Searching Purgatory [COMPLETED]

Chapter Twelve

Gabriel informed the group that he had some 'connections' in Boston that owed him a favor or two. Sam, Meg, and Cas all opted to stay behind to help Lauren when she woke up so it was just Gabriel, Sage and Dean.

They fluttered down in front of a large skyscraper with the rain falling and soaking them to the bone. Dean looked around at the people huddled under umbrellas and scurrying into the nearest buildings.

Gabriel took a deep breath through his nose and sighed. "It has been too long."

"Are your connections out here in the rain?" Dean demanded, growing more impatient by the second.

Gabriel smirked. "Cassandra would never be caught dead out here." He started walking and nodded for the other two to follow him inside the large skyscraper in front of them. "Come on guys. And be careful not to drink to much. Cassandra can get a little...crazy when people are wasted."

Dean raised an eyebrow at Sage and she rolled her eyes, but they followed Gabriel inside. The lobby inside was completely empty save for the large, leather clad security guard sitting at the desk. Gabriel walked right up to the desk and grinned at th guard. 

"We need to see Cassandra," Gabriel stated.

The guard grunted. "No appointment, no visual." 

Gabriel frowned and then fished around in his pocket for something before slamming a hand down on the table. "I don't need an appointment, I'm VIP. And these two are with me."

The guard took something from Gabriel's hand and then nodded. "I assume you know what to do?"

Gabriel nodded and took back the object, flipping it in the air allowing his two companions to see that it was a small gold coin. "Thanks." He led them away to an elevator and the doors dinged open. Gabriel pressed the coin in his hand into a small indentation just under the panel of buttons that Dean would have otherwise overlooked. 

"So basically don't eat or drink anything," Gabriel said as they started descending. "It's probably loaded with weed or some other drug. And don't talk to anybody." He thought for a second. "Just stay close and don't talk to strangers. Think you can handle that, kids?" He was grinning like a madman at Dean and Sage.

Sage rolled her eyes again but a shadow of a smile played on her lips. 

Dean nodded in response and waited, more anxious now than he was sure he'd ever been, for the doors to open and to find the key that would help him get Zoe back.

* * * * * * * * * *

"What do you see?" Benny called from below. 

Zoe had scaled one of the tallest trees in Purgatory to see if they had a clear line to the river. Benny had assured her that he usually did this himself but that she seemed more comfortable about the whole ordeal than he would be.  She looked down through the branches at his almost ant-size form. "I think we're good," she called back to him. She made her way back down the tree until she was standing next to him. 

Benny looked at her in awe or wonder or surprise. "I might just have to keep you around, Zoe."

Zoe grinned proudly. "Then you'd better tell me more about this Purgatory place."

Benny smiled. "We have eternity in this place soI have eternity to talk to you about it. I'm really surprised you haven't heard about it." He started walking again and Zoe followed right next to him, listening eagerly for what he had to tell her. 

"You're a shifter, right?" Benny asked and Zoe nodded. "Well, that explains it. Shifters are lone wolves--you don't find packs of them around. Purgatory is like, well it's a monster's hell. We don't have the normal souls of a human being so we don't get fire and brimestone or clouds and harps. We get...here." He spread his arms to show what he  meant. 

"How come nobody talks about it as much as they do with Hell and Heaven? I mean, why does nobody talk about Purgatory as often as they do with the other places?" Zoe asked. 

Benny smirked. "You're just hanging around the wrong people, darlin'. Where I'm from, we talk about it all the time."

Zoe's brow furrowed. "Where are you from?"

Benny's smile turned sad. "That's a story for a different time."

Zoe pouted but let it drop. She wasn't going to push him. 

"The river's just beyond that break of trees there," Benny pointed to the trees up ahead. 

"And why are we going to the river, again?" 

"First step of survival, darlin.' Head for the main water source."

"Survival?"

"Did I forget to mention that part about this hell hole?" Benny asked. "Here, it's every man for himself."

Zoe smiled at the correction but her heart sank. She had a few reasons to feel nervous and disappointed. First, she could defend herself pretty well but fighting in the Hunger Games for the rest of eternity didn't sound like the greatest idea ever. Second, if it was "every man for himself," what was Benny doing? Why was he helping her out if he was just supposed to be looking out for himself?

"So what about you? What's your story?" Benny interrupted her thoughts. 

Zoe looked up at him, sure he wouldn't want to know she was cozy with the Winchester brothers. They were popular among monsters for killing tons of monsters. So she just shrugged. "What do you wanna know?"

"How'd you end up down here?"

"Same as you, I'm assuming."

He smiled as if he was sharing an inside joke or something. "I doubt that, darlin'." 

"And why's that?"

"I came down here as a favor to aan old friend," Benny explained.

Zoe frowned, wondering why he was being so vague. "What was his name?"

"I don't talk about him down here much. He's not very well liked in our little hell."

"Well why not?"

Benny chuckled, shaking his head. "Because he's the reason most monsters are stuck down here."

Finally, the pieces in her head clicked. "Dean." 

Benny raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"

She nodded. 

"I'm sorry. Is hethe reason you're down here?"

Zoe paused before responding. She didn't really blame him at all for what happened because--if she needed to blame anybody--she blamed Crowley. But, technically speaking, yes it was his fault. But she didn't want to give Benny the wrong idea. 

"Um, sort of?"

"Now what's that supposed to mean?"

Zoe shurgged. "It's kind of a long story."

"And I've got eternity to hear it."

"I'll tell you my story if you tell my yours," Zoe countered. 

"The whole story?" Benny whistled. "Now that'll take an eternity."

"I'm all ears," Zoe assured him. 

"Alright, darlin', get comfortable."