It's happened! We've broken 4 thousand hits in a single day. Celebrate! And just in time for my birthday too which was this past week! :D I've just turned 21. I'm over sharing because I'm excited.
The number of hits this story has seen is slowly getting closer to 100,000. When we get there I might try to release two chapters on the same day as a sort of prize. I've never had a story hit that point before so I might even start celebrating in real life XD Break out a few champagne bottles or something lol
Even more good news, I don't usually check this stat, but apparently this story is currently a part of 49 communities. I am beyond ecstatic with how well this story is being received.
I would like to personally thank every person who has added me to their community, reviewed, favorited, followed, or even simply read this story. You're all awesome people. Internet cookies for all of you.
Episodes: 5.10 Abandon All Hope
"Do you know why the caged bird sings?"
Harry turned his eyes to the man behind him in nondescript clothing. He seemed almost a part of the dull landscape Harry's mind had afforded the dream. "Because it dreams of escape." He said turning away from the man again hoping he would not have to carry on a wearying philosophical discussion even while sleeping. The dream man had other ideas.
"No, one cannot dream of something incomprehensible, and freedom is something the trapped cannot really understand."
Harry smiled sardonically. "Either my subconscious has stepped up its conversation skills or you're not really me."
"Of course I am not you." The man delivered with a hint of amusement. "You are you."
"Helpful." Harry said taking up a smooth stride away from the man, leaving it to the stranger to either follow or be left behind. Since staying would mean having to leave the dreamscape as Harry moved to a new scenario he had no doubt the man would follow, and he was not disappointed.
"Do you know why the caged bird sings?"
Harry glanced back around at the man only slightly surprised to see he looked slightly different. His skin was now a healthier pink, and a bit of scruff was present on his chin.
"Is it important that I answer that or can I ignore it?" Harry asked not altogether amused anymore. Something about the man annoyed him and he couldn't figure out why.
The man shrugged moving past Harry to sit on a rapidly appearing park bench. "You don't seem surprised by my presence."
"It's not so uncommon for two people to share a dreamscape." Harry said watching the man. "I've had my fair share of encounters. It is rare that the person I meet is aware that it's happening."
The man nodded staring Harry up and down and making him feel less comfortable with the situation by the minute. Then a smile blossomed on the man's face. "I've always found you intriguing."
Harry's eyes snapped open and he bolted upright in his bed. Something was wrong with the world. Something was very, very wrong. The air seemed thick with an almost tangible trepidation as if the Earth itself was waiting with bated breath to see how some unseen plot played out.
Harry climbed off of his mattress, dream forgotten for the moment, and grabbed the pants he'd stripped off earlier for his nap dragging them back up his legs and throwing on a shirt. Something in him was shouting that the world was about to go very wrong for him and that was enough to make Harry pay attention. "But where?" he grunted to himself moving for his shoes and he nearly fell when the world seemed to scream an answer back to him, but it wasn't the world. He knew that voice well, but he hadn't heard it in a long time.
Placing a balancing hand on the wall he grimaced. "So today's the day then?" he muttered to himself. "Death."
He let the word hang there for a minute as he brushed his hair back from his forehead with one hand. He caught his reflection on a shining piece of glass near the door and spotted his scar, still standing prominently on his forehead. He scowled turning from the reflection. The scar was nothing more than a reminder of his failures now. A small permanent etching that told him how he had once been the 'boy who lived' and that still hadn't been enough to save the people he loved when they really needed it. Death had mocked him that day by stealing so many lives, and he'd yet to forgive himself for his shortcomings.
He grit his teeth. Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to stay away from Death. It was so obviously a trap that he'd have to be an idiot not to realize such, but his head and perhaps whatever was left of his human will to do stupidly reckless things was telling him to go. It told him that there were people there that probably needed his help, and if he could offer help perhaps he could redeem himself for just a little of his past mistakes.
