Heart like an anchor, your head spilling over
Beautiful baby, we'll how they adore you
You go away but they're still chasing after
Rolling around in the weeds while they ramble on
...
Bound again, they can still make you wonder
How to begin with the spell that you're under
Talking away, but they're still saying nothing
You hang around but your will may be broken
...
Straight for this life
And I'll come running
Straight for this life
Well I'll come running
Straight for this life
Well, I'll be ready soon
Matchbox Twenty - Straight For This Life
The sun had just risen up in the sky, the light casting through the room as I read the book in my hands. Dean had been outside cleaning the Impala all morning, making her perfect again. I was so distracted by the book in my hands, that I jumped about ten feet in the air when I felt something bounce on the end of the bed.
"Jesus!" I exclaimed.
"Sorry." Dean chuckled, beginning to pull some guns out of the box.
"What are you doing?"
"Just making sure you're prepared."
"For?"
Dean looked up at me, shrugging. "You know, staying here. I figured I'd just load up a couple guns for you, get things ready="
"Dean-"
"I know you can take care of yourself," Dean muttered, glancing up at me with a sheepish grin. "But I asked Bobby to come over, spend he weekened with you. Just in case."
"Wait, Dean-"
"It's the first time you'll be alone, Tori. I'm not gonna leave you here by yourself."
"No shit. I'm coming with you." I said.
"You, what? Tori, what about the- what about, you know."
"I'm not gonna do anything stupid."
"Baby our entire lives are filled with us doing stupid things."
"Speak for yourself, Winchester." I said with a grin, reaching out to grab the shot gun from him. "Listen, I'll leave the fighting up to you and Sam, but there's no way I'm gonna stay here while my boys are out there."
"There's no point in fighting with you, is there?" Dean asked, exasperated.
"Nope." I smiled wide, cocking the gun, winking at him.
The feeling of watching the trees fly by as the Impala sped down the highway was something I missed more than I could've ever imagined. Every time I looked over at Dean, he was smiling, singing along to the radio. I couldn't help but smile at him, finding it hard to look away sometimes.
We'd been driving for a while when Dean pulled over to a rest stop so we could stretch our legs. As Dean came back to the car, two bottles of water in hand. He gave me one of them, pulling his ringing phone out of his pocket.
"What's this?" I asked, glancing down at the waters.
"Water."
"I know. But I'm pretty sure I asked for Coke."
Dean shrugged, his eyes passing along my stomach before meeting mine. "I just figured...you know, water would be better...for the both of you."
I felt a smile spread across my lips as I stared into his eyes. "You're adorable."
"Yeah, yeah." Dean mumbled, rolling his eyes as he answered his phone. "Hey Sam."
Needless to say, Sam was a little shocked when we'd told Dean our decision. Though he seemed happy that we would all be together again, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was wrong. When I looked at him, his eyes, there was this spark missing there. Maybe that's what decades of Lucifer using you as a punching bag does.
"What are you doing in Pennsylvania?" Dean asked, waiting for his brother's reply. "A case? When? It's been like a day and a half."
"Wow." I muttered.
Dean pulled the phone away, looking at the screen that read call ended. "Who died and made him boss?"
"Sam's being bossy?" I asked, feigning surprise. "A Winchester being bossy? What a concept."
"Very funny. We gotta head out. Back in the other direction, Sam caught a case in Easter, Pennsylvania."
"Huh. Alright."
"Let's go." Dean said, making his way to the driver side.
"Sure thing, boss." I smiled.
Dean paused with his hand on the door handle, looking up at me, his eyes lustful. "If I were you, I wouldn't call me that again."
"Oh, yeah? Why not?"
"Because if you do, I don't think I'll be able to stop myself from ripping all your clothes off."
"Oh...well, whatever you say..." I paused, biting my lip. "Boss."
Dean grabbed my hand, pulling me flush against his body, pressing my back against the door of the Impala, kissing me deeply. The cover of the darkness made it a little easier to be discreet, and I grabbed Dean by the collar and pulled him into the backseat of the Impala, the both of us pealing each others clothes off in no time.
By the time we'd reached Easter, it was the next morning. Dean and I had stopped and changed into our suits, pulling up in front of the hospital where Sam was waiting, also in his suit. Dean and I walked over to Sam, who was leaning on the hood of his car.
"Hey." Dean called.
"Hey guys." Sam muttered, pushing off the car. "I've been waiting a while."
"We had to make a few pit stops."
"Can't you guys keep it in your pants for more than five seconds?"
"Still driving the plastic piece of crap, huh?"
