Chapter 47

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry, 30th April 2012

Preparations had been started. Classes had been put on hold for the moment. It was a few hours before midnight. In the time since Castiel's betrayal, Sam and Dean were still dumbfounded. Jo hadn't said much about it, not wanting to upset Dean further. Dean was unusually quiet afterwards, the knowledge of Cas going so far to deceive them was upsetting him. It also made him furious. How dare he? Everything was messed up now.

Just when everything was starting to look up for them, shit hit the fan. Dean huffed into his coffee cup as he took a sip. Typical. He should be used to it.

Jo came into the staff room, buttoning up one of Dean's old shirts, hers were starting to get too tight. It was only a few weeks since she found out, but by Poppy's estimate, she was around three months along. The pregnancy was going well, all things considered. She didn't suffer much with morning sickness, luckily. She was definitely starting to show, and her chest had swollen slightly, as did her belly, much to her annoyance.

"I swear your kid had me up three times last night peeing… It thinks my bladder is a trampoline…" She sat down beside her husband.

"I was like that when I was pregnant with Dean. I spent most of my pregnancy on the toilet," Mary laughed.

"Mom… eww," Dean grimaced. Mary and Ellen laughed.

"So," Sam began as he pulled the conversation back on track. "How do we convince Cas?"

"Hell if I know. Apparently, there's a lot of attacks in the States right now. Religious leaders, corrupt politicians. You name it."

"That's where we should be." Bobby huffed. "Not hiding out here."

"We will stop him, Bobby," Dean frowned. "Floo powder can get us there and back quickly anyway." he shrugged. "Or a Portkey"

"We have everything we need," Sam added. After their encounter with Death, they'd travelled back to the lab to collect the ingredients Cas used for the spell. When planning, they decided to stay near the castle, but in a safe area away from the students.

The Dungeons seemed to be the most viable option. Dean kept looking over at Jo, not really knowing what to say to her. Everything was moving so fast. He wanted to keep her safe but didn't know where the safest place was supposed to be. He knew he irritated her by keeping her with Ellen while they went to talk to Death. But there was no way he was going to risk the safety of his child. She would just have to be pissed at him. At least she would be safely free to be pissed off.

"Can I talk to you?" Dean murmured in his wife's ear, squeezing her hand.

"Sure babe," she smiled a little, getting to her feet. "God, my back… and I'm not even full term yet. Your kid is gonna be the death of me," she laughed.

"I'll give you a back rub," Dean promised her with a smirk as he put an arm around her. They walked into the corridor.

"Is everything okay?" Jo asked as she took in the nervous look on Dean's face. He ran a hand through his short hair and sighed.

"No," he admitted. "It's just with everything going on. Cas is God now, and who the fuck knows if he'll change his mind about killing us…"

"Oh no… please don't tell me this is another one of your famous 'last night on earth' speeches. Remember what I told you last time?"

"I distinctly remember me trying to pick you up, and you said you had 'self-respect'. Now it's different; you married me," Dean gave a small cheeky smile, but the humour didn't touch his eyes, which held fear of the unknown.

"Dean…" Jo replied, her heart clenching in her chest. He was afraid, that much was obvious, but Jo could see the things others couldn't. She put her hand on his cheek. "It'll be okay."

"We don't know what's going to happen. Cas is… 'God'. And he was helping Crowley, who's in line with Voldemort."

"I know we don't know what's gonna happen. Not everything anyway, but I know one thing. We will be fine."

"How? I don't see a way out of this babe. I don't see how you're still here. You and your mom should be back in the States where you're away from this bastard. I don't want anything to happen to you three."

"Hey, where is all this coming from?" Jo put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm a hunter too. I know the risks."

"I just don't want to lose anyone else," Dean sighed. "We lost Cas…"

"We haven't lost him. We can get through to him. I know we can."

"You didn't see him Jo…" Dean shook his head. "He was beyond reasoning… I mean I tried to rope Death into killing him…."

"Listen to me, Dean Winchester. It. Will. Be. Okay. You understand me?" The soft tone of voice took the bite out of her words. "And if you say I need to leave one more time, I'm kicking your ass

Dean looked into her eyes and nodded slowly after a moment.

"Noted."

"Good," Jo smiled. She gave Dean a swift kiss on the lips. "Now, let's go get ready to kill some Levis…." Together they walked back into the dungeons. Dean pulled her close. He pushed the door open and was surprised at the sight. Sam was on his knees, clutching his bleeding palm. John was pulling a shard of glass from his skin.

