…
Spoilers: Series. Season 4. Uh, Zachariah in general.
Notes: I like the guy. But I don't have to trust him. I really wanted to do him justice here, but. *hands!* I've rewritten this chapter twice and I'm still not overly fond of it. I suspect I'll never be fond if it.
….
iii.
Before Edgar Allen Disneyland opened its gates to the world at large, there had been rumors. The littlest murmurs of dissent in the ranks of Heaven's armies, demon gossip that angels were switching teams in the middle of the game.
Ruby had heard it, remembered it, and passed it on to Sam ("Something you should know…" "Demons lie." "Not about this.") And then shuffled it aside because hey, Apocalypse Now.
Now it seems really, incredibly important.
The wings shadows thrown across the walls retreat, and just when Ruby thinks it's safe to start breathing again an alarming thought goes tearing through her mind: if Castiel knows that it's Zachariah, then would Zachariah know that it's Castiel…?
The answer is a loud, resounding yes as the sound of clapping echoes into the small spaces around them. For fucks sake, she knows she's a demon, yes yes bad slap her hand, but could somebody give her a break? Really? Like now?
"That's very good Castiel," Zachariah says genially, his tone loud and clear and oh so pleased. Like Castiel has just performed a particularly amusing trick and if the sound of his voice is pissing Ruby off even through the screaming run away terror she can only imagine what it's doing to Castiel. "Very…persistent."
When she looks to Castiel she doesn't have to imagine, because for a guy with maybe three facial expressions he's getting all the mileage he can out of them. He's shifting between hurt and rage, like he's willing to set the halo aside for a moment and bring the wrath down.
She mouths no, shakes her head vehemently and hopes he understands. Fists her good hand in his coat and pushes down, tries to make him realize that while revenge left you pleasantly tingly, running away left you pleasantly alive.
"But then you always were."
On the other hand, maybe they can share a rack. He can tell her to have faith or some shit and hold her hand while some gibbering minion of Lilith's makes a fucking handpuppet from her kidney.
There's noise from outside, the air pops as something moves violently and then the next few seconds are full of brutal movement. The wall comes down, fuck, the building is falling in on them, and raining brick and weather rot plaster, and when the roof top air conditioning unit comes crashing in is when Castiel shoves her down and goes to a knee- and the sudden absence of things falling on them is dimly noted.
She hears feathers over the sound of assault, the rush of clean air, and Castiel's stooped low under the weight pressing down on him.
Ruby looks up, sees the faint fireshine of something she was never meant to look at and snaps her eyes shut before the burn she feels then becomes worse. The after image of wings is red on the back of her eyelids. She keeps them shut until the shaking stops, until she's certain she's not risking blindness.
"Impressive."
Castiel stands remarkably quick from someone that had just had a building fall on him. Ruby follows a little more slowly, clutching at her shoulder and shoving it back with a snarl in her throat. She wonders briefly what their chances are and decides it's too depressing.
"I would have thought you'd run."
Castiel gives a little scoff at that and holds out a hand wordlessly. Zachariah follows his gesture to the dead city, the ash land where prayers fell on broken stone.
"This. This is what you made. There's nowhere to run." And then, with a trace of his old imperiousness: "What do you want?"
"Just wrapping things up," Zachariah says blithely. "You're the last piece of the puzzle, and I hate leaving things unfinished."
Beside Ruby, Castiel shifts forward. And oh shit, here it comes.
"Any chance your sense of self-preservation will start kicking in…?" She watches his jaw clench and his fingers curl and starts reaching for the knife that's tucked…hell, in the motherloving rubble. "Nevermind. You're Winchester by proxy."
She's trying to keep an eye on Zachariah (fat lot of good that is) and look for the knife (also kind of useless) when Castiel takes what seems to be an involuntary step closer.
"You killed Anna," Castiel says, his voice as low as it can get without being inaudible. "You killed-"And he stops brokenly because he can't bring himself to say their names. Ruby thinks the ground is dropping out from under her, and the knife is suddenly not very important at all because this…this was how the world ended. French fries, hot showers, Sam.
Zachariah smiles almost gently. "Not directly." His expression twists into obscene triumph. "But it made a very convincing argument for our brothers."
Castiel makes a sound like a man being gutted; looks like someone had just taken something bright and vital from him.
Then he's doing something quick and complex with his hands and Zachariah arches back, held tight, and there's an unforgiving tilt to Castiel's mouth that's never been there before, right before he fists his hands and the other angel coils in on himself.
"Get the knife."
His words are edged with a thunderstorm sound; Ruby darts away into the wreck, moving brick with shaking hands.
Wearesodeadsodeadsodead. It's a litany running loops in her head and it is so not helping. But it keeps her mind off of the needle-in-her-eardrums noise that's filling the air, the furious snarl Castiel makes when Zachariah shakes free.
And there it is, sheathed in dust and dead demon blood (she hopes that's not a sign.) She scoops it up in time to hear a thud, a punch sound of meat on meat and Castiel slam into the portion of the building still standing, knees buckling like his strings have been cut.
"I've told you," Zachariah shakes a finger at Castiel. "Stop watching long enough to learn how to throw a punch, get a hold on that vessel, get some hands on experience…" Slams Castiel into the wall again. And again. Again. "You are subordinate for a reason."
Castiel doesn't make a sound, but jerks with impact, instantly attempting to spring back but Zachariah's there with a steadying hand on Castiel's shoulder, another on his chest then there's something incandescently bright being drawn up around the angel's fingertips and Castiel's coughing whiteblue light.
Ruby gives herself a shake and lunges like a near wounded animal at Zachariah's back, 'cause she'll be damned all over again before she lets this smug middle management fuck beat her. Them. Not when every word that comes out of his mouth sounds like a laugh at their expense.
The knife slots neatly between Zachariah's shoulder blades.
Ruby's next sight is that of the diseased sky, sick and unconnected to the rest of her body. Her ears ring with the sound of a fork hitting glass, she couldn't feel the left side of her face and the taste of blood was thick in her mouth. The only thing tethering her to the body was pain, and she felt as though she could unravel at any moment.
"You're not very clear on how things work, are you?" Zachariah asks pleasantly. He reaches behind himself and works his shoulders as he pulls the knife out and drops it carelessly. She can't see Castiel but she can just hear the hectic, urgent sounds he's making.
"I can't…" She works her jaw around the grind of bone. "Can't kill you."
His shadow falls over her, a foot coming to rest on her ribs. "There you go. Bright as a button, aren't you." He steps down hard and there's a wet crack and a liquid gush that fills Ruby's chest.
"Di…dick."
He tosses his head back and laughs at the redredred sky. "Oh, I like this one. Sassy. Doesn't know her place." He bends down, adding confidentially, "Apparently he has a type."
Ruby watches while the world goes slow, a kind of hazy realization that the hand coming to rest on the side of her face was in no way a good thing and that the gasping airless sensation of being drawn out and used up-
-and Zachariah goes stone stiff.