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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵

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Delaney Winchester had done many stupid things in her life, much like any other human. There was the time she lied to Dean's face about eating the chocolate he strictly told her not to before dinner even though the evidence was all over her face. There was the time Sam had told her that she'd fall and break her arm if she tried to backflip off the bed and she did it anyway to prove him wrong. That one she definitely regretted because it kept her out of cheerleading for an entire season. However, neither of those times would ever compare to the time Delaney tried to outsmart her demon boyfriend without the help of Dean and Sam.

Clearly, Delaney wasn't as good at hunting yet as she thought since Randy had played her like a fiddle so damn easily. The whole time she thought that she'd been slowly getting the upper hand on him and was about to get him back, he got her by knowing the whole time that Lilith had to die to set Lucifer free. Now here Delaney was, with both of her brothers feeling utterly betrayed and hurt because they thought felt like she'd chosen a demon over them and set one of the most dangerous demons known to man free. Even though she'd only did everything to try and stop Randy.

That wasn't even the topping on the cake because when the light continued to shoot out of the hole that connected to Lucifer's cage, the Winchesters had been zapped onto a plane. It sent a weird feeling through Delaney because she didn't even feel the effects of having the lack of demon blood anymore. The plane had been flying right over where they had just been and the plane had just narrowly missed the shooting beam of light that was Lucifer escaping and the Winchesters found themselves in a car just an hour later in the direction of Chuck's house.

Every station on the radio talked about some kind of natural disaster that was going on in the states and Delaney had to reach forward and shut it off. She'd rather sit in the heavily tense silence that lingered between her, Sam and Dean than listen to how people were dying because of her. She was the reason Lucifer even got out in the first place because she'd been conned by her own demon boyfriend who thought he was doing something good for her. If only she knew what would have happened had she killed Lilith. 

Delaney had made a mental note to never trust a demon like that again in the first place. No matter how different and helpful they seem.

When the three Winchester siblings made it to Chuck's early that next morning, it had looked like a tornado had totally blown through the man's house. Empty food containers and boxes littered the floor like a disgusting new carpet. Furniture had been turned over onto their sides and a few pieces had been broken off. The windows were broken in and the white curtains that hung over them flapped in the breeze as it blew through the holes. 

A sound alerted Delaney and her brothers and Delaney quietly crept around the corner of the kitchen into the open living room. Her fingers itched for the gun she didn't have on her and kept her eyes peeled as she kept her footsteps light through the open room. By the time she'd made it to the archway that lead into the tiny hallway that lead to the backdoor and stairs, a plunger whacked her in the face and caused her to stumble back.

Delaney yelped in pain and held the side of her forehead where the plunger had hit. She took in the sight of Chuck before her with his slightly shorter brown hair and trimmed beard, making him look a lot less like an unkempt monkey. A few cuts and scrapes littered the side of his face and his tense shoulders relaxed when he realized it was just Delaney, Dean and Sam. "Ow, Chuck! What are you trying to do? Kill me?"

"Delaney," Chuck breathed, his eyes raking over Delaney's form as if looking for any types of injuries. If he had x-ray vision, he'd see the only body part of hers that took any damage would be her heart. However, Delaney was pretty that Chuck already knew that to begin with. "So . . . you're okay?"

"Well, besides the new pounding in my skull," Delaney quipped, still rubbing the tender spot on the side of her head.

"What? No, I mean - I mean, my - my last vision. You went, like, full-on Vader. Your body temperature was one fifty. Your heart was two hundred. Your eyes were black," Chuck rattled off, sending a cold chill down Delaney's spine at the black eyes part.

A disbelieving sound came from the back of Dean's throat and Delaney turned to her brothers with a saddened look. They both looked even more hurt than they already had and that only brought tears to Delaney's eyes because it was look she never wanted to see on her big brothers' faces. Especially not when it was because of her. "Your eyes went black?"

"I didn't know."

Dean considered Delaney's response for a long moment before he turned to Chuck, ignoring her. "Where' Castiel?"

"He's dead or gone. The archangel smote the crap out of him. I'm sorry," Chuck whispered, ducking his head guiltily as if he did that Castiel.

"You're sure? I mean, maybe he just vanished into the light or something," Dean suggested desperately, not wanting the only angel that had actually helped him and Sam to be gone.

"Oh, no. He, like, exploded. Like a water balloon of chunky soup."

Delaney grimaced at the mental image that brought to her mind and her eyes flickered up to something that was caught in Chuck's hair above his left ear. "Uh . . . Chuck, you got, uh . . ."

Chuck raised his hand to his head as he tried to find whatever Delaney pointed at and quickly moved to the other side of his head, scrunching up his face when he felt something in his hair. He pulled it out to reveal a bloody tooth and Delaney nearly gagged at the sight of it. "Oh, God. Is that molar? Do I have a molar in my hair? This has been a really stressful day."

"Cas, you stupid bastard," Dean grumbled to himself, though both him and Delaney heard him.

"Stupid? Dean, he was trying to help us," Sam defended the angel, not liking that Dean had tried to attack him.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Well, what now?" Delaney asked her brothers, shifting uncomfortably on her feet since the weight of the world quite literally rested on her shoulders. She had a sudden stronger sense of determination to save the world that she just about destroyed."

"I don't know."

"Oh, crap," Chuck whispered, earning the trio's attention as he stared hazily in the distance. "I can feel them."

As if on cue, a whooshing sound whipped through the room and the three siblings turned to see a man with a balding head dressed in a suit stood in the kitchen flanked by two other men. Delaney furrowed her eyebrows as she wondered who the hell this guy was and noticed the hard looks that took over Dean and Sam's faces when they took in the sight of the man. Who the hell was he?

"Thought we'd find you here. Playtime's over, Dean and Sam. Time to come with us," the man said, taking a step forward towards the boys. 

Dean and Sam had both subconsciously took a protective step in front of Delaney at the movement. "You just keep your distance, ass-hat."

The man froze in his steps and had the nerve to look confused on why the boys appeared pissed. "You're upset."

"Yeah - a little. You realize that you jump-started Judgement Day?" Sam quipped at the balding man in a fierce tone that Delaney almost never heard come out of the much softer Winchester.

"Maybe we let it happen. We didn't start anything. Right, Baby Winchester?" the man grinned over at Delaney who narrowed her eyes at him, shifting closer to Chuck. "You had your chance to stop your baby sister, boys, and you couldn't. So let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it was all our faults and move on. 'Cause like it or not . . . it's Apocalypse Now. We're back on the same team again."

Dean scoffed out a laugh and crossed his arms across his chest. "Oh, is that so?"

"You want to kill the devil. We want you to kill you the devil. It's . . . synergy."

"And Dean and I are just supposed to trust you? After everything the angels have already done?" Sam remarked, making Delaney realize this was another archangel. He appeared just as bad as Uriel was and it only made Delaney's blood boil in her veins. She would be the first one to admit that she hated the angels and wished they'd all fly away into the sun. Well, all of the angels except Castiel, at least.

"This isn't a game, boys. Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast - before he finds his vessel."

"His vessel?" Delaney asked in confusion, stepping forward now she was stood in between her big brothers. "Wait, Lucifer needs a meat suit?"

The archangel made a face at Delaney as if she were slow. "Well, yeah, he is an angel. Just a fallen one. Them's the rule. When he touches down, we're talking Four Horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies - the greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean and Sam, but you need our help."

Dean sucked on his teeth and shot the archangel and death glare that should have vaporized the angel right on the spot. "You listen to me, you two-faced douche - after what you did, you won't be getting squat from Sammy and I."

"You listen to me, boy! You think you and your little brother can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?" the archangel snapped, freezing after a moment when he saw red trickle through the gaps in Dean's fingers. "You're bleeding."

Dean smirked and held up his hand to show off the blood in full view to the archangel. "Oh, yeah. A little insurance policy in case you dicks ever showed up." He pulled out the sliding door to the kitchen to reveal the same sigil that Anna had drawn to get rid of Castiel and Uriel at the cabin. He slammed his bloody palm down on the sigil, sending the archangel and his two goons away. 

The archangel and his two goons cried out before a bright white light took over the room and then they were gone.

"Learned that from my friend Cas, you sons of bitches," Dean growled into the air even though the angels were no longer in the room.

"This sucks ass," Chuck commented from behind the Winchesters.

Delaney couldn't agree more with him.

Awhile later, the three Winchesters got themselves a motel somewhere in town so they can regroup and try to figure out what they were going to do next. Not that the Winchesters had many options at the moment because they didn't even know where to begin. 

"Hey," Delaney greeted her brothers, walking into the motel room and shutting it behind her. She tossed them both a small pouch filled with all the materials she'd needed to make hex bags for the three of them. "I made some hex bags. No way the angels will find us with these. Demons, either, for that matter."

Sam examined the small pouch in his hands and raised in eyebrow in curiosity. "How'd you make it, Delly?"

