Thank you so much Jenjoremy for being the best beta and Gredelina1 for being the best partner in crime

Chapter Twenty-Two

Throughout the drive back to the bunker, Dean and Sam searched the skies for some sign of the impending doom that had brought the machinery to life in the bunker. There was nothing though. It seemed like a perfectly normal Thursday afternoon. That didn't stop either of them worrying though. They both knew the worst things could happen and the majority of the world could remain unaware.

A few people leaned on their horns as Dean weaved the Impala through the traffic, but Dean paid them no attention. His issues were bigger than someone cutting him off on the highway. Sam didn't lecture either, which confirmed to Dean that he was just as worried about Charlie and Kevin.

When they reached the outskirts of Lebanon, Sam leaned forward in his seat as if it could get him home faster, and when Dean slammed the car to a halt outside the bunker, he threw himself out and ran at the door, not seeming to see the sigils scrawled over the steel door.

"Sam, wait!" Dean shouted.

Sam turned back to him, confusion on his face, and Dean hurried to catch up with him. "Look," he said, tapping the closest sigil.

Sam followed his gaze and the little color he'd had drained from his face. "What the hell is that?" he asked.

"Looks Enochian, which means angels."

Dean hurried to the trunk and unlocked it. He grabbed two angel blades stowed there and slapped one into Sam's hand. Sam's fingers curled around the hilt and he looked impatiently at Dean who nodded and took the bunker key out of his pocket. Sam reached for it, but Dean pulled it back and walked to the door. There was no knowing what was happening on the other side of that door. He was going to find out first.

He unlocked the door and rushed in, blade held out in front of him, and then stopped dead. There was a new devil's trap painted on the floor just inside the door, and when he peered over the balustrade, he saw there were more on the floor below. There were also banishing sigils painted on the walls.

Sam pushed past him and rushed down the stairs shouting for Charlie and Kevin. Dean unfroze and hurried after him, adding his own voice to Sam's. "Charlie! Kevin!"

Dean's heart raced in his chest as he waited for a response that didn't come.

"Look!" Sam said, pointing at one of the sigils on the wall. "It's been used!" There was a bloody handprint in the middle.

Dean cursed loudly as he stared at the handprint. Whose had it been—Charlie's or Kevin's—and where were they now? Surely if one of them had used the sigil, it meant one or both of them were safe. But where were they now?

"Gadreel!" Sam spat. "Had to be. Who else knows about this place?"

"Why would he come here though?" Dean asked. "It makes no sense."

"Does it matter?" Sam snapped. "We have to find them!" He set off running through the halls, shouting for Charlie and Kevin.

Dean took a deep breath and tried to calm his thoughts so he could do what needed to be done—what needed to be done? His pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Charlie's number. A recorded message told him the phone number was unavailable. Cursing, he dialed Kevin's. It rang at once, both on the phone and in the next room. He raced into the library, scared of what he would find, and saw Kevin's phone on the table beside Kevin's notepad and an empty coffee mug.

He hung up and pressed his fingers to his temples hard, trying to make sense of his thoughts.

"Dean!" Sam shouted back along the hall to him. "Look at this!"

Dean ran to the source of the shout and found Sam standing outside the dungeon door.

"Are they in there?" he asked hopefully, and then he saw the key poking out of the lock. "But that's…"

"Oz," Sam said.

"Did someone go there or come here?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Sam said, "but I know which I'm hoping for."

"What do we do though?" Dean asked. "If they're hiding in there, they're probably better off than here, but how do we find out if they really are? We can't leave them."

Sam closed his eyes for a moment, his brow furrowing with concentration. "One of us has to go in," he said slowly. "I'll go."

"There's a war raging there, Sammy," Dean said.

"There's a war here, too," Sam replied.

Dean raked a hand over his face. They couldn't both go in case Charlie and Kevin weren't there as they would be abandoning their friends. But if they were there, they needed to be found and brought back, and Sam and Dean needed to know what had happened while they were gone. It was choice between which was the greater danger to which he would let Sam face. He didn't know which it was though.

