Chapter Twenty- Eight: My Revenge on the World (Out and Out Remix) ((Ayria))

Dean frowned hard at the mark on his brother's wrist. Sam spent more time with sigils and symbols than he did so if something was familiar to Dean, it had to have been important at some point.

Castiel peered over his shoulder. "I'm guessing that the mark is what's letting Lucifer control him…"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. It looks really familiar, but I just can't figure out where I've seen it before."

"It's angel magic," he replied, looking it over. "It makes sense that Lucifer would be able to use it, being an angel originally. That explains why he didn't need Sam's soul in order to make the deal work."

"Okay, so we know what it is. How do we break it?"

Castiel couldn't answer that particular question.

He ran a hand over his face with a frustrated noise. They didn't have time for this. He needed to figure out what this thing meant so he could break it and get his brother back. He leaned closer, rubbing his temple in hopes to calm himself. It wasn't really working.

Sam's arm twitched.

Dean and Castiel exchanged surprised looks.

"You said he was completely blank without Luci's orders?"

Castiel nodded. "Yes. He never did that before. He didn't even move unless I pushed him. Perhaps he's reacting to something?"

"Something like what? All I did was lean in closer. Y'think he's reacting to me?"

"It's possible. You two have a very strong connection."

Dean grabbed Sam's arm with both hands, leaning closer to his brother. "Sam?"

"Dean, look," Castiel pointed to Sam's arm.

The symbol was glowing a dark red, almost like it was burning. Sam's arm was shaking, although the rest of him remained unresponsive. Dean stared on in surprise as the charm looped around his own wrist began to glow as well. Then it clicked. He'd seen the symbol before because it was the same one on Lucifer's charm.

Anna told him in the hospital that everything he needed was in his hands. She had to be talking about this. He took a deep breath, moving the charm until it pressed into his palm. Then he grabbed his brother's wrist with it, making sure the charm came into contact with the symbol on Sam's wrist.

Sam started thrashing. It was all Dean could do to keep hold of the other's arm, gripping it tightly with both hands. Castiel wrapped his arms around the younger Winchester, trying to keep him still. Sam struggled against them both, his shoes scraping against the floor as he tried to get away. The hunter and the angel just held on tighter, and Sam whimpered, his face screwed up in pain.

And then Sam was gasping like he hadn't had a breath in forever, arching against the wall he'd been propped up against. He stared at them with wide eyes, trying to catch his breath. His eyes were focused.

"Sammy?"

Sam launched forward, tackling his brother in a hug. Dean fell back with the force of it, and Castiel, who'd been holding onto Sam tightly, was dragged along for the ride with a yelp.

"You're not dead!" Sam squeezed his sibling tightly in relief. "I saw you fall…"

Dean made a noise, finding it rather hard to breathe. He tapped his brother's shoulder with a hand until Sam got the idea, letting him go enough to gasp in a breath. "Jesus, Sammy, let a guy breathe…"

"He's fine, Sam," Castiel smiled, letting the other go. "Another angel helped him get back."

"As touching as this little family gathering is," Crowley drawled, drawing their attention to him. "We've got a little bit of a problem."

He held Gabriel up completely. The archangel had finally lost his fight with staying awake.

"Shit," Dean frowned. "We lost our tracker. We'll have to go in blind."

"He's going to be alright, isn't he?" Castiel stared at his brother.

Crowley nodded absently, maneuvering Gabriel around so the archangel was draped over his back, holding him up piggyback style. "He'll be fine. He's just knocked out again. At least it'll be quiet for awhile."

Dean got to his feet. "Alright. We'll start at the top floor as planned. Just search everywhere you can think of."

Sam stared up at him. "What are we looking for?"

"How much do you remember about being under Lucifer's control?" Castiel asked, helping the other to his feet as well.

