Unexpected Destinies Chapter 185
Title: Unexpected Destinies
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,204
Summary: Dean and his brothers go to the Vatican to look for the key to the scroll code.
PRESENT
Michael had clearly been paying attention to who he'd been interacting with the last few times that Dean had been at the Vatican, or at least to who the different people were, because his archangel brought them straight to Father Mancini, who he'd been directed to find once they arrived at the Vatican. Unfortunately their sudden arrival, though at a respectable distance from the man for once, startled the priest, causing him to jump in surprise. It intrigued him that, even caught off-guard as his first Vatican contact was, that Father Mancini didn't swear.
Guess it really was possible for some people not to pick up that habit on any level whatsoever. Who'd have thought?
"Sorry," Michael apologized before Dean could say anything and he sent his friend the pride that he felt at the action.
A wing briefly brushing against his back told Dean that his message had gotten through and he couldn't help but marvel at how easy and instinctual it was becoming to use his vessel bond with Michael. It was reminiscent of the way that his very early communication with his husband had gone. The most interesting thing was, though, how little it bothered or worried him despite knowing that it was neither normal nor expected. It just felt far too good and right for him to fear it even though he knew that it concerned Castiel at least a little. What could he say though? He'd gone far too long trusting and going with his instincts to stop doing so now, especially since they usually steered him right.
"No, that is okay, you just surprised me," Father Mancini replied, smiling at them before switching to English. "Ah, Mr. Sam Winchester, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, uh, hello," Sam fumbled, startled to be addressed.
Dean snorted, betting that his brother had been far too busy staring around at what Sam could see of the different sealed cases near them as they'd been flown right into the vaults of the Vatican Archives. It was the equivalent of putting a kid in a candy store and his little brother was already all but salivating at the prospect of being able to explore this new treasure throve.
"Sam, Raz, this is Father Mancini, one of the priests who works down here in the Archives and the first person that Cas and I met here. Father Mancini, as you guessed, this is my brother Sam and this here is Raziel, another archangel."
"Raziel? Angel of Mysteries?"
"Yes," Raziel confirmed.
Father Mancini seemed somewhat perturbed by this and Dean threw his new bond brother a curious look.
"It is one of my titles from the Jewish tradition," Raziel explained. "It is also only in the Kabbalah that I am rightly known as an archangel. Within the Christian teachings I was merely considered to be another of the lower angels."
Oh, right, Dean did remember something of that now that he thought about it. He just hadn't put two and two together to realize why Father Mancini was disturbed by the appearance of his bond brother. But if Raziel had been deemed to be less important by the Roman Catholic church, then he could see why they might be worried to discover that his bond brother was, in fact, an archangel. Somehow, however, he didn't think that Raziel would take it personally, not with how much his new friend seemed aware of human customs and the general dissemination of religious knowledge.
Surprisingly, Father Mancini seemed to be able to put this latest shock aside quickly and Dean couldn't help but wonder if all of the revelations of the past few months had served to make the man a bit immune to them. Well it was either that or Father Mancini was able to put it all aside in order to expedite the purpose of their trip here.
"You mentioned that you required help finding something that you thought to be located in the Archives?" Father Mancini inquired, switching back into Italian.
"Yes," Dean replied in kind, well aware that he had his brother's full attention on him once more, just like the last and only time that Sam had ever heard him speak Italian before. "We have gotten our hands on some scrolls which we know to contain important information, but they are written in code and Raziel found a tome in Heaven which said that the key to deciphering the code had passed into the hands of the church."
As Dean said it, Michael stepped forwards and placed the scrolls on a nearby table. "Perhaps you will recognize something from your collection by looking at the script," Michael said.
Father Mancini drew in a startled breath as Dean reached out to unroll the first scroll and it took a quick glance at the priest for him to figure out what had startled the man now. The way Father Mancini was starting at his wedding band, however, made it more than clear and, yeah, of course that would interest and surprise the priest. For all of their digging into him and his past, he was pretty sure that they didn't even have the first inkling about the true nature of his relationship with Castiel.
"You've gotten married," Father Mancini stated, looking back up at his face.
"Yes," Dean confirmed, his thumb reaching over to touch and turn the ring as it always did when someone mentioned the wedding band.
For a brief instant Dean was tempted to tell the man the truth, to tell Father Mancini just who that he was married to, but then it passed. Though there would probably always be a part of him that enjoyed shocking people, this was one issue that he had absolutely no desire whatsoever to be flippant about. Nor did the thought that anyone would either genuinely disapprove or be disgusted by the idea of him and his husband appeal to him whatsoever. So, yeah, he had no clue how long he could keep this particular secret from the Roman Catholic church, but he would try to do so nonetheless.
"I would prefer if you didn't make this too widely known," Dean continued, knowing Raziel would know why and that Michael would happily follow his lead here if his friend didn't understand his reasoning.
"You are afraid of Lucifer finding out," Father Mancini deduced incorrectly. "That he would use the relationship or your new wife against you."
"He does enjoy using whatever means he deems most expedient," Dean replied neutrally.
It wasn't exactly a lie if he merely failed to correct a mistaken belief, was it?
"I will ensure that it does not get out on our account."
"Thanks."
"Dean?" Sam asked, confused about the delay and not understanding the conversation.
"Just getting congratulations on the wedding, Sammy," Dean explained in English, throwing his brother the look they used when wanting to ensure that someone didn't reveal something to a witness or source. "And ensuring that Lucy doesn't find out about it."
"Oh, okay."
"But, anyway, back to the matter at hand." With that, Dean unrolled the first scroll and allowed Father Mancini to place paperweights on the two ends to keep it open while they looked at it.
"This does seem vaguely familiar," Father Mancini stated, frowning. "But I don't immediately recall when or where I've seen it before."
"Is there anything which we could do to help jog your memory?" Raziel inquired.
"Not unless one of the other scrolls has a more memorable marking."
"Don't you have some kind of computer database or inventory which we can search?" Sam asked and a quick glance back at his brother showed Dean that Michael had probably been translating for him.
"It is not complete," Father Mancini replied in English. "Some items cannot be, uh, scansionato."
"Scanned," Dean translated. "They're too old?"
"Too old or we fear electrical equipment would damage. But others coming soon, maybe they recognize."
"Others?"
"Yes, they were contacted after you called. The pope sends apologies he cannot come, he is on a trip."
"The pope?" Sam choked and Dean suddenly wondered if he'd forgotten to mention that particular detail to his brother. "You met the pope, Dean?"
"Eh, yeah, one of the last times," Dean confirmed. "Time before last I believe."
"And you didn't think to mention this?"
"It slipped my mind."
"It slipped your mind."
Dean scowled at the mocking note beneath the sheer disbelief in his brother's voice but decided to leave it alone. All this shit meant far more to Sam than it did to him so for all he knew, it really was that mindboggling to his brother that he hadn't thought to brag to Sam about it.
"Yep, met the head of the pointy Swiss guard and a bunch of cardinals too, if you're interested," Dean replied instead.
From the look on his brother's face, the sarcasm hadn't gone down particularly well, but then it rarely did with Sam so Dean took it as meaning that things were returning to some semblance of normal for them. Just not too normal, he hoped, or too much like their old normal as he honestly didn't think that he could go through that old cycle anymore. And the fact that he could admit that not only to himself, but to others as well if necessary, frightened him a little as it was proof positive of how much that he'd changed over the course of the past year. Not that it was a bad thing at all, but it was still a massive change and if it didn't give him pause then he'd be even more worried about it all.
The ringing of his phone pulled Dean from those deep thoughts and he was glad for it until he saw the caller ID. "Crowley," he growled in lieu of a greeting.
