Title: Armageddon

Rating: T

Warnings: Major spoilers for "Utopia", "The Sound of Drums" and "Last of the Time Lords"; violence; mild language; allusions to rape (but I promise nothing explicit or graphic)

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! And to the new followers – it seems I get two or three new followers every chapter. Hope you guys are enjoying the story! And seriously, I am so sorry for the chapters starting to come later again. I'm really trying, but between classes and real life I've just been swamped. I hate it and I want to write more, faster, but it's not happening right now. Sorry!

But anyway, hope you enjoy and please, please review!

Armageddon:

Part III: The Year of Hell

Chapter Thirty

Gabriel stood outside of the small Oklahoma church and listened to the commotion inside. He should probably intervene immediately. It would be a good idea to get them back on their feet as quickly as possible, but they weren't all there and they were angry and in mourning. Instead, he glanced toward the sky and thought sadly of Heaven.

There were bitter memories attached to his home, but there were good ones too. He thought about how things had been before the Fall, about Michael and Lucifer and Raphael and his Father and how much he wanted that all back, no matter how impossible that was. But he'd moved on from that a very long time ago.

If he was going to give things on Earth a few days, then he might as well try and figure out what was going on Upstairs.

It took him some concentrating. He'd shut off the communications between himself and Heaven when he ran away – no sense getting his frequencies jammed with updates about his family ripping itself apart – and hadn't used it sense. He was taking a risk; if he wasn't careful another angel might pick up his message and then he'd be discovered.

To anyone human – at least the humans unable to discern Enochian – the conversation would've sounded like an unbearably high pitched ringing, but Castiel understood. Seconds later the angel was standing before him, eyes narrowed and unblinking.

"We are not supposed to leave Heaven," Castiel said. His voice was rough. Gabriel frowned.

"You've done it before," he said, "We need to talk. If we want to help these people get their planet back, we've got to start with the Toclafane. I can help, but I can't take them all out. Are there –"

Castiel cut him off, frowning, "My orders are to observe the Winchesters," he said, "We're not to interfere with this." He paused and his lips twitched slightly into a frown, "I'm harboring a fugitive just by hiding your existence, Gabriel."

Gabriel frowned, "Yeah, that's the point," he said, tilting his head. Castiel's vessel stood a good several inches taller than him, but Gabriel was far, far more powerful. He crossed his arms and narrowed his golden eyes.

"You didn't seem to have much problem disobeying orders when you zapped into my safe house in Chicago. You asked for my help. I'm here offering it and you're threatening me?"

An odd look passed over Castiel's face. His eyes softened and he cocked his head to the side, "I…" he hesitated, "I have orders to follow. It is not my place to decide what actions Heaven will take."

"Fair enough," Gabriel said. "What about what actions you take?" he asked. "I might not have known you very well, Castiel, but you were always kind of a black sheep. Sort of like me. So are you going to go sit on your perch in Heaven and watch or are you going to help the people our Father charged us to protect?"

Brows furrowing, Castiel shook his head. Gabriel almost smiled at the perplexed expression. He'd seen it so many times before.

"We are supposed to help humans," Castiel said uncertainly, "but… why would Michael order us to stand down if we're supposed to be helping."

"Because Michael's an idiotic douche," Gabriel said flatly. "He's not half as competent as he thinks he is."

Castiel's eyes widened at his words.

"Surely God is overseeing Michael's command?" Castiel said, "Michael would not act without His orders."

Gabriel frowned. He started to tell Castiel about how God had abandoned them all a very long time ago, but thought better of it. If he was going to have to work the other angel back into going against his orders it was a bad idea to drop a bomb that big.

"Not the point," he repeated, "Castiel, think about it. People are suffering. Being tortured and dying and do you really think that's what God wants here? Do you think it's the right thing to stand by and do absolutely nothing?"

Castiel's eyes narrowed to slits and he took a very long time answering. Gabriel knew he had him then. Eventually, Castiel looked up and nodded, "You're right. We cannot watch the Earth be torn to pieces. What do I need to do to help?"

~/.\~

"No, I know," Lisbon said roughly as she balled up the last blanket and glared at the messy job she'd done. "He's mourning. I get it, Grace, but we're in the middle of a war. We cannot afford to pander to his needs. We've all lost someone."

