So, I promised to try and get this out ASAP to a reviewer, and I always at least try to attempt to keep my promises.

Any mistakes will have to be dealt with later because I uploaded this from my phone. My internet at home isn't working so I had to transfer data files. It was annoying. I'm sorry if anything got buggered up in the process.

On the bright side we've finally made it to 'the hammer of the gods'. Enjoy.

"So that was a royal failure." Harry huffed from behind his desk. They had all tried hard to keep Adam from Michael's clutches, but had been just a bit too late. The only saving grace was it hadn't been Dean who Michael had wormed his way in to. Harry wasn't sure he could force the angel out of Dean once he had his hooks in. There might be a chance with Adam, especially if the kid was fighting the possession.

Harry had left as soon as the brothers started heading for their car, but not soon enough to avoid Sam seeking him out.

"Thank you." He'd said drawing Harry's confused stare and Dean's curious one. "You may not have gotten him out in time, but you did try. So, thanks."

Harry had felt thoroughly awkward. "I told you how weird it is to hear thanks from you didn't I?" Harry'd responded before hightailing it out of there.

Perhaps the thanks wouldn't have been quite so awkward if Harry hadn't just failed to save the guy's brother from being used as a meat suit by Michael.

Gabriel was seated across from Harry wearing a frown. He'd felt Michael acquire a vessel and apparently ran straight to Harry's office to see what the hell was going on. Harry hadn't felt much like answering his questions so he'd instead turned the angel's attention to something more productive, like their little meeting with the Pagan gods in just two weeks.

They were both 'invited' guests now, even if Gabriel's invitation sort of hinted at the fact that only Kali would know he was coming… and he was going under the false name of Loki. Still, details.

They spent several hours theorizing about what the meeting could be about. There'd been no indicator on the invitations. The note had simply included a date, a time, and a short list of other possible attendees. There was no RSVP either leading Harry to believe the person who sent them out was either incredibly full of himself or terribly short sighted. Considering the gods he'd met it was probably the former. They had a tendency to think the world danced to their beat and no other was important. He supposed the Judeo-Christian 'God' was not very different. The only difference he'd seen between the two was that 'God' had the ability to end the world. The Pagan gods had the ability to… change the weather… terrifying.

In fact there were very few of the gods that he could even stomach to put up with. The best that Harry could tell was that these beings were created by belief. It was the only logical conclusion he could come to. They never seemed to be around after one of the world's hard resets. Then suddenly 'woosh' they're back again. Though, unlike Harry, they never seemed to retain memories of the previous version. It sort of made him question whether or not 'God' had been created in a similar way. That was a road he probably shouldn't venture down lest he give himself a migraine.

By the time Gabriel left Harry was thoroughly ready for a long nap and a chance to ignore both the Winchesters and the rest of the world. Somehow, lately, the rest of the world was getting a bit easier to ignore than the Winchesters. Their insistent calls every hour on the hour were wearying.

The small amount of time before the gathering flew past in the blink of an eye. Harry spent most of that time trying to act like everything was absolutely normal. He went in to the office most of the days and filled out paperwork diligently all the while thinking on more important topics.

When all but two days had passed Harry began preparing mentally for the oncoming storm of ignorance. He was sure that regardless of what the get together was about he was going to be facing more than the typical level of pigheaded self-righteousness.

Gabriel showed up mid-afternoon on the day they were to arrive. He gave Harry a smug smile and seated himself on the far end of Harry's L shaped couch.

"You look worried." He commented.

"Not worried…" Harry amended sparing his glass another glance. "I'm pretty sure I know what we'll be dealing with."

"Pagans." Gabriel said nodding knowingly.

Harry sighed. "Every time I meet with them we have a conflict of interest."

"Is it the eating people thing? Or do you just think the meat should be cooked better?"

Harry shot him an annoyed glance.

"Right, right. Not the time to mess with you. I get it." Gabriel said raising his hands defensively. "I'm not exactly gung-ho about jumping into the same building with them. After all most of them can't stand me."

"Perhaps if you didn't choose 'trickster' as your oh so clever guise they would have been able to tolerate you. As it is you sort of make light everything they think they stand for."

Gabriel shrugged. "You heading out soon?"

Harry nodded finishing off his glass. "I wish this stuff still had some effect on me. I could use the inebriation to take the edge off of my nerves right now."

"You being nervous. That's new."

"Like I said, I'm not nervous." Harry shook his head checking his pockets. He pulled out the scarlet invitation. "I just know something's going to happen. It's more adrenaline than anything."

Gabriel shrugged off Harry's explanation.

"I should be going soon." Harry said checking his watch. "Apparently it's in a hotel so perhaps they'll allow me to check in if I get there early… and I should if the driver's any good."

"Remind me why you aren't just popping there like you do everywhere else?"

Harry sighed. "Two reasons. One, the majority of the attendees don't know about that particular power and I like to keep aces up my sleeves. Two, I've been specifically requested not to. Something about making sure to appear in a 'human fashion'. Perhaps they don't want me to scare off their next meal."

"When did you get that memo?"

"About a week ago, the same way I got the first." Harry pulled out a second red envelope smaller than the first. "It just sort of showed up. I'm sure one of them just found a clever way to sneak into my office."

Gabriel leaned back eying Harry as he shoved the two pieces of paper back into his pocket along with a set of key and a flask, supposedly full of some sort of alcohol.

"I'm off then." Harry said with a grimace.

