A/N: I don't own Supernatural
I'd like to thanks those that took the time to review and those that read, alerted and favorite this story. I really appreciate it. Well, here's the next chapter. Hope you all like it. Please review and let me know what you think.
Chapter 2
The sun slinks up the horizon at a snail's pace. So much like a golden coin dipped in crimson streaking the lavender sky with brilliant shades of red and orange. Ria takes a deep breath and lets her small fingers run over the cool sleek silver throwing knives that are custom-made just for her. She lets the subtle weight of the six-inch blade balance in her small hand.
Ria breathes out slowly and spins quickly letting the knife slice through the air and straight into the bulls-eye painted on the wooden board thirty feet in front of her. Ria continues this until all twelve knives are imbedded into the bulls-eye. This is the only thing that can de-stress her. The quite morning and the familiar routine of practicing her knife throwing skills calm her racing mind.
Everything the angel told her has made Ria question every detail in her life. Every decision she has made is being analyzed over and over. Ria is trying to figure out if there is some way to change this so-called destiny of hers. The possibility of becoming God's new baby mama just doesn't sit right with the short brunette.
Bobby sips on his Irish coffee while watching Ria from his window prepare her knives for another round. She's gotten better over the years. Bobby can remember a time when Ria could barely shoot a gun and knives terrified her. Now Ria's an efficient hunter with deadly weapons skills.
"I don't even know what the fuck I'm looking for anymore." Dean groans lowly and rubs his tired green eyes. The hunters have been up all night reading anything they could about angels and God.
A few hours earlier Sam and Ria went to bed. Dean still reeling from his time in the pit is reluctant to slip into the nightmares that are waiting for him. Its five thirty in the morning and Dean doesn't understand how Ria is up at this time. Dean drags himself to the window and takes a moment to check out what Bobby's protégé is up to.
Dean has to admit it's pretty damn sexy watching the way Ria moves with her blades. He's both turned on and a little frightened. Bobby smirks at Dean's mildly impressed expression.
"You think she's good with throwing them daggers, you should see her with those Japanese sai. The girl is lethal." There is a measure of pride in the way Bobby speaks about Ria.
"Remind me not to get on her bad side. Don't need her going all Lorraina Bobbitt on me." Dean cringes just a little.
Bobby gives Dean a long appraising look. "What?" Dean doesn't like the hard glare Bobby is sending his way.
"I'm only gonna say this once…Ria's off limits. She ain't one of those loose women you like. She's a good girl."
Bobby never wanted kids, too afraid that he'd end up like his father. But Ria has become like a daughter to him and he's a little protective of her. The old drunk thinks of the Winchesters as sons too. He just doesn't want anything to happen to disturb the semblance of calm that they are experiencing at the moment.
Dean arches his brow and gives a faint nod of agreement. He'll do whatever Bobby asks of him. Dean has too much respect for the man who has been more of a dad to him than his own father.
"Hello Dean." The low raspy voice startles the two hunters.
"Jesus!" Bobby doesn't like being snuck up on. The old man isn't sure his heart can take being surprised by an angel all the time.
"No, Castiel. Jesus is my father's human bastard son." Castiel tilts his head and studies the two men in front of him. He's not sure if he'll ever understand humans.
"Whatever…what do you want?" Dean rolls his green eyes and folds his arms across his chest. He's in no mood to deal with God's plan at the moment.
"I've come to see if the virtuous woman has changed her mind." Castiel walks around the living room taking in the oddity of the run down home.
Before Dean can answer Ria walks in the house. Her cheeks are flush full of rosy color and her honey eyes are bright and shiny. Ria wears no make-up and the angel can make out just a light sprinkling of freckles along the bridge of her small nose. For some strange reason Castiel's vessel appreciates the fullness of her bottom lip. He's not sure why the sparkling stud just under the left corner of said lip captures his attention.
Ria gives the dark-haired angel a cold look. The calm soothing feeling she got from throwing her knives seeps from her body the moment she lays eyes on Castiel. She doesn't like how intense his blue eyes are. Ria knows those are the eyes of his vessel but deep inside she can sense the celestial being residing within.
Dean stands slightly in front of Ria just in case he has to pull the tiny brunette away from the angel. She looks as if she's ready to pounce on Castiel like a fierce panther. Dean has to hide his smirk because the softness of her face and the furious pout she wears makes Ria look more like an angry kitten.
