After giving them their instructions, the three Vamps got ready to go, preparing themselves for the battle. Smiling, Dean held his arm that had his Raven on it out in front of him and pet the silent bird, before he spoke.
"Take to the sky and observe. Keep watch over the Vamps and alert me of any danger, they move an inch in any direction I want to know." Dean ordered, as his Raven cried out and flew into the sky, once it was gone, he turned back to look at the other Vamps. "You both know what to do and where to go, don't screw this up, dammit!" He added, as the two Vamps nodded smiling.
The three Vamps then separated, moving into position, but still staying in each other's sight. Dean signaled for them both to stop, before he closed his eyes and mindlinked with his Raven to check where their prey was. Seconds later, he was seeing through his Raven's eyes, looking around he saw that there was still only the same Vamps he had seen earlier, in the same spots waiting to ambush the three of them. He noticed their positions and shook his head smiling; it was obvious that none of them remembered anything that they had been taught in their army training. The closest Vamps were just a few feet in front of them, hidden amongst the tall, thick grass. If they timed it right and were quick and silent, they could dispose of the trio before the others knew what happened.
Once he had what he needed, he broke the connection and smiling with his eyes still closed, he mindlinked with Keeper first and then Kira, sending them an image of what he had seen. He then opened his eyes and looked at them, they both nodded silently to let him know they had gotten it. They each knew what to do, so they got into position and quickly closed in on the unsuspecting Vamps. Once they were where they needed to be, they stalked their prey silently for a few minutes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Dean was tense, as he crouched in the grass completely hidden; his hands squeezed his machetes so tight his knuckles were white. His skin prickled with anticipation, as he flexed his fingers around the handles of his machetes, he was getting impatient, the Vamps stood in front of them completely oblivious to them, but refusing to co-operate.
"Come on, come on, dammit." Dean whispered through clenched teeth, as he began to lose what little patience he had.
Just when he was about to forget his plan and attack unable to wait any damn longer for the Vamps to do what he wanted them to, they finally decided to turn their backs on them. Wasting no time, the trio crept up behind them and before they knew what was happening, they cut off their heads at the same time, catching their bodies before they could fall to the ground and alert the others. Once they were dead and on the ground, Dean mindlinked with his Raven again to find out where the other Vamp guards were and if they had been discovered. As he looked through his Raven's eyes, he couldn't believe how easy the Vamps were making this for them. Not only did none of them hear or see anything, but none of them had moved from their positions.
After getting the positions of the next group, he broke the connection with his Raven and sent the image to Keeper and Kira. All of the guards were new blood, each having been recently turned and weren't as smart or trained as well as the older members of the family. The older family were all positioned inside the nest as a last defense before Vassago, while all of the new members were put outside; each one a disposable pawn in Vassago's war. They were easy kills for the trio, no challenge at all, the real challenge awaited them inside and Dean was looking forward to it, killing these Vamps was too damn easy and he was looking forward to an actual fight. In less than 20 minutes, all of the Vamp guards outside were dead, killed quickly, silently, and without alerting anyone. Once they were dead, the three Vamps hid in the tall grass outside the front doors of the nest. Dean mindlinked with his Raven and ordered it to go into the nest and silently observe where the Vamps were positioned.
"Now, we wait until my Raven gets inside before we move on to the next part of my plan." Dean said smiling. "Once we know where everyone is we go in, remember to stick to the plan, you can do whatever you want in battle, but Vassago dies by my hand alone. If my family does show up, neither of you are to touch any of them, dammit. Am I understood?"
"Yes." Keeper and Kira said together.
"Good, be ready, we're going in on my command."
**Meanwhile**:
After getting rid of the six Vamps and realizing that Dean and Keeper were missing, they returned to the monastery. Roman hoped that it was because something had happened and they had been forced to stay behind to stop whatever it was. Arriving back, they didn't see anything outside, so they rushed inside to again find nothing wrong or out of the ordinary. They quickly separated and checked each room, calling out to Dean, but got no response. They then met back up in the living room; Father O'Conner was with them, leaving the girls safely hidden in the basement.
"They aren't here, dammit." Seth said upset.
"They left with you, I saw them both leave, I passed them in the kitchen when I was taking the girls to the basement." Father O'Conner said confused.
"They never met up with us." Roman said worriedly. "Where the hell could they...dammit!" He said upset, as he suddenly realized where they were.
"The nest!" All of them said together, as they realized what happened.
"Why would he lie to us and go alone?" Paige asked confused.
"I...I don't know." Roman said sighing frustrated, as he ran his hands over his face.
"Wait, where's Kira?" Zander said, before he rushed out of the room and into the basement.
Going into the basement, he discovered that Kira wasn't there, realizing that now not only were Dean and Keeper missing, but so was Kira. He quickly rushed back upstairs to the living room where the others were still waiting, going into the room, everyone looked at him, he shook his head no.
"Dammit!" Roman yelled upset.
"What do we do now? Do we go after them?" Seth asked.
"Roman?" Zander said gently, as they all turned to look at the pacing Samoan.
"I...I don't know." Roman answered sighing again, as he stopped pacing and ran his hands over his face. "Obviously, Dean doesn't want us there for some reason, so maybe we..."
"Hold on, Rome, you aren't seriously thinking of staying out of the battle are you?" Seth asked upset, cutting him off.
"I don't know what to do, Seth, alright? I'm not a leader, dammit, I'm not Dean! I never asked to be the leader and I sure as hell don't want to be, someone else can do it!" Roman yelled upset.
"Alright, calm down everyone." Zander said firmly. "We need to remember our training; we've worked too damn hard to prepare for this moment to let everything fall apart now. So, what we're going to do is we're going to go to the damn nest and help Dean finish this like we planned."
"Zander's right, this is the moment we prepared for." Paige said, as she tried to help calm things down.
"Alright, let's go, make sure we have the bag of weapons with us, we're going to need all of them." Roman said taking charge again.
**Meanwhile**:
After his Raven managed to get inside undetected through an open window, Dean mindlinked with it and watched through its eyes as it flew through the first floor of the nest checking each room. After checking the floor, he discovered that there were only four Vamps; a single Vamp in each room. Getting what he needed he ordered his Raven to go to the second floor and wait hidden for him there. He then broke the connection with his Raven and smiling turned to look at Keeper and Kira, telling them what he had found out. He then told them which Vamp they were to go after; they'd both take one Vamp each, while he took care of the other two.
They then snuck to the same window that his Raven had used to get inside and silently and unseen the trio got in the same way. Smiling, they then separated to kill their target Vamps, Dean couldn't wait to finally have a fight with some kind of challenge. He silently snuck to the first room and hiding in the shadows outside of the room he listened for any movement from inside. Not hearing anything he wondered if he somehow had made a mistake and the Vamp was in a different room. Just when he was about to leave he heard someone in the room and smiled; now he just needed to find a way inside the room without the other Vamp knowing he was there. Before he could figure it out though, the Vamp opened the door, thankfully, Dean was quicker than them and hid seconds before the door opened. He watched as the angry Vamp left the room and went down the hall to another room; the same room Dean's other target was. Using this distraction, he snuck into the now open room and hid behind the door. He could hear them arguing about having to keep guard, he smiled as he listened to their petty argument. Seconds later, the first Vamp left the other one and mumbling to himself, he returned to the room shutting the door behind him by kicking it shut with his foot without looking.
As soon as it was shut, Dean snuck up behind the Vamp and cut its head off from behind. He then grabbed a chair from the corner of the room and set it up in front of the window in the middle of the room. He picked up the body and sat it in the chair facing the window, its back to the door, before he then picked up the head and set it back on the neck, so it looked like it was still attached. He then hid behind the door again, knowing that the other Vamp would have heard the body fall and they'd come to investigate. He didn't have to wait long before the second Vamp opened the door slowly and called out to his brother. Not getting a response, the Vamp entered the room slowly and walked up to the still silent Vamp. Reaching them, he reached a hand out to touch them, when suddenly, the head finally fell to the ground and rolled across the floor towards Dean, the Vamp watched it roll. Smiling, Dean stopped it with his foot; he waited until the Vamp finally looked at him angrily before he spoke.
"Hello again, brother." Dean greeted him, as he shut the door. "I thought you and I could have a little fun without the others." He added still smiling, as he twirled the machetes in his hands.
"What makes you so sure that I won't call for the others?" The Vamp questioned smirking.
"You won't because I know you, Bastian; I know you've always resented me and my power over Vassago."
"Come now, brother, that's a pretty obvious answer, we all resented you for that, it wasn't a secret to anyone."
"You're right, but you resented me more, didn't you, Bastian? I mean, I had everything you wanted, I was everything you wanted to be, but never could be."
"You didn't deserve anything Vassago gave you, dammit! You were always Vassago's little golden child; even when you rebelled he still turned a blind eye to it all. It was like you could do nothing wrong, even when you fucking left the family, he still was willing to welcome you back with open arms as if nothing happened. No one could and can compare to the great Dean fucking Ambrose." Bastian said bitterly.
