Author's Note: Portions of this chapter are taken from episode 9.22, Stairway to Heaven, written by Andrew Dabb and directed by Guy Norman Bee, as well as episode 9.23, Do You Believe in Miracles? written by Jeremy Carver and directed by Thomas J. Wright. Spoilers! Thank you so much for all the reviews! I love seeing reviews from a variety of people! You guys are awesome!
Chapter Twenty-Five
"Did you find that ambulance yet?" Dean asked from the driver's seat.
Amie looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He was on edge, nervous, fidgety, impatient and pissy. He'd been all over her since they'd left the hospital to find 'the goddamn ambulance' that he suspected Tessa had taken. She was getting frustrated because getting a signal out here in damn backwoods America wasn't easy and her tablet kept losing its connection.
"Jesus Christ, I'm trying, Dean! Give me a fucking break!" she lashed out.
She heard Dean's mouth snap shut with an audible click. He didn't say anything while she struggled to find the ambulance using its GPS signal.
"Got it," she finally muttered. She directed Dean to an auditorium on the other side of the small town. As he drove, she rummaged through a bag on the floor between her feet until she found the handcuffs with the Enochian carved on them. She tossed them on the seat next to him.
He glanced down at them. "What are those for?" he questioned.
"You might need them," she explained, shrugging. "You never know."
Dean parked the Impala across the street from the auditorium. Amie pointed at to an ambulance parked nearby. "There it is," she observed.
"Alright, you wait here," he ordered. "I'll go talk to Tessa."
"Alone?" she inquired.
"I'll be fine," he grumbled. He stepped out of the car and turned back around to look at her. "Lock the doors and for god's sake, stay put." He slammed the door and walked away.
"Shit," she mumbled as she stretched across the seat and slammed the lock down. She reached behind herself and pushed that lock down as well, then her eyes shot to the doors in the back, checking to see if they were locked. When she assured herself that they were, she turned around, put her feet on the dash and crossed her arms over her chest. Dean would be pissed if he saw her with her big clunky boots on his precious car's dashboard, but right now she didn't care. She was feeling pissed and angry, and if she was completely honest with herself, jealous.
Dean had explained exactly who, and what, Tessa was on the drive to the hospital. Amie got the impression that they had a somewhat special relationship, despite Dean's attempt to downplay their previous interactions. It didn't help that he'd ordered her to stay in the car so he could go, alone, to find Tessa.
She scolded herself for what she was feeling. For god's sake, Dean was thirty-five years old, he'd lived a whole life prior to meeting her and there had been women before her – a lot of women. Bartenders, waitresses, no-name pick-ups in bars, none of those bothered her or made her feel like this. She wasn't jealous of Cassie or Jo, or even Lisa. Those women had all helped shape Dean into the man he was today. Shit, she'd been married before she met Dean, so it wasn't like she didn't come with a history. But for some reason, the way he'd talked about Tessa, it put her on edge, made her nervous.
Amie shook her head, trying to pull herself out of the funk she felt herself falling into. She needed to let it go, trust Dean, because if they didn't have that, then they had nothing. She just needed to believe that he knew what he was doing.
The sound of the key in the Impala's passenger door surprised her, she hadn't expected him to come back that quickly. She turned and moved to the middle as he shoved a pretty brunette into the seat next to her, a pissed look on his face. He slammed the door, leaving Amie and the woman alone in the car.
"You must be Tessa," Amie said.
The woman nodded, flinching as if in pain. "I am," she answered. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you." The driver's side door opened as they spoke.
"I'm Amie," she told Tessa.
"She's my girlfriend," Dean said as he climbed in, pulling the door closed behind him. "And I expect you two to be civil to each other."
"Your girlfriend?" Tessa scoffed.
"Yeah, princess," Dean bit back. "You don't seriously think you're the only woman in my life, do you?"
Tessa ignored the comment, but Amie didn't miss the glare she shot Dean's way. "Where are we going?" she grumbled from her seat next to Amie.
"Someplace we can talk," Dean replied. He reached over and took Amie's hand. He squeezed it gently and she knew he was trying to reassure her without speaking. They drove in silence back to Cas's headquarters.
As Dean parked the Impala, he pulled his phone from his pocket. "You heard from Sam?" he asked Amie.