Sam held a bunched fist in front of him. "Let's do this."

"Sammy, we're not playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes to Oz," Dean said, marveling at the strangeness of the statement.

"We've got to do something," Sam said tersely. "They need us."

"Fine," Dean said. "I'll go through." He figured the danger was about equal either way and at least staying in this world was familiar. Sam would know how to handle himself, and he could call on Castiel for help. Dean would have the angel blade and he was pretty sure that'd kill flying monkeys as well as anything else.

"Ready?" Sam asked, reaching for the key.

"Call Cas," Dean ordered. "Get him and as many angels as he can get here, too. Find out what those sigils outside are for."

"I will," Sam promised. "And you be careful. Find them if they're there, and get back as soon as you can."

"You know it," Dean said, reaching for the key. It turned stiffly in the lock and the door clicked open.

When Dorothy had gone back to Oz, the light he'd seen spilling through the door was bright and yellow. It was obviously night there now, and Dean could make out little more than a dozen feet of paved road and hills on either side. He was about to step in when he heard someone shouting, "Dean! Sam!"

Dean and Sam lurched away from the door automatically and stared, stunned as Charlie burst through the opening. As soon as she was through, the door slammed closed behind her.

"Charlie, what happened?" Sam asked at once. "What were you doing in Oz?"

"Hiding the tablets," she replied in a weak voice.

"Where's Kevin?" Dean asked.

Charlie pushed her hair back from her face and Dean saw her red-rimmed eyes and the silver streaks on her cheeks. "They took him," she moaned.

Dean sucked in a shaky breath. "Angels?" he asked.

"Gadreel," she said, and Sam cursed. "And Metatron."

Sam's eyes widened. "Metatron!"

Charlie nodded, a fresh tear slipping down her cheek.

Dean wrapped an arm around Charlie's shoulders and walked with her back to the library. He pulled out a seat for her and she sat down. Sam brought a glass with a generous measure of whiskey to her and she took a sip and grimaced. "Disgusting," she said and then took another sip.

Dean pulled a seat around to sit opposite her and leaned forward. "What happened, Charlie?"

Charlie breathed in shakily and said, "We were just talking. Kev was working on the angel tablet and I was going to get snacks when the machines started up. We laid traps and I set up the sigils, and…" She grimaced. "They used your voice, Sam."

"They did what?"

"One of them, Metatron or Gadreel, used your voice when they knocked at the door—just like the voicemail."

Dean and Sam exchanged a glance and they both shrugged. Dean guessed Sam had no more idea what she was talking about than he did.

"We were scared," she said. "And we didn't know. Kevin opened the door and Metatron grabbed him at once, then he ordered Gadreel to get the tablets. I tried to stop him. I used the sigil, but Metatron and Kevin disappeared just before I touched it. They're gone. Gadreel got blasted away, but I don't know where Metatron took Kevin." She took another sip of whiskey, grimaced, and said, "We have to find him."

"I know," Dean said. "We will. He'll be fine." He looked up at Sam and unspoken communication passed between them—how were they supposed to find Metatron when an entire army of angels had failed?

"I'll call Cas," Sam said. He took his phone from his pocket and dialed, walking away from them and saying, "Cas, it's me. We've got a problem…"

Charlie fixed her eyes on Dean and said, "How are we going to find him, Dean?"

"Same way we do anything, by fighting hard," Dean said. "We'll get him back, Charlie; he's family."

"But the angels have been looking…" she started.

"They're just not as good as us," Dean said.

She smiled sadly at his attempt at reassurance.

Sam came back to them after a moment, tucking his phone back in his pocket. "Cas is on his way," he said. "He'll be here as soon as he can."

"Good," Dean said. They needed all the help they could get. He didn't even much care if Bartholomew came along for the ride. The more people they had looking for Kevin the better.