"Ah, Sibling rivalry at its best right here." Dean mocked smiling.
"I know others have sworn to end you and failed, our siblings never were very original." Bastian said sighing.
"That is true, brother." Dean agreed smiling.
"I also know you, Dean, you're a fighter, you love nothing more than a good fight."
"Right again, look at you, brother, that's two for two, you're on a roll." Dean mocked still smiling.
"So, that being said, I challenge you to a fight to the death; no magic, no weapons, just our bodies and no one else involved. What do you say, Deano? Are you up for a good old fashioned fist fight with your brother?" Bastian challenged.
"I say...I like your idea, brother." Dean answered smiling, as he threw his machetes to the ground away from him. "I'll even let you get the first punch in." He added still smiling.
Bastian smiled too, he wasn't stupid, he knew if Dean had weapons or used his powers he'd stand no chance against him. Unarmed and powerless though, Bastian knew he could take Dean; he was one of the strongest Vamps left in the family, he had trained hard and beaten every Vamp he had gone up against. That was why he had challenged Dean to this fight, he knew he could take him and he also knew that his brother wasn't one to back down from a challenge, in fact, he lived for them. So, he knew that Dean would accept it and he would in the end be just another fallen victim.
Knowing all about Dean and his techniques that seemed unchanged since their time together in Vassago's army, Bastian knew what he had to do. He'd be quick and precise with his blows; he wouldn't be impulsive or easily distracted by Dean's taunts or false sense of power exchange like everyone else who has fought him. The battle began with the two Vamps slowly circling each other looking for an opening, sizing each other up. Finally, Bastian saw his opening and attacked, instead of charging him though, knowing Dean would be expecting that, he punched Dean in the face hard instead knocking him backward. Dean smiled, as he looked at Bastian and rubbing his chin he spoke.
"I told you I'd let you get the first hit in, now, it's my turn."
Dean charged Bastian and connected hard with him, sending them both backward into the wall. The fight went back and forth; both men giving and receiving hits, Dean was impressed with the other Vamp, he was definitely smarter than the others and he was thoroughly enjoying their fight. Bastian being the only one so far to be able to hold his own against Dean could be very useful to him in the battle with Vassago. Wanting to see if his loyalties could be challenged like Kira and Keeper's were, Dean decided to propose a trade to him.
"Wait!" Dean said, as he backed up and put space between them and smiling spoke. "I have a proposition for you, brother." He added, as he used his sleeve to wipe away the blood from his nose and mouth.
"A proposition, huh?" Bastian said smiling, as he wiped away his blood too, breathing heavily from their battle. "Those sound like words of desperation, brother."
"Nope, they are words of a man who wants to offer you a deal; you swear your loyalties to me and me alone and help me end Vassago."
"Or?"
"Or...I kill you." Dean answered. "Let me make something perfectly clear, brother. I' am the Chosen One, I do not need you or anyone to kill Vassago, what I' am doing though, is recognizing your strength and offering you a chance to join the winning side or die alongside our family."
"Hm...this is quite the situation you've put me in, brother." Bastian said sighing, as he smiled at him. "Do I accept your offer or do I turn you down and kill you?"
"Before you answer, Bastian, I want you to think hard about your choice, brother. It's a one-time-only offer, either one you choose that will be your fate, so choose wisely."
"Before I choose, I need to know something." Bastian said.
"What?"
"What do you plan to do once you've killed Vassago?" Bastian questioned, as he leaned against the wall. "Will you take the crown?"
Dean wasn't sure what this had to do with his offer and honestly, he didn't know how to answer that question. Before he had gotten his full powers he had always without hesitation refused to even consider taking the damn crown and told everyone who asked that he didn't want to be King. Now though, since his powers came in and the battle inside himself had begun...he was slowly beginning to like the idea of being King more and more every time he thought about it. It had happened without him even realizing it that by first adding Keeper, then Kira and now Bastian he was building his own family. That thought should have affected him, at the very least he should be angry, but instead, he actually smiled at the thought.
"Dean?" Bastian said breaking into his thoughts. "Have you even thought about that?"
"I have." Dean answered slowly, as the final switch in his mind was finally flipped.
"And?" Bastian prompted.
"There will be a new King once Vassago's dead."
"Will it be you?"
"I guess you'll just have to wait and see. I've wasted enough time, dammit, your answer what is it?" Dean demanded annoyed.
Bastian was silent for a few seconds, as they stared at each other. Something suddenly felt different about Dean, but he couldn't quite figure out what it was, but it was there and he knew it.