"What's your mileage, again?"
"Shut up."
"Come on." I chuckled, shaking my head. The three of us headed inside of the building, easily getting into the morgue. I looked over the file, glancing up at Sam with a raised eyebrow. "How-"
"The guy just... liquefied. Most of the meat, bones, dense tissues, they just turned to blood." Sam replied.
"I don't get it."
"Nobody gets it."
"No, I mean I don't get why we're in a morgue if the guy turned into a puddle of blood. What's left to look at?"
"Well, we're not here to look at him. We're here for this guy." Sam said, opening a drawer, pulling out the boil-covered corpse of a man. "Officer Toby Gray. They just brought him in. Found him dead in his patrol car, sitting at a speed trap on the outside of town."
"Extreme allergic reaction." Dean read from his file.
"I'd say." I mumbled.
"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Boils. Covered from head to toe."
"Yeah, on the inside, too." Dean cringed. "It says his airways are chock full of them. This starting to look a little witchy to you?"
"That was my first instinct, but I found zero signs of hexwork anywhere. Far as I can tell, witchcraft was not involved."
"There's got to be some sort of link between, uh, skid mark and bubble wrap here."
"No question."
"Well, can I get a witness?"
"Yup. Officer Ed Colfax. He saw Hatch go from a solid to a liquid."
"Another cop?" I asked.
"Hatch's partner."
The neighborhood we pulled into reminded me a lot of where Dean and I had lived for what felt like forever ago. I couldn't help but feel guilty over what had happened to Hank and his wife. I pushed those thoughts away as Dean pulled up in front of a house, Sam parking behind the Impala.
"Were you racing me?" Sam asked as he walked over to us.
"No." Dean scoffed. "You're just a shitty driver."
I waited until Sam began walking up the pathway to the door, keeping my voice low. "Were you racing him?"
"I was kicking his ass." Dean grinned.
"Very mature." I joked, placing a hand on my stomach with a laugh. "Maybe he'll grow up to be a race car driver."
Dean's face paled as he stared at me, his eyes going wide. "He? What?"
"Oh." I glanced down, my cheeks turning red. "I don't- I don't actually know."
"Oh, okay. You nearly gave me a heart attack there."
"If we ever want to find out before...we'll find out together."
Dean smiled. "Okay."
"Guys?" Sam called from the porch. "Come on!"
"Alright, alright."
Sam knocked on the door as we approached the steps "Hello? Officer Colfax?"
A man opened the door, dressed in his full uniform. Dean nodded. "Lookin' sharp, Kojak."
"Who the hell are you?" The officer spat.
"We're the Fed, Ed." Sam said. "We're here to ask you a few follow-up questions about your partner's death."
"Don't worry about it. It's nobody's business."
"Officer Colfax-" I started, interrupted by him slamming the door in our faces. "Well okay, then."
Sam let out a huff, kicking the door in. Both Dean and I jumped as Sam stomped into the house, quickly following along as he made his way into an office where Ed sat, using a screwdriver to scratch his face out of his police portrait, just like all the other family photos in the room, the faces were scratched out.
"Officer Colfax?" Sam asked.
"Hey, man, you alright?" Dean asked.
"Don't worry about it." Ed replied again.
"Right. Look, Officer Colfax - Ed. We think that your partner died of unnatural causes. Did he have any enemies that you know of?"
"You might say that."
"Okay. Like who?" I asked.
"They both had it coming. Me too. I'll be the next to go, and then it'll be over. And God will be satisfied."
"Why does God want you all dead?"
'Cause of Christopher Birch."
"Who's Christopher Birch?" Sam inquired.
"He has no face." Ed mumbled, his voice going blank.
"Officer?" Dean called.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
"Who is Christopher Birch, Ed?" Sam pushed.
"Christopher Birch is a kid with no face... and a planted gun." He murmured, a drop of blood trickling down his forehead from underneath his hat, he touched it, grimacing. "Damn. My head's been itching like a dirty jocks-"
Ed suddenly fell forward, his face slamming into the broken picture frame glass that was scattered around the ground. Sam moved around the desk, feeling his neck for a pulse. "Dead."
"Do you hear that?" Dean asked, glancing over to me.
"Yeah." I nodded, hearing a small buzzing sound coming from Ed's body. Sam reached for his hat, and as soon as he lifted it off his head, a couple locusts crawled out of the large hole there.
MOTEL – DAY
"Sweet. Blood, boils, locusts." Dean mumbled, from behind his laptop that rested on top of his knees as he sat on the small couch in the room. I was sitting across from Sam at the table, the both of us going through some papers.
"Three of your more popular Egyptian plagues." Sam muttered.
"Yeah, but these guys... ate their way out of a cop's melon." Dean said, inspecting the jar of locusts. "I don't quite remember that in the King James."
"Meanwhile, a kid named Christopher Birch was shot in the head last month after a vehicle pursuit. Hatch, Gray, and Colfax were the three officers involved, and they all filed the exact same police report." I said, beginning to read from the paper. "Suspect exited vehicle brandishing a firearm. We were forced to fire, just a kid with no face and a planted gun."
"Bunch of dicks. So they pop the kid, plant the piece."
"Maybe Colfax is right. You know, maybe heaven has a hate-on for bad cops." Sam suggested.
"So we're listening to the guy with the bug in his custard? That's- that's the, uh, the theory you want to go with?"
"Dean, angels got to have something to do, right, now that we're post-Apocalypse?"
"We should call Cas."
"You're kidding, right? Dean, I tried. It was the first and second and third thing I did, soon as I got topside. Son of a bitch won't answer the phone."
"Well, let's give it a shot." Dean said, looking to me. "Work your magic."
"What?"
"Pray to him."
"Dean I- Cas and I didn't part on the best terms. Do you really think he'd even listen to me?"
"Worth a shot isn't it?"
"I- I guess."
"Go ahead."
"What do I say?"
"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to Castiel to get his feathery ass down here."
"Oh, sure." I scoffed, shaking my head.
"You're an idiot." Sam rolled his eyes.
"You telling me you're not still upset with him?" Dean asked me.
I let out a sigh, looking down to the ground. "Listen, Cas, if you can hear this...you're still a jerk...but we need your help. Cas?"
"Like I said, the son of a bitch doesn't answer." Sam said, my eyes going wide when I saw the blue-eyed angel appear directly behind him. Sam saw my expression, nodding. "He's right behind me, isn't he?"
"Yup."
"Hello." Castiel muttered.
"Hello?" Sam asked, turning around to face the angel.
"Y- yes?"
Sam scoffed, impersonating Cas's deep, monotone voice. "Hello?"
"Uh, that is still the term?"
"I spent all that time trying to get through to you. Tori calls once, and calls you a jerk while doing it, and now you pop up our of nowhere and it's just hello?"
"Yes."
"So, what, you- you like her better or something?"
"Victoria and I share a very strong bond."
"Oh, yeah? Does Dean know about that bond?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
Dean furrowed his brow, his eyes darting between Sam and I. "Wait, what? What's that supposed to mean?"
"Dean. Stop." I rolled my eyes.
"Victoria..." Castiel trailed off, tiling it his head to the side as his eyes trailed over me. "You-"
"What?" I asked, silently trying to tell him to shut up. Now wasn't the time for Sam to find out.
Thankfully, for once he understood, looking back down. "Nothing I suppose."
"Cas, I think what Sam is trying to say is that he went to hell...for us. You do remember that, don't you?"
Castiel looked down, not meeting my eyes. "Yes.
"You could have given him five minutes."
"If I had any answers, I might have responded." Cas said strongly. "I don't know, Sam. We have no idea who brought you back from the cage... or why."
"So it wasn't god?" Sam asked.
"No one's even seen God. The whole thing remains mysterious."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"What part of I don't know, escapes your understanding?"
"Hey, why don't you chill out a little Halo." I snapped. "Try and lower yourself back down to our level and help us figure out why people are dying biblically around here."
"It's not the angels."
"It's not?"
"No. But the murders were committed with one of our weapons. There's only one thing that could have brought this into existence. You call it the Staff of Moses.
"The Staff?" Sam asked.
"It was used in a dominance display against the Egyptians, as I recall."
"Yeah." Dean scoffed. "That one made the papers."
"B-but I thought the Staff turned, like, a- a river into blood, not one dude." Sam pointed out.
"The weapon isn't being used at full capacity." Castiel replied. "I think we can rule Moses out as a suspect."
"Okay, but what is Chuck Heston's disco stick doing down here, anyway?" Dean asked. "I mean, don't you guys put away your toys?"
"Before the apocalypse, Heaven may have been corrupt, but it was stable. The staff was safely contained. It's been chaos up there since the war ended. In that confusion, a number of... powerful weapons were... stolen."
"You- are you saying your nukes are loose?"
"Yeah, I'm afraid so. But you've stumbled onto one of them. We must find the weapon that did this. I need your help."
"That's rich." Sam scoffed. "Really."
Cas let out a sigh, using air quotes around certain words as he spoke. "My people skills are rusty. Pardon me, but I have spent the last year as a multidimensional wavelength of celestial intent. But believe me, you do not want that weapon down here. Help me find it. Or more people will die."
I raised an eyebrow at him, nodding slowly. "Yeah, okay. So if the angels didn't pull the trigger, then that brings us back to motive."
"What?"
"Back to the case. Right now, we got three dead cops. Only thing linking them is this." Sam said, holding up a newspaper clipping, reading off of it. "Father of slain suspect calls for investigation."
Suddenly, the four of us were in the middle of a living room in a suburban home, a man cutting clips of a newspaper out on the dining room table.
"Jesus Christ, Cas!" I exclaimed, placing a hand over my chest. "You need to give people some warning."
"I apologize." Cas muttered.
"What the... how'd you get in here?!" Mr. Birch shouted.
"Mr. Birch, settle down." Sam said, flashing his badge. "Federal agents."
"But you can't just walk in here!"
"Quite a collection you've got there, huh?"
"What are you trying to-"
"Look, we know the truth, alright? Chris didn't have a gun on him when those cops shot him. They set him up."
"Yeah. They're all getting theirs."
"And who's giving it to them, Darryl?" Sam asked in a harsh accusing tone.
"Darryl, did you kill Toby Gray and the others?" I asked.
"Me?! I didn't kill anyone!" He exclaimed. "Look at how they died!"
"You smote them with the Staff of Moses!" Cas said.
"The hell kind of Fed are you?"
"We don't have time for this. Where is it?!"
Leave my dad alone!" A boy shouted from behind us, holding a rather small staff out as if it were a gun.
"Is that…? Yes."
"Shouldn't it be...I don't know..." I paused, clearing my throat. "Bigger?"
"Guess my staff has set the bar too high, huh?" Dean asked with a smirk.
"Well, can't really argue with you there." I shrugged, laughing lightly.
"It's been sawed off." Cas said in frustration. Both Dean and I let the amusement fade from ours faces after seeing the look of seriousness on Cas's.
"Right, yeah."
"Leave him alone! It wasn't him!" The boy called.
"Aaron, get out of here!" Darryl shouted, standing up. Castiel placed two fingers against his forehead, sending him falling back to the couch, unconscious.
"What did you do to him?"
"It's alright. He's just sleeping." Dean said. In n instant, Aaron pointed the staff at Dean, and Cas was across the room, ripping it from the boy's hands. "Cas, take it easy!"
"Listen Aaron, we're not gonna hurt you okay?" I said, softening my voice. "We just need to know where you got this thing."
"Please don't kill my dad. It was me. I did it." Aaron muttered.
"Nobody's killing anybody." Dean reassured him. "What's your name?"
"Aaron. Aaron Birch."
"Okay, Aaron Birch, where did you get this?"
"You won't believe me."
Dean looked over to me, before looking back to the boy. "Try us."
"It was an angel."
"An angel?"
"Those liars, they killed my brother, and nothing bad even happened to them. It's not fair. So I prayed to God every night he would punish them. God didn't answer. But he did."
"Who is he?" I asked. "Did he give you a name?"
"No. He just said I could have justice, but I was gonna have to take it myself. He- he gave me the stick."
"He just gave it to you?" Dean asked, to which Aaron nodded. "Oh, come on. He didn't just give it to you, did he, Aaron?"
The boy shrugged, looking away. "I bought it."
"You bought it?" Sam chuckled. "With what? What's your allowance?"
I shot Sam a hard look, bringing my eyes back to the boy. "What did the angel want for it? What did you give him?"
"My soul."
"You sold your soul to an angel?" Sam asked incredulously.
"Can that even happen?" Dean asked Cas.
"It's never happened before. An angel's buying souls. That could explain why he cut the staff into pieces. More pieces, more product."
"More product, more souls." I added. Castiel nodded.
"Product?" Dean asked. "Who is this guy?"
"We'll find him." Cas said, pressing his fingers to Aaron's forehead, letting his unconscious body fall to the ground.
"What did you do that for?"
"Portability."
In the blink of an eye, Sam, Dean and I were back at the motel, followed closely by Castiel, who had Aaron draped over his shoulder, plopping him down onto the bed.
"Cas, you realize you just kidnapped a kid, right?" Dean asked.
"If the angel we seek truly bought this boy's soul, when a claim is laid on a living soul, it leaves a mark, a brand."
"What, like a- like a shirt tag at camp?" Sam asked.
