More Things in Heaven and Earth 1/4
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More Things in Heaven and Earth
By Enola Jones and San Antonio Rose
Chapter 1
Blast from the Past
November 27, 2008
As the minutes ticked down to midnight on Black Friday, Crowley paced expectantly, eager for the seasonal rush to begin. It wasn’t only stores who cashed in on the pre-holiday madness; more than a few greedy individuals became so confused about the meaning of-shudder-Christmas that they were willing to sell their souls for stuff. This was absolutely Crowley’s favorite time of year for that reason alone.
So he was Not Pleased to be summoned home by Alastair.
Crowley glared at Hell’s torture master. “Well... I’m here.”
“Ah, Fergus,” Alastair purred. “How kind of you to be so prompt. You are a dear.”
“Let’s cut the chit-chat, shall we?” Crowley growled.
“We need information, child. On Cazadore.”
Crowley held up his hands. “Oh, no. Not from this corner. Cazadore is locus non gratus, if you get my drift.”
“Indeed I do. But Zachariah is dead, Fergus, and Lord Lucifer is most displeased.”
That got his attention. “Dead? What... What could kill an angel as powerful as him?”
“No one knows.” Alastair drew closer. “I have spoken to Lilith, and we are agreed. At minimum, Cazadore must be dealt with. Better would be to find the Winchesters. But it would be best, and please Lord Lucifer most, if we could find some way to put the Apocalypse back on track. Lilith and I cannot get out, and Meg and Ruby cannot get in.” He ran a claw down Crowley’s cheek in something like a caress. “That leaves you, my sweet.”
“Please... find someone else.”
“Find a way, Fergus. Or Lilith and I... will be most unhappy.”
He swallowed hard.
Alastair patted his cheek... and suddenly Crowley was back in his mansion topside.
He swallowed hard again and poured himself a stiff drink. He tossed it back, looked at the tumbler for a moment, and decided this was an occasion to forget propriety and took a long pull straight from the bottle.
How was he going to get in if even Zachariah had failed? Zachariah was one of the strongest of the angels.
... Angels....
That gave him an idea. He put down the bottle of Craic and uttered a few lines of Latin.
A moment later, one sour-faced angel in an African-American vessel stood before him. “What?” the angel snapped.
“Uriel, I presume.” Crowley held out a glass. “Craic?”
Uriel simply scowled and folded his arms. “Why have you summoned me, demon?”
“Not much for small talk, are you?” He sighed. “Ah, the social graces are lacking nowadays.” He swallowed the Scotch. “One word. Cazadore.”
Uriel raised an eyebrow. “What about Cazadore?”
“Alone, neither of us can get in. Together... ?”
Uriel’s face didn’t relax much, but Crowley could tell he was interested. “What do you propose?”
“We use a human agent to get inside Cazadore.”
Uriel rubbed his chin. “Who do you suggest? I’m not supposed to be down here, and any agent of yours is likely to get run out of town.”
“What about someone close to the Winchesters?”
“The hunters are all on guard. Missouri Mosely would never agree. And everyone else dear to them lives in Cazadore.”
“You’re an angel... find someone a little less alive.”
Uriel’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You realize what you’re suggesting.”
“Enlighten me.”
“I cannot simply pull a soul out of Heaven without attracting unwanted attention. The same would be doubly true for pulling someone out of Hell. And Mary Winchester is no longer in Kansas-I don’t know where she is.”
Crowley shrugged.
Uriel thought for a moment, then took a step toward him. “Find Samuel Campbell. I can’t be certain, but if you were to retrieve his soul, my re-creating his body might not attract so much attention.”
“You’re saying you want me to enter Heaven?”
Uriel smirked.
He glared. “Or is he still on earth? I know he’s not in Hell.”
“You’re the King of the Crossroads. You figure it out.”
Crowley swore softly as he found himself alone. “Bastard.”
Tricia had locked herself in the bathroom when she’d gotten up Saturday morning. Sam was lying in bed, being lazy, until he heard her crying.
Immediately he bolted out of bed and to the bathroom door. “Trish? ¿Que es?”
She opened the door and flew into his arms. She pulled back and held up a small white plastic square. It had a red plus sign in the middle. Her tears flowed around a smile.
Sam gawped, then picked her up and twirled her around. She babbled in English and Spanish and Sign against his back.
He set her down and kissed her hard, then dashed for the phone and hit a well-worn speed dial button. “Dean! She’s PREGNANT!!”
Silence. Then a double-voice whoop that they both could clearly hear over the phone.
Sam and Tricia laughed, but the conversation was interrupted by the Call Waiting beep. “Hang on,” Sam said and pressed Flash.
“Hey, Sam,” said Josh, but his voice sounded a little troubled in spite of his attempt to sound happy. “I could practically hear y’all celebrating! What’s going on?”
“Tricia’s pregnant!” Sam whooped.
“That’s awesome! Congratulations!” Josh sounded a little more genuinely cheerful, but he still sounded... worried.
“Josh, what’s wrong?”
Josh sighed heavily. “I wish I knew, brother. Something happened just now-not close, but... it’s huge. Something’s coming.”
“Come over here.”
“Okay.” Josh paused. “I’m gonna call the Coop, if that’s okay. Have him meet me there.”
“That’s fine. See you then, bro.” He switched lines again and said, “Dean, you and Daphne come here. Something’s happened.”
“What?”
“Dunno yet. Josh sensed it.”
Dean cursed quietly. “Okay. We’ll be right over.”
“Use the tunnel. Cooper’s coming, too.”
“Right.” And Dean hung up.
Sam turned to Tricia, who looked grimly at him. Her hands curled over her flat stomach.
He pulled her into a tight protective hug. She clung to him. Words weren’t needed.
-Except that there were words coming from their living room. “Yeah, Josh? ... Way ahead of you, buddy. See you in a few.”
Tricia chuckled against his chest.
Sam shook his head and released her. “C’mon. We’d better get dressed.”
“Okay.”
By the time they were presentable, the smell of coffee and pancakes had begun drifting up from the kitchen. Sam opened the door to the basement as they passed it, and Dean and Daphne were through it a few seconds later.
“Morning, campers,” said Gabriel from the kitchen, though his usual cheerfulness was a little subdued-not as badly as when Zachariah showed up, but still noticeable. “Or should that be moms and dads?” he added with a wink at Tricia.
Daphne hugged her. Tricia blushed a little and hugged her back.
“Gabriel,” said Dean, “what’s going on?”
“Hold up,” Gabriel replied.
Josh and Tiffany - and their baby girl - arrived a few seconds later. Tiffany hugged Tricia and Sam, and they joined the others at the table. Little Sadie played with the ball Gabriel snapped up while he sat down and started to explain.
“Sadie” was what Dean and Daphne had begun to call her - “SD” was her name sign tapped over the heart. Her initials, for Samantha Dena - they had named her after the brothers.
“We have-at this point-a small problem,” Gabriel began. “I don’t think it’ll turn into a large problem, but I don’t know everything. Apparently, Uriel has begun working with the leader of the crossroads demons, Lilith’s second-in-command, and they intend to send someone to Cazadore to get the dirt on you kids. A human.”
Who? Dean signed.
“Your granddad. Samuel Campbell.”
Dean and Sam looked at each other and signed together, We have a grandfather?
“As of five minutes ago.”
“Wait,” Daphne frowned. “I thought you said Grandpa Campbell-”
“Died in 1973,” Gabriel interrupted, nodding. “He did. That’s the problem.”
“I don’t understand,” Sam said.
“Simple. Crowley and Uriel brought him back.”
To get into Cazadore.
“Exactly. They needed someone they could control, who doesn’t know enough of the current state of play to guess what they’re up to. And I’m guessing they tried to keep it on the downlow-but that kind of power’s not easy to hide. Josh felt it; I felt it; Castiel panicked and went straight to John’s house. And the tricky part is that not only do we know-and Dad, naturally... so does Michael.”
“Who?” the whole company said and signed.
Gabriel looked at them as if they were extremely dense. “My brother.”
“An angel,” Tiffany breathed.
“I KNEW IT!” Josh crowed.
All eyes were suddenly on him.
“What? It’s not like you told me who Coop is-ahem, Sam. I just... always knew he was on our side.”
Gabriel suddenly started to smile. “You brat!” he laughed. “You knew I wasn’t human all along, didn’t you?”
Josh grinned. “And Castiel-he’s the angel I saw at the garage, right?”
“That day that they exorcised you? Yup.”
“Ha!” Josh smirked triumphantly at the brothers, and Sadie cheered and clapped without really knowing what was going on. Then Josh sobered. “Wait, why is it tricky that Michael knows?”
“Because he’s curious about Cazadore. He wasn’t aware of what Zach was up to; he’s still loyal to Dad. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have no idea how he’ll react to Zach’s death being followed by this little escapade on Uriel’s part. But he may decide to come check it out himself.”
“Will that be good?” Dean asked.
“Again, I don’t know.” Gabriel looked at him. “Depends on whether he decides he needs a vessel.”
“A vessel?” Sam gasped. “You’re talking about possession!”
“Yeah, Sam. That’s the snag.” Gabriel paused. “But I think I can guarantee he won’t ask Dean.”
“How?”
“Dean’s not Michael’s only vessel. Mike will find one of the others-and I think I’d better go tell him why.” And he vanished.
Gabriel knew he needed to head Michael off at the pass to keep Dean safe, but he didn’t want to do so without talking to John first and bringing him slightly more up to speed. So he went straight to John’s house, so preoccupied with his errand that he brushed past a very worried Castiel without heeding the warning his brother tried to give him. “John,” he called as he appeared in the living room in front of the eldest Winchester, “I need-” Then he got a good look at John and stopped short.
“Go on,” the deep voice rumbled, amusement and knowledge and power lacing it. “What do you need?”
Gabriel sighed. “Well, I don’t now. You beat me to it. Hello, Michael.”
“Hello, Gabriel. It’s been a long time.”
“Too long. Guess I don’t have to ask why you’re here.”
“There was a disruption and it centered around here.”
“How much do you know?”
“Hopefully I’ll know more once you fill me in. Castiel, little cherub, please stop staring.” His eyes went huge suddenly. “Castiel... you are not envesseled. Neither are you, Gabriel! How....”
“Long story, bub. And I will fill you in-but you’ve got to promise me something first.”
“What is that?”
“That you won’t jump hosts. Sam and Dean have fought hard for their freedom. I won’t let you take it from Dean.”
“I would never take him by force, Gabriel. And I have not his permission, like I have this vessel’s consent.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “How did you get John to say yes, anyhow?”
“It was in 1978....” And he told the nightmarish story. A crazed fallen angel had shown up at the Winchesters’ house in Lawrence and tried to kill Mary and John. Michael had had no choice but to intervene; he got permission from a fatally wounded John, healed him, and killed the rogue.
“It was Mariniel,” Castiel said brusquely.
Gabriel blinked. “When the hell did she fall?”
“She didn’t,” Castiel said coldly, sending both archangels’ heads snapping toward him. He met Michael’s eyes, unafraid. “She was acting under Zachariah’s orders.” His shoulders straightened and he looked at Gabriel. “I was originally ordered to be the angel on that mission. But I was needed elsewhere.”
“That... that...” Gabriel fumed silently for a moment before coming up with one of Kali’s favorite Sanskrit curses.
Michael frowned. “Zachariah?”
“Yes, dear old lion-breath has been in cahoots with Azazel, Lilith, and Alastair for a good 35 years, it seems. Or had been, rather. John and Sam made good use of Castiel’s and my swords around the end of September. He’s dead.”
“Castiel. Truth.”
“As Our Father lives,” Castiel replied solemnly.
Michael’s eyes narrowed. Then he looked at Gabriel. “The fact that you are not envesseled. Speak to me.”
“Made it myself. Got permission to do the same for Castiel.”
“Used his perfect vessel as a template, I see. I assume you did the same for yourself.”
“... Not exactly.” Gabriel held up a hand. “I’m not proud of this anymore, bro, but at the time, I was sick of the in-fighting. So I went into Witness Protection so the brats couldn’t find me.”
Michael nodded. “I can understand that.”
Gabriel met Michael’s eyes. “Before I came here, I was better known as Loki.”
Michael’s eyes widened again. “Loki?”
“Yup. Not the original, mind-he got crosswise with Cailean Mor and wound up dead, but nobody knows that.”
“Son of a bitch,” Michael breathed, then a hand clapped over his mouth. “It... seems John Winchester has a formidable will.”
Gabriel laughed. So did Castiel - so rare a sound that even Michael took note.
“Someone is more human than he lets on,” he mused.
“Yeah, they’re a bad influence, those Winchesters.” Gabriel chuckled again and ruffled Castiel’s hair.
Michael frowned. “It would seem... I will need a new vessel. Or to go the route you did... I cannot hold him.”
“Why not share?”
“He will not consent to that. He prefers... freedom.”
“Well, two John Winchesters will get you pegged as a ’shifter in two seconds flat, and you’re not taking Dean.”
A slow smile spread over Michael’s face. “Perhaps.” There was a flash of light and John swayed. “Dammit,” he growled, a hand going to his head. “Chained to a comet!”
Gabriel snapped up some sweet tea and handed it to him. “You all right there, John?”
He groaned. “How in the hell do I revoke my consent to that bastard?”
“You don’t, unfortunately.”
“Well, f-” The rest of the curse was lost in another groan as his shaking hands spilled the tea all over his front.
Gabriel snapped it clean-and suddenly the tea was in a sippy cup.
“Bastard,” John griped good-naturedly.
“You know you love me,” Gabriel shot back with a wink.
Castiel steered John to a couch and changed the sippy cup for a mug with a straw.
“Ah, you’re no fun,” Gabriel teased him.
“I know.”
“So, John, exactly how much of that conversation did you hear?”
“Most of it - Gabriel.”
“The boys know now, if it’s any consolation.”
“It is.” He sipped the tea. “Think I liked you better as just a Trickster.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You seemed more... approachable.”
“And now that you know I’m an archangel, I’m not?”
“Now I don’t know what to make of you.”
“I’m still me, John. Nothing’s changed.”
“There are just certain things he’s not keeping from you now.” A young man walked into the room. He was dressed in jeans and a green henley. He looked nearly exactly like Dean - except his hair was longer and nearly white and his eyes were a piercing shade of blue. He smiled. “Hello again, Gabriel. I take it this meets your ... conditions?”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You’ll still get questions, Mike.”
His lips thinned.
“But it’s better than I’d feared.”
“I can’t go too far off the template or it won’t be my own vessel. It’ll feel like a too-small suit.”
“I’m not saying you should look like Baldur. It’s different enough that you won’t be mistaken for Dean. But I’m gonna have a hell of a time passing you off as my brother when you look like a Winchester.”
Michael smiled and closed his eyes. Before John’s shocked eyes, his jaw squared a little and his hair receded a bit. His eyes, when he opened them, were the same slightly slanted shape as Castiel’s. “Better?”
“Lose the freckles, but yeah, that works better.”
The freckles faded to nothingness.
John took a deep pull of his tea as if it were whiskey.
Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. Castiel, what do you think?”
“He looks enough like me that he can pass for my brother,” Castiel nodded. “And they accept me as your brother.”
“John?”
“Damn!”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Will he pass for a Cooper or not?”
“Yeah. He will.”
“Good.” Gabriel looked Michael in the eye and grinned. “Welcome to Cazadore, Mike Cooper.”
Michael nodded and grinned back.
“So, Mike, how much do you know about what happened a few minutes ago?”
“Not much. Fill me in.”
Gabriel explained about Crowley and Uriel’s resurrection of Samuel Campbell, ignoring John’s outbursts of profanity. “I’m assuming they brought him back in Lawrence,” he concluded, “since that’s where he died. Should take a couple of days for him to get here by car.”
Michael - Mike - looked at John. “Tell me about this Campbell.”
“My father-in-law,” John growled. “Old man and I never did see eye to eye.”
“My guess,” said Gabriel, “is that they’ll try to bribe him with the prospect of bringing Mary back. They can’t bring her back-for reasons I’m not at liberty to state-but Samuel won’t know that.”
