"What's the plan?" Grace asked as the Impala pulled up at an abandoned warehouse. Grace and Dean found themselves a vamp case a few towns over and they jumped to take it. A new problem has come up in the Winchesters lives, and though this was nothing new, the siblings defiantly needed to blow off some steam with a simple case. Dean parked the car and gave her an amused smile.
"What it always is, don't die."
Grace gave a snort, then slipped out of the car and popped open the trunk.
"This better not take long." She told Dean, pulling out an axe and testing its weight. "We promised Sammy we'd be back for dinner."
Though the Winchesters weren't too sentimental over holidays, this year Sam was determined to have a Thanksgiving meal together, and Grace was happy to agree. It took Dean a little more convincing, but through his siblings constant pestering, he gave in. So while Dean and Grace were off on this case, Sam was at the bunker cooking diner.
"You guys are dorks. You know that?" Dean retorted, picking out his own weapon.
Grace chuckled as she shook her head, but then caught a glimpse of the Mark of Cain as Dean rolled up his sleeves. The Mark was passed onto Dean by Cain himself, to kill the last Knight of Hell with the only thing that can kill them, the First Blade. But soon the Winchesters found that The Mark was more of a burden then a solution. It changed Dean. It sent him into uncontrollable rages. It gave him a sinister lust for killing. Worst of all, there seems to be no cure, so the Winchesters are left desperately searching in the dark.
Dean caught her staring, and rolled his eyes.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Dean replied sarcastically, before reaching for his machete and slammed the trunk shut. Grace shook her head, and mumbled her apologies. The two set off into the warehouse. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, before venturing down the dark halls. Dean's ears pricked up as he heard a noise in the far distance. He signalled Grace to stop.
"We'll ambush them." He mouthed. "Go that way."
Grace nodded, and navigated around the vamps' nest, to attack from the opposite direction. When she found the vamps lair, she found Dean hiding in the shadows on the other side. Grace counted the numbers and saw that she and Dean were hugely outnumbered, like about ten on two. Before Dean could give the signal, Grace was attacked from behind, being pushed down to the floor by one of the vamps. They were expecting them. Dean jumped into action, fighting through four or five vamps to reach his sister. Grace struggled on the floor, wrestling the vampire to get the upper hand. She managed to reach out for her axe and gave a swing. The vamps head hit the floor with a thump. Grace rushed to her brother's aid. She chopped the head of another vamp, who was going for Dean from behind. Then, before she could react, Grace was tackled. A vamp bore down on her, his shark like teeth glistening as he sank them into her neck and bit a chunk off.
Grace's painful shriek rang through Dean's ears just as he chopped off another vamp's head. He turned to see Grace gargling up blood on the floor. A murderous rage built up inside him. He could feel the mark on arm burn hot red and he tightened his grip on his machete. Then, with unnatural speed and strength, Dean slashed through the remaining vampires to get to his sister's attacker. Not only did he kill them, but absolutely spluttered them. Grace's attacker turned to flee, but Dean flew at him, tackling him to the ground and slicing off his head. Then he stabbed him.
Once.
Twice.
Over and over again until the uncontrollable rage settled down. With his mind now clear, Dean suddenly remembered his sister, who was barely conscious, weakling trying to press down on her wound as she choked on her own blood.
Dean rushed by her side, panic overcoming. He instinctively replaced Grace's hands with his own, tying to stop her from losing any more blood. A tear slipped from his eye as watched his sister struggle to breath.
"It's ok, Princess." Dean choked out, trying to appear as calm as possible. "Everything's gonna be ok."
He took off one of his layered shirts and wrapped it around Grace's neck to put pressure on the wound. With shaking hands, he took out his cell phone and called the only person who could help.
"Hello?" A deep voice came through the other line.
"Cas," Dean's voice quivered as he heard the angel's voice. "Cas, I-I need your help."
And like that, Cas was by his side, phone still pressed to his ear. The angel squinted his eyes and tilted his head to the side, trying to read Dean's emotions. He then caught a glimpse of Grace and understood. He rushed to her side, kneeling down beside her and lightly touching the bloodstained cloth.
"What happened?" Cas asked gravely, looking up at Dean.
"It doesn't matter," Dean choked, trying to fight back the tears. "Can you heal her?"
Cas frowned his brows, before turning back to Grace.
"I don't know." He replied honestly. "Ever since the fall, my powers…haven't been the same."
"But you can try?" Dean pressed. His eyes interlocked with the angels, there was a pause, before Cas reposed:
"Yes, I can."
Cas gently untied the shirt from Grace's neck, the blood beginning to ooze out again. He sighed, glancing at Dean once more, before placing his hands on the wound. He takes a deep breath, before blue light pours out of his hands and onto Grace. Then he withdraws, the wound now completely healed. But Grace remained unresponsive. Dean dived down to his sister's side, roughly shaking her shoulder.
"Grace? Grace!?" He called, growing frantic. "Grace, I swear to God, if you don't wake up I'll never forgive you!"
There was a pause.
Suddenly, Grace gasped for breath, her eyes snapping open. She looked up bewildered as Cas and Dean gave a sigh of relief.
"Jeez, that Angel mojo's like a bolt to the heart." Grace rasped, rubbing were her injury previously was. Dean laughed, pulling up his sister and brushing her off,
"Yeah well, c'mon. We have a dinner to get to."
The three drove back to the bunker, all quite relieved that things ended the way they did. They walked through the bunker doors, happy to finally be home. As soon as they reached the bottom step, Sam rushed out the kitchen wearing a frilly pink apron and bewildered look on his face.
"What the hell happened?" He asked, eyes scanning over his sibling, who were all bloody and bruised.
"Nice apron, Mrs Doubtfire." Dean snorted, ignoring his brother's question. Sam looked down at himself, before sending Dean a glare.
"Jerk." He spat.
"Bitch." Dean responded.
"Idiots." Grace finished, shaking her head at her brothers.
After quick shower and a change of closes. The three Winchesters and Castiel gathered around the dining table. Sam proudly presented a series of fries, pies and turkey burgers to the table. With grumbling stomachs the Winchesters were all eager to dig in. But before they could reach for their forks and knives, Cas spoke up.
"Tradition says that one is supposed to share our thanks with each other." He informed them. "And as none of you have volunteered, I would like to go first."
The Winchesters looked unsurely between themselves, but nodded Cas to continue anyway.
"I have watch over humanity since the beginning of its creation." Cas said, his eyes distant. "But never would I have imagined being a part of it. Though surrounded by my brothers and sisters, I never knew what being part of a family truly meant before I became involved with you three. So what I am thankful for is that I'm here with my family, and, though the hardships, we are alive and well."
Smiles grew across the Winchesters faces, all deeply touched by the angel's words. As they looked in-between themselves a warm and tender feeling spread across the room. The four of them, they've been through hell together, more than hell actually. They fought demons, angels, leviathan, and hell, sometimes they fought each other. But they were here, together and, at least at this moment, happy.
Happy belated thanksgiving for all those who celebrate it! (And even those who don't)
The was just a quick one-shot to fill in the spaces between chapter updates, and I was planning to do more of them, most write the things that won't make it into the main story.
His you liked it let me know!
See you Soon,
Tammy xxx