Chapter Nine
Bonding, Bloodlines, and B****ing, Oh My!
June 14, 2010
Sam frowned as the call went to voicemail again. He sighed in aggravation and tossed his phone on Bobby's desk.
"No luck?" Dean asked from behind a book.
"No. I've tried Crowley and Bobby three times."
"I thought they were going to Iceland, and hiking to a possible holy site?" Castiel asked.
"He's got a point," Dean said. "They might not have service."
"We can't sit here and do nothing. Should I just...start without Crowley?"
Dean frowned at him, and Sam could see his brother weighing the risks.
"Well, if you stick to the list of spells Crowley gave you," Dean sighed, "and keep Cas with you, it should be okay. I don't want that witch trying anything."
"Maybe if we let her out she'll be less...vicious," Castiel awkwardly added.
Sam snorted, glancing toward the basement door. He doubted that, honestly. Rowena was as fierce as the color of her hair. She had no issue expressing her displeasure in new and colorful ways every time one of them went down to talk with her.
"Not it," Dean said as he placed his finger on his nose. Sam glanced at Castiel and scowled when he saw that the angel had finally caught on to his brother's game. The angel had his finger firmly on his nose, and wouldn't meet Sam's eyes.
"Fuck you both," Sam huffed.
"You'll be fine, Samantha. She seems to tolerate you the most," Dean said dismissively.
Sam sighed and headed into the basement. He made enough noise going down the stairs so Rowena heard him coming. When he reached the door, he knocked and waited for the terse 'enter' from the still fuming witch.
"How are you?" Sam politely asked. Rowena sent him a withering look, but her tone was surprisingly civil.
"What do I have to do to get out of here?"
Sam blinked in surprise but quickly responded before the witch could change her mind. "We need help casting a tracking spell."
She raised an eyebrow, frowning skeptically at him. "Is that all?"
"It's...a bit more complicated," Sam admitted. "Every tracking spell Crowley and I have tried has failed. We suspect there are protections in place."
"Many protect against tracking spells," Rowena lectured. "Myself included, which begs the question of how you found me."
"But doesn't that mean there won't be a spell to find the person we're looking for?" Sam asked curiously as he pulled the chair away from the desk to sit across from her.
"There is a spell for everything, giant," she cooly responded. Rowena tilted her head in thought. "Who, or better yet, what are you trying to track?"
Sam hesitated to answer. This was something that had divided the group before tracking down Rowena. He and Castiel felt it was better to be upfront and hopefully find Gabriel quickly. Dean and Crowley were against mentioning anything to Rowena, even if it slowed down their progress.
"Well?" Rowena impatiently prompted. Sam met her piercing gaze and threw caution to the wind. They needed her on board, and that wasn't going to happen without some honesty.
"We're tracking an archangel. Gabriel, to be specific."
The blatant shock on the poise witch's face alone made the honesty worth it. Rowena didn't respond right away and appeared to be deep in thought.
"That is some pray you're hunting, boy," Rowena said quietly, her Scottish twang becoming more apparent. "Even a seasoned witch such as myself would hesitate to go after someone like that."
"Trust me, I wouldn't be bothering with the bastard if we weren't desperate."
"Tell me about this apocalypse," Rowena prompted. "Depending on your answer, I may just help you."
Sam did his best not to let the hope show on his face as he dove into a watered-down version of the last few years. Finally, they were making progress again.
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Iceland: Evening - June 14, 2010
Azrial loved Crowley. She loved him enough to kill or die for him. But Death as her witness, if he complained about the witch he'd helped kidnap one more time…
"...she's absolutely infuriating! How one person can be so condescending is beyond me," Crowley snarled.
Would it be wrong to banish Crowley from the area? Azrial glanced at Bobby who looked as annoyed as she felt, and doubted the hunter would hesitate to boot Crowley back to the United States.
"Crowley, shaddup before I throw holy water at you," Bobby snapped.
"Really Robert?" Crowley pouted. "I thought we were past threats?"
"You sound like a broken record," Azrial added. "We get it, you hate Rowena, but I for one am sick of hearing about it."
"Hear, hear," Bobby muttered.
"I'm just drowning in your support," Crowley sarcastically huffed.
Azrial rolled her eyes, stoking the fire instead of bothering to respond to Crowley. What was his problem? If Azrial didn't know any better, she'd think Rowena was one of Crowley's former lovers. There was too much hate in his voice though, too much anger. None of his liaisons ever inspired that much passion, not even the ones who tried to kill him in the end.
"Azrial?"
She blinked looking up at Bobby, surprised to see the concern in his eyes. "What?" she asked.
"Guessin' you didn't hear my question?" Azrial shook her head, and Bobby hummed. "Do you think this area is cleared?"
"Yeah, there just isn't much here. We can move onto the next section tomorrow."
Her eyes fell back to the fire, but she smiled a bit as she heard Bobby and Crowley beginning to bicker. It was half-hearted, and there was more warmth in the hunter's voice than Bobby probably realized. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better on the hunting front, or at least have fewer complaints about Rowena.
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Bobby's House: Afternoon - June 15, 2010
Castiel watched as Rowena set up for another spell, lecturing sternly to Sam about why they were using certain ingredients. The witch set him on edge, not unlike how Crowley did. It was the darkness in her soul if Castiel had to guess. It set something inside him on edge, something primal, and made him wonder how Azrial could handle being so close to Crowley. Despite his time in Hell, Dean's soul remained bright and vibrant. There were some scars, but it didn't taint the purity or strength of the man's soul. Rowena was a heavy presence, dark but not demonic. Dean let out a frustrated huff as he flipped the page of the book he was reading, effectively breaking Castiel's thoughts.
"No luck?"
"Crowley's right, I don't think the answer lies with magic. Especially since I seem to have no luck with it."
Castiel hummed, tilting his head in agreement. Rowena snorted, and Castiel glanced at the amused witch. "What?" he growled.
"You're taking magic advice from a demon?" she chuckled, setting down the bowl she'd been filing. "Most demons have a very basic understanding of it."
"Crowley's a bit like me," Sam defended halfheartedly. "He had magic before he became a demon."
"Sam," Castiel said. His friend looked at him and Castiel tried to silently convey that he shouldn't say anything else. "You should focus."
"Right," Sam muttered.
"He's right," Rowena said with a wave of her hand. The silver bracelets that surprised her powers caught the light, and Castiel was surprised by how grateful the witch was not to be in chains. Sam had asked Bobby for an alternative, and the hunter had come through. The bracelets looked normal, even rather fancy, but were engraved with some of the heaviest anti-witch wards Castiel had ever seen. While it would allow Rowena to cast tracking spells, she wouldn't be able to attack them with more than a light breeze.
"Should I or-?" Sam haltingly asked. Rowena smirked, gesturing toward the bowl.
"You should be able to manage this one. I'll save my energy for now."
Castiel tried to ignore the ominous feeling that crept up his back at those words. Was it too much to hope this first spell would work and they could be rid of the witch?
Sam's strong voice carried over the room, and the bowl took on a lilac glow. Castiel narrowed his eyes, willing the ingredients to successfully point the way to Gabriel. The lilac glow flared vibrant purple and then dissipated into a puff of smoke. Castiel growled, biting his tongue as Rowena stared thoughtfully at the bowl.
"Do we have anything of the archangel's?" Rowena asked as she picked up the bowl. She dragged her fingers through the soot left in the silver bowl, and Castiel blinked as magic seemed to jump between her pale fingers. The soft lilac glow was almost identical to the spell Sam had just cast, and Castiel wondered if the witch had been guiding him.
"No," Dean spoke from behind him. "Gabriel wasn't exactly our friend."
"And yet you're hoping he'll help you?" Rowena snorted. "Still, I think we're going to need something stronger. A possession, or better yet blood."
"His blood?" Castiel asked.
"Or his kin," Rowena shrugged. "The spell is going to be disgustingly complicated though, and there is a list of ingredients that I'll need."
"Will my blood suffice?" Castiel tightly asked. The witch eyed him up, and the feeling of discomfort came back tenfold.
"It would be ideal if it was from someone closer, but you should do."
Castiel kept his mouth shut, surprised Sam hadn't mentioned Azrial to the witch. That may be best for now though. If this failed, then they could mention the other archangel.
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Iceland: Midday - June 16, 2010
Bobby held out his hand to Azrial as the archangel gingerly crossed the creek. She grabbed it at the last second, her foot slipping against the rock as she tried to take the final step onto the embankment.
"Thanks, stupid moss," she muttered. Bobby snorted and glanced back to see Crowley, with a surprising amount of grace, making his way across the creek. The same rock that tripped Azrial up had the demon's foot slipping into the water.
"Fuck!" Crowley snarled, and Bobby stared as the demon vaulted onto the embankment and shook his steaming leg.
"What just happened?" Bobby demanded. Azrial was staring between Crowley and the creek, and her eyes were wide as she rushed to the edge of the water.
"The bloody thing burned me!" Crowley snapped. Bobby just stared at him, unsure what to say as Azrial walked up with water cupped in her hands.
"Sorry in advance," she rushed out. Bobby was about to ask why when she tossed the water at him and Crowley. It impacted harmlessly against his chest, but Crowley's cursing got louder.
"What the hell, woman?" Crowley growled, his red eyes boring into Azrial. The archangel wasn't paying him any mind though, rushing upstream.
"We should probably follow her," Bobby said.
"What, so she can throw more holy water at me?" Crowley asked, but still followed after the jogging archangel.
"Was it actually holy water? I mean...it's a creek."
"That's what I'd like to know," the demon muttered. "Normal holy water doesn't affect me like that."
Bobby almost tripped at the nonchalant admission. "It doesn't?"
"It hurts of course," Crowley admitted. "But it doesn't burn like that creek does. It's more of an annoyance than a threat, normally."
He wanted to ask more, but they'd caught up with Azrial who was glaring up at a small waterfall that was blocking them from going further.
"What's going on, princess?" Bobby asked before Crowley could.
"It shouldn't be possible to bless a body of water," the archangel said. "So, that leaves supernatural interference."
"You think we're close then?" Azrial nodded in response and Bobby stared up at the water coming down into the creek. "We'll have to find the source of the creek."
"I think this is it," Azrial admitted, placing her hand under the waterfall and then holding it out to Crowley. "Touch me."
Crowley rolled his eyes but hesitantly touched her hand. He frowned when there was no burn, and then Azrial leaned down, cupping the water at the base of the waterfall. She offered it to Crowley, and the demon placed a finger in it and hissed in pain. He pulled his smoking hand back and glared at the waterfall.
"So the source isn't above it, but level with it," Crowley said. "What are you thinking?"
"That there is a cavern behind the waterfall or a cave system that drains into the creek," Azrial said as she dropped the rest of the blessed water on the ground.
Bobby glanced up at the sun. "It's going to be too cold to try and go through the waterfall soon."
"You obviously haven't had her cold feet on your-" Crowley's sarcastic comment was cut off by a splash of non-blessed water to his face.
"Shut it," she warned. "Do you have a game plan, Bobby?"
"Let's look around a bit more today, and try going through tomorrow when we have more sun. You or I will have to go through first to see if there is a place Crowley can stand."
"Smart idea. Want me to start setting up camp or help you investigate?"
Bobby glanced at Crowley with a smirk. "I better take his highness, or the tent might collapse on us later."
"You're hilarious, pet. Honestly, I'm dying of laughter."
Azrial giggled softly at the demon's put-out tone and started to pull out their gear to set up camp. It looked like tomorrow they'd finally get some answers.
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Vatican: Evening - June 16, 2010
Rowen finished organizing his notes when there was a knock against the open library door.
"Yes?" he asked, not bothering to look up. He wanted to finish quickly so he could go home. Castiel hadn't been able to take him the past few days, and there would only be a short window today that the angel could leave the Winchesters alone.
"Sorry to interrupt, Father Anderson."
Rowen's head snapped up at the familiar voice. "Orion," Rowen paused, shoving one of Bobby's books under the stack. "How can I help you?"
"I'm playing messenger for my sister," the young man said. "Do you have a moment?"
Rowen glanced down at his watch and nodded. "We can talk as I pack up."
"Wonderful," Orion grinned. "Madame Valerius wishes to pass a letter on to our shared acquaintance, Azrial."
The amusement laced through the formal language almost had Rowen accepting before he fully processed the request.
"Your sister knows Azrial?"
"Of course. So, can you pass on the letter?"
Rowen hesitated, but his alarm going off forced his hand. "Of course. I'll give it to her when she and Bobby get back."
"My thanks, Father Anderson. I'm sure Azrial will be happy to get it."
The lawyer handed off a heavy letter with the Valerius coat of arms imprinted on the wax seal. Rowen took it and placed it on top of his books before gently placing them in the bag.
"Oh, and Father?"
"Hm?"
"If you're interested in our family, I suggest a history book on Roman bloodlines. Or just ask Azrial."
Rowen froze, but by the time he looked up again, the lawyer was gone. He sighed and rubbed his temples. "Even when you're not here, Bobby, you cause me problems."
At least the lawyer didn't seem annoyed by their snooping, but who knew how long that would last.
The next update is Saturday, October 16, 2021