"You better have a sodding plan because it's show time," Crowley replied, deadly serious without a trace of his usual humor or sarcasm.
"What happened?" Dean demanded, seeing both Michael and Sam turn to look at him at his tone of voice.
"Some idiot said yes to Lucifer and he's got himself a container or whatever angels call their meatsuits."
"Vessels, they call them vessels."
Dean wasn't quite sure how he got those words out as the news shocked him right to his very core. Sure, he'd known that it was only a matter of time before the devil found himself some poor dupe who either didn't know any better or who was stupid enough to give in despite knowing, but somehow he'd thought that they'd have more time. Maybe it had just been naivety or sheer mule headedness to not see the truth on his part, but he really hadn't expected for this to happen so soon.
"What is it? What happened?" Father Mancini inquired, but Dean realized it was directed more at Michael than him, so he ignored the question in order to focus on the more important issues.
"Who?" Dean demanded.
"How the hell should I bloody know? Besides, I don't care, he's got him whoever it is and he's not wasting any time making up for being benched," Crowley snapped.
"What does he look like?" Dean pressed. "This vessel?"
"You think I've been stupid enough to be anywhere that Lucifer could show up? I went to ground as soon as I got wind of what had happened."
"Of course you did, wouldn't want to risk your neck after all."
"Damn right I don't, cupcake! Stupidity's your area of expertise, survival is mine."
"Yeah, well, you might just have to do something a little more than what you're comfortable with soon."
"To use your own phrase- much as it kills me to do so- bite me, cupcake."
Dean bit his tongue, not having the time to get caught up in a pointless argument now. "What did you mean when you said that he's making up for lost time?"
"Lawrence, Kansas, is gone."
"What?"
"Got wiped off the map not even fifteen minutes ago if rumors are to be believed."
Lawrence, gone.
Dean's mind got stuck on that and he couldn't seem to get past it. Lawrence, the one place he still thought of as his home town if ever really pressed to come up with an answer, was just completely and utterly gone. He'd seen the power of archangels before and knew it wasn't a big stretch of power for them to do something like that. Hell, wiping towns off the map had been Uriel's specialty and he hadn't even been an archangel at all!
Lawrence was gone. Forever.
All of a sudden Dean was bombarded with memories and snippets of his life there. Having been so young when his mother had been murdered, he really didn't have all that many memories from his life there, but he'd always been careful to maintain those that he was able to recall. Then, on top of that, there was everything from when he'd gone back there, both physically and in time. The worst thing was that he knew exactly why it was that Lucifer had chosen Lawrence and he'd put good money on Stull Cemetery as having been the epicenter of the attack. This was a message to them as much as a way for Lucifer to obliterate the place where he'd fallen back into Hell even if the entrance to the Pitt was more metaphysical than physical. He doubted that little details like that actually mattered to the devil right now.
His phone was taken out of his hand and it was only then that Dean realized that Crowley had still been talking, trying to get his attention.
"Was there anything else?" Michael asked before he frowned. "I am a friend of Dean's and you can tell me anything you would him as he shares it with me anyway." Another pause. "No, he is not cheating and your insinuations are not appreciated."
That drew Dean's attention enough to snap him out of his shock and he scowled. Of course Crowley would go there when a woman's voice came on the line instead of his own. Oh, well, it was better than the demon learning that it was Michael that he was currently speaking to.
"Dean."
The voice was soft and Dean turned to look at his brother's deathly pale face and he couldn't help but wonder if he looked that bad at the moment as well. "Yeah?"
"Is it true? Is Lawrence gone? Did Lucifer...?" Sam inquired.
"Yeah, he did."
"Jesus."
"Don't blaspheme," Michael stated, flipping shut Dean's phone and handing it back to him. "The demon didn't know anything else of use."
"Demon?" Father Mancini demanded, eyes wide.
"He's a source," Dean explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. "One who pissed off Lucy enough to have a death warrant on his head, so it's in his best interest to help us defeat him before he himself gets killed."
"Ah, I see."
The urge to start swearing rose swiftly within Dean but he fought it back, not sure if he'd be able to stop once he started. Things had almost literally just gone to Hell in a hand basket. A conversation that he'd had with Gwen the other day made a truly ugly suspicion rear its head and his breath caught at the thought. It made a lot of sense given the circumstances but he really, really hoped that it wasn't true for both his brother and his cousin's sakes. Wanting to confirm it before he uttered it, he swiped Sam's phone and ignored his brother's protest to find the number he needed in the address book and hitting the call button.
"Dean!" Sam said again. "What are you doing?"
Dean turned away from his brother as the call connected and the recipient answered.
"Hello, Sam, I was hoping that you would call."
His eyes snapped to Michael and Dean could tell from the way that his bond brother stiffened that the archangel had heard it too. While the voice was most definitely Christian Campbell's, the intonation and inflections were not. Man, he'd really hoped that he'd been wrong about this.
"Nnn, wrong answer, care to try again for ten percent of the original prize?" Dean demanded, clenching his eyes shut.
"Dean Winchester."
"Yeah, but don't expect me to be particularly impressed, Lucy, there really wasn't anyone else that it could be."
"As insolent as ever I see," Lucifer replied calmly in that way of his which drove Dean nuts.
This was the fucking devil, he shouldn't be so calm or sound so rational half the time.
"Yeah, well, it's me. What you see is pretty much what you get."
"Oh, I have learned better than to make that particular mistake a second time. I have to admit, though, that I am surprised that Michael has not managed to teach you better manners."
"Ah, see, Mike's come to see the charming side of my personality and realized that he actually rather likes it."
"So I have heard. You will pay for having corrupted my brother, Dean Winchester."
"Do your worst, Lucifer," Dean retorted and with that he disconnected the line.
The intoxicating mix of exhilaration, triumph and terror made Dean feel a little lightheaded, so it took him few seconds to realize that sometime between his first and second phone calls more people had arrived including Father Giordano and Colonel Anrig, all of whom were staring at him in shock and horror.
"Eh," Dean began, not sure what to say.
"Did you really just challenge Lucifer himself?" Colonel Anrig demanded in disbelief.
His brother's snort behind him told Dean that someone had translated that question for Sam but all he could do was shrug. "Uh, yeah."
"It is not unusual for Dean to do these kinds of things," Michael explained, his calm voice belying the churning emotions that Dean could so easily detect from his bond brother.
"I think that I'm beginning to see why Father likes you so much, Dean, and why neither Zachariah nor Uriel could stand you," Raziel laughed. "Though I'm also wondering how it is that you are even still alive."
"Pure dumb luck," Sam supplied.
"Hey!" Dean protested.
"You just pretty much told Lucifer to come and get you, Dean."
"Yeah, so? He was going to anyway, why not say it?"
His brother sighed, seeming to think that it explained everything and Dean scowled at Sam. It wasn't like being kind and polite to the devil would make a damn bit of difference, so why the hell bother to hide his contempt or not use the opportunity to let off a little steam? It made him feel better, just a little bit, true, but better nonetheless. Abruptly, he tossed Sam his phone back and his little brother fumbled the catch, nearly dropping the cell. If it wasn't for the wounded, almost betrayed look on Sam's face as his brother stared at his own phone, he would have teased Sam for being slow, but this was no laughing matter whatsoever.
The extra time that the Rite of Contressa had bought them was now officially used up.
Lucifer had a vessel.
A.N.:The good news? My Gabriel Big Bang fic is done, so it won't be eating up my time anymore. The bad news? It's been over 48 hours and no artist has claimed it yet. Sad now :(
Oh, could one of my Italian readers please let me know if I got the right word for scanned? And if it's conjugated correctly? I did my best with Google translate, but there were a few options...