"No," she replied.
Dean nodded, dialed his phone and put it to his ear. It was a few seconds before he started to talk.
"How is he?" Dean asked.
"Great," Dean replied to whatever Sam had said as he crossed around the back of the car, opened the passenger side door and pulled Tessa from the car. "Went out, got some air. Met an old friend. Say hi to Sam, Tessa." He held the phone out toward the reaper.
"Your brother's a psycho, Sam," she yelled.
"Ha, ha, stop," Dean muttered.
Amie had stepped out of the car after Dean, shutting the door behind her. Dean put the phone back to his ear then said, "You first."
She opened the building's door for him and followed him inside as he walked with Tessa. He wrapped up his conversation with Sam just as they entered the command center where a group of angel's, including Hannah and Flagstaff, were talking.
"Tessa? What are you doing?" Hannah asked, obviously surprised to see her.
"You want to tell her?" Dean asked Tessa.
Tessa didn't utter a sound, so he grabbed the top of her shirt and yanked it back, exposing the sigil carved in her chest. Amie could see a gash cut through it, making it ineffective. She saw the smirk on Dean's face and she knew he was responsible for the gash.
"Oh God," Hannah muttered.
"There is no God. Only Castiel," Tessa expostulated.
"Oh, and you're done," Dean grumbled and pushed Tessa through the crowd of angels.
Amie followed them down a brightly lit hallway where Dean shoved Tessa into a room with warding on the door. The trio of angels had tagged along and they watched him expectantly as he closed the door and turned back to them.
Hannah was the first to speak. "You wounded her."
Dean rolled his eyes. "More like 'defused,' okay?" he explained. "I cut up that old testament graffiti she carved into herself. I figured that would break the spell."
The angel in the red shirt interrupted. "And now…. What will you do to her?"
Dean pulled an angel blade from his jacket. "Guess?" he said.
"Torture. Predictable," Flagstaff bit out.
Amie pushed past Dean. "Jesus, I've about had enough of you and your mouth," she mumbled. The insolent angel took a step back, sliding herself behind Hannah.
Dean grabbed Amie's arm and held her back, his fingers squeezing her upper arm. "We need to know if there are other bombers out there."
"No. I won't allow it," Hannah said, shaking her head. "I know what Tessa was planning. It's horrible, but there's only one person who can punish her."
"Let me guess," the hunter quipped. "Yeah big, trench coat, sensible shoes?" Dean held his hand at eye level, obviously talking about Cas.
Hannah went off on a tirade about Castiel, rules and order, finally insisting that Dean could talk to Tessa, but he had to leave his angel blade with her.
"Are you asking or telling?" Dean inquired.
"We're not asking," the red-shirted angel said.
Dean flipped the blade in his hand, then handed it over to Hannah. He took Amie's arm and opened the door to the room Tessa was being held in.
"Wait," Hannah said. "Your girlfriend's too."
He stopped and without looking at Hannah, he held his hand out to Amie. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and he gave her a faint nod. She sighed and pulled her angel blade from her inside jacket pocket, silently handing it to the red-shirted angel. Hannah followed them into the room.
He closed the door behind them and Amie took the seat in the corner of the room, where she had been earlier. Dean and Tessa sat at the table, now put back where it had previously been. Hannah stood off to the side.
"Okay," Dean began. "Let's start with an easy one. Who are you working for?"
Tessa's reply was "Castiel."
"Liar," Hannah snarled.
"People like you, they never understand," Tessa scoffed. "Sacrifices have to be made."
"So you go after one of the bad guys, and if a few humans get microwaved, no big deal, right?" Dean speculated.
"In the grand scheme, they don't matter," she answered.
Dean glanced over at Amie. She saw the worry on his face, the concern. She couldn't believe the things Tessa was saying. And those angels thought Dean was the monster.
Dean turned back to the reaper. "Oh Tessa, you are so wrong."
Tessa leaned forward in her seat. "When Castiel came to me and told me what I had to do, he said I was chosen because I was strong. Others…they couldn't handle this. They're too weak," she explained, looking pointedly at Hannah.
Hannah made a move to attack Tessa. Dean jumped out of his seat and grabbed her by the shoulders, while Amie came out of hers and grabbed Hannah's arm. Together, they shoved the angry angel out the door and into the hallway. Dean yanked the door shut behind him.
