"Azrael," his brother approached him, open arms, Azrael leaned into the comfort thankful for it. He'd prayed for one person to understand, he'd thought that would Castiel. He'd been sadly mistaken. "I want you to know I fought against it, but Michael would not listen to me." His brother petted his hair softly, "they did have a point though little one, Sam's time will be short on Earth, with the job he has taken on it will be no surprise when he shows up here."
Azrael's heart seized, "I want to help them, I am stronger now."
"Yes," the angel smiled warmly and patted his back gently, "you are much stronger now."
He beamed at the praise, "thank you Gabriel," it warmed him inside.
"Azrael," Gabriel said softly his hand never stopping it's soothing movements, "what if I told you there was away for you to be with Sam again. Be with him again before he dies."
"What would you have me do?" he tripped over the words and the smile Gabriel gave him was so very proud.
"The very first thing you must do," Gabriel leaned very close drawing Azrael in, "is convince Castiel to go with you." He leveled a patient look on the young angel and Azrael felt so proud that Gabriel was trusting him. "If anyone should find out..." Azrael understood what would happen.
Azrael knew that he would have to be careful with Castiel, his righteous brother would run off to the other superior's if he was not careful. He knew he had to convince Castiel that this had been his plan, that he figured it out on his own. Azrael was hoping that Castiel would realize how much he needed his Dean and then this would fall into place easily. He'd have to also be careful because for whatever reason Castiel wanted Dean in Heaven. Azrael couldn't understand why, he wanted to hold Sam in his human form with blood warm arms and strong, steady heartbeat under his ear. He wanted to taste Sam, fell Sam the way Castiel had with Dean.
Selfish bastard Castiel.
"Castiel," he dropped down next to his brother, "I am sorry for what I said to you."
He smiled warmly, "it is alright my brother," he put an arm around Azrael, "I understand that this is hard." Azrael allowed a comfortable silence to fall over them, he was just about to speak when Castiel continued. "I cannot say that it hasn't crossed my mind; what having Dean in my arms would feel like again. It-it feels too long."
"What if you could feel it again?" Azrael asked cautiously.
Castiel sighed, "I try not to think of things like that."
Azrael gently pulled away from Castiel so he could look him in the eye, "I could get us to Earth without any of the superiors knowing." Azrael could see the decision already forming in his brother's mind. That even though Castiel wanted eternity with Dean the thought that he could have in a human sense again was too strong. Castiel bit his lip and the younger angel had to check his glee.
"It's impossible," he whispered, nearly heartbroken.
"No brother," Azrael leaned in closer, "it is not." Castiel looked at him with hope in his eyes.
Eddy loved the yard, loved walking among the old cars, loved being out in the open; oddly enough. She hated that she was still wearing a cast on her foot even though she knew it was healed, had been for a few days now. She didn't know how to tell Bobby, she wasn't even sure she wanted too. It'd only been three weeks and even she knew that that wasn't enough time for her foot to heal or the lacerations on her back. Eddy was scared that Bobby would think she was something evil now. And she was so grateful to Bobby for allowing her into this little peace of mind. She didn't want to lost this. Bobby had even generously given her a car but she didn't feel any need to leave this place.
Strangely enough she missed the Winchester brothers. Even though their time together had been relatively short all things considered; those boys had saved her life. They were to thank for her having this home.
If only she could get over the burning rage she felt whenever she even thought about the other guest staying at the Singer home. Their first meeting was still very clear in her mind. As soon as her eyes had met his, she knew that something inside her hated Josh with all she had in her to hate with. And that feeling was mutual. Eddy hadn't even been able to muster a polite 'hello,' it had come out snide and rude. His introduction hadn't been any better. Poor Bobby had been very confused by the whole scene.
The kind, older man had tried to speak to her but she had been able to deflect any questioning. Bobby hadn't been pleased, but Eddy just didn't have a choice. The last thing she wanted was for Bobby to know she fantasized about killing Josh. The images that came to mind made her shudder, brought tears to her eyes. Before the demon she'd never thought like that, she'd been a good person, with good thoughts. And she knew hating the vessel of an angel couldn't be good, couldn't be right.
But he hated her too.
"Fuck," she kicked violently at a tire, it should have hurt more. If Ruby hadn't already been dead Eddy was sure she would kill the demon-whore herself. She fell to her bottom, folded her knees to her chest, and buried her head in her folded arms. The first sob surprised her and the rest that followed were liberating.
