Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.
Author's Note: This is part nine of the series Skies on Fire. Squee! So close to the finish line!
Warning: This chapter has very religious overtones.
They had lost so many. Foot-soldiers, generals, every rank in between. There was talk of mutiny. They were getting desperate. Some believed the war nothing more than a suicide mission, handing their own annihilation to God on a platter. A select few refused to be moved. They clung to what they believed was their destiny. They were determined to win, at all costs.
But there was talk, talk that transcended Earth and Hell. The war was being fought over humanity, angels versus demons. What of the third party? Both sides believed humans were ignorant of the war over their souls, over their future, over their very existence. What if both sides were wrong?
Some had seen the truth. They had spent enough time assimilating to know not to underestimate the humans. They agreed that the humans did remain ignorant of the war, but they knew better than to believe that whichever side won the war would craft the future of the human race. Humans held the future in their hands, they followed their own path, a path different from the one the demons charted, a path different from the one the angels charted.
Regardless of the outcome, humans would not be enslaved. If they could not have the humans, then why fight the war? Morale was slipping and such thoughts only quickened the fall. The hierarchy splintered. Demons began to war amongst themselves.
She fumed. She had to rally the demons, realign the army. She had worked too hard to give up now. She had worked too hard to let her own kind destroy their chance. She had worked too hard to fail him.
"Have you lost your mind?" Dean roared. He stared at Mary, livid that she would even consider taking such action. Mary simply looked at him, one eyebrow raised in defiance. Dean fought very hard not to smack her across the face. He knew what she was thinking: hypocrite. And while part of him knew she had a point, the larger part of him, the 'father' part of him, was furious. Had she not learned from his past?
"I know perfectly well what I'm doing," Mary said coolly. She shifted her gaze from her father and back to Uriel. The angel's face was impassive, with just the hint of a twitch in his right eye.
Jessica rushed to her cousin's side. Gripping Mary's arm, Jessica whispered, "Are you nuts? I know Uriel's being hardheaded, but if you just give him a chance..."
"I gave him a chance," Mary interrupted, "and he blew me off. If our own allies won't help then I'll find someone on the other side who will."
The tension in the air was thick. Dean had to consciously work his lungs just to breathe the stuffy air. He glanced at his brother and Ruby, who stood off to the side. Sam watched the interchange with hollowed eyes; Ruby had yet to take her eyes off their son's body.
"They had you once and you did not break. If you sacrifice your life for his, you will endure the torture again and you will not talk," Uriel said.
Mary laughed. "You really are as stupid as your vessel looks. The only reason I lasted as long as I did was because I tapped into my angel half. I was too pure to get off the rack, I was fed strength from Him so I could handle anything they threw at me." She glanced at John's body and set her jaw. "Not this time. If I am forced to make a deal, I will give them all the information they want."
"Stupid girl!" Uriel screamed. The ground began to quake again. "You know too much! If you reveal our plans, we will lose! Is that what you want? Is that what you want for your family?"
"You said yourself my cousins are nothing but demons. They'll survive Hell on Earth," Mary smirked. She locked eyes with Uriel. "Question is, are you willing to pay the price?"
Matthew Ryerson sighed, tossing aside his textbook and collapsing on a futon. His roommate Tyler raised an eyebrow. "You okay?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, just tired. Did our professors have to give us this much work over spring break?"
Tyler laughed. "I know what you mean. But hey, it's what we get for being seniors. Between theses and research projects and internships... you're right, it sucks."
The other boy chuckled and bent under the futon to fish out another book, a Bible this time. He flipped it open haphazardly, scanning the first few verses. When he applied to college, Matthew had not intended to be a religion major. His senior year of high school he had no idea what he would do with his future; he'd only agreed to attend college because he had no other options. A cancer survivor, Matthew was not physically fit enough to enlist in the military and follow in the footsteps of his father and older brothers. He could have pursued a vocation but again, his health was an issue; he was too weak for manual labor.