"Settle down!" he ordered.
"Is…do you think she's telling the truth?" Hannah asked breathlessly.
"She thinks she is," Dean replied. "Look, you stay out here. Amie, stay with her. Give me a few minutes to talk to her, okay?"
Hannah nodded, but she didn't say anything.
"Dean, I'm not sure that's such a great idea," Amie said.
"It'll be fine, I promise," he said. "Just keep the angels occupied." He turned and went back into the room, shutting the door behind him.
Amie sighed and looked over her shoulder at the trio of angels staring at her. Yeah, this was a great idea. Amie's past interactions with angels, aside from Castiel, had not gone well. On three separate occasions she'd been kidnapped by them and she personally held angels responsible for the death of her daughter. Needless to say, they were not her favorite celestial beings. She shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortably.
"I don't suppose you guys have any water?" she finally asked.
Flagstaff gave her a dirty look, but Hannah reluctantly nodded.
"Yeah, yeah we do," she said. She gestured vaguely toward the other room.
Amie turned to Flagstaff and the red-shirted angel – she still didn't know why no one had told her his name – and looked them up and down. "If you know what's good for you, you won't go in there."
She followed Hannah down the hallway to the command center, where the angel pointed to a small refrigerator. Amie opened it and saw that it was completely stocked with water.
"We don't really use it," she explained, shrugging.
Amie smiled. "Yeah, I guess not," she said. She grabbed a bottle and opened it, taking a long swallow as Hannah stood staring at her with her arms crossed. Amie recapped the water, then gestured back toward the hallway.
"Maybe we should head back," she said. "You know, help with the babysitting."
"You're okay with this?" Hannah asked quietly. "With Dean, I mean. Doesn't he, I don't know, scare you? Aren't you worried what he'll do?"
Amie shook her head. "I believe in him, I know he's trying to do the right thing."
They were just outside the room where Dean was holding Tessa when Amie saw a flash of bright white light. Amie fumbled at the door, finally pushing her way in with Hannah and the angels close behind. Dean stood in the center of the room, the First Blade in his hand, a nearly euphoric look on his face. Tessa was dead.
The angel in the red shirt slammed into Dean, punching him in the nose, sending him flying backward. Amie jumped in to stop him, but Flagstaff grabbed her and threw her against the nearest wall. She slammed into it, hard, her shoulder taking the brunt of the impact. She pushed away from the wall and hit the angel, her arms wrapped around her waist, both of them falling to the floor. In the background she heard Dean yell 'no,' but then Flagstaff was pushing her off, her feet punching Amie in the gut and sending her careening back. She hit the table with the same shoulder, then the floor. When she tried to get up, Flagstaff clocked her in the chin and then all she saw was black.
Amie came to lying on the floor, her feet and hands duct taped, as well as her mouth. She looked around and saw that Dean was handcuffed to a chair on the other side of the room, tape over his mouth and blood flowing from his nose. He was watching her and when she finally made eye contact with him, she could see the relief in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows and she gave him a slight nod, trying to relay the fact that she was fine. Using the wall, she pushed herself into a sitting position, flinching when she bumped her shoulder against it. Once she was upright, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She was getting really sick of being tied up and waking up with a headache.
She was trying to figure out how she could get out of the tape securing her arms and legs when the door opened, Sam and Castiel pushing their way past Hannah, who stood awkwardly by the door.
"He put up a fight," she mumbled.
"Get out!" Cas ordered.
Cas helped Amie, while Sam immediately went to Dean.
"AH!" Dean growled as the tape was pulled from his mouth. "You should have seen the other ten guys."
Cas turned to him accusingly. "They said you killed Tessa."
"Not so much," Dean replied. "She knifed herself."
"Yeah? Why would she do that, Dean?" Sam asked as he removed the handcuffs.
Dean stood up and rubbed his wrists. "I don't know, Sam. She was saying all kinds of crap." He crossed the room, pushing Cas away from Amie and taking over, slicing the tape with a small knife he carried in his pocket.
"So that's why you brought out the First Blade?" Sam nearly shouted.
Dean pulled Amie to her feet and into his arms. "You okay?" he whispered. Once she nodded, he turned to his brother.
"They told you about that, huh?" he asked.
