Chapter 20

Austin felt guilty that he'd been so vulnerable as to allow a demon to over take his body, to use it to trick the girl he loved.

"That's it?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, my soul is still intact. I was trying to get clean so I could come back. When the demon possessed me it didn't drink any blood from it's own kind, that gave me time to detox and get it all the way out of my system. I know we can't be really sure but I know in my soul, I'm pure."

Sam nodded, moving to the back of the chair to untie him.

"Sam!" Dean snapped.

"We can trust him Dean." After a brotherly stair down Dean nodded, leaving Sam to finish untieing Austin on his own."

Dean turned to Cas. "Is their anyway to check his soul to be 100 percent?"

Cas stepped from the doorway. "I can do a soul touch but I can also see from out here-" Cas stopped talking then.

Dean looked up as he stopped talking. "What?"

"I knew something was different I just never expected." The angel was muttering to himself, looking up at the devils trap on the ceiling of the panic room.

"It's okay Cas none of us knew he was possessed." Sam said trying to make Cas feel better.

"Not him, Nichole."

Dean felt his heart drop. What was his feathery ass talking about.

Cas disappeared then.

"Dick angels!" Dean shouted in frustration.

Nichole's scream could be heard from the basement, caused all three men to tense and scramble for the door. All tripping over themselves and each other up the stairs.

When they got to their room Bobby had already beaten them there and was standing wide eye'd at Cas elbow deep in Nichole's chest.

"Cas!" Dean raged, storming into the room.

The angel pulled away quickly, not giving Dean enough time to decided if he wasn't to risk separating the two by force.

"Dean it is what I feared." Cas said voice grave, as always.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Dean yelled in his face.

Nichole lay beneath them panting from the pain and tears on her cheeks.

"A soul touch." Cas said as if to say, obviously.

Dean's brow frowned more as he looked from the angel to his daughter.

"Why?" Sam asked from beside his brother.

"I had to make sure before I told you."

Dean growled. "Told us what?"

"Nichole's soul is not inside her body."

"What? How is that possible? I saw it happen."

"When Kol went to put back her soul he put a little bit of grace in it's place, that is why I hadn't noticed by just looking at her."

"Get him down here and get her soul back into her body, now!" Dean demanded.

"I can't."

Dean shifted from foot to foot. "Sure you can."

Cas looked down at Nichole. "After I left I went to find Kol, he's gone."

Dean swore he would have punched Cas then if Nichole hadn't started to wake up.

"Cas what the hell." She reached a hand up to rub where Cas hand had entered her body.

Nobody said anything, they just all looked at each other in complete shock, while Nichole looked at them wanting answers.

"Austin!" Nichole gasped, backing up on the bed slightly.

The man in question raised his hands to let her know he wasn't going to hurt her. Nichole looked to her father and uncle for questions, Sam responded.

"He's okay, it's Austin."

Nichole didn't know what he was saying, Austin was Austin, Unless-.

Sam clarified. "He's pure, soul... Soul and all."

"Really?" Nichole asked, not sure if she wanted to believe him.

Austin nodded, eyes locked on hers. "Really."

"Why don't you two have a talk, you can explain it to her. We need to go talk about-"

"I don't think so." Dean cut in.

Sam tried to get his brother to see that Nichole needed this. "Dean-"

But Austin stood up first. "I'd never hurt her Dean."

"I've heard that twice before."

"Dad."

"Fine! But we're going to be right down stairs and Cas-well he can hear everything."

Austin nodded, moving into the room so the guys could get past him. Dean gave one more watchful look as he left the room, making a point at the open door.

Nichole chuckled softly shaking her head, Dean Winchester stars in the over protective father.

"You looked better since I saw you, how you feeling?" Austin asked, but stayed near the wall not wanted to cross any boundaries.

"I just had an angel digging around inside me."

"Right." Austin smiled. "I'm sure they'll explain that to you once they finish bickering it out."

Nichole nodded, patting the bed beside her. "And you're supposed to be doing some explaining yourself."

Austin wasted no time, explaining about how he was possessed and trapped inside his own body while he watched the demon use him to hurt her.

"I know the feeling." Nichole said softly. "I'm really sorry that happened to you."

She'd told Austin about her mom and how she ended up with her uncle and father, he knew she'd be able to relate to him.

Austin's brow frowned. "How can you feel sorry for me, I caused you so much pain."

"It wasn't-"

"Me? Of course it was! If I hadn't made myself vulnerable and weak the demon wouldn't have been able to use me. You trusted me it because it looked like me, because of the information in my head it was able to convince you."

"Austin." Nichole reached for his hands, bringing them to her lap. "I'm not going to lie, these past few months have really sucked ass. I'm okay now, you're back and yourself, again. We can start over and forget these past months never happened."

Austin's thumb ran soothingly over the back of Nichole's hand.

"It might not be sunshine and rainbows-"

"As sunny and rainbowy as it can get in a hunters life." Nichole laughed at the little joke.

"No... Maybe we should go downstairs. You need to talk to Dean."

"This never ends!" Nichole groans, letting Austin pull her from the bed.

.

Cas was gone by the time the kids joined Sam and Dean. Dean was careful when breaking the news, even though Cas told him he didn't have to be. Without her soul Nichole couldn't feel anything emotionally,

"My soul is where exactly?"

"That's the thing." Sam explained. "Cas hasn't heard from Kol since the hospital."

"So he just stole my soul."

"He was supposed to give it back!" Dean snapped, he knew it wasn't Nichole's fault but her lack of emotion was really getting to him.

"Was he even an angel?" She asked.

There was a ruffle of feathers.

"Yes, but he wasn't working for heaven. According to the records he hasn't been allowed in heaven for a while."

"Great!" Dean shouted. "You entrusted my daughters soul to a felon!"

"He was never in jail Dean."

"You said we could trust him!"

"I have trusted him with many things Dean, he has never failed me before."

"Well he has now, I trusted you, now you better fix this."

"That's what I came to tell you."

Cas sounded nervous to share the information he had learned when he was gone, he knew Dean would freak out and Pull his angel blade, which is exactly what he did.

"HER SOUL IS WHERE!?"

"In hell." Cas's voice was even as he eye's the hunter in front of him.

"How could that happen?" Sam asked, shell shocked.

"After Kol was in the bad records of heaven he spent more time away from our brothers and sisters. He fell into it with a couple of demons, made a deal with them."

"For my daughters soul!"

"For a pure soul."

Dean through a double glance at his daughter.

"But she isn't." Dean glared at Austin as he spoke the words.

Nichole scoffed. "You don't have such a pure life yourself dad."

Cas cut off the family squabble. "Someone purity and having a pure soul are not the same things."

"Why is my soul so important?" Nichole asked the angel.

"Because when a pure soul enters hell a new queen is born."