"See you later." Gabriel replied watching Harry disappear into thin air.

Harry landed smoothly outside of a rather nice hotel in Yorktown, Indiana. He was only a short way from Muncie where the whole debacle was to go down. He was still questioning the location. He couldn't fathom the reasoning behind holding this little get together in Muncie, Indiana. It was too large for them to be inconspicuous, too small for there to be any real advantage to the location that Harry could see.

He clambered in to the silver Mercedes that was waiting for him, as he'd arranged. The driver didn't even bat an eyelash at Harry's sudden appearance. He just checked to make sure he had the right passenger before pulling out of the car park.

They made their way out of the small development that was Yorktown and hit open highway. It took all of ten minutes and suddenly they were seeing civilization again. Fast food joints and houses speckled each side of the street. They passed them without any slowing. Soon they were moving back out of the developed part of town and into the rural parts of Indiana. They pulled further and further from the civilization that Muncie provided and Harry started to feel like he might be part of a snuff film.

"Are you sure we're heading the right way?" Harry said frowning at the lights of civilization still reflected in the rearview mirror.

The driver nodded. "I checked earlier just to make sure sir."

Harry sat back in his seat again watching violently turbulent storm clouds brewing overhead. They pulled off of the highway just as the sky was opening up to let out a torrential downpour. Harry could barely see the building through the rain. There was no carport at the entrance and his driver quickly put the car in park and jumped out to open Harry's door. Harry nodded his thanks slipping the man a fifty and hustling toward the shelter the hotel provided. He heard the sound of two doors slamming behind him and then the rush of the car pulling away just as he opened the front door.

The lobby was nice enough. Stark white furniture offset the dark wood floors nicely. The wall behind the front desk was a bit tacky by his standards but he'd never been one mosaics either. As he approached said desk a man popped up behind it wearing a name tag that read 'Chad', but Harry recognized him by a different name and not seeing any humans around to queue off with the use of the man's name Harry greeted him properly with a stern grimace and an annoyed utterance of, "Mercury."

Mercury didn't look any more thrilled to see Harry than the wizard was to see him, but he put on one of his infamous smiles anyway. "Mr. Potter, we're glad you could make it. There had been quite a bit of doubt as to whether you'd make it. After all, you didn't RSVP."

Harry blinked. "Funnily enough I think the part of my invitation with the RSVP info must have slipped out." Harry said removing his coat and slinging it across one arm, leaving just his shirt and vest. Why he'd decided this was an appropriate occasion to wear a three piece suit he still hadn't figured out. "I hope I'm not too early. I'd hate to inconvenience you."

Mercury smiled with a bit more strain. "Of course not. We've already prepared a room for you." He pulled a set of keys down and held them out for Harry. "We'll be meeting later this evening in the ballroom once the rest of the guests have arrived."

Harry nodded taking the keys and making sure to keep any eye on the sneaky god the whole time. The last time Harry had met Mercury the god had tried to poison Harry with the element of his same namesake on a request from Aphrodite. It wasn't the most fun 'death' Harry had experienced. If he could even label it that way. His body had fought off most of it after his heart had stilled for about half a minute simply leaving him violently ill and with a raging anger for a few days. He hadn't seen either since, as they'd made themselves rather scarce after the incident.

Not wanting to linger around Mercury, with his unsettling smile, Harry headed back the way he had indicated rounding the corner and checking his room number on the little block attached to his keys. He quickly found the matching door and let himself in. The room was decently furnished with a large queen sized bed centered on the wall and deep red colored walls. He threw his jacket onto the nightstand and retrieved a towel from the bathroom to dry his hair.

Task accomplished he sat down on the edge of his bed and allowed himself to fall backward onto the fluffy down. He reached up and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

He must have drifted off for a bit because when he glanced over at the bedside clock it was already reading seven. He checked his watch to be sure the time wasn't off and shook his head. It wasn't. He stood stretching his limbs and letting out a resounding yawn before making his way to the nightstand and grabbing his coat. It was still soaked. He should have hung it when he came in. He placed it over one of the hooks on the coat rack near the door. A strange addendum to a room in this day and age, but he was hardly going to complain while it was being useful. Without further ado he grabbed his keys and left assuming the meeting might be coming underway soon enough.

He made for the lobby but only about half way up the hall he spotted a sign pointing him in the opposite direction for the ballroom so he turned and headed back instead. Just a bit further than his room was a branching hallway that led him to his destination.

Inside the ballroom Harry found three long tables draped in expensive linen and set up in a large U shape. Another table sat just to his right with a line of badges each showing a name already printed on it. Harry scanned over each until his eyes stopped on the one he was sure had been made for him. "Nergal." The name was simple and unassuming; something ancient, paranoid civilizations had pinned to him. Then, it was easy to be labeled a god of death when you came back to life every time the townspeople tried to stone you.

Harry picked up the small nametag and stared at it for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the table. The tags had been lined up in neat little rows affording Harry a chance to see just how many had been picked up. Only four seemed to be missing, not including his own. He glanced about the room not spotting anyone else lingering about so he made his way to the far side of the table making sure to check for place cards in case there was a specific spot he was expected to sit. Nothing seemed to mark the tables so Harry sat near the front of the U allowing him a better view both of the room and of the other guests when they arrived.

It didn't take overly long for some of the other guests to make themselves known. Shortly after Harry had taken his seat, and sat the badge down in front of him unwilling to pin the thing to his chest, Odin sauntered in dressed in his usual ridiculous getup. He'd clothed himself like a stereotypical plane pilot from the forties.

