When a creature is released from Heaven or Hell, the area they land in is usually drenched in paranormal activity afterwards. The remains of their Grace or their Soul attract lost spirits stuck in the Veil or demons and angels trying to find their way. Eliza couldn't even imagine how much energy was still radiating around them from an Archangel escaping Hell in this area.
"Wait. This is where you were released when he sprung Lucifer out of the Cage?" Dean questioned, pointing down at the dirt he was standing on. Eliza nodded her head to the side and pointed to the hole behind her.
"More like there, but yeah. Pretty much." She brushed the remaining dirt from her hands and crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a sigh. "Four years. It doesn't even feel like that," she admitted. Sam chuckled, nodding.
"Well, of course it wouldn't. You were in the Cage with Lucifer for two. The Apocalypse was like a vacation for you," he told her. Eliza snorted, shaking her head.
"Vacation, my ass. I spent the whole year worrying about you two even though this one—" She gestured to Dean. "—wanted me gone the whole time. I can't even imagine the relief you must've felt when Lucifer pushed me in." Dean's eyebrows rose in shock.
"Relief? Relief? Oh, Eliza, trust me when I tell you that I thought we were completely screwed without you. Sam beat me to a pulp before snapping out of it and finishing his job, pulling Michael in with him. I had wish that you were there to help," Dean explained. Eliza pursed her blood red lips, furrowing her eyebrows in thought.
"Yeah, about that. How the hell did Michael get thrown into the Cage?" she inquired. Sam and Dean exchanged glances, Dean smiling sheepishly.
"Cas." Eliza raised a questioning eyebrow. "He pretty much molotoved him, pissed him off, Michael came back, and Sam pulled him in with him. Kill two birds with one stone, right?" Eliza stared at him flatly. "What? You hated the winged douchebag!" Dean defended. Eliza nodded her head to the side.
"Okay, yeah, I did," she agreed. Dean held his arms out in a 'thank you' gesture. "But I would've much rathered it be Lucifer and I down there. Michael just instigated everyone." Dean looked to Sam who nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah, he really did." Dean stared down at the ground in shock, nodding.
"Huh. I figured that would've been your dad." Dean clapped his hands together, his tongue darting out and swiping over his chapped lips. "Let's go summon Candy." Dean took off towards the gear, Eliza and Sam exchanging unsure glances.
"So this is really where you crawled out of Hell?" Sam questioned, turning back to look at the hole. Eliza nodded, placing his hands on her hips.
"Yep. My body must've been here when they dragged me down to Hell. I'm sure Gabriel hid it so that no one could destroy it," Eliza explained.
"Wouldn't you have been under two layers of Earth? How did you crawl out?" Sam asked. Eliza nodded, walking over to the hole.
"Well, that's the thing. I wasn't. I was surrounded by concrete, almost like a tomb of some sort. It's like it was well above the layers of Earth at the time," she replied. Sam's eyebrows rose, impressed.
"I guess Gabriel really did care for your safety." Eliza nodded in agreement. "Well, we should probably get back to Dean. Maybe we can investigate it later." Sam started to walk and Eliza followed, but stopped after a few steps and glanced back at the hole. She furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to the side, studying it. She had a weird feeling about that hole. Like there was something else in it.
"Later. You're doing this for Kevin," she told herself, stepping over a fallen tree and catching up to Sam and Dean.
~*~
Dean sat on a log, Sam rested on an old stool, and Eliza laid across the wooden beam behind them. Sam's hands were tucked inside his jacket pockets, the man almost shivering from the cold. Dean didn't seem fazed by it, staring down at his phone as they waited for any sign of Candy's spirit. Eliza stared up at her own phone, the temperature not affecting her. She could only feel the radiation of her 'tomb.' It was overwhelming, almost as if another half of her were there.
"You feel that? I think I felt a chill," Sam said. Dean looked up from his head, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. It's 'cause it's cold." He dialed his phone and held it up to his ear, letting it ring. He rolled his eyes when it took him to the voice message box, obviously not happy with the outcome. "Crowley, it's Dean. Call me when you get this." Eliza rolled her green eyes, turning her head to look at the older Hunter, glancing down at the beer can in his hand before looking back up to his face.
"Really, Dean?"
"What?"
"That's your third unanswered voicemail. You ever think maybe he's just not that into you?" the blonde told him, sighing and sitting up. She eyed the candles, the warm reflection of the flames dancing in her eyes. She found the fire soothing and nerve wracking at the same time, glimpses of Hell appearing every now and then. Even as a demon she still despised the realm.
"Well, he is our last confirmed link to Mrs. Tran. Yes, he is a flaming douche, but at least we know he's real, which is more than we can say for this Candy no-show," Dean replied, lifting his beer to take a sip. He frowned and turned it upside down, two drops falling to the ground. He had finished his third beer, Eliza and Sam still on their first.
Sam and Dean both let out a yawn, distracted by the radio on the tree releasing waves of static. The three Hunters all exchanged glances before jumping up to investigate, rushing over to the radio. They could hear clip-its of a woman's voice, barely audible through the static.
"Candy?" Sam asked as Dean turned the knob to tune it. "Are — are you there? Is that you, Candy?"
"Hello? Hello?" the woman's voice from the radio asked, her voice clearer now. Eliza and Sam exchanged relieved wide-eyed glances, slight smiles breaking out on their faces before looking back to the radio. Despite Sam wanting nothing more to do with Eliza, he found himself wanting to be around her more and more in the past day. It was a feeling he couldn't control, no matter how much he tried to fight it.
Candy spoke as Dean turned the knob, trying to get a clearer sound. Suddenly Eliza placed her hand on his, stopping him.
"There. There. There. Stop. Stop. Stop. Candy?" she asked, glancing at Sam out of the corner of her eye as she spoke into the radio.
"...in the box. They put me in the box. All of us in boxes, side by side. Me, Jerome, Linda," Candy started to explain.
"Linda's —"
"Mrs. Tran," Sam finished for Dean who nodded. Sam looked back to the radio. "Candy, these boxes, where were they?"
"I don't know. They were cold. Dark. There — there was a vent. We could talk to one another," Candy told him. Eliza took a step forward, her arms around her body as the harsh winds whipped her hair around her head.
"Okay, and the walls, can you describe them?" the demon questioned. Candy's voice was shaky, almost as if she were crying and scared. Eliza had never been stuck in the Veil before, but she didn't even want to imagine what it was like.
"Bare. Cement. Except for the door. That was...metal, but...like, ridged."
"Ridged?" Dean said. "You mean like corrugated?"
"Yeah! I tried to lift the door, but I couldn't. Locked from the outside." Dean looked to Sam.
"Like a storage unit?" he suggested. Sam nodded his head to the side, taking the idea into consideration.
"Maybe." He focused his attention back on the radio. "Candy, who was holding you there?"
"Two men. It was so dark in the box. When they came, I could barely see. The — the first guy was British, I think. Kind of short, loved hearing himself talk." Eliza scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. Though she could definitely believe it was the King of Hell. It sounded like something he'd do.
"Crowley," she muttered. "And what do they want?"
"Said I was worth more alive than dead. But he stopped coming. Then it was just the other guy. We thought with just him...we'd try to escape. I ran so hard, so far, but..." Candy trailed off, leaving the echo of static as the wind howled around them.
"Candy? Candy, are you there? What about Mrs. Tran? Candy?" Sam called out. Candy sniffled.
"I don't know. Maybe she survived."
"Maybe? That's not what you told her son," Dean replied.
"I said she was alive. I don't know what happened after. For her sake, I hope she's dead." Sam, Dean, and Eliza all exchanged worried glances.
They quickly packed up their stuff, taking both the radio and the coffeemaker with them. Eliza had slung the duffel bag over her shoulder before her gaze drifted back over to the hole in the ground. She looked back to Sam, handing him the bag.
"You guys go ahead to the storage unit. I'll catch up. I need to check something out," she told him. Sam and Dean glanced at each other, shrugging. She was demon. She could poof in and out of places on her own.
"We'll let you know if we find Mrs. Tran," Dean told her before nodding his head towards the direction of the Impala as a gesture for Sam to follow. Once the two Hunters were gone Eliza quickly surveyed the area around her before running over to the hole. It was pretty deep, not much dirt filling it back in within the past four years.
It was only a matter of minutes before she scraped concrete. She pulled her hand from the bottom, examining the blood that had just surfaced. Rolling her eyes, she ran her hand over the wound, healing it instantly. Eliza stomped on the concrete, the sound echoing and bouncing back to her. She furrowed her eyebrows and squatted down, studying it. There was a single crack. It should've been completely broken from when she crawled out.
Eliza stood up and bent her knees, springing up off of the ground and landing back on the concrete slab. There were a few more cracks, the structure weakening slightly. She smirked before jumping once more, the stone beneath her giving out completely. She let out a scream as she fell through, landing on the bottom roughly in a pile of white stone and dust. Waving her hand in front of her face as an attempt to push the dust away, Eliza coughed and squinted her eyes. She pushed the stone off of her body and got up, looking around.
Her vision slowly adjusted to the darkness around her, the pile of broken stone coming into focus as the moonlight revealed the tomb. Eliza bit her lower lip as she pulled a flashlight out of her back pocket, clicking it on and shining it around the small area. She let out a gasp before closing her eyes and sucking in a sharp breath when the light landed on a realistic painting. She stepped forward, running her fingers along the frame in confusion. It was a modern painting, so what was it doing in a tomb almost as old as the Earth?
Eliza stopped when she felt her finger touch a notch on the bottom. She placed the handle of the flashlight between her teeth, standing up on her toes to reach the top of the painting and pull it off of the wall. She set it off to the side, taking the flashlight back in her grasp and shining it on a hole in the wall where a stone should've been.
"Oh, Gabriel, you sneaky son of a bitch," she said with a grin, reaching in and feeling around the compartment for any sign of an object. Her hand brushed a few cobwebs, but she ignored them when her fingers ran over a leather surface. She stopped, biting the edge of her tongue in concentration as she pulled it from the hole in the wall. She struggled to slide it out, the hole a little taller than her and the book resting deeper than she'd like.
With a grunt, she managed to pull it out and blow the dust off of it, coughing once again and waving the dust away. She turned the book over in search of anything that resembled a title, but it was completely blank. She rolled her eyes before opening it up, shining her flashlight on each page. It was a copy of one of her old battle technique books that the angels had written.
"Why would you leave me this?" she asked aloud before stopping, staring down at the page in realization. Or the lack of a page. "Oh, you are definitely the smartest angel of us all, Gabe." A big gap was carved out of the pages. Inside rested a sky blue crystal that resembled the one in the pommel of her sword. She pulled the crystal out along with a string that was tied around a wolf's tooth. "I underestimated you too much," she muttered as she kneeled on the ground, the flashlight shining on the crystal.
Eliza unsheathed her sword, running her fingers along the silver before stopping at the crystal. She compared the two crystals, scoffing in disbelief. Andrew hadn't given her a mock crystal because he liked it; he was giving her a war strategy. With Nadia and every other creature just dying to get their hands on Elizabeth's crystal and smash it, this gave her an extra shot.
Eliza pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Dean's number, turning the crystal over in her hand. "Dean," she said when he answered on the third ring. "I think I just found our way of defeating Nadia and getting Libby back."
~*~
By the time Eliza had gotten back to the Bunker Sam and Dean had already rescued Mrs. Tran. She was glad that they didn't need her help considering she had promised to stay by their side until they defeated Nadia.
Now they were giving Mrs. Tran the chance to talk to her son, spirit or not. Sam slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and placed it on the table, he and Dean walking into the main room.
"Kevin?" Sam called out.
"You here? Kev?" Dean added. Suddenly Kevin appeared at the end of the table, Eliza, Sam, and Dean on the other side.
"Well?" His spirit looked restless; stressed. He had dark circles under his eyes, much like the ones that had pretty much became permanent when he was alive. He was a bit paler than before, his chocolate eyes showing the worry that he'd had the past day while Sam and Dean were out searching for Mrs. Tran.
"We got her. She's alive. She's here. But we wanted to give you a moment to... You know, process," Eliza explained, giving the spirit a small smile. He nodded.
"Oh. I, uh... Does she know?"
"Kevin?" Kevin turned to see Mrs. Tran approaching, a smile taking over her face. Even as a spirit, Mrs. Tran was still relieved to see her son after being away so long. Eliza watched the reunion with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Hello, son." The Hunters retreated, leaving Mrs. Tran and Kevin to have their privacy.
Eliza sat Sam and Dean down in another room, the book in her grasp as she glanced between the two. "Alright. I'll bite. What did you find that's going to help us get Libby back?" Dean questioned. Eliza set the old book down on the table, opening it up to the carved out pages. She pulled out the crystal and wolf's tooth.
"Is that your crystal?" Sam questioned. She nodded, picking it up and holding it to the light before nodding her head to the side.
"Well, not exactly. It's a replica." Eliza pulled her sword from the sheath and rested it on the table, setting the replica crystal next to the real one. "Gabriel was clever when it came to protecting my life. This crystal is my entire life, literally. If it breaks, I die or turn human and there's no telling which one it is. When I destroyed Azrael's, he died as a human," she explained. Sam nodded.
"Great. So what are we going to do with a replica?" he asked. Eliza popped the crystal from the sword and set it to the side gently, inserting the replica into the pommel. She picked up her sword and lifted it in her hand a bit, getting a feel for the weight. It was the exact same.
"We are going to trick Nadia and every other creature out there. Sooner or later the supernatural world will realize that my life is tied to some—some rock. Why give them the advantage of the real one?
"I use the fake to make them think they have the upperhand. Gabriel was protective of me, more along the lines of overprotective if you asked me." Dean hummed in agreement, thinking back to how he had died for her. "But he was smart. Andrew had a fascination with this damn rock and I never understood why until I realized that the blood in it was linked to my life. Guys, when we find Nadia, we can take her on with no problem. Her dagger doesn't have a replica crystal. One was never created. We can get Libby back."
Dean leaned forward, snatching the necklace from the table and turning it over in his hands, his thumb running along the smooth surface of the tooth. He held it up.
"And this?"
"Gabriel's idea of a cruel joke," Eliza deadpanned. Dean chuckled, nodding.
"Yeah, of course it is. That's Gabriel for ya." Sam grabbed the necklace from Dean's grasp, studying it.
"Didn't you and Cas talk about Andrew's proposal? Something that had to do with a wolf's tooth?" Eliza glanced away, clearing her throat awkwardly. Upon hearing the action, Sam's gaze lifted to the blonde with raised eyebrows. "Wait. This is the thing he used to propose to you?"
"I'd rather not be reminded of my past with him, thanks," she said, leaning across the table and taking the necklace back from Sam. "I don't seem to have a very good track record with men, as proven by the two of you sitting in this room." Sam and Dean exchanged flat glances before looking back up to Eliza, almost offended. She shrugged innocently. "What? It's true!"
~*~
"So, this is, uh — this is all of it. You know, hunter's tools — notebooks, papers, pencils, P.S.A.T. results." Dean thumbed through a notebook, chuckling. "Perfect score. Way to go, kid." All of Kevin's belongings were scattered around the table in front of them, a small wooden box in Mrs. Tran's grasp. She rifled through it all carefully before pulling a gold ring from the bottom.
"This. This is it." Dean glanced over in confusion. "His father's. Mr. Tran died when Kevin was a baby. It's the only piece of his father Kevin ever had. If Kevin's s-spirit is bound to some object here... This is it." Her fist closed around the military ring, bringing it to her chest as tears streamed down her cheeks. Eliza watched from the hallway, staring longingly at Mrs. Tran. She wished she had a family like Kevin's that would love her as much as Mrs. Tran loved him. The only person who ever showed his love for Elizabeth was dead, killed right in front of her by her own father.
"Listen, Mrs. Tran. There's a lot that we don't know about this heaven situation. There are risks to taking Kevin home with you. Now, spirits, the longer that they're in the veil, they have a way of... Well, it doesn't end up well," Dean explained. Mrs. Tran shook her head, still clutching the ring.
"He's my son. It's my job to keep him safe for as long as I can." Dean's gaze drifted down to the backpack on the table and nodded. He understood her words completely.
A hand on Eliza's shoulder made her gasp and jump, spinning around to see Sam. "You alright?" he asked softly. She nodded, eyebrows furrowed.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Sam chuckled slightly.
"Eliza, you're crying." She reached up and ran her finger under her eye, swiping away a few tears. "I've never seen a demon cry, so something from earlier must've gotten to you." Eliza looked back towards Mrs. Tran, realization hitting the Hunter as he followed her gaze. "Or from now. You want that, don't you? A family to love and one that loves you. Someone to care for," he said. She scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Who doesn't? At least you guys had John and each other growing up. I'm an only child and my mother was abusive and my father was cast out before I was even born. Everyone hated me except for Gabriel and the humans. Of course I want a life like that. Even if Kevin didn't live a long one, at least he lived it know that someone loved him," she replied softly, careful that Dean and Mrs. Tran didn't hear. Sam sighed, patting her shoulder comfortingly.
"I can't imagine how you grew up, Eliza, but the human life isn't all it's cut out to be."
"You think I don't know that? I lived amongst the humans until the moment I was banished for my bloodline. I love my powers, but I would give them up in a heartbeat for someone who I loved and who loved me back." She turned to face Sam. "Why do you think I was willing to die for you?" Sam didn't show his shock. He didn't think Eliza had the same feelings for him that she did before The Fall. He figured she would've changed into a heartless demon.
Without giving him a chance to reply, Eliza turned and made her way back to her room. She wasn't up to talking feelings with Sam. It wasn't something either of them were ready for.
~*~
"She was held and tortured for a year because of me. Now that I found her, I'm not letting her out of my sight. She's my responsibility," Kevin explained as Sam and Dean stood before him. Eliza hung in the back of the room, too guilty and ashamed to talk to Kevin. She could still remember his screams as she pinned Dean to the pillar, making him watch Kevin die at the hands of Gadreel.
"And you were ours. And we failed you. I —" Kevin cut Sam off.
"Sam. I know that wasn't you. Go put a blade in that asshat who possessed you and we'll call it square." Sam nodded gratefully at the Prophet, a smile threatening to take over his lips. Eliza raised her chin slightly, watching in curiosity. "Guys. Thank you." Dean nodded.
"You can thank us when we get you to heaven where you belong. Okay, until then, enjoy your time with your mom. The, uh, uninterrupted, twenty-four seven, no-escape quality time," Dean told him. Kevin's face spread into a grin, the boy chuckling.
"Dick." He turned to leave but stopped, looking back to the Winchesters. "Hey, before I go... Will you guys promise me something?"
"Yeah," Dean said.
"Anything," Sam added.
"Can you two... Get over it?" Dean's gaze drifted to the ground. "Dudes, just 'cause you couldn't see me doesn't mean I couldn't see you. The drama, the fighting... It's stupid. My mom's taking home a ghost." Kevin let out a small sigh. "You two... You're both still here."
"Of course. Promise," Sam replied.
"Yeah," the older Winchester agreed.
"Good." Kevin looked to Eliza who stood in the back of the room, watching. He walked towards her, her eyes widening in what seemed liked fear the closer he got. "Eliza, I know that you technically took part in my death."
"I'm so sorry, Kevin," she whispered, her voice cracking as her eyes started to water. "I didn't know—"
"I know." Her eyes widened once again in shock. "I forgive you. I've seen you around the Bunker. You truly are good, even just as the demon half of Libby. Take care of them, okay? Until you merge back into one the tension between the three of you will just grow. You've dated both of these idiots and they both love you." Eliza let out a laugh, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes. Sam and Dean chuckled softly. "I know they don't trust you right now, but give it time. I wish you luck in defeating your mother. You're gonna need it." Eliza furrowed her eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"Word travels around the Veil. Libby's weak. Nadia is basically bleeding her dry and without Libby at full strength you're at equal power with your mom. You may have the crystal illusion going for you, but she's smart. She'll catch on," Kevin explained. He turned to leave when Eliza stopped him.
"Wait. If you heard her plans, does that mean you know where she is?" she inquired. Kevin sighed, shaking his head.
"All I know is that she's somewhere in Nebraska. They said she called it, and I quote, 'home sweet home'. Does that mean something?" Eliza shook her head, but smiled at Kevin thankfully.
"Thank you, Kevin. Really. I'm sorry that I ever trusted her." Kevin smiled slightly, shrugging.
"She's your mom. What else could you do?" With one last look at the trio of Hunters, Kevin turned and followed his mother up the stairs. They all watched the two leave, Mrs. Tran closing the front door behind them.
Dean let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Well, that was..." He spun around to see Sam already leaving the room, Eliza staring at Dean with an amused smile and raised eyebrows as he nodded to himself. "Yeah, okay."
"I need to do some research. I'll be in my room if you need me," Eliza said. She started to walk away when Dean reached out and grabbed her arm. She stopped, eyeing his hand before her gaze drifted up to his eyes.
"Are you sure that those words don't mean anything to you?" Dean asked, desperate to get Libby back. Eliza pursed her lips and shook her head, glancing away for a brief moment before looking back to Dean and forcing a small smile on her lips.
"No. Nothing at all." Dean released her arm, his eyes following her as she went down the hallway opposite of his and Sam's. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at her reaction before shaking it off. She was on their side. She wouldn't lie to him...would she?