Set during 5.19 Hammer of the Gods.
For those who wonder, no this story isn't on hold, I'm just slow at getting chapters up. :) Life is busy especially with my kids out of school and I've been working on other stories a bit -including Diary of Jane for anyone who was interested in the alternate Jane/Castiel pairing.
91: Gods, Plural
"Heaven, right?"
Dean scoffed at that, working a piece of one of the 'best in the Tri-State area' pies around his mouth before swallowing. "Trust me, pal… better." He turned away from the guy, setting his now empty plate down and smiled at a woman sitting by herself. "How you doing?"
"No."
"But-"
"No."
"Oh lady,"
"Dean, one more word out of your mouth and I'll stab you with your own fork."
He turned, smiling sheepishly down at his unamused wife. He had sort of pulled his head out of his ass about giving in and offering himself up as Michael's vessel but damage had been done. Jane was traveling with them again, and she was… being clingy. Not a usual Jane trait, but then again… he had also messed her up a bit more than usual. Especially after what had happened with Adam. She hadn't been there for that, but she had been there when Castiel had brought him home after delivering an ass whooping in an alley. Explaining that had been great. Worse, she had sided with Castiel. "Sorry, sweetheart, just-"
"No." She deadpanned, folding her arms over her chest. "We should be going."
"Are you kidding me? In this storm? It's pouring out there."
"Yeah Dean, it's biblical." Sam was ready to get back out there as well, though he didn't fancy the idea of trying to die in excessive white out conditions. "It's friggin' Noah's ark out there and we're eating pie and-"
"Flirting way above our pay grade." Jane finished.
"I'm not going to live that one down anytime soon, am I?" That pie was sticking in his throat now.
"Nope."
"You're bleeding, Sam." Jane pressed her fingers to his neck, frowning. Sam and blood didn't mix well in her opinion, though since it was just his blood… she supposed it was okay. Dean had gone off to "scope" the hotel out while Sam was supposed to trail the front desk guy. Sam had lost the guy. "How'd that happen?"
"No idea." Sam cupped the spot, frowning. "This place is pretty posh… considering it's out in the middle of nowhere."
"Glad I wasn't the only one. Hotel this size, this ritzy, off the beaten path… and this storm… even I can put two and two together."
"You getting anything from anyone here?"
She hesitated, sparing him a sideways glance. "Haven't tried too."
"He fixed you, sort of, didn't he?"
He being Lucifer, and yes, sort of, he had. He had taken away the crippling migraines she got, especially in the presence of Horsemen and himself, and now… now she could actively control her ability. That also meant she wasn't using it as much anymore, it was nice to be… normal. "Sort of." Sighing, she dropped her shields.
Sam caught her before she fell. "Jane?"
Her teeth were clenched, her skin was clammy, and she was beginning to tint a lovely shade that indicated puke was forthcoming. It took her several moments of intense concentration but Jane eventually managed to put those shields right back up. It wasn't instant relief, but she could feel her body gradually relaxing as the pain receded into something manageable. "We should consider leaving." She said finally, wondering when she had met the floor, or at least been lowered to it. Sam was holding her upright, kneeling on the carpet, and she was grateful there was no one nearby to witness her lapse in most bodily functions.
"An elephant?"
"Full-on Babar… what's up with her?" Dean had relayed seeing a literal elephant in one of the rooms, and it struck him finally that Jane did not look… spritely. She was leaning into Sam, paler than usual, and her mouth was pinched. She had had a 'something's wrong' attack. "What is it?"
"I don't know, I didn't get a really good read." She said after a moment, shifting from leaning into Sam to leaning into her husband. "But whatever is going on, it's fueled by major players. I got that much before… before I went handicap."
"How major, like horsemen major?" Sam and Dean exchanged looks. Taking on one horseman was hard enough, taking on several at once would be a pain in the ass, putting it mildly.
"There's only four of those and many of these."
"Crap. I hate plurals." Dean groaned, kissing the side of her head. "You up to walking around?"
"If that's all…" She stared up at him suspiciously. "If you're asking me to drop shields, you're out of your mind. It's… overwhelming and painful as hell."
"How long until you can try again?"
"Seriously?"
"Jane, we need to know what we're up against."
"Okay, Dean, let me explain something to you, something I've learned." Jane wasn't overly keen on talking about her psychic disability, not often, and especially not after Satan had tweaked her head. "Beings with serious mojo, they can sense I'm… different. Horsemen could, Lucifer could, and I'm betting these things can too."
"So we do this without you playing psyche and seek."
Sam and Jane both rolled their eyes.
One part of her was in awe, the other part was terrified. Gods, literal gods… Odin, Ganesh, Baldur, Zao Shen… Kali. Kali, so far, was the quietest of them all, but she was the one who terrified Jane the most. She stood there, frozen between the brothers, listening as all these gods argued about the impending Christian apocalypse and the angels, still trying to wrap her mind around this. There was God, and there were gods. How did that work? All mythologies, all religions, they were all true? Coexisting at once? She was getting an actual, normal headache just from trying to sort it out.
"Kali!"
Kali hadn't taken Mercury's suggestion about talking to the angels that well, and she made a mental note to avoid getting on the goddess' bad side. She liked not choking on blood. She had done that before and was in no hurry to repeat it.
