I would probably be lying if I said I didn't laugh a little when I read some of your reviews. It was more of an evil cackle.
BUT SERIOUSLY, GUYS. I have been waiting to get to this point for SO LONG YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW. AND THE MOMENT IS FINALLY UPON US.
Michael and Gabriel are seriously going to have to get their shit together if they wanna get anything done about this. I've got a pretty big thing with them scheduled to come up soon, but depending on how much gets done with this chapter exactly when that is is gonna vary.
"But wait," you say, ignoring my tantalizing hint about possibly less brotherly angst. "They're archangels," you say. "Surely just one Knight isn't going to be that much of a problem? Gabriel could just kill her right there and then in the beginning of this chapter. You don't even need to bring Michael into it at all."
Dear, sweet, naïve readers.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Harry Potter.
Fuck.
Gabriel was frozen. He had not been planning on this. What was a fucking Knight doing here? They were all supposed to be dead!
...Then again, that had been basically everyone's reaction to seeing him again, but regardless.
"What's the meaning of this?" The Knight snarled at Crowley. "You didn't say anything about archangels!" Her hands were curled into claws.
"I swear I didn't know he'd be here," Crowley said hurriedly.
"You expect me to believe that? You're trying to kill me!"
Both of the Winchesters were holding their blades defensively in front of themselves. "Who are you?" Sam demanded, and the Knight's head turned to look at them.
She gave them a glancing once-over and turned back to Crowley, ignoring Sam. "You promised the Winchesters. You said they were undefended."
"I thought they were!" Crowley had backed up. He'd put a generous distance between him and the Knight, but the latter kept stalking forward and closing it. "I swear! I told them to come without Castiel, I didn't know they had more angel backup on call!"
"Rowena was right about you," the Knight growled. "You can't be trusted."
Crowley seemed to realize the situation couldn't be salvaged. He vanished on the spot, leaving only a trace of sulfur behind.
The Knight screamed in frustration. The warehouse rattled around the four of them. Dean and Sam backed away slightly. The only reason Gabriel didn't as well was because he still felt frozen to the spot.
Fuck. Fuck. The last time he'd gone up against a Knight - well, suffice to say it hadn't gone well.
The Knight turned on him, eyes smoldering. Gabriel's blade slid into his hand easily for the second time that day. He'd just come out of a fight - he'd used his grace freely against the demons, thinking it was no big deal, but he would need every bit he could muster up now.
Her eyes narrowed, and then widened in surprise. "Gabriel," the Knight hissed. "I should have known. You have a way of turning up like a bad penny."
Speaking of the last time he'd fought a Knight...
"Belial." The name fell heavily from Gabriel's mouth. Of course it would be the one demon he'd never managed to kill.
"Belial?" Dean hissed. "Gabriel, who the fuck is this?"
"Now, that's just rude." Belial moved sharply towards Dean. Gabriel put himself between them, blade raised, and she paused. Surprise moved across her face, temporarily loosening her posture.
"Don't tell me you're allied with these humans." Belial scoffed, recovering her careless attitude. "Isn't that beneath you?"
"I don't care about them all that much," Gabriel said, "but my brother would be pissed if I let anything happen to them. His disappointed eyes are really something."
"How promising." Belial purred the words. "That means you've got something else to waste your Grace on."
She pounced.
Gabriel fled.
The three of them landed in the bunker with a crash. Gabriel had been concentrating on getting away, not landing steadily. The consequence was that he ended up on the floor.
Judging from the profanity coming from Sam and Dean, they had too. Gabriel rolled to his feet, looking for the warding the bunker undoubtedly had.
There was demon warding - against Knights as well. At least they had learned from the trouble with Abbadon.
"Okay, explain," Dean demanded, using a chair to push himself to his feet. "Who the fuck was that?"
"Belial," Gabriel said shortly. He was hardly in the mood to deal with an irate Dean Winchester.
"Yeah, I heard that bit, I was fuckin' there. I mean what is she?"
"A Knight of Hell," Gabriel snapped. That made both of them stiffen.
"I thought they were all dead," Sam said, looking alarmed.
"Since when does anything stay dead when you two are involved?" Gabriel threw his hands up in frustration. "Tell me you didn't know about this." It was only a faint hope, really.
