Unfound
Chapter 12
Season 12 - Episode 12: Stuck in the Middle (With You) Mary calls the whole family together to fight a demon, only to discover that he's not your run-of-the-mill demon.
This was not the kind of meeting that Mick envisioned he would be taking part in on this mission to the United States. Sure, he was aware that they had been called in by MACUSA, but he had anticipated that his contact with them would be roughly the same as the official contact he had with the British Ministry of Magic. But that was not the case.
The wizards looked distinctly uncomfortable in their shipping container of a headquarters, but they wanted to meet outside of their own buildings. Mick didn't know why.
Everyone gathered in the newest wing of the facility – situated far enough from their computers and equipment so that there wouldn't be any magical interference.
The beginning of the meeting was the usual – handshaking and introductions. Social niceties that were dull but important, for some reason that Mick didn't quite understand. Having grown up on the streets still made him feel like an outsider at these sorts of meetings.
"Please, everyone have a seat," he said, putting an end to light conversations that were happening all over the room. Having everyone's eyes on him made him especially self-conscious of a less-than-posh accent. "Thank you all for coming here and for your warm welcome to this country," he said.
"Mr. Davies, it is our pleasure," Willard Mason, MACUSA's Head Auror, responded from the other head of the table. "We are grateful to you and the British government for your assistance. The work you've already done has been incredible. Not a single monster attack in the Northeast for the longest time since we started tracking these things." The way he said it sounded as if he was amazed that a group of what he would call, 'no-majes,' could do so much. Mick had taken an immediate dislike to this man.
"You are very welcome, of course," Mick said, keeping his demeanor calm and collected.
"Yes, yes," the pompous ass of a man continued. "It is quite incredible. At this rate, we'll get the no-maj government to stop their complaints. Which, let me tell you, they take up so much of our time with their whining. If you can get that to stop then we will forever owe you a debt of gratitude." There was twittering laughter from all the witches and wizards.
'Arseholes,' Mick thought to himself. If wizards had had the ability to handle the Supernatural in their own country, this whole excursion wouldn't have ever happened.
"Glad to be of service," was what he actually said. "Of course, if we could get further assistance from your hunting community, we believe that we could achieve our objectives even quicker," he said.
The arsehole gave a hearty laugh. "Yeah, they're stubborn sons-of-bitches, aren't they? The lowest of our society, I assure you. We are not here concerning our hunters, we are quite sure that you will get them to fall in line soon enough."
"Then may I politely ask why you called this meeting?" Mick asked, wanting to get to it so that they could get these smarmy gits off their base.
"Of course, my good man," the Auror continued. He looked around at his fellow witches and wizards as if he wasn't sure how to continue. Or, maybe he was embarrassed, Mick thought, trying to guess what was going on in this American's mind. "We recently had a…security incident, that we would like to consult with you on. It concerns some of hunters that the American government had in custody."
"Oh?" Mick asked.
"Yes. Uh," the Auror looked down at his file. "A Messrs. Sam and Dean Winchester."
It took every ounce of Mick's Britishness to not show any reaction to those names. He had noticed that the two of them had been missing for a period of time. He hadn't imagined that they had been held by the American government. "Had?" He asked.
"Yes. They were – taken from our facility," the Auror said, looking uncomfortable. "Our most secure facility, in fact. I personally oversee the warding. One of the oldest in the country – we had the American Men of Letters set it up for us, to make it secure from magical and supernatural threats alike."
"How did they break out?" Mick asked, very curious and somewhat unsurprised. The Winchesters had achieved the seemingly impossible in the past. He had also been asked to keep a file on all matters relating to the brothers.
"They had assistance," the Auror said.
"Oh? I wasn't aware that they had any contacts at MACUSA," at least, not anymore.
"I don't believe they do either. We brought the footage," the Auror said.
He pulled out a security orb – one built to show images outside of a Pensieve, Mick knew from experience.
"Whatever helped them wiped out the no-maj security tapes," the man explained. "And while we have obtained this footage, the no-maj government no longer has any memory of the incident that led them to arrest the men in the first place. They are no longer looking for them." Taping the orb with his wand, images appeared floating above the device.
There were men in tactical gear running into a room, where a man had just appeared. The man wasn't very tall, but he looked like he meant business as he twisted around.
"We have you surrounded," one of the officers said.
"That you do," the man said. He sounded British. "10 points to MACUSA."
"Who are you? What do you want?" Someone demanded after a couple of seconds of silence.
"The Winchesters," the man replied.
"How do you – "
Green light filled the recording. They couldn't see anything through the light until it dissipated and all the men who had come into the room were now on the ground. The man was nowhere to be seen.
"Bloody hell," Mick said, surprised. He understood why MACUSA brought this to their attention now. That was certainly a British accent and a likely reference to the Hogwarts school point system. "Did it kill all those men?"
"No," the Auror said, shaking his head. "They are all still alive. But none of them remember this. No part of the day at all. We've put our best reversal squad on it and it is no oblivation spell that we know."
Something about the man seemed…familiar to Mick. "Do you have this from any other angle?" He asked.