He shook his head. His human emotions were trying to fight their way back to the surface. He'd long since stop letting them control his actions and he wasn't about to let them start running the show again.
He hesitated halfway through moving to unbutton his shirt again. He wanted to go. Somehow, even without his guilt or hero complex pushing him he still wanted to go. Perhaps it was curiosity?
He let his hand drop from the button. Logically it was an idiotic move to make, and Harry was far from an idiot. He smirked, but he'd never let logic slow him down before either. With a thought he had decided he would go, but he would not walk in blindly.
Harry wasn't sure what he was expecting to see when he popped into Carthage, Missouri, the place he'd heard screamed to him from Death himself, but it certainly wasn't this. Reapers were everywhere. Every direction he turned held dozens of them, all seemingly focused in the same direction with creepy precision. He nudged the one closest to him and watched as the elderly looking reaper turned to him in confusion. It acknowledged his presence with little more than a scowl before resituating again and ignoring him. Harry shrugged. He'd never cared for reapers anyway they were far too set in their ways to have anything of use to offer him. Although, occasionally, he'd been known to get one of them to do him a favor when they in turn wanted something from him.
Ignoring the packed streets Harry meandered a bit seeing what was around. Several minutes into his wandering he heard gun fire. One eyebrow rose curiously. With a shrug he set off in the direction he'd heard the retorts issuing from, but the bullet had long since stopped firing by the time he'd managed to get anywhere near their location. So he took to meandering a bit more as the sun dipped a bit lower in the sky.
"Oh…that can't be good." He said with a frown having spotted several hell hounds circling a store front. Whoever was inside must have found a way to temporarily block the beasts from entrance. Harry circled around looking for a back door. He didn't really want to deal with the hell hounds unless he had to. Luckily enough he found a door and no hell hounds were near it. He could've sworn he saw someone dive out of sight not too far away, but that was something he'd deal with if he had to. He turned the door knob and wasn't overly surprised to find it locked. He snapped his fingers and the knob turned freely in his hand opening the door. He stepped easily over a hastily laid salt line and shut the door behind him. With another snap o his fingers the door relocked.
He appeared to be in the storage room of a convenience store if the piles of boxed crisps and energy drinks were anything to judge by. He opened a second door and found himself in the front area. Surprisingly a bucket stood in front of him filled to the brim with salt, iron nails, and other general nuisances to anything demonic.
"It's not ready yet." A voice hissed, panic lacing the words and making them sharper. "It's not ready."
A second voice tried to shush the first, but it was too late. Harry had already heard them. He moved around the half empty shelves toward the voices and found a strange sight indeed. Two women lay there in front of the counter, both blonde. The younger, and significantly paler, of the two held a small remote in one of her shaking hands. Wires ran from the remote to every bucket of what Harry realized was one giant bomb waiting to be detonated. His eyes completely disregarded the current 'danger' to focus on the older woman. "I know you…" he said with some confusion, recognition flaring in his mind.
The women looked up having not noticed him until that moment. He saw remembrance flicker across her face as well. "You…" she said disbelievingly.
Harry would have said more but his eyes had just caught on the younger blonde's side where bloodied bandages were held to her side with ace wraps. "Bloody hell." He said blinking. "You look like you've seen better days."
The older blonde, Ellen if Harry remembered right, scowled and grimaced at the reminder of the younger's physical state. The younger blonde gave a half hearted laugh. "Understatement…of the year." She said hand pushed firmly against the wound. She glared up at Harry. "Demon?"
Harry blinked. "What makes you think that?"
"Well you just showed up in a town that's been overrun by the bastards." Ellen quipped half heartedly. "The devil himself is here, and you show up out of nowhere. What else are we supposed to think you are?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Honestly. You're as bad as the Winchesters. Always jumping to the wrong conclusions." He moved to take a step and instantly found a gun pointed at him. He raised a brow, but took the step anyway. "Try to help save a girl's life and get thanked with a gun to the face. I underestimated your idiocy Mrs. Harvelle."
