Chapter 7
“You okay there, G-man?”
Coulson looks up from staring at his crossed arms and contemplates Y/N for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. “I’m not entirely sure okay is the term you’re looking for.” He leans forward and rests his chin against his hand. “You’re telling me that there is an actual King of Hell, and you just decided that working with him was your best course of action?” He looks genuinely confused, like he wants to believe her, but, despite what he’s already seen, can’t quite wrap his brain around the concept of Heaven, Hell, and everything in between.
“I never said I thought it was the best course of action. Of course it wasn’t, we’re talking about Crowley.”
“And Crowley is the King of Hell.” He narrows his eyes in thought, his lips a tight line as he ponders the implications of that information. “What about Lucifer? I was of the assumption that he would be the King of Hell, considering he’s the actual devil. Or at least, what modern day Christianity teaches us, anyway. Why is Crowley the head…whatever he is?”
She rolls her eyes and puts her hands behind her head as she leans back in her chair, her feet propped on the table in front of her. Coulson had given up hours ago trying to get her to stop, and is now focused more on her face. “Lucifer is a separate problem. He was bad, Daddy punished him, and now he’s locked in a cage. You think Crowley is bad…” she whistles, “Trust me, dealing with Crowley is a cakewalk compared to that.”
“Why is he so interested in you, anyway? Seems like he’s dealt with your brothers more, why do you matter in his grand scheme?”
She laughs, “No one matters in his grand scheme, except for himself. I’m the…what would you call it…pawn, I guess is the word you’re looking for, in this particular situation. He brought me to Sam and Dean, now they owe him. He’s enamoured with me, sure, but I just think it’s because I look more like Dean and he likes Dean.” She winks and Coulson clears his throat, breaking eye contact with her.
“Alright, well, can you tell me more about how James Barnes played a part in all this? Considering he just managed to get out of the spotlight, I find it hard to believe he thought it beneficial to him to get involved in this mess, but I’m all ears.”
“Bucky finally thinks for himself, no thanks to you guys. I don’t speak for him.”
“So the information I received regarding his sudden interest in you-”
“That’s not any of your business and has no part in all this.”
Coulson looks down at the open manila folder propped between the table in front of him and his thighs for a moment, shuts it, then picks it up and slides it across the table. Y/N stares at it, unblinking, then looks back up at Coulson.
“What is this?”
“Why don’t you take a look?” She sighs, then reaches out and lifts the corner of the folder with her pointer finger. She holds it partially open, eyes locked on the image, her face unreadable. She lets it drop shut, then sits back in her chair.
“I don’t see why that matters. You got a picture, big deal. Doesn’t matter.”
“I’m afraid it does. Because, despite the fact that I know all of them are involved, this is the only picture we’ve got that shows any of them. I’m on your side, Y/N, on their side, but I can’t speak for them if I don’t know what happened. Right now, this isn’t a sanctioned Avengers mission. This is Bucky going rogue. And I think we all know how the last time went.” Her eyes snap up to meet his, but she remains silent. “Y/N, please, I’m begging you. Tell me what happened after you decided to meet with Crowley.”
Her gaze drops back down to the folder, and she takes a deep breath.
“Fine. So Crowley isn’t the easiest demon to find, and he wasn’t answering his phone, so we had to go old school…”
“What is all this?” Bucky picks up the hastily written list and looks it over, his brow raised.
“Some of it is normal, everyday stuff. Some of it is herbs that aren’t as common, but not too weird. And then you’ve got the stuff we don’t really need to talk about. Summoning the King of Hell is less than pleasant, for more than one reason.” She grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder, “Guess it’s time for a milk run.”
“Can I, uh, can I come with you?”
“You want to come buy spell ingredients with me?”
He shrugs, his hands in his pockets, “I don’t have to, just interested. Little different than what I’m used to. Although after fighting Red Skull, then being cryogenically frozen, nothing is that surprising anymore.”
“Fair.” She turns back to where Sam and Tony are speaking in hushed tones, “Hey nerds, we’re going on a supply run. Need anything else?”
They each mutter mumbled no’s and Bucky shakes his head, “Are we sure it’s a good idea to leave those two alone?”
She shrugs, “No worse than leaving those two alone.” She nods towards where Dean and Thor are swapping stories, Dean’s eyes on Thor’s hammer sitting on the table next to him.
“Yea…”
“Dean, we’re going. Need anything?”
“Pie and beer! Do not forget the pie.”
“I like this man! It seems he has his priorities straight. Bring back plenty of ale!” Thor practically roars, and Dean looks pleased.
“You’re not that bad after all.” He looks back to Y/N, “Don’t. Forget.”
“Okay, okay, pie and beer. Let’s go, Buck.” They disappear around the corner, and Sam glances over his shoulder towards Dean.
“What’s that all about?”
“What?”
“Her and Bucky. He went with her.”
“Better than her going alone. I mean, what could happen when she’s being escorted around by a dude with a metal arm?”
“Not how I expected you to react, but okay.”
Dean throws his hands out in exasperation, “What do you want me to do? You did see what happened when I told her what to do, right? I’m not doing it again. No, you can do that if you want, but I’m staying out of it.”
“Barnes is a good man, she is in safe hands. Though I would not have minded escorting her myself…” Thor trails off and Dean glares.
“Listen, I said you weren’t that bad, but that doesn’t mean I’m good with you having X-rated thoughts about my sister.”
“Alpha males, am I right?” Tony elbows Sam, then spins around and starts typing into the keyboard behind him.
“Are you not one of them?” Sam asks with a poorly hidden smile, and Tony looks at him over his glasses.
“I am in a class of my own. An alpha alpha male. I defy any classification, really.”
“Don’t let him fool you, he’s just like them.” Tony turns to face the new voice, and he spreads his arms out as she approaches him.
“Pepper, honey, what are you doing down here?”
“Happy told me that we had company, I wanted to see just how much trouble we’re in this time.” She holds her hand out to Sam, “Pepper Potts.”
He shakes her hand, his totally engulfing hers, “Sam Winchester, and that” he gestures towards Dean, “is my brother Dean. My sister, Y/N, is currently out on a supply run, but she should be back soon.”
Pepper nods, then looks over her shoulder at Tony who makes it a point not to make eye contact with her, “What kind of supplies?”
“Well, that’s kind of a long story-”
“Sweetheart, why don’t you go upstairs and see if we can’t get some food catered for our impromptu party guests. What about that new Japanese place, hmm? I’m craving some of their sushi.”
“Tony Stark, what is going on?” She crosses her arms, her eyes narrowed, and Tony smiles nervously.
“It’s nothing, Pepper, just something we need to take care of. Like Sam said, long story. But we’re getting it figured out, so you don’t need to worry about that. You’ve got enough to deal with. So…Japanese place? Sushi? Please?” He gives her a peck on the cheek, and she rolls her eyes, though there’s a hint of a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth.
“You are such a liar.” She looks back to Sam, “It’s nice to meet the both of you. Maybe you’ll tell me that long story later.” She gently grasps Tony’s chin and makes him look at her, “Don’t do anything too stupid, do you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She looks at him for a moment, then sighs in resignation, “I’ll order the food.” She walks upstairs and Dean whistles.
“So that’s who’s actually in charge? Now it all makes so much sense.”
Tony shoots him a glare but says nothing. Instead, he walks to the computer and taps the keys a little too hard, then flips the screen around. “Okay, so here’s the deal. We’ve got to trap your friend the King, right?”
Dean nods, “Yea, but our usual thing is a demon trap spray painted on something. Crowley is too smart for that, usually. We’ve had our share of luck, but I doubt it would work this time.”
“Yea, well, you’re not going to spray paint anything. Do you know how expensive all this stuff is? The ceiling alone is probably worth more than your car.” Sam grimaces and waits for Dean’s inevitable response, but for once, he stays quiet. “Anyway, your normal trap isn’t going to work.” He taps the space bar and a digital version of the devil’s trap pops up on the thin, transparent screen.
“Oh look, a useless computer file. I thought you were supposed to be some sort of genius.” Dean leans back and crosses his arms.
“Who says the devil’s trap has to be there the whole time?” Sam hurriedly interjects.
Dean tilts his head, “What do you mean?”
“What if we can summon him, and then trap him wherever we want? He can even look around, see that we’re not trying to trap him. It lulls him into a false sense of security, and it gets us what we want.”
“How the hell are we going to manage that?”
“You’re going to manage that because I’m some sort of genius. Jarvis, show ‘em.”
Yes, sir.
Suddenly, the small image on the screen is on the ceiling, then moves along the ceiling in various patterns.
“A projection?”
“Not a projection. The ceiling is made of individual modules, so that the image is imbedded in it. Unlike a projection, which can be broken if something crosses the beam, this is organic, a part of the actual structure.”
“So we get him here, then activate that and he can’t go anywhere? Why’s it moving then?”
“That’s the best part, Dean, we can let him move around like he’s not trapped. All we have to do is give the command, and it’ll limit his movement. He doesn’t even have to know the trap is there until we want him to.”
“What…the…hell…” Dean whispers, his eyes on the image in the ceiling.
“Like you said, genius. No need to apologize, your absolute shock is enough.”
“Does that mean it can’t be broken? He’ll just be …trapped there? Like, forever, if we wanted?”
Tony sits on the edge of his desk and nods, “Theoretically speaking. Nothing is unbreakable, but this is damn near close. It would take significant damage to render it useless. Jarvis, switch it off, please.”
The image disappears, and Dean shakes his head. “This is insane. We need that everywhere we go.”
“Yea, well, I don’t think this is quite portable enough,” Sam says as he rolls his eyes.
“I mean, I could think of something.” Tony grins and Dean’s eyes grow big. “Anyway, what do we do now?”
Sam joins Dean and Thor at the table, “Now, we wait.”
Y/N stops in front a dingy door surrounded by dumpsters and looks at the paper in her hand.
“This doesn’t look questionable at all.” Bucky looks around, frowning as a rat runs along the wall before disappearing behind a cardboard box, its edges wet with mysterious stains.
Y/N laughs, “You have no idea.” She slips the paper back into her pocket and knocks, an uneven rhythm, pauses, then knocks two more times. The barred window slides open and two barely visible eyes peep through. “I’ve got a message from the Roadhouse.” The window slides shut with a snap, and Y/N steps back.
“The Roadhouse?”
“It was a bar, but hunters were the usual patrons. It burned down years ago.”
The door swings open, and a tiny, old woman pokes her head around the corner. “Whaddya want?”
“I need to do some summoning, and I was told that Nadine was the one to help me out. Name’s Y/N Winchester.”
The door opens wider, and the lady steps aside to let them past, “Well, you found Nadine, and the name Winchester sure rings a bell, though I don’t recall ol’ John having a girl.”
“You’re thinking of Sam and Dean. John wasn’t always as careful with other aspects of his life as he was hunting.”
“I heard he got a little careless with that, too.” Nadine shuts the door and walks past them and towards the counter.
“You aren’t wrong, Nadine.” She fishes around in her pocket, then hands her the crumpled list. “I know what most of this is, but some of it I don’t, and we’re in a bit of a hurry. Think you could help me find it?”
Nadine looks over the list, her brow furrowed, and looks back up at Y/N, “This is a strong summoning spell you’re tryin’ to work. What’s a little girl like you trying to find?”
“More like what are my brothers trying to find. I’m just the errand girl.”
Nadine nods and walks towards the back of the store, “I’ve learned to not question anyone involved with the Winchesters. I’ll be right back, sweetie.” She slips past a curtain, and Y/N turns to see Bucky fiddling with a cat skull.
“What are you doing?”
“Is this real?”
“Yes, probably, now put it down!”
He sets it gently back where he found it, “Is it that sacred or whatever?”
“No, it’s just gross.” She walks over to a shelf filled with old, leather bound books, and plucks one off the top. “Ooo, I’ve been looking for this.” She flips through the pages, and wrinkles her nose at the puff of dust that comes off of it. “I messed up Sam’s copy when I was doing research one day. Let’s just say Diet Coke is not kind to two hundred year old parchment.” She tucks it under her arm, and Bucky follows her as she wanders the store.
“So this is…normal…for you?”
She shrugs, “Nah, not really. I mean, of course we have people we go to for help with lore, for bits and bobs and whatever else we need for spells, but there’s not usually a whole store. It’s New York City, though, so I’ll take advantage of it when I have it.” She stops at a picture hanging on the wall and gives a quiet laugh, “I’ll be damned.” She gently pulls it down and wipes some dust off the glass.
“Who is it?”
“It’s my Mom and Dad. I had no idea this picture even existed, I wonder how Nadine got it.”
“Your parents came in here more than once.” Y/N turns to see Nadine push her way through the curtain, arms full of spell ingredients, “I really liked them. That whole group, honestly. John wasn’t around as much, but they were always very kind.” She piles everything Y/N asked for on the counter, then puts her hand on Y/N’s arm. “I’m sorry about your mother, sweetie. I know it’s got to be hard to see someone disappear right in front of you.” She goes around the end of the counter and starts punching numbers into the register. Bucky frowns and tilts his head, his eyes trained on Y/N.
“How did you know that?”
“Not all psychics are fake, love, I would have thought you knew that.” The cash register dings, and the drawer slides open. She shuts it, then begins bagging up everything.
“How much is all that?”
“Nothing, it’s on the house. I don’t know what you kids are up to, but if your brothers are anything like your father, it’s probably going to save the city, whatever it is. You Winchesters have a habit of being in the middle of something big. Don’t think I haven’t heard.” She takes the picture from Y/N and takes it out of the frame, carefully rolling it and slipping it down into a cardboard tube. “You can have this, it’s not doing any good here.” She hands the bag to Y/N, who carefully slides it into her backpack before slipping it onto her shoulders.
“Thanks, Nadine.”
“Not a problem-” she cuts off and her eyes close, rolling behind her lowered lids, as Y/N grabs her arm.
“Nadine, are you okay? Nadine?”
She shakes her head and her eyes pop open, “You need to go.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Demons. Demons are coming, you have to leave.”
“We can’t leave you here!”
Nadine pushes Y/N towards the back, and Bucky follows, looking over his shoulder as they go. “I’ll be fine, I always am. You two are the ones they want. You gotta go. Take the stairs, go to the roof. There’s a bridge between the buildings, you can use that to cross over and go down the other side. Now hurry.”
“Be careful, Nadine.” Bucky grabs Y/N’s arm and starts pulling her up the back stairs.
“You too, sweetie. Don’t be a stranger.” Y/N’s chest tightens when the door shuts, and she loses sight of the sweet old woman.
“We can’t just leave her, Bucky!” She struggles to get out of his grasp, but he pulls her closer to him, his eyes locking with hers.
“I don’t want to, but you heard her. She’ll be okay, she hasn’t lived this long without knowing how to get out of a sticky situation. But right now, we need to get out of here, and get back to Sam and Dean. We need to get back to the Tower. They can’t do anything if they don’t have these ingredients, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Now, let’s go.” Y/N lets Bucky pull her up the stairs and towards the roof.
“Go through this door!” Bucky hisses, as he tears open the door below the roof entrance.
“She said to go to the roof. What are you doing?”
