Hey guys, a few small amendments have been made to the last two chapters. I added in another section that I had forgotten about during the original posting. An astute reader caught the inconsistencies and raised some good questions and I conceded that I missed the issues during my posting. So if anyone else was curious about the Samulet showing up in the Crowley's 'secure location' you can go back and find out precisely why it was there.
That said I have to apologize for putting this chapter out so late, again, and warn you that I'm having surgery talks with my neuro surgeon so yeah, life's a bit complicated right now. So fair warning that I have no idea when the next chapter will be posted. It will be posted though. I swear it.
Well, enjoy the chapter.
"You're not going to like what I have to say." Was the first thing Harry heard as he hit the accept button on his phone to take a call. Not being in a particularly good mood already Harry resisted the urge to snap at the man on the other end of the line. He'd been in the middle of contemplating Bela's situation.
"What is it Patrick?" Harry said barely sparing a glance at the phone he'd put on loud speaker.
"All the resurrected people have something in common that you missed."
"And that is?"
"They all knew you."
Harry paused at that. Some of the faces had seemed familiar, but only a few.
"Some were neighbors, others worked for your companies, but they all had a tie in to you somehow."
"How did you find that out?" If the Winchesters had missed it, it couldn't be that obvious.
"An employee at your newest office just got put on the list. Josh Paltrow. Ring any bells?"
Harry blanched for half a second. He'd just seen Josh at work two days ago and sometime in between then and now the man had died and been resurrected. Then again, Harry had made a trip to hell in that time so maybe it wasn't the oddest thing to have happened over the last two days. "All kinds of them."
"Someone's trying to get your attention."
"They succeeded." Harry said eying a folder in front of him. "Any luck finding out who it is?"
"None yet, but they have to be pretty close to where you are now."
"So it should be a simple matter of weeding them out." Harry caught what Patrick was implying. It wasn't a simple trick to hide the kind of energy it took to bring back the dead.
"You might not even need to. It's obvious they want to be found."
Harry thought on that as Patrick said his farewells and hung up. Whoever was doing this was trying to gain his attention. Maybe he hadn't been paying as much attention to his surroundings as he should have been recently.
He spared another glance to his phone before sliding it into his pocket. There was no point calling the Winchesters. He'd drop by in a few hours to see if they'd found anything nearly as useful as Patrick had.
Harry placed another coin on the counter, five in total. The clerk gave him a salacious smile as he exited with a wave bag in hand. He'd just paid in old world coins rarely seen these days. He supposed the woman behind the counter would have been interested in him out of pure business ethic even if she hadn't been eying him like a piece of meat the whole time he'd been checking over the product he'd purchased.
He glanced down at the bag eying the gun inside. Property of one deceased Bela Talbot. How the woman in the shop had gotten ahold of it Harry had no idea. Why she'd made Harry pay a heavy toll for it was even more puzzling. To anyone else it should have been just that, a gun. To Harry it was a key. The price meant little. He made more than that in a week, and his bank accounts were already swimming in wealth. Still, each of those coins was worth thousands of dollars. It was strange that a completely average gun would cost that much. Perhaps there was more to it than Harry knew. Considering it had belonged to Bela he wouldn't doubt it.
He turned into an empty park and strode along to the first empty bench. He sat there cradling the gun, lost in thought.
Should he bring Bela back? She'd already lived out her life on Earth. By all rights he should send her along. He could argue that bringing her back would upset the balance. A delicate thing. Alas, he didn't much care about the balance. And the Winchesters were upsetting that enough already, what was one more soul squeezed from perdition? Not to mention all this business with the Mark of Tergeo.
A tug on his jacket caught his attention. He glanced up to meet big brown eyes. He blinked twice taking in the red hair and solemn expression. "My ball is stuck in the tree." The little girl said pointing to the tree to Harry's right where there was indeed a brightly colored ball wedged between two branches.
Harry heaved a sigh. "Didn't your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?" he said eying the kid speculatively. The hair color was only a shade off from his Lily's, the eye color an exact match to Ginny's, but her face was nothing like either of the two she shared traits with.
She shrugged obviously unconcerned.
He stood hooking the bag around one arm and grabbing a long branch from the ground. He could use magic to get it down but the last thing he wanted was some kid hovering around asking a million questions while he was trying to think. He prodded the ball sharply twice before it dislodged itself and bounced to the ground. The girl chased after it happily calling a thank you back towards him.
He sat back down but he could no longer focus on his internal debate. Bela's situation would have to wait. He needed to go see the Winchesters anyway.
Harry popped up outside of the Singer residence. He supposed Bobby had gotten tired of the cramped motel room. Inside he could feel the Winchesters and Bobby. Surprisingly Castiel was hanging around too. Perhaps the angel had found something after all.
He knocked three times on the door, head tilted to the side. Normally he would have just popped right in to the room but a small part of him wanted to stall in seeing Sam again if just so he wouldn't have to explain that his father had indeed been in hell.
He could hear slow deliberate footsteps approach the door. Then slowly it opened after the owner of said footsteps had examined him through the eyehole.
"Since when were you polite enough to use a door?" Dean asked getting a small glare as Harry pushed past him.
"You complain when I use the door, you complain when I don't. There's just no winning with you Winchesters is there?" Harry snapped back.
Bobby snorted from the desk where he had quite a number of pages strewn about.
Harry's eyes sought out the angel and then finally Sam who apparently wasn't paying him any attention in favor of trying to clean the handgun in front of him. His movements were too precise to be relaxed. So he was ignoring Harry on purpose? Or maybe it was someone else in the room he was avoiding eye contact with. Odd.
"So, any news?"
"Yeah, omens have been popping up like wildfire all over Wyoming." Bobby spouted not looking up from his papers.
"Okay, more specifically any news about the Mark of Tergeo business?" Harry amended with a bit of annoyance.
"Cas was just about to tell us something when you knocked." Dean supplied shortly turning to the angel.
Castiel nodded. "The staff is not being used at its full capacity."
