Trouble With The Trickster || Gabriel - Supernatural

-17-

STILL SEASON 8 SPOILERS - TO BE FAIR YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T READ THIS STORY IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS...

Henry insisted that Dean drove us all the way to Illinois so he did, expecting something to be there. There didn't seem to be anything supernatural on the street we now stood on, just an old coffee shop and a few deli's.

Henry stood in front of the door to a store called 'Astro Comics', running his fingers over a small symbol etched in the wood beside it above the number 242, "No..."

"All right, well, this was enlightening..." Dean sighed, clapping his hands and making me jump beside him, "Let's hit the road, huh?"

"Give him a minute, Dean..."

Dean huffed angrily in Sam's direction, "We just spent four hours of driving, okay? All he did was stare out the window and request Pat Boone on the radio. He had his time."

"It's just a façade," Henry muttered helplessly, "a way to rook our enemies into believing we are housed elsewhere..."

"Okay, enough with the decoder talk. How about you tell us what this whole 'Men of Letters' business is, or you're on your own..." Dean warned.

"It's none of your business." Henry straightened up and looked down his nose at Sam and Dean, "You hunters wouldn't understand..."

"You know what? Wait a second. We're also John's children," Sam argued before looking at me and grinning, "Oh, and a Nephalem..." I looked at him, confused so he leaned forward and whispered, "I did some research..."

Henry's eyes widened to unbelievable proportions as Dean smirked, "N-Nephalem... That's impossible... they don't exist..."

"You better believe it, Buster..." I laughed, stepping forwards, "Unless you want to see my power...?"

He jumped back and shrieked as I made my eyes turn grey on demand - a skill I'd been practising and was easy to do since he was getting on my nerves. Henry looked behind me at Sam and Dean who were both grinning slyly, "Working with an abomination? Is that what John taught you?"

"Hey! Less of the abomination crap," I brought his attention back to me, "I've been told I'm actually quite beautiful... Now, show them what this 'Men of Letters' stuff is all about..."

"Nice..."

I looked at Sam and Dean, smiling, but neither of them seemed to have spoken. In fact, it sounded more like Dad's voice. "Dad?" I asked in my mind.

"Yeah, it's me. I forgot to tell you I could do this."

"How long have you been listening in?"

"Since your eyes went grey," he replied, "The connection seemed to get stronger around that point. I'm guessing that guy's Grandpa Winchester?"

"Yeah, do you have any idea about this 'Men of Letters' business?"

"I haven't the foggiest. I'm sure you'll find out, though," his tone suddenly changed, "What happened between you and Gabriel?" he heard me growl at the name, "Down, tiger! Seriously though, he's been moping around for the past ten hours and he almost smited poor Cas when he mentioned your name..."

I felt a pang of guilt in the pit of my stomach but I ignored it. He was just playing it up - he wanted me to feel guilty. "I'll explain later..." He was about to reply when another voice interrupted us, seeming to sever the signal.

"Uh, Liz?" Dean's voice brought me back to reality as I realised I was just stood still, staring into space.

"Oh... sorry, internal conversation," I gestured to my head as he looked at me bizarrely.

"With yourself?"

"No, with my Dad."

"Your da- ...you know what? I ain't even gonna question the craziness anymore..." he sighed, shaking his head.

"It's probably best..." I advised, looking back at Henry who looked as if he feared for his life, "Where are we going, then?"

-----------------

Henry led us into the, seemingly empty, comic store, looking around at all the posters and books with confusion clear on his face.

"Henry? Why?" Sam asked, making him turn to face us again, "Why'd she do it?"

"I think for this," he replied, holding up a small wooden box, engraved with the same symbol that was outside.

"Okay... what's that?" Sam encouraged since the answer wasn't much to go on.

"I wish I knew," he put the box back in his pocket, "Abaddon attacked us the night of my final initiation. All secrets were to be revealed then."

"Let me get this straight," Dean sighed, bringing back the sarcasm, "you travelled through time to protect something that does you don't know what from a demon that you know nothing about?" Henry ignored him and walked up to the counter as Dean spread his hands questioningly, "Good..."

"Hand me your... walkie-talkie..." he requested, holding his hand out to a bewildered Sam.

"You mean my phone?"

"Even better." Henry took it from him and held it to his mouth, "Operator, I need Delta 457."

"Who are you not calling?" Dean asked.

"Our emergency number." Henry tried repeating it, confused when he heard no reply.

Dean took the phone from his hands and passed it back to Sam who pocketed it, "Yeah, not anymore..." He turned to the young woman behind the counter who looked like she'd rather be working anywhere else, "Hey, uh, hi? Can we hijack your computer for a hot second?"

She nodded as Henry laughed, "Like you could fit a computer in a room..."

"Thanks," Dean smiled, ignoring him, "Sam."

Sam turned the laptop towards him and began typing as Dean started checking the girl out - I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me he'd done the same thing when he first saw me, "Yep. All right, um... give me a name - anyone who, uh, might have been there that night - one of those elders..."

"Um... Ackers, David. Larry Ganem," Sam typed them in as Henry said them, "Um, Ted-"

"Okay, here it is. Um, August 12, 1958. A tragic fire at a gentlemen's club. Uh, 242 Gaines Street..." Sam read from the screen.

"This is 242 Gaines Street. But that was no fire," Henry said sadly as Sam rounded off the names.

"Larry Ganem, David Ackers, Ted Bowen, and Albert Magnus - all deceased."

Henry gulped, "Albert Magnus..."

"He a friend of yours?" Dean sighed tiredly as the woman behind the counter got bored of him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders instead but it was completely platonic since he still thought I was close with Gabriel - I doubted I would be for quite some time...

"Even better," Henry replied.