Chapter 22

"Gabe, stop!" I followed after the archangel as he quickly walked down the hall.

"No. Nope! Not happening!" He muttered, adjusting the collar of the jacket he wore. He'd borrowed it, along with some of the rest of his clothing, from Sam.

"Just, listen for a second." I said, reaching out for his shoulder, "We need you."

The angel stopped and let out a heavy sigh, "Why? I beat the big bad demon prince for you! What more do you want from me?"

"We still need your grace." I had been trying to reason with the bullheaded being for a few days now, but he'd been as stubborn and arrogant as ever. "You can still help us."

"Well, toots. I'm a tad low on grace at the moment, and that seems to be pretty important for your little project." Gabe turned to face me, arms crossed over his chest.

The archangel stood eye level with me, those piercing amber eyes bore through me with their newfound free will. He looked better than he had in weeks. His short brown hair and ivory skin were clean and free of scratches or scars left from his time in Hell. There were no scars left from the stitches that held his lips together for so long. He looked strong again, but anyone who had been tortured in Hell could recognize the mask of another tortured soul. I knew he wanted to leave to reconnect with himself and do what he wanted, but we didn't have time to waste trying to track down another archangel if he did leave. We finally had all the pieces to the puzzle.

"That doesn't matter. Even with little to no grace, you're still a fighter." He opened his mouth to argue but I continued before he could, "You're an archangel, Gabe. You were made for war. We need that more than anything right now, we can wait on the grace."

It was a lie, of course we couldn't risk waiting, but I was hoping it was convincing enough for now.

"You know I can't stay here. Because, believe it or not, I do have a life outside being in danger." He sighed. 

I knew he was right. I knew we had no right to ask him to stay here and work with us after being a slave for who knows how long. But I wasn't about to just let him turn his back on us either. We needed him if we ever wanted to see Mary and Jack again. At least there didn't seem to be another option.

"At least stay another night. You're safe here, we can at least give you that for one more night." A compromise would be better than nothing.

"I don't need your protection." Gabe scoffed.

"Then stay for Sam." Using the angel's crush against him was a low blow, but it was the last straw I had.

His cognac-colored eyes stared into mine, challenging whether I knew or not. They studied me again, blinking slowly as he thought about what I had said.

"You wouldn't be the first supernatural being to fall for…" 

"Don't…say it." Gabe interrupted me, letting out a heavy sigh. "Fine. One night. Then I'm leaving!"

I smiled, a little more proud of myself for using my trump card than I should have been. It had been a bit mean to use the angel's heart against him. It seemed like they fell for humans so easily sometimes. 

I walked down the hall and into the server room before heading for the garage. I was hoping to pack up for a good hunt. I needed some time away from this bunker, and now that we were rid of Asmodeus, there wasn't a better time for it. I'd already found what sounded like a shifter in Michigan City, Indiana. There hadn't been much to go on, but it was at least weird enough to check out. And even if it ended up not being something supernatural, the two or three days away from here would be exactly what I needed. I'd already checked in with everyone else to make sure I could go alone on this one, and I was excited to be out again. Like things were finally going my way.

I reached for the garage door as I got close to it, but stopped when it was already cracked open. I knew sometimes the boys left it open on their way through, but this time I could hear talking. Voices I was both familiar and unfamiliar with. I got as close to the door as I dared, staying flat against the wall to remain out of sight. 

"Do you have the item?" The heavy English accent came from a phone, it was feminine.

"Not yet, I haven't had a chance to get away from the others yet," Ketch spoke in a hushed tone. Was this more of what he had been hiding from me? What item were they looking for?

"Try to be quick about it, Arthur. This will be the last chance we give you." A different voice came over the speaker, masculine.

"I'll need a team for the extraction." Ketch' voice was cold. The words curled around his tongue in a way I hadn't heard since he'd tried to kill us.

"You have twenty-four hours." The woman spoke again.

"Of course." the call ended there. 

I took a deep breath, flattening against the wall as I processed what I'd just heard. This had more than confirmed he was hiding something, and it was something big. Something that would make or break it for him. Was he still working for the Men of Letters? No, he had sworn them off when he'd been abandoned by them. But what else was there?