"I have no idea." Cas muttered honestly, not understanding him. "But I can read the mark and find the name of the angel that bought the soul."
"How?" I asked.
"Well, painfully for him. The reading will be excruciating." Cas said, moving to touch the kids forehead.
"Whoa, Cas, wait. Hold on."
"Victoria."
"He's a kid, Cas. I- Sam?" Dean called, looking to his brother for help.
"Any permanent damage?" Sam asked, the angel.
"What?!"
"Physically, minimal."
"Oh, well, yeah, then by all means, stick your arm right in there." I said sarcastically.
"If I get the name, I can work a ritual to track the angel down."
"Great, and we should totally do that. Another way."
"There is no other way."
"So you're gonna torture a kid?" Dean asked.
"I can't care about that, Victoria! I don't have the luxury." Cas pushed his hand into Aaron's chest and the boy began screaming in agony. I was about to rush over to stop Cas when Dean pulled me back, probably afraid I could get hurt in the process of trying to stop this. It felt like an eternity before Cas retracted his hand and Aaron stopped screaming, falling unconscious again. "He'll rest now."
"Did you get a name?" Sam asked, apparently the only thing on his mind. He didn't even seem worried in the slightest about that kid's suffering. "What is it?"
"I thought he died in the war."
"Was he a friend or something?"
"A good friend."
"Yeah, well, your frat buddy is now moonlighting as a crossroads demon." Dean said.
"Balthazar. I wonder..."
Suddenly the ringing in my ears grew as another angel appeared, grinning at Cas. "Balthazar. Thanks, Castiel. We'll make good use of the name." The angel attacked Castiel with an angel blade. Cas quickly blocked it with his own, pushing the angel away. "And by the way, Raphael says hello."
Both angels fought until they both lost their swords, grappling and jumping through the window, falling several stories, the sound of a huge crash, following by a car alarm going off. The three of us ran over to the window just as the angel disappeared, leaving Castiel standing next to the destroyed car.
"My car." Sam mumbled.
"Okay." Dean nodded. "Silver lining."
Cas disappeared from next to the car, reappearing behind us. "He's gone."
"Alright Cas, who was that guy?" Sam asked.
"A soldier of Raphael. He must have followed me when I answered your call."
"Raphael, the archangel?" I asked, to which Cas nodded. "What is going on here?"
"I can explain later. Right now we have to-"
"No, not later. Now." Dean said. "Stop, alright? Too many angels, Cas! I don't know who's on first, what's on second."
"What is second?"
"Don't start that."
"It is simple: Raphael and his followers, they want him to rule Heaven. I, and many others, the last thing we want is to let him take over. It would be catastrophic."
"You're talking civil war." Sam said.
"Technically, yes. Which is why we have to find Balthazar and his weapons before Raphael does. Whoever has the weapons wins the war." Cas said, pulling one of Sam's bags out from underneath the bed.
"Yeah, help yourself."
"And what happens if Raphael wins?" Dean asked "What does he want?"
"What he's always wanted. To end the story the way it was written." Cas replied, taking a bottle of holy water from the bag.
"You mean the apocalypse, the one that we derailed?"
"Yes. That one. Raphael wants to put it back on the rails."
"Why?"
"I need myrrh."
Sam furrowed his brow. "Myrrh?"
Cas disappeared from view, reappearing a few moment later beginning to draw on the table with chalk. Dean let out a huff, turning to the angel. "Why Raphael want to bring back all this shit?"
"He's a traditionalist."
"Why didn't you tell us this, Cas?" I asked.
"I was ashamed. I expected more from my brothers." Cas said, looking over to me. "I didn't want you to find out that this is what was happening in your extended family."
"Oh, because I thought so highly of all the angels before."
"I'm sorry. Now I need your blood." Cas said suddenly, grabbing Dean's wrist, slicing his palm over the bowl.
"Cas!"
"Why don't you use your own?!" Dean asked with a hiss as he clutches his hand shut, the blood dripping into the bowl.
"It wouldn't work. I'm not human." The angel replied. Once there was a layer of blood covering the bottom, Cas began throwing holy water and myrrh into the bowl.
"Come here, baby." I muttered to Dean, grabbing a roll of gauze from the bag Cas had set on the chair, beginning to wrap it around Dean's injured hand.
"Uh, Cas, how long does this spell take?" Sam asked as sirens began wailing in the distance.
"Got him." Cas nodded. "Let's go."
"Wait, what about the kid?" Dean asked.
"Don't you think the police will take him home?"
"Only if they know who the hell he is. Bring him back, Cas."