It was the campus pastor who finally convinced Matthew to see the light. Sophomore year, Matthew volunteered at the local childrens' hospital. The kids reminded him so much of his own battle, that Matthew wanted very much to give back to those who had helped him. Pastor Elijah suggested the ministry, bringing God's word to all mankind. Not an overtly religious man, Matthew skirted the idea for a while. Finally, he prayed for guidance. Two years later, and Matthew was preparing for seminary.
"Hey, you need to read this," Tyler said, tossing Matthew his cell phone.
Matthew caught it with both hands and read the text message. "Who sent this?"
"My sister, Isabel." Tyler stared at Matthew, waiting for a reaction. "Do you think it's true?"
"Why are you asking me?" Matthew flipped the phone shut and tossed it back to Tyler.
Tyler shrugged. "You're the religion major. This is right up your alley."
Matthew snorted. "Yes, because just last semester I took Demons: 101. Come on, Tyler, even you can't be that nieve."
"Look, Isabel thinks there's something to it. She's not the kind of person to blow things out of proportion, you know," Tyler said, pulling up a new document on his computer. "Besides, you're the one who says God has a plan. You never let me forget that!"
Matthew had to concede that Tyler had a point. He did believe God had a plan, for him, for Tyler, for everyone. God's plan for him was ministry, he knew that now. But what Isabel was implying, that was just madness! Wasn't it?
"Ty, give me your phone. I want to talk to Isabel."
Tyler raised an eyebrow. "What exactly do you want with my sister?"
Matthew rolled his eyes. "Tyler, please. I'm not going to fool around with your sister. I just want to talk to her about that text she sent. Maybe she is on to something."
"That was a quick change of heart," Tyler said. He sighed and threw his roommate his phone.
"It's just that Pastor Elijah has all these books, like history books that focus on religion. I read one a few months back. I thought it was a bogus but maybe it's not."
Tyler stared at Matthew. "Um, you're gonna have to be more specific than that, man."
"This book," Matthew began as he speed dialed Isabel, "documented various events, events that had been prophesied in the Bible and other religious texts." The phone began to ring, waiting for the receiver to pick up. "All of these events seemed unrelated but the author argued that it's all part of something bigger. For years, centuries now, maybe even millenia, we've been fought over. Humans, I mean, we've been fought over by angels and demons."
"Okay..." Tyler srunched up his face in confusion. "I don't get it. If angels and demons, if they existed," Matthew snorted at this; Tyler always was a skeptic, "were fighting some sort of war over us, wouldn't we know or at least have some part in it? I mean, it does concern us."
Matthew shook his head. "The author said the angels don't want us to know because they don't want to be used by us, and the demons don't want to be hunted any more than they already are." The phone rang again. "But that's not my point. The author claimed that this war was irrelevant. Whoever wins doesn't matter because ultimately, God will win."
"Just like in Isabel's message," Tyler exclaimed. "'The battle for humanity has already been lost and won.' Wait, if none of it matters, why are they still fighting? And why would the angels keep fighting if God wins?"
Matthew shrugged. "That's why I'm calling Isabel." Finally, she picked up. "Isabel, hey, it's Matthew. Can we talk?"
Uriel bristled. "Do not pin this on me, girl!" He stalked up to Mary until mere inches separated them. His dark eyes bored into the young woman but she stood ramrod straight, never flinching, never blinking. "I cannot allow you to threaten treason. You will be answerable for your actions!"
"Never said I wasn't. Put me before God and let Him judge me. If love for my family is treason, let Him decide. If finding no thrill in war, if getting no fix from destroying living creatures, evil or no, is treason, let Him decide. I doubt He would be persuaded by your argument," Mary said.
Thunder rolled across the night sky. Mary glanced up and smiled sadly. "Looks like He's listening to one of us. Wonder which one?"
Uriel, too, glanced towards the heavens. He growled low in his throat and disappeared.