Strong arms wrapped around her and for a moment, before the smell hit her, she was relieved. "Get off me," she growled pulling herself from Josh's arms. She wasn't sure what was worse, that the concern in his eyes was genuine, or the fact that the hate that burned inside her was diminishing in him.
"Are you okay?" he reached out a hand but dropped it quickly when Eddy hissed. A noise that even surprised herself.
"I was fine," she jerked herself to her feet and started to walk away. Damn smelly vessel-
"Eddy could we talk, please?" she stopped in her tracks, Josh sounded tired, weary.
"What about?" Eddy crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
"About what's going on between us," Josh ran a hand down his face, "we can't continue this dance."
"I like it just fine," she shifted from one foot to the other, suddenly conscious of the fact that she didn't have her crutches and Josh had to have noticed.
"Don't act like a child," Josh snapped.
Eddy felt hot-fury uncurl in her stomach, "I am a child," she shouted. When Eddy's fist connected with Josh's face the satisfying crack of his jaw made her grin.
"What the-" he tried to restrain her but they were both a bit stronger than the other had been expecting. Eddy easily broke the hold and kicked him away. Eddy had never taken a lesson in fighting her entire life but suddenly she knew where to hit, how hard to kick. All of it. Josh for his part was trying to block each blow and it only served to make her more angry. She was sure that he wasn't the kind of man that hit a woman, teenager at that, but she wasn't going to give him much choice. He began to fight back, but it was obvious that he was pulling his punches.
Eddy was going to have to change that. "What's it like," she whispered close to his ear when she finally got him pinned against a car, "knowing Dean still thinks about screwing your body."
When his elbow connected with her nose the spurt of blood was nearly instantaneous; when Eddy smirked her teeth were tinted red, she'd bit her tongue from the force of the hit. "Fuck you demon spawn," Josh spit his own blood on the ground.
Eddy couldn't help but laugh, "yeah but I bet it wasn't half as bad as bei-" the punch to her stomach caught her off guard but she was quick not to get distracted again.
The fight turned dirty towards the end, Eddy threw a handful of gravel into Josh's eyes and in retaliation he grabbed her by the ponytail at the nap of her neck and snapped her head back. It wasn't until she heard the unsettling pop of Josh's shoulder becoming dislocated that they finally fell away from each other. The sat panting leaning against their own respective piece's of scrap metal.
"I-think-my-finger.. Damn it!"
"Screw your finger, you dislocated my shoulder," he winced when he prodded it gently. "Want to talk now?"
She wiggled her pointer finger and thought that maybe it wasn't broken. Eddy looked at Josh sitting across from her in obvious pain, her dark eyes soften a bit. The guy really looked like he wanted to resolve this. "Yeah I guess, y'know, I can try and act like an adult." She hoped he heard it as the apology she meant it to be.
"I don't want to be enemies Eddy," he said sincerely, "I'd like if we could be friends."
Eddy hated that she actually had to think about it, but there was part of her that just couldn't look at Josh without seeing red. "Why did this happen to us?" she let her head thunk against the car behind her. "I didn't ask for this bullshit, I just.. I just..."
"I did," he said it so quietly that she could have missed it, "I asked for salvation and was chosen to be a vessel."
A laugh closer to a sigh escaped her lips, "we're the most fucked up people in the world."
Josh actually forced a small smile on his face, "we should talk to Bobby."
"Why?" she knew it was almost a whine.
"There is obviously something wrong with us." Josh stood carefully having to keep his left arm still.
"Sorry about the arm," she mumbled.
"Sorry about the nose," he smiled gently.
Eddy touched it gingerly, having completely missed the fact that it was possibly broken, definitely more broken than her finger. "Forget about it. Do you-" she stopped, "Do you think it's something wrong?"
"It definitely isn't right." They were careful not to touch each other and made their way slowly back to Bobby's house.
Sam watched the dark sky a familiar thought on his mind, was Azrael watching? He'd been thinking about the angel a lot these days, wondering how different things would be turning out if their respective guardians had been allowed to stay with them. A part of him had hurt since he was told that Ruby had been sent back to hell, and that part had grown larger when she died in his arms. But there was a place inside him that had been torn out when he was told that Azrael would not be staying with him. During their time as Beriah's playthings he'd allowed thoughts of Azrael being his guardian angel to help heed the darkness building in him. Sam had imagined what it would have been like to have a confidante like that. He sighed and ran a hand down his tired face, no use in think them now.
