Chapter Six

Fair Folk Frolicking

CW: Mentions of Suicide

May 3, 2010

Sam tried to resist the urge to punch his brother. Truly, he did. His fist connected with his brother's stomach before he could stop himself though.

"You're a damn idiot!" Sam snapped as his brother doubled over.

"What the hell, Sam? We are in enough shit without you punching me!"

"Punch him again," Crowley dryly demanded. "Maybe it will knock some sense into his empty head."

"Fuck you, Crowley," Dean grunted as he slowly stood back up.

The bar was eerily quiet around them, but Sam was very aware of the inhuman eyes watching them. This was a disaster, and when they finally found Gabriel he was going to...he didn't even know anymore.

"Castiel, I don't understand what you see in this moron." Crowley's sarcasm was heavy, but under it was a heavy concern. Castiel sighed and shot Dean an annoyed look, but wasn't truly angry. Sam could admit his anger was purely coming from concern at this point, but he could still throttle his brother.

"What can we do to make amends?" Sam finally asked the bar owner. The woman frowned, her deep green eyes flickering ominously in the light.

"Will the demon be taking your brother's place for the evening?" The melodic question made Sam's heart sink.

"What exactly did he do to offend you, dear lady?" Crowley's voice dripped with formality, and not for the first time since this started Sam wished they'd brought the demon in sooner. But no, Dean thought they'd be fine going to an unknown Fae to ask for help with the Gabriel situation. After all, it was just one question.

Then his brother, in pure Dean fashion and not realizing the bartender wasn't human, hit on her. The issue wasn't the flirtation, it was Dean's unwillingness to actually follow through. Once the Fae realized he was bound to another, an angel at that, she'd turned furious. They'd had to call Crowley for help as she was threatening to keep Dean in the bar for the rest of his natural life. It was a damn mess.

"He propositioned me," she flatly informed the demon. "But failed to mention he was deeply bound to another."

"You're a moron, squirrel," Crowley growled and gave an apologetic look to the Fae woman. "I cannot take his place though. Not that you aren't radiant, darling, but I'm as tied up as he is and my partner is far less forgiving."

The Fae seemed to weigh his response and huffed brushing her silver hair out of her eyes. "A demon who speaks the truth, how strange. I can see it on you though, so you are not an acceptable replacement."

Sam bit his lip in thought, eyeing the Fae thoughtfully. She seemed to sense his gaze and turned toward him.

"And what of you, boy king?"

Sam swallowed back the instincts that were pushing him to run from the bar. It was something primal; this woman was a predator in a class of her own, but he couldn't leave his brother to dig himself out of this.

"Would you be willing to have me for one human night?" Sam carefully asked

A predatory smile filled the Fae's face, but it did little to detract from her unsettling beauty. "You are much more careful with your words, boy king. Yes, I would accept you in your brother's place."

"Sam, don't-"

"Shut up, Dean," Sam snapped at his brother before turning back to the Fae. "I will take his place under the condition our deal is ironclad. Would you allow Crowley to write one between us?"

The Fae was silent for a moment before she broke into laughter. She put a hand over her face, and Sam was afraid he may have overstepped. Her hand fell, and Sam swallowed at the now cat-like pupils staring back at him.

"You will be the crown jewel of my conquests, boy king. Yes, I will allow the demon to barter for you, but know this; if you try to cross me, I will lock all of you in this bar. Not even the demon's lover will be able to get you out, do you understand?"

Sam shot Crowley a look and the demon tilted his head in understanding. "I won't."

Crowley walked to the bar and sat across from the Fae woman, a long piece of parchment appearing between the two. Sam wished there was another way out of this, but they'd be lucky to get out alive at this point.

Line Break

May 4, 2010

Crowley paced the motel room, waiting for Sam to walk in the door. He didn't want to have to explain to Bobby that he'd lost his youngest child to a horny Fae. He'd be lucky to get out of that conversation alive. As the clock struck noon, Sam stumbled through the motel room looking utterly disheveled and exhausted.

"We are never allowed back," Sam tiredly informed them. "But it wasn't a complete loss."

"Sam that was a dumb move!" Dean fretted as he helped his brother to the bed. "You shouldn't have offered yourself up like that."

"Stop flirting with pretty women and hopefully it won't happen again," Sam growled. "Crowley, I owe you one. I doubt she'd have let me go if you hadn't enforced it."

"I had no desire to explain to Robert that you got your fool arses abducted by the damn Fae." Crowley rubbed his temples, feeling the worry bleed away to be replaced by annoyance. "What were you three idiots thinking? Castiel, you of all beings should know the Fae are nothing to trifle with!"

"I do not know much about them," the angel tersely admitted. "Had I known they were so easily offended, I wouldn't have allowed Sam and Dean near them."

"You're lucky she was so kind!" Crowley snapped. "Do you realize what would have happened with a Fae of a darker court? I wouldn't have been able to do a damn thing."

"Aren't you more powerful than them?" Dean demanded. "I mean, you wanna be the damn King of Hell, you ain't weak."

"Haven't you learned from the archangels that power comes in different forms?" Crowley asked. "Did I have more raw power than her? Of course, but I couldn't do a damn thing if she'd flung me out of the bar and closed her portal. Fae don't live on the same plane of existence as we do, squirrel. That's why your brother had to specify a human night."

"About that," Sam cut in. "She was impressed enough with...well that doesn't matter, but she gave me an idea of why we can't find Gabriel."

Crowley turned toward the younger Winchester curiously. "Is your dick so magical you managed to get the bastard's location out of her?"

Sam glared, blushing brightly at the blunt question. "Not his location, but something as good as. Ayla-"

Crowley grabbed the nearest item, a newspaper sadly, and swatted Sam hard over the head. "NEVER use a Fae's name," he snapped. "Names have power, Samuel."

Sam rubbed his head, glaring up at him but Crowley didn't give an inch. He needed to sit down with these morons and give them a facts-of-life discussion at some point.

"Fine," Sam muttered. "Look, she said there was another reality created parallel to the Fae realms a few months ago. We know Gabriel likes to make pocket realities, so-"

Dean cursed under his breath. "So the bastard could be under our damn nose, but we wouldn't know without walking through the entrance to his damn house."

"Basically," Sam tiredly agreed. "She suggested there may be spells that could locate the opening, but wasn't willing to give them to me."

"You do not want to be indebted to a Fae," Crowley said. "It's best she kept her silence."

"Yeah, well now I'm fucking exhausted after being pimped out to save my moronic brother. So everyone, get the fuck out of my room so I can sleep."

Crowley sighed but decided to leave the exhausted hunter alone. He had the unpleasant chore of explaining what happened to Bobby and Azrial now. Hopefully, their ire would be directed at these idiots rather than him. Who was he kidding? Both of them seemed to enjoy an easy target when annoyed.

Line Break

May 6, 2010

"I swear to Death," Bobby threatened down the phone. "If you idjits pull a stunt like that again, I'll lock you in the bunker I built!"

"We get it, Bobby, please stop yelling. I swear I'm partly deaf now."

Bobby sighed in aggravation as he paced his hotel room. Azrial was watching him from her place sitting on the edge of the bed. The archangel looked as aggravated as he felt.

"I don't give a damn," Bobby said. "You should'a called me, or asked Crowley! The Fae are no damn joke, and ya can't just waltz in and ask them for a favor."

"Trust me," Sam sighed. "We didn't get shit for free. Still, the lead on Gabriel is a big deal."

"It wasn't worth riskin' your damn lives."

A tense silence filled the line, and Azrial spoke up for the first time since the call started.

"If it's a spell you need, you'll be working closely with Crowley."

"Should we just go back to Bobby's then?" Sam asked. "I mean, wouldn't it be better to cast these spells from behind wards?"

"I'd ask him. Truthfully, I know very little about magic outside of warding," Azrial said.

"Alright, it must be late there. Call you next Saturday?"

Bobby sighed at Dean's question, but his stomach loudly growling finally won out. "Yeah, but ya better reach out before that if you plan to do something stupid."

"It won't happen again," Castiel cut in. "Now that I'm aware of the threat, we will not be going near those creatures again."

"Good. Then we'll talk in a week," Bobby said.

The phone went dead and Bobby took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Azrial stood up and placed a hand on his arm.

"They know better now," she said. "They are still young, and mistakes are bound to happen."

"They are grown-ass adults," Bobby tried to argue. "They should have known better."

"Crowley was able to help, and hopefully now they'll be willing to go to him again. There is nothing else we can do."

"I should have been there."

Azrial didn't respond right away, and Bobby ran a hand over his face. This was a mess. He wasn't used to being this far way, this out of reach, when it came to the boys. Hearing about this whole mess from Crowley had taken years off his life.

"Do you think you could do more if you were there?"

Azrial's genuine question surprised him, and Bobby quietly mulled it over. If he were honest with himself, the answer was no. Being able to research at the Vatican had saved him a lot of time. The vast number of resources available to him was staggering. The down side was that he wasn't as available to Sam, Dean, and Castiel as he used to be.

"Probably not," he finally admitted. "Not sure if that makes me feel better though."

