Thanks for bearing with me guys. Nano took all of my attention last month, and part of this month (if you're interested, it's called Chiral) but now I'm back! So let's get this show on the road.

PS, you may want to go back and read the previous chapter. I know I had to.

PS… S, this came up in my head, so it'll probably come up in some of your heads too. I am approaching the angel knives like this: they can injure angels to the extent that they cannot heal the wounds as quickly as they normally could; the host body will just have to heal in the human way. This means that fatal injuries will kill them. That doesn't mean that any small nick will kill them.

Zachariah smiled calmly in the doorway, paying no mind to the mortals cowering in their benches. The Winchester's eyed him defiantly. "How did you find us?"

"You boys have been making big headlines. Did you think we wouldn't notice?"

Castiel looked at Dean. Dean's eyes widened. "No, Cas, wait –" He began, grabbing Castiel's sleeve. The angel looked down at his hand, and seemed to come to some decision. He looked at Dean meaningfully and moved forward, breaking the hunter's grip easily; Bobby stopped Dean before he could follow.

Castiel walked through a small half door and up the aisle where the angels stood waiting. Dean frowned, his eyes tracing over the officer's in the room. He was surprised no one moved to stop him.

There was still a loud echo in the room as Benson and the other officer's who'd been following them this past week continued shouting something at Castiel about freezing. They seemed hesitant to fire on him while he was unarmed, but the closer he came to the exit, the higher their guns raised. Castiel ignored them, and kept his eyes on his brothers.

In the front of the room Sam and Dean moved to stand protectively in front of Chita as Bobby moved over to where Casey crouched beside her desk. She watched them incredulously. "Is this some kind of escape plan?" She hissed.

Sam laughed shortly, keeping his arms spread as he started to walk Chita back to the judges podium. "Uh, no."

Dean nodded, his eyes searching frantically for a weapon, any weapon. "I'd much rather be with you guys than go with those dicks."

Sam grinned. "And they really don't like me."

Casey straightened. "You think you'll get away with this? You –" Bobby grabbed her shoulders as Dean leapt to her side, forcing her back down. He peaked over her head at the door. "You guys need to keep out of the way and try not to draw any attention to yourselves." Dean said quietly. "Zach really won't mind killing you."

Casey laughed shortly. "And let me guess, staying with you will be so much safer."

Dean frowned at her. His eyes caught on Elliot and Fin. "Just stay down." He said. He patted Bobby's shoulder, and quickly jumped the small barrier, making his way over to them as silently as he could.

Near the door Zachariah laughed at Castiel. "I knew you were stupid, brother, but this? Are you really going to face me unarmed?"

Castiel watched the two angels standing just behind Zachariah carefully. "If I must."

Zachariah smirked. "The Winchester's are coming with me."

"Over my dead body." Castiel stated flatly.

"Naturally. Kill him." He ordered, without breaking his gaze.

The two angels leapt forward, silver knives catching the light. Olivia shouted a warning and fired a shot into one of the angel's shoulders. A small explosion of blood signaled the bullets entry, but otherwise the wound went unnoticed. A few more shots were fired into the shoulder and chest of the second angel, Zachariah, and one into Castiel's forearm before Zachariah grew annoyed.

He gestured with his hand and the weapons were thrown behind them, sticking to the wall. "Now sit," with groans they were all forced into the benches behind them, "and watch." Instantaneously their heads were jerked to the side, and then they were all released.

Elliot gingerly touched his chest, panting. He looked at Munch. "What the hell was that?"

The elder detective shook his head as he tried to catch his breath.

"Uh, hi."

They both whipped around to face the voice. Dean ducked quickly. "Don't bring any attention to yourselves!" He hissed, before carefully glancing back over at Castiel. The angel was doing well. He was moving quickly and gracefully, dodging the blades that attempted to cut into him, his hands moving against forearms and elbows to redirect their knives in hopes that they would cut one another.

Dean ducked his head again as he watched Zachariah easily bypassed them as he stalked to the front of the room.

"So what," Munch asked quietly, glancing at Fin to make sure the other detective was aware of Dean's presence. "He can't see you or something?"

"Yeah." Dean answered his hand flying to his chest. "Cas inscribed something on Sam and I to make us invisible to angels."

He could almost hear Elliot's eyes roll. "We checked you two. Aside from those pentagrams and a hand full of scars, you don't have any marks on you."

Dean touched his chest. "It's written on our ribs."

"Yeah. Right."

At the front of the room, Sam pushed Chita away hurriedly. The security guard near the jury box, grabbed her arm and pulled her to crouch behind him. Sam and Bobby nodded at one another, and stood to meet Zachariah.

As the angel shoved the small door aside, he glanced at Casey. She scrambled backwards, keeping the table as a welcome barrier between herself and the three men. Zachariah smirked at her before he gave his attention to the hunters.

He dismissed Bobby, gesturing simply, sending him flying back into the wall behind the jurors. A few women screamed as he landed among them. Zachariah turned to Sam. "Can't run anymore, can you boy? Where's your brother?"

Sam stared at him defiantly.

Zachariah laughed. "I may not be able to sense him. But I know he's in this room; he'd never leave you, now would he, Sammy? I will find him eventually. Do yourself a favor and tell me now."

Dean turned his eyes from them and gripped Elliot's arm tightly. "Do any of you have something sharp? A pocket knife? Anything?"

"No." Elliot hissed. "We're in a court room. They don't let you bring weapons in."

"You're a cop. You're an exception."

"Wait." Olivia whispered, leaning in. "These guys aren't with you two?"

Dean laughed. "You guys keep thinking that." He pointed at Castiel. The angel was still holding his own, but blood now stained his jacket red, and dark crimson streaks showed where his hands had been sliced open. Munch narrowed his eyes; he could almost swear that the wounds cracked with light. "I would think that would be evidence enough that they're not here to bust us out."

In the front of the room Zachariah turned, his eyes easily tracing over ducked heads. "Oh, Dean?" He sing-songed. "It's time to come out and face your destiny!"

"Shit." Dean muttered.

"Go to Hell." He heard Sam say.

Zachariah turned back to him, crowding him up against the judges podium. He raised a hand and twisted it. Sam collapsed on himself, a cry of pain tearing from his throat as blood stained his lips. He clenched his fist, and Sam hit the floor, his arms wrapped around his stomach as more blood poured from his mouth.

As Sam looked up from the floor, his eyes fell on Casey. He looked away at the horror written across her face, and pushed himself to his knees. "Fuck you." He said, his voice hoarse.

"Oh, Sammy." Zachariah said happily, reaching out to pat his head as his eyes one again cast out over their audience. "I can stop his pain, Dean." Another hand gesture awarded him a low groan. "Just show yourself. You know I'll find you eventually anyway." He moved again and earned himself a short scream.

Dean clenched his teeth and got to his feet.

Zachariah smirked and snapped his fingers. Sam fell to the floor gasping as oxygen found its way into his lungs unimpeded, blood soaking into his shirt.

Zachariah waved, and Dean hurtled towards the front of the room, slamming into a wall and falling to the floor in a heap. Zachariah calmly walked over to him. "Play time is over, Dean. Say yes. Now."

Dean rolled over and slowly got to his feet. "Never."

Zachariah shook his head, chuckling to himself. "You know, I'm tired of this, and I think you are too. Tired of hurting the ones you love. Don't you think its odd, Dean? Odd that everyone you love either leaves you or dies? Look at your mother. Look at your father, hell, look at Sam. That only leaves…" He glanced over his shoulder at Castiel and a small smile started to spread over his lips. He turned back to Dean knowingly. "The runt isn't going to be able to keep that up for very long, Dean. Say yes and I'll call them off." He moved closer to Dean, leaning into his personal space. "Or would you like to be responsible for his death too?"

Dean swallowed carefully, and watched as Castiel dodged one blow, and accidentally pushed himself into the way of another, causing a violent splash of red to stain his white shirt before it blended into the already dark tatters of his coat. Dean forced himself to look away. "Go to hell you feathery bastard." He finally ground out.

Dean tried to hold Zachariah's gaze, but he couldn't help but watch the two men in dark suites circled Castiel out of the corner of his eye. Zachariah smiled deliberately, and turned to watch as well. "Why am I not surprised?" He said. "Oh well. After everything he's done, he deserves to die anyway. I'll be pleased to carry that out now for you."

Dean snarled at Zachariah, but his attention was arrested as one of the angles lunged forward, his silver blade aimed for Castiel's heart.

Castiel dodged the blow at the last possible moment, grabbing the angel's arm and forcing him to pull round as the other angel tried to slide his blade up under his ribs. Castiel moved quickly, dancing between the two bodies as he gracefully avoided their strikes.

Zachariah watched him for a few more minutes before an annoyed expression crossed his face. He extended a hand towards Dean and pressed it firmly to the hand print on his shoulder. Dean's knees buckled and he saw white.

Castiel howled.

Lying on the floor, Sam's teeth clenched at the sound. He pushed himself up and looked into Castiel's agonized face. "Please, Cas." He whispered.

Though he hardly spoke, the angel seemed to hear him. His face pinched in clear effort to put the pain from his mind and keep his body moving.

Sam watched as one of the angels moved to push his blade through Castiel's spine.

Castiel's eyes snapped open and he twisted himself into an impossible shape, stopping the blades decent. He moved to quickly for the eye to track, and soon had the blade out of the angel's fingers and into his hand, using it to tear the man's throat out.

Three women in the crowd began screaming as the body fell to the floor, electricity dancing over the wound.

Castiel flicked blood off the blade as he and the second angel slowly circled each other.

