Chapter 26 He Took My Childhood in His Stride
"Dean, pick up the phone. Call me back." Sam said into his phone, talking to Dean's voicemail. "I'm not kidding, all right? Don't do this. Not like this."
"Are you sure it was Crowley?" Hope asked. They had woken her up as soon as they realized Dean was gone.
"Who else would he summon?" Sam snapped. "I mean, he and Crowley have been bromancing over the Blade ever since Dean got the Mark."
"The Mark?" Gadreel asked.
"The Mark of Cain." Cas told him.
"So that's what Dean cut me with--the First Blade. In a way, that could be useful."
"What?" Sam asked, incredulous.
"Well, Metatron is more powerful than ever," Gadreel explained, "but if Dean has the First Blade and the Mark, that might give us out best chance."
"You're joking, right?" Sam scoffed. "An hour ago, we were ready to throw Dean into a padded cell, and now you say he's our best chance?"
"Sam's right." Hope broke in.
"Hear him out." Cas said.
"Oh, right. Excuse me." Hope snapped. "Sorry, guys. Sorry I'm a little less than eager to hear that our best chance is--is arming the warhead and hoping it hits the mark."
Sam nodded. "This is not a bomb we're talking about. This is my brother."
"And your brother would not be in this alone." Gadreel assured him. "We can help."
"How?" Hope asked.
"I believe Metatron has found a way to tap into the Angel tablet, harnessing its power to give him powers equivalent to--"
"God, right?" Sam interrupted. "I mean, that's what this is all about, isn't it? Metatron wants to be God." Gadreel nodded.
"Great, well, that basically makes him unstoppable." Hope said dejectedly.
Castiel shook his head. "Not if we can break the connection between Metatron and the tablet. That would make him just an ordinary angel. Where's the tablet?" he turned to Gadreel.
"Metatron's office."
"In Heaven?" Hope asked.
Gadreel nodded. "I can get us to the door."
"And then what?" Sam frowned, uncertain. "I mean, why would they let you in? If Metatron's number two shows up with Heaven's Most Wanted, the gig is up."
"Sam, we have to try." Castiel insisted.
**********************
Dean and Crowley sat in a diner, a cheese burger and a cup of coffee on the table in front of Dean. Crowley nodded toward the door as two demons walked in. "Cavalry's here." The demons walked up to Crowley and handed him a smart phone, a video pulled up on the screen. Crowley nodded for them to leave.
"And?" Dean asked expectantly.
"Apparently...your angel has gone viral." Crowley handed the phone to Dean, who played the video.
A teenage boy was following a girl's butt as she walked by on the sidewalk. "And that, America, is perfection." He said.
Another voice came over the speaker. "Yo, dude, that's your sister."
A loud sound came from off screen and the boy turned the camera to show a woman laying in the street, apparently just hit by a car. Blood poured from her nose, her mouth. "Oh, my God! She's dead, man! She's dead."
Suddenly Metatron appeared out of the crowd. "I'm not so sure about that." He said, bending to heal her. He helped her sit up and then whispered something in her ear.
"Is he ser--is he freaking serious?!" One of the boys exclaimed.
"Did you see that?! Holy...Tell me you just got that. Dude, what's your name?"
Metatron looked straight into the camera. "Marv." The video ended.
"When was this taken?" Dean asked Crowley.
"A couple of hours ago. Muncie, Indiana."
"What did he whisper in her ear?"
Crowley grinned. "Exactly."
**********************
Castiel and Gadreel pulled up outside a kids' playground where a young girl and her mother played.
"The door to Heaven is a playground?" Castiel asked.
Gadreel nodded. "Guarded by two of Metatron's most loyal. I recruited them myself. So, you said you had a plan...How we might convince them to let us pass."
Cas pulled a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. "Wookie."
Gadreel looked at him with confusion in his wide eyes. "Brother, I have no idea what that means."
"It's a reference to a very popular film that--never mind."
They approached the playground, Gadreel leading Castiel who was handcuffed. One of the angels called to the other one. "Asariel."
"Asariel, Purah, make way." Gadreel greeted them.
Purah scowled at him. "The door's closed, Gadreel, by orders of Metatron."
"And who do you think gave the order to capture Castiel?" Gadreel asked. "Unless you think Metatron isn't interested in questioning the leader of the rebellion?"
Asariel sighed. "The spell must be redrawn."
"As quickly as possible, then."
**********************
Dean and Crowley pulled up to an RV park. Sam and Hope were standing in front of the RV they stopped by. "I got this." Dean told Crowley, climbing out of the Impala.
"I guess some of us don't need a demon to help follow a clue trail." Sam spat. "You're looking for miracle lady, right? Yeah, she's gone. I had a nice chat with her, though."
"Sam, Hope, whatever kind of intervention you think this is, trust me, it ain't." Dean snapped. "I'm not gonna explain myself to you."
"Yeah, we got that." Hope shot back. "I just thought you might like to know that while you two have been paying odd couple, your real friends, like Cas, like the angel you stabbed, Gadreel--they're out there right now risking their asses to help you win this fight."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"A fight, I might add, you made that much more complicated when you decided to stab the one angel who could actually get us to Metatron." Sam added.
Dean's nostrils flared. "You mean the angel that took you for a joy ride? The angel that slaughtered Kevin? That angel?"
"Who you let in the front door in the first place. You tricked me, Dean. And now I'm the one who wakes up in the middle of the night seeing my hands killing Kevin, not you." Sam yelled. "So, please, when you don't want to explain anything to me, don't. I get it. And I also get that Metatron has to go. And I know you're our best shot to do that."
"I'm gonna take my shot, for better or worse."
"I know." Sam said.
"No matter the consequences." Dean added, looking at Hope.
"I know." She echoed Sam. "But if this is it, we're gonna do it together."
"You want to know what he whispered to her, right, in the video?" Sam asked. Dean nodded. "His next stop."
Crowley spoke up from where he waited by the car. "So what are we all gollywagging on about? Chop-chop." They all three turned to him with a look that said 'Get lost.' Crowley looked offended. "Excuse me. I'm not exactly demon minion number four here. As the kids say, I've got mad skills."
"Look, I don't know what you expected here, okay. I don't really care." Dean told him. "But you wanted off the hamster wheel. Get off."
Crowley shrugged. "Well, I guess I've been Winchestered. I'd wish you all good luck...if I thought it would help." He vanished.
***********************
Back at the playground, Purah finished drawing the spell portal in the sand of the sand box. It lit up and Gadreel and Castiel stepped into it. Immediately they found themselves in an elevator in Heaven. Two angels, Ingrid and Hannah, met then as they exited.
"Well done." Ingrid said. "We've sent word to Metatron. He'll be back shortly. You can wait inside."
"Thank you, Ingrid." Gadreel nodded at her.
The four angels stepped into Metatron's office. It immediately transformed into a jail block, locking Gadreel and Castiel in two separate cells. "What's going on?" Castiel looked around, disoriented by the change in location.
"No, no, no, no!" Gadreel cried. "Not here!"
"Did you really think your little ruse would work?" Ingrid asked.
"Please. Please!" Gadreel begged.
"Welcome to Heaven's jail, Castiel. I believe Gadreel can give you the tour."
***********************
Dean slipped into the back seat of the Impala next to Hope. They were parked outside the homeless encampment where Metatron--'Marv'--was rumored to be staying. Sam was searching the web for any more news about the angel.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest.
"Good as new."
"Liar." Dean told her. "If you feel as bad as you look, I'm surprised you're sitting up right now."
Hope sighed. "I'm just worried about you."
"Don't be." Dean insisted. "I'm going to be fine." He kissed her forehead.
"Liar." She echoed his previous accusation.
"Look at me. Everything's going to work out, okay? I promise." He said, his bright green eyes sincere. "You just have to trust me that I'm going to come out of there, and I'm going to be me."
"I'm coming with you." Hope said, frowning.
"No, you're not. I'm sorry, Hope." He quickly pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his jacket and locked one around each of Hope's wrists, the chain threaded through the handle above the window of the door.
"Dean! Don't do this! Stop!" she yelled.
Dean climbed out of the car, ignoring Hope as he locked and shut the door behind him and went around to the trunk. He placed a shaking hand on the First Blade, wrapped in a thick cloth, and it began to tremble even more. He closed his eyes, feeling the weapon's power wash over him. Sam came up behind his brother and cleared his throat, causing Dean to whip around to face him, pulling his hand away from the Blade in the process. He shifted, blocking his younger brother's view of the backseat where Hope was trapped. "Anything?" He asked Sam.
"Uh, yeah. He's up there. About a mile up the road. There's a homeless encampment." Sam answered. "The way the folks are talking, he's got them convinced he's some kind of new Jesus or something." Dean nodded. Sam looked at his brother. "You good?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Dean murmured. Sam reached over to pick up the First Blade, handing it to his brother in silence. "Listen, Sammy, about, um, you know, the last couple of months..."
"I know." Sam interrupted him. "So, before we find something else to fight about...tell me...are you ready to gut this bitch?" Sam turned to pick up his bag and as he turned back around to face his brother, Dean threw a punch and knocked him out cold.
"Sorry, little brother." Dean whispered as he knelt by Sam's unconscious body, picking his hand up off the ground and laying it gently on his chest. He glanced at the backseat, where Hope struggled in her restraints. "It's not your fight."