"Put it aside, at least for now. You need to get some dinner and rest. Tomorrow we need to start cross-referencing those incidents you and Rowen found."

"You're right," he grumbled. "Is Rowen joining us?"

"He's waiting downstairs. Come on, you can rant to your friend over dinner while I ignore the both of you in favor of a glass of wine."

Bobby snorted, but let the matter rest for the moment. There was too much to do, and Sam did have a point. They finally had a much needed lead on Gabriel, even if it created as many questions as it answered.

Line Break

May 10, 2010

Dean quietly watched as Crowley lectured Sam. He still didn't know how to feel about his little brother being gifted - Crowley's words not his - in magic. The demon couldn't figure out if it was Yellow-Eyes' doing or if it was a genetic trait that had remained dormant until Sam came along.

"This...won't mean Sam has to drink more demon blood, will it?" Dean finally asked. Crowley paused, and Dean regretted the question as Sam seemed to fall into himself. This was a subject he doubted Sam would ever truly be able to tackle, but to Crowley's credit, he answered the loaded question carefully.

"It would certainly make him more powerful," the demon admitted. "But it's like steroids, and the crash would rarely be worth it. Your brother is naturally inclined to magic, squirrel. He doesn't need any aids, but in certain situations, they could come in handy."

"Why are you so interested in this?" Castiel cut in. "It seems you're more invested in Sam learning than in finding Gabriel."

The demon smirked. "I have my reasons, but let's settle on this being a bit of a nostalgia trip."

"Is that how you became a demon?" Sam asked. "I mean, I know that's how most people get their magic."

Crowley scoffed and looked rather offended at the insinuation. "No. I doubt any of you could ever guess why I sold my soul, but it wasn't for magic."

"So, you were like me?" Crowley hummed, looking away from Sam's wide eyes.

"Enough questions, moose. Do you understand the spell?"

"I think so, but will it work?"

"There is only one way to find out," Crowley said. "Cast the spell."

Dean sat up straighter as his brother began putting the ingredients into the silver bowl.

"Why is Sam doin' this and not you?" Dean asked.

"Beyond needing to learn?" Crowley countered. "He has a connection to Gabriel that I'm hoping to utilize."

"That doesn't make any damn-" Dean was cut off by Crowley raising a hand for silence as the last ingredient fell into the silver bowl.

Sam's voice was quiet as he recited the spell, and for a moment Dean was sure it was going to work. A soft blue glow filled the bowl, and Crowley looked rather pleased with the outcome. A moment later, the sparks turned red and Sam frowned as the bowl began to shake.

"Crowley?"

"Step back, now!" the demon ordered.

Sam just managed to get a few paces away from the table when the bowl burst into black flames. Dean quickly ran to the kitchen and grabbed a large pot, slamming it over the tiny inferno before it could do any more damage to Bobby's living room.

"Okay, what the fuck was that?" Dean demanded.

"That was a tracking spell failing due to protections," Crowley flatly informed them. "You did everything right, moose. I should have guessed Gabriel would have some level of protection."

"What do we do now?" Castiel asked. "Your spell failed."

"There are hundreds of tracking spells, you feather duster. We need to find the right one for our situation, and that means trial and error."

Dean sighed at Crowley's explanation. He should have known this wouldn't be easy.

"So, what will you need?" Dean asked. He had a feeling he was about to become an errand boy for the foreseeable future.

Line Break

May 17, 2010

Rowen carefully watched Azrial's reaction as Bobby explained what they'd found so far. She looked calm, but there was an undercurrent of worry and fear that seemed to radiate off the archangel.

"So you've narrowed it down to a 100-year span?" Azrial quietly asked.

"Minus two outliers that happened a few decades prior," Bobby said. "Shooting stars, meteor showers, falling stars, you name it. I don't think I'd have noticed at first, but each happened within three to five years of each other."

"How many?"

Rowen frowned at the tightness in Azrial's voice coldly and decided to answer for Bobby. "Eighteen that we can confirm through multiple resources."

"Do you have a location for any of them?"

"I think for one of the outliers. I could look it up-" Azrial cut Bobby's offer off.

"Yes, please do. If you'll excuse me for a moment."

The archangel quickly left the room and Rowen watched her with a sigh. He should have guessed she wouldn't take this well.

"That went as well as I'd hoped," Bobby sarcastically grumbled. Rowen glanced at his friend, unable to miss the concern that flashed across his face. Rowen shut his eyes, trying to figure out what to say.

"I think she's just worried."

"Yeah, but why? It just means they are somewhere on Earth."

Rowen frowned at Bobby's comment, pulling a smaller book from the stack and dropping it open in front of his friend. Bobby shot him a dirty look, but picked it up and began reading. Rowen could tell the moment his friend hit the paragraph in question because all the color seemed to drain from his face.

"You don't think they fell, do you?" Bobby asked in disbelief. "You're talking about eighteen angels, Rowen. Maybe one or two, but not eighteen."

"I don't know, but her reaction doesn't make sense otherwise."

Rowen hesitated to go into further detail, it wasn't only his information to share, but he felt the need to warn Bobby. Especially as he watched his friend get closer to the archangel.

"Anna was a mess," Bobby tiredly admitted. "It was like she got a damn personality transplant when she got her grace back."

"I think you'll find that the more powerful the angel, the more likely that is to happen."

Bobby shot Rowen a searching look, and he cursed himself. His friend was just too damn perceptive, but there wasn't anything he could do about that.

"How ya figure?" Bobby asked.

"Just an observation," Rowen carefully said. "I mean, think about it. The more grace an angel has, the more the loss of it will affect them, don't you think?"

Bobby seemed to consider it and Rowen sighed softly. Maybe he'd dodged a bullet.

"The hell you hiding from me?" Bobby demanded.

"Bobby, I'm not-" at the dark look Rowen sighed. "Fine, I'm hiding something, but it won't help us."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"It isn't my story to tell, not really." Rowen could see the annoyance on his friend's face and tried to placate him. "Look, it will likely come out down the line and I need you to remember that the past can't stop us from moving forward."

"That is the vaguest load of crap that I've ever heard."

Rowen felt like he was between a rock and a hard place now. He was struggling to come up with something to say when Azrial came back into the room.

"Just tell him, Anderson."

Rowen shot her a surprised look, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. Bobby was practically glaring at him now, and the silent demand for information was starting to feel suffocating.

"I don't understand how it all happened," Rowen said.

"And it isn't any of your damn business," Azrial coldy replied. "But you did figure it out, so go ahead. Tell your hunter friend and see how quickly his opinion of me changes."

There was a quiet venom to Azrial's voice, and it clearly didn't sit well with Bobby because he turned his annoyance toward her.

"Then why not tell me yourself, princess? I thought we were done keeping secrets."

"What do you want from me, Bobby?" Azrial snapped. "Should I go over my whole existence with you? Would you expect a human to spill their guts all over the pavement or is it just because I'm an archangel?"

The gauntlet had been thrown and Rowen looked between them hesitantly. Azrial had a point; Bobby wouldn't be digging into her past so much if she were human.

"I didn't mean it like that, Azrial," Bobby finally said. "But if it has to do with our current situation, don't you think I should know?"

Azrial was quiet for several moments, and Rowen tried to help defuse the situation.

"Bobby, I meant it. I don't think it will help us at all."

"Then keep your side of it to yourself," Bobby snapped. "But it's up to her if she feels the same."

"That isn't fair to me," Rowen growled. "What about how I-"

"I ripped my grace out a few hundred years ago."

Azrial's emotionless statement sucked the air out of the room. She wasn't looking at either of them and seemed fixated on the window across the room. Bobby was staring at her like the final piece of a complicated puzzle had presented itself. Rowen shut his eyes, and let out a small growl as he leaned back into his chair. This whole situation had spiraled out of control, and he decided to be a silent observer to the oncoming train wreck.

"So, that's why you get humans more than Castiel," Bobby said. "You spent time as one."

"No, I didn't." Azrial's voice was neutral, but her eyes kept flashing from blue to silver. It was clear she was agitated but accepted that she couldn't get out of this situation.

"That doesn't make sense," Bobby said. "Anna was a human-"

"Anna wasn't an overly powerful angel," Azrial snapped. "She was lucky."

Bobby fell silent, and Rowen could tell something had fundamentally shifted between the two with that last comment. Azrial had looked away again, her shoulders stiff, and Bobby slowly stood up.

"Can we have a moment?" his friend quietly asked.

It took Rowen a second to realize that question was directed at him, and not the agitated archangel.

"Yeah," he finally said. "I'll...go grab us lunch."

He stood up and couldn't help but watch as Bobby approached the archangel. Rowen was genuinely surprised she hadn't just flown off at this point, but maybe that was proof of how much she respected Bobby. She glanced at Bobby, but Rowen couldn't make out her face with the sun streaming into the room. He sighed and made his way out of the archives, wishing he'd just kept his mouth shut. He couldn't help but hope Azrial didn't mention his part in all this. He wanted his past to remain just that; his past.

The next update is Saturday, August 21, 2021