Chapter 4 - Bedposts, Broomsticks And Boils
When Cas and Gail winked back to Egypt, she said, "I think I'll just go back to my hotel, Cas. I kind of lost it in there," she continued, nodding towards the museum, "and I don't think Jasmina should see me again. The important thing now is to get them to open those chambers for you. Just tell her I'm some crazy American woman with a huge crush on you, or something. You're way better off taking somebody like Sam with you, or Kevin, to read the ancient language on those bricks. Crowley, even, if you have to. We've got to focus on getting the Tablet now. Whatever I see, I'll try to turn a blind eye to." She smiled, waggling her finger at him. "Within reason, of course. If I see one wife with even a little bit of a baby bump, you're going to have a hell of a lot of explaining to do."
Cas laughed. "I love you, Gail." He kissed her once more, and she winked herself back to her hotel room.
She was right about getting help with the ancient language. Cas thought it couldn't hurt to have some other people around too, in case Jasmina had any ideas of being so forward again. He still didn't quite understand what that had been all about. He thought maybe because he was supposed to be the last in line, descended directly from the royal family, he would be desirable to many Egyptian women, seeking to elevate their position in society. Perhaps her father had even suggested that she ingratiate herself. Politicians were politicians, after all. But he could not allow her to get so close to him again. If their friends accompanied him to the museum, Jasmina would have no choice but to behave herself.
Cas popped over to Sam and Dean's hotel, and he asked Sam, Chuck, and Kevin to come with him to the museum. It was getting later now and Sam was flagging a bit, but Cas told him how important this could potentially be.
"They wouldn't let me in, Sam," Cas said quietly. "And if they won't let me in again tomorrow, I'll have to take drastic measures."
"Drastic?" Sam asked, frowning. "Such as?"
"Biblical," Cas said tersely.
Sam, Chuck and Kevin all looked at each other. What the hell did he mean by that?
"OK, Cas, OK," Sam said. "Just let me get a couple of cups of coffee into myself first."
"Never mind that. We'll get the librarian to serve you when we get there." The men exchanged glances again. Yeah, Cas was in character, all right. "Between the four of us, I want as much as we can translate from those bricks by sunrise. Depending on what we discover, I will go back to the tomb and invoke some words and phrases from those bricks. Then, if that is not good enough, I will go straight to the Governor and tell him I will loose the plagues of Egypt upon his city."
The men's jaws dropped. "THE Plagues?" Chuck said sharply.
"Of Egypt," Sam said, incredulous.
"That's what I said," Cas replied coolly. "And if that doesn't convince them I am of royal blood, nothing will. But just because I threaten them with the Plagues does not mean I expect them to take me seriously. I will actually have to unleash them. But don't worry. If it comes to that, I'll make sure that all of you are safe."
Sam started to list all of the Plagues that he could remember in his mind. As far as he could remember, there were about ten of them. And most of them had been pretty terrible by ancient standards, but if they prepared ahead of time, they should be fine. He was sure they wouldn't get down nearly as far as the last one, the most notorious and horrifying one. The Governor would capitulate way before then, he was sure.
"OK, let's go, then," he said, and the Angels accompanied him into the restroom. Then they all popped over to the museum.
This was too good, Rowena thought. Now the Angel was bringing her more men. Fantastic. She hadn't known if he would even be returning after his fiancee had thrown her little hissy fit, but she supposed the lure of the bricks was just too strong. Apparently, Rowena's son had been giving Gail some practical instruction on blade lore. Rowena was disgusted. Crowley's emasculation was much further along than she'd feared. But Castiel had brought some more men to her, so she was willing to put that little incident aside. For now.
Right now, she had all this man candy around, and Rowena was delighted. She made a pot of Egyptian coffee and brought it out to the men. Sam asked her politely for a cup, and so did Chuck and Kevin, interestingly enough. Castiel waved his hand absently at her, dismissing her. He was taking to this Sheikh persona a little too well, Rowena thought with bemusement. She wondered how things had gone between the couple after she'd fled the museum. Maybe she should have hung around to find out, but she hadn't wanted to take any chances with Gail when the girl had been in that state. The girl had already successfully killed Rowena once in the past, and she was definitely not looking for a repeat.
So Castiel could have his little piece of fluff, if he wanted Gail that badly. Rowena had noticed the ring on Gail's finger. If the two of them were willing to entrap themselves in the bland and boring web of monogamy, far be it from Rowena to argue. There were lots more fish in the sea.
She looked at each man now, as she poured the coffee. She ruled young Kevin out right away. Not that she had any compunctions about such things as age difference, or lost innocence, but he was far too weak and immature for Rowena. He had allowed Becky to lead him around by the nose because he'd been under the impression that his girlfriend would eventually allow him to enter the Promised Land, so to speak. But even though Becky's rejection of Kevin had seemed to force him a little further into adulthood, he was not a serious contender at this point.
Sam, or Chuck. Chuck, or Sam. They were both appealing male specimens in their own way, and each man could be of benefit to her in a different way. Sam was one of the sainted Winchesters. If she were to be able to turn him to her will, she could gain access to the secrets of the bunker, and to the inner circle. And it wasn't as if Samuel were incorruptible, Rowena knew. He had been addicted to Demon blood in the past, and he had also been in the cage with Lucifer. Also, he was in the habit of keeping things from his brother when it suited him. Yes, Sam was far from pure.
And Chuck? He was an Angel now, but he had been one of the worst sort, and not too long ago. She knew all about all of the terrible things he had done when he was a bad guy. So now he was an Angel again, after having been cast down and then reinventing himself all the way back up to being one of God's designates. But Rowena knew that Chuck still felt like the odd man out, in many ways. The Winchesters treated him with scorn, and although Chuck had assumed somewhat of a leadership role in Heaven, he still felt like he wasn't being taken seriously by the Angels or by the humans. Chuck would never be trusted quite enough to be welcomed into the inner circle, even though Gail had confided in him in the past and extended her hand in friendship to him.
And Chuck was still jealous. He'd been fighting against this feeling for a long time now, and he was better now than he once was. But he knew how those guys regarded him, and he had given up on ever changing their opinion of him. He felt a little like the eccentric cousin, tolerated due to his family ties, and due to the fact that he might be able to toss out a prophecy from time to time. But he would never be truly loved, like Bobby, Dean, or Sam. Or Cas.
Cas. Somehow, it always came back to him. Chuck had tried his best to be a good friend to Cas ever since Chuck had reformed himself, and he had been successful in a lot of ways. He'd given Cas his moral and political support during the tribunal, and even though the proceeding had culminated in Cas's execution, that had hardly been Chuck's fault. It had taken a while for Cas to fully trust him, but once Chuck had gotten to know Gail better and had grown to genuinely like her, Cas had thawed towards Chuck because of that. Then, when Cas had been put to death, Chuck had been the one to shake Gail out of her dream world and back into reality. And, when it turned out that Cas had been resurrected, Chuck had been thrilled for both of his friends.
