Chapter 4
They arrived in a suburban living room, Dean stumbling a little.
"Little warning next time," he grumbled.
"We did warn you," Ariel reminded him, grinning at the familiar reaction.
"How'd you get in here?!" Oh, she'd forgotten to check if the owner of the house was home. One read of his soul with her Grace revealed his name to be Darryl Birch.
"Calm down, Mr. Birch," Sam said, having already recovered from the sudden transport as he pulled out his fake badge. "Federal agents."
"You can't just walk in here!" Darryl still protested.
"That's quite a collection you've got there," Sam noted, nodding to the clippings on the man's table and Ariel noticed that they were the same clippings the Winchesters had collected of the murdered policemen. "Look, we know the truth, all right? Chris didn't have a gun on him when those cops shot him. They set him up."
Darryl's expression was grim. "Yeah. They're all getting theirs."
"And who's giving it to them, Darryl?" Sam pressed accusingly.
"Did you kill Toby Gray and the others?" Dean finally cut in.
"Me?!" Darryl's eyes widened. "I didn't kill anyone! Look at how they died!"
"You smote them with the Staff of Moses," Castiel said tersely, earning a confused look from Darryl.
"The hell kind of Fed are you?"
"We don't have time for this," Castiel said irritably as Ariel frowned, reading a little further beyond the man's name. "Where is it?"
"He didn't do it," Ariel piped up suddenly, "He's innocent."
"Leave my dad alone!"
"He, however, is not," Ariel sighed, turning around to face the newcomer, a young boy barely in his preteens brandishing a stick. "That Staff is definitely not scaled to size."
"It's been sawed off," Castiel agreed with her.
"Leave him alone! It wasn't him!" the boy insisted.
"Aaron, get out of here!" Darryl insisted.
"Okay, okay, calm down with the drama here, no one's getting hurt," Ariel reassured him, holding her hands up and then snapping her fingers. Darryl collapsed onto his couch like a marionette whose strings had been cut.
Aaron jerked, startled. "What did you just do to him?" he snapped accusingly.
"It's all right. He's just sleeping," Dean reassured him and Aaron pointed the Staff at him in response warningly. Within seconds, Castiel was behind the boy, snatching the Staff out of his hands.
"Easy, Cas," Ariel cautioned Castiel - what had gotten into him lately? - before turning to Aaron and kneeling down to his height. "Hey, I promise none of us are gonna hurt you, okay? We just need you to answer a couple of questions for us." Aaron sniffled a little, swiping his sleeve under his nose before nodding tentatively. "How did you get the Staff?"
"Please don't kill my dad. It was me. I did it," he blurted out, Ariel's kind tone doing nothing for his fear.
"Nobody's killing anybody. What's your name?" Dean interrupted, kneeling down beside her.
"Aaron. Aaron Birch," the boy said quietly at last.
"Okay, Aaron Birch, where did you get this?" Dean gestured to the Staff and Aaron hesitated.
"You won't believe me." He glanced nervously at Ariel before looking back at Dean.
"Try us," Dean answered.
Aaron bit his lip. "It was an angel." Dean and Sam automatically glanced at Ariel and Castiel, whose eyebrows both went up. "Those liars, they killed my brother, and nothing bad even happened to them. It's not fair. So I prayed to God every night he would punish them. God didn't answer. But he did."
"Who did?" Ariel prompted. "Did he give you a name?"
Aaron shook his head. "He just said I could have justice, but I was gonna have to take it myself. And then he gave me the stick."
Dean looked disbelieving. "Come on. He didn't just give it to you, did he, Aaron?"
Aaron answered, "I bought it."
Sam snorted abruptly. "With what? What's your allowance?" Ariel shot him a warning look and he subsided.
She turned back to Aaron. "What did you give him, Aaron?"
"My soul." The words seemed far too solemn to be coming from a child.
"You sold your soul to an angel?" Sam asked skeptically.
