Twenty-eight

The last time that Castiel had needed to go to the Middle East (that she remembered) was to go and get Holy Oil to trap Raphael with, and that had been basically ten years ago. He'd still had functional wings, then, so the trip to Jerusalem had not taken him any time at all. This time, however, he and Brooke had needed to take a plane there and back—actually, multiple planes, since there were no one-way flights from Kansas to Jerusalem.

Brooke had never actually been on a plane before. Much like Sam and Dean, if she'd ever needed to go somewhere, she simply drove. Taking a plane seemed too superfluous when a car was readily available, and it meant she didn't need to steal some poor idiot's credit card to book a flight. Unfortunately, one could not drive their car across an ocean, so, in this case, a plane was necessary.

Finding the Tree of Life had been fairly simple, but actually getting fruit from it had been a whole other matter, entirely. The tree had been guarded by a pack of Djinn, and Castiel and Brooke had spent endless minutes locked in combat with them. In the end, after killing many of them, the Queen of the Djinn had called for a truce. She had not thought that these two intruders would be so difficult to kill, but after watching them take down so many of her kind, she'd wanted a peaceful end to the fighting.

That was when the real trouble had begun…

…

Sweat ran down Brooke's face as she blocked another attack by one of the Djinn. Her back was pressed to Castiel's as the creatures swarmed around them.

Cass, she thought, her arms burning, we're gonna die.

The Djinn outnumbered them by at least two to one, and, though they had cut down many in their path, there were dozens left, and even Castiel was getting tired. His strength was not what it had once been—not since so many angels had died and reduced the power available to him in Heaven.

We can't die, Castiel growled, plunging his bloodied angel blade into yet another Djinn's brain, even as three more came up to replace him. We have to save Jack.

Jack, Brooke thought, and his name filled her limbs with renewed energy, but not for long. She slipped up at some point. She'd covered most of her exposed skin so that the creatures' hallucinogenic poison could not get to her, but one managed to brush her face, and it was enough to confuse her.

Castiel, who was immune to the Djinn's poisoned touch, turned to his wife, no longer caring about the other Djinn around him. Brooke had some strength to resist the hallucinations, through her connection to Castiel, but that was not enough—not completely. Brooke was shaking her head, her grip on her angel blade slipping, covered in viscera (the only way to kill a Djinn without a silver blade dipped in lamb's blood was by brain damage, so they'd been stabbing the Djinn through the eyes and up through the chin).

Castiel, sensing that they were about to meet their ultimate demises if they stayed any longer, dropped his angel blade and quickly picked up and cradled his wife in his arms. He made it through one wall of Djinn, running at top speed, but they were chasing him, and without wings, he would not get very far.

"STOP!" a voice cried, behind him. A woman's voice.

Castiel did not stop—not at first. All he cared about was getting Brooke as far away from here as possible. She was mostly conscious, still, and was fighting him, insisting in her mind that he put her down, but he would not listen.

"I said stop!" the woman called again.

It was then that Castiel realized that no one was attacking them anymore. He did stop, and looked around, confused. The Djinn left alive were standing still, and were no longer even looking at him. Their eyes were all drawn to the woman. Castiel looked at her, too, as she slowly came toward him.

"You have desecrated these lands," the woman said. "And killed many of my subjects. I cannot simply allow you to go free."

Thinking quickly, Castiel set Brooke on her feet, though he kept his arms around her, protectively. "We only need the fruit. Your… subjects attacked on sight. This was self-defense."

"We do not allow mortals to take from the Tree of Life," the woman said, her voice strong. "It is forbidden."

"I'm not a mortal," Castiel replied. "I'm an angel."

The Djinn stared at him. "Prove it."

Castiel sighed, frustrated. "If I prove it, will you give me what I need?"

"I might."

"Do it, Cass," Brooke said, who now seemed much more stable than she had. Whatever small effect the poison had had on her had worn off already, protected as she was by his Grace, and by the mental connection to him that prevented her from hallucinating.

He stared down at her for a moment.

Do it, she said again, silently, and grinned at him. Show 'em whatcha got, ya sexy angel.

He blinked at her, and then looked up at the Djinn woman—the Queen, he supposed—and let his Grace power up inside his body. He did not release it anywhere, only held it, charged, inside himself, until it made his eyes glow. Then he threw open his wings, broken and all, and spread them wide. He allowed his True Form to overpower his human vessel, so that all around could see what he truly looked like. If they were blinded by his form, then so be it. It would be easier to get the fruit if all the Djinn standing in his way could no longer see in order to attack him.

Some of the Djinn did not look away in time, and their eyes were burned out of their skulls. He had not known for sure whether that would happen. Djinn were not human, so he had wondered if they might be able to look upon him without being blinded, but that was not the case.

The Queen had looked away in time, and when Castiel put himself away, so to speak, she snapped her head back up and flicked her eyes from Djinn to Djinn, gazing in horror at those whose eyes had been burned out by his light. Then she stared at him again, this time in fear—and with respect. There was also something else in her gaze, something… covetous. She looked at Brooke, as well, who was completely unaffected by the reveal of his True Form.

"Your woman—is she an angel, too?" the Queen asked.

Castiel glanced down at his wife, allowing her to answer for herself.

Brooke smirked. "I guess you could say I'm part angel," she said, and raised the Grace in her body until her eyes glowed.

The Queen narrowed her eyes at Brooke, and then glanced back at Castiel. "And what will you do with the fruit if it is given to you?"

"I will use it to save my—my son and another woman from an alternate universe," Castiel said, truthfully. "The boy… He is the key to everything. He is destined to save us all."

Brooke stared at him. I know you had some vision from before Jack was born, but…

I'm hamming it up, Castiel explained, keeping his eyes firmly on the Djinn Queen. I'd rather avoid further bloodshed.

The Queen stared at him for a long moment. "Are you, perhaps, the leader of a harem?" she asked.

"What?" Castiel and Brooke blurted at the same time.

The Queen was unfazed. "You said you had to save your son and another woman. But, here, you have a woman, already." She gestured to Brooke as if she were a piece of furniture.

Castiel shook his head. "Will you give us the fruit or not?" he growled. "I will continue to slaughter your subjects if we cannot come to a peaceful solution. I am leaving here with the fruit, one way or another."

"You're very brave, aren't you?" the Queen purred, coming closer. "Brave and… well, your vessel is certainly… attractive, but your angelic form. I have never seen its like."

Brooke's Grace immediately flared, her vision going white, her arm raising of its own accord, intending to slice the Djinn Queen's throat open from ear to ear (in her anger, she had forgotten that such an action would not kill a Djinn). She found her bare wrist in the grip of the Queen, more poison seeping into her body.

"Can you not find it in your heart to share?" the Queen asked, smiling, and reaching out to touch Castiel even as he swung his blade at her head. She yanked Brooke to her, using her as a human shield. "I've never had an angel among my ranks."

Castiel, thinking quickly, allowed the Queen's hand to touch his face. He was immune to her poison. The moment her fingers brushed his cheek—a feeling that made his stomach churn, for no one had ever touched him like that other than Brooke—he brought his own hand down on top of hers and snapped her wrist.

The Djinn screamed in pain, and the soldiers around her who were still battle-ready swarmed around the three of them.

Castiel snatched up the Queen and pressed the tip of his angel blade to her chin, where he knew that he had only to shove it upwards, in one quick thrust, and it would pierce her brain and kill her. The soldiers stopped.

"Give us the fruit," Castiel snarled, holding the Queen firmly as she struggled in his grasp. "Give us the fruit now, and I may let you live."

Brooke was swaying dangerously on her feet, shaking her head over and over, fighting off the beginnings of a hallucination. Even his mental connection to her had its limitations. She'd been exposed to far more poison than any other human probably ever had.

"Such anger in you," the Queen said, her breath coming raggedly, now. "Release me."

Castiel, tiring of this creature's games, brought his angel blade up to her eye and hovered the tip of it a centimeter away. "I will bury this blade in your brain. Give us the fruit and let us go."

"My loyal subjects will tear you to pieces if you harm me," the Queen hissed.

"Yes, but you will die first," Castiel replied, his voice low and close to her ear. And then he made a small motion in his arm, as if to drive the angel blade through her eye, though he did not.

Still, the jerking motion in his arm was enough to terrify the Queen, who finally gave in.

Castiel watched everything very closely, his entire body taut with tension. He kept his arms around his wife, pulled against his chest as she slowly recovered from the poison, swaying less and less over time. He used his Grace to sense his surroundings, to be sure that no Djinn were creeping up on him from behind. He watched with a careful eye as one subject filled a cloth sack with fruit from the Tree. He trusted no one, and the moment the bag was full he snatched it up out of the Djinn's hand (careful not to touch his skin) and walked as quickly as possible away.

Surprisingly, they were not accosted. He turned back, once, and saw the Queen eyeing him. With his superhuman vision he could see, even from here, the lustful look on her face, and frowned, before turning back around.

Brooke, who finally seemed back to normal, pushed herself straight, no longer needing to rely on Castiel for physical support as she walked. She sensed his discomfort and smirked. No one looks at my husband like that except me, she said.

And Castiel, ever the serious one, nodded once, like a soldier taking orders, and said, That's right.

A/N: I apologize for how horribly written this entire scene was LMAO. I rewrote it like twice and couldn't get it to read any better.

###

Brooke breathed an audible sigh of relief the moment they stepped foot back in the bunker. She was fully healed from their foray with the Djinns, but if she never saw another Djinn in her entire life, it would be too soon.

"Sam? Dean?" Castiel called out, clutching the sack full of fruit. "We're back from Syria with fruit from the Tree of Life! The Tree was guarded by a pack of Djinn. We killed most of them, bargained with the rest. Their Queen, uh…" He glanced at Brooke, who gave him a slow smirk. "She wanted to… collect us, make us one of her subjects, but we shut her down."

He'd been speaking loudly this whole time, his voice echoing through the bunker, but as he fell silent, Brooke squinted around the room, listening for a response from the boys. There was none. The bunker was deathly silent. Worriedly, she glanced at Castiel, and they began to search room by room, going first to Sam and Dean's bedrooms, which were empty, and then through each of the other rooms.

Brooke called the boys to see if maybe they'd just gone out for something, but neither of them answered her. Panic slowly mounting (because when did anything ever go right for them) she began to search the other rooms around the bunker.

"Shh," Castiel urged, at one point, and put his finger to his lips. He tilted his head, hearing voices from a room they'd never gone into before.

Brooke eyed him, and he returned her look, and they made their way to the room. The door stood open, and the voices grew steadily louder as they approached, but when they walked into the room, no one was there.

It was the TV that had been making the noise, a large flatscreen that must have been brand-new. Brooke blinked confusedly at the TV. "Scooby Doo?" she said, seeing Fred Jones sitting in the Mystery Machine.

"I don't know, Freddie," said a voice. "I'm not sure Baby can go that slow."

"Well, the Mystery Machine is a lot faster than it looks," Fred said.

The camera switched. Sam and Dean Winchester were… inside Scooby Doo.

"Cass," Brooke said, her voice strangely high. She grabbed her husband's arm. "Cass, what—

The screen suddenly sparked purple.

"Cass," Brooke said again, stepping backwards. "What the fuck."

Castiel thrust his arm out in front of Brooke, as if to shield her from the TV, which was still sparking. He, too, took a step backwards. "We should get out."

They turned to leave the room—

Brooke felt as if her body were being squeezed through a shower drain. She tried to scream, but she found that she couldn't even breathe. Then, a second later, it was all over, and she was standing upright again, seemingly normal. Until she realized that she was far from normal.