When Michael entered, he took a moment to look around and laugh. I think that was what bothered me the most, that he just… Just stared at all of us, and he laughed. Sam and Dean started shooting immediately as Castiel started charging with his angel blade. I pulled my blades out as well, ready to follow Castiel.
"Did you all really think you could outrun me?" Michael asked, casting a sweeping hand out towards us all. The second his hand moved, I felt myself react on instinct. I crossed my arms like I had in the other world, when Kevin had hit us with a blast. When Michael's blast hit, I still skidded back a few feet, but I fared better than the others. The boys were thrown to the walls, their backs smacking hard on the bricks as their weapons fell to the sides. I winced at the distance and fall that Castiel faced. Michael took a few more slow steps towards me, cocking his head in regard.
"How did you get here?" Dean asked from the side. Michael turned slightly to him.
"Easy. I made a deal." Michael smiled with his response. While he was distracted, I went in with my angel blades. Michael caught my throat before I could actually make contact, gripping just a little too tightly as he raised me off the ground. "And now, this world is mine. I can save it, purge it from sin." He turned to me. "We meet again." He muttered. I watched a slow smile form on his lips. "I remember the last time I saw you. Do you?"
I struggled against his grasp, terrified and angry. Things were supposed to be OK. Things were supposed to be safe now. These people... my family... they were supposed to be protected from Michael here.
I swallowed my fear, letting more anger take its place.
"You..." I pushed the words out. I could feel an intent forming in my brain; it felt like when I was trying to find Jack. I...
I wanted to stop him.
I wanted to make Michael pay for everything he'd ever done.
I slashed down on his arm with my angel blades, and he dropped me in surprise. "You hurt my friends." I growled the words at him. Michael moved one hand at me, but I moved quicker. I moved on that same instinct I felt trying to find Jack, and dropped my blades to push fire out at him as he pushed me back into a wall.
"You hurt my family." I added, raising my other hand. Michael stopped as flames began to engulf him, bits of clothing beginning to light. He said nothing, just stood there in amazement. It was almost as though he couldn't believe what was happening.
"You killed the people I care about!" I screamed, pushing forwards with my hands. Michael stumbled backwards, his whole body now alight with flames. I twisted my wrists slightly and the flames grew, burning brighter and bigger and hotter with each word I spoke. "You killed Gabriel! You killed Jo! You're the reason Kevin is gone! And now," I shouted. "Now you're going to burn for everything you did!" I pushed my arms out, and it was a maelstrom of flames all around him.
I kept one hand out towards him, forcing every bit of magic and power and intent I could into burning him alive, and keeping him busy. My other hand reached down towards the floor, where I'd dropped the blades. I could feel that intent again. I wanted the blade in my hand. It was going to come up to my hand.
And that would be all I needed. Fire wouldn't work to kill him, but the blade would.
I was going to end this, once and for all.
Before I could summon the blade to my hand, though, I... I froze. I don't know why, but it was as though I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't...
My stomach was cold.
My back was cold.
I was cold.
"I gutted you." Michael said softly, his voice coming from directly behind me. My hand fell, and the flames disappeared to show that nobody was there. "Do you remember that?" He asked. I looked down to see something metallic and silver protruding from my stomach. "The only difference is that last time I got to see the look on your face as I did this."
"Kylie!" Castiel screamed. I looked down at them all, my eyes going wide. Dean and Cas were looking at me in utter horror and disbelief. Sam was scrunched up tight, his eyes clenched shut as he kept whispering something over and over again.
There was no noise as Michael pulled the blade out from me. The only noise was the sound of my own footsteps as I staggered forwards, my hands coming to grasp at the hole in my body.
"NO!" Castiel cried out, his voice hoarse. I heard a bit of scrabbling, followed by a chuckle from Michael.
"Now let's try this again." He muttered. "Down." I felt a force shoving me to my knees. I fell, still grasping at my stomach. Somewhere around me I heard different sounds of pain from three different men. The force pushed on me again, and I fell to my side, still grasping. I tried to prop myself up with one hand, but it was too slick and slippery with my...
My blood.
"KYLIE!" Castiel kept saying my name. I rolled onto my back, and saw him out of the corner of my eye. Castiel was on his side, looking pinned and pained and scared. I could see a hand scrabbling out towards me, but he couldn't move.
He was too far away, and he couldn't move.
"I could've done this quick," Michael commented. "But I wanted to enjoy it, that moment when the soul leaves the body," I looked up to see the archangel standing above me. "It's beautiful."
Michael held up his angel blade, holding it calmly above my chest.
Instead of watching the blade come down, though, I watched Michael be thrown hard backwards.
I saw Castiel's gaze focus on something behind me. I followed it, and saw Jack standing proudly, his hand outstretched.
"Jack." Sam said, relief filling his voice.
"I heard your prayer." Jack explained.
"Yeah, it's me. Yay!" I could hear Lucifer somewhere off to the side, but my focus was on Jack. He was looking around the room frantically, taking in everything, until his eyes landed on me. "Uh, we done, buddy?" Lucifer asked. Jack just kept staring at me.
