Chapter 5
“You mean to tell me that someone has opened a…a hell hole?” Clint asks, his eyes glued to the map.
“A Devil’s Gate, yea,” Sam answers as he casts a sideways look to Dean.
“What are we talkin’ here? Are we in beautiful Sunnydale, fighting off the ancient evils pouring out of a Hellmouth or what?” Tony spouts off, and Steve leans in towards Y/N.
“What does that…I don’t get that reference…”
Y/N turns to him, eyebrow raised, “It’s from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Have you never seen it?” Steve shakes his head and Y/N smiles. “It’s good. Honestly not too far off from the truth. You should watch it…that is, if this doesn’t ruin your taste for stuff like that.” She turns back to her brothers, and Steve shifts back next to Bucky.
“I know for a fact Nat put that on your list, and you’ve watched every episode. That…well, that was sad. Very sad, Rogers.” Bucky mutters under his breath and though Steve remains quiet, Bucky chuckles at the crimson slowly creeping up his best friend’s neck.
Dean frowns in Bucky’s direction, but continues where Sam left off. “Devil’s Gates are a way for demons to exit Hell and come topside. Sammy used one once to get someone out of Hell, so, if you can get a reaper to break the rules for you, they’ll sneak in mortals, too. Not that that is something you’d ever want to do.”
“Reapers?” Nat pipes up from her seat near Clint.
“I’m sorry, is no one going to call out that he just said his brother went into hell and retrieved someone?” Falcon, who has been silent up until now, looks around, disbelief written on his face.
“Let’s get past this bullshit, then we’ll talk about reapers and hell and everything else in more detail, huh? As long as you’ve got enough alcohol. ‘Cause you’re all gonna need it.” Dean looks back at Sam. “Any idea who opened it?”
Sam shakes his head, “I can guess, but you’re not going to like it.”
“When do I ever like it?”
Sam sits on the edge of Tony’s desk, earning a bitch face that rivals his own. He carefully stands back up, giving Tony a sheepish smile, then looks back to Dean. “Our favorite neighborhood King of Hell.”
“There’s a king of Hell?” Bruce interjects, “Are we being serious right now? Next thing you’ll tell us is that Lucifer is real.”
Sam and Dean exchange a look and Y/N stifles a laugh.
“Listen, Banner, I know this is all new to you guys. I get that demons and kings of Hell, and the Morningstar himself is unknown territory, but it’s our territory. I promise that we’ll explain it to you guys, but, for right now, I need you to be a little more open minded, considering you regularly turn into a giant ass green monster.”
“That’s…that’s fair enough.” Bruce sits back down and Y/N walks over to join her brothers.
“His name is Crowley. He’s constantly looking for more power, more souls. Even he doesn’t have enough power alone to create this massive of a Devil’s Gate.” She turns to look at the map and shakes her head, “Someone else is helping him.”
“What benefit would there be to helping Crowley? Other than having a demon army capable of wiping out the population? It’s not like Crowley gets the souls if the humans are still alive. They’re just trapped.” Dean crosses his arms and also stares at the map. “What could anyone get out of that?”
“Unless whoever is helping him intends to double cross him. Promise him one thing, give him nothing. We know a few people like that.” Bucky’s voice is quiet, but resonates with everyone.
Y/N turns slowly to face him, “Like who, exactly?”
Tony clears his throat, and takes a shaky breath, “I’m afraid Capsicle 2.0 is right. There are several that would do that…but, unfortunately, only one powerful enough to help your royal majesty. He’s a colossal asshole, too, so the whole ‘double cross’ thing wouldn’t be out of the question.” Tony surveys the group, looks at their wide eyes and expectant looks and takes a deep breath. “I’m afraid that after all this time, Loki’s business partner has decided to change tactics now that the Chitauri can’t help him.”
Thor narrows his eyes, “It is impossible.”
“I’m sorry, Fabio, but I don’t think it is.” Tony looks back to Sam, Dean, and Y/N. “Ever heard of Thanos?”
“Thanos? The Titan?” Sam’s eyes are wide as he stares at Tony, “I thought he’d been killed during the Battle of New York?”
“No, he was not there. He sent my brother, Loki, to try to attempt world domination.” Y/N looks at Thor with raised eyebrows and he shrugs, “He is adopted.”
“So this Titan…is just doing this for shits and giggles, is that it?” Dean asks.
Tony shakes his head, “Thanos doesn’t do anything just for shits and giggles. It’s a useful side effect, sure, but he’s calculating, cold. Everything he does is a means to an end. Whatever he’s doing with this Crowley, he won’t keep his promise. He’ll use him, and then destroy him.”
Dean laughs, “That wouldn’t be so bad, would it, Sammy?” He quickly sobers when Sam glares at him. “Anyway, why would Thanos want to team up with Crowley? And how do they even know each other? An alien and a demon?” He hangs his head, “Why is this our life?”
“Crowley will do anything to get what he wants. If Thanos has promised him souls, regardless of how they’ve discovered the other, he’s going to do it. He’s calculating, too, but power distracts him.”
Dean rolls his eyes at Sam, “Shiny things distract him. It’s not that hard. Wave a brand new, designer suit in his direction, and he has to change his underwear. The question is, what are we going to do? Dealing with Crowley is one thing, but Thanos?”
“I say we go find this Crowley and beat the information out of him. That tends to work on my enemies.” Thor stands up straighter, his chest puffed out.
Y/N laughs, “That’s not going to work, Thor. Crowley doesn’t fall for that kind of thing, you’d never be able to get your hands on him. Me, on the other hand, he has a soft spot for. Anything to irritate my brothers. I can get the information from him.”
“Absolutely not!” Dean steps down from the platform and heads over to the small bar that Tony has set up in his workspace. “You are not going to use your…your feminine wiles to get what you want from a demon king. You know what he is! He doesn’t have a soft spot for anyone.”
“Oh, come on, Dean. I can do it. He’s always liked me, even more than he likes you. I can do this! Get in, get out, nothing to it. I just need to cast the spell, see where he is.”
“I said no, Y/N.You aren’t going to talk to him.” Before Tony can stop him, Dean pours a shot glass, tips it back, and pours another one. “As a matter of fact, you aren’t staying here. You’re going to go home until we get this taken care of.”
“Go home?! I am not going to go home! The end of the world is practically nigh, and you just want me to leave?”
“I want you to be safe. I want you to be alive. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this kind of fight, not everyone makes it. I refuse to watch you die because you’re too damn hard headed to go somewhere safe.”
“I am a grown ass woman, Dean. I found you, by myself, and it wasn’t exactly an easy road getting there. I have seen you become a monster to stop evil, I’ve seen Sam practically destroy himself in order to save the world, and you just think you’re going to bench me? It’s bullshit, Dean.”
“Y/N, go back to the bunker. That’s an order.” Sam opens his mouth to speak, but snaps it shut when Y/N glares at him.
She shifts her gaze to Dean and speaks, her voice low, “Okay, John. But I’ll tell you right now, if I leave, I’m not going to the bunker. I’m going to my actual home, not some trash heap you call the bat cave, legacy.” She storms off towards the elevator and the room falls silent as they all stare at her retreating back.
“Dean-” Sam starts, but Dean throws a hand up and holds a whiskey bottle up in the other.
“Who’s ready for a story?”