Taking a shower in the bunker, Dean and I were standing under the spray as water poured over us. I turned to face Dean, managing a small smile, kissing him. Dean placed his hands on my bare back to pull me closer, smirking. I smiled, wrapping my arms around his neck, kissing him more deeply. We both pulled away after a moment, looking at the mark. Dean kissed the mark shaped like the first blade, keeping my gaze. I leaned my head against his.
~~~~~~~~
We walked into the library.
Sam was on the phone. "Yeah. All right. Thanks, Carlos. Listen, you, uh, if you catch wind of any other demon activity, give me a holler, all right? Appreciate it."
Sam hung up.
"Anything?" I asked.
"Yeah," Sam answered. "A dozen demon-related cases, people without souls acting out, but..."
"But no sign of Abaddon," Dean finished.
"Right," Sam agreed. "Looks like she's vanished."
"Well, we just got to keep digging," Dean told us.
"Right," Sam agreed. I absentmindedly rubbed at the mark. Sam noticed. "You okay?"
I lowered my hands to my side, looking between them, nodding. "Yeah. I'm fine. Let's get to work."
Sam looked at Dean. "All right."
Dean shrugged slightly.
I gave them a look for the silent communication.
~~~~~~~~
Castiel called to tell us that Gadreel set up a trap for angels. He offered them a deal to the angels. They could join Metatron and return to Heaven, or they would be killed.
One of the angels had survived to tell Castiel to this.
Dean's phone was on speaker on the table in front of us.
"Gadreel?" Sam asked. "Gadreel is working for Metatron? For how long?"
"I don't know."
"So, Metatron made Gadreel kill Kevin?" I asked.
"It would explain a lot, and there have been no new prophets, which Metatron could have fixed to his advantage."
"And Gadreel said that angels are returning to Heaven? How? I thought that the spell was irreversible."
"That's what Crowley said," I told them. "Look, let's just find Gadreel and... and beat some answers out of him."
"Yeah, here's something to start with that. Uh... hold on. I'm, uh, sending you a photo of the symbol that drew all the angels in."
I opened my laptop, starting to type away. "Okay. Got it."
"It's acting as some kind of angel siren. I think it's a spell. The ingredients used to create it were very odd. Griffin feathers, bones of a fairy. I've never seen it before."
"Yeah, me, neither," I told them. "All right. Let me see what I can find."
"'Honor bar'. What's honorable about a miniature bar in a motel room?"
"Everything," Dean answered.
"How are you, Dean?"
"I'm fine, Cas," Dean answered. "How about you?"
"I miss my wings. Life on the road... smells."
Dean chuckled. "Hmm."
"Yeah, listen," I told them. "I got a match, and it's not from the lore. It's from police records. Looks like that symbol you found was spotted at a handful of crime scenes the last couple days, all multiple homicides."
"And where were these crime scenes?"
"Uh, Utah," I answered. "Baker, Hill Valley."
"And I'm in Bishop's Falls, Utah."
"Also looks like most of the crime scenes were in industrial areas," I told them.
"Looks like Gadreel is heading north."
"What's the next big town?" Sam asked.
"There are two. It could be Auburn or Ogden."
"All right, you take Auburn," Dean told him. "We'll take Ogden. Meet in the middle."
Dena hung up.
I looked up curiously. "I've worked a case in Ogden. It was a witch situation. There was a kid in town that helped me. I should call him, see if he's still in business."
~~~~~~~~
Dean pulled us up to Ian's Herbal Remedies after dark.
I noticed that the store was dark and empty, but the sign still said it was open. "Guys."
We got out of the Impala, walking toward the store, inside, searching around with flashlights.
"Got an open box of feathers over here," Sam told us.
I opened a closet to reveal Ian inside, dead, his eyes angel-burned from his head. "Guys."
"We got to find Gadreel before he lights up the bat signal," Dean told us.
I sighed, closing the closet door.
~~~~~~~~
Gadreel walked toward his car in a dark alley, looking up to see Sam walking around a corner.
Sam took out his phone, making a call. "Cas, it's Sam again. Call us. We need your help."
Sam hung up.
Gadreel appeared in front of Sam.
Sam jumped.
Gadreel smiled menacingly.
Dean and I were standing on a ledge above.
I clicked a lighter, dropping it toward them, igniting a ring of holy fire around Gadreel, trapping him.
"Hey, douchebag," Dean told him.
Sam looked at Gadreel in pure anger. "Remember me?"
Gadreel looked up toward Dean and me.
We were just as angry.
~~~~~~~~
We had Gadreel chained to a chair in an abandoned factory with warded chains.
Gadreel looked at Sam. "If this is like looking into a fun-house mirror for me, I cannot imagine what it is like for you."
Sam was barely controlling his rage. "how long have you been working for Metatron?"
"I will not talk, and you cannot make me," Gadreel told us.
"Yeah?" Sam asked.
"I have been you, Sam Winchester," Gadreel told him. "Your insides reek of shame and weakness."
Sam punched Gadreel in the face, trying to do it again.
Dean stepped between them, hands on Sam's chest to stop him. "Sam, Sam, Sam! Sam, come here."
Dean led Sam away.
Gadreel looked at me.
I glared at him.
~~~~~~~~
Sam and Dean were talking alone.
I was still with Gadreel.
"So, the boys act tough, and you show kindness," Gadreel told me. "Isn't this how it always works."
"Usually, yeah," I answered. "Not this time, though. See, I don't care whether you talk. You're gonna pay for what you did to Sam... and Kevin."
~~~~~~~~
I drew an angel blade deeply across Gadreel's arm, making him scream in agony, cleaning the blood off the blade. "Word around the campfire is, you let the snake into the garden. Ruined it for all humanity."
Gadreel gasped in pain. "I set them free. I loved humanity."
"Well, you sure got a funny way of showing it," I told him. "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..." Gadreel trailed off. "You think you are invincible. The three of you against the world, right?"
I turned away from Gadreel. "Damn straight."
"That's what you really think?" Gadreel asked.
I turned to face Gadreel. "Yes. It is."
"I have been in your brother-in-law's body, Ness," Gadreel told me. "I know everything that happened between their family... and yours. How you've known them since childhood. How you have thrown yourself into danger to protect them. How they have done the same for you. But you do realize, don't you... that is why you are where you are? That anyone around this family end up dead, or worse. And you have gone in for worse."
I scoffed softly, shaking my head. "Thanks for the rerun, pal. Demons and monsters have already told me all this crap. Hell, they've told me worse."
"You have saved them constantly, only to find yourself in worse trouble than you were in before, each and every time," Gadreel told me. "Lucifer killed you when you were trying to save Sam, or get him to jump into the fiery pit. Demons have taken you and used you as leverage against him and Dean, which also led to your death, and the death of your friends. The leviathans came after you to try to find them and kill you all. They are the reason your father is dead. Killing the leviathan that was after your husband and his brother is what sent you to Purgatory and led you to be taken by the nest, and all of the things they did to you."
I took a deep breath, looking away, tightening my hold on the angel blade, walking closer, punching him in the face. "Keep it up."
Gadreel looked at the mark on my arm. "They are the reason you have taken that. You have died three times for their sins. Your father. Your friends. Your home. How many more is to come?"
I stabbed Gadreel in the right side of his chest, not his heart, not deep enough to kill him, making him groan a scream. "Feel that? I just turn the blade, nick your heart, your dead."
"Do it," Gadreel told me. "Do it! Kill me!"
"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" I asked, taking the blade out, making him groan in pain. "That's what that whole speech was about. You're not afraid to die. You're afraid to be left in these chains forever. Well, you can sit here and rot, you son of a bitch."
I walked away, leaving.
~~~~~~~~
I walked into a bathroom in the abandoned factory, setting the angel blade in a sink, setting my phone on the rim, splashing water on my face. I looked up into the mirror, looking at the reflection of the mark of Cain. I sighed, grabbing the angel blade, walking out of the bathroom.
~~~~~~~~
I had taken Gadreel out of the chair and had him unconscious against the wall, a bleeding mess, still handcuffed with angelic cuffs.
I was sitting on the floor a few feet away, leaning against the wall, hands covered in blood.
Dean walked in, looking at the chair that Gadreel had been in to see it was overturned and pooling with blood. "Ness? Ness!" He looked around, seeing me, walking closer, kneeling next to me. "Ness. Hey. Are... are you okay?"
"Yeah," I answered. "Yeah, you got to stop asking me that."
"I've been calling you," Dean told me. "I mean, w--why didn't you, uh..."
"Forgot my phone in the bathroom," I answered. Dean looked at Gadreel's unconscious body. "He won't talk."
"I figured," Dean told me.
I looked at Dean desperately. "He wanted to die, and I was gonna kill him. I was. But then I stopped 'cause I know we need him to talk."
I leaned my head against his shoulder. Dean sighed, holding a hand to my head, showing more worry than he meant to.
Sam walked closer, looking at Gadreel's unconscious body with a little morbid satisfaction. He looked at me. "Ness, listen. Metatron has Cas." I lifted my head off of Dean's shoulder in surprised worry. "He's offering up a trade."
"We can't trust Metatron," I told them.
"We--we know that," Sam told me. "Obviously. But, look, this is the first time we're gonna know for sure where Metatron is. Let's take Gadreel to the meet up, make the exchange, and then trap Metatron."
~~~~~~~~
We stood outside of Castiel's motel, waiting next to the Impala.
"He's late," Sam told us.
"Or he's not gonna show," Dean told us.
Metatron appeared. "Of course I'm gonna show. I was just waiting for you three to finish setting up your little trap for me. Uh, am I hitting my mark? Well, come on. Let's go. I'm waiting." I tossed down a lit lighter, igniting a ring of holy fire around him. Metatron pretended to be in agony, laughing. "Any of you bring s'mores? Holy fire always gives them a delightful minty aftertaste. Make a wish." He blew out the holy flames with a breath. We stepped forward with angel blades raised. Metatron used angel magic to push us against the Impala, pinning us. "No, thanks." He walked toward the truck, using angel magic to erase the angel warding. "Bye bye." He opened the trunk. Gadreel got out of the trunk. A car pulled up next to us. Castiel got out, walking toward us. "Well, a deal is a deal."
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
"Because I can," Metatron answered. "Because none of you and all those secrets you've got locked away in your bunker can't stop me. But I am gonna enjoy watching you try. It's gonna be a hell of a show. I'll see you around, Castiel. Never forget I gave you a chance."
Castiel, Dean, Sam and I didn't answer, exchanging a look.
~~~~~~~~
The car, Gadreel and Metatron were gone now.
The sun had went down.
"Somebody want to tell me what the hell's going on here?" Dean asked.
"Metatron is trying to play God," Castiel answered.
"Play God?" Sam repeated. "Cas, he erased angel warding. He freaking blew out holy fire. He is God. He's powering up with the angel tablet. How the hell are we supposed to stop this guy?"
"All right, so what if there is a stairway to Heaven?" I asked. "We find it and get a drop on the guy."
"You want to sneak onto the death star, take out the emperor?" Sam asked.
"Okay, I... I'm not sure what a fictional battle station in space has to do with this, but if taking out the emperor means taking out Metatron, I'm on board," Castiel told us.
Dean, Sam and I exchanged a confused look.
Dean looked at Castiel. "Wait, did you... did you just understand a death star reference?"
"Yeah, I think so," Castiel answered. "But I don't understand what that has to do with Heaven."
"It's halfway, I guess," Sam told us.
I looked at Castiel. "You sure you're all right?"
"Yes," Castiel answered. "Are you? There's something different about you."
I patted Castiel on the shoulder. "I'm fine."
Castiel grabbed my arm, pushing up my sleeve to reveal the mark, looking at me darkly. "What have you done?"
I pulled my arm away in annoyance. "It's a means to an end."
"Damn it, Ness," Castiel told me.
"What?" I asked. "All this time caring only about Sam and Dean, now you express concern for me?" Castiel gave me a look. Sam and Dean exchanged a look, sighing. "Look, you find Heaven, you drop a dime. Meantime, I got a knight to kill."
I walked toward the Impala, getting inside, closing the door.
Sam and Dean got inside.
Dean drove us away, leaving.