"Where'd he go?" Dean asked. He took Mary's arm; she twisted out of his grasp. "Mary, don't," Dean ordered in a soft voice.
"I don't have a choice," Mary whispered. "Uriel left and John is still dead. I have to do something."
Mary turned and began to walk towards the road when Jessica yelled, "Mary!"
The brunette spun, surprised at the urgency in her cousin's voice. Jessica stood beside her parents but she was pointing at her brother, who stirred. Mary's eyes went wide. If John was stirring, then he was alive.
John groaned as he opened his eyes. In seconds, Mary and Jessica were at his side. "John, John!" Jessica cried. She took his hand in her's and squeezed.
"That hurts, Jess," John croaked.
"Sorry," Jessica grimaced as she released his hand.
Bobby, Sam, Dean, and Ruby were now circled round the kids. Sam squatted beside Mary. "John, how do you feel?"
"Like death," the boy chuckled. When no one responded to his joke he sighed. "Come on, it was funny!"
"He's just like you," Ruby muttered to Dean.
John finally found the strength to sit up. Mary grabbed his shoulder to brace him. "Take it easy, you just got resurrected," she said. Thinking about what she just said, Mary laughed. "Cause that never happens in this family!"
"Do you have to be so loud? Getting a headache here," John groaned. He quickly took stock of the scene. "Demon gone?"
Jessica nodded. "He fled when Bobby went at him with an iron fireplace poker."
John's head jerked towards his sister. "You okay?" When Jessica nodded, John breathed a sigh of relief.
"Um, John," Sam began, "what happened? Did Uriel give in?"
John threw his father a questioning look. "Uriel?"
"Yeah, Mary ordered him to bring you back, then he threw a hissy fit and she threatened to make a deal..." Dean attempted to summarize the evenings events but was interrupted when John turned on his cousin.
"You what?" John shrugged his arm away from Mary. "You considered making a deal?"
"I was running low on options," Mary shrugged. "And don't give me that look, I didn't go through with it. I needed leverage to get Uriel to do as I said. Stubborn bitch."
"Jerk," John automatically replied. "Wait, you weren't meaning me, were you?"
Mary laughed and shook her head.
Sam frowned. "Actually, that raises a good question. If Uriel didn't bring John back, and Mary didn't make a deal, then how are you alive?"
"Long story," John said. Jessica opened her mouth to speak but John held up a hand. "And before you ask, yes, I remember being dead. By the way," John pointed at Sam and Dean. "the grandparents say hi."
Sam and Dean grinned. Ruby looked perplexed. "You're half-demon. How did you end up, well, up there?" She pointed to the sky.
John and Jessica both glared at their demon mother. "We're also half-human," John said through gritted teeth. "We can't help our biology but we can control our powers and make good decisions. Apparently, we're good enough to avoid the Pit."
Ruby mumbled an apology. Mary smirked and turned back to her cousins. "So, what exactly do you remember? Do you remember getting resurrected?"
John nodded. "It was an act of God, literally. I know our side has had some... issues with me and Jessica and our parentage but God overlooked that and focused on us as people. And apparently he likes who we are."
"Good to know," Jessica said, thumping her little brother on the back.
"So God brought you back?" Bobby asked. He whistled. "That is something I ain't ever heard before. You sure are a one-of-a-kind family."
John bit his lip. "God didn't just bring me back. He gave me a message, to pass on to you guys."
Mary started. "Okay, I can believe that you and the grandparents had a chat. I can believe that God resurrected you. But even I have trouble believing that you spoke to God. Only four angels have even seen Him!"
"About that..." John began, scratching his head. "That's part of what I have to tell you. And I don't think you'll like it, any of you."
"Well, spit it out boy!" Bobby urged.
John glanced around at his gathered family. He opened and closed his mouth multiple times before anything resembling English came out. He sighed. "Everything you know about this war is a lie."