"What the hell, Sam." He rushed forward and Sam waved him off.

"I dropped a potion bottle trying to move it… It's nothing," he grunted in pain.

"We tried to convince him to go to the Hospital Wing. But that didn't work. Your Mom is getting the first aid kit," John told his eldest as he kept the pressure on the wound with a rag. It didn't look too bad, but one, they couldn't tell for sure under all the blood, and two, they knew it would probably scar. Not that Sam would mind, scars were second nature to him.

Mary came back in with the first aid kit. It seemed like no time at all before Sam's hand was stitched up and a bandage around it. "It looks like we used all the bandages in here."

"I can do it," Dean argued.

"Dude, it's fine. I've had worse," Sam assured. "You help here. I don't need you to hold my hand."

"Okay, okay, don't get your boxers in a twist," Dean grumbled. "Shame Jess isn't here to heal it up for you."

"Yeah, she said she had some stuff to take care of, but she's been gone for a while now…." Sam frowned to himself, wanting to give his girlfriend space, but he was hoping she was adjusting. He left the room and began to ascend through the floors before he reached the Demonology classroom. He walked to their office and began to rummage in the drawers under the desk.

"Hey, Sammy?" Sam turned to see Dean approaching him from the doorway.

"I said I could handle getting some bandages," he frowned.

"I know, I just figured I could help you." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Fine…" Sam sighed. "If you insist."

"Listen, you gotta keep it together," Dean told him as they worked.

"Yeah, yeah, I — I will, I –" Sam replied shakily.

"'Cause if you're seeing Lucifer, then you could be seeing all kinds of crap, okay? You just don't know," Dean frowned.

"How is this helping?" Sam scowled.

"I'm just saying, Sam, you're out of control," Dean sighed.

"I'm dealing with it the best I can."

"Dealing?" his brother laughed. It had a hard, bitter edge to it. "Sorry, that's just funny, I mean how can you deal? You think this is the Demonology classroom, right?"

Suddenly the Demonology classroom was gone. Sam was on the grounds, staring at Dean in surprise.

"Sorry. Wrong," Dean grinned.

"Where the hell are we?" Sam exclaimed.

"Oh, you think I'm Dean! Right," Dean nodded. Suddenly, he changed, and Lucifer was standing before him.

"Stay the hell away from me," Sam shouted, voice shaking.

"Now we're getting there. Pinocchio's seeing his strings."

"Shut up," Sam said through gritted teeth. This isn't real, this isn't real. Is it?

"Sam? Sam!" Dean yelled as he came out onto the grounds, looking deeply concerned. He sprinted toward his brother.

"Oh look. Another me," Lucifer grinned.

"Sam, what are you doing?" Dean asked.

Sam turned at once, pointing his gun. Dean threw up his hands.

"Whoa, whoa!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"I was with you, Dean!" Sam choked.

"Okay. Well, here I am."

"No. No, I don't, I…" Sam mumbled, looking back from Lucifer to Dean. "I can't know that for sure. You understand me?" he choked out.

"Okay, now we're gonna have to start small," Dean told him.

"I don't remember getting here," Sam winced.

"Well, you were on the way to the classroom. You thought," Lucifer grinned and looked at Dean. "Sam is very suggestible." Sam pulled the trigger in Lucifer's direction.

"Whoa, whoa! Sam! This discussion does not require a weapon's discharge!" Dean yelled. Sam was breathing heavily, but he lowered his weapon. He reminded Dean of a startled wild animal.

"Look at me. Come on. You don't know what's real? Look man, I've been to Hell. Okay, I know a thing or two about torture. Enough to know that it feels different. Than the pain of this — this regular, stupid, crappy this."

"No, no. How can you know that for sure?" Sam asked with tears in his eyes.

"Let me see your hand. The gimp hand! Let me see it," Dean demanded.

"Smell you, Florence Nightingale," Lucifer smirked.

"Hey," Dean said, shaking Sam's injured hand. "This is real. Not a year ago, not in Hell, now. I was with you after you cut it, Dad sewed it up! Look!" Dean squeezed Sam's bandaged left hand and grabbed the barrel of the gun Sam was holding with his other hand. Lucifer appeared next to Dean and flickered.

"We've done a lot more with pain," Lucifer smirked.

"This is different. Right? Then the crap that's tearing at your walnut? I'm different. Right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Sam replied, trying to calm his breathing. He needed to focus; Dean didn't need him to be out of his mind.

"You sure about that, bunk buddy?" smirked Lucifer.

