Stuck in the Middle (With You) Part 2

"You idiots," Crowley sneered. "You're all going to die."

"Well, this day just keeps gettin' better." Dean rolled his eyes.

"Crowley?" Angela's brows furrowed.

"You're him? The King of Hell?" Robert narrowed his eyes.

"You must be Papa Morgan," Crowley realized before his eyes drifted over to Mary. "And you must be Mother Winchester. Pleasure. I've heard so much." He held out a hand for them to shake.

"I'm good. Thanks." Robert glared.

"Touch me and I'll kill you," Mary warned.

Crowley let his hand drop and he looked over at Castiel. "What's up with Feathers?"

"What are you doing here? How'd you find us?" Dean demanded.

"Wait a second. The demons. They were yours." Sam accused.

"Obviously."

"They killed my friend." Mary retorted angrily.

"Your friend was stupid." Crowley shrugged. "You're all… Do you know what you've done? Does the name Ramiel mean anything to you?"

"No." the hunters replied.

"Yes," Castiel grunted.

"What?" Sam's brows furrowed.

"Ramiel. Prince of Hell." Castiel breathed heavily.

"Ramiel, Prince of Hell. It's catchy. It rhymes. And he's going to kill each and every one of you." Crowley explained.

"No." Castiel shook his head weakly. "The Princes are all dead."

"That's what we told people to stop them looking. But in reality, not so much."

"W-what the hell is a Prince of… Hell?" Dean asked.

"The oldest of the old demons," Crowley answered. "The first generation after Lilith. Lucifer turned them himself, before the oceans drank Atlantis."

"They were trailed to be generals," Castiel added. "To lead demonic armies in the war against Heaven."

"Like Azazel," Robert muttered.

"They even have his eyes." Crowley mused. "My demons were there to keep people away from Ramiel. Believe me, that's a hornet's nest you do not want to be kicking."

"Too late," Dean muttered.

"What happened to Cas?" Angela questioned.

"You tell me."

"He got stabbed with some kind of silver-tipped spear," Mary recalled.

"It's not a spear." Crowley shook his head. "It's a lance. The Lance of Michael."

"Michael. As in Michael, Michael?" Dean's brows shot up.

"Nasty bit of business. Kills everything it touches. If you're a demon, you go up in a puff of smoke. If you're an angel, you just… rot away. Sorry, Castiel."

"No. No." Angela walked toward Crowley. "There's a cure. There is always a cure, and we will find it."

"How, Bambi?" Crowley inquired.

"We trap Ramiel," Sam suggested.

"And we beat his ass until he gives it up," Dean added.

"It's not gonna work." Crowley retorted.

"We took down the Darkness, and the Devil." Sam reminded.

"It took you years to defeat Lucifer, and the power of God to stop the Darkness," Crowley argued. "Maybe if you had more time, you could manage Ramiel. But right now, in this barn… Hey, I was growing fond of the choir boy, too."

"Shut up." Angela snapped. "We don't have time, okay, for your—for you. So either help us or get the hell out of here!"

Crowley stared at her for a moment before disappearing into thin air.

"Yeah, figures," Dean muttered.

~/~\~

Inside the barn, Sam was pouring a ring of holy oil onto the floor while Robert and Mary clutched their angel blades. Dean wore the magical brass knuckles and Angela knelt by Castiel, comforting him.

Sam stood by the door when suddenly, Crowley came crashing through the wall beside him and flew across the room to land by an old tractor. The brothers rushed to check on him when Ramiel sauntered through the hole Crowley made.

~/~\~

"We don't have time for your… for you," Angela told Crowley. "So, either help us or get the hell out of here!"

Crowley stared at her for a moment before disappearing.

"Yeah, figures." Dean scoffed.

~/~\~

9:12 PM

Cas groaned a coughed violently while Angela smoothed his hair back, trying to comfort him.

"Cas, how bad is it?" Dean asked.

Castiel groaned and writhed in pain, loosening his tie and pulling aside his collar to show the damage from his wound spreading across his chest.

"Crowley's right," Castiel muttered. "You should go."