"Okay? So, what, it can bring back whole armies of people or something?" Dean asked confused.
"No, the bodies are being resurrected, but the souls are not returning to them. They have no semblance of free will."
"They're just puppets…" Harry said lowly, mostly to himself.
"I caught a glimpse of the shaman as well. She's not the original wielder of the staff."
"So it is a shaman?"
"She?" Dean asked over Sam's question.
"Yes, she." Castiel nodded.
"Obviously not the original owner of the staff then." Sam said with a frown.
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions there." Bobby said gruffly.
"Meaning?"
Bobby slid a book over the table for them. It was a well-worn leather bound volume and it was currently opened to a page on something called a-
"Corpsetaker?" Dean read incredulously. "Oh come on! That doesn't even sound real!"
Bobby glared.
"Live for long periods of time." Harry read out loud. "They eat souls. Disturbing. Seems they can take the victim's body as a vessel."
"The best part is, they're not immortal." Bobby said sounding a bit too happy.
"How do you know it's a corpsetaker?" Sam asked nonplussed.
"The signs match up, there've been a few deaths in those areas never with a scratch on them... except the mark of Tergeo. Turns out the mark is a sort of family crest for these monsters. They use it mark their victims. The mark we're looking at just happens to be one of the ones listed."
"Alright, so how do we gank it?"
"A stake made of Ash wood dipped in the blood of a previous victim."
Harry nodded. Ash trees weren't terribly hard to find and with the mark on each of the victims it wouldn't be too hard to get the blood either.
Castiel suddenly put a hand to his head and bent lower as if focusing on something inside his head.
"Cas?" Dean was the first to spot the doubled over angel.
"Something's happening." Was the only explanation the others got before Castiel took off blowing several of Bobby's pages around.
"Brilliant." Harry said rolling his eyes. "As far as the 'corpsetaker' I think it might be best if I took this one alone."
"What, why?" Sam interjected standing.
Harry's eyebrow raised. "Well, it's been trying to gain my attention for quite some time. It would be rude to ignore it."
"What do you mean 'gain your attention?'" Bobby asked.
Harry noticed the suspicious lack of comments from Dean. Something had definitely happened that he hadn't been cued in on. "A contact brought it to my attention that the victims all had one thing in common. They all knew me, to varying degrees."
"And you didn't realize?" Bobby asked scathingly.
"Faces tend to blur together when you've been alive as long as I have Singer. It's not like they were particularly important people in my life. Neighbors, employees. People I had little contact with but might have said hello to once in a while."
Bobby and Sam nodded at that. At least he'd managed to gain the tall Winchester's attention. Dean seemed to be in Lala land now that Cas had stopped talking and the conversation was moving in a way that didn't require his input. Not that conversations usually required Dean Winchester's input.
"You think you can take it on your own?" Bobby asked scanning the page again.
"I'm sure I'll manage." Harry said before heaving a sigh. "Alright. I give. Does someone want to clue me in on why you two are acting like your favorite pet just died?" Harry gestured to Sam and Dean.
Sam and Bobby shared a look. Then, Sam nodded.
"Dean thought it'd be a bright idea to say yes to Michael." Bobby answered glaring daggers at the Winchester in question.
Harry certainly hadn't been expecting that. From what he'd learned of the two brothers in the time he knew them he'd been almost certain Sam would be the one to cave in. "Oh?" Harry turned to Dean. "What brought that on?"
Dean just gave him a steely look that clearly said he wasn't interested in discussing it.
Harry shook his head fixing the man with a harsh glare. "I swear you get more idiotic every time we meet." He shook his head. "Sam, a moment."
Sam looked dubiously at his brother before following Harry to the door. Harry didn't bother to open the door. He just stood there and frowned. "I don't need to warn you that Dean saying yes would be a very bad idea." Sam nodded knowingly. "Good. Then I suppose the only thing left to tell you is that John Winchester is no longer in hell. I made sure of it." He was vague, hoping Sam wouldn't needle the subject.
"Was he there?"
Harry repressed the urge to rub his temple. "Yes."
"Where is he now?"
"He passed on properly this time. I made sure of it."
"So he's…?"
Harry shrugged. "Heaven supposedly. I'm not exactly sure how the human afterlife works. He didn't go back to hell though. That I can assure you of."
Sam nodded in relief. "Thank you."
"Oh…I'm used to having guns pointed at my head by you two. A 'thanks' sounds odd." Harry shivered. "Not undeserved though. The git tried to punch me right off the bat. Well, I think I'll take my leave for now. I have things to gather before I off a corpsetaker."
Harry didn't wait for Sam to say anything else. He apparated, with a wave, back toward Wyoming.
It didn't take Harry long to locate an Ash tree. He ran his fingers over the smooth bark before choosing a sizable, sturdy branch and slicing through it with magic. It took all of ten seconds for him to finish his business on that random detour and he left that small rural block.
His next step was a tad more difficult. He pulled out a list with the names of every victim, and now that they knew what had happened to these people that was precisely what they were, victims. They hadn't gotten lucky being revived in such a way. They may not even have died natural deaths. Harry's fingers twitched on the paper.
He apparated only a few blocks from a very familiar location. One of his old houses lay nearby. He hadn't lived in the area in nigh on a decade now, but apparently such a small thing as time lapsing meant little to the corpsetaker. So Harry retraced familiar footsteps through the neighborhood avoiding being seen as he approached a specific house.
Inside of the two story Victorian building was a woman and her two daughters. Harry could see them in the front room doing some sort of leisure activity. It was evening now and the sun had nearly set. He watched the three slowly drift off towards their bedrooms the oldest female calling good nights to her daughters. Harry saw the master bathroom light flick on and one of the smaller bedrooms went dark. A sign that its occupant was settling in for sleep or at least something better done in the dark.
Harry hadn't come for the mother. He'd come for the youngest daughter, a girl of about sixteen. When he'd left she'd been just a kid, a mere seven years old. Now she was on the cusp of adulthood. It was strange how time still affected those around him while he alone remained untouched. The report said she had been struck by a drunk driver while she was biking home from school. Now she seemed almost normal around her family, barring the occasional distant stare.
