Chapter Twenty-Five
Season 12, Episode 22 – Who We Are: Sam takes the fight to the British Men of Letters.
"How did you get here?" Dean growled, not lowering his gun as Sam had.
"Dean, come on," Sam said, gently pushing his brother's arm down. "It's Neville – and…Ginny? George? Seamus? What's going on?" He realized that he recognized almost all the witches and wizards in the room.
Ginny stepped out of the crowd. "We got Muggle coordinates on these," she held out her DA coin.
"What's that?" Dean asked.
"It's the coin they used during the war," Sam explained, recognizing it immediately.
"We came as soon as we could," Neville said. "It took a little time to get the portkey made to bring us here."
"Especially since we had to have Justin make it," George said, "not wanting to give this location to the Ministry of Magic."
"Mom had that coin," Dean said suddenly, finally placing where he had seen it before.
"Your Mom?" George questioned. "Teddy had it before."
Sam's eyes widened. "If Teddy had it…"
"Is Teddy here?" Ginny asked.
Dean shook his head. "No. He didn't come here – it was just Mom and she…"
"She what? We need to ask her what happened to Teddy!" Ginny said with urgency in her tone.
"She's not gonna be able to answer any questions," Dean snapped.
"She's unconscious," Sam added.
"Then you can bloody well wake her up!" Ginny said, ready to charge past the two Winchesters to find their mother. She knew that Teddy was in trouble, but she never imagined that he wouldn't be here.
Dean stopped her. "No, can do. Why did Teddy even have the coin, to begin with?"
"Ha – " Ginny stopped herself, considering the company here. And that they were all listening very intently to this conversation. "I gave it to him. For emergencies."
Sam and Dean understood who really gave him the coin.
"Do one of you want to explain what is going on and why we all rushed across the pond?" Ernie asked. "I brought my emergency medical kit."
"I'd love to know too," Katie chimed in.
"We don't have time for this if Teddy is in trouble. Do you know where he is?" Ginny asked.
"I'd assume that he's at the Men of Letters compound," Sam answered. "But he sent Mom here, so that means…"
Ginny's eyes widened. "We have to go. You know where it is?"
"Woah, hey, hold on," Dean said. "What "we" is this? If Teddy needs rescuing then…"
"Dean, the DA can help. Look, we know that they're killing Hunters. We are going to have to confront them sooner or later."
"Why would they be killing Hunters?" Someone asked. "Aren't they Hunters?"
More questions started coming at the Winchesters, rapid-fire about the Men of Letters, what they were up to, and why they would want to be killing any Americans. There was no way to answer all of them and it was just utter chaos.
Dean had had enough. He pointed his gun at the ceiling, away from where the falling bullet may hurt anyone, and fired one warning shot.
That made everyone fall silent.
"Enough," he roared. "We've got to figure this out."
"Yeah," Sam agreed. "Guys, we're happy to have you, but we need to come up with a plan. Can anyone explain to the rest of the group what the Men of Letters have been up to? Someone who isn't one of us?"
"I can," someone in the back piped up. "I'm Justin, by the way, we only met a couple of times. I was the liaison to the Men of the Letters from the Ministry for a couple of years."
"Great," Sam said. "Could you give them a quick rundown? Ginny, George, could you come talk to us over here while they discuss?"
Sam spoke with such authority that everyone listened to him.
"Where's Harry?" Ginny asked as soon as they were out of earshot of everyone else.
"He's here," Sam said.
"Good. Then he can decide when and if he wants to…"
"Harry can't decide squat right now," Dean said, hardly.
"Why?" George asked.
"Uh, because he's been tortured by a megalomaniac demon for the last couple of weeks," Dean answered as if the redhead was stupid.
"He was WHAT?" Ginny asked.
"Didn't Ron and Hermione tell you he was kidnapped?" Sam asked.
"No, they did not," Ginny said, unhappily. "And neither did you. Why didn't you call me in?"
"Because we assumed that Ron and Hermione already did," Sam insisted.
"They haven't said a thing, but then again, they have been busy with the legal fight with the Men of Letters in the UK," George said, trying to find any sort of explanation on why the couple hadn't told the Weasleys anything. Although, privately, he assumed it was to save the rest of them the worry. Ginny was going to rip them a new one when she next saw them. He wouldn't be far behind.
"We can argue about what Ron and Hermione should have told you later," Dean said, frustrated. "Teddy's in danger, and the Men of Letters are after Hunters."
"Shit," Sam said. "We've gotta get them on the line."
"I have to see Harry," Ginny said.
"No, you don't," Dean responded. "He's fine, for now. We need you to get Luna back here. She can explain what is going on to these people better than that blond guy."
Ginny looked like she was ready to storm past Sam and Dean and find Harry herself, but she thought better of it. For now. She got out her wand to send a Patronus. Although a Howler would have been more appropriate.
Sam was already on the phone. "Jody," he said.
Dean dialed himself. "Garth? Hey," he was relieved and glad that they weren't too late. "Oh, man. It's good to hear your voice. Listen, uh, those Brits I told you about, they've got a hit out on American Hunters. I'm guessing that goes double for werewolf hunters so… No, I don't have time to explain, you and Bess need to get someplace safe. And, uh, activate that phone tree of yours. Tell everyone to go to ground," he hung up.
"Jody's on her way," Sam said when Dean hung up. There was something in his eyes.
"What?"
"Claire's missing," he said. "She thinks that she was on a hunting trip, but she hasn't heard from her in the last day."
Dean's fists clenched. "We'll find her," he said, but he had a sinking feeling in his gut.
Charlie and Luna entered at the top of the stairs.
Following behind them hesitantly was Draco Malfoy. That got everyone's attention and there was once again general chaos.
Sam and Dean exchanged a quick, silent conversation. Sam went to deal with the wizards while Dean ducked into the back hallway. The eldest Winchester had faith in Garth's ability to alert the network of Hunters. He probably had more numbers than either he or Sam had, in any case. He debated for a moment on whether to check on Mary or Harry. In a split-second decision, he went with his brother. After all, he was the one with unhealed injuries.
He slipped into Harry's room. He was still asleep or passed out, Dean wasn't entirely sure, in any case, he looked like a hell hound had chewed him up and spat him back out. And having personal experience with that exact thing, Dean winced and sat down next to his bed.
He just needed a moment. And a beer.
But, of course, he couldn't be granted that. The door opened, and Ginny entered before he could stop her. She gasped when she saw Harry on the bed.
"Dear Merlin," she said, covering her mouth with her hand, she rushed to Harry's side. She pulled out her wand to start healing him, completely ignoring Dean.
"Don't," he growled.
"Don't what? Have you seen him?" She demanded. "Actually, you're right. Ernie's a mediwizard, we should get him in here to…"
"No," Dean said. "You can't heal him with magic."
"Dean – he looks like he's about three minutes away from death!" She moved to go out the door, but Dean stood quickly and got in her way.
"This is why we didn't want you to see him," Dean said, knowing that he had to talk fast because the witch would just be able to apparate out, and then they'd have a whole other mess on their hands. "Please, just listen to me," he said with more desperation in his voice than he would have liked.
Ginny folded her arms across her chest but stopped moving.
Dean took a deep breath. "So, here's what happened…"
III
Ted had been expecting torture. He had been expecting to be hit and punched and cut into a million different pieces. But they did none of that.