The Aurors looked at each other. One of them prodded the orb and the image shifted, so they could see the front of the man.
Mick's eyes widened.
"Do you recognize that man?"
He was pretty sure. And maybe sharing this information with the Americans would be helpful because he hadn't been able to dig anything up on this particular being. "It's not a man," Mick said. "That's the angel Hadraniel."
III
Ginny wasn't sure that there was anything that she wanted to do less than what she was about to do. It had been over a week since she had had that conversation with Harry in the garden of the Burrow and she was still unsure how she felt. Part of her was happy, of course, how could she not be, Harry was back. He was alive. And healthy. He had looked amazing, actually, if she allowed herself to think about it. Every bit as handsome as his brothers and like he had been not slowly killing his liver or starving himself.
Part of her yearned to go to him. But she knew – especially after her dalliance with Sam, that there was no going back. And she wasn't sure that she wanted that, in any case. She loved and hated Harry. The years after his death had been the most painful of her life. Even more painful than when she had been possessed as a child. More painful than facing the end of the war and the death of her brother. He had left her. She didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive him for that. Or if she even wanted to try.
None of these conflicting emotions made this easier. But Teddy had asked her to and there was just no way she could deny him this. If anyone was owed more from Harry than her, it was his godson.
She dialed the number.
"Hello?" the American voice came on the other side of the line.
"Sam," she said. "I – uh, hope this is an alright time."
"Sure," he said. "Just let me…just give me a second." There were some muffled sounds in the background and she assumed that he was making excuses and going to another room. She felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. "What's up?" He asked.
"It's Teddy," Ginny said.
"Oh," Sam sounded surprised. "Is he hunting again?"
"No, no. Of course not," she said. "Especially not here in the UK. Nothing for him to hunt. It's just – he wants to come back to the US."
"Ah," Sam said. "I thought that we had resolved the whole Castiel thing," he said.
"What Castiel thing?"
There was a pause on the line.
"You should probably ask him about that," Sam finally said. Ginny narrowed her eyes even though Sam couldn't see her.
"But I asked – you know, it doesn't matter. He's pointed out that he is of age and can do whatever he pleases. Which is true, but, at the same time, we'd like to be sure that he doesn't get up to…well, unsavory activities again."
"Hunting is hardly unsavory," Sam said, only sounding mildly offended. "Well, ok, maybe it is," he reconsidered.
"Unsafe, then," Ginny said. "I promised him that I would talk to Harry about it…"
More silence.
"Harry."
"Yeah. You know, his godfather."
"Right. Of course. Why didn't you call him then?" Sam asked.
"He has a phone?"
"Yes. Although you could also try praying. It has the added bonus of annoying him."
That was good information for her to have. Although she couldn't imagine praying to her ex-boyfriend. "Well, I didn't know those were options. Do you think Teddy could stay where you are?"
"The Bunker?" Sam asked, sounding surprised.
"Yeah. You didn't exactly give me a tour, but I thought it had quite a few rooms…"
"It does. That's not the issue," he responded, but he didn't go on to say what exactly the issue was. Although she could guess. "Let me talk to Dean and Harry about it," he said. "And Mom, I suppose. It would change things…having a teenager here."
"Yes, parenthood is quite inconvenient," Ginny snapped. "And Harry's avoided it for quite some time. If he doesn't want Teddy there, he's going to have to tell him himself." She hung up.
III
"Who was that?" Dean asked as Sam walked back into the room.
"Uh, Ginny," he responded, carefully not looking in Harry's direction.
Dean raised his eyebrows as a way of asking what she had called about.
"She – uh, she called because Teddy has decided that he wants to move to the US."
Dean shrugged. "Why did she call you about it?"
Sam chanced a quick glance at Harry, whose face was completely blank. That wasn't a good sign. "She didn't know Harry had a phone," he explained. "I can, uh, give you her number, if you want Harry."
Dean laughed.
"What?" Sam snapped.
"Just funny that you have Harry's girlfriend's phone number and he doesn't," he said without really thinking about the implications of that thought.
It was as though all the air left the room.
"She's not my girlfriend," Harry finally said. "I died, remember?"
"But you saw her when you were home, right?"
Sam couldn't believe Dean's nerve. Although he wasn't the one who had slept with her, so it was likely that he just didn't think any of this was a big deal. Or he was being a jerk. That was always plausible when it came to the eldest Winchester.
Harry didn't want to talk about it. But he also didn't want to make a big deal over what had happened between Ginny and himself. And he certainly didn't want to talk to Sam about him having a relationship with her after he had died.
"I did," he finally responded when the silence had gone on for a couple more beats than was comfortable. "She – she's pretty angry at me."
"Why?" Dean asked.
Harry looked at him like he was crazy.
"Oh. The whole dying thing. Yeah, that was a dick move. She'll forgive you eventually, dude."
"I'm not sure that she will," Harry responded. "But in any case, I'm not human anymore. Even if she wanted a relationship again, and she does not, I don't think it would be wise."
