Dean shifted in his seat and tried to stretch out his legs. Three hours into the stake out and not much has changed in the house across the street. It was hard to see many of the windows through the enclosed trees setting the reclusive house back into shadows, but no lights showed behind the rustle of curtains. Then, when Dean had thought it might be better to get thirty winks and let Sam take over, his eye caught the shifting of movement from up the street.
"Look there," he said pointing, and Sam blinked as he sat up. Good thing Dean didn't nod off considering the way Sam hitched a ride to la-la land. Looking up the street, they saw a shadowy figure dragging a struggling form down the road with it. It looked to Dean like a human writhing in a black cloud as it swirled in tornado fashion around him. Slowly, they made their way towards the house.
"Ready?" Dean asked, and Sam showed the demon blade in his hand. Dean gripped the hilt of his colt.
"Dean, maybe we should wait. We don't know how to take her out yet," Sam said warily.
"We wait, he dies. Let's go." Dean opened the car door and Sam followed suit. They stuck to the shadows, avoiding the sparsely staggered street lamps, and circled around behind the witch.
"Please! No!" the man's voice called out and as Dean got closer he could make out the glint in the man's eyes which stopped him cold. The eyes were pitch black.
"Sam…it's a demon," Dean said as he drew up short. Sam looked at him, not sure what direction to take, but Dean always took the philosophy to shoot first and ask questions later. Raising the colt, he fired into the smoke swirling around the demon man. The bullet grazed the milky cloud, and where it touched, the black smoke smoldered red. A sound like a hiss seemed to rustle through the trees, and the smoke swirled faster; coagulating; forming, and suddenly a shape of a woman was standing in front of them. The demon, now freed, fell to the ground and scrambled towards the trees where it vanished into the hedge.
"You're welcome!" Dean called after it.
"Ssssaammm," the creature hissed and her voice sounded low, dry and almost alien. The creature lunged at them and Sam pivoted to the side, reaching out to scratch at the woman with his demon etched blade. The knife caused the same effect, a red smolder in the smoke, but it quickly faded as though it was never there. The woman shifted to charge at them again.
Dean backed away, trying to gain some space between them until he could figure out what the next move was. Maybe they could find some iron somewhere? Glancing at Sam, he realized that his brother was standing his ground.
"Sam, no!" Dean called out, but Sam appeared to be listening to a different voice. As the witch lunged towards him, Sam threw the knife to the side. It tumbled into the yard, concealed in the grass.
"Sam!" Dean shouted again, and watched his brother lift his hands out in front of him. Suddenly, Serrath shrieked as her body seemed to collapse in on itself. Sam twisted his arms, like he was turning an unseen ball around in his hands. The smoky figure shifted and warped into a smaller form until it took on the shape of a ball like the one Sam seemed to be holding. He hands came together, drawing the ball smaller, and smaller. Moments later, it winked out of existence, taking the last screams of Serrath with it.
"Fuck!" Dean breathed, not able to think of a better word to describe what he had just seen. "Sam…what?"
"Gabriel's Grace. I am still able to wield it."
"And did you know this before we got here?" Dean asked, exasperated but Sam just shrugged. Where the witch once stood, something glittered in the air and Dean tentatively took a step forward. Coming upon it, Dean realized it was a necklace of sorts and when he reached out to take it, the power holding it cut out so that it fell softly into his hand. Dean glanced at Sam, and then turned to examine the thin cord holding a trinket resembling a sheep head.
"So this is all that's left of her?" Dean offered, "She wasn't a very impressive fight."
"That's because it wasn't Serrath," a voice chimed from behind them and the brothers turned to see Crowley standing in the street holding the recently rescued demon by his ear. "Hello boys."
"Crowley," Dean said scowling but the energy of his conviction wasn't quite all there. The past few months have shown Dean that while angels can be bad and demons can be good, he really didn't have the right to persecute one more than the other when he's better off just not trusting any of them. Except for Cas. He trusted Cas to the end. The bearded Demon, dressed sharply in a black suit and blood red tie, seemed all the world as though he just happened to be out for a casual stroll.
"Dean…Sam…so good to see you both again," he said in his familiar European lilt. Releasing his demons ear, he shoved the creature on his back, making him take a few stumbling steps forward. "This is Chester. Tell them what happened Chester." The demon glanced at the hunters and then at his master, and shivered in his meat suit.
"I was just…minding my business," he said in a shaky voice and Dean could only imagine what that meant. "Word spread that demons were going missing in the area and I didn't want to make any waves, you know? So…I was making my way home after…dinner and…suddenly this smoke was all around me and I couldn't move! I couldn't…"
"So if it wasn't Serrath, what was it?" Dean asked and the demon cowered. Crowley took a step forward and casually rested his hand on the man's shoulder. Leaning in, he whispered in the demon's ear in a low voice.
"This body his compromised." A moment later, the man threw back his head, and the demon housed within him abruptly fled in a torrent of black smoke. The body collapsed in the street, and Crowley turned back to where the hunters stood. "It seems that you and I need to have a little talk."
Castiel watched, mesmerized, as his brother danced around the lab table. Cas has been a part of many spell casting in his day. Incantations, blood sacrifice, and a hundred other magics that involved a variety of ingredients. He also saw demon magic, involving more…intimate transgressions between willing parties. He has not ever, however, seen anything like what Eros was doing. Flames licked at glass bottles with tubes attached to the top; retaining the vapors within. Other smaller bottles mixed and swirled with liquids that Castiel couldn't even really identify.