Grace sighed, grabbing the blanket and folding it neatly.

"His brother though," she said, "We've got to give him some time to deal with it."

"Yeah, except he's not," Lisbon said, "He's snapping at us and acting like some angsty teenager while the world around us is in flames. He isn't even acknowledging his brother is dead! I mean, look, he hasn't even tried to bury him!"

She spun around and jabbed a finger at Sam's body.

Grace eyed the corpse and cringed, "When he gets back we'll bury Sam," she said. "He's just trying to deal with it by not dealing with it."

She turned away from the body, visibly shuddering. She'd seen plenty of dead bodies, but she hadn't ever had to spend such a long time in one's company before. Especially not someone she'd known. It was making her skin crawl.

"Which is stupid. I hate to say it, but we're got more important things going on than Dean's pain right now."

Grace nodded, biting her lip. She understood what Dean was feeling. She wanted to grab him and shake him and tell him that he wasn't helping anyone by avoiding it all, but she understood it.

Behind her, Grace heard leaves crackling and then a heavy, sharp inhale. She looked up, glancing toward the direction Dean had disappeared to.

"Sounds like he's back," she said, glancing toward Lisbon. Lisbon had already set her face into a hard expression that left little room for doubt. She wasn't going to let Dean get his way this time.

The breathing sped up and then there was a pained groan, but it was not coming from the direction Grace had assumed. Eyes narrowed, she turned and then let out a scream.

"Oh my God!"

She stumbled back and Lisbon followed her gaze, her face going white as she stared at the area where Dean had left Sam's body the night before.

Except that Sam's body wasn't lying prone and stiff in the dirt. It was sitting halfway up and grimacing as Sam twisted. His back popped loudly and he grunted again. Grace and Lisbon went for their guns out of habit, not entirely sure what was going on.

After a moment, Sam opened his eyes. He took another hard breath and looked around, blinking. He spotted Lisbon and Grace and stared at them for a very long thirty seconds.

"What… Where are we?"

Lisbon swallowed heavily and approached with half-steps, her grip tightening around her gun.

Sam held his hands up plaintively, "Um… what's with the guns?"

Licking her lips, Lisbon lifted the gun a little higher. "How are you alive?"

Sam blinked and glanced down at himself, "A- alive?" He frowned, eyes searching.

"Do you… remember anything?"

Gingerly, Sam leaned back against the tree behind him and lowered his hands. "I remember getting to the landing bay. I remember everyone running to the escape ships and the Toclafane…" he stopped, his eyes going wide. "One fired on me and then there was this fire searing through me and then nothing."

He dropped his eyes to the ground and his hands started shaking. "Did – did it stun me or something?"

His voice cracked. He'd seen the Toclafane merely shoot to stun a couple of times. But he looked back up at Grace and Lisbon and Grace shook her head sadly.

"You died," she whispered, "I mean, we were sure of it. I don't know if this is normal with all the supernatural stuff, but –"

"Definitely not normal," Sam shook his head. From what Lisbon and Grace could tell he was internalizing the shock well, considering he'd been dead a minute before. He lifted his hands to his face, flexing his fingers and looking half-ill.

Before anyone could say anything, Dean came barreling into the clearly, his eyes wild and searching. He spotted Sam and his eyes lit up, smiling so wide he nearly split his face. He rushed over to his brother and yanked him to his feet, clutching him in a spine-cracking hug.

"Sammy! You're alive. You're okay. I thought I'd lost you…"

Sam choked and winced, pain jolting through him. His whole body ached. Dean pulled back, holding him by the shoulders and grinning at him like he'd just received the best gift ever.

Lisbon cleared her throat from behind, "Not to rain on your parade or anything, but why aren't you freaked out that he's alive?"

Dean froze and dropped his hands, his smile falling. He rubbed a hand along the back of his neck and Sam stared at him. No one knew Dean Winchester better than Sam. His blank expression of shock turned into one of anger.

"You made a deal, didn't you?" he demanded.

Dean didn't respond, just stared at the ground.

"Dean! How could you do that!?"

Dean's head jerked up, "How could I? Sam you were dead! I couldn't just… I could let you go."

Sam's jaw twitched, "How long did you get?"

Dean shifted again and looked away, "Six months,"

"Six months! Dean! How could you make a deal like that!"

"It's my job to protect you!"

"It's not your job to sell your soul for me! Damn it, Dean, what's wrong with you? Do you think I want you to go to Hell? For ME?"

Dean scoffed, "You think I care if I go to Hell or not?" he snapped, "I'm supposed to be dead anyway. I wasn't going to sit there and watch you die, Sam."

"What's dead should stay dead!" Sam said, voice rising, "Remember saying that? Remember all that shit you said about letting go and moving on? Remember how pissed and screwed up you were after Dad did this to you?! How selfish are you, Dean?"

"Selfish!?"

"Selfish!" Sam repeated, "You told me I was stupid for risking my life because you'd be the one to bury me, but now, what? I'm supposed to be the one to bury you?"

Dean didn't say anything to that.

"You're selfish, Dean," Sam said, "Selfish and stupid."

Dean met his eyes and glared at him, "Maybe. But I don't care because you're alive and everything's the way it should be."

"Except you're going to Hell! In six months! What kind of crap deal is that, Dean?"

Dean pressed his lips together, "The best deal I could figure on getting from Crowley."

Sam blinked, spluttering, "Crowley!"

"Um," Grace cleared her throat, glancing over at Lisbon. They were listening to the conversation with wide eyes. "I'm not really sure what just happened, but I think maybe we should start moving."

"Yeah," Dean jerked his gaze away from Sam and turned to face the women, "I've held us up long enough."

His voice was gruff, but he didn't look like he was on the verge of a breakdown. He looked almost relaxed, except for the hard, angry set of his jaw. Sam's fist clenched and he shook his head.

"We're not dropping the subject, Dean," he said, "I can't believe you did this!"

Lisbon sighed. First Dean was too in denial for them to get anything done and now Sam was too pissed off to focus.

"Argue while we walk," she said, "We've already lost enough time." Her eyes went back to Dean, "Besides, I think you might owe us some sort of explanation, Dean."

Dean's eyes flickered and his shoulders slumped. He nodded, "Fine. Let's get moving."

~/.\~

Spencer wasn't sure he should've decided to watch the broadcast. He felt like a selfish coward for wanting to leave the room with Luke when Sarah Jane had turned on the television. Sarah Jane didn't want Luke to see the Master's broadcasts.

Of course, Spencer had never precisely seen them himself. He'd always been right there when they happened. This was different and somehow worse. He saw Rossi and his stomach lurched. The older man was pale and in pain and Jenny Sheppard wasn't doing much better.

Francine had wanted Tish to leave with Luke, but Tish insisted on staying.

"I've been where they are, Mum," she'd said, her voice quivering. "I – I can't just leave and pretend it's not happening to someone else."

Tish was shaking and looked like she might just vomit, and she clutched her mother's hand like her life depended on it, but she didn't look away from the screen.

"We can't help them, can we?" she asked, her voice quiet.

Sarah Jane looked away from the screen and shook her head, "We can't risk a head-on assault of the Valiant. Even if we managed to get someone off the ship, we'd still lose more lives."

Her eyes were sad, "Hopefully," she glanced at Spencer, "your friends realize that now. We've got to work together to help the Doctor stop this."

Spencer nodded, but his eyes never left the broadcast. Rossi looked so different than the Rossi he knew. Younger and older at the same time. Definitely more beaten down than he'd ever seen him and still somehow the same stubborn agent he remembered. It felt like it had been years since he'd seen his team. His gut twisted at the thought.

"You said you'd done video conferences," he said, finally turning to Sarah Jane.

She nodded, "I wanted to talk to you about that. I think it'd be a good idea, once things calm down a bit, to try another one. Even if this disaster has proven little else, your presence here might help your friends understand some things better."

He smiled a bit, "That's what I was thinking…" He trailed off and glanced over at the Joneses.

"Have you heard from Martha?"

"Not since I sent her the message that you were all safe. She's been moving through Australia. I'm sure she'll be in touch as soon as she gets to a safe connection."

"How long does she usually go without contacting you?" Francine asked, trying to hide the desperation in her voice.

"No more than a week or two at the most," Sarah Jane assured her. "We'll hear from her. She'll be thrilled to speak to you, I'm sure."

Francine Jones had never looked so hopefully. Not in the past five months that Spencer had known her, at any rate. Her eyes sparkled and she squeezed Tish's hand and smiled faintly up at Clive. Watching them, Spencer felt the knot in his stomach relax a bit. Martha's family was safe. That was something to be grateful for, at least. And he'd get to talk to his team soon, even if it wasn't really his team. He missed them so much; he'd take any version of them he could.

~/.\~

"Turn it off!" Abby closed her eyes just as Garcia reached forward and cut the volume off. Jessica sat with her lips pressed tightly together. Ducky and Spencer sat on either side of her and Jack was asleep as far away from the noises of the broadcast as he could get.

"I know I've said it before," Garcia's voice was faint, "but how can he do something like this? How can he be so, so… evil!"

"He's a sadist," Spencer told her. His voice sounded odd, cracking slightly.

"And he's looking for us," Ducky pointed out, "He's going to torture them until they tell him where our safe houses are."

"We're going to have to move," Jessica said, "We aren't going to be safe here much longer."

Abby frowned, "Director Sheppard would never tell him where we are!" Her lips quivered and she faltered.

"We're not saying they're going to betray us, Abby," Ducky said gently, "But you know as well as we all do that he isn't going to give them a choice. He'll keep doing this until they break."

"But where's safe?" Garcia asked, "He's got enough prisoners to tell him where the safe house in California is, where we are and where the Church is…"

Spencer sat forward, "But not the hunters," he said, "They're in South Dakota, but that's all any of us know."

"They did say they had a bomb shelter," Ducky said.

Abby glanced back at the screen where the broadcast was ending, the sound still muted. "We'll send a message to everyone…" she said, trying to rally herself. She looked sadder than she had since Gibbs hadn't turned up after the assassination attempt.

"That's a good idea," Ducky said, "We'll need to coordinate a movement so we can meet up again."

Abby hesitated at the computer, "What if Gibbs shows up? Or, or someone else? We'll be gone and they could get caught and they won't know where we are!"

"If they're out there," Spencer said, "they can take of themselves. Gibbs will be fine, Abby. He knows how to survive."

She pressed her lips together tightly and nodded, turning back to the computers with Garcia at her side and they started composing their message to the other safe houses.

~/.\~

Martha didn't think she'd be happier than when she had heard her family had escaped from the Valiant. Then she learned that Sarah Jane had found them and they were staying with her. She hadn't smiled this much since before the Decimation. Her heart felt lighter just knowing that her parents and sister were away from the Master and his routine torture.

They weren't perfectly safe, unfortunately, but it was certainly better than being trapped aboard that ship and living in Hell every day. She looked up at the ceiling then, feeling a sickening pit in her stomach. They were safe, but the Doctor was alone.

She sent a message to Sarah Jane, and to the other hackers hidden in the network. Sarah Jane wanted to have another video conference and the sooner they could do that, the better. And she'd get to talk to her family again.

"You're in a good mood,"

She jumped at the voice behind her and spun, her eyes wide, fingers clutching at the TARDIS key around her throat.

"Gabriel!"

"Hey, shh!" Gabriel hissed, shaking his head and looking around anxiously. "Keep it down."

Martha crossed her arms and frowned, "What are you doing here?"

"I've got some good news," Gabriel said, "I talked to one of my brothers –"

Martha frowned, "I thought you said you were a runaway?"

"There are more rebellious angels in Heaven than you'd think," Gabriel said, "And I got one of them to agree to help us take down the Toclafane."

Martha felt her heart squeeze, "More angels then? That's wonderful!"

"He'll have to be careful," Gabriel said, "and anyone he might convince to help too. Heaven keeps a close eye on things down here so anything too major will alert them and the whole thing is blown."

"But you can help? You're going to help?"

"Absolutely," he said, golden eyes shining. "I've just got to make one more stop to talk to those friends of yours across the pond. That should be… interesting."

Martha grimaced. After everything that had just happened, she wasn't sure they'd be up for another plan so soon. Then again, maybe they'd be more ready than ever to strike against the Master. She nodded.

"Keep in touch then," she said.

"I'll be back before you know it," he said brightly. "Just… remember our deal. Don't tell anyone who I am."

She started to assure him she wouldn't, but he was gone before she could blink with the faint sound of flapping wings echoing behind him. Her lips twitched into an almost smile and she shook her head.

"Doubt I'll be getting used to that any time soon…"

~/.\~

The Master pulled back, upper lip curling as he studied the prisoners before him. In spite of their instances, they had screamed. And it had been beautiful. His eyes darkened and he looked up,

"Take them back to the cells," he ordered. He glanced back at David Rossi and took in his ragged appearance.

"Patch them up a bit though. Wouldn't want them expiring too soon."

As they were carried away, he turned to the Doctor, sitting in his small corner of the conference room. He looked rather small there all by himself. The Master's lips twisted into a smile.

"Not so resilient as they think," he said, "your precious humans."

The Doctor frowned straightening himself up and lifting his chin. There was still a fire behind his eyes that made the Master shiver with delight.

"They screamed," he said, "They didn't beg. Not once."

The grin on the Master's face faltered and he stepped closer to the Doctor, "They will," he said.

The Doctor actually smiled then. It was a small smile, patronizing. "Thought you'd have figured out by now you can't break them. You can torture them and hurt them and kill them, but you can't break them. They've got something you don't. The human spirit. They'll never give up, they'll never lose hope, even it seems hopeless. Humans are survivors and they're not going to bow down easily. Especially to the likes of you."

He sneered at him. "I'll torture them all. Every day if I have to. I'll paint this entire room with their blood and make it so the only sound you hear is their screaming and they'll tell me where they're accomplices are and I do the same to them. All while you sit there and watch."

Crouching down low, he grabbed the Doctor's chin and the Doctor met his gaze defiantly. He smiled at him.

"They think you're going to save them," he said quietly. "They think you're going to swoop in at the last second and stop me from destroying this disgusting planet." His eyes traveled over the Doctor's beaten, malnourished form, "Look at you though, Doctor. You're pathetic. You can't even save yourself."

The Doctor's gaze never wavered from his and he jerked his face away.

"I wouldn't underestimate them, or me, if I were you, Master."

The Master's left eye twitched slightly and he stood abruptly.

"You must be very lonely in here," he said casually, "now that your little pet and his friends are gone."

His tone was like silk and his eyes sparkled when he saw the Doctor tense, though he tried to hide it.

"And, well, Lucy's been a bit distant, shall we say. Maybe I should keep you company tonight. We can chat and figure out just what I'm going to do to all your friends when I have them…"

He smiled again, turning to one of the two guards left in the room, "Clean him up and bring him to my chambers."

Then, laughing, the Master left as the guard began unchaining the Doctor's raw wrists. The doors thundered shut behind him, but he could swear he heard the dangerously loud banging of the Doctor's heart even as he walked away.

~/.\~

A/N: I'm pretty sure this means I have no soul…

And I know, I know. There were a lot of characters missing. I would've included them except 1) They're either watching the broadcast and reacting, same as most of the other characters or 2) In the case of Gibbs and the other characters who didn't make it back to Oklahoma, they're moving toward whatever safety they can find and not much is happening. The only reason Lisbon and co. got a scene was because I needed to finish that particular arc before moving on to the next chapter. (Also, who else thinks Dean is damn lucky Lisbon didn't shoot him?) But don't worry, Gibbs and Morgan and Garth and Juliet and all the others will be in the next chapter, I promise. I would've written everyone's reaction, but after a while they started feeling redundant and there are really only so many times I can write different characters having the exact same conversations.

Also, notice how I not-so-cleverly made sure I didn't have to write Luke again? I swear, I'm just scared of botching his character… *sigh*

And who caught the premiers of CM, the Mentalist and SPN? Gah, that CM premier… were they TRYING to make me sick? Because I threw up a little. And Reid talking about Maeve and having kids… My heart hurt. Sunday's Mentalist made me sqee though. Rigsby and Grace forever! :) SPN, as usual, tried to demolish what is left of my emotions and I'm just praying that for once I'll be right and Ezekiel ISN'T going to be evil. I can't take that after Metatron. But now I'm rambling.

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please review and let me know! (Even if it sucked, tell me that too!)