Tired, it was a constant state for the Winchester brothers these days. Between trying to close doors and doing jobs, something Dean would not budge on, period; the were wearing themselves down. It was a battle that was always raging between them.
"Sam what are you doing?" Dean called from their motel room.
"I'll be in in a minute," he called over his shoulder. He heard Dean grunt and the door shut. Sam looked at the dark sky one more time before pushing himself off the side of the impala.
"What were you doing out there?" Dean was leaning against his head board, laptop open on his lap.
Sam sighed and grabbed some clothes to take into the bathroom. "Thinking about Azrael," he said absently.
"Yeah?" Dean wanted more details.
Sam sat heavily on his own bed, "I was thinking about how things would be different if they could have stayed."
"Oh," Dean looked away and Sam felt a little guilty reminding his brother of who he'd lost.
"Sorry," he offered lamely.
Dean shrugged his shoulders. "I think about him everyday but it hurts less and less each day too." He threw Sam a wicked grin, "so you were sweet on your angel?" he waggled his eyebrows.
"Dude," Sam gave him a look and Dean sobered quickly.
"Yeah," he rubbed at the back of his neck, "inapporiate."
Sam stood and went to shower. He sure missed the good old days, 'good' being an oxymoron and 'old days' being the operative words.
"Got us a hunt on the way to New Orleans," were the first words out of Dean's mouth when he reentered the room. Sam bit down on his tongue, there were four gates in New Orleans, practically a breeding ground for demons at the moment and damn it Dean still wanted to hunt. "Don't think it's anything big, reads like a text book spook," Dean didn't even realize how pissed off Sam was becoming. "We could have it done within the day."
"Seriously," Sam finally snapped, "we've got twelve doors left. Four of which, why do I even have to remind you, are in New Orleans. What the hell is your problem?"
Dean pursed his lips together, "Sammy we aren't talking about this." Same song, same dance.
"Fuck Dean every job we do we fall a little farther behind. More and more demons are getting out," Sam hadn't meant to raise his voice but by the end he was shouting.
"Sam," it was a warning but Sam didn't care.
"No Dean, two and a half months have passed, all your jobs are getting in the way." Sam wanted to stop but the fire had been lit now and he wasn't sure he could.
Dean's eyes narrowed then became resigned, he'd made a decision. "Sam I've got to tell you something," the pause put him on edge. "Michael asked us to continue doing our job."
"He ordered us you mean." Sam couldn't believe after everything Michael had done, "how can you even trust him?"
"Dude," Dean rose an eyebrow, "it's Michael."
"So what?" Sam was riled now, "Cas knew Uriel for over two thousand years and look what happen there."
"Michael isn't a traitor!" Dean shouted and Sam knew that his older brother questioned a lot but this was one thing that Dean knew for sure. "If you don't believe me look for yourself," he gestured wildly to his head.
"Okay," Sam held up his hands in surrender, "he isn't I believe you." He knew his brother wouldn't let him in unless Dean was certain. "I still think we're wasting time."
"People need our help," he shut the computer with a little force, "and we gotta help them." He snapped his light off.
"Right Dean," Sam sighed and laid down on his own bed. It didn't matter that it felt like they were hurting them more.
Okay I am like ten times nervous right now, first and foremost I'd like to say I am as worried about Azrael as the rest of you. And if I didn't know how this was going to end well I'd be pissed. So just keep that in mind :) Second, I had the hardest time, no like seriously a really hard time, trying to figure out who to make the traitor. I debated for days before I even started writing this sequel, I re-read all of HF and then I narrowed it down to either Gabriel, Michael or just fall back on Zacriah (or however you spell that) and I knewknewknew it couldn't be Michael he'd already started to form such a significant part in the later chapters and I didn't want to do Zac since this went AU before he showed up and after spending an insane amount of time discussing it with myself I decided that Gabriel had been sneaky and underhanded enough in HF that he'd work. And thirdly was the fight between Josh and Eddy, I had to do it because honestly I was going to kill her and re-work a lot of the chapters because any time those two ended up in a room together.. well, yeah it always got a little XXX, so one day I'm fiddling with the beginning of Eddy's part and the next thing I know they were kicking each other's asses. Now they totally work and have a sibling feel to them, yay!
Sorry I gots rambly!