But Chuck knew that God Himself and Cas's friends had glossed over many of his misdeeds, concealing them from the rest of Heaven. So all of the other Angels still thought that Castiel was a shining hero, and they did, to this day. But Chuck knew that Cas was far from perfect, he just didn't know exactly why he felt that way. Ever since Chuck's reascension to Heaven, Cas had been nothing but kind to him. But there was just something about the guy. His life was just too perfect. He was God's favourite, Bobby's right-hand man. A handsome, masculine warrior Angel, who all the guys respected and all the women fawned over. Chuck had been trying to keep his promise not to look in on Cas and Gail any more in the bedroom because he'd kind of seen Cas's point about it being disrespectful to Gail. But he knew that there was nothing to look in on these days, anyway. Cas had actually had so much hot sex recently that he'd told Gail he wanted to wait until the wedding night, as per the ancient custom. Chuck shook his head at that. Imagine having such an embarrassment of riches that you could actually opt to hold off for a while. Chuck felt like a starving orphan child in wintertime, with his nose pressed against the windowpane of the restaurant watching Cas and Gail enjoy a huge, sumptuous meal, but deferring dessert because they just simply couldn't eat another bite.
And now, Cas was walking around town with his servants and his wives, making people bow down to him and move out of the way for him. Chuck was fighting himself very hard these days, but he felt like he was losing the battle.
"Fetch me the compendium," Cas said to the room in general now. He was back in character, and he had found a section on the brick he was looking at to be so interesting that he had just blurted it out.
"So, what, we're all your servants, now?" Chuck said sharply.
Sam and Kevin looked up from their respective bricks.
"I need the compendium," Cas said coolly. He didn't want to lose his spot on the brick he was looking at, or his train of thought. And it would appear strange to Jasmina if he just got up and got it himself.
Chuck rose and stalked over to the end of the table, picked up the book, and brought it back to where Cas sat. He dropped the book on the table in front of him. "There. Is there anything else you require, Your Highness? Some slave girls to turn the pages for you, maybe?"
Cas looked at Chuck, puzzled. What was his problem? They all knew that Cas was just playing a part here. But he couldn't let Chuck talk to him like that in front of Jasmina, either. He would lose all credibility if he let something like that slide.
"I realize that you are American but be reminded that you are speaking to a member of the royal family," Cas said to Chuck. "You need to mind your manners."
"Do I?" Chuck said coldly.
"Go for a walk, Chuck," Sam said. "Cool off."
Great. Now Sam was giving him orders, too. But Chuck realized he'd better step away and collect himself. He'd better not do anything to jeopardize this mission, or Bobby would kill him. He turned away from the table and walked outside, taking a couple of deep breaths.
The sun was down now, and the temperature was nice and cool. Chuck took a couple more breaths, and then started to walk around the museum grounds.
He was acting like a petulant child. Was yelling at Cas going to make anything any better? Was it going to elevate Chuck's status in Heaven, or in any of their eyes? Was it going to get Chuck laid? Was it going to just magically erase Lucifer from the face of the Earth?
"Are you all right?" Jasmina's soft voice, from behind him.
Chuck turned around. "Yeah, I'm fine," he told her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult your Sheikh," he added. Part of their orientation had included the fact that many native Egyptians were very protective of their royals.
She laughed softly, approaching him. She touched his arm lightly. "He's an obnoxious jerk," she said quietly, and then she clapped a hand over her mouth, like Gail would do. "Oops. I never said that." Chuck grinned. Then Jasmina sighed. "The truth is, they're all obnoxious jerks. Such is our society. Even in this day and age, intelligent and vital women are still subjugated, and treated like slaves. We are expected to be sweet and submissive, and always defer to the man. Heaven forbid we should have an independent thought, or opinion."
"But you seem to be doing all right," Chuck said to her. "You're the head of the museum, aren't you? Your face isn't covered, nor is every inch of your skin." He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I couldn't help but notice, mainly because I was looking."
Jasmina smiled. She moved a little closer to Chuck, and he could smell her perfume now. He couldn't quite place the scent, but it was like a light musk. He breathed it in. How long had it been since he'd been this close to a really attractive, available woman?
"You're a very nice-looking man, and you have a beautiful beard," Jasmina said to him, tickling his chin. "If you were Egyptian, you could be a Sheikh," she told him softly. "And I would be glad to be one of your wives."
She was killing him. He really shouldn't do this. But Chuck couldn't stand it anymore. He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. She didn't push him away; in fact, she put her arms around his neck and opened her mouth to his. Chuck pushed his tongue into her mouth and not only did she give him her tongue in return, but she grabbed his hand and put it on her breast. Chuck slipped his hand under the cloth of her gown and teased her nipple, and she grabbed him through his pants, hard.
Chuck gasped. That had almost hurt, but it also felt amazing. But, what the hell was he doing? A minute ago, he had been in Cas's face, and now he was molesting the Governor's daughter. Had he signed an employment contract with Lucifer, all of a sudden? If he wasn't careful, he was going to sabotage this mission single-handedly.
He stepped away reluctantly from Jasmina. "I'm very flattered," he told her in a thick voice. "But as you pointed out, I'm an American, and you're the Governor's daughter, an Egyptian woman of taste and refinement. I apologize." He gave her a small bow, and then he went back into the museum.
Rowena stood there for a moment, feeling several things. She was a little angry at his eventual rejection of her; Rowena wasn't used to being rejected by so many men in one day, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. But now she knew for sure that Chuck could be hers, if she so chose. The poor guy had done without for an awfully long time, and he had only been torturing himself further with his voyeuristic behaviour. When she had grabbed him as hard as she had, fully intent on dealing a little pain along with the pleasure, she'd seen the light in Chuck's eyes and she had known his secret.
Now Rowena had some further deliberating to do. She'd have loved to have had Dean, but Rowena knew that thinking that way would just be a waste of her time. Just like Castiel. All she could ever have with Dean Winchester would be one hot, steamy session of animal sex. Not that there was anything wrong with that. But her purpose was recruitment, not just sex. Besides, Dean was more interested in the woman called Nicole than he was ready to admit. Likewise, Ethan would be out of the question. He was a law enforcement Angel, his wife and son were still alive, and he still considered himself to be in a committed relationship. Ethan would wait for his Karen for as long as it took.
That left only Sam, and Rowena hadn't made her mind up about him yet. He was highly intelligent, and he was more of a man than Chuck would ever be, but Rowena wasn't sure whether that would be very good for her, or very bad. His acquisition could be the jackpot, the Holy Grail. But was it realistic? Chuck would certainly be a lot more malleable. The only problem was that Chuck's resentment towards the other team members could probably be exploited, but the source of that resentment mainly stemmed from the fact that Chuck was a bit of a misfit, an outsider to the inner circle. And Sam was directly in the middle of the hallowed circle.
Rowena returned to the library area just in time to see the men packing up to leave.
"Thank you for your assistance," Sam said to her, smiling. "And for your coffee. But we're done for the night. If you'll show us where they go, we'll put the bricks back where they belong."
He and Cas nodded to each other. "Wait for us here, fellas," Sam said to Chuck and Kevin. "We'll be back for the others in a second." They'd discussed it before Jasmina had returned, and it had been determined that, as the bricks were so heavy, Cas and Sam had better be the only two to carry them. Bruised male egos were one thing but smashed priceless ancient artifacts and international incidents would be quite another.
Chuck had apologized to Cas as soon as he had come back into the museum. He didn't know what had gotten into him, he told Cas. Chuck guessed maybe he hated the heat almost as much as Gail did. Cas broke character long enough to touch Chuck on the arm and give him a brief smile, and then they had gotten back to work.
But Cas was starting to realize that this was a fool's errand, a giant waste of their time. There was way too much complex translation to be done, and the words and phrases that they had been able to glean in this amount of time had been unremarkable. He was beginning to be convinced that the cerebral way was not going to be the way to go here.
