When Worlds Collide

Chapter 5

“So here’s the deal,” Kevin announced scarcely two hours later after absconding with the laptop to research the case. “This Tesseract thing is kind of a biggie.  According to this, it was involved in World War II on the Nazi side - well, sort of.”

“What do you mean, ‘sort of?’” Sam asked as he sipped coffee.  

“Well - apparently one of the Nazi supporters was called “Hydra.” And the Nazis couldn’t really control them - Hydra made off with the Tesseract mid-war and started to work on its own weapons,” Kevin explained.  “Until this guy named Steve Rogers infiltrated the base, killed the baddies and submerged himself and the cube into the middle of the Arctic.”

“Cool,” Dean grinned.

“But what’s the Cube doing topside, then?” Sam worried.

“Well, here’s where it gets complicated,” Kevin exhaled. “Some big-time eco-guy, Tony Stark, digs them both up from the bottom of the ocean.  Government snatches the cube, and somehow Rogers gets back in action.  THEN,” he wiggled his eyebrows in anticipation of revealing the big part, “Antler Guy - whose name is Loki, by the way - somehow zaps into the middle of a high-security government research facility, shoots Director Fury - that’s Eyepatch - somehow possesses Archer Boy, real name Agent Barton, and makes off with the cube.”

“That’s a lot of ‘somehows,’” Castiel noted.

Kevin nodded. “Agreed.  But the rumor is that something big is gonna go down soon.  These government guys - the division is called SHIELD, by the way - think they’ve got it all figured out, but they don’t know about the demon possession thing.”

“As usual,” Dean said, rolling his eyes.  “Here’s the problem - this could be Hell’s next big play.  For all we know Abbadon is back in commission and possessing whoever the heck this is.  And we’re over here in Nowheresville when all the action is in New York.”

“We’d never get there in time, not without my angel.. privileges,” Castiel frowned.

“Guys….” Sam stared down at the table.  “Can’t demons do that thing, too?”

“What?  The zappy thing?” Kevin asked.  “Uh, I think so.”

“Well - we kinda have the King of Hell in our basement.”

“Alright, you son of a bitch, here’s how this is going to work,” Dean slammed the cell doors behind him, leaving the five of them in the small, dank cell.  “You are going to zap us to New York City.  Specifically SHIELD Headquarters.”

“And why would I do that?” Crowley drawled. He looked nearly the same as the last time they’d seen him (which was over a month ago, actually) except for a wild-rabbit look in his eyes.  Dean smirked, and called the bluff.

“Because you’re bored, Crowley.  You’re bored out of your skull, and probably going more than a little stir-crazy,” Dean made a twirling motion next to his head, the international symbol for insanity.  “Plus… after so long, I’m gonna guess that the demonic world is kinda moving on.  They’ve probably assumed you’re long gone and they’ve got another black-eyed bastard running things now.”  Crowley twitched. Dean threw his head back and laughed.  “And here’s the best thing - everything is going down in New York City, probably within this week.  And you - the King of Hell, for now - want to stay here in this dark little cell.”

“But hey, if you don’t wanna be in the middle of the biggest party since the crucifixion, we’ll just drive,” Kevin laughed.  Everyone made for the door.  Dean’s heart beat loudly as Crowley stayed quiet, quiet for too long, until the door was almost shut behind them and he heard a tiny “...wait.”