Chapter 14

Wind ripped through his hair...clothes pressed flat against his body and the many new scars...pressing hard and fast...faster then it should have. Dean looked up through a tear streaked haze feeling his emotions cascading out of control. Through the bleary twilight black specs dotted the horizon in a fashion he so well remembered....

Reason and rhyme had long ago left as heart ache after heart ache settled into his chest almost like an old friend now...something that felt familiar...he felt his jaw tighten under the weight of a world gone to hell...or at least on the verge as the alarm bells rang far below.

Memories of old stirred ...memories of shades and black winged devils...of Washington...and bridges. "Alturoc." he whispered. The word was a curse on his a tongue...a bite of blood and marred flesh...a taint on the world and everything he knew. Through the confusion and the agony of realization a thoughtful question slipped into his mind past the swirling whirl of madness. Why did the bastard still want Ambre? Any of them? Why attack the Foci? They had proven long before now that they held no true defense...or really much of an offense.

The unanswered questions fueled a growing anger inside him as he slowly rose from his knees...his body silhouetted against the setting sun...let them come...somewhere deep inside two growing voices agreed.

Nessa was jumping bodies screaming for action as more guardians joined her efforts - Sam fast on her heels dodging magus and waking guardians. "GET UP " Nessa growled in a scream. God alarms didn't go off for just a damn demon walking up to the door...something bad was going on and the repercussions had yet to reach them...the unconsciousness wasn't even a question in her mind yet - She didn't even want to know what Cowboy had done - not yet anyway.

"What's happening?" Sam called at her back, his voice fearful and nearing a scream as well just over the noise in the hallways now.

"I already told you We're under attack. If you can't do anything useful then get the hell out of the way " Nessa screamed back at him. She disappeared into the cafeteria and saw that Ambre and Shay were still passed out over the table they had been sitting at. Nessa gave a visible sigh of relief. Nessa turned and Sam almost ran into her. She gave him a glare before motioning behind her at the sleeping couple. "Listen wake the Princess and her cupcake up..I'm going to grab some weapons and I'll be right back."

"I don't have time to babysit. We have to find Dean." Sam replied quickly narrowing his eyes at her.

Nessa's mouth fell open. "Trust me Sugar...after what I saw down there - Cowboy can take care of himself. Ambre can't...now stay with her." Without another word Nessa was moving to the weapons hold.

Sam looked after in disbelief then back to Ambre - God Lord what was so special about this woman? More ten that...what had Dean done and how...and was he really alright? It felt as if he had nearly killed him...all of them...and then there were the bodies that hadn't moved...the ones that hadn't survived...that didn't add up to alright in his book...Maybe capable of taking care of himself...but then where was he?

Dean stepped to the edge of the roof as the flutter of black wings blotted out the last light of day...casting the whole of the city into darkness. He didn't have time to do what he had before...spend time and effort fighting the being that had resided inside him - trying to justify the good or bad...to find some way to get it out...he was running out of choices and while they weren't on his even halfway decent list he needed them as much as they needed him...and hell there were two of them now...as long as they did via fro control he didn't care who came out on top on the power distribution so long as the power was there.

"Hey guys." Dean whispered to himself to Malachi and Danisheyal brother Gods that had once plunged the world into war over Inan. Gods that had so decimated the earth that all that was left was a handful of a magus that formed Foci command. Gods that had better find a friggin way for him to save who was left below...because they had killed too many people to stay quiet now. "I'm really not askin' here. You want to stay in this body you better turn on the juice." Dean's voice was coated in the anger and pain from before with the anger winning out, out of pure necessity. "Or I swear to God I'll put a f*cking bullet in my brain. End game. No chance for reviving. So how about a little cooperation here."

As if on cue - because he sure as hell wasn't joking about the suicide - Dean felt the power surge. It hit like the damn bursting right before the shit had hit the fan in the frozen wastes of the ruined world he had sacrificed so heavily to save. Dean hit his knees on the roof ledge with a scream that tore through his chest mirroring the burning that seared straight through to his fractured soul.

He was so going to regret asking for this he knew it...he'd almost died from the sickness that had resulted the last time and that was from one damned God...now he had two unleashing their power inside him - but he could tell they were holding back still. Dean set his claws in deep trying to stay conscious.

Nessa fling the top off a crate of guns and started handing them out to the guardians already prepping for battle. They took their guns and moved on all at a run for the stairwell...to get outside...to stop the bastards from breaking into the building from above.

Nessa certainly didn't look like it, but she was scared to death. Because no evil Son of a bitch had ever tried a power play like this that so whole heartedly broke protocol. Everyone in Washington could see what she had seen as she finally passed the security station and took in the waves of Black Winged Devils headed in their direction. Nessa pushed Steffs, another guardian, out of the way and handed her weapons passer job to someone else so she could get to the front lines. White wings unfurled as the host of guardians poured from the building and lined up along the front...looking up at the descending blackness. "HOLD!" Someone screamed down the lines and they were all priming their weapons to fire as they waited for permission to become air born.

The black wings were almost there by the time the call went out to get to the skies. The guardian burst from the side walk entrance straight up against the building and clashed with a sea of black wings near the roof top.

Dean fell backwards in surprise as the sudden flash of white fluttered upward inches from his face and slammed into the approaching black wings. The wind hit him hard and he had to scramble back to his feet at a pant still trying to deal with the power that the Gods had released inside him.

"Bobby!" Sam screamed through the roar of motion going on below as he grabbed Bobby and yanked him into the cafeteria. "Bobby - Stay here with Ambre and Shay. I'm going top side - need to find Dean. I don't think he's in here!"

"Sam, They just sent a whole hell of lot of these guys out there with guns that's the last place you want to be." Bobby replied evenly as Sam didn't listen to a word he said and took off running down the corridors - shoving his way through people until he burst through the front doors and gasped at the battle going on heavenward.

He barely got a chance to let the shock settle when he was suddenly plowed into by a guy sporting black wings and a snarl from hell. Sam's body slammed into the brick building behind him with the guy on top of him rendering him stunned long enough to be wrenched upward with the guy into the night sky. He had barely recovered from the initial blow when he felt the sting of a knife sear through his rib cage...and then he was falling away hearing the laughter as it died in a rush and woosh of wings.

Dean watched the white and black pummel into each other as gun fire lit up the night sky. He was barely following the flurry of movement when an lone figure not sporting wings began to plummet through the night sky holding a bloodied hand away from his middle in shock.

"Sammy!"