"Sam? Sam!" Dean called. Sam pushed his right thumb against his wound, which started to bleed through the bandage. Lucifer flickered again.

"Doesn't mean anything." he shrugged, hiding how worried and angry he was that Dean's plan was working.

"Hey. I am your flesh-and-blood brother, okay? I'm the only one who can legitimately kick your ass in real-time. You got away. We got you out, Sammy. You have Mom and Dad back, and Jess." Sam continued to push his thumb hard against his wound.

"Sammy, I'm the only one who can…" Lucifer began but suddenly vanished.

"Believe in that! Believe me, okay? You gotta believe me. You gotta make it stone number one and build on it. You understand?" Dean said softly.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." Sam nodded. His heart was banging against his sternum.

Castiel stood in the campaign office in shock. All around him were the corpses, bloody, eyes staring lifelessly. Castiel reared back, breathing hard.

"No, no, no," he chanted in a mantra. This couldn't be happening. He heard a voice enter his brain. "Hey, Castiel. Um… Maybe this is pointless. Look I don't know if any part of you even cares, but, um, I still think you're one of us, deep down. I mean, way, way, way off the reservation, but… Look, we still have till dawn to stop this. Let us help. Please." He recognized the voice as Bobby Singer's.

Sam and Dean. That was the answer. Castiel knew, even though he had betrayed them, they would help. He disappeared at once and manifested on the Hogwarts grounds. Dean's hands were on Sam's shoulders.

"Sam?" he asked. Sam spun to face him.

"Cas," he said in slight shock.

"I heard the call. I need help," Castiel begged, doubling over in pain. Dean looked over at Cas, wondering if he was the one who was hallucinating things.

"O-Okay," Dean took a breath. He's finally seeing sense… "Come on buddy."

John, Dean, Bobby, and Sam entered the dungeon with Castiel. Dean was supporting Cas, who was staggering and weak.

"We need the right blood," Castiel slurred.

"Got it," Sam said, picking up the jar of blood. He painted the sigil on the stone wall.

"Dean?" Cas asked.

"What, you need something else?" Dean asked, desperate to do anything to help.

"No. I feel regret, about you and what I did to Sam," Castiel said, midnight-blue eyes filled with despair and defeat.

"Yeah, well, you should," Dean replied simply, his voice gruff.

"If there was time, if I was strong enough, I'd — I'd fix him now. I just wanted to make amends before I die," Cas croaked.

"Okay," Dean replied.

"Is it working?" Castiel asked.

"Does it make you feel better?" Dean asked, ignoring Castiel's question.

"No. You?" Castiel queried

"Not a bit," Dean replied. "Now quit talking about dying."

"Hang in there. Just a couple of minutes," Bobby said, looking at his watch. "That's good enough. Okay, step right up, Cas." He helped Castiel to his feet and faced the wall. Dean saw that it had struck 3 am and Bobby began to read the spell.

"Lanua magna purgatorii, clausa est ob nos lumine eius ab oculis nostris retento sed nunc stamus ad limen huius ianuae magnae et demisse fideliter perhonorifice paramus aperire eam. Creaturae terrificae quarum ungulae et dentes nunquam tetigerunt carnem eius ad mundum nostrum nunc ianua magna, aperta tandem!" Bobby recited.

"I-I'm sorry Dean," Castiel said, looking back at the hunter. A burst of light erupted from Castiel's chest. The humans shielded their eyes. The light hurtled into the wall and when it disappeared with a loud rushing sound, Castiel collapsed to the ground, like a dead weight.

"Cas?" Dean said, rushing to Castiel. "Come on buddy!"

"He's cold," Bobby sighed, feeling his skin, looking at Dean, eyes wide.

"Is he breathing?" Dean asked, silently begging. His heart started to pound.

"No," Bobby replied. Dean shook his head.

"Maybe angels don't need to breathe," he said desperately.

"He's gone, Dean," John said softly. Dean rose to his feet.

"Damn it. Cas, you idiot. Why didn't you listen to me?" Dean choked, voice thick with emotion. Cas suddenly began to stir.

"Cas?! Hey! Hey!" he exclaimed as Cas's eyes suddenly flew open, inhaling in a huge gasp.

"Okay. All right," Dean said softly, helping Castiel to sit.

"That was unpleasant," Castiel noted, grimacing in pain.

"Let's get him up. Easy, there," Dean said as both he and Bobby helped Castiel to his feet. Sam looked on in concern.

"I'm alive," Castiel breathed. "I'm astonished. Thank you, all of you." His gaze travelled between the hunters.

"We were mostly… just trying to save the world," Bobby replied, with a small smile.

"I'm ashamed. I really overreached," Cas replied in a breath of shock. "I'm gonna find some way to redeem myself to you."

"Fuck, you think? "Dean said sarcastically. "All right, well, one thing at a time. Come on. Let's get you out of here. Come on."

"I mean it, Dean," Cas pressed.

"Okay. All right," Dean replied simply, to shut him up.

Castiel gasped suddenly, a roar of pain erupting from his mouth. He doubled over, pushing Dean away. The hunters were astonished.

"You need to run now! I-I can't hold them back!" he yelled.

"Hold who back?" Dean asked, eyes wide. What in the hell?

"Cas?!" Sam exclaimed.

"They held on inside me. Dean, they're so strong," Castiel gasped, tensing in agony.

"Who in the hell?" Dean breathed.

"Leviathan! Dean, I have to get rid of them!" Castiel exclaimed. He groaned. "The Lake outside. The enchantments, they would kill them!"

"No, Cas!" Dean roared. "You're not sacrificing yourself!"

"Dean, the Leviathans will cause unimaginable disaster! I have to!" Castiel yelled back.

"Then we'll kick it in the ass like we always do!" Dean yelled, still angry, but his features softened. "Cas… please."

"I'm sorry Dean," Castiel said before he began running out of the dungeon.

Castiel bolted towards the lake, the hunters running after him.

"CAS!" Dean yelled but Cas ignored him, continuing to walk forward. The water pooled around him, and he kept walking until the water engulfed his head. Dean Sam and Bobby stood in shock, watching as the blackness that was the Leviathans spread slowly, but only for a few seconds until the blackness began to shrink until there was nothing left.

Dean bent, arching to dive. He was just about to jump when Sam grabbed him.

"Sam!" Dean yelled. "Let me go."

"No Dean! It's suicide!" Sam snarled. Dean continued to struggle.

"Damn it Sam! It's Cas!" Dean snarled.

"Dean, whatever was in the Lake. It's killed them," Sam breathed. "Cas saved us… again."

"Yeah, it killed them, along with Cas," Dean choked.

He looked down, and his eyes widened as he caught sight of a piece of material floating in the water. He bent down, pulling Castiel's trench coat from the entrapment of the weeds. He bowed his head slightly and sighed. Castiel was dead. There was no denying it, that terrible fact. He was gone. The best friend Dean had ever had. Dean could not count the number of times Cas had saved them. He'd even pulled Dean from the depths of Hell itself, and later he did the same with Sam. Cas was always willing to help, even when it posed a danger to himself. He remembered Castiel trying to be human, getting drunk and using a cell phone. He heard his own laughing voice echoing in his head. Y'know it's kinda funny, talking to a messenger of God on a cell phone. It's, you know, like watching a Hell's Angel ride a moped. Castiel's irritated voice was muffled as his mind replayed it. This isn't funny, Dean! The voice says I'm almost out of minutes! Dean let out a choked half sob, half laugh as a tear fell free from his green eyes.

He stared at the lake, the waters now calm. Dean was breathing hard, his heart racing in his chest. Sam, John, and Bobby stood at his side. Without a word, Dean walked back inside the castle. He barely saw his surroundings. He found his wife in their room. Her head was bent over the toilet bowl in their small ensuite dry heaving.

"Jo," he said softly, going to her side. He bent down to help her up when she finally stilled.

"Dean?" Jo looked up at him. 'M'OK, just morning sickness," she mumbled. "What happened?"

"Sam was seeing Lucifer again… I had to calm him down. Cas turned up. Said he needed help."

"He came around?" Jo looked up at him with hope in her eyes. She saw the tears in Dean's and her stomach dropped.

"Yeah. We helped him back to the dungeon." A small part of his mind noted Jo, Mary, and Ellen's absence when they brought Cas into the dungeon, not noticing at the time. He was too focused on Cas. "Where were you guys anyway?"

"I started feeling sick. Mary and Mom started practically dragging me back here." Jo frowned. "That's not important right now."

"We, uh, we helped him do the spell to release everything back into Purgatory," Dean continued. His eyes were starting to burn with tears again. "S-Something held on. The Leviathan… Cas said that he couldn't hold it back. Insisted there was only one option. The Lake."

"What about the Lake?" Jo asked.

"He said there was some sort of enchantment. He walked straight into it, Jo, and — And he exploded… There was just… black. He's… he's gone."