Hello everyone! I'm back!
Okay as usually thank you...thank you...thank you all so very much for all the wonderful feedback and support you have given me for this story. Shoutout to Leann Nickerson, Angels-heart1, carmengmtr and LittleCat. Thank you to all the Guests who have posted too. I can't believe really only have 2 chapters left plus the epilog for this story.
Again a huge shout out to Supernatural wiki for the transcript that I'm using here!
Author's Note: Okay this is the chapter I dreaded. I wasn't a fan of this episode and the Castiel 'confession' has been blown out of portion (at least to me) but I forced myself to tackle it and tackle it I did. So if you are a Destiel fan...sorry you may want to just skip that part.
More author notes at the end.
Chapter 39
Sam quickly got his arm around Jack and practically carried him to the map room with the others following him. Lorna rushed forward and pulled a chair out and helped Sam settle Jack in it.
Castiel knelt beside Jack and urged, "Jack, deep breaths. Just try to focus. Try to slow this down if you can."
Jo handed Ami to Dean before kneeling down on the other side of Jack and murmured, "We're right here Jack. What can we do to help you?"
Dean turned to his brother and asked, "what do we do?"
Sam shook his head as he replied, "I don't know."
"You have to let me go. Just... Just get me outside. I'll try to get as far away as I can." He cried.
"No Jack!" Jo cried
"Jody, Lorna take Ami and get as far away from here as possible." Dean begged as he kissed his daughter quickly before passing her and the keys to the Impala to Jody.
Jody looked like she was going to argue but instead nodded her head. "We'll keep her safe," she swore.
"Sam," Lorna murmured as he leaned down and kissed her.
Jo looked up at her husband and friends…her family her tears flowing freely as she stood up and went over to Jody and her daughter. "I love you so much my sweet girl," she whispered as she leaned forward and kissed the top of her head before pulling Jody in for a hug and said simply, "thank you."
"No! Leave me! I can't stop this! I'm coming apart! I don't want to hurt you! Don't let me hurt you!" Jack begged.
Dean knelt down in front of Jack and cupped his face. "Hey, hey, we're not giving up on you, okay," he swore before looking at and suggesting, "umm… magic. Magic. One of Rowena's spells. Come on, we've got to do something!"
"I think you've done enough." The all looked up in shock and saw Billie standing before them and hissed, "we were so close."
"Chuck saw it coming. All of it. Your whole plan," Dean shouted.
"It was doomed," Sam said.
Death glared at the group and said, "because of you. It was doomed because of' you."
Jody and Lorna shared a look with Jo before starting to back out of the room only to stop short when Billie called out, "you don't have enough time to put enough space between you and what's about to happen."
Castiel stood up and stormed over to the newcomer. "You led Jack through his trials. You know what's happening to him. You can stop this. Please."
"I can't stop it,"she told him as she spun Jack's chair and stepped over to the Nephilim and cocked her head, "But there is something I can do," she told them as she lifted Jack's chin and suddenly he vanished before their eyes.
Jo jumped back as she cried, "Jack! What did you do you bitch?!"
Ami looked at the spot where her favorite playmate was seconds before and scrunched up her face and let out a pitiful cry at the now empty chair.
Dean turned towards his daughter and watched as Jo rushed over to comfort their little girl, taking the crying infant from Jody, and bouncing her gently in her arms murmuring words of comfort.
Dean turned back towards Death and hissed, "Billie, where the hell is he?!"
She smirked slightly as she announced, "The Empty."
Castiel shook his head in disbelief and cried, "what!"
Death looked at the angel and said, "Jack was a bomb designed to annihilate cosmic forces. Chuck and Amara are gone. The Empty was the only player on the board who could possibly absorb that impact unless you wanted to destroy everything within a 500 miles radius for no reason."
Cas looked back at the empty chair and whispered, "so it's done."
Billie looked at the hunters and said, "yes it's done."
Castiel closed his eyes when he heard the first sob from Jo before she went willingly into Dean's arms as Sam wrapped his arms around Lorna.
Swallowing the lump in his throat Cas asked, "is he dead?"
"Maybe," she taunted.
"You said this was a suicide mission," Dean exclaimed.
"No, I said taking out Chuck and Amara would be fatal," she corrected him.
"What are you saying? Are you saying he could have survived," Jo asked.
"It's a chain reaction," Cas said.
"The Empty? It's different. Not as strong as Chuck or Amara, but... Vast." Death explained. She stopped when she saw the younger Winchester opened and closed his mouth as he realized what she was saying before continuing, "but if Jack survives, and if The Empty survives? It's gonna be pissed."
"Okay, so The Empty is pissed. What does that mean?" Sam asked.
"The Empty is strong. It's got beef with me, especially after what I just did."
Dean snorted, "oh well, poor you."
"Good thing it can't reach me here," Billie said as she ignored Dean's comment.
"Yeah, The Empty can't come to Earth. Not without being summoned," Castiel snorted in disgust realizing what Billie was getting to.
"Wait, what about Jack? If he's alive?" Dean said as Jo looked up at her husband hopefully.
"Please," she begged as she turned towards Billie.
"You have to bring him back," Cas commanded.
"Not until I get what I came for," she told them as she looked towards Sam knowingly. "Yeah, Sam. You took something that belongs to me. God's book."
Sam narrowed his eyes as he glared at the interloper and growled, "you were always gonna betray us. Once you defeated God, you were gonna take power. That means everyone who got a free pass, or a second chance, everyone who was resurrected or came from another world, you were gonna kill them all. Dean and me, too. That's the order you want restored. That's always been your endgame."
Jo gulped as she held Ami closer and whispered, "she can't."
"Ya got me," Billie crowed before looking over her shoulder towards Jo and gloated, "and I still can."
"You lied to everyone. Even The Empty. You promised it peace and quiet, but you never meant it," Castiel accused.
Sam licked his dry lips as he said, "even if I give you the book, what's to stop you from stabbing us in the back, killing us all?"
"Nothing," she told them. "But you don't have a choice. This isn't a negotiation. If he's alive, he won't last long. So if you want Jack, you'll give it to me now."
"Sammy…please," Jo urged her brother.
The younger Winchester nodded his head in agreement as he left the room, Lorna following him as he headed towards the lower level of the bunker to the angel proof room they had originally held Gabriel.
"Sam wait," Lorna shouted as she hurried after him, grabbing his arm and spinning him around.
"What," he said as he looked down at the woman who had captured his heart faster than he thought possible especially after the whole Eileen fiasco.
"We can't trust her any more than Chuck," she argued.
Sam gave her a sad smile before he leaned down and kissed her, "I know…trust me I know but if this is really the end then Jack should be with us…with his family."
"We're not going to make it are we?" She cried as Sam pulled her close.
"We have to have hope we can find another way…promise you won't give up on me..on us."
Lorna took a deep breath to calm herself before pulling away and nodded her head in agreement, "I'm in this with you…with everyone no matter what. Now let's go get that book and get Jack back."
SPNSPNSPN
Castiel had gone to take care of Gabriel's vessel and Dean walked over to where Jody and Jo had finally sat down as they waited for Sam to return with the book. Sitting across from his friend he reached out and placed his hand over her hands and asked, "how're you doing?"
"Not so good now that we have a moment to take a breath," she admitted.
"I'm sorry Jody, I can't believe I'm gonna say it but Gabriel became a good friend to us and I know he really cared for you…you were good for him."
Jody nodded her head as she stared down at their joined hands, "if she holds up her end of the deal will you and Sam help put him in my car…I want to give him a hunter's funeral."
"Sure…of course," he told her.
"Thank you," she told him before looking over at Jo. "I know how much you loved Gabriel too but...well would you understand if I needed to do this alone?"
Jo looked up at her friend and nodded her head, "of course. I understand you need to say your goodbye your own way. I'll say mine before you leave."
They all turned when they heard Sam and Lorna coming back into the room with Castiel following behind. Sam didn't say anything as he dropped the book on the table and they watched as Death placed her scythe next to the table before picking up the book and opening it, flipping to the end.
Castiel frowned in confusion, "what are you doing?"
"Since you ruined the last one, God's book has a new ending," she told him.
Dean stomped over towards Death and demanded, "Jack, now! Billie, I swear..." he started to threatened.
"Shh," she murmured as she began to read the page while the others look on in silence, unaware of what the book said. Finally she closed the book and looked up and smiled as she said, "Interesting."
Before anyone could question her suddenly they saw Jack falling from the ceiling and landing on the floor. Dean, Sam and Castiel rushed forward to help him but stopped short when Billing blocked them.
"Jack," Sam said as he went to go around Billie to get to him.
She held the book up, "nun-uh. The boy's mine."
Jack tried to back away from Billie as he cried out, "no!"
Billie turned slightly to look at the Nephilim and said, "sorry, kid. You're still useful."
"No, you can't!" Jo shouted as she stood up.
Billie looked at the woman she abandoned all those years ago in that destroyed hardware store and told her, "I can and I will. Goodbye."
Dean saw Billie turning to grab Jack and ran over to the table and grabbed the scythe that she had left propped against the table and swung it towards Billie. Death moved quickly to avoid the blade but not fast enough and hissed as the blade sliced through her shoulder causing her to drop God's book.
She lifted her other hand and Jo watched in horror as her husband flew across the room and slammed into a wall before Billie vanishing and leaving Jack behind.
Jo and Jody rushed over to Dean as Castiel, Sam and Lorna went to Jack and helped each man up. "I'm fine, check on Jack," Dean told Jo as he held his arms out to take Ami from his wife.
Jo leaned forward and kissed Dean before going over to check on the other man, "Jack?" She called as she pulled him in for a tight hug.
"I'm okay...I'm okay," he reassured her as the group made their way to the table where Jody and Dean had sat down.
Dean stood up as the others joined them and reached out to place his hand on Jack's shoulder as the young man began to apologize.
"Don't," Dean told him as he pulled him in and hugged him. "You don't owe any of us an apology. She played us all."
Sam reached down and picked up God's book and unsuccessfully tried to open it sighing in frustration. Lorna placed her hand on his arm and asked unable to keep the fear out of her voice, "what do we do now?"
Sam looked down at the woman who shared his bed with and wrapped an arm around her, kissing the top of her head as his brother turned towards them and said, "we find another way is what we do."
SPNSPNSPN
Dean leaned against the wall as Jo placed Ami down for the night. "I called Ellen and Bill. I told them I thought it would be best if them and Ash made their way here," she told him as she stared at their daughter.
"Good," he murmured as he joined her. A sad smile tugged at his lips as he watched Ami's chest rising and falling as she slept.
"Ash said he wasn't coming, that he needed to stay with Donna."
Dean sighed as he wrapped his arms around her middle, "I'm sorry."
"We're losing aren't we?" She asked in defeat.
"We only lose if we give up fighting," he told her as he kissed her shoulder.
Jo took a shaky breath, "I didn't tell him how much I loved him."
"Gabriel knew Jo. He knew you loved him."
Jo reached up and wiped away her tears. "We should have gone with Jody. She shouldn't be alone."
"Jody's one of the strongest people I know. She needs to do this herself." He told her.
Jo nodded her head. "Yeah, I know. I…I need to check on Jack," she said as she slipped out of his embrace.
Dean let his hands drop to his sides as Jo started out of the room. "Jo," he called out as he turned around. "I…I'm sorry…about Jack. I wanted to believe that this was going to…"
"Dean, stop. We all wanted to believe Billie was on the up and up," she reassured him.
Dean nodded his head slightly and gave Jo a small smile as he said, "I love you."
Jo grinned back at her husband, "good because I love you too. I'm just gonna check on Jack. Maybe you can get us a bottle of wine for when I come back."
Dean grinned at his wife, "your wish is my command."
Jo snorted and teased, "yeah right, you're only at my command when you know you're gonna get lucky."
Dean strolled over to Jo and cup her cheeks with his hands as he gazed into her eyes and told her, "the luckiest night of my life was the night you and Gabriel ran through that portal."
Jo smiled up at Dean, "luckiest night of my life too." She told him before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
SPNSPNSPN
"I didn't expect you to be in here when I saw you heading back to your room with a bottle of wine." Sam said as he joined Dean in the bunker's lounge and poured himself a glass of whiskey.
"Jo managed to fall asleep and I didn't want to wake her. What about you? I figured you and Lorna would be…well you know." Dean said as he stared into his glass.
"Same, she finally fell asleep too."
Dean nodded his head before looking at his brother and said, "Sam, I'm sorry. About everything that…"
Sam held his hand up as he told the other man, "Dean, you don't have to apologize."
"I pulled a gun on you," Dean argued, still horrified by what happened earlier. "It's like I just couldn't stop. You know, we were so close to beating him. It's like I could smell Chuck's blood in the water and I...nothing else mattered. It was everything. And I just couldn't snap out of it."
Sam nodded his head in understanding before saying, "well, you did. You've snapped me out of worse." He looked over at his brother when he heard him huff in self-loathing and reached out and placed his hand on his brother's arm and reiterated, "you have."
Dean looked at his brother still not convinced completely with what he was saying but he had decided to move on and talk about the elephant in the room.
"So whatever Chuck did to Amara, he's probably more powerful than ever. Billie wants us dead. Gabriel is gone. Jack's powerless. And Michael's not returning our prayers. So we have no heavy hitters on our side. We're basically at zero."
"We'll regroup, somehow." Sam told him.
Dean snorted as he lifted his glass and held it out towards Sam and quipped, "right. Yeah, to somehow."
Sam lifted his glass towards his brother and said, "to somehow."
SPNSPNSPN
Lorna listened as Dean spoke to the person on the other end of the phone while Sam watched on eagerly, "Charlie…of course Sam and I are heading out as soon as possible."
She looked up when her friend walked into the kitchen with Bill and Ellen. Lorna stood and went over to hug the newcomers.
"Who's Dean talking to?" Jo asked as Ellen went over and picked Ami up out of the pack and play she was currently in while playing with one of her stuff animals.
"Their friend Charlie. Sounds like it's beginning," Lorna told her.
"Okay we'll see you soon," Dean said as he hung up his phone.
"You're leaving?" Ellen asked slightly shocked that the man across from her would leave his wife and daughter with everything hanging over their heads.
"Don't have a choice," he explained. "Seems Charlie's girlfriend vanished before her eyes."
Jo's eyes widened at that, "vanished? Was she one of the hunters that came from the apocalypse world?" She asked as she looked worriedly at Ellen and Bill."
Dean swallowed as he nodded his head as he confirmed, "Yeah. she was. Can I talk to you alone?"
"Right," Jo said as she followed Dean out of the kitchen to the family room.
"Jo…I know you're going to want to come wit…"
"Dean stop," Jo told him as she gently placed her hands on his chest. "One of us need to stay with Ami. We can't leave her alone with Bill and Ellen. I don't like it but I get it."
"Look why don't we ask Lorna to hang back," Dean suggested.
Jo shook her head, "she should go with you guys. All hands on deck."
"Are you sure?" Dean asked as Sam and Lorna walked past them towards the garage.
"Yeah I am. They're waiting on you."
Dean cupped Jo's cheeks as he leaned down and kissed her, "I hate leaving you both here."
Jo nodded her head as she fought to not cry and make it harder for Dean to leave, "we'll be waiting for you when you get back."
"I love you," he murmured as he kissed her again.
"I love you too," she whispered as he mated his forehead to hers.
"Jo…I…" he stammered as he swallowed the lump in his throat.
"I'll give Ami a kiss for you but you're on diaper duty when you get back." She told him both trying to act like this might not be their last goodbye. "Go," she urged.
She gave him a tearful smile as he stroked her cheek with his thumb and he kissed her one last time before rushing out the door. Jo took a deep breath as she reached up and wiped away her tears before heading back into the kitchen.
SPNSPNSPN
Sam watched as Lorna grabbed her gear out of her car. They had decided to follow Dean as Cas and Jack went in the Impala so they could talk.
He never imagined he would finally tell the woman next to him that he loved her while driving to possibly the last case they may work but he did and he had smiled when Lorna had blushed slightly as she told him that she loved him too.
"Lorna I think we should stick together," Sam argued as she checked her EMP meter.
"You and Dean go talk to your friend and I'll do a sweep of the building. We don't have time to waste," she reasoned.
"Let me go get Cas to go with you then," Sam said.
"Jack needs Castiel right now. I'll be fine. I'll keep my phone on okay," she promise as she leaned up and kissed Sam.
"Okay," he agreed as he slipped his earbud into his ear.
"Be careful," Dean said as he started towards Charlie's apartment to figure out what Chuck and Billie were up to.
SPNSPNSPN
"Sam pay attention to what's going on in there I'm fine," Lorna said as Sam asked for a sit rep.
"Fine," Sam said into his phone as he turned towards the other hunter rambling about her girlfriend and prompted her, "Charlie why don't you just tell us everything you saw."
The other hunter looked at her friends and cried, "I saw nothing. I heard nothing. I felt nothing. No chills, no sulfur smell. One second, Stevie was making breakfast, and the next she just...she just vanished." The woman watched the way the brothers looked at each other and asked, "what?"
Dean sighed at her look at the woman in front of him. "Charlie, we've made some big enemies lately. Uh..." he said, looking at Sam to explain what they were dealing with.
"Death," Sam chimed in. "The Death. She wants to send you back. Everyone from other worlds sent back to worlds that don't exist anymore."
"So she's killing us," Charlie hissed.
Dean swallowed as he tried to think what to say to her but stopped when his phone rang. He pulled his phone out and looked at the caller ID before accepting the call and said, "hey Bobby."
Dean shot a look with his brother as he disconnected and said, "Bobby was on a hunt with another Apocalypse World refugee, Greg, and Greg just vanished."
"It's spreading," Charlie said.
Sam nodded his head sadly. "Yeah, I think so. So no one's safe. Anybody that's ever crossed over from another world, anyone that's ever been resurrected…they're all on Billy's list."
"Bill…Ellen…Ash…Jo," Dean said, his voice thick with emotion.
Charlie saw the pain etched on the older man's face and said, "go."
Dean nodded his head in appreciation at their friend as Sam said into his phone to Lorna they were on their way down.
The brothers stood in front of the Impala as they waited for Lorna to join them. Dean's phone rang again and he swallowed when he saw it was his wife's name, "Jo?"
"They're gone," Jo's voice cried over the phone.
"Gone? Both of them?" He asked in shock.
Lorna rushed towards them as Dean reassured Jo. "I'm on my way back now."
"Dean, we have to get everyone to safety. Anyone who might be on Billie's list."
Castiel looked at the younger Winchester and asked, "where might that be?"
"We need a location, somewhere central to everyone. We need somewhere secure, contained. We get 'em in, and we put up every last bit of warding we've ever used." Sam saw his brother nod his head in agreement.
"Alright, you do that. I'm heading back to the bunker." Dean told him.
"What are you going to do when you get there?" Sam asked.
"I started this. I'm gonna end it," he told him.
"Dean, you need to get Jo and Ami. I'll text you when we have a location and you three can join us." Sam said.
Dean looked at his brother. "Your plan? Getting everybody safe? That's good, okay, but it won't last forever. Now, we couldn't make Chuck pay, but Billie? She left her blade. Her I can kill."
Sam shook his head, fear that he may never see his brother again. "Dean…I don't..."
"We don't have a choice, Sam." Dean told him.
"I'll go with you, Dean." Castiel volunteered.
"Fine Cas is with me. You, Lorna and Jack get as many people as you can to safety." Dean said.
"Be careful," Sam urged.
Dean gave his brother a sad smile before pulling him in for a tight hug. "You too," Dean murmured before patting Sam's back.
When they pulled apart Dean nodded his head towards Lorna and Jack before turning and heading towards the Impala calling, "let's go Cas. Let's go reap a reaper."
SPNSPNSPN
Dean ran down the stairs of the bunker as Jo hopped up and ran into his arms.
"I was terrified you wouldn't make it," she cried.
"I'm here," he reassured her as he kissed her temple.
"Ami's in her car seat," she told him. "I've been terrified to hold her. What if I vanished while holding her!"
Dean sucked in a deep breath as he digested what Jo was saying. "Sweetheart, I need to end this. To take Billie off the board. She is not going to touch you."
"How?" She asked.
Dean looked over at Cas. "You got the key to Billie's library?"
"Yeah, but we don't even know for sure that she'll be there." The angel argued.
"Then we'll wreck her place. We'll burn her books," he said as he grabbed her scythe. "Whatever it takes to smoke her out."
"You can't," Jo begged.
"I have to, it's the only way to save you and the others." He told her.
Jo looked over her shoulder at her daughter and nodded her head knowing that this was their best shot of stopping Billie. "Okay…okay," she said.
"I hate leaving like this but we have to go now."
"Go," she told him.
Dean kissed Jo before turning to the other man and saying, "let's do this."
SPNSPNSPN
Dean walked down one of the rows of Death's library carrying her scythe in his hands while Cas went down another row. He stopped when he saw Billie with her back to him at the desk at the end of the row.
Slowly he continued towards her, raising the scythe slightly to make his move. He stopped when Billie said, "so...I guess this is the part where I say, 'Hello, Boys'."
He watched as she finally turned around and looked at him. She turned her head looking for his backup and smirked when Castiel revealed himself brandishing an angel blade.
She cocked her eyebrow slightly as she quipped, "hello, boys. What's the plan? Take me down with my own weapon?"
"Something like that," Castiel told her.
Billie looked at the angel but nodded her head towards Dean and said, "well, he better work on his aim."
"Thing is…that time…I wasn't trying to kill you," the elder Winchester declared.
"Really….so what changed?" She asked.
Dean snorted in disgust. "Oh, I don't know. Could be that you started killing all my friends."
Billie smiled as she realized that the hunter thought she was the one responsible for the interlopers who they had brought over from the other worlds.
"Interesting," she said as she quickly lifted her arm and flicked her hand causing Dean to fly across the room and crashing into a wall, dropping the scythe before turning as Castiel ran towards her. Reaching up she held her other hand out and the angel was suddenly caught in an invisible grip around his throat.
Dean watched as Billie walked over to Castiel as she continued to choke him. Blinking several times to clear his vision the hunter slowly got back up on this feet before reaching down to pick up the scythe as Billie shoved Castiel up against the wall.
"Castiel. Remember when you stabbed me in the back? 'Cause I do," Billie hissed.
Dean rushed forward as he lifted the scythe and thrusting the end into Billie's wound, causing Death to howl in pain and lose her control of Castiel who dropped to the ground. Dean pulled back and swung the weapon, aiming to decapitate Billie but watched as she caught the blade with her hand.
Dean glowered at Death as he continued applying pressure, digging the blade into Billie's hand, and growled, "it's over. Call it off. Stop killing my people!"
"I didn't hurt your friends," Billie panted in pain.
"What?" Dean said in shock.
Billie snorted at the human's obvious confusion, "you're in the wrong place, Dean."
Dean shot a look over at Cas and saw the confusion written on his face before asking, "what're you talking about?"
"If people are getting gone, I'm guessing it's Chuck. And that means you're just wasting time." She told him as she winced in pain.
Dean swallowed as he realized that she was telling the truth and that he had left his family vulnerable.
SPNSPNSPN
Sam looked at the refugees hidden away in the silo. They had put up every warding they could find but it wasn't working and he watched as a family vanished in front of his eyes.
He watched as Charlie who had decided to join them tried to help the other refugees while Bobby turned to question him. "Sam?" The older man said as he looked around.
Ash and Donna watched in horror as one by one people began to vanish. Ash turned toward the blonde sheriff, both had tears in their eyes as he quickly called out, "I love you!"
"Ash!" Donna cried as the hunter was gone in a blink of an eye.
Charlie stood by Bobby as she turned to Sam and asked, "Sam, what do we do?"
Sam never had a chance to answer as he watched his friend vanish. He looked over at the man who looked so much like the man him and his brother had loved as a father turned towards him and opened his mouth to call out to him before he vanished too.
Donna, Lorna, and Jack stood huddled together. Sam went to pull Lorna to him and screamed, "NO!" as he watched the woman he loves and his friend both disappeared before his and Jack's very eyes.
SPNSPNSPN
Billie stared at Dean as she said, "I'll let you in on something. When you cut me, that little nick? It was fatal. Something I can't survive. See for yourself."
Dean watched as Billie peeled her coat back to show him the wound from earlier and he saw the that the infection from the slice he had made earlier was clearly traveling across her shoulder towards her chest. His stomach lurched as he realized how wrong he was and the precious time he had just wasted.
"You killed me, Dean. So yeah, no. I don't care about your friends. I don't care about your family. But seeing you here has reminded me of something. There is one thing I'd like, one wish before I go... I'd like to see you dead!" She hissed as she grabbed the staff of her scythe before backhanding him and causing Dean to drop the weapon has he began to fall backward as Castiel rushed to him to prevent him from falling to the ground as Billie gloated, "I'm so glad you came."
Billie grinned as she reached down and grabbed her blade as Dean and Cas made a break for it back towards the door to the bunker. The ran through the door and slammed it shut, know it wasn't going to stop Billie but hopefully give them a little time as they ran towards the map room where Jo and Ami were waiting for them.
SPNSPNSPN
Jo looked up as her husband and Castiel came running into the room. "Dean?"
"Not Billie!" He told her as he rushed over and unstrapped Ami from the car seat and handed her to Jo, "run! Just run Jo! She's safer with you than me right now!"
"Where do we go?" Jo cried. This wasn't how this was supposed to end was it?
"Dean she can find us anywhere," Cas shouted as Ami sensing the fear rolling of her parents began to cry.
"I know...I know that! I...what do we do, Ca..." Dean suddenly stopped as he clutched his hand to his chest as Billie suddenly appeared on the balcony above them.
"DEAN!" Jo cried.
They saw the way Billie held her hand out and squeezed it closed as Dean gasped in pain, "my heart... I can feel her."
"JO GO NOW! Castiel shouted as he grabbed Dean and said, "COME ON, DEAN! WE HAVE TO GO! COME ON!"
Cas practically carried Dean as Jo ran ahead of them deeper into the belly of the bunker as Billie's voice drifted through the corridors, "It's you, Dean. It's always been you. Death-defying. Rule-breaking. You are everything I lived to set right. To put down. To tame."
Jo pulled up short when she heard Dean collapsed while Castiel studied him, waving his hand to urge Jo on. She took a shaky breath as Billie continued to taunt them, "you are human disorder incarnate."
Cas followed Jo and Ami as they rounded the corner. "I've got you," the angel reassured his friend.
The four made their way through the bunker as Billie continued to follow them, her voice never far behind as she dragged her blade along the wall to torment them, "come on, Dean. You can't escape me. Don't you think it's finally time? Time for the sweet release of death? I promise Jo's death will be painless if you cooperate."
Jo stopped in front of one of the basement storage room and opened the door, ushering Castiel and Dean through before slamming the door shut after her and Ami. She watched as Cas pulled Dean's pocket knife out and used it to slice his hand before using the blood to paint a sigil on the door.
"Dean," she murmured as she rushed over to her husband as his breathing became easier.
"I'm good," he said as he reached up to cup her cheek before letting his hand droop to his crying daughter's back to help comfort her.
Cas tossed the knife on the floor as he looked at his friends...his family and said, "it'll blocked her grip on you. Dean, she said that wound was killing her. Maybe we can wait her out.
Dean snorted as he stood by Jo as she continued to coo comforting words to their daughter. He turned and looked at his friend. "Yeah, and if we can't?"
"Then we fight," Castiel told him.
Dean shook his head as he looked at Jo and Ami, admitting his worst fear, "we'll lose. I just led us into another trap, all because I couldn't hurt Chuck. Because I was angry and because I just needed something to kill, and because that's all I know how to do."
"No Dean, that's not true." Jo argued. "If that was all you knew how to do you wouldn't be the man I love and the best father this little girl could wish for. If we go down, then we go down together as a family."
Castiel smiled at Jo in agreement as he approached them, "Dean, Joanna's right."
"It was Chuck all along. We shouldn't have left Sam, Lorna, and Jack. We should be there with them right now...all of us. I never should have separated any of us. Now everybody's gonna die. Everybody. I can't stop it. Billie's gonna get through that door and...and." He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud.
"I know," Cas said as he closed his eyes.
"She's gonna kill you and then she's gonna kill..." Dean shook his head as he wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter.
Castiel watched the couple and the child and shook his head. This wasn't how this was going to end. Dean deserved better...Joanna deserved better...Amelia deserved to grow up with her parents. Suddenly he realized there was one thing that could stop Billie and that he could save his family.
"Dean, wait, there is...there's one thing she's afraid of. There's one thing strong enough to stop her. When Jack was dying, I made a deal to save him." Cas explained.
Dean pulled back slightly and turned towards his friend, "you what?"
Castiel watched as Dean turned towards him and Jo stood by her husband. He realized how easy this was going to be before he continued, "the price was my life. When I experienced a moment of true happiness, The Empty would be summoned, and it would take me forever."
"Why are you telling us this now?" Dean asked as him and Jo exchanged a confused look.
Cas smiled as he looked at his friends...his family as he explained, "I always wondered, ever since I took that burden, that curse, I wondered what it could be? What my true happiness could even look like. I never thought I would find the answer because I thought happiness would be something I received…but now I understand that happiness isn't in the having, it's in just being."
"What are you talking about, man?" Dean asked.
"What I'm trying to say is that my true happiness is seeing my family finding love and acceptance. It's watching the love between you and Joanna grow every day, watching you become a father. It's watching Sam letting himself fall in love with Lorna. It's seeing Jack finding not only a mother but a sister that adore him as much as he adores them."
"Cas." Jo whispered as she let her tears fall.
Castiel cocked his head slightly as he looked at the woman he failed so long ago, "Joanna, you amaze me. You are a strong woman who knows and understands sacrifice...it's why you and Dean are so strong together. You could have hated me...should have hated me but you fought those feelings and welcomed me into your life...into Amelia's life...you made me part of your family. I've watched as you adopted Jack as your own...loving him unconditionally the same way you love Amelia. I know Jack is in good hands with you, Dean, and Sam guiding him."
Dean shook his head as he winced as Billie began using her power to move passed the sigil his friend had put up and said, "you can't do this Cas."
Castiel laughed slightly as he finally told Dean what he meant not only to him but to their family...to the world. "I know. I know how you see yourself, Dean. You see yourself the same way our enemies see you. You're destructive, and you're angry, and you're broken. You're 'daddy's blunt instrument' and you think that hate and anger...that's what drives you...drove you to believe that's who you are. It's not. And everyone who knows you sees it. Everything you have ever done, the good and the bad, you have done for love. You raised your little brother for love. You fought for this whole world for love. That is who you are. You're a caring man...a selfless man. It's why you are such a good brother, husband, father, and friend. You know, ever since we met, ever since I pulled you out of Hell...knowing you and Sam has changed me. Because you both cared, I cared. I cared about you. I cared about Sam, I cared about Jack...about Joanna...about Amelia...I cared about the whole world because of you. You changed me, Dean...you and Sam changed me. My true happiness is seeing you and my family embracing the love you all so richly deserve. That is something Chuck can never destroy. I love you all so much."
Dean and Jo turned when they suddenly heard a noise coming from behind them and were shocked to see The Empty seeping through the wall of the bunker as a portal began to open. They both turned back to their friend.
"Cas," Jo whispered. This was it...she knew it and she rushed forward and hugged the angel, kissing him on the cheek and quickly telling him, "I love you too."
Castiel hugged Jo back before kissing Ami on her forehead and stepping aside as Dean shook his head sadly.
"Cas...Castiel...thank you," the other man said. Dean knew it wasn't enough but what could he say to the angel that pulled him out of Hell.
Jo gasped as the black substance that seeped through the wall formed into a liquid that was heading towards Castiel and the way he stood with his arms open as if to embrace it. Suddenly a loud crash came from the door to the room and Billie stood in the doorway.
"Jo!" Dean cried as he pulled his wife and daughter away from their friend as The Empty quickly moved towards the angel.
"Goodbye Dean. Joanna...tell Jack and Sam how much I love them both," he urged as The Empty quickly engulfed him, forcing his body backwards and The Empty engulfed a screaming Billie as all three were pulled into the portal.
SPNSPNSPN
Jack guided a clearly shaken Sam out of the silo as he held his phone up to his ear. He hung up as the phone went straight to voicemail and immediately dialed Jo's number and gulped when her phone went straight to voicemail too, as did Castiel's phone. Where him and Sam the only ones left
TBC
A/N 1: Yeah I know Jo is kinda all over the place here but truthfully who the Hell wouldn't be considering how quickly everything is coming to a head.
A/N 2: Okay this episode was the one I dreaded most. Yes I know Destiel and Hellers want that confession to be the greatest love story declaration of SPN but nope not how I saw it. Sorry I'm not a fan of Destiel and if you are a fan then I apologize because I tweaked the hell out of that speech to make it make more sense to me and my story.
I wanted the confession to be about found family. How Dean AND SAM impacted Cas time on earth. How becoming a father figure to Jack meant to him and how he would feel watching Jack and Jo's relationship blossom into a mother and son relationship as well as Jack becoming a brother to Ami. That all her family finding love would give him true happiness.
Anywho thank you again for all the support and feedback! Coming to an end soon!