It had been over a week since Adam had been taken by Michael. There was no sign of him or Cas anywhere. Dean's biggest regret besides losing them both that night was not making Zachariah restore Mack's voice before he killed him. It was a lot different when she literally was unable to speak instead of just choosing not to speak. They were on the way back to Bobby's in what could only be described as a torrential downpour. Dean could barely see the road through the sheets of rain pouring down from the sky in the dark.
Seemingly out of nowhere, they spotted a hotel off the side of the road. Dean pulled the Impala into the parking lot, parking directly in front of the front doors. Even though they didn't have to travel very far to get inside from the car, all three Winchesters were drenched by the time they entered the building. "Whew," Dean gasped, holding tightly to Mack's hand as they headed to the front desk. "Nice digs, for once. Busy night." He was right, on both counts. This place wasn't one of the normal sleazy motels they were used to staying at. This here was a four-star gold mine, and was packed thanks to the storm outside.
"Any port in a storm, I guess," the front desk attendant, 'Chad', chuckled. "If you could just fill this out please." He handed Dean a clipboard. "Yeah," Dean took it. "Sir, I think... Shaving nick there," Chad pulled out a tissue, handing it to him. "Your key." Dean took both items, dabbing at the spot on his chin Chad had indicated. Sure enough, the tissue came back with a dot of blood, even though Dean knew he hadn't shaved in several days. "Oh. Thanks. Hey, you wouldn't happen to have a coffee shop, would you?"
"Buffet. All you can eat. Best pie in the tri-state area." Dean grinned, "You don't say." Sam and Mack followed him into the buffet hall and Dean immediately b-lined for the dessert table. "You want anything, Kinley?" Sam asked his niece. She shook her head no, chewing on her lip. "Alright." Not wanting anything either, Sam led her over to a table to wait for Dean. He pulled out his phone, frowning when he didn't have any reception. "Sam, unpucker, man. Eat something," Dean said, sitting down across from him. "We should hit the road, Dean."
"In this storm? I- it's-"
"It's Biblical," Sam finished. "Exactly. I- it's friggin' Noah's ark out there, and we're eating pie." Dean gave him a look. "How many hours of sleep did you get this week? What? Three? Four? Bobby's got his feelers out, okay? We have talked to every hoodoo man and root woman in twelve states." Sam scowled, "Yeah, well, I'm not giving up."
"Nobody's giving up," Dean said. "Especially me. We're gonna find a way to beat the devil, okay? Soon. I can feel it. And we will find Cas, we'll find Adam. But you are no good to me burnt out." His eyes flickered over to his daughter sitting beside Sam. She was staring down at her lap, playing with her nails and chewing on her lip. Again, he was hit with a pang of regret. He'd give anything to know what was going on in her head at that moment. "Yeah. Yeah, okay," Sam nodded. "Come on, we've actually got the night off for once. Let's try to enjoy it."
They didn't have the night off. Mr. and Mrs. Logan, a young honeymooning couple in the room next door to theirs, just vanished into thin air. So, Sam and Dean started to investigate after instructing Mack to stay in their room. She didn't. Instead, she started wandering the halls. It seemed Mr. and Mrs. Logan weren't the only guests to have vanished. Nearly all the guests were just gone. Mack heard a noise from around the corner and quickly hid out of sight. She watched as two men dragged her father and uncle past her into the grand ballroom. She waited until the doors had shut behind them to come out.
Swallowing, she looked around, trying to come up with a plan. Hurrying back in the direction of the lobby, she suddenly ran into someone. "Whoa, there, pipsqueak. What's the rush?" She looked up at Gabriel, surprised. "Oh. Zach took your voice, didn't he? Here," he snapped his fingers. "What are you doing here?" she asked him. "Saving you and those idiots you call a dad and uncle. Head back to your room, I'm going to go get them."
"No, I want to go with you," she protested. "No offense, squirt, but it's a bit too dangerous for you to go in there with me. Just go back to the room, alright?" Mack opened her mouth to protest again, but suddenly found herself back in the hotel room. She gave a frustrated huff, but decided to stay put this time. Meanwhile, the doors to the grand ballroom flew open and Gabriel strode in. "Can't we all just get along?" Dean attempted to say his name, but was cut off, choking on the word.
"Sam! Dean... It's always wrong place, worst time with you muttonheads, huh?" Gabriel grinned. "Loki," Baldur, one of several gods seated at the table, greeted Gabe. "Baldur. Good seeing you, too. I guess my invitation got lost in the mail." Baldur glared. "Why are you here?" he demanded. "To talk about the elephant in the room." Ganesh started to stand, indignant. "Not you," Gabe pointed at him. "The apocalypse. We can't stop it, gang. But first things first." He turned to face Sam and Dean once more. "The adults need to have a little conversation. Check you later."