I focused on his movements in the garage, he was pacing. If he was struggling with whatever he had to do…maybe I could still change his mind. I took a deep breath and quietly moved down the hall, away from the door, before walking back down it like I had before I'd overheard the call. I pulled my phone from my pocket as I pushed open the door, hoping it looked like I had been scrolling through something rather than listening in.

I looked up at him when I entered, smiling like I hadn't expected to find him here like everything was ok. "Good news. Gabe decided to stay another night. Kinda hoping I can still convince him to just stick around, but who knows right now." I slid my phone back into my pocket.

"That shouldn't be all that hard." Ketch sighed.

"Whatcha doing in the garage?" I asked, throwing out the bait as I walked to the trunk of my car. I opened it smoothly and pulled open my duffle bag, checking its contents.

"Oh, uh…" He never stammered like this. "I was taking a call from Lidia. She thinks Lucifer has moved again, but she can't pinpoint his location."

"But he's not in New York anymore?" I questioned, pulling a machete from my pack and running my finger gently over its blade.

"No. She thinks he's moved south, just not quite sure where yet." I watched him move closer to me until he was behind me. He gently wrapped his arms around my waist and buried his face in the back of my neck. "Are you going somewhere?"

"I was thinking about it, but I'm going to stay here. Gotta make sure no one does anything stupid." He must have a good reason for lying to me. I relaxed a little, closing the trunk. "Plus if someone gets a hit on Lucifer, I want to be the first one to know about it."

"I could handle him myself," He said into my neck.

I turned in his arms, "It's funny how you think I'd let you go after him alone." I leaned back against the car, lacing my arms around his neck and pulling him closer. Play your part, he'll tell you in time.

"He's just another demon, love." His silver eyes closed as he leaned against me.

"He's a fallen archangel." I laughed a little. Out of all of us, it felt like I should be the one so determined to end Lucifer, but here I was telling Ketch to be careful with it, "They're a lot different from your regular demons."

I ran my fingers through the short hair on the back of his neck as we stood in that moment of silence. This silence was a second of bliss in the lives that had so quickly become hectic around us. A moment neither of us wanted to disturb or break.

So we stood there in that moment, my fingers calmly brushing through his hair as our breathing began to slow down and match each other. I absentmindedly began to hum an all too familiar song. Oh La La by Faces had been a staple for these kinds of moments when I was a kid, and I was always reminded of it. In the short peaceful moments amidst the chaos, I would always remember my dad's favorite song and the way he'd sing it to me.

A simpler, kinder time.

"Go hunting, Alex," Ketch whispered, interrupting my humming. "I'll watch Elly."

"It's ok. I don't need to go." I said softly.

He straightened and looked into my eyes, "You should go. I know how nice it would be to get away for a bit. I'm sure I can handle your friend."

"You just want me out of your hair, huh?" I teased. I stretched up and kissed him. It was still sweet and soft for the moment, but something now felt missing. I frowned a little, "If you think it'll be ok…"

"I'll handle it." He smiled reassuringly, "What could possibly happen?"

I groaned, "Please don't tempt fate." I took a deep breath, "I'll go hunting in a bit, it can wait a few more days."

I slid out of his grasp, smiling at him as I walked away. I was a little disappointed when he didn't follow me. I walked back into the server room, finding Sam on his way through from the kitchen. I grabbed his arm as I passed by him and tugged him back into the small room. 

"Ow, jeez." He huffed after I let go of him, "What's up?"

"I need you and Dean to keep an eye on Ketch for me." I sighed, rubbing my temple. "Something is off with him. He's lying to me about something. I just don't want another…"

Sam nodded, "I'm sure Dean won't have a problem keeping him busy for a few days."

I nodded back, "I got Gabe to stay another night, but I don't know how long I can keep that up. Could you talk to him? You don't have to smother him but, I don't know, just include him in things."

"Why me?" Oh, my clueless baby brother.

"I just have a feeling that he'd be willing to listen to you more than the rest of us." I shrugged.

"Ok?"

My phone rang in my pocket before I could say more. I smiled at Sam and nodded to signal we were done before fishing it out of my pocket. I walked to a cupboard and began digging through it as I answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Mouse." Came the all to familiar course voice of Crowley.

"Crowley, what can I do for you today?" I asked, semi-sarcastically. The demon rarely called unless he had a job for me or some sort of bad news.

"Word around Hell is that you lost your hold on 'ol' pitchfork and pointy tail'." There was almost a taunt to his voice.

"And?" I asked, moving to another part of the pantry.

"And my sources say he may have gone to the pearly gates. Hitched a ride upwards."

I stepped back and pinched the bridge of my nose. "You're joking." That was far from south. "He's in Heaven?"

"Seem's he's trying on daddy's shoes. So to speak." The demon confirmed.

"How reliable are your sources?" I asked. "I have some saying he was last in New York."

"You'd trust that British dog over me?" He sounded honestly offended by the idea. "That hurts, ya know? I could just stop giving you information then. If my hard work isn't being appreciated."

My head hurt. There had been so much happening today, too much. There were reasons to pick one over the other, but I had a few more reasons to trust Crowley right now. He had never once lied to me about this kind of thing. Ever since I had made the second deal with him, he had been more than forthcoming with plenty of information that should have gotten him killed. Sure he was an asshole sometimes, but at least he was reliable. Ketch on the other hand, as much as I had come to love him, had lied to me over and over again for his gain. It was just part of who he was. I sighed, knowing the easy choice.

"Alright, alright." I huffed. "I'm sorry, Crowley. Of course, I trust you over the Men of Letters."

"So glad to know I didn't have to force that out of you." I could hear the smirk that was undoubtedly on his face through the phone.

"Anything else for me?" There was always more, but I was hoping at least the rest was good news.

"Just a bit. Hell seems to still be under my control, but I'm not sure how much longer it will be with Morning Star running around." He sighed.

"I'll deal with him Crowley, don't worry about it," I said, finally taking a beer from the fridge and closing it.

"Just be careful, Mouse. You only have one reset left before you're down here forever."

"Believe me, I haven't forgotten," I said, popping the bottle open and taking a sip.

"Right." Crowley cleared his throat. "I'll let you know if I find anything else, Mouse."

"Thank you." I hung up.

I sighed and took a long drink, nearly downing the bottle before letting it fall from my lips. This was going to be a long night if I didn't find something to keep my mind off the growing shadows.

I was still groggy with sleep when I awoke in the middle of the night. I stretched out, looking for the other warm body I had gone to bed with, but it was cold and empty.

I sat up, now fully awake with confusion clouding my brain. I slid from the bed quietly, looking around the dark room. Things came into focus as my eyes adjusted, the messy sheets, the half-open dresser drawers, and the empty spot where Ketch' gun usually sat on top. Hopefully, that meant he had just heard a weird sound and had gone off to check it out. I would take anything over what the anxiety was telling me. 

I slid my feet across the floor, careful not to kick anything as I walked through the dark. I made my way as quietly as I could to the door. I reached for the knob but stopped when I heard faint voices just beyond it. My body froze as I listened.

"He won't be out for long. I'm surprised this shit even worked." A man I didn't recognize.

"It's been tested on a few dozen angels, we shouldn't doubt its effectiveness." Another man I didn't know.

Maybe that was what he had heard. Maybe…

"Be quiet. He'll alert everyone if he wakes up before we can get him out of here. And I'd rather not deal with that." That, unfortunately, was Ketch.

"Right. And whose bright idea was it to get us involved with his mess as usual?" The first man was sarcastic.

"You got involved because you owe me for your life." Ketch again.

"That happened years ago," The first man grumbled, "I sure as hell forgot about it until you made that bloody call."

"Both of you shut the fuck up and help me move him." The second man spoke again, his voice sounded strained like he was carrying something heavy.

Quiet acknowledgments were uttered before it sounded like the other two began to help to third carry whatever it was down the hall. I held my breath as they passed the door. I waited until I could barely hear their footsteps before letting it out. I reached for the knob again, ready to follow them, when I heard footsteps coming back.

"I left the keys." Ketch was coming back.

My heart jumped to my throat and panic ran through my blood before I could calm myself. I made the hasty steps back to the bed as he opened the door, managing to just sit on the edge before he saw me. I looked away as the dim light from the hall came into the room.

"Alex?" He asked. I could hear the panic in his voice as he closed the door behind him, "What are you doing up?"

Think of something! Quick!

"I was cold. You weren't here." I shuddered a little, hoping it was convincing enough to seem like I'd just woken up.

I could see him well enough now to see what he was wearing. It looked like something out of a spy movie. Black everything hid him well as he moved through the shadows. He glanced back at the door as he walked towards his dresser.

"Is something wrong?" I let worry seep into my words. I had to change his mind. He couldn't still be this person. 

"Of course not." His voice was sickly sweet. His back was to me as he swiped his hand over the smooth wood, looking for the key. "Go back to sleep, Alex."

The way he used my name instead of a pet name, it was like he was trying to silently warn me. 'Stay here and nothing bad will happen to you.' 

I got ot my feet and crossed the room to him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and stretched up to kiss the back of his neck. "Come back to bed with me." 

I was hoping I had misheard the other voices in the hall. Maybe it had just been Dean and Sam. Maybe they were all in on some sort of surprise. Some joke or prank maybe.

But then it was there, at the door. "What's taking so long, Arthur?" An unmistakable new voice I had never heard before tonight.

I looked over at the door and released his now tense body. "Who is that Ketch?"

I took a step towards the door, but his strong arms dragged me back to him. A hot, aching burn filled my right arm, followed by the unmistakable glint the silver needle caught as it reflected the light from the hall. 

"Ketch?" My head was already spinning.

Had he just drugged me? What was happening? Who was this man?

"I told you to go back to bed," he sighed. "But you never listen to me, do you?"

"What…what did you…" My body felt numb. The words I wanted to say were getting stuck in my throat as a new haze came over me. I barely felt it when he scooped me into his arms and placed me gently on the bed.

"It'll wear off in an hour or so. You'll be fine." His voice wasn't gentle anymore. It was cold and rough. The same voice he'd had when he'd left us all to suffocate. 

I could barely make out the door opening again, and I couldn't hear the voices beyond the light. I knew they were there, but I couldn't focus on what they were saying or what they looked like. But Ketch, his voice stood out to me still. It stood out from the jumbled mess the room had become. 

"Leave her. She's not important."

They left the room, leaving me to fight against the pull of the drug. They left the door ajar, just enough that the light blinded me as I pulled myself from the bed again. I couldn't feel my legs, so it didn't hurt when I smacked into the ground. I clawed forward with my arms, but they were starting to lose feeling too. I could barely feel the blanket tangled around my legs as I continued to try and crawl forward, towards the light, towards the man who couldn't be breaking my heart again. 

I had to get to him. This had to be some joke. Some sick, sick joke. I tried to stand, immediately falling back to the ground. But I had to get to him. I had to…

I reached for the light as it spun around me. The dark shadows started mixing with the white light, spinning and twisting in my vision until the shadows swallowed me up.

"Fuck! He's gone!"

Dean.

How long had I been out?

"Alex? Come on, you gotta wake up."

Elly.

"They must be cloaking him." That was Cas, "I can't track him."

"Sam," I managed to croak out. My throat was dry as I said my brother's name. I opened my eyes a crack and immediately shut them again. The lights were bright, too bright. I coughed. "Sam!"

"Here," Elly helped me sit up.

I pushed my fingers into my temple, my head pounded. "Track his phone." I coughed out. 

I tried to push myself to my feet but fell to my knees. Everything was shaky and cold like I had been asleep for years rather than an hour or two.

"Right, I'll get started." I could hear Sam.

"Relax, Alex." Elly pushed something cold into my hand and I greedily threw the glass to my lips and drank.

"That son of a bitch!" Dean hissed. He was somewhere close to me. I opened my eyes again, slowly, and could see him standing in front of me, "He took Gabe."

