The angel looked at Allegra with an amused expression. She remained at what she deemed to be a safe distance. The grin on his face didn't bode well. Just because he was an angel, didn't mean he wouldn't attack. 

"How the hell did you get in here?" she demanded.

"Oh, very simple, really. I tethered myself to a portion of the Staff. You see, I knew you would come in the picture sooner or later, trying to get this. Nice work on the wards, by the way; I felt the sting when you pulled me, or rather the Staff, in here. It'll take Castiel a while to break through those, which gives us time to set a few things in order."

Balthazar pulled the Staff's bottom piece from his inside jacket pocket. He picked up the one that was on the ground and held out both pieces to her.

"First things first, this is what you want, right?"

Allegra eyed him suspiciously.

"You're really gonna hand over the other pieces just like that?"

The angel sniggered.

"You're not a person who easily trusts someone, are you?"

"Getting lied to will do that," answered Allegra curtly.

"Point taken. But I have no intention of harming you, nor lying to you. I have no reason to do so. I needed to talk to you, but I couldn't get to you directly. The Staff seemed a good way to get your attention."

He waved the pieces of the Staff in front of her, prompting Allegra to finally take them from him. There was a loud rumble outside the safe house. Balthazar sighed.

"Oh dear, baby brother has found us already. Right then... I take it Crowley has given you the papyrus scroll?"

Allegra's eyes widened.

"How the hell...?"

"I gave it to him, via various intermediaries. Not important. What is important is what you are going to do."

"I don't have to do anything. Lucifer and Michael are trapped."

"It's called a prophecy for a reason, Allegra. They always come true, one way or another."

Another thunderous roar echoed through the night. The wind was pounding on the door, the windows, the walls even. So far, Allegra's wards were holding, but it would only be a matter of time before they cracked.

"You're the Daughter of Heaven," said Balthazar. "God created you to be either our savior or our doom, so you better decide which side you want be on and bloody well do it fast. Time is running out for us all."

The very foundations of the safe house trembled at the next thunderclap. Allegra had to steady herself, but Balthazar didn't seem to have any trouble whatsoever to keep himself upright. But his agitated expression betrayed that what he had said last turned out to be more literal than he had meant to. They really were running out of time.

"You can't escape it, Allegra. So I beg of you, forget what we have done. The lies, Gabriel... Forget it all and make the smart call, girl. We need that child to be on our side."

"Wha- child? What child?!"

A white light burst through the safe house, blinding Allegra. She was thrown across the room by an invisible blast and landed hard against the wall. Before she lost consciousness, she could vaguely distinguish another angel in the room. An angel with black hair, a stern expression, and a beige trenchcoat - Castiel.

***

Birds were chirping somewhere nearby. The sound was a bit high and aggravated Allegra's headache. She tried to open her eyes, but the light around her was too bright. Her head was pounding, and she felt sick. Carefully, Allegra rolled over on her stomach to find that she wasn't in the safe house anymore. She was outdoors, lying in grass. Her senses were slowly getting better, and she could hear water rushing beside her. A river, maybe...

Allegra tried to get up but immediately staggered forward again, breaking her fall with her hands. She managed to push herself back up and sat on her knees, one hand against her head. She tried to remember what had happened. Balthazar. Moses' Staff. And... Castiel! Had he brought her here?
Allegra looked around her for him, but she was alone. Or at least, she thought she was. She heard a rustle in the grass and then... hissing? Her eyes searched for whatever was making the sound and then widened when she saw a huge black king cobra inches away from her hand. Allegra tried to keep as still as she could. There were no cobras in the US, not that she knew anyway. What the hell was that thing doing here?

"Castiel," she whispered the angel's name fearfully. "Please help me."

The cobra lifted its head, its eyes locked on Allegra. Its tongue slipped in and out of its dark mouth, taking in her scent. Even though it came closer, it made no attempt to attack.

"Don't be afraid."

Allegra almost jumped at hearing Castiel's voice behind her, but she remembered in time that there was a giant snake in front of her and stayed in place.

"Pick it up," said Castiel.

"Are you crazy?" 

"It will not harm you. Touch the head first and then pick it up."

Allegra groaned and took a deep breath, not believing she was actually going to touch a king cobra just because a stupid immortal angel who probably couldn't even get poisoned from a snake bite told her to. Her trembling hand stretched out a bit. She froze when the cobra moved toward her, but it only grazed the top of its head against the palm of her hand. The scales felt cold, but they were beautiful and glistened in the sun.
The snake stretched itself out further toward Allegra and transformed. Black to brown. Scales to wood. Cobra to Staff. Moses' Staff... It was whole again. Allegra stared at the wood in her hand and then looked up at Castiel.

"Did... I do this?"

The Angel simply nodded. Allegra crawled up and measured herself with the Staff. It was only a head smaller than her, reaching just above her shoulder. Her fingers traced the fine lines in the wood. It radiated warmth and chill at the same time. There was a certain familiarity in holding it.

"You will finally be able to use the full extent of your powers," said Castiel. "We must put it to the test, though."

Allegra's eyes flicked to the angel. 

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"A town not too far from here. This river flows through it."

She realized with a shock what his intention was and violently shook her head.

"Demons have already taken root." Castiel continued unperturbed as if that fact would make any difference. "Their followers are murdering innocents in their name. You have to put a stop to it."

"No, no, no!" yelled Allegra. "I told you I'm not doing that anymore! Hundreds of innocents get lost in the crossfire just because we want to get a few rotten apples! The death toll is too high! I won't do it, Castiel!"

"I'm sorry, Allegra." The angel approached her steadily. "But you have no choice in the matter."

Before Allegra could stop him, Castiel had already pushed her away. She'd been standing closer to the riverbank than she thought and landed right in the icy water. Allegra had been holding the Staff of Moses the entire time, and as soon as it touched the surface of the water, the first plague was unleashed, spreading faster and faster downriver. When she came up again, sputtering and splashing, she was alone again... swimming in the middle of a river of blood.

***

"Allegra! Allegra, you here?!"

Dean burst through Bobby's front door, with Sam following close behind. 

"Dean, come on, you're overreacting!"

He ignored his little brother. Something was wrong. He felt it in his bones. Bobby rose from behind his desk as soon as the Winchesters barged in his home.

"The hell's the matter now?" he asked gruffly.

"You seen Allegra?" inquired Dean.

"No, she still hasn't come back here. Why, what happened?"

"You tell him," Dean told Sam. "I'll check upstairs."

He left the pair in the living room and ran through the hall and up the stairs to Allegra's room. Dean pushed the door open and felt his heart sink when he saw she wasn't there. 

"Allegra! Please, I just want to know you're safe! Please just let me know something!"

But all stayed quiet. Dean dragged his hand through his hair, racking his mind over what might have happened. They agreed that he, Sam, and Castiel would go after Balthazar, the angel who stole the Staff, whilst Allegra would try to get the remaining pieces and fix the weapon so Castiel could take it back up. They would meet afterward, but she hadn't shown up at the rendezvous spot. Sam shrugged it off, but Dean didn't accept that she just up and left again. She promised Dean she would come. She promised to say goodbye.

"Cas!" Dean yelled up to the ceiling. "Get your ass down here right now, you son of a bitch!"

He stormed back downstairs to find Sam slouching on the couch.

"Dude, at least pretend to care!" he barked at him.

"Will you relax already? It's not the first time Allegra bailed on us. She's probably out trying to fix that Staff with Cas. Why do you care so much anyway? I thought you two were fighting?"

"If you're not gonna say anything useful, then you shut your damn pie hole."

Sam shrugged at his brother's comment. Dean shot him an incomprehensible and very annoyed glare. He didn't care about Castiel basically torturing a kid to get the info on who sold him the Staff, and now he didn't care about finding Allegra. What the hell was wrong with him? 
The phone rang, and Bobby picked up.

"Hello, special agent... Jody? Wow, wow, slow down. What's going on?"

His eyes widened.

"Where? Got it, thanks, Jody, I owe ya one." Bobby disconnected the call and turned to the Winchesters. "That was Sheriff Mills. A town in Montana near the Stillwater River is completely surrounded by wildfire. No one can get in or out. It's completely cut off."

"Yeah, and?" asked Dean impatiently.

He wanted to find out what the heck had happened to Allegra, not go to Montana to help in a seemingly lost cause.

"And, smartass, before the wildfire appeared out of nowhere, reports came in that the river had a funny lookin' brown-red color. Like blood."

Dean froze. Sam sat up straight, suddenly interested at what was going on.

"Allegra told Jody and me that she made it clear to Castiel she didn't want to use the plagues anymore like she had before," continued Bobby. "But she didn't trust him, nor any of the other angels. So she warned us both to look out for the signs just in case those bastards did make her do something against her will. The wildfire, that's how they keep people from leaving the town she's in. It's how your daddy and I got trapped all those years ago when we met her. To the rest of the world, it just looks like an out-of-control fire, but to everyone on the inside..."

"It's all hell breaking loose," finished Sam.

"Then what the hell are we still doing here?" Dean was already halfway through the hall.

"Wait, ya idiot, you can't go!"

"Bobby, I'm not staying here while they're making Allegra destroy that town!"

"You're a firstborn, ya knucklehead. You need to stay as far away from that town as you can. We both do. The only one who can go, who is sure to be safe from that last plague is Sam."

Dean and Bobby both turned to the youngest Winchester. 

"It's a small town near Nye," Bobby said. "Just follow the river of blood and the giant smoke signal, can't miss it."

"Okay, but then what?" asked Sam, uncertain and with furrowed brow.

"What do you mean 'then what'?!" yelled Dean. "You find Allegra, you knock her out, and you drag her ass out of there before the last plague hits! It ain't rocket science, Sammy!"

"Wouldn't it just be easier to kill her?"