"We had a deal," Sam insisted.
"Yeah, well, it was a stupid deal," Dean muttered.
"Really?" Sam shot back. "Cause if you'd stuck to it, Tessa would still be alive. Without her, we ain't got jack."
"Sam!" Amie yelled.
"Yeah, you think I don't know that!" Dean's voice was getting louder the angrier he got. "You think I wanted that to happen?"
"I don't know, Dean! Did you?" Sam yelled.
"Alright, that's enough," Castiel interjected. "Stop it."
Amie stepped between the boys her hands up. "Knock it off! Right now!" She put her hand on Dean's chest and got in his face. "Cool it, Dean! Now is not the time!" He stared into her eyes, before taking a step back.
She pushed Dean back another couple of steps, her hand fisted in his jacket. He went willingly, though his eyes were shooting daggers at both Sam and Cas. Once she had him next to the wall, she took his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her.
"Hey," she whispered. "Let it go, Dean."
He opened his mouth and she knew he was going to say something stupid, so she stood on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. He put his hands on her waist, tightening them minutely.
"I'm serious, honey, let it go," she mumbled against his mouth.
Only when he finally nodded at her, did she back off a step, but she slid her hand down and took a hold of his.
The door opened and Hannah stuck her head in. She glanced at the three hunters and the angel standing around with pissed off looks on their faces. She cleared her throat before speaking.
"Commander, I'm sorry, but you have a call," she said. "From Metatron."
Castiel seemed taken aback, as they all did. He hurried from the room, followed by Sam. When Amie went to follow, Dean tugged her hand and held her back.
"You believe me, about Tessa, right?" he asked. He looked so earnest and sincere it nearly broke her heart.
She put her hand around his neck and pulled him down to her, touching their foreheads together. "Of course I do," she whispered. "I will always believe you."
Dean hugged her, clutching her to him almost desperately. He kissed her cheek and then they followed Cas and Sam down the hall. Just before they entered the command center, Dean stopped her again.
"Are you okay with this? Seeing Metatron?" he asked.
Amie nodded. "I'll be fine," she answered. Though she wasn't sure she would be, but she was keeping that information to herself for now.
Apparently Metatron wasn't content to just call, he had to video conference himself into the room. Amie hung slightly back, hoping Dean would shield her from the angel.
"Castiel," Metatron said from the screen on the desk. "Bet you're not happy to see me."
"Is anyone ever?" Dean asked.
"Dean," Metatron smirked. "Always with the B-grade, 80s action movie wit." He raised his eyebrows slightly. "And Amie, so glad to see you made it home. I hope you're none the worse for wear after your stay with us."
Before she could say anything, Sam jumped in. "What do you want, Metatron?" He looked at Amie. She mouthed 'thank you' to him, grateful he stepped in so she wouldn't have to talk to the psychotic angel.
"Just to tell ass-tiel, there, that I'm still alive," Metatron replied. "His bomber failed."
"My bomber?" Castiel said, clearly confused.
Metatron went on to describe an attempt on his life, one which he clearly thought Castiel was responsible for orchestrating, despite Cas's denials. They exchanged accusations back and forth, accusing each other of lying and plotting. Finally, Metatron came around to the real reason he had contacted Cas and his followers.
"So, one time only, I'm offering amnesty," Metatron explained. "Every angel, no matter what their sin, may join me and return to Heaven. I will be their God, and they can be my heavenly host."
"Why would we follow you?" Hannah spoke up.
Metatron got a look on his face that Amie did not care for. A false look of contrition settled on his face. "Well, look around. You've seen earth. You've had a taste of free will. I got to ask you – do you like it? I mean, the way you've flocked off to follow Castiel tells me you need to follow someone. It's in your DNA." He paused, as if for effect. "But Cas – he's not what you think he is. He sends angels out to die. Have you told them about your stolen grace, Castiel? How it's fading away, and when it burns out, so will you?"
There was silence in the room. Amie glanced at Cas and she could tell by the look on his face that it was the truth, his grace was fading.
Metatron continued. "So…no then. I'm not the best, but I'm the best you've got. You want to stay with Castiel, fine, but he's playing you, because at the end of the day, the only thing he cares about is himself and the Hardy boys there. You've got a choice to make. Make the right one." The video screen went blank.