"Victoria, we don't have time."
"Oh, please, you traveled to god knows where to get some myrrh, you bring the kid across fucking town." I said angrily, narrowing my eyes at the angel, who seemed a bit taken back by my outburst. With a huff, he went and placed a hand on Arron's forehead, the both of them disappearing.
"I love it when you get bossy." Dean grinned to me.
MANSION – NIGHT
Once Castiel came back, we left for the mansion, teleporting there in a split second. The four of us crept up the pathway, advancing on the large home. As Cas stepped in front of us, a frog croaked from the railing of the large staircase in the middle of the room, and in the blink of an eye, Cas was gone.
"What just happened?" I asked, looking back to the boys, realizing that when I turned, I was in a completely different room, strobe lights fluttering around the walls. The door shut behind me and I felt someone grab my arm, looking up to see Cas there.
"This has nothing to do with her Balthazar." Cas said.
"But what would a family reunion be if we left out part of the family?" A British voice asked, a blonde man appearing across the room, smiling as he appeared in front of me. "You certainly grew up to be beautiful. Just like your mother, your grandmother. Hell, even your grandfather."
"Balthazar."
"I haven't gotten this good of a look at you in...well, ever." The angel said, looking to me. "I could only watch from afar."
"I grieved your death."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry about that, you know. I wanted them to think, you know, so... they wouldn't come looking for me." Balthazar told Cas, looking back to me. "You were somewhat of a celebrity with the angels, you know."
"What?" I asked.
"You and your mother. You were the first lives to emerge from the pairing of a human and ex-angel."
"Why does that even matter? Camael was human."
"No, no. Maybe he lost his grace, but he was an archangel. His blood was still very much angelic. Why do you think your body can hold angel grace so well?" Balthazar asked, his eyes training on my stomach, a grin on his face. "And so the cycle continues."
"What are you doing here?" Castiel asked, changing the subject.
"Whatever I want. This morning I had a ménage à – what's French for twelve?" He asked. My eyes widened as I stared at him, my mouth dropping open slightly.
"You stole the Staff of Moses?"
"Sure, sure. I stole a lot of things."
"You were a great and honorable soldier. We fought together."
"Yes, too many times to count."
"I know you. You're not some common thief."
"Common? No. Thief? Eh."
"I need your help."
"I know. I've been hearing all about you, and as far as I'm concerned, you and me, Cas, nothing's changed. We're brothers. Of course I want to help you."
"Thank you. I need the weapons."
"Don't ask that"
"Why'd you take them, anyway? Why'd you run away?" I asked.
"Because I could! You're the ones who made it possible. The footsteps I'm following, they're yours, Castiel. What you did, stopping the big plan, the prize fight? You did more than rebel. You tore up the whole script and burned the pages for all of us. It's a new era. No rules, no destiny. Just utter and complete freedom."
"And this is what you do with it?"
"Somebody's feisty."
"You took a grieving child's soul!"
"Hey, screw it, right?! I mean, dad's not coming back. You might as well blow coke and jump on the bed. You proved to me we could do anything, so I'm trying everything. What difference does it make?"
"Of course it makes a-" Cas scoffed. "It's civil war up there!"
"I know."
"If we can beat Raphael, we can end this! Just give me the weapons."
"Do you know what's funny about you? You actually believe that you can stop the fighting. It will never stop. My advice, grab something valuable and fake your own death."
"You've gone insane. Your little holiday is over. Raphael knows you're alive by now."
"Oh, Raphael can try me anytime. I'm armed. I'm sorry, Cas. All else aside, I'm really, really happy to see you. Even though you still have that stick up your ass." Balthazar said as thunder crashed loudly outside. "Was that you?"
"No."
Balthazar glanced over at me, his eyebrow raised. "You?"
"Uh, no."
"Oh, that's my cue then. Tell, uh, Raphael to bite me." Balthazar said before disappearing from view, leaving us alone in the room.
"You have to get out of here." Cas said, reaching his hand up to touch my forehead. Just before he touched me, another crack of thunder echoed in the sky.
The sound of wings flapping came from behind us, both Cas and I turned to see an angel standing there, advancing towards us. "Hello Castiel."
"You're making a mistake. Please. There is another way. Brother, please. I don't want to hurt you." Cas told the angel as he approahed. He didn't listen, swinging his angel blade. Cas dodged him, pushing his own blade deep into the angel's chest, the blue light faring up in his eyes, his body dropping to the ground. "Why won't any of you listen?"