"No way, we thought they were gone too." Dean shook his head. "What the fuck, dude? I thought after Abbadon-"
"Abbadon only managed to fake being dead by traveling into the future," Sam reminded, and Gabriel really needed to hear the rest of that story. "Cain said he killed the rest of them, though."
"Apparently not." Gabriel scowled down at the table, trying to think of what might have happened. "There are only so many people who could have brought one of them back-"
"Hold on," Sam interrupted. "You knew her, though."
Cue awkward pause.
"Yes," Gabriel said tightly. "We've met."
"And you didn't kill her then?" Dean asked skeptically.
"Like you finished off Abbadon so quickly?" Gabriel retorted.
"No one's blaming anyone," Sam replied quickly, holding up his hands. "I was just surprised. It seemed kinda unlikely that you'd know a demon."
"We were trying to kill each other at the time," Gabriel said. "Not that unlikely. Are you done interrogating me, or can we actually try to find out what happened?"
Sam and Dean glanced at each other. "If a Knight's that bad," Sam said, "maybe we should call Michael."
"Are you kidding?" Dean sputtered. "Call Michael? Are you forgetting-"
"I'm not forgetting anything, Dean," Sam interrupted him. "But last time we met them, Michael didn't seem that bad! And we could use another archangel on our side."
"What, and forget how badly they screwed with us?" Dean scoffed.
"You don't seem to have a problem with Gabriel!"
"Objection," Gabriel said. "Your brother totally has a problem with me."
"You shut up," Dean snapped.
"See?"
"That's not my point." Sam said exasperatedly, pulling a face at both of them. "Look, I know both of them can be dicks-"
"I'm right here!" Gabriel reminded him loudly.
"-but neither of them are trying to kill us or do anything else to us anymore."
"And that makes them trustworthy?" Dean had crossed his arms.
"I am still literally standing next to you guys," Gabriel said.
Sam gave Gabriel a look that probably meant please be quiet for a few seconds while I deal with this idiot [and Gabriel may have been mentally paraphrasing, but who was gonna know?]. "If it means they'll help us deal with this Knight, then I'm willing to ask for their help. Whether they're trustworthy or not."
"Seriously?" Gabriel complained. "I take the fall with Lucifer and let you guys escape, and this is the thanks I get?"
"That doesn't cancel out all the stuff you did before," Dean warned, pointing at Gabriel in a way that was probably meant to come off as intimidating.
"Yeah, yeah, I got that from your conversation from three seconds ago." Gabriel raised an eyebrow challengingly. "Are you gonna call Michael or not?" Whatever he thought of Michael, they did need as much power as they could on their side.
A Knight was nothing to let an old grudge get in the way of stopping.
"How are we gonna do that, summon them?"
Gabriel snorted. "Yeah, that'll go over real well."
Sam looked put out. "Unless you're offering to send them a message some other way, we don't exactly have an alternative."
They were right, but that didn't make Gabriel any happier about it. Pulling a face, he reached out and reconnected himself, calling out over the myriad chatter of other angels. Michael, we've got an issue over here. Knight of Hell-sized issue.
He'd barely withdrawn from the connection when Michael was abruptly there, wings flared irritably. "Please tell me you're joking," was the first thing ne said.
"You think I'd joke about this?" It was a rhetorical question, and luckily Michael actually got that. Gabriel hoisted himself up so that he was sitting on the table, crossing one leg over the other.
"Who?" Michael demanded.
"She called herself Belial," Sam said.
Michael's gaze sharpened into worry for a moment, focusing on Gabriel and then moving back to Sam. "How did you run into a Knight of Hell?"
"Crowley called her." Dean seemed reluctant to say anything to Michael, if his expression was anything to go by. "The fucker wanted to hand us over. Probably just so he could keep his damn throne." The second half didn't seem directed towards anyone in particular.
"Sounds about right," Gabriel said. "Not that I know Crowley that well."
"Crowley?" Michael questioned. Sam and Dean exchanged a look.
"He set himself up as King downstairs," Sam said. "After, uh, Lucifer got taken out of the equation. Last time we dealt with a Knight-"
"Last time?" Michael sounded incredulous. "Exactly how many Knights are we dealing with here?"