Harry didn't so much see as sense the second entrant. There was a sense of looming behind him and suddenly Harry was being dragged into a bear hug, crushing his lungs efficiently and eliciting a surprised "Humph!" from Harry.

"It's been too long!" came the exuberant voice from just to the left of his ear.

Forcing himself from the large arms he turned and was met by an exceedingly large dark skinned man. Harry felt the tense set of his shoulders relax a bit. "Ganesh." He said with a small smile though he straightened his vest in an irritated manner.

Ganesh was one of the few 'gods' Harry got on with. He supposed it was difficult not to with him being as amicable as he was. It helped that he was an incarnation of more positive things according to his religion.

"I haven't seen you since that brawl in Egypt." Ganesh laughed.

"Indeed." Harry said finally happy that his clothes were back in place he retook his seat gesturing for Ganesh to take the one to his right. "I think we can both agree Anubis had it coming."

"Always a bit too preachy."

"Oh would you two stop carrying on?" Odin snipped in. "It's not like you're the only ones in the room."

"What's got his panties in a twist?" Ganesh muttered under his breath in Harry's direction.

The door to Odin's left opened and in walked an attractive woman of obvious Indian heritage. She gazed about the room coldly before heading for the front of the table near where Harry sat. Considering Harry had never had any particular affection for the Hindu goddess it was probably a strategic thing on her part versus some sort of sentimentality. Still, the three men's eyes followed her to her seat where she continued to ignore them in favor of her nails.

As Harry understood she was probably one of the one's hosting this little shindig so she was probably just waiting for everyone to show up. Harry shook his head. Kali was terrible at patiently waiting so he hoped for the other's sake they weren't very long.

"So I wasn't expecting you here." Ganesh said rehashing their conversation despite Odin's pointed looks. "I thought you cut ties with most everyone."

Harry shrugged. "The world's falling to hell I suppose you take what help you can get." He offered glancing over at Kali as he said such. She didn't show any obvious outward sign that she'd heard what he said but he knew she had.

Ganesh nodded his agreement. "I hope dinner's served soon. I'm starving."

"Dinner?" Harry blinked, then his face twisted in disgust. "Please tell me 'dinner' isn't what I think it's going to be."

Ganesh shrugged. "I didn't plan the menu. Actually I think Zao Shen pulled that together."

"Zao Shen?" Harry tried to place the name for a minute before it clicked. He'd met the god once before while travelling through China.

"We're not going to have… problems… are we?" Kali had finally glanced up and settled her piercing gaze on Harry.

"That depends." Harry said staring right back. "How many humans are on the menu?"

"Eight… Nine…" she said nonchalantly.

"Ugh…" Harry turned away from her distaste written all over his features. "You know how I feel about human sacrifice."

"Everyone's quite well versed on your views; you being so adamant about spreading them." Another voice supplied, its owner dropping into the seat next to Kali and sparing her a smile.

"Oh Baldur, I only had to be particularly forceful with instilling them in your mind because you're so incredibly thick." Harry replied flippantly. "A simple conversation is never enough for you."

Baldur just sent him one of his enigmatic smiles before turning to engage Kali in a hushed conversation.

Choosing this as a perfect time to end the less than enthusiastic conversation Harry turned back towards Ganesh as well.

"Oh look," Ganesh's attention was on the entrance. "Isis is here. Didn't the two of you have some sort of fling?"

Harry snorted. "Ages ago." Harry replied following the woman with his eyes as she diligently avoided his gaze and sat on the opposite side of the table right at the end. A spot he was sure she chose purposefully to be as far from him as possible. "Can't say I was appreciative of her brother's reaction when he found out though."

"Osiris always did have a bit of an anger issue." Ganesh agreed quietly not wanting Isis to hear him. There was little doubt she would turn around and tell her deranged brother if she did.

"Do you know how many others are coming?" Harry said glancing at the twenty odd chairs in the room and hoping they wouldn't have to wait for all of them to have an occupant.

"I saw Mercury talking with someone else near the lobby earlier, and then there's Zao Shen. I'm not sure of anyone else."

Harry nodded. So Ganesh was just as much in the dark he was about who was coming. Harry and Ganesh engaged in some meaningless background talk. Harry learned that Ganesh had been traveling America for several years now. He'd heard about the food apparently.

Harry's eyes sized up another entrant to the room as Ganesh talked; a tall dark skinned man. Harry's mind didn't have a name to place with the face but the dilemma was soon solved when he grabbed a name tag with 'Baron Samedi' printed on it. Harry couldn't place the religion the name belonged to so he figured it must be one of the smaller ones. Soon after another man, this one of obvious Asian descent, came in and picked up one of the badges. This one read 'Fujin'.

The two newcomers took seats.

The room was starting to fill with tension. With this many powerful beings sitting under one roof it was actually surprising no one had died yet.

The doors burst inward startling a few of those sat closer to them. In came Mercury pushing a cart and Zao Shen dragging two people behind him.

"Something tells me this isn't a shriner convention." Quipped an all too familiar voice.

"Dinner is served!" Mercury said similing and removing the cover to the platter to reveal a severed human head. Apparently someone had died already.

"Oh that's disgusting." Harry said nose wrinkling.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our guests of honor have arrived." Baldur said standing as the room broke into both applause and murmurs.

Baldur tapped his wine glass to gain everyone's attention as Harry locked eyes with Sam's. Sam quickly nudged his brother nodding in Harry's direction as the wizard lowered his head to his hands and shook it. What had the Winchesters gotten themselves into this time?

"Ladies and gentlemen please!" Baldur said grinning when he finally gained the attention of those in the room. "Thank you for coming. Though in all my years I never thought I'd see something like this. So many gods under one roof."

Harry saw the realization flash across Sam's face seconds before it did Dean's. then they were both turning to stare at him again each searching for a name tag like they'd seen on the other guests.

"Now before we start I'd like to lay down some ground rules. No slaughtering each other. Curb your wrath. Oh and-"

Harry watched the brothers whispering to each other urgently. They kept shooting him glances.

"I know the invitations were a little vague." Harry let his attention be drawn back to Bladur. "So let's get down to the brass tacks of the situation. We're here about the Judeo-Christian apocalypse. We've all had our disagreements in the past, but it's time to set those aside and look to the future because if we don't, we won't have one. Now, we have some very valuable bargaining chips; Michael and Lucifer's vessels."

The room of gods turned to appraise Sam and Dean for a moment. When Sam made eye contact with Harry this time and made to open his mouth Harry just shook his head minutely. Hopefully it was a clear enough signal that he should keep his mouth shut for now.

"The question is, what do we do now?" Baldur continued. "Anyone have any bright ideas? Speak up, this is a safe room."

Zao Shen was the first to speak though he chose to do so in Mandarin Chinese a language even Harry had less than perfect knowledge of; though he managed to grasp the word kill in there which certainly didn't bode well.

"I don't know what he said, but I don't like the tone he said it in." Harry heard Dean mutter to his brother.

"Kill 'em?" Ganesh scoffed. Well, at least someone understood what the other god had said. "What? So the angels can bring them back again?"

Harry smirked.

"I don't know what everyone's getting so worked up about. It's just some angels having a slap fight. There's no Armageddon!" Odin added. "Everybody knows, when the world comes to an end, the Great Serpent Jormungandr rises up, and I myself will be eaten by a big wolf!"

Harry rolled his eyes as Zao Shen muttered something and the room broke into a senseless argument about the details of their faiths. All of them sounded more than a bit ridiculous to Harry, but he doubted inserting that particular opinion would calm the situation at all.

The argument was interrupted by a loud crash near the door. A chandelier now lay wrecked on the floor in front of Sam and Dean who were turning back with guilty expressions on their faces.

"Stay." Kali was now standing and eying the Winchesters in a way that threatened their safety if they chose to do otherwise. She turned her attention back to her peers. "We fight. The archangels only understand violence. This ends in blood. There's no other way. It's them, or us."

"With all due respect ma'am." Mercury cut in. "We haven't even tried talking to them yet."

Mercury began to choke on his own blood as Kali turned a furious stare on him.

"Kali." Baldur interrupted and the goddess allowed her power to fade from its grip on Mercury.

"Who asked you?" she said spitefully.

"I for one have to side with Kali on this one." Harry said in a very nonchalant tone. Every face in the place turned his way. "Talking will get us nowhere. They're an impertinent bunch, angels. They don't like to be told no, and they've been promised this little spat for so long they think they deserve it. Tell them to work it out like civilized people and you're liable to find yourself six feet under before you finish your first sentence."

"We're supposed to take your word for it?" Odin spat. "Your legends build you up like you're almighty but when it comes down to it your worshippers were nothing more than-"

"Now isn't the time to focus on whose religion is superior." Kali cut Odin off.

"Can't we all just get along?!" Gabriel burst through the doors, exaggerated grin on his face.

Dean opened his mouth and got out about half of the first syllable of the angel's name before both Gabriel and Harry hit him so hard with silencing spells he nearly choked on his own breath.

"Sam! Dean! It's always wrong place worst time with you mutton heads, huh?"

"Loki…" Baldur said with a disdainful voice.

"Baldur, good to see you too. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail."

"Why are you here?"

"To talk about the elephant in the room." Harry snorted and Ganesh started to rise angrily. "Not you." Gabriel said eying the god with annoyance. "The apocalypse, but first things first."

Gabriel turned to the Winchesters who were eying him warily.

"The adults need to have a little conversation. Check you later." Gabriel snapped his fingers and the Winchesters disappeared.

It was a good idea on the angel's part. Removing the Winchesters from immediate sight meant the gods in the room were less likely to want to kill them at the moment. He hoped Gabriel had sent them far away but knowing Baldur and Kali they had prevented the two escaping somehow.

The room was abuzz with renewed arguments, everyone desperate to get theirs ideas across at once. There was a lot of shifting around as people left their seats.

Harry, growing irritated with the disorganized display, snapped his fingers and a loud crash filled the room eerily similar to the one Kali had created earlier. It did the trick though, as everyone quieted down.

"Better." Harry admitted. He could hear himself think now at least. "Now, we're not children here. We can have this discussion without yelling and carrying on."

"Right… so you were saying?" Ganesh said reasonably though he looked like he might snap if someone made another elephant joke. "You think Kali's plan has merit?"

Harry saw Kali bristle out of the corner of his eye at the phrasing of Ganesh's comment, but Baldur put a soothing hand on her shoulder. "That depends on what precisely she was suggesting. She was a bit vague before." Harry turned to Kali and raised a brow.

Her eyes flicked from him, to Gabriel, then back. "I'm suggesting we kill Lucifer." She said with a determined glint. "And any other angel or god who would stand in our way."

Harry nodded. "Okay… but is that really as far as your plan goes?" Harry eyed her speculatively. "It's not going to be as simple as walking up to him and asking him to die."

The other gods were beginning to murmur again. When Kali refused to answer within a reasonable time limit another uproar began. Gabriel tugged slightly at Harry's shirt.

"I'm here. Now what?" Gabriel whispered.

Harry glanced back at him keeping an eye on Kali who was conversing with Baldur. "See if you can relocate the Winchesters. I'm going to try to figure out what it is Kali isn't telling us. In the mean time, do me a favor and find wherever it is they stashed tonight's dinner and get them out of the building. If I see another severed head on a platter I'm going to lose my liquor."

"Oh yes, wouldn't want you to be sober." Gabriel said with a scoff before disappearing.

"Now that's a horror story." Harry muttered moving across the space so he was standing next to Kali who looked up sharply.

Before he could say what he was planning on Baldur cut through the aggravated buzzing of the crowd. "I think a brief interlude might be necessary."

Gods began to trail out some angrily stomping other passively moving through the doors.

"I'm sure you've thought of something." Harry said eying the woman in front of him. "You're not really the type for half laid plans."

"I know of something that can kill arch angels." Kali replied readily enough. "An angel blade."

"Specifically an arch angel's blade." Harry finished for her. "You need one to kill one, but you have to kill one to get one."

Kali smirked. "I know where we can get one."

"What a surprise, so do I." Harry said with mock excitement.

Her smile fell.

"You plan to take on Lucifer with a sword?"

"You have a better idea?"

"Plenty." Harry quipped. "That thing will be about as effective as a toothpick with as close as you're going to need to get. Or, at least, in the wrong hands it would be."

"And whose hands would be the right hands?"

Harry shrugged. "An extensive subject for a later date. Right now what we need is union… military might if you will. We're too scattered to be effective like this."

"That is what this meeting is for." Baldur supplied.

"Yes, and that's going swimmingly. I can see all the support rallying behind your cause already."

"Well what do you suggest?" Baldur asked, obviously angry but controlling his temper in favor of figuring out some puzzle he found in Harry.

"First off, you need a cause. No one jumps up to fight for a war they don't believe in." Harry answered thinking back on the countless wars he'd witnessed. "Then we need to organize. A carefully laid stratagem will work much better than bum rushing our enemies."

"And what cause would unite us?"

"Well if all else fails there's always the classic fallback of 'band together or die'. I'm thinking something more subtle might be in order here… or at least something more inspirational."

"Some time to think on it might be in order." Baldur replied taking strides toward the door either consumed in thought or desperate to be out of Harry's presence.

Kali shot him another look before leaving as well. Harry stood there watching the door. Perhaps he would be able to talk sense into this group after all.

"You would not believe what those chuckleheads are about to do." Gabriel's voice caught Harry off guard.

He turned to the over energetic angel and raised a brow. Gabriel just gestured for him to exit through the doors.

'Loki' lead Harry down the halls until they came to what was obviously the staff section of the hotel. They entered a tiled room and Harry was disgusted to see blood covered counters in front of him. On the far side of the room the Winchesters were stood in front of the freezer door working at a padlock that sealed it shut.

"Desperate for a midnight ice cream?" Harry said loud enough to garner their attention.

Both brothers jumped turning around quickly. Dean instantly scowled but Sam looked caught somewhere between curiosity and panic. "Nah, we're just trying to free the horderves in the freezer before you and your friends decide to have another human steak." Dean spat back.

Harry turned slightly to Gabriel and blinked. "I thought I asked you to do that."

Gabriel shrugged. "I was getting to it. I didn't want to just jump in blind and get caught. If you hadn't noticed most of those guys aren't my biggest fans."

"I can't imagine why." Harry said with a sigh. "You've such a lovely self sacrificing personality." He snapped his fingers and the padlock that had been giving Sam trouble snapped open. Sam removed the lock and swung the door opened letting the panicked people out.

"Right… I'll just walk them out the front door I guess…" Gabriel said calling for the group to settle down and follow him to safety while the Winchesters stood around sort of confused by the two supernatural beings helping them rescue the group of humans.

"So I guess this means you haven't suddenly gone Hannibal Lecter on us and started eating human brains or something?" Dean said with a heavy dose of skepticism.

"That's disgusting." Harry replied nose wrinkled in distaste.

"What's going on here Harry?" Sam asked puppy eyes kicking into effect.

Harry opened his mouth to respond only to have his shoulder knocked as an angry Zao Shen barreled past. The livid god grabbed Sam and hurtled him in Harry's direction before turning on Dean.

"Oi! Zao Shen, stop!" Harry said dispassionately as the god wrestled with Dean. Zao Shen glanced back at Harry momentarily but didn't stop. Harry reached back and started to help up a groaning Sam. "You wouldn't happen to know Mandarin Chinese would you?"

Sam fixed him with an incredulous look. "No." he replied disbelievingly. "Why?"

"Well… there's more than a bit of a language barrier there. I'm not even sure he knows English."

"You could just make him stop." Sam said moving to stand now that he had his breath back.

"I could…" Harry agreed. "But… no…I think he kind of deserves it…" Harry said watching as Dean got slammed into another wall.

"Remind me not to piss you off." Sam said eyes widening. Then they landed on the wooden stake Dean had dropped. Bolting over he grabbed the stake and plunged it into the god's back.

"Ah…" Harry made a noise of protest. "Did you have to kill him?" Harry sighed behind them.

"Yeah, don't know how that looked on your end, but from here it seemed a little necessary." Dean panted, glaring.

Harry shrugged glancing behind him when he heard a loud shout from down the hall. "I think it might be safe to say our feathered friend has gotten himself into a bit of trouble." Harry said glancing at the brothers. "I take it there's a reason you didn't just ask Gabriel to zap you out of here when you met up earlier?"

"He says Kali has us under some sort of blood spell." Sam answered quickly.

Harry nodded glancing down the hall then back to them. "I'd say go back to your room and wait but honestly you're safest where I can keep an eye on you. So let's get going."

The Winchesters exchanged a disbelieving glance before following Harry.

"Just to be clear…" Sam said as they headed, it seemed, back in the direction of the ballroom. "Are you or aren't you a pagan god?"

Harry glanced back and shrugged. "Both, in a sense. Put any being of adequate power in front of a group of ignorant humans and they'll worship it; whether out of fear or genuine awe. But unlike the gods you saw earlier I wasn't born of a religion. " Harry stopped in front of the double doors. "Try not to talk too much. The last thing you want to do is piss off a room full of 'gods', and their feelings are quite easily hurt."

He pushed the doors opened, letting himself through. The Winchesters followed and all three stopped at the sight before them. Gabriel was sitting in a chair, Kali stood in front of him anger rolling from her in almost visible waves.

Harry fought the urge to slap his hand to his face.

"Hiya, decided to join the party then?" Gabriel said unhelpfully.

The other gods in the room looked almost equally as furious.

"Since when did you care enough about humans to save them Loki?" Baldur asked sounding genuinely interested in the supposed trickster's train of thought.

"It's because he's not Loki." Kali announced for all to hear. Gabriel's eyes snapped back to her. "He's the archangel Gabriel, and you have something I want."

Kali reached in to Gabriel's jacket and removed a shining silver blade.

The whole room sans those standing closest to the doors seemed to be reeling at Kali's revelation.

"Alright, enough grandstanding." Harry cut in much to Kali's annoyance. "Yes, he's an angel. Our problem still remains."

"You're on his side?" she seethed.

"I'm on my side." He replied with the same amount of venom.

"You're spies!" she decried and spun on her heel moving to stab the blade through Gabriel.

Harry swung his hand and Kali was flung to the side. She barely maintained her footing and turned a nasty glare on him. "Drop the blade Kali." He said eyes narrowing. "Try to kill Gabriel again and I will end you."

She scoffed. "Your religion is dead. You don't have the strength." Flames burst in to life up and down her arms, a clear sign that she wanted this fight.

"Kali." Baldur placated but she seemed a bit beyond reasoning at the moment. A giant jet of searing flames leapt at Harry form her now outstretched hand.

Harry threw up a shield quick as lightning. The fire struck it and seemed to be absorbed as the air glowed a sickly green where the two met. With a snap of his fingers a torrent of water fell from nowhere drenching the woman and effectively stuttering her flames. "Great, now perhaps you'll listen to reason."

Kali seemed even more incensed but Baldur was by her side now that the flames were gone, and he was muttering soothing words.

The other gods had cleared off at the sight of the fight breaking out but they were watching from the ropes and now that the fight seemed to be cooling down literally and figuratively they were coming forward again. Ganesh was eying Harry appreciatively as if he'd thought the wizard incapable of such feats. Then, Harry had never been one for showing off his powers in front of the gods before now. Sure, he quelled a rebellion here or there ages ago, but that was before some of these petulant gods even existed. Others figured his powers would have drained with the dying of his 'supporters'.

"Okay, not to sound like I'm putting a negative spin on everything, but that didn't look so great if you were hoping for an alliance." Gabriel pointed out. He'd quickly joined the Winchesters near the door once Harry and Kali had started fighting.

Harry sighed. "Losses will be had. We can only hope they'll see reason. If not, we cut them loose. Let them perish on their own terms I say."

Ganesh had approached and he was eying the group curiously. "So is this the sort of company you keep these days?" he asked turning his gaze to Harry.

Harry let his own eye drift over to the Winchesters, then back to Ganesh. "I'll admit, I've done better." Dean protested loudly. "But we don't have the luxury of turning away possible allies Ganesh."

The god nodded. "Wise words." He commented.

Harry smiled. Ganesh was a god of wisdom. He wondered if that was meant as a sort of joke. Considering Ganesh's nature, it probably was.

"I'm still starving." Ganesh said with a great, heaving sigh and gesturing to the toppled cart that had held that night's 'dinner'. The Winchesters tensed at the reminder.

"I'm sure we can find you a hamburger when all is said and done." Harry offered with a smile.

Ganesh eyed him for a lingering moment before smiling broadly and clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You have my support in this, whatever you decide. Know that." He nodded.

Harry blinked his surprise back. He hadn't expected such an outright proclamation.

"Well you can count me out."

Harry turned to see a cantankerous Odin storming off. Apparently he'd been close enough to hear Ganesh's words and wanted nothing to do with them. "No loss there." Harry snorted.

"Do you feel that?" Gabriel asked suddenly, eyes darting about.

Harry stood concentrating on the energy in the place that the angel would have subconsciously felt. It took more effort for him. Suddenly, he felt it too. "Lucifer." Harry hissed.

