Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter Thirty-Seven - Goading

Abaddon had been at the forefront of everyone's minds from thereon in. Getting rid of her had become a top priority rather quickly.
The Winchesters had received word that Castiel needed to see them and, realising that they may or may not have forgotten to tell the Angel that Elizabeth was back - let alone that something was different and that she'd been having visions of a little girl with insane power, decided to bring her along too.
"Is this the address?" Dean asked, pulling the Impala up to an otherwise non-descript, factory-looking building.
"Yeah." Sam replied, gazing up at it.
They walked up to the front door, going to knock, but it was opened before they could.
"If you'll follow me, the Commander will see you now." A male Angel said.
Dean frowned back at the other two.
"The Commander?" He whispered.
They were led into a huge room, bustling with Angels. It was filled with state of the art computers and other tech, looking something like a command centre at NASA. The Angel took them up a small flight of stairs, leading to a window-clad office.
"Sir." The Angel grabbed the attention of the so-called Commander.
Castiel turned around, smiling to the boys as they entered.
He gave them both a hug before his eyes landed on the Vampire.
"Elizabeth!" He gasped.
"Hey, Pigeon." She smiled. "Long time, no see."
He was about to bombard her with questions before he realised the Angel was still stood in the doorway.
"Um... Dismissed." He said.
The Angel nodded, walking away.
Dean closed the office door as Cas enveloped Elizabeth in a tight hug.
"Where on earth have you been?" He asked.
"Well, there's the kicker." Elizabeth chuckled hesitantly. "I wasn't on Earth. Heaven's dungeon seems... Nice."
Castiel visibly tensed.
"You've been locked in Heaven's dungeon this whole time? You were just down the hall as I lost my grace and I never even knew?" His whole body tensed, frown lines accentuating on his forehead.
"There's more, but I'm sure you called us here for a reason." Sam pressed.
Cas' gaze flickered onto the younger brother and he nodded.
"So..." Dean started. "Commander?"
"Oh, not my idea." Cas sighed. "They had no leader and they insisted on following me."
"Yeah, no, we get it. You're a rockstar." Dean smirked, looking proud of his Angel.
"So this war between Angels is really gunna happen, huh?" Sam gazed through the blinds, down into the pit of workers and technology after Castiel had explained the circumstances.
"Not if I can find a diplomatic option for getting rid of Metatron." Cas told him.
"Good luck with that..." Dean mumbled.
"Dean..." Cas sighed. "This Angel-on-Angel violence, it has to end. Someone has to say 'enough'."
"And that someone is you?" Sam walked back over.
"That brings me to why you're here." Cas said. "We have a prisoner. It's an Angel from Metatron's inner circle. I need to know what they're planning - so far, he's revealed nothing."
"So you're done with the rough stuff and you want us to be your goons." Dean stated.
"Well, you've had success at these situations before. Plus, now Elizabeth is back... I feel her strength and... Powers of persuasion, might come in handy." The Angel replied.
"Oh, so I'm the goon." She smirked, sitting at his desk, throwing her legs up on the surface as she crossed her arms.
"And we just became the back-up." Sam nodded.
"If you don't wanna do it..." Cas trailed off, lowering his voice. "I understand."
"No, no. Fine by me. I've got a little beef I wouldn't mind feeding one of Metatron's flying monkeys." Elizabeth held her hands up.
"And who says I don't wanna do it?" Dean asked.

"You're wasting your time. I have nothing to say." Metatron's Angel smirked, almost proud of his silence.
"We disagree." Dean said, circling him like a vulture with an Angel blade in his hands.
"There's no point torturing me. I am a trained commando. It won't work."
"Wow." Dean replied. "Well, you just asked me to dance." He grabbed the Angel's face, moving the Angel blade towards his face before Sam interrupted, beckoning a sidebar.
Elizabeth was lent against the wall by the door opposite the captured Angel, rolling her eyes as the boys approached her.
"He won't be telling us anything, dead." Sam pointed out before getting an idea. "Besides, I'm really starting to realise that he probably doesn't know anything. He was probably just pretending at the bar. Most likely, he's a nobody."
Elizabeth clicked on to what he was doing.
"Like I said." She smirked, waving a lazy hand. "Flying monkey. We need someone higher up the ranks than this moron."
Sam nodded.
"Exactly. I mean, do the math, Dean. Ezra here, is one of Metatron's elite posse?" He chuckled. Dean's expression changed rather quick as he, too, clicked onto Sam's plan. "Really? One of Metatron's most trusted is hanging out of bars, blabbing about the boss. Does that make any sense to you?"
"Oh yeah, only if Metatron is purposefully surrounding himself with losers." The older brother raised his eyebrows.
