Chapter 12 – Together Again
"You called for me, sire?" Raphael asked as he entered the prince's office and made his way over to the desk.
"Ah, Raphael. Good." As the large man stood next to him, Michael gave a quick look around before leaning forward. "As the head guard of Heaven, I trust you with this secret." He whispered. "Killers from Hell have infiltrated the Thieves' Forest and plan to murder my future brother-in-law on his wedding night."
Raphael's brow furrowed at the words. "My spy network has heard no such news."
"Any news yet?" Dean said from the doorway.
The two jumped and quickly stood. Michael hoped that he had not been overheard. "It's too soon." He replied with a stiff smile.
The hunter narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but continued on his way.
The prince and guard returned to their seats, leaning into each other's space for the sake of secrecy.
"He can't be murdered. Anna would be devastated." Michael said with great urgency. "On the day of the wedding, I want the Thieves' Forest empty, and every inhabitant arrested."
"They won't like that." Raphael pointed out. "They'll resist and my regular force won't be enough."
"Then, hire a brute squad!" Michael ordered. "I want that forest empty!"
"It won't be easy." Raphael admitted.
"Try ruling the world sometime." Michael said, and though he wasn't sure, Raphael almost thought that he wasn't joking.
Back in his chamber, Dean paced around.
"Something wrong, Dean?" Charlie, the maid who had been assigned to him, asked as she finished making the bed.
"Yeah, something's rotten in the state of Heaven." He groused. Though it had been weird at first, the hunter had grown to like the quirky girl. She was like the sister he had never had. "But I've got no clue what it could be."
"Hmm." Charlie brushed a lock of red hair back into her cap. "Want me to poke around a bit? After all, if you do it, you could get kidnapped again." She teased.
"Could you please?" He asked.
She saluted. "Roger!"
And yet, despite her and Dean's efforts, which involved a lot of sneaking around and spying on Charlie's part and constant escape attempts on Dean's part, the wedding came all too soon.
The day of the wedding had arrived. The brute squad had its hands full carrying out Michael's orders as the residents of the Thieves' Forest fled and fought back. One fought even more than the others.
"Ha!" Gabriel spun around and took out another adversary. His sword glinted in the sunlight as it zinged back and forth, cutting his opponents. His eyes were alight with the shine that only comes from a sugar high.
"This guy is crazy!" One of them ran away without even trying to fight him.
"I'm waiting for you, Crowley!" Gabriel called out as he took out another guy. "You told us to go back to the beginning, so here I am!" He laughed as he sliced and diced. "Just try to move me!" He challenged them.
"Surrender!" One of the men trembled a bit as he gave the order. "The prince gave his orders."
Gabriel stopped for a moment. "I'm under orders, too." His voice wasn't jubilant any more. "When the job goes wrong, you go back to the beginning. This is where we got the job, making it the beginning. I'm staying here." He blinked a bit as he began to feel tired all of a sudden.
The only soldier that hadn't gotten away grit his teeth and looked around. He seemed to find what he was looking for as he called, "Hey, brute, come here!"
"I'm waiting for Crowley." He mumbled, his energy fading away.
The swordsman heard a familiar chuckle. "You just get in trouble wherever you go, don't you?" Strong arms wrapped around him, and Gabriel let himself lean against them. He brought up a hand to touch the chest that was holding him up. "Hey, what are you touching?" The voice was a mix of indignant and embarrassed.
Gabriel looked up and grinned as the pieces fully fell in place. "It's you."
"Yep!" Sam grinned back. Without looking up, he punched out the brute that tried to interrupt their reunion. "You don't look so good." He noted, taking in the swordsman's punch drunk features.
"Pfft!" Gabriel waved a lazy hand. "I feel fine."
"Uh-huh." Sam's tone conveyed his disbelief as surely as his bitch face did. He pulled his arms away and Gabriel took a few staggering steps and then collapsed face first. The giant sighed.
This hadn't been how he had imagined meeting Gabriel again.
Sam took care of Gabriel as he recovered from his crash after eating too much sugar. As he did, he told Gabriel of Crowley's disappearance, the discovery of the six-fingered man, Gadreel, and more importantly, his boss, Count Metatron. Considering Gabriel's lifelong search, Sam thought he handled the news surprisingly well.
Gabriel promptly fainted. Though that could have been more from the health food the giant was trying to shovel into his mouth. Just looking at it caused shudders of disgust in the swordsman's candy-coated soul.
Sam took great care in reviving Gabriel. And when he said great care, he meant he dunked Gabriel's head in a bucket of water. Several times.
"Okay, that's enough!" Gabriel spluttered. The giant released him and the swordsman walked a few steps away, slicking his hair back. "Okay, so where's Metadouche now, so I can kill him?" He asked.
"He's in the castle with the prince. But the castle gate is protected by thirty men." Sam pointed out since he could see the vengeful gleam in the other's eyes.
Gabriel kicked the tub that was in the corner of the cabin. He couldn't help but feel frustrated by this latest hurdle. He was closer than he ever had been before. He turned to Sam. "How many can you handle?"
The giant thought it over for a moment. "Probably not more than ten."
"That'd leave twenty for me. Even at my best, I can't take that many." Gabriel ran his fingers through his hair. "Ugh, we need Crowley. I'm not that great at strategy."
"You plan stuff all the time." Sam countered. He hated seeing his friend so down.
"Yeah, pranks and tricks. This is a whole different ball game." Gabriel sat down and rubbed his forehead. He just needed to think this through.
"Crowley's gone though. He probably retreated to one of his hidey holes to wait for this to blow over." Sam complained, a bit miffed at how their former boss had left them in the lurch.
However, a brand new idea was sparking in the swordsman's brain. "No, not Crowley." He said in realization. "I need the man in the trench coat."
Sam glanced over at him. "What?"
"Look," Gabriel leapt up in excitement. "He bested you in strength. He bested me in steel. And if Crowley's in hiding, it's because that man out-thought him." He grabbed Sam's arm and bounced a bit. "And a guy who can do that can plan my castle onslaught any day." He grabbed his sword. "Let's go!"
"Where?" The giant looked at his friend, confused.
"To find the man in the trench coat!"
"But we don't know where he is!" Sam pointed out.
"Who cares?" Gabriel hovered in the doorway. "At long last, my father's soul will rest easy. Let's go kill!" He bounded out the door.
Sam gave an exasperated sigh. "Why do I always end up following that idiot?" He asked himself, but he still followed him out.
Over at the castle, Raphael presented himself to the prince.
"The Thieves' Forest has been cleared, and thirty men guard the castle gates." The head guard reported.
Michael looked up from sharpening his dagger. "Double it." He ordered. "Or else you will be explaining to Anna how her husband died."
Raphael audibly gulped, but remained stoic. "The gate only has one key," he held up the key on a chain around his neck, "and I carry it."
Michael smirked.
Everything was going according to plan.
AN: So not much really going on in this chapter besides Gabriel and Sam's reunion. As you probably noticed, I also added Charlie in because 1. I love her character and 2. Dean deserves an ally in the castle. I didn't want him to wait around to hear for news because that's not really his personality. Dean's a doer and despite what's been going on, he is no damsel. He would be trying to figure something out though Michael would put a lot of guards on him to prevent his escape. He'd at least try though.