Harry slipped in to the house and made his way silently to his target's room making sure not to linger too long near her sister's door. It wouldn't do to give himself away and have to obliviate the whole family. He slipped through the poster mottled door. Had he been a man of lesser determination he might have yelled in surprise at what he found inside. The girl was sitting on the edge of her bed patiently. Her eyes were trained on him even in the dark, but the moment the door had shut fully behind him she flicked on the small bed side lamp. The pink lamp shade gave the room an eerie glow. Harry swallowed his shout.
"I know you." She said giving him a measuring look. "You're the man from down the street."
Harry raised a brow. He hadn't lived here in nine years. Perhaps her soulless mind was having an issue keeping pace with her memories. It mattered little. He moved forward determinedly shaking his head and apologizing mentally. He stunned her and she fell backwards gracelessly, probably hitting her head if the dull thunk was anything to judge by. He pulled a syringe from his pocket and inserted it neatly into her arm. He pulled back the stopper and watched the chamber fill with dark liquid until he was satisfied with the amount. He resecured the needle and pocketed it wiping her memory at the same time. No need to tip off the corpsetaker to his actions if it could be avoided.
With one last glance to the girl on the bed he turned in place and apparated from the room.
His office was dark when he arrived. It was odd to see all the lights off. He rarely ever turned them out himself, and he always told his assistants to leave them be in case he worked late or came in early. They were most certainly out now and the gloom had Harry on edge. He walked confidently over to the wall and felt for the light switches flipping every one of them so the room was overly bright. His eyes protested the sudden change, but the light was preferable.
In the new found illumination Harry could see why the office had been so dark. Even with the lights out there still should have been a fair amount of ambient light from the over large windows. Somehow someone had managed to tack up large red velvet drapes over every window in the room. They reminded Harry of the curtains around his bed in Gryffindor tower. The shade of red was nearly spot on.
The drapes changed the entire feel of the room making it go from open well to do office, to something Harry was sure you'd see in a porno involving an office. As if to add to the porno vibe a woman sat in one of the large arm chairs Harry had off to the side. His secretary sat there, though he nearly didn't recognize her. Gone was her normal professional business attire and strict bun. Instead she was wearing a far too short skirt a tank top and her hair fell loosely around her shoulders.
Harry raised a brow in her direction.
"I thought you'd come through the elevator, but you're never one to disappoint with bland entrances… are you Mr. Potter?"
"Of course not. I have a reputation to uphold after all. How can I help you Glenda? Or rather, thing inside of Glenda."
Glenda smirked, an unfitting expression that was seemed to mesh in all too well with this alternate Glenda. "See, I knew you were smart." She said leaning forward to reveal a bit too much cleavage as she examined him. "I've had my eye on you for a while now."
"Really, and how long have you been hiding out in my secretary's body?"
"Just a few weeks. Long enough to get used to it but not long enough to be attached if she's not really your type. I can always upgrade."
Harry suppressed the urge to sneer in disgust. "There were plenty of single women in the work place. Why Glenda?"
"Easy, she was closest to you. She was the only person who knew where you'd be on a semi regular basis. Even if half of your appointments got cancelled."
"Why the interest?" Harry grimaced at the thought of her interest in him.
Her eyes were hungry as they roved his form. "Power." She admitted without hesitation. "I find it attractive."
"Thanks…I suppose."
She grinned maliciously. "You should take the compliment. I'm getting shivers just sitting in the same room as you. Of course, you're clever too. I'm sure you've figured out what I am from the clues I left you already."
Harry gave a stiff nod, unsure where this was going. He wasn't about to admit he wasn't the one who'd done the figuring out of that bit. "Is that why you brought them back? As pawns to lead me to you?"
She looked taken aback. "No, well not entirely. I did it for you. Sure, you didn't know most of them very well but you did know them. I thought you'd be happy I brought them back."
Disgust and rage fought for the top spot in Harry's mind. "You thought I'd be happy with you bringing back the dead?!"
Her chest swelled up. "You bring back the dead!" she accused. Gone was the seductive lilt to her voice. She sounded defensive now, like the conversation wasn't going the way she'd hoped.
"That's different!" he sneered standing.
"How?!"
"I'm don't leave their damn souls behind! Those aren't people any more. They're husks."
Her anger faltered to be replaced by hesitance. "So you know then, the limits of my power. I'm not half the shaman my father was."
"Your father…" Harry parroted.
Her confidence was ebbing back in. "Yes, he was a great man. He went about bringing justice to kings who were unfair to their subjects in the old world. He taught me about who we are, but he's gone now."
Well, at least there weren't two he'd have to worry about.
"But he taught me one last thing before he died. Tying one's magic to someone who's stronger can make us stronger, and who would be a better choice than you? I've heard so much about you and witnessed just as much. You're even older than father was. You must be worthy. You could give me the strength I need and in return I could be anyone you desire."
Harry's nose wrinkled with distaste. The thought itself repulsed him. Her jumping from body to body trying to satisfy him. "I don't suppose you leaving Glenda would give her body back?"
Glenda shook her head. "I've already consumed her soul. After all it's nearly impossible for two souls to inhabit the same body for long periods of time without one or the other becoming damaged, and I'm usually the one who gets damaged. Human souls have an annoyingly strong anchor to their vessels, and I've body jumped quite a few times in my life."
"Well then, I suppose I don't need to apologize for this." Harry lurched forward swinging out the ash branch he'd had hidden in his coat the whole time.
Her eyes widened as they locked on the branch and then she was pushing herself backwards trying to avoid him and reaching out to stop his wrists at the same time. The effect was that Harry hit her hard and they both went tumbling over the back of the lounge chair; Harry still heatedly pushing the branch closer to the woman's breast.
She looked terrified in that moment right before the branch drove through her but as a dark shadow seemed to pass through him Harry knew he'd failed to deliver the blow in time. He turned quickly wrenching the branch free.