"I'm not agreeing to be used as some kind of incubator for the spawn of God." Ria's tempted to pull out a knife and stab Castiel just for looking at her in that all-knowing way of his. Not once have his eyes left her face. It's not something Ria is used to. Most men can't take their eyes off her curves.
The angel turns his attention to the large disorganized mahogany desk. He tries to quell his rising irritation with the two humans his father has chosen. Castiel stops his perusal of the contents of Bobby's messy desk and turns those stormy blues towards the righteous man and the virtuous woman.
"Gabriel didn't have this many problems with Mary." The gravel in his voice gives Ria the chills.
"I'm not Mary." Ria stomps pass the trench coat wearing angel and stashes the leather satchel that contains the silver knives in her sea bag.
"No you are not." Disdain drips from every word. Castiel stalks closer to Ria never letting his gaze drop from her molten honey irises.
"Mary was kind, faithful and obedient. She accepted her duty with grace not many possess." He's so close Ria can feel the unnatural heat from his body and the lingering scent of the earth during a thunder-storm.
Tears sting Ria's eyes but she refuses to let them fall. Castiel can see the doubt, fear, and the all-consuming feeling of unworthiness that clings to her soul.
"You are stubborn, selfish and petulant. God is entrusting you with his most precious gift and you throw it back in his face." The anger rolls off the stoic angel in tumultuous waves.
Ria sucks in a deep breath as the traitorous tears fall from her eyes. Dean wants to intervene but Bobby keeps a solid grip on his arm. Bobby knows that the angel won't hurt the virtuous woman. God's will won't allow for it.
Castiel tilts his head and scrutinizes the small woman in front of him. "Your duty is so much more than yourself. The fate of the world will lie with your future child." He leans in closer to see the conflict swirling in her large doe eyes.
"I...I can't." Ria's voice is just a rough whisper and the tears seem to flow faster than before.
Castiel narrows his eyes. "What is the matter with you? Do you truly believe that you're only worth what a man will pay for a glimpse of your flesh?"
Before Ria can think over her actions her small hand slaps the angel's stubble cheek. Castiel seems completely unfazed while Ria lets out the breath she didn't realize she was still holding. She slips around his still form and runs out the living room and up the stairs to her room. The door slams with a resounding echo.
"What the fuck was that about? You can't just come here and unload all that bullshit on her." Dean doesn't know Ria that well but he knows that she doesn't deserve to have all this pressure put on her.
Castiel doesn't react. His stillness is unnerving. "She needs to accept her birthright. I don't have the luxury of time to ease her into her responsibility. There are more pressing matters at hand."
"Yeah…what is so darn important?" Bobby is a formidable man when he needs to be. He's let the angel say what he had to earlier but he won't give him another free pass with Ria.
"The apocalypse." Castiel says this as if he's reciting a grocery list.
"You're kidding? Right?" Dean chuckles lightly but Castiel's face show no signs of amusement.
"No I am not. Lucifer is coming very close to being freed from his cage." Castiel purses his full lips and clenches his hands into fist. He feels like he's wasting time trying to explain the urgency that's needed in finding the chosen one.
"You mean the devil." Bobby pours himself a glass of whiskey and makes it a double.
"My older brother has many names. Lucifer is what my father first called him. Demons are trying to break the seals on his cage and if he's freed the world you know will come to an end." The angel turns towards the window and lets his words sink in.
Bobby downs his drink and Dean stands stiffly waiting for Castiel to explain what any of this has to do with him and Ria. Castiel turns his attention back to the young man who is supposedly humanity's last hope.
"When my older brother was tossed from heaven he took his vengeance out on a human soul and twisted it till it became a demon. You know her as Lilith. It goes without saying that my father's anger was immense." Castiel casts a glance at the dark stormy face of Dean Winchester. Lilith is still very much a sore subject with the young hunter.
"God imprisoned him in a cage deep within the pits of hell. There are hundreds of seals but only sixty-six of them need to be broken for Lucifer to be freed." The angel stands motionless, hands at his side and face stoic as ever.
"What does any of that have to do with us? Sounds like more of a big guy upstairs kinda problem." Dean glares forcefully at the blank faced angel.
"Listen Boy…my brothers and sisters are dying as they try to prevent Lucifer from walking the earth. If those abominations manage to free my brother who do you think he will be coming for once he finds his vessel? That girl upstairs has the capability to carry a child who will either save the world or destroy it." Castiel advances towards the two hunters. A cold fire blazes behind his blue eyes.
"I suggest you find a way to convince her to accept her duty or I will." Castiel casts one more icy glare at the two men before disappearing in a blink of an eye. The silent warning of what is to come if they don't comply makes Dean grind his teeth in frustration. The faintest rustling of feathers the only indication the angel was ever there.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean rakes his hand through his short hair. Who knew angels could be such dicks. How is he possibly going to get a stubborn Latina to do what Castiel wants? Ria doesn't seem like the type of woman to just do as she's told.
"I'm gonna tell ya right now Ria's not one to be told what to do. She's headstrong and likes to thinks she's right all the damn time." Bobby is all too familiar with Ria's feisty side.
Dean drops down on the worn sofa and the weight of the world seems to settle on his shoulders. Dean lays back and throws his arm over his eyes. The sleeplessness of the past few days catches up to him. Bobby leaves him to get some rest. Before long Dean is out cold. The flames are kept at bay by the sheer exhaustion he feels but the nightmares always seem to catch up.
Hours pass and Dean Startles awake to a darken living room. He takes a few deep breaths before stumbling to the kitchen where he finds Bobby eating his typical dinner of chili and cornbread.
"Bout time you woke up sleeping beauty." Bobby flips through some ancient looking book while Sam makes his way to the kitchen.
The younger Winchester has been secretive but Dean is too preoccupied with the situation with Ria and Castiel to even deal with whatever Sam has gotten himself into. Dean knows that eventually he'll have to confront his brother but now he just wants to act as if everything is like it used to be when things were so much simpler. No god or angels, just demons and monsters that needed to be ganked.
Dean grabs a beer from the fridge and chugs half the bottle. "Where's Ria?" The righteous man rolls his shoulders trying to work some of the kinks out his muscles.
"She went to work." Bobby doesn't even glance up from the yellowed pages of his book. He just hands Sam some papers and the two continue with their research.
"What she hunting? Vamp, demon…ghost?" Dean finishes his beer and grabs another.
"Not that work idjit…her other job." Bobby shakes his head and pretends that it doesn't bother him that Ria at the moment is shaking her ass for some pervy business man.
"Oh…" Dean is suddenly uncomfortable with Ria not being in the house. A strange feeling of protectiveness hits him hard. Probably a side effect of his duty as the righteous man.
"Hey Sammy how bout we pay Ria a visit." Dean has a sudden urge to see her and make sure she's in once piece.
Sam shakes his head and goes back to typing on his laptop. "Stop with the bitch face Sam and get your ass up." The nagging feeling in Dean's gut is getting worse by the second. What if she's hurt? What if some demon is following her? What if some jerk tries to manhandle her? So many unpleasant scenarios run through the hunter's mind.
"I can't Dean. I'm working on some research. Someone's gotta figure this mess out." Sam seems evasive and Dean doesn't like this side of his brother.
"Just let her be Dean. She'll be home soon. Ria can take care of herself. She's a big girl." Bobby gives Dean a look that lets him know that this isn't up for discussion.
"Fine but if anything happens to her you can explain it to that feathered tax accountant." Dean stalks away, the anger simmering just beneath the surface.
The hours tick by and Dean spends the time cleaning every gun in the Winchester's possession. Around three thirty am Ria comes in wearing a black high waist pencil skirt, sheer purple secretary blouse, and four-inch black mary jane wedges. Her shiny black hair is styled in a typical victory roll hairstyle with a large purple orchid nestled just above her ear.
Dean grabs a couple of glasses and pours some bourbon in each. He hands Ria a glass and the short brunette tosses off her shoes and accepts the bourbon gratefully. Neither says much. There isn't anything to say. Both are stuck in this weird situation. They drink in companionable silence for a few minutes.
Ria's cell breaks the silence. She grabs her phone and Dean watches as the conversation is hurried and straight to the point. She hangs up with a determined look on her face. "I need your help. I got an injured hunter headed this way. I need the panic room prepped. Can you do that for me while I change?" Ria is cool and collected.
"Yeah…of course. I'll wake Sammy." Dean rushes up the steps and wakes Bobby and Sam. Meanwhile Ria throws on some sweats and grabs her bag of medical supplies.