Castiel turned to the crowd of angels watching him. "He's lying!" he insisted.
"About the Grace?" Hannah asked.
"It's complicated," Cas said.
"So he wasn't lying," Hannah sighed.
"He was about everything else. He…you believe me, don't you?" Cas pleaded.
Hannah shook her head. "I want to believe you, but I…we need proof."
"Name it," Castiel said.
Hannah took a deep breath, then she pointed at Dean. "Punish him."
"What?" Amie and Dean said at the same time.
"He murdered Tessa. He broke our rules," Hannah exclaimed.
"Y'all can all go to hell," Dean said. He grabbed Amie's hand and turned to leave, but a group of angels stopped him, pulling Amie away from him.
She struggled against the angels holding her, desperately trying to get away from them.
"Dean," Castiel said.
"Hey, wait a sec…" Sam tried to go to his brother, but the angels subdued him as well.
"You gave us an order, Castiel, and we must give you our trust," Hannah said. "Don't lose it over one man." She handed a blade to Cas. "This is justice."
Amie felt her heart stutter in her chest as she watched the angel, Dean's best friend, hold the blade in his hand and try to make a decision. She couldn't believe he even had to consider it.
"God damn you, Cas!" she screamed. "Why do you even have to think about it?" She kicked her feet and desperately tried to tear her arms from the angels holding her. "Don't you dare do it!" Tears were flowing freely down her face. She could see the shock on Dean's face as he waited for Cas to make a decision.
"No," he finally said. "I can't."
"Good bye, Castiel," Hannah said. The angels holding the three hunters released them, choosing to follow Hannah as she turned her back on Cas and walked away.
Within minutes, all of the angels had filed out of the command center, leaving Dean, Amie, Sam and Castiel standing in an empty room.
"So, Dean, uh…are we gonna talk about this or what?" Sam asked his brother as he followed him into the bunker. Amie was ahead of them, walking behind Cas as he went into the library. This was not an argument she wanted to be involved in. This was between the Winchester brothers.
Amie slid into a seat across the table from Cas, trying to ignore the sound of the boys fighting from the war room. The homeless-yet-again angel gave her a tight smile.
"You okay, Cas?" she asked.
"Only time will tell," he shrugged. "What about you?"
She was interrupted by the sound of Dean's raised voice getting louder in the other room.
"That Blade's the only thing that can kill Metatron, and I am the only one that can use it…so from here on out, I'm calling the shots. Capisce?" he yelled. "Look, until I jam that Blade through that douchebag's heart, we are not a team. This is a dictatorship. Now, you don't have to like it, but that's how it's gonna be."
Amie watched the interaction between the boys from her seat in the library. The look of anger on Sam's face was nearly indescribable as he spun and stormed from the room. Dean came up the short set of stairs into the library and took the seat next to Amie.
"So, batteries…" Dean finally prompted, looking pointedly at Castiel.
"I'm fine," Cas answered.
Amie snorted. Guess you didn't have to be a Winchester to avoid the truth at all costs. Shit, she was a testament to that. Dean gave her a knowing smile.
"No, you're not," Dean said. "How long you got?"
"Long enough to destroy Metatron, I hope," the angel replied. "But without an army…."
"Well, hey, you still got us," Dean reassured him.
Castiel hesitated, watching Dean's face carefully. "Dean, those bombers – you don't really think that I…" he finally asked.
Amie held her breath, curious as to Dean's answer. "Cas, you just gave up an entire army for one guy," he pointed out. He shook his head. "No, there's no way you blew those people away."
"You really believe we three will be enough?" Cas questioned.
"Four," Amie mumbled.
Dean smiled at her before answering. "We always have been," he told Cas.
Out of the corner of her eye, Amie saw Sam coming back through the war room toward the library. Suddenly, his face changed, worry and shock marking it. "Guys!" he yelled.
The three of them shot from their seats and rushed into the other room, Dean in the lead. Gadreel stood on the other side of the room, his hands up in front of him.
"I am not here to fight," he said, a pleading tone to his voice. "I thought about what you said. You're right. Metatron, he's…something needs to be done."
Amie's initial instinct was to trust him, to believe that he wanted to help, but unlike the boys, she had spent time with the angel, he had saved her, helped her get home to Dean. She was willing to give him a chance.
"And we should believe you why?" Sam asked.
"Because I can give him to you," Gadreel explained. "I know where Metatron is. I know everything. I know the bombers. They were his agents, not yours." His eyes darted around the room, settling on each person before looking to the next. "You don't trust me, fine. I understand. I've…made mistakes. But haven't you? Haven't we all? At least give me a chance."
Dean and Sam exchanged looks. Then, to Amie's surprise, Dean stepped forward and extended his hand to the angel. Except, there was something weird, something not right about it, she just couldn't figure out what was off about it.
By the time it clicked, by the time she realized what exactly was wrong with the picture in front of her, Dean had already yanked the First Blade from his jacket with his right hand and slashed it across Gadreel's chest, opening a deep wound. Everything slowed down, like the damn slow motion Michael Bay used in all those Transformer movies Dean loved so much; she saw Gadreel slowly slump forward and fall to the floor, she heard someone scream, and then Sam and Castiel were leaping forward, grabbing at Dean. Amie could hear him snarling and growling like a rabid animal. She stumbled forward in a half-hearted attempt to help Sam and Cas restrain Dean, but he pushed her and she fell to the floor, then Cas was being shoved away, slamming into one of the consoles in the war room and Sam was standing in front of Gadreel who was bleeding his angel grace everywhere, blocking Dean's way. She struggled to her feet and stood behind and slightly to Sam's right, her eyes on Dean. Her Dean was gone, replaced by the animal the Blade had created.
"Drop the Blade, Dean," Sam said.
"Move!" Dean growled.
"Dean. Look at me," Sam demanded.
"Sam! Move!" Dean ordered.
Castiel leapt at Dean from the side, giving Sam a chance to move in and try to wrestle the Blade from his brother's grasp.
"Let it go," Sam kept repeating until Dean finally dropped the Blade to the ground.
Once he'd released the Blade, they dragged him, literally kicking, screaming, biting and clawing to the dungeon, shoving him inside. Amie followed them, her heart pounding in fear. The three of them stood in front of the door, barring him from leaving.
"The hell if you think I'm riding the pine on this one, guys," Dean growled.
"Something is wrong with you, Dean," Sam said. "And until we figure out what, this is where you stay."
"And you two are gonna do what? Take on Metatron yourselves?" Dean scoffed. "That's smart. Oh, no, wait. No, you…." He pointed to Castiel. "You lost your angel army. And you…." Now he pointed to Sam. "Now you're trying to lock up the one guy who has shot at killing the son of a bitch! Hell of a plan, fellas! And if you even fucking think about taking Amie with you…." He didn't finish what he was saying but his intentions were clear on his face.
Neither Sam nor Castiel responded. Instead, Sam took Amie's elbow and pulled her from the room, then he and Cas pushed the doors closed, locking Dean in the dungeon. She could hear him calling after them as they walked away, Sam pushing her from behind. She kept looking over her shoulder at the door as they walked down the hallway. It was literally breaking her heart to leave Dean locked in there. She had a feeling that Sam knew what she was thinking and what she was feeling, because he kept a death grip on her arm.
Sam maneuvered her into a chair at the library table then he and Cas put the Blade in a box sitting on the table. Amie put her head in her hands and tried to calm herself down.
"Sam?" she heard Cas say.
"Yeah?" Sam replied.
"Dean…wasn't wrong," the angel said. "My followers have abandoned us."
Sam didn't seem to be phased by his statement. "Yeah, and Gadreel says he can help us. From where I sit, that's more than an even trade."
Amie had nearly forgotten about Gadreel during the craziness with Dean. She looked over to where he had been on the floor. Shocked, she rose from her seat and hurried into the war room. Gadreel was gone, the only thing left to show he had even been there was a puddle of blood on the floor.
"Shit," Sam mumbled from behind her.
"He couldn't have gone far. He's too badly wounded," Amie hypothesized. "We can probably find him, if we hurry."
"We, as in me and Cas," Sam told her. "I can't let you go."
"Seriously Sam, you too?" she groaned.
"Look, Dean may be wrong about a lot of stuff, but not keeping you out of this," Sam explained. "First of all, once we figure out what's wrong with him and get him back to himself, he'll kill me if he knows I let you anywhere near Metatron or Gadreel. Second, we need you to stay here. Stay here and keep an eye on Dean." He grabbed her hands and squeezed them. "But you have to swear to me that you will not, under any circumstances, let him out. No matter what he says, no matter what he does."
Amie nodded. She understood what was at stake here and she wasn't about to lose Dean. She just couldn't. "I promise," she told Sam. "I swear to you I will not let him out."
Sam seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He grabbed Amie and hugged her. Cas patted her on the shoulder, then the two of them left.
She waited until she heard the door slam behind the younger Winchester and the angel before she let herself slide to the floor, unable to stand anymore, the emotions of the last couple of hours overwhelming her. She stared at the pool of blood, her mind replaying what had happened over and over. What she had feared would happen had finally happened. The Mark had taken over and Dean had become someone, or something, she didn't recognize. Worry and fear took her over completely, consuming her every thought. After a while, she realized she could hear the distant sounds of Dean pounding on the doors to the dungeon. She pulled herself up from the floor and started down the hallway, steeling herself against the onslaught she knew was to come.
The pounding lessened, then stopped completely as she approached the doors. She stopped and leaned against them, bracing herself on her hands, her head down, staring at the floor.
"Amie?" she heard from beyond the door. "Amie, baby, I know that's you."
She didn't say a word, in fact she was pretty sure she wasn't even breathing, straining to hear Dean.
"Say something," he finally said, the words barely discernible.
After a couple of minutes, she couldn't stay quiet any longer. "Hey," she said quietly. She couldn't even be sure he heard her.
Apparently he had. "Hey, baby," he said, his voice surprisingly calm.
"How'd you know it was me?" she asked.
"The way you walk, the sound of your boots on the floor," he replied. "I have it memorized. I spent five months praying I'd hear those boots coming down my hallway, into my room. I'll never forget it."
"Dean…." Amie muttered.
"Let me out, baby, please," Dean pleaded. "Let me out so I can finish this, end it once and for all. Let me make it right, so we can move on, start to heal. That's all I want." His voice was soft and cajoling.
She felt the tears spilling over her lower lashes and slipping down her cheeks as he spoke. She felt herself believing that it might be possible, that if she let him out he would fix it, fix all of it. Then maybe they could return to their lives, as fucking crazy as they were, but better than this, the constant worry and fear. She put her hand on the lock and she almost opened it, despite her promise to Sam. Until the image of Gadreel, his grace bleeding out of him on the bunker floor, Dean crazy and animalistic, flashed before her eyes.
Amie dropped her hand and leaned her head against the door. The tears were flowing freely now. "I can't, Dean," she sobbed. "I'm sorry, I just can't." She turned and pushed her way out of the room, slamming the door behind her and practically running down the hall, the sound of Dean's voice echoing behind her.
She found herself in the kitchen, leaning against the sink, her hands gripping the edge so hard that her knuckles were white. She stared at the droplets of water falling from the faucet, trying to pull herself together. She took a few deep breaths, then removed her jacket and dropped it to the table. She rolled up her sleeves, then she crossed the room and yanked open the cabinets in the corner. She pulled out paper towels, bleach, soap and a bucket. She needed to do something, anything to keep her mind off of Dean locked in the goddamn dungeon. There was a puddle of blood in the war room that needed to go away.
Once Amie had gathered everything she needed, she shoved it in the bucket and stood up. She turned around to find Crowley standing less than a foot away from her. Startled, she let out a little scream and dropped the bucket to the floor.
"Hello, love," he purred. "Happy to see you, too."
"Crowley! What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. He'd scared the shit out of her. She shoved her hands in the back pocket of her jeans so he wouldn't see them shaking.
"Dean summoned me," he explained. "Seems he's got a bit of a situation. I agreed to help him."
Amie shook her head. "No, you can't! There's something wrong with him," she argued. "The Mark and the Blade, they're doing something to him, changing him…."
"I know," Crowley grinned. He took two steps closer to her.
She tried to back away, but there was nowhere for her to go. Crowley took her arm and pulled her tight against his side.
"Dean wants to say hello," he murmured in her ear.
Everything went black and then she was standing outside the now open doors to the dungeon. Dean was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. Behind him, inside the actual dungeon room, she could see the ingredients to a summoning spell spread across the floor. Dean shoved himself away from the wall, took Amie's hand and yanked her away from Crowley.
"I told you not to touch her," Dean growled.
"Couldn't get her here if I didn't touch her, mate" the demon smirked. He glanced between the two of them, a slight smile on his face. "I'll give you two a minute." He slipped out the door into the hallway.
"Dean, what are you doing?" Amie asked.
"What I have to do," he replied. "Look, I need to go. I want you to wait here for me."
She shook her head. "Goddamn it, no!" She grabbed the front of his jacket. "I know I can't make you stay here, but at least take me with you, let me help you."
Dean took her head in both of his hands and pulled her to him. He kissed her carefully, his lips soft and gentle against hers. "No," he whispered. He slid his hands down and took her waist in his hands, picked her up and set her inside the dungeon doors. He kissed her again, then quickly stepped out the door, and with Crowley's help, he closed them and locked her in. She tried to push against them as they closed, but to no avail.
"I'm sorry, baby," she heard Dean say. "I really am." Then nothing but the sound of his boots walking away down the concrete hallway.
Amie beat her fists against the locked doors, screaming. She screamed until she was hoarse and her fists were bruised from pounding, but Dean didn't come back. Eventually her overloaded brain realized that what she was doing was completely futile and she needed to stop. She dropped her hands to her side, but they continued clenching and unclenching with the need to do something. She patted her pockets, but she was pretty sure her phone was in her jacket pocket, which was now lying on the table in the kitchen. She couldn't even call Sam and tell him what had happened.
She sat cross-legged on the floor and waited. At this point, it was all she could do.
She felt like she'd been waiting for hours and hours, but a quick look at her watch told her that it had been less than two hours since Dean had locked her in the dungeon when she heard the sounds of movement in another part of the bunker. She stood up and starting beating on the doors and yelling.
"Amie?" she heard Sam say from the other side of the doors. The doors came open a few seconds later and she saw Sam, Castiel and Gadreel peering into the dungeon.
"Sam, thank God," she mumbled once the doors were open.
"Where's Dean?" he asked.
Amie shook her head. "I don't know," she replied. "Crowley came and they left together…."
"That's what I thought," Sam mumbled. "And he locked you in here?"
She looked at Sam and shrugged. "Yeah," she answered hesitantly. "Yeah, he did."
Sam turned and stalked from the room. Amie hurried to follow him, as did Castiel and Gadreel. He pulled his phone from his pocket as he walked, finally stopping once he got to the library.
"Sam, what's going on?" she finally asked.
"Gadreel and Cas are going to try to get into Metatron's office and destroy the Angel Tablet," he replied.
"What? But why?" she inquired.
"I believe Metatron has found a way to tap into the Angel tablet, which gives him powers equivalent to God," Gadreel explained. "If we can break the connection, maybe he will go back to being a regular angel. Then he can be defeated. Castiel is going to help me find and destroy the tablet."
"What about you?" Amie asked Sam.
"I have a couple ideas," he said. "While you were locked up, Metatron's been busy." He explained the different videos that had been popping up on the internet with Metatron performing miracles. In the latest, he'd whispered something in some woman's ear. Sam was going to find her and ask her what he'd said.
"I'm going with you," she told him. She waited for him to argue with her or tell her no, but he just nodded. She left him to go grab her jacket from the kitchen. Gadreel followed after her.
"May I speak to you?" he asked once they were out of ear shot of Sam and Cas.
"Sure," she said. The angel gestured for her to sit, so she did.
"I wanted to apologize to you again," he began, sitting across from her at the small kitchen table. "For what happened with Metatron."
"That wasn't your fault," Amie said.
"I know, but I still feel regret," Gadreel replied. "Also, I wanted to tell you that once Metatron has been dealt with, I would like to help you to find your daughter."
Amie felt herself go stiff. She was afraid to hope, afraid to let herself believe there was a chance that she might see her daughter again. "Um…Really?" she stammered.
"I will do my best to help you discover what has happened to her," he explained. "I promise."
"But why?" she asked.
"I owe you that much, for believing in me," he said. "As soon as I return."He rose from his seat and left the room.
She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm. Once she felt like she could function, she returned the library. The angels were gone.
"Ready?" he asked her.
"Yep," she replied.
"All right, let's go find Dean," Sam said.