Searching Purgatory [COMPLETED]

Chapter Thirteen

There were strobe lights flashing neon colors across the...well Dean could only assume it was a club. Music pounded through speakers so loud that the bass shook Dean's whole body. 

Gabriel surged forward, pushing past drinking, dancing people and making a small trail across the room. Sage followed close behind and Dean hurried forward before he lost sight of them. 

Now they were in the crowd, surrounded by loads of people shoving drinks and platters of food in his face. He couldn't figure out which way led back to the elevator. He was shoved from side to side and pushed forward as people crowded around him. He took his eyes off Gabriel's back for half a second and when he looked back, Gabriel and Sage were gone. 

"Gabriel," he yelled, but his voice couldn't carry over the ear blasting music. Dean frowned and pushed a platter of...well he wasn't sure what it was, but he wasn't going to eat it. 

He shoved a couple of girls out of the way and plowed forward in hopes to eventually reach his angel guide. 

But then a new lady stepped in front of him. She had black hair braided over one shoulder and a sly smile on her face, dressed in all leather from her boots to her jacket. She regarded Dean and he was frozen in place, staring straight at her. He wanted to just push her over and keep going, but he couldn't--he was mesmerized. 

She stalked forward and draped her arms over his shoulders, around his neck. "Well hello," she murmured in his ear, her fingernails trailing over his shoulders. "I haven't seen you here before."

Dean had plenty of smart comments to shoot back to her but he felt like his mouth was full of cotton. 

"You've lost someone," she whispered, "someone you cared about."

Dean didn't respond. 

"You miss her, don't you?" She pressed her lips against his jaw and that finally shook him out of his frozen shock. 

He stepped back and was about to push her away when Gabriel and Sage showed up out of nowhere. 

"There you are, Cassandra," Gabriel shouted over the music. "You still owe me."

Cassandra frowned, letting go of Dean and crossing her arms over her chest. She looked at the three of them and then turned on her heel and began walking through the crowd. Gabriel followed and nodded, indicating for Dean and Sage to follow. 

They wound their way through the crowd until Cassandra pulled open a door in the back wall allowing them to go inside. 

They found themselves in a sort of storage room. Boxes were stacked floor to ceiling and bottles of liquor were shoved in cubbies along the walls. 

"What do you want, Gabriel?" Cassandra demanded, fists on her hips. 

"You had to know I would come to collect soon," Gabriel said, yanking the wrapper off of a red lollipop.

"It's been two hundred years," Cassandra countered. "Honestly, I forgot about it."

Gabriel pouted. "How could you forget me?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "What do you want?"

"We need a way to get into Purgatory," Gabriel told her. 

She cracked a smile and pulled a box over to her, sitting down on the edge of it. "I'm not rogue, Gabe."

"But you're a reaper," Gabriel argued. "So you can do it."

She crossed her legs. "Technically speaking, yes. But why would I?" She nodded at Dean. "He's a Winchester." 

"So?" Dean argued. 

She moved her gaze to him. "I know all about you Dean," she said. "I know what trouble follows you around and I don't want any part of it."

Dean frowned. He could feel the begging words rising up but he refused to give in. "Look, lady--" 

"I know about Zoe," Cassandra interrupted. "And, even better, I know how you felt about her and I'm sorry. But I can't help you."

She got to her feet but Gabriel moved to stand directly in front of her

"Do you really want to wait for me to come calling for my favor two hundred years from now? You owe me so you don't get to back down."

Cassandra glared at him. "You're an archangel. You take him in and out. Don't risk my ass just because you're too much a coward to risk your own."

The lights flickered and there was a dangerous look in his eyes as large shadows, that looked strangely like wings, stretched out behind him. 

"Don't insult me, Cassandra," Gabriel growled, his voice dangerously low. "You know as well as I do that I can't fly there without knowing where the entrance is. And that's a secret God never shared with any of us."

Dean could tell Cassandra was trying to keep her poker face, but she was afraid. 

Gabriel and Cassandra glared at each other, unblinking, for what seemed like forever. Finally, Cassandra sighed and sunk back down onto the box. 

"I will only do it with certain conditions."

* * * * * * * * * * 

Zoe sat on the banks of the river, thinking over all the things Benny had told her. He'd explained how he and Dean had met and how their friendship had dwindled once they were top side and told her how Dean had beheaded him so he could save Sam. 

There was one thing about Benny's story that bothered her. Why was Dean so okay being friends with a vampire but as soon as he found out she was anything but human, he threw a tantrum?

She finished organizing the large rocks into a makeshift fire  pit and looked around. The river was a blue-ish green color and there was a small current making miniscule waves against the pebbles on the bank and there was a slight breeze . Zoe sighed almost peacefully. 

Benny was back in the woods gathering wood for a fire. He insisted that they needed a fire to keep the monsters away from their source of water. 

Zoe's eyes wandered back to the river. As a young girl, Zoe had learned to swim and she loved it. She loved being in the water and she loved swimming. 

It only took a moment for Zoe to make a decision and, in a matter of seconds, she was stripping down to her underwear and running into the water.