A/N: Whose ready for some action?! I honestly have been itching to write this chapter for a while and I'm so glad it's finally here! A lot of stuff is about to go down, I mean, I did end the last chapter with a demon entering so of course something bad is bound to happen, but it's also really awesome and not the only action that's going to happen in this chapter. You'll see ;) Enough of my rambling, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Jim: Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it :)
eldaearien: The twist ending of that chapter is something I've been planning for a while, I'm really glad you like it :) As always thanks for the review.
It was then that it clicked for Dean and the rage that instantly filled his body was rival to any anger he had ever felt before. He was face to face with the person who had traumatized his daughter, the person that scared her skin, and it took every ounce of control he had in his body to not instantly attack the demon across the field from him. The soft cries of his daughter behind him and the presence of his brother standing next to him kept the eldest Winchester grounded, there were too many things that hadn't been considered for him to attack the demon across the cemetery. Years of hunting and going up against the strongest evils of the world had taught him that sometimes you had to think before you took on an enemy, this was one of those times.
Brandon looked over the group, assessing the hunters, angels, and witches as he had when he was hidden among the trees, "Is no one going to attack me?" he raised an eyebrow, "I've seen the attachment you all have to Ana and I've done a very bad thing to her. Where's the hostility, guys?" He took a couple of steps forward, eyes focused on the witches in the center of the group, "Especially you," his eyes focused on Connor, "I've heard some stories about you that would make their skin crawl." he gestured between Sam and Dean, who fought the urge to turn and give the witch a questioning look. When no one moved, Brandon sighed, "Well, I guess I'll just have to make the first move." he offered, snapping his fingers, the group was instantly surrounded by both angels and demons.
The group of six was easily outnumbered four to one by the enemy surrounding them, though with Ana still crying in Connor's arms they wouldn't need to use force on her, though they probably would just for kicks. The men and women surrounding them began to move all at once and their group responded in turn, the two hunters and angels running straight into battle while Connor placed Ana between his back and the devil's gate so he could protect her.
Each man held his own for a few minutes, between the angels and demons both attacking it was clear that they weren't going to make it out of this one completely unscathed. Sam had been quickly disarmed by a demon and was now being held still by the angel blade that was pressed along the front of his neck. As his eyes flicked around the cemetery to find his brother, he watched as Dean was forced on to his knees by a demon, his brother's face twisted in pain. Searching again, Sam's eyes landed on the fight that Gabriel was currently engaged in, taking on three of his siblings and a demon. Though he was an archangel, Gabe was being hit in every direction and it was no surprise to Sam when they were finally able to disarm the angel and keep him pinned in his place by two angel blades pointed at his throat. When Sam's eyes landed on Castiel he was already in the same position as Gabriel. He wished he could check on Connor and Ana, but both witches were behind him and the angel blade at his throat gave him no room to move his head.
Connor had fought off three attacks by demons, each seeming determined just to get him out of the way to get to Ana, but he fought them all off. It wasn't until Brandon was standing in front of him that he lost that battle. "Did you really think you could protect her from me?" The demon questioned as he wrapped his hand around the witch's throat and pulled him away from Ana, carrying Connor away as if he weighed nothing. As Brandon watched Ana fall to the ground, body shaking, face hidden in her hands as she cried, he smirked, "And this is supposed to be one of the most powerful witches to ever live. Pathetic. I guess we can just kill him now and not have to worry about either of them being able to stop our plans." He directed the last statement to the army that had fallen under his command.
Ana could feel Connor's pain filtering through their connection and it pulled her focus out of her own mind, eyes lifting to find out what had been happening around her to cause him pain. It was then that she realized how much she had missed while she was fighting against her fear and memories. Her eyes went wide as she saw her father doubled over in pain as a demon held him down while Sam, Castiel, and Gabriel were all held by angel blades. When her eyes finally landed on Connor and the hand wrapped around his throat, everything that was torturing her mind at that moment vanished and all she could focus on was him and the rest of her family. She watched as Brandon's hand tightened around Connor's throat, cutting off all oxygen while also using his demonic power to cause internal bleeding among Connor's organs. "No!" Ana yelled, quickly standing up and pushing off of the gate. She could feel her magic responding to her emotions, the desperate need to protect her family taking hold, and she knew that none who stepped in her way would be an issue. As if to prove that point an angel and demon both made their way toward her but before either were close enough to lay a hand on her Ana threw them back without lifting a hand, tossing them yards away with just a thought.
Brandon watched as the young witch walked his direction, not even flinching as she threw the two out of her way. The closer she grew to where he stood with Connor, a warm golden light slowly appeared, encompassing her body in a way he had never seen before and because he didn't know what it meant, it sent a sliver of fear through him. "One more step and I will kill him." He warned, tightening his grip around Connor's throat, the witch's trachea on the verge of snapping under the pressure from it.
"You can try." Ana challenged as she threw her power at him with enough force to move a two story house, knowing that she would need it to make the demon's hold on her soul mate loosen. Her plan worked and she watched as Brandon was thrown back a couple of feet, dropping a very still and not breathing Connor to the ground. Taking a moment to assess the shape the rest of her family was in, she spun to examine them before waving her circling her hand around in front of her, palm down, and forcefully pushing it toward the ground as if something was resisting the movement. Once her arm was fully lengthened toward the ground, all of the demons and angels dropped toward the ground, crying out in pain. The look on her uncle's face was her first warning and the power that was radiating right behind her was the second, he hand flew up and with a twist of her wrist there was a thin, but effective, barrier between herself and Brandon. "Gabriel, Connor needs to be healed." she told the angel as she spun around to face the demon who was breaking through her barrier with a wicked grin.
"You're not as powerful as they say you are, Ana." Brandon taunted once he had completely torn through her barrier without lifting a finger.
"This isn't even half of my power." She warned, returning his grin with a cocky one of her own as she lifted him into the air without lifting a hand. "I'm holding all of your little demon and angel buddies down without even giving it much thought, imagine what I could do if I put a little more focus on it." she offered nonchalantly, shrugging as a chorus of screams filled the space around them. "And while I'm doing that, I can even make their screams silent." Her eyes were focused hard on Brandon as she kept him motionless in the air, watching as a flash of fear sparked in his eyes as the screams were stopped, even though it was clear that each angel and demon was still making the noise. "Then there's you, who can't even move a muscle, but no. I'm definitely not as powerful as I'm said to be." Ana's eyes quickly moved to Gabriel and Connor as she watched the angel heal the witch. Once she was assured that Connor was alright, her gaze moved back to the demon hovering at least four feet off of the ground in front of her. "No one comes after my family and gets away with it." she warned, using her magic to lift every discarded angel blade in the cemetery and aiming it at him, moving them so that they were all level with his torso, "Castiel, there's no longer a soul in this body, is there?" she asked the angel, knowing that if there was she wouldn't be able to go through with what she had planned to do next.
The angel in question moved to stand at her side, "No, it seems that the human that was Brandon has been dead for some time." he offered, able to see that there was no longer even a trace of the human soul that had once inhabited the body.
"Good." Ana stated before moving the blades so that they pierced into the demon's body, just enough to cause pain but not enough to kill him. She held the blades in place as Brandon screamed out in pain, though the scream quickly turned into a dark chuckle.
"Oh, Ana, I never knew you had this in you, if I had I would have molded you into my little helper instead of torturing you." Brandon grinned down at her. "Such a waste."
Ana glared at him, shoving the blades in just a bit further and causing him to scream again. "Sam? Exorcise him."
Sam and Dean, with his brother's help, move to stand at Ana's side opposite the one that Cas was on. "If you exorcism him, he'll just go back to Hell." Dean grunted, his left arm wrapped around his torso as if to keep it together.
Cas moved to stand next to Dean and healed him quickly before turning to look at Ana, "If you exorcism him, he will just come back and torment you again.
Ana shook her head, her peripheral vision catching movement as Gabriel helped Connor to his feet, both of the men turned and walked in their direction. "Just trust me, I'm not letting him get away." she told her family, her gaze falling back on Brandon.
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanic potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii…" Sam began to exorcise the demon, watching his niece to see exactly what she planned on doing once the demon was out of the body.
As the black smoke began to filter out of the demon's mouth Connor moved to stand next to Ana, who offered him her hand, wanting him to aid her in what she was about to do next. Without question he placed his hand in her's and felt their magic link in the way it had during their last battle with demons, "Socraigh an tine, sruthán an olc." The incantation rolled off of her tongue with ease and as more black smoke came out of the demon's mouth, it was quickly set on fire. Though the blaze itself seemed rather normal, the power that radiated off of it as it burned the last of the black smoke was anything but normal.
Sam and Dean exchanged a look, in all of their years of hunting and researching they had never heard of anything like that being done before. When they both turned their attention back to Ana, they noticed the slightly solemn look on her face.
Ana shook her head pulling the angel blades out of the body before lowering it to the ground and turning her attention on the angels and demons who were still silently screaming on the ground in pain. "I'm going to kill them, unless you two want to handle the angels that is." she looked to Cas and Gabe, not wanting to kill their siblings if they were willing to deal with them.
The angels shared a look, one that was slowly becoming closer to the ones Sam and Dean shared, "They're not worth it at this point." Gabriel muttered sadly, though he held no special place in his heart for the majority of his siblings he still hated to know that they were being put to death for such a stupid cause.
With a quick wave of her hand, she positioned the angel blades so that they were aimed at their enemies before sending them shooting through the air, making sure to bury each in the heart of the angel or demon it was aimed at. Once she was certain that they were all dead, she turned to look at her father and uncle, feeling both sets of eyes glued to her. "What?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow at the two men who were watching her with confused expressions.
"You're.. uh...glowing?" Dean offered, not really sure how else to explain the light that was still around her.
"Glowing?" She asked, sounding slightly shocked as she looked down at her body, seeing the light for the first time. "Uh.. Connor? Is this normal?"
Connor shrugged, "I've never heard of a witch glowing. Gabe? Cas? Any explanation?" he looked over at the two angels as they looked over Ana as well.
"Power surge?" Gabriel offered, "You did just access a portion of your power that you've rarely tapped into, maybe this is how it's manifesting itself?"
Ana looked up at the confused expressions that were aimed her way, "So what we're saying here is that we don't know why I'm glowing, but I am." When no one argued against her point, she sighed slightly and lifted her hands to look over them. "Will it stop?" Again there was no response and she dropped her hands to her sides in frustration. "Alright, well since no one has answers about this, why don't we move on to things we can actually take care of right now." the offer was meant to take everyone's attention off of her.
"Right…" Sam nodded, turning to look at Brandon's dead body, "So, was that the leader of this whole thing? Have we put a stop to the plan to unleash Michael and possibly Lucifer on to the earth?"
Dean shook his head, "It's never this easy, not that it was particularly easy anyway, but normally there's a much bigger fight for something like this. Why would that change now?"
Ana nodded, "The demon was powerful, but I don't think he was leading all of this." she offered, refusing to say the name even though he was dead. "I've got an idea." Moving away from Connor's side, she walked toward the body on the ground and took in a deep breath, reminding herself that she had killed him and he couldn't do anything else to hurt her. Taking a knee next to the body, she placed a hand on his forehead and spoke a soft chant before she was allowed to see some of the last images that were stuck inside of the parts of the brain that were still living. She shifted through what had just happened quickly, pushing back further, hoping for a glimpse of whoever was handing out orders. The images flew past in her mind as she tried to find something, anything that would lead them in the right direction and she held back the sound of triumph as she finally found what she was looking for. The memory showed a woman in a long black dress, blonde hair falling like a sheet straight down her back, and brown eyes that could only be darker when they were black. There was no name and since the body was no longer living, the brain quickly dying, she couldn't get anything else before Ana had to pull her magic back. Standing up, the young witch looked to her family, the men standing there waiting to see what she found, "A woman. I don't have a name, but she is a demon, I could tell that much."
"Well at least we have something to go off now." Sam looked around at the dead bodies that littered the ground, "We should do something about all of this." he added, glancing up at his brother.
Gabriel snapped his fingers, causing all of the bodies to disappear before them. "So, all we've done here is stopped the first wave of attacks. There will be more coming if the bitch who is in charge is still alive."
Ana took a moment as the men spoke about what their next move should be, blocking them out she focused on her power, trying to pull it in so she wouldn't glow anymore. She figured that if her magic was causing it she would be able to get a hold of it and make it go away, which is exactly what she did. With a pleased smile she turned to look at her family, "I think our first move should be to put up a better protection around the gate." she offered, causing everyone's eyes to fall back to her as she walked over to stand with them.
"Hey, you look human again." Dean commented, "Or as human as you get at least." he teased, grinning at her.
"Gee, thanks dad." She muttered, sending a glare his direction before turning her attention to Connor, "What do you say we step up our magic game and put up the strongest protection spell we have."
Connor slightly cocked an eyebrow at her, "Even the strongest spell I know won't be able to hold everything off."
"That's where you're wrong. I know one that will hold off just about everything, but it's kind of frowned upon and may or may not put our lives in danger." Ana offered, not seeming to care much at the last part, but out of the corner of her eye she could see her father frowning.
"And how exactly will this spell put your lives in danger, Anastasia?" Dean grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for his daughter to answer his question.
The girl rolled her eyes, "It just links us to the barrier we put around the gate. So it stays up as long as at least one of us is still alive, but if someone breaks through it… we both die." she brought her hands up by her shoulders and moved them up and down as if she was weighing something, "Which to me sounds like our best bet, so why don't we get started." Ana grabbed Connor's hand and tried to pull him back toward the gate, but he wouldn't budge.
"No way in Hell am I even going to acknowledge the idea you just offered because you and I both know why we haven't used it yet." Connor pulled his hand away from her, becoming actually angry with the witch in front of him for the first time. "I'm not letting you perform a spell like that."
Throwing her hands up in the air in frustration, she grumbled before pointing a finger in his face, "You are being so hypocritical right now!"
"Just because I've crossed that line doesn't mean that you should too, Ana!" he snapped and shook his head, "I'm not letting you do it and you can't do it without me, so it looks like you're screwed."
The other four members of their makeshift family stood back and watched as the couple snapped at one another, "Are they actually fighting? Not just puppy love arguing like last time, but legitimately fighting?" Dean asked his brother in shock. The fight he was watching unfold in front of him was nothing like the spat they had at the bunker.
"If the fact that I'm really uncomfortable standing here and watching it is anything to go by, then yes, they're actually fighting." Sam nodded, his eyes glued to the couple as they continued to argue, their voices growing slowly in volume.
"And to think someone in the universe thought us being soulmates would work out?" She threw the insult at him, "I'm not a child Connor, you can't really think that you can treat me like one when you're against something but the moment a decision is made and you're pleased go back to treating me like an equal. That's not how relationships work."
Connor scoffed, "Oh, so now we're in a relationship again?" he shook his head, letting out an aggravated sound, "That's not even the point here. The point is that this magic is in a pretty shady grey area that you've never dealt with before and I would like to keep it that way. There are other spells we can use."
"Is this argument going to find a result or are they just yelling because of some human emotion I've yet to grasp the concept of?" Castiel asked, not taking his eyes off of the couple just in front of them.
Gabriel scoffed, "There's really no telling, Cassie." he answered while taking a step forward, "Hello? Guys? Yeah, we're still here and we need to either set up some protection on the gate or figure out what else we can do to stop Mikey and Luci getting out of the cage."
"My idea would protect the gate." Ana stated, shooting a nasty look Connor's direction and crossing her hands over her chest, "You can't honestly be worried about me crossing into a 'grey area' when you've been there before and you're fine. Come on, you're talking to the girl still riding the fear that she'll go dark side and I'm not even concerned about this!"
"What if it's not you I'm worried about?!" Connor snapped, voice raising to a level he'd yet to reach with these people around. "Look, this isn't something we need to discuss with an audience. Just come to terms with the fact that I'm not going to do this and think of a different spell to use."
Ana squinted at him as if she were trying to read his mind, find out what exactly about this was making him so upset, because she knew that he couldn't be worried about himself. Connor had done some questionable magic before they met and had told her all about it, plus he did that spell while she was being held captive by Laylah so it couldn't be himself that he was worried about. If he wasn't worried about the two of them, then who could he be worrying about? The spell wouldn't affect anyone else. She raised an eyebrow at him finally, "If it's not me and it's not you, then who are you worried about?" she took a step closer to him so that they were almost standing chest to chest, "If you don't tell me I'm just going to assume that you're making stuff up to get out of this for whatever reason."
He looked down at her, really wishing she would just drop the subject and move on to a different spell, but the determination in her eyes was something he was familiar with and he knew arguing with any Winchester when they had that look in their eye meant that it was never going to work out in his favor. Glancing over his shoulder at the four men behind him who were clearly not missing a moment of their arguing, he sighed and shook his head, this wasn't something they needed to talk about in front of her family. Moving around her, Connor made his way toward the gate, "We're doing a different spell, Ana."
Her jaw clenched as she made eye contact with her father, "Nothing stays secret in this family long, Connor, they'll find out eventually. So you might as well share with the whole class who you're worried about this spell affecting."
"Our future child, Anastasia!" Connor snapped, spinning around to look at her, the anger in his eyes dissolving slowly to a worry and hurt Ana had never seen in the time they had known each other, "The prophecy says that there's a possibility of any future child we have going 'dark side'," he quoted her, wanting what he was saying to sink into her head so she would understand why he was so against it. "You've never ventured anywhere away from the light side of magic. What happens if once or twice you do and adding that on top of what I've done is the pin in the grenade that will be our child's magic?!" Taking in a deep breath, he cast his eyes to the ground, "I've done enough bad for the two of us, we don't need to chance it further by having you develing in darker magic."
The words that were yelled into the silence of the cemetery hit Ana like a freight train, she was so taken back by what he had just said that she didn't even know how to respond. Frozen in place, Ana just stared across the space between them and wondered how he could blame himself for something that hadn't even happened yet, that may not ever happen.
"Well that got real, fast." Gabriel muttered just loud enough for the men around him to hear.
Sam and Dean shared a quick look before their eyes turned back toward the still form of Ana, "That was kind of harsh." Dean commented to his brother, waiting for his daughter to react, but she just continued to stand there.
"You think that what they do with their magic will affect their child?" Sam questioned, aiming it more toward the angels since he knew that Dean had as much understanding about the whole thing as he did.
Gabriel shook his head, "I've never seen the parentage of any witch affect the way said witch turns out in life. Most of the time they're just born leaning one way or the other, or they're raised around one side. In cases like Connor, the beginning of their teaching is one and then they're introduced to the other side via other means."
"It is very unlikely that any magic Ana or Connor do will affect any children they have." Castiel agreed. "That is, unless Ana performs extremely dark magic while pregnant, I've seen one case where it has tainted the soul of the baby in the womb. Extremely dark magic." he emphasized.
Dean scoffed, "Well that's never going to happen. I've told her from the start that she's too good to go dark side and I don't see that ever changing."
Gabriel nodded in agreement, "Her soul is brighter than most I've come across, that's one of the reasons I chose her to protect my grace while I was on the bench. It's instinct for her to avoid anything darker than what she's considering now."
While their conversation continued Ana still hadn't moved or spoken, the only sign that she was even still alive from their point of view was the slight rise and fall of her shoulders as she breathed. Dean was beginning to worry, he'd never seen her so still and it couldn't be a good sign. Then suddenly, as if a switch flipped somewhere in her mind, her muscles tensed and she gave her arms a small shake. "We need to put a spell up around the gate." he heard her say in a monotone voice before walking toward where her bag lay on the ground.
Ana moved past Connor without looking at him, she had one focus and it was making sure that nothing else got to the gate before they found a more permanent solution to keeping it closed. "Balla bán. It should be strong enough to keep most of anything that comes while we're away out." She told him while grabbing the ingredients out that they would need.
"It will only keep those with ill will out." He said, not turning around to look at her, not knowing if he could stand seeing the emotionless expression on her face again. While she had been standing still, Ana had successfully put up an extremely thick wall in their connection so that neither of them could feel the other and that itself had almost broken him. Connor had grown so used to having a sense of her in the back of his mind that with it completely gone he felt empty and lost.
"Well anyone that comes to set free the dynamic duo won't be exactly planning on rainbows and butterflies accompanying them, so I think it will work." She grabbed what she could out of her bag before moving on to his, "Plus, it's geared to focus on what the casting witch is trying to protect, I think it's our best bet."
Connor nodded, "You're right. Do we have all of the ingredients we'll need?" as he spoke he slowly turned around to see her compiling their stuff on the ground.
Ana's only response was a curt nod as she grabbed the last thing they needed out of his bag. "It's all here. Let's get this over with so we can find the bitch that's trying to screw over the world." she spoke as she began to mix things in one of the many brass bowls they had between the two of them.
Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face before pushing it through his hair, "Things are just going to be cheery for a while, aren't they?" he questioned sarcastically, not really looking for an answer, knowing that they all understood that neither of the witches was going to be much fun to be around after that. The only question was how exactly this was going to affect Ana. It was clear that Connor had been harboring the idea for a while, but adding the fear that something she could possibly do would affect some future child of theirs on top of everything that had just happened with Brandon was probably not going to end well for the young female witch.
A/N(2): This chapter ended up a little shorter than I'm pleased with, but it simply needed to end there. I LOVE getting feedback from you guys and the reviews I've gotten over the last few chapters have been great! Don't be shy, I really enjoy seeing what you guys think! Thanks for reading :)
