Castiel drew closer to Dean as Lucifer sauntered over to them with a smirk on his face. He stopped directly in front of Gabriel and leaned down, directly into the familiar's face. Gabe's eyes were wide and he was trembling, but Cas was pretty sure that was from all of the caffeine he had ingested that morning.
"You can't get rid of me that easily, Gabriel," Lucifer purred. "After all, I'm not done with you yet. You will pay for your insolence." He stepped back and Cas saw for the first time the freshly healed scars running across his face from where Gabe had attacked him in his eagle form. "I'll make you all pay. But not here, and not yet. I've got plans for you four."
He chuckled then, a low, dark sound that reverberated around the clearing like some herald of death. Lucifer turned and walked away, into the forest, and none of them moved until they were sure he was gone.
"We are so screwed," Gabriel said.
"No, we're not," Sam replied. "Don't be so pessimistic. We just have to go to the coven, I'm sure they can catch him and actually kill him this time."
"We thought they had killed him last time," Cas pointed out, "and he still managed to escape and find us."
"Come on, Cas," Dean said, walking back in the direction of the parking garage. "I thought you were a glass half full kinda guy."
"I'm also realistic," Cas said, following Dean.
"Awesome, Cassie's boarding the pessimism train!" Gabriel shouted gleefully. "Choo choo, motherfuckers!" He dashed up the path, cackling madly.
"He is not allowed to have any more coffee ever again," Sam said, watching Gabe go. Cas nodded in agreement. "We still have to go to the coven, though. They should be able to do something."
"I hope so," Dean muttered. "We can't live with the threat of Lucifer constantly hanging over our heads."
They walked back to the garage in silence, the only noises being the sounds of the forest around them and Gabriel crashing through the undergrowth ahead of them. When they finally made it back to the Impala they all piled in, Sam sitting in the front this time since his legs got too cramped in the back.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, putting the phone on speaker so that everyone could hear. After three rings, someone finally picked up.
"What?" a gruff voice answered.
"Hey, Bobby," Sam said.
"What do you guys want?"
"We just want to know what happened with Lucifer this morning."
The line went quiet and they could hear a muffled curse come through.
"Why are you asking?" Bobby asked suspiciously.
"Because that dipwad showed up to a forest almost an hour outside of the city, scared the crap out of all four of us and then disappeared," Gabriel said, interrupting whatever Sam had been about to say. "So unless that was some jerk's idea of a prank, you fucked up and need to get your asses in gear to help us catch the lunatic you let escape."
There was silence, both in the car and from Bobby's end. Cas was staring at Gabe with a mix of awe and anger.
"Who the hell are you?" Bobby asked indignantly.
"Gabriel," Gabe answered. "I'm Sam's familiar. And no, I'm not usually this rude. But right now I'm hopped up on a ton of caffeine and my brain/mouth filter got turned off, so I'm sorry if I've offended you, but it's the truth."
"Okay," Dean said after another awkward pause. "Anyway, Bobby, we really need the coven to get on top of this whole Lucifer thing, 'cause he's planning something and I really don't want to find out what it is."
"I do!" Gabriel exclaimed, raising his hand like he was in a classroom.
"Yeah, we've been trying to track him for a while now, but he's got a spell over himself that cloaks his magic signature."
"He used magic to block out his magic?"
"I know, it sounded ridiculous to me, too. But there's not much we can do until he rears his ugly mug again. Sorry, boys, but if you'd like, I can send a guard or something over to your place."
Gabriel shook his head insistently, but Sam ignored him. "That'd be great, Bobby, thanks," he said, glaring at Gabriel.
"Alright, give me a call if he pops up again."
"We will. Talk to you later, Bobby."
"Watch out for each other."
"We always do," Dean answered, and Sam hung up the phone. Gabriel crossed his arms and scrunched up his nose.
"Why do we need a guard?" he asked petulantly.
"Because three witches will have a better chance of overpowering Lucifer than two," Dean said, looking back at Gabe.
"Dean, look at the fucking road!" Cas groaned.
Sorry, I keep forgetting.
How do you forget to look at the road while driving?
I don't know, I'm just special like that.
You certainly are some type of special.
Dean's laughter filled his mind and he grinned, but it quickly faded when he remembered the situation they were in. Suddenly, Gabriel's earlier comment was sounding a lot more like the truth.
We are so screwed.
...oO()Oo…
It took them three hours to get home, thanks to rush hour traffic. It was dark when they finally pulled into the driveway. Gabriel leaned heavily on Cas, the energy from his spiked coffee having worn off a while ago. They stumbled into the house and Cas dropped his brother onto the sofa. Gabe's eyes closed, then shot open not even a full second later. He looked around wildly, then up at Cas.
"Smell," he ordered. Cas accessed the animal part of him and took a deep breath, almost choking on the scent of two new people all over everything in the house. He could distinctly smell the magic in both of the scents, but one also smelled like… cat?
"Witch and familiar," he whispered, and Gabriel nodded. The two of them silently padded over to the base of the stairs. Cas could hear Sam and Dean in one of the bedrooms, talking to each other about the Lucifer situation. They hadn't noticed anything amiss, but they didn't have the familiars' enhanced senses.
Cas cocked his head to the side and listened intently. The whole house was silent, but after a while he began to hear noises. A creak in the basement stairs, the rattle of the window in the kitchen, a soft breath coming from directly behind him…
His eyes widened and he spun around, barely aware of Gabriel doing the same thing. His hands slammed into something solid, though there was nothing there, and he pushed whatever it was into the wall. A gasp came from whoever Cas was pinning, and he heard the Sam and Dean race downstairs, alarmed by the noise.
"What the hell?" Dean asked, seeing Cas and Gabe apparently holding onto nothing. The air in front of Gabriel rippled and a woman materialized in front of him. She smirked at him and he narrowed his eyes.
"Is this any way to treat your new guards?" asked a new voice with a slight southern drawl, and Cas looked over to at the woman Gabriel was pinning.
"Pamela?" Sam asked, flicking on a light and coming closer. "What the hell are you doing in our house?" Gabriel released the woman and after a moment, Cas released the one he was holding.
"Isn't it obvious?" Pamela asked. "I literally just told you. We're your guards, here to help in case Lucifer comes after you. Bobby sent us, said you'd know we were coming over."
Dean sighed and ran a face over his hand. "And you and your familiar had to sneak in here, why?"
"To see your reactions, of course," the unfamiliar familiar said. Her voice was sarcastic, her face even more so. "But that plan was dashed to pieces by these two fine feathered folks."
"Meg, be nice," Pamela said and turned back to Sam. "It was incredibly impressive, what your familiars did. There's not many people who can catch us if we don't want to be caught."
"Riiiiight," Gabriel said. "Well, if no one's dying, I think I'm going to bed." As he walked past Pamela, her hand shot out and slapped him in the butt, making him jump at least a foot in the air.
"Good night, sweet cheeks," she said, winking at him. Gabriel blushed a light pink, chuckling nervously and Cas stared, mouth dropping open a little. Never in his life had Cas seen Gabe so flustered, especially not from flirting.
"Pamela, stop molesting my familiar," Sam growled playfully, though Cas thought he detected just a hint of jealousy in his tone, too. Interesting.
"I'm just kiddin'," Pamela chuckled. Sam rolled his eyes and went upstairs with Gabriel.
"So, boys, let's get this party started. Meg, get the snacks, I'll find some music. You two," she said, pointing at Dean and Cas, "go get a game or something." Meg slunk off to the kitchen and started rummaging through the fridge while Pamela walked over to Dean's extensive classic rock collection and started looking through the CDs.
Dean raised his eyebrows at Cas.
Wanna stay down here? Pamela and Meg make everything a ton more… interesting.
Sure. It's not like I was going to go to bed anyway.
Cas went and plopped down on the couch while Dean grabbed Monopoly from the stack of games in the hall closet. One hour later, they were all focused intently on the game, sipping beers and munching on popcorn.
"Oh, come on!" Dean shouted as Cas put yet another hotel on one of his properties. "How do you even have that much money?"
Cas shrugged, grinning. The more houses and hotels Cas put down, the more irritated Dean became. He loved irritating Dean almost as much as he loved winning.
"Well, Clarence," Meg drawled, using the nickname she had given Cas. "It seems you'll be winning this game, if it ends anytime soon."
"Maybe," Cas answered, though he knew she was right. "We've only just started, any of you could-" He broke off and sat up, the hair on the back of his neck sitting up. He let his animal senses out and listened intently. His eyes widened and he looked at Meg. She looked back at him with the same expression he wore.
The two of them scrambled to their feet and ran to the window by the front door. Cas could faintly see the orange glow of flames licking at the side of the house and the smell of smoke was even stronger.
"Fuck!" he shouted, running to the door and wrenching it open. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck!" He grabbed the hose and turned it on, aiming it at the base of the fire. The flames just jumped higher, scorching the shingles. It was a magical fire, being controlled by a witch. "Shit!" He looked around and saw Meg leading a sleepy looking Sam and Gabriel out of the house, followed closely by a panicked Dean and Pamela.
The two alert witches ran over and used their magic to cut off the air around the fire, smothering the flames. Cas abandoned the hose and ran to Meg and Gabriel.
"We have to find Lucifer," he said. "I'll bet he was the one controlling that fire and that means he's still around here somewhere." They both nodded, Gabriel looking more awake. He and Cas transformed into their animal forms and Meg turned into a sleek black cat. She streaked into the night as Gabe and Cas took to the skies.
It was hard to see with all of the smoke in the sir, but he could make out the forms of the concerned neighbors and hear the sirens from the approaching ambulance. He flew in a tight circle around the house, knowing that Lucifer would have to keep visual contact in order to control the fire.
He was just about ready to give up when he heard a fierce yowl coming from below him. He looked down and saw a cat attacking a man in an alley. He tucked his wings into his sides and dive bombed, the way he had seen Gabriel do a few days ago. Just before he hit Lucifer, he spread out his wings and extended his feet.
Talons scored across his face, adding to the scratches left by Meg's claws. Lucifer growled in anger and swung his hand wildly at Cas. The familiar easily dodged it and continued his attack on Lucifer's face while Meg shredded his legs.
Cas, where are you?
I don't know, in some alley.
He dodged another punch and raked his talons across the forearm.
What are you doing in an alley?
Attacking Lucifer, what else?
You found him?! Okay, hold on, I'm coming to you.
Cas was too late to avoid the next swing and was flung back into the brick wall. He was human when he slid to the floor, but he was just as disoriented as his bird form had been. Meg stood in front of him, teeth bared and fur standing on end. Lucifer sneered at her in contempt before looking back at Cas.
"This isn't over, Castiel," he proclaimed. "This was merely a taste of what's to come."
He waved his hand and disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a few splatters of blood on the ground. Meg changed into his human form and helped him up, glaring at the spot where Lucifer had been not a few seconds before.
"That guy has some serious flaws," she said. Castiel scoffed in response. There was no blood on his head, but he was pretty sure he had at least a concussion. Leaning heavily on Meg, he started walking back towards the house. Dean met him halfway there, panting and bedraggled but unhurt.
"Cas," he gasped. "Are you...okay?" He pulled Cas' other arm over his shoulders and began walking again.
"I'm fine, Dean," Cas said. "Just a concussion, maybe."
"We'll get that healed up as soon as we get back home."
By the time they made it back to the house, there were firemen nosy neighbors everywhere. The three of them ducked beneath the police tape and walked inside where they found a worried Sam and Pamela convincing a fireman that everything was fine.
"Alright, fine," he said. "If you're sure that this was an accident."
"Completely sure," Sam answered with conviction.
"Then I guess there's nothing more we can do here." He motioned to the others and they all left. Gabriel didn't come back until after all of the people outside had gone back to their homes. He came through the back door in his human form, worry on his face but excitement in his eyes. His eyes landed immediately on Cars, who was sitting on the counter while Dean prepared the healing spell.
"Are you okay?" he asked, brow furrowed in concern.
"I'm fine, just a concussion," Cas answered. Dean said the chant and dropped the match into the bowl, the flames leaping up and looking nothing like the ones eating at the house earlier.
"Well, you guys'll never guess what I found out," Gabriel continued in excitement. "While I was out looking for Lucifer, I found this familiar named Ash, ya know, Ellen's familiar? Well, he told me that he heard Ellen talking about this witch named Michael who lives upstate."
"What about him?" Dean asked, irritated.
"Michael is Lucifer's brother, the only one dear old Luci was ever afraid of. Michael's even more powerful than Lucifer is, and he's been looking for him for a while."
"Why?" Pamela asked from her seat at the table.
"Lucifer killed their dad a while ago and then moved here, and Michael's been looking for him ever since to get revenge."
"What good does that do us?" Dean asked. Gabriel rolled his eyes.
"You people, I swear," he muttered. "I already called Michael, and he's on his way here now. He said he should be here tomorrow morning. He'll get rid of Lucifer for us."
Sam's mouth dropped open and then he grinned.
"Gabriel, you're a genius!"
"Oh, my God, no, I'm not," Gabriel groaned. "Calling Michael was the most obvious thing in the world, you're just a dumbbutt."
Gabriel laughed when Sam threw his arms around him and even Dean, Pamela and Meg looked a lot more excited than they were before. Dean beamed at Cas and Cas grinned back.
We finally have a way to get rid of this nut job.
Yeah, I hope that Michael really is as powerful as Gabriel said he is.
I'm sure he will be, Cas. I'm sure he will be.