Well, it looks like a rescue is on the way!

Also, disclaimer: I don't think there are actually old abandoned railway stations under historic San Francisco I just needed someplace they could drive to within a reasonable amount of time LOL. I wrote myself into a corner with that one. Just thought I'd mention that was creator's license before everyone comments on it.

Chapter Five

Castiel had never experienced something so painful in his entire life.

His wing, his grace, his very being was in agony. Every time the lash struck his open wing it was like he was being undone. It was a thousand times worse than when Zachariah had lashed his back, it was even worse than the holy fire; it was so bad he couldn't even think for the agony.

And worse, Sam Winchester had to watch this happen to him. The young man was struggling to free himself from the chains he was bound with, screaming past his gag at the angels to stop. It was a nice sentiment, but Castiel knew they would never stop.

Until they did, finally, at along last. Josiah released his hold on Castiel's wing and he couldn't even hold it up anymore. His wing simply flopped down his side, dragging on the ground, painting smears of blood across the concrete with the feathers that were left.

"Well, he's actually looking surprisingly humbled. Good job, Malachi."

Castiel dragged his head up to see that Zachariah had returned with Anias, a smug look on his face, masking some underlying annoyance. Castiel had a feeling he had been to see Dean. He hoped that the hunter was okay.

"He is on his way to being repentant, sir," Malachi said, reaching down to grip a fistful of Castiel's hair, wrenching his head back. "Isn't that right, Castiel?"

Castiel grunted, and met Zachariah's eyes again.

"Can you tell me who you serve, Castiel?" Zachariah asked.

Castiel attempted to gather enough saliva in his mouth to speak. "I don't serve you," he rasped, his voice all but ruined from screaming.

Zachariah sighed heavily. "You are the most stubborn creature I have ever met…aside from Dean Winchester," Zachariah snarled. "Very well, we'll have to continue. You really are determined to make me cut you apart, aren't you, Castiel?" He strode back over to the cart and picked up the holy fire brand again. Castiel's heart flipped.

"Malachi, hold out his other wing," Zachariah said. "You'll have to tell me, Castiel, how holy fire compares to hellfire in intensity."

A rattle of chains and a protesting snarl came from Sam, and Zachariah spared a glance over his shoulder at him, smirking.

"Seems we have an eager audience. I seem to have underestimated the Winchesters' loyalty to you, Castiel. Dean threatened to stab me if I hurt you again. I guess I'm just going to have to take that chance."

Castiel braced himself for even more unspeakable agony, when the flap of wings was heard and another angel appeared.

"Zachariah," she said, urgently.

"Can't you see I'm busy, Deborah?" Zachariah said to her.

"Sir, it's important. We just got word that the angels you set to guard the room were attacked, and Dean Winchester has escaped."

Castiel's eyes flew wide as he turned to look at Deborah. Sam also turned his attention to the angel. Zachariah's hand tightened on the brand but he finally turned around.

"And how exactly did that happen?"

She shook her head. "Reports said it was the rebel, Anna."

Castiel exhaled sharply. Anna. She had come back.

"Dammit," Zachariah snapped and Castiel nearly smiled before the angel spun around toward Sam. "Where is your brother?"

Sam shook his head with a helpless shrug.

"Zachariah, how could he know?" Castiel called. "Dean is most likely out looking for his brother as we speek." Castiel really hoped he wasn't, he and Anna would only be walking into a trap if they came here.

"That would be expected," Zachariah said. "Unless, Dean has a bolt hole, or, perhaps, it's Anna who has a hideout somewhere." He turned back to Castiel. "And if anyone would know where that was, it would be you, wouldn't it, Castiel?" He strode toward the captive angel again, leaning over Castiel with a knowing look. "You and Anna were always close. I bet she's the one who helped turn your mind now too. Urged you to rebel like her."

"Even if I did know where she was, I would never tell you," Castiel said firmly.

"Oh, I know that," Zachariah said, straightening up and heading back toward the cart of tools. At least he'd seemed to lose his interest in the brand, but Castiel didn't allow himself to relax yet. Zachariah pulled a box from a lower shelf of the table and opened it, striding back over to Castiel. "I know you'll never tell me willingly. And while I would love to take you apart piece by piece until you screamed the answers I want, I just don't have time for that right now. So…" He pulled the contents from the box and Castiel blanched in confusion, not knowing what it was he held. "We'll have to resort to other methods."

Malachi and Josiah came to flank Castiel, hands gripping his shoulders to hold him still. Castiel watched as Zachariah advanced on him with the strange contraption, some sort of metal basket with screws sticking out of it. It didn't look pleasant whatever it was.

"Hold him still," Zachariah snapped and the angels each grabbed Castiel's head, one gripping his chin, the other the back of his neck. He struggled furiously, seeing exactly what the contraption was for now. Zachariah settled it over his head and tightened the straps.

"Now, let's see if I can remember how this works," Zachariah said and twisted one of the screws, which began to bore into Castiel's skull.

"Zachariah stop!" Castiel tried to protest, wincing. "My vessel…"

"Your vessel is tucked away safe and sound," Zachariah sneered. "I have no interest in talking to him…as of now, anyway. As long as he doesn't know anything important." He twisted the pin further into Castiel's head.

The captive angel screamed, the pain and the terror overcoming him. He could hear Sam protesting in his corner too. Zachariah adjusted several more of the screws, sending them deep into Castiel's head.

On the fourth or fifth one, things started to get a little fuzzy. He blinked to clear his vision, then screamed as Zachariah adjusted one of the screws again. A dull ringing started in his ears.

"Now, Castiel, I want you to tell me where the traitor Anna is," Zachariah said and twisted one screw deeper still.

Castiel's only answer was another scream torn from his throat.

They reached the city limits of San Francisco and Dean was forced to slow down, which made him antsy.

"Okay, so how do we find them now?" he asked Anna.

Anna glanced out the window. "Keep heading toward the center of the city. That's where I felt Castiel's grace emanating from."

"Can you try again now that we're here?" he asked.

Anna shook her head. "It won't do any good. They have likely taken precautions. By now they'll know you're gone and they'll be looking for you. It's only likely someone will know it was me who helped you."

Dean glanced over at her. "Anna, I'm sorry for dragging you into even more trouble…"

"Don't. I make my own decisions. This is not on you, Dean."

His mouth twisted in discomfort. "Still. I don't…Anna, before…"

"Dean," she said softly. "You can't feel guilty for what happened to me. You have a family to look out for. I only have myself." Then she looked at him from under her eyelashes as he stopped at a red light and glanced over at her. "And for what it's worth, you did give me one of the best nights of my life."

Heat flared up the back of Dean's neck and he cleared his throat, but he couldn't help but admit her comment pleased him. He managed a small ghost of his usual smirk. "Well, uh, I guess that's something at least." He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "But now, we need to save our brothers," he said quickly, trying to switch gears back to his upstairs brain. Now was definitely not the time for that.

Anna nodded. "There is one way we may be able to find him. When…when angels are in pain, sometimes it manifests itself physically."

Dean frowned. "Like…how?"

"Strange occurrences," Anna told him. "Almost like demon sign, but, not quite so destructive. Spontaneous combustion of vegetation, power outages, sometimes even freak storms."

Dean swallowed hard, hating the thought that Cas might be suffering so much that his pain would manifest itself physically. "So we follow a path of weird?"

Anna nodded. "In theory."

Dean slowed to a stop, looking ahead at a traffic jam. He frowned, wondering if there had been an accident, seeing police cars up ahead at the intersection, but then he noticed that the traffic lights were out. He looked over to either side of the street and saw that the shops lining the road were also dark. He glanced toward Anna. "Kinda like that?" he grunted.

"I don't think it would be coincidence," she said. "We're getting close."

Sam blinked tears of relief from his eyes when Zachariah finally stepped away from Castiel with a frustrated sigh, giving the angel a reprieve. Cas slumped limply in his chains, shuddering with labored breaths. Sam's ears were still ringing from the piercing frequency that had accompanied Cas' screams. He had still not given anything up, though Sam was pretty certain Cas didn't have anything to give up. As far as he knew Cas hadn't known where Anna was either.

"This is really starting to get old, Castiel," Zachariah said. "What am I going to have to do to get you to talk?"

Cas didn't answer, still slumped in his chains. Sam wondered if he was even conscious at this point. He hadn't been able to watch the angel's torment once Zachariah started screwing the pins into his head, but it hadn't done much good. Hearing his screams had been enough.

A door opened somewhere further down the tunnel, echoing in the open space and the sound of struggling and the clank of chains could be heard. Sam's heart seized, afraid the angels had caught Dean and Anna after all, but as two angels came into sight, he was relived to see an unknown man chained up and being dragged between them. Then he instantly reprimanded himself. He shouldn't wish the angels' torments on anyone else.

"Ah," Zachariah said, turning to them. "Looks like it's time to take a break. I've been ignoring my other guest." He glanced over at Sam briefly before he turned back to the angels and their captive.

"Good work, boys," Zachariah said. "This almost makes up for losing Dean so quickly. At least we'll have one of them ready." He drew his blade and brandished it at the captive who was gagged as well as chained. Zachariah pressed the blade to the man's cheek and sliced quickly.

Blood pooled from the wound, and a drop fell to the ground. A familiar, dizzying scent assaulted Sam's nostrils and he inhaled sharply. A demon.

His stomach cramped sickly and he tried to force down the craving for the blood, but with his gag he could only breathe through his nose and there was no way to not smell the fresh blood that Zachariah had spilled. Probably on purpose.

"Drain it," Zachariah told the two angels and they nodded, dragging the protesting demon over to a dark alcove of the tunnel. Sam heard a gurgling scream and then the scent of the demon's blood got so strong, he nearly retched. Zachariah turned around to face him fully now.

"Well, Sam, it looks like you'll finally be of some use in the whole scheme of things," he said, clasping his hