Theme Prompt - Hellion

The next morning came far too early for nearly everyone involved in the effort to defeat the Darkness. Of them all, only Crowley hadn’t slept the night. He’d spent it pacing the large room in the bunker and studying the artifacts and papers scattered around. If he’d been able to worry about anything else, he might have felt the beginnings of fear at the sheer amount of knowledge that existed in that room. Much less in the rest of the bunker. But instead, he felt a mild curiosity and respect for what the previous Men of Letters had done.

Dean and Castiel woke up still wrapped around each other, Dean’s nose buried in Cas’s hair. For a few moments, Dean just reveled in the fact that Cas was back and that they’d worked out at least this much between them. It felt like home and he was already quite addicted to it. Cas felt the same way about Dean, had since he’d pulled him out of Hell all those years ago. A bond had been forged between them in that moment that had compelled Cas to choose Dean over and over and over again. It was something he wouldn’t take back if he could, no matter the cost. They got ready slowly, hands wandering lightly over disappearing flesh and kisses being stolen with soft laughter.

Sam and Gabriel had been awake for some time by the time Sam’s internal clock told him it was about time to get up. They’d been talking quietly, events from their pasts and what each had been doing in the intervening years since the averted Apocalypse. Neither spoke of the future but that was all right. Now was enough for both of them and each was determined to enjoy it to the fullest. When Sam got out of bed to dress, he had to laugh at Gabriel. The archangel whistled and propped his arms behind his head, leering at Sam while he dressed. And, of course, Sam returned the favor when Gabriel finally got out of bed.

Rowena left her room first, after Nadia had left once the spell to bring her back to life was completed. She wasn’t sure what the woman was going to do nor did she want to be involved in it. They’d both gotten what they wanted out of their association together and it was time to go their separate ways. And none too soon, in Rowena’s opinion. Having to work as almost an apprentice and dealing with Nadia’s scorn and patronization had been trying her patience. Now, she was free, she had the translated Book, and she had all the keys to the power she craved. But first, one more thing to take care of. The Darkness. She headed out to the large room and sat down gracefully at one of the tables, studiously ignoring the still-pacing Crowley. Amusing herself deciding what spells to use against Crowley passed the time until the others came out of their rooms.

“So where’s your ghost friend?” Dean asked once his eyes swept over the room. “She decide to go chill somewhere else?”

“I don’t know where she is,” Rowena said truthfully, a small smirk tugging at her lips. “But she isn’t going to get in our way.”

“Well that’s good,” Gabriel interrupted before Dean could reply. He clapped his hands together sharply twice and then held out one hand palm up. The Book of the Damned appeared in his hand and Gabriel winked at Sam. “So, why don’t we start getting everything together. We’ve only got a few hours until noon.”

Sam padded into the kitchen, hiding a yawn behind his hand. The white emergency candles were stored in one of the cabinets while the bottle of rosemary was on the counter with the rest of the spices. Besides, he was hungry and breakfast sounded perfect right about now. After pulling out the candles and setting them next to the rosemary, he started pulling out things for breakfast. Eggs, bacon, and hash browns started cooking in different pans filling the kitchen with delicious scents. After a few minutes, Gabriel wandered in sniffing at the air appreciatively. He moved right over to Sam and wrapped his arms around Sam’s waist, resting his head on Sam’s back.

“You know it’s a little awkward to cook like this,” Sam half-heartedly complained, wrapping his fingers around one of Gabriel’s wrists. Though he made no move to get away. He actually rather liked how clingy the archangel was.

“Not too awkward,” Gabriel replied, voice muffled against Sam’s back. He chuckled and squeezed Sam in a tight hug. “Besides, possible last day on Earth, remember?”

“How long are you going to milk that for?” Sam laughed, flipping bacon pieces so that they didn’t burn.

“As long as I can,” Gabriel said, squeezing Sam again.

