City of Angels (and Demons)

Chapter Sixteen

Dark hadn't moved from where he was standing for hours, annoyed that they didn't have the decency to give him a chair. He didn't dare stoop so low to ask for one either. If they thought they had some sort of control over him by not giving him a chair, he wasn't about to prove them right by asking. The Devil's Trap was the only control they would have over him.

Until this Crowley shows up.

"Shut up," Dark said under his breath. It was late and everyone was asleep. And Dean was sleeping in the kitchen to make sure nothing happened to free Dark. It was foolish to fall asleep, but Dark couldn't do anything anyway. Because of the damn Devil's Trap!

He scares you.

Dark tried to fight back, pushing Mark aside, but Mark was fighting just as much to get out. Dark needed to be stronger.

"Mark?"

Mark forgotten, Dark turned to see Ryan walking into the kitchen, stopping at the fridge. A late night snack. Perfect. Dark looked over his shoulder at Dean, but he didn't react. Fate was on his side this time.

"Late night filming," Dark said, keeping his voice close to a whisper so as not to wake Dean. Or Sam, who was in the other room. "I was cleaning up." He knelt down, acting like he was scraping up the Devil's Trap. He couldn't do anything to it, but Ryan could.

Dark could feel Mark straining to warn Ryan, but it was no use. Dark had a goal to reach and Mark wasn't going to keep that from him.

Ryan closed the fridge without grabbing anything. "Attempting to clean up, you mean," he said, grabbing some cleaning supplies from under the sink then walked over, kneeling down on the floor in front of Dark. Just outside the Devil's Trap. Dark couldn't touch him.

Yet.

Ryan pushed the small bucket of water closer to Dark. Close enough for Dark to grab him, but Dark instead pretended to clean. Once Ryan broke through the spell...

Ryan suddenly stopped and looked at Dark. "Can we talk?" he asked. This was about his and Matt's working relationship with Mark. Dark didn't have time for this. The more Ryan talked, the higher the chances were of waking Dean up. And Dark wanted to be out of here before then.

But Mark still had some power. He was urging Dark to stay and listen. Mark's only hope would be if Dean woke up.

"This can't wait?" Dark asked. He knew the annoyance was plain in his voice by the look Ryan gave him. Pissed off and hurt. "I know things have been a little...difficult." Ryan rolled his eyes. "But things are gonna change. Soon." Having Ryan on his side would make things easier.

"We got the apartment today," Ryan said. Dark felt like he got punched in the gut and knew that was Mark reacting to the reality that Ryan and Matt were leaving. It was no longer something 'that could happen.' "Packing starts tomorrow."

"I understand the need for this to happen," Dark said, not entirely sure it was him talking right now. "And...I'm sorry it came to this. I'm sorry I pushed you to it." Mark had spoken through him and felt grateful that Dark had allowed it.

Ryan accepted it with a nod, a look of forgiveness on his face as he leaned forward, scrubbing at the Devil's Trap. That brief moment of friendship was gone as Dark felt the spell break. He was free.

Dark knocked Ryan out with a touch as he rose to his feet. He could have killed Ryan. It was the only thing Dark would ever do for Mark. Mark understood and accepted the fact that Dark couldn't be stopped.

Dark smiled then left.

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Dean woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. He started to pull it out then stopped when he saw Ryan lying on the floor by the Devil's Trap. Dark was nowhere in sight. Dean ignored the phone as he quickly got to his feet.

"Sammy!" Dean called, hurrying over to Ryan. He knelt down and checked for a pulse, relieved when he found one. He noticed the cleaning supplies and figured out the obvious: Dark had somehow talked Ryan into freeing him.

"Dean?" Sam walked in, seeing Ryan and then noticing that Dark was gone. "What the hell happened?"

"Hopefully Ryan can tell us.

"Cas will be here in about half an hour," Dean said, coming back inside after calling Castiel back. While Dean had been outside, Sam had been watching over Ryan. They had moved him to the couch after finding him on the kitchen floor.

Sam had only spent a few minutes thinking of how Dark talked Ryan into freeing him. Dark was in Mark's body, it wouldn't be the first time Dark had used that against his friends. Why Ryan had been there was a mystery unless he had gotten up in the middle of the night for a snack. They would know more once Ryan woke up.

Sam nodded, wishing Cas would get here sooner. "Amy's upstairs, stalling Matt," he said. They hadn't decided whether or not to tell Matt and Ryan about Dark, so they needed to come up with some other explanation about what happened last night. "What're we gonna do here, Dean?"

Dean looked at Ryan then back at Sam. "It's safer for them not to know," he said. "It'd be even safer if we just go after Dark now, but I can admit that they need some sort of explanation."

"Explanation for what?" Matt was coming downstairs, followed by Amy. And Ryan was waking up at the same time.

"Sit," Dean told Matt and Amy as Ryan was sitting up, looking confused about where he was. Sam didn't know why Dark hadn't killed Ryan. Maybe he didn't want to leave a longer trail of bodies.

Or maybe Mark had a hand in that.

Matt and Amy both walked over and sat down. Matt looked at Ryan, but said nothing. After a moment of silence, all three looked at Dean. Sam watched Dean silently. He saw the look on his brother's face and knew Dean was going to tell them the truth.

Then the door opened and Castiel and Crowley walked in, sooner than expected.