“They’re lying to him,” John snarled.
“If Crowley’s involved? Of course they’re lying to him. And who knows what line they’ll try to sell him about Cazadore?”
“So what do we do?” John asked.
Gabriel sighed. “Put out a BOLO, I guess. Until we know for sure what kind of threat he poses, probably best to keep the hunting support under wraps as much as possible.”
John nodded. “Tell the kids.”
“Right.” Gabriel tossed John’s phone to him. “Castiel, you should probably stay with John.” Then he looked at Michael and paused. “You wanna meet the kids now or later?”
“Now is best.”
“We’d better go in the front door, then. C’mon.” He headed back to Sam’s house, and Michael followed.
Dean had dished up breakfast for everyone after Gabriel left, but he was too tense to sit down and eat his own pancakes. He kept pacing behind Daphne, Tricia, and Sam, sipping coffee now and again.
Tricia signed, Sit. Eat.
Can’t, he signed back. Need to know you safe.
Eat.
Before he could reply, they heard a shave-and-a-haircut knock, followed by the doorbell. “Coop,” said Josh, “and... something-s-someone else.”
His stutter was enough to set them all on edge. Dean had his gun in his hand when he opened the door.
“It’s okay, Dean,” Gabriel said, looking him in the eye, as he and the white-blond stranger beside him walked in, both stepping neatly over the salt line. “He’s on our side.”
“WINGS!” cried Sadie, awed.
All eyes turned to her, then back to the stranger. Tiffany picked her child up. “What was that, Sadie?”
She pointed to the stranger. “He has wings-big, shiny!”
He blinked. “I do, little one?”
She ducked her head against Tiffany’s shoulder but didn’t take her eyes off of him. “Uh-huh. You’re shiny, mister.”
Dean and Sam and Josh instantly interposed themselves between the girls and the stranger.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Sadie, does Castiel have wings?”
“Uh-huh. They’re dark. ’S a secret.”
“What’s a secret?” Gabriel whispered.
“He’s a angel,” she whispered back.
“With dark wings?” Gabriel nodded.
“Uh-huh.”
“Do I have wings?”
She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “Kind of?”
“Kind of?”
“Hard to see.”
Gabriel smiled. “Now?”
Sadie gasped.
“Now I’m going to hide them, okay?”
“Okay,” she said quietly, eyes still saucer-wide.
To everyone else’s eyes, nothing changed. But Sadie relaxed a little.
“Mike,” he said, not stopping smiling at Sadie, “dampen your power.”
Sadie’s breath caught a little. “He’s like you.”
“Yeah, Sadie, he is.”
Dean’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, what?”
Gabriel sighed. “Remember me telling you about my brother Michael?” He gestured at the platinum blond. “This is him.”
“As in archangel.”
“Yes.”
Dean studied Michael’s face for a moment and blinked. “I got a long-lost cousin I don’t know about or something?”
Sam blinked and looked between them. “Okay, that is weird.”
Michael chuckled. “No, Dean. This form is not a human vessel. It seems we are capable of creating empty vessels for ourselves based on the form of our human counterparts; I simply made enough modifications that we would not be taken for twins.”
Dean tilted his head. “So you’re not here to make me your glove.”
“No. Even if I had been unable to fashion this vessel, Gabriel was most insistent that you were not to be touched. And I sensed Our Father’s wisdom in his words.”
Dean relaxed a little. “So why are you here?”
“Investigating the disturbance that I now know was caused by Samuel Campbell’s resurrection.”
“So you think there’s something off in that, too?” Sam said, while glaring at Dean who was cursing in sign.
“I do. You must believe me when I tell you that I was not aware of what Zachariah had been doing. That was never my understanding of Father’s intent.”
“Then enlighten us,” Daphne said slightly sarcastically.
“Daphne, I promise you, I would have stopped Zachariah had I known. But I know no more about Samuel Campbell’s return than you do.”
Daphne stepped forward, and pointed at Mike. “Your promises and ‘we must believes’ are useless, Mr. Michael Cooper. You may be his brother, but you have to earn the Winchesters’ trust. And you’ve not done that yet.”
“Then tell me what I must do, Daughter of Eve.”
She shook her head. “If you have to ask, you’re a long way from understanding us.” And she turned her back on him - very deliberately - and walked back to her husband.
Tricia was trembling, convinced that the archangel was about to smite her sister.
He gave Tricia a small smile. “Fear not. I mean you no harm. Indeed, I wish to protect you-and the children you both bear.”
Tricia’s hands went over her abdomen and it was all Mike could do to restrain his reaction when he recognized just what she was carrying.
Daphne met his eyes and raised her chin in challenge. “How?”
“For now, I will keep watch with my brothers. And I will make sure neither Uriel nor any of Hell’s forces can use Campbell to gain entrance to Cazadore themselves.”
“But he can get in, cause he’s human,” Dean snarled.
“Yes, he can,” Mike returned patiently. “But I will not move against him until we know more. He may be wholly innocent and willing to be persuaded by evidence that is contrary to what Uriel and Crowley have told him.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Sam said.
“Your father is already requesting that the people of this town be on their guard.”
That brought smiles all round.
“Gabriel believes Campbell will not arrive before late tomorrow, possibly early the next day. What should we do in the meantime, brother?”
“Prepare,” came the immediate answer.
“In what ways?”
Gabriel chuckled. “Mike, you’ve got a lot to learn.
“So it would seem,” Mike returned with a smile.