"I don't…want your help…if I've got to…"
"Sell you soul?" Harry asked assuming that's where she had been going with her statement and wishing to hurry along the process.. "Sorry, you're taking a bit too long to finish your sentences so I thought I'd hurry the process for you. You two are definitely hunters. You've got the mentality down to an art. Just one problem, I'm not a demon."
"How do we know that?"
"You don't." Harry said with a shrug. "But I don't think you have many more options at the moment. Not if you want blondie to survive." He nodded down towards the younger one whose glare was becoming less potent by the second as she succumbed to the blood loss.
Ellen still seemed unsure, but she lowered the gun. Harry moved to Jo's side. "I don't know what you can do. There's nothing here that can stop the bleeding. We've looked."
"Well, there's something here now isn't there?" he said with a smirk placing his hands over the wound and slowly peeling back the bandages. Jo groaned, barely managing that as she moved closer to unconsciousness. Oh, it was bad. Vomit inducing bad. Harry grimaced but placed his hand right onto an exposed organ. He didn't much want to think about which one it might be. They all sort of looked similar when they were soaked in blood and torn open. With just the slightest bit of energy channeled through his hand the thing began to knit itself back together under his touch, but slower than he'd expected. There was something in the wound fighting him. Something very far from human.
"This wound." He said not taking his eyes from where he was slowly repairing the damage. "How did she get it?"
Ellen looked nonplussed for a moment. "You're really not with the demons are you?" she said unsure. Harry shot her an annoyed glance. "The hellhounds outside got her before we could get here. She tried to save De…" Ellen cut herself off with a slap of her hand over her mouth.
Harry raised his head. "Dean?" he asked. "Were you about to say Dean? As in Dean Winchester?"
Ellen stared back resolutely not answering.
"You know, your refusal to answer is enough for me to know that's what you meant." Harry said moving his hands away from the girl's side and eliciting a moan from her. The blood had staunched temporarily. "I take it the bomb you have here is to take out the hell hounds circling the building then?"
Ellen still said nothing eyes flickering between Harry and her daughter who'd long since passed out.
"Here's the deal Ellen." Harry said eyes flashing dangerously. "You give me information, I save your daughter's life. I was going to do it out of the goodness of my heart, but you're starting to get on my nerves. Now, why are the Winchesters here?"
"So you are a demon."
"No!" Harry said frustrated. "I'm not. I'm irritated, that's what I am. Why are the Winchesters here?"
"I only said Dean was here." Ellen said unhelpfully.
"If Dean's here, then Sam's here. Those two are so dependent on each other it's laughable." Harry said scooping up the thin blonde girl in front of him. "What's her name?" he asked glancing down at the girl in his arms as memories of the last time he'd carried someone like this flooded his head and then were promptly shoved away.
"Jo." Ellen answered standing as Harry did and looking like she wanted to take Jo from Harry. Harry wasn't one to deny the woman what she wanted. He thrust Jo into her arms.
"Alright then, take Jo. Get her out of this building. She's stable for now but try not to hit her side too much." He resituated the bandage so it was covering the smaller woman's side again. "I take it the hell hounds outside are locked on your scent and those salt lines aren't going to hold forever. I'll take care of the nuisances and then meet up with you."
Ellen seemed unsure on whether she could trust Harry or not, but seeing a way out of this where Jo survived was more than enough incentive to make her start moving. She halted halfway to the door Sam and Dean had taken not so long ago. "Won't the hell hounds just follow us if we leave you here? They have our scent after all, not yours."
Harry smirked wickedly. "Not if I don't let them." He said before turning back to the doors. Ellen spared him one last glance before hustling up the steps to escape.
