Chapter Sixteen
Shields and Spells
TW/CW: Self-harm for a spell (slitting a wrist) and blood
Bobby's House: June 23, 2010
Bobby entered his living room, fresh from a shower, to a loud argument. Of course, he couldn't have a peaceful morning, especially after that damn dream.
"Will you idjits shut up!" he snapped, causing the room to fall silent. Azrial shot him a grateful look from her place behind Crowley. Her hand was on the demon's shoulder and it looked like he and mommy dearest had been going at it. Sam was at Rowena's side and seemed to be backing her up in the argument. Castiel had his head in his hands, and Dean was in the kitchen clearly trying to ignore the chaos.
"Finally, someone with common sense," Crowley spat. "Pet, tell this witch there is no way Azrial is giving up her blood for any spell she's in control of."
Rowena scoffed. "The hunter is smarter than you, Fergus. I'm sure he'll see the sense in my choice."
"Crowley, this is our last chance," Sam begged. "We're running out of spells to try and Azrial's blood or grace is our best bet."
"Then I will control the spell!" Crowley raising his voice made Castiel lift his head, glancing between the two in concern. "I don't know what she has told you, moose, but giving her that much power over us is foolish."
"Have you lost all sense?" Rowena demanded. "This is standard fare for magic!"
"My king," Azrial whispered, trying to soothe Crowley's temper, but the demon ignored her.
"I'm not denying that!" he snarled. "I just don't trust you with her blood."
"Of course, you wouldn't," she scoffed. "You're far too possessive and overestimate your own abilities."
Bobby frowned at the witch after noticing Azrial stiffen behind Crowley. "Enough!"
His voice echoed through the room and drew everyone's attention back to him. "Sam, you're not dumb. You have to realize Rowena ain't exactly trusted, especially by Crowley. We don't know shit about her, and that means we ain't handing off anything that can be used against us without protections in place."
"But-" Sam began but Bobby held up his hand. "No buts, boy. This is the truth and ya know it." Sam looked away and seemed to deflate as Bobby turned toward Crowley and Azrial.
"You're letting your anger get the best of ya, Crowley. Wouldn't the better option be to have collateral against Rowena, that way if she tries anything you can simply attack her back?"
The demon frowned but seemed to ponder that option. Rowena scoffed, and Bobby turned toward her in annoyance.
"Got somethin' to say?"
"Why in the world would I give my son a way to attack me?" she laughed. "You must have lost your mind."
"You'll give him your blood if ya wanna get anywhere near Azrial's," Bobby said coldly. "This ain't a game, and I'll toss you out on your ear and just help Crowley my damn self as the third."
It was a partial bluff, and it was relying on the fact that Rowena didn't know much about him. The witch frowned and seemed to weigh his answer carefully.
"Fine," Rowena hissed through gritted teeth. "I'll give you some of my blood so we can get this over with."
"Azrial?" she glanced at him and nodded in agreement.
"That's fine. I want to find Gabriel sooner rather than later. You said the spell couldn't close in on him properly before?"
"Yeah. From what Sam said your power interfered with the reading and it looked like Gabriel was taking up all of Nevada." She hummed and Bobby sighed, turning toward Crowley. "Make sure you have a damn honey-do-list regarding the auction to Azrial by the end of the week. Rowen is already up my ass for it."
"Kinky," the demon snorted. "You'll have it sooner than that. Thankfully Balthazar is rather good about sending out a list of the larger items he'll have for sale."
"Balthazar?" Castile cut in. "What does he have to do with anything?"
"You didn't know?" Azrial asked with a raised eyebrow. "He's been here on Earth for…Hell, I don't even remember anymore. He lives rather lavishly by providing services to supernatural beings. I also think he took off with a bit of Heaven's armory when he jumped ship."
"And that doesn't concern you?" Castiel demanded. Azrial snorted, sharing a look with Crowley.
"Hardly. Especially considering I'm one of his clients. Anything I deem too dangerous ends up well protected."
"That still seems reckless," Castiel muttered and Azrial sighed, not bothering to defend her actions. Bobby knew Castiel struggled with anything that went too far against Heaven's mandate, even with all the changes he'd gone through. He doubted running off with a bunch of holy artifacts was a small thing upstairs. The fact Balthazar hadn't been caught surprised him more than the fact an angel had done it. He was starting to understand it took all types, even when it came to angels and demons.
"Also, what the hell do I need to pack for this?" he asked.
"I'll take care of it," Crowley waved dismissively. "Your suit will obviously go, but beyond that, you'll need a few extra items to match Azrial's high standards."
"My high standards?" she huffed. "I'm working for you. They are your standards."
"Perhaps they are, but let's be honest you'd hold yourself to them regardless."
"True," Azrial laughed. "Well, if we are all agreed on the spell, when should we do it?"