Next
More Things in Heaven and Earth
By Enola Jones and San Antonio Rose
Chapter 1
Blast from the Past
November 27, 2008
As the minutes ticked down to midnight on Black Friday, Crowley paced expectantly, eager for the seasonal rush to begin. It wasn’t only stores who cashed in on the pre-holiday madness; more than a few greedy individuals became so confused about the meaning of-shudder-Christmas that they were willing to sell their souls for stuff. This was absolutely Crowley’s favorite time of year for that reason alone.
So he was Not Pleased to be summoned home by Alastair.
Crowley glared at Hell’s torture master. “Well... I’m here.”
“Ah, Fergus,” Alastair purred. “How kind of you to be so prompt. You are a dear.”
“Let’s cut the chit-chat, shall we?” Crowley growled.
“We need information, child. On Cazadore.”
Crowley held up his hands. “Oh, no. Not from this corner. Cazadore is locus non gratus, if you get my drift.”
“Indeed I do. But Zachariah is dead, Fergus, and Lord Lucifer is most displeased.”
That got his attention. “Dead? What... What could kill an angel as powerful as him?”
“No one knows.” Alastair drew closer. “I have spoken to Lilith, and we are agreed. At minimum, Cazadore must be dealt with. Better would be to find the Winchesters. But it would be best, and please Lord Lucifer most, if we could find some way to put the Apocalypse back on track. Lilith and I cannot get out, and Meg and Ruby cannot get in.” He ran a claw down Crowley’s cheek in something like a caress. “That leaves you, my sweet.”
“Please... find someone else.”
“Find a way, Fergus. Or Lilith and I... will be most unhappy.”
He swallowed hard.
Alastair patted his cheek... and suddenly Crowley was back in his mansion topside.
He swallowed hard again and poured himself a stiff drink. He tossed it back, looked at the tumbler for a moment, and decided this was an occasion to forget propriety and took a long pull straight from the bottle.
How was he going to get in if even Zachariah had failed? Zachariah was one of the strongest of the angels.
... Angels....
That gave him an idea. He put down the bottle of Craic and uttered a few lines of Latin.
A moment later, one sour-faced angel in an African-American vessel stood before him. “What?” the angel snapped.
“Uriel, I presume.” Crowley held out a glass. “Craic?”
Uriel simply scowled and folded his arms. “Why have you summoned me, demon?”
“Not much for small talk, are you?” He sighed. “Ah, the social graces are lacking nowadays.” He swallowed the Scotch. “One word. Cazadore.”
Uriel raised an eyebrow. “What about Cazadore?”
“Alone, neither of us can get in. Together... ?”
Uriel’s face didn’t relax much, but Crowley could tell he was interested. “What do you propose?”
“We use a human agent to get inside Cazadore.”
Uriel rubbed his chin. “Who do you suggest? I’m not supposed to be down here, and any agent of yours is likely to get run out of town.”
“What about someone close to the Winchesters?”
“The hunters are all on guard. Missouri Mosely would never agree. And everyone else dear to them lives in Cazadore.”
“You’re an angel... find someone a little less alive.”
Uriel’s eyebrows shot up at that. “You realize what you’re suggesting.”
“Enlighten me.”
“I cannot simply pull a soul out of Heaven without attracting unwanted attention. The same would be doubly true for pulling someone out of Hell. And Mary Winchester is no longer in Kansas-I don’t know where she is.”
Crowley shrugged.
Uriel thought for a moment, then took a step toward him. “Find Samuel Campbell. I can’t be certain, but if you were to retrieve his soul, my re-creating his body might not attract so much attention.”
“You’re saying you want me to enter Heaven?”
Uriel smirked.
He glared. “Or is he still on earth? I know he’s not in Hell.”
“You’re the King of the Crossroads. You figure it out.”
Crowley swore softly as he found himself alone. “Bastard.”
Tricia had locked herself in the bathroom when she’d gotten up Saturday morning. Sam was lying in bed, being lazy, until he heard her crying.
Immediately he bolted out of bed and to the bathroom door. “Trish? ¿Que es?”
She opened the door and flew into his arms. She pulled back and held up a small white plastic square. It had a red plus sign in the middle. Her tears flowed around a smile.
Sam gawped, then picked her up and twirled her around. She babbled in English and Spanish and Sign against his back.
He set her down and kissed her hard, then dashed for the phone and hit a well-worn speed dial button. “Dean! She’s PREGNANT!!”
Silence. Then a double-voice whoop that they both could clearly hear over the phone.
Sam and Tricia laughed, but the conversation was interrupted by the Call Waiting beep. “Hang on,” Sam said and pressed Flash.
“Hey, Sam,” said Josh, but his voice sounded a little troubled in spite of his attempt to sound happy. “I could practically hear y’all celebrating! What’s going on?”
“Tricia’s pregnant!” Sam whooped.
“That’s awesome! Congratulations!” Josh sounded a little more genuinely cheerful, but he still sounded... worried.
“Josh, what’s wrong?”
Josh sighed heavily. “I wish I knew, brother. Something happened just now-not close, but... it’s huge. Something’s coming.”
“Come over here.”
“Okay.” Josh paused. “I’m gonna call the Coop, if that’s okay. Have him meet me there.”
“That’s fine. See you then, bro.” He switched lines again and said, “Dean, you and Daphne come here. Something’s happened.”
“What?”
“Dunno yet. Josh sensed it.”
Dean cursed quietly. “Okay. We’ll be right over.”
“Use the tunnel. Cooper’s coming, too.”
“Right.” And Dean hung up.