Harry could see the shapes of the massive hell hounds outside of the shop as they passed back and forth testing the salt lines and looking for a weakness. Harry threw a few protection spells around himself and waited another minute. He had to be precise with the timing. He would have only about two minutes once he opened those doors to get all the hell hounds in. If he took too long they'd notice that none of their original victims were there. He had to detonate the bomb in that time, but he had to make sure that Ellen and Jo were outside of the blast radius when he did so, but not so far as to alert the hell hounds that they'd escaped. Harry ran through mental calculations with a frown keeping a firm hold on his sensing abilities so he knew where Ellen was. When she'd made it to the roof Harry snapped his fingers and the chains on the front door broke. A wave of his hand scattered the salt. Suddenly the doors slammed against the walls as the first of the hell hounds pushed their way in. Six of the ugly beasties fought their way in and halted in confusion when there was no sign of anyone but Harry there. Apparently because they hadn't been sicced on Harry they weren't going to maul him. One caught a scent trailing toward the hallway with the stairs and Harry knew it was now or never. He pushed his thumb firmly against the button Jo had been holding earlier and watched as the buckets around him ignited hurling salt, fire, and iron in all directions. He didn't wait around to watch the whole show. The blast had damaged several of the outer walls and he wasn't sure how stable the building was, best not to wait around and see if it would collapse on top of him. Having identified Ellen's location he tried to apparate there to no avail. He huffed moving toward the stairs. "Apparition wards again?" he asked no one. He really needed to find a way to cancel those out.
He climbed the stairs as quickly as he could while still keeping an eye out for any falling debris large enough to make it through his protection spells. He made it to the roof with no incident and moved in the direction he could sense Ellen and Jo had moved. There was sizable gap between the roof he stood on and the next on over, but he could feel Ellen's energy coming from not too far ahead in that direction. She was perhaps another building over at most, but how had she crossed, especially with an unconscious girl in her arms. Harry glanced down at the alley below. What looked like a metal grate was warped and broken on the ground and Harry realized it must have been a sort of bridge between the two roofs at one point and the explosion must have shaken it loose.
With a spark of irritation he backed up and then sprinted to the side of the store pushing off of the edge as hard as he could. He landed easily on the next roof. It had been a while since he'd jumped like that. You rarely found the need to when you could apparate.
He moved to opposite edge of the roof where he could feel Ellen's energy and jumped again landing on the next building in the row. He quickly found an entrance to the building and let himself in. The halls here were narrow and winding which led him to believe he'd either entered a residence or a hotel. He found a door that was just slightly ajar and let himself in trying not to flinch when a gun fired right behind him. He turned deliberately slowly to face Ellen. "Do you mind not shooting me?" he bit out harshly.
"I wasn't sure you'd make it. How did you escape the explosion?" she asked lowering the gun marginally.
"Oh there's more to me than meets the eye." Harry said moving over to Jo who was laying on a bed nearby. They were most certainly inside of a hotel. Ellen followed just behind him gun still clutched in too white fingers.
"Can you save her?" Ellen asked as Harry knelt beside the unconscious girl.
He glanced up. "I can try." He said with a shrug. "You want to tell me what the Winchesters are doing here? They always seem to be at the epicenter of every bad thing that happens don't they?"
Ellen clammed up.
Harry sighed removing Jo's bandages and placing his hands on her side gently, but it was still enough to elicit a gasp from the girl. She seemed to be slowly fighting her way back to the waking world. Ellen kneeled on her other side.
"Jo?" she asked watching her daughter's eyelids flutter.
"Mom?" Jo responded with an impossibly weak voice.
"Don't talk." Harry snapped. "You're moving your abdomen and it's not making this easier."
Jo only then seemed to realize that Harry had his hands quite literally inside of her. Like any person coming out of a deep sleep with a giant hole in their side, she panicked. "What's going on? Who are you? Where am I?"
Harry pulled his hands back for fear he'd do more damage that he'd then have to fix again. He sent the girl an annoyed glare. "You're injured. I'm Harry Potter. You're on a bed. Does that answer your questions princess? I haven't got all day you know."