Chapter 186
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: up to and including Exile on Main St., AU from the end of season 5
Warnings: AU, slash
Word Count: 3,204
Summary: Dean and his brothers go to the Vatican to look for the key to the scroll code.
PRESENT
Michael had clearly been paying attention to who he'd been interacting with the last few times that Dean had been at the Vatican, or at least to who the different people were, because his archangel brought them straight to Father Mancini, who he'd been directed to find once they arrived at the Vatican. Unfortunately their sudden arrival, though at a respectable distance from the man for once, startled the priest, causing him to jump in surprise. It intrigued him that, even caught off-guard as his first Vatican contact was, that Father Mancini didn't swear.
Guess it really was possible for some people not to pick up that habit on any level whatsoever. Who'd have thought?
"Sorry," Michael apologized before Dean could say anything and he sent his friend the pride that he felt at the action.
A wing briefly brushing against his back told Dean that his message had gotten through and he couldn't help but marvel at how easy and instinctual it was becoming to use his vessel bond with Michael. It was reminiscent of the way that his very early communication with his husband had gone. The most interesting thing was, though, how little it bothered or worried him despite knowing that it was neither normal nor expected. It just felt far too good and right for him to fear it even though he knew that it concerned Castiel at least a little. What could he say though? He'd gone far too long trusting and going with his instincts to stop doing so now, especially since they usually steered him right.
"No, that is okay, you just surprised me," Father Mancini replied, smiling at them before switching to English. "Ah, Mr. Sam Winchester, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, uh, hello," Sam fumbled, startled to be addressed.
Dean snorted, betting that his brother had been far too busy staring around at what Sam could see of the different sealed cases near them as they'd been flown right into the vaults of the Vatican Archives. It was the equivalent of putting a kid in a candy store and his little brother was already all but salivating at the prospect of being able to explore this new treasure throve.
"Sam, Raz, this is Father Mancini, one of the priests who works down here in the Archives and the first person that Cas and I met here. Father Mancini, as you guessed, this is my brother Sam and this here is Raziel, another archangel."
"Raziel? Angel of Mysteries?"
"Yes," Raziel confirmed.
Father Mancini seemed somewhat perturbed by this and Dean threw his new bond brother a curious look.
"It is one of my titles from the Jewish tradition," Raziel explained. "It is also only in the Kabbalah that I am rightly known as an archangel. Within the Christian teachings I was merely considered to be another of the lower angels."
Oh, right, Dean did remember something of that now that he thought about it. He just hadn't put two and two together to realize why Father Mancini was disturbed by the appearance of his bond brother. But if Raziel had been deemed to be less important by the Roman Catholic church, then he could see why they might be worried to discover that his bond brother was, in fact, an archangel. Somehow, however, he didn't think that Raziel would take it personally, not with how much his new friend seemed aware of human customs and the general dissemination of religious knowledge.
Surprisingly, Father Mancini seemed to be able to put this latest shock aside quickly and Dean couldn't help but wonder if all of the revelations of the past few months had served to make the man a bit immune to them. Well it was either that or Father Mancini was able to put it all aside in order to expedite the purpose of their trip here.
"You mentioned that you required help finding something that you thought to be located in the Archives?" Father Mancini inquired, switching back into Italian.
"Yes," Dean replied in kind, well aware that he had his brother's full attention on him once more, just like the last and only time that Sam had ever heard him speak Italian before. "We have gotten our hands on some scrolls which we know to contain important information, but they are written in code and Raziel found a tome in Heaven which said that the key to deciphering the code had passed into the hands of the church."
As Dean said it, Michael stepped forwards and placed the scrolls on a nearby table. "Perhaps you will recognize something from your collection by looking at the script," Michael said.
Father Mancini drew in a startled breath as Dean reached out to unroll the first scroll and it took a quick glance at the priest for him to figure out what had startled the man now. The way Father Mancini was starting at his wedding band, however, made it more than clear and, yeah, of course that would interest and surprise the priest. For all of their digging into him and his past, he was pretty sure that they didn't even have the first inkling about the true nature of his relationship with Castiel.
"You've gotten married," Father Mancini stated, looking back up at his face.
"Yes," Dean confirmed, his thumb reaching over to touch and turn the ring as it always did when someone mentioned the wedding band.
For a brief instant Dean was tempted to tell the man the truth, to tell Father Mancini just who that he was married to, but then it passed. Though there would probably always be a part of him that enjoyed shocking people, this was one issue that he had absolutely no desire whatsoever to be flippant about. Nor did the thought that anyone would either genuinely disapprove or be disgusted by the idea of him and his husband appeal to him whatsoever. So, yeah, he had no clue how long he could keep this particular secret from the Roman Catholic church, but he would try to do so nonetheless.
"I would prefer if you didn't make this too widely known," Dean continued, knowing Raziel would know why and that Michael would happily follow his lead here if his friend didn't understand his reasoning.
"You are afraid of Lucifer finding out," Father Mancini deduced incorrectly. "That he would use the relationship or your new wife against you."
"He does enjoy using whatever means he deems most expedient," Dean replied neutrally.
It wasn't exactly a lie if he merely failed to correct a mistaken belief, was it?
"I will ensure that it does not get out on our account."
"Thanks."
"Dean?" Sam asked, confused about the delay and not understanding the conversation.
"Just getting congratulations on the wedding, Sammy," Dean explained in English, throwing his brother the look they used when wanting to ensure that someone didn't reveal something to a witness or source. "And ensuring that Lucy doesn't find out about it."
"Oh, okay."
"But, anyway, back to the matter at hand." With that, Dean unrolled the first scroll and allowed Father Mancini to place paperweights on the two ends to keep it open while they looked at it.
"This does seem vaguely familiar," Father Mancini stated, frowning. "But I don't immediately recall when or where I've seen it before."
"Is there anything which we could do to help jog your memory?" Raziel inquired.
"Not unless one of the other scrolls has a more memorable marking."
"Don't you have some kind of computer database or inventory which we can search?" Sam asked and a quick glance back at his brother showed Dean that Michael had probably been translating for him.
"It is not complete," Father Mancini replied in English. "Some items cannot be, uh, scansionato."
"Scanned," Dean translated. "They're too old?"
"Too old or we fear electrical equipment would damage. But others coming soon, maybe they recognize."
"Others?"
"Yes, they were contacted after you called. The pope sends apologies he cannot come, he is on a trip."
"The pope?" Sam choked and Dean suddenly wondered if he'd forgotten to mention that particular detail to his brother. "You met the pope, Dean?"
"Eh, yeah, one of the last times," Dean confirmed. "Time before last I believe."
"And you didn't think to mention this?"
"It slipped my mind."
"It slipped your mind."
Dean scowled at the mocking note beneath the sheer disbelief in his brother's voice but decided to leave it alone. All this shit meant far more to Sam than it did to him so for all he knew, it really was that mindboggling to his brother that he hadn't thought to brag to Sam about it.
"Yep, met the head of the pointy Swiss guard and a bunch of cardinals too, if you're interested," Dean replied instead.
From the look on his brother's face, the sarcasm hadn't gone down particularly well, but then it rarely did with Sam so Dean took it as meaning that things were returning to some semblance of normal for them. Just not too normal, he hoped, or too much like their old normal as he honestly didn't think that he could go through that old cycle anymore. And the fact that he could admit that not only to himself, but to others as well if necessary, frightened him a little as it was proof positive of how much that he'd changed over the course of the past year. Not that it was a bad thing at all, but it was still a massive change and if it didn't give him pause then he'd be even more worried about it all.
The ringing of his phone pulled Dean from those deep thoughts and he was glad for it until he saw the caller ID. "Crowley," he growled in lieu of a greeting.
"You better have a sodding plan because it's show time," Crowley replied, deadly serious without a trace of his usual humor or sarcasm.
"What happened?" Dean demanded, seeing both Michael and Sam turn to look at him at his tone of voice.
"Some idiot said yes to Lucifer and he's got himself a container or whatever angels call their meatsuits."
"Vessels, they call them vessels."
Dean wasn't quite sure how he got those words out as the news shocked him right to his very core. Sure, he'd known that it was only a matter of time before the devil found himself some poor dupe who either didn't know any better or who was stupid enough to give in despite knowing, but somehow he'd thought that they'd have more time. Maybe it had just been naivety or sheer mule headedness to not see the truth on his part, but he really hadn't expected for this to happen so soon.
"What is it? What happened?" Father Mancini inquired, but Dean realized it was directed more at Michael than him, so he ignored the question in order to focus on the more important issues.
"Who?" Dean demanded.
"How the hell should I bloody know? Besides, I don't care, he's got him whoever it is and he's not wasting any time making up for being benched," Crowley snapped.
"What does he look like?" Dean pressed. "This vessel?"
"You think I've been stupid enough to be anywhere that Lucifer could show up? I went to ground as soon as I got wind of what had happened."
"Of course you did, wouldn't want to risk your neck after all."
"Damn right I don't, cupcake! Stupidity's your area of expertise, survival is mine."
"Yeah, well, you might just have to do something a little more than what you're comfortable with soon."
"To use your own phrase- much as it kills me to do so- bite me, cupcake."
Dean bit his tongue, not having the time to get caught up in a pointless argument now. "What did you mean when you said that he's making up for lost time?"
"Lawrence, Kansas, is gone."
"What?"
"Got wiped off the map not even fifteen minutes ago if rumors are to be believed."
Lawrence, gone.
Dean's mind got stuck on that and he couldn't seem to get past it. Lawrence, the one place he still thought of as his home town if ever really pressed to come up with an answer, was just completely and utterly gone. He'd seen the power of archangels before and knew it wasn't a big stretch of power for them to do something like that. Hell, wiping towns off the map had been Uriel's specialty and he hadn't even been an archangel at all!
Lawrence was gone. Forever.
All of a sudden Dean was bombarded with memories and snippets of his life there. Having been so young when his mother had been murdered, he really didn't have all that many memories from his life there, but he'd always been careful to maintain those that he was able to recall. Then, on top of that, there was everything from when he'd gone back there, both physically and in time. The worst thing was that he knew exactly why it was that Lucifer had chosen Lawrence and he'd put good money on Stull Cemetery as having been the epicenter of the attack. This was a message to them as much as a way for Lucifer to obliterate the place where he'd fallen back into Hell even if the entrance to the Pitt was more metaphysical than physical. He doubted that little details like that actually mattered to the devil right now.
His phone was taken out of his hand and it was only then that Dean realized that Crowley had still been talking, trying to get his attention.
"Was there anything else?" Michael asked before he frowned. "I am a friend of Dean's and you can tell me anything you would him as he shares it with me anyway." Another pause. "No, he is not cheating and your insinuations are not appreciated."
That drew Dean's attention enough to snap him out of his shock and he scowled. Of course Crowley would go there when a woman's voice came on the line instead of his own. Oh, well, it was better than the demon learning that it was Michael that he was currently speaking to.
"Dean."
The voice was soft and Dean turned to look at his brother's deathly pale face and he couldn't help but wonder if he looked that bad at the moment as well. "Yeah?"
"Is it true? Is Lawrence gone? Did Lucifer...?" Sam inquired.
"Yeah, he did."
"Jesus."
"Don't blaspheme," Michael stated, flipping shut Dean's phone and handing it back to him. "The demon didn't know anything else of use."
"Demon?" Father Mancini demanded, eyes wide.
"He's a source," Dean explained with a dismissive wave of his hand. "One who pissed off Lucy enough to have a death warrant on his head, so it's in his best interest to help us defeat him before he himself gets killed."
