Disclaimer: I don't own SPN.

Just for future reference: I'm using vessel pronouns to describe angels and demons. When Tom was in Louise, he was still a 'he' because that's how she saw him. But in other vessels, I'll be going by their vessel's gender. Just a heads up!

Thanks to JaliceJelsa4eva, masterjediratgrl31 and sjwmaw for your reviews :)

Chapter 29. Betrayal

"Ya guys ever hear of a hunter called Steve Wandell?" Bobby asked, entering the living room where Dean was channel surfing again, Sam was on his laptop and Louise was staring out the window blankly. "Just heard from a friend. He was found dead – murdered in his home."

Sam swallowed and Louise looked down guiltily. Sure, she had been possessed but it wasn't going to stop her from feeling horrible about it, especially since she had been able to remember practically everything she'd done while sharing her body with Tom!

"Ya wouldn't know anything about that, would ya?"

"Nope," Dean said. "Never heard of him."

"Good." Bobby cut off Sam and Louise's protests. "His buddies are out for blood and they'll get it if yer stupid enough to try and reason with 'em, possessed or not."

There was silence for a moment before Bobby handed out some metal charms that he claimed protected them from possession.

"These'll stop the demons from getting back up in ya," he said.

"That sounds dirty but thanks," Dean quipped.

"Ya be careful, now," Bobby said. Sam nodded and smiled at Bobby but the older man didn't return the smile.

-LW-

Castiel had decided. He was going to tell the Winchesters about his true orders: to gain their trust for Heaven. He knew that he was defying orders but something very deep down told him that this was the right thing to do and so he knew that he had to do it. Sam, Dean and Louise were his friends. And he could not keep this secret from them any longer.

"Is that all, Castiel?" Zachariah said when Castiel had finished his report.

"Yes," Castiel said. Zachariah frowned at him.

"What's wrong, Castiel?" ne said. "You look like you're keeping something from me."

"Nothing," Castiel said quickly. "I am not keeping anything. I have told you everything."

Zachariah leaned forward, nir lion head staring at Castiel intensely.

"Are you sure?" ne said. Castiel edged away slightly, more nervous than he'd been in a long time. "Are you…considering disobedience, Castiel?"

Castiel froze. Was he? Would he do the right thing? It would be disobedience and that was one of the worst things an angel could do!

"No!" Castiel said vehemently. Zachariah sighed and shook one of nir other heads.

"I think you need another lesson," ne said.

"No. I don't require another lesson." Whatever that was. But if it was connected with the small, irregular holes in his memory then Castiel didn't want to find out. "I live to serve."

"I'm sure you do," Zachariah said soothingly. There was a knock on nir door and another angel stepped through. Ne seemed familiar…almost as if Castiel had seen nem before…

"Zachariah," the new angel said.

"Ah. Naomi. I think Castiel here requires another…lesson. Just to make sure that his head's 'in it'."

Naomi turned and fixed Castiel with a piercing look. Castiel immediately knew that he did not want to find out what nir lessons entailed, so he did the only thing he could do.

He ran.

-LW-

"Cas is late," Louise frowned, flicking through a book in utter boredom. Usually, she'd have been with Cas for at least an hour by now but the angel hadn't even shown up. Louise tried not to worry; he was an angel and he didn't need some human fussing over him. But he was a good friend and Louise couldn't help it. Suddenly, there was a rustling sound and a wide-eyed Castiel stood in the middle of the motel room.

"Cas!" Dean grinned. His smile fell at the look on Castiel's face. "What's up?"

"I don't have much time," Castiel said quickly, his eyes flicking to the door. "I – I disobeyed Heaven. I fled. They'll be after me."

"What? What the hell'd you do?" Louise said in alarm. What had Castiel gotten himself into?

"I have to tell you three something," Castiel said, still stiff as a post. "I…have not been entirely forthcoming. I told you that my orders were to protect you and to assist Louise with her powers. But there's more."

Louise frowned and leaned forward. What had Castiel been hiding from them?

"Michael…ne had a reason for sparing Louise," Castiel continued. His eyes continued to flick around nervously. "Hell is plotting. And there will come a time when Dean is needed as – as a vessel for Michael. Heaven and Hell are planning a fight between Michael and Lucifer and they require vessels – Dean and Sam, to be precise. Louise was to be left alive to placate Dean. To – to make it easier for me to gain your trust. Then when Heaven required your assistance, we would have it."

Louise was frozen, staring at Castiel with an open mouth. All this time…all these months…he'd just been using her? Pretending that he liked her, in order to gain Dean's trust so that Heaven could use her big brother as an angelic meat suit? All of the times she'd confided in him…all of the times she'd laughed and taught him about humanity and let him get close…and none of it was real?

"I understand that this is a lot to take in," Castiel said. "Heaven did not want me to tell you but I knew that I had to, so I disobeyed. They –"

"Was it even real?" Louise said hoarsely. "All that crap…all those times you said I was your friend…was it real?"

"Yes!" Castiel insisted. "I…grew to care. I should not have but I did. And I'm glad that I did because you and Dean and Sam are my closest friends. You –"

"No." Dean stood up, glaring daggers at Castiel. "You lied to us. You used us. And now you have the balls to tell us this and expect everything to be okay? Get out!"

"But Dean –"

"You heard him!" Louise was shaking with rage. "Get the hell out, Castiel! I – I trusted you! We trusted you! And you've been lying to us all this time!"

"Louise –"

"Go!"

Castiel looked at Sam but the younger Winchester just shook his head, not meeting Castiel's eyes. Castiel looked down and nodded.

"Just know that I truly do think of you three as my friends," he said. "That is not a lie."

And with that, he crossed over to the door and left, pulling it shut behind him. Louise buried her face in her hands, fighting the urge to cry. When had everything gone so fucking wrong?

"I can't believe it," Dean spat. "I thought he was our friend. We trusted him!"

"He said that he changed his mind," Sam pointed out, though he looked like a kicked puppy. "Maybe even angels can change. And what if we're the ones who changed him?"

"He had plenty of chances to tell us, Sam!" Dean said. "He's had two months to tell us that we're – that there's a plan to use us as angel condoms for some prize fight! And he kept it all to himself!"

"But –"

"Shut up!" Louise yelled, grabbing at her hair. "Just shut up! Now's not the time for arguing!"

Sam and Dean fell silent, glowering at each other. Louise suddenly stiffened when her senses lit up like fireworks and presences similar to Castiel began to appear. Angels! More than one! What did they want?

Louise's blood ran cold.

"Cas!" She jumped up and skidded over to the door, yanking it open. A bright light streamed into the room, along with a very high-pitched sound, and Sam and Dean cried out and fell to the ground, clutching their ears, as any breakable things in their room shattered. But Louise was largely unaffected, though she did instinctively cover her eyes, and when the light died down, she stared in horror. Because it wasn't Castiel slumped over outside anymore.

It was Jimmy.

-LW-

"Two months?" Jimmy said in alarm around his mouthful of burger. "Two months? Amelia and Claire – they'll be hysterical!"

Louise nodded, unable to look at Jimmy. On the one hand, she was thrilled that Jimmy was finally back and no longer trapped in his own skin with an angel. But on the other hand…Castiel was one of her best friends and now that he was gone, Louise realised that he really had changed for the better. And she'd just thrown him out without a second thought.

God, she was such an idiot!

"Hey, ya mind slowing down?" Dean said as Jimmy shovelled the last of his burger into his mouth and then reached for another. "I'm getting angina just watching you."

"I'm hungry," Jimmy said defensively. "I haven't eaten in months. Mmm, that's the stuff!"

Louise flinched. It was odd to hear his normal voice instead of the gravelly tones of Castiel that she'd grown accustomed to.

"What the hell happened?" Sam said. "What was with that light and noise?"

"Angels," Louise said. She licked her dry lips. "I'm sure they were angels. I – I think they ripped Cas out."

She squeezed her eyes shut. What the hell were the angels doing to Castiel?

"You remember anything about being possessed?" Sam said. "I mean, me and Louise…we remember pretty much everything from when those demons were in us."

"Bits and pieces. But I dunno if an angel's different from a demon. Having an angel in you…it's kinda like being chained to a comet."

Louise flinched again. Did it make her a horrible person that she still wanted Castiel back, even if Jimmy was being put through all of that?

"What happened?" she croaked. "Y'know, when Cas came to you and asked…well…"

Jimmy sighed.

"Things were…rough," he said. "Claire was having nightmares and Amelia…I think she was going a bit crazy after those vampires. She never believed in that stuff before, even though she said she believed in God. I don't know how she could claim to believe when she really didn't but…"

He shrugged.

"Then Castiel came when we were having dinner. Amelia and Claire…they couldn't hear him, so they just crawled under the table. But I could hear him. He said that he needed me for a special mission. To eradicate an enemy of God." He blinked. "Oh, hell. That was you?"

Louise nodded.

"Turns out Dean's special to the angels so he was ordered to kiss up, not kill," she muttered bitterly. "But keep going."

"I was thrilled. I mean, I was just a common salesman and an angel comes and says that he needs me for a higher purpose? I thought I finally had the chance to serve a higher power!"

"Jimmy, you idiot," Louise sighed. Jimmy grimaced.

"I know that now. I thought it'd be a temporary thing – let him in, get rid of this enemy and then come back to Amelia and Claire with some magical new knowledge about my purpose in life. But…Castiel must've gotten those new orders because next thing I know, I'm waking up here two months later with you standing over me."

Louise looked down.

"I'm sorry, Jimmy," she whispered. "I summoned him to try and help with my powers. I – I never meant for you to get caught up in this…"

"Don't blame yourself," Jimmy said, though he couldn't look her in the eye. Louise flinched for a third time and looked away. "You didn't know."

He shoved his empty wrappers away and sighed.

"I want to go home," he said. "I wanna see Amelia and Claire. They'll be worried sick."

"You can't," Sam said. Everybody stared at him.

"What do you mean, I can't?" Jimmy snapped. "I haven't seen my wife and daughter in two months. I want to go home and see them!"

"Jimmy, you were a vessel," Sam said. "Louise and I…we can remember bits and pieces about the demons that possessed us."

"But I don't remember anything!"

"They don't know that! They went after some random guy and the parents of a friend of ours for fun! Who's to say that they won't target your family even if you don't know anything? If we wanted to know about Cas then you can bet that the demons want to as well – I mean, he's the first angel to be down here in two thousand years! You'll be putting your family in danger!"

Jimmy looked sick.

"You guys know how to protect against demons," he said. "Teach me. I'm going home. I don't care what you say. I'm done with it all and I just want to go home."

"Jimmy –"

"Look, no offence but you really don't understand. I've been hurt so many times and dragged around like a puppet and I'm free! I've served my purpose! I just want to go home!"

"But –"

"Leave him be, Sam," Louise said tiredly, rubbing her eyes. "I'll come and stay in Pontiac for a bit. You two'll be fine without me."

"You sure, Lou?" Dean didn't look like he agreed with her proposition.

"I owe him that much, Dean. It's my fault he was even dragged into this anyway. It's the least I can do."

Dean's jaw set.

"Fine. C'mon. If you wanna make it to Pontiac by morning, we have to go now."

The drive to Pontiac was quiet, except for the music that Dean was blaring. He was staring straight ahead resolutely, his hands clenched around the steering wheel. Sam was tapping away on his laptop, not looking at anyone, while Louise was curled up in the backseat and Jimmy was staring out the window.

Louise couldn't bring herself to look at Jimmy. It was her fault that he was in this situation! If she hadn't been so stupid as to summon that damn angel…and now, to add icing to the cake, she wanted that damn angel back! The thought that Castiel might be in danger left a lead weight in her stomach and she couldn't help but replay that scene over and over again in her head. Why had she told him to get out? Why hadn't she been reasonable? People changed! Maybe angels did as well! But no, she'd had to be a total bitch and kick him out without hearing him out!

"There." Dean's voice snapped Louise out of her thoughts. "We're here."

Jimmy was out of the car faster than Louise could blink. Dean turned to look at Louise.

"You sure about this, Lou?" he said. Louise nodded.

"I have to," she croaked. It was the first time she'd spoken since leaving the motel. "I owe it to him."

She grabbed her duffle bag from the floor and slid out of the Impala. Giving Sam and Dean a quick smile, she waved and set off after Jimmy to his house, the sound of the Impala driving off reaching her ears after a moment. As soon as she reached the doorway of the house, she knew that something was wrong.

"Jimmy?" she called. The nauseating presence of demons was threatening to overwhelm her and she nearly hurled when she realised just how familiar they felt. "Jimmy! Answer me!"

In answer, something crashed. Louise hurtled through the house towards the sound and found, to her horror, that a black-eyed Amelia was pinning Jimmy to the wall by his throat. She turned and bared her teeth at Louise in a grin.

"Louise! So nice to see you again!" she said sweetly. Louise nearly gagged when she recognised the demon inside Amelia.

"Tom," she forced out. Waves of memories and flashbacks swamped her, made even worse by Tom's oily, dark soul, and she sagged against the door frame, trying not to throw up or pass out.

"And this must be Jimmy," Tom said, trailing a finger down Jimmy's cheek. "I've wanted to meet you for a long time, Jimmy – ever since I saw you in Louise's memories. I mean, an angel's vessel? I haven't had the pleasure of meeting one of them before…"

"'Melia!" Jimmy wheezed, trying to force his possessed wife's hands away from his throat. Louise started towards him but was suddenly hurled into a wall. Her head pounding and her vision swimming, she was met with a very unpleasant sight when she finally recovered: little Claire, grinning in a very evil way and with black eyes rather than her usual blue.

"Hi, Louise!" she chirped. "I'm so glad you came back to visit me!"

"Rachel," Louise snarled. Rachel grinned.

"She remembers!" She crossed over to Jimmy and smiled up at him. "Hi, Jimmy! I'm Rachel and this is my brother, Tom. We're gonna be asking you a few questions, okay?"

Louise gritted her teeth and began to concentrate on her telekinesis. Castiel had been training her for two months! She should be able to overcome a demon! Slowly but surely, she felt herself gaining more and more control over her invisible bonds. She glanced at Tom and Rachel, worried that they would notice, but they were too preoccupied with Jimmy.

"He's boring," Rachel complained. "I say we have some fun."

Tom grinned widely and held out her hand to summon a knife. Louise's eyes widened. She couldn't let anything happen to Jimmy! With one last colossal effort, she broke free of her bonds with a yell. Tom and Rachel whirled around in alarm.

"What the hell?" Tom snapped.

"You're not the only one with a few tricks up your sleeve," Louise growled. "Now get the hell away from Jimmy!"

"Make us," Rachel challenged. Louise raised her eyebrows and began to chant.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus –"

"Uh, uh!" Tom tutted. Reversing her grip on the knife she raised it and plunged it into Amelia's chest.

"NO!" Jimmy bellowed. "AMELIA!"

"Hey, that looks like fun!" Rachel said. Louise dived at her and tackled her to the ground, intent on saving Claire, but Rachel just pulled Louise's knife out of the waistband of her slacks and stabbed herself in the gut. Jimmy's pained yell nearly made Louise cry. She'd failed again! If she exorcised Amelia and Claire, they'd die!

"Well, this is a problem," Tom grinned, turning to face Jimmy. "You see, Louise can still exorcise us. But if she does? Wifey and little girl take a dirt nap for good."

Jimmy's face was chalk white and his breathing was laboured. When Rachel lashed out and kicked Louise off before straddling her, Louise didn't even fight. Why should she? Everyone around her kept getting hurt or killed! And now Jimmy's family were the ones suffering! Deep down, she knew that there was no hope for Amelia and Claire and that she should exorcise them anyway but she just couldn't bring herself to.

"I'm sorry, Jimmy," she murmured. "'S all my fault."

"Aww!" Rachel cupped Louise's face. "Don't cry, Lou! I hate it when you cry!"

"Are – are they gonna die?" Jimmy said, sounding like every word was a struggle. Louise closed her eyes so that she didn't have to see Jimmy's face and nodded. She heard him inhale sharply. "Then…do it. Please. I can't – don't let them suffer like – like me. And you. If those demons get away – they'll be trapped – they'll suffer for ages…"

Louise pursed her lips to hold back sobs. Taking a deep breath, she began to shakily recite the exorcism again. Tom and Rachel howled and when Louise got to the second verse of her exorcism, they finally decided that enough was enough. Amelia and Claire's heads were thrown back as the demon smoke escaped them and then the two females collapsed like broken puppets. Louise could hear Jimmy sobbing as he crawled over to his dead wife and daughter but she couldn't bring herself to look at him. Instead, she turned over, curled into a ball and let her own tears burst free, wondering why she failed at everything and broke anything she touched.