Charlie was wiping at her wet face. Sam looked sympathetically at her and said, "It's going to be okay, Charlie," he said. "We'll find him. It's not the same as before. The angels couldn't find him before because he had the full access to Heaven that none of them did. If he's keeping Kevin with him, he'll have to stay on Earth."

"Anything could be happening to him," Charlie moaned.

"Kevin's tough," Sam said firmly. "He's going to get through this; we know he's been through worse."

"He has," Charlie agreed, seeming to take heart. "He's been the King of Hell's prisoner before, and he made it out."

"Crowley!" Sam gasped. "He saw Metatron that time. Maybe he's seen him again."

"Yeah," Dean said, his eyes widening. "Damn." He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed. After a moment Crowley's sarcastic voice answered, "Squirrel, what can I do for you this time?"

"Kevin's been taken." Dean said.

"You really need to learn to take better care of your things," Crowley said. "What exactly do you want me to do about it?"

"He's been taken by Metatron," Dean said. "Have you seen him?"

"Nope," Crowley said cheerfully. "Am I right in assuming you want my help?"

"Yes," Dean sighed.

"You know what this means, right?" Crowley asked gleefully.

It was going to take some kind of deal. He looked at Charlie's tearstained face and Sam's tight expression and he knew there was really no choice. They had to save Kevin. "Yes," Dean said. "We know."

"Good," Crowley said savagely. "I'll be right there."

Though the bunker was vast and the war room large, it felt like the walls were closing in around Dean. Crowley was leaning against the control panel, a glass of whiskey in his hand, poured from his own hipflask. Castiel stood at the head of the table, and Charlie sat leaning against Sam with his arm around her shoulders. Dean was pacing back and forth in front of them.

"You're going to wear a hole in that nice floor," Crowley said snidely.

Dean stopped and glared at him. Crowley smiled back at him, obviously enjoying the tension of the room.

"I'm serious," he said. "Place like this needs caring for. Appreciate what you got, Squirrel."

"Shut up, Crowley," Sam growled.

"See, it's stuff like this that makes it hard for me to want to help you," Crowley said. "You talk to me like I'm some kind of disobedient pet. I'll remind you that I am no longer your prisoner, thank you very much."

"Help us?" Dean said, ignoring the rest of his statement. "You haven't done a thing to help us yet!"

"That's because you haven't sweetened the pot."

"Because you haven't told us what you want!" Dean snapped.

Crowley sighed. "That's the thing, see. I don't know what I want. Apart from freedom to do whatever I want without Winchester interference, and I know you won't make that deal, I'm all out of wants."

"Then why are you here?" Castiel asked bitterly.

Crowley grinned down at him. "Because you people are hilarious when you're suffering. It's like my own little telenovela. I could watch you forever."

"Sure, that's it," Sam said. "It's nothing to do with the fact you actually have nothing to offer us. You can't find Metatron any more than we can unless he walks right past you on the street. You might be King now, but when it comes to this, you're just as lost as the rest of us."

Crowley raised an eyebrow. "Is that right, Winchester? I'll have you know that I—" He cut off abruptly as the phone on the table began to ring.

"That's Kevin's," Sam said. "Who's calling him? Everyone he knows is here."

Dean snatched it up and answered, "Hello?"

"Dean Winchester," a familiar and detested voice said. "Good to talk to you again."

"Metatron!" Dean spat and the attention of the room focused on him as he put the call on speaker and set the phone down on the table again. "Where is Kevin?"

"Safe, for now," Metatron said. "But not forever unless you give me what I want."

"Don't do it, Dean!" Kevin shouted in the background. "Don't give him anything." There was a meaty thud and a groan of pain.

"You bastard," Dean growled. "I swear if you hurt him…"

"You'll what?" Metatron asked. "Stamp your feet and threaten harm we both know you can't deliver? No, Dean, you're powerless in this situation. The best you can hope for is that I deliver on this deal like a gentleman."

"What's the deal?" Sam asked.

"Sam!" Metatron said cheerfully. "You're there, too. How are you doing after your sojourn with Gadreel? I hear he put you through the wringer."

