitz."

Dean would accept anything. At this point though, he could understand Kesset's frustration. He was afraid he was going to have to pull out the arsenal that he had used on Alistair. Except this wasn't a demon. This was a human, a human who made the choice to fuck with his girl. Knowing Angela, Dean could hear her trying to clarify a few things but that wouldn't make a difference. He looked towards his brother who was holding the weasel and demanding again where the ass hat Carter was when the door knocked.

Everyone tensed as Dean checked who it was. The look on his face told everyone he was surprised when he opened the door and demanded, "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Cary walked in like it was nothing well aware that there was more likely a devil's trap there but he had a job to do. "Just checking and seeing how your way is doing when mine was so much better." He turned to see Austin looking at him with a narrowed look. "And I can see you are still spinning your wheels."

"Dammit, I said no, Cary. No way I'm gonna set the bastard that tried to kill her before free," Dean said. He made to grab the demon but the bastard side stepped him.

"I figured you wouldn't want to talk to the Venator. But you said you needed a hunter and he is the best one. I doubt the vamp here has bene helpful."

"More than you know," Sam replied, not relinquishing his grip on the weasel. "Like what Dean said, what the fuck do you want?"

"Seeing how you are doing and given that you haven't found her yet, thinking you're stuck." Cary looked around and noted that Kesset was barely restraining himself since he had seen him. He noticed Hibah but chose to ignore her since that wasn't what he was supposed to be doing. He turned towards the Winchesters and continued, "And it appears that you are so I'll help."

"In exchange for what?"

Cary had to admit that the Winchesters never disappointed him. They knew what he was about and they weren't going to get pulled into a deal trap. Seemed they learned their lesson from the last time. "No exchange."

Dean wasn't convinced, "To hell with that. Every time we've encountered you, there was always something you needed in exchange."

"Yeah and if you remember I was allowed to live another encounter." Cary shook his head and rolled his eyes slightly. "You really think I would fuck with her. Hell these bastards are stupid if they attempt that." He gestured at the weasel Sam was holding against the wall. "Them doing that is just to make you all do something stupid."

"Tell me something I don't know," the weasel piped up only to be slammed into the wall. He glared at Sam as the younger Winchester glared back. "Always knew that you weren't a hunter… siding with the enemy and you are the enemy with your tainted blood. How the fuck did you survive?"

Cary sighed and used his powers to pin the weasel to the wall. He gave a slight push to get Sam to back off but not too soft; couldn't let them think he was a nice guy after all. He looked at the weasel and said, "I've always found you renegades something of an amusement." He took a couple of steps forward and then twisted his wrist.

The weasel started to grimace from the pain. Dean knew that if this guy died, they had nothing. Sam was in the same mindset and started forward as his brother. It was unexpected when they were both flung against the wall and pinned. Cary looked at them and gestured, "You two stay there. You had your chance."

"Sonofabitch," Dean grunted. He then saw Hibah make her move. "Ninja."

Cary turned to look at Hibah who was walking towards him. "You really want to interfere with me, princess? I know who you are and I know that if I attack you that feather brain in the corner will attack." At that moment, he gave a quick look and had Austin pinned against the wall. He looked back at Hibah, "Don't. This comes as a favor to her from someone who would rather have her alive than cross her."

"What the hell… Just gank his ass Ninja," Dean grunted.

"Yes, go ahead and do that but then you'll lose the chance to find her," Cary warned. He had one of his hands out in a stopping gesture towards Hibah. "I know you all want her back but the question is how far qill you go and I know you Winchesters. You've gone far. Dean went to hell for little brother. Little brother decided to play with that annoying bitch Ruby… Have you any idea how far she went for you?"

"No but I know her reasons," Sam replied as he struggled.

Cary chuckled, "Right because she would tell you, stick up your ass. Just know this… This is not a deal between me and her. There is none." He turned away and looked at the weasel and said, "Now that you've seen what I can do… why not just make this easier before I take extreme measures?"

"Fuck you."

Cary sighed. He wasn't going to stick around and play games. He looked at everyone in the room noting that Hibah wanted to charge him but wasn't. She was young for a goddess and was learning what it meant to make hard decisions. He looked at the Avian and noted the agitation. As a guard he wouldn't attack unless his charge was threatened or given the order. He challenged her, "You want to risk losing this chance?"

"Ninja, just do it."

"Yes attack me and lose any chance because I'm in a mood for blood and I'd rather it be this weasel. One less renegade will cause trouble," Cary taunted. He looked at Dean and added, "You really want to go the hard way? You have an easy way out. Too bad he never developed it… right vampire?"

"Don't have the talent," Austin retorted as he struggled. "Empath is mine."

Cary made a snort at that, "Please." He then smoked out and forced his way into Austin.

It was startling to see Cary's meat drop to the ground and Austin's body come off the wall. When he looked up, his eyes were the red like a crossroads demon. Dean had seen that with the reaper Tessa when Azazel possessed her for a short time. "Sonofabitch."

That seemed to spark Hibah to move but she was warned back when Kesset was actually pinned to the wall and he started growling his anger. She stood there looking at the demon possessing the vampire. "What are you doing?"

"Using what the vamp likes to deny having. Empath my ass," Cary said through Austin's body.

The possessed Austin moved towards the weasel renegade and pressed his hands to the prisoner's temples. Cary looked into the weasel faced renegade's eyes and said, "Now you will tell us or this will be most painful."

"As I told you… go screw yourself." The weasel looked at the possessed vampire. Both were now on the shit list to be killed.

"Fine then." Cary then pressed his hands on the weasel's temples. "Now time to exercise the vamp's mind."

The screaming that followed had the Winchesters shouting at the possessed vamp. It was by some sheer luck that no one heard the noise. Cary finished what he was doing allowing the body to drop to the ground and turned to face the Winchesters in Austin's body. Blood was dripping out of the vampire's nose. "Got it. You aren't too far away from them. The old sanitarium at the edge of town is where they are at."

"Sonofabitch." Dean glared at the red eyed vamp.

"I just did you a favor." With that, Cary smoked out and back into his own body. He was gone before anyone could do anything.

"You okay?"

"Ever been possessed?" Austin wiped the blood from his nose and rubbed his head. He had a massive headache and this wasn't one of those days or nights.

Sam made a slight face and replied, "Uh yeah. Once by a god and once by Angie."

Austin looked at the younger Winchester. They were waiting for Dean to come back from getting supplies. Hibah had returned to her home with Kesset per Sam's request. He felt bad for the kid having to see that. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Why a god?"

Sam looked at the vampire. It wasn't conversation to be polite. Austin was clearly interested and it did take his mind off things. "They needed a body to pass through and manifest. It was at the tournament."

"Right. I remember. You skipped out on the last couple. I mean there's no rule for it."

"Actually I was busy." Sam decided not to go into specifics unless it was asked of him. He cleared his throat and looked away while gathering the gear and glanced at the weasel.

"Figured. It's not easy when your mentor went missing and then whatever happened this year." Austin wiped his nose and curse. "Fuck this." He rubbed his forehead.

Sam watched the vampire and asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"About what?"

"That you could do what… Cary made you do." Sam got the feeling it was a sensitive subject but he wanted to know. He was well aware what Angela could do and he wondered if it stretched to all vampires.

"I can't. Empath is my talent."

"No bull. I saw what I saw. And I know what Angie can do." Sam gave a pointed look at the vampire. "You know how but you don't use it."

"Alright fine," Austin countered as he threw the tissue into the wastebasket. His nose had stopped bleeding but the headache was still there. "I can delve into minds. Chris can too. The thing is we try not to do it too often because of what happens if you push too hard." He gestured at the weasel lying on the ground.

"But you could have used it and…"

"Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. You of all people should know that."

Sam didn't say anything but stared at the vampire. Austin was right in that respect. It was just another reminder of those lessons Angela had been trying to teach him and Dean as they traveled. He knew she always tried other options before resorting to the last resort. Finally he said, "You're right."

Austin looked at Sam and noted the slump in the young man's shoulders. He hadn't meant to be harsh but he didn't like being violated like that. He understood why Angela never liked talking about the time with the siren after it happened. "Look Sam…"

"No you're right. It's why I came to you and not took… Cary's suggestion." Sam ran a hand through his hair. "And I learned my lesson… about the demon blood."

"About that…"

"I get it Austin." Sam waved off the vampire, not willing to talk about it. "Don't worry about it. I'm just sorry about…"

"Hey you didn't tell the demon to do that. You wouldn't. I just don't like the feeling of being possessed." Austin waved his hand in a conciliatory gesture.

"It's… not that bad… when you agree to it."

Austin noticed that Sam suddenly got a little red in the face. He raised a brow, "You know all about possession?"

"Just what I've experienced. Learned a few things from the warrior god of the Nile." Sam shrugged his shoulders since he didn't want to reveal too much but it was going to be inevitable. "Learned how to work Angie's chakram."

Austin recognized deflection when he heard it and could read between the lines. "Really? And here I was thinking you learned it from her."

"Nothing like that."

"Give."

Sam looked at the vampire. Austin was not like Dean in being a pest about it and he actually wasn't afraid of him. True a vampire was stronger than your average human and not to mention the pointy teeth that could rip out your throat and drain your blood, but he wasn't intimidated by the vampire that he actually liked. "No."

"I see you've had practice," Austin replied with a slight grin. His headache was still as bad but it felt relieved with his banter with Sam. "I can only guess that it was that good."

"Don't be like Dean. It wasn't like that and… I don't like it when certain things are twisted like that. Makes it seem like she's cheap."

Austin nodded, knowing full well he would do the same. He was actually jealous of Sam; that he actually had a fairly intimate moment with the woman that essentially set him in the right direction. He thought for a time he was in love with her but not that kind. It was the kind belonging to comrades in arms. So he could see where Sam was going with it and respected that. "Understood… but she doesn't need another brother."

Sam studied Austin, reading between the lines. If he was that obvious… "I know… and… I'm glad I asked you for help. I don't know what I'm going to do when I find this Carter."

"It never is easy. I'll tell you that."

"Can I count on you to…?"

Sam didn't finish the question and Austin didn't need him to. He simply nodded and said, "Don't worry about it."

Nothing more was said when Dean came back saying, "Hey I scouted it out and that worm was right. How you doing Austin?"

"Headache but I'll live." Austin shrugged. He could go for some blood but he didn't really need it. Besides if things were going down the way he suspected they would, he was going to be seeing a lot of it and he hoped that he would be able to keep the Winchesters from getting too far out. "How's the kid?"

Dean looked at the vampire and glanced at Sam. "Hibah's fine. Just trying to understand the predicament."

"Dean, she wanted to help and she was trying. She didn't expect this." Sam ran his hand through his hair again. "Shouldn't have talked to Cary."

"Don't, Sam. You and I both know that rat would have found out one way or another and if not this way… maybe another and ten times worse."

"And it makes me wonder why he hasn't been…" Austin made a slashing gesture across his throat. He didn't understand how the demon was allowed to live. True he had an inkling but even he eventually disposed of the stoolies when they really backstabbed him. Or he didn't deal with them at all and only with the undercovers.

"It was Angie's call," Sam explained. "I don't like him either but he has given useful information every now and then. I'm just sorry that…" He gestured at everything. There was no need to go into a whole lot of detail.

"I see." It was all Austin needed to say. She always was different in dealing with things. It was why there were those that loved, hated and worshiped her. She drew people to her and they would do what they could. Granted sometimes it was in the wrong way but it ended up working out since he knew she would always strive to make the best choice even if there were some shady parts to the whole thing. Looking at the Winchesters he asked, "So what's the plan?"

"We could go charging in. They are human after all," Dean pointed out. "Stake out, sneak in and…"

"That would work," Austin allowed, "If you disregarded that they are renegades and one you've encountered previously. No doubt he is expecting you. He'll be waiting for you to barge in and then… You know what they would do."

"Alright," Dena acquiesced, "What do you suggest?" He looked at the vampire with a hard look. It wasn't intended to be rude. Rather it was two soldiers who were planning an attack and both had ideas that were good and could go bad and ugly.

It was Sam that brought up a suggestion, "What about him?" He gestured at the whimpering renegade. At the look he was getting he explained, "Look that other guy Jonas was in charge right? He was supposed to set the trap and then… deliver me on a silver platter."

"Yeah and Ninja killed him. So what are we gonna do about that?" Dean looked at his brother for some clarification. They knew the location but they needed a plan of attack.

Austin understood what Sam was getting at. It was going to take some work but… Since the demon forced him to use telepathy again, there was a chance. He wouldn't like it but… It was one of those calls and he understood why his old friend and comrade stressed that lesson so long ago when they did their first job together… much to Christian's amusement. He spoke up, "I think Sam means to use the weasel to go in as bringing a message to Carter. Let him think that Jonas is on his way with the prize." He made a slight face at that.

Dean for his part listened and knew that was what Sam had in mind when he confirmed it. This did sound like a crazy plan but hey, crazy did work on occasion and it seemed to work for them. He nodded, "Alright then. So he goes in and while their talking…"

"We sneak in. First job is to find her. Then I'm sure the dog and I can take care of the rest," Austin replied with a firm look.

"Maybe," Sam replied, "But how about this…"

A/N: Looks like Cary decided to pull and Azazel and now they know where and coming up with a plan. Keep watching for more of To Hell and Back...