#altdimension

Chapter 1     Chapter 2    Chapter 3 

You slide the door shut, hands shaking. Balthazar will be here soon.

Looking back at the car, you see Gabe get out. Kevin is sitting on the demon’s lap, laughing at something Sam is saying.

Gabe slams the door shut and walks over, snapping her gum.

“I have no idea if we can trust them,” you whisper, glancing at Dean. He’s leaning forward, watching you.

“We need to get these people shipped out,” Gabe grabs your arm, “you’re the best, you can do this.”

Your stomach cramps up, anxiety pumping adrenaline through you, making you feel jittery and nauseated.  Crossing your arms over your chest, you pace restlessly behind the van.

“What do we do about them?” You tilt your head towards the car.

“Well, we know that Kevin is in. The demon,” Gabrielle closes her eyes and shudders, “I don’t see why we can’t just dump him somewhere…”

“Because he seems to be the only one who has an idea what’s going on,” you interject, “this couldn’t have come at a worst time.”

Gabe reaches up to brush the hair out of your face, “It’ll be fine. You’ve been in worse situations than this.”

***

Dean shifts in his seat, throwing an arm over the back rest. He rolls his head to the side, stretching the tense muscles in his neck.

“Alright Crowley, what the fuck is going on?”

Kevin is still sitting in the demon’s lap, laughing over the revelation that Crowley proclaims himself to be the king of hell.

“A demon, king of hell,” he laughs, “that’s so good. Are you an actor? Court jester maybe?”

Sam and Dean exchange a look. The corners of Sam’s mouth quirk up as Crowley sputters, enraged.

“Get the hell off of me Tran,” the demon bellows, wriggling his hips, trying to throw the prophet off. “Could someone untie me already? This is ridiculous.”

“You need to start giving us some answers,” Dean threatens, shooting a quick look at the van, “they hunt humans here and they don’t really seem to be all that keen on demons either. We need you to go to your fucking mind palace and think of something useful.”

Crowley stops moving. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“You said that Rowena cast a spell,” Sam says, “can you tell us anything about it? The incantation? Things she used?”

“I wasn’t actually in the room. I’m the King of Hell dammit, I don’t do my own dirty work. I have other people do it for me.”

“Worked out pretty well for you, didn’t it?” Dean spits.

Kevin’s forehead bumps against the window as he leans over, gazing up at the sky, “Such a nice night,” he whispers.

Dean sighs.

“Sammy, can you think of anything?”

Sam shrugs, “We don’t have our cells and I haven’t seen anyone actually even use one.”

“Kevin,” Dean shouts, “Kevin!”

Kevin blinks, rolling his head slowly on the window, his breath fogging the glass, “Yes non-Dean?”

“You have a cell phone? Laptop? Any way we can access the internet?”

Kevin giggles, “What’s an innernet?”

“Shit,” Dean swears, rubbing a hand over his face, “alright. I’ve tried calling Cas but, so far, nothing.”

Sam tugs on Kevin’s kilt, trying to get his attention, “Hey, do you know an angel named Castiel?”

The prophet shakes his head slowly, “Nope. Do you?”

“Oh come on,” Crowley growls, “if you’re going to sit on my lap, at least have the decency of not crushing the twig and berries.”

Kevin’s eyes are wide as he sits up, bringing his face so close to Crowley’s that their noses touch, “You haven’t been castrated?”

The demon pales and starts to shake, bellowing, “Get us the hell out of here Moose.”

***

All of the doors of the car seem to open at once, Dean and Sam get out, Kevin tumbles to the ground followed by the demon who collapses onto top of him, hands bound behind his back.

“I’ve never been topped by a demon before,” Kevin sputters.

“What the hell is he doing out of the car?” you hiss, looking back towards the warehouse as you hurry over to pull Crowley off of the prophet.

Dean’s attention is drawn off to a back corner of the yard.

“Baby,” he murmurs, jogging quickly to the car.

Staring hard at the demon, you say, “I’m going to untie you but you had better fucking listen to me, you soulless piece of shit. You got me?”

“I like it when you talk dirty to me,” Crowley rumbles.

Surprised, you turn him around more gently than you had intended and quickly untie him. Crowley turns back, smiling at you, gingerly rubbing his wrists.

“What?” he says, “I know I’m charming darling but come on, don’t gush, you’ll embarrass yourself.”

You raise an eyebrow and flash him a half smile, nodding as you back away, almost tripping over Kevin.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” you nudge him with the toe of your boot. The prophet is stretched out on the ground, passed out.

“Let me,” Crowley says, bending down to grab Kevin by the arm. He drags the prophet to the car and lifts him in.

Lights flash across the front gate as a car pulls in. You wave Sam over, leaning in close to say, “Look, you and…uh…Dean just,” you can see Dean running his hands over the hood of the car, mouth turned down and muttering to himself, “stay out of the way?”

Sam nods, “Sure.” He shoots a look at the van, hesitating a moment.

“What?” you mutter, balling your hands into fists. The driver at the gate honks impatiently.

Sam shakes his head, “Nothing.” He walks away slowly, casting quick glances at the van.

You jog over to the gate and pull it open. The car slows, the passenger side window lowering. Balthazar looks out at you, “How many?”

“Seventeen,” you say, hoping it doesn’t show how tense you are.

Balthazar’s eyes narrow.

“I’m going to need a few more Anunnaki,” he says to his driver. Opening the door, he gets out, straightening his jacket. His blond hair is mussed, sticking up at odd angles.

Gabe skips over, raising herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek, “Brother.”

Balthazar kisses her cheek, “How are you?”

“Excellent, things are running smoothly,” she lies, smiling up at him.

“As is expected,” Balthazar says, watching the Winchesters. “Your hunters seem…preoccupied this evening. Does this have anything to do with our last shipment?”

“We haven’t ruled out any possibilities,” you say, “will you be able to move this many?”

Balthazar steps close to you, pressing his body to yours, lips at your temple, “Have I failed you yet, sylph?”

You pull back just enough to look him in the eyes, “No.”

“We need to trust each other completely. Do I have your trust?” he runs his fingers down the side of your face.

“Yes.”

“Good,” he looks over his shoulder, taking a half step back as his car pulls in, followed by a second vehicle. You look over the passengers of the second vehicle as they get out, stopping a few feet away to wait on orders.

The three men are large and imposing, faces impassive, hands folded in front of them.

“They’re not here for you my sweet,” Balthazar whispers, tugging at your chin, “they’re my most trusted. You can relax.”

“Shall we get this transaction completed?” Gabe asks, leading the way to the van. You’ve known her long enough to see that she’s feeling just as agitated as you are. Even as she bounces towards the van, popping her gum, there’s an edginess to her that belies an undercurrent of anxiety.

You see Crowley standing by Sam and Dean. From their vantage point, it’ll look like a normal deal. You can’t afford any mistakes.

Gabe stands by the rear door of the van. She spits her gum onto the ground, covering it with sand, and pulls another candy out of the pocket of her hoodie.

She offers it to Balthazar who shakes his head, smiling down at her. Gabe unwraps the candy and pops it in her mouth.

You unlatch the door and give it a push up. It slides slowly open, a light flickering inside.

It smells of unwashed bodies and the acrid tang that only fear gives to sweaty humans. You turn your head and swallow hard, trying to keep the bile from rising in your throat. Your mouth floods with saliva. Balthazar takes a step back.

Inside, seven men, five women, and five children huddle together. Their legs are shackled to a long chain secured to the floor. The smallest child, a girl of about five, buries her face in her mother’s neck, crying.

You square your shoulders, “Seventeen,” you say, lowering your voice, “all in good health though they haven’t been fed recently,” louder you announce, “that was the last of them from the western territory. The area is now clear.”

Balthazar nods. You see Dean lunge forward out of the corner of your eye. Sam grabs his arm stopping him. Your heart races and your stomach turns so violently and you nearly double over. You try to cover your discomfort by coughing loudly.

As Balthazar motions for them, the three Anunnaki step forward.

“Take the van to the docks,” he orders, rotating his body slowly, eyes going to Sam, Dean and Crowley.

“Is that a demon?” he asks, looking down at his feet, rubbing a thumb slowly over his lips.

You don’t have time to give an answer. Balthazar looks you in the eyes, gaze searching. He says, “I would say it’s rather strange for your kind to be dragging a demon around. Is this some kind of revenge fantasy you’re playing out?”

Balthazar looks back over at Crowley, “Well dressed too, isn’t he?”

One of the Anunnaki climbs into the back of the van. A man starts to wail loudly but the sound is cut off as the door is slammed shut with a loud crack. The other two men walk to the front of the vehicle and get in. The break lights flash red as the vehicle roars to life.

Balthazar sidles close to you, fingers wrapping around your upper arm, he pulls you close.

“I don’t know what’s going on sylph, but this had better not endanger our operation.” His tone is low and menacing.

“We have everything under control,” Gabe says, voice garbled by the candy in her mouth.

“That’s what you said the last time,” Baltahzar releases your arm. He nuzzles his face into your neck, whispering, “If you mess up again, I’m personally going to punish you. I’m going to take my time at it. Who knows? You might just enjoy it.”

read chapter 5 here