"Cas, come on." Dean shook his head.

"No, you listen to me," Castiel started. "You—Look, thank you. Knowing you, it… it's been the best part of my life. And the things that…" he inhaled sharply. "The things we've shared together, they have changed me. You're my family. I love you. I love all of you. Just please… please, don't make my last moments be spent watching you die. Just run. Save yourselves. And I will hold Ramiel off as long as I can."

"Cas, no," Dean stressed.

"Yes. You need to keep fighting."

"We are fighting," Sam assured. "We're fighting for you, Cas."

"And like you said, you're family, hon." Angela reminded. "And we don't leave family behind."

"Mom. Robert." Sam looked at the older hunters.

The four of them walked a few feet away while Angela stayed with Castiel.

"What's the play?" Mary asked.

"We hit him with everything we got," Dean answered.

~/~\~

Sam lit the lighter and dropped it, igniting the hold fire ring and effectively trapping Ramiel.

"Toasty," Ramiel commented.

"You stabbed one of our friends." Dean glared.

"Your friend was trespassing."

"Tell us how to cure him," Sam demanded.

"There is no cure." Ramiel scoffed.

"You have any idea who we are?" Dean questioned.

"I don't care." Ramiel shrugged nonchalantly. "I don't care who you are. I don't care why you're here. I don't care about Heaven or Hell or anything. I don't even care that Lucifer's got a bun in the oven."

"You know about that?" Robert asked.

"My sister Dagon, she's taken an interest. But me? Eh."

"Let me guess," Dean started. "You don't care."

"All I wanted was to be left alone," Ramiel explained. "But then you come. You… steal from me. And that? Ooh. That I cannot abide." He shook his head as he pulled out a pocket watch. "Aah… Give back what's mine, or I take it off your lifeless bodies. You've got… thirty seconds."

"Obviously we got no idea what you're talking about," Dean replied.

"Twenty seconds." Ramiel chuckled while he looked around at each of them. "Have it your way."

Ramiel reached behind himself to pull the Lance of Michael out of thin air. He raised it and slammed it to the ground, extinguishing the holy fire and throwing Mary, Robert, Sam, and Dean backward. Sam charged him, but Ramiel fought him off with the lance. Dean took a turn at charging him and was also thrown off. Sam returned using an angel blade to counter the lance while Dean picked up a shovel and attacked the demon.

Ramiel was closing in on Dean with the lance raised to stab him when Sam came at him from the side, wresting the lance from Ramiel while Robert stabbed him in the back, distracting the demon long enough for Sam to spear him with the lance. Ramiel laughed manically and then exploded into a cloud of black dust. Castiel screamed in agony and Angela tried to comfort him while Sam threw the lance over and ran to Castiel.

"Cas. Hey, buddy. Hey, we're here, Cas," Sam assured as black goo started flowing from Castiel's mouth. "We're right here, buddy."

Crowley pulled himself up from where he'd been lying by the tractor, and picked up the lance. He studied it and looked over to see Castiel dying, with Robert, Mary, Sam, Dean, and Angela crouched near him.

"Hang in there, hon," Angela whispered. "What do we do?"

Crowley snapped the lance in half, releasing a blinding flash of light. Castiel glowed with it, and as it faded, he was cured. Everyone turned to look at Crowley, stunned.

"The magic's in the craftsmanship." Crowley shrugged.

"Cas?" Dean asked concernedly.

Angela looked up at Crowley. "Thank you."

"Oh," Crowley muttered, slightly shocked. "You're welcome, Bambi."

Crowley dropped the broken lance and disappeared.

~/~\~

Sam and Dean each clasped one of Castiel's hands and pulled him to his feet.

"So… you're good?" Robert asked.

"I guess so." Castiel nodded. "What did he… what did he mean about somebody stealing from him?"

Mary was about to say something, but Dean spoke up first.

"Who knows what that crazy man was talking about." He shrugged. "Let's go home."

Dean picked up the broken pieces of the lance and they all walked out of the barn.

A/N: Hey, y'all, I hope you liked this chapter! Love you guys, xoxo :)

~Emily