"Can't we all just get along?"
"Ga-" Dean's hand flew to his throat, unable to finish that.
Gabriel had just swept in, and Jane let out a squeal when he slapped her ass.
"Sam! Dean… always the wrong place, wrong time for your muttonheads, huh? And Jane… scrumptious as always." He winked at her as he waltzed on by.
The gods knew him as Loki, they knew him as Gabriel. Either way, the man was an ass, funny but an ass.
And they were in their hotel room, Jane blinked back vertigo. "What the hell?!"
"I second that." Sam muttered, hands out to steady himself.
"Holy crap!"
Jane seconded that one, nodding and dropped down on the edge of the bed, frowning. "Dean, the next time Sam says to keep on driving, drive."
"Yeah, next time." He snorted, running his fingers through his hair as he contemplated the situation. "We should… we should try getting those people out of the freezer, before they're made into soup."
An image of that eyeball floating at the surface of 'soup' sprang to the forefront of her mind, causing her to shudder.
"Maybe try ganking a few freaks on the way out, if we're lucky."
"And when are you ever lucky?"
All three Winchester's moved from their spots at the sudden appearance of Gabriel. The last time they had encountered him, or at least that Jane had been present for, was when he had trapped them in his own version of TV Land. Both amusing and embarrassing all rolled into one.
"Hey Gabriel, bite me." Dean snarled, less then amused. "This has your stink written all over it."
"Mine? No, no, no, I'm here to play the Costner to your Houston."
"I love that movie." Jane blurted out, instantly getting the reference and cleared her throat when Sam and Dean both shot her confused looks while Gabriel looked amused.
"Whitney Houston nailed it, she really did." Gabriel said with a nod before getting back to business. "I'm here to save your asses."
Now that was confusing. "You want to pull us out of the fire?"
"Bingo, buster. They're either going to kill you, or use you as bait. Either way, you're boned, boys."
"You're boning us!" Dean exclaimed, ignoring the amused smile that flickered across Jane's lips. "It wasn't that long ago you were trying to get us to 'play our roles'."
"That's still coming sweetcheeks, Michael and Lucifer will dance. But not tonight."
"Seriously, Gabriel, how do we get out of here?" Jane asked, curling her hand around Dean's shoulder, feeling how tense he was.
"Good question. Kali has your boys by the short and curlies."
"Gross."
"Blood spell."
Okay, that was… interesting. "What about me?"
"What about you?" He surveyed her thoughtfully. "You keep on playing the cute but naïve wife, nobody takes you as a threat, or a bargaining chip. Not here, not now, and you want to keep it that way." He tapped the side of his head. "So no playing around in places you shouldn't, got me princess?"
"Got you."
They needed two more rings, Death and Pestilence. Kali had booked it to wherever a lone goddess on the run went, and Gabriel was very likely dead. But that porno he had given them, it hadn't just been porn. There was porn, sure, Gabriel himself starred in this version, but he had also given them a message. How to get Lucifer back in his cage.
"We going to do this then, try to pop Satan back in?"
"Yeah, that seems to be the plan. No idea how we're going to manage it." After the day they had had, Dean had felt like splurging on a room with one of those round, garden tubs. Mostly because he wanted to sit in hot water, soak away all that bullshit, and having the wife behind him was a bonus. He settled back into her, letting his head fall back onto her shoulder. He stared down at their legs, both bent and reached out to run his palms up her thighs. "Still upset with me, Janey?"
"You tried to leave me, hand yourself over to Michael, and promised to make sure I was taken care of… I've developed some serious issues since then." She said, twisting his nipple a bit viciously.
"I've noticed." He winched, grabbing her hand to stop her from assaulting him again. "Most women would find that pretty damn heroic of their husbands. Sacrificing himself to save the world, all that sentimental bullshit."
"I'm not most women and I know what this sacrifice means. It means you wind up burnt out, mindless, and at the end of the day, I could care less if the angels win. I'm over heaven, I'm over hell, and if you ever try that bullshit on me again I will slit your throat myself."
Since her hands were now wrapped around his throat, Dean wasn't overly worried about slitting so much as choking. "Sweetheart, I think you're overreacting."
Jane's response was to lean down and bite his shoulder.
"All right woman!" He moved away from her, turning in the tub and reached out to drag her onto his lap, guiding her legs around his waist. "Listen here Jane, I messed up, a lot. You already know I've been-"
"Depressed. Somewhat suicidal. Empty inside."
"Those, thanks." If his tone could have caused frostbite, she'd be suffering hypothermia right about now. "I can't take back what I said, or the fact that I actually felt that way. Not apologizing for it either. I'm just sorry that it… messed you up-" He caught her hand before she could deck him, snaking his free arm around her waist. "I'm sorry, okay? Enough with the wanna-be violence, enough clinging up my ass, and damn it woman if you start crying I'm going to drown you right here in this tub!"
They both jumped when there was a knock on the door.
"Uh, guys, is everything alright in there?"
"Go away, Sam!"
Dean waited until he was sure his lurking brother had gone back to whatever it was he did when he was trying to ignore them, gathering they had been getting pretty loud. He turned his attention back to his wife. "Are we really going to keep doing this?"
"You promise me that you will never, ever pull that again."
"Okay, I-"
"Promise on Sam."