While Sam dealt with his two ingredients and breakfast, Dean headed to the storage room to get the ingredients he knew were there. Last he’d looked through the stored boxes, there was a decent variety of animal bones. The spell didn’t seem to call for any specific ones so he figured he’d just grab a variety. But as soon as he stepped inside the storage room, he knew something was wrong. All of the boxes were opened and things were stacked haphazardly on the shelving and on the floor. Also, the swinging door was wide open, showing the little dungeon that was hidden behind it. Dean swore quietly, wondering who had gotten in here. It could only be Rowena or Crowley. Cas had been with him all night and neither Sam nor Gabriel would have done this.

After debating for a few moments, Dean decided to grab the bones before confronting their two guests. This spell was important and everything else was secondary. He searched through the mess in the room, muttering under his breath. The smoky quartz he found fairly quickly, a large point as big as his hand sitting on the floor in between some of the shelves. It was so thick he could barely wrap his fingers around it. Surely it would be good enough for the spell they needed to cast. The animal bones prove trickier to find. Dean searched through the boxes after seeing they weren’t on the floor or shelves, his movements getting more and more desperate. Finally, he was at the last box and there was no sign of bones at all.

“If they aren’t here, we’re screwed,” he muttered to himself. “Please be here, please be here.”

He dug through the box, murmuring pleas to whoever would listen. And it looked like someone was: at the very bottom of the box were three bones. He pulled them out, studying each as he did so. One was a tiny vertebra, maybe from a rat or a vole. Another was a thigh bone that he couldn’t place. It just looked like a bone to him and was maybe about the size of a cat’s bone. The third was a racoon skull. He juggled the bones in one hand while picking the smoky quartz point up. He moved carefully, not wanting to drop or break anything. They probably wouldn’t work if they were broken.

Delicious smells reached his nose as he walked out and Dean sniffed at the air. He could smell mostly bacon but there was a slight scent of eggs underneath it. His stomach grumbled and all of a sudden, he realized just how hungry he was. He set the ingredients he’d grabbed on one of the wooden tables, snagged Cas’s hand, and headed into the kitchen. Cas had stayed out with Rowena and Crowley, eyeing both of them suspiciously. Though it wasn’t necessarily needful. They’d all passed several hours fairly peacefully in the bunker during the night. If either was going to try anything, wouldn’t they have done it then? The Darkness definitely made for odd bedfellows.

“Good timing, breakfast’s done,” Sam said as Dean and Cas walked into the kitchen. He had just set a giant plate of eggs down on the table next to an equally giant plate of bacon. Hash browns were next, nice and brown from their time in the pan. “Have at it.”

The four of them enjoyed a leisurely breakfast until Rowena walked in. They joked and talked of nothing much. It was a rare moment where they could just be normal people without worrying about the fate of the world or the lives of innocents. But when Rowena joined the breakfast, spooning eggs, bacon, and hash browns onto her own plate, the talk stopped. There was a cold silence in the kitchen, one Rowena seemed to enjoy as she sat down in one of the open chairs and ate with every evidence of enjoyment. She kept shooting glances at the four others in the kitchen, not bothering to hide the little smirk she seemed to be wearing constantly this morning.

“So, I found something interesting in one of the storage rooms,” Dean said conversationally after he’d demolished about half of his plate. “It was ransacked. Stuff was all over, boxes were opened, and the shelves were pushed aside. I know some of the animal bones were taken but I won’t know what else without looking at that inventory list you found, Sammy.”

“Who did it?” Sam asked, eyes wide with surprise. “Why?”

Dean snorted and glared pointedly at Rowena, who chose that moment to look down at her plate and carefully spoon some eggs and hash brown up. That merely confirmed Dean’s suspicions. Had she known nothing about it, Rowena would likely have needled them about break-ins or something. Her silence usually meant that she knew something. Dean dropped his fork onto his plate, appetite suddenly gone.

“Care to share what you know?” he asked Rowena, leaning forward with a glare in his eyes. “You and Crowley were the only ones up and he has his own resources.”

“I don’t think I do care, no,” Rowena said airily, shaking her head. “It has no bearing on the spell to defeat the Darkness so it doesn’t particularly matter right now, does it? The Darkness is our enemy and we should be focusing on it, don’t you think?”

“For now, she’s right,” Sam said, holding up a hand when Dean opened his mouth to argue. Dean shut his mouth with a snap, reflecting angrily on the fact that that had been happening a lot lately. “We can figure it out later. As for the spell, it’s nearly time.”

“We do have some prep work to do before the actual casting,” Gabriel agreed, eating the last of his breakfast. After setting his fork down, he snapped his fingers and a bag of gummy worms appeared in his hand. He shared with Sam before stuffing a whole worm into his mouth. “We should get started.”

Once Sam, Cas, and Rowena were finished with their breakfasts, everyone headed out in a tense, slightly angry group. Crowley was sitting at one of the tables, looking over the ingredients there and enjoying a glass of whiskey. The amber liquid glimmered almost like it was on fire when Crowley was holding the glass and disappeared when he let it go. Gabriel gathered up the ingredients, handing the translated spell to Sam. Then, again in a tense, slightly angry group, they all trooped outside.

“We probably shouldn’t cast this right next to the bunker,” Gabriel said thoughtfully after looking around outside. “Let’s head into the woods a bit.”

“Wonderful,” Rowena sighed. “Hiking.”

“Enjoy it while you can,” Cas said darkly, glaring at Rowena. He hadn’t forgotten the spell she’d cast on him nor the pain he’d endured because of it. Just because he couldn’t remember didn’t mean his body had forgotten. “This may be the last bit of freedom you have.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Rowena laughed sweetly. “Remember the spell I cast on you? It worked, didn’t it? Maybe I’ll try again. Or something new from the Book. The possibilities are endless.”

This time it was Dean who stopped Cas, putting a hand on his shoulder and whispering soothingly in his ear. Rowena’s smirk grew wider, expecting that Dean was telling Cas that they couldn’t afford to lose her, couldn’t anger her, blah blah blah. It would have chilled her to hear what Dean was really saying. The reassurances that they could kill her in a couple hours, that she wouldn’t even see it coming, and that they wouldn’t even need anything special because she was human did not go with the tone of Dean’s voice at all. But it worked, calming Cas enough that he nodded. Everyone followed after Gabriel, Cas and Sam both casting glances skyward to check the sun. It was nearly at its height, noon only about an hour away. Both would be happy when this was finished, for different reasons.

“Okay, here should be good,” Gabriel said, setting the spell components down. He snapped again and a bowl appeared in one hand and a knife in the other. “Why don’t we get started.”

He drew the knife across the palm of his hand after putting the bowl on the ground, letting blood mingled with bright blue grace drip into the bowl. After enough had filled the bowl, the cut on his hand closed and Gabriel handed the knife to Crowley. Grimacing, he cut his palm. Blood stained black with demon smoke flowed into the bowl. It didn’t mix well with Gabriel’s blood, the two fluids shifting and roiling in the bowl. Once enough blood had filled the bowl, the cut on Crowley’s palm healed like Gabriel’s. Then he held out the knife to Rowena. She merely glanced at it, one lip turning up in a sneer.

“I don’t like this idea,” Rowena said, tucking her hands behind her back. “I mean, really. Blood? Do you really need my blood for this? Surely an angel and a demon is enough.”

“Cut your palm or I can do it for you,” Crowley said, a tinge of threat weaving throughout the calmness in his voice. He waved the knife a little while a cold glee lit his eyes. “I would definitely enjoy helping you with cutting your hand.”

“Oh give it here,” Rowena snapped, grabbing the knife from Crowley’s hand. She sliced her palm, hissing at the pain. Her blood dripped into the bowl, looking just like normal human blood. Which is was even with her being a centuries-old witch. There was a slight hissing noise as her blood mixed with the others in the bowl. As more and more blood dripped in, the roiling and shifting slowed and stopped. Finally, Rowena pulled her hand away and used a white cloth she pulled from a nearly invisible pocket in her dress to bind the wound. The three types of blood in the bowl had completely stilled by the time she was done. “Hmm, interesting. Human blood to bind the other two together. I wouldn’t have expected that to happen.”

“So now what?” Cas asked, squinting up at the sun. It was nearly noon and he was impatient. “Can we start now?”

“A little bit longer,” Gabriel said, glancing up at the sun as well. “The actual spell has to start at noon.”

