Musings. Ace In The Hole.
I was going to do a Top Ten list, but I couldn't narrow it down that far. So I give you more of my pretentious, fannish speculations instead...
--- Title cards ---
Season 1: Water
Season 2: Fire
Season 3: Wind ...extrapolating here...
Season 4: Earth
Season 5: Metal
Ace In The Hole
Summary: Dean has a purpose in Hell, but he doesn't know what it is.
Category: Metafic. Oneshot. Dark.
Timeline: Precursor to Lazarus Rising (4.01).
Characters: Hell and Heaven.
Wordcount: 678
Rating: PG
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio...
There are factions in Hell. Factions that are rising from the depths of the ash and smoke... because they remember. They remember what it was like to be human. To have wants, needs, desires. But they have compassions, too. They are something other than the ambiguous souls sent here to writhe in the echoing agonies of their own selfishness. They remember what sent them here... and they don't want it for anyone else. They band together, whispering amongst themselves with the shredded memories of voices. They resolve to end it. End it all and save as many innocent people as they can. They rise up. They call themselves the angels of Hell.
Lucifer doesn't stop them. It's not because he doesn't want to. It's because he can't. Those who come here, seek refuge here, are those who wanted more than anything else - to be free. Beings who saw past the traditions, the stories, the commandments, the mindless obedience demanded by invisible powers... and saw something more. There was knowledge to be sought. There were decisions to be made. There was a will to be had. Everyone who came would be free to do as they pleased. No more rules. No more commandments. No more kings. No more names in capital letters. Only a benevolent leader who left those in his care to the sometimes unmerciful distractions of their own minds. After all, if they were strong enough, they would be able to break free on their own... now, wouldn't they?
There was only one caveat to that utopian plan, though. Only one prickly, thorny tree right in the middle of that Garden: free will. The snake at times will eat itself. Sometimes, the very thing you want most is not what others want. And you've made a promise you have to keep, to let them. Well... you have to keep it...
Besides... he had an Ace in the Hole, anyway.
One among the Hell's Angels rose higher than the rest; called himself their leader; demanded something that had not been demanded of them in centuries: loyalty. And they believed. And they complied. Then, others rose and called themselves leader, and others turned away from the first and followed them. Because that is the way of Hell, you know...
Heaven watched and did 'nothing'. Because the rule that Hell lived by was a valid one, created by the One Himself. Granted, it was a shitty way to run a country - living only for oneself - but it was better than capitalism...
Besides... He had an Ace in the Hole, anyway.
The angels of Hell arose, bursting from the seams of the earth in a monstrous whirlwind, shaking the ramparts of lucifer's seat, to free the world. They would bring their millenia of enlightenment to the others, persuade them of their right to assimilate, take them by force if they didn't. Because the death and damnation of a few was a worthy sacrifice when you're saving the world from itself. They came with weapons. They came with words. They came with water and fire and wind. They used the living because they had to. Someone had to pull the trigger, flip the switch, release the bomb. If they got a little joy ride out of it? Hell, pun intended, they had earned it.
Saving the world. Only one way to do that. Make sure nobody else can damn themselves to where they've been... by ending it all.
The seat in Hell is empty. Have they learned nothing from the bringer of light? This won't do. They have a right to do as they please, but they must first understand. Only destruction comes from those who do not wait to understand... however... the wonderful thing about not having any rules is that you can make them up as you go along. Right? Right. So, no, the world must survive. They must have the opportunity to make mistakes, as they so obviously will. This above all must be preserved. And lucifer, light bearer, "the devil" - the great divider, arises...