Even though Dean was a full head shorter than his brother, he'd proven many times over that he was able to stand his ground against Sam, especially when he was angry. Like right now. Dean nearly punched Sam through the wall. His hand was around his throat so fast; Sam barely had time to recover from getting his lights knocked out.

"You lay one finger on her, and I will put you back in the Cage myself, you hear me?!" hissed Dean.

"I may not have a choice, Dean!" rebuffed Sam. "Do you really want me to risk hundreds for her? She doesn't just stand victim in this scenario, but murderer too. How many times did you let someone like her walk away before? How many times did you save someone like Allegra instead of pulling the trigger?"

Dean was about ready to squeeze Sam's throat shut, but killing his brother wouldn't help. He had to focus and prioritize. Kicking Sam's ass would have to wait. Allegra was more important now. Her, and those poor people stuck in the inferno. 

"Forget it, I'm going," Dean growled at Sam as he let go and pushed Bobby aside.

He didn't wait for Bobby or Sam to come to their senses and follow him out of the house but went straight for the Impala. He started the engine and sped away, pushing Baby way over the speed limit when he hit the highway.
He'd been wrong about Allegra. He knew that now. She'd done it all because she cared about him, maybe even... And he'd been the stupid idiot to fall for it. But he was gonna make it right. He would find a way. Somehow.

***

After being on the road for hours, Dean passed the town of Nye like Bobby told Sam to do, but so far, the water was still only water. He did start to see smoke in the distance and was able to dodge a roadblock by taking an alternate route. Then all of a sudden, he saw it.
Dean pulled Baby over and got out, awestruck at the sight before him. The water of the Stillwater River wasn't clear anymore but murky brown. Red. Blood. The first plague. It was really true. People were gathered on the other side of the river. Not ordinary townspeople from around the area, but cops and firefighters and scientists in hazmat suits taking samples of the water.

Dean got back into the Impala before anyone saw him. After about another minute or so, he started to feel really hot. Like barbecue hot. He was getting closer to the wildfire. He could hear a plane flying overhead. Waterplane, no doubt, trying to put the fire out. But it was no use. Dean knew that nothing would stop the flames. Nothing but devine intervention.
He hit the break when he finally saw the flames on the road ahead. He looked left and right, but the only way to cross was to either leave Baby and swim through the river of blood into town or... to take a leap of faith and drive right through the flames. 

Dammit... I did not think this through.

"Dean, what are you doing?"

He didn't have to turn his head to see Castiel sitting in the passenger seat. He felt those awkward expectant puppy eyes of his drilling into him. If the angel believed that was going to stop him from getting to Allegra, he was dead wrong.

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm gonna get Allegra out of there."

"She hasn't finished," said Castiel. "There are still many demon followers left alive."

"You know what, screw you! You and the rest of those douchewats up there! If you cared about her, like you should, considering she's one of you, you wouldn't make her do this!"

"Allegra needs to play her part. We all do."

"Not this, Cas! You either stop it now, or I'm going in, I don't care how."

Dean glared furiously at Castiel, who refused to look back at the Hunter.

"I can't stop it," was his reply. "No one can."

"Then what the hell good are you?" dismissed Dean as he faced the flames again.

Only now did Castiel glance at Dean, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just disappeared. Alone again, Dean didn't hesitate a moment longer. He started the Impala's engine again and hit the gas. The car shot forward, racing towards the roaring flames on the heated asphalt, and Dean mentally prepared himself to be burned alive. But at the very last minute, right before the Impala went through the fire, the flames moved aside, creating a gaping hole in the middle, and Dean got through without so much as a scratch.
Surprised and confused at what happened, Dean pulled Baby to a halt and turned in his seat. Just before the hole in the flames closed, he saw an angel. But it wasn't Castiel as he expected. It was a rather smug-looking Balthazar. Dean didn't know what his game was, but he didn't care right now. He got through the flames. That was all that mattered.

From the other side of the flaming wall, it had looked like the fire had already destroyed most of the forest here. Like it was a big dome with no way in for the rescue squad and no way out for any possible survivors. But there was nothing here. The flames were real enough but only on the border of the town. The rest was an illusion for the outside world, although Dean figured the flames would spread eventually to cover up what was really going on. But it was just a ruse for now, like how God kept the Egyptian pharaoh busy so Moses could take the Israelites through the Red Sea. Dean was a bit rusty on the Old Testament and Exodus, but he did remember that scene from The Prince of Egypt. It had looked pretty cool on-screen (for an animation flic anyway). In real life, it was terrifying as hell.

Dean drove at top speed, hoping to find some clue to Allegra's whereabouts. He saw some animals lying around dead. Normal pets like cats and dogs but also birds and deers. They hadn't been killed in some freak accident; Dean realized that pretty quickly by looking at them. It was the 4th, no the 5th plague; pestilence of livestock. Or, in this case, just any animal.

Dammit, already halfway through. Allegra, where the hell are you?