"Just one," Dean said curtly. "We dealt with Abbadon already, she's dead. And she had plenty of beef with Crowley over how he ran Hell."
"I've never heard of Crowley before." Michael looked thoughtful, eyes turned towards the floor. "If a Knight is back, then they wouldn't be content with anyone but Lucifer on the throne."
Sam stiffened in alarm. "You're not-"
"They wouldn't be able to open the Cage," Michael said. "Those seals have to be broken in a very specific order. Lilith would always have to be last - and since she's already dead, it's impossible to open. It was only ever meant to be unlocked once." Ne tapped nir fingers against the table. "Belial. Where have I heard..."
Michael faltered in the middle of the sentence, eyes shooting to Gabriel again.
"What?" Sam said. He glanced at Gabriel, then back at Michael, confusion evident.
"Nothing," Gabriel said sharply."Lucifer's not an option, so Belial's going to be doing her best to put herself on Crowley's throne. I'm guessing Abbadon did the same."
"...Yeah." Dean was staring at both of them with a puzzled frown. "Abbadon did a lot of crap. If we've got to deal with that all over again-"
"Probably," Gabriel interrupted, sliding off the table. "I'm gonna go talk to Castiel, see if he's got any insights."
"Gabriel, wait-"
Castiel was still at Hogwarts, which was lucky.
Everyone in the room - which was more than Gabriel had counted on - looked up sharply when he entered and almost immediately relaxed.
"Oh, it's just you," Balthazar said.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Gabriel questioned.
"The castle is being checked for remaining Death Eaters," Castiel said. "Apparently caution is the better choice for now. Most students have been told to remain in their dormitories."
'Most' apparently included everyone but Hermione, who was sandwiched in between Muriel and Castiel on the sofa. The Gryffindor common room was deserted, but Gabriel could sense the students upstairs, almost all of them very much awake.
Well, it wasn't like they would be able to hear what was going on in the common room.
Gabriel took the only empty armchair and settled into it. "And?"
"Nothing so far," Muriel said. "Did Michael go after you?"
"I called them over." Gabriel's face twisted into a frown at the surprise evident from all four of them. "Shut up. There was a problem."
"What kind of problem is that big?" Baltahzar's eyebrows were still making a valiant effort to get as close to his hairline as possible.
"Depends what you think of a Knight of Hell."
Muriel actually choked on her cup of tea.
"You can't be serious." Castiel's eyes were wider than Gabriel had ever seen them. Except maybe for when Castiel had figured out who he was.
"I can, actually." Gabriel said it a little more irritably than was really necessary, but who gave a shit. "I don't joke about stuff like this."
"I thought they were all dead!" Muriel recovered, and managed to set her cup down without spilling any more. "How-"
"If I knew, I'd tell you."
Balthazar pressed the heels of his palms against his forehead like he was trying to ward off a headache. "Fuck. How many?"
"Just one."
"What's a Knight?" Hermione asked. She looked surprised, but more by the force of the reactions of the angels around her. "A demon? You didn't seem to have that much trouble with them before."
"It's not that easy," Gabriel said.
"Why not?"
"Knights are the demonic equivalent of archangels," Muriel said. "In terms of how much more powerful they are than the rest of Hell, at least. And they're much more dangerous than the average demon."
Even if he hadn't been looking, Gabriel probably would have been able to feel the weight of Hermione's gaze on him. "They're fucking powerful," he said. "Even I'd have to go all-out to be able to beat one."
"Is it just one?" Castiel pressed. "This can't be a coincidence, so soon after Abbadon."
"Well, I don't know. She wasn't exactly jumping to share the details of whatever mysterious resurrection went on." Gabriel gestured widely and vaguely, then let his hands drop over the sides of the chair. "Abbadon escaped dying in the first place with some weird time shit and managing to stay under the radar long enough to get out of Dodge, as far as I can tell. I thought Belial was dead and in the ground."
The name seemed to drop over the conversation like a chilly blanket. Balthazar and Muriel glanced at each other warily. Castiel looked pensive.
"Can you bring a demon back from the dead?" Hermione said, piercing through the effect and probably totally unaware of it. "I know Aziraphale said that some demons could bring back humans, but does that apply to them? Another demon bringing a Knight back?"
"Demons and angels can bring back humans because we can find the soul." Castiel's gravelly voice seemed suited to the serious conversation. "When a human dies, the soul remains, be it in Heaven or Hell. When a demon dies, there's nothing left of them." He glanced at Gabriel. "If you're sure this Knight was dead-"
"I'm not."
All three of them gave him startled looks.
Hermione just furrowed her brow. "What happened, then?"
Gabriel sighed. This was not how he'd pictured spending the night. "The only reason I thought Belial was dead was because no one so much as heard of her for over four centuries. Knights of Hell never stay out of the picture that long."
"I thought it was Heaven that killed them," Muriel said. "It seemed like the sort of thing Michael would want to take care of."
Gabriel shook his head. "Cain went on some kind of spree. Before that, most of them were still alive."
"Cain?" Hermione repeated. "As in, Cain and Abel?"
"The Knights went off the radar, and you assumed Cain had done them in?" Balthazar spoke partly over Hermione, gaining an offended look he didn't seem to notice.
"Whoa, whoa. You just said only an archangel could kill a Knight," Hermione said.
"Or another Knight," Castiel replied. "Which Cain was. It seems odd that you would just assume that they were dead," he continued, switching his attention back to Gabriel.
"What would you have done?" Gabriel retorted.
"Hold on for one second!" Hermione held up both of her hands like a stop sign. "I get that I'm the only human in the room right now and you've got all this history together, but could you please try to remember for one second that I have no context for what you're talking about right now?"
Gabriel scrunched himself further into the chair, letting his legs stretch out. "Cain was a Knight of Hell," he said. "One of the first. I don't know what the rest of them did, but he went on an anti-Knight killing spree a millenia or so ago. No one ever heard from any of the Knights except Abbadon and a few others after that, and even they went quiet after a few centuries. Most of Heaven figured he'd killed them all."
"What about Cain, then?" Hermione was leaning forward. "What happened to him?"
"He's still around. Somewhere."
"It's possible he could have been involved," Castiel murmured. He was staring into the fire contemplatively. "If we don't know for sure that he killed them..."
Balthazar scoffed. "What, you think Cain managed to capture this Knight and keep them from escaping? Why let them go now, then?"
"I don't know."
"Castiel has a point," Muriel said. "Cain's the only one who knows what really happened. Whether he captured or killed them, or what might have brought them back. I don't doubt that he's involved in this."
Gabriel shifted, trying to dislodge the phantom ache of a blade in his side. He hadn't seen Cain since their last [disastrous] meeting, but it was all too likely that the remaining Knight had played a part in this new mess.
"This is all just us guessing, though," Balthazar pointed out. "We've got no clue if Cain knows who killed her. If she ever died in the first place."
"Can think of someone else who could have?" Muriel challenged him. "Cain's our best guess."
"Where is he, then?" Hermione made it sound so simple.
"Probably not where he was last time I saw him," Gabriel said. "If he was involved, he's going to be hiding."
Castiel frowned. "When did you last see Cain?"
"August." Gabriel said simply, internally smirking at the bewilderment on Castiel's face.
"I'm not even going to ask," Balthazar said. "D'you think he could have been involved?"
"He tried to stab me, so I'm gonna go with yeah," Gabriel said sarcastically.
Hermione frowned, looking suddenly worried. "Stab you? Why?"
"I think you may have missed the bit where angels and demons don't like each other," Balthazar said before Gabriel could reply.
"I bet Michael wasn't happy," Muriel murmured. "Where are they, anyway?"
"Dunno." Gabriel shrugged as best he could while slumped in the unfairly comfortable armchair. "They were with the Winchesters when I left."
"Really?" Castiel couldn't hide his skepticism. "You...thought it was wise to leave them alone together?"
"I thought I'd come back here and see how things were going." Gabriel pushed himself to his feet smoothly, stretching his hands behind his back in a falsely relaxed gesture. "If we're done here..."
Gabriel's wings fanned out and he took off.
There was still heavy dark magic hanging around the Astronomy tower, so he ended up on top of Ravenclaw tower. It was a good vantage point, if not the most convenient one.
Why Belial?