Sam turned to Tricia, who looked grimly at him. Her hands curled over her flat stomach.
He pulled her into a tight protective hug. She clung to him. Words weren’t needed.
-Except that there were words coming from their living room. “Yeah, Josh? ... Way ahead of you, buddy. See you in a few.”
Tricia chuckled against his chest.
Sam shook his head and released her. “C’mon. We’d better get dressed.”
“Okay.”
By the time they were presentable, the smell of coffee and pancakes had begun drifting up from the kitchen. Sam opened the door to the basement as they passed it, and Dean and Daphne were through it a few seconds later.
“Morning, campers,” said Gabriel from the kitchen, though his usual cheerfulness was a little subdued-not as badly as when Zachariah showed up, but still noticeable. “Or should that be moms and dads?” he added with a wink at Tricia.
Daphne hugged her. Tricia blushed a little and hugged her back.
“Gabriel,” said Dean, “what’s going on?”
“Hold up,” Gabriel replied.
Josh and Tiffany - and their baby girl - arrived a few seconds later. Tiffany hugged Tricia and Sam, and they joined the others at the table. Little Sadie played with the ball Gabriel snapped up while he sat down and started to explain.
“Sadie” was what Dean and Daphne had begun to call her - “SD” was her name sign tapped over the heart. Her initials, for Samantha Dena - they had named her after the brothers.
“We have-at this point-a small problem,” Gabriel began. “I don’t think it’ll turn into a large problem, but I don’t know everything. Apparently, Uriel has begun working with the leader of the crossroads demons, Lilith’s second-in-command, and they intend to send someone to Cazadore to get the dirt on you kids. A human.”
Who? Dean signed.
“Your granddad. Samuel Campbell.”
Dean and Sam looked at each other and signed together, We have a grandfather?
“As of five minutes ago.”
“Wait,” Daphne frowned. “I thought you said Grandpa Campbell-”
“Died in 1973,” Gabriel interrupted, nodding. “He did. That’s the problem.”
“I don’t understand,” Sam said.
“Simple. Crowley and Uriel brought him back.”
To get into Cazadore.
“Exactly. They needed someone they could control, who doesn’t know enough of the current state of play to guess what they’re up to. And I’m guessing they tried to keep it on the downlow-but that kind of power’s not easy to hide. Josh felt it; I felt it; Castiel panicked and went straight to John’s house. And the tricky part is that not only do we know-and Dad, naturally... so does Michael.”
“Who?” the whole company said and signed.
Gabriel looked at them as if they were extremely dense. “My brother.”
“An angel,” Tiffany breathed.
“I KNEW IT!” Josh crowed.
All eyes were suddenly on him.
“What? It’s not like you told me who Coop is-ahem, Sam. I just... always knew he was on our side.”
Gabriel suddenly started to smile. “You brat!” he laughed. “You knew I wasn’t human all along, didn’t you?”
Josh grinned. “And Castiel-he’s the angel I saw at the garage, right?”
“That day that they exorcised you? Yup.”
“Ha!” Josh smirked triumphantly at the brothers, and Sadie cheered and clapped without really knowing what was going on. Then Josh sobered. “Wait, why is it tricky that Michael knows?”
“Because he’s curious about Cazadore. He wasn’t aware of what Zach was up to; he’s still loyal to Dad. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have no idea how he’ll react to Zach’s death being followed by this little escapade on Uriel’s part. But he may decide to come check it out himself.”
“Will that be good?” Dean asked.
“Again, I don’t know.” Gabriel looked at him. “Depends on whether he decides he needs a vessel.”
“A vessel?” Sam gasped. “You’re talking about possession!”
“Yeah, Sam. That’s the snag.” Gabriel paused. “But I think I can guarantee he won’t ask Dean.”
“How?”
“Dean’s not Michael’s only vessel. Mike will find one of the others-and I think I’d better go tell him why.” And he vanished.
Gabriel knew he needed to head Michael off at the pass to keep Dean safe, but he didn’t want to do so without talking to John first and bringing him slightly more up to speed. So he went straight to John’s house, so preoccupied with his errand that he brushed past a very worried Castiel without heeding the warning his brother tried to give him. “John,” he called as he appeared in the living room in front of the eldest Winchester, “I need-” Then he got a good look at John and stopped short.
“Go on,” the deep voice rumbled, amusement and knowledge and power lacing it. “What do you need?”
Gabriel sighed. “Well, I don’t now. You beat me to it. Hello, Michael.”
“Hello, Gabriel. It’s been a long time.”
“Too long. Guess I don’t have to ask why you’re here.”
“There was a disruption and it centered around here.”
“How much do you know?”
“Hopefully I’ll know more once you fill me in. Castiel, little cherub, please stop staring.” His eyes went huge suddenly. “Castiel... you are not envesseled. Neither are you, Gabriel! How....”
“Long story, bub. And I will fill you in-but you’ve got to promise me something first.”
“What is that?”
“That you won’t jump hosts. Sam and Dean have fought hard for their freedom. I won’t let you take it from Dean.”
“I would never take him by force, Gabriel. And I have not his permission, like I have this vessel’s consent.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “How did you get John to say yes, anyhow?”
“It was in 1978....” And he told the nightmarish story. A crazed fallen angel had shown up at the Winchesters’ house in Lawrence and tried to kill Mary and John. Michael had had no choice but to intervene; he got permission from a fatally wounded John, healed him, and killed the rogue.
“It was Mariniel,” Castiel said brusquely.
Gabriel blinked. “When the hell did she fall?”
“She didn’t,” Castiel said coldly, sending both archangels’ heads snapping toward him. He met Michael’s eyes, unafraid. “She was acting under Zachariah’s orders.” His shoulders straightened and he looked at Gabriel. “I was originally ordered to be the angel on that mission. But I was needed elsewhere.”
“That... that...” Gabriel fumed silently for a moment before coming up with one of Kali’s favorite Sanskrit curses.
Michael frowned. “Zachariah?”
“Yes, dear old lion-breath has been in cahoots with Azazel, Lilith, and Alastair for a good 35 years, it seems. Or had been, rather. John and Sam made good use of Castiel’s and my swords around the end of September. He’s dead.”
“Castiel. Truth.”
“As Our Father lives,” Castiel replied solemnly.
Michael’s eyes narrowed. Then he looked at Gabriel. “The fact that you are not envesseled. Speak to me.”
“Made it myself. Got permission to do the same for Castiel.”
“Used his perfect vessel as a template, I see. I assume you did the same for yourself.”
“... Not exactly.” Gabriel held up a hand. “I’m not proud of this anymore, bro, but at the time, I was sick of the in-fighting. So I went into Witness Protection so the brats couldn’t find me.”
Michael nodded. “I can understand that.”
Gabriel met Michael’s eyes. “Before I came here, I was better known as Loki.”
Michael’s eyes widened again. “Loki?”
“Yup. Not the original, mind-he got crosswise with Cailean Mor and wound up dead, but nobody knows that.”
“Son of a bitch,” Michael breathed, then a hand clapped over his mouth. “It... seems John Winchester has a formidable will.”
Gabriel laughed. So did Castiel - so rare a sound that even Michael took note.
“Someone is more human than he lets on,” he mused.
“Yeah, they’re a bad influence, those Winchesters.” Gabriel chuckled again and ruffled Castiel’s hair.
Michael frowned. “It would seem... I will need a new vessel. Or to go the route you did... I cannot hold him.”
“Why not share?”
“He will not consent to that. He prefers... freedom.”
“Well, two John Winchesters will get you pegged as a ’shifter in two seconds flat, and you’re not taking Dean.”
A slow smile spread over Michael’s face. “Perhaps.” There was a flash of light and John swayed. “Dammit,” he growled, a hand going to his head. “Chained to a comet!”
Gabriel snapped up some sweet tea and handed it to him. “You all right there, John?”
He groaned. “How in the hell do I revoke my consent to that bastard?”
“You don’t, unfortunately.”
“Well, f-” The rest of the curse was lost in another groan as his shaking hands spilled the tea all over his front.
Gabriel snapped it clean-and suddenly the tea was in a sippy cup.
“Bastard,” John griped good-naturedly.
“You know you love me,” Gabriel shot back with a wink.
Castiel steered John to a couch and changed the sippy cup for a mug with a straw.
“Ah, you’re no fun,” Gabriel teased him.
“I know.”
“So, John, exactly how much of that conversation did you hear?”
“Most of it - Gabriel.”
“The boys know now, if it’s any consolation.”
“It is.” He sipped the tea. “Think I liked you better as just a Trickster.”
“What makes you say that?”
“You seemed more... approachable.”
“And now that you know I’m an archangel, I’m not?”
“Now I don’t know what to make of you.”
“I’m still me, John. Nothing’s changed.”
“There are just certain things he’s not keeping from you now.” A young man walked into the room. He was dressed in jeans and a green henley. He looked nearly exactly like Dean - except his hair was longer and nearly white and his eyes were a piercing shade of blue. He smiled. “Hello again, Gabriel. I take it this meets your ... conditions?”
Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “You’ll still get questions, Mike.”
His lips thinned.
“But it’s better than I’d feared.”
“I can’t go too far off the template or it won’t be my own vessel. It’ll feel like a too-small suit.”
“I’m not saying you should look like Baldur. It’s different enough that you won’t be mistaken for Dean. But I’m gonna have a hell of a time passing you off as my brother when you look like a Winchester.”
Michael smiled and closed his eyes. Before John’s shocked eyes, his jaw squared a little and his hair receded a bit. His eyes, when he opened them, were the same slightly slanted shape as Castiel’s. “Better?”
“Lose the freckles, but yeah, that works better.”
The freckles faded to nothingness.
John took a deep pull of his tea as if it were whiskey.
Gabriel nodded. “Yeah. Castiel, what do you think?”
“He looks enough like me that he can pass for my brother,” Castiel nodded. “And they accept me as your brother.”
“John?”
“Damn!”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Will he pass for a Cooper or not?”
“Yeah. He will.”
“Good.” Gabriel looked Michael in the eye and grinned. “Welcome to Cazadore, Mike Cooper.”
Michael nodded and grinned back.
“So, Mike, how much do you know about what happened a few minutes ago?”
“Not much. Fill me in.”
Gabriel explained about Crowley and Uriel’s resurrection of Samuel Campbell, ignoring John’s outbursts of profanity. “I’m assuming they brought him back in Lawrence,” he concluded, “since that’s where he died. Should take a couple of days for him to get here by car.”
Michael - Mike - looked at John. “Tell me about this Campbell.”
“My father-in-law,” John growled. “Old man and I never did see eye to eye.”
“My guess,” said Gabriel, “is that they’ll try to bribe him with the prospect of bringing Mary back. They can’t bring her back-for reasons I’m not at liberty to state-but Samuel won’t know that.”
