Bobby had patiently waited for Michael's response after the meeting at the Swan. He had not known what it might be or when it would come, but he had assumed it shouldn't take long based on Michael's reaction that day.

It had been a nice surprise seeing a killing machine 'crack'. Michael had shown some emotions. For a human no less. Kye was definitely a special one. However, not in a million years, Bobby could have expected that.

A string of reports—only a week after the meeting—plastered on every news channel: Businesses and facilities were burnt to the ground; valuable weapons and assets were seized; people were killed and arrested. They all belonged or connected to Alastair at some point. Although no one could confirm if the guy was among hundreds of burnt-beyond-recognition bodies, Bobby didn't think Alastair's survival would make much of a difference.

It took the man years, if not decades, to put things in place, just for them to be destroyed in one night. His old allies scattered, and his opponents, such as Crowley, were both overjoyed and horrified that they would be next. Everyone was walking on eggshells.

That was a strong statement as it could get from Michael the archangel, so what happened next truly baffled Bobby—Absolutely nothing.

As if everything Michael had just done, while facing strong opposition from the Garrisons and Councils—since they believed Alastair was a necessary evil to keep the Resistance in check—didn't show how much he cared. Michael didn't contact Bobby again, not even once. The dust settled, and life moved on.

A month had passed. With no words from Michael, the Resistance had two choices: Keep Kye and help her settle in the camp, or let her go.

Bobby then informed Kye about the situation and asked her what she decided.

"I called home." Kye hunched forward to pick her fingernails. "They knew both Ruby and I were alive... They said I could stay if I wanted."

"So what do you want?"

"It's not like there's a reason for me to rush back..."

By some miracle or error, Kye's family still received the same amount of money every month as if she still worked at the loft. There were also no changes at Nick's school. Someone must have been paying the tuition fee consistently because there was no way her family could afford that. It had been a nice surprise that put Kye on an emotional roller coaster, but it could mean nothing.

He wouldn't do that, especially now, in the middle of a shitstorm, would he? Especially after what she had done. But if it was not him, then who?

At least, for as long as the free ride lasted, Kye could continue staying at the camp to take care of Ruby, so she was grateful. Her family didn't know about the state of her sister. She didn't intend to let them. It would just break their mom's heart when there was nothing the poor woman could do from that side.

"Ruby does well someday, but someday..." Kye looked out the window and shook her head. She tried her best to hold back the tears. Tears solved nothing.

"I know," Bobby sighed. "Who would have thought she could go off the deep end like that? But again, I should've known... It's one hell of a trigger. She drove like a crazy person that day to catch up with the convoy just to come back empty-handed... Anyone would have lost it." Bobby rubbed his face.

"It's actually gotten worse after, uhm, he attacked Alastair...." Kye turned back to Bobby, "So the angels were found, you said?"

"Yes, in one of the warehouses on the edge of the city. They were all badly injured, but, at least, they survived. For now. Michael... " Bobby paused for a second. "Ordered them to be taken to the nearest Garrison."

Kye glared at her fingernails as if she wanted to swallow them.

Bobby held back another sigh. He knew no one could deal with Alastair the way Michael had done. So swiftly and effectively. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to get rid of Alastair for good, so Bobby was willing to put old grudges aside and relinquish control of the situation, but that didn't mean he would approve of Michael taking back the three angels without informing him.

Bobby had tried to contact Michael numerous times, just to get the frustrating beat-around-the-bush, but the latest attempt had brought something new.

...

"We never discussed what to do with them, so, of course, I made the decision to return them to where they belong." The archangel sounded annoyingly humdrum on the phone. Bobby had a hard time reading him.

"Where they belong?" Bobby sat straight up. "You mean back to the prison that they tried so hard to escape from? They have families here!"

"That's funny. That word. 'Families.' Since when have humans become our families? Since when has it been acceptable? Well... I've never said they couldn't go back there. Just not yet."

Bobby was not stupid. He knew what would happen to the angels at the Garrisons. They would be punished in the worst ways for leaving their posts and betraying their kind. Like it or not, those three angels were his responsibility now, and Bobby needed to get them back, one way or another.

"Listen, hotshot," Bobby threw his cap on the desk and squeezed the phone so hard that he thought it would fuse with his hand. "You can play games all you want, but if those angels don't come back soon, you can kiss your girl goodbye. This time, it will be permanent."

The threat slipped off his tongue before Bobby fully realized what he had just said.

"Permanent. Another interesting word. What does it mean to you? A lifetime? Or several? One hundred years, or more? Humans don't live long. A lifetime of your kind is nothing but a blink of an eye to us. A grain of sand in the desert. Your memory fades, and your will perishes even faster. What will happen after you're gone? Don't you realize that I have permanent? I can wait for as long as I want. And, let's say if I want to take back what's mine today, at this very moment, what and who can stop me?"

Michael's tone was as arrogant as ever, but Bobby could sense something else. Something familiar. Something that turned the cogs of his mind like magic.

"You must know all about Enochian sigils, Michael. It's your mother, oh, my bad, father tongue after all. I heard that some could make a person disappear. Invisible in plain sight! Even beyond death, you could never find them. We're talking about some soul-level scrubbing right here!" Bobby laughed. "How do you feel about that? That little piece of knowledge doesn't belong to your kind only anymore."

"It doesn't matter. Whatever, whoever I want, I will have. There's no sigil, talisman, or warding can keep me away, Bobby Singer."

Bobby held back a triumphant chuckle as he heard his full name spat out with such venom. He knew he got it. The bullet had found its target.

The tremble in Michael's voice—as subtle as the rain outside Bobby's window—was the clue he needed.

"Well," Bobby caught his breath, "Let's see which one is more powerful: You or the magic symbols your Old Man created."

Then he hung up. Bobby's back was drenched in cold sweats while his whole body buzzed with an incredible amount of adrenaline. Nothing else to be done. He had laid down the bet, and now he waited for Michael's next move.

It was an outrageous stunt he had just performed. Outrageous and, frankly, stupid. Michael had never had problems with mass destruction. It was kind of his specialty. The archangel could level all of their camps and thousands of souls inside without a second thought. The people who had taken refuge here, who had called the camps their only home—Bobby, his two adoptive sons, and Ruby included—would have to pay for his action today if Bobby was wrong.

What he had banked on was the importance of one human girl, Kye, to the First Angel. Risky was an understatement, but just like many other bold decisions he had made in the past, Bobby's gut feelings supported him.

By hiding Kye and spreading conflicting information about where she would be, Bobby hoped to confuse Michael. If Bobby's read on the archangel was correct, Michael would not attack any of their camps.

Out of fear that he might destroy the right one.

The tempting alternative would be to return the three angels to the Resistance. Just a simple trade, like the one they had done before. Sure, Michael would be tempted.

Right?

Bobby was hopeful. Michael had been triggered, so easily, time and time again for the same reason.

Bobby also didn't have any other solution.

The phone call

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