Chapter 9

Zachariah was beyond pissed.

Someone, and he still had no idea who, had managed to forcibly send the yellow-eyed demon to heaven. The demon had no idea who it was, outside of the fact that it was male with black hair and green eyes. It was also very firmly on the side of the younger Winchesters.

And that simply wouldn't do. Not if they were going to get those two idiots to play their roles later.

Which meant this new player had to be eliminated. Yellow-eyes was expendable...he had children who could take up his role. But the interference of a powerful new player was something that could not continue.

Time to send an expendable angel down below to return the playing field back to normal.

"I hate you so much right now," said Sam.

"Suuuure...you do," said Harry with a snicker.

Dean was currently spoiling their furry partner rotten. It was thanks to him they found the monster without embarrassing themselves. Bones loved the attention, since usually he had to steal leftovers of Dean's pie habit for the older of the two to notice him.

Dean originally had said no to the dog in the car, but upon seeing how well behaved Bones was and how happy it made his brother, he relented. Every once in a while the dog was very useful, but most of the time he ignored it's existence so long as Sam took care of it.

Harry, however, was taking the time to mock Sam's fear of clowns. Needless to say the man wasn't very happy with it.

Things between Harry and the Winchester brothers had become somewhat relaxed since Azazel was sent to heaven...where he was immediately annihilated in the most painful manner possible via angels.

With the knowledge that the demon who killed their mother was finally dead, the brothers felt it was time to relax a bit.

Because of the way Harry dealt with the demon, they had avoided being rammed into by a semi...and unknown to the brothers, losing their father and the Colt in the process.

Harry had no doubt Azazel's son and daughter would continue where he left off, but for now the brothers finally had some form of vengeance for what happened to their mother. The fact it came about because Sam had befriended what their father called a 'monster' was just irony to them. The fact of the matter was that out of everything they hunted, Harry was by far the nicest non-human they had ever met, and they would be fools to betray him because he wasn't entirely human.

In another state, a man was taking out the garbage when he felt something approach and a voice ask him a question. Because he was a man who fully believed in heaven and god, he said yes.

Nearby the sound of a car speeding off in the distance was heard by the woman inside. She thought nothing of it...until her husband didn't return to the house after ten minutes. Looking outside, she found the garbage cans on their side on the street, the contents spilling out. Fearing the worst, she looked for her husband in vain...and finally realized that someone may had kidnapped him.

She immediately called the cops.

Harry was heading to meet the Winchesters. Despite his immaculate car of the Impala, the car had thrown a rod during a hunt and Bobby was currently on vacation. Meaning that Sam had to call Harry for a lift since he was the only one who could make it in time...and because Harry had more than enough tools to help Dean fix his Baby from the comfort of his home.

Shortly after introducing his brother to them, Harry had shown the two his 'house' which Tony had always flippantly called the 'TARDIS' after one too many Doctor Who marathons. At one point he had even painted the box Harry used to hold his home to match the ship's exterior.

It had amused him enough that he never bothered to cover it up...besides, he had been meaning to paint the thing anyway.

In any event, Dean would definitely be raiding Harry's supplies for something to fix his car with, once they were on the road.

So it was with a startled oath when he saw a man appear without warning in the road.

A man he knew only by the books he kept securely hidden in his library. He had clearly underestimated how much he had pissed off the heavenly host when he sent yellow-eyes up.

He was going to make sure Jimmy Novak stayed with his family where he belonged...even if that meant he made Castiel a disembodied angel stuck in the digital realm of the internet.

If this was Castiel that is. If not...well heaven would be down an angel.

Harry parked the RV, and went outside. Hidden under his shirt were the Infinity Gems. Instead of a Gauntlet he used an armband...mainly because it was easier to explain than a bulky metal gauntlet. He never understood why it was so essential to use all the Gems through something as distinctive as that.

Outside was the body of Jimmy Novak...though Loki had the distinct feeling this was Castiel, given the eye color was a piercing blue and not brown. He was pleased to note his guess on the color wasn't too far off when he made that AI.

"You are the one who sent the demon into heaven."

The angel's voice was flat and gravelly.

"I am."

"Why?"

"Partially out of amusement, but also because there was no way my friend or his brother would be able to kill Azazel without harming their father in the process. At least, not at the moment."

He could have exorcised the demon, but that would have left Azazel with the chance to take over some other poor bastard. Frankly it was a better idea just to kill him now rather than have the demon come after him later.

It was also a very good test on his ability to handle the Soul Gem, which was arguably the most dangerous of the set. Yes he still heard whispers, but by and large he ignored the damn thing. The only reason he was even wearing the Gems on his person was because he had anticipated some form of retaliation from the angels...specifically Zachariah.

He just hadn't expected them to send what he could only hope was Castiel so early.

The angel tilted his head in confusion.

"You do not belong here."

"Of course not. I came from another side of the multiverse. Now, which angel are you?" asked Loki.

"I am Castiel."

Loki's grin openly frightened the angel.

"Oh good. And here I had worried for a moment I had gotten someone completely intolerable," said the pagan rather pleased.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm fairly certain your Father sent me to fix things, since he could not. That is the only explanation for why I somehow received the complete set of the Winchester Gospels before they were even written," said Loki honestly.