"I remember… the spell at Chuck's place, and then we went home. We ran this case about Shapeshifters, to stop this ritual and get some sword from a bunch of them that looked like you and Gabriel and that nightclub guy. Then after we got done with that, Lucifer found me, and I knew. I knew everything that had happened was a trick of his. But he said he'd send Dean home if I helped him for awhile. He didn't want my soul or anything, just to help him for this one job."

Dean was glaring at his brother, jaw clenched as if he was trying not to yell at him. Castiel intercepted; they didn't have time for Dean to lecture his brother about making deals with devils at this particular moment. "It's the sword we're looking for. That actually happened, although we weren't Shapeshifters. That's just what my brother wanted you to believe so you would help him. That sword is the only thing we've got a chance to stop him with."

Sam nodded, sending Dean an apologetic look. He was going to get it later, he knew. "Then let's get it. I'll take you to it."

The anger turned to shock. "You know where it is?"

"Yeah. I was the one who got it for him, remember?" He offered a sheepish grin. "It's in the room he tricked me into thinking we were staying at on the case."

"Well then let's go already," Crowley huffed. "For how short the angel is, he's still bloody heavy."

"Must be all the candy," Dean chuckled, taking off after Sam.

He led them to the third floor. Starting at the top, it would have taken them hours to reach this point, so Dean was grateful for small favors. He stopped at room 325 and fished a set of keys out of his pocket. The door opened just like it was supposed to, and Sam ushered the group inside.

"Weird that he left the thing with you," Crowley frowned, shifting Gabriel's weight against him.

Sam shrugged. "He had control of me, and Dean was gone with the thing that could bring me back. I guess he figured it wouldn't matter."

"The devil takes his chances," Dean looked around the room. "Somehow, that makes me feel a little better."

"He told me to hide it with our stuff, right after the warehouse." Sam continued, kneeling behind a table to get into the duffel bag there. "He looked like you at the time though. When I woke up next, I'd forgotten about it."

"Well, there goes that feeling better thing," he made a face, thinking about Lucifer walking around looking like him. Not exactly a comforting thought by any means.

Sam shuffled through the bag's contents before pulling out a bundle of motel towels. They were wrapped around something vaguely sword- looking, which he handed off to his brother. Dean looked at Castiel.

"So how do I use this thing? It's supposed to do something with your powers, right? Does it just like, automatically do it? Anything I gotta know? Some sort of heavenly instruction manual?"

Castiel blinked. "I'm… not sure. It's Michael's sword, I've never been around to see it used. Especially by someone besides him."

"Guess we'll just find out then, huh?" He shrugged, pulling the towels away. The sword didn't look like anything special; it looked like any other sword Dean had ever seen. It was shiner though. He figured it had to be pretty old, and yet it looked as polished as if it had been made yesterday. The steel of the blade shone in the sunlight streaming through the window. Dean glanced at Castiel once more before his hand closed over the hilt, lifting it up.

Castiel shivered. Gabriel buried his face against Crowley's back.

The demon made a face. "He's drooling on my shirt."

"That wasn't really the reaction I was hoping for," Dean frowned, looking the sword over in his hand. "Maybe there's some kind of trick to it?"

Castiel hummed thoughtfully. He studied the blade, tilting his head in his confused angel manner. He reached out, touching his fingertips to the flat side of it.

It was like touching a live wire. Castiel froze, feeling the spark flowing through the metal into his fingers. It traveled from there through the rest of his body, sharp and electric. It would have hurt if it weren't a natural part of him. It wasn't a complete return of his powers, but it was more than he'd felt since being in Purgatory. It was Grace working its way back into him, and he smiled.

For Dean it was the equivalent of touching a door knob after shuffling across carpet in socks. A static shock, enough to hurt, but not enough to be unbearable. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He held on tight, watching Castiel for any sort of discomfort. The pain, however slight, seemed to be one- sided. Finally Castiel let his fingers slip away from the blade.

"Cas?"

The angel nodded, still smiling. "It worked. I can feel it."

Dean moved to where Crowley held Gabriel up, reaching for the archangel's hand. He set it on the sword where Castiel's had been, and the same spark rippled through him once again. Gabriel squirmed, blinking his eyes open to stare into Dean's, sleepy but surprised.

And then he focused. It was like drinking three cups of coffee all at once, with extra sugar. He grinned.

"Holy shit…"

Dean nodded, letting go of the archangel's arm. He held the sword in both hands, the energy of it racing through his fingertips. It left them slightly numb, like they'd been asleep. Pins and needles.

Crowley set Gabriel down, once he was more than capable of carrying his own weight. The shorter man smirked in that mischievous way of his, before grabbing either side of the demon's face, pulling him closer into a deep kiss. Dean made a face, looking away. Sam did the same. Castiel stared, until Dean nudged him and he adverted his gaze as well.

Eventually the pair broke apart. "Had to give him his power back too. Sorry guys." Gabriel's tone said he was anything but sorry, but it wasn't really the time to call him out on it. Besides, now they had an archangel, a demon and an angel at pretty good power levels on their side, not to mention two very innovative hunters and a rather powerful sword.

It was starting to look like they had a chance after all.

Now all they had to do was find the devil. Which was a lot easier with charged- up angels than it had been before. Gabriel and Castiel shared a quick nod.

"Ready?" Castiel glanced at the two humans.

Sam nodded. Dean shrugged, leaning the sword against a shoulder like he would his favorite shotgun. "Not gonna get any more ready than this, I guess."

The angel smiled one of his half- smiles. Then he reached up two fingers on either hand, pressing one to both of their temples. And then they weren't in the hotel room anymore. Dean blinked his eyes open, feeling jumbled and slightly dizzy. He shook his head to clear it, looking around. They were in the lobby. The front desk sat harmlessly against the wall, lined with cubby boxes that acted as storage for each room's mail and small items. The rest of the room was quiet, thinly carpeted and sparse. A few chairs were scattered around, grouped in small half- circles. In one corner there was a fireplace, crackling softly with a lit fire.

Dean grimaced. "Can we not do that again? Like, ever?"

"Apologies," Castiel set a hand on his shoulder. "It tends to take some getting used to."

Gabriel and Crowley joined them a moment later. Sam turned around, scanning their surroundings.

"Where's Lucifer?"

"Asking about me, Sam? How sweet of you," the soft- spoken voice came from the doorway leading to the employee area. The group whirled to the spot, watching Lucifer cross his arms and lean against the doorway. "I see you've managed to get past the spell I had on you."

Sam glared at him. "I won't let you use me."

Lucifer huffed out a breath, humming. "I don't think you'll get the choice this time around. I'm getting tired of all the interference. Not that it doesn't keep things interesting, mind you. But it's kind of hard to get anything done this way."

Castiel wasted no more time letting the devil talk his way into Sam's head. He flittered out of the room in an instant, reappearing in the span of a blink to Lucifer's side. He made a grab for Lucifer, but the devil was a moment quicker, twisting out of the way to grab the back of the angel's coat, tossing him across the room. He slammed into one of the chairs, which broke under the force, though he barely made a noise.

This pushed the others into action. Gabriel ran at his older brother, tackling him into the wall. Lucifer swept his legs out from under him with a kick, sending the shorter archangel to the ground just in time to wave an arm. Crowley and Sam, who'd been rushing his other side, were quickly tossed against the wall opposite from where Castiel was thrown.

He ducked away from the wall as Dean swung the sword. It sliced into the door frame instead, getting stuck in splintered wood. The hunter yanked at it, trying to get free, and Lucifer kicked him square in the side. Dean fell back, losing his grip on the weapon. It held in the wood.

Dean charged back at him the moment he regained his balance, and Castiel wasn't far behind. They weren't stupid enough to try and attack one at a time. Not that it made any difference to Lucifer. He grabbed Dean by the neck, choking him for a moment before shoving him into the oncoming Castiel. They both fell back, the angel steadying Dean as he coughed.

Crowley materialized behind the devil, fingers tangling in the back of his shirt and pulling. Lucifer was surprised for a moment, falling back as the demon grabbed his hair and shoved him towards the blade stuck in the wall. The metal barely touched his throat as he managed to flicker out of existence, appearing on the other side of the demon with a cruel grin. He shoved Crowley instead, and the blade pressed hard into his cheek, slicing deep into the skin as the demon hissed in pain.

Gabriel growled, leaping to shove Crowley away from the blade, knocking the demon into Lucifer and shoving him by connection. They all landed in a heap, the devil on the bottom and the archangel on top.

Dean ran to the doorway, hands on the sword's hilt and pulling, trying to free it from the wall. He braced a foot on the wall, trying to get better leverage, but the thing was stuck tight.

Lucifer bared his teeth angrily, and Gabriel and Crowley were shoved away in opposite directions by psychic energy. Before he could get up, Sam was there, a large sneaker slamming into the devil's face. He let out a howl of pain, reaching up with both hands to grab Sam's ankle and twist. The hunter fell, off balance, and Lucifer continued to wrench it. There was a snap that seemed to echo through the room, followed by Sam's yell and he curled up against the agony flaring in his now broken ankle.

"Sammy!" Dean left the sword, rushing to his little brother's side. Lucifer was on his feet and angry, ready to bring a hard foot down on Sam's already- broken bones. Dean moved without thinking, shielding his brother as best he could. The devil's kick landed on him instead, steel- toed work boot slamming into his already bruising side. He yelped, falling against Sam.

Then Gabriel and Crowley were on either side of the devil, each grabbing an arm and pulling back. He thrashed wildly in the grip, giving Sam and Dean time to move out of the way. Sam scooted back on the floor as fast as his one uninjured leg would let him, yanking Dean away as the older Winchester clutched at his side.

Castiel pulled him up, all but shoving him back toward the sword in the wall. "I'll take care of Sam, just hurry and use the sword!"

Dean nodded, his hands gripping the thing's hilt once more. His ribs ached, but he pulled as hard as he could. It slid free from its wooden prison by a few inches.

Lucifer struggled against the archangel and the demon, throwing them off into the collection of mailboxes behind the front desk. The boxes broke until their weight and the force, sending bits of wood everywhere. Lucifer turned to Castiel, who had positioned himself between the devil and Sam, tense and ready.

"Castiel," he sneered, stepping closer. "I should have never tried to offer you anything. You're much too stubborn to side with any of us. Heaven or myself."

"I have a side. I should think that much was obvious," the angel replied, cool blue eyes not leaving the other.

"I'll destroy you. There won't be enough left of you for your Grace to piece back together."

And then the devil was on him in a rage, hands around the angel's neck before he could even blink. Castiel held his ground, careful not to back up into Sam, who was still curled up on the floor behind him. One of Lucifer's hands moved to his arm, nails digging relentlessly into his sleeve and skin as he pulled.

Castiel felt the joint pop out of place at his shoulder and grit his teeth. His mind briefly flashed back to a nightmare, of a demon tearing his arm off completely. It hurt, but he wasn't giving in. He was the only thing standing between the younger Winchester and the devil, and he wasn't going to let Lucifer have him. His arm felt like it was on fire, skin stretching beyond its limits. The sleeve of his coat tore with the force of it, stitches ripping in a way that he was sure his entire arm was going to mimic.

"Cas!"

The angel had time to look up, blue eyes widening as he caught sight of Dean rushing forward. Then Lucifer stopped. His grip tightened until Castiel was sure he heard the bones in his arm grinding together.

And then the pressure was gone. Lucifer stood still, his face unabashed surprise for the first time. The devil looked down at his own chest, where the tip of the blade was pushed through. A cut straight through, from back to front.

He fell to his knees, staring up at Castiel. "You can't kill me. Only Michael can, even if you have his sword."

"We're not trying to kill you," Gabriel said from behind him. "We're going to let our brother deal with you. We're just the delivery service."

The archangel grinned, setting his hand on one side of the hilt, beside Dean's grip. Castiel moved then, reaching out with his uninjured arm to rest on the other side. The sword began to glow brightly and Lucifer gasped. The light slid from the blade in tendrils, wrapping around the devil's arms and torso like chains. The light grew brighter and brighter, until Dean had to close his eyes. He could hear Gabriel telling Sam and Crowley to do the same.

Lucifer let out one final angry snarl before it was quiet. The light faded enough for them to open their eyes, and he was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Dean looked around, tense. If he'd gotten away somehow, they'd have to do this all over again. He didn't think they could manage this kind of luck twice.

"In the sword," Castiel nudged him comfortingly with a shoulder. "He's trapped there with our Grace."

Dean tossed the sword in the trunk of the Impala. He wanted the thing as far away from them as possible, and it was a long trip back to Chuck's castle.

They'd done it. They'd actually taken on Lucifer himself, and had come out alive. Beaten, but alive and breathing. And that was more than they'd hoped, going into this fight. The injuries they could deal with. Both Gabriel and Castiel had put all their Grace back into the sword to seal Lucifer in it, so they couldn't count on any angelic healing. But they'd managed before on normal means, they'd manage again.

It would just kinda suck a little more, was all.

He looked around the parking lot where they'd gathered, assessing the damage. It hurt to breathe, and he was pretty sure he'd cracked another rib. His side was covered in angry bruises and red scratches from the walls. Crowley had a fairly deep cut along the length of his cheek. It bloodied the side of his face, but he didn't seem to be complaining too much, so Dean guessed he'd live. Castiel's shoulder needed to be popped back into place, and he wasn't looking forward to that. Sam's ankle was broken. Dean didn't have that level of expertise in healing to deal with that, and all they could do for now was keep him off it. They'd have to drive back before they could do anything for it. Sam grit his teeth against it, and Dean promised to get him some painkillers at the first place they could find along the way. Gabriel seemed to be the least injured of the party, with only a few sparse cuts and bruises.

Stupid lucky archangels.

He left said lucky archangel to deal with Crowley, tossing him the nearly- empty first aid kit. Then he set about the very unpleasant task of relocating Castiel's shoulder. The angel clung to him with his good arm, face set as Dean took hold of the other arm. He shoved it back into place without warning, not wanting to give him time to tense any more than he already was. Castiel let out a sharp cry of pain that sounded suspiciously like a curse. Dean arched a brow, but didn't comment. Something like that, a person had every right to cuss a little. The angel winced, moving his shoulder in little twitches, testing it.

With the easier injuries taken care of, that left the more difficult ones. The first aid kit was used up, so there was nothing Dean could do about his side. They needed to get back quickly, at any rate. Sam needed help as soon as possible for his ankle. Dean slid into the driver's seat, starting up the car. Then he moved to help Sam in, forgoing the passenger's seat to set him in the back so he could prop his leg up. Gabriel took up the other end of the backseat, being the smallest and least likely to disturb Sam's injury. Castiel sat in the middle of the front seat beside Dean, and Crowley squeezed in beside the angel. Luckily for all involved, the Impala had bench seats.

It was surprisingly quiet for the group that had just won a battle against Satan himself. It was if they all felt talking about it would jinx it somehow. If they spoke and joked around or celebrated, it would make it somehow not real. They'd have to do it all over again. Or maybe they were just all in shock that they weren't dead by now. It was hard to figure out at this point. Dean supposed it could have been a strong mix of both.

So instead Dean did what he did best after a particularly difficult hunt. He put on music. He grabbed a random tape from the box and shoved it in the tape deck.

A wailing guitar solo started up as they drove away from the hotel and back toward Chuck's place. It was oddly fitting.