Guys, I work too much and I just... Idk... I wrote this chapter and then my computer froze before I had the chance to save it and I got really upset and didn't want to write it again so it took me like an extra week to get over my loss. So here we go!
Immediately upon regaining consciousness, Sam noticed that his head was throbbing and that he was seriously uncomfortable. He is, for lack of a better word, quite large for a human being and it should be illegal to try to squeeze him into small places. But that was exactly what whoever had taken him, and was responsible for what was sure to turn into a migraine later, did.
He was in a cage, or something close resembling one. His hands were bound, but not well; it would be easy for him to escape the bindings. The cage on the other hand wouldn't be so easy. He didn't feign to know how he was going to get out of it. One thing he did know was that he wasn't alone; he could hear breathing, but his eyes hadn't adjusted to the dim lighting just yet and he could barely see his hands in front of his face.
"Hello?!" A voice called out through the darkness, Sam recognized it almost immediately, though it took a few moments for it to register who it was that the voice belonged to.
"Willow!" He replied, he could hear the witch's sigh of relief.
"Sam? That you? Where are we?" He tone was beginning to shift into one of panic, Sam began working on his confines.
"I don't know for sure, we've been taken, are you in a cage?" He asked, hoping that she wasn't, her magic was strong enough to open his own.
"No. Sam... I'm chained to a wall, I can see a door. This place is very dungeon-y." Sam hesitated in his biting at the ropes; chains, that couldn't be good.
"Can you use your magic?" He asked and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as he heard Willow begin to struggle and she let out a panicked cry.
"No! I can't! What's happening?"
"It's okay, Wil. You're gonna be okay. It just means they've got you in cold-iron. It neutralizes powers." Sam finally broke through his bindings and immediately began searching for a way out of his too-small jail.
"What do you think they want with us?" Willow asked, her voice tiny. It was probably the first time in a long time that she felt truly helpless, Sam couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow for his new friend.
"I'm not sure," He said with a soft tone in a way to calm her, and then to himself he muttered: "but it can't be good." He could feel the tiny latch on his cage door, there was a lock keeping it shut. It wasn't going to be easy, but he was sure that he could break it open.
He'd almost had it unlocked when Willow shouted his name and he could hear the door of their prison creak. The lock on his cage snapped open and he nearly fell trying to scramble out.
"Oh, there's no need for that, dear." Sam stopped dead in his tracks on his way to Willow's side. He knew that voice. He looked from the scared red head to the smiling one.
"Rowena?" He choked out; she merely smirked and wiggled her fingers before everything went dark.
Tara strained against her chains, trying to get to a still unconscious Dawn, but she struggled in vain, the shackles wouldn't budge. In fact, if she didn't know better, she'd say they kept getting tighter the more she struggled.
"There's really no need for that, you know." Crowley sat on a throne in front of her, looking rather bored. Tara glared at him, "Oh look at you, very scary, really, I'm trembling with fear."
"Where's Willow!?" She demanded to know, "What have you done with her?" She bit out, her power being forced to settle back within her, the chains around her wrists were not very forgiving and the pain they caused almost made her want to give up.
"I told you! She and Moose got snagged before you woke up! I don't care, you'll do." He sighed and began taking a sip from a newly poured glass of scotch that hadn't been sitting on the table beside him a moment ago. Tara had to do a double take, she rolled her eyes.
"I saw that." Crowley scoffed.
"Where am I?" She snapped back.
"You're in Hell." He smiled, Tara began to feel a bit of panic, "Welcome, is it your first visit?"
"What are you going to do with me?" She began looking all around her for signs of torture devices.
"Awe, now don't be like that. You're going to love it. After lunch I'll give you the full tour." He smirked, "But really, you'll learn all in due time, don't get ahead of yourself."
Tara was about to respond when she felt something cold run down her back and felt a tremble of panic shoot through her. A demon was running a blade down the length of her back. She tried to wiggle away, but her chains only tightened more.
"This is Hans..." Crowley said as she turned to look the demon in the eye, "He'll be your tour guide." He smiled when Tara screamed as the blade pierced her skin.
"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked as soon as the initial shock of seeing Angel wore off.
"What? Not happy to see me?" Angel replied with a smirk, Buffy rolled her eyes as she heard Spike scoff loudly behind them.
"It's not that... I- wait, you're not all possessed are you?" She took a small step forward and stared hard at him, as though she would be able to tell by his look alone. She then took a step back and assumed a fighting stance, prepared for the worst.
"No! I got one of those anti-possession tattoos, Willow sent me a picture. It's on my back, next to my other piece." Buffy breathed a bit more easily knowing that, but it quickly turned into another eye roll as she heard Dean muttering behind her.
"Did he just say piece?" To which Spike replied in the affirmative and Dean coughed out the word 'douche.'
"Are we twelve!?" Buffy rounded on them and they jumped back slightly, Castiel was still staring at Angel with mistrust.
"I'm sorry." Castiel interrupted, "You said ex, correct?" He looked from Spike to Buffy and Angel, they turned to look at him, "But you're a vampire?"
"Oh but Angelus here is different, he's got himself a soul!" Spike said, taking a hit of his cigarette and blowing the smoke a bit too forcefully up into the air, "Makes him an eligible bachelor to all the young, petite blonde's."
"Shut it, Spike." Angel warned, Spike stood up taller and puffed out his chest a bit. Dean rolled his eyes, not in the mood for a pissing contest.
"Well, you're a vampire with a soul, that means Crowley will definitely be coming for you. So be warned." Castiel said.
"Short guy, British accent, bit of a Napoleon complex?" Angel held his hand at the approximate height of their favorite demon, "Yeah he's already been to see me, something about a regime change and being on the right side, but I had the tattoo by that point and wasn't buying what he was selling. Told him I've already lost my soul and gotten it back a few times and wasn't interested in losing it again. Said he would love to take it and demonize it, that it would do away with my pesky conscience." Angel's tone conveyed a lot more than he was saying, Buffy understood.
"You have a soul?" Dean laughed, shaking his head, "That's crazy."
"So?" Angel defended, "What's it to you?"
"It's quite tarnished." Castiel said, stepping in front of Dean as he puffed out his chest at the vampire, the angel wasn't prepared for the hunter to fight this new creature that he knew nothing about, "Murdering for so many years does that to the soul. Tears it apart, bit by bit. Like Voldemort and his horcruxes." He turned to Dean who blanched and rested a hand on Cas' shoulder.
"Man, I really wish Metatron never gave you that pop culture knowledge." He sighed, squeezing his angel's shoulder before letting go.
"I find it helpful when explaining things." Castiel shrugged and half smiled at Dean.
"Yeah, I liked it. It makes sense." Angel butt in.
"So anyways... Not to interrupt the bonding..." Spike said, dong exactly that, "But evil plan on the horizon..."
"Right." Buffy refocused, "What else do you know?"
"Not much." Angel stared at Spike with suspicion, "You're connected to the hive mind, aren't you, William?" Spike groaned.
"Yeah, but I can't let them in my head! They'll know I'm not with them!" He sounded like a child throwing a tantrum, Buffy was not amused.
"How do we know that? How do we know they're not listening in right now and you're double crossing us!?" Angel started towards Spike, but Buffy pushed him back.
"We don't need this right now, Angel." She scolded, he drooped slightly, dropping his face to the ground.
"Sorry." He muttered, Buffy looked from him back to Spike, a look of renewed determination on her face.
"Look, if this is Crowley, then maybe you guys know where he took Dawn and the others." She looked to Dean and Castiel, "Is there any place that you know of that he hangs out?"
"Uh... Hell." Dean shrugged, "When I was-" He looked to Cas and then back to the others, "When I was a demon, and we weren't out doing... demon-y stuff... We hung out in his throne room in Hell. It was hella boring in there, I didn't like it." He smiled at his pun, no one seemed to notice, he cleared his throat and shrugged it off.
"When you were a what?" Angel replied, turning to Buffy and muttering, "What kind of people are you associating with these days?"
"Thanks for the lecture, dad." Angel shuddered, "He's all human now, I think." She frowned and looked back to Dean for a moment who shrugged, "The point is, he knows where we have to go. So thank you for helping, but we don't need it. Go back and defend your home turf. We've got it covered here."
"Are you sure?" Angel asked, still ready for action. Buffy ran a hand over his arm and then grabbed ahold of his hand. She smiled up at him.
"I'm sure." She said softly before squeezing his hand and letting go. Angel watched as she backed up to where the others were standing, "Go." She said and he nodded, turning his back on the group. Buffy immediately whirled around on the others in complete soldier mode.
"Alright guys, we need to formulate a plan. Dean, tell me everything you know about Hell."