Chapter Text
“Wow,” Bruce breathed out. He knew Thor had a great speaking voice. He’d heard other epic tales from Thor that he had had no context for before, with the exception of Coulson’s song. He had read most of the briefing while waiting for Clint and Natasha to arrive with Dean and had a chance to talk to Bobby some as well, and this was, in his opinion, a really good summary, even if it left out a LOT of details.
“My retelling lacks a great many of the courageous deeds, my friend,” Thor said, trying not to blush. “I can only hope I did not offend.”
Dean was blinking back tears that were threatening to appear. If that was the shortened version, he’d love to hear the full thing one day. He said that much to Thor, who beamed.
“You honor me. When there is time and perhaps a happier time in the future, I’ll be happy to recount the entire tale with some ale and Pop Tarts.”
This set Clint to giggling, which made Dean snort as well. He glanced over to where Bobby was sneakily wiping the corner of his eyes. He could tell even this short poem had touched him as well. He wondered what Sam might make of it.
“Ahem,” Nick cleared his throat, taking Thor’s place. “I think it’s time we outline how we get from the Winchesters to Hydra.”
With a groan, Dean rose, his back turned to them as he stared at Sam’s picture. There were murmurs behind him, but he ignored them. Sam’s indomitable will. Unbreakable. He hoped. But from what he’d seen on the video, it was still true. Sam was still fighting to protect the world.
“Basically, the archangels hatched a plan to work with the demons to free Lucifer,” he started. Everyone quieted down as he turned to face them, hard-faced. “God had taken a vacation and the angels decided pushin’ the Apocalypse up so they could control the outcome would force daddy to come back and praise them for followin’ what they thought was ‘the plan’.” He sighed. “But the demons, shocker, double-crossed them and pretended to go along with it so they could free Lucifer, because they wanted to be released to roam the Earth at whim.
“I was Michael’s condom and Sam was made for Lucifer.” There were eyebrows going up and down on each person as they parsed what he was saying. “None of them expected me and Sammy sayin’ no to just surrenderin’ to some douche archangel. They found our half-brother, Adam, that they tricked into bein’ backup, but a holy Molotov cocktail sent his soul to Heaven, leavin’ his body to just Michael. Sammy…had a plan too. He said ‘yes’.”
There were other gasps.
“He planned to get Lucifer to join him in his gigantor body and then take control so he could get them both into the Cage usin’ the Horsemen’s rings. It took a bit, but he did it. Michael was so angry that all his careful plannin’ to get daddy’s attention was being thwarted that he jumped in too. The portal closed with all three of them inside. Lucifer, Michael, and Sam.”
“But we only saw Lucifer and Sam,” Steve said, leaning over with his elbows on his knees. “Where was Michael?”
“Who the hell knows?” Dean grumbled. “I’d ask Crowley, but he’s been incommunicado since the showdown.”
“You called, Squirrel?” A deep voice rasped only a split second before the alarms in the tower began going off and once again, everyone in the room scrambled for a weapon, except Dean and Bobby.
A bullet hole appeared in Crowley’s shoulder, with the handle of a dagger sticking out of his right arm, as well as a steak knife embedded in his throat.
“Where the hell have you been?” Dean asked, throwing up his hands. He was well aware that all the others, minus Bobby, were braced still with one weapon or another, the alarms still blaring.
The short man in the dark suit reached up to pull out the dagger and the steak knife, handing both to Dean as though they were stray leaves instead of weapons that had come out of his body. Crowley sighed deeply, the holes closing up quickly, with the exception of the bullet hole.
“You know,” Crowley said. “You Winchesters are really the bane of my tailor. And yes, I’m aware you did not cause this particular hole.”
Glancing around, Dean could tell that the blades had come from Clint and Natasha, but the gunfire had come from Agent Coulson, surprisingly.
“Winchester?” Tony asked tensely. When Dean dropped his head, hands on his hips, Tony took that to mean this suddenly appearing man wasn’t a threat. Or at least a threat to them.
“This is Crowley, the current King of Hell,” Dean gripped the bridge of his nose. “You’ve got some really bad timin’, asshole.” Tony begrudgingly motioned for Jarvis to turn off the alarms.
“Yes, well,” Crowley smirked, looking around the room with a raised eyebrow. “After your moose of a brother trapped himself with the two dicks with wings, I did issue a moratorium that you and Mr. Robert Singer,” he saluted Bobby, “were off limits and to be avoided.”
“Why didn’t you come after Hydra opened the Cage?” Bobby grumbled.
Crowley did a full body flinch, then tried to recover, but they could tell he was suddenly nervous as he straightened his lapels.
“The Cage can only be opened by the Horsemen’s rings,” he nervously chuckled. Dean shook his head.
“Hydra found the Book,” Bobby told him.
This time, Crowley froze, going completely still.
“Do they still have the Book?”
Bobby eyed him and then huffed a laugh.
“No, Chuckles, but you ain’t getting’ it either.”
“You know what the appearance of the Book means, Singer,” Crowley growled and Bobby nodded.
“I know what the legends say,” He responded. “But we have other fish to fry, because Hydra has occultists that somehow learned to translate it.” When Crowley’s eyes went wider, Bobby waved him off. “I don’t think they’ve found a way to actually release the Cage tenants yet, but that’s why we’re here.”
“Well then,” Crowley cleared his throat. “Let me know if my help is needed. Tah.”
And he was gone.
“Son of a bitch,” Dean growled.
“He can just pop in and out?” Steve asked as Tony pulled off his armor for the second time today.
“Not anymore,” Bobby shook his head as he went over to the table and began drawing out some sigils. “Jarvis, can you project these on all the exterior walls, floors and ceilings? Even if it’s in invisible UV light, should keep his brimstone ass outside where it belongs.”
“Of course, Mr. Singer,” Jarvis replied.
*****
“What am I missing about this book?” Tony asked once they had cleared away the food and dishes and settled down again with the idea that they shouldn’t be interrupted again.
“It’s THE Book,” Dean said, watching Bobby, who returned the look.
“So, there’s only one copy?” Bruce asked.
“No, there’s not even a copy. This is the original, one and only. The most dangerous book in the universe.” Bobby tapped the hologram, where the video played without sound. He tapped again, pausing at the clearest view of the book, when Natasha had been holding it. It was blurred and no amount of changing frames or digital enhancing could make it clear up. Her fingers had been tingling for a while after they’d closed the book up in the box.
“No one knows who wrote it,” Dean picked up the story. “But Sammy once got all excited about Nazi necromancers who were supposed to have it back in the ‘40’s.”
“That’s as far as Jarvis was able to trace it, too,” Tony rubbed his chin.
“That’s how Hydra got it?” Steve asked.
“Ahem,” Coulson interrupted. “My team may be partially responsible.” He grimaced as eyes turned to him. “We found a cache of Nazi artifacts, but some of the items disappeared before we could secure them. We suspect a Hydra mole, but haven’t been able to ferret them out yet.”
“It doesn’t matter really, how Hydra got the book,” Dean shook his head. “How did they get the translation to be able to use it? Were they usin’ it without havin’ the bind spell that would let them control Lucifer?”
“How was your brother able to reach across the boundary and use Thor’s hammer?” Nick asked.
“Is there actually any chance we can bind Lucifer and perhaps Michael to keep them in the Cage and free Sam?” Steve asked. He caught Dean’s eye. “Bobby cleared up why you both have criminal records. Regardless, your brother doesn’t deserve to suffer for eternity if there’s the chance to rescue him.”
“I hate to be devil’s advocate,” Clint broke in. “No pun intended. But, even if everything comes out in our favor, what happens next?” When Dean tilted his head in question, Clint sighed. “We all saw him hold it together to fight Lucifer and close the portal from inside. If he’s really been tortured by two archangels, including Satan himself, how will he be if he gets out?” He swallowed. “For me, it was only a few days or torture and it took me a long time to be stable.”
“And that’s if everything goes just right,” Natasha added, laying a comforting hand on Clint’s shoulder.
“If I have anything to say about it,” Tony said, “Even if Sam ends up unstable and needing lifelong support, I’ve got him covered. You too, condom boy.” He tried for a smirk, which made Dean’s chest clench. “Bobby has been filling us in before you arrived and you guys deserve some time to reconnect, maybe hit the beach for some sun.”
“Thank you,” Dean replied around the lump in his throat. He slapped his thighs. “There’s still a lot to do if we’re plannin’ to do this and I’m damned sure not goin’ anywhere until it’s certain one way or another. I ain’t no superhero like you guys, but I’ll do what I can to help against Hydra, at least.”
“We have a lot of downtime,” Steve replied, glancing at his fellow Avengers. “I’m sure we’d love to learn more about what you and Mr. Singer have been fighting. We can help each other.”
Steve rose and approached Dean with an outstretched hand. Dean glanced at Bobby in disbelief and Bobby shrugged, gesturing towards where Nick was looking on, faintly amused. Dean took Steve’s hand.
“Sammy would piss his pants,” Dean chuckled.
“I would hope not,” Agent Coulson said.