"But do you still love her?" Dean pushed.
"Dean!" Sam chided.
Harry declined to answer. "I'm – I'm going to go to my room. Call Teddy and see what he's thinking." The only way he could have left the room quicker was if he had actually flown.
"Great, awesome, Dean," Sam said, slapping his brother on the shoulder.
"What? You're the one who brought her up. Which, honestly, was a bit ballsy, man, all things considered…"
"Shh," Sam hushed him.
Dean rolled his eyes. "He's gonna find out, you know. You might as well get it out of the way."
"Why do you think that? I'm not going to tell him. And it sounds like Ginny isn't going to either."
"These things have a way of getting out."
"Well, there is no need for him to know when he's still so…fragile."
"Whatever, Sam," Dean dismissed. His phone dinged and he looked down at it. "Oh. It's Mom," he said.
Sam was thankful for the change of topic. "What's up?"
"She has a case and wants our help. Some Hunter has gotten involved with something that involves a demon and needs back up."
"Hm. Been a while since we've had an issue with a demon. Thought Crowley was keeping them off our tails."
"Yeah, well, he doesn't have the control of Hell he used to, does he? What'd'ya say? Should I go get Harry?"
"Yeah. If mom is asking for help, it's gotta be a big one."
Sam left to go pack. He would just focus on the case. When he got a second, maybe he'd call Ginny back and talk to her about what and when to tell Harry. He'd prefer to tell his brother nothing, but Dean was, unfortunately, right, and there was no way that was going to stay a secret. Especially if Ginny herself stopped by. At least, this way, he could control the narrative and hope that Harry didn't smite him on the spot.
III
Mary and Wally were surveilling the demon from a good distance in a car.
"That's him?" Wally, a Hunter whom Mary had run into on a previous case. She didn't have many Hunter friends left, so she had called him for help on this one. "That's the big bad demon you need help with? Just some old guy," he said.
The demon did just look like an older gentleman puttering around his garden. Mary knew that he was much more than that. At least if he had what the British Men of Letters had told her he had.
"Technically, I'm in my 60's," Mary said as she put down her binoculars.
"Ok then," Wally responded. "Hell, what do I know," he looked nervous. "I've never gone after a demon before. I don't even know why you called me."
"Because if Sam and Dean think they're helping you and not me, they won't ask the wrong questions," Mary explained. "It's safer that way."
"Right," Wally said.
Mary had a folder full of papers that she started looking through.
"You get those from your new limey friends? Them fancy Men of Letters?" Wally had been approached by a son-of-a-bitch named Mick Davies. He didn't trust the man even a little bit. But when he was told that Mary Winchester was working a case for them, he was curious enough to help out. Just to see what these guys were all about.
"I did."
"You trust 'em?" He finally outright asked. They said that she did, but he hadn't heard it from her directly.
She didn't look at him or respond.
"I- I just mean, I heard the sales pitch – money, gear. It all sounds swell, but someone walks up to you and offers you something that sounds a little too good to be true? I wonder, what's the catch?"
Mary sighed. The Men of Letters were a means to an end for her. But she couldn't deny what she had seen. "Since I've been working with them, we've taken out more than half a dozen vamp nests, two werewolf packs, and a ghoul who was eating his way through Arlington. We saved a lot of people."
"Right. So, you do trust them."
"Let's go," she sighed.
Wally started the engine. "Yeah."
III
Mary smiled as the Impala pulled into the diner's parking lot. She got out of the passenger seat of Wally's jeep and went over to them.
"Sam, Dean," she said. Then Henry got out of the car. She hadn't been expecting him to tag along, and her voice hitched a second. She didn't want him involved but there was nothing she could do now, so she thought quickly. "Hadraniel," she greeted him.
Harry raised an eyebrow. Before Sam or Dean had a chance to ask anything about it, he tilted his head in greeting, not unlike he had seen Cas do in the past, and acknowledged her, "Mary."
"Wally – these are my sons. And the angel Hadraniel."
Sam didn't know what was happening, but Harry seemed to be in on it, so he kept the ruse up seeing the confused expression on Wally's face. "We call him Harry for short," he supplied so that none of them would get caught using the wrong name.
"Oh, hi," Wally said.
"Glad to meet you," Dean said, offering his hand, ignoring whatever was happening between his mother and brothers. He would figure it out later. "She said a lot of good things," he said to Wally.
"Yeah, right back at you, man," Wally said, getting over his surprise at an additional angel. He had thought that Mary had just called in Castiel. "Your, uh, your mom's real proud of you boys."
"Cas," Dean said, looking over the hunter's shoulder.
Sure enough, the trench-coated angel that Wally had only heard whispers about at Hunter gatherings appeared.
"Thanks for coming," Mary said to Castiel. "I know you're busy."
"Well, not really," he said reluctantly.
"So, what? No luck with Lucifer's kid?" Sam asked. He hadn't spoken to Cas in ages and was looking forward to a catch-up.
"No," the angel responded. "Kelly Kline, it's like she's – just disappeared."
Harry kept a smile to himself on that one.
"Lucifer's kid," Wally said. "That's a joke, right? The…" At the blank looks that he got from everyone there, he realized, "It's not a joke."
No one responded.
"All right, ramblers. Let's get rambling," Dean said, headed in the direction of the entrance of the diner.
III
All of them were seated around a large table in the diner. A waitress came over to take their orders.
"Mandy. That short for Amanda?" Dean flirted.
"Duh," she said, looking bored.
Dean understood when his attention was appreciated, so he dropped it. "Yeah. I'll go with the cheeseburger," he said.
"Hey, what's the, uh, wifi password here?" Sam asked, not looking up from his phone.
"Extra cheese," the waitress responded.
"No, no," Dean disagreed. "Just, uh, as it is, is fine."
Mandy wasn't amused. "That's the password. 'Extra Cheese,'"
"You know what, that sounds good," Wally said. "I'm gonna change mine to a cheeseburger as well. Extra cheese. I wanna carbo-load."
"Cheese isn't a carb," Mandy corrected at the same time that Cas was said, "Cheese isn't a carbohydrate."
She smiled at him. Cas looked, to Harry's delight, a little confused.
"Steak and eggs, bloody," Mary said, trying to move things along.
"And how 'bout you, handsome?" the waitress asked Cas.
Castiel didn't eat food, of course, but he felt like he was on the spot, so he studied the menu as quickly as he could. "Uh, Sunrise Special, please," he said, picking the first thing that his eyes landed on.
"Nice," Mandy said smiling.
"Just a cuppa tea, miss," Harry said when she turned to him.
"Got it," she left.
Wally looked at this unexpected angel with wariness – he hadn't expected a British accent. "I thought angels only took American vessels," he said.
That was categorically untrue, but not worth addressing.
All eyes were now on Harry, who was a little taken aback, but he was still quick on his feet. "This vessel is American," he responded, not lying.
"Oh. Mary didn't mention you when she told me who she was roundin' up to help out."
"I thought he was busy," Mary quickly countered.
Dean didn't want any more questions asked, so he leaned across the table and talked to Cas. "Oh, dude, that waitress is into you."
"Mm hmm," Wally agreed.
"Dean…" Mary tried to refocus the conversation.
Dean ignored her. "No, this is good. We've been looking for teachable moments. This…"
Mary's phone buzzed and made a notification sound.
"Everything alright, Mom?" Sam asked as she checked it.
"Yeah, just another hunter, needs some help," she said as she put the phone down.
"Another one?" Dean asked, surprised at how many friends his mom had made in the short time she had been back.
"Can't have too many friends in this line of work," Mary responded.
Harry's eyes narrowed. Their mom was lying. But he wasn't going to call her out on that in front of everyone.
"Ok…" Dean said.
"The internet here sucks. I downloaded all the Bunker's files to a new archive, but we're not getting any signal, so I'm j – "
Dean snored loudly while pretending to sleep. "Nobody cares," he said.
"So, Harry," Wally did not seem ready to drop the subject of the being that he was unfamiliar with. "If your vessel is American, how come you have a British accent?"
"Ok," Mary said, trying to get everyone's attention.
"Really, Wally?" Dean asked, not wanting this man to wade into his brother's business.
"Is it that big of a surprise?" Sam asked, jumping on the defend-Harry train.
"But he also wants to drink tea! Are you sure that he…"
"Americans drink tea too!" Sam argued.
"If you can call what you drink tea at all," Harry snorted.
Mary banged on the table. "Hey!" Everyone went silent. "Screens down, eyes up, shut up," she said making everyone sit up a little straighter.
"Sorry, mom," Sam said.
"Sorry," Wally agreed.
"Ok. Here's what we know. Our target keeps a tight schedule. He leaves every day at 8:00 p.m. and gets back exactly at 8:45."
"What's he doing?" Dean asked.
"Night fishing," Wally answered.
"Wait a minute," Cas said, speaking for the first time in a while. "You called us to – to kill a demon that likes to fish?"
"Yes, I did," Wally said. "Look, guys. This is all new to me, alright? You got a rugaru problem, hey, I'm your guy. But demons? Hell. Look, I was just passing through and I heard about some cattle mutilations."
"Classic demon sign," Sam said.
"I started to dig. A lot of virgins go missing around here too."
"Classic horny demon sign," Dean smirked.
"Which is why Wally called us, asking for help. So, we all clear on the plan?" She asked.
Everyone nodded.
"Incoming," Sam said, as the waitress delivered the food.
They waited for her to put all the plates down before resuming talk.
"At 10:45, the demon comes home," Dean said. "Sam and I will be waiting for him. I'll pop him with a devil's trap bullet."
"I'll finish him off with the demon blade."
"And I'll wait in the back with you in case he comes in that way," Castiel said to Mary.
"Me, I'll be in my room pretending I don't exist," Harry quipped. Everyone stared at him. "Ah. Sorry, in-joke. I'll be invisible between the two groups, ready to answer your prayers."
"Cool, cool," Wally said. "What do I do?"
