How? Why? When?
The questions played over and over in my head as I saw that onyx stare and sinister smile endlessly.
How had Orion gotten to him? How had he gained control of Ketch' body so easily? How long had he been there? Why would he agree to this? Why would he let his body be taken over? Why would he let Orion take full control? When had he decided that? When had it gone too far to come back from? Was it my fault? Had I neglected him too much? Was it because I had been gone too much? Was it the cheating? He had said he could forgive me for it. But could he really? Had he lied to me again? Was this it for…
"Who the 'fuck' is Orion?!" Gabe asked from his bed, drawing me back to reality as grief, guilt, and fear rolled over me in waves. "Cause that looked a lot like your psychotic lover!"
"I…" I wasn't sure of the words. How had I missed so many things? So many signs that something was wrong. Or different. Signs that screamed he 'wasn't him'.
Lucifer ran into the room then, giving me a good escape from an explanation I didn't have, for now.
"We've got a problem." Was all he said, blue eyes wide and glowing faintly red around the rims.
"I'll explain later." I tossed to Gabe. "Right now we need to go. Do you have enough grace to help or not?"
Gabe ran his hand across his neck, instantly healing the gash. "Ya. I think I've got enough to do something."
"Then we're going. Now." I turned from the doorway, not waiting to see if he followed or not, and started back down the hall with Lucifer.
I pushed into the front room as a crash came from above. I looked at the ceiling as dust fell from it. Whatever was out there, was starting to be more than the bunker could handle, even with my reinforcements. Lucifer disappeared from my side, going to Elly's instead as she still sat against the wall. She was healed now, but she looked so tired. So much older than the woman I had known so long ago. It was a mistake to have ever involved them. The guilt of that thought added more weight to my already heavy shoulders.
"Are you alright?" I asked Elly, walking up to them.
"I'm fine. Did you…"
"Ya. I saw him." I interrupted her. "It wasn't…How could…"
"I don't think he knew, Alex." She said, taking her turn to interrupt me. "I don't think he would have agreed to this. At least not the man I've seen him become."
I took a deep breath and sighed. "We can figure that out later. Right now…" Another boom came from outside. "We need to deal with whatever is going on out there."
Elly groaned as she got up from the floor, Lucifer helping her. "There's hybrids and souls from Hell. Werewolf and vampire hybrids, I think. Silver's not doing it, and cutting their heads off stops the bodies but not the heads."
"Shit." I thought for a moment. "Fire?"
"Couldn't hurt to try it." Elly shrugged. "We need to get back though, I left everyone outside to come in and get Gabe."
I nodded. "I think the flamethrowers are in the garage. And Gabe should be…"
"Here," Gabe announced, coming out of the hallway. "Won't be the first time I've put myself in danger for your family. Probably won't be the last either so I might as well embrace it."
I smiled at the archangel. "Good thing you won't be out there long. I have a plan that heavily involves you."
"What kind of plan?" Lucifer asked from the ground.
"One you're not going to like." I sighed heavily.
It wasn't a long run out of the bunker. But it felt like ages as we got closer and closer to the source of the sound. As if the walls were closing in on me as we reached towards the light at the end of the tunnel. It was almost suffocating. Almost too much. And then we burst forward and onto the battlefield.
There was so much going on, so much happening around us. It wasn't just hybrids anymore. There were several zombies resurrected with souls from hell throwing themselves at the bunker's walls, crashing hard into it before the magic protecting it fried them. Carcasses piled on the hills and open spaces before the bunker. Some with eyes burnt out. Others still hissing and snapping as I raced by them. It was easy to find Sam and Dean, back to back winning a fight against four vengeful spirits. Ally and Cael were across the dirt road that led to the garage, tarnished gold eyes and blue power flowing through the air like numb static. They made a beautiful team, a formidable force against anything that came near them. Cas was standing his own against three banshees near the tree line, easily dodging attacks before using his grace to expel the souls without saying a word. Kore was a beautiful display of agile grace and killing prowess as they killed hybrid after hybrid in the middle of it all, dark purple energy glowing in their eyes. I spun in a circle until I found Jack, finishing off a hybrid in a similar display to Cas, though his eyes glowed a brilliant gold to Cas' radiant lapis. I ran to him.
"Jack," I yelled to him, giving him time to focus on me and relax before continuing, "I need you for something else."
"What could possibly be more important than what I'm currently doing?" He asked, dusting a hybrid without looking away from me.
I opened my mouth to tell him but had to jump out of the way as another hybrid came out of the woods and lunged at us.
"Just follow me." I settled on. The longer explanation would have to wait for Gabe.