Jack couldn't take care of Michael and heal me at the same time. Hell, he wasn't even that big of a healer person in general. He knew that. I knew that.
And we both knew that this wasn't something I'd recover from. I couldn't even find it in me to control my powers and try to heal myself.
"Buddy?" Lucifer asked. There was commotion in the direction that Michael had been, and I saw Jack refocus.
"Heal her." Jack commanded, pointing at me. I looked over at where I'd heard Lucifer, and watched him just... just stand there. Thinking. Assessing. Watching. Calculating. As Jack screamed at Michael, Lucifer just stood there, looking between me and Michael and Jack.
I saw a hint of a smile on his lips as he flicked his wrist.
I stopped being able to breath.
I could hear things going on around me, but I couldn't focus. I was choking, slowly but surely choking. Lucifer kneeled next to me, hands on me but doing nothing. I was still choking. He smiled.
"I've been waiting a long time to get rid of you, witch." He whispered. I tried to scrabble for my throat, but another flick of his fingers and my arms were immobilized. "Nope. Can't have that. This has to look real, after all." As he spoke, I watched the palms of his hands light up with a pointless glow.
Off to the side, I heard something from Michael about a deal. I heard Jack ask what Michael meant.
"I-I-I don't know." He stammered, false concern flooding his voice. "I didn't - I didn't hear. I'm trying to save someone over here, after all!"
"They had a deal." Lucifer's hold swayed slightly at Dean's words. "Lucifer gets you, and Michael gets everything else. He's gonna nuke our world, Jack, just like he did his."
"Is that true?" Jack asked. I tried to say something, but Lucifer regained his focus.
"N o! It's not. " He argued. "Look, I'm kind of busy here!" I felt his powers squeeze tighter on my throat. Black spots danced at the fields of my vision, and I couldn't hear anything.
Then Jack's voice broke through, clear as a bell. "Tell me the truth!" At that, I was able to take in a deep breath. I choked on blood with that breath, but I could breath.
"She saw me when I was scouting out the bunker." Lucifer said from above me. He was standing, now. "She saw me and she screamed, and then...so I crushed her skull with my bare hands. It was warm and wet, and I liked it. I liked it almost as much as I was enjoying killing Kylie over here."
"You son of a bitch!" Castiel screamed. I felt arms around me, dragging me away from Lucifer and into a comforting tan coat. I looked up at him and smiled.
"Hey." I pushed the word out.
"Hey." He repeated back franticly, turning his attention down to me. He did his best to smile back. "It's going to be OK." He promised, the words coming out quickly. "You're going to be OK." I could see ideas and plans flitting across the back of Castiel's eyes as he laid his hands on me. Around us, I could hear Jack and Lucifer talking, but that didn't matter. I tried to look over at them, but he caught my head before I could with a hand. "Don't worry about them. Stay with me. It's going to be OK, Kylie, just stay with me." I watched him glance from my face to where I was injured.
"It's bad, isn't it?" I asked.
"You'll be fine." Castiel replied automatically.
"If something wasn't wrong I'd be fine right now." I pointed out. "If it was just a stab it would be easy street."
"Michael…" He took a breath. "Michael's blade might've been poisoned. Or it could be residual injuries from holding open the Rift, or…" he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I'm gonna fix this, Kylie." He kept one hand on my head, his arm snaking around behind me to hold me up, as the other hand returned to the injury. I could feel both glowing.
The pain started to recede. That felt nice. I was pretty certain that that was due to the one on my head.
I kept my eyes on Castiel's face. He would glance over at whatever was happening behind us occasionally, but he didn't look any happier. If anything, he looked more pained and determined with each passing second.
I could feel something nudging at the back of my mind. "We've been here before, haven't we?" I asked. "Where I was dying. My stomach," I looked down, and felt like I was looking at a familiar scene. "We've lived this before."
Castiel was smiling, but it was strained. "Do you remember it?" I couldn't quite tell if he actually wanted me to remember or not.
"Not well." I admitted. "But I'm getting bits and pieces. I…" I could feel something; something I was supposed to say. "I probably could've picked a better fight." We heard Lucifer let out an angry roar, and the both of us flinched. I glanced over at them for a moment. Castiel brought my gaze back to him, a gentle hand on my cheek.
"Stay with me." He begged. Gone was the attempt at glowing hands or telling me I'd be fine. Gone was his forced smile. This time he was pleading, begging for a change to this situation. "We can make it different this time. You'll make it out this time." I smiled a little. That hadn't happened last time, I was certain of it. "Just stay with me and we'll figure something out. I… I can give you a part of my grace. You've withstood it before. It might allow you heal yourself easier."
"You can't heal me." I muttered. Not a question, but a statement of fact. Castiel didn't answer. "I don't know how to heal myself, I can't control it enough to. There's no guarantee that giving me angelic grace will make me able to heal, either."
"But it could work." He argued. "It could save you."
"Cas," I tried.
"It could work." He said more forcefully.
"Cas, do you really think it will work?" I asked him honestly. "Do you really think that doing this will heal me?"
He didn't answer. He looked me in the eyes for just a few minutes before looking away. I could see him trying to think of something, anything.
"I can't let you die, Kylie." He finally said. He turned his attention back to the wound, his hands once more alight and glowing with purpose. "I just can't."
So that was it, then.
"You couldn't last time either." The words came out of my mouth without thinking. I could remember that, though; I could remember it just a little bit.
"I'm sorry. I should be able to do something. Anything." I could hear his voice in the memory. I could feel cold hard floors beneath me. I could feel a similar wound in my stomach. I could feel Castiel's body at my back, holding me against him. "I should be able to heal you. I've brought people back from the dead, from Hell itself. I've dragged Dean and Sam through time, dispelled angels with a sigil carved in to the flesh of my own vessel, fought my older brothers and won; I've travelled miles and miles, seen so much horror and sadness and still survived through it all. But I can't save you. Why can't I save you?"
He'd been so sad when he couldn't save me. He'd been distraught. He'd looked worn down and beaten.
"I'm sorry." He whispered. I could feel him about to keep talking, but I stopped him with a smile. I could feel myself in a memory, reaching up to cup his cheek, and saw myself doing it this time too. When I saw the blood on my hand though, I started to withdraw. I hadn't withdrawn last time. Castiel noticed the action, and grasped my hand anyways to bring it close.
"I did that last time, too." I muttered, looking at my hand. I could still only see bits and pieces, but… It felt correct. I was certain I was right.
"I wish I could save you." He whispered. "I can't lose you. I keep losing you and this time it was supposed to be different. I can't keep doing this, Kylie. I can't. I love you, and I need you to stay with me. Please." I couldn't tell if he was pleading with me or someone else I couldn't think of, but I knew the rest of the script; even if he was deviating from the bits I remembered in the past. "Please, Kylie. Just stay with me."
"You can't save everyone." I reminded him. Those were the right words to the script last time, but this time… This time they needed to be modified. "Maybe you weren't ever supposed to save me. Maybe I was supposed to die a long time ago." I felt him flinch slightly at those words.
"No." He said firmly. "I promised you, Kylie. I promised you a better life. I promised you so much more than this, and you can't die now. Not when we're so close. Not when you're right here and I have a chance to make this right." His eyes were beginning to get glossy. "Please, Kylie. Please stay with me. I don't want you to leave. Not now. Not ever."
"It's OK." I told him. "It's OK." I forced myself to sit up quickly, and kissed him quickly on the cheek. There were black spots dancing at the edge of my vision again. I knew that this time it wasn't from being choked. "I'm sorry I couldn't remember everything."
"Don't apologize for that." He responded fiercely. "You have nothing to feel sorry for." His head bowed, bringing his forehead to mine. I could feel the cool metal of a ring on his hand. On impulse, I reached up with my other hand, the one that also bore a ring, to grasp his.
"I wanted to remember." I said quickly. I don't know why I said this. I was speaking impulsively. This… This hadn't happened last time. This was a far deviation from the script in my head. But then again, I'd remembered things last time. "Cas, I wanted to remember. I wanted to find a spell or any way to remember. I wanted to." I looked up at him imploringly. He had to know that… That I'd at least wanted to try. He had to know that I'd wanted to remember. I'd wanted to remember so badly.
He had to know. I needed him to know.
"I tried to remember." I promised. "I really did. I wanted to remember you. I wanted to," I was speaking too fast. It made me start coughing again.
Castiel smiled. "It's OK. It's OK." He assured me. "It's OK. Don't worry about it. I know you did your best."
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"It's OK." He said. "I love you. Just keep holding on to that." He smiled a little at me. "I love you, Kylie. I love you so much, and I need you to keep holding on and we'll change it this time. This… you… you don't have to die again." He squeezed my hand tighter. "Just stay with me. Please, for once, for both of us," he choked in a breath. "Just stay with me. I love you."
I could feel it. I could feel it in the back of my mind. One last bit of memory that I'd had in a dream. It was a happy one.
"Until the end of time." I muttered. Castiel kissed me softly, offering me a small smile. I don't think he understood what I meant. I didn't have the strength to tell him.
"Until the end of time." He promised. I could feel drops of tears falling from his face. The was a flash of gold somewhere behind him. I couldn't find the strength in myself to try and look. I don't know if Castiel even noticed.
I curled my body into him, closing my eyes as I ignored the pain that that small movement had caused. I knew he said something after that – something that sounded concerned and scared – but I couldn't hear him that well. I was too focused on one thing and one thing only:
I made sure that the last thing I did was keep grasping Castiel's hand.
I hadn't done that last time. Last time I'd pulled away.
This time I would make sure I didn't stop.
This time I would keep holding his hand.
This time I wouldn't let go.
This time I would hold on.
This time I…