Suddenly, I felt someone grab me from behind, their hand on my throat. "They don't listen, Castiel, because their hearts are mine."
Castiel turned, his eyes looking frightened. "Let her go, Raphael."
"Or?" The archangel asked with a laugh, one single flick of his finger sending Cas flying back against a set of double doors, causing them to fling open. Raphael turned me around, still holding my throat. "You dumb little waste of space. You don't deserve the power you've been given. You don't deserve life. Your child doesn't deserve life."
"No." I croaked, swallowing hard as his grip tightened on my neck, my nails clawing into his wrist.
"Somehow, I don't think God will be bringing you back this time."
"Hey!" Balthazar called. "Look at my junk."
I furrowed my brow, having no clue what he was talking about until Raphael let me go. Castiel appeared by my side, wrapping an arm around me before bringing the both of us across the room in an instant while the archangel stared at the glowing crystal Balthazar held, his eyes going wide as his entire body turned to salt, hitting the floor in a heap of grains.
"Same thing happened to Lot's wife. Iodize the poor sucker, and your kitchen is stocked for life." Balthazar laughed.
"You came back." Castiel muttered in surprise.
"Well, now Raphael will have to go shopping for a new vessel. Should give me a nice long head start on him."
"Thank you." I muttered, tears filling my eyes.
Balthazar nodded, looking between me and Castiel. "Until next time."
"Next time." Cas nodded.
"No time like the present." Dean said, appearing in the doorway, flicking on a lighter, dropping it at Balthazar's feet, igniting a ring of holy fire around him.
"You hairless ape! Release me!"
"First you're taking your marker off of Aaron Birch's soul."
"Am I?"
"Sam?" Dean called, looking behind him to Sam, who uncorked a bottle of holy oil.
"Unless you like your wings extra crispy, I'd think about it." Sam said.
"Castiel, I stood for you in heaven. Are you gonna let-"
"I believe the hairless ape has the floor." Cas replied.
"And you?" Balthazar turned to look at me. "I just saved you and your child's life. This is how you repay me?"
"Child?" Sam asked, looking between Dean and I.
"Of course I knew, Balthazar." I said, trying to ignore Sam's look. "You bringing me up here wasn't part of the plan though."
"Very well." Balthazar inhaled, touching his hands to his head. "The boy's debt is cleared. His soul is his own."
"Why are you buying human souls, anyway?"
"In this economy? It's probably the only thing worth buying. Do you have any idea what souls are worth? What power they hold? Now... release me."
"Suck it, ass clown. Nobody said anything-" Dean spat. I looked over to Castiel, seeing that he was staring at the other angel with sad eyes. I gently touched his hand, my eyes meeting his as I told him it was okay.
He did save us, after all. Without him...we'd be dead right now.
Cas nodded subtly, lowering his hand, lowering the flames. "My debt to you is cleared."
"Cas, what the hell?" Dean asked.
"He saved our lives, Dean." I said, looking back to Balthazar. "When I said thank you, I meant it."
"Alrighty, then." Balthazar grinned, disappearing from view.
"Are you out of your mind!?" Dean exclaimed. Suddenly, Cas left, leaving me alone with the boys, who were both glaring at me. "Tori?!"
"Thanks a lot Cas! Throw me under the bus, why don't you!" I shouted at no one.
"What the hell?"
"Raphael had his hands wrapped around my throat. He was about to snap my neck like a twig. Balthazar came back and stopped him."
Dean's heavy breaths seemed to slow slightly as he let my words sink in. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Is the-"
"I think so." I nodded, trying to hide how scared I was. I had no idea if our baby was alright after that.
"Are you pregnant?" Sam asked, looking over at me.
"Yeah."
"Well, what- when are you gonna...you know."
"What?"
"When are you gonna get rid of it?"
"Excuse me?" I snapped, anger flaring through me.
"Sam." Dean called, his voice irritated.
"What is going on with you, Sam?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not okay."
"I'm fine, Tori."
"Oh, you're fine? What about when Cas was giving the Holy Taser treatment to that kid?"
"What about it?"
"You jumped straight on the band wagon with him. You were all for it."
"What?"
"She's right, Sam." Dean interjected. "Tori and I were the only ones raising a card."
"No way. I was- I was with you, but...I don't know. W-we needed the intel."
"But we tortured that kid to get it."
"Did you even care?" I asked.
"Of course!"
"Well, I didn't get that feeling."
"Well-"
"The Sam I knew never would have let a kid be tortured so we could get information. The Sam I knew never would have asked me if I was going to get rid of my baby. He would've promised me that he'd help do whatever to protect them."
"Things are- things different now. I said what I did because just look at what happened here. You almost got killed. And if you keep that baby, you're putting an innocent life in danger," Sam said, his eyes void of emotion.
"Something's different with you." Dean said. "You have to know that."
"Yeah, I do. I know."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I mean... I've been hunting non-stop for the past year, kind of- kind of on the wild, you know? So, yeah, I suppose I'm a little rough around the edges."
"Yeah, I get that. I just don't think we're getting the whole scoop. You went to hell, Sam. And believe me, I know what that does to a guy."
"To you."
"What?"
"You know what it does to you. It- it tortured you. You know? I think it still does. But, Dean... I'm okay."
"So you're saying, what, that- that you're stronger than me?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No. Just saying we're different." Sam shrugged, walking out of the room, leaving Dean and I to stare after him.
MOTEL – NIGHT
After putting Sam's things in the truck of the Impala, we drove for a couple hours before getting a motel for the night. I somehow got out of the iron hold Dean had on me without waking him up and made my way outside to get some fresh air.
I couldn't help the sickening feeling that filled me the more time I spent around Sam. More was going on here than he was telling us. He wasn't just different. He was uncaring, unsympathetic. He wasn't himself. Something was horribly wrong, but I had no idea what.
The more I thought about what he'd said, the more I wondered if it was true. Did we make the wrong decision? Should we- is it fair to put a child through these things? Even if they're unborn. Would it just make more sense to end the suffering now before it really began?
A stray tear slipped down my cheek at the thought and I wiped it away, wrapping my arms around my torso. The ringing popped back to the front of my mind and I looked over to see Cas standing next to me.
"Hi." I mumbled, wiping the tears away.
"You're crying." Cas muttered, his brow furrowed.
"I'm okay."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"You're lying."
I let out a breath, nodding. "Yeah, I am."
"What is it, Victoria?"
"Do you remember, a few years ago, when I thought I was pregnant?"
Cas looked away for a moment, not meeting my eyes. "Well-"
"I already figured out that was you, Cas. You were checking on me."
"I always have. I've never stopped."
"I know." I nodded with a small smile. "It's okay. But it's not a false alarm this time."
"A what?"
"Last time I thought I was pregnant, I wasn't. This time-"
"You are."
"And I'm scared." I muttered, feeling my voice become thick with emotion as I tried to hold back the tears. "I'm so scared."
"Why?"
"I can't keep him."
"Why not?"
"Look at my life, Cas. Look at this world. It's horrible. I don't want- I don't want to raise a child like this. I don't want them to grow up how Sam and Dean did. And I know it's dangerous. And it's stupid. But God, I don't think I could do it. I can't get rid of him. I can't."
A look of sadness cross Castiel's eyes as he stared down into mine. "That's exactly what your mother said."
"Yeah?"
"Yes."
"If she had...done that...look what you've done, Victoria. You've saved the world. You were always destined for great things. Dean, too. Your baby is, as well."
"We've had to go through a lot of pain and loss in the process of saving everybody else." I said, pulling in a deep breath. "I almost died tonight. The baby would've died, too. Shouldn't I end it now because I choose to instead of waiting for someone else to make that decision for me?"
Castiel stared down at me for a moment before hesitantly placing his hand on my stomach. I watched his reaction closely, getting scared when he didn't speak. Was something wrong?"
"Your baby is healthy. Growing and strong." Castiel muttered. I could barely even breathe because of all the emotions I felt well up inside of me, tears springing to my eyes.
How was I supposed to end that?
"Yeah?"
"Yes." The angel looked deep into my eyes, pressing his hand tighter against my stomach. "Victoria, I promise, I will make this a world you can raise your children in. I will make it safe."
"What?" I asked, looking back up to see that Cas was gone and I was alone. I placed a hand on my stomach, letting out a heavy breath before turning and heading back into the room, slipping next to Dean under the covers. He rolled over, placing his arm over my stomach, underneath my chest, his face nuzzled into the crook of my neck.
I've been on birth control for years, I've never gotten pregnant, not ever. So why now? I guess I had no other choice than to believe that Cas was right. Dean believed it. He never wanted me to get rid of the baby. So no matter what anyone else has said or will say, we could do this. Some might think it's impossible, but we've done the impossible before. We'd protect this baby, no matter what.
'We're the Fed, Ed' Sam said. I'm turning into freaking Dr Seuss xD
Also last night's finale. No spoilers, but my god. I laughed, I cried, I died a little more on the inside. Fun times.
Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!
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