Chapter Nine

By the time Sam got to the car with the swan maiden, he was having to all but drag her. She was stumbling with each step, soft whimpers escaping her. Sam didn't know if getting her in the car would help the pain, because she'd be sitting rather than walking. He suspected not, but at least he wouldn't have to worry about trying to support her.

Sam helped the swan maiden into the passenger seat of the Impala and then got into the driver's seat. A glance back over his shoulder revealed that Gail had left the Impala. He couldn't blame her, but he knew he and Dean should probably make sure that she wasn't likely to talk later.

Sam started driving, casting a glance at the swan maiden, who was curled up in the seat. Dawn's light was coming through the window and playing over her skin. She was still making soft whimpering sounds, but the light didn't seem to be making her any worse. Sam wasn't really sure how to help her other than what he was already doing – getting her to water she could change back in – but he figured that perhaps talking to her might help distract her. "What's your name?"

The swan maiden was silent for so long that Sam thought she wasn't going to answer at all. When she finally did, she didn't look at Sam; and spoke in quite a low voice. "Marina."

"I'm Sam." Sam hesitated briefly, but figured that, since he was getting her talking – even if it was only a one-word answer – he might as well carry on. "So how did you know your sister was in danger?"

"Instinct," the swan maiden answered. "I've always known when one of my sisters is in danger." She gasped and put her hand to her stomach, panting a little with pain.

Sam looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?"

"What kind of a... stupid question is that?"

"You're right." Sam guided the car to a stop just outside the seafront and then got out of the Impala. He walked round to the passenger side and opened the door for Marina, helping her out of the car and holding her steady when she stumbled. "It's all right. Just a little further." Once again, he had to all but carry her – this time towards the water.

After a brief hesitation, Sam waded into the water, wincing a little as the intense cold sliced through his shoes. He then gently set the swan maiden into the water, though keeping his hands on her shoulders.

Marina relaxed as soon as her feet touched the water, the tension leaving her body. Her black hair fell in a soft cloud over Sam's hands, framing a face naturally tanned. Dark brown eyes looked into Sam's and, for a few moments, the two of them just stared at each other.

And then bare skin turned to soft feathers under Sam's hands. He stepped back as a swan appeared in Marina's place, tall and with a long, graceful neck.

And then the swan lifted up into the air, flying to join five other swans while Sam watched.

When Dean, Gabriel and Mist appeared in Titania's palace, Gabriel stepped over to Dean. "You should probably let me handle this," the angel said quietly. "You've got negative feelings coming off you in waves. Last thing we need is for you to fly off the handle."

"I do know how to talk to people," Dean replied. He moved away from Gabriel, walking towards Titania who watched them calmly, her face revealing nothing. He paused just before her throne. "Mab spilled Ryssa's blood."

Titania tilted her head slightly to the side. "So you failed to stop her. What does that have to do with me?" Her gaze moved over Mist, but when she returned it to Dean, her expression didn't change. "I've already told you all I'm prepared to."

"There's a reason you told him to get Mist out of the ice," Dean said, struggling to remain calm. "You want something. What?"

Titania leaned back slightly on her throne, steepling her fingers under her chin and looking at Dean. "Perhaps I was moved by sentimentality."

"You don't have anything sentimental in you, Titania," Mist said quietly, walking over to the other fairy. "You know why I had to be sealed away – and you know the dangers inherent in freeing me. So I add my own question to the human's. Why set me free?"

Dean looked towards Gabriel, but there was nothing in the angel's face to indicate that he knew what Mist was talking about any more than Dean did. With a frown, Dean turned his attention back to Titania and Mist.

Titania moved, slowly, and took hold of Mist's wrist, her fingers tightening when the other fairy tried to pull away. Small drops of blood welled around Titania's fingers and dripped to the floor as she pulled Mist's hand to her own chest. With her free hand, Titania sliced a shallow cut with a long nail just below her throat – and pressed Mist's bleeding wrist to her own cut.

Mist's body arched and her eyes grew wide, turning pure white. Titania let go of her wrist, but neither pulled away. After a few moments, Mist started shuddering, blood trickling out of her ears.

A blur of movement caught Dean's eye and he glanced to the side just as Gabriel darted forward and pulled Mist away from Titania.

Almost immediately, Mist's eyes returned to normal and she sagged against Gabriel. "They want the same things," she whispered. "Mab and Lucifer. Different plans – same goals. Maybe the way to defeat one is the same way to defeat the other." She took a deep breath. "We need to find my sisters."

Dean frowned. "What sisters?"

Titania spoke up from where she was slumped on her throne. "One lies in a polluted lake. The second sleeps inside a bleeding tree. The third is held by scientists determined to discover her secrets." She slowly lifted her hand. "Gather the four sisters and bring them here. I can only allow you access one... last... time..." She snapped her fingers and the palace vanished.

When they appeared back at the swimming pool, Gabriel – realising that he was still holding onto Mist – let her go; though he was prepared to catch her again should she prove to be unsteady on her feet.

Dean glanced up as the door opened, but then relaxed a little as Sam came through. He walked over to his brother. "You run into any problems?"

Gabriel didn't hear Sam's reply as he headed over to Castiel, only sparing a glance to the woman still sitting on the floor, arms wrapped around her legs as she rocked backwards and forwards. "Did anyone come in?"

Castiel shook his head and indicated Kaede. "She started acting like this shortly after you all disappeared. It will cause problems if she's lost her mind. Can you help her?"

" I'll see what I can do." Gabriel didn't have his full strength since giving Mist back her energy, but he still had the Trickster powers – and his arch angel abilities, of course. The problem would come if Kaede's issues came from her soul. Gabriel didn't know anyone – angel or otherwise – who was able to heal a soul. Perhaps his father could... but God was gone; and from all appearances, it looked like he wasn't coming back.

When Gabriel reached out to touch Kaede's forehead, she flinched back. He followed her, touching two fingers to her forehead and bracing his other hand behind her neck. He then reached inside.

Kaede's mind was a kaleidoscope of images and memories. She remembered everything, but the memories were too much for her – so the part of her that was Ryssa had come to the front as part of her refusing to deal with the reality of the situation.

She wasn't going to be able to cope with the memories; not now.

Gabriel smoothed the threatening memories back and behind a temporary block. When he withdrew, Kaede blinked and tilted her head slightly to the side. "What did you do?"

Without answering, Gabriel just patted her shoulder and stood up. He walked over to Dean and Mist. "It's only a temporary solution," he explained. "She's gonna have to deal with those memories."

Dean glanced over at Kaede and then at Gabriel. "So what are we going to do?"

"What did Titania tell you?" Sam asked in a low voice.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Not anything that made much sense. We have to find her sisters." He jerked his thumb at Mist. "Whoever they are."

"Summer, Spring and Autumn," Mist said. "My sisters are asleep."

"How long have they been asleep for?" Sam asked.

"Centuries," Mist answered.

Dean frowned. "You mean they've been trapped inside ice as well? Or... whatever?"

Mist shook her head. "They chose to retreat from the world; to sleep. And with the others gone, the balance of the world was destroyed."

" And that's why you caused the whole ice age?" Dean asked. He looked at Gabriel. "Did you know about this?"

"I knew she was a danger." Gabriel shrugged. "Didn't really ask a lot of questions. To be honest, I was pretty boring back then. You'd hardly have recognised me."

"I'm guessing they're not all in the same place," Sam commented. "How are we gonna get them within a reasonable amount of time?"

"I'm thinking we need to split up," Dean replied. "There are three sisters we need to get out of wherever they're held. According to Titania, one of them's being experimented on by scientists; the second's inside a polluted lake... Oh, and the third's inside a bleeding tree. Cause it can't be easy to find them, oh no."

"Okay, well..." Gabriel looked around and shrugged. "Here's a suggestion. Dean, you take Kaede; Sam can go with Cassyboy... and I'll go off with Mist." He held up a hand when Dean opened his mouth to argue. "Yeah, I know. You don't want to let your brother out of your sight cause you're worried about the whole Lucifer thing. I'm not gonna tell you everything's gonna be all right – but it'll be a damn sight better to have two people per team than to have someone going off on their own."

Dean gritted his teeth. "No, this is a very bad idea. Even leaving aside the very real possibility that Lucifer might come after Sam – and, yeah, I know Cass carved those Enochian symbols into our ribs; that's not my point – I don't really want the psychotic former fairy with me. Besides, she's human now. How much help can she really be?"

"You and your brother tend to underestimate people," Gabriel said. "Also, gotta say, me? Not big on the whole prophecy thing. But when I get flashes of things, I take notice. You want to beat Mab? To have a shot at beating Lucifer? This is how it's gotta be."

"I don't suppose you know where we have to go?" Dean asked, seriously tempted to argue with Gabriel – but the angel was looking more serious than Dean had ever seen him. If nothing else, Sam's life wasn't something Dean was going to play around with. Of course, he knew that Castiel and Sam hadn't spent much time alone together. He was pretty sure the angel wouldn't hurt his brother – but Dean also knew that Castiel still thought of Sam as an abomination; akin to a monster.

It hadn't been that long ago that Dean had come close to sharing those views.

With that in mind, Dean turned to his brother. "You gonna be okay, Sam?"

Sam shrugged. "Sure. It's not like we can't call each other. And if this can help us against Lucifer as well..." His voice trailed off.

Dean nodded and turned back to Gabriel. "What else can you tell us?"

"This isn't an exact science, Deano," Gabriel replied. "You're gonna have to treat this the same way as any other case. And we need to divide up the three sisters in the way that's gonna work best for us. My suggestion? I'll take care of the sister inside the tree. You can take care of the sister being experimented on. Cassy can go after the sister in the lake."

Dean frowned. "But Cass said he couldn't go inside the water without help."

Gabriel shrugged. "Then all I've got to do is transfer some power to him."

Dean blinked. "Is that even possible?"

Gabriel nodded. "Yeah. And then we'll need to go our separate ways. And make sure you have plenty of iron. Mab might not know exactly what Titania's told us, but she'll know we won't take this lying down." He glanced at Mist and then walked over to Castiel.