Jo blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Jo, honey, calm down." Ellen interjected. "He's helping. I don't know why…but he's helping."
Harry rolled his eyes at the less than helpful explanation.
"The hell hounds." Jo said turning to her mother and placing a hand to her side with a grimace. She'd obviously pieced together that if they were still alive they hadn't triggered the bomb that was supposed to kill the hell hounds or at least buy the Winchesters some time.
"Taken care of." Harry said finally putting his hand back on her and forcing her to lay still. "Now sit still or this is going to take forever."
He put one hand over the wound, the other set about exploring inside delicately. It was obvious from the look on Jo's face that it wasn't a pleasant experience for her. Every once in a while he'd send a burst of magic through his fingers and into something he was touching causing some cells to fuse together and others to grow from seemingly nothing. Then, after several minutes he withdrew his hand and placed both on the outside channeling energy into the skin so that it would mend. Unfortunately the quick heal would leave a significant scar, but he was sure the girl wasn't vain enough to complain. She had the aura of a hunter after all.
"Done." He said removing his hands and wiping the slight sweat from his brow with his upper sleeve. His hands were blood soaked.
Jo's fingers explored the new skin with obvious awe. She sat up slowly and it obviously took quite a bit of effort on her part for she wobbled afterward. Ellen placed a hand on her shoulder steadying her. "How did you do that?" she asked fingers still poking and prodding where there'd recently been a gaping hole.
"Magic." He said wiggling his fingers in a sarcastic manner. "And I'd be careful about how you move. It's not completely healed. I've only fixed it to the point that you're not on the brink of death. You're welcome by the way." He said turning to the window and frowning. The sun was on the verge of setting now.
Jo smiled a bit behind him. Something about his bluntness lightened the situation a bit. "What are you looking at?" she asked, curious about his sudden distraction.
His eyes flicked to her momentarily before returning to the window. "The reapers are moving." He said simply.
Ellen's eyes widened marginally. "You can see them?"
"Obviously." Harry said with a frown.
"So you say you're not a demon." Ellen said with a frown, she felt the urge to move in front of Jo, protect her, but the man had just saved Jo's life. There wouldn't be much sense in taking her life now. "What are you then?"
Harry shot her a glare. "I show up and save your daughter's life and all I get is suspicion and never ending questions? A bit of gratitude and information would be appreciated Mrs. Harvelle."
"What do you want to know?" Jo cut in eying Harry speculatively.
Harry glanced first at her and then at a door to her right. He moved for the door. "I want to know why you're all here. You and the Winchesters that is."
"Why would you want to know that?"she asked as a faucet turned on behind her.
The running water was all she could hear for a minute. Then it turned off and Harry reentered the room with a towel in hand dabbing off the water and left over blood. "Those idiots tend to walk into more trouble than I thought humanly possible." He said tossing the towel aside. "Let's just say I have reasons for not wanting Lucifer to get his hands on Sam, and right now as far as I can tell he's given an invitation to the devil."
Jo frowned weighing options in her head while Ellen just surveyed Harry with no small amount of suspicion. "They went to kill him."
Harry blinked taken aback.
"Jo!" Ellen reprimanded clearly not liking that Jo had said something.
"Kill him how?" Harry asked confused. "There aren't a lot of things that can kill Lucifer. Trust me on that one, I've tried."
"You've tried to kill the devil?" Jo asked disbelievingly.
Harry shrugged. "He and I never saw eye to eye."
Jo took the explanation for what it was, a subtle diversion in topic. "The colt." She said finally. "They're using the colt."
Ellen frowned but didn't say anything this time. Harry hadn't gone running off to warn the devil yet, and that was a good sign. She was just hoping that they hadn't put their faith in the wrong person again.
Harry froze at Jo's words. "The colt?" he repeated rigidly.
Jo nodded.
He took a deep breath and exhaled forcefully. "Idiots. The colt won't work."
"But the colt can kill anything!" Jo insisted. "It's in the lore!"
