Disclaimer: I don't own SPN.
Just to be clear: I am an avid Destiel shipper. I am NOT shoving Dean and Castiel's relationship aside in favour of Louise and Castiel but these circumstances are different. Castiel has not raised Dean from Perdition and he has no orders pertaining to Dean apart from 'keep him alive' and his orders are focused on Louise, hence why I'm focusing on the interaction between them. But because I do love Destiel, I'm trying to build up their relationship and that's what those scenes between them last chapter were.
Thanks to sjwmaw for your review :)
Chapter 28. The Exorcist
What was going on? Who was chanting that Latin? Dean! Was it Dean? Had he come to save them?
'Dean?' Louise whispered tiredly. Tom sniggered, his voice echoing around her head.
"Wakey, wakey, Lou!" he sang. "Deano's trying to exorcise me. But he doesn't know that there's a binding sigil on your arm. I'm not going anywhere!"
Louise couldn't even cry. She was far too mentally drained from Tom setting up shop inside her to even string a sentence together. To her horror, she found that Tom was right; as Dean got further into the exorcism, Tom started to twitch in pain but, to Louise's horror, the demon didn't feel dislodged in the least. Once the exorcism was done, Tom and Rachel just threw back their hosts' heads and laughed.
"It'll take more than that to get rid of us, baby," Rachel winked.
"Why didn't it work?" Jo said. "Did you read it right?"
"Course I did!" Dean snapped. "Why won't these sons of bitches get out of my brother and sister?"
"I believe that is your answer." Castiel pointed at Sam's forearm, where his binding sigil was exposed. "It's a binding link – that's what is keeping the demons locked inside Sam and Louise."
"Give the angel a cookie!" Tom said mockingly. Ellen and Jo reacted, clearly not knowing that Castiel was an angel.
"Wanna see a new trick we learned?" Rachel said before starting to chant in Latin.
"Ready for some real fun?" Tom said gleefully.
'Just stop…' Louise murmured.
With a loud crack, the floor split and the Devil's Trap was broken. Tom sent Jo and Ellen flying, while Rachel tackled Dean to the floor and began to punch the living daylights out of him. Tom turned to Jo, grinning widely.
"Hey, Joanna Beth," he cackled. "Wanna have some fun?"
'Stop! Leave her!' Louise begged as Tom tangled his fingers in Jo's blonde hair and pulled, eliciting a shout of pain from her. But then, to Louise's relief and Tom's annoyance, a pair of strong arms encircled Tom and pulled him away from Jo.
"Let go of me, angel!" Tom spat, his eyes black again.
"No," Castiel said solemnly. He laid a palm on the binding sigil and, after a moment, it sizzled and blackened. Tom howled in pain and when Ellen began to loudly recite an exorcism, the demon clearly decided not to take his chances. Louise's head snapped back and she let out a hoarse scream as billowing black smoke streamed out of her mouth, loosening her body and granting her control over her limbs. Once the demon was gone, Louise sagged. Castiel's tight grip was the only thing keeping her off the ground.
"Are you okay, Louise?" Castiel said. Louise blinked rapidly, her whole body trembling, and she raised a shaky hand and touched her face.
"Y-Yeah," she said dazedly. "I'm fine."
She wasn't. She was dirty, unclean, as though she had been forced through a massive dirt patch that wouldn't come off her. But she could hear Dean and Rachel grappling and she knew that now wasn't the time to lose her head.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted in the background. Louise winced.
"Go," she murmured. "Help Dean."
Dean had been possessed for months. She'd only had a demon in her for several days. She could handle this!
"Here, I got her." Louise felt Ellen take her gently from Castiel and she watched in exhaustion as Castiel turned and stormed towards Rachel, his trench coat billowing behind him.
"Get off of Dean," Castiel demanded, his voice infused with power. Rachel whipped around to look at him and then jumped off Dean. Quick as lightning, she had hauled Dean up and had an arm around his throat, her other arm keeping Dean's arms restrained. With Sam's large frame, this wasn't difficult.
"You hurt me, you hurt your human," Rachel threatened.
"Dammit!" Dean growled.
"I can simply heal Dean of any injuries he may acquire," Castiel said coolly, his silver blade gleaming ominously.
"True. But then I'll get away. And I'm still wearing Sam's meat."
Preoccupied with Castiel, she didn't notice Jo sneaking up behind her until the blonde thwacked her across the head with a bit of metal pipe. Startled, she whirled around and raised a hand to retaliate against Jo, who was now beginning an exorcism, but Castiel moved swiftly. In a moment, he had Rachel pinned against him while Jo continued to chant. But, deciding to follow in her brother's footsteps, Rachel quickly made her escape from Sam, who slumped against Castiel once the demon was gone.
"Sammy!" Dean rushed over and took Sam from Castiel, supporting his younger brother. "You okay?"
Sam just groaned in response. Louise felt Ellen hold her tighter.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" the older hunter asked. Louise just closed her eyes and nodded.
-LW-
"No! Please!" Steve Wandell pleaded as Rachel dragged him across the floor.
"Nighty night, Steve!" Tom sang, his knife glinting. With a slash, Wandell was gurgling and choking on blood and Louise tried desperately to regain control. Her bloodstained hands leapt out at her as she staggered, suddenly back in the driver's seat.
"See, Lou?" Tom grinned. "You're a monster! You kill everyone you touch!"
"No!" Louise denied, shaking her head. "I didn't! It was you!"
"Stop trying to blame other people, Louise." Louise whirled around to see Castiel standing behind her, a grim look on his face. "You're a monster. I always knew you were. Why do you think that your kind was wiped out before? And now I must eliminate you."
His sword appeared back in his hand and he thrust it up through Louise's gut. Louise choked, pain lancing through her, and she clutched feebly at Castiel's trench coat, getting blood all over it as she bled out. Movement caught her eye and she saw Dean appear at Castiel's side, though his face was anything but positive.
"Dean…help…" Louise whimpered, trying to stem her bleeding wound.
"Why?" Dean said dispassionately. "You're a monster, Lou. You killed Wandell and Meg's parents. You're no sister of mine. Why the hell should I help you?"
Louise felt her limbs give out and she collapsed to the floor.
"Dean…" she pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Dean!"
"Lou!" Dean mocked. "Lou!"
"Lou!"
Louise screamed and shot upright. She was no longer in Wandell's house; instead, she was in one of the beds in their crappy motel room and Dean was looming over her, concern etched on his face.
"What's wrong? Talk to me!" Dean reached out for Louise but she flinched violently away.
"Don't touch me!" she shrieked. "I'm a monster!"
"What? Like hell!" Dean sat down and grabbed Louise's arms, pulling her towards him while she struggled and fought. "You're not a monster, Lou! Cut it out!"
The fight draining out of her, Louise gave up and slumped against Dean, allowing him to pull her into a tight hug as she howled and sobbed. Everything that she had done while possessed was swimming at the forefront of her mind, drowning and overwhelming her, and she clutched at Dean's shirt to try and anchor herself or else she was going to lose it.
"Shh…it's okay, Lou…he's gone…" Dean said, softly rocking her back and forth. He hadn't done that since he was thirteen and this more than anything helped to calm Louise down, reducing her hysterics to soft crying. Exhaustion began to pulse through her and she sagged against Dean, sniffling.
"Cas was right," she mumbled. "He should've iced me. I killed three people. Oh, God. I killed three people."
"Hey," Dean said sharply. "Not your fault, alright? It was that fucking demon, not you."
Louise sniffed.
"Okay, then. I killed loads of people when Azazel was in me. Does that make it my fault?"
"No," Louise whispered. "Couldn't help it. Azazel did it, not you."
"Tom did it, not you. Okay? You kept telling me that it was all Azazel's fault and I couldn't do anything about it and y'know what? I'm actually starting to believe it. So do me a favour and do the same and believe that it was that damn demon and not you."
Louise took a deep, shuddering breath. Dean was right. He'd had it far worse than her. What right did she have to complain? Finally opening her eyes, she looked around for Sam – surely she'd woken him up with her outburst – but he was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Sammy?" she murmured.
"Said he needed some air. If you're any indication, he's probably a total wreck. I'm gonna go find him, okay? Just try and get some sleep, Lou. I know the nightmares are a frigging pain but you need some sleep."
"Okay, Dean." Louise's voice was barely intelligible. "Go find Sammy."
Dean carefully laid her back down on the bed and then, to her surprise, bent down and kissed her forehead. She smiled sleepily and closed her eyes and she heard the room door open and close a moment later. As soon as Dean was gone, the flashbacks and images began to start up again and Louise whimpered and curled into a tight ball, clutching at her hair and trying not to burst into tears again.
"Monster…eliminate…" Castiel's voice echoed in her head.
"No! Cas! Please!" she squeaked. A sudden rustling sound caught her attention and her eyes flew open. At the end of her bed was Castiel with a look of concern.
"You prayed to me," he said. "You sounded distressed. Are you okay, Louise?"
"Yes," Louise said quickly. She blinked and her hands suddenly seemed to be covered in blood. Yelping, she shoved them under the covers. "No! No, I'm not! I can't stop, Cas! They don't stop! I killed people! And Dean told me that it wasn't me and it was the demon but I still did it and I'm a monster and you should've just killed me when you –"
"Louise," Castiel interrupted. "Calm down. What happened was not your fault. You are not responsible for the actions of a demon."
Castiel sat down next to Louise's head.
"And I should not have killed you," he said. "You have taught me a lot and for that, I am grateful. I am glad that I was ordered to spare your life."
Louise let out a watery chuckle.
"Thanks, Cas." She swallowed. "I – you were in my nightmare. Saying that I should've been killed and that I was a monster and – and just like the rest of my kind." Her shoulders began to shake. "But I'm not! I'm not! I'm not like the other nephilim! I don't want to cause chaos and kill loads of people!"
"I know," Castiel said firmly. "You are different, Louise. That's why you are still alive. That's why I was ordered to ensure that you would not become like the other nephilim. It was just a nightmare, Louise."
"I know." Louise turned over, burying her face in the pillow. "God. You must think I'm a weak, over-emotional loser."
"You have been through a great ordeal, Louise. You are not weak in any way. Now, go to sleep. I know that you must sleep in order for your body to recover."
"Every time I try, I see Wandell and Meg's parents," Louise said, her voice muffled. She felt Castiel's hand touch her head and she stiffened.
"I'll stay here, Louise," he said. "I'll watch over you and Sam and ensure that you two and Dean are safe. That – that's what you do for friends, isn't it?"
Louise smiled and turned back over to face Cas.
"Yeah, it is. Thanks, Cas."