Silence followed her question, and Crowley and Rowena were back to glaring at each other. Bobby sighed and rubbed his temples.
"Are you kidding me? If the two of you can't even agree on that, we aren't doing the damn spell."
His annoyance seemed to spur on Rowena. She threw her hands up with a huff and sent a mocking smile towards Crowley.
"Well Fergus, when should we cast my tracking spell?"
Crowley glowered at his mother but didn't rise to the bait. "It's your spell. Choose so we can all get on with our lives."
Crowley's terse rebuttal had Azrial leaning into his side, which caused the demon to focus more on her. It effectively put the ball in Rowena's court and made it clear that Azrial wasn't going to tolerate any more arguing. Rowena rolled her eyes and turned serious.
"We can cast it tonight. It would be best to cast it several times over the next week or so to see if he's moving or remaining in one spot. I wouldn't recommend making a move on him until after your trip."
"Alright, for now then everyone go make themselves useful."
Bobby's order saw Sam heading toward the kitchen to help Dean, Castiel following after him. Crowley pressed his nose against Azrial's head for a moment, shutting his eyes and taking a calming breath before looking back at him.
"I'm going to bring some of the larger weapons here for Azrial to inspect."
"Sounds good," Bobby said. "I'll help her best I can."
The demon nodded and vanished a moment later. Rowena huffed and sat down, flipping one of the many books she'd borrowed open and pointedly ignoring him. Bobby rolled his eyes and glanced toward Azrial.
"Can you help me man the phones? I've been gone for a while and need to follow up with some information requests. I dealt with most of them in Italy, but some I couldn't."
She smiled, tilting her head. "Sure. Just tell me what to do."
Line Break
Honestly, the spell was anticlimactic after all the bullshit they'd been through to make it work. That was Sam's opinion, and he was sticking to it. Standing between Rowena and Crowley while it was cast made him appreciate both their power more, after all, it wasn't often he could feel that much power without it tossing him into a damn wall, but that was the only highlight.
"Maine?" Dean asked as the spell ended.
"Maine," Rowena said triumphantly. "Being able to take Azrial out of the spell's consideration reduced the interference. It looks like he's moved since the last time as well."
"So we definitely have to monitor him," Sam sighed. "How often should we cast this? I mean…it took a feather and blood."
"Feathers aren't too hard to give up, especially seeing as it destroys them." Azrial paused, glancing at the bowl on the table that was full of ashes. "Same with the blood, but I'd rather Castiel hold on to that."
"I'll need at least 5 feathers for the next two weeks," Rowena said. "If you give them to me now, I can soak them in the blood. This will make the combination more potent and put your mind at ease since there won't be a vial of blood floating around."
The suggestion seemed to please Azrial, and when she glanced at Crowley who begrudgingly nodded.
"As long as Castiel holds on to them until they are needed I can do that," Azrial agreed.
"I have no issue with that," Castiel said. "It's good we are making progress once more."
"Definitely," Dean sighed. "This was getting insane."
"Make some space," Azrial said as she pulled her sweatshirt off. Crowley moved back a few feet as her wings materialized. Sam watched curiously as Azrial half extended one of her wings. She hadn't done this before, arriving this morning with a feather in hand. Crowley ran his fingers slowly through the feathers, huffing in frustration.
"None are loose," Crowley said and Azrial sighed.
"Of course they aren't," she said. "Castiel, can you lend a hand?"
Castiel nodded and walked over as Azrial let her wings fold against her back. He knelt down, his brow furrowed as he ran a hand against the bottom of her feathers.
"Brace," he said flatly and Azrial tensed. It didn't seem to help since she yelped, jumping away as a few feathers fell loose.
"I hate that," she whined. "Don't need more."
"Stop whining, it's unbecoming of an archangel." Castiel's half-hearted reprimand made Azrial pout.
"How about I pluck a few of your downs and see how you feel?"
Castiel smirked. "I wouldn't be stupid enough to let you near me."
"Brat," she huffed. "Give me your damn blade so I can bleed for this stupid spell, you poacher."
Castiel snorted, and Sam was surprised at the easy banter. It seemed the two were finally starting to loosen up around each other.
"Someone grab me a bowl?" Azrial requested. Sam grabbed a clean one off their table, and Azrial held her wrist over it slicing into it with the angel blade. The blood flowed quickly and Azrial shot a glance at Crowley and Rowena.
"One of you better tell me when to stop."
"Halfway should be enough," Rowena said softly. "If you'll be in the living room for a bit, I can soak them while you're in view."
Azrial glanced at Bobby who titled his head. "That's fine. Gotta go through those weapons Crowley bought anyway."
"That works for me," Azrial said. She handed Castiel back his blade and wrapped her other hand around her bleeding wrist. A soft glow later and the blood stopped flowing and Castiel looked at Crowley.
