Chapter Four

The door to the bunker opened with its familiar screech and the click of high heels sounded down the stairs, heralding the arrival of the final member of their party.

"Well, hello boys," Rowena said cheerily as she cast her gaze over Sam, Cas and Gabriel who were currently sitting at the map table in the war room, looking over some of their research. "I was hoping that it would be a wee bit longer before I saw you again, but…och weel. Too much of a good thing and all that." She cast a sly glance at Gabriel though. "Of course, I've never been one to say no to good things."

Gabriel cocked an eyebrow cheekily and Sam cut in. "Okay, can we get to the matter at hand, please?"

Rowena heaved a sigh as she set her bag down on the table. "Always to business, Samuel. This is why your relationships dinna last long, darling."

Sam scrunched his face in indignation before he simply rolled his eyes, knowing there was no point. "Right. So, what do you have for us?"

"Hold your horses, I just got here. I'd at least like a cup of tea first. I trust all of your haven't forgotten your manners," Rowena said, pulling off her jacket and folding it neatly over her bag. "Besides, we need to discuss exactly what you're looking for. I assume something to get Michael out of your brother."

"Actually, we already have that," Sam told her. "Remember that exorcism egg we used on the president?"

Rowena raised an eyebrow. "Of course, but I don't see why you need my help."

"Because we need a way to contain Michael after we get him out of Dean so that we can kill him," Cas cut in. "It is not easy to kill an angel, especially an archangel in their true form, unless you have a spell or something for that."

"Well, I'm sure if pressed I could come up with something," Rowena said. "But why not just send him back from whence he came or to the Cage?"

"We don't want him out there," Sam said firmly. "We want him dead."

"Understandable," Rowena said, and then nodded to the kitchen. "Would you be so kind as to show me where you keep your kettle and tea?"

Sam sighed but followed her to the kitchen. He bent to pull the teakettle from a dusty shelf and rustled around in the cupboard for tea. When he turned back around, he saw Rowena just standing there, staring at him.

"What?" he asked.

She glanced back toward the outer room, and then took a step toward Sam, almost hesitantly, wariness in her eyes.

"It's true?" she asked quietly. "He's…really dead?"

Sam swallowed hard, and nodded before he met her eyes firmly. "Yes. Really, truly, dead this time. I saw him die myself. He's not coming back again, Rowena."

She took a shaky breath, steepleing her fingers before pressing them to her mouth. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears of relief that Sam could understand all too well. Instinctively he reached out to touch her shoulder and after a brief hesitation, Rowena placed her hand over his and squeezed.

"For that alone, I owe Dean," she whispered.

Sam nodded and she cleared her throat and stepped away from him, grabbing the kettle to fill it in the sink. "But first we need to figure out how we're going to do it."

"Exactly," Sam said.

Soon they were all once again sitting around the table in the library as Rowena looked through some of her own books.

"Well, truthfully, if you want my advise, I think the best thing to do is to trap him in his old vessel," Rowena told them, glancing up from under her lashes. "You do have it, don't you?"

"We buried it out in the woods," Mary told her.

Rowena fluttered a hand. "No problem. It doesn't need to be anything special. I'm sure one of us could fix it up for our purposes." She glanced over at Gabriel who shrugged.

"Doable," he said. "But we'd have to make sure Michael was trapped in it, so he couldn't just smoke out and find the next best suit halfway around the world, probably blowing through a bunch of people on the way."

"Well, Crowley was able to bind Lucifer to his old vessel," Cas spoke up. "We should be able to do the same here."

"Oh, it won't be hard," Rowena assured them. "All we'll need to get the vessel ship shape, and then I'll just work up the spell to direct Michael into it once we exorcise him from Dean. And after that, archangel blade to the heart should end all of your problems." She flipped through her book. "Now, I'll need some supplies for the binding spell. I'm a bit low at the moment, so I might need you to help me fetch some things."

"Whatever we don't have here, we'll get for you," Sam assured her. "Just give us a list."

Rowena swiftly checked their own supplies and then wrote up a list of what they didn't have.

"You should be able to find everything at your typical Wiccan crystal shop," she assured him. "Thankfully, your bunker comes very well equipped. I'm just a little low on the basics."

"Great, there's a place a couple hours away that sells to hunters," Sam said.

Cas stood up. "I'll go with you."