He was met by a solid wall of people. He took a step back not having expected the interruption. One of the women dove forward and grabbed the weapon in his hand. Harry, feeling no sympathy for the woman he delivered a nasty electric shock through her with a snap of his fingers. She released the branch to convulse on the floor.
Each of these people standing before Harry was one of the puppets brought back from the dead. When she'd managed to get them into the office he had no idea. His eyes flicked from one to the next looking for a tell. Something told him she was still in this room, probably hidden amongst her puppets.
There, a flash of intelligence in a set of eyes was all Harry needed before he flew towards her again. Hands clawed over him as hit the corpsetaker. Again she leapt from the body into one behind him, but this time several of the puppets clung to him and regardless of his shocks they wouldn't release him. They simply twitched violently where they stood.
She was now possessing a young woman who seemed to be in her mid twenties. "I had hoped the exchange would go smoothly."
"But you weren't counting on it." Harry said with a sneer.
"No…" she admitted almost regretfully. "I was not. There are ways to forcefully link our magic, but it was a last resort. I had hoped…but it's not important…" She reached forward to place a hand on his chest.
Harry turned on the spot, apparating. He landed just inches behind her and quickly, before she could ghost out of her current vessel a third time, drove the stake home.
The wood made an odd squelching noise as it pushed through the host body coming clean out on the other side. Blood sprayed across the floor and faces of those in front of her and Harry could see her mouth work to say something in her astonishment.
All around them the puppets fell like their strings had been cut. She pitched forward catching herself on one hand and coughing as she tried to draw in more air. Harry let the stake go looking at his hands distastefully. They were absolutely soaked in blood.
A gasping laugh drew his attention back to the dying woman on the floor. She had managed to turn herself so she was laying on her side gazing up at him. "You… object… to the union…"
"Obviously." Harry acquiesced. "No usually means no."
Humor and pain both lit her eyes. "I am… used to denial… you learn… to take what you… want." Her eyes lingered on the bodies around them before returning to him. "You would… have made a fine… mate."
Harry snorted.
"You think… me a monster… I'm sure… but you could… kill me… with such ease. What… does that… make… you?" Her final question pitched, the life started to fade from her.
Harry stared down at her lifeless form for several minutes longer thinking on her last words. He was no longer human. He had accepted that fact ages ago when he had failed to die. Humans did not have the powers he did. But did his lack of humanity make him a monster?
No. He'd given up silly notions like absolute definitions of morality long ago as well. One's actions were what defined them, and certain circumstances did warrant killing. But there were few people who had committed such atrocities as he had. Things that had little to do with something as black and white as this. It was a dilemma surely, but better a useful monster than a powerless martyr.
He wasn't sure how long he stood in that spot staring down at the woman, but it must have been hours for when he finally moved his muscles creaked in rebellion. He glanced about at the destruction in his office. Half was soaked in blood and the other half was in vast disarray.
He walked to the doors and bolted them against entry, not that it should be a problem now. Glenda was the only one who'd come up on a regular basis and now her corpse laid not twenty feet from him. Better safe than sorry though.
He glanced about at all the bodies lying on the floor. Some looked untouched like they were only playing dead. He knelt next to Glenda's body. He had no idea what torment she'd gone through before being snuffed out by the corpsetaker. Was the monster's possession similar to a demon's at first? If so Glenda had suffered too much because of him. He moved to touch her face and close her startled eyes but hesitated. He could bring her back… couldn't he? No, he wouldn't. Far too many complications lingered down that line, and the woman deserved whatever peace she'd found in the afterlife. He would leave her with her family.
It took Harry a while to properly deal with all the bodies. He brought each one to its proper place and left it for someone to find. All except the last vessel. He took that girl to a secluded Canadian wilderness and burned her. He would take no chances that woman might come back somehow and start trying to use the people around him again. Leave no job half done. Her name would just be added to the long list of missing persons in this world.
When he finished he flipped open his phone and rolled his eyes at the four missed calls from the Sam Winchester. He was unsure if for some reason the man was trying to check up on him or if the brothers simply needed help again. The latter was more likely.
Without any preamble Harry apparated back to Bobby's salvage yard. He didn't knock, or wait to be invited in. He simply snapped his fingers and the door unlocked. He proceeded to let himself in. As usual when he rounded the corner a gun was leveled at his face for a few seconds before it was lowered.
"Harry?" Sam said with a mix of relief and barely restrained frustration. Though Harry was sure the frustration wasn't being directed at him. "You didn't answer your phone."
"I was busy." Was Harry's simple answer.
Sam nodded as he led the way to the study. He seemed distracted. "We have a bit of a situation."
"When isn't there one?" Harry asked rolling his eyes. Life around the Winchesters seemed to be a constant battle to maintain any degree of sanity. It wasn't a surprise that they had gotten themselves into some sort of trouble while he was gone.
Sam shot him a reproachful look over his shoulder.
Bobby's office looked like it had seen better days, but that was normal. The disorganization about the place just seemed to be how Bobby remembered things. The organization of a disorganized mind.
What really caught Harry's eye was the kid sitting on the bed. He couldn't be over twenty and he was staring about the place with distaste.
"Who's the kid?" Harry nodded to the new figure in the room ignoring Castiel who seemed only to be in the house to give off an aura of perpetual confusion.
"Yeah, we were just getting to that." Bobby said pinning Sam with his gaze now that they'd established it was just Harry that had been breaking in to his house.
"Who the hell are you people?" the kid on the bed shot off finally speaking up.
"Better question, why is he covered in mud?" Harry inserted without answering the kid's question.
Castiel caught Harry's eyes and answered. "Angels."
"Fantastic." Harry said rolling his shoulders. "Is he at least hidden?"
"Cas just carved some sigils into his ribs." Dean offered looking equal parts pissed and amused.
"Well at least there's that."
"Hello!" the kid got uppity when his question went unanswered. He'd even stood up to make himself more known.