"What's the deal?" Dean asked as Sam's color rose.

"Simple exchange," Metatron said. "I will give you Kevin back and you will give me the tablets."

"Why do you want them?" Sam asked.

"I want to have them bronzed for posterity," Metatron said sarcastically. "They're some of my best work." He laughed. "What does it matter? They're useless to you without the prophet to read them. It's a good deal. You get your friend back, and I get my tablets."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look of indecision.

"A straight swap?" Sam asked. "Kevin for the tablets. You won't try to trick us?"

"I will not," Metatron said. "I am an angel of my word; as long as you don't try to trick me, of course. It will need to be a straight swap. One Winchester must come with the tablets and I will send one angel with Kevin."

"Gadreel?" Sam mouthed at Dean who nodded. It had to be.

"Where do you want to meet?" Dean asked.

"Hmm, let's go back to one of your glory moments," Metatron said. "Stull cemetery."

Sam sucked in a sharp breath. Dean glanced at him and saw his horror quickly replaced by a mask of calm.

"I'll be there," Dean said, ignoring Castiel's sharp look.

"Good," Metatron said. "I knew you'd see the sense of the situation. Besides, it's not like you really have a choice, is it?"

There was a rustle on the line and then the call went dead.

Dean tucked Kevin's phone in his pocket beside his own and sighed heavily. There was no choice, but it made him sick that they were making another deal with another enemy.

"Dean, you cannot do this!" Castiel said.

Dean turned to look at him. "We have no choice. It's the only way we're getting Kev back."

"You have no idea what use he will put those tablets to. Think, Dean," he said passionately. "Metatron wrote the tablets. He knows what's on them, so he has no use of them to read. He wants them for another reason."

Dean thought he was probably right, but that didn't mean they could refuse. It was Kevin's freedom that hung on the decision. Possibly his life. How could they ignore a chance to get him back?

"What choice do we have?" Sam asked. "It's Kevin."

"The other angels and I have dedicated ourselves to finding that creature," Castiel said. "We cannot allow him any leeway for gaining strength."

"I know you have, Cas," Sam said. "And I know why, but we can't leave Kevin with him."

"There is another way. There has to be," Castiel said.

Crowley cleared his throat then. "I hate to interrupt, as I really was enjoying the angst, but I'm off. Doesn't seem like you need any help from me now anyway. I've got things to do and demons to deal with. I'll see you around." He set down his glass and walked to the door.

"You're leaving?" Dean asked.

"Yep, you don't need my help, even if that was possible, right, Sam" He climbed the stairs and paused by the front door. "I'll be seeing you." He pulled open the door and disappeared through it, letting it clang closed behind him.

Dean checked his watch pointedly and said, "Okay, Charlie, where exactly are the tablets stowed?"

"Dorothy's got them," Charlie said, getting to her shaky feet. "I'll get them back."

"You cannot do this!" Castiel said angrily.

"I'm sorry," Dean said. "I really am. I know how much you've put into finding Metatron, but we have to do this. There really isn't any other choice."

Castiel looked furious and hurt. Dean tried to decipher the second emotion; surely Castiel didn't care more about finding Metatron than saving Kevin. At that moment there was a hammering on the door, and Castiel stiffened.

"Cas?" Dean said. "What's—" Castiel was already in motion. He was rushing up the stairs to the door and reaching for the lock.

"Cas, wait!" Sam shouted. "We don't know who it is!"

Castiel ignored him. He turned the lock and quickly pulled the door open. Dean's heart lurched as he saw who was on the threshold. Crowley stood with a beaten and bloodied angel hanging off of him with an arm draped around his shoulders.

"No so useless after all, am I?" Crowley sneered.

Sam lurched forward, the angel's name ripping from him in a roar of rage. "Gadreel!"

So… That's one seriously screwed angel, am I right? I don't even feel a little bad about it because what he had coming is much deserved, and what's coming is all kinds of fun.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx