Keep calm and ship Destiel!

Keep calm and ship Samsica!

Chapter 3

A new case had led Winchester&Co. to, apparently, a demon. They had been contacted by their fellow hunter Wally and the brothers had decided to go, since a demon was always a tricky thing to deal with. Castiel had tagged along, since unfortunately no new clues about Kelly Kline's whereabouts were found, and thus he had nothing better to do. The surprise of the group was, however, Jessica. The woman had rejected to be left alone in the bunker again even if just for a few days, and Sam, always the tender heart, had finally given in.

"I'm not going to get in the middle of the fight, I promise," she had told the brothers a hundred times. "Believe me, I have no desire to die again so soon, but I don't want to remain caged here either. I'll go with you, walk around a bit stretching my legs, and when you get to business I'll hide in the car far enough not to endanger anyone. So please? Pretty pleeeaaaseee?"

And so it was settled. Dean was already beginning to fear Jessica's puppy eyes and pleading voice.

So in the afternoon, they had met with Wally at a diner, close enough to where the supposed demon lived. The diner wasn't that bad, for once. It looked clean, had acceptable relaxing background music, and also a distinctive smell that the food being cooked was fresh. They even had a tablecloth! The waitress was beautiful too, as Dean immediately noticed the moment he set a foot inside the place.

"Mandy," Dean spoke in a flirty voice, reading her nametag when she came to take their order. "That short for Amanda?"

She looked at him, showing no interest at all, and merely said:

"Duh."

Ok, so the pretty waitress lacked a bit in good manners. Whatever, nobody was perfect.

"Yeah, I'll... I'll go with the cheeseburger."

"Please, what's the wifi password here?" Sam asked her, trying to get his tablet to work.

"Extra cheese."

"No, no. Just, uh, as it is, is fine." Dean didn't notice the waitress' attention had left him. Why would?

"I mean that's the password, 'extra cheese'."

Then Wally, who had been looking at his menu the whole time and didn't know there was two conversations going on, added:

"You know what, that sounds good. I'm gonna order a cheeseburger as well, with extra cheese. I wanna carbo-load."

"Cheese isn't a carbohydrate," both Castiel and the waitress corrected him at the same time.

That seemed to impress her, for whatever reason. She smiled at the angel, interested, who didn't know better than to respond with a confused stare.

"Sausages and scrambled eggs for me, please," Jessica said.

The waitress nodded lightly, taking note, before she addressed Castiel:

"And how about you, handsome?"

This earned a look of surprise from everyone, while the clueless angel continued to stare at her in confusion.

"Hum, uh... a Sunrise Special, please."

"Nice!" she approved, smiling.

The second she left the table, Dean couldn't wait to stick his nose in the matter.

"Oh dude, she's so into you!" and beside him, Wally grumbled in agreement.

"Dean!" Jessica chastised him, barely holding a giggle.

"No, this is good! We've been looking for teachable moments, and this is just the one."

Sam, sensing this wouldn't lead to anything remarkable except Dean's amusement at the expense of their feathered friend, made a valiant attempt to divert the conversation to another subject:

"The internet here sucks. I downloaded all the bunker's files to a new archive, but I'm not getting any signal, so..."

"Who cares!" Dean faked snoring. "Hey Cas, here's what you need to know about waitresses, okay? They get hit on all day long, so you gotta bring your best game. But, upside? They always smell like food."

"That they do," Wally nodded again.

"Why would you want them to smell like food?" Sam was about to surrender to his fate of a stupid conversation.

Fortunately, Jessica sensed he was at his wits end, and decided to help him redirect the chat.

"Okay, here's what we know. Your target keeps a tight schedule. He leaves every day at 8p.m. and gets back exactly at 10.45p.m."

"What's he doing?" Dean asked Wally.

"Night fishing."

"Wait a minute," Castiel interrupted, befuddled. "You called us to... to kill a demon that likes to fish?"

"Yes, I did. Look," Wally tried to explain himself. "This is new to me, alright? If you got a rugaru, I'm your guy, but demons? I was just passing by and heard about some cattle mutilations..."

"Classic demon sign," Sam nodded in understanding.

"So I started to dig, and some virgins went missing too."

"Which is why you called Sam and Dean, asking for help," Jessica concluded. "So are we all clear on the plan?"

"Jess, don't forget you also promised your part of the plan, precious."

"I know, I know," she sighed reassuringly. "I'll be still and quiet, hiding in Wally's jeep. The demon won't even know there's someone else out there."

"I really hope so," Sam whispered. "Oh, here she comes back!"

Castiel, influenced by the strange comments about food and females, couldn't help but discreetly sniff the waitress when she served their orders next to him. Well, as discreetly as he could anyway. Dean saw it right away, same as everybody else at the table, and smirked deviously. Before he could check again with his brain what he was about to say, the words spilled from his mouth:

"Hey Mandy, a question for you. My shy but devastatingly handsome friend here was just wondering... when do you get off?"

The waitress smiled again, pleased by this.

"Whenever I can," she answered, looking flirtingly at the angel before going away again.

"One point for her. Just dropped that on the table!"

"Right in front of all of us, too!" Wally laughed.

However Sam, being the mature one, decided he didn't want any part in his friend's embarrassment.

"Wow, alright. Internet's up, we're in business."

"I'm kinda nervous," Wally said, clearing his throat. "I don't even know if I can eat."

Perceiving the hunter's distress, Jessica tried to reassure him.

"Everything's gonna be fine."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An hour later, they arrived at a typical country house by the roadside. Hiding behind the line of trees, where nobody from the house could spot them, they patiently awaited the moment when the demon was scheduled to leave his home. And he did. They waited a little more, just to be sure he wasn't coming back.

"It does not appear to be warded," Castiel evaluated, walking cautiously to the house.

"Okay, then let's get to work," Dean said.

Step by step, looking around carefully, the group of five entered the demon's property. There wasn't anything particularly evil in there, as much as anyone could tell: a well painted facade, a well-kept garden, and a porch whose planks didn't even squeak; probably not even the roof leaked. All in all, a well maintained home, nothing that screamed of hell and sulphur.

Once they were all inside, each went to their accorded post.

"Sam?" Jessica asked while wandering around, seeing him alone. "Where's Dean?"

"He's out stashing the car. Wait, Jess," he called after her. "Uh... I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. I mean, because this isn't... this isn't the kind of life I once dreamed to share with you."

Something tightened in the woman's heart. She came next to him and tenderly caressed his cheek.

"I'm more than grateful to have a life with you, Sam." She kissed him lightly. "Any kind of life."

Not wanting to distract him anymore from his tasks, apparently drawing some trap on the floor, Jessica continued her wander around the house. Looking out a window, she saw Castiel standing guard on the path. She was happy to have come, not only for being outside the bunker but also because there was something exciting about this. Not enough to convince her of joining the fight, of course... but enough to accept it as part of her life, even if just as a side-effect of living with Sam and this hunting business. It also scared her, no lying... but it was worthy. For love, all was in her book.

Opening a door, she saw it led downstairs, likely to a basement. It was the only room in that floor she hadn't snooped in yet, and she couldn't contain her curiosity. Carefully, she searched the light switch and went down.

It was smaller than what Jessica anticipated, obviously not covering all the foundations of the house, or perhaps it looked like that because it was packed to the brim. Countless items were scattered around, all looking antique and valuable (and she would know, having studied History at university). The idea of a collector demon made her giggle. And it was equally obvious this demon took very good care of his pieces, since all of them were stacked orderly and without a single speck of dust on them, despite being in the basement.

Her fingers tingled in anticipation, aching to touch every single item... but Jessica knew better. Sam had warned her endlessly against the kind of objects she may find in the bunker and during hunts; he had told her to never touch anything she couldn't identify, no matter how innocent or harmless it looked; and certainly, most of what she was seeing looked quite harmful. All except... a box, a square black box, or better said a small chest, that even looked too plain to be put in company of all the other items. She couldn't resist not to touch absolutely anything, and decided to go for the least dangerous piece in sight.

