Thank you so much Jenjoremy for the fab beta job, and thank you VegasGranny and Ncsupnatfan for all the help and pre-reader support.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Dean felt a blow to his side and his eyes snapped open and his hand caught the foot and dragged it up before it could land a second blow. He saw the woman that killed Kaia stumbling back as she dragged her foot free, seeming surprised that he'd dared to touch her as she steadied herself with her spear.

"You sleep deep," she said.

"Getting knocked out will do that to you," Dean said.

He got to his feet so she wasn't towering over him and looked around, trying to make sense of his scrambled memories and disorientation. He had been with… "Sam!"

"He's gone," she said dismissively.

Dean grabbed her arms and shook her. "Where?"

"Get your hands off of me!" She shoved him away. "How would I know? I can't fly."

"Michael was here," Dean said as the memory returned.

"Yes. Which means I have to go. He's come for me in person twice now, and I don't want there to be a third time."

"Wait!" Dean took a breath and forced himself to at least appear calm so that he could get some answers. "Did he hurt Sam?"

He wasn't sure she would answer at first, she watched him with a curious expression, and then said, "He's your Kaia, isn't he? What I was to her, he is to you."

Dean nodded. The comparison was as good as any for what he and Sam shared. Kaia had been the literal other side of this woman and vice-versa. Sam and Dean were the same in their own way.

"He did hurt him," she said. "He touched his chest and something happened. It wasn't like it was your brother speaking after. I never met him, but I saw him through Kaia's eyes. He was different."

"Jo," Dean spat.

Michael had removed the sigil from Sam's heart so that Jo could be free. Was she going to stay with him still or would she abandon him now she could escape, leaving him helpless and alone?

Billie said Michael wanted Sam and Jo—Jo to be his second-in-command and Sam to get at Dean—but he had left Dean and taken Sam. Had he moved on from Dean now that he had Jessica as a vessel? If so, why would he want Sam now? There was no reason, which meant Sam was only safe for as long as Jo wanted him as a vessel. After that, she would abandon him. Sam was a strong vessel usually, Lucifer's own, but now he was damaged, weakened. How long would she put up with a weakened host when she could take her pick?

He didn't know, but he knew he needed to get to her before she left Sam. She had to be found and Sam saved. And Michael needed to be stopped. It was time to throw their preparations and doubts away and fight.

"I need you," he said.

"I know," she said blandly. "But that doesn't mean I need you."

"Then just give me your spear. Michael has my brother now, I have to get him back, and we don't have a weapon that's been proven yet."

"That makes me even less willing to hand it over," she said. "If Michael comes back for me, I need to be armed, and I can't rely on you to stop him."

Dean tried to sort through his thoughts for what he needed. Sam would have been able to do this. He would have known what to say to bring her around to their side. He had been good at that. Dean didn't have the skill, and he knew he couldn't intimidate this woman into helping him. He could think of only one approach.

"Michael has come for you twice, and he's been sending his monsters for months. If he comes again, it could be the last time for you to survive. We have a place that you can hide. It's our home, and it's the safest place on earth. It has all kinds of protections." Michael had breached it once, but as Sam had said, she didn't need to know that. "You will never be free while Michael is alive."

"I am not fighting him for you."

"Then fight him for yourself. Or trust me to do it. He's got my brother now. I've never been more motivated to stop him, but I need a weapon. You have one."

"You know you're more likely to die fighting him, even with the spear, than win."

"I know, but that's not going to stop me. And I'm not the only one. We've got a kid with us that might be able to help. He's damn powerful."

She considered him carefully. "I will lend you my spear and I will come to this place."

Dean exhaled in a rush. "Okay. Good. The car's down here."

As he jogged along the track towards the road, he pulled his phone from his pocket and hit speed dial. He needed to admit his failure now and get the others ready.

He had a weapon. They needed to find Sam. And then it would be time to fight.

Castiel and Jack were working in the library together—Jack creating orbs of energy and manipulating them.

Castiel could see that he was strong again, but he wasn't sure it would be enough to stop Michael when the time came. They needed the spear as well. Perhaps with a trio of weapons—Jack's power, the rift, and the spear—they might win. Even that was not guaranteed.

This was the worst threat they'd faced since Amara, and there was no God or familial reunion to help them this time. It was going to take the strength of them all and more than a little luck to win, and they weren't all at the top of their game.

Sam was struggling, they all saw it and it had been discussed between Castiel, Dean, and Jack—the ones that knew about Jo. None of them had a solution or way to help though. Jo was necessary for Sam to live properly, and Sam was needed by them all. The violation that her presence represented to Sam was what was hard. Though none of them were to blame for her being in him, and Dean said Sam forgave them for hiding it, it was still the thing that lay between them when they were all together—the knowledge that it was never only Sam they were talking to.

"Look, Cas!" Jack said excitedly, spreading his arms and swelling the orb of energy until it was larger than Castiel had ever seen before.

"That's good, Jack," Castiel said, pleased he had created the right amount of enthusiasm in his voice for the achievement.

Jack grinned as he contracted the energy to the size of a baseball and then let it swell again.

Castiel nodded approvingly and then dropped his hand to his pocket when his phone began to ring. He took it out and checked the caller ID, pleased to see it was Dean. Perhaps he and Sam would have some good news of the spear for them.

"Dean."

"Michael has Sam," Dean said without preamble.

Castiel's heart lurched. "What? How?"

Jack shifted restlessly at his side, leaning closer to hear the call.

"Does it matter?" Dean snapped. "He knocked me out, and when I woke up, they were gone. Jo's the one running the switches now, too. Michael stripped the sigil and they took off together. He's in that reaper, Jessica, now."

Castiel took a breath and said, "We can handle this, Dean. Where are you?"

"I'm still in Sioux Falls. I've got the spear, and we're coming to the bunker."

By we, Castiel understood that Kaia's killer was coming there, too. Castiel was pleased. She had faced Michael and injured him before. If they could find a way to make her fight again, she would be an asset. He wasn't sure they would as he had been there and heard Dean's questioning of her. It was a hope he was going to cling to though.

"We need to know where Sam is," Dean went on. "Get the blood spell set up and I'll do it as soon as I get back."

"Mary might be here before you," Castiel said. "She called shortly after you and Sam left to say she was on her way."

"Then have her do it as soon as she gets there. Do you know the spell?"

"Yes." With an angel's memory, Castiel could recall it with perfect clarity from the one and only time he had read it in a book.

"Good. Get as many people back there as you can. Get them ready. You'll have to tell them about Jo. We can't keep it secret if we're going after her."

"Jack is here."

"I know," Dean said, and there was something in his tone that Castiel didn't want Jack to hear.

He pulled away so Jack couldn't hear the call and said, "I'm not sure…" He struggled to find the words to say Jack might not be able to handle this.

"He might not be ready?" Dean said. "I know that, and I know Sam would never forgive me if the kid got hurt trying to help him, but…"

"I understand, Castiel said.

Dean cared about Jack, saw him as family, but he would also risk anyone and anything to get Sam back, and they both knew it. Dean would die for Sam in a heartbeat, he had before, and that would be easier for him to do than to risk someone else, but he wasn't the one with the power here. They had to risk Jack—and themselves—to save Sam. Jack wouldn't question it any more than Dean and Castiel would question risking themselves, but Sam would be destroyed if something happened to one of them.

It was only the fact that if the situation was reversed, if they were in danger in his place, Sam would do the exact same thing for them that stopped Castiel hesitating over his choice.

"I'm at the car," Dean said. "We'll be there as soon as we can. Get ready."

"We will," Castiel assured him then fumbled for something comforting to say about Sam's strength, the things he had survived before, but before he could find something to say, Dean had ended the call.

Castiel lowered the phone and took a moment to think before answering Jack's anxious queries. Sam was with Michael, and they had no idea what Michael or Jo would do to him. Jo could abandon the less than satisfactory vessel without a second thought if she found another that would serve her better, and then Sam would be ruined. Worse, he could be destroyed. If Michael chose to, he could blast Sam to atoms and then there would be no saving him, no matter what miracle they found in the stacks and rooms of the bunker.

"Cas!" Jack said angrily when Castiel failed to answer him a third time. "Michael has Sam!"

Castiel startled as he drew himself from his thoughts. "Yes. I know. I need to call Mary. She needs to know what happened."

He dialed the number and Mary's laughing voice answered, "Castiel, your timing is impeccable. We just pulled into the garage. Get the coffee going and I'll love you forever."

"Mary," Castiel said awkwardly. "I need to tell you something."

Her voice became harsh. "What? What's wrong? Is it Sam and Dean?"

He heard the open and close of a car door on the line and then running footsteps.

"I'm coming to you now," Castiel said.

He hurried through the door that would lead to the garage, Jack on his heels, and almost collided with Mary and she ran towards him along the hall. Her face was pale and eyes wide and worried. Bobby, coming up behind her, looked stressed

Castiel hated that he had to confirm, or perhaps increase, Mary's fears, but she needed to know. "Michael has Sam," he said. "Dean just called. They went to Sioux Falls as Sam wanted to try to get the spear from that woman, but something happened. He has a new vessel. It's the reaper Jessica."

Mary clapped a hand to her mouth and made a pained sound.

"Dean is on his way here now," Castiel went on.

"Michael didn't take him, too?" Bobby asked.

"No."

The strangeness of the fact occurred to Castiel for the first time then, too. Billie had said Michael wanted Dean as a vessel. Jessica would be a strong vessel to hold him. Was she strong enough that Michael would have her instead of his true vessel, or was he working on some other plan? Would he come back for Dean?

"Why would he want Sam when he could have taken Dean?" Bobby asked.

Castiel took a deep breath. "Sam is not alone in his body anymore. There is an angel using him as a vessel, too."

"Sam is a vessel again!" Mary said, her voice pitched high.

"He was very ill, Mary," Castiel said. "His recovery in the hospital wasn't a natural one. He woke after the angel entered him. Without her, he will be back in that hospital bed, only tethered to life by his connection to Dean."

Mary moaned.

"Hold up!" Bobby said angrily. "We've all had an angel living with us for months and none of you thought we should know."

"No," Castiel said angrily. "It was Sam's story to tell, and he didn't want to. Besides, he hasn't known long. Once she gained consent, the angel wiped his memory. When Dean and I found out, Dean much later than me, we knew we couldn't tell him as Sam would have cast the angel out and destroyed himself. He was tricked into allowing her in, and when he found out she was there, he was going to cast her out. It took a lot of persuasion from Dean and me to convince him to keep her in. She was trapped inside by a sigil I carved into Sam's heart."

"You had to trap her!" Bobby growled. "So we have a hostile angel with us, and you still don't think we should have known?"

"No!" Castiel's voice rose. "She was never a threat to anyone else. She is not a 'hostile' angel like the ones from your world. She just wanted to escape Michael and would have taken Sam with her. She is with Michael now and she is in control. I don't know if that is by choice or if she's trying to save her life, but it's time to act. Dean is on his way with the spear and the woman that holds it. I need your blood, Mary, to do a tracking spell."

Still pale and worried, Mary nodded and started away from them toward the library.

"We should have been told," Bobby said doggedly.

Mary spun on her heel and threw up her arms as if she wanted to attack him, despite the distance between then.

"It doesn't matter!" she shouted. "Michael has my son now! That's what we've got to think about, not what you think you should have known. We're going after Michael and we're getting him back."

"And if Michael kills us all?" Bobby asked.

Mary didn't answer, she just stared into his eyes with a scathing look, as if the question was a stupid one.

"He's not going to kill anyone," Jack said. "I am going to kill him."

Bobby held up a hand. "Look, kid, I know you're strong, and I've seen what you were capable of, but that was before."

"Stay then!" Mary shouted. "Hide!"

Bobby's face reddened. "Hide! I'm not a coward, and I'm not standing down now. I just think someone should ask the tough questions while you're all thinking about Sam, not the big picture. If we go up against Michael before we're ready and all die, he's got free rein to do to this world what he did to mine."

Mary walked away without answering, letting the door swing closed behind her. After a moment's hesitation, Castiel and Jack followed her. Castiel thought that Bobby wasn't being cruel but practical, but that was because he had no connection to Sam. He was a hardened fighter that had lived in a post-apocalyptic world for years, losing people on what was probably a daily basis at first. He wasn't their version of Bobby who had loved Sam and Dean like sons.

Castiel went straight to the stores and filled a bowl with the ingredients needed for the spell. When he got back to the library, Mary was spreading a map of the world across a table and weighting the corners with whiskey tumblers while Bobby and Jack watched.

"I think we have to start big and narrow it down," she said. "If Michael is flying him, he could be anywhere."

Castiel nodded. He had no idea what they would do if Sam was out of the country, but it was not time to think of that. They had to focus on the small steps to save them from being overwhelmed by everything else.

He tipped the ingredients from their bags and jars into the bowl and held it out to Mary. "We need the blood now," he said apologetically.

She drew a small folding knife from her pocket and cut across her palm deeply, making blood flow freely. He quickly held the bowl under it and let enough gather before setting it down and touching her hand to heal it. She thanked him quietly and wiped the remaining blood on her jeans.

Castiel swirled the bowl to mix the ingredients with the blood and then tipped it over the map. It spread across it smoothly, the magic already working, and Castiel took a box of matches from the shelf and lit one then threw it onto the center of the map, speaking the incantation loudly into the tense silence of the room. "Viam invenire!"

Purple flames ignited the blood and licked over the map. A bright spot focused over Arizona and then moved north into Washington and quickly shifted to Maine. The paper didn't char as Castiel remembered it should but just continued to burn.

"It's not right," Bobby said. "It settled in one place before."

"They're flying," Castiel said.

Mary cursed. "Then what do we do?"

Castiel closed his eyes a moment and summoned calm to reassure and then said, "We keep trying. We wait for them to settle in one place. And then, as soon as we know where he is, we find them and get Sam back."

"And stop Michael," Bobby said gruffly.

Castiel fixed narrowed eyes on him and said, "Yes. We stop Michael."

It could cost them greatly, but the other side of that was to do nothing and let it cost them everything. If they stayed here, protecting themselves, Michael would destroy this world as surely as he had his own and Sam would never be saved.

There were lesser things to die for than for the world. There was nothing more important than to die for a friend.

So… They all know and are working towards a plan. If only Jo would stop flying around and settle so they could locate her… Hmm ;-)

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx