Part 2, Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Somewhere in Minnesota
They made their way outside, to an alley that Gabriel insisted he could hide from the rest of the world for as long as they needed it.
It was raining, which made it a pain in the ass to clear enough space and get the circle set up, until finally Gabriel got tired of waiting and did it himself. He put the coin in the middle and counted out the drops from the vial he'd brought, and then turned expectantly to the boys.
Dean rolled his eyes and cut across his palm, holding it over the circle while he counted drops.
Sam, across the circle, followed suit, then glanced over at Gabriel before speaking.
"Yehudah bar Simon. Yehudah bar Simon. Yehudah bar Simon."
Just as before, in Bobby's house, the circle began to hum, the coin to glow, the blood to spin.
"You gonna tell us why you want this?" Dean asked.
Gabriel smiled. "Do you really want to start your five minutes now?"
Before Dean could answer, the spinning blood resolved and the glow died. Judas was inside the circle, curled up on the ground in fetal position, naked. His back was a mass of blood and ashes, and his hands and feet had been crushed so badly they looked more like pancakes.
It got worse.
The bottom half of his face was missing, flesh stripped all the way down to the bone.
"Holy crap," Dean breathed.
Judas shifted a little, whimpering.
"Holy crap!" Sam echoed. "Is he...?"
Judas, confirming that he was, in fact, conscious, opened his eyes and immediately locked onto Gabriel. He tried to say something, but it was unintelligible. Too much of his mouth was missing.
"Shh..." Gabriel said, kneeling next to him. He ran a hand, glowing white, over Judas' face, healing as he went.
"Abba, I'm sorry," Judas choked out.
"It's okay," he said. "Don't talk." He finished healing Judas--leaving scars, for some reason, including a vivid bruise running across his neck--held on his chest for a minute, then finally rested his fingers on his forehead, making him sleep. "Okay, he'll be out for a while. Like...I don't know, a day, maybe a week, it's hard to tell with him. Remember you're taking him somewhere safe. I warded him, so you don't need to worry about him being tracked. Also your five minutes start now."
"Okay, what the hell was that about?" Sam started, after a few seconds of startled silence.
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. "Hey, don't look at me. You guys are the ones who dragged him out of hiding and into this mess."
"Why do you even care?"
"I don't--" He sighed. "The kid has a tendency to get pretty epically screwed. I feel bad for him, that's all. Look, do you really want to spend your five minutes asking me about Judas? Come on, guys, you can do better than that."
"How about you stop stalling?" Dean said.
"I'm not!" Gabriel protested. "Just giving you some friendly advice."
"...yeah, you're stalling," Sam said. "Which is cheating. Which you said you wouldn't do."
Gabriel glowered at him. "Fine. What's your next question?"
"Can we stop this? Is there any chance at all?" Dean asked.
"No."
"We're not asking realistic chances, we know we're past that," Sam said. "We're talking one in a million, Hail Mary kind of deal."
"You know, I met Mary," Gabriel said. "I got to tell her about the baby and all. Sweet girl. Total babe."
"You're stalling again."
"Well, you're asking stupid questions."
"Hey, you don't get to make fun of our questions," Dean said. "That was never part of the deal."
"I never promised not to make fun of you," Gabriel pointed out. "I just promised not to lie. And I didn't. Mary was hot."
"Enough about Mary," Sam said. "What about weapons?"
"What about them?" he asked.
"Are there any that would work? Like...we had the Colt before, but it didn't kill him. Something like that, only...?"
"It actually works?" Gabriel finished for him, then tilted his head. "Maybe, but nothing you can get at. I mean, Heaven's got a freaking arsenal, but good luck getting to it without going there, and having an in-favor angel on your side. I mean, if you could get there and you could talk an angel into helping you out, sure. There's a few. And, I mean, there's Archangel blades, but I'm sure as hell not giving you mine and there’s no way you’re getting one of the others."
"So, basically, no," Dean said.
"Sorry," Gabriel said.
"What about omens? Are there any specific ones we can track?" Sam asked
"Yeah," Gabriel said. "Look for weird temperature fluctuations, in really small areas. Like, a few city blocks small."
"Anything else?"
He shrugged. "Not much that's specific enough that you can be sure it's Lucifer. Especially if he decides to cover his tracks for a while. The temperature thing he can't really hide, though, so it's your best bet."
"Is there anyone we can reach out to who can stop this?" Sam asked. "With or without Heaven's arsenal."
"No," Gabriel said. "Well, other than a couple people who don't give a shit and a couple people who you really, really don't want to work with anyway."
"Like who?"
He thought for a minute. "Well, there's a few people deep in Heaven's lockup who might stand a chance, on a good day, if only 'cause no one will expect them. And maybe one or two of them would play ball and not set things on fire after just to watch 'em burn, but you probably don't want to risk it."
"Probably not," Dean agreed.
"Is there anything you can do anything to stop it?" Sam asked.
Gabriel stared at them. "Like what?"
"Well, you're an Archangel, too, aren't you?" Dean pointed out. "With an Archangel blade and everything."
"Are you suggesting that I kill my brothers?"
"And what if we are?" Dean asked.
"Well, mostly Lucifer," Sam said, at the same time.
"No! I'm not gonna do that! Even if I managed to pull it off--which is a big--just--no."
"So, short version--you can do it, you just won't," Dean said.
He glared at them. "Your time's up."
"No way, you don't get to dodge--" Sam started.
"Yes. I do," Gabriel cut him off. "It's been fun, boys, really, but for now, screw you. You bought five minutes, you got your five freaking minutes. I'm done."
He snapped his fingers and disappeared before either of them could argue.
Previous: Part 2, Chapter 1 Next: Part 2, Chapter 3
Somewhere in Minnesota
They made their way outside, to an alley that Gabriel insisted he could hide from the rest of the world for as long as they needed it.
It was raining, which made it a pain in the ass to clear enough space and get the circle set up, until finally Gabriel got tired of waiting and did it himself. He put the coin in the middle and counted out the drops from the vial he'd brought, and then turned expectantly to the boys.
Dean rolled his eyes and cut across his palm, holding it over the circle while he counted drops.
Sam, across the circle, followed suit, then glanced over at Gabriel before speaking.
"Yehudah bar Simon. Yehudah bar Simon. Yehudah bar Simon."
Just as before, in Bobby's house, the circle began to hum, the coin to glow, the blood to spin.
"You gonna tell us why you want this?" Dean asked.
Gabriel smiled. "Do you really want to start your five minutes now?"
Before Dean could answer, the spinning blood resolved and the glow died. Judas was inside the circle, curled up on the ground in fetal position, naked. His back was a mass of blood and ashes, and his hands and feet had been crushed so badly they looked more like pancakes.
It got worse.
The bottom half of his face was missing, flesh stripped all the way down to the bone.
"Holy crap," Dean breathed.
Judas shifted a little, whimpering.
"Holy crap!" Sam echoed. "Is he...?"
Judas, confirming that he was, in fact, conscious, opened his eyes and immediately locked onto Gabriel. He tried to say something, but it was unintelligible. Too much of his mouth was missing.
"Shh..." Gabriel said, kneeling next to him. He ran a hand, glowing white, over Judas' face, healing as he went.
"Abba, I'm sorry," Judas choked out.
"It's okay," he said. "Don't talk." He finished healing Judas--leaving scars, for some reason, including a vivid bruise running across his neck--held on his chest for a minute, then finally rested his fingers on his forehead, making him sleep. "Okay, he'll be out for a while. Like...I don't know, a day, maybe a week, it's hard to tell with him. Remember you're taking him somewhere safe. I warded him, so you don't need to worry about him being tracked. Also your five minutes start now."
"Okay, what the hell was that about?" Sam started, after a few seconds of startled silence.
Gabriel arched an eyebrow. "Hey, don't look at me. You guys are the ones who dragged him out of hiding and into this mess."
"Why do you even care?"
"I don't--" He sighed. "The kid has a tendency to get pretty epically screwed. I feel bad for him, that's all. Look, do you really want to spend your five minutes asking me about Judas? Come on, guys, you can do better than that."
"How about you stop stalling?" Dean said.
"I'm not!" Gabriel protested. "Just giving you some friendly advice."
"...yeah, you're stalling," Sam said. "Which is cheating. Which you said you wouldn't do."
Gabriel glowered at him. "Fine. What's your next question?"
"Can we stop this? Is there any chance at all?" Dean asked.
"No."
"We're not asking realistic chances, we know we're past that," Sam said. "We're talking one in a million, Hail Mary kind of deal."
"You know, I met Mary," Gabriel said. "I got to tell her about the baby and all. Sweet girl. Total babe."
"You're stalling again."
"Well, you're asking stupid questions."
"Hey, you don't get to make fun of our questions," Dean said. "That was never part of the deal."
"I never promised not to make fun of you," Gabriel pointed out. "I just promised not to lie. And I didn't. Mary was hot."
"Enough about Mary," Sam said. "What about weapons?"
"What about them?" he asked.
"Are there any that would work? Like...we had the Colt before, but it didn't kill him. Something like that, only...?"
"It actually works?" Gabriel finished for him, then tilted his head. "Maybe, but nothing you can get at. I mean, Heaven's got a freaking arsenal, but good luck getting to it without going there, and having an in-favor angel on your side. I mean, if you could get there and you could talk an angel into helping you out, sure. There's a few. And, I mean, there's Archangel blades, but I'm sure as hell not giving you mine and there’s no way you’re getting one of the others."
"So, basically, no," Dean said.
"Sorry," Gabriel said.
"What about omens? Are there any specific ones we can track?" Sam asked
"Yeah," Gabriel said. "Look for weird temperature fluctuations, in really small areas. Like, a few city blocks small."
"Anything else?"
He shrugged. "Not much that's specific enough that you can be sure it's Lucifer. Especially if he decides to cover his tracks for a while. The temperature thing he can't really hide, though, so it's your best bet."
"Is there anyone we can reach out to who can stop this?" Sam asked. "With or without Heaven's arsenal."
"No," Gabriel said. "Well, other than a couple people who don't give a shit and a couple people who you really, really don't want to work with anyway."
"Like who?"
He thought for a minute. "Well, there's a few people deep in Heaven's lockup who might stand a chance, on a good day, if only 'cause no one will expect them. And maybe one or two of them would play ball and not set things on fire after just to watch 'em burn, but you probably don't want to risk it."
"Probably not," Dean agreed.
"Is there anything you can do anything to stop it?" Sam asked.
Gabriel stared at them. "Like what?"
"Well, you're an Archangel, too, aren't you?" Dean pointed out. "With an Archangel blade and everything."
"Are you suggesting that I kill my brothers?"
"And what if we are?" Dean asked.
"Well, mostly Lucifer," Sam said, at the same time.
"No! I'm not gonna do that! Even if I managed to pull it off--which is a big--just--no."
"So, short version--you can do it, you just won't," Dean said.
He glared at them. "Your time's up."
"No way, you don't get to dodge--" Sam started.
"Yes. I do," Gabriel cut him off. "It's been fun, boys, really, but for now, screw you. You bought five minutes, you got your five freaking minutes. I'm done."
He snapped his fingers and disappeared before either of them could argue.
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