Escapes

Sarah sat with her legs crossed in the lotus position, her hands resting lightly on her knees, index fingers touching her thumbs. Her face was a mix of concentration and, more or less, controlled annoyance.

Jesse stood with his arms crossed, scanning around them for any movement or threat of attack in the crumbling rubble. The tremors that rocked the ground continued unabated, but, luckily, had not been increasing in intensity. Most of the other Heralds were leaning on larger blocks of broken marble stone, or sitting on the ground, watching Sarah or staring at the ground. Leon paced back and forth like a caged tiger just a few feet from her. He cast yet another worried glance at her.

"Anything yet?", he asked. Jesse winced. It was probably the fifth time in the last ten minutes that he had asked that.

Sarah opened one eye and regarded Leon with undisguised hostility.

"It isn't that simply, Leon," she hissed between her teeth. "My ability is to summon monsters from other dimensions. Opening a way that happens to be clear from those monsters takes a lot more concentration." She opened her other eyes and cocked her head. "Or do you wanna risk it anyway? I'm game. As long as you go first." She smiled evilly and squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a deep breath and relaxing her shoulders. Leon rolled his eyes and resumed pacing.

One of the kids, Jones, Jesse recalled, the kid that could call up the undead, sighed loudly in frustration and skipped a rock over the ground until it landed with a plink against a fallen wall.

Jesse looked around and walked over slowly to two of them, a boy and girl, who were sitting close to each other on the ground.

"Hey," he said as they looked up. "We never really had time to get introduced. Figured since we're kinda getting thrown into this fight and all, might as well get you names, huh?" He gave them a lopsided grin, and, using his ability to influence emotions, pushed at them a little to get them to relax and talk. He figured that the blast he had released probably hadn't truly eradicated the Angel and the Demon, so he needed allies. And fast. He looked briefly over his shoulder again past the smoking ruins, making sure nothing was coming for them.

The girl answered first, not raising her head. "Kinsey," she said quietly. "Been with the team almost a year now." She was dressed in a jeans jumper with a red button down shirt. Her hair was long and in a black braid, but the right side of her head was shaved clean, a bit punk style.

"David," the boy answered, looking up and smiling. He had grey eyes and sandy brown hair, and looked to be the oldest of the Heralds, Jesse guessed that he was about eighteen or so. "And, by the way, if they're coming, they're coming. I'll fight with you. Never trusted the jerks myself either."

Jesse blinked. "I was just thinking..." he narrowed his eyes. "What can you do?"

David's grin widened. "And you win the prize. Mind reader. And yes, I can turn down the volume if I want. Extra feature built into the app so I don't go cukoo. At least, that's what they told me."

Jesse nodded and looked back at Kinsey. "What about you?"

"Telekinetics," she answered simply, and looked away.

Jesse let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Nice one. How strong?"

Kinsey shrugged and turned her head to him, looking up. Her eyes were a deep brown, and seemed to hide a wisdom beyond her years. Jesse nodded to himself. Pain. She knew pain. That's something all the Heralds had in common. That's why they were recruited in the first place.

"Tank," she replied, shrugging. "Maybe more. I never really pushed it. But the first time, it was a tank."

Jesse frowned. "Where'd you find a tank?"

Kinsey smiled wanly. "I'm from Afghanistan. 'Kinsey', it's adapted from 'Khurshid'"

Jesse blinked in surprise. "But, you sound like..."

"An American? Yeah, been in an American school there too for the last eight years. The Angel brought me back with him to the US." She shivered, looking around. "Nothing ever seems to change, though," she said slowly, her head turning and looking at the destruction all around them.

"I'm sorry Kinsey," Jesse said gently. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot." He stopped and bit his lip, hesitating before continuing. "Look, I hate to ask you this, but..."

"You wanna sign her up, too?", a voice came from next to him. Jesse looked over at the other teen, a rail-thin red-haired kid with freckles, a scruffy goatee, glasses and torn white-washed jeans. "All for team Damien, right?"

Jesse narrowed his eyes. "My name isn't..."

The kid waved a hand in the air. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Trevor, BTW, in case you didn't know," he said. He glared at Jesse in open challenge. "Look, Hoss, not to put you on the spot or anything...but, how do we know this isn't some kind of power play, huh? You taking out the boss-men so you can hog all the glory for yourself? Pretty rad move."

Jesse glared back. "Those guys are bad news, Trevor. I've heard them talking privately myself. Leon too," he added, indicating Leon with a nod. "They've been lying to us. Using us. This isn't about some kind of mission to stop Castiel and Crowley from taking over Heaven and Hell. It never was. It's about them trying to take over. We heard it from their own lips."

"You really think they're the bad guys?", Sarah interjected, her eyes narrowing. "Because, well, maybe we're the ones that are wrong here."

Jesse swallowed. "What do you mean?"

Kinsey met his gaze. "I've...I've done horrible things. All in the name of vengeance. And so have we all," she looked around pointedly at the small group. "No one twisted my arm to accept the power that the Angel offered. I wanted this." She lowered her head and turned away. "And...well, there's you as well."

"Me?"

Kinsey nodded. "Yes, you." She looked back to him. "You're...you're the Antichrist, Jesse. I'm sorry, but it's true. What does that say about me if I choose to follow you?" She frowned and shook her head. "I've already made one horrible choice. I do not wish to make another."

Jesse let out a deep breath that he was holding and kneeled next to her. "Kinsey, I...I can't make you follow me. Well, actually I can, but that's the whole point," he said, frowning.

Kinsey looked back at him questioningly.

"It's... it's all about free will, Kinsey," he continued. "Someone taught me that a while ago, when I was just a kid. That...that Antichrist thing, that's just a title. I don't ever have to take it, not unless I want it." He looked around. The other teens, except for Sarah, had come closer and gathered around him. Jesse stood up and looked around at all of them.

"Look, we all know why we're here. We messed up. We know that. But we can own that. It's ours. One thing I do know, we have a choice here. That's all I'm saying. And that's a big thing. Some people don't get those choices, but we do." He sighed and ran a hand over his mouth. "I'm asking you to trust me. We can't keep this up, I mean, just look around you," he said, sweeping his arm out. "This is them, people, This is what they do. We have a choice. Help them, or fight them." He shrugged. "It's up to you."

"That's just about got it," Sarah murmured. A shimmering disk of energy appeared in the air. She opened her eyes and braced her hands on her knees, standing. She examined the disk and nodded in satisfaction.

"All aboard?", she asked, cocking her head at them.

Jesse looked around. Most of the teens met his eyes and nodded in agreement. Trevor had his arms folded and seemed to be making a point of staring in another direction. Kinsey was looking at the ground. Jesse sighed.

"Wanna go first, boss?", Sarah asked, holding her hand to the side. "In case something goes wrong, you got the most firepower to handle it." Jesse nodded, stepped up to the shimmering energy and looked back around at the other Heralds.

It's the best I can do, he thought, stepping through. I hope to hell it's enough.

Castiel had his eyes closed and his lips moved silently. Crowley watched him as the boat rocked on the waves and pulled away from the Atlantian shore.

"And?", Crowley asked after Castiel's eyes opened.

Castiel blinked and looked at him. "Gabriel will send us back to our time as soon as we tell him that we're ready. He's going to seal the Portal now." He shook his head. "We don't have a lot of time to find Joshua and my past self."

Crowley frowned. "I thought all we had was time."

"No, actually. Time is fluid. The events that we are experiencing will cause a myriad of future possibilities to become manifest. With every action that passes here, those futures change, mutate, or disappear entirely. We have to limit those possibilities and focus in on our own timeline."

Crowley rubbed his forehead and paced slowly away. "Angels..." he muttered.

"What?", Castiel asked, calling after him.

"Angels," Crowley repeated, turning back to Castiel. "You explain the principles of time travel like you're talking about making a bowl of cereal."

Castiel tilted his head. "Did you not understand?"

Crowley waved his hand in the air. "Yeah, yeah, I got the gist of it, choir-boy. I'm not a bloody idiot. But how you keep it all straight in that head of yours, I'll never know."

"I perceive things differently than you do, Crowley."

Crowley grimaced and shook his head, his eyebrows raised. "Yeah, you don't say," he grumbled to himself as he went to the ship's prow and stared out over the waves. Jy-shiaj came over to join him. Two little Atlantians, practically attached to his legs, were with him, their big, green eyes taking in the sights of the sea, their sandy blond hair whipping in the stiff breeze. Jy-shiaj tousled the hair on one of their heads, and the boy promptly smiled back at him and ran off. Jy-shiaj looked at the other one and smiled.

"Why don't you go off and play with the others, little one," he said gently. The little girl giggled and ran off, her bare feet pounding on the deck.

The Atlantian looked at Crowley and sighed.

"All those people...", he began.

Crowley grunted in reply.

"Is there truly no other way?"

Crowley looked down to the small Atlantian, He began to say something snarky regarding how fish had to eat too, but stopped himself.

"No," he answered gruffly instead, looking back out to sea. "I've been...informed that it is too big of an event to alter. It has to be this way."

Jy-shiaj nodded. "It is...I find it hard to accept. At the same time, I understand that horrifying events can and do happen."

Crowley snorted. "Hang around with me a bit longer. You'll see that in a whole new light."

Jy-shiaj nodded. "We're going after the Emperor, then?"

Crowley nodded in reply. "Yep."

"He is a very dangerous man."

"He's no man," Crowley answered softly, staring at the horizon. "But, yes, he's very dangerous."

"What is he, then?"

"I'm not entirely certain," Crowley answered simply. "An agent of the Old Ones, most likely, an ancient race of beings that existed before the Universe ever began.

"And how will you defeat him?"

Crowley blew out a long, hard breath of air. "You know, Jy-shiaj? I'm not entirely certain of that either."

Jy-shiaj nodded. "Well, I would suggest that you figure that out. And soon."

Crowley frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Because I see their boat," Jy-shiaj answered quietly, his arm extending and his finger pointing out onto the horizon.

Jesse stepped out of the disk of energy and frowned, looking around. It was a hazy gray, rocky terrain. There were no buildings in sight. A bitingly cold breeze blew across his face.

What the hell?!, he thought. I asked Sarah to bring us back to the mansion...

He felt his stomach drop and the blood drained out of his face. He spun quickly and slammed against the portal that she had made.

It did not budge.

He raised his fist and slammed against it. It shimmered where he struck it, but did not open.

"Hey!", he screamed futility, panic rapidly setting in. "Hey! Hey! Let me through!"

"What the hell did you just do?!", Leon screamed, trying to lunge at Sarah, who regarded him with her arms crossed and a half-smile. Trevor and Jones were holding his arms behind him. Kinsey watched in silent shock next to David, who let out a snarl and shoved Trevor away.

"What are you doing!?"; David yelled. "He was on the level! I heard his thoughts! He was telling the truth!"

Trevor regained his balance and glared at David and the struggling Leon.

"So?", he replied angrily. "We gave our word to Joshua, man. The Angel and the Demon, too. You gonna go back on that? You wanna be a traitor?"
David's jaw dropped open. "Man, how stupid are you?! They lied to us, Trevor!"

Trevor looked down as if he was examining his nails. "Not to me, man. They told me that I would be powerful, and I am. They told me that I could help shape the new world, and I will. How exactly have they lied to me? Jesse has never done squat for me, except try to start a rebellion and take out the people that gave me that power." His eyes narrowed as he stepped closer to David. "Why the hell would I want that?"

Leon pulled himself free of Jones with a grunt. He looked at Sarah, Jones and Trevor with disbelieving, wild eyes.

'Ya'll can't be serious..." he said incredulously.

Sarah smiled back. "Why's that, Leon? Don't tell me you bought all that 'make a choice' crap. Joshua gave us everything we ever asked for. You too. I'm just smart enough not to be ungrateful for it." She shook her head. "You've been played, Leon. Damien there doesn't want anyone to have power but himself. He wants us as his little minions. Believe you me, I know, when I have the choice to have the power to stand up and fight for myself, I will take it. Everytime."

"Hear, hear," came a soft, crooning voice through the rolling smoke. A pair of shadows emerged from it, dragging a form between them. The Angel and the Demon walked over to them. They dumped the person they had been carrying unceremoniously on the ground in front of them face up. The figure let out a small groan and tried to turn. The Angel kicked it hard in the ribs, eliciting a small, choked cry of pain. The figure stopped trying to move.

It was Suriel.

The Angel stopped short of the group of Heralds and crossed his arms. He lowered a menacing gaze at Leon and David. The Demon, a smile on his face, waved a finger in the air in front of them, sarcastically scolding them.

"Seems to me that some kids are going to end up on my 'naughty' list," the Demon said softly. He looked up, his eyes blazing red. "Whatever shall we do with them?"