"What needs to be done to start this process?"
"Just place the feathers in the blood for now," Crowley dismissed. "I'll be here to watch what's going on."
Rowena huffed but didn't say anything at Crowley's distrust. Sam shot her a sympathetic look as Dean cleared his throat.
"Sam, Cas, and I were gonna hit a nearby ghost hunt tonight. Bobby, you got the file for us?"
"On the desk," Bobby said. "Be safe, and take some time for yourselves on the way back. Lord knows you idjits haven't stopped since all this crap began."
"Don't need to tell me twice," Dean chuckled. "Come on Samantha, time to go do your day job."
"Fuck off," Sam laughed. "I'm already packed." He glanced at Rowena, surprised to see her frown slightly at him. He cursed himself for not realizing she may be upset to see him go. It wasn't like anyone else was jumping to do her any favors, or even hold a civil conversation with the trapped witch. "Can I get you anything while I'm out?"
His gentle question seemed to quiet the room, but Sam didn't bother to look away from the surprised witch.
"I…well," Rowena cleared her throat, regaining some of her sarcastic attitude. "Be a lamb and bring me some more Earl Grey? And some of those biscuits you got last time."
Sam smiled, ignoring the dirty look Crowley shot him. "Can do. See you in a day or so then."
He would never admit he fled the room fully based on the daggers Crowley was glaring at him.
Line Break
Azrial was happy to be left mostly alone with Bobby and Crowley. Rowena was actually rather easy to ignore once she got into something that interested her, and Azrial was happy to provide her with something to keep her occupied.
"Where did you get this?" the witch gasped as Azrial dropped a large tome on the table.
"This is me trying to build trust, don't ruin it." Azrial's order had Rowena nodding as she gently opened the first page. "As to where, I know the owner. I will be taking it back, so no funny business."
"With a book this old? I would never!" Rowena snapped. "A book written by Circe herself…"
"Just…try and be a little nicer to Crowley," Azrial ordered half-heartedly. She glanced toward the kitchen, glad to see neither Bobby nor Crowley had returned from their weapon run yet. "I get you've got some shit, but the world is ending and I don't need him on edge constantly."
Rowena paused her reading and stood up fully. "Is this a bribe then?"
"If that's how you want to see it, then sure." Azrial sighed and decided to level with the red-head. "This may shock you, but I love Crowley, and I don't give my love easily. I'm old, tired, and sick of being left alone when those I love die. With Crowley, that won't happen. I finally have a chance for lasting happiness."
The witch looked away, a melancholy expression passing her face. "I see."
"Please, feel free to needle him over stupid shit. His ego needs it," Azrial attempted to joke. "But…don't go after his self-worth. He is worth more than most men out there. Trust me."
Rowena looked back at her, and Azrial was surprised at all the questions she saw swimming in her eyes. Before any could be asked though, Bobby and Crowley entered the house carrying a massive crate between them.
"Why couldn't you use your damn powers for this?" Bobby grunted as he and Crowley wrangled the box into the living room.
"Wards," Crowley huffed, setting the crate down. "Be happy, pet. This was the worst offender."
"How'd you get it here then?" Bobby asked as he stretched.
"Hellhounds are good for many things," Crowley said. He glanced at her and Rowena with a raised eyebrow. "Anything happen while we were gone, angel?"
"Nah, she was on her best behavior. Now let's crack this bad boy open and see what has you so stumped."
Crowley hummed and handed her a pry bar to open the crate. She rolled her eyes, but still took it and worked the end into the edge of the crate. With a small crack the top came off, and she handed the pry bar back.
"So what is this anyway?" Azrial asked as she pulled out the protective wrapping around the top.
"A shield that I swear is angelic, but I have no clue where it came from," Crowley huffed. "The thing is driving me batty because I feel like I should remember, but I don't."
"Gotta love when old age sets in," Bobby joked. Azrial laughed at the offended sound Crowley made. She pulled the last bit of wrapping away and felt her heart stutter to a stop.
"No," she whispered. "No, this can't be-" she took a stuttering breath and reached into the crate with shaky hands. The tower shield felt achingly familiar against her palms, but there was barely an echo of the grace that should be coursing through it.
"Princess, you okay?"
Azrial didn't respond, pulling the shield out completely with ease. It shouldn't be this light, so empty.
"Azrial," Crowley called. "What's wrong?"
"This, we need to figure out where you got this," Azrial finally gasped out.
"Why?"
"This shield belonged to Samael," she whispered and finally looked toward the two concerned men. "The right hand of my flock."
"Bollocks," Crowley hissed, and Azrial's eyes fell back to the shield. Her thoughts turned toward Iceland and the massacre they'd found. Her fingers dug into the metal, her heart beating loudly in her chest.
It seemed this nightmare wasn't over yet.
The next update is Saturday, March 5, 2022