"That shouldn't even be possible," Ariel said, frowning as she got to her feet to glance at Castiel.
"It is. But it's certainly never happened before. That could explain why he cut the staff into pieces," he reasoned.
"More supply, more product," Ariel sighed.
"More 'product?'" Dean echoed, grimacing. "Who is this guy?"
"We'll find him." Castiel suddenly pressed two fingers to Aaron's forehead and the boy collapsed.
"Cas!" Ariel reprimanded.
"What did you do that for?" Dean demanded as Castiel easily slung Aaron over his shoulder.
"Portability." Within seconds, they were back in the motel room, Castiel dropping Aaron onto the bed unceremoniously.
"You realize you just kidnapped a kid," Dean pointed out, bewildered.
"If the angel we seek truly bought this boy's soul, when a claim is laid on a living soul, it leaves a mark, a brand." Castiel looked up, nonplussed as to why they were protesting so much.
"But that would mean reading Aaron's soul to find that angel's name," Ariel pointed out, frowning. "Not like the skimming I do, but deeper."
"Yes." Castiel blinked at her.
"But that would be painful for him," she added, wondering why he didn't seem to be getting it.
"Excruciating, yes. But it won't last long. And he's asleep, anyway."
"You've got to be kidding me," Dean said, sounding sickened. "He's a kid! Sam?" He turned to Sam for support and Ariel did, too, only to find that Sam's face was impassive.
"Any permanent damage?"
"Sam!" Ariel protested, surprised at his nonchalance.
"Physically, minimal," Castiel added, ignoring his sister completely.
"Oh, well, yeah, then by all means, stick your arm right in there," Dean said sarcastically.
"Dean! If I get the name, Ariel and I can work a ritual to track the angel down."
"There's gotta be some other way!" Dean protested.
"There isn't," Ariel admitted, "But I still don't like this method, either."
"So you're just gonna torture a kid, is that it?" Dean glanced at her before looking back at Castiel.
"I wish I could have the same moral doubts that you and Ariel seem to be suffering, but I don't have the luxury." Castiel's eyebrows were furrowed. "Let me do this. Please." He looked at Ariel now, seeking her permission.
Grimacing, she finally nodded, taking a seat near the head of the bed and placing a hand on Aaron's forehead, ready to dull his pain as soon as Castiel began. The younger angel rolled his sleeve up before unceremoniously shoving it into the spot between Aaron's ribcage and abdomen, his fist glowing red with power. Aaron screamed and Dean twitched at the sound even as Ariel hushed the boy, sending a soothing wave of Grace over him to dull his agony. Aaron calmed visibly as she worked to keep his pain at bay.
Castiel retracted his hand abruptly, his eyes wide, and Aaron settled back into unconsciousness as Ariel withdrew her Grace again, leaning back and breathing heavily. Using her Grace to hold back pain of that nature, soul-deep and powerful, was like forcing a mountain to move with little success - taxing and exhaustive.
"Did you get a name?" Sam prompted and even through her tired daze, Ariel could tell something was off by how dismissive he was of the suffering boy. That wasn't Sam's way.
"I thought he died in the war," Castiel said quietly at last, staring at his own hand pensively.
"Was he a friend or something?" Sam asked, frowning.
"A good friend."
"Yeah, well, your frat buddy is now moonlighting as a crossroads demon," Dean said crossly.
"Cas?" Ariel shifted upwards against the wall, peering at Castiel wearily. "Who was it?"
"Balthazar." Ariel's breath caught in her throat. She knew Balthazar almost as well as she'd know any of her fledglings. He had been one of Gabriel's, and they often shared their fledglings while raising them, a habit indicative of their twin nature.
"So we can find him now, right?" Sam's voice cut through her shock.
"Balthazar. Thanks, Castiel. We'll make good use of the name." At the unfamiliar voice, Ariel scrambled up to her feet, flicking her wrist to slide her archangel's blade into her waiting hand even as Castiel did the same, facing the new angel that had appeared in the room. Ariel recognized him as one of Raphael's lieutenants. He went for Castiel's throat first and Castiel tossed him aside easily, regaining his footing as he twisted his blade into an offensive position.