Castiel clearly had no idea what to say to that.

"Now, what am I going to do with you? I cannot in good conscience allow you to parade around wearing that poor man's body, even if he is your true vessel. And I can't have you reporting to Zachariah about my true nature just yet...not before I find my alternate self," said Loki. Castiel looked distinctly panicked. Loki fake sighed.

"I suppose I'll simply have to make you...indisposed...for a little while."

Before the angel could get away, Loki used the soul gem to snag his soul and stuff it in a vial. He would have to wait until he found Dean before he could put Castiel into his AI form...if he could. If not then the AI was about to have his own double running around the internet.

A few minutes later, Jimmy Novak woke up rather abruptly.

"So, any idea where he dragged you from?" asked Harry gently.

Jimmy looked rather panicked.

"Look, just tell me where Castiel picked you up and I'll make sure you get back home where you belong...and next time, when an angel asks you to serve, say no. You have a more important job in keeping your family together," said Harry flatly.

Jimmy felt himself choke...but he took a deep breath anyway. He told Harry where he had come from, and once he took the image from Jimmy's mind he apparated them both straight to the house. He conjured up an illusion of a car and then knocked on the door.

Never before was Harry glad that he had a silver tongue. Or that he had finally gotten over his aversion to physical contact...Amelia Novak nearly choked him from how strong her hug was.

Jimmy was just glad he was able to stay with his family.

Harry promptly shoved Castiel's true form into an empty arc reactor, since otherwise he would have to stick it into the Soul Gem, which he refused to do. He was already using that thing too much.

Once inside a spare holoball, the angel promptly took the form of the vessel he borrowed until Harry forcibly took him out.

"What did you do to me?" Castiel asked, his voice more than a little hysterical.

"Outside of making sure you didn't accidentally ruin that poor man's life? Confirm something I've been wanting to see for a while now. You can interact with the world, but you can't touch it. And since the reactor I stuffed your soul in was made to hold something much stronger than you, it's unlikely your superiors would be able to get you out. You, sir, are now stuck like that until you prove it's worth the hassle to remove you," said Harry flatly.

He locked the door behind him, leaving a very panicked angel in the house.

It took him five minutes to reach Sam and Dean, mostly because he cheated and used the Tesseract to make a space bridge to the road.

Realizing what he had done, Harry knew he was getting too used to the Infinity Gems.

While Dean decided to take a nap, Harry promptly removed the armband and locked it firmly away. He then hid the key inside the small area of Gabriel's holoball, so the AI would be able to keep him from it.

Unless Gabriel allowed it, he would be unable to use the Gems, outside of the scheduled shipments from home.

Sam promptly took the wheel so Harry could sleep.

Thor was having a bad month. Since his return from wherever Loki had hidden himself, Odin had apparently realized his son knew exactly where his brother was.

And he was demanding Thor bring him back to face the consequences of his actions. Frigga kept her silence, but it was evident to anyone who watched her that she was distinctly upset with her husband at the moment. So much so that she put Odin through the Asgardian equivalent of sleeping on the couch. He thought she was being unreasonable, but he could do little to change his wife's thoughts on the matter.

So when Thor was requested in one of the more friendly realms, he went without considering it.

He found himself in a rather...worrying situation.

Hel wanted to see him, and she had used a pawn to insure he would meet her.

Thor bent down respectfully to the Ruler of the Dead.

"Lady Hel, you wished to see me?"

"Your brother Loki is beginning to change things, despite the fact he fled rather than face Odin. I allowed him to discover he had accidentally uncovered the Soul Gem, and he has used it more wisely than I anticipated. Which is why I am going to offer him two more to see if he is capable of handling the full set."

Thor's eyes widened.

"Loki does not desire the power the Infinity Stones can give him."

"Which is why he makes the best guardian for them. Who better to protect the power they contain than a man who can use them, but chooses to ignore he has them until the situation warrants their use?" said Hel.

Thor winced. Loki was not going to be happy being the guardian of two more Gems, even if it meant he was one Stone away from the complete set. And it would only add credence to Odin's belief that Loki desired power, even if he never once gave the Gauntlet more than a passing glance.

"You will contact Loki, and upon leaving this universe will hand the two Gems I have collected to your brother. If he proves capable of handling the power, I will reveal the location of the final stone."

Thor said nothing. What was there to say to the Ruler of the Dead? The only thing he could think of at that moment was that Loki was not going to be very happy with two extras to his collection.

Thor knew his brother. Loki most likely dumped the Stones in a drawer with the wand that amplified magical power a thousand times past the limits and the cloak that could hide one even from Death herself, and then promptly forgot he had them until he actually needed the power. And the only reason Thor knew of the artifacts was because Tony accidentally stumbled upon the cloak and proceeded to annoy Fury and the Son of Coul repeatedly with it. Fury had been most irritated when he found out that Loki was technically the "Master of Death" and yet no one was aware of the fact.

It was the same reason Loki refused to help the Avengers unless he had to. He didn't want the headache of someone coming after him in the hopes of gaining a false power.