Reaching into a satchel, Eros gently pulled out a small crystal that he held up to peer at in the light before nodding to himself. While it appeared to be a crystal, Cas knew it was so much more than that as well.
"Eros," Castiel breathed in awe but his brother ignored him. In his hand, he held the essence of an angel. Fallen Grace. It made Castiel's skin crawl to be near it, knowing what could happen and what did happen with Gabriel. Leaning over a shallow bowl, Eros placed the crystal within it and maneuvered tubes so that the vapor from his bottles spread over it. Slowly, the crystal appeared to…melt. "Eros, this is dangerous. What if this angel Grace is haunted like Gabriel's was?"
"I'm not putting it in the vessel, Castiel. I just need the energy to fuel the connection." Turning his attention away from the bowl, Eros grabbed two vials and mixed them together. As soon as the liquids connected, they churned and shifted into a deep swirling purple. It reminded Castiel of the vial of liquid he drank what seemed like a lifetime ago.
"Please, Castiel," Eros said as he dumped the purple liquid into an oral syringe, "feed this to the vessel. It will allow for the connection between Soul-bound to be more receptive." Castiel rose and walked to his brother. Gingerly taking the vial, he eyed Eros sideways and hesitated.
"I…am having doubts about this," Cas said frankly.
"Have them after you prep the vessel, Castiel. The timing is imperative if this is going to happen tonight."
"Tonight?" Castiel blinked in surprise. "I thought…you said this was going to take a while."
"To get those humans out of my hair? Yes, Castiel. I said what I needed to, but in truth… I lied." Turning from his work, Eros looked up at his brother with an indifferent expression. "I am not doing this for them, brother. I am doing this for you. Because you're happiness means more to me than anything this side of heaven." Castiel opened his mouth, searching for what to say, but Eros was already turning back to his work. "Now please prep the vessel, Castiel. This ends tonight."
Dean shifted on Baby's seat as his eyes scanned the street once more. Behind him, Crowley's presence was like needles boring into his neck.
"Ok Crowley," he said once he was satisfied the action was over for a while, "what's going on?"
"Lucifer," Crowley muttered and both the brother's groaned. So they knew the score then. No surprise there. "He's nested snug in his cage. All the way down in the deep pits of hell just where I want him to be." Crowley leaned forward and rested his arms on the front bench of the car, looking snarky. "Then this Serrath bitch-"
"Witch," both brothers corrected and then glanced at each other.
"…witch…well. Let's just say, this is not the first time I have heard of her. Did you ever hear the story about how Lucifer fell?"
"Sure," Sam offered, "Lucifer couldn't stop fighting with father and when the situation wasn't resolved, he was cast out of heaven."
"Father?" Dean asked and Sam looked at him puzzled. "You just said father. Not his father…just…father," Dean said. Sam turned away from Dean, and tilted his head, doing that mind conversation thing he does all the time now. It was really starting to rub Dean the wrong way seeing Sam like that. They needed to get that friggin' angel out of his skull.
"Anyway," Crowley continued and Dean glanced back at the demon before turning his attention to the street. "It is said that Lucifer's first action on earth was to lay claim to his first demon."
"Lilith," Dean offered and Crowley reached out and patted his head which just irked him all the more.
"Yes," Crowley purred, smiling at Dean and then at Sam, "Lilith. Quite the slice of cake, that one was, wasn't she? Anyway, what is not so openly explained in the history books was what Lucifer did before he found Lilith." Sam suddenly turned, and gave Crowley his full undivided attention. Well good for him that he can shut off Gabriel radio for a demon but not for his brother.
"You see," Crowley said, perking up. He loved to monologue to an attentive audience. "There is something angels have programmed into their coding that attaches them to humans-"
"Yes, we know already," Dean snapped. "Let's skip past that." Crowley frowned at Dean and Dean instantly regretted letting his agitation run his mouth for him.
"Very well…" Crowley said slowly, "Well then if you know everything you should know that Serrath was Lucifer's human sentinel." Sam gasped. He stared wide-eyed at Crowley and his mouth fell open. His breath suddenly quickened, coming in short panicked breaths.
"Sammy," Dean ventured but it was as though he hadn't even spoken. Sam was transfixed, staring into Crowley's curious eyes. "Sam!" Dean shouted and his brother shifted his head to look at Dean. "Block him out, Sam." Dean said sternly and Sam swallowed hard. His breath slowed, and after a moment, he nodded. Crowley quietly watched the exchange, his eyes dancing between the brothers; taking it all in. When Sam looked like he wasn't going to go postal, Dean turned back to Crowley to get them back on track.
"So, Serrath is Soul-bound to Lucifer. Great. What did he do with her when he found her?"
"He killed her," Crowley said softly. "An act so unspeakable…so defiant of God, that it formed hell in the process. Serrath, being the first soul to occupy hell, Lucifer locked her away in a cage of her own. His one weakness he could not let be used to exploit him. Somehow…that cage is now empty. Now these…shadows are crawling all over the place snatching up my demons. They can't be killed because they don't really exist. But she is out there pulling the puppet strings…somewhere. I can feel it in my bones." Sam and Dean looked at each other, exchanging volumes in their glance, and then both turned to face Crowley. The demon sat back once more, satisfied he enthralled his audience, and smiled. "Serrath is free from her cage, boys, and for whatever reason, she wants Lucifer to be too."