"Brilliant, I must say. I'm speaking of myself, of course. All you three managed to do is get trussed up. Combine a little derring-do on my part, a little dumb muscle from Puppy, a little bleeding from Squirrel and Moose..." Crowley rambled as we headed back to the Impala. "Happy ending. Roll credits."
"No, no! Come on!" Dean cried out. "What the hell?"
All the Impala's doors were open and it looked like it had been searched for something. Dean ran ahead to check on her as Sam, Crowley and I came up to him.
"That's sulfur- demons," Sam noted, moving to the trunk.
"Abaddon's," I guessed. "Well, she's just one jump behind us. Guess she couldn't find Magnus' joint, either. What about the trunk?"
"Safe," Sam confirmed. "Warding kept them out."
"Demon mitts all over my Baby," Dean growled, thoroughly pissed.
He slammed the back door, revealing the whole side covered with writing.
"Oh, come on!! Oh, now they're keying cars?!"
He knelt down, rubbing at the writing.
"What language is that?" Sam queried.
"It's Enochian," I said. "The message isn't for us- it's for Crowley. 'Be Afraid. Your Queen.'"
"Abaddon's getting more brazen," Crowley noted. "She thinks I'm losing my grip."
Dean was still angrily trying to rub at the message as Sam turned to address me quietly.
"Ellie, listen. You said Crowley was only useful until we got the Blade. We got the Blade."
Dean looked over at us, and my eyes flicked over to Crowley. The demon jerked his hand, making Sam, Dean and I fly into the side of the Impala and held us there. The First Blade fell from Sam's hand to the ground.
"You know, boys, Puppy, I'm in debt to you. You forced sobriety on me, and now I can see the situation for what it is. Eleanor, you are quite the killing machine. And it occurs to me that Abaddon is not the only name on your list. My name must be up there, as well."
"It's no good to you without me," I growled at him.
"Yes, but as long as I have it, it's no good to you," the demon countered, picking it up off the ground. "Now, this is the way it's going to go- I'll hang on to old donkey teeth here until such time as you locate Abaddon. Then you'll destroy her. You're right, Moose, Squirrel. You can't trust me. But, sadly, I can't trust you, either."
As Crowley disappeared, we were released from the side of the car, and looked around in frustration.
⁘
Sam and Dean went on another case without me. They'd tried to get me to come with, but I insisted on staying behind and trying to find Abaddon ASAP. While they were gone, Crowley met me at a bar in town. After fighting over whether or not I actually enjoyed killing Magnus with the First Blade, I ended up stopping a hunter from killing Crowley. When Sam and Dean got back, they told me that Abaddon was harvesting souls to create an army, so if it wasn't pressing enough before that we found her, the urgency really picked up then.
We found out via Cass that Gadreel was working for Metatron, and that's why he killed Kevin. He was using a spell to draw in and kill angels. We finally managed to track him down and took him to an abandoned factory.
"If this is like looking at a funhouse mirror for me, I cannot imagine what it is like for you," Gadreel smirked at Sam.
"How long have you been working for Metatron?" Sam snarled, barely containing his anger.
"I will not talk. You can't make me."
"Yeah?"
"I have been you, Sam Winchester. Your insides reek of shame and weakness."
Sam jumped forward, punching Gadreel in the face. After a second time, Dean jumped in front and pushed him back to stop him.
"Sam, Sam, Sam! Sam. Come here."
He dragged him over to where I stood a little ways away from Gadreel.
"He's not gonna crack that fast."
"I know," Sam snarled. "Maybe you could hack him like you and Crowley hacked me."
"No, no, no," I shook my head. "Crowley's the only one who can do that. And I'm not calling that dick bag. We need Cass."
"Any word from him?"
Dean and I both shook our heads.
"No. I tried him again. He hasn't called, he hasn't texted. I turned on the GPS on his phone. He's still in the same town we talked to him last."
"What the hell?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "Dean, take Sam and go find him."
"Wait, what?" they both chorused.
"You're too close to this," I gave Sam a pointed look.
"And, what, you're not?"
"We're not at this five minutes, you're already going Liam Neeson on his ass. I got this. Dean, get him out of here."
I made eye contact with Dean, communicating silently with him. Finally, he nodded and dragged Sam out the door.
"So, he acts tough, and you show kindness. Is that how this works?" Gadreel asked me.
"No," I shook my head. "See, I don't care whether you talk. You're gonna pay for what you did to him... and Kevin."
I took the spare angel blade we'd brought along, drawing it deeply across Gadreel's arm. The angel screamed in agony.
"Word around the campfire is, you let the Snake into the Garden, ruined it for all humanity," I said, wiping off the blade.
"I set them free. I loved humanity!"
"Well, you sure got got a funny way of showing it, asshat. Now, look, you tell me about this 'getting back into Heaven' crap and I'll end this quick. Otherwise, you can sit here and rot in those chains forever. Up to you."
"All your talk, all your bluster... you think you are invincible. The three of you against the world, right?"
"Damn straight," I said, turning my back to him.
"You really think Sam would do anything for you?"
For a moment, I felt my resolve start to crack, but pulled my walls back up as I rounded on the angel once more.
"Oh, I know he would. They both would."
"I have been in your friend's body, Eleanor. He would not trade his life for yours."
"Well, thanks for the rerun, pal. Sam's already told me all that crap. Hell, he's told me worse."
"He told you that he's always felt that way."
I stared blankly at Gadreel, refusing to let him see me crack.
"You're nobody to Sam Winchester, some childhood memory that got dumped on him and his brother again all those years later. He wishes he and Dean had never come to pick you up that day in your father's shop. He thinks you're a burden. And he's right, isn't he? Right to think you're a coward, a sad, clingy, needy..."
My fist connected with Gadreel's face and his mouth started bleeding profusely.
"Keep it up!" I yelled.
"Pathetic bottom-feeder who cannot even take care of herself, who would rather drag everyone through the mud than be alone, who would let everyone around her die!"
As the anger coursed through my veins, I swung the angel blade around to plunge into his chest, but right before I did, I noticed him closing his eyes in anticipation of the death strike. When it didn't come, he opened his eyes in a panic.
"No. Do it. Do it! Kill me!"
"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" I shot back icily. "That's what that whole speech was about? You're not afraid to die, are you? You're afraid to be left in these chains forever. Well, you can sit here and rot, you son of bitch."