Sam held up his hands in a non-threatening way. "Look this is gonna sound weird, but we're your brothers." He pointed to Dean and himself.
Harry burst into laughter as the kid's eyes narrowed in suspicion effectively drawing all attention in the room to himself. "The kid's a Winchester?" something about the scrawny kid on the bed being part of the 'formidable' Winchester line was laughable to him. He sobered as another thought hit him. "There aren't any more of you are there? I'm not going to find out you have a sister next week am I?"
"God I hope not." Dean said shaking his head.
"The name's Adam…" the kid said shooting a snotty look at Harry. "And I'm guessing you two are Sam and Dean." He nodded to the two older Winchesters though he did it in reverse order which seemed to further amuse Harry.
Sam just looked at him confusedly. "How did you-?"
"The angels warned me about you." Adam supplied.
"Alright…" Dean said a bit stunned by that answer. "How 'bout you tell us everything. Start from the beginning."
"I have a better idea…" Harry said stepping forward and locking eye with the muddy kid on the bed. "I'm sure he'll leave out the pertinent details anyway."
Adam, unaware that he was doing exactly what Harry needed held Harry's gaze. Harry swiftly used legilimency to dig into the boy's more recent memories. Adam sharing a meal with his mother filled Harry's mind and Harry pushed it aside. Too far back then. He moved forward. Adam making out with a girl at a high school prom. Harry wrinkled his nose and was about to shift the scene again when the memory changed on its own. Suddenly Harry was privy to a meeting between Adam and Zachariah. Zachariah smiled that shit eating grin of his as he promised to bring back the boy's mother in return for his services. Even without actually being there Harry could sense the lies rolling off of the other angel. Several severely overblown warnings came from the angel as well warning him away form the Winchesters and, more surprisingly, Harry. So that was it then? Harry scoffed as he pulled back from the kid's memories.
Adam seemed to be shaking off the feeling of Harry entering his mind. "What the hell did you do?" he asked rubbing his forehead.
"Skimmed some of your surface memories." Harry said blinking away some of the still trickling emotions he'd received from Adam.
"Did you just mind fuck our brother?" Dean asked staring at Harry in a way that obviously said he wanted to take a swing at him.
"Oh please Dean, it's not like I corrupted anything. I just took a look at the memories pertinent to our situation. We're dealing with Zachariah." He waited for Dean's snort of derision to end before speaking again. "Oh yes, and Adam's convinced he's Micheal's vessel now."
"What?!" Dean exploded while the others just seemed shocked by the statement. "That's insane! That's not possible."
"That's not entirely true. Maybe they've moved on from you Dean. Maybe they wrongly assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them. He's John Winchester's bloodline. Sam's brother. It's not perfect but it's-"
"Not possible." Harry interrupted.
All eyes turned to Harry.
"How do you figure?" Dean asked but there seemed to be a bit of relief in his eyes.
"Sound though Castiel's theory might be in the case of any other angel's vessel the same can't be applied to this situation. It's Dean's life experiences as much as his lineage that make him the vessel."
"You mean hell." Sam said slightly pale.
"I mean hell." Harry conceded. "Accepting a different vessel would make him weaker. That puts him in a very bad position when he's struggling for power with Lucifer."
"Why pull me back then?" Adam questioned angrily. "If I'm useless why pull me back at all."
"Leverage…or more likely, bait." Harry said with no emotion.
"And who are you to say an angel's lying to me?"
"They're less angels, more malevolent dicks with wings." Sam supplied.
Harry didn't seem overtly offended that Adam was taking the angel's side over his.
"They're just trying to fix this." Adam shot back.
"They're lying to you." Sam recounted.
"I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"Uh, cause they're angels."
"They tell you they're gonna roast half the planet?"
"They said the fight could get a bit hairy, but it is the devil so we've got to stop him right?"
Harry snickered when Adam unwittingly used his name.
"Yeah, but there's another way!" Sam ignored Harry's amusement in favor of getting his point across.
"Great. What is it?"
"We're working on the power of love." Dena supplied in Sam's lapse of speech.
"How's that going?
"Mm, not good." And the dopey disbelieving look on Dean's face spoke volumes for how much faith he was placing in Sam's ability to find another way.
"Look I know you don't know me from a hole in the wall." Sam said seriously. Harry puzzled over the old saying. He'd never understood that one. "But I'm begging you. Please, just trust me. Give me more time."
"Give me one good reason."
Sam paused before looking at Adam imploringly. "Because we're blood."
"You've got no right to say that to me." Adam seethed.
"You're still John's boy." Bobby finally spoke up.
"No. John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad." Adam started and Harry stopped him before he could really get into his tirade.
"Alright that's enough. Let's not play 'who had the shittiest childhood.'" Harry said conjuring up a chair and plopping into it. "Let's all just admit that life's a bitch and none of us got dealt the cards we wish we had. Yeah? Alright, that's settled. Now, you need a reason not to go jumping back to the angels I'm sure I can give you plenty. Why don't we start with the obvious? You'd have to be an idiot to go jumping back into Zachariah's hands. If you have even half a brain cell I'm sure you could tell the guy's a smarmy git. Now, he promised to pull your mom back here. Why were you so keen to jump on that offer?"
Adam shifted uncomfortably. Harry reasoned it was probably only half because he was covered in mud. The other half must be nerves. "She died because of me." He admitted after a moment.
"I'm sure she's living it up in heaven though hmm? Why drag her back down here?"
Adam didn't look too keen to share on the topic.
"Still, it's not like Zachariah's the only option. Plenty of people can bring her back. It's not as if the angels are the only ones capable." Harry said. True he'd never pulled a soul from heaven but he didn't doubt he was capable of it.
Adam gave him a long considering look. "You're serious?"
"No, I'm joking." Harry deadpanned.
"Why would you want to?"
"I don't." Harry supplied nonchalantly. "As a matter of fact I think you should be rethinking it yourself. It's not like she's in hell. From what I understand heaven's supposed to manifest as whatever you find most appealing as a setting, so naturally she's got to be pretty comfortable up there. What's the point of dragging her back a world on the verge of ripping itself apart?"
Harry left Adam and the rest to think after his sound advice to think on his actions a bit more. He headed to the store to grab a new set of glassware as his had been shattered in the fight with the corpsetaker. From there he'd gone back to the office to deal with the mess there. He'd barely made touch down and poured himself a glass of scotch before his phone was ringing shrilly.
He ignored it and it went to voicemail. Seconds later it was ringing again. Harry grumbled profanity under his breath as he grabbed the thing and spotted Sam's name flashing across the display screen. He hit the accept button and hissed out a harsh, "What?"
"Adam has gone missing."
"Oh for the love of fuck." Harry said slamming his glass down on the desk. Hadn't the kid absorbed a word he'd said?
"Do you have any idea where he is?"
"Do I look like a phone book?" Harry grouched.
There was silence on the other end then some rustling.
"Do you know where the kid is or not?" the rough voice of Dean half shouted over the phone worry the prevalent emotion in his voice.
"Ask your angel buddy. I'm sure he's more willing to do recon for you than I am." Harry snapped back before disconnecting. No skin off his back if Adam went missing. He'd talked to the kid and if he was adamant about jumping into the situation despite the obvious trap so be it. He wasn't one to stop people from doing what they wanted.
Harry turned to the mess at hand. He moved around the room righting furniture and removing set in bloodstains with just flicks of the wrist and snaps of his fingers. He fixed a splintered table before waving his hand. The curtains that had been tacked across the windows wrenched from their positions and folded themselves neatly in a pile. With a snap they disappeared completely leaving the room almost back to its former glory.
Harry plopped into his desk chair and took a sip of his scotch enjoying the light burn and the strong smell.
"I was wondering when you'd be back."
Harry almost jumped at the voice.
Gabriel was sitting in his customary chair eying the place appreciatively. "When I popped in earlier the placed was a total mess. I thought you might have given up on it…or thrown a kegger."
Harry shrugged. He was too tired to care much about what Gabriel had popped into.
Gabriel held up a red envelope and waved it around. "Look what I got." He said with a smug smile.
"Bit late isn't it?" Harry said eying the envelope the he was sure encased an invitation to the meeting he'd be attending very soon.
"Better late than never. Besides, Kali always did like to play hard to get."
"Yes, I'm sure." Harry said leaning back and surveying the angel in front of him. "Did you come by just to gloat that you got accepted to the monster mash?"
"Maybe." Gabriel said almost pouting.
Harry huffed in half-hearted amusement.
"I guess you don't have to vouch for me as your plus one any more."
"Ever the optimist." Harry said with a heaving sigh. His phone rang again. Gabriel raised a curious eyebrow as he checked the caller id and didn't recognize the number. He flipped the phone open and placed it against his ear. "Hello?"
"Harry."
"Castiel." Harry replied. "I just got off the phone with Sam not long ago."
"I'm aware. I don't think Adam went voluntarily."
Harry stared dispassionately down at his glass. "What makes you think that?"
Silence reigned from Castiel's line for a good minute and a half. Harry assumed the angel was collecting his thoughts. "Your words seemed to have shaken him. Sam does not believe he went willingly."
"You're going to need more proof than Sam's gut feeling. The guy's a lousy judge of character."
Gabriel snorted from his seat obviously agreeing even if he didn't know the other side of the conversation.
"He was taken while he was talking with Bobby." Castiel offered.
"Mid conversation?"
"Yes."
Harry hummed thoughtfully. "Did he seem nervous?"
A long pause sounded from Castiel's side again. "Bobby assures me he did."
"Fantastic." Harry said with a frown.
"I think my brothers might have coerced him into revealing his location."
"I think I might agree with you." Harry said rubbing his temples. "Alright… any idea where they took him?"
"The green room." Castiel supplied. "I've already gone to check. There are an abnormal amount of angels around it."
Harry had no idea where the 'green room' was, or what it was for that matter. He was willing to bet it was some sort of angel base. "Alright." He said finally. "Give me a location and I'll meet you there."
Castiel rattled off an address in Van Nuys, California and Harry flipped his phone shut taking a long draw from his glass.
"Any idea what this 'green room' is?" Harry asked glancing up to the angel occupying his office.
"As far as I know, some room where they keep non-angel captives. Never been myself. I'm not much for visiting places like that. Besides, they barely had the concept up and running before I bailed." Gabriel said with a wave of his hand.
"I take it you won't be joining me."
Gabriel gave him an incredulous look.
Harry shrugged. "Still, Van Nuys, California. Not exactly the classiest place to dump your POW camp."
Harry wasn't joking about the lack of class. It was particularly bad on the block where Harry's directions landed him. He was standing outside of a large warehouse, obviously long abandoned. Rust coated most surfaces and it was in constant battle to claim more territory from the rapidly chipping paint.
Harry kicked an empty bottle out of his way as he moved closer to the building in question. He wasn't surprised to find three very human shapes bunkered down near the only visible entrance. Not exactly a low profile hiding spot to wait for him. He supposed the most surprising part had to be that Dean was among the three. He figured they would've been keeping him as far away as possible after his little stint with trying to call Michael.
He approached the kneeling team and raised an eyebrow when Sam turned a relieved gaze in his direction. "So what's the situation?" Harry said when finally within earshot of the group.
"Six or seven angels patrolling around inside." Sam answered frowning. "Adam's probably being held in the building in the center."
"Right…" Harry glanced over Sam's shoulder to Dean who was grimacing determinedly. "Why's he here?"
Dean shrugged. Sam looked a little offended by the question. "Sam assumes Dean will be able to deny Michael when the time comes."
"Wow," Harry said giving the younger brother an incredulous look. "Talk about blind faith." He frowned at the pair. He supposed if push came to shove he might be able to fight off Michael long enough for Sam to pull Dean from the room.
Sam looked unabashed by Harry's statement. In fact the determined set of his jaw might even have become more pronounced.
"So what's the plan?" Harry huffed.
"Now that you're here?" Dean said looking around. "I say we grab the kid and magic ourselves out of here."
"Cas can take on the angels, and you can help us grab Adam." Sam supplied
"Wouldn't it make more sense for Harry to fight the angels and Cas go in with us?" Dean asked glancing at the angel.
"No." Harry butted in. "Castiel and I are both capable of fighting the angels, but if Michael's waiting in the wings Castiel doesn't stand a chance."
Sam nodded, his mind having most likely gone there as well.
"Right…" Dean said glancing at Castiel. "But isn't fighting six angels like suicide for you?"
"Maybe it is." Castiel said noncommittally loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt. "But then I won't have to watch you fail. I'm sorry Dean but I don't seem to have the same faith in you that Sam does."
Dean looked stunned by the angel's words.
"Alright that's enough." Harry said turning to see Castiel pulling out a box cutter. "What exactly was your brilliant plan for getting past the watch dogs anyway? From what I understand they're essentially as strong as you are, and six to one is more than a small disadvantage."
Castiel started carving into his own chest with the box cutter. "I'll draw them in close, and then blast them with the dispelling sigil."
"Alternatively," Harry said plucking the device from Castiel's hand. Self-mutilation was a bit hard to watch. "We could both go in, take out the angels, and then rescue Adam together. I'm not really seeing a point in self-sacrifice. Our military power trumps theirs right now as long as they haven't already got Michael waiting in the shadows. I say we take advantage of that."
Castiel nodded though the way his eyes flicked over to Dean told Harry he'd really rather not be there if the man did say yes to Michael.
"Brilliant." Harry said taking off his suit jacket and dropping it. It was ruined anyway. But now the group could see tattered state of his clothing that had been hidden by the dark jacket before. He'd removed a fair amount of the blood but the holes were a different matter and there were several from points where Harry had caught his clothing on different things in his office during the fight or where the corpsetaker's puppets had simply latched on too tightly and ripped the cloth.
"Dude, what happened?" Dean said eying the shirt in surprise.
"I got a bit more trouble from the corpsetaker than I was expecting. She had… friends." Harry clarified with a shrug. "Ready?"
Castiel gave a short nod drawing out a long silver blade from his jacket.
Harry didn't give any signal. He just opened the door and let himself in to the warehouse leaving it ajar behind him for Castiel. There was an immediate presence of the guards. Two of them stood not far from the new arrivals glaring darkly between Harry and Cas.
One advanced. "Please," Castiel said gripping his sword tighter. "I'd rather not hurt you."
"Like you'll have the-" Whatever spiteful half-cocked insult the angel had been about to spew was cut off when Harry took two successive steps forward and smacked his hand onto the other's face. There was a sharp cry that cut off as Harry pushed the angel backward into the ground. Light started to emit from the vessel as it jerked seemingly without control until there was a loud sound almost like a gunshot and it all stopped. Harry slowly drew his hand back examining the gore now gracing his sleeve and ethereal wings etched into the floor.
"I'd always wondered how differently an angel's vessel would react to that versus a demon's. Much more visually dynamic." Harry said turning his attention to the other hostile angel in the room. "And sadly, for you at least, I'm quite tired of pussyfooting around. Either bring out the Winchester boy or meet the same fate as your friend over here."
No objection came from Castiel though a certain amount of shock seemed to be emanating from the man behind him.
The angel across the room scowled before lunging forward covering the distance in seconds. Harry felt the other inimical angels pop into existence around them and charge as their brother had. Harry paid Castiel no mind as he veered to the right. Harry turned to deal with interlopers on the left. There were four coming from this side, and Harry felt he was probably more able to come out of that fight alive than Cas what with being nigh on immortal and all. Harry snagged the right arm of the closest angel which just so happened to be holding an angel blade. With a sharp twist Harry had the arm swung up behind the angel and Harry turned just in time for the blade of the second fastest to penetrate the chest of the one he held. Both looked shocked by this outcome, but the second jumped backward warily as Harry pushed his brother toward him.
A quick sweep of Harry's hand had the third angel slipping on a newly formed patch of ice straight into a waiting Harry who impaled him on the angel blade he'd swiped from the first of the group. Perhaps sensing the uselessness of a straightforward attack the fourth angel disappeared with a rush of wings as the second moved back in for an attack. As the angel in front of Harry pivoted forward Harry heard another rush of wings just to the left behind him. He threw himself out of the way watching as one of the two angels fell on the other's blade leaving only one opponent for Harry now. 'Hardly a challenge at all.' Harry thought smirking.
The angel was more wary now. It circled to the right eying Harry with a cautious look. Harry took the moment to slip the angel blade into one of his belt loops. He didn't have to wait long. Just as the angel decided to try his luck Castiel appeared behind him wielding his own blade and finished the job letting his brother sink to the floor with a frown. He obviously wasn't too thrilled to have to kill other angels, but he was putting aside his doubts for the moment.
Harry moved toward the corpse pulling the useless weapon from the corpse's hand. "Want to go and fetch the Winchesters now?" Harry said moving to the next angel and disarming him as well.
"Of course." Castiel said moving to the only visible exit to the building. Once the door was opened Sam and Dean were pushing through eagerly until they saw the room littered with bodies.
"Dude, what happened?" Dean said looking around in awe before spotting Harry with his new collection of angel blades. "What are you doing?"
Harry glanced up. "Just taking some souvenirs. These things are hard to come by so they fetch a pretty penny."
"Right." Dean said only half paying attention. His eyes were set on the odd center structure in the room.
Harry sent the swords back to his office with a snap of his fingers so they wouldn't be in the way then followed the group as they all made for the place where Adam was likely being held.
The door opened easily enough. Harry was a bit surprised. He'd thought they'd at least have locked it in an attempt to keep out any undesirables. He blinked a bit as he stepped through the door. Where the outside had been dingy and drab this room looked like a classy motel lobby. And here he'd thought that the angel's simply had no taste. Perhaps he'd pegged that wrong after all.
