"What's cookin', good lookin'?" Eden smirked as she practically skipped into the kitchen, moving over to the other side of the island counter where she leaned up and kissed Sam's cheek.
"Nothing, apparently. Dean's not hungry." He replied as she opened the fridge for a blood bag.
She almost dropped it right then and there.
"Dean..." She frowned, looking over to the older brother who was sat at the table. "The Dean Winchester... Isn't hungry..."
"Not even for pie." Sam added, motioning to the cherry pie he'd bought.
Eden's jaw dropped.
"Are you feeling okay?" She asked, walking over to place the back of her hand on his forehead.
"I'm fine." Dean scoffed, swatting her hand away. "We've got a case. Seems like spontaneous combustion's following us around lately 'cause two people are dead in an antique store because of it."
"Sounds plausibly mundane." Eden commented, sticking the tube of the blood bag into her mouth.
"That's what I said." Sam huffed.
"Yeah, except the only things in the place that were burned was the people themselves." Dean retorted.
"Hm. Curiosity peaked." Eden shrugged. "Still doesn't explain why you're not hungry though."
She looked over to Sam who mouthed 'mom'. She gave a knowing nod in response.
The case took them to Columbus, Ohio, where the cops had already been and gone.
"Looks like we missed the cavalry." Sam commented.
"Oh, no. What a shame." Eden replied in monotone.
"Guess we should go home then." Dean added.
Sam walked up to the store's door, tearing down the police tape. He went to open it, but it was locked. He looked to Eden, waving a hand in the direction of the door.
She smirked, hovering her hand by the lock until it clicked.
"Et voila, gentlemen." She motioned for them to enter first.
Inside, the darkened store looked like some sort of organised chaos. Everything was piled high, but was in sections - a spot for mirrors, a spot for knickknacks and trinkets, a spot for art, etcetera.
On the floor in the centre of the shop were two scorched areas, labelled with police tags.
"Antique dealer's name was Marvin Brickell - widower, owned the shop for decades." Sam referred to his notes as they looked around the place.
"So many decades that it didn't start out as an antiques store." Eden smirked, earning a chuckle from Dean.
"You got something against antique stores?" Sam frowned, an amused expression turning up the corners of his mouth.
"Absolutely not. They're a nostalgia trip for me - the older the better."
Dean took a heavy breath in.
"No sulphur." He commented as Sam took out the EMF reader.
"Ditto EMF." He added.
"Maybe hex bags?" Dean wondered aloud.
"One thing I've learned about antique shops is that they're a goldmine for cursed objects. Maybe that's what we're looking for." Eden suggested.
"God, I hope not." Dean sighed. "If it is, it could be anywhere."
As the older brother ventured to the upper level, Sam walked over to the counter, going through the computer.
Dean ended up touching a model ship, sending it toppling to the ground.
"Dean!" Sam huffed as the older brother struggled to pick it up and put it back where it belonged.
"You're a bloody disaster." Eden giggled, looking up at him through the balcony grating.
"Don't say it." Dean mumbled.
"Maybe let's not touch anything until we figure out if this stuff wants to kill us or not." Sam called up to him.
"Yeah, I got it." The older brother whispered, dropping the model ship yet again.
Eventually, he gave up and continued searching the place.
"Guys, I think I've found something!" He called after a minute or two.
"It looks like the victims were meeting about an antique pocket watch the night they died." Sam said.
"Pocket watch?"
"Yeah, according to Marv's email, at least."
Eden walked round the counter, looking at a picture of a gold pocket watch with a Nazi flag on it.
"I swear I've hunted more Nazis with you two than in the entire Second World War..." She sighed.
"Uh, guys?" Dean called.
"Hold up, get this, I hacked into Marv's hard drive, it looks like he was conducting an entire underground business adhering to, uh-"
"Nazi nut-jobs?" Dean finished for him.
Sam and Eden frowned to one another.
"Yeah... How'd you know that?" Sam asked.
"Might wanna take a look at this." The older brother replied.
The pair walked round to where Dean had disappeared to.
"Yeah, what are you, uh, oh... That's, um... Wow." Sam's eyes widened when he saw an entire secret room filled with Nazi memorabilia.
"Bloody Hell..." Eden gasped, looking around the room.
"Yeah. Looks like Scrooge McDuck lady got her rocks off by collecting Nazi crap." Dean commented.
"Yeah, I guess so." Sam scoffed. "Uh, according to Marv's ledger, the watch belonged to a member of Hitler's inner circle."
"So where is it now?" The older brother asked.
"I don't know." The younger sighed. "Police didn't report finding it and I'm gunna go out on a limb here and guess that it's probably not out there and probably not in here. I mean, Nazi collection? The immolation MO. Sound like anybody we know?"
"The Thule." Dean rubbing his bottom lip in thought.
"The Nazi occultist organisation who found the Hand of God we were after a few months ago?" Eden frowned.
Dean snapped his fingers and pointed to her.
"That's the one."
"Maybe they crashed the party, took the watch and torched the bystanders." Sam shrugged.
"Nazis..." Dean mumbled. "I hate these guys."
"Um... Good..?" Eden chuckled. "So... What next?"
"Go check in to whatever hotel tickles your fancy and get to researching - see if we can find anything Nazi related in the area." The older brother replied.
After speaking with a guy who'd been caught up in an old case during Eden's time in Heaven's jail, they had some sort of idea with what they could be dealing with.
The current members of the Thule were rallying for an extremely important mission known as 'Das Blut', or 'The Blood', but that had mostly been in Germany, not the US.
They were half way through their conversation with him when Sam's laptop got an alert that another body had been found.
"Oh, yay... Pant suit time." Eden mumbled as she reluctantly got up from her seat.
The police officer on scene - an apartment in the middle of the city - had told them that, by the time they arrived, the body was already nothing but ash and bone.
There had been a witness - a girl in her early twenties who had escaped and gone to a neighbour's to get help.
The trio went back down to the ground floor, but by the time they'd left the building, the girl in question was seen handcuffed to the handle above a squad car door, screaming for help as someone drove her away.
"Oh, crap..." Dean mumbled. "We've gotta follow that car... I've always wanted to say that."
They ran to the Impala, getting in as quickly as possible. Sam and Eden had barely closed their doors before Dean was speeding off down the road.
The person who had taken the girl was a boy, barely looking seventeen. As he talked to his father on the phone, grabbing the keys to a black van in an underground parking lot, Dean cocked his gun, aiming it at the boy's head.
"Family drama's a bitch, ain't it?" He smirked as Sam and Eden helped the girl out of the back of the cruiser. "Move."
They made their way into a building, setting down in an office out of the sight of anyone who might raise eyebrows or ask questions.
"If you're not cops, what are you?" The girl; Ellie, asked.
"There are things out there that shouldn't exist - bad things." Sam explained as he tied the boy to a chair. "We kill 'em. It's kind of our job."
"Yeah, so your safest place is with us right now." Dean added.
"Uh-huh..." The girl nodded sceptically. "Safe from... Nazi zombies."
"Necromancers. They use blood magic to make themselves almost immortal." Sam elaborated.
"Almost?"
"Well, if you shoot them in the head or set 'em on fire, that usually does the trick." Dean replied.
"Or take a hacksaw to their neck." Eden shrugged, earning a look from the brothers. "What? The War had limited resources."
"This is completely insane!" The girl cried.
"Ellie, you saw what they did to your friend." Sam said, crossing his arms.
"Okay, but... Why would they kill Nick and why kidnap me?"
"Those are great questions." Dean said, looking to the boy. "What do you tools want with the watch and what does it have to do with her?"
"You're gunna have to kill me." The boy replied.
"Alright." Dean shrugged, looking to Sam. "You wanna...?"
"Yep." Sam nodded. "Alright, let's go for a walk."
"What? No, no! You can't just shoot him!" Ellie protested as the younger brother stood her up.
"Who said anything about shooting him? How awfully unimaginative of you." Eden frowned, walking over to the boy. "I'm thinking of gas... You know, there's something poetic about gassing a Nazi to death."
"Na, you wanna save that for the big boys, not waste such beautiful expressive art on a kid barely out of diapers." Dean said, walking around behind the boy, cocking his gun and shoving it in the crook of his neck.
"Alright! Alright, alright." The boy shouted. "It belongs to my father; Commandant Nauhaus." Sam waved his hand, urging the boy to continue. "Thule High Command? Ranking officer?"
The trio looked between each other as Dean slowly took the gun away.
"Okay. See, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" Sam said, taking a seat by where Eden stood with her arms crossed. "Carry on."
"You don't understand." The boy breathed. "He'll kill me."
"What do you think this is? Tickle party?" Dean asked, waving his gun.
"It started at the end of the War." The boy sighed. "Soviets had surrounded the Fuhrerbunker. Everyone knew it was over - everyone except my father."
Alright, skip the foreplay. What did your dad do to Hitler?" Dean demanded.
"He saved his life. Well, he saved his soul - like, literally. The watch, it's like a Horcrux."
Dean looked confused.
"It's a, uh, Harry Potter thing." Sam whispered.
"Ugh... You would know that." Dean rolled his eyes.
"Anyways, so, the watch holds Hitler's soul?" The younger brother pressed.
"Right..." Ellie spoke up, clearly not believing a word. "You trapped Hitler's soul in a pocket watch? Oh, why's that? For safe keeping?"
"No. To bring him back." The boy replied. Ellie burst into a rather high-pitched fit of laughter. "Sounded bonkers the first time I heard it too."
"The first time you heard it?" Sam frowned. "Weren't you there?"
"What? No, man, I was born in Buffalo in ninety-four." The boy scoffed. "Listen, this whole 'let's bring Hitler back' is more of an OG Thule plan. All they do is yap about it."
"He's joking, right? This is a joke." Ellie giggled.
"Okay, wait - let's just back up to the part where your dad is going to resurrect Adolf Hitler." Dean waved a dismissive hand towards the girl.
"After the bunker," The boy continued. "The Thule agents were smuggling Hitler's soul but got whacked by Soviets."
"So, you lost the watch." Sam stated.
"Hey, I didn't lose it. It ended up with some Russian family. Then the Thule tracked it to China and then to Peru. Then it wound up in that antique shop. Now, they're all hyped to get their Fuhrer-resurrection on."
"This isn't a joke... Oh my God..." Ellie finally realised, getting up.
"Glad you've finally found the page the rest of us are on." Eden mumbled.
"How are you planning on bringing Hitler back?" Dean continued.
"The soul of Hitler can only inhabit a body of someone who possesses his blood." The boy explained.
"His blood..." Sam's eyebrows raised. "Das Blut. So, let me get this straight; the Thule want to upload his body into the body of one of his relatives? Do they even exist anymore?"
"Well, there's one right there." The boy glanced to Ellie, causing everyone else to do the same.
"Wait, wait, you think I'm related to Hitler?" She scoffed. "Okay, that is just hilarious."
"We've been keeping tabs on you your whole life." The boy said. "The Thule track all of Hitler's descendants, you just happened to be in the same state as the watch. Go figure."
"No. No way, okay? My mom, she tracked our family all the way back to the Mayflower. She was-"
"You're adopted." He retorted.
"You don't know anything about me." The girl glared.
"You're from Wheaton, Illinois. All-state cross-country all four years."
"Wow, you know how to use the internet."
"You trained to become a doctor, but you dropped out at the sight of your first stiff." The boy continued.
"I am taking a sabbatical." Ellie defended.
"You dipped town two days before your wedding."
"He was banging our caterer! You-" She cut herself off, taking a deep breath.
"It seems as though all this running is a thing for you." The boy frowned. Ellie was about to say something in response, but cut herself off again, grabbed her phone and stormed off. "See?"
Dean looked to Sam with a shrug.
"Yeah, I got her." The younger brother sighed, getting up.
"No, sounds like she could use some female rant time. I've got her. Plus, if I stay here, I'm going to end up ripping his throat out just on basic principle." Eden mumbled, walking off in the direction Ellie had, but Sam followed anyway. "I'm fine doing this alone, Sam."
"Yeah, but with you and your empathy issues, we can't be too careful." He replied.
"We gotta move." Dean said to his brother as he walked passed him.
"I know."
"Hey." Eden said in a light, calm voice, walking into the room where Ellie was sat in the far corner on a spinning chair.
"Hey." She mumbled, wiping away a few stray tears.
"I know you didn't sign up for this..." The Dark Angel sighed, kneeling down in front of her as Sam walked in. "I know this must be... Really screwing with your mind right now."
"Well, I texted my mom, asked if I was adopted. She wrote 'honey, call us.'" Ellie sniffed, showing them the text. "That guy out there just flipped my life inside out in, like, five seconds."
"Ellie, I know it probably feels like that right now, but, you can handle this." Sam told her.
"Besides, what's changed? I mean, really. Adopted or not, you still have two parents who love you. It doesn't matter if you share blood." Eden added.
"Being a little flighty I can handle. Being related to the biggest genocidal maniac of all time? I don't think so." Ellie shook her head.
"Like I say. It doesn't matter who you share or don't share blood with. So long as you don't go starting another world war or kill six million Jews, you're fine." Eden shrugged, looking to Sam, who looked back. "How was that?"
"Almost... Needs work." Sam replied, turning back to Ellie. "Look, I know it's hard to believe this right now, but it will get easier. Trust me, I've been there."
"Oh, right. Did someone wanna use you to resurrect Adolf Hitler?" Ellie retorted.
"Uh... No, not exactly." Sam frowned.
"There you go."
"But they did want me to bring back Lucifer." The Winchester continued. "I was his vessel."
"You almost, almost had me with Hitler. But Lucifer? Really? The Devil?" Ellie scoffed.
"Do you want me to do the thing?" Eden asked.
Sam shrugged.
Eden sighed, getting up to go to the furthest stretch of wall, then shook out her wings. Ellie gasped, jolting back in her seat.
"Oh my God..." She breathed, her eyes wide.
"Not exactly. The Hitler thing's real, the Lucifer thing's real. Believe me, he's an arsehole..." Eden mumbled, putting her wings away.
"Are you an Angel?" The girl asked.
"Close. I'm an Angel of Darkness. But don't worry, that's not as bad as it sounds."
"I can't do this..." Ellie muttered, getting up just as Dean entered the room.
"Alright, meltdown time's over." He said. "Listen, you need to face this. Now. Believe it or not, we actually have the upper hand here. According to, uh, you know, Junior Jackass in there, the Thule want you. Now, we can use that. We can set a trap."
"Oh, now you wanna use me as bait?"
"We don't want to use you as bait, Ellie, but... We have the opportunity to take out the entire Thule High Command in one shot." Sam told her.
"Now, does that sound scary? Yeah, you bet." Dean said, crouching down on the floor where Eden had been. "But there are times when you run and time where you stand and fight. Now is one of those time when you fight. Now we promise that we will keep you safe."
"Oh my God." Ellie whimpered, seeing something through the window to the office they were in.
There was a Thule agent walking into the room, taking out his gun.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Dean mumbled, moving over to lock the door.
"Get down." Sam told Ellie.
"I'll look after her, you guys do your thing." Eden said, standing in front of the girl, who crouched down behind a filing cabinet.
Sam nodded, taking out his gun and preparing himself for when Dean opened the door.
He took a shot, but missed and began to walk out of the room.
There was another Thule agent hidden out of sight, who grabbed him, tackling him to the floor.
Sam ran out, opting for hand-to-hand combat with the agent they'd seen walking in.
Eden rolled her eyes, watching both the boys barely able to fight off the Thule.
"Are you good here?" She asked, turning to Ellie, who nodded frantically.
Eden nodded, stalking over to the guy taking on Sam, just as he was punched.
She grabbed him by the shoulders, throwing him across the room and through the plasterboard wall.
Dean had the other guy on the floor, repeatedly kicking him wherever he could. He looked for his gun, which had been dropped in the tackle, giving his opponent time to get up as the first agent came back through the trashed wall.
The agent grabbed Dean. Throwing him through a frosted glass window.
Sam grabbed a knife the first agent had dropped on the floor during their struggle, he ran at the man just as he'd thrown Eden to the floor.
Just as she was about to re-join the fight, both agents ended up knocking the brothers to the ground and made their escape.
Looking around, the boy they'd been questioning was nowhere to be seen.
Sam ran to check on Ellie, but she wasn't in the room anymore and the far window was open.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me..." Eden huffed. "Give me a leg up."
Sam crouched down on the floor underneath the window and cupped his hands. Eden stepped in it and he hoisted her up and out of the window.
Eden landed out in a side alley, instantly breaking into a run towards the street.
She looked around, eventually seeing Ellie on a street corner up ahead just as the door to a black stretched limousine opened and she was grabbed.
"Oh, bloody Hell..." Eden groaned, running towards it just as it pulled away. She mentally noted the licence plate before it disappeared, then headed back to the boys.
"They have her." She said as she approached them in the underground parking lot. "I would've followed but it's really busy out there..."
"Where did they go?" Dean asked.
"Black stretched limousine heading north out of the city." She replied, opening the back door to the Impala.
"I'll get on traffic cams." Sam said.
"Good, because I've got a licence plate for you as well."
"Look at you, on the ball." Dean smirked, revving up the engine and wheel-spinning out of the lot.