"He's here?" Baldur called and the gods near enough to hear Harry's proclamation began to mill about listlessly.

"Good." Kali said holding the blade in front of her. "We can end this now."

"I already told you that won't work." Harry threw back. "You won't be able to get close enough with that thing. He'll see you coming a mile off."

"Yeah…" Gabriel agreed. "That and it's not the real sword."

Harry blinked, not having expected that little tidbit of info. Kali seemed just as startled.

"What? You think I'd give her the real sword?" Gabriel asked disbelivingly. "That thing can kill me."

Harry snorted.

"Okay, so Lucifer's here." Sam said apparently coming to terms with that. "Can we beat him?"

Harry looked him in the eye. "Not sure. Definitely not in our best interests to try taking him on during an ambush."

"Right, so Lucifer's coming and we probably can't beat him." Dean summed up turning to Gabriel. "So Shazam us the hell out of here."

"That's not a terrible idea." Harry admitted glancing to the angel.

"Just one problem." Gabriel said drawing his eyes to Kali. "She's still got her little blood spell going."

The gods were beginning to file out of the room.

"Kali, end the spell." Harry said with a poisonous glare. "And I mean now."

"Give me the real angel blade." She countered.

"Not the time Kali." Harry hissed.

She glared but there was a small twitch of her wrist and the spell fell from the brothers.

"Get them out of here." Harry said with a nod towards the Winchesters. His eyes came to a rest on Sam. "It's probably not best if Sam and Lucy don't meet just yet."

Gabriel nodded and with a rush of air they were gone.

Harry looked back at Ganesh and the others. "You should all probably jet as well. The fewer people who get killed the better right?"

"We can't." Baldur said looking irritated.

"Can't?" Harry met their eyes with surprise. He turned a bit, testing his own ability to apparate… nothing.

"Of course not." An annoyingly familiar voice called out. "You didn't say 'mother may I'."

Lucifer pushed his way into the room a smug smirk etched on his face.

Baldur took one threatening step forward.

"Don't." Harry said eyes locked on the angel. "Lucifer…. a joy, as always."

Lucifer smiled pleasantly. "Likewise." His eyes scanned the room. "Strange, I thought the Winchesters were here."

"Yeah, I sent them home. I figured it was past their curfew."

Lucifer made a noise of admonishment and shook his head. "Harry, Harry always trying to go it alone."

"We're here." Baldur asserted. "I don't think that counts as alone."

Lucifer flung his hand out and flicked his wrist. Baldur's neck snapped and he fell to the floor. "Like I said… alone."

Kali's arms were alight with flames once again as rage encompassed her. "Kali don't!" Harry warned too late. She hurtled fire at Lucifer which he blocked with ease. When she moved in to attack the angel he speared his arm straight through her chest. Blood and other body tissues showered out coating the floor with a shallow layer of gore.

Sam and Dean touched down outside of Bobby's house with Gabriel. Dean took a deep breath.

"Man, I'll never get used to that freaky teleportation stuff." He muttered.

Sam's eyes were roving about. They landed back on the anxious angel. "You got us out, thanks." He offered.

Gabriel turned. "Yeah, well. Don't be so quick to thank me. Maybe I wouldn't have done it if Harry hadn't asked. You have tried to stake me in the heart several times, and that's not mentioning your psychopath brother leaving me in a ring of fire in the middle of nowhere." Gabriel turned to Dean. "Did anyone ever tell you holy fire burns until someone puts it out?"

"Yeah, well you're here now." Dean said disinterestedly.

"Why didn't Harry come with us?" Sam asked eying the salvage yard. "From what we've heard him being around Lucifer isn't the best idea is it? What if he uses that mind control crap again?"

There was definitely a bit of worry in the set of Gabriel's jaw now. "He's probably trying to save them all." He answered honestly. "He has a bit of a hero complex."

"You're worried." Sam said watching the angel's facial expressions.

Gabriel scoffed, but he didn't deny the statement.

"You know, we can take care of ourselves from here." Sam said glancing back at his brother. "You can go if you think he needs the help."

Gabriel seemed to mull that over for a moment before simply disappearing.

Harry glared at Lucifer and made to move forward only for the angel to casually reach forward and remove a recognizable vial from his pocket. Harry's steps halted immediately and he regarded Lucifer with a new wariness. Ganesh made to pass Harry in anger but Harry held him back with one arm, never turning his eyes from Lucifer.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

Lucifer mocked offense. "I was invited." He answered before grinning. "One of your inane pagan friends called. He seemed to think we were on bargaining terms. I couldn't miss the chance to put him in his place, could I?"

Silence permeated the air for a few tense moments.

"Well, let's not stand around all day." Lucifer said and he started forward.

Harry took half a step back before he threw up the strongest barrier he could right in front of Lucifer. The angel smacked into it looking a bit stunned that it was there.

"Ganesh. Take whoever is left. Get them out of here. I can't beat him while he's got that vial, but I can buy you time."

Ganesh wavered by his side for a moment indecisively. Then he nodded and was moving toward the back of the room where an emergency exit stood.

Lucifer's eyes followed Ganesh until he disappeared through the door before turning back to Harry and frowning. "I've never understood you." Lucifer said placing a hand against the barrier and pushing. It didn't yield to his pathetic attempt.

"I don't think you ever really tried to understand me." Harry spat back.