He picked up the translated sheet and handed it to Rowena. As the resident witch, she would have to be the one to cast the spell itself. Then he busied himself with setting up the other ingredients. The smoky quartz point went into the bowl first, displacing enough of the blood that it was in danger of slopping over the rim. But he narrowed his eyes at the bowl and it grew enough so that there was plenty of room for everything that needed to go into it. The animal bones he crushed up into a fine powder in his hands then dusted the powder over the blood and the quartz. The rosemary was last, sprinkled over the powder. Then, Gabriel stood up and dusted his hands off.

“There,” he said. “Now we just need to wait and Rowena will say the spell.”

“What happens then?” Sam asked, trying to read the paper Rowena held. “How will we know that it worked?”

“To be honest, Samsquatch, I don’t know,” Gabriel shrugged, spreading his hands out. “This spell’s never been cast before. Anything could happen.”

“Lovely,” Rowena repeated, shaking her head. “Well, the sun looks at about the zenith now. I’m going to start casting the spell.”

The others stood back as Rowena stepped up to the bowl. She read through the spell once, mouthing the words. Then, she took a deep breath and cleared her throat. As a ray of sun hit the smoky quartz and lit the bowl with a sullen aura, Rowena’s mouth opened and syllables rolled out. They were sonorous and somehow large, seemingly larger than language should be. They had an air of darkness and shadow to them, of prehistoric times and savage monsters. Of fear and juddering hearts and the fervent wish to make it through the night one more time. Rowena’s voice rose as she chanted the spell, almost coming to a scream. The last few syllables exploded from between her lips, spat out with a snarl and a roar. Then, silence reigned in the small clearing.

“Did it work?” Crowley asked quietly, even the King of Hell humbled by the power of the spell cast.

“I hope so,” Gabriel muttered. “I’d think we’d see something, you know, to know that it worked.”

Everyone looked around the clearing for a moment but nothing seemed out of place. A few of the braver birds had even started chirping again. The sun shone down and no ominous clouds had rolled in. Everyone was still in one piece with no pain or death. The bowl with the ingredients still sat in the middle of the clearing, the ray that had shone down on the smoky quartz point gone. It wasn’t on fire, wasn’t even smoking. It all appeared to be completely normal.

“Maybe it won’t be...,” Dean started to say but was interrupted (again he muttered to himself) by a howling wind. It blew in and seemed to center around the bowl. The wind picked up little pieces of twig and leaf and grass, swirling tightly with the bowl at the epicenter. Cas and Gabriel had to grab onto their respective Winchesters to keep them from being sucked into the whirling tornado that had formed.

A high-pitched scream joined the howling wind and everyone in the clearing covered their ears. The pull of the wind abated a bit though something much more ominous appeared. Smoke started flowing into the clearing, smoke filled with flickers and flashes of dark lightning. The screaming seemed to be coming from the smoke though there were no faces or mouths to be seen. After what felt like an eternity, during which the screaming ratcheted up in pitch, a human form could be seen. It was a female form, long brown hair tangled by the wind. Her sea glass eyes changed color as she blinked, anger sparking in them. Her beautiful face was contorted with rage and an inhuman effort to keep from being drawn in towards the bowl.

“You!” she hissed, catching sight of Crowley. “You did this. We had an alliance!”

“Which you broke,” Crowley shrugged, prudently stepping back as the Darkness was sucked closer and closer to the bowl. “Consider this quits between us.”

The Darkness screamed again, claw-like fingers reaching for Crowley. But she never made it. Instead, her body finally reached the bowl. It started to disintegrate, pieces being pulled away from her body and sucked down into the bowl itself. There was no blood, which was the only thing that kept the sight from being impossibly gruesome. The Darkness’s head was the last thing to be pulled into the bowl, her mouth still open and screaming. Then, a silence so profound it felt like the beginning of the world fell on the clearing. The bowl was smoking slightly, the quartz cracked and all the other ingredients gone. Presumably, they’d been sucked into wherever the Darkness had gone.

“Did we win?” Sam finally asked, disbelief and hope threading through his voice. “Did we defeat that hellion?”