Instead, he had simply been placed in the cell that he had freed Mary from. He hadn't been here for very long, but food had been shoved into a slot in the door at all the appropriate times. It hadn't even been gruel, it was the same, decent food he had eaten when he was here at the compound. They had taken his wand and put up some sort of warding that prevented him from doing magic of any sort – including changing his appearance.
He would have been bored if he wasn't so worried.
While there were no windows in the room to let him know for sure, based on the meals he had received, he knew it had been several days since he had sent his sort-of grandmother to the Bunker.
Ted expected that Harry and his uncles would have been here within minutes. And if not within minutes, in at least a couple of hours. (He knew that Dean oftentimes insisted on driving instead of apparating to get places.)
But there was no indication whatsoever that a rescue had been attempted. No alarms blared. No explosions. Nothing.
Which was what worried Ted so much. Dread filled him when, after hours of silence, Harry didn't arrive. He couldn't help but think that it meant that he was dead. Again. Maybe he had been for weeks – Ted hadn't heard from him or the Winchesters in a very long time.
It took everything in him not to cry at the thought of losing Harry again. But he knew that he was on video surveillance and he didn't want to give the bastards the satisfaction of seeing him cry. So, instead, he curled himself into as small of a ball as possible – knees pulled up to his chest.
The lock on the door turned green.
Teddy jumped and stood, ready to defend himself.
"At ease, Mr. Lupin," a blond woman with her hair in a tight bun on the back of her head said as she entered. Ted knew her vaguely as one of the operatives – she had been in here the day that he had sprung Mary free. "I've no intention of hurting you," she added calmly. "I'd just like to have a little chat."
"'Bout what?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Many things. But we'll get to that. I am Lady Bevell, and you and I have not had the pleasure of working together. I have, however, been acquainted with some of your friends. Sam Winchester and I share a particularly…close relationship. I was also collaborating with Mary Winchester when you performed your little trick the other day. I have to say, it was quite impressive. Mr. Ketch didn't think you had that in you. But then again, Mr. Ketch doesn't understand the importance of family the way you and I do."
She sat down in a chair in the corner and pulled a pen and notebook out.
"What've you done with Harry?" Ted asked, not liking this woman's tone at all.
"Mr. Potter? Nothing at all. Interesting that you think that we had done anything. Care to elaborate?"
Ted did not. "You must've done something," he said, clenching his jaw. "Where is he? Where are Sam and Dean?"
"Our sources tell us that all three are currently at the Men of Letter's Bunker in Kansas. Unfortunately, they seem to have devised some sort of warding that keeps us out of our own clubhouse, so to speak. I'd love to know if you know anything about that."
Relief rushed over Ted. That meant Harry was alive. It didn't explain why he wasn't here, but as long as Harry was alive, there was hope.
"Don't know anything," he responded.
"Oh, I'm sure you know something of use," Lady Bevell said lightly. "Although I do see that warding isn't a topic of any particular study that you've done. Never you mind, we'll figure it out. Right now, I am more interested in the inner workings of your Aunt Hermione's administration. Who you've seen her with. What you might have observed over the years? No detail is too small." She clicked her pen.
Ted shrugged. "I'm not interested in politics," he said, trying not to betray how nervous he was.
"Hmm," the woman said. "Well, I was hoping that this conversation would be easy. I thought I'd give you the opportunity to cooperate. But it appears that you are forcing my hand." She pulled out her phone and pushed a couple of buttons before holding it out for Ted to see.
The screen showed muted security camera footage. It was a cell much like this one. But there was no bed. In the middle there was a chair and tied to that chair was…
"Claire," Ted croaked. There was a large bruise on the side of her face and was struggling against her bonds.
"Yes. Our directive has been to kill all American hunters, but we've spared Ms. Novak. For now. We will need to eliminate her as well, but based on the information you gave us, that could either be quick and merciful or long and painful. If it's good enough you may even be able to convince the Old Men to spare her. So. I'll ask again. I need to know about the warding on the Bunker as well as who your aunt has contact with. Of course, I have more questions to follow, but we'll start there."
She looked at him eagerly.
He swallowed. And started to speak. He would have to think later. He didn't know how but he was determined. He was going to need to get both himself and Claire out of this.
III
"I'm just saying, this looks like a lot," Kelly said to Castiel, as the boxes magically appeared in the room. She would have liked to have gone to the store to pick this out, but they had been on house arrest since they had arrived.
It was beautiful here, so she didn't mind much. And Castiel, while awkward, was a much better roommate than Gabriel had been. She was even beginning to consider him a friend.
"I disagree," Cas said. "I have read 74 books on child-rearing, and there is one thing they all agree on – everybody poops."
"Well, you're not wrong."
Kelly clutched her stomach and held a hand out, which Castiel caught. He looked at her with concern.
"I'm fine. I'm…I'm fine," she said.
"Let me get you to a chair," Castiel responded, guiding her out of the front hallway and into the kitchen. Unseen by them, her hand left behind golden, glowing energy in the air, which floated out of the front door.
III
"Here's a map of the layout of the British Men of Letter's compound," Sam said to the group, rolling out a large blueprint for them all to see. Luna cast a quick spell so that the images from the paper floated in the air to make it easier. Sam gave her a grateful nod. "They are probably expecting someone to come – they would be foolish not to, but they can't possibly know who we have at our disposal."
"And who exactly do you think that is?" Malfoy asked with only a slight sneer. "We're not soldiers. When is the last time most of you even had to cast any defensive magic?"
"Oi, we took out your nasty lot when we were only teenagers," Seamus countered. "We may be a bit out of practice, but we're still Dumbledore's Army."
There were general whoops of approval from the group.
Sam frowned. "Listen up," he said sharply, everyone turned their attention back to him. "Malfoy has a point – you haven't been trained to go against this particular enemy. But…" he hesitated for a second not wanting to outright lie to these people right before battle, but also wanting to get the best out of them, "we're going to prepare the best we can. I don't want any of you to think that this is without danger. This won't be easy – they have weapons that can destroy magic."
Whispers broke out among the group and Sam had to shout to get their attention back on him.
"We'll talk through it all. Strategize before we leave, but Harry…" he hesitated for one second as all the noise in the room seemed to vanish at the mentioning of his name, "Harry believed in all of you. I know that you fought by his side and I know that he would be honored that you are here now to help Teddy. To help Dean and me. Harry wanted to destroy the Men of Letters before he died and by helping us today we are achieving what he didn't have the chance to do," Sam finished his little speech, hoping that he wasn't laying it on too thick.
"Here, here!" Neville cried out. Everyone agreed. Ginny gave Sam a small nod of approval and he breathed a little easier.
"Alright, so I know what some of you are capable of, but not all. I think we're going to need to divide into teams and…"
They strategized deep into the night. Finally, they had a plan and Sam thought it was a pretty damn good one. He went to bed feeling the most hope he had in a long time. Harry was on the mend. Kelly and the baby were safe for the time being. Mary was safe. Tomorrow, they would take down the British Men of Letters once and for all.
III
It had been a day since the Bunker had been invaded by witches and wizards.
Dean hated it.
Sam was in his element.
"I think we're ready to roll out," he said to Dean, having found him hiding in Harry's room. They had decided not to make Harry's presence known. It was just too much to add on top of the fact that they were about to illegally topple a government agency. (They had actually spoken with Hermione and she was quickly working to make their actions legal but they were hardly waiting for a warrant to start.)
Dean looked up from where he was sitting next to Harry's bed. He had basically been vacillating between his mother and brother's room. Sam wasn't sure if he had slept in his own bed at all, instead just snoozing on and off in one chair or another.
"I'm not going, man," Dean said.
"What?" Sam was caught completely off guard.
"Someone's gotta stay here with Mom and Harry," he said. "Mom could wake up any second and Harry's only been lucid for a couple of minutes."
"We were going to ask Charlie and Ginny to stay here with them, remember?"
Dean snorted. "There's no way that Charlie will agree to that if Luna is going. Ginny might not either – she's pretty anxious to get to Teddy. Plus, Mom doesn't really know either one of them and I think it would be best for there to be a familiar face here when they wake up. You've got Harry's personal army behind you and I can't think of a single damn person better to lead them through this than you."
"Dean – we should be in and out of there before either of them are fully back up and running. Come on, I'd take Dean Winchester over any witch or wizard alive."
"Yeah," Dean said. "I saw you with them. You're ready for this. You show those sons of bitches who's boss."
Sam nods. He could respect Dean's decision even if he thought they'd be better off with them.
The two of them walked out to the war room, where everyone was waiting.
"Alright. We're ready. Everyone knows where we're apparating to?" Sam asked, clear authority in his voice.
Everyone gave affirmative nods.
"Don't forget that they have weapons that destroy magic. Make sure to keep your wards up and be alert at all times. Luna – are you taking Charlie?"
"Yes, Sam," she said.
"Jody?" He asked the short-haired woman.
"George is taking me," she said. Although she was pretty suspicious of this whole endeavor of magic. But there was no way she wasn't going when her kid was on the line.
Sam turned to Dean to give him one last goodbye.
"You got this," Dean said quietly to him. "Come here," he quickly gave his youngest brother a hug. "You come back," he said, the order clear in his voice.
"Promise," Sam said.
This had all gotten too sentimental for Dean's taste. "Bitch," he said.
"Jerk," Sam happily completed.
"Yeah."
Sam gave the signal and everyone apparated out.
III
Finding Lucifer wasn't difficult. That was likely because he wasn't trying to hide. At least not from Gabriel. The Devil was sitting on a park bench several states over from where Crowley had been holding him.
"I see you escaped," Gabriel said. He approached the bench.
Lucifer gave him a passing glance. "Hmm. Yeah. Thanks for the help, by the way," he said sarcastically, but otherwise didn't make any threatening movements towards his younger brother.
Gabriel sat down on the bench next to him not looking threatened or scared in the least.
"What now?"
"Well, I killed Crowley," Lucifer said as if he were describing a tv show that he was watching. "And that witch is next. Then, I'm going to go get my son. He'll be here soon. I understand that you got your little pet back. Asmodeus was always a disappointment to me. You know, I promised him quite the reward for being able to hold onto your freak. Of course, I've punished him for letting him slip out of his grasp."
Gabriel couldn't help but feel a little smug. He had told Rowena that she wasn't safe – and she hadn't believed him. That made his little subterfuge with her less of a dick move. Lucifer was going to have targeted her in any case. That would make this all easier to explain to Harry later.
"Ah, is that why I haven't been able to find him?"
Lucifer tilted his head slightly. "I think maybe you're just losing it, brother."
"You still don't know where Kelly is," Gabriel shot back.
"True. But that won't take me long. I can feel my son. Can't you? His power – it's beautiful. You know, we don't have to be enemies. I'm not Michael. It's not my way or the highway. You and I could come up with some sort of arrangement. I'll let you keep your pet. When my son and I take Heaven down, I'll even help the two of you find yourselves to your precious wizard heaven. No additional cost."
Gabriel scoffed. "How generous," he said, not buying the offer in the least.
"I thought so," Lucifer said, sincerely. "You should take me up on it. It's the best deal you're going to get."
"You know, I think that I'll take my chances," Gabriel said.
"Have it your way then, don't say I didn't try," Lucifer said, sadness in his voice. He snapped his finger. The illusion of Gabriel that had been sitting next to him on the bench disappeared and the one about to perform a ritual on the Devil right behind them, stood stock still while his windpipe started to be crushed.
Next to him, Rowena had been chanting.
Lucifer quickly flew behind her and snapped her neck.
"No!" Gabriel was just able to get out through his closing airways. With another snap of his finger, Rowena was on fire, her remains quickly catching and turning black.
Before Gabriel had the chance to fight back any further, he found himself in the very same chains that had been holding Harry for weeks. He fell to the ground when Lucifer let go of his throat.
"Let's see how you like being in a cage, for once, brother," Lucifer said. "You see, I helped Asmodeus build his little dungeon. It was always meant to hold you, not him. I will afford you the same mercy that was shown to me. See how you like it. Maybe in a few millennia, your loyal followers will break you out. Or not – I might just wipe out the entire wizarding population. We'll see how I'm feeling about it when it comes time to decide. Asmodeus?" He said, indicating to his hidden minion.
"Yes, father," the demon said, stepping out of the shadows.
"This is your last chance. Do not disobey me this time. I think you know the consequences of failing again."
Asmodeus gulped. "I do, sire," he said.
"Good," Lucifer said. He gave him an impatient look. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
"Oh, right, thank you father," he said with the utmost reverence.
"Wait," Lucifer said.
Asmodeus waited.
"Don't touch his grace," Lucifer commanded. "In fact, that's your punishment for losing his monster. No torture. Take him to Limbo, lock him up tight, and then let him stew in his own juices. Maybe replay some of your favorite Harry torture moments for him. But that's it."
Asmodeus scowled and left.
Lucifer smiled cruelly. That was easier than he thought it would be. Gabriel had always been the most pathetic of the archangels. Now nothing stood between him and his son.
III
The Bunker was quiet when the wizarding contingent left. Dean far preferred it but the silence was still a bit unnerving. There really wasn't much that he could do for either his mother or brother until they woke up. But Dean was a man of action and sitting around made him crazy, especially when Sam had placed himself in harm's way and there was nothing to be done.
With all his nervous energy, he cleaned. The wizards hadn't left much of a mess, but just the fact that there had been other people in his space made him want to scrub the whole place down with bleach.
When there was nothing left to clean, he moved on to cooking. Harry would be more or less human when he woke up and he would need food. Dean's repertoire didn't go much past grilling burgers and making some halfway decent scrambled eggs and bacon, so he set to work on those things.
"Smells good," a voice came over his shoulder.
Dean jumped.
"Mom!" He exclaimed. "You're awake."
"Yeah," she said rubbing her head. "I – I feel like someone hit me on the head with a mallet."
"That sounds about right," he ushered her into a seat at the kitchen table. "How are you feeling?"
"Other than this killer headache, mostly fine. What happened? Last I remember, I was in the British Men of Letter's compound and…" She looked up with big eyes. "Teddy!"
"Yeah, Sam's on his way to rescue him now. What happened?"
Mary was shaking, memories surfacing, but they were vague. "They – they're killing hunters, Dean. We've got to…"
"Don't worry about that," he said, a little more harshly than he would have liked to. "Sam got a crew together. We got the word out on the grapevine for Hunters to go underground for a bit. Mom, I need you to tell me more about what they did to you."
"I'm…"
"'Cause, we haven't heard from you in weeks. You just disappeared!" Dean interrupted, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. "We needed you."
"I know, it's just that…"
"We left you messages! Texts. Everything. Harry was taken and tortured and we couldn't even get you to answer your phone long enough to ask for help or to let you know."
"Henry what?" She asked. "Is he ok?" She asked with urgency.
"No," Dean said, not caring to elaborate. "None of us are."
"Where is he?" She asked desperately.
Dean glared. "Oh, now you decide to care? He's here. Recovering – probably, it's a little unclear."
"But can't he just…heal himself?" When he didn't respond, Mary continued on, "or couldn't you call Gabriel?"
Dean sighed. He realized that he wasn't going to get away without telling Mary the whole story. And as much as he wanted to press her on details, he had a feeling like he wasn't going to get them so easily. So, with gritted teeth, he gave Mary the quick and dirty of what had happened with Harry and Asmodeus.
"I need to see him," she demanded.
Dean repressed an eye-roll, made sure the stove was shut off and led her into Harry's room.
She rushed to his side. "He looks terrible," she mumbled.
"Yeah. That's what happens when you get kidnapped and tortured for a couple of weeks," Dean said dryly.
She brushed her fingers over the bruises the shackles had left on his wrists. "Have you disinfected his wounds?" She asked.
"Of course," Dean said. "And put splints on his broken fingers, given him pain meds for his broken ribs, and we just took him off the IV drip to help him recover from severe dehydration. We've done everything we can for him. All the Muggle things, at least."
"Why is he still asleep?"
"I'm not," Harry said drowsily, opening one eye. "Mom?" He asked as he saw her blurry outline.
She smiled weakly at him and took hold of his hand.
"You ok?" He asked.
She made a noise somewhere between a sob and a laugh. "I don't think that you're the one that should be asking that," she said.
Harry started to squirm as if he was trying to sit up.
"Uh uh, man," Dean said, putting a hand on his shoulder to gently push him back down. "Not so fast."
"Dean…"
"No," Dean said with all the authority of being the oldest. "You pulled some stupid shit back there. You're on bed rest for the foreseeable future."
"But Sam needed…"
"Sam needs you to stay alive," Dean cut him off. "You couldn't have done anything anyway."
"He ok?"
"Yeah, dude. Your boyfriend healed him, he's right as rain," Dean said.
Harry relaxed and stopped trying to get up. "Good," he said, ignoring the boyfriend jab. His eyes fluttered a bit.
"Get some sleep, man," Dean said.
"But…"
"Don't make me call Molly," he threatened lightly. Ginny had given him an entire lecture and lesson on how to take care of Harry while he was sick before she had left with Sam. And it was more than an empty threat – Dean was very tempted to get the Weasley matriarch stateside as she seemed to be the only one that Harry would listen to when he was sick. It worked as Harry shuddered a little bit.
"No, don't…"
"Then rest," Dean ordered.
"Fine, fine," Harry grumbled, closing his eyes. He was out in seconds.
Mary was still holding his hand, silent tears falling down her face.
"Come on, Mom," Dean said, trying to gently lead her out of the room.
"I should…I should stay in here with him," she said, not able to tear her gaze away from her injured son. "In case he needs anything."
Dean gritted his teeth. He understood a stalling tactic when he saw one. And the childish part of his brain felt that she was choosing Harry over Dean at this moment. Which stung something fierce.
"Whatever," Dean said and he quickly and quietly left the room. He needed to find a wall to punch.
III
Castiel noticed the glowing golden light when he stepped outside to check on the wards. He tilted his head slightly in confusion as he stared at the rift. Clutching his angel blade in his hand, he walked through.
It was a land unlike any he had ever seen before. It was warm – uncomfortably so for a human, but it didn't phase Castiel much. For a second, it almost felt like Purgatory, but it was different here.
The land was very green – a tropical forest if the angel wasn't mistaken. The vegetation crept and crawled along a forest floor and the humidity was so palpable that Castiel felt like he could drink the air. His clothes stuck to his skin as if someone had pasted them to his vessel's skin.
Castiel didn't like it.
He turned to leave, seeing no sign of life. But, while he had been observing his surroundings, he had failed to notice that he was being snuck up on. Between him and the rift that had opened the door to this land was a man. His face was covered with a handkerchief but there was something familiar about his stance.
Castiel held his hands up but was ready to attack if need be.
"Castiel?" The man asked.
Castiel blinked. The man removed his face coverings.
If Castiel had been human, he would have gasped. But, instead, he just stared, having no idea how this man had gotten there.
"You."
III
Doctor Hess looked up as the alarms around her started to blare. She couldn't believe it – first, their legislation in the Wizengamot was being thoroughly dismantled, and now this. "What is happening out there?" She demanded.
"Perimeter's breached," an aide said.
She sees Sam Winchester with his gun out taking out a guard at the base door.
"Hunters," she spat.
"No, ma'am," she was corrected. The Headmistress didn't like to be corrected. "Witches and wizards," the now terrified young woman said.
Doctor Hess did her best not to show her surprise. "Gentlemen, ladies, you know what to do," she said, hoping that was true.
III
"Clear," Sam said as he looked around a corner, gun out. He had his wand too, of course, but he highly doubted that Mick had told his secret to the Men of Letters.
In his unit, he had Ginny, Draco, Neville, and Charlie.
The five of them were headed to try and save Teddy while others were focused on subduing the rest of the British Men of Letters. Sam had been prepared to kill them all but had been talked down from that since they had a way of knocking them out and taking them back to England to face charges. The British equivalent of a search warrant had come through only seconds before they breached the gates.
Charlie swiftly moved to position herself in the front, with Draco right behind him and Neville and Ginny pulling up the rear.
Out of a side door that none of them had spotted came several operatives who aimed a black device at them.
"Duck and cover!" Charlie yelled out, taking the full force of the weapon. As soon as it was done deploying, Sam shot one of the men while Draco landed a well-cast stunning spell on the other.
"Thanks, Charlie," Sam said.
"No problem. Never been happier to be a Muggle in my life."
Gingerly, she picked up the weapon, pulled out a pen knife, and started crossing through the sigils drawn on it. "Should be good now."
Sam nodded made some hand gestures and led the group forward.
It didn't take them long to get to the door that held Teddy.
Doing some quick work on the computer outside the door, Charlie got the door unlocked and they all barged in, prepared for the worst.
"Teddy!" Ginny called out as she ran into the room. The young man was sitting on what probably passed as a bed in the room – his hair mousey brown and his knees drawn up to his chest.
"Aunt Ginny?"
Ginny surged forward and pulled him into a hug before examining him closely. "Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"
"I'm fine," he said, returning the hug. "I thought – where's Harry?" He asked glancing behind his aunt and not seeing his godfather.
"Harry?" Neville asked, looking really concerned. Sam silently cursed to himself. "Teddy, you know that…" He stopped talking, noticing the pained expressions on everyone else's faces. "Ginny, what…"
Teddy winced. "Sorry," he muttered.
"Not now, Neville," Sam said. "We'll explain later."
"Later? Are you fucking kidding me? You're telling me that Harry…"
"Later, Neville," Ginny said. "We have to stick to the plan. And the plan is for you to take Teddy back to the Bunker while we finish up here."
"Wait, no!" Teddy protested. "I can help!"
"You cannot help," Sam said sternly. "Neville, please…"
"No! But they've got Claire!" That got Sam's attention.
"Claire?"
"Yeah. They have her in one of the other cells, and said that they were going to kill her! You have to get her. You have to let me help, because if they hurt her because of me…"
"We'll handle it, Ted," Sam said, nodding at Neville one more time. Neville looked torn.
"Now, Longbottom," Ginny ordered.
Neville went, taking Teddy with him.
"Well, that's going to be fun later…" Sam said.
"It'll be fine," Ginny snapped. "Who's Claire?"
"She's…it's complicated. I gotta let Jody know," Sam looked to Charlie, who threw him a walkie-talkie. "Come in, Jody," he said speaking into it.
"Go for Jody," she responded.
"What's your 20?"
"Approaching command center."
"Claire's here. Being kept in a cell. Could be hurt."
There was swearing on the other end. "Roger that, on my way. Jody out."
III
Castiel returned to Earth through the portal that the Nephilim must have opened. The man he had met had insisted on trying to come back with him, but to Cas's relief, he had been unable to do so. It wasn't just that he had no idea what would have happened if it had been tried, but it also meant that it was unlikely that others who lived in that cursed dimension would be able to come to the mortal plane. With everything going on they certainly didn't have time for that.
He heard cries coming from inside the house. He ran.
III
Never in a million years did Jody think that she would find herself storming a secret headquarters of foreign governmental officials with a bunch of witches and wizards to save her adopted daughter. She wondered what Bobby would have thought of this rag-tag group. He'd probably say they were all idjits and then join in on the chaos.
They were a good group though – all of them. From the little that Jody knew of Harry, she knew that this shouldn't be a surprise. They had split up into five groups. Hers included: Justin, who had previously been a liaison to the British Men of Letters; Luna who had previously infiltrated the base before; and George and Angelina, a husband-and-wife combo. She had spent the most amount of time with this particular group so that they could get to know each other before going into battle and even from those brief hours she felt like she could depend on each and every one of them.
She took the lead – as a Muggle, none of the magic-destroying devices would do anything to her and she wore a bullet-proof vest. Additionally, she was told that she had been warded against gunshots in general, which she found hard to believe until she had been shot at. It had been a headshot and, without the extra warding, she would be dead. Instead, she just had a bruise on her forehead and a little bit of a headache.
"Do we know where they hold prisoners?" She asked the group tensely.
"Should be up this corridor and to the left," Luna said.
"Shouldn't we go straight for the Headmistress?" Justin asked, sounding worried.
"My kid's in trouble," Jody said sharply.
"Of course, we'll go to her," Angelina said, the only other mother in the group. "Justin – send a Patronus to the backup team. We have a rescue mission to complete that is far more important than Joanne Hess."
Justin didn't dare disagree with the commanding woman and Jody found herself grateful.
She sharply turned a corner and was relieved to see no one.
They heard yelling.
Loud, swearing, angry, yelling.
"She's got to be in here," Jody said, recognizing Claire's voice.
Luna quickly did a spell to unlock the door. Jody came crashing in, only to have to quickly dodge a chair that was thrown at her.
"TAKE THAT YOU JACKASS – Jody?"
"Claire!" Jody said, rushing forward to pull the young woman into a hug. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"
"How'd you know…what are you…what's happening?"
"No time, Claire," Jody quickly pulled away and looked the girl that she regarded as a daughter over. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine," she said. "Let me help you."
"Absolutely not," Jody said.
"Jody, these…"
"Justin, would you take her to medical?" Jody asked, cutting Claire off. The girl was covered in bruises and abrasions."
"Who's Justin?" Claire asked angrily.
"He's a friend," Jody said. "A wizard," she said further.
"What's a wizard?" Claire asked all-too-innocently.
"No time for your crap, Claire," Jody said. "Justin?"
"Yes, ma'am, taking her now," he quickly put a hand on her shoulder and apparated them both out to where Ernie was standing by ready to give medical care to anyone who was hurt.
Jody breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright, let's go get this bitch."
III
Sam rounded a corner again and headed to their ultimate target. Just as he did, he heard movement from a hallway to the left and aimed his gun.
"Woah, it's me," Jody said, her gun also drawn.
Sam relaxed. "Claire?"
"Justin took her to medical," she said shortly.
"The Headmistress is in there," Luna said, pointing to the door that led to the main gathering place of the British Men of Letters.
Sam was ready to surge forward, but Jody took the lead in busting down the door with sheer physical strength.
"Whatever it takes – open a portal." Doctor Hess was saying in desperation. "Just get me the hell out of here," she was talking to people over a computer monitor.
"I'm afraid that we don't have the – " The voice stopped talking and there were shouts in the background.
Upon seeing the group entering the room, Doctor Hess went to reach for a gun on the table.
"Don't!" Sam shouted, pointing his own gun. "Don't."
"Listen, Dean – "
"I'm Sam," he corrected. "And you must be Hess, I trust. You're in charge of this whole operation? Or, rather, what's left of it?"
Hess stood there with her arms up a little. "Sam, you might think it in your best interest to kill me, to end all of this here," she said.
Sam shrugged.
She continued to talk to try and convince him to not kill her, "But shooting me now, severing all ties with the British Men of Letters, at this particular moment, that would be a grievous mistake."
"I doubt it," Sam said.
Doctor Hess walked slowly to get a folder off of the table. "There are reasons to reconsider. Things you don't know." She dropped the folder in front of him.
"What are these?" He asked.
"Lucifer is back."
Sam didn't react. He already knew that, but let her keep talking.
"Yes, Sam. All thanks to your good friend Crowley. Not that it did him much good. Crowley's dead."
Sam looked up in disbelief. He hadn't known that.
"And the Devil is out looking for his son, following in his mother's footsteps, tracking her and your friend the angel. If Lucifer gets his hands on that child, they'll be unstoppable. You can't face that alone. You need us."
"Mr. Winchester?" Came a voice over the monitor. Sam stiffened.
"Yes?"
"This is Head Auror Oliphant of the United Kingdom. We have successfully arrested or eliminated all the Men of Letters high command here in Britain. You've been deputized by Minister Granger-Weasley to do the same," he said.
"Understood," he said after considering for a second.
"Sam…" Doctor Hess pleaded.
"Pass," he said in response to her pleas.
"You bastard," she said, grabbing a gun off the table and aiming it at Sam. Seeing this, Jody acted quickly and shot the Headmistress in the head. The older woman dropped, leaving a trail of blood on the wall.
"Wicked," George said, in the background.
"Let's get out of here," Sam said grimly. "Fallback!" He ordered.
They didn't need to be told twice.
III
Ketch watched from a distance as the Headquarters of the British Men of Letters in the United States blew up and burned down.
'Pity,' he thought to himself. He, of course, had orders to infiltrate the Bunker with the information provided by Mr. Lupin while the young man had made an effort to save his young friend. Ketch had been looking forward to taking Dean Winchester off the board. But he knew when to give it up and cut his losses. He recognized that this was the end of the organization to which he had dedicated his life.
'Oceans rise and empires fall,' he thought. And he'd ride the tide of this one. Time to go underground. For a bit, at least.
III
Honestly, people just appearing in his space didn't even phase Dean anymore. First, it was the angels, then the wizards.
He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. "Teddy, get over here, kid," he said, going over to gather his nephew in a hug.
"Ted," Teddy corrected. He was tempted to squirm out of the hug, but it was brief and he was just so relieved. He was worried about Claire, of course.
"Whatever." Dean released him from the hug.
"Where's Harry?" Teddy immediately asked.
Dean did a quick, panicked look up to Neville, "Uh – what are you talking about kiddo?"
"Don't bother," Neville said with not just a little bit of bitterness in his voice. "I've heard. And I would also like to know where he is. And why Malfoy knew about him before me." That part particularly bothered him.
"He's in his room, but…"
Before Dean could stop Teddy, he was dashing out of the room. Neville was close at his heels once he realized where the young man was going. Dean swore and ran after them.
Thankfully, he was quick and was able to wrestle his way to standing in front of the door before Teddy or Neville could crash in.
"Wait!" He said, throwing his arms out. "Don't…"
"Come on, Dean," Ted pleaded. "I want to know why he hasn't answered my phone calls or prayers for weeks! I think that he owes me…"
"He don't owe you shit," Dean growled. "And he wouldn't want you to see him the way that he is now. Go back to the library."
"What way is he now?" Neville asked, catching on immediately.
"I'll tell you. If you go back to the library," Dean said stubbornly.
"Come on, mate," Neville pleaded. "He's been gone for five years. I've missed him – please, let me just…"
"No. Later. If he agrees to it." Dean gave them both a stare-down. They were at a standstill for several minutes before Teddy finally backed down. He could tell that something was seriously wrong and he just wanted to know what.
"Fine, come on, Professor," he said to Neville, who looked like he was debating on whether he could magic his way through Dean without getting shot.
The two of them headed back out to the library. Dean quickly opened the door to the room. Mary was standing right inside the door, gun in hand, looking freaked out from the arguing that had been occurring outside.
"Everything alright?" She asked, lowering her gun when she saw it was Dean.
"Yeah. One of Harry's friends just found out he was alive. I have a feeling that a whole lot more shortly. So, be prepared."
"Did I hear Teddy?"
Dean nodded. "Yeah. He's anxious to see him. But I didn't think that Harry'd want him to see…" he gestured generally at the state of his brother on the bed. He was still pale and covered in injuries.
"Agreed," Mary said. "I'll keep watch."
"Thanks, Mom," Dean said before leaving to go and join Neville and Teddy.
"But why didn't he want to see us?" Neville was asking Teddy when he got to them in the library.
"I don't know!" Teddy said. "It didn't make any sense to me, but you know what he's like when he's determined. And I was just so damn happy…"
They stopped talking when they registered that Dean was back in the room.
"What's going with Harry, Dean?" Teddy asked immediately.
Dean sighed heavily. "You might want to sit down for this…"
III
"You alright, Claire?" Sam asked pulling the young woman aside.
She huffed. "Yeah. Miracle Max over there fixed me up," she said indicating to Ernie who had turned his medical attention to the other minor injuries that occurred during their invasion of the British Men of Letters compound.
Sam couldn't help but quirk a smile at that. "I see you've been taking Dean's movie recommendations."
"Whatever, dude, the Princess Bride is a classic."
"He'll be glad to hear you say that," Sam said.
"Anyway, I was surprised, I thought it'd be a little too chick flick for him."
"There are pirates," Sam responded. "As long as their pirates it can't be a chick flick, or, at least, that's what Dean claims."
Claire snorted. "What a dork."
Sam didn't disagree.
"Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"You're really ok with this whole…magic business? You're sure that they aren't selling their souls to demons?"
Sam clapped her on the shoulder. "Yeah. Pretty sure," he said, pulling out his own wand.
Claire's eyes got wide. "Really? You too?"
Sam shrugged. "It runs in the family, I guess."
"Dean?"
"No. Not him. Look, sometime I'll tell you the whole story, but it looks like Jody would really like to get you home."
Jody was, in fact, lurking in the background of their little moment. Claire sighed and waved her over.
"You gonna yell at me?" She asked.
Jody shook her head and pulled her into a hug. "You bet your ass I am. But not now. I'm just relieved that you're alright. How'd you get mixed up in all of this anyway?"
"They jumped me," Claire said, full of resentment. "I was just having breakfast at the motel and bam, next thing I know, I'm locked up in there with those British assholes and… I'm sorry Jody."
"Not your fault, kid. Let's get you home."
"But Teddy…"
"I'll be sure to send Teddy your way soon," Sam said. "Now that this whole nightmare is over, he's a free agent again."
"Alright," Claire conceded. "But you tell that little twerp to call me."
Sam smiled and nodded.
"Thanks," Jody mouthed over Claire's head to Sam. She ushered her away.
Sam spotted Ginny and Luna talking.
"We all set here?" He asked the two women.
"Yeah," Ginny responded. "I just got off the phone with Ron. Hermione wants us all back in the UK right away to answer questions for an emergency session of the Wizamgamot. Things are a bit of a mess politically, but thankfully, everyone here is highly respected so it should all blow over."
She sounded concerned. But politics were the least of Sam's worries.
"Thank God," Sam said. "I don't know if Dean could handle much more of all of you in the Bunker. He might murder someone. Not that I didn't appreciate the help," he said quickly at the end.
"We understand, Sam, you and Dean are used to just having each other to depend on," Luna said with her usual wisdom. She touched his arm lightly. "But don't forget that you have Harry now. And all of us."
"Yeah, we've got to focus on getting Harry better now," Sam said. Not even adding the additional worry that Lucifer was free and Crowley was dead.
"He's strong," Luna assured Sam.
"I know. I just wish he didn't have to be."
"He's got you and Dean now, he'll be alright, oh look, Charlie wants me…" she walked away. Sam shook his head slightly. He should be used to Luna's idiosyncrasies by now.
Luna's sudden departure left Sam and Ginny alone. Which was always awkward.
"We alright?" Sam asked her.
She folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah. I don't expect you to keep in touch with every detail about Harry, but Ron and Hermione…"
"Go easy on them – it's…it's been a lot."
Ginny glared. "You don't know what it's like. With the three of them. They've always been like this and I thought…I thought that I had earned my way into their little inner circle, but this just proves that I haven't."
Sam decided to tread carefully here. "I think I understand. Some. Growing up – Dean and our dad had a special bond that I never felt quite a part of."
Ginny didn't look convinced but chose not to keep going. Her eyes welled up with tears a little bit, and Sam, unable to handle seeing a friend sad, pulled her into a hug.
"Everything's just been happening so fast. And it's been scary. I'm sure that they were just trying to protect you."
Ginny snorted into his chest before pulling. "Yeah, well, I don't need their protection. They can't see that it's not just the three of them against the world. When Harry and I were together, I at least had a leg to stand on, but now…well. He's still my friend and they should have told me."
"They should have," Sam agreed.
III
Harry had woken a couple of times. Each time had been fleeting and not for more than a couple of minutes. But he did remember that each time his mother had been sitting next to him, holding his hand.
