Chapter 4
Sam dropped to his knees, pressing his hands against his ears and squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could, but the light still burned into him. The ringing noise reached a deafening pitch that felt like it was about to grind his bones into dust. Sam yelled in pain and fear, curling himself into a ball, desperate for it to stop…
And then it did.
Sam blinked, trying to clear the dazzling shadow-lights from his vision. Across the room, Adam's lifeless body lay just on the other side of the Cage. In front of it, Castiel stood next to Dean, one hand gripping his shoulder. He appeared stunned, and he suddenly dropped his hand and backed away from Dean.
Sam watched as his brother slowly rotated his neck from side to side, heard the vertebrae crackle into place. Then Dean looked up at Cas and grinned.
Except it wasn't Dean's grin anymore.
Castiel shot backwards, hitting the wall so hard it cracked. Cas crumpled to the floor, knocked senseless.
Michael advanced on Castiel slowly, as if he were stalking prey. It was Dean's voice, Dean's body, but Sam's brother was gone.
"Hello, little brother," the archangel said, voice low with menace. "Now, if I recall correctly, the last time I saw you, you lobbed a bottle of holy fire at me… I didn't appreciate that, Castiel."
Michael clenched a fist and slammed it into the side of Castiel's head with a sickening crunch. Cas fought to recover.
"Of course, I won't count the time you snuck into our Cage and made a withdrawal without our consent," Michael continued, circling his gasping brother. "Very sneaky, Castiel."
"Dean," Cas wheezed. "You have to fight him."
Michael laughed harshly. "I've had a long time to dream about this moment. Trust me, Castiel, I won't be giving it up as easily as Lucifer did."
"Michael!" Lucifer yelled, furiously pushing himself against the Cage's walls. "Let me out! We can finish this together!"
Michael looked at him incredulously. "I have no interest in your little apocalypse anymore, Lucifer. You can stay in time-out until the sun explodes, for all I care."
Lucifer snarled and threw himself against the Cage, rattling the bars. "DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME HERE, YOU BASTARD!"
Michael ignored him, turning back to Castiel. "You on the other hand… You have to die. Slowly."
As Michael resumed beating Castiel, Sam continued desperately trying to pull his hand free from the shackle that kept him chained to the wall. He looked at Crowley, who seemed unsure of what to do.
"Please," Sam pleaded. "You gotta let me go!"
Michael hit Castiel again, this time in the jaw.
Crowley looked from the angels to Sam, calculating his options.
"Crowley!" Sam pressed. "We can still stop this!"
With a final look at Sam, the King of Hell finally snapped his fingers. The shackle sprang open, and Sam shook it off his wrist.
"It won't do any good," Crowley told him. "The deal is done. I'm not getting involved."
Sam glared at the demon, rubbing his wrist. "If this doesn't work, I hope Michael rips out your guts and strangles you to death with them."
Crowley made a face. "Anatomically improbable, Moose, but I appreciate the effort to sound intimidating."
With a growl of frustration, Sam left Crowley and ran toward the angels.
Castiel, breathing heavily and bleeding all over, fought to pull himself up to his hands and knees. His eyes searched Dean's face, desperately trying to discern any remnant of his friend.
"Dean…" he urged, barely clinging to consciousness. "This isn't you…"
He was answered with a merciless kick to the ribs.
"HEY!"
Michael turned to see Sam facing him down, a look of resolve on his face.
"Oh, Sammy, you didn't have to come all the way over here," Michael quipped. "I would've come to you as soon as I was done with my brother…"
"Dean, I know you can hear me," Sam said.
Michael rolled his eyes. "Your brother's grounded. He can't come out to play right now."
Sam swallowed and pressed on. "I need you to focus, Dean. I've been where you're at. I know what it feels like. He's pushing you down and it feels like you're locked inside your own head. But you have to keep pushing back. Don't stop!"
Michael made a noise of disgust, then backhanded Sam with massive strength. Sam fell backward from the force of the blow, sliding across the floor a few feet. His head reeled from the impact, but he shook the stars from his eyes and climbed to his feet.
"Dean, I'm here…" Sam said, taking a step toward his possessed brother. "I'm here."
Michael raised a hand. Sam felt himself being lifted into the air, and then he slammed into the wall, right above where Castiel was struggling to regain his footing.
"You just don't get it, do you, Sam?" Michael snarled. "Your brother's gone. He can't hear you. He can't save you. I'm going to kill you with his hands, and I am going to love watching him tear himself apart about it. Because you know what? I'm not going to release my vessel's soul this time. I let Adam toddle off to heaven before, but not Dean. No, Dean's going to stay with me for the rest of eternity."
He smiled at the look of surprise in Sam's eyes.
"Oh, hadn't you figured it out?" Michael asked, jerking his head toward Adam's body that still lay on the other side of the gate. "That's been an empty meatsuit this whole time. Yes, poor little Adam died when Castiel firebombed me. His soul's been in heaven all along. I would say you're welcome for finally relieving you of that guilt, but you boys don't seem too broken up about it anyway…"
He pushed Sam harder against the wall with his power. Sam grunted as the force pressed against him painfully. Castiel coughed, spitting blood.
"Now," Michael murmured thoughtfully, pointing to Sam and Castiel in turn. "Should I kill you first, then you? Or the other way around? Hmmm… so many options…"
Michael stepped closed to them, murder glowing in his eyes…
And then he stopped.
Michael frowned, his hand dropping slightly. Sam felt the invisible force holding him against the wall weaken.
A spasm of pain – or was it fear? – flitted across Michael's face. "No," he hissed.
He grunted, falling to his knees, doubling over as if he'd been stabbed in the gut. The force holding Sam vanished altogether, and he dropped to his feet.
Michael let out a furious roar, and then his head snapped up. But the eyes… they were clear. They were Dean's again. His face contorted in pain as he fought to maintain control with every ounce of strength he had left.
"Sammy…" Dean gasped. "Run."
A/N: Anybody else watch "Dark Dynasty" tonight? This show is going to be the death of me. I CANNOT HANDLE THESE FEELS.