As Castiel passed in front of the door, he looked passed the other angel's shoulder and met Sam's eyes. He deliberately looked at the puddle of blood on the floor and then back at Sam. In an instant he was back to dodging blows, as though the moment never passed. This time it seemed he and the other angel were on equal footing, and their dance took on a more violent tone, as Castiel bore down on his brother.

Sam turned away from the fight and eyed the blood carefully. A cry jerked his eyes back to Dean who was writhing in agony under Zachariah's grip. Sam grit his teeth as he watched as the angel wrenched Dean's arm back, forcing Castiel's missed steps and near misses.

"How much longer do you think he will last, Dean? When will the pain finally cost him his life?" Zachariah muttered through Dean's panted gasps and cut off screams.

"What the hell is going on?" Munch whispered frantically.

"Maybe they were telling the truth." Elliot answered with a quiet look at Fin. Fin held his gaze for a long moment, and then cast his gaze out over the room, keeping his head down. With a deep sigh, he left his seat, and made his way to the front of the room.

Sam jumped when a hand touched his arm. Fin looked carefully at the pool of blood soaking the younger Winchester's hands. "What's going on, Sam?"

Casey made a small noise; Fin's eyes darted to her briefly before he shook Sam lightly, trying to get his attention back.

Sam blinked rapidly, and then met Fin's eyes. "You guys have to get everyone out of here."

"We're not letting you three get away so easily." Casey hissed.

"Have we moved to escape yet? No. Right now these guys are distracted; we need to take advantage of it."

Fin frowned as he looked at Sam. Throughout their whole ordeal, the Winchester's had looked fully in control, but now there was a slight trail of fear in his eyes. He nodded slowly. Without breaking their gaze he addressed Casey. "Keep your head down and go get the others to help, alright?"

"You're not going with them?" Sam asked.

"Just in case you try to get away." Fin answered with a slight smile as he placed a bracing hand on Sam's shoulder.

An incredulous smile crossed Sam's face before his eyes caught on the juror box. Bobby had organized the twelve people within and they were slowly exiting through a small door behind the podium. Over half of the jurors were already out. Sam shared an impressed look with Bobby, then he looked away to avoid drawing any attention to what he was doing.

Fin tapped Sam's shoulder and nodded towards the large door at the back.

Behind Castiel's twisting form the door slowly opened. Olivia managed to usher two people out when suddenly it slammed shut. Zachariah tsked lightly.

Dean crumpled to the floor as Zachariah released him and turned to walk forward. He smiled at Sam ruefully. "Did you really think I'd let them go? When they can be so useful?" He turned back to Dean with a smile. "You'll let your brother die. You'll let my brother die. What about the civilians?"

"No!" Sam leapt up from the floor. With a gesture he slammed back into the podium.

"Now who to pick?" Zachariah looked at Dean thoughtfully. The hunter kept his face carefully blank. Zachariah shrugged. "You're right. Let's be fair. All of them should suffer."

Zachariah twisted both of his hands and the room filled with screams as the people in the room slipped off the benches and fell to their knees in agony.

"You are causing their pain, Dean. Ready for it to stop?"

Dean met Zachariah's eyes, anguish written across his face. "No." He whispered.

Zachariah twisted again, fresh screams filling the air peppered by a few pleas for help.

"No."

"What if it kills them, Dean?"

Dean squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.

Sam watched Zachariah grimly, wishing for a knife that would work on him. He quickly looked at Castiel and the flashing silver in his hands. He dismissed it almost instantly knowing that if Castiel was in the position to give him the weapon he would have by now. Desperately his eyes dropped back to the bloody pool that was slowly hardening. And then an idea formed; he was sure the angel had implied this course of action, but all the same he hoped Castiel would forgive him. He grabbed Fin's arm. "Get me a knife or a piece of wood or a gun. Get me something. Now. Please. Hurry." Sam gave his shoulder a light shove, and Fin hurried away.

"Well, Dean? Are you really willing to let all of these innocent people die for your stubbornness?

Sam covered his hands with blood and turned to the surface behind him, tracing out patterns quickly. Behind him he heard a crash. Something hit his legs before he heard the tell tale sounds of Zachariah tossing someone into a wall. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Fin curled against the wall; he looked to be unconscious. Sam glanced down and saw a large piece of wood against his legs. It looked like it had come off of a table; one end was narrowed to a point with a small metal circle to prevent it from scratching floors, while the other end was a jumble of broken splinters.

"Sam?" He heard Zachariah muse. He looked over and saw his brother's confused expression as the smile fell off the angel's face.

Zachariah threw Dean to the ground and took two striding steps forward, but Sam moved faster, using the broken edge of the wood to slash open his hand and press it to the symbol.

There was as cry of rage and a blindingly bright light, and when it faded, Zachariah, Castiel and the other angel were gone.