He snapped his fingers, and Sam and Dean landed in their hotel room. "Daddy!" Mack cried, jumping up. "Bug," he hugged her, then looked over at Sam. "Okay. Did that- Holy crap!" Sam shook his head, "Yeah, tell me about it. By the way, next time I say let's keep driving, uh, let's keep driving." Dean nodded, "Okay. Yeah. Next time." Like there would be a next time. "Alright, so what's our next move?"
"I-I-I... I don't know," Dean shrugged. "Grab those poor saps outta the freezer, I guess? Bust 'em out? Gank a few freaks along the way if we're lucky?" Gabe appeared in the room. "And when are you ever lucky?" Dean glared at him, "Well you know what, bite me, Gabriel." Gabriel smirked, "Maybe later, big boy. Though, Cassy might be a little jealous." That earned him an even harder glare from the eldest Winchester. "I should've known. I mean, this had your stink all over it from the jump." Gabriel scoffed. "You think I'm behind this? Please. I'm the Costner to your Houston. I'm here to save your ass."
"You wanna pull us outta the fire?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "Bingo! Those guys are either gonna dust you, or use you as bait. Either way, you're uber boned," Gabe said. "Wow, 'cause a couple months ago you were telling us to 'play our roles'. You're uber boning us!" Gabriel rolled his eyes, "Ohh... the end is still nigh. Michael and Lucifer are gonna dance the lambada, but not tonight. Not here."
"And why do you care?"
"I don't care. But, me and Kali, we, uh," Gabe glanced at Mack then looked back at Dean, "had a thing. Chick was all hands. What can I say? I'm sentimental." Mack wrinkled her nose as Sam piped up. "Do they have a chance? Against Satan?" Dean rounded on his brother incredulously. "Really, Sam?" Sam glared right back at him. "You got a better idea, Dean?" Gabe raised a hand, "It's a bad idea. Lucifer's gonna turn them into finger paint. So let's get going while the going's good, hmm?"
"Okay. Great, why don't you just zap us outta here, then?" Dean suggested. "Would if I could, but Kali's got you by the short and curlies. It's a blood spell. You boys are on a leash." Dean blinked. "What about Mack?" Gabe frowned, "No, not her. Not sure why... Oh, wait."
"What?" Dean demanded. Gabriel gave him a murderous look. "You let Lucifer mark her?!" Dean immediately went on the defensive. "Okay, I didn't let him do anything! Meg took her to him and then he did that! You wanna explain the meaning behind it, because nobody else seems to want to answer that." Gabriel huffed in annoyance, "It's a claim. Lucifer's basically telling all other angels, demons, gods, everyone, to back off because she's his." Dean's blood ran cold. "His?" he hissed. "No. No way. There's got to be a way to override it."
"There's not. If Lucifer wasn't an archangel, then maybe I'd be able to do something, but it's too powerful. As long as she has that mark, he owns her." Mack had begun to hyperventilate while Gabriel explained what the handprint on her arm meant. Dean and Gabriel were too busy arguing, but Sam noticed, kneeling down in front of her. "Kinley? Kinley, it's okay. You need to breathe," he told her gently. "In through your nose, out through your mouth slowly. Come on." Dean and Gabriel had turned, watching Sam coach his niece through the breathing exercises with identical guilty expressions. "In... out... In...out..." Sam told her, also doing it himself so she could match him.
"Alright, what's the plan?" Dean turned back to Gabriel as Mack finally calmed down. "It's time for a little black magic," Gabe grinned, spritzing his mouth with breath spray. "Okay, yeah. Well, whatever. Well, we're gonna take the hors d'oeuvres in the freezer with us," Dean informed him. "Forget it. It's gonna be hard enough sneaking you mooks outta here." Dean glared. "They called you Loki, right? Which means they don't know who you really are?"
"Told you. I'm in witness protection," Gabriel reminded him. "Okay, well then how about you do what we say, or we tell the, uh, legion of doom about your secret identity. They don't seem like a real pro-angel kinda crowd." That earned him another death glare. "I'll take your voices away," he threatened and Mack flinched. "We'll write it down," Dean countered. "I'll cut off your hands," Gabe took it a step further. "Well then, people are gonna be asking, 'Why are you guys running around with no hands?'" The archangel relented, "Fine."
Mack was once again left behind in the hotel room while Gabriel left to distract Kali and Sam and Dean headed off to the kitchen to save the people in the freezer. While they were attempting the rescue, they were dragged back into the ballroom where Gabriel sat in a chair by Kali. "How long have you known?" Gabriel was asking her. "Long enough," Kali glared at him. "How's the rescue going?" Dean quipped earning a cold glare from Gabe. "Well, surprise, surprise," Kali announced, addressing the other gods. "The Trickster has tricked us."
"Kali, don't," Gabriel whispered. "You're mine now," she taunted. "And you have something I want." She reached into his jacket, pulling out his angel blade. "An archangel's blade. From the archangel, Gabriel." She pointed at him with the blade. "Okay, okay! So I got wings, like Kotex. But that doesn't make me any less right about Lucifer." Kali looked at the others, "He's lying. He's a spy." Gabriel shook his head, "I'm not a spy. I'm a runaway. I'm trying to save you. I know my brother, Kali. He should scare the living crap out of you. You can't beat him. I've skipped ahead, seen how this story ends-"
"Your story. Not ours. Westerners, I swear. The sheer arrogance. You think you're the only ones on Earth? You pillage and you butcher in your god's name. But you're not the only religion, and he's not the only god. And now you think you can just rip the planet apart? You're wrong. There are billions of us. And we were here first. If anyone gets to end this world, it's me. I'm sorry." Kali stabbed Gabriel with his own blade, and he screamed, dying in a flash of light. "This is crazy," Mercury muttered. "They can die," Kali murmured, staring at Gabriel's body. "We can kill Lucifer."
"Alright, you primitive screwheads, listen up," Dean said, rising to his feet. "Are you outta your mind?" Sam hissed at him. "I'm outta options," Dean hissed back, then went back to addressing the gods. "Now on any other given day, I'd be doing my damndest to, uh, kill you. You filthy murdering chimps. But, uh, hey, desperate times. So even though I'd love nothing better than to slit your throats, you dicks, I'm gonna help you. I'm going to help you ice the devil. And then we can all get back to ganking each other, like normal. You want Lucifer, well, dude's not in the Yellow Pages. But me and Sam, we can get him here."
"How?" Kali asked. "First you let those main courses go. Then we talk. We can either take on the devil together, or you lame-ass bitches can eat me. Literally."
Mack had snuck out of the room again. As she rounded a corner, she stopped short, frozen in terror. Lucifer, in his failing vessel, was standing over several dead bodies. He looked up, smiling when he spotted her. "There you are, bug-a bee. Was wondering when you'd join me." Mack whimpered, backing up, but he was too fast. "No!" she cried as he latched on to her wrist, dragging her along with him. "Let me go!"
"Oh, suddenly found our confidence, did we?" he smirked down at her. She withered under his gaze and he chuckled sinisterly. They entered the ballroom where Baldur, Kali, Sam and Dean were- the only remaining people besides Mack Lucifer hadn't killed. "Shazzam us outta here, would ya?" Dean was saying, back to Lucifer. "We can't," Baldur said, spotting Lucifer over his shoulder. "Of course you can't," Lucifer grinned and Sam and Dean spun around to face him. "You didn't say, 'Mother, may I?' Sam, Dean, good to see you again." Mack whimpered, trying to pull out of his grip. "Let her go," Dean growled.
"You know, I would, but I don't want to. She's mine, Dean-o, or didn't you hear?" Lucifer tightened his hand around Mack's wrist. "Baldur, don't," Kali warned as he stepped forward. "You think you own the planet? What gives you the right?" Using his free hand, Lucifer stabbed it through Baldur's chest, killing him. "No one gives us the right," he purred, "we take it." He threw Baldur to the ground, and Kali became enraged, engulfing her arms in fire which she flung at Lucifer. Sam and Dean dove for cover behind an overturned table. When the flames died down, no damage had been done to Lucifer's vessel- or Mack, who was still being held captive by him.
Her feet felt glued to the floor as Lucifer released her wrist, hitting Kali with an uppercut to the chin. The goddess went flying. Behind the table, Sam and Dean cowered. "You okay?" Sam asked. "Not really," Gabe answered, appearing beside them. "Better late than never, huh?" He handed Dean a copy of Casa Erotica #13 on DVD. "Guard this with your life." Lucifer was about to stomp on Kali, but was blown back through the doors. Gabriel stood, blade in hand. "Lucy, I'm home. Not this time." He picked up Kali. "Guys, get her outta here."
"Mack-" Dean started. "I'll get her. Just go," Gabriel assured him. Dean seemed hesitant, but Sam tugged on his arm. "Dean-" he urged him. "Over a girl. Gabriel, really?" Lucifer huffed as the Winchesters got Kali out. "I mean, I knew you were slumming, but I hope you didn't catch anything." Beside him, Mack had started to hyperventilate again as she looked back and forth between the two angels. "Lucifer, you're my brother. And I love you. But you are a great big bag of dicks." Lucifer glared, advancing on Gabriel. "Wait, what did you just say to me?" he growled.
