Chapter 35
Sarah wiped the blood from her angel blade as the lifeless body of an angel slumped to the floor. Cas' screams echoing down the hall, letting her know she was getting close.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" a voice said from behind her.
Sarah quickly spun around, and kicked the angel into the wall behind him before ducking the attack of another. Holding the two at bay, Sarah didn't notice a third angel approach until it was too late…
Sarah fought against the angel as he pulled her into a room and dumped her on the ground, causing her to bang her head against the hard concrete.
"Seems we've found a little mouse running around. Maybe she'll be the incentive you need." Malachi said as he moved the hair away from her face.
"Sarah!" Cas growled, struggling against his restraints.
"Let's see if you can keep your secrets when it's someone you care for that's about to die."
"Don't tell him anything, Cas." Sarah spat.
"Hm… Sarah Reynolds… the famous demon huntress… the human girl with a little piece of grace inside her… you know, I was expecting more." Malachi teased, as he traced a finger along her face. "Pity."
"Forgive me for only taking out two of your minions instead of all five. It's been a difficult week but I promise to do better next time." Sarah quipped.
Malachi smirked, "You are sassy. I'll give you that." He then stood up and gave a look to the other angel in the room. "I'll leave you with an artist then."
Theo grabbed a small archaic looking knife and approached Sarah.
"Hey! You leave her alone!" Cas yelled out but was silenced by the look Sarah threw at him.
Setting her jaw, Sarah glared up at Theo as he knelt in front of her and brought the knife to her cheek, making a small cut. Sarah bit back the pain, not letting it show on her face.
"Fascinating." Theo murmured. "I had heard about your will from Zachariah. I look forward to testing it."
"I doubt you have Zachariah's imagination." Sarah chided, before head butting him and knocking him back a little. "I out lived that bastard and I guarantee that I will outlive both of you."
Theo stood up, a streak of blood flowing from his nose. He looked to Malachi.
"I don't care what's left." Malachi stated as he left, sending a look toward Sarah.
"Don't ask for mercy. There is none." Theo said, shutting the door behind Malachi. He picked up a drill and approached Cas. "I'll give you one last chance for this to end."
"Give me a quick death." Cas replied closing his eyes and waiting for the blow.
"No!" Sarah shouted, fighting harder against her restraints.
"I need you to speak to Metatron. Everyone knows you have influence." Theo says in a hushed tone, surprising both Cas and Sarah. "He'll listen to you. Ask him to raise me to Heaven. You can do this, Castiel. I'll be a soldier for Metatron, do anything he wants."
'You – you serve Malachi." Cas replied.
"I thought he was the answer, but he's crazy."
"You're... noticing this now? You were more than willing to do his dirty work." Cas chided him. Sarah silently worked to free herself.
"I did what I had to." Theo retorted.
"When you were sure he would defeat Bartholomew."
"But no one will survive this war."
"So, you prefer to sit it out in Heaven." Cas surmised.
"I can talk to him about restoring your grace." Theo bargained.
Cas threw a quick glance to Sarah before answering, "Well, it's, um, it's true. Metatron and I do have a working relationship."
"I knew it!" Theo said with a smile.
"You're clever, Theo."
"You're allies."
"And he could use a skilled soldier like yourself." Cas considered. "Oh, but I don't know."
"I-I'm a team player, Castiel."
"All right. Well?" Cas said, gesturing to his manacles. Theo opened Cas' restraints. "Before I do anything, I'll need you to release and heal Sarah."
"Oh! Yes! Of course." Theo stated before turning to untie Sarah.
"I'll – I'll need a moment to make contact. And you have something that I'll need." Cas stated, moving over to Theo's table of weapons and picked up an angel blade.
"Anything." Theo replied, standing up after healing Sarah. When he turned to look at Cas, Sarah jumped up and grabbed his arms, holding him in place as Cas used the angel blade to Theo's throat. Theo's glowing white grace began spilling out. Cas opened his mouth and swallowed it surprising Sarah enough to loosen her grip on Theo.
"Cas…?" Sarah mumbled, watching as Cas' eyes turned blue. A white glow started emerging from within him, causing Sarah to shut her eyes and use Theo to shield her from the light. When the light had returned to normal, Sarah peeked out from behind Theo to see Cas completely healed. Cas then put his hand on Theo's forehead and used his new powers to kill him. Suddenly Theo became dead weight in Sarah's hold causing her to release her grip and watch as he fell to the ground. "Cas?... Wha… how? What?" Sarah stammered, staring down at Theo's burned out eyes.
"We need to get out of here." Cas declared, moving toward the door.
"No, Cas you need to tell me what the hell I just saw." Sarah stated, grabbing his arm to stop him.
"Sarah, we need to get out of here before Malachi comes back." Cas grunted, shaking her hand off of him.
They made it outside after encountering three more angels, then started their trek to where Sarah stashed her car.
"I have to call Dean. Give me your phone." Cas stated.
"No. You need to tell me what the hell happened back there. Last time I checked you were human and didn't have powers." Sarah demanded.
"This isn't the time, Sarah. We are in a war. We all have to be ready."
"So you stole that angels grace?" Sarah retorted, throwing him a disbelieving look.
"I did what I had to do. Now your phone." Cas growled, holding his hand out to her expectantly.
Sarah gave him another look before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone, which was clearly broken. "Dammit!" she growled out, then began looking around. "There's a phone booth over there. Use it to make your call. I'll go get my car." Sarah turned to continue walking but stopped an added, "When you talk to Dean, don't mention me."
"Why?" Cas asked confused.
"Because I said so Cas. Now go make your damn call." Sarah snapped then continued on toward her car.
Sarah and Cas sat in an awkward silence once he got into the car with her. After a few minutes Sarah finally spoke.
"Why did you leave?" she asked, throwing a glance at him. He had another confused look on his face. "The bunker, Cas. Why did you leave the bunker?"
"I… uh… left to keep you all safe. I…"
"Don't lie to me Cas. I don't believe that, so tell me what the real reason is." Sarah interrupted him. When he still looked at a loss for what to say she asked, "Was it something I did?"
Cas turned bewildered eyes to look at her. "Why would you ask that?"
"I don't know, Cas, maybe because you left before I got back with your new clothes. And every time I'd ask, Dean would get this weird look on his face and then lie to me. So tell me. Did I do something or is it something else?"
"Is that what you think? Sarah, you know how much I value our friendship."
"Do I? Because the last time I checked, friends tell each other the truth." Sarah snapped back.
Cas sighed, "Dean."
"Dean what?" Sarah urged him on.
"Dean told me I couldn't stay." Cas replied sullenly.
"He what?!" she exclaimed, nearly veering off the road. "Why the hell would he do that?"
"He told me it was for everyone's safety. But recently he explained that an angel helped to heal Sam after the trials. And one of the terms was for me to keep my distance." Cas explained, "But now I've found out that angel lied about who he is. He said his name was Ezekiel but Ezekiel died in the fall."
Sarah was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were turning white. "That son of a bitch!" she growled. "How could he be so stupid!"
"I don't know but I think you should return to the bunker quickly. Dean sounded like he could use your help."
"Didn't you hear? I'm no longer welcome there." Sarah chided, "But I'm starting to understand why a little bit better."
"I don't understand."
"Dean kicked me out last week. He had been pushing me away for a little while then he decided to have sex with another woman. I confronted him about it and the next thing I know he's telling me to not be at the bunker when he gets there."
"Sarah, I don't know what to say… hold on, if you haven't been there for the last week, how did you find me?"
"I knew something was up after Dean kicked me out, so I'm doing what I have to do. Following them. Trying to see if anything weird is going on."
"Have you seen anything?"
"No. Not yet. But I'll let you know if I do." She said as she stopped outside of Cas' motel. "I'll give you a call if I see anything. And if you see the boys… don't mention running into me."
Sarah drove back to the bunker and planted herself in what she's come to call her usual spot. It was a well hidden spot with a good vantage point of the entrance.
She didn't have to wait long before seeing Sam pull up in the impala and watched as he carried a bag of groceries inside. It seemed normal to her, Sam carting groceries inside, but she could tell something was off. Like the aura around him was different somehow.
She was baffled at the thought of being able to see what she saw. 'Theo must have woken more of Cas' grace.' She thought to herself, seeing that as the only explanation of another ability popping up.
As she sat pondering, she noticed Sam walking back out of the bunker. This time holding Kevin's backpack and walking back to the impala. She watched as he walked, and knew without a doubt that something was different about him.
She followed him. Doing her best to stay out of sight and relying on the tracking app, she had running on her newly fixed phone, whenever she lost sight of him. So far he'd made a few bizarre stops. The most bizarre being some sort of concert for a Pop singer named Corey.
Losing sight of him, she quickly grabbed her phone to check the app, when Sam walked into the road directly in front of her.
Slamming on the brakes, Sarah came within an inch of hitting him. Throwing the car into park, Sarah barreled outside and began yelling at him. "What the hell are you doing? You trying to get yourself killed?"
Sam seemed unfazed as she yelled at him. He just continued to stare at her with his eyes narrowed. "Sarah, why are you following me?"
"I'm not following you, Sam. I'm on my way to Rufus' cabin." Sarah lied.
"Dean should know better than to send the woman he loves after me." Sam replied before flinging her onto the hood of her car with a flick of his wrist.
"Who the hell are you? What have you done to Sam?" she demanded, struggling under his power to try and get up.
He looked at her for a moment. Studying her. "You do not know."
"Know what?"
"If you don't know, then why were you following me?" he continued studying her.
"Sambo, I know you're in there somewhere. You're stronger than this asshole. Take control. I know you can." Sarah pleaded, before Sam flung her off the hood and to the ground of the passenger side.
"I will give you one chance to leave. And one chance only. You need not…" he said while rounding the car only to find her not there. He quickly looked around only to find her behind him with her angel blade raised. Sarah quickly hit him with her right hook, knocking him back a little. She moved to sweep his legs but he caught her leg and pushed her up against her car. Holding her there with a firm grip on her neck. She tried to use the angel blade to cut his arm but he knocked it out of her hand. "I tried to show you mercy but you would not listen. I am sorry, Sarah."
"You don't have to do this." Sarah stalled.
"I am afraid, I do."
"NO!" she cried out at he placed his hand on her forehead.