"Keep a lookout," Dean ordered. "Don't die."
"Everything is going to be fine," Mary assured the nervous hunter.
III
Everything was not fine.
Harry could practically feel the evil coming as the demon walked up the path. He could hear it whistling and he almost grabbed everyone there and winged it out of there. But he knew that this demon was killing people nearby and they needed to stop it.
The call from Wally should have also been a tip-off that there was more to this demon than any of them had thought.
Sam and Dean were in the front, ready to strike.
Cas and his mom were in the next room.
Harry stood, tense, and invisible where he could see all of them.
The second the demon entered the room, Dean started firing. The demon didn't even flinch, he casually hung up his bag on a hook next to the door and said calmly, "You mind explainin' why you broke into my house?"
Dean fired again.
"I know it wasn't just to ruin the evening catch," the demon kicked the rug that hid the devil's trap underneath. "Hunters," he chuckled.
Dean kept firing, but it didn't stop the demon.
Sam snuck in from behind and stabbed him with the demon blade – the demon flicked Sam off of him with an elbow to the face and pulled the knife out of his side. "Well, that didn't work," he commented.
Mary had her gun out, ready to shoot, and Cas rounded the corner with her, ready to take this demon on.
"Angel," the demon growled.
With swift moves, the demon moves Dean out of the way to attack Castiel. He moved so swiftly that he is able to close the door between the front hall and the kitchen so that Sam and Dean were locked out. Mary faced him, gun at the ready. He knocked it out of her hands as his eyes flashed yellow.
Mary's heart stopped.
"Hiya sweetheart," he said.
Before Harry had a chance to join in the fight, Castiel was flying at the demon, knocking him down and yelling, "run!" to Mary.
Mary didn't need to be told twice before scrambling out the front door.
Harry appeared – wandblade at the ready. The demon turned to face him.
"Oh? What's this?" He asked, tilting his head. Without a care, he pushed Castiel out through a window and onto the back lawn.
He tried to use the same force to move Harry. Who didn't budge.
"Intriguing," he said. "You're no ordinary angel are you?"
Harry held his hand out and green waves of energy shot the demon out the same window that he had sent Castiel out of.
That hadn't been on purpose, so Harry swore and flew outside. He could hear fighting in the front but he knew that this yellow-eyed demon was the most dangerous thing they could possibly be facing.
Castiel was crawling while the demon whistled nonchalantly. "Been a long time since I've seen an angel. Yeah," from nowhere, a lance appears behind his back.
Harry recognized it immediately. And put himself between Castiel and the demon.
He once again physically pushed the demon away. He quickly turned to Castiel, held out his arm to help him up, and healed him. "Go to the front, help my mom and brothers," he said urgently. "I can handle him.
"Harry – no."
"What are you?" The demon asked, recovering from the hit that Harry sent at him. Which concerned him, seeing as his magic had been enough to injure Gabriel. "No matter. This should do the trick, although it's a shame to kill something as interesting as you. I'd like to take you to Asmodeus – he'd get a kick out of…studying you."
Since his magic wasn't doing the trick, Harry conjured his wandblade into his hand. He didn't know if it would kill this demon – it seemed more powerful than others, but it should, at very least, injure him.
But the demon was quick. And Castiel even quicker than him. Before Harry was able to attack, the angel moved directly in front of him just as the demon threw the lance. It hit him straight in the gut.
"Castiel!" Harry shouted out.
With angry green glowing eyes, Harry turned to the demon, and with as much force as he could muster he tried to smite him.
The demon blew back.
"Castiel," Harry said, turning to the angel. He touched his finger to his forehead, trying to heal the damage. Nothing happened.
"Got – to – get – out – of – here," Castiel wheezed as he crawled towards the Jeep that had brought Wally and Mary here.
"I can fly you anywhere," Harry said.
"No!" Castiel protested. "You need to be here to help Sam and Dean."
"Castiel!" Mary yelled, running over to the crawling angel. "What happened?" She asked Harry.
"He was stabbed," Harry said.
"Help me get him in the car," Mary ordered. Harry didn't argue, he gingerly helped Castiel. Mary drove them at break-neck speed.
She stopped just a little way up the road, where there was a barn. Between her and Harry they got Castiel onto an old couch.
"We've got to stop meeting like this, Uncle Cas," Harry said as he examined the wound.
"Can you heal yourself?" Mary asked desperately. "Henry, can you heal him?"
"I tried," Castiel said through painful breaths. "Something's wrong."
"How bad is it?" Mary asked. No one answered her as her phone rang. "Oh, Sam," she said.
"Hey, where are you?"
"Farm down the road. It looks abandoned. Take your first left and drive until you see a barn."
"Yeah, ok. We're on the way. Is Harry with you?"
Castiel looked down at his wound, where he was now bleeding heavily. He closed his eyes in pain.
"Yes."
III
Harry was trying everything he could think of when Sam and Dean barged into the barn.
"What the hell just happened?" Dean snapped.
"Where's Wally?" Mary asked.
"Wally, uh…" Sam said
"Oh, God," Mary said, putting her hand up to her mouth.