"Why do you continuously refuse me? We both know we'd be stronger together, and hasn't my father wronged you as well?"

"Perhaps." Harry admitted drawing back a bit on the barrier. "I try not to dwell on it." He twisted the barrier and brought it slamming down towards Lucifer who simply smiled and held up the vial. The magic seemed to simply get sucked into the vial and disappear.

"My turn." Lucifer said and flung his hand out. Harry felt something heavy hit his chest and he flew backward hitting the table behind him painfully hard.

Harry groaned as he pulled himself from the partially collapsed table. Lucifer stepped forward, but both were surprised when Gabriel showed up out of nowhere between the two.

Gabriel took a second to orientate himself before he recognized the vial in Lucifer's hand. Without thinking he lunged at his brother and grabbed it. Lucifer, caught off guard, didn't even react until it was much too late. Vial in hand Gabriel poofed out of the room again.

Harry stood brushing himself off, confidence growing. "Well, looks like the ace up your sleeve just vanished." He said rolling his shoulders to pop the left one back into place. "I think the odds just got a lot more even." Harry flung out his hand just as Lucifer had done to him moments before and the angel flew backwards crashing into the wall.

Pressing his advantage Harry bounded forward rolling magic tightly around his right fist. He struck hard, just as Lucifer was regaining his feet. The angel barely had time to block Harry's attack with a weak barrier of his own. The two powers clashed and electricity seemed to arc through the air. Harry pushed harder and his magic sliced through the shield and into Lucifer's side.

Harry's eyes lit up in triumph. He let loose another punch from the left this time. Lucifer struck back with a kick sending Harry careening across the room.

The two faced each other from about ten feet away; Lucifer warily and Harry with a malicious sort of glee in his eyes. Harry'd wanted payback for the longest time and now he was getting it.

Gabriel popped back into the room. His hands were empty, telling Harry he'd gotten rid of the troublesome vial in some way or another.

Harry didn't waste time. He started building up another strike. Maybe he could take Lucifer out here and end all of this nonsense.

"Lucy, I'm home!" Gabriel said turning towards his brother, letting his blade slide into his hand.

"Gabriel." Lucifer acknowledged locking eyes with the other angel. "If you're doing this for Michael…"

"Screw him!" Gabriel cut in. "If he was standing here I'd shiv his ass too."

Lucifer's face twisted into an expression of rage and surprise. "You disloyal-"

"Oh I'm loyal!" Gabriel countered. "To them." Gabriel gestured around them.

Harry hesitated as his magic reached the piquing point.

"To whom? These so-called gods?" Lucifer scoffed.

"To humans Lucifer. People." Gabriel said with a shake of his head. Harry saw another Gabriel flicker into existence behind Lucifer. This one held another copy of the angel blade.

Gabriel lunged forward to deliver a killing blow but Lucifer was already twisting to meet the real version. Harry knew what would happen. He could see it in his mind's eye. The blade would twist in Gabriel's grip ending his life instead of taking its intended target.

Harry's eyes flew wide and in a cry of fury he let the magic he'd been holding crash down on the fallen angel. He saw Gabriel fly through the air and crash into the wall spearing himself on something extending from the floor. His gasp of pain was lost in whirlwind that was created by Harry's magic as it crashed and tore at the devil.

Lucifer struggled for a minute or two, but realizing there was nothing more to be gained from staying now, he fled. Still the magic tore at the room. Fires erupted spontaneously and everything shattered in its wake. Only Harry was safe from its grip.

Realizing the danger he'd put Gabriel in he twisted and apparated to the angel's side. He lifted Gabriel from the metal that had skewered him, and finally he apparated them out of the building.

They landed just across the street from the hotel, and Harry watched as the magic drew everything in. He'd made the attack much too strong. He'd lost control, even if only temporarily. Large chunks of the building tore from its frame and joined the center of the attack until, quite suddenly and with great force, it exploded outward.

The shockwave sent Harry tumbling from his feet and leveled the Elysian Fields Hotel. Gabriel and he watched as the ruins smoldered.

"Holy shit." Gabriel summed up staring at the place where a two story building had just sat, now no more than burning debris.

Harry had to admit, that summed it up spectacularly. He turned to survey the angel. The hole where the metal had pierced him was nearly gone now, healed spectacularly fast by his grace. Harry stood and offered his hand to the angel pulling him up as well.

"The police will probably show up soon enough. The sound has to have caught someone's attention. I'd rather be long gone by the time they start poking their noses around." Harry nodded in the direction of Muncie he paused mid step and swore.

"What?" Gabriel asked taken aback by Harry's sudden swearing.

"I left my favorite jacket in my room." He said irately.

Gabriel laughed. "Well, the Winchesters lost a car didn't they?" he pointed out.

Harry blinked several times, then sighed. "Fair point." He trudged back toward the hotel.

"Where are you going?" Gabriel asked jogging up to Harry's side.

"To salvage an Impala." Harry admitted. "I don't care to hear the whining that would ensue if I didn't."

So, that happened.

I will touch more on what happened with Harry's powers there near the end in the next few chapters.

I'm sure a fair number of you are ecstatic Gabriel didn't die. I share your emotions.

Don't hold your breath though. I might go George R. R. Martin on you all if you get too complacent. (or perhaps you lot would like a Moffat reference instead?)

Well, that's the end of that. And this is the second long chapter in a row. Hope you guys enjoyed that.

Well, 'til next time!

~Kanathia