"Lore can be wrong!" Harry snapped back. "The colt won't work! It wasn't designed to kill him. There are very few things that gun can't kill and he just happens to be one of them." Harry rubbed his temples where a massive headache was making itself known. "This is bad. Very bad. Sam is here isn't he?" He paused just long enough to get a reluctant nod from Jo. "He's walking straight into a trap with confidence. He's going to get himself killed…or worse."
"Glad to see you've got faith in the boys." Ellen said sarcastically.
"If you actually knew the tally on how many times they've been killed in their lives you might reconsider that statement." Harry bit back with a scowl. "I have no idea what kept them alive before all of this stuff started going down. Because right now they're living on borrowed favors from whichever team is rooting for them."
Both women looked a bit frazzled at the casual mention of Dean and Sam's countless deaths. Ellen snapped out of it first. "Well, if the colt doesn't work we've got to get to the boys and warn them." She said standing. "They're walking to their deaths otherwise."
Harry glanced away from the window to examine Jo. "I doubt she'd get far on that journey."
"I thought you said you'd healed her." Ellen said defensively moving back to Jo's side.
"To an extent, yes." Harry agreed. "But if she over exerts herself, and a rendezvous with the devil will usually do the trick, she will reopen everything I repaired. Then she'll be back in exactly the same spot, and trust me when I say no human doctor could fix what I had to fix. Have you ever seen a ruptured lower intestine. Not pleasant I assure you."
"How delicate is it?" Jo asked prodding her side again experimentally.
"Think of it like the new skin that begins to grow over a surgery incision. It's stronger than it looks, but the right amount of pressure will tear it. And it's not just your surface skin, every organ that was damaged is like that right now."
"Then you have to go." Jo said looking at her mother.
"I'm not leaving you!" Ellen objected.
"Mom, please. I'll be fine. Sam and Dean need you right now."
Ellen looked desperately between the door and Jo. Eventually she stopped and her shoulders sagged. She shook her head. "I can't Jo. Sam and Dean have each other. You need me."
Jo opened her mouth to argue.
"This is touching. Really. But I'm off." Harry said making for the door before stopping abruptly and turning towards the window. "Did you…hear that?"
The Harvelles shared a look. "No." Jo answered, unsure.
"Oh that's not good." Harry said shaking his head and only serving to confuse the women further. Then he doubled over with a gasp.
Jo went to move forward only to realize she didn't have the energy. She hit the floor like a sack of potatoes all tangled limbs and groans. Ellen rushed to her side, but she pushed her mother back. "What's wrong?" Jo asked finally righting herself.
Harry glanced up. "Get out of Carthage. Don't wait for the Winchesters." He said grimacing and meeting her eyes. "Go. Now."
And then he was simply gone, leaving Ellen and Jo in the room alone. Ellen hesitated for only a moment before grabbing Jo and hoisting her to her feet. "Let's go."
Jo hobbled with her mother to the stairs and from there they found the front door. Ellen made to pull Jo in the direction of their truck but Jo hesitated. "What about them?"
"Who?" Ellen asked forcing her daughter to move again.
"Sam, and Dean…and that Harry guy." Jo supplied panting. "They could be in trouble."
Ellen was frowning and Jo just noticed the tears running down her cheeks. "Not now Jo. We can't go back now. We've got to believe that those boys can take care of themselves."
"But you can help them!" Jo said in shock.
"I'm not leaving you Jo."Ellen said with finality. "I won't."
"But mo-"
"You listen to me Joanna Beth Harvelle!" Ellen said stopping and turning Jo so they were facing, but keeping her hands on the girl's shoulders lest she start to topple. "I care what happens to those boys! But right now you're hurt, and you need me more! I won't see you die! I almost lost you once! Don't ask me to do it again!"