"Look at yourself! Boo hoo! Daddy was mean to me, so I'm gonna smash up all his toys," Gabriel taunted. "Watch your tone," Lucifer warned. "Play the victim all you want. But you and me? We know the truth. Dad loved you best. More than Michael, more than me. Then he brought the new baby home, and you couldn't handle it. So this is all just one big temper tantrum. Time to grow up." Lucifer sighed, "Gabriel, if you're doing this for Michael..."
"Screw him. If he were standing here, I'd shiv his ass, too," Gabe scoffed. "You disloyal-" Gabe cut the devil off. "Oh, I'm loyal. To them!" Lucifer shook his head, "Who? These so-called gods?" Gabriel corrected him, "To people, Lucifer. People." Mack glanced around the room, which was burning down thanks to what Kali did earlier. If the angels didn't hurry up, she was going to die here. "So, you're willing to die for a pile of cockroaches," Lucifer stated. "Why?"
"Because Dad was right. They are better than us," Gabriel answered. "They are broken. Flawed! Abortions," Lucifer argued. "Damn right, they're flawed. But a lot of them try. To do better, to forgive. And you should see the Spearmint Rhino! I've been riding the pine a long time. But I'm in the game now, and I'm not on your side, or Michael's. I'm on theirs," Gabe gestured to Mack. "Brother, don't make me do this," Lucifer begged softly. "No one makes us do anything," Gabriel countered. "I know you think you're doing the right thing, Gabriel. But I know where your heart truly lies."
Behind Lucifer, the real Gabriel came up behind him, ready to kill him. However, at the last second, Lucifer turned, catching his arm and stabbing him through with his own blade. "No!" Mack cried out. "Here," Lucifer murmured, ignoring her. "Amateur hocus pocus. Don't forget, you learned all your tricks from me, little brother." Lucifer tugged the blade out, and Gabriel died in a flash of light.
"Alright, bug-a bee," Lucifer turned to face her. "Time to go."
"We gotta go back for her," Dean said, pacing outside the Impala. Against his better judgment, Sam had convinced him to take off without Mack. "We just left her there, with Lucifer/e." Sam leaned against the Impala, watching Dean pace. "Dean, what could we have done? You heard Gabriel. As long as she has that mark, Lucifer owns her. The only way to save her from him is to figure out a way to stop him."
"And how the hell are we supposed to do that, Sam?! We've been looking for months, and have got zip!" Sam swallowed, "Well, what about the DVD? The DVD Gabriel handed to you to take care of?" Dean took it out of his jacket, slapping it against Sam's chest. "Knock yourself out," he growled, going back to pacing. Sam sighed, grabbing his laptop so they could watch the DVD. It started just like every other Casa Erotica movie, except the guy in it was Gabriel wearing a mustache and a service waiter's outfit. "What the hell's going on?" Sam muttered, deeply disturbed by what was happening on screen.
Gabriel suddenly turned to the camera, taking off his mustache and began to speak, breaking the fourth wall of the film. "Sam, Dean. You're probably wondering what the hell is going on. Well, if you're watching this I'm dead."
"Son of a BITCH!" Dean swore, throwing a rock out of frustration. He knew he shouldn't have relied on Gabriel to get Mack away from Lucifer. "Oh, please. Stop sobbing. It's embarrassing for all of us," Gabriel continued on screen. "Without me, you've got zero shot at killing Lucifer, sorry! But you can trap him. The cage you sprung Lucifer from? It's still down there. And maybe, just maybe, you can shove his ass back in. Not that it'll be easy. You gotta get the cage open, trick my bro back into it. And uh, oh yeah, avoid Michael and the God Squad. But, hey, details, right? And here's the big secret, Lucifer himself doesn't even know- the key to the cage? It's out there.
"Actually, it's keys, plural. Four keys, well, four rings. From the Horsemen. You get 'em all, you got the cage. Can't say I'm betting on you boys. But, uh, hey! I've been wrong before. And, Dean. First of all, I'm sorry I couldn't get the pipsqueak back for you. And second of all, you were right. I was afraid to stand up to my brother, but not anymore. This is me, standing up. And this is me, laying down." Sam quickly shut the laptop as Gabriel threw himself back onto the bed and started making love to the woman in the film. Dean was taking some deep breaths, hands on his hips.
"Horsemen, huh?" he asked, trying to focus on something other than the fact that Gabriel was dead and Mack was stuck with Lucifer now. "Well, we got War's. We nicked Famine's. That's two down. Collect all four? All we need is Pestilence and Death." Sam scoffed. "Oh, is that all?" Dean nodded, "It's a plan." Sam nodded, collecting his laptop and heading around to the passenger seat. Dean took one more minute to pull himself together, and then climbed into the car as well.