We Carry On
Last chapter is here.
Thank you everyone for keeping with it and leaving you kudos/follows and comments.
I own nothing, Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke.
Please enjoy.
XXX
The weeks that followed had Dean running around the town and bunker to make sure his family wanted for nothing. He would get odd foods for Cas and buy random bits of clothing for the baby whenever he saw something that caught his eye as well as toys and blankies. He could feel Sam chuckling at him every time he rushed past the younger brother but he couldn't be bothered. The rest of his time was spent researching spells to put a Knight of Hell under for years on end. They for sure couldn't go and ask Rowena now, not with Crowley hunting Castiel and the baby.
Or at least that is what they thought.
"Okay, beef patty with a fried egg and icecream." Dean called setting the plate down in front of the ever-growing Castiel. "Gross by the way."
"Don't start." she groaned. "It's the only thing I can taste, everything else is just molecules, or makes me puke."
"Yeah, and besides, Dean, I've seen you eat grosser." Sam snorted digging into his eggwhite omelet.
"Like what?" Dean demanded, defensive.
"Bacon cheeseburgers with a glazed donut for the bun." Sam deadpanned.
"That sounds heavenly." Cas moaned.
"One Elvis coming right up," Dean promised, grabbing his keys. "Be back in a sec angel."
"Oh god." Sam groaned.
Dean merely laughed at his brother plucking his phone out of his pocket as he felt it vibrate.
"Hello?" he asked not recognizing the number.
"Dean Winchester?' the woman on the other end had an unmistakable accent that had him freezing in his tracks.
"Rowena." he growled. "How did you get this number."
"Plucked it from mah son's mobile." she told him.
"What do you want?"
"Dean?" Sam asked, noticing the tense posture of his brother's body.
"Ah need yer help." she told him.
"There is nothing I'm willing to help you with."
"Not even if Ah can get rid ay th' mark an' protect yer wee one?" she sounded smug, he could just imagine the Cheshire grin spreading across her face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Ah heard 'at yer angel is bae'in hunted by mah son's goons. As it turns out mah son an' Ah hae had a bit ay a fallin' out sae once again Aam oan th' run. Ah need a safe place."
"And you can get rid of the mark?" he demanded. "And keep Heaven and Hell off my kid?"
"Weeel, Ah can transfer it." she told him. "An' aye, Ah know ay a spell 'at'll keep th' wee babe safe."
"You wouldn't happen to know a spell that could knock out a Knight of Hell and trap them in a dream world forever.?"
"Aye." she chirped.
Looking back at his family, he weighed his options before sighing.
"Where are you?"
XXX
"I'm still not sure about this." Cas sighed as she and Dean sat waiting for Sam to come back with Rowena.
"It's our best chance Cas." Dean reassured her. "She knows the magik to keep the angels and demons away from our daughter. And she can get this thing off me."
"Still, she is a dangerous witch, Crowley's mother at that."
"I know. But what other choice do we have?"
Before Cas could say much more, the bunker door opened loudly alerting them to Sam's entrance.
"Hells Bells," Rowena chimed, looking around frantically, a broad smile plastered on her face. "Sae thes es th' Men ay Letter's stronghold, eh?"
"Don't touch anything." Sam told her with a grunt. "What do we need to get this done?"
She rolled her eyes before they landed on Cas.
"Och may, loook at yoo." she purred. "All roond and glowin'. Ah remember it well."
"And what do you remember?" Cas cocked her brow.
"Hoo much Ah hated it." the witch snarled.
"Rowena, focus." Sam called cutting off the brewing argument. "What do we need?"
"Fur th' transfer, Ah need a willin' host. Fur th' sleep spell Ah'll need a lot ay herbs fur such as weel as some yarrow an' red rose petals. Fur th' protection spell, Ah'll need a lot ay herbs meant fur protection, same fur crystals, an' an angel feather, an' demon DNA an' th' babin herself."
"Why do you need my daughter?" Dean demanded.
"Tae place th' protection spell oan ay course." Rowena snorted.
"So you can't even do that spell until she is born?" Cas hissed looking at the brothers. "She is not to be trusted, she just wants our baby like the others. She wants to take her and use her for her gain."
"Not 'at 'at isn't appealing, it won't help meh in th' long run." She told them. "Controlling a child wit thes much power wood bae impossible e'en fur meh. Mah best bet es tae remain oan yer goood side an' 'at ay th' child."
"So what you're just going to move in?" Dean raised his brow.
"Noo." she scoffed. "But Ah wood need tae li'e close by. An' ye need tae protect meh from mah son."
"Until when?" Sam asked.
"Until Crowley es dead." Rowena spat.
"You want to kill your son?" Cas growled. "What kind of mother wants to kill their own child."
"Th' kind hoo ne'er wanted tae bae a mother tae begin wit." Rowena growled back. "His father made meh promises he ne'er intended tae keep. Burdened meh wit a squalling infant an' nae future."
"He is still your son." Cas roared, the room shaking with her power. "Your child."
"He es th' keng ay hell." Rowena shot back. "A demon. He es dangerous."
"Enough." Sam called. "We can talk about ethics and such after we get rid of the mark. Because until then Cas and the baby are not safe."
Dean tried not to feel the sting of the words.
"Dae you hae any takers fur th' mark?" Rowena asked kindly.
"Yeah." Dean sighed. "I'll go see if I can't find him. Cas, with me. I'll need your power."
Cas gave Rowena one last glare before following Dean out into the study.
"I don't like this." Cas said again.
"I know." Dean affirmed. "I don't either."
For the next couple of weeks, they put forth all their efforts into making the Malec box. It was complicated and they had to go through over a dozen different texts before finally getting some help from a reaper so they could make it with absolute certainty that it will not let Cain out.
All that was left was to find Cain himself.
The location spell they used led them to an old church in New Jersey. Cas couldn't go since Heaven and hell were still after her, and Rowena couldn't be left alone in the bunker with Cas so Sam stayed home while Dean went after Cain.
The church itself wasn't anything special.
It was run down and abandoned long ago. Barley a pile of splinters resting on stilts. But even from the car park in front of the building, Dean would feel the power inside.
Could feel Cain.
Taking a few steadying breaths, Dean stepped out and took one step after the other toward the doors.
They swung open without him even touching them.
"Cain?" he called tentatively after he entered the service room. "You here?"
"I knew you would come for me."
Whipping around on his heels, Dean came face to face the father of murder.
"Cain." Dean nodded.
"You've come to end me." Cain said solemnly. "To stop me."
"Cain…" He had thought of over a million ways to say this, to tell Cain his plan. But the more he thought about it the more he realized that no matter how he worded it, he was still damning this man- demon or no- in a permanent hell. "I haven't come to kill you."
"Then why are you here." Cain hissed.
"To make you an offer." Dean assured him. "To tell you that there is a way for you to take the mark but never hurt anyone again. Hell, you might even be reunited with Colette."
The old demon looked confused but intrigued.
"I'm listening."
XXX
"How long is this going to take." Dean demanded as Rowena set up the church for the spell.
"Patients, Winchester." She told him. "Now, Ah aam gowin tae say th' spell 'at weel place th' mark back oan Cain. When it es done yur gowin tae ha'e tae exit th' demon trap as quick as ye can. It's gowin tae ha'e quite th' backlash."
"Fine, just get it over with." Dean groaned.
"Dean." Cain urged, getting the eldest brother to look him in the eye. "I want to thank you."
"Don't thank me." Dean shook his head. "I'm condemning you to a hell of never solitude."
"You're saving this world from the mark." Cain assured him before looking at the witch. "Do it."
She nodded back, watching as the demon and hunter clasped each other's forearms staring each other down.
"Hanc militiam marcum velle ligare." she called, tossing some dust between them.
The dust solidified, wrapping around their joined arms binding them tightly. It began to glow red, then white making both cry out in pain. The solid dust around Dean's arms turned black and then the color began to travel down toward Cain. It settled around his arm, then sank into it. The dust around Dean fell away, releasing him from the trap as Cain fell to his knees in an agonized howl.
"Dean." Sam called, quickly grabbing Dean's arm and pulling him to safety. "Rowena, hurry."
Turning to her makeshift altar, she began mumbling Latin grabbing the herbs and throwing them into her brass bowl. Finished with that she turned to the devil's trap and blew the contents of the bowl onto the howling demon.
"Stand back." she warned.
As soon as the mixture touched his nose and skin, his roaring petered off and his eyes rolled back into his head.
"Get 'im entoo th' box." she ordered. "Quickly!"
As they struggled to lift the dead weight into the box, she started drawing a set of glyphs on the side of the box with sandalwood ash before stepping back as they shut and locked it and throwing her hand in the air.
"Abi!"
In a flash of brilliant purple the box imploded on itself and was gone.
"What did you do?" Sam asked.
"Sent th' theng tae th' bottom ay th' ocean." she brushed off her hands with a satisfied smirk.
"Was that it?" Sam asked as he and Dean tentatively stepped in the spot where the box had been.
"Aye." Rowena nodded, gathering her things. "Now, ef ye dorn't mind, Ah'll bae stayin' at th' bunker till Ah find a flat."
She didn't give them a chance to rebuke as she marched out the church doors.
"Is it gone?" Sam asked, turning to his brother in a frenzy.
Frantically Dean pulled up his sleeve only to find his forearm bare.
"It's gone." he breathed, feeling for the first time like he could breathe cleanly again like every breath didn't feel like it was being choked out of him. "Sammy, it's really gone."
They wasted no time after that, rushing home to Cas to share the good news.
Dean swept her into his arms and swung her around with a gleeful laugh.
And they began their lives anew.
By the time El was ready to come to the world, they had come to this odd understanding and cordial ease with Rowena. It helped that she was a bit less evil as of late. And she was more than ready to bless El with the protection spell making it clear to both heaven and hell that Ellen Jo-Mary Winchester was off-limits.
For five years they had normal lives.
They hunted, came home, and spent time as a family.
Sam even met a girl named Eileen and brought her into their fold. El loved her immediately and Eileen loved her. She fit in perfectly.
El finally got her powers when she was four. They found this out when she got mad at Dean for not letting her have a cookie and threw him against the wall with her mind. He came to with her crying in his lap promising to never do it again. Rowena ended up enchanting the amulet to keep El's powers under control. They only let her take it off when they were training her to use them.
Then that day came.
"And what does my little angel want for breakfast today?" Dean asked as he carried his seven-year-old into the kitchen.
"Bacon!" she cheered.
"That's my girl." Dean beamed.
"Morning, love." Cas greeted handing him a cup of coffee.
"Morning." he smiled pecking her on the lips before setting El in her booster seat.
"Aunty Eilee!" El cried as Eileen and Sam joined them.
"Girly." Eileen smiled, taking a seat next to her niece and beginning a sign-off with her.
"It amazes me how smart she is." Cas smiled.
"With her parents being who they are it really shouldn't surprise you." Sam snorted.
"Yup, our little girl is gonna be a Doctor, Lawyer, and President all in one," Dean smirked, setting up the stove for breakfast.
BANG!
They all paused hearing the sound. Even Eileen froze as she felt the bunker shutter.
"What the hell was that?" Sam demanded knowing no one had an answer.
"Cas, take El to the dungeon." Dean told her as he and the other two hunters got their guns and moved for the war room.
What greeted them was puzzling.
"Chuck?" Sam asked.
"Hey, guys." Chuck smiled. "Now this, this is gonna be awkward, but I need you to kill your daughter."
He told them how he was God and how El was dangerous.
How he wanted Dean to kill her and if he did their world would be left alone.
Of course, they told him to go to the furthest reaches of hell and rot.
Chuck took exception to that, sending Dean flying into and through the wall just behind him. Eileen took this as the sign to start shooting. As did Sam.
That's when Sam died.
He snapped his neck.
"NO!" Dean roared through the pain.
Eileen lost it, firing off rounds after rounds at the false prophet.
Dean was bleeding through so many puncture wounds. Cement and rubble were embedded into his skin and organs. But still, he used what little strength he had to drag himself to the dungeon to warn his angel.
Cas already knew and was working mixing the ingredients needed to open a rip into another world when Dean entered.
"Daddy!" El cried running to his open arms.
"Cas, you have to get out of here. Both of you." Dean told her.
"Dean,"
"Sam's dead, most likely Eileen too."
"...No…" though she didn't need to breathe, she was finding that she was short of breath.
"I'll hold him off for as long as I can. Please, I can't lose both of you."
Cas understood.
Of course, she did.
"I love you." Cas murmured, pressing her brow to his.
"I know, I love you too." Dean swore to hold her for one last time.
"Aw, that's adorable."
Jumping apart they faced God as he entered the dungeon, hiding El behind them.
"You know in another world, there are people who would be weeping tears of absolute joy to see you two together." he smiled. "Though the ones they know are both guys. Aw well, who am I to judge?"
"What did you do to Eileen?" Dean demanded ignoring his weird comment, buying time so Cas and El could escape.
"Well, she wouldn't stop shooting at me so I had to rip this out." with that he tossed a lump of muscle and blood in front of them making El scream.
It was her heart.
"You son of a bitch!" Dean roared, raising his gun.
"Hold it." Chuck warned, raising his own hand.
"Mommy!"
Turning Dean found that Cas had fallen to her knees and was clutching her stomach as her eyes blink between her sky blue to glowing grace as their daughter clung to her side, tears streaming down her face.
"Mommy? What's wrong?"
"Heres the deal, Dean." Chuck began. "You kill your daughter, and I'll bring back your brother, his girl, and let Cas live as a human for the rest of your natural lives. If you don't, then I'll kill Cas and your daughter and leave you here to wallow in your guilt and sorrow."
Looking back and forth between God and his family, Dean felt powerless and cold.
There was no way he could do what was being demanded, but he didn't want the alternative either.
In the end, he just froze up.
"Oh come on, it's not like you can't make another one." Chuck tried to amend. "They just won't be a half-angel half-demon monster."
"Dean."
The sound was quiet and strangled, but it caught him instantly.
"You can't." Cas urged. "Please don't let him do this. She needs you."
"I can't lose you." Dean whimpered. "Either way, no matter what choice I make, I'll lose you."
Cas smiled sadly at that.
"You won't." she promised.
The resolve in her voice was infectious.
It filled him with this sense of serenity.
Everything was going to be okay.
One way or another his daughter would be okay, even if he and Cas didn't make it through this.
She would be okay.
With that in mind, he faced Chuck, squared his shoulder as best as he could in his bloodied state, and stared him down.
"Go to hell," he told the all mighty with the most bite he had.
Chuck merely shook his head.
"You're gonna wish you hadn't done that." he sighed.
With a snap of his fingers Cas's light flashed out, her wings scorched the wall behind her and she slumped face-first to the ground.
"MOMMY!"
"NO!" Dean cried only to be flung into a glass case, worsening his condition.
"You had your chance, Dean." Chuck told him as he stalked toward the sobbing girl.
"Leave her alone." Dean groaned around a mouthful of blood.
"Sorry, Dean." Chuck sighed, stooping down so he was level with El. "But this is how the story has to go."
But before he could do anything, El shot up to her full height, ripping the amulet off and giving a shrill, teeth vibrating scream.
Her eyes glowed a chilling white.
It sent a surprised Chuck sailing through the open door and tore at the very air around her. Tearing so hard that it caused a rip. A long glowing rip. Dean watched awestruck as the rip flickered with the vibration of her scream before settling as she quieted. He had to hurry to his feet and forward as she started to crumple down having used more of her power than ever before.
"I got you," he promised, trying to keep from coughing up more blood. "I got you, baby girl."
Looking at the rip and Chuck's unconscious form he made the quick decision to tie the amulet back into place, grab El's blankie from Cas's limp hands and jump through the rip.
Thus bringing us to this moment.
XXX
The visions suddenly stopped as Cas took his hand away from the brothers letting them gather their bearings and sort through what they saw.
"Now do you understand?" he begged. "We can't abandon her. She is just a little girl. If we try to send her away Chuck will come and he will kill her. We have to protect her."
"Yeah, Cas." Sam huffed, leaning back in his chair. "We get it."
"Dean?" Cas questioned.
The eldest Winchester barely spared them a glance as he stood and started down the hall.
"Dean?" Sam called as they followed him.
He went all the way to Cas's room, pushing the door open gently and spotting the now sleeping girl. The girl that his alternate self was willing to sacrifice everything for. The girl who his other self loved so very much even knowing what she was, where she came from, how she came to be. He selflessly loved and cherished her.
A love that he felt so keenly and could only compare how he felt about Sam.
They would work it out.
They always did.
They did it with Jack, they could do it with El.
Cas watched with tenderness as Dean went in and gently lifted the girl into his arms and cradled her to his chest.
Faintly he could hear him humming.
It sounded like Hey Jude.
XXX
PLEASE READ.
This is mostly for those who follow me as a writer and anyone else who it interests.
I'm not going to be posting much fanfic in the future. I'll try to finish the fics that I had left unfinished, but otherwise I'm going to be focused on my new project. I am making a podcast that I plan to launch on May 15th. It's just where I tell my original stories that have been swirling in my head since I was in fifth grade. I'm calling it TELL A STORY. Way to many to try and sell as books. Plus podcasts have become my favorite way of getting stories into my system. I may make a second podcast but this one would focus on my fanfiction, but we'll see.
If this is something you'd like to check out then please look out for it wherever you find podcasts and YOUTUBE.
Anyway, thank you for reading my fics and staying with me on this journey.
I will forever be thankful to you all.
Thank you again.
See you in the next story.