"Dammit, Bastian, make your choice or I'll do it for you." Dean ordered angrily, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
"My answer is...yes." Bastian answered smiling.
"You chose wisely, brother." Dean said smiling too, as he walked to where his machetes lay and picked them up. "Stay here and regain your strength, I'm going to go get the others and we'll fill you in on our plan of attack." He added, before he left the room.
Seconds later, he returned with Keeper and Kira, seeing him both Vamps went to attack him, but were stopped by Dean.
"Put your damn weapons away now both of you." Dean ordered annoyed.
"What?" Kira asked shocked.
"Put. Your. Damn. Weapons. Away. Now." Dean ordered dragging out each word.
"What the hell is going on?" Keeper demanded confused, as both Vamps lowered their weapons, but didn't put them away not trusting the other Vamp.
"Why is he still alive?" Kira questioned confused.
"He's still alive because I allowed it." Dean replied smiling. "It's simple really, I gave him a proposition; he swears his loyalty to me and helps us and in return I let him live." He added, as he patted Bastian on the back. "He chose wisely."
"So, what, you're...you're just recruiting new members now, instead of killing them? Why?" Kira demanded.
"Have you forgotten that your place isn't to question Dean's actions or what he says?" Keeper said annoyed, he could feel the change in Dean, it was amazing and he'd be damned if he let that bitch ruin it for him.
"It's alright, Keeper, it's an honest question." Dean said sighing, as he leaned against the wall and staring at her crossed his arms. "You see, I decided that even though I don't need any of you, adding certain Vamps to my side on the other hand will only guarantee our success. Of course, not every Vamp will be given this offer, only the ones that I deem valuable."
"Are you...building your army?" Kira asked.
"We don't have time for stupid questions, we should keep moving, Dean, before the others realize what's going on." Keeper said not wanting her to mess anything up for him.
"Agreed, Keeper, fill Bastian in on our plan; including the part about my family and Vassago's death. While I check things out on the second floor and Kira, be a good little Vamp and sit down and stay quiet." Dean ordered, as he closed his eyes and mindlinked with his Raven.
Once connected with his Raven, he ordered it to search the floor and find the Vamps. Seeing through its eyes, he saw that there were five Vamps on the floor; which meant that there would be five left on the third floor, the last defense before Vassago. After getting what he needed, he ordered his Raven to go to the third floor and wait for him there. He then broke the connection and smiling turned to face the others, just as Keeper finished his explanation.
"There are five Vamps on the second floor." Dean announced. "I'll give you each a room and you are to kill your targets as quickly and silently as possible; once again I will take out two of them."
"So, we're just supposed to trust Bastian to help us?" Kira asked bitterly.
"Whether you trust him or not is completely irrelevant, Kira. I don't trust any of you, but I'm still letting you help me." Dean reminded her. "Now, here are your targets and where they are." He added, as he closed his eyes and sent each of them an image of Vamp and the room they were to go to.
"What do we do after we kill our target?" Bastian asked.
"We're to meet up in the last room I have to go to, I will let you know where it is when I'm finished with my target and we'll go from there."
"Alright, let's do this." Bastian said smiling.
"Let me remind you of something, Bastian, if you betray Dean in any way he will end you without hesitation." Keeper warned.
"Is that right, Keeper?" Bastian said smiling, unmoved by his words. "You seem pretty confident in yourself for someone who isn't trusted himself."
"I may not be trusted, Bastian, but unlike you, I have proven myself more than either of you two and my loyalties, even though I have switched sides, have never been questioned." Keeper explained smiling.
"Keeper, quit being so damn territorial." Dean said smiling, as he walked towards them and patted Keeper on back. "If it makes you feel better, Keeper, out of the three of you I will say you're my favorite." He added winking at him, trying to break the tension, knowing he needed his army to get along for this to work. "Alright, you have your orders and know what to do. Stick to the plan and we'll make it out of this alive."
The three Vamps nodded, before they left the room to get rid of their targets; each one, Dean knew, were eager to show him that they could be trusted and they were a valuable part of his army. Dean slowly left the room too, he couldn't understand what was going on with him, he could feel himself changing more and more every second. That scared him because instead of staying true to himself, he was slipping into evil and he hated it, he had spent his entire Vamp life trying to keep that from happening and yet it was and there was nothing he could do now to stop it...even if he wanted too. Pushing those thoughts out of his head, he went upstairs to finish his plan, and hopefully, by the end, he'll finally have some kind of clarity one way or another, whether he remained good or let his evil side win. Either way, it all ended tonight by his hand.
TBC...