“They’re lying to him,” John snarled.
“If Crowley’s involved? Of course they’re lying to him. And who knows what line they’ll try to sell him about Cazadore?”
“So what do we do?” John asked.
Gabriel sighed. “Put out a BOLO, I guess. Until we know for sure what kind of threat he poses, probably best to keep the hunting support under wraps as much as possible.”
John nodded. “Tell the kids.”
“Right.” Gabriel tossed John’s phone to him. “Castiel, you should probably stay with John.” Then he looked at Michael and paused. “You wanna meet the kids now or later?”
“Now is best.”
“We’d better go in the front door, then. C’mon.” He headed back to Sam’s house, and Michael followed.
Dean had dished up breakfast for everyone after Gabriel left, but he was too tense to sit down and eat his own pancakes. He kept pacing behind Daphne, Tricia, and Sam, sipping coffee now and again.
Tricia signed, Sit. Eat.
Can’t, he signed back. Need to know you safe.
Eat.
Before he could reply, they heard a shave-and-a-haircut knock, followed by the doorbell. “Coop,” said Josh, “and... something-s-someone else.”
His stutter was enough to set them all on edge. Dean had his gun in his hand when he opened the door.
“It’s okay, Dean,” Gabriel said, looking him in the eye, as he and the white-blond stranger beside him walked in, both stepping neatly over the salt line. “He’s on our side.”
“WINGS!” cried Sadie, awed.
All eyes turned to her, then back to the stranger. Tiffany picked her child up. “What was that, Sadie?”
She pointed to the stranger. “He has wings-big, shiny!”
He blinked. “I do, little one?”
She ducked her head against Tiffany’s shoulder but didn’t take her eyes off of him. “Uh-huh. You’re shiny, mister.”
Dean and Sam and Josh instantly interposed themselves between the girls and the stranger.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Sadie, does Castiel have wings?”
“Uh-huh. They’re dark. ’S a secret.”
“What’s a secret?” Gabriel whispered.
“He’s a angel,” she whispered back.
“With dark wings?” Gabriel nodded.
“Uh-huh.”
“Do I have wings?”
She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. “Kind of?”
“Kind of?”
“Hard to see.”
Gabriel smiled. “Now?”
Sadie gasped.
“Now I’m going to hide them, okay?”
“Okay,” she said quietly, eyes still saucer-wide.
To everyone else’s eyes, nothing changed. But Sadie relaxed a little.
“Mike,” he said, not stopping smiling at Sadie, “dampen your power.”
Sadie’s breath caught a little. “He’s like you.”
“Yeah, Sadie, he is.”
Dean’s eyes narrowed. “Wait, what?”
Gabriel sighed. “Remember me telling you about my brother Michael?” He gestured at the platinum blond. “This is him.”
“As in archangel.”
“Yes.”
Dean studied Michael’s face for a moment and blinked. “I got a long-lost cousin I don’t know about or something?”
Sam blinked and looked between them. “Okay, that is weird.”
Michael chuckled. “No, Dean. This form is not a human vessel. It seems we are capable of creating empty vessels for ourselves based on the form of our human counterparts; I simply made enough modifications that we would not be taken for twins.”
Dean tilted his head. “So you’re not here to make me your glove.”
“No. Even if I had been unable to fashion this vessel, Gabriel was most insistent that you were not to be touched. And I sensed Our Father’s wisdom in his words.”
Dean relaxed a little. “So why are you here?”
“Investigating the disturbance that I now know was caused by Samuel Campbell’s resurrection.”
“So you think there’s something off in that, too?” Sam said, while glaring at Dean who was cursing in sign.
“I do. You must believe me when I tell you that I was not aware of what Zachariah had been doing. That was never my understanding of Father’s intent.”
“Then enlighten us,” Daphne said slightly sarcastically.
“Daphne, I promise you, I would have stopped Zachariah had I known. But I know no more about Samuel Campbell’s return than you do.”
Daphne stepped forward, and pointed at Mike. “Your promises and ‘we must believes’ are useless, Mr. Michael Cooper. You may be his brother, but you have to earn the Winchesters’ trust. And you’ve not done that yet.”
“Then tell me what I must do, Daughter of Eve.”
She shook her head. “If you have to ask, you’re a long way from understanding us.” And she turned her back on him - very deliberately - and walked back to her husband.
Tricia was trembling, convinced that the archangel was about to smite her sister.
He gave Tricia a small smile. “Fear not. I mean you no harm. Indeed, I wish to protect you-and the children you both bear.”
Tricia’s hands went over her abdomen and it was all Mike could do to restrain his reaction when he recognized just what she was carrying.
Daphne met his eyes and raised her chin in challenge. “How?”
“For now, I will keep watch with my brothers. And I will make sure neither Uriel nor any of Hell’s forces can use Campbell to gain entrance to Cazadore themselves.”
“But he can get in, cause he’s human,” Dean snarled.
“Yes, he can,” Mike returned patiently. “But I will not move against him until we know more. He may be wholly innocent and willing to be persuaded by evidence that is contrary to what Uriel and Crowley have told him.”
“Sounds reasonable,” Sam said.
“Your father is already requesting that the people of this town be on their guard.”
That brought smiles all round.
“Gabriel believes Campbell will not arrive before late tomorrow, possibly early the next day. What should we do in the meantime, brother?”
“Prepare,” came the immediate answer.
“In what ways?”
Gabriel chuckled. “Mike, you’ve got a lot to learn.
“So it would seem,” Mike returned with a smile.
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