"Think of it like a tulpa. Even if you wrote something, invented a character, it doesn't mean they aren't real. You pour so much attention into it, so much thought that it becomes real. It doesn't mean they were all just words he'd written for us. I love you, Gracie. This just confirms that we really were meant for each other. It doesn't change a thing." The words echoed in her head as she watched in horror, not quite knowing what to do. They were absolutely surrounded. She'd never been in anything even close to this big of a battle.
They'd tracked down Jack, but when the boys refused to play their parts, Chuck gave up on them. Every terror in Hell had been unleashed, the sky growing dark as Chuck disappeared, leaving them to fend for themselves if they were lucky enough to survive what he had in store. He wasn't on their side anymore. "We've got about a minute before they get to us," she mumbled, trying in vain to count the number of demons that were surrounding them. "If they don't pop up from the graves right there."
"Iron." Dean tossed her a spike from the cemetery's fence, throwing one to Sam as they all moved closer together. "Gracie, if this kills us, just remember -"
"It's real," she nodded, setting her iron spike down. She summoned all of the energy she had left, Sam about to ask her what she was thinking when she tossed a ball of purple light up in the air. It exploded over them, encasing her, the boys, and Cas in a shimmering bubble. "Protection spell," she smiled, already feeling weaker. "It won't hold for long, not against all of them. I need the right ingredients to make a better one, but there's no time. We've got a couple of seconds to take a breath and figure this out, at least."
Sam looked around, watching one of the first demons to reach them bounce off of the glowing wall of the spell. "Good job, Grace. Alright, how many of these things do you think we can kill in one go?"
"How many are there?" Dean asked him, trying to take it all in. "If we can get somewhere safe, we can find a way out. Grace and Cas can rig something up, even if it means zapping us into the next state. Right?"
"The mausoleum," Cas pointed out as he drew his angel blade, all of them turning to see the building just a few yards away. "If we can get there, we can take cover and come up with a real plan."
"Good. Everybody ready?" Sam asked, taking a deep breath.
"Let's go," Dean nodded. "Gracie, drop the spell."
She took two steps back, giving him a kiss before raising her hand, the shimmering purple sphere around them disintegrating. If she didn't feel like she was about to throw up, she would've enjoyed it. Nothing prepares even the best of hunters for being surrounded like this, though. Even a vampire nest wouldn't have been this bad. But as the group moved, they realized that there was no way out. The demons just kept throwing themselves on them with no end in sight.
When Dean finally wrenched open the door to the mausoleum, they'd been fighting for ages, two new demons replacing every one they killed. He ushered them inside, barricading the door with Sam's help as soon as everyone was safe. Grace, meanwhile, gripped Cas' arm tightly, trying in vain not to lose her balance before sitting down against one of the walls. "Did one of them get you?"
"No." She had a splitting headache, worse than she'd ever had before. She closed her eyes, trying to clear the red spots from her vision, but everything just got louder. In vain she balled up her fists, her wedding ring digging into her flesh on one side as she felt the cold weight of the iron in her other hand.
"Gracie." Dean dropped to his knees next to her as soon as the door was secure. Sam followed close behind. "What's wrong?"
"I can hear them," she whispered as she met his eye. "I can hear all of them at once. Oh my - they're so loud." The boys shared a look as she explained, "It's Miczael. Or it was. She gave me powers that… I thought she just made my magic stronger. But I can hear them like Cas can hear the angels. I should be able to hear them. She commanded their armies, after all. It makes sense. They're screaming. They're all screaming."
"How many are there?" Sam asked as Dean put a hand to her forehead.
Grace bit her lip, filled with terror as she looked between the others. "Three billion."
"Chuck let three billion demons out of Hell?"
"And surrounded us with them. They're going to spread if we can't find a way to contain them," Grace warned, trying to stand. That wasn't an option. Everything but Dean went gray as she rose. He caught her before she could fall, gently setting her down against the wall again.
"You're in no shape to fight. You're overloaded. Between the magic and the demon radio, you're not going to be able to fight them off," Dean determined.
"You can't fight them off without me. Two humans and an angel are no match for all of them, even if you are Winchesters. Having a witch would help, even if I can't do much," she urged.
Sam shook his head. "Dean's right. One more big spell and you'd be done for good. At the very least it would knock you out."
Cas paced over to the door, checking to see how it was holding up. Meanwhile, Grace reached for Dean's pocket, finally dropping the iron spear in her hand. "Woah there, not with them here."
"No, I need your pocket knife. I know you have one." Dean handed it over, asking what she was doing as she pricked her finger and started to draw a sigil on the floor. "I need magic. I need strength, or else I'll collapse when I try to stand up. I can't ask Cas to heal me, since he needs all the grace he can have right now. If I summon her, they'll listen. They'll have to listen." she completed the sigil, Dean holding onto her tightly as she closed her eyes.
"Grace? Grace?!"
Her eyes opened again, fully white for a second before they turned back to their normal color. "She's not home right now, Dean," Miczael smiled, jumping to her feet. "She was right, though. We're tied together, she and I. She's the vessel I'm meant to have. I was in her head for a while. We've become friends, you know. Oh, dear, put that down," she told Cas, eyeing the blade he had in his hand. "I'm not going to hurt you boys. She cares about you three too much. We've got to get you out of here and get those demons back in Hell."
"Why?" Cas asked, taking a step forward and pushing the blade into her throat. "Why are you helping us? You should want them all out of Hell."
"Cas, don't!" Dean tried to pull his arm away, but Sam held him back. "You hurt her, you hurt Grace."
Miczael simply laughed. "I could bend that blade in half with my little finger, but I think you're going to need it. Now -" She paused, turning to look further into the crypt. "Belphegor, dear, come on out. I know the boys won't like your suit, but I've missed you."
Jack's body stepped out as Cas lunged for Miczael, exorcizing the demon while she wasn't paying attention. Dean caught her again, Sam coming to help support her. "What did you do that for?" Grace managed, clearly in pain. "That was our only chance, Cas."
"She's going to use you to take over the world. She'd get the demons away from your boys here and then turn them on everything and everyone else," Jack spoke. "Hi guys. Like she said, I'm Belphegor. I've got an idea, if you guys care about getting out of here."
"We can deal with that in a minute," Grace hissed from where she leaned on Dean and Sam. "I could've controlled her, Cas! At least long enough to get you three out of here!"
Cas shook his head. "She'd rip you apart." He put a finger to her forehead, transferring some of his grace to heal her. "Your lungs were starting to shred, and you'd lost a kidney already. That's what she does. Destroys the body until you've got nothing left. You're her perfect vessel, but that just means she won't kill you. She'd keep your body walking and talking, but if she stayed and we tried to exorcize you any later, you wouldn't survive. Every other vessel evaporates within minutes. You're the perfect one because she can latch on like a parasite."
"You need to get back to the bunker," Dean told her. "You're in no shape to fight this many demons. You need to get out of here."
"Aren't we going to figure out why there's a demon walking around in Jack's body and why he hasn't killed us all yet?" Sam asked, bringing up the more pressing issue.
Cas started to question the demon, but Dean was hardly paying attention. "You've got to get somewhere safe. Is there any way you can figure out a transportation spell and not die from it? Even if you can just get to the next city over, you'd be better off than if you were here."
"The bunker shouldn't be too difficult, but I can't take you all with me. Not like this," she apologized.
"We can fight our way out. Besides, we need to make sure these things haven't taken over the rest of the town."
"You're surrounded by more demons than you've ever faced before."
"Think about it for a minute. If we go out there with you, you're not going to be strong enough to make it out. Sorry, Gracie, but it's true. We can't cover you all the time. We have a chance with what's-his-name -"
"Belphegor," the demon interrupted. "I can get you out, but he's right, Grace. It's Grace, right? The woman who was possessing you is my aunt, I think. Once or twice removed, maybe. She's not my favorite family member, to say the least. Anyway, you hop on home and I can get them out."
"Do you trust him?" Grace asked, looking between the boys and Cas.
Sam was the first to give his assent. "You go, we can take care of this. Call Bobby, call Charlie, call Rowena, call everyone you can think of and tell them what's going on. If you're the only one who makes it out of here, at least it's something. We'll need all the help we can get if this thing gets out."
"Alright." She hugged them all goodbye, promising that she would see them soon. Dean held onto her as she drew another set of sigils. Pausing just before she finished the incantation, she turned to him. "You be careful out there. Call me when you're on the way home. Call me when you're safe. Just… call me. I love you, Dean Winchester. It's real."
"I love you too." He gave her a kiss, Grace finishing the spell and vanishing into thin air. A few seconds later, Dean's phone chimed.
Made it home. Be careful. xoxo
Dean tucked his phone into his pocket, nodding to the others. "Alright, gentlemen, we've got to seal that hellhole up. First, how the hell do we get out of here?"