Thank you MaggieMay17 for beta'ing, Ncsupnatfan and VegasGranny for pre-reading, and you all for reading.
Chapter Nine
Castiel hadn't come back to the bunker since he and Sam had left after Nick's nightmare, and Dean was starting to wonder what they were doing together that was taking so long.
In a way, he was glad Castiel was gone still as it meant Sam wasn't alone to deal with everything that had happened, and he wanted Sam to have that since he saw now that he and Nick couldn't be the people to help him—yet. But he was looking forward to Castiel getting back so they'd have some reassurance, maybe some news of how Sam was really doing.
He and Nick were both scouring the files the Men of Letters had on Cuthbert Sinclair, Jack was in his room, and Mary was in her own, having taken a call from Bobby in private. From what Dean had heard of Mary's side of the conversation, it sounded like Bobby wanted her to go back to Florida. She had refused, instructing him to call someone else. Though Dean and Nick had discussed their realization with her and shared their plan to let everything with Sam progress at his pace, not theirs, she seemed eager to be close in case he came around again.
Dean understood it, but he was worried her eagerness would translate into unintentional pressure when Sam returned. She wanted to build a relationship with Sam, and that was making it hard for her to have patience.
Dean could relate to Mary's need as he'd felt the same desire for more with her—to regain what he'd lost at four-years-old—after she'd been brought back by Amara, but he hoped she would find the strength to give Sam the space he needed.
There was a knock on the door, and Dean and Nick looked up.
"You think it could be Sam?" Dean asked hopefully.
"He'd fly in," Nick said. "So would Cas."
Dean wasn't so sure about that, and he made his way through the war room and up the stairs with a bounce in his step. He didn't think Sam would want to just fly in on them. The bunker wasn't his home the way it was theirs, and there was tension between them still. He was hoping Sam would have chosen this way to come back in.
He reached the door and pulled it open, a tentative smile on his face that formed into confusion as he saw who was standing on the other side.
It was a woman with wide dark eyes and long brown hair. She was familiar, but for a moment, he couldn't place her face to a name. It wasn't until she stepped past him and rushed in that he realized she was the reaper that they'd seen on the video of the casino with Lucifer.
No, he quickly corrected himself, it had been Sam. She was the reaper that had been helping him.
"You're Violet," he said.
"I am, and I need to talk," she said briskly, pushing past him and stopping at the rail.
Nick walked to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at them, his brow furrowed. "What's going on?"
"This is Violet," Dean said. "She was working with—"
"I was working with Lucifer." She bowed her head and took a deep breath. "And now I need your help."
Dean and Nick exchanged a glance. She said Lucifer, not Sam. Did that mean the spell hadn't broken for her when it broke for them? Dean had assumed it was a universal thing. Though, he realized, she'd never known Sam, so if Sam hadn't told her the truth, she wouldn't know any better.
There were hardly any people left in the world that had known Sam. He'd been familiar to other hunters, but most of them were dead now, casualties of the long wars they'd fought without him. The friends Sam had, Ellen and Jo, Bobby, were gone. In fact, the only people who were left that Sam had truly known were Dean and Nick.
He couldn't imagine how that would feel. Sam had lost everything and everyone he knew. Even though they remembered him now, and had a chance to rebuild something they'd lost, Sam was still struggling with more than they'd realized.
"What help do you need?" Nick asked, and there was something off in his tone. His face bore the look of intense concentration it wore when he was puzzling something out in his unique way; Dean could almost see the cogs turning in his head.
She considered him for a moment and then said, "I don't need you. I need the Nephilim. The world needs him."
"Okay," Nick said slowly. "Let's talk."
She hurried down the steps and came to a stop at the bottom in front of Nick, who was appraising her.
"Through here," he said. "Dean, go get Jack."
Dean was surprised by the instruction as they had no idea what was going on, but Nick gave him a pointed look that communicated that he was thinking ahead of him and his confusion.
Dean rushed down the hall to Jack's room and went in without knocking. Jack was lying on the bed listening to his iPod through the noise-canceling headphones Dean had brought him. He looked surprised as Dean entered, and he tugged them off. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure," Dean said quietly. "Violet, the reaper that was with Sam in Vegas, is here. She said she needs you, and she's being weird. She doesn't seem to know Sam isn't Lucifer. I think we need to listen to what she's got to say."
Jack dropped his headphones onto the bed and said, "Is Castiel back?"
"No, but…" He considered and then nodded. "I think he needs to be."
As much as he wanted Sam to have the support he needed, he had a feeling that Castiel should be here for this. He also thought Sam might be good to have around, but he didn't want to drag him into this before he was ready. Whatever Nick was thinking meant there was probably trouble coming, and they needed Castiel here for that.
He raised his voice and said, "Cas, I know you're with Sam, but we need you back here for a while. Violet has shown up, and she's looking for Jack. She's talking about the world needing him."
"The world?" Jack said, brow furrowed. "But the world is safe now. Sam killed Michael!"
Dean's mouth dropped open. Sam had killed Michael, it was over apart from his grace-enhanced monsters, and Sam was the best threat against them compared to a powered-down Nephilim. He thought he saw now what Nick had probably seen straight away.
Violet wasn't there for help. She was there for trouble, though he wasn't sure who the trouble was for.
"Okay, Jack," he said, "come with me and be on your guard. I'm not sure what's going on here, but I don't think it's good. Let Nick and me do the talking." Though he planned to let Nick do most of it since he was the one that had the analytical mind and ability to hide emotions when he needed to.
They walked back to the library where Nick had seated himself opposite Violet at the table, a glass of whiskey in his hand. Nick looked suitably curious, but there was mistrust in his eyes that Dean thought Violet would miss, not knowing him.
Violet looked around as they entered, and her gaze followed them as they came to join her and Nick at the table. Following Nick's lead, Dean poured himself a drink and sat down beside her, Jack taking a seat with Nick.
"So, what's going on?" Nick asked. "Why do you need Jack?"
Violet drew a breath and began speaking, sounding as though she was making a confession. "I've been helping Lucifer for weeks, ever since Billie ordered me to. He was weak at the start, and he didn't seem to know how to use his power at all, but I taught him." She winced. "I didn't understand what had happened to him, why he needed my help, and his own explanation made no sense, but I did what I was told."
Nick leaned forward slightly. "What was his explanation?"
Violet looked apologetic as she looked at Dean. "He said he was Sam Winchester, your brother."
Dean was surprised he'd told her the truth, but he thought he could understand why. Sam would have been completely alone, confused, and probably scared, and he would have needed someone to help him. Billie had apparently known the truth, but none of their experiences of Billie made Dean think she would have been a comfort to him.
"Okay," Nick said, his face inscrutable. "And now you need us, why?"
"I need Jack," she said. "He's the only one…"
She stopped as there was a faint rustle and Castiel appeared. He looked from face to face, his eyes settling on Violet, and there was a flash of shock before his face became wary, and he said, "Violet, what are you doing here?" as he walked to stand at the end of the table.
"I have come for help," she said. "I need the Nephilim."
"His name is Jack," Nick said pointedly.
She nodded. "Yes, Jack. He's the only one that I think can…" She looked stricken. "I think I've done something terrible."
Dean saw a flash of something in Castiel's eyes that looked almost like amusement before it disappeared as he said. "Nothing I know of you and your reputation makes me believe that, Violet."
She smiled slightly. "I was following orders…"
"Then you did nothing wrong," Nick stated. "But why do you need Jack?"
"Lucifer is back," she said. "That you know, and I think you also knew he was hunting Michael, but now…"
"Michael is dead," Dean said.
"Yes, I heard," she said. "But that just means there is still one, even more dangerous, threat to us all. Lucifer is going to destroy the world."
Jack's eyes widened, and he looked like he was going to say something, but Castiel laid a hand on his shoulder and said, "We knew that was a potential risk when Michael was stopped. What is he planning?"
Dean managed to control his expression at Castiel's obvious lie, but Jack wasn't as successful. Dean thought he understood. Jack had no connection to Sam, and he'd already said he struggled not to see his father's face when he looked at Sam. He was the one person among them that might still believe Sam could be dangerous to the world.
"I don't know the specifics, he's not told me much, but I know that he plans to utilize Michael's monsters along with his demons."
"What do you think we can do?" Nick asked, his voice suitably worried though there was anger in his eyes.
"It's Jack that we need," Violet said. "And we can't delay. Lucifer must be stopped now before his plan can be put into action."
"I don't have the power to fight him," Jack said. "I'm not strong enough. Lucifer took my grace."
"I know," she said. "But there might be a way to get you more power. Another angel's grace."
Castiel nodded solemnly. "That could work. He can take mine."
"Cas, no!" Jack said, eyes wide and horrified.
"If this is what it takes, Jack, it's what we have to do," Castiel said stiffly. He fixed his eyes on Violet and said, "Do you know where Lucifer is now?"
"No, but we can find him if he calls me back to him. When he does, I can sense his location. He won't know I have come to you for help, so he still trusts me to be on his side; I have told him I am."
"Why won't Billie stop him?" Nick asked. "She's the most powerful being out there now."
"She says it's not her job," Violet replied.
Castiel moved around the table and placed a hand on Violet's shoulder. "Thank you for coming to us, Violet. I know you must have been scared."
"I still am," Violet said anxiously. "Lucifer will kill me if he finds out I came to you. We have to act fast."
"We will," Castiel said. "I know exactly what we have to do."
He made an awkward movement with his hand, and his blade dropped into it. He raised it and slammed it down on the back of Violet's head. She fell forwards, but instead of falling unconscious as Dean expected, she blinked a few times as if clearing her vision and then rose swiftly.
They all jumped to their feet, Dean calling Castiel's name as Nick shoved Jack back and rounded the table.
Violet grabbed Castiel's arm and made a jerking movement with her hand. Dean heard a sick cracking sound, and Castiel groaned as the blade dropped from his hand. Dean made a grab for it, but Violet was faster. She snatched it up and lifted it so that the point was pressed against Castiel's throat.
Her eyes glowed with blue-white grace, and she thrust out a hand that drove Jack into the wall, and Nick and Dean over the table to crumple on the floor. Dean tried to get up, but his head swam.
She tilted her head to the side. "What tipped you off?"
"We know Lucifer isn't here anymore," Castiel said, his voice strained. "Chuck told us what happened."
Her lips parted. "God told you…" She shook her head, apparently dismissing the news, and frowned. "You know he's Sam, and yet you're all still here together?"
"What do you mean?" Nick asked.
She laughed. "You still don't know? Never mind. None of you Winchesters are going to live long now anyway. It's the Nephilim I need."
She pressed the tip of the blade into Castiel's throat, just breaking the skin, and Dean cried out in shock as he tried to get around the table to help, but before he could do more than take a step, there was a sound like sails caught in the wind and a roar of anger then a sick thunk and cracking sound.
Dean blinked blearily and saw Sam standing over the unconscious Violet, his blade in his hand, and a smear of blood on the handle. He seemed to radiate fury, and Dean thought he saw a shimmer in the air spreading from Sam's back that was the shape of wings.
Sam was every inch the avenging angel at that moment, and Dean didn't think he'd ever looked more deadly.
So… Violet made a mistake coming to them for help. She's well and truly screwed now.
Until next time…
Clowns or Midgets xxx