Jessica opened the chest easily, it didn't even have a security lock. Inside she saw a revolver, an old one as she could tell, but somehow it still looked functional. Maybe it still worked? Weaponry wasn't her specialty, she didn't know what kind of bullets or gunpowder it needed to be fired, but probably they were no longer manufactured. She was about to close the chest, when noticed a small symbol carved in the grip. Was that a... star? She couldn't help but to take it on her hand, in order to inspect the symbol better. Whoa, the revolver was heavy...

"Jessica?" Castiel called her out of the blue.

"Agh!"

With a hand on her heart, the woman thanked God she didn't know how to fire a weapon, no matter if it was loaded or not. She most likely would have killed herself, not so much from a bullet but rather the scare that the angel had given her. Yeah, having a strong heart really paid off on the long run.

Without thinking, Jessica immediately ran upstairs. Only when she was about to open the basement door, she noticed the star revolver was still in her hand. Dammit, she wasn't going down again... In a light-fast thought, she tucked the weapon on her back in the same way she had seen Sam doing before. Fortunately, her blouse and jacket were long enough to cover the bump.

"Jessica, where were you?" the seraph asked as soon as he saw her walking through the door.

"Sorry, Castiel. I got a bit lost in the basement. Too many things down there."

Dean was loading the guns. Sam was putting the carpet back in place, covering the demon trap. Wally was in the kitchen, surveilling the outside.

"It is almost time. You should go already to take protection in the car. Do you want me to escort you?"

"No need, I know where it is. You remain here and..." she swallowed hard, "protect them, please."

Castiel nodded without doubt.

"Always."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nothing was fine.

It was actually a disaster. The plan had failed since the first step, when Dean shot the demon with the paralyzing bullets that didn't do shit to him; then he had waltzed so happily over the trap on the floor, completely unfazed; and finally, he had taken out so very easily the knife that Sam had stabbed him with. Nothing seemed to cause the demon any harm, which he even scoffed at, until Castiel decided to reveal his hiding spot and face him, blade in hand.

"An angel," he spoke with malevolent fun.

Something in his tone gave Dean goosebumps, specially when the demon got rid of him and Sam with barely a strike and then ignored all the present humans, focusing solely on the angel. The seraph tried to put a fight, but the demon threw against a cupboard, rendering him dizzy for a moment. A big red alert went off in Dean's brain, but the hit took him too many precious seconds to get on his feet again. When he and Sam hastily followed their prey to the kitchen, the demon closed the door in their faces, trapping Castiel and Wally inside.

The other hunter held his gun at the demon, but before he had any chance to fire, the hell's spawn turned to him.

"Hello, buddy," he smiled cruelly, showing his yellow eyes.

The door rattled as Dean and Sam banged on it, trying to open it again. Wally however was frozen on the spot at the sight of those yellow eyes, so much that he didn't even notice when the gun was knocked off his hands. Yes, he was new to this demon business, but weren't they supposed to have deep black eyes? What in God's name was actually this... this creature in front of him?

And then, in a fast move, Castiel tackled the thing to the ground.

"RUN!"

The hunter didn't need to be told twice, he was smart enough to understand that against a demon who overpowered an angel, he didn't stand a chance. The best he could do was to get out of the way and not be a nuisance. The last thing Wally heard before leaving through the kitchen's door was someone crashing out of the window.

Outside he met again with Dean and Sam. Since the door in the room had been blocked, they had run to round the house back to the kitchen, but they weren't the only ones. A few metres away, two more demons were coming their way.

"Guys, we got a problem." Wally pointed out behind them. "More demons incoming."

"Alright Dean, go with Cas. We got this. Go!"

Dean didn't thought it twice. He immediately jumped off the veranda and ran to his friend's aid, knowing Sam (and hopefully Wally too) could stand his ground against the black-eyes bastards. But Cas? Whoever that other demon was, it was too much for the angel to take on alone, and Dean just wished to get to him in time.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Meanwhile, Jessica had dozed off a little in the car due to the cold weather and the progressive darkness, but the first shot startled her awake in less than two seconds. She looked around and in front of her, to the country house where a demon lived, and prayed for everyone's safety.