Cas cried out in pain.
"Cas?" Dean asked.
"Mom, where did those other demons come from?"
"There were other demons?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. A whole bunch," Sam said. "Where did they come from?" he repeated.
"I don't know. I…the target. Did you see – "
"No. He brushed off everything we threw at him."
"Even everything I threw at him," Harry said. "I better go back and get him," he turned from where he had been crouched next to Castiel. He knew that the demon had to be on his way here and there was no way he was going to let him hurt his family.
"No!" Mary yelled at the same time as Dean. "Did you see his eyes?"
"What?" Sam asked.
"They were yellow. He had yellow eyes."
Comprehension dawned on everyone's faces.
"Mom…what the hell did you get us into?"
Harry moved to go. Dean got up from where he was to put his arm on his shoulder. "Abso-fucking-lutely not, Harry," he said dangerously.
"But – "
"No," Sam agreed with Dean. "Not again. We face whatever is coming together."
It went against every instinct in Harry's body to not go flying after the demon, but Castiel made another pained yell and that drew his attention back to the angel. Dean's too.
Dean sat down next to him. "Hey," he said. "Wow, you look like hammered crap."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Castiel responded.
"Let's see," Dean said.
Castiel lifted his shirt, black, veiny lines, covering his whole stomach. And where the lance had hit him looked almost like petrified rock. It wasn't good.
"Alright," Dean said, looking like he was trying to keep panic out of his voice and off his face. "Ok. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, hey, you know what? I've had worse."
"Oh yeah?" Castiel countered. "When? Dean, something's wrong. I – I can't heal myself. I think the…I think the demon's spear was poisoned. I don't…I-I think I'm dying."
"He is," Harry confirmed. "That wasn't a spear. That was the Lance of Michael."
"The thing you killed Michael with?" Dean asked, alarmed.
"Yeah. You said you never saw it after the battle?"
"No. It wasn't there. I guess we know now. But it killed Michael right away and Cas is still kicking. He just needs time. He'll heal up the old-fashioned way."
Castiel's groan of pain made that statement ring untrue.
"Do something," Dean hissed to Harry.
"I don't know what you want me to do! I can't heal him," Harry said, somewhat desperately, pushing his hand on Castiel's forehead again to make the point.
"What about your pet Archangel?"
Harry shook his head. "No, he can't heal this either," he knew this from what Gabriel had shown him when he had been struck by the spear.
He heard someone arrive and looked up sharply.
"You idiots. You're all going to die." Standing there was Crowley, King of Hell.
III
"Well, this day just keeps gettin' better," Dean muttered.
"Crowley?" Sam asked, surprised to see him.
"You're him? The King of Hell?" Mary asked.
Harry swore to himself. Crowley was definitely on the list of things that he didn't want to know he was alive. He looked away from the demon and concentrated on Castiel.
"You must be Mother Winchester," Crowley said. "Please. I've heard so much," he reached out his hand for Mary to shake.
"Touch me and I'll kill you," she responded.
Crowley shrugged and turned away. "What's up with Feathers? Oh, and Harry, how lovely to see you again. I kept meaning to send you a 'welcome back to life,' gift basket, but, alas, I do not have your address."
That made Harry stand up straight and face Crowley.
"You knew?" Dean asked.
"Of course, Squirrel. You didn't think the return of the third Winchester would escape my notice, did you? I'm insulted."
"What are you even doing here?" Dean demanded, perturbed that Crowley knew about Harry. That list was supposed to be extremely short. "How'd you find us?"
Sam understood quicker, of course. "Wait a second. The demons. They were yours."
"Obviously," Crowley said, voice dripping with annoyance.
"They killed my friend," Mary said.
"Your friend was stupid. You're all…Do you know what you've done? Does the name Ramiel mean anything to you?"
"No," Sam, Dean, and Mary said at the same time. Harry just shook his head.
"Yes," Castiel said.
"What?"
"Ramiel, Prince of Hell," Castiel intoned.
"Ramiel, Prince of Hell," Crowley agreed. "It's catchy. It rhymes. And he's going to kill each and every one of you." He hesitated a second. "Maybe not Harry 2.0."
"No," Cas said. "The Princes of Hell are all dead."
"That's what we told people to stop them looking. But in reality, not so much."
"W-what the hell is a Prince of… Hell?"
"The oldest of the old demons. The first generation after Lilith. Lucifer turned them himself before the oceans drank Atlantis."
"They were trained to be generals, to lead demonic armies in the war against Heaven."
"Like Azazel," Mary realized.
"They even have his eyes," Crowley agreed. "My demons were there to keep people away from Ramiel. Believe me, that's a hornet's nest you do not want to be kicking."
"Too late," Dean said.
"What will that lance do to Cas?" Sam asked, looking at their friend, dying on the couch.
"The Lance of Michael?" Crowley asked.
"Yeah, he got stabbed with it," Dean said.
Crowley sucked in a breath. "Nasty bit of business. Kills everything it touches. If you're a demon, you go up in a puff of smoke. If you're an angel, you just…rot away."
Harry frowned. "That's not true."
Everyone looked at him.
"I don't have the clearest memory of the day that I stabbed Michael with the Lance, but he didn't rot away. At least – it was faster than what Castiel is going through now. But Gabe has also been hit with this weapon and he's alive."
"Are you saying there's a cure?" Dean asked desperately.
"I don't know. But if Gabe survived…"
"Get him here then," Dean demanded.
Harry shook his head. "He – he couldn't cure it for himself. His brothers had to do it for him."
"I don't care!" Dean said fiercely. "There's a cure. There's always a cure, and we will find it."
"How?" Crowley asked.
"We trap Ramiel," Sam said, believing Harry that Gabriel wouldn't be able to heal Cas.
"And we beat his ass until he gives it up," Dean added.
"It's not gonna work," Crowley said.
"We took down the Darkness, and the Devil," Sam said.
"It took you years to defeat Lucifer, and the power of God to stop the Darkness. Maybe if you had more time, you could manage Ramiel. But right now, in this barn…Hey, I was growing fond of the choir boy too. If I were you, I would be wondering if your wonder boy is actually doing everything that he can to fix the halo. Seems strategic on his part, right?"
"Shut up," Dean said. "Shut up, we don't have time, ok, for your – for you. So, either help us or get the hell out of here!"
Crowley disappeared.
"Yeah, figures. Cas, how bad is it?"
Cas groaned and loosened his tie and pulled the collar of his shirt aside. They could all see that the damage from the wound was spreading.
"Crowley's right. You should go. Harry – he's done everything he can," he looked up at Harry as he said the last part. The middle Winchester had been frozen since Crowley had accused him of not trying to save Castiel.
"I – I wouldn't let him die," Harry said.
"Then get Gabriel over here!" Dean shouted.
"I don't –"
"Henry, please," Mary said.
"Uh, ok, I'll try." He prayed, just in his mind, not aloud. "Gabe – Castiel was hit with the Lance of Michael. We need you to come heal him. Please."
Harry could hear the snort come through from Gabriel. Which was about what he was expecting. "Why would I? Let the bastard die," Gabriel responded.
"Gabriel, please," he said out loud, so there would be no question of whether or not he was trying to help.
"I'm a little busy with the last favor you asked of me."
"He won't help," Harry said hopelessly to everyone there.
"Son of a bitch," Dean said, running a hand through his hair.
"Dean – just go," Cas said.
"Cas, come on," Dean pleaded.
"No, you listen to me. You – Look, thank you. Thank you. Know you it…it's been the best part of my life. And the things that…" he took a sharp breath. "…the things we've shared together, they have changed me. You're my family. I love you. I love all of you," he looked around to all the Winchesters, even Harry. "Just please – please don't make my last moments be spent watching you die. Just run. Save yourselves. And I will hold Ramiel off as long as I can."
"Cas, no," Dean said.
"Yes, you need to keep fighting," Cas argued.
"We are fighting. We're fighting for you, Cas," Sam said.
"And like you said, your family. And we don't leave family behind." Dean gave Harry a significant look.
Cas cried out.
"Mom," Sam said, looking at Mary.
"What's the play?" She asked.
"We hit him with everything we got."
III
Watching everyone prep for the invasion felt stupid to Harry. He could just fly them all out of this situation. If he was confident that he could move Castiel safely, he would have done it without his brothers' consent. As it was, he felt pretty useless in the prep and was considering flying outside to just meet the demon himself.
"Don't Harry – " Castiel whispered as if he could hear his thoughts.
"But…"
"They won't forgive you if you do it again."
Harry glanced at his brothers. "I don't think they've forgiven me for the last time, so I don't see what more will really do."
Sam finished laying down a circle of holy oil. Mary had an angel blade and Dean had brass knuckles. Harry knew it wouldn't be enough. He tried healing Castiel one more time.
"Still nothing?"
"It…helps," Castiel rasped out. Harry didn't buy the lie.
He stood at attention directly in front of Castiel on the couch while the demon walked into the barn. As soon as he did, Sam lit the oil with a lighter. Flames encircled Ramiel.
"Toasty," he said.
"You stabbed one of your friends," Dean accused him.
"Your friend was trespassing," Ramiel responded.
"Tell us how to cure him," Sam demanded.
"There is no cure," Ramiel said.
"You have any idea who we are?" Dean asked.
"I don't care. I don't care who you are. I don't care why you're here. I don't care about Heaven or Hell or anything. I don't even care that Lucifer's got a bun in the oven," Ramiel said.
"You know about that?" Mary questioned.
"My sister Dagon, she's taken an interest. And I sent a message to my brother Asmodeus, he's on his way. He's very interested in your other friend there," he nodded his head towards Harry. "But…"
"Let me guess," Dean said, cutting him off, "you don't care."
"All I wanted was to be left alone. But then you come. You…steal from me. And that? Ooh. That I cannot abide." He pulled out a pocket watch. "Give me back what's mine, or I will take it off your lifeless bodies. You've got…thirty seconds." He clicked the top of the watch to start a timer.
Everything glanced around at each other.
"Obviously we've got no idea what you're talking about," Dean finally says.
"Twenty seconds," Ramiel responded. The time passed and he laughed. "Have it your way then," he said. From behind his back, he pulled out the Lance. He raised it up and slammed it to the ground, which made the holy fire flames sputter out and threw Mary, Sam, and Dean backward. Not Harry though.
Harry quickly summoned the lance to him and then threw it with all his might. It hit the target and Ramiel exploded in a cloud of black smoke.
Cas cried out and Sam came running over.
"Cas. Hey, buddy. Hey, we're here, Cas," he said. Black goo started coming out of Castiel's mouth and he looked to be seconds away from death.
Crowley reappeared and picked up the lance.
"Hey! Stay away from that," Harry shouted.
Crowley ignored him and examined the lance. Harry was about to summon it to himself again when Crowley took it and snapped the lance in half over his knee. There was a blinding flash of light. Castiel glowed and when it faded, he was no longer wounded.
Everyone turned and looked at Crowley, stunned.
"The magic's in the craftsmanship," Crowley explained.
"Cas?" Dean asked, turning to the angel. Castiel looked confused but otherwise completely cured.
"Oh, you're welcome," Crowley said before dropping the lance and disappearing.
III
"Everyone alright?" Mary asked, looking around at her boys and Castiel. She couldn't believe that she had been sent into this situation.
Sam and Dean each took one of Castiel's hands and pulled him to his feet.
"I guess so. What did he…what did he mean about somebody stealing from him?"
"Who knows what that crazy man was talking about. Let's go home," Dean said, missing that Mary had been about to say something.
III
Mary had begged off from her boys to meet with Ketch. She was furious. The British Men of Letters had put them all in danger. And for what?
"You sent me after a damn Prince of Hell," she accused him.
"Well, we didn't know what he was. We just knew he had the item," Ketch explained.
"That's not good enough. I lost a friend. I almost lost one of my boys."
"And we apologize…"
"Shut up. Anything like that happens again – anything – and I will burn you down. All of you."
"Is that a threat?" Ketch asked delicately.
"It's a promise."
"We made a mistake, I apologize," Ketch repeated himself smoothly.
Mary stared at him before sighing and leaning back.
"I'm afraid though – I'm going to have to ask about this new angel acquaintance of yours," Ketch said. "We don't have any record of him before your initial meeting with Mr. Davies," he said. "And we'd like to know all the players on the board."
This was a test. They knew more about the mysterious Hadraniel than they were letting on. From all accounts, he was a very powerful angel. And a possible obstacle to their plans.
"He's a friend of my boys," Mary said.
"Yeah, but he was hunting with you."
"I've been hunting with you and I don't know you very well," Mary shot back. "He offered his assistance and I accepted it."
"Hmm," Ketch said. "Very well." She had failed that particular test. That was disappointing. "Can I…see it?"
Mary pulled out an item wrapped in cloth and put it down on the table in front of Ketch.
"Hello, beautiful," he said.
"My father used to tell me stories about this thing. You know there's only five things in all creation it can't kill?"
"Oh, yes. I know all about the Colt."
"Our deal?" Mary asked.
Ketch hesitated. "Now, Mary, it was very difficult to convince the elders to let you in on this."
She glared at him. "I don't care. Don't forget that you almost got me and my boys killed. And we eliminated a Prince of Hell."
Ketch pursed his lips. But, secretly, he was pleased. Mary had proven herself to be most useful. She was efficient, smart, and discreet. And MACUSA would never see it coming.
He pulled out a folder and slid it across the table to Mary.
"This has everything you need to know. Including the security clearance to get you in on all the meetings. This is top secret. At the first meeting, you will be asked to swear an oath."
"I understand," Mary said, taking the folder.
"Not even your boys can know," he pushed a little.
"This doesn't concern them, don't worry," Mary said, opening the folder.
Ketch smiled. "I look forward to our partnership."
Mary closed the folder, put it in her bag, and stood.
"I'll be in touch," Ketch said as she turned to leave.
She nodded. And left.
AN – So, funny story. I left for a birthday trip to my hometown a couple of weeks ago. Before I left, I took both of the chapters that I needed to post and got them ready so that I could edit and get them up on their normal days.
BUT I forgot that I do not know the password for my ff dot net account (it is saved on my desktop, home computer) AND I am no longer (after over 20 years) receiving e-mails from ff dot net so I could not reset my password either. So, the result is that these chapters are very late for you, but I will be posting both of them right now. (At 2am EST because I feel guilty for making y'all wait so long.)
Anyway, I hope you will forgive me, and if this ever happens again with my announcing it, please know that I cross post on AO3.
This chapter features CharacterGrowth!Harry. That's right - he may still be flying off at the drop of a hat when he's pissed or overwhelmed, but at least he's no longer flying into battle solo when asked not to. It's a big step for him.
Thank you, as always to everyone who reviews this story. I have started putting responses in my profile again, if you are looking for them!