Once the bricks were put away, the men bade Jasmina a good evening and they emerged from the front doors of the museum. Cas snapped his fingers and the chauffeur pulled the limousine up to the front steps. He had been waiting all that time, of course. The chauffeur got out and opened the back door. Cas got in without a look or a word to his friends, and the car pulled away.
Sam, Chuck and Kevin looked at each other and shrugged. They began to walk down the road and then, when they were out of view of the museum, Chuck and Kevin took Sam's arms and winked him back to their hotel.
The next morning, Cas rang for Ibrahim.
His manservant knocked lightly on the door a couple of minutes later. "Enter," Cas said. He had just finished getting dressed when Ibrahim entered.
Cas noticed that Ibrahim was walking more slowly today. As the manservant closed the door behind him, Cas could see that he was moving gingerly, and as he bowed and said, "Sheikh," Cas could see the lines of pain on his face.
"Let me see your back," Cas demanded. Ibrahim took off his coat and shirt and turned around to show his back to his employer.
Cas had to maintain his stoic facade, but the sight shocked him. There was not an inch of skin on the man's back that was not red and angry-looking. None of the sores were actively bleeding, but Cas could see now why the man was in so much pain. He felt horrible. But he could not show it. And considering the other heinous things that he may have to do over the next week or so, this was merely an appetizer.
"Get dressed, and then have the car brought around. I am going to pay the Governor a visit today. You may come with me if you wish. In fact, I think you should. Then you will observe first-hand what may befall those who treat my family with such disrespect."
Ibrahim bowed gingerly again, then put his clothing back on and hurried downstairs. After the whipping he'd received last night, he was very eager not to anger the Sheikh any further. And he had definitely learned his lesson. He had forgotten his place, and his Sheikh had had to remind him of where that place was. If he had ever worried that his employer had been seduced by the Western world, Ibrahim worried no longer. And it made him love and respect the Sheikh even more.
"I do not see anyone who does not already have an appointment," Governor el-Jakar said into the phone. "You know that."
"He says he is the last surviving member of the royal family, Sir," his secretary said. "He says he was refused entry into his family's burial chambers."
The Governor sighed. Well, at least the Sheikh, if that was truly what he was, had finally come to the right place. The Governor was the only one who had the authority to order the chambers opened for this man. But, did he want to? How did they even know that this man was who he claimed to be? Apparently, he had been studying in the United States for a number of years, and he had only returned when word had gotten out about the discovery of the new chambers. He reportedly looked and behaved like he could be a member of the royal family, but the Governor was not yet satisfied that was the truth.
"That is too bad," he barked into the phone. "Tell him to make an appointment." Then he slammed the phone down.
A moment later, his office door burst open, and the Sheikh strode angrily into the room. "An appointment?" he exclaimed arrogantly. "I do not make appointments! People rearrange their schedules to accommodate ME!"
The Governor sat back in his chair. "Is that right?" he said casually. He eyed the Sheikh curiously. Correct garb, arrogant expression, and haughty attitude. Check. He even had his toady of a manservant trailing behind him. And if the Governor's eyes were not failing him, that same servant was moving very much like someone who had been recently flogged. Interesting.
"Yes, that's right," Cas shot back. "I am here to give you one more chance to open those chambers for me."
The Governor smiled. "You are giving me a chance? How generous of you! Well, how do we even know that you are who you claim to be? Where is your proof?"
"Proof?!" Cas echoed.
"Yes, proof!" the Governor shouted, rising to his feet. "I have a responsibility to our government and to our culture about who we let in there."
"Well, it is my culture too, and my heritage, and that should take precedence over anything else," Cas said coolly.
"We only have your word for that, though, don't we?" the Governor said. He shrugged. "No proof, no entry. It's as simple as that."
"Fine. You want proof? You shall have your proof, then. I will invoke the Plagues of Exodus, one per day, until you open those chambers for me," Cas said quietly.
The Governor gaped at him. He couldn't decide whether he should laugh out loud, or just to himself. "The Plagues," he repeated sardonically.
"Yes," Cas said shortly. "I believe you should be familiar with those. If not, you had best do your research and make a decision about exactly how much you think your people can stand. I am prepared to go as far as I need to, until you see things my way."
"All right, that's it. You need to leave, now," the Governor said, rolling his eyes. "This has been entertaining, but I think you're delusional. Next time, make an appointment, and bring some credentials."
"In one hour, all of the town's water will be turned into blood," Cas told him. "Blood will flow from your taps, the river will run red, and the town reservoir will be filled with blood. This is Day One." Then he wheeled around and marched out of the room, robes flowing behind him.
The Governor stared after him for a moment, shaking his head slowly. Sheikh or not, the man had obviously spent too much time watching melodramatic movies in his precious United States. The Plagues of Exodus, indeed. He was surprised the man hadn't gone down to the river and scooped up a few frogs to let loose in his office, while he was at it. Well, at least he was leading off in the proper order. Water into blood, eh? He was probably going to put some red dye into a few water bottles, or something. The man was obviously a lunatic.
The Governor went back to his paperwork, chuckling.
Operation Water Hoard had already begun the night before. As per Cas's instructions, the men had run around town buying up as many cases of water as they could, and Cas had had his staff round up all the wild camels and dromedaries in the area and corral them in his back yard. He would ensure that his friends had all the hydration and nourishment they needed. And if the people of Luxor were to suffer, which they would, Cas would have to find a way to be OK with that. If the Governor truly cared about his constituents, he would capitulate soon, before things got truly out of hand. But the gauntlet had been thrown down now, and Cas had to follow through on his threat.
Crowley arrived when Castiel called him, and they went to the reservoir first. They popped inside the gates and incapacitated the guards, then Crowley touched the lock to the reservoir tank with his blade, and it sprang open. Castiel looked at him in surprise.
"What?" Crowley said cheerfully. "Didn't know I could do that, did you? It's not only your boyfriends, the Winchesters, that can help in that regard, you know."
Cas sighed, saying nothing. Now was not the time to argue. He and Crowley lifted the top of the tank and shifted it aside.
"What now?" Cas said.
"Take out your blade," Crowley told him, taking out his own. Cas produced his, and Crowley touched his blade to Cas's, saying some words in the ancient language. The blue and red glow produced from their combined blades became a deep magenta, and then Crowley said, "Now, in the water, together."
They plunged their blades into the water, holding them together, and the water began to change instantly. After a few minutes, the entire tank was filled with blood.
They withdrew their blades from the water, and Cas looked down in astonishment. "It's amazing what we Originals can accomplish when we combine our powers," Crowley told him. "And this is just the beginning."
"We'll see," Castiel said, frowning. "I don't want to see the people suffer any longer than they have to."
"Well, that'll be up to the Governor, won't it?" Crowley said casually. "If he truly cares about his people, he'll put a halt to things very quickly. But if he is stubborn, like his predecessor was, they'll have to vote him out next election. Well, those that are left alive, anyway. Come on. Let's go."
They went to the river and repeated the process there, and then to the water plant.
"There," Crowley said. "There's all your sources. Luxor has no more water. Let the frivolity commence."
Castiel was disturbed. Thousands of people would soon be discovering that their water had turned into blood, and there would be nothing that they could do about it. The heat of the day was scorching now, and he supposed they could make do with other fluids for the time being, but eventually, they would need water, or they would die.
"You're doing the right thing, Castiel," Crowley said softly. "You know you are. But the right thing isn't always the easy thing, and it isn't always the kind and gentle thing, either. But I'm not telling you anything you don't already know, am I? Pity not all of your lot know it. I'll see you tomorrow." Then he snapped himself away.
So, he had somehow pulled it off, thought an annoyed Governor. He'd honestly thought that all he would see would be a parlour trick or two, if that. But the guy had somehow managed to make water into actual blood. The Sheikh obviously had some thugs on his side who had attacked the guards at the reservoir and the water plant. Probably some radical Bedouins who were looking to align with the royal family, hoping to ingratiate themselves enough to get some of their land back, maybe. Well, the Governor was in charge, not the bloody nomads, and not this so-called Sheikh. The Governor had to admit that he didn't know how the man had done it, but if he thought the Governor was intimidated, he was dreaming.
Still, the constituents had to be appeased, and by that evening, panic was starting to set in. So the Governor made a public address from his mansion that night that was disseminated on TV, the radio, and the Internet. They hadn't found out exactly what had happened with the water supply just yet, he told the public, but rest assured he was looking into it. In the meantime, conserve any water or fluids on hand, and the Governor made a promise that no one would die of thirst in his city. He would send his private helicopter out to another city for water, if he had to.
In the morning, the water was still blood, and now there were frogs everywhere. But the Governor knew that there was nothing magical or supernatural about that. Of course there were frogs everywhere. They lived in water. Now that the water was blood, the frogs wanted no part of it. So they had deserted all of the bodies of water, and had begun to encroach on the town. That only made scientific sense.
But as the day went on, the frogs started to die, and now there were a bunch of smelly dead frogs laying around everywhere, and people weren't happy about it. The Governor deployed forces all around the city to clean up the dead frogs. An annoyance, to be sure, but hardly a dire situation.
Frank tended to agree with the Governor on that score, but Gail told him that she needed him to come to her room and get rid of all the dead frogs.
"They're freaking me out, Frank," she said.
"How are they freaking you out? They're dead, aren't they?" Frank smirked.
"Frank, I swear to God, if you don't come here right now and get rid of all these frogs, I'm gonna lose it!" she said, slamming down the phone on her nightstand.
He and Jody came to Gail's room a few minutes later. "It's open," she called out when they knocked.
Frank pushed the door open, knocking aside a bunch of dead frog bodies. OK, he had to admit that there were a lot of dead frogs in here.
Gail was on the bed with the mosquito netting zipped around her, but even that thin veil of protection was going to be rendered moot soon, as there were dead frogs covering practically every inch of the netting.
"Please help me get rid of these guys," she pleaded. "Maybe if we can at least get them off the netting and off the bed, maybe, just maybe, I can swallow my bile long enough to help you guys shovel the rest off the terrace, or something," Gail lamented. Then she sighed. "I sure hope Cas knows what he's doing."
On the third day there were lice, and on the fourth came the swarms of flies. Once again, this made perfect ecological sense. With all of the frogs dead, the other insects were allowed to proliferate unchecked. His constituents were becoming very irritable now, but the Governor was not about to give in. There was nothing mystical about what was happening; it was all down to science. Still, he was starting to wonder now what some of the other Plagues were. As Governor, he supposed he should probably know that, but he didn't. That had been ancient times. Obviously, this Sheikh had access to Google, the same as everyone else did. All he'd had to do was perform his first parlour trick, and the rest had naturally followed.
Still, the Governor's daughter was an expert on ancient Egyptian culture, was she not? Perhaps he should pay her a visit at the museum, just to see what she had to say on the matter. The Governor wasn't exactly the most enlightened man on Earth, but he did love his daughter, and he realized that she had a fine mind. She was beautiful, too, but regrettably, still single. Her mother had died a couple of years prior, never having received any grandchildren, and the Governor felt sad about that. In his way, he was proud of his daughter, but he was also disappointed that she hadn't seemed to show any interest in getting married. She was still young, but she wouldn't remain so forever. But, to his credit, her father had pretty much left her alone, to live her own life. These were modern times, after all, and he was trying to be modern.
He picked up the phone and called the museum. Rowena answered on the second ring, and the Governor let her know that he was coming over, and to have his favourite tea ready for him when he got there.
Rowena hung up. Damn it. How the hell was she supposed to know what his favourite kind of tea was? This was all she needed. But she guessed she was stuck, at least for the moment. Actually, it was a shame that there was such a taboo in society about incest these days. If this were ancient times, she would just seduce the Governor, and then she would have access to all of his power. Then she might just shut down the Angels and the humans. But she supposed that kind of thing was very frowned on in this day and age of political correctness. Not that that had exactly stopped them in the past. Egyptians were hardly lily-white when it came to these matters.
But he'd said he wanted to ask her about the Plagues, and Rowena was very intrigued by that. The game was afoot, all right. She hadn't particularly enjoyed the last few days either, but Rowena had a spell that produced fresh water, so that part hadn't bothered her too much. Water into blood? Plagues of Exodus? That was so Biblical, it had her son's, Castiel's, and Bobby's names written all over it. And Lucifer could do nothing about it, because he couldn't even get near Luxor. It was hilarious.
As the Governor headed toward the museum, he looked out the back window of the car at the landscape. Pockets of the sky were black with buzzing flies now, and animals were falling down dead by the roadside. They were starting to die from dehydration and disease. This was not good. It was still completely explanatory as far as nature went, though. But now he was glad he was going to speak to his daughter. He would find out exactly what the other Plagues had been, and in what order they had occurred, and then he would have a decision to make.
The camels and dromedaries that had been penned up in Cas's back yard were all dead now, but he had had them milked before the disease had gotten hold of them, and now he had more than enough milk and water for his human friends and his house staff.
Ibrahim was in awe of his boss now. The Sheikh had moved swiftly and decisively, and the fact that he had invoked the ancient Plagues on the Governor, and that they were actually happening, was enough to convince Ibrahim that the Sheikh was no one to be trifled with. But he was a little concerned now.
Ibrahim bowed before Cas. "Begging your pardon, Sheikh, but now that the animals are all dead, what are we going to do for livestock?" He bowed lower. Ever since the whipping, Ibrahim had not raised even the tiniest of questions, not wishing for a repeat. But the running of the household was his responsibility.
But the Sheikh merely smiled thinly. "We will have healthy animals again in an hour or so," he said. "Do not be concerned, Ibrahim. I look after everyone in my purview."
And he certainly would. Things were going to get really bad now, and Cas couldn't let his friends and family cope on their own any more, not when he had all of these resources here.
"Have two cars brought around, Ibrahim," Cas said to his manservant. "We will go into town and pick up some house guests. The Governor's unfortunate stubbornness has condemned his city, and there are some people there that I will extend my hospitality to."
"Yes, Sir," Ibrahim said, bowing again. He sighed. The Americans. He should have known. But he'd better not say anything. The Sheikh was very touchy when it came to that subject. Perhaps he'd made the acquaintance of a couple of the reporters in Washington and they had befriended each other. It didn't seem like this Sheikh had much of a heart, but he was a human being, and perhaps it was possible that he had struck up a friendship with one or more of the men while he was there.
And there was the way he had been looking at that American female. She was a reporter, as well. Had he lain with her when he had been there, and was hoping for a repeat here? Ibrahim hoped not, although he knew he had better not say anything about it. The Sheikh had fourteen wives at his beck and call; lovely, cultured Egyptian women who could cater to his every need, and help him to continue the family bloodline. Ibrahim wondered if the Sheikh would insist on bringing that American woman into the palace. He sighed again. There would be nothing he could do about it even if that were the case. And he had to keep things in perspective. The sooner the new chambers were opened, the sooner the reporters would get their story, and then they would go home. If the Sheikh wanted to commune with the Westerners for a short time, Ibrahim would look the other way. And he knew how appealing an American woman could be, on a short-term basis. They were bold, wanting to be the man's equal. That meant that they gave as good as they got in the bedroom. They would actually get on top of the man sometimes, and they would be very vocal about their satisfaction. How could that not be exciting, for a change? Egyptian women were sweet and obedient, but they were trained to be so passive that it drove a man crazy sometimes. Yes, Ibrahim could definitely understand the appeal that woman might have to the Sheikh.
They started the drive into town to pick up Cas's people at the same time as Crowley stood in the back yard of the palace replenishing the livestock, and the Governor's car pulled up to the museum.
Crowley was humming a little tune as he conjured the new animals. His Brother was in rare form these days, and the King of Hell had been very impressed. The instant that Castiel had invoked the Plagues, he had followed through without any equivocation, and he was allowing things to take their course even though the townspeople were clearly suffering now. Crowley didn't think anyone had actually died yet, but it was only a matter of time. He was in agreement with the Governor that there was no magic at work here. It was a simple matter of science, and of mathematics. Dehydration plus disease equaled death.
But now the Winchesters and the God Squad were coming, and Gail would be here, of course. How long before one of them guilted Castiel into stopping the process before it arrived at its necessary conclusion? Crowley had better stay close now. If Castiel lacked the stones to do what needed to be done, Crowley could take over. The plan was working. They couldn't stop now.
"I have no tea for you, Father. My water has all turned to blood," Jasmina told him. It was a darn good excuse, and now she didn't have to worry about the fact that she wouldn't know what his favourite tea was.
"Yes, I'm aware," the Governor said testily. He gave her a quick embrace. "How are you, my daughter?"
"I am all right," she answered formally. "You wanted to talk to me about the Plagues? And the Sheikh?"
"Yes," the Governor said, sitting across from her at the library table. His bodyguards had locked the museum doors and were standing by them, out of earshot. "I need to know how much worse this could get, Jasmina."
"I've met the Sheikh," Jasmina told her father. Rowena smiled at his shocked expression. "That's right. He came here to study the bricks. He brought a few of those Americans along with him."
"He was studying the bricks?" her father asked. "Did he say why?"
Jasmina lifted an eyebrow to her father. "I'm a woman. I'm fortunate he spoke to me at all."
The Governor nodded absently. "Does he seem legitimate to you?"
"He's certainly arrogant enough to be a member of the royal family," Jasmina said with a hint of a smile. "He seems a little too friendly with those Americans, though."
The Governor thought about that. "We've experienced half of the Plagues now, but they can all be explained away by natural means. Cause and effect. Except for that first one, of course. What are the other Plagues?"
"You're the Governor; shouldn't you know that?" Rowena quipped.
"Don't be insolent, Jasmina," he snapped.
"Apologies, Father," she said. "The other Plagues, in the original order, are: boils, thunderstorms of hail and fire, locusts, darkness for 3 days, and then, of course, the big one. Death for every first-born child."
The Governor's heart sank. He'd known about that one, of course. But he was supposed to be a leader. How likely was it that this man would be able to pull all of these things off? Boils were supposed to be next. Well, that wouldn't be all that surprising, would it? There were restrictions on water usage, because no one was allowed to bathe right now. Temperatures were at record levels. Of course people would get boils, and rashes. Uncomfortable, maybe, but not fatal. Thunderstorms of hail and fire? That would be a little harder to manufacture, but it could also be interpreted a couple of different ways. There were active volcanoes in the region. There could just be a violent storm brewing, after many dry, humid days. The more days that elapsed without the rain, the more violent the storm would be. And locusts were indigenous to the area; in fact, with the death of the frogs, he was surprised they hadn't been overrun with locusts already. But 3 days of darkness would be very hard to accomplish. Yes, the Sheikh could have his thugs attack the power plant and shut the electricity down from there. But most of the homes here had generators. And the Plague was supposedly total darkness; did the Sheikh intend to throw a blanket around the sun, the moon, and the stars, too?
No, the Governor was not going to bow down to this Western dilettante. He was running a good confidence game, but he would be exposed for the fraud he was very soon. The death of every first-born child? There was no way that was going to happen.
"Do not worry, my dear," the Governor said, chucking Jasmina under the chin. "I believe this man is an impostor, and he will soon be revealed. It will never get to that point, I assure you."
Jasmina smiled. Damn right, it wouldn't. She would be out of here way before then. Still, she didn't want to leave here empty-handed, if she could help it. "I will do some research on the royal family, and on this man," she told her father. "If I find out anything useful, I will let you know immediately."
"That's my girl," he said, kissing her on the forehead. Then he strode to the foyer, snapping his fingers at his bodyguards.
Rowena waited until after they'd left, and then she picked up the phone and dialed the number of the hotel.
Sam and Dean were packed and ready to go. Cas had called, finally, and said he was coming to get them all. Thank God. It was getting a little too interesting here now. They were sick of shoveling dead frogs out of the way every time they wanted to move, the fly situation was getting downright disgusting, and they could smell the stench of rotting animal carcasses all over town. The extreme heat wasn't exactly helping the situation, either. The Governor had been making all kinds of promises to his people to fix the situation but promises seemed to be all they were. And they were in a middle-of-the-road hotel. From what Frank had told them, things were even worse in the far reaches of town, and Jody and Gail had been going nuts. Cas had called over there, too, and he had assured Frank that they would all be brought to the palace today. At least they all still had lots of water. Or so Cas had thought.
The phone rang in their room. Sam answered, and he was surprised to hear that it was Jasmina, the woman from the museum. "I may have uncovered some information about what the chambers may hold," she told him. "But I have to admit, I need some help with the language. I noticed that you seem to have an excellent grasp of the tongue. Perhaps you would like to help me to decipher what I have found?"
Sam thought about this. Truthfully, they didn't really care what was in the chambers, as long as the Tablet was in there. But maybe one of the ancient documents had some intel on the Tablet, or on any of the protections that might be around it. He couldn't pass up an opportunity like that.
"What about the Sheikh?" Sam asked her.
"I don't want to involve him in this right now," Jasmina said carefully. "Until we know exactly what we're dealing with here, I don't want to jump the gun." He could hear the smile in her voice now. "I know that seems strange, considering who my father is, but I haven't told him anything about it yet, either. I'd just like to leave it between you and me, until we can decipher its meaning. Agreed?"
Sam nodded. "Agreed." He told her he'd meet her at the museum in about half an hour.
When Cas got to Sam and Dean's hotel, Ibrahim opened the back door of the second car for him to step out. "Wait here," he instructed the manservant. Then he swept into the lobby of the hotel, and Bobby, the Musketeers, and the Winchesters were already there, waiting for him.
"It doesn't smell very good here," Cas said, making a face.
"Not as good as at the palace, I imagine," Bobby said.
Cas looked at him. "Everything's pleasant at the palace," he said calmly. "That is why you are coming there with me."
"Just a minute," Sam said. He told Cas about Jasmina's phone call. Cas was puzzled. What could that be all about? But he agreed that Sam had to go, to find out. It was too bad he couldn't go as well. But if the discovery was truly significant, they needed to find out. And Cas could sort of understand why Jasmina didn't want him involved. The Sheikh and her father were at loggerheads at the moment; that would put her in a very awkward position.
"I'll pop Sam over there, then I'll be right back," Bobby said.
"I'll call Bobby or Dean when I'm done, and somebody can come and get me," Sam said to Cas. "Or you can send a car for me, or however that works."
Cas nodded. Bobby and Sam walked to the mens' room, and when Bobby came back out, the men picked up their bags and walked outside.
"Put your bags down," Cas told them. They exchanged glances but obeyed. Cas snapped his fingers, and the chauffeurs of both cars came to grab the suitcases.
"Put them in the lead car," Cas ordered them. He looked at his friends. "That is where you will be seated," he told them. "We will make our other stop, and then we will go to the palace."
He strode to the second car and waited for Ibrahim to open the door. Once Cas was inside, his friends exchanged bemused glances and went to the lead car. The chauffeurs had just finished loading the suitcases into the spacious trunk, and they stood there for a moment, debating. They were not there to serve the Americans, but the Sheikh would be watching. The chauffeurs moved to the back doors of the lead car and opened them for the American men. Dean grinned. This might be all right.
Frank, Jody and Gail were already standing outside the hotel with their bags when the cars pulled up in front. It was just as hot inside as it was outside, and the smell was actually worse in there. The hotel management had basically given up, and the place was overrun with the corpses of the diseased animals that had wandered inside, trying to escape the hot sun. Then, they had collapsed and died, and then the flies had come. They were laying eggs in the orifices of the dead animals, and the owners were not sticking around to find out what was going to come out of those eggs. The entire staff had packed up and left the night before, leaving the guests to their own devices.
Gail saw Cas step out of the limousine, and she smiled. He was a sight for sore eyes. She had been wondering how long it was going to take for him to step up to the plate. If he had waited one more day, they were going to have had words. But he was here now, to deliver them from his Plagues. And yes, of course she knew that he was behind everything. He had hinted around about how bad it was potentially going to get, but she was sure that he'd had no choice but to do it.
"Fetch their bags and load them in the trunk," Cas ordered the chauffeur. He looked at Ibrahim. "They will be riding in my car," he told his manservant. "You will transfer to the lead car."
Ibrahim drew in a sharp breath. Not only was the Sheikh proposing to ride with the American woman, he wanted Ibrahim in the other car. Of course, the other man and woman were going to be in the same car, so his employer would have chaperones. And there was nothing that Ibrahim could do about it, anyway.
"Sir," he said, bowing low.
"Please, follow me," Cas said to Gail, Jody and Frank. He opened the back door of the second car himself for Gail to get in, then Jody and Frank followed, and then Cas got in last.
After a moment, the cars started to move, and Cas picked up the phone to speak to the chauffeur. "Turn up the air conditioning," he instructed. He hung up the phone and smiled at Gail. "Now let's get you comfortable," he said. He reached out and removed the veil that covered her face, tossing it on the floor of the car. He touched her face. "There. How's that?"
"Much better," Gail said, smiling. "Thanks for the air conditioning."
"Of course," Cas nodded, smiling. He took her hand.
"You got there just in time, Cas," Frank said. "They were about to deduct a couple of stars from our high-class accommodations."
"I think once the maggots hatched, we might have gone down even further than that," Jody quipped. She had taken off her face covering too, putting it on the seat beside her.
Frank shifted uncomfortably. "I think I might be a day early on the boils, though," he said, wincing. "I hope the translation that Sam told us about was literal and that it only happens to us guys, though. I think these ladies have suffered enough. It's not even any fun joking about being their master, any more."
Cas took Gail's other hand in his, too. "Has it really been that bad?" he asked her softly.
She shrugged. "I won't lie; it hasn't been fun. But I'm sure everyone else has been going through the same stuff. Way too many flies, lice, and dead frogs, and way too many animal corpses. But at least we had lots of water, up until last night."
Cas was puzzled. It just occurred to him that neither this group nor the men in the lead car had brought any water with them. He had plenty, but they had all assured him that they had put aside a good supply. "What do you mean, up until last night?" he asked.
"Up until a group of guys with semi-automatic weapons stormed the hotel last night and decided that they were thirstier than we were," Frank said dryly.
Cas was horrified. "Why didn't you call me?"
"And what exactly is the number in the Land of Entitlement?" Frank said sharply.
"That's not fair, Frank," Jody rebuked him. "There was nothing Cas could have done, not without blowing his cover. And he's getting us now, isn't he? It's about the mission, Frank. First and foremost. We all understood that, going in."
"Thank you, Jody," Cas said quietly. But he felt awful now.
Gail touched his face. Then she started to feel his beard. "I was wondering how this would feel," she said to him.
"And? How does it feel?" he asked.
"Requires further investigation, I think," she said, and she leaned forward to kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her tenderly.
"It tickles," she said, smiling again.
"I've missed you so much," Cas told her. "We won't be apart again for the remainder of the mission, I promise you. I should have just done this in the first place and ignored what anyone else might think."
"Is the Governor budging at all, Cas?" Jody asked him.
He frowned. "No. And if any of you know your Bible, you'll know that it isn't without precedent."
"I don't know about the Bible, but I'm familiar with the movie," Frank said. "And I know what had to be done at the end, before the Pharaoh finally gave in. Are you really prepared to go that far, Cas?"
Cas winced. "I have to be, Frank. But I'm an excellent poker player for a reason. I believe that he will back down before that point."
"I sure hope you're right, Cas," Frank said soberly.
Gail said nothing, but she knew what they were talking about, of course. Death of the first-born in every family. Could they really do that? Should they? At what point did they draw the line? But if this was the only way to rid mankind of Lucifer, weren't they more or less obligated to do it, in terms of the bigger picture?
She moved forward, nestling herself against Cas. He put his arms around her and held her, and they watched the scenery go by.
Sure enough, there were reports on the news that evening that many Egyptian men had now contracted boils and open sores on their bodies, and the lineups at the doctors' offices and pharmacies were growing long. Thankfully, the women had been spared.
Frank was the only one of their number who had been thus afflicted, and he continued to shift uncomfortably in his chair as they watched the news. The palace had many rooms, but they had all congregated here together. It was good to be reunited, and even though they all had to act formally around Cas still, he was right there with them. He had told his staff to attend to any needs his guests may have, as if they were tending to the Sheikh himself.
Ibrahim had been standing by the door, and he cleared his throat now.
"Yes, Ibrahim?" Cas asked him.
"I have some liniment which may provide some relief to your guest," Ibrahim said.
"Well then, by all means, let's have it," Cas said. Ibrahim left the room. He came back a few minutes later with a tube of cream in his hand.
"If you will go upstairs to your room, I will be up in a moment to administer the cream," Ibrahim said to Frank.
Frank gave him a look, then snatched the tube out of his hand. "It's OK. I think this is something I can handle myself," he told the manservant.
Ibrahim shrugged. "As you wish."
Dean was smirking. "Are you sure, Frank? Getting to those hard-to-reach places can be a real bitch, sometimes."
Ibrahim gasped audibly, and Cas glared at Dean. "You will not use such language in front of ladies," he admonished his friend. "It is rude, and vulgar."
Dean rolled his eyes. Right. Cas was in character. So according to Egyptian standards, you could treat women like crap, make them cover up every inch of their bodies in hundred-degree heat, and order them around, but God forbid you should use slightly off-colour language around them. This Ibrahim guy had actually called Gail an American whore, and he had physically knocked her to the ground. Dean couldn't wait to get out of this place. He may be far from perfect, but at least he was able to treat a woman with respect.
Gail looked at Dean. She was pretty much thinking along the same lines. She was currently sitting next to Jody on the loveseat. She wouldn't be able to sit next to Cas, of course. But Cas had advised his staff that since she and Jody were Americans, they would not be required to keep their faces covered in his home. So, at least there was that. The palace didn't have any air conditioning, but it did actually feel cooler here, and there were no flies or dead animals, so there was no smell. They all had their own spacious bedrooms, and she had actually been able to take a shower when they got here. Now, this was how the other half lived.
The news reporters had figured out the connection between the Plagues and what the city was undergoing now, and even though the Governor had scoffed at the parallels, saying that all the events could be logically explained away, the alarmists were starting to weigh in.
"According to the Bible, we can look forward to thunderstorms of hail and fire, as early as tomorrow," one of the reporters said in a half-amused tone. "Sounds like a job for the weather desk."
Cas picked up the remote and shut off the TV. "Dinner is being served, for whoever is hungry," he said to his friends. "I will take a walk around the grounds for a while."
The humans exchanged glances. They could certainly go for something to eat and drink. It was a lot easier to have an appetite when you weren't baking in hundred-degree heat and dealing with swarms of flies and the constant smell of dead animals.
Frank winced as he rose. "You guys go ahead," he said to Dean and Jody. "I think I'd better do a little application, first." He waggled the tube of liniment.
Bobby and the Angels all looked at each other. Was it going to seem peculiar if none of them went to dinner? "I'll see you there in a few minutes," Bobby told them. He wanted to talk to Cas, anyway.
Gail was torn. She didn't really want to go to the dining room and just sit around, but she didn't know how it would look if she went out to the grounds with Cas.
"Can I interest you both in a tour of the grounds?" Cas said to her and Bobby. "I have a beautiful rose garden."
Gail smiled. Just like that, he had solved her dilemma. And since Bobby would be coming with them as a chaperone, it was perfect.
Dean poured himself a huge glass of cold water. It was funny how you never realized how much you missed something until you didn't have it any more. And there was something else: Dean had had almost zero alcohol since they'd been here. He'd indulged in a few of the local drinks the first night they'd gotten here, but he'd found that it was just too damn hot here to drink a lot of booze. You could never get a buzz on anyway, because you sweated it out right away. And once Dean had seen the political climate here, he'd figured he had better keep his wits about him. Those guys with the submachine guns looked like they meant business, and sooner or later, one of them was going to say or do something to really piss one of those guys off. And now that Cas had unleashed the Plagues on the city, Dean had the feeling that there was going to be a big showdown soon.
He wondered what Sam was finding out at the museum. Hopefully, something that would speed the process up.
Sam was making a few discoveries at the museum, but they had very little to do with books.
Rowena had kept the doors locked ever since Jasmina's father had left, and she had several of her special scarves draped over the lamps on the table. There was no way that she was getting rejected again today.
She let him in and led him to the library table, excusing herself for a moment. She brought out a book on the discovery of the original tomb, inviting him to leaf through it. There was nothing unique about the book at all, and certainly no new ground to be covered. But she was stalling for time, letting him breathe in the spell that the scarves were casting.
"Can I get you anything?" Jasmina asked him softly.
"No, I'm fine," Sam told her. He began flipping through the pages of the book. It looked interesting enough, but he couldn't really see anything new or innovative in it.
"What did you really want to show me?" Sam asked her. He noticed now that she had beautiful brown eyes. Just like Gail's. And she was a gorgeous, shapely woman.
"Here," Jasmina said. She walked around the table and leaned over his shoulder, putting her hand on his. "Allow me to make a confession," she said, putting her other hand lightly on his shoulder. Her cleavage was at his eye level, and she had stuffed another scarf down there, just for good measure. "I just wanted to be alone with you," she told him.
Sam couldn't help but stare. Jasmina sat on his lap, and he put his arms around her. She leaned down and kissed him. "You're a handsome, intelligent man," she said. "We Egyptian women have our appetites too, but we're expected to be demure and subservient, and wait for the man to take the lead."
"I can do that," Sam said, and he tore open the front of her gown and buried his face in her breasts. Rowena smiled.
Then Sam undid his pants and lifted her up, onto the library table. What the hell was he doing? This wasn't like him at all. But Jasmina was smiling, and she said, "I've always wanted to do this here." She got onto her hands and knees. "Take me, Sam."
He climbed up on the table and got behind her, still wondering what the hell he was doing. But she smelled so good, and she looked so hot that way. She grabbed him and guided him into her, and he pushed forward, hard. After a moment or two, she began to yell, and he grabbed her by the hair and thrust himself even deeper into her. Rowena was still smiling. She grabbed one of his hands and brought it to herself, using his long fingers to stroke her there. She cried out again. It had been way too long since she'd had it like this.
Sam finished, and then he came to his senses a little. She must be uncomfortable in this position. He took his hand out of her hair and withdrew from her. "Come here," he said, turning her around and taking her in his arms. "Are you cold?"
Rowena rolled her eyes. Here it came. Touchy-feely, call-you-the-next-day-and-send-you-flowers Sam Winchester. She had just been getting warmed up, and now he wanted to cuddle. Now she remembered why he hadn't been near the top of her list.
But at least he had taken the edge off, and she had finally gotten a little relief. And now that she had the field narrowed, Rowena knew who it would have to be.
Sam was back with them at the palace now. He'd called Dean's cell, and Cas had sent one of the cars to the museum to pick him up. Sam had eaten ravenously but silently, and he had been reticent about his visit to the museum. He'd merely said that Jasmina's discovery had not amounted to anything they didn't already know, and that had been it.
Bobby had accompanied Cas and Gail out to the rose garden, and once they were out of earshot of the house staff, he asked Cas how he had managed to pull off the Plagues. Cas admitted to Bobby and Gail that Crowley had helped him with the first one, but the Governor was right: everything after that had pretty much just been nature, taking its course.
"He did provide us with some more healthy animals, too," Cas told them. It turns out that Crowley can conjure animals, Gail can make them attack, and I can tame them. Those are some of the complementary powers our Father gave us."
"How are you going to make it rain hail and fire?" Bobby asked Cas. He had given up on pretending that he was in charge here. This was Cas's show.
"It turns out that one of my Original powers is control of the weather, to a certain extent," Cas told them. He absently took Gail's hand. "It's ironic, really. All of those times in the past that I thought the weather was affecting my mood, and it turns out it was the other way around."
"I don't suppose you could lower the temperature here a couple of thousand degrees then, could you?" Gail said sardonically.
Cas smiled grimly. "You know that I would do that for you, if I could. But we have to stick with the program, as the saying goes."
Gail nodded. So, they could look forward to seeing hail and fire rain down from the skies tomorrow. God, she hoped this Governor guy would cave soon. He would have to after that happened, wouldn't he?
At dawn, the dark clouds gathered and the hail began to fall. The occasional fireball shot out from the clouds, destroying some of the buildings in town. Cas tried to make sure that the buildings that were obliterated had been deserted, for the most part. But he'd made a point to have the hotel where Gail had been staying completely destroyed. Those people did not deserve to own a business. They had abandoned their guests to squalid conditions and allowed them to be terrorized. The managers had all been men, and they were all cowards. At the very least, they should have made sure that the women were taken care of before they had just left everyone to their fates.