Girl, this was horrible. The wait was killing her!

There were more shots, and breaking noises. A little screaming. The guys were likely fighting, and Jessica tried not to freak out. Sam had told her it was expected if they were going to take down a demon, because they were the trickiest. Scratches, bruises and bloody gashes were the norm against the supernatural, even the occasional broken bone or torn muscle; it was nothing to worry about. After all, this had been their entire life. They could deal with it.

Then someone came flying out a window. The angel Castiel, as far as Jessica could tell under the little light that reached there from the porch. Another figure appeared right after, someone she didn't recognize, and to her astonishment, pulled out some kind of spear out of thin air from his back. Was that the demon? Before she could totally assimilate the situation, the supposed demon stabbed the angel with the spear, making him scream in agony.

"It has been a long time since I've seen an angel, but not long enough." He smiled, pleased. "Where do you think you're going?"

Ok ok ok, that was so NOT right. A fight and some blood, she would have stood, but this was not the case. Castiel was wounded and painfully crawling on his arms and butt, not fighting back; no, he didn't even look like he could actually fight back anymore. There was no way this was still part of the plan. Something had gone wrong.

Without any time to think, Jessica moved rapidly to the wheel and started the car, stepping on the throttle to the fullest. She charged against the demon when he was about to stab the angel again, and sent him flying away to who knew where. She stopped right beside her feathered friend, rushing to his aid:

"Castiel, oh my!"

"Where is he?"

"I don't know," she said, hurriedly getting him up and helping him to the backseat. "Come now!"

Jessica sat again at the wheel and scrammed out of there, frantically looking around in case she spotted either the demon or the hunters, but there was nobody else in sight. She prayed fervently that meant the guys were safe.

A few minutes later, they arrived at a seemingly abandoned barn, and Jessica decided to stop and hide there. Castiel was breathing heavily, his wound surely needed immediate treatment, and they couldn't separate too far from the rest of the group. If they were attacked again, there would be no one to defend them, and the situation already was unsafe enough.

"Castiel, lean on me," Jessica said, putting one of his arms over her shoulders and guiding him inside the barn. "Can you heal yourself?"

"I tried, but something is wrong," he muttered, lying down on an old couch and panting.

"How bad is it?"

Before the seraph could answer, one of Sam's phones rang in her jacket.

"Oh Sam, thank God it's you! Castiel is..."

"Jess, where are you?"

"A farm down the road that looks abandoned. Take the first left until you see a barn."

"Ok, we're on the way. Are you okay, precious?"

Jessica looked at the suffering angel, scared and unsure what to tell. His was a nasty wound.

"No, Sam, I don't think we are. Please hurry!"

The next minutes felt like an eternity to the two people in the barn. Jessica tried to stop Castiel's bleeding with a handkerchief knot, but it proved inefficient and now her hands were stained with blood. And meanwhile, the angel was losing his strength and energy by the second.

"Jessica?"

"Yes, Castiel. I'm here." She crouched by his side. "How are you feeling?"

"Where are Dean and Sam?" he grunted in pain.

"They'll..."

Right then, the door burst open and the three hunters (mostly unharmed) barged inside.

"What the hell just happened?" Dean greeted, furious.

He was ready for a colourful ranting, but Castiel's pained groan instantly took all his attention.

"Cas?" he asked worriedly, taking in the sight and going to him.

"Sam!" On her part, Jessica ran to him and they hugged tightly, both sighing in relief.

Sam allowed himself to enjoy a minute of this, before addressing his fellow hunter with an incomprehensive look.

"Wally, where did those other demons come from?"

"I don't know, I didn't notice they were there before." Then he remembered the most shocking thing in his opinion. "The target, did you see...?"

"No, he brushed off everything we threw at him."

"That's not... Did you see his eyes? They were yellow. He had yellow eyes!"

The younger Winchester deadpanned. No, that couldn't be. The yellow-eyed demon, Azazel... he was dead. Dean and their father had made sure of that. It just wasn't possible... right?

"Wally, what the hell did you get us into?"

While the two hunters faced the possibility of a demon way more powerful than anticipated, Dean remained beside Castiel, having their own slice of drama too. The angel looked bad, very bad. There was blood and sweat on his face, which made Dean remember a time when his friend had declared to never sweat under any circumstances, so this couldn't be a good sign. His eyes were glazed, and his breathing difficult.

"Hey, Cas." Dean crouched by him and gave him a look-over, trying to act lightly given the situation. "Wow, you look like crap."

"Yes, that sounds about right."

"Ok, let's see you."

When Dean lifted up the hem of the shirt, he was barely able not to quit looking. It was horrible, and that was saying something, considering all the many nasty wounds he had seen in his life. It wasn't only for the blood, that he was used to see, but this looked... strange and sickening, like something was creeping up the angel's skin, breaking and tearing him apart. This thing, oh man... The thought of such wound being on his feathered friend only made it worse.

"Alright, ok," he kept trying to cheer up the mood. "Yeah, you know what? I've had worse."

"Really? When?" Castiel asked, not quite following his friend's good intentions. "Dean, there is something wrong. I-I can't heal myself. I think... I think the demon's spear was poisoned, and I don't... I think I'm dying."

Dean shook his head, immediately denying the possibility. That wasn't going to happen, not on his watch. Not to him, and not again.

"No," he said vehemently with a trembling smile. "No, you just need some time, okay? You'll heal up the old fashioned way."

Castiel's only answer was more grunts and painful sounds, which made Dean swallow hard, feeling a little desperation beginning to take its toll on him. He needed to do something, and fast, but didn't know what. At the angel's distress, also Sam and Jessica came closer to check up on him, if just for a little comfort. Wally instead felt like he would be intruding in a private family moment, and chose to remain outside keeping guard.

The moment the barn door closed after the hunter, another very well known voice was heard, the rage evident in its tone.

"You idiots! You all are going to die."

To everyone's surprise, the very King of Hell had graced them with his presence.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Their little chit-chat with Crowley was less than pleasant. Not only had they learned that their target was not your common demon but a Prince of Hell, but also that Castiel had been pierced with the Lance of Michael, thus condemning him to a gruesome and painful death. Basically, the seraph was rotting away, and there was no known remedy against the effects of the weapon.

The mood in the barn was grim. In his fury and fea- ahem, frustration for the angel's state, Dean had chased away the only demon that could have possibly helped them, if only for the fun. But Crowley wasn't stupid, he understood the slim chances they had against the Prince, and had wisely preferred to get out of there and not mingle in the Winchester's business. Everyone has to die sooner or later anyway, and they had already went off the hook more times that should be allowed. And yet...

While Castiel was coughing and writhing in pain, Dean had been pacing around, trying to keep it together. He couldn't stand seeing his best friend in such state and not being able to do anything about it. Another fit of coughing.

"Cas, how bad is it?"

The poor angel loosened his necktie and pulled at his collar, showing him the infection spreading up his chest and neck. He was sure he wasn't going to escape from this. After all, he had died enough times to recognize the clock ticking down his hour to go.

"Dean, Crowley was right. You should go," he panted, trembling. "Listen to me. Look... thank you. Knowing you, it... it has been the best part of my life. And the things that... we have shared together, they have changed me. You are my family. I love you, I love all of you. Just please... please, don't make my last moments be spent watching you die. Just run, save yourselves, and I will hold Ramiel off as long as I can."

Dean was on the verge of losing it, watching the angel pleading them to run away. He couldn't believe this was happening again, that he was failing again, and to Cas no less. His best friend was about to die once more because he didn't say 'No' when Cas asked to accompany them on their hunt. How many times had this happened before? How many more were necessary until he learned not to screw up everything?

The first time, he hadn't really cared. Castiel had seemed resigned to his fate, and Dean had thought it no big deal among angels; besides, his little brother was in deep need of his help before he killed Lilith and broke the last seal, so Dean already had his plate full. It had only been later, when everything was lost for nothing, that he really valued the angel's sacrifice. He had just made a friend and immediately lost him.

The second time, it had happened right in front of his eyes before he could move a finger. Once again, the kind angel had given his all to grant Dean's whims (or so Dean considered in retrospective), and that had got him killed. That day, the hunter had lost all his family: his two brothers, his adoptive father, and again a friend who he never even thanked.

The third time... oh, that was still a sore spot, no matter the years that had already passed. Castiel had needed help, had begged for a little trust, and still Dean had practically ordered him to abandon. He had forced his friend to selfishly choose between them and his home, between them and his brothers and sisters... even when Castiel didn't really want to choose, because he was trying to do the best for everyone. To this day, Dean still blamed himself for driving the angel to the point of madness and utter loneliness that in the end, finished with him under water being devoured from the inside by the leviathans.

And finally the fourth time Cas died... oh Chuck, he didn't even want to think about it. Cas had been alone, lost, hungry and helpless, and that damn reaper had killed him barely a few metres away from Dean, just because he hadn't been good enough to find him a day sooner, and hour sooner... or even a minute sooner. If not for Gadreel, he would have lost Cas forever.

And then, here they were again. Same old game. And after all Cas had gone through, he was still saying that he loved... them.

"Cas, no." Dean couldn't accept the farewell.

"Yes. You need to keep fighting."

"We are fighting!" Sam supported his brother. "We're fighting for you, Cas."

"And like you said, you're family, Cas. And we don't leave family behind."

Castiel didn't know what else to say. For a moment, he felt an odd wetness in his eyes, and thought he was going to cry. But that was ridiculous, of course, because angels didn't cry... right? They lacked the equipment for it, as Dean probably would say. It was only his body's reaction to the curse of the Lance.

Wally had come back inside, but was waiting patiently a little apart to give the family some privacy. Sam went to him and Dean followed, leaving Castiel in Jess' care.

"So, what's the plan?"

"We hit him with everything we got."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Barely a few minutes later, everything was over. And miraculously, it wasn't on the worst scenario possible.

Crowley had come flying through the door, who knew why, immediately followed by Ramiel. The three hunters had put up the best fight they could give, and after some blows here and there, Sam had luckily delivered the coup of grace. The Prince of Hell existed no more, but Castiel was still dying. Dean's stomach lurched unpleasantly when the angel started spewing some black, gross goo, which reminded him of another moment when he had lost his best friend to an eerily similar substance. He couldn't even look at it.

Behind them, Crowley had gotten up and held the Lance for a moment before breaking it in two. Light erupted from both the weapon and the seraph, and when Dean was able to see again, Castiel seemed healed and good as new.

"Cas?" he was almost afraid to believe it.

"You're welcome," the King of Hell said before disappearing.

"So... you're good?" Wally asked, unsure.

The angel assented while Dean and Sam helped their friend to his feet, but he was still pondering something in his mind.

"What did he mean about somebody stealing from him?"

"Who knows what that crazy man was talking about," Dean said, not giving a damn.

"Actually... I think he was referring to this," Jess prattled with an apologetic frown on her face, pulling something from her back. "I didn't intend to take anything, it just... happened by accident. I'm so sorry!"

The four men looked astonished at the revolver she had on her hand. It was unmistakable.

"Jess..." Sam whispered, before a feeling of euphoria won him over and he took the woman in his arms, spinning her around and making her drop the gun. "Jess, Jess, Jess, JESS!"

"Whoa, girl!" Dean praised her, picking up the Colt. "I didn't think you could be any more amazing, but you proved me wrong."

"What?" she asked, confused and a bit dizzy.

"When we get back to the bunker, Sammy's going to tell you a very interesting bedtime story. So c'mon everybody, let's go home."

Looking for: BalthazarxAtropos, anyone please?

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