Jack studied me for a second, then nodded and let me lead the way back to Gabe. We got to him just as he finished off a hybrid.
"Gabe." I grabbed his wrist, pulling him away from the fight. "Take Jack back into the bunker and do what I told you to."
Gabe blinked at me. "And you sure you want to do this?"
"This is our only shot to do something. I can't see him waiting for a better opportunity to take us out." I said to him before turning back to Jack. "You need to go to purgatory and absorb as many souls as you can."
"I…" Jack's green eyes were confused. "I've never absorbed another soul. I'm not sure I'll know how to."
"You'll have to figure it out. This is how we're going to put an end to all of this." I gestured to the fights around us, and the cracks to Hell that continued to spill souls.
"There's no stopping you Winchesters once you put your mind to something, huh?" Gabe asked, chuckling softly.
"Not when we know we can do something to change the outcome." I shook my head. "Now go!"
Gabe took one last look at me, then turned to Jack. "Come on, kid. It's not as hard as it sounds."
I watched them go, made sure they got to and inside the garage once more, then turned back to the fight. Elly and Lucifer were there now, burning hybrids to ash with the flamethrowers they'd found.
The scent of scorched flesh and ozone started to lay thick in the air. It was acrid and cloying as it stung my nose. The kind of smell that would linger in my hair and on my clothes long after this fight was over, if we managed to survive it.
I sprinted back towards the main fight, ducking under a zombie's flailing punch and driving a blade upward through its throat. The body jerked once against my hand, then slumped and fell to the ground. More and more kept coming out of the woods, souls from the twisted bottom of Hell and far too violent to be reasoned with anymore.
I heard the satisfying roar of a flamethrower behind me. I looked over my shoulder long enough to see Elly and Lucifer moving as one, flames arcing like controlled chaos through the sky. Every time a hybrid dared to get close enough to them, it ended up lighting up like kindling. Lucifer's dark, rich laughter echoed through the clearing as he lit up three in a row. Elly's face was hard, and focused, her bursts of flame clean and precise.
"Glad you two could join the party," I called out to them, sliding past a banshee as it shrieked at me.
"Wouldn't have missed it for the world," Elly called back, barely looking my way as she set another hybrid ablaze. Its scream rang out but was short-lived.
The ground beneath our feet suddenly trembled. Not from the horde. No. This was something else. Something deeper.
A pulse of some strange, dark magic rippled through the battlefield, washing over us all like a second skin. My ears popped with it, and the air turned heavy, pressing down on my shoulders. Every other spirit on the field paused their clawing or screaming. Even the hybrids seemed to suddenly stand still.
They came from between the trees. First only one. A new hybrid with glowing blue veins and eyes flashing far too many teeth. Then another and another joined it, all wreathed in that dark energy.
I could feel their energy as they studied the space before them. Took each of us in with that raw, unstable power. It wasn't demonic or angelic. It was something new and unpredictable.
"Elly!" I shouted over my shoulder, not daring to take my eyes off them.
She turned, narrowing her eyes at the things. "Those aren't just normal hybrids," Elly observed, raising her flamethrower.
"Nope." I gave in response.
The first one took a step forward, strutting across the battlefield. Its features became sharper the closer it got. Hollow eyes burning with blue grace. Cobalt blue veins twisted down the left side of its face, bits of bone still exposed on its arm in permanent scars.
"They have archangel grace," Cas said suddenly, appearing at my side. "Monsters from hell combined with a never-ending energy source."
"Fucking fantastic," Dean muttered, limping closer, a new gash that would need stitches later running down his arm. "Anyone got any bright ideas?"
Sam tossed a new clip of iron rounds to him in response. "Nope. But hopefully, we've got enough firepower to hold them off until Jack can do his thing."
"We hope Jack does his thing." I corrected, raising my blade again and taking a deep breath.
The leader of the new hybrid group let out a low, rumbling hiss through his yellowed teeth and raised both of his hands. The souls within several feet of it turned to them.
The ones that didn't have bodies disappeared in bright flashes of light. The rest folded into themselves like paper set to flames, crashing to the ground as piles of black dust. The new thing cracked his neck and smiled wider.
"Oh, this is bad," Elly said, laughing once nervously.
"We need to hold the line here." I barked out. "Do not let them get to the bunker. We have to give Jack as much time as possible."
"Right" Lucifer grinned, his eyes turning red. "Time to see what happens when an archangel plays offense."
He launched toward the first thing with a soft boom of wings and flame, smashing into the thing's chest. Their collision was powerful, shaking the ground under us once again. But the things barely staggered, instead, it had caught Lucifer mid-flight and slammed him into the ground.
"Help him, Elly!" I yelled, then turned just in time to dodge a blow from a hybrid that hadn't gotten the notice to stop fighting.
Then it all roared back to life around us. But it had changed. Now, we weren't just fighting to survive. We were fighting to buy time. Every second counted. I just hoped Jack could figure it out before that time ran out.
I ducked beneath another new hybrid's attack, the sound of its gnashing teeth loud in my ears, and plunged my blade into its chest. The hybrid exploded in a gust of wind and ash, scattering into the sky like embers. They were strong physically, but their bodies seemed brittle and easy to destroy. Like they had been built to be swift, brutal assassins, not slow, melee fighters.
Beside me now, Dean groaned. "We're getting slightly outnumbered here."
"Hold on," I muttered, glancing toward the hill again.
Lucifer was back on his feet. There was a streak of blood down the side of his face, but the wound had already healed. And he was grinning. And Elly was at his side again.
They fought in sync, fire and fury. Her blue eyes crackled against his molten red. She spun through enemies with elegance and rage, and every time she stumbled, Lucifer was there to catch her. I saw the look pass between them, something so raw and real it made my heart ache, right before they incinerated the leader of the hybrids with one combined blast of fire and grace.
Then they paused, barely a second between fights, but it was enough to watch them have a conversation.
"We're doing it now." Elly panted.
I watched Lucifer blink at her. "What?"
She grinned at him. "You heard me Lucifer. Right here. Right now."
"We're in the middle of a war zone!" He objected to whatever her idea was.
"Is this really the time for a conversation?!" I called to them both, dodging another blow and trading places with Dean again.
Elly flipped me off and continued talking like she wasn't about to dodge another hybrid blow. "It's us. Why wouldn't this make sense?"
And Lucifer smiled his crooked smile at his woman. "Guess I can't argue with that logic."
Then they both turned to me.
"What?" I asked, blinking at them.
"Marry us," Elly said planly, like it was a normal Tuesday.
"I am literally covered in blood right now," I said. "And I am nowhere close to a priest!"
Lucifer tossed another flaming hybrid into the trees. "You're close enough."
I stared at them another second before sighing, rolling my shoulders, and stepping between them while chaos continued to swirl around us. The rest fell into a tighter circle around us. The hybrids' attention was shifting toward the garage now, toward where Gabe and Jack had gone. Our time was burning away faster than we could buy it.
"Better make it quick," I growled. I raised my voice so everyone could hear me over the roar of continued fire and monster screams. "You, Lucifer, son of the morning, pain in my ass, and bringer of light, do you take this deadly woman to be your bride in chaos forever?"
Lucifer looked at Elly over his shoulder, his face solemn for a heartbeat. "I do."
I turned to Elly. "And Elly, beautiful, badass monster killer, do you take this psychotic archangel to be your partner in crime for all eternity?"
"I do!" She laughed, though her voice was clear and bright. Despite the blood streaking her face now.
"Then by the power absolutely not vested in me by anyone sane or holy, I pronounce you bonded for life." I clapped my hands, pivoted, and stabbed my blade into another hybrid. "Now fight together like it fucking counts!"
They turned to each other and kissed. It was quick and fierce and over in a flash. And something shifted in the air around us again. Not magic. But a deep old bond that rippled with intention, sealed with love and fire.
Kore turned their attention back to the hoard, seeming emboldened. The air around us seemed to flare brightly with their power.
"Let's finish this," they said, taking a deep breath.
The sky above us seemed to crackle with power that had the hybrids focusing on us again. Kore seemed to glow with their amethyst power. And they didn't hesitate to unleash it now.
Thick purple power collided with the blue-veined hybrids. Kore's fire created a vortex of white gold destruction that slammed into the hybrid forces. Hybrids shrieked from the blow, cracking more and more until they were falling to the ground in piles of ash. It wasn't enough to kill them all, but it was enough to buy the time we needed.
Cas surged forward again with Cael on his heels, launching another round of angelic strikes that burned through hybrid skin. Sam and Dean joined Ally as her golden power flowed through the air like a whip. Lucifer returned to his deadly display of battle knowledge. Elly held up Kore as they staggered from the blow, keeping the way clear so they could recover for a few precious seconds.
And me?
I stood there at the center of it all, bloodied blades in hand, officiant to chaos, trying to believe we might have a chance here.
But it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot.
All we'd done was give Jack time.
And whatever came next, whatever power he managed to pull from Purgatory, we were going to need all of it.