Sam nodded and turned to the others.

Gabriel shrugged. "I'll stay here and help get stuff ready."

"Of course you will," Sam muttered, catching the glance between the archangel and the red-headed witch. He glanced over at Jack, sitting quietly at the end of the table and cleared his throat. "Hey, Jack. Why don't you come with Cas and me? You could use some fresh air."

Jack looked a bit uncertain, but Mary nudged him gently. "Go on, Jack. Sam's right. You've been cooped up here since we got back."

"Well, okay," Jack said and got up, going to join Sam and Cas.

Sam grabbed his jacket and keys. "We'll be back in a few hours. Call us if you think there's anything else you need. Or…if you hear anything about Michael or Dean."

"Don't worry, Sam, we've got everything under control here," Rowena told him.

Sam gave a sharp nod and then he, Cas and Jack made their way to the garage.

Their drive was mostly silent, all three of them with their own thoughts. Sam and Cas discussed the plan a little but fell silent after a while. Sam kept glancing into the backseat to check on Jack, but the boy simply stared out the window. Sam refrained from sighing. He wondered if getting Dean back would even help Jack. At this point, he simply seemed depressed, and yeah, Sam could understand that, but he just wished he knew how to make it better.

He pulled into the parking lot out behind the small strip mall where the shop lay, looking like a typical new age crystal shop, except that the owner had put hunter signs in the window to state that they also carried other items 'over the counter'.

Sam turned the Impala off and they got out of the car. He turned to Cas and Jack then hesitantly. "Hey, um, maybe you should stay out here, actually, Cas. I don't know what kind of warding this place has and if she sees you can't get in, then I don't want anything to get blown out of proportion."

Castiel nodded in acceptance. "That's probably for the best. Here is the list." He pulled the paper from his pocket and handed it to Sam.

"I'll stay with Castiel," Jack said when Sam glanced at him.

Sam nodded. "Sure. Hopefully it won't take too long. We can grab some lunch on the way back, okay? Whatever you want, Jack." Then he turned and headed toward the shop.


Castiel tucked his hands into his coat pockets and leaned back against the Impala, looking up at the sky. It was overcast and looked like it might rain. He checked his phone, seeing a text from Mary that told him they had retrieved Michael's old vessel and Rowena and Gabriel were working on figuring out the proper spellwork to bind Michael to it. He replied to tell her they had made it to the shop and would be on their way soon.

He put his phone away as he glanced over at Jack who had perched on the trunk of the Impala. He'd hardly spoken since his insistence that they kill Michael instead of trapping him. Castiel was worried about the boy's distant attitude. He wanted to help, to get Jack to open up about everything, but he didn't know how. He hadn't had a lot of practice. After all, neither himself or the Winchesters were very good at that.

He thought he might broach the subject of what Jack wanted to eat for lunch at least, when another car pulled up into the parking lot. Castiel glanced over at it, but didn't think much about it until the front doors opened and he saw who the passengers were.

"Castiel."

Just his name coming out of her mouth sent painful memories flowing through him, and a shiver ran down his spine. Castiel stood up straight. "Naomi, Tamiel, what are you doing here?"

Naomi came to a stop, Tamiel, her partner, slightly off to one side, obviously blocking Castiel's escape. She didn't answer his question, but instead simply said, "Where is Sam Winchester?"

Jack was beside him now, curious. "Castiel? Who are they?"

"Jack, stay behind me," Castiel insisted, pushing himself in front of the boy.

Naomi craned her head to watch him. "I see you found the nephillim. But…" she frowned. "His grace, it's gone."

Castiel stiffened but continued to glower at her. "What do you want, Naomi?" he demanded more slowly.

"We're rebuilding Heaven, Castiel, and we need every angel we can get," Naomi told him. "Michael has a plan."

"Michael?" Jack asked, pushing forward before Castiel grabbed his sleeve. "You've seen him?"

Naomi smiled at him but her eyes were on Castiel. "Yes, and the vessel he has taken. I'm sure you have a plan to evict him but you have to understand that I can't let you do that, Castiel."

"Naomi, whatever Michael told you is a lie," Castiel tried to plead. "He only wants destruction for this world."

Naomi gave him a wry smile. "And some of us think it's about time," she said.

Castiel shook his head, disgusted. "No, I won't let you."