Gabriel sagged against the tiles of the roof behind him, glad that it was such a sharp incline. Any other Knight, he could have dealt with. Easily. So of course it had to be one of Lucifer's lieutenants that showed up and not someone more like Abbadon - less powerful, more easily beaten.
Less...well.
Gabriel hadn't forgotten Belial's origins.
He slumped further down, ignoring the cold wetness of the roof. He hadn't forgotten what had happened last time they'd run into each other, either. What had taken place in the mess that was Sodom and Gomorrah - before they were destroyed - was seemingly seared into his memory, no matter how much he liked to pretend otherwise.
That was probably what Michael had been remembering. They hadn't been there for the fight itself - only a small part of the aftermath. Gabriel scowled at the memory [he was doing that a lot whenever Michael came into the equation]. Michael had been distant and coldly official, as per usual, even with Gabriel nearly bleeding out on the scorched earth.
Raphael, when Gabriel saw them later, had come the closest to cursing out Michael that Gabriel had ever seen them. It had been reassuring, then, to have at least one sibling who acted like they actually cared about Gabriel. Even if the caring did come in a sort of aggressively worried fashion.
He'd take that over the Raphael who liked following in Michael's footsteps anytime, though.
Gabriel groaned, pressing his palms against his face. Fuck. He was sitting up here sulking and being nostalgic and stupid. It was one Knight. Even on his own [as if Michael wouldn't insist on helping] he had more than just a decent chance at winning. The first time had been a fluke.
He could do this.
Gabriel had retreated inside to the Ravenclaw common room - not the dorms, then he'd have to talk to people, and word had no doubt gotten out about the crazy things he'd been seen doing during the attack - when Muriel joined him.
"Um," was the first thing she said, catching sight of the statue of Rowena. Gabriel grinned, glancing over at it as well.
"Accurate or not?"
"Somewhat," said Muriel, still looking bewildered. "I - er, Michael's returned."
Gabriel's mood dropped. "And?" He asked after a moment had passed and Muriel didn't continue.
"They asked if I would go see if you'd come," Muriel said. "They brought Aziraphale and another angel named Verchiel. I think it's rather important."
"Verchiel?" Gabriel remembered her - she'd been one of the angels he had run into while fixing what Metatron had done to the gates. "Why her?"
Muriel just shrugged. "I assumed it was because Michael thought she would be able to help."
"And Aziraphale?" Gabriel had been distracted by the mention of Verchiel, but Michael bringing Azirphale on this was just plain odd.
Muriel shrugged again. "He seemed rather uncomfortable around Michael. I understand why, though. Are you-"
"Yes, I'm coming." Gabriel stood up. "I can hardly say no, if it's about Belial."
"It most likely is," Muriel agreed. She seemed distracted, and kept glancing down at the floor or at the statue - Gabriel could tell something was occupying her thoughts.
"Alright," he said. "Spill. What's on your mind?"
Muriel started almost guiltily. "I...noticed you didn't seem to get along that well with Michael." She said eventually.
"What about it?" Gabriel asked flatly.
"Is it going to be a problem?" Muriel questioned. "Both of you together is the surest way to defeat Belial, but if you can't work-"
"It'll be fine." Gabriel cut her off. "Where am I supposed to be going?" Michael wasn't inside Hogwarts, or he would have known.
"Grimmauld Place." Muriel looked frustrated. "Are you sure-"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"I'm only pointing it out because I haven't seen you so much as speak to each other once except when you were forced to," Muriel retorted.
"I think we're capable of talking to each other long enough to kill one Knight," Gabriel snapped back. "Neither of us are idiots."
"No, you're two archangels with a grudge." Muriel's reply was whip-fast. "Any of us knows how dangerous that can be. I won't ask forgiveness for being worried about how well this is going to go."
"Look-" Gabriel turned sharply to face her. "I know what's going on. I'm kind of in the middle of it. But I can put it aside for a few fucking days if killing this Knight means I have to work with Michael. I'm mature like that." When in doubt, be sarcastic.
Muriel's lips were pursed in a way surprisingly reminiscent of McGonagall. "Let's just go," she said. "I'm sure Michael's wondering what's taking me so long."
"Fine by me."
Yeah...Gabriel's not in the greatest mood for most of this chapter.
Read and review, please!