The three men listen intently as Ria dictates things that need to be done. Bobby retrieves some O neg blood Ria has stashed in a large fridge in the basement. Sam sanitizes the tools and Dean clears out the panic room. The squealing of tires signals the arrival of the injured hunter.
Ria runs outside as fast as her small legs can take her. She's pulling on rubber gloves as quickly as she can while the beat up silver dodge Durango comes to a stop. A tall Asian man with close-cropped black hair and wide shoulders flings open the driver side door.
He's battered and bruised but not as bad off as the blonde man in the back seat. "Rafe what the hell happened?" Ria addresses the driver with familiarity. She's known these two since she started hunting on the road.
"Hell hounds. A shit load of them a few towns over. It…it happened so fast." Rafe helps Sam and Dean as the three men drag the blood covered hunter to the panic room.
"Sam get the O neg ready now." Ria cuts open the pant leg that's soaked in blood. She steels herself against the worsening situation. "Oh god…it's his femoral artery. I need to clamp it now." Ria grabs gauze and applies pressure as she quickly figures out what needs to be done.
"Fuck Duke…why do you always have to be the hero?" Ria looks tenderly at the blonde hunter while connecting the IV of O neg to his arm. They've had a thing but nothing too serious. Something always kept Ria from taking the next step with the handsome former Navy Seal.
"Rafe I need you to hold his legs down. Sam, hold his shoulders. I can't give him morphine so the pain's gonna be bad." Ria locks eyes with Dean and she knows this will be hard for him.
Dean looks cold stone as Ria works to slow the flow of blood. The sharp instruments, blood and screams reminds him too much of hell.
"I'm going to make an incison…Dean I need you to hold open the wound so I can clamp the artery." Ria says a silent prayer and with a shaky hand slices open the leg wound wider. She quickly drops the scalpel and grabs the clamp Bobby is holding.
Dean using his hands pulls open the wound while Duke screams out in pain. Sam and Rafe use all their strength to keep the injured man still. Ria painstakingly probes the wound for the artery. She's trying ignore the loud screams. Ria finally clamps the artery but Duke has lost so much blood. Ria takes the needle and thread from Bobby.
Ria does her stitches quickly but the fear of infection and shock still linger. Ria takes Duke's vitals and his breaths are shallow and labored. His heart rate is a little tacky and his skin is clammy and pale. The prognosis is not good.
Ria tends to his other wounds as Duke goes in and out of consciousness. "What were you doing in a town full of hell hounds?"
Rafe hisses as Bobby rubs some antiseptic in the wounds on his arm. "They weren't there when Duke and I showed up. We were just passing through and suddenly the place is overrun with screaming people and hell hounds. It's fucking crazy." Rafe looks beat down and confused.
Ria goes back to monitoring Duke but the man needs more medical help than she can give. "Hey doll face." Duke's voice is barely a whisper. Ria gives him a watery smile.
"Hey sailor." Ria removes her bloodied gloves and takes his large calloused hand in her small one.
Duke turns shiny brown eyes towards the petite beauty. He uses his free hand to pull his dog tags from his neck. "You know where to send these. Rafe's got my letter." Duke coughs roughly.
"No…no. You're gonna be fine. We're going to get you to the hospital and everything is gonna be fine." Ria hiccups back her sobs as Duke presses the dog tags into her small hand.
Sam, Dean and Bobby watch grimly from the other side of the panic room while Rafe tries to not to cry as his best friend and brother says his last words. Hunters die all the time but it doesn't make it any easier.
"At…at least I got to see your pretty face one more time." Duke groans lowly. The pain is becoming too much for the former military man.
"Hush. You still owe me dinner and movie Sailor." Ria smiles softly but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.
Duke chuckles faintly. "That I do Ma'am, but I'm sorry I just might have to break that promise." He squeezes Ria's small hand tighter.
"It was always you. Always you." Duke's breaths come out shallow and quicker. Blood dribbles from the corner of his mouth. His internal injuries are worse than Ria has anticipated. She's done all she can and it's not enough.
"I know." Ria touches her forehead to Duke's as the last breath slips from his body. She places a gentle kiss to his lips as her small fingers close the lids to his chocolate brown eyes.
Ria takes in a shaky breath and grips the dog tags tightly in her hand. She blinks back her tears as she silently leaves the panic room. Bobby covers Duke's body with a sheet while Sam tends to the rest of Rafe's wounds. Dean lets out the breath he didn't even know he was holding.
Scenes like these are common amongst hunters but it still doesn't make it easy. Dean walks upstairs and watches as Ria with trembling hands pours herself a shot. She downs the liquid quickly as she struggles to keep the tears from falling.
Dean walks over to the small woman and takes the glass from her trembling hand. "That's water." She's so overwhelmed that she can't tell the difference between water and tequila.
A broken sob escapes her small mouth and Ria bites her bottom lip to keep from screaming out. "I…I…I have to go. I can't breathe…can't breathe." No matter how hard she tries Ria can't seem to catch her breath. The world is spinning around her and her lungs burn from the lack of oxygen.
Dean grabs her roughly by the arm and pulls her outside into the dusky morning light. The cool crisp air hits Ria like a sledgehammer and she manages to take in a deep breath. Dean's not good at comforting crying women. He feels awkward and tense. Ria's not really crying, more like struggling to keep the tears from falling.
"Who are the dog tags going to?" Dean's not sure why he's asking about them but he needs to talk about something.
Ria looks at Dean as if she just realized he's there. "Duke has a little girl in Norfolk, Va. She just turned seven." Ria takes another deep breath and wipes away the few stray tears from her cheeks.
Dean feels like he's been sucker punched in his gut. That poor kid's gonna grow up without a father. He didn't really know Duke that well but they've run into each other once or twice on the job. Most hunters know of other hunters. Dean knows that Duke hadn't been in the supernatural life for long. It just plain sucks when kids are involved.
Ria gives Dean a sad smile. "This is why I'm angry with God. Good people die for no reason and these monsters get to exist and he does nothing."
Dean knows that there is more to Ria's personal story. She's lost more than just Duke. Dean's not one for chick flick moments and he won't push her to talk. Ria will talk when she's ready.
Dean silently watches as Ria does what hunters do in this situation. She pushes down her tears and steels herself against the overwhelming sadness that is nipping at her heels like a rabid dog. "Talk to me…say anything. I just need to think of something else."
Dean runs his hand through his short hair and takes a deep breath. He decides to just tell her everything that Castiel told them about Lucifer and his cage. They might as well start making a plan because neither wanted to have their free will taken away. This is how they spend the few hours before Duke's hunter's funeral. The righteous man and the virtuous women did not know that two angels had watched them the whole time.
Castiel turns stormy blue eyes towards his brother Uriel. "Was this really necessary?" Anger cannot even adequately describe what he is feeling.
Uriel gives his little brother a satisfied smirk. "This so-called virtuous woman had too many romantic notions about that boy. That relationship needed to be nipped in the bud."
"The garrison could have gone to that town and prevented the seal from being broken. Those two innocents were led to slaughter for no good reason." Castiel's low raspy voice deepens with his anger.
"That girl needs to learn her own insignificance. Her attachments are hindering our plans." Uriel sneers.
"What plans are those?" Castiel narrows his eyes, the curiosity tempering his anger for the moment.
Uriel chuckles for moment. Castiel has always been so naïve. "Lucifer will walk the earth; Michael will defeat him then take the virtuous woman for himself. She will carry his child who will become a great warrior."
"Michael is not the chosen one. We must do as are father commanded" Castiel can hardly believe what Uriel is telling him.
Uriel's face hardens. "If you hadn't notice brother but our father left a long time ago. It's up to us now to do what must be done to protect heaven. Can't you see Castiel how important it is for Michael to sire this child?" Uriel wants so desperately for his brother to understand what must be done.
"No. This isn't the way we do things. Killing innocent humans is not what our father would want." Castiel doesn't understand why some angels despise the human race.
"You've spent too much time with these mudmonkeys. You've lost sight of the bigger picture." Uriel does little to hide his disdain for mankind.
"What would you have me do, Uriel? Go against our father's wishes is not something that I can do." The pain of realizing that his brother will never see eye to eye with him about humans hits Castiel like a bolt of lightning.
"Choose your side Castiel. Choose it wisely because you will either stand with us or against us." Uriel is gone in flash leaving Castiel to ponder his next move. Can he truly go against his father? Is he strong enough to stand against his brothers and sisters? Which side is right?
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