Delaney awkwardly cleared her throat, knowing that her answer would pull the tense chord between them even tighter. "I . . . I learned it from Randy. He wanted to make sure I knew how to hide myself properly if I needed to so . . ."

Dean nodded silently and placed down the gun he'd been reloading and cleaning back down onto the table, rounding it so he could walk closer to Delaney. "Speaking of . . . how are you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood or what?"

"Actually, it's kind of weird. Uh, tell you the truth, I'm fine. No shakes, no fever, no hallucinations. It's like whoever . . . put me on that plane cleaned me right up. I'm okay," Delaney promised her brothers, hoping they actually believed her. She knew that she probably didn't deserve any of that from her brothers because she'd been lying to them the whole time, no matter how good her intentions were.

"Supernatural methadone," Dean mused flatly, playing with the pouch in his hand. 

Delaney frowned when she saw the way that both Dean and Sam avoided her gaze and nearly doubled over at the pain that radiated through her heart. She wanted so desperately for her brothers to not look at her with those betrayed looks any longer. It was a look that Delaney hated to see directed at her because Dean and Sam had both given everything to Delaney no matter what. Then here she was disappointing them because she tried to play hero herself and not have to stress out the boys even more. "Dean, Sammy - "

"No, Della, it's okay," Dean cut off Delaney, turning his back to her again and walking back towards the table that was filled with weapons that needed to be cleaned and reloaded still. "You don't have to say anything."

"What can I even say? I'm sorry? I screwed up? I should have come to you both to help me with the Randy situation instead of trying to tackle it on my own? Doesn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right - "

"So why do you keep bringing it up, Delaney?!" Delaney yelled, causing the youngest Winchester to flinch at his harsh tone. "Why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it. Alright, so, say this is just any other hunt. You know? What do we do first?"

Delaney chewed on the inside of her lip as her eyes bounced between her two brothers who stood on one side of the table while she still stood on her side near the motel room door. The table was almost like a representation of the barrier that had been built between her and her brothers. A barrier that she had no idea how long it'd be before she climbed over it and they were back to how things were.

If they ever went back to how they were.

"We would figure out where the thing is."

"So we just got to find . . . the devil," Sam unenthusiastically spoke up, twirling his finger in the air sarcastically. 

This was going to be a long day.

Delaney laid on her stomach on the bed next to Dean while he flipped through the different news station, each one talking about natural disasters in practically every single state. All fifty of them getting types of hurricanes and tsunamis and tornados. New York, a state that didn't get more than nine tornados a year ( if that ), had already seen five in the past two hours over the state. It was literally like the world was coming to an end and vaguely reminded Delaney of that movie Day After Tomorrow. Though, instead of getting to ogle at Jake Gyllenhaal for two hours, Delaney got to ogle at the mass destruction that was slowly taking over the world.

A knock at the door snapped Delaney and Sam out of their research on how to locate the devil. Sam had gotten up from his spot sat at the table and grabbed for the gun that rested on it, quietly making his way towards the motel room door. Delaney and Dean had both pushed themselves to the end of the bed incase they needed to strike, both clutching their own guns in their hands.

Sam slowly opened the door to see a beaming teenaged girl with brunette hair, blue eyes and braces. Her eyes seemed to just light up the space around them when her eyes landed on Sam. "You okay, lady?"

"Sam . . . is that really you?" the teenager squealed, walking closer to him and pressing a hand to his chest. "And you're so firm."

"Do I know you?" Sam asked, stepping back from the teenage girl with wide eyes.

"No. But I know you. You're Sam Winchester . . . and you're . . . " the teenage girl trailed off, her eyes lighting up even more when they landed on Delaney. "Ahhh! You're Delaney Winchester. You are literally so much more beautiful in person. I totally get why Dean and Sam give into you all the time with those big green eyes." Her gaze then landed on Dean who stared at the new comer oddly. "And you're . . . not what I pictured. Anyways, I'm Becky. I read all about you guys. I've even written a few - "

Delaney flinched when Becky trailed off, giggling nervously to herself. It gave her horrible flashbacks to when they first learned about the Supernatural book series. She could only imagine what kind of stories Becky had written up, much like a bunch of the other Supernatural fans had done. To be honest, if Delaney never had to hear about Supernatural again, she wouldn't even mind it.

"Um, so . . . Mr. Edlund told me where you three were. He's got a message, but he's being watched. Angels. Nice change up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old," Becky rambled, flailing her hands all over the place as she spoke.

Delaney scoffed quietly to herself at the thought of the demon stuff getting old. "Yeah, tell me about it. So . . . what's the message?"

"He had a vision. The Michael and Zadkiel swords are on Earth. The angels lost them," Becky recalled dramatically, closing her eyes and circling her hand in the air as if she were a psychic.

"Wait, the Michael and Zadkiel swords?" Dean asked, straightening up at the name of the two archangels.

"Becky, does he know where they are?" Sam cut in next.

"In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs."

Dean balked at the place and shot his siblings a look that said he thought Becky was insane. "Forty-two dogs?"

Delaney pinched Dean's side to knock it off since she felt that Becky had good intentions. Clearly, Chuck trusted this girl enough to bring them the news and she was just a bit starstruck to find out that the trio actually existed. "Um, Becky, are you sure you got that right?"

"It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said. I memorized every word . . . for you," Becky replied, reaching out to run her hand along Sam's chest once again while Delaney and Dean watched on in amusement. His awkward demeanor only making the two siblings more amused than anything.

"Uh, Becky . . . c- uh, can you . . . quit touching me?" Sam requested, trying not to sound mean but also wanting the girl to stop touching him the way she was. She was a minor and he didn't even know her, so the whole situation just made him heavily uncomfortable.

"No."

A bit later after Becky had left, Dean had called Bobby to come down to help them figure out where the Michael and Zadkiel swords could be hiding. If they got to them before the angels did, maybe they could do something about the current apocalypse after all. Delaney hadn't seen Bobby since she'd been locked up in the panic room to try and clean her out of the demon blood she'd been drinking. She didn't know how he was going to feel when he saw her but the smile on his face when his eyes landed on her made her worries ease.

"Uncle Bobby!" Delaney cried, barreling past Sam who stumbled to the side from the force and leaping at her uncle. She hugged the man tightly to her as the older man patted her back affectionately, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Glad to see you all in one piece," Bobby said, pulling away from Delaney.

"You weren't followed, were you?" Dean asked, approaching the duo with Sam. 

"You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new super fan?" Bobby teased, slapping a hand down on Sam's shoulder while the middle Winchester laughed uncomfortably.

"So you heard."

Bobby snorted and pat Sam once before he dropped his hand back to his side. "I heard, Romeo. So . . . swords of Michael and Zadkiel, huh?"

Sam blew out a breath and rocked back on his heels, stuffing his hands into his jean pockets. "Yeah, you think we're actually talking about the swords of Michael and Zadkiel?"

"You better friggin' hope so."

Bobby grabbed the massive lore book he brought and placed it down on the table, opening up to a page with the two angels flying through the air with their blonde curls flowing behind them. In their hands, they both gripped on a thin, long bladed sword that they had raised up as if ready to slash down on anyone that deserved it. He pointed to where Michael and Zadkiel stood in the middle of the photo. "That's Michael and Zadkiel - toughest sons of bitches they got."

Dean barked out a laugh as he stared down at the attractive looking angels on the page. They looked like they could be the type of guys to have both males and females crawling at their feet and begging for their attention. "You kidding me? Tough? They look like Cate Blanchett."

"Well, I wouldn't want to meet them in a dark alley, believe me. They co-command the Heavenly Host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, they were the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword. So if we can find it . . . "

"We can kick the devil's ass all over again," Delaney finished for her uncle. "Alright, so where do we start?"

"Divvy up and start reading, sweetheart. Try and make some sense of Chuck's nonsense."

Delaney nodded in agreement and pushed away from the table to walk over to the pile of books Bobby had left on the bed that her and Dean previously laid on while doing research. She ran her finger along the brown cover of the top book and sighed heavily. All of this was her fault and she singlehandedly dragged Dean, Sam and Bobby into the mess with her along with the rest of the world. If she hadn't killed Lilith, then none of this would be happening and they wouldn't be clutching at straws to try and stop it before it got worse. 

"Lanes, you okay?" Bobby inquired from where he sat at the table with Sam now sat next to him and Dean leant up against the wall next to the table.

"No, actually. Uncle Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry," Delaney admitted brokenly, her eyes welling with tears once again as she turned to face Bobby. 

"Delaney . . . "

"Lilith didn't break the final seal," Delaney continued, ignoring Dean who tried to stop her from speaking further. Bobby didn't know anything of what happened. He didn't even know that it was Delaney who broke the final seal and let out Lucifer. Not Lilith. "Lilith was the final seal. I killed her and I set Lucifer free. You guys warned me about Randy, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought all of this on. 

Bobby slowly stood up from where he was sat at the table and rounded it so he was stood a few feet from Delaney on the small level that the table and kitchenette area had been placed on. He stared down at Delaney with a look she'd never received from him in her life. It was a look of pure anger and betrayal and it tore her heart into pieces. "You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant thinking you could handle Randy by yourself. You're sorry that you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, Delaney. If, by some miracle we pull this off . . . I want you to lose my number. You understand me?"

Delaney's face fell along with her heart at Bobby's words. She knew she deserved to be screamed at and that whatever she did was wrong because she should have included Dean and Sam. Maybe then they wouldn't be worrying about Lucifer being on Earth right now. However, that didn't stop the earth shattering pain that radiated through Delaney as the father figure that stood before her basically told her he wanted nothing to do with her after this was done. That he'd never want to talk or see her again. 

If she were honest, that hurt worse than John kicking her out when she said she was going to Stanford for school.

Delaney blinked away the tears so the boys wouldn't see her cry and cleared her throat to try and make her voice sound stronger than she actually felt. She could see the sympathetic looks that Dean and Sam shot towards Bobby and Delaney since they both knew that Bobby had always meant a great deal to Delaney. "There's an old church nearby. Maybe I can find some lore books over there. Some that can help."

"Yeah. You do that."

Delaney nodded once and grabbed her black leather jacket from the chair to leave the boys on their own.

"Della, take your . . . "

Delaney held up the silver hand gun in her hand to show him that she had her protection if anything, walking out of the room with the door closing behind her. To quote Chuck, this sucks ass.

Delaney had spent a few hours at the church, scouring through every lore book they had but came up with practically nothing useful that could help them. Who knew that trying to find two swords that belonged two archangels would be so difficult? She didn't even realize how long she'd actually been at the church until she stepped outside and it was now dark outside instead of light. Thankfully, the church wasn't a far walk from the motel and Delaney had made it back without a scratch.

However, Delaney didn't expect to walk into the motel room to see her two brothers being beat up by two guys while another guy stood off to the side and Bobby laid out on the floor with the knife lodged into his side. She barely had a second to fully register everything before the motel room phone was smacked into the side of her face, causing her to stumble back into the wall behind her out of pain as she clutched her cheek.

"Hey, there, baby. You miss me? 'Cause I sure missed you," the male before her taunted, his brown eyes dazzling mischievously as a sly smirk took over his face. 

Delaney's face fell as she took in the sight of the obvious demon in front of her, her hand slowly falling back to her side. "Mason?"

Mason chuckled and wiggled his fingers at the girl and swiftly ducked when Delaney threw her fist forward, aiming for his face. Delaney gasped when Mason got a punch in to her side and she felt the wind knock out of her momentarily. She stumbled and held her side from the pain, going to attack Mason again when he blinded sided her and tackled her to the ground. He gripped her by the back of her hair and sent multiple punches to her face, causing blood to trickle down from both her nose and her busted lip. 

"It's not so easy without those super-special demon powers Randy helped you get, huh, baby?" Mason mocked at Delaney, holding her face close to his as if he were going to kiss her. It made Delaney recoil at the thought because she'd never be getting anywhere near a demon again. "Sorry to hear about your little boyfriend, though. Must have been tough to stab into him, huh?"

Before Delaney could say anything else, she was punched once again and laid flat out on her back. Mason climbed off her and stepped away from her, escaping out of his new vessel's mouth when Dean charged towards him with Randy's knife after just killing off his two other friends. Delaney huffed and blew out a breath past her lips, blowing her hair out of her face. She really hated demons.

After taking Bobby to the hospital and needing to leave him there alone against Delaney's will, the three siblings drove over to John's old storage unit. Apparently the clue that Chuck gave to them was a nod at the street that the storage unit was on and the name of the storage place. Dean had figured it out before Bobby suddenly went full demon and attacked him and Sam, meaning that Bobby had more than likely been a demon the whole time he'd been with the siblings. Also meaning that if Mason and his pals wanted those swords, that meant that other demons would, too.

When they opened up the door to the storage unit, the Winchesters saw two dead demons in the middle of the demon trap that John had placed into the storage unit in case anything like that happens. They were both laid out on their stomachs with a few pages littered beneath them and the Winchesters held their guns up in defense in case any others lingered nearby.

"I see you told the demons were the swords are," the archangel from earlier announced, appearing near the caged gate that lead to the back of the storage unit where all the cursed items were locked and kept. 

"Oh, thank God. Zachariah and his two bitch boys are here," Dean cheered sarcastically.

"And to think . . . they could have grabbed it any time they wanted," Zachariah said, stepping closer towards the Winchesters and sliding the storage unit door shut with his angel powers. "It was right in front of them."

Delaney furrowed her eyebrows and exchanged equal looks of confusion with Dean and Sam over what Zachariah was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"We may have planted that particular piece of prophecy inside Chuck's skull, but it happened to be true. We did lose the Michael and Zadkiel swords. We truly couldn't find them. Until now. You've just hand delivered it to us."

"We don't have anything," Sam said, holding up his hands to show that all he had on him was the gun for protection. Not like that could do anything to angel since Zachariah and his two goons would heal in thirty seconds.

Zachariah breathed out a laugh and shook his head condescendingly at Sam. "It's you and Dean, chucklehead. You're the Michael and Zadkiel swords. What, you thought you could actually kill Lucifer? You simpering wad of insecurity and self-loathing? No. You're all just human and not much of ones, either."

Dean's jaw ticked as his annoyance with the angel visibly spiked the longer he stared at him. "What do you mean, Sammy and I are the swords?"

"You're Michael and Zadkiel's weapons. Or, rather, their . . . receptacles."

Sam's face dropped along with Dean's, neither one of them expecting that to be the answer they were given. Not only was Delaney a beacon of demon blood, but now the boys were suddenly supposed to be homes to two powerful archangels? "We're vessels?"

"You're the vessels to Michael and Zadkiel. You've both been chosen! It's a great honor, boys, and shows that not your whole family is cursed. Only the one percent of you," Zachariah explained, his eyes drifting over to Delaney briefly when he mentioned the one percent that was cursed.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, life as an angel condom. That's real fun," Dean retorted, glaring at Zachariah as if he wished that looks could kill so the archangel could go away forever. "I think Sammy and I will pass on that one. Thanks."

Zachariah tutted at Dean, shaking his head in disappointment. "Joking. Always joking. Well . . . no more jokes." He made a gun with his pointer finger, middle finger and thumb, holding it up to Dean briefly before he swiftly moved it over to Delaney pretending to pull the trigger.

Delaney cried out as a rush of hot pain spiked through her leg, a resounding crack echoing through the room as she collapsed to the ground and clutching onto her injured leg. She whimpered as the pain continued to radiate through her leg and she clutched onto Sam's jean leg to anchor her to the world, while his hand instantly went to the top of her head in a form of comfort.

"You son of a bitch! Injure my sister again and you'll wish you never showed your face," Dean snapped at the archangel, rage filling his body at the sight of his broken baby sister.

"Keep mouthing off, I'll break more than your precious baby sister's legs. I am completely and utterly through screwing around here, boys. The war has begun. We don't have our generals. That's bad. Now, Michael and Zadkiel are going to take their vessels and lead the final charge against the adversary. You understand me?"

"How many humans die in the crossfire, huh? A million? Five, ten?" Sam quipped at the angel, running his hand soothingly over Delaney's hair as her pained tears soaked into his jeans. 

"Probably more. If Lucifer goes unchecked, you know how many die? All of them. He'll roast this planet alive. 

Dean narrowed his eyes at the archangel, noticing something a bit fishy about the whole thing. "Is there a reason you're telling Sammy and I this instead of just nabbing us? You need our consent, don't you? Michael and Zadkiel need our say-so to ride around in our skin."

Zachariah tensed slightly since he knew he had been caught and sighed heavily, figuring it easier to just give in to Dean. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Well, there's got to be another way," Dean offered.

"There is no other way. There must be a battle. Michael and Zadkiel must defeat the serpent. It is written."

"Yeah, maybe, but on the other hand . . . it's not going to happen," Sam denied harshly, not wanting to do a single thing for the angels since all they have done was dick the three siblings around. Zachariah had even just broken Delaney in half without a second thought. "The answer is no."

Zachariah tilted his head from side to side as if weighing his options. "Mmm, okay. How about this? Your friend Bobby - we know he's gravely injured. Uh, say yes and we'll heal him. Say no, he'll never walk again."

Delaney sniffled and clutched onto Dean's jean leg next, making him look down to her. She wanted Bobby to have his legs, but if it meant that millions of people died then she didn't think they should do it. At least Bobby would still be breathing and she shook her head at Dean to tell him not to trust the angels. Who knew if they'd even heal Bobby once Michael and Zadkiel came down to take over Dean and Sam's bodies?

"No."

"Then how about we heal you from . . . stage-four stomach cancer?" 

Dean and Sam instantly began to choke and cough, dropping to their knees on either side of Delaney. They pulled their hands away from their mouths to see blood painted on their palms. However, the boys still denied the angel. None of them wanted to do anything for the angels whatsoever. Even if it got them killed. 

"How about let's see if your baby sister can survive without lungs?" Zachariah suggested, snapping his fingers.

Delaney gasped as the wind was suddenly sucked out of her body like a vacuum. She wheezed and coughed as she dropped down to her elbows, weakly holding herself up as she tried to desperately get the air back into the lungs she no longer had. The room began to spin around her like a carousel ride and she closed her eyes, pressing her forehead to the cold flooring of the storage unit.

"You boys will say yes," Zachariah ordered Dean and Sam, clutching their chins into their hands so they to had look at them. "I won't kill you just yet. I'm just getting started."

A bright light took over the room and the three siblings blinked against it until their eyes adjusted once it cleared and saw Castiel stood behind one of the minions, stabbing an angel blade into his throat. He moved onto the next goon, fighting back and forth with him until he finally shoved him up against a wall and stabbed the blade into his throat next, sending him away with the other goon.

"How are - "

"Alive?" Castiel finished for his brother, stopping just a few feet from him with the angel blade still gripped in his hand. "Good question. How did these three end up on that airplane? Another good question. 'Cause the angels didn't do it. I think we both know the answer, don't we"

"No. That's not possible."

"It scares you," Castiel noted with a stern gaze. "Well, it should. Now, put these three back together and go. I won't ask twice."

A whooshing sound was heard in the room before the air was all but pushed back into Delaney's lungs and breathed out a sigh of relief, never being more thankful for air in her life. She got back to her feet with the help of Sam and Dean who had also been cured, checking her over for any other injuries but she was okay.

"You three need to be more careful."

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that," Dean stated, wiping the blood on his palm off on his jacket. "Your frat brothers are bigger dicks than I thought."

"I don't mean the angels. Lucifer is circling his vessel right now. Once he takes the vessel, those hex bags won't be enough to protect you," Castiel informed walking up to the Winchesters and pressing a hand to their chests, each one sizzled as he did so. "I just gave you three Enochian sigils. It'll hide you from every angel in creation, including Lucifer."

Delaney hissed slightly as she rubbed her ribs where Castiel had all but burned her. "What, you just branded us with it?"

"No, it's more carved into your ribs."

"Hey, Cas, were you really dead?" Sam asked the angel, dropping his hand back to his side.

"Yes."

In typical angel fashion, Castiel disappeared from sight before the Winchesters could get any more information out of him. Delaney was really getting tired of getting no information from both the angels and the demons.

"Unlikely to walk again?! Why, you snot-nosed son of a bitch! Wait till I get out of this bed! I'll use my game leg and kick your friggin' ass! You believe that yahoo?" Bobby yelled at the doctor who scurried away before the man could do anything to him. 

The Winchesters had gone back to the hospital after their little adventure at the storage unit and Delaney had placed her self in the corner next to Dean still feeling hurt over Bobby's words. She knew it wasn't him that said those words to her, but she just wanted to hear it from Bobby that it was the demon talking and not him.

"Screw him. You'll be fine," Dean assured Bobby.

"So, let me ask the million dollar question. What do we do now?" Sam questioned, addressing the very large elephant in the room. 

"Well, we save as many as we can for as long as we can, I guess. It's bad. Whoever wins, Heaven or Hell, we're boned."

"What if we win?" Dean chimed in, glancing around at the confused looks he got from Bobby and his siblings. "What? I'm serious. I mean, screw the angels and the demons and their crap apocalypse. They want to fight a war, they can find their own planet. This one is ours and I say get the hell off it. We take 'em all on and we kill the devil. Hell, we even kill Michael and Zadkiel if we have to. We do it our own damn selves."

Bobby shot Dean a deadpan look, clearly finding the whole plan utterly ridiculous. "And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?"

"I got no idea. I do  have a G.E.D. and a give 'em Hell attitude, and we'll figure it out."

"You are nine kinds of crazy, boy."

"It's been said. Listen stay on the mend. We'll see you in a bit."

"Wait, we're just gonna leave Bobby alone?" Delaney piped up, earning her brothers' attention. She hated to know that the man would be in the hospital room all by himself, especially when he can't even walk. She knew that there were nurses around, but Delaney still worried about him. No matter what words were thrown between them.

Bobby waved Delaney off, shifting in the bed to make himself more comfortable. "It's alright. Theo is on his way down from South Carolina. I called him once I was up, but he was already on his way through the states once everything started happening. He'll be here soon to help you kids out."

Delaney's nose scrunched up at the mention of Theodore Mitchell coming around again. She hadn't seen the boy since they were both seniors in the same high school. He had been a kid that Bobby looked after for fellow hunters, which lead to Theo practically becoming Bobby's son since the parents just fell off the face of the planet. They had a fling when they were both fourteen, but it fell through after two hookups and Delaney never understood why. After that, he had become a different person and thought he was a big shot and always tried to worm his way underneath Delaney's skin. Now she was expected to work with the guy on this whole Lucifer, Michael and Zadkiel hunt?

"Laney," Bobby called, snapping Delaney out of her momentary daze and she turned to face him near the door of the room. "I was awake. I know what I said back there. I just want you to know that . . . that was the demon talking. I will never cut you out, sweetheart. No matter what you do, I will always be there for you, you hear me? I'd chop off my own arm before I do."

Delaney smiled at Bobby's words and rushed over to his bedside, throwing her arms tightly around the man. He was a bit tangled from his IVS and wires, but he managed to wrap an arm around Delaney and pat her on the back. She pulled away from Bobby and squeezed his hand. "We'll come back tomorrow. I promise."

"I know, kiddo. Get some rest, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Delaney promised the man, squeezing his hand one last time before she followed Dean and Sam back out to the Impala in the parking lot of the hospital. She felt a bit better now that she'd heard it from Bobby himself that they were okay after all. It would be tense for a bit, but they'd make it through like always. "Uh, so . . . boys, I was thinking we could go after the Colt."

Dean snorted and stopped by the trunk of the Impala, turning to face his baby sister with furrowed brows. "Why? What difference would that make?"

"Well, we could use it on Lucifer, right? I mean, you just said back there - "

"I just said a bunch of crap for Bobby's benefit, Delaney. I mean . . . I'll fight. I'll fight till the last man, but let's at least be honest. I mean, we don't stand a snowball's chance, and you know that. I mean, hell, you of all people know that." 

Delaney puffed out her cheeks and watched Dean and Sam both go to make their way to their respective sides of the Impala so they could go back to the motel and sleep for a few hours. "Boys . . . is there something either one of you want to say to me?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look with each other, the same look that Delaney still tried to read even after all these years. No matter how hard she tried, she could never decipher the silent conversation the two eldest Winchesters relayed to each other. The silent conversation didn't last too long before Sam finally drifted his eyes back to Delaney.

"We tried, Delly. I mean, we really tried. Dean and I just can't keep pretending that everything is rainbows and butterflies right now because it's not."

"And it's never going to be," Dean chimed in, causing Delaney to flinch at his bluntness. "You chose to try and hero over a demon instead of coming to us, fighting with us at the hotel when we tried to save you. Look what happened, Delaney! It all blew up in your face because you didn't come to me or Sammy and now Lucifer is set free."

Delaney licked her dry lips and tried to blink back the tears that pooled in her eyes, the crushing weight of guilt being almost enough heavy enough to fully suffocate her. "I would give anything - anything - to take it all back. To come to you boys instead of trying to outsmart a demon on my own, but . . . "

"We know you would and Sammy and I know how sorry you are. We do. But, baby girl . . . you were the one person that Sam and I depended on the most. I mean, I practically raised you and I know for a friggin' fact this is not the girl I raised you to be, either. You used to come crying to Sammy and I when you so much as stubbed your toe. Now you're not running to us when you have demon problems? You let us both down in ways that we can't even . . ."

"We're just tired and we can't exactly forgive and forget everything that happened here. I mean, that fight with Dean didn't exactly seem like you were playing a part there, you know? I wish there was something you could do. I really do, but . . . I just don't . . . I don't know when or if we can ever be how we were before. You have to earn our trust again because we just don't trust you right now."

Delaney felt her heart shatter with every step Dean and Sam took away from her to get into the Impala. She knew she fucked up by not going to Dean or Sam or even Bobby about the whole Randy being shady thing. She knew that she should have at least told them her plan and that they needed to stay out of it, but she'd ask them for help if needed. Instead, Delaney did everything on her own because she thought she could and, like Dean said, it blew up in her face cause she released Lucifer. 

And to think Delaney's life couldn't get any more complicated than it already was.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

WELCOME TO DEVIL'S KEEPER, FOLKS! Buckle up because it's about to be an angsty ride from here because we love some good sibling tension. The boys were a bit harsh on Delaney about the whole keeping her plan against Randy to herself, but they just hate that it was yet another large thing that she'd lied to them about no matter how good her intentions were. 

On the bright side, we see Theo next chapter and he'll be joining them when they go on their next hunt in the next chapter! I am so ready to get into their dynamic ugh!