She hugged Jo tight to her, and Jo returned the grasp. They stood like that for a moment longer, until Ellen pulled back and then they continued on their way. Jo still had misgivings, but she knew she couldn't ask her mother to leave her no matter the danger that put the others in. To be perfectly honest she was somewhat relieved her mother wouldn't be going head to head with Lucifer.
"Hey!" Sam shouted drawing Lucifer's attention from the hole he had slowly been filling. "You wanted to see me?"
"Oh Sam, you don't need that. I'd never hurt you. Not really." Lucifer said gesturing to the gun Sam was holding.
"Yeah? Well I'd hurt you!" Dean said standing suddenly from where he had snuck closer to the devil. He pointed the colt directly in the center of Lucifer's forehead. "So suck it!"
The colt's retort filled the air and Lucifer collapsed motionless. Sam took a hopeful step forward, but Lucifer shifted then and Sam's expression mirrored Dean's of disbelief and horror.
"Owww…" Lucifer said pushing himself up and rubbing the mark left by the bullet. "Where did you get that?"
Not waiting for an answer Lucifer punched Dean, launching him into a nearby tree. Sam watched his brother land before refocusing a wary gaze on the angel in front of him.
"Now, where were we?"Lucifer said holding up a hand. "Ah, right. The colt. Don't feel too bad Sam. There are only six things in all of creation that gun can't kill and I happen to be one of them."
Sam winced shooting a glance over to Dean who was unmoving.
"But if you'll give me a minute I'm almost done." Lucifer said turning back to the hole and tossing a bit more of the piled dirt into it.
Sam rushed to Dean's side the moment Lucifer's eyes had left him. He was grateful to feel a pulse.
"You know, I don't suppose you'd just say yes here and now?" Lucifer said bringing attention back to where he was leaning against his shovel. "End this whole tiresome discussion? That's crazy, right?"
Sam stood up scowling. "It's never gonna happen!"
"Oh, I don't know, Sam." Lucifer countered returning to his hole. "I think it will. I think it'll happen soon. Within six months. And I think it'll happen in Detroit."
"You listen to me, you son of a bitch. I'm gonna kill you myself, you understand me? I'm going to rip your heart out!"
"That's good, Sam. You keep fanning that fire in your belly. All that pent-up rage, I'm gonna need it."
Sam took a startled step back.
Lucifer stopped again. This time he seemed a bit distracted. Head tilting to the side almost in a curious manner.
Sam glanced around at all the men that stood staring blankly ahead of themselves. They hadn't moved through the whole ordeal. "What did you do? What did you do to this town?"
Lucifer didn't reply for a minute too focused on whatever had caught his attention. "I've been very generous with this town. One demon for every able bodied man."
"And the rest of them?"
Lucifer paused again. "In there."
Sam looked completely horrified.
"How…odd." Lucifer said turning his gaze in the direction of the town Sam and Dean had just come from.
"What is?" Sam asked.
Lucifer turned his gaze down a bit to catch Sam's. "You, I understand." he said catching Sam off guard. "You came to save people, but him…I thought he'd stay as far away as he could."
"Who?" Sam asked again completely lost. "What are you talking about?"
Lucifer smirked down at him suddenly. "Shall we invite him so you can see?" Lucifer asked retrieving an item from inside his shirt. To Sam it looked like a small vial containing a viscous liquid. Lucifer poured a small amount of it out onto the ground in a circle, recited a few words too low for Sam to hear, and then smiled viciously as a ripple seemed to flow through the air.
It was like a sonic boom, and when it hit Sam he nearly lost his footing. When he glanced back up another man knelt where the circle had been. "Harry?" he asked disbelievingly.
Harry lifted his head at the sound of his name and blinked with a groan. "That's a very unpleasant way to travel."
"Sorry about that. I wasn't sure how else to get you to join the party." Lucifer quipped unhelpfully.
Harry head snapped to him and his eyes shot wide. "The man from the dream…" he murmured quietly. Then he seemed to grasp something. "Lucifer."
"Glad you could join us." Lucifer said with a smile.
Harry made to stand only to find himself held fast to the ground. "What have you done?"
"Oh just a little something I thought up since the last time I saw you. Lots of time to think in hell, you know." Lucifer said smugly.
"When I get out of this I'll tear you limb from limb!" Harry snarled and lightning struck all across the field they were in.
"Temper, temper." Lucifer chided like he was talking to a small child.
"What have you done?" Harry's voice was deathly cold as he eyed the angel with hate.
"I thought it would be obvious to you." Lucifer supplied.
"Why would you kill all these people?" Sam butted in.
"I know, it's awful, but these horsemen are so demanding. So it was women and children first. I know what you must think of me, Sam. But I have to do this. I have to. You of all people should understand." Lucifer said putting a pitiful look on his face.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked obviously confused and disheartened that the devil thought he could relate with him.
"I was a son. A brother, like you, a younger brother, and I had an older brother who I loved. Idolized, in fact. And one day I went to him and I begged him to stand with me, and Michael—Michael turned on me. Called me a freak, a monster. And then he beat me down…all because I was different. Because I had a mind of my own. Tell me something, Sam. Any of this sound familiar?"
Harry scoffed. "You're a petulant child who-" suddenly Harry choked on his own words. He glared up at Lucifer who didn't look particularly upset at the insult.
"Anyway. You'll have to excuse me. Midnight is calling and I have a ritual to finish. Don't go anywhere. Not that you could if you would."Sam retreated to Dean's side as Lucifer turned to the masses of demons spread out across the field. "Now repeat after me. We offer up our lives, blood, souls-"
The demons mimicked his words in unison.
"To complete this tribute."
Again the demons mimicked him, and then they began to fall as bright lights flashed signifying true demon death. Harry tried again to insult the fallen angel but found his tongue tied still.
"What? They're just demons." Lucifer said turning to the Winchesters. It seemed Dean had finally rejoined the world of the living.
Lucifer turned to the hole as a storm began to pick up above their heads. Unable to physically speak Harry jerked his head in Sam's direction catching the tall man's attention. He mouthed the word 'run' as he pressed down on the button on his right sleeve. He saw a flash of tan as he turned back to Lucifer.
"Oh, hello, Death."
Harry's eyes widened. 'Not good, not good, not good!' he screamed mentally. To his immense relief the cavalry decided to show up at that moment. Gabriel grabbed his shirt with glance shot to his brother who was little more than steps away and they were gone.
Harry opened his mouth in not so silent screams. Leaving the circle that had bound him, even with the Angel's teleporting methods it was extremely painful. He felt like he was leaving a kidney behind. Who knows, maybe he was leaving a kidney behind. Magic was unpredictable like that.
Gabriel didn't take them far. He obviously realized something was wrong, and his teleporting skills seemed to be having interference similar to Harry's earlier problems as it was. They crashed landed on a highway a few miles outside of Carthage, and 'crash landed' was putting it gently. Harry was sure he knew what road kill felt like.
From their vantage point they could see the eye of the storm where no doubt Lucifer stood with Death himself. They had escaped not a moment too soon. Harry wasn't too keen of facing Death just yet. Even with the pain still lancing through his body Harry heaved a sigh of relief to be away. That is, until the car hit him.
Cliffhanger! Not too hard to guess who's in the car all things considered.
A lot of people were wondering if I'd save the Harvelles. Answer: Yes. XD
Now, reasons he saved the Harvelles. They do exist. No I've not explained them yet. They should become pretty obvious next chapter but if you're confused about it after next chapter let me know and I'll certainly tell you. ^^
Stuff starts to get real serious next chapter. So look forward to that. Also some more appearances from the less used characters.
It's been awesome writing this story so far and I hope you guys are enjoying it as much as I am. Thanks again for reading, reviewing and other such awesome actions. The next chapter won't be up until after the 2nd of April since I'll be out of town doing stuff for the next week or so. 'Til next time!
~Kanathia