“We aren’t going to make the roof, they’re already up there. Now go!” He shoves her through, then quietly slips the door shut. He grabs a pipe sticking out of the wall and pulls it free, then jams it through the door handles and twists it as tight as he can. “Go, go, go! We don’t have much time.” They race quietly through the building, staying below the cubicle walls as well as they can as they navigate the maze like office.
Suddenly, Bucky shoves her into a cubicle and she slides to a stop on her knees, breathing heavily as she glares at him, “What the hell was that?” she hisses.
He puts a finger to his mouth and shakes his head. She listens, and there it is; the unmistakable sound of feet on tile as whoever is coming after them walks down the hallway towards them.
“What are we going to do?”
Bucky leans around the cubicle, his long hair falling from the elastic that was holding it, and obscuring his face. His head drops, then he turns back to look at her. “I know we just met, and this sounds crazy, but how much do you trust me?”
Y/N shrugs, “I don’t know, Carly Rae Jepsen, what are you planning?”
Bucky frowns, his brows furrowed, “Who the hell is that?”
“No one, never mind, what’s your plan?”
“How good are you with heights?”
“Bucky…”
“How good?”
“I don’t know! I’ve never…I don’t….ugh! If it’s going to save my life, then pretty good I guess. You know what, don’t even tell me what you’re getting ready to do. Just do it.”
“That’s the spirit. I need you to get on my back.”
“What? You are crazy.”
“Do you want whoever that is to find us, or do you want to get out of here and have a fighting chance of getting to Sam and Dean?”
She groans, “Okay, fine. But you owe me dinner or something if we make it out of this alive.”
“Sounds like a plan. Now get on my back.” He kneels in front of her, and she hooks her knees around his hips, her arms wrapped around his neck. He looks over his shoulder at her, and she could swear she sees a little glint. “Hang on, doll.”
He stands, then takes off running as hard as he can towards the bank of glass windows in front of them. The moments after that are a blur to Y/N. Bucky twists his body so that his shoulder hits the glass first, and shards of glass rain down on them as they fly through the window. The shock of it is so great that Y/N can’t even scream. Bucky lands with a screeching slide as he hits the building next door, the angled roof slowing their descent. He jumps off the edge of that one, grabs the railing of the building next to it, and pulls them onto the balcony. “Don’t let go.”
Y/N can’t answer as he takes off again, running faster than anyone she’s ever seen. He runs into the building, taking the stairs three at a time until he hits the lobby. People jump out of their way and stare as he slams through the double doors and out onto the sidewalk.
Y/N slides off his back and hits the ground, her hands on her knees as she tries to get her breath back. “That…what…what the hell?!”
“Sorry, it was the fastest way out.”
She straightens, trying to force the laughter bubbling just under the surface down. “Fastest? It was the…well, you aren’t wrong. Oh my God.” She looks back over to the building and sees at least four men wandering the lobby, clearly looking for them. “We have to go.”
“I think it’s a little late for that.” He nods over her shoulder and she turns to see two more behind her, pushing their way through the crowd.
“Aww, shit. What do we do?”
“You aren’t going to do anything.” Bucky puts himself between her and the two men, “You need to run.”
“But-”
“I said run, Y/N. I’ll be right behind you.” He pushes her in the opposite direction, and she does as he asks, looking over her shoulder as the two demons approach him.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck…” she fumbles her phone out of her pocket and dials one of the only numbers in it, gasping for air as she listens to it ring. She groans when it goes to voicemail, and waits for the message to end. “Dean, answer your damn phone. We are royally boned, make sure you’re ready. It’s bad, Dean. It’s…it’s bad. I’ll be there soon.”
She hangs up and shoves the phone into her pocket before veering off the main path and into an alley. She can see Avengers Tower on the other side, a beacon of safety, and she sprints faster. Suddenly she’s cut off by a large man, and she slides to a stop, breathing heavily as she stares him down.
Yep. Royally boned.