She sighed. "Come now, Castiel. I know you always have to do things the hard way, but please. Just this once, come quietly."

"No," Castiel shook his head. "I will never come with you!"

"Very well then," she shook her head. "Tamiel, take him alive but don't worry about the boy. He's no use to us without his powers."

Castiel frantically gripped Jack's arm. "Jack, run and get Sam now!"

"No," Jack shook his head, eyes wide, but Castiel shoved him hard in the chest as Tamiel came for him.

Castiel slipped his blade into his hand and met the angel head on. He really didn't want to have to kill more angels—though he wished more than anything that he could stick a blade in Naomi's throat and be done with it—but if it were between them and his family, he was going to choose his family."

He dodged a blow from Tamiel, and grabbed his sword arm, twisting it and throwing the other angel to the ground before he spun around and attacked Naomi who was going after Jack. She spun around to meet him, and their blades clashed together. The ring of celestial steel as he looked into her eyes caused him to flash back to being strapped to that chair as Naomi tore into his head. Of Samandriel, dead in his arms, of the warehouse full of slaughtered copies of Dean.

Naomi's blade slammed pommel first into his jaw and he was brought back to the present, gasping for breath. He snarled and charged her, furious that she always had this hold over him. He slashed her across the ribs with his blade, and she staggered back with a gasp.

"Cas, watch out!" Jack cried suddenly from behind him.

Castiel turned around just in time to have Jack fall against him with a grunt, Tamiel's blade buried in his side.

"Jack!" Castiel cried, holding the boy upright, the fight practically forgotten.

Naomi strode over to stand next to Tamiel. "Finish it, and get Castiel into the car."


Sam handed the list to the woman who ran the shop and waited as she gathered the stuff from the back room. He looked around to see if there was anything else they might need but figured that Rowena knew what she was doing.

"Well, here's everything on the list," the shop owner told him as she came back, placing several paper packages onto the counter and going to ring them up.

Sam forced a smile and reached for his wallet. "Thanks." He was silent for a moment before he asked. "Um, I did have one question. Do you happen to know if there's any way to track a person being possessed and bypass the power of the entity so they don't get tipped off?"

She glanced up at him. "Well, I know a few tracking spells, but…it depends on how powerful of an entity we're talking about."

"Yeah, right," Sam nodded. "I was just curious."

She shook her head slightly and put all of the items into a bag. "Well, whatever you're working on right now, good luck."

"Thanks," Sam said and took the things, heading out of the shop.

As he was walking back to the parking lot, he heard sounds of fighting and broke into a sprint, instantly pulling the gun from the back of his jeans.

He came onto the scene with horror. Cas was crouched on the ground with his angel blade raised, Jack tucked protectively against him, and a man and a woman hemming them in. Sam gasped as he recognized the women as Naomi. Angels.

"Hey!" he shouted, and drew his angel blade instead.

"Sam Winchester, nice of you to join us," Naomi said as her attention turned to him.

"Sam, they're going to kill you!" Castiel cried, looking torn between staying with Jack, who Sam could now see was bleeding, and helping Sam.

The hunter took the choice from him and lunged forward toward the angels.

They both came at him at the same time, and Sam scored one hit on the male angel before he received a slash across the upper arm. He staggered back, then kicked out at the male angel and brought his blade up to parry a blow from Naomi. She retaliated by slamming her blade into the side of his head and kicking him in the knee. Sam cried out and collapsed on the ground, looking up as the angel readied her blade to stab him.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this," she said.

Sam raised an arm, though knew it would do nothing to protect him, but then a sudden flash of light burst and Naomi and the other angel screamed in anger before they disappeared.

Sam gasped, and shot upright, glancing over at Cas who had drawn a banishing sigil.

"Sam, are you alright?" Cas asked.

"Yeah, thanks," Sam said, and then pushed himself up, cringing as his knee protested, and scrambled the last few feet toward Cas and Jack. "Jack…oh god!"

Now that Sam could see fully, he saw Jack's shirt soaked in blood, Cas' hand pressed tightly to his side.

"What happened?" Sam demanded.

Jack's eyes fluttered open. "I just…I stopped him from stabbing Castiel."

Sam ran a hand through his hair before he pulled Jack against him so Cas could more easily see his wound. "Jack, you can't just jump in front of knives. You're not immortal anymore!"

"I know!" Jack cried and then grunted, squeezing his eyes shut. Sam steadied him, running a hand through his hair.

"It's okay, I'm sorry," he whispered and glanced up at Cas. "Cas?"

"I should be able to heal it," he said and placed his hand over the wound and a soft light infused the area. Jack inhaled and then slumped back against Sam. Cas sagged, but looked relieved as well as exhausted.

"Don't do that again," he said firmly.

Jack sat up straighter and Sam helped him and then Cas to stand. The boy glowered at the angel. "You're telling me not to protect my family? That's what all of you always do! That's why Dean said yes to Michael!"

"Jack, I'm not saying you can't protect the people you love, but you don't have your powers anymore, and you need to be more cautious," Cas tried.

"I know! Jack said, clenching his fists. "Why does everyone keep having to remind me of that, as if that was the only thing that made me useful! Are you just going to lock me in the bunker now so that I can't get hurt? First you're worried that I'm gonna hurt people and then that I'm gonna get myself killed?"

"Jack, that's not what we're saying," Sam tried, but the ex-nephellim was already walking away.

"Jack!" Cas called, but Sam held up a hand to stop him and hurried after Jack himself.

"Jack, hey, stop for a second," Sam told him and Jack did, hanging his head and refusing to look at Sam. "Look, Cas is just scared. He didn't mean you were useless. Neither did I."

"I'm actually glad, you know," Jack said and finally met Sam's eyes.

Sam frowned. "Glad about what?"

"That Lucifer took my powers," Jack said, pressing his hands into his chest. "I was able to save a lot of people because of them, especially in the apocalypse world. But I also hurt a lot of people too. Now I don't have to worry about that anymore. I don't have to worry about you or anyone else getting caught in the crossfire. I don't have to worry about accidently using too much force and hurting someone. I don't have to worry about using them to go up against Michael and accidently killing Dean too. I'm just human now, and I'm actually not upset about it, so if you think that's what's wrong, it's not."

Sam glanced over Jack's shoulder at Cas who had quietly come up during the conversation.

"Is that really how you feel, Jack?" Cas asked him, brow furrowed.

Jack only hesitated for a second before he nodded. "Yes. It is. I know my mom wanted me to use my powers for good, and I tried, but…I'm also tired of being defined by that. Just by how powerful I am. That's all Lucifer wanted me for, he didn't really care about being my father. But you…" he glanced between Sam and Cas. "You still care about me, even though I don't have my powers anymore."

"Of course we do," Sam said.

"But I don't want to be helpless," Jack insisted. "I don't want you to feel like you always have to protect me. I want to help you fight. Not just to save Dean, but to hunt with you from now on."

Sam nodded. "Okay. Then that's what we'll do. We'll teach you to fight like a hunter."

Jack's eyes perked up for the first time in days. "You will?"

"Of course," Cas told him, settling a hand on his shoulder. "You're already very good at research. It's only fair you learn all the aspects of hunting."

The smallest smile crossed his lips. "Thank you." But worry soon creased his brow again. "But those angels…what did they want with us? And they said Michael had been to Heaven."

Sam's eyes widened and he glanced at Cas for confirmation. "He's been in Heaven?"

Cas nodded reluctantly. "It seems so. And it also seems that we have another big problem on our hands. Naomi seems to be out for your blood Sam, and probably everyone involved with us. We'll need to be careful. I can only assume Michael is trying to get rid of anyone who might cause him trouble. She wants me because she refuses to kill any angels but you, Jack, and Mary…I don't think they'll hesitate the next time they see you."

Sam swallowed hard but nodded. "Okay, then. We'll keep a sharp eye out."

"There's another thing," Cas said, nodding to Jack. "Jack is human now, and can't hide himself. He will need to be warded against angels too, so they can't use him to find us."

Sam nodded. "Well, I guess we'll be stopping at a tattoo parlor on the way home." He clapped a hand on Jack's shoulder. "If you're going the be a hunter, the first step is to get inked up."

Jack nodded. "Okay. I promise I won't hurt anyone this time."

Sam smiled and squeezed his shoulder.

"The sooner we get this done, the better," Cas replied, glancing around as if Naomi might be back at any second. "It won't take them long to regroup."

"Let's go then," Sam said and they headed back to the Impala.

Sam really hoped that the spell Rowena was working on would be successful. Because it seemed that they were fast running out of time.