It was…oddly pleasing. And unlike anything he had ever really experienced. Having a parent sitting by his sick bed, ready to comfort him made him feel safe. Which, he realized, as a grown man, might be a little silly.
This time when he woke up, he could tell it was different.
Everything hurt.
He felt…heavy.
And yet, like a weight was lifted as well. He was no longer lying on his wings – they were still there, of course, but they were on a different plane of existence where they could no longer be hurt.
Which was a relief.
He didn't have much time to reflect on that relief, however, because the pain was so prominent and he knew something was wrong. Missing.
"Mom?" He asked again, as he had each time he woke up.
"Right here, Henry," she responded.
"Wha – what happened?"
She shook her head and moved a stray hair on his forehead out of the way. He flinched a little at the touch.
"Sorry," she apologized.
"No, it's ok. I'm sorry," he said, feeling bad for flinching away from his mother, who was not going to hurt him. "I just – is it safe?" He asked.
"Safe?"
Harry glanced around the room. He could see that he was in his room at the Bunker, but still…
"From the demon?" He whispered, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Oh, yes, sweetie. He's gone."
"He hasn't come back?"
She shook her head. "No. No – I think Dean mentioned that they added extra wards. You're safe, Henry. You can relax."
Harry didn't know if he could relax. He took a deep breath. "Everyone's ok?"
Mary nodded. "Yes. Everyone's just fine. You should go back to sleep."
Harry shook his head. "No. No, I think I've done more than enough of that." And while he was still in a great deal of pain, he felt an itch to get out of bed. He sat up. Painfully.
"You really shouldn't be getting out of bed," she said, standing up to try and stop him as he started to make movements to get up.
"I've been here long enough," he said, stubbornly.
"Dean warned me that you were a bad patient," she said.
"Well, Dean's an arsehole," Harry grumbled, swinging his legs over the side so that he could stand up.
"Henry Winchester, if you fall getting out of that bed, I'm not going to help you get back in it," Mary said sternly, using the best 'mom' voice she could conjure.
"I won't fall," he said.
She stood back.
Once his legs were over the side, a sudden dizzy spell came over him. His vision went double and a bit blurry from the effort. Suddenly, the ground felt like it was 50 feet below him, instead of just a couple of inches.
"Ok. Fine. Maybe I would." He moved back into a sitting position.
"You know, your father was always pathetic when he was sick," Mary said happily tucking him back in under the blankets. "Big bad Marine got a cold? It was like his life was over."
"I think this is a little more than a cold…" Harry said.
The levity left Mary's face. "Yeah. I think so. Do you want to talk about it?"
"No," Harry said simply.
"Are you hungry? Thirsty? I could…"
"It's alright, Mom," Harry said. "I'm more interested to hear what's going on out there. Sam got…shot? Did you shoot Sam?" The memories were quickly coming back to him.
She looked down, ashamed. "I – yeah. I wasn't in my right mind," she said.
"He ok?"
"Yeah. More than ok, if Dean is to be believed."
"He's not here?"
"No. He's out on a case."
From her tone of voice, Harry knew that whatever Sam was doing was way more than a case.
There was a light knock on the door. Dean came in without waiting for a response. Although he was carrying a tray with some food and water, he looked surprised to see Harry sitting up.
"Sleepy beauty finally decided to join us with his presence?" He said brightly, happy to see Harry sitting up and looking more alive than he had since he had been rescued.
"Where's Sam, Dean?" Harry asked, not wasting a second.
"He's on his way back now," Dean responded. "He can tell you all about it. But until then – soup's up."
"I'm not hungry," Harry said stubbornly. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"
"Maybe because you've just been tortured by a demon for a couple of weeks and then nearly killed yourself again playing hero again less than 48 hours ago," Dean snapped. "Everything's fine, Harry. You just need to focus on getting better. Let Sam and I handle everything else," he said without the edge to his voice.
Harry knew, for a fact, that everything was not fine. But he had used just about all of his energy talking to Mary and arguing with Dean. He hated it.
"Look, Molly sent over some soup," Dean said, grabbing the tray and bringing it over to Harry. "And she said that it's your favorite. She also threatened me with bodily harm if we ever attempted to give you something out of a can again."
That did pique Harry's interest. But also worried him. "What did you tell her?"
"I didn't tell her anything," Dean said. "I don't think she knows the extent of all of this – she thinks that you're not feeling well. If she knew how bad it would be, I don't think that Chuck himself could keep her out of this Bunker."
Harry laughed lowly at that and accepted the tray of food. He had to admit that knowing it wasn't something that one of his brothers had attempted to make did make things a bit more comforting.
"So, uh, Harry, are you up for visitors?" Dean asked carefully.
Harry put his spoon down.
"Who?" He asked, suspiciously. He assumed that Dean wouldn't ask about Sam.
"Well, Teddy, for one."
"Teddy's here?" Harry asked, concern lacing his voice. "Is he ok? Did the Men of Letters….?"
"He's fine," Dean said quickly. "His contract is broken, too."
Harry felt terrible for not having even thought of his godson since getting back here. "And he still has his magic?"
"Yeah."
"Let me see him," Harry demanded. "I need to be sure that he's alright."
"Alright," Dean went just outside of the door and called out, "Hey, Teddy!"
"Wotcher, Uncle Dean," came a quiet voice just to his left.
"Ah!" Dean called out as Teddy removed the invisibility cloak.
"Give me that," Dean said, snatching the piece of clothing away from the young man and scowling at an obvious attempt that he was making to sneak into the room. "Harry wants to see you."
Teddy didn't need to be told twice, he dashed through the open door. Dean thought he felt something brush against him as he also went back in but he shrugged it off as a trick of his mind.
"Hey, Teddy," Harry said from the bed.
Teddy's face fell. "Harry?" He asked, going closer. This wasn't the first time that Ted was seeing his godfather laid up in a bed, of course, he had grown up around the man, who had managed to land himself in Saint Mungos more often than most. But it had never looked anything like this. He could only see the upper half of Harry's body, but he was as white as a ghost, except for where there were large, purple bruises. His face was sunken in and it was clear that he had lost a ton of weight.
There was a sharp inhalation of breath just behind him, which made everyone look.
Dean swore.
"Who's there," Harry asked, looking like he was ready to get out of bed to try and defend Teddy and everyone else in the room. Mary moved in front of Harry's bed.
"It's ok! It's just me," a disembodied voice came from where the breath had come from. A spell was muttered and Neville Longbottom stood in the room.
"Damnit, Longbottom, I told you…"
"Harry," Neville said, ignoring Dean entirely. Mary was still standing ready to attack.
"It's ok, Mom," Harry said tiredly, sinking back into his sitting position on the bed. "Nev's a friend. Hi, Neville," he said.
"You look terrible!" Neville blurted out.
"I look better than dead, don't I?" Harry said, attempting to make light of the situation. It didn't work. Neville's frown deepened.
"Barely. Harry – we've got to get you to hospital!"
"I'm alright," Harry said. "And, uh, not really up for being moved."
Neville took his wand out. He was a teacher, after all, and knew some basic healing magic to help students who got burns or cuts when handling plants in the greenhouses.
"No!" Dean and Harry yelled out at the same time.
"I told you no magic," Dean said, reminding Neville about the conversation they had just had.
Neville lowered his wand, to everyone's relief.
"I just – I just can't believe you're really here."
"I'm really here," Harry said. "Teddy – how are you? Did you get hurt?" He asked, turning his attention back to his godson who still looked very upset.
"Am…am I hurt? Harry, have you seen yourself?"
Harry frowned. "I'm fine. But you've just escaped the Men of Letters? You are sure that the contact has been voided? They didn't hurt you?"
"I'm fine," Teddy said. "Rowena reversed the bond and I broke it when I got Mary out."
"Come here, let me see you," Harry commanded.
Dean and Mary moved out of the way so that Teddy could approach the bed.
"I was so worried…" Teddy said, close to tears. "You didn't answer your phone or prayers…I thought…" he then actually started crying. He leaned in to hug Harry, who winced in pain as he did, but still encircled his arms around the young man.
"I'm sorry, Teds," Harry said, trying to calm him down.
"Hey, Teddy, why don't you let go of Harry there," Dean said gently, noticing how much pain this was causing his brother.
"Oh," Teddy said, stepping back as if he had been struck. "I'm sorry!"
"It was fine," Harry said, glaring over at Dean who gave him an equally cutting glare back.
"It was not fine," Dean said. "Harry, you've got to…"
"I'm fine, Dean," Harry snapped. "I'm not made of glass."
"Actually…"
"Dean, Mom, Teddy, why don't you give me a moment alone with Neville?" Harry requested, sick of being babied. Also, Neville hadn't stopped giving him a freaked-out look and he wanted to clear the air with his friend.
There was a cacophony of disagreement from everyone he was trying to banish from the room.
It was giving Harry a headache. He looked to the one person who he thought might listen to him and had the ability to get everyone out. "Mom," he said quietly to her. "Please."
Mary had been content to mostly sit and watch over Harry for the last couple of days. Honestly, after what she had just gone through with the British Men of Letters, she had needed the rest almost as much as her son did. And she was hesitant to leave him for even a minute, but the look in his eyes right now – the pleading, well, she had a hard time denying him request that meant far less than this as it was. So, she nodded.
"Hey!" She yelled out. "Everyone shut up."
Dean and Teddy immediately quieted down.
"We're going to let Harry have some time with his friend," she said. "No, Dean," she said before her eldest could voice the protest that was on his face. "He'll be alright." She turned to the friend in question. "You've got ten minutes, and then he needs to go back to sleep," she said sternly. "And if you upset or hurt him in any way, you'll not be leaving this Bunker."
Neville was a war veteran. And Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts. He had just helped take down an evil organization. But he couldn't help but gulp at the pure power and intent behind this woman's words. "Yes, ma'am," he agreed.
She nodded.
"Ted, Dean," she said to the other two in the room. They both grumbled but followed her out.
"That's your mum?" Neville asked.
Harry chuckled. "Yeah. One of them."
Neville sat down hard in the chair that Mary had been occupying before. "I just – I can't believe that you're really here," he repeated because that was all his brain could process. This was Harry. Sure, he looked awful, but it was him. Neville never thought he'd see him again.
Harry nodded. "I know. Look, Neville, I'm sorry…"
"Sorry for what?"
Harry gave him a questioning look. "For dying? For leaving? For coming back and not telling you?"
"Harry, do you think I'm angry with you?"
He blushed. "Well…yeah. Aren't you?"
"No," Neville said simply. "No, I'm amazed. And maybe I shouldn't be. You're you, after all, but Harry this is a miracle. You're a miracle."
If Harry hadn't already been beet red, he would have been now. He also had no idea what to say.
"Dean gave me the basics of what happened," Neville spoke so Harry wouldn't have to, "and you can tell me all about your adventures later, but, I was thinking, for these couple of minutes we have, why don't I catch you up on what's going on in Britain? The fun stuff. Let me tell you, your nieces and nephews have done you proud at Hogwarts."
Harry smiled. Bless Neville. "I'd love that," he said.
"Good. So, I've got to start with that godson of yours…and then I'll move onto the Fred Jr., although I could probably spend hours detailing the trouble he's gotten himself into…"
III
Neville left the Bunker as Sam was returning. He had classes to teach the next day.
After Sam and Teddy debriefed everything that happened with the British Men of Letters, they convinced Teddy to go to bed. Harry had requested time alone, so Mary, Sam, and Dean sat around the kitchen drinking beer.
"How's he doing?" Sam asked.
"He hasn't attempted any self-sacrificing heroics since you left, so I'd say pretty good," Dean responded.
"He's mostly been sleeping," Mary supplied.
"He – uh, hasn't noticed the binding spell?" Sam asked nervously.
"Not yet," Dean said.
"Thank Merlin," Sam said.
Dean glared. "Really, dude?"
Sam shrugged. "It's catchy. And also, we have a bigger problem on our hands now."
"Another one?" Mary asked.
"Yeah," he pulled out the file that Doctor Hess has shown him shortly before her death.
"Ok, so let me just get this straight," Dean said, setting his beer down in frustration. "So…we got Harry back. Kelly is safe. We beat the Brits, we kicked their psycho, tea-swilling asses, and instead of popping champagne and headin' to Vegas, we get Lucifer."
"And you're sure it's him?" Mary asked.
"Yeah," Sam confirmed. "That's his old vessel. We knew that he was out there, but not…out there you know?"
"How is that possible?"
"Crowley, I guess," Sam said.
"And now he's dead."
"Well, that's what Hess said," Dean said. "But Crowley's a freakin' cockroach. I'll believe he's gone when I see the body and burn it."
"We don't need Crowley," Sam said. "We need Gabriel. Or, even better, Rowena. I mean, she's the one who can slam Lucifer back into the Cage."
"Great," Mary said. "So where is she?"
Sam got his phone out to call the witch. The phone clicked on. "Oh, hey, Sammy," Lucifer answered.
III
Crowley navigated himself to where Lucifer had had his minions bury his meat suit. Once he was sure that there was no one around he exited the rat that he had possessed and re-entered his body. With pure, brute strength, he reached his hand up and out of the grave. After that, without the dignity that he would have preferred, he pulled the rest of himself out of the ground.
He stood up and brushed the dirt off his suit. He had a deal to keep. And Gabriel should already be in position.
AN – Ah! We're getting so close now. Next week will be the finale of this arc.
Finally, we get the end of the British Men of Letters. I thought it would be a lot more fun to bring in the DA as opposed to random hunters, but I also didn't want to take Jody's kill away from her.
Also, I hope y'all enjoyed my Hamilton reference. I couldn't resist. AND the musical would have been out by this season of Supernatural. Ketch is just on his game. (Oh dear, now I'm imagining Ketch sneaking off to go watch Broadway shows in his spare time, lol.)
If you've been paying attention, you should know exactly who Cas ran into. It is not the same as canon – I promised no alternative earths and I stand by that. But, if you missed it, I look forward to revealing it to you next week.
Y'all, I like Sam and Ginny so much that I may need to write an entirely different crossover just so that I can get the two of them together. I wasn't even trying to create more between the two of the, but, like all my characters, they do seem to have a will of their own.
Lastly, as always, HUGE thank you to all readers and especially those of you who comment. I love and appreciate all of you and I can't wait for you to see the end of this arc.