"Exactly, right?" Sam laughed. "What's this guy even doing here?"
"He's a wannabe." Dean sighed. "I mean, if he was a key player, he would be up in Heaven with Metatron where all the action is."
Elizabeth glanced over at the Angel, who looked rather insulted.
"Look at him. He's so useless, he's not even worth being Heaven's janitor." She scoffed. "He's here. On Earth. With all the other fallen. A worthless, no good piece of dirt on Metatron's boot."
"What if I'm a decoy?" The Angel spoke up. "Or in deep cover?"
Sam let out a surprisingly high pitched laugh, dripping with sarcasm.
"It's pathetic." He commented.
"Mm. Probably hasn't even been to Heaven, not since the fall." Dean continued.
"Of course not!" Sam chuckled.
"Yes, I have." The Angel argued.
"Buddy, the gates are sealed." Sam waved a hand. "No one can get in."
"Who said anything about gates?" Ezra scoffed. "You don't need gates when you have a private portal."
The trio looked amongst each other, raising equal brows. They'd got him.
"Right." Sam nodded. "If there was a doorway on Earth, the Angels would've sensed it."
"Yeah, you can't hide something like that." Dean made a sceptical face.
"You can if it moves around from place to place, if it's wherever the boss wants it to be." Ezra looked smug, totally unaware that he was not only giving up the game, but also freely handing it to the opposition on a silver platter.
The trio looked amongst each other once again.
"I see, I got it." Sam stifled a laugh. "So, you heard a rumour about Metatron's 'secret portal' and you decided to run with it." He said, air-quoting.
"It's not a rumour." Ezra spoke to them like they were stupid. "He showed me."
The trio laughed.
"I get it." Dean grinned. "He's a fan." Sam and Elizabeth agreed, watching him walk over to the Angel. "Look, just 'cause you're hot for Metatron or Bieber or Beckham... Just because you know everything about them, doesn't mean that you actually know them."
"Or that they even know you exist." Sam commented.
"Ooh that's cold, Sammy." Dean sucked in air.
"Do you want me to get you some ice for that burn, anime angst?" Elizabeth sniggered.
"Ooh... Anime angst." Dean snapped his fingers in her direction. "I like that one. I'm stealing it."
Elizabeth shrugged.
"Go for it, baby cakes."
"I was interviewed personally by Metatron for a key post." Ezra interjected.
"Yeah?" Sam's brows raised. "Oh, wow. Well then, maybe, you can tell me why you weren't at your key post and you were hanging down here instead."
Ezra shuffled in his chains uncomfortably.
"Mm... Now, that blows." Dean mumbled. "He got passed over."
"I was a finalist." Ezra replied.
"Oh, man..." Sam sighed. "To get so close and then get kicked downstairs. It sucks to be you."
"Hardly anybody was chosen!" Ezra retorted. "And ground force is still a very important assignment. It was an honour to have even been considered for the squad."
"You know who else says that?" Elizabeth asked. "The kids who get picked last in Gym Class."
Dean sniggered, wagging an approving finger in her direction.
"You're right, 'Liza. You're absolutely right." He said. "What squad, by the way? There is no squad."
"Yeah, says you. It's a highly guarded secret." Ezra scoffed.
"Oh." Sam nodded.
"And what would you be doing, exactly?" Dean asked.
Ezra was about to answer, but caught himself.
Dean cupped his ear, a smug smile on his face.
Sam just laughed.
"Wait a second." He said. "Just, please, uh... Clarify this for me. You desperately wanted this job, but you didn't know what it was?"
Ezra hesitated, getting defensive.
"Well, until you were chosen, the exact nature of the mission was kept a secret. And... Hardly anyone was chosen." He replied.
"Well, that just proves it then, boys." Elizabeth sighed, placing a hand on their backs. "We're wasting our time on a reject who's not even important enough to know what the Hell's going on."
The trio laughed.
"Well, I guess we're really not getting anything from this guy. He's just not important enough. We need to up our game an go after one of the big shots." Elizabeth shrugged, walking over to him.
She reared up and punched him with everything she had, releasing a loud groan and blood splatter from the Angel before she walked out of the room.
"The Hell was that for?" Sam asked, jogging after her.
"I told you. I had beef. He was the only one available." She shrugged as she walked down the corridor.
"Dim bulb. No wonder he got bumped." Dean commented.
"Yeah." Sam agreed. "Ground forces? Elite secret squad? What's Metatron gearing up for?"
"I don't know. Why don't we shove someone through the back door of Heaven and find out." Dean suggested, earning a scoff from his younger brother. "Oh, wait, no. It's portable and can't be found."
Elizabeth was walking in front of them with a thoughtful frown on her face.
There was an idea brewing.