"It was the British Men of Letters, they took him." I did my best to recall the night before. "He drugged me…" I said the words softly, looking down at the glass in my hand, "I thought…"

"I told you not to trust him." Dean's voice was accusatory. Like he blamed me for what happened. "You, out of any of us! Should have known that lesson by now."

"Knock it off, Dean!" Elly ordered, her blue eyes steamed. "If things had gone the way they were supposed to he would have saved your life!"

"This isn't your made-up fantasy, Elly!" Dean shot back at her, "This is real life. He played the long game and took our only chance to save Mom! The last chance we had to catch Lucifer! He took our only ticket out of this mess!"

"Well, it really sounds like angels are only tools for you." Elly hissed, "Which makes you no better than them."

"You better watch your…"

"Dean," Cas' voice was cold and stern.

"Found him!" Sam called down the hall.

I stumbled to my knees again as I tried to get up, thankful for Elly's reassuring hands. She hauled me to my feet, but Dean took me from there, throwing my arm over his shoulder and wrapping his arm around my waist so he could take my weight. I fell into him as I tried to take a step with him, my legs still too far asleep for walking. He scooped me into his arms and carried me out into the server room. When we got to Sam, Dean placed me on my feet again but kept a tight hold of me. 

I looked over Sam's shoulder, taking in the screen even though its light made my head scream. "He's at the bunker? I didn't think there would be anything left of it."

"His phone is there at least." Sam nodded.

"I'm gonna kill him," I hissed, trying to push away from Dean. I only succeeded in falling into the glass table, catching myself on its edge. Dean reached out again to steady me, suddenly caring again, and Sam grabbed my arm, giving me a worried look.

"You're not going." Dean's voice was stern. "Not like this, Sam and I can take care of the bastard."

"I wasn't asking, Dean." I huffed.

"I'll go with her." Elly offered.

"Not a chance Persephone." Dean took a turn at Elly again. She'd been frozen by his words, a light blush coming over her cheeks. "I'm not completely oblivious." Dean continued, "She's over here sleeping with the full English Monarch and you've been dropping skirt for Heaven's reject."

"Dean," Sam and I scolded.

But Elly's face had already darkened as she stepped up to my older brother, her eyes almost glowing, "What can I say, Dean." her voice was low, poisonous, "Once you go angel, you can't go back, can you?"

I watched Dean's face drain of color. Cas turned away from us, his face seeming to take on all the color Dean had lost. I looked at Sam as he cleared his throat.

I coughed, "Elly, go pack a bag." Her face softened, but her eyes stayed locked with Dean's. "I'm not asking and this is not up for discussion. Go pack, Elly." I pushed again, lowering to tone of my voice to match what they had been using. She looked at me, her eyes still swirls of anger, and nodded. She walked out of the room. "What the Hell is wrong with you?" I hissed at my brother. "She looks up to you, ya fuck wit! Don't say shit like that."

"What are you talking about?" He hissed back.

"You're one of her favorite characters. You're like a father figure to her because hers died in some war, asshole. It wasn't a supernatural one but he was still just like us." I took a deep breath, "You're the closest thing she's got, Dean."

The room fell silent and still as the words left my mouth. Only the white noise of Sam typing away on his keyboard kept the room from feeling cold. I watched Dean's face as he thought about what I had said. It softened slowly, then changed to regret. He dropped his hold on me suddenly and walked from the room. 

"Dean?" Cas took a step to follow him but stopped short when Dean held up his hand.

"He'll be fine, Cas," I commented.

"Ya, but I won't be." Sam sighed, "Thanks for leaving me with that." He grumbled a little bit as I patted his shoulder, "You sure you can handle this? He did almost kill us."

"I…" I wasn't sure what to say. If I was sure he still loved me? That was too painful to think about, and the odds were that he had been using me this whole time. "I can handle it."

"Elly can stay here if you want to go alone." Sam offered, leaning back in the chair now to look at me. His hazel eyes held concern.

"I won't leave you with both of them," I said, flexing my toes. I wasn't numb anymore. Good. "Dean will be difficult enough."

"I'll keep you updated if he moves." He turned back to the computer.

"Thanks, Sammy."