He turned to his friends. "I am going to see the Governor this morning. Hopefully, this will finally convince him. Stay here in the palace, and no harm will befall you. My staff have been instructed to attend to any needs you may have." And then, he was gone.
Then Cas was in the Governor's office. The secretary did not even try to stop him this time, nor did she even buzz her boss. She herself was absolutely convinced that the Sheikh was who he said he was, and she was terrified of him. She knew that her employer would not care about her opinion, but if he were to ask her for it, she would tell him to give in to the man now, before he carried out the last of the Plagues. The Governor's daughter was an only child, or had he forgotten? Or worse, was he prepared to sacrifice her, to stand on his precious principles? Well, she for one wasn't going to stick around and find out. She had her bags packed and sitting at home, and she was going to take her twin boys and get out of town tonight. Her husband was out of town on business, and she'd left him a message to expect his family's arrival later tonight.
"Are you ready to capitulate?" Cas said to the Governor.
The politician looked at him coolly. "I did not see you on my list of appointments for today."
Cas concentrated, and he brought down a fireball on the building across the street. He'd taken a quick glance before coming upstairs and he had noticed that particular building was up for lease, so it was likely to be unoccupied. But he needed to get through to this man somehow.
The Governor's secretary screamed. "I quit!" she told her boss. She ran out to her desk and got her purse. No job was worth this.
"I have to admit, that was fairly impressive," the Governor said to Cas. "But I remain unconvinced."
"Your people are suffering!" Cas exclaimed. "Don't you care?"
"Aren't they your people too, supposedly?" the Governor shot back.
"I am not their leader!" Cas thundered. "I am not the one they look to for help and guidance, who does a two-minute sound bite every night assuring them that everything is all right!"
"Oh, but everything IS all right," the Governor said. "Your game is nearly at an end."
"Really?" Cas said, snorting with derision. "No, it is YOU who is nearly at an end. Your people will rebel against you. And your daughter is an only child, is she not?" The Governor looked at him sharply but said nothing.
Cas let out a frustrated breath and swept out of the office. He was going to remain stubborn until the bitter end, Cas knew that now. What was he going to do? Crowley was right; he would have no credibility at all if he blinked before the Governor did, and if they couldn't get into those chambers, they couldn't get the Tablet. And it didn't matter how many Angels could overpower the guards and wink themselves into the chambers, because they needed a human to touch the Tablet and transport it out of the dig site. That had been the whole point of attempting to assimilate in the first place. But Cas had painted himself into a corner now. He had gotten so carried away with the role that he was playing, thinking that the Governor was going to care about his peoples' well-being, that Cas had never allowed himself to believe that things would progress this far.
But the next day, it was time for the locusts to come, and the townspeople had had enough. They began making angry phone calls and posting threats online, until the city became so heavy with the bugs that the telephone and Internet services were blocked out. People barricaded themselves into their homes and hunkered down for the rest of the day, and so did the Governor.
He knew the people were fed up, but he was sure that everything would come to a screeching halt tomorrow, when the so-called Sheikh was unsuccessful in causing 3 consecutive days of total darkness. There was no way the Governor could see that happening. He didn't care how many parlour tricks this man thought he had. No human could do what was supposed to happen next.
And he was right, of course. No human could do that. But three Originals could. Just before sunrise the day after the day of the locusts, Castiel, Crowley and Gail stood on the highest hill above town and combined their blades in the same manner as Cas and Crowley had done that first day. The blue, red and gold auras came out of their blades and Crowley instructed the Angels to lift their blade hands high, almost as if they were conducting the crescendo to a grand symphony. Then, when enough of a glow had been produced from all three of their blades, Crowley directed them to put their blades away. Then all three of them plunged their hands into the glowing ball and flung it towards the city, as if throwing a blanket over a statue.
Everything went pitch dark in the city, and the stars in the sky winked out. The sun was out now, but their blanket covered it. Everything was totally dark, as had been described in the Bible. "They'll be able to feel that, soon," Crowley said quietly. "It'll be oppressive, and it'll be suffocating. If this doesn't do it, nothing will." He deliberately didn't mention the last Plague. They were so close to the end now. One way or the other.
Gail spoke the Enochian word to her blade to get enough light for them to see by. "So, three days of pitch dark," she said. "Well, at least I have this, so I can grope my way around the palace," she quipped.
"It's too bad the two of you aren't married yet," Crowley smirked. "You could make some great use of those three days in the dark."
But that was all he said. Gail was amazed. For a guy who was normally fairly disgusting, Crowley was almost behaving like a decent individual these days. Even Dean might have come up with something more crude, probably.
"Call me if he folds," Crowley said to Castiel. Then he snapped himself away.
Silence for a moment. "He's not going to fold, is he?" Gail asked Cas quietly.
"He may, still," Cas said, but his voice was toneless. "This is just the first morning."
"He's not going to fold, is he, Cas?" she repeated.
Cas frowned. "No. I don't believe he is."
"So you're really going to do it?" she asked him. "You're really going to kill every first-born child in Luxor?"
"What would you have me do, Gail? You've seen enough high-stakes poker games to know that when you go all in, you're all in," Cas said wearily. "If I walk away from the table, we might as well just hand the Earth to Lucifer right now."
"I don't recall ever seeing anyone lose their lives at the poker table, just their money," she retorted.
"Fine," he said shortly. "And what is your solution?"
"Maybe let's not kill one-third of the city's population, for starters," she said tartly.
"And your alternative is...?" Cas asked her quietly. But Gail was silent. She had no alternative.
"It's very easy to be critical when the responsibility does not rest with you," he told her coolly. "And it's very easy to state what you do NOT want to see happen, without being able to suggest a realistic alternative. I don't want to kill any of the people of Luxor, Gail. But I also don't want to offer the rest of humanity up to Lucifer on a silver platter, either. You said you understood the mission. I trust you can find your way back to the palace."
Then Cas disappeared.
Gail stood there for a while, thinking. Crowley had been right; the darkness was so pervasive that she could almost feel it, like a heavy coat on her shoulders.
Cas was right. Once you were all in, you had to be all in. Besides, the Governor might still fold. After more than a day of this, the people were going to be calling for his blood. Everyone knew what was supposed to come next.
Cas was wrong. How could they just be okay with killing off the first-born of each family in town? Would Crowley send his Demons in to do the job? Would he lead the charge? Or, worse, would Castiel ride alongside his Brother, wielding his own sword? How could they live with themselves if they took it that far? What made the lives of the people of Luxor any less precious than those of the rest of humanity? Statistically, she supposed it was for the greater good, but where did they draw the line? What made Cas so sure that they wouldn't just be doing Lucifer's work for him, if they allowed it to escalate to that point?
But maybe it was Gail who was wrong. She was a newer Angel, a younger upstart, really. God had given her a few extra talents and uplifted her status because He had liked her, and because she was His favourite Son's chosen mate. But did that really entitle her to have a say? This was the Devil they were trying to defeat. He and Castiel and Crowley were as old as Creation itself, and they were using the ancient ways to have their fight. Maybe she should just admit that there were a lot of things she didn't know, and that she wasn't an Alpha. She was clearly out of her element now, and it had nothing to do with womens' rights any more. It was an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth, and she needed to step out of the way and let the real players finish the game.
Gail stayed a minute or two longer, saying a quick prayer to their Father that Cas would know the right thing to do when the time came. Then she winked herself back to the palace.