"Ah, I see."
The urge to start swearing rose swiftly within Dean but he fought it back, not sure if he'd be able to stop once he started. Things had almost literally just gone to Hell in a hand basket. A conversation that he'd had with Gwen the other day made a truly ugly suspicion rear its head and his breath caught at the thought. It made a lot of sense given the circumstances but he really, really hoped that it wasn't true for both his brother and his cousin's sakes. Wanting to confirm it before he uttered it, he swiped Sam's phone and ignored his brother's protest to find the number he needed in the address book and hitting the call button.
"Dean!" Sam said again. "What are you doing?"
Dean turned away from his brother as the call connected and the recipient answered.
"Hello, Sam, I was hoping that you would call."
His eyes snapped to Michael and Dean could tell from the way that his bond brother stiffened that the archangel had heard it too. While the voice was most definitely Christian Campbell's, the intonation and inflections were not. Man, he'd really hoped that he'd been wrong about this.
"Nnn, wrong answer, care to try again for ten percent of the original prize?" Dean demanded, clenching his eyes shut.
"Dean Winchester."
"Yeah, but don't expect me to be particularly impressed, Lucy, there really wasn't anyone else that it could be."
"As insolent as ever I see," Lucifer replied calmly in that way of his which drove Dean nuts.
This was the fucking devil, he shouldn't be so calm or sound so rational half the time.
"Yeah, well, it's me. What you see is pretty much what you get."
"Oh, I have learned better than to make that particular mistake a second time. I have to admit, though, that I am surprised that Michael has not managed to teach you better manners."
"Ah, see, Mike's come to see the charming side of my personality and realized that he actually rather likes it."
"So I have heard. You will pay for having corrupted my brother, Dean Winchester."
"Do your worst, Lucifer," Dean retorted and with that he disconnected the line.
The intoxicating mix of exhilaration, triumph and terror made Dean feel a little lightheaded, so it took him few seconds to realize that sometime between his first and second phone calls more people had arrived including Father Giordano and Colonel Anrig, all of whom were staring at him in shock and horror.
"Eh," Dean began, not sure what to say.
"Did you really just challenge Lucifer himself?" Colonel Anrig demanded in disbelief.
His brother's snort behind him told Dean that someone had translated that question for Sam but all he could do was shrug. "Uh, yeah."
"It is not unusual for Dean to do these kinds of things," Michael explained, his calm voice belying the churning emotions that Dean could so easily detect from his bond brother.
"I think that I'm beginning to see why Father likes you so much, Dean, and why neither Zachariah nor Uriel could stand you," Raziel laughed. "Though I'm also wondering how it is that you are even still alive."
"Pure dumb luck," Sam supplied.
"Hey!" Dean protested.
"You just pretty much told Lucifer to come and get you, Dean."
"Yeah, so? He was going to anyway, why not say it?"
His brother sighed, seeming to think that it explained everything and Dean scowled at Sam. It wasn't like being kind and polite to the devil would make a damn bit of difference, so why the hell bother to hide his contempt or not use the opportunity to let off a little steam? It made him feel better, just a little bit, true, but better nonetheless. Abruptly, he tossed Sam his phone back and his little brother fumbled the catch, nearly dropping the cell. If it wasn't for the wounded, almost betrayed look on Sam's face as his brother stared at his own phone, he would have teased Sam for being slow, but this was no laughing matter whatsoever.
The extra time that the Rite of Contressa had bought them was now officially used up.
Lucifer had a vessel.
A.N.:The good news? My Gabriel Big Bang fic is done, so it won't be eating up my time anymore. The bad news? It's been over 48 hours and no artist has claimed it yet. Sad now :(
Oh, could one of my Italian readers please let me know if I got the right word for scanned? And if it's conjugated correctly? I did my best with Google translate, but there were a few options...
Chapter 186