Ariel sent out another blast of Grace, shoving the Winchesters out of harm's way and against the wall just as the angel came after her next, catching her off-guard in her weakened state and pushing her up against the wall.
"And by the way, Raphael says hello," he sneered. She focused her energy into a telekinetic shove, sending him back towards the window as he threw his blade at her, catching her hand and knocking her archangel's blade to the floor. Wincing, she clutched at her bleeding hand, which shone with leaking Grace, as Castiel tackled the angel through the window.
Sam, Dean, and Ariel rushed to the window to see Castiel and the angel grappling in mid-air before they crashed headfirst into a car parked on the street below. The angel disappeared, leaving Castiel standing next to the wreckage of the car.
"My car," Sam croaked, horrified.
"Was that yours?" Ariel grinned up at him, too amused to feel sorry for him. He scowled at her and her smile only widened at the familiar bitchface.
"Silver lining," Dean agreed, amused, before seeing the blood dripping from Ariel's palm. "How's your hand?" He reached for her hand and she shook her head, quickly retracting it.
"Don't look at it directly, you'll hurt your eyes." She focused on dimming her Grace as much as possible so that neither Winchester would get an accidental glimpse of it. "It's not bad, it'll heal given a day or so. Do you have any bandages or something to wrap it up?" Dean nodded, heading over to his duffel bag to pull out the first-aid kit from it. He brought back a roll of bandages and she clumsily wrapped the bandages around her palm, wishing her dominant hand hadn't been the one to be injured. "Thanks."
Castiel appeared back in the motel room, brushing stray bits of glass off his shoulders. "He's gone, I couldn't track him," he told Ariel apologetically.
"Don't worry about it, I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't the last we saw of him," she reassured him as she went to collect her archangel's blade, placing it back in the sheath hidden in her sleeve.
"Okay, who the hell was that guy?" Dean demanded, clearly done with waiting patiently for answers.
"A soldier of Raphael. He must have followed us when we answered your call," Castiel answered.
"Raphael?" Dean's eyebrows shot up. "I thought you said things were okay in Heaven the last time we talked," he told Ariel accusingly.
"Yeah, and when was the last time we talked, a year ago?" Ariel shot back as Castiel went and collected a bowl from the cupboard on the other side of the room. "Things changed, okay? Not long after I stopped getting your prayers, in fact. There's been a total civil war up in Heaven between my side and Raphael's."
"A war?" Sam cut in at last, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why?"
"Raphael wants another Apocalypse," Castiel explained wearily as he set up the bowl, collecting supplies from Sam's duffel bag as he went. "He wants to end the story the way it was written."
"Obviously we can't let that happen," Ariel added, sitting down on the edge of the bed as she watched Castiel work. "Given how much work we put in to stop the first one." Dean snorted with wry amusement.
"Which is why we have to find Balthazar and his weapons before Raphael does. Whoever has the weapons wins the war," Castiel reasoned.
"Oh, I was actually just gonna suggest we get him on our side," Ariel pointed out, "Since he's a good soldier and loyal, but yeah, the weapons work, too."
"If we can manage both, it's just as well," Castiel conceded, frowning at the bowl.
"Why does Raphael want to start the Apocalypse again, anyway?" Dean asked.
Not answering the question, Castiel said abruptly, "I need myrrh." He vanished and Ariel rolled her eyes.
"I could've just gotten the stuff for him," she grumbled.
"Maybe he wants you to save your strength," Dean said, peering at Ariel critically. "You do look pretty wiped."
"I'm fine. Just a little too much Grace in a short time span," she dismissed absently, trying to ignore the niggling voice in the back of her head reminding her that she shouldn't have to feel so exhausted at all. Her Grace was plentiful and she shouldn't be so tired after a few bursts of energy. "I'll go take Aaron back to his house, you guys stick with Cas. Don't go anywhere until I get back." She took Aaron Birch's hand and vanished with him.
She settled the boy on his bed, stroking his hair gently before moving to get up.
"Hey," he rasped suddenly and she turned back to see him wide awake and peering at her. "Are you an angel, too? Like the one who took my soul?"
Her heart twisted at the reminder that Balthazar was selling and buying souls. "I'm an archangel," she admitted quietly.
"Which one?" Aaron squinted at her, clearly trying to suss out who she was.
"My name's Ariel."
"Never heard of you," he told her frankly and she cracked a smile.
"Most people haven't. I'm Gabriel's twin." Her throat was tight and she swallowed back the painful lump so that she could speak.
"Oh." Aaron continued to watch her, wide-eyed and curious, before smiling tentatively. "Thanks. I could tell you were keeping the pain back."
She smiled back at him warmly. "You're welcome. And I promise I'll get you your soul back, no debts or anything involved. Don't do something like sell it again, okay?" Sheepishly, Aaron nodded and she squeezed his shoulder. "Keep praying. Someone will be listening." With that, she disappeared and returned to the motel room to find that Castiel, Dean, and Sam were waiting expectantly around the table.
"About time," Dean snipped and Ariel rolled her eyes back at him.
"Hey, I needed to reassure the kid we'd get his soul back for him. Can we get on with the tracking spell?"
Castiel nodded as he arranged the myrrh he'd found. "As for why Raphael is bringing back the Apocalypse, he's a traditionalist."
"In every sense of the word," Ariel said wearily, absently rubbing her side where she could still feel the scar sometimes where Raphael had once slashed her. Archangel blades tended to leave more lasting injuries than a regular angel's blade did, even if both had the same initial impact.
Abruptly, Castiel grabbed Dean's hand and sliced his palm.
"Ow! Cas, what the hell?!" Dean demanded as Castiel turned the bloody gash towards the bowl.
"I needed human blood for the spell," the angel replied, hardly sounding apologetic as he added the myrrh and some holy water to the bowl, intoning quietly in Enochian. Ariel could feel the shift in energy as the spell worked to find Balthazar. "Got him. Let's go," Castiel said finally, breaking the spell off, and Ariel cleared the table with a snap of her fingers before taking a hold of Sam's sleeve as Castiel grasped Dean's arm.
Within seconds, they were standing outside a large mansion, crickets chirping somewhere across the spacious grounds.
"Huh. I was expecting more Dr. No, less Liberace," Dean snarked half-heartedly, wide-eyed as he surveyed the mansion. They all made their way inside and Ariel could see that the interior was just as lushly decorated as the outside.
"Split up," she ordered and both Winchesters started; she supposed they hadn't expected her to take charge since Castiel had been the one making the calls thus far. "Arrange a circle of holy oil near the door and we'll get him into it." She didn't plan to hurt Balthazar, but it would be easier to get answers if he couldn't fly away or attack them. Sam and Dean nodded obediently and went to set up the trap as Castiel and Ariel made their way up the stairs.
On the first landing, a croak echoed through the foyer when Ariel was about to put her foot down and she realized that she had almost stepped on a frog. Exchanging an alarmed look with Castiel, they teleported the rest of the way, walking down the hallway at the top of the stairs before stopping outside an ornate doorway, behind which blasted loud music. Ariel pushed the door open and went in first, quickly followed by Castiel.
The room was mostly empty save a large grand piano against the wall and strobe lights around the room. Abruptly, the door slammed shut behind them and both of them spun around, their blades flicking into their hands.
"Cas, Ariel." Balthazar smiled beatifically. "You're here."
Yes, I really am ending it here. But look, my second favorite angel showed up at last! (first being Gabriel, of course) I know I said I'd finish The Third Man with this chapter, but this ending really kind of wrote itself. I'll try to have the last bit of this episode up before the end of the week (feel free to throw rotten fruit if I don't).
Enjoy!