"Hey!" Dean started forward in a rush having spotted Adam slumped against a wall looking worse for wear. "Hey, Adam!"
"You came for me…" Adam said sounding more disbelieving than necessary.
"Yeah, well, you're family." Dean replied kneeling next to him.
"Dean, it's a trap!" Adam said urgently, swatting away Dean's attempt to help him.
"You figured we hadn't thought of that?" Harry asked from where he'd been eying a mountain of cheeseburgers.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Zachariah asked finally showing his smug face.
"Did you?" Dean threw back and Castiel and Sam both fidgeted with their swords.
Without warning Sam lunged trying to ram his sword through the angel. Instead Zachariah caught Sam and threw him backwards into a wall hard knocking the breath from him.
"Sam!" Dean cried out nervously.
Castiel quickly followed it up with an attack of his own. Zachariah was barely able to avoid a blade through the heart. He caught Castiel's arm. "You, we have special plans for." Zachariah said with one of his typical exasperating grins. "After all, you haven't been following orders Castiel."
Harry grabbed Zachariah's arm and twisted violently enjoying the violent snap the limb gave. It had the desired effect of making Zachariah release Castiel as well, and the trench coated angel staggered backward. Harry spun Zachariah toward him and then slammed him into the table reveling in the angels pain. "Consider this payback." Harry said starting the flow of energy he'd used earlier on the angel outside.
The room flared brightly, almost warningly, but Harry didn't heed the warning. He continued to push his magic into Zachariah's skull. This time the room didn't simply flare. It grew rapidly and steadily brighter. Michael was coming.
Harry pulled his hand back and Zachariah flopped bonelessly to the floor echoes of wings etched into the tile behind him.
"Out! Now!" Harry demanded and Castiel started to usher Sam up since he was closest to the staggering Winchester.
Dean was helping Adam to his feet but both of them were moving far too slow. Especially since they would be the key targets here. Harry rushed them towards the door. Castiel cleared the entrance with Sam in tow. Then Dean. The door slammed shut. Harry glared at the room as Adam panicked and tried his best to get through the now jammed door thus tipping Harry that maybe he wasn't here completely of his own free will. Harry kicked the door and though it splintered from the raw power he'd put behind it, it quickly righted itself to its normal state.
"Not this time, you prick." Harry said glaring at the room. Without stopping to warn the kid Harry grabbed Adam's arm and pulled him back. He turned on the spot.
Nothing happened.
Adam, still confused and scared ripped free of his grasp. "What the hell!?" he asked eyes wide.
"Well if that won't work." Harry said determinedly. He held out his hand toward the opposite wall and grabbed Adam's arm giving him a warning look. "Stay close." The room was far too bright for his liking at this point. His eyes were squinted barely open.
Harry swiped his hand from one side to the other and the room seemed to tear itself in half. Whatever stasis magic they'd been using on the room was trying so hard to fix the massive damage Harry had just caused that it failed to stop his next move. Harry snapped his fingers and a large corner of the room simply stopped existing as it fragmented into tiny pieces.
Barely able to see through the light Harry tugged Adam after him toward the hole. He dived out pulling Adam with him. They hit cold concrete roughly, and Harry stood more than a little disoriented. Light was still beaming from behind them so Harry pulled Adam to his feet and set off running dragging the kid behind him.
He didn't stop until they'd made it through the exit and were standing in the weak evening sunlight.
Feet slapped on the pavement behind them, but Harry recognized the footfalls. He released Adam's arm as Sam and Dean came bursting through the door followed closely by Castiel.
"Harry." Sam said wide eyed then caught sight of his brother. "Adam!"
Dean looked utterly relieved to see Adam on the other side of that door.
"Not quite." Adam said shaking his head.
Harry felt something heavy settle in his stomach as he turned to look at the kid he'd just pulled out of that room.
Adam had always sort of had a serious set about him but now there was even a trace of emotion. Not even anger or relief, which should have been prevalent.
Adam swung his eyes Harry's way as well. "Valiant effort. Really, but you were a bit late."
"Fuck!" Harry exclaimed taking two skittering steps back. "Michael."
Michael nodded seemingly unimpressed with Harry's deduction.
"I thought angels needed permission!" Dean said angrily all relief wiped from his face. "The kid clearly didn't want you inside of him."
Michael shook his head. "Adam had already given permission by accepting the deal that resurrected him. It doesn't matter that he withdrew the decision later."
"Isn't that, like, rape!" Dean said taking a step toward the arch angel.
Adam's eyes glanced around the ragtag bunch before coming to a rest on Sam and Castiel. "We'll meet again." He said before simply vanishing. Apparently he hadn't felt like doing a meet and greet.
Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose fiercely trying to waylay his approaching headache.
"Damn it!" Dean shouted to the sky in irritation.
Even after all that they had failed to rescue the kid. After all that Harry's visions were still coming true, but he was tired of playing second fiddle to destiny.
He took a deep breath and eyed the people he'd decided to team up with. They would thwart destiny. He was determined to do it, and nothing stood in the way of Harry fucking Potter when he was determined.
Decided to give you guys a slightly longer chapter for putting up with my slowness. I hope you enjoyed it. A lot has happened, and I did toy with the thought of having the scene in the green room go many different ways. I even wrote one version where Dean came out of the mix possessed but then I hit blocks later on….even if I did like the idea of Dean actually succumbing to Michael.
You can thank the Vocaloid song Dark Woods Circus for the last part of the chapter. I needed creepy music to write for some reason. As a result Harry started kicking some serious ass though. He has officially hit the point where he's had enough bullshit at this point too so that was also slightly to blame.
God I'm tired. We'll see where the next chapter leads us, but it will most certainly involve the hammer of the gods so people who've been waiting for that can rejoice.
PS Amusingly enough when I hit the save button after completing this chapter the computer spazzed and exited the document and I thought I'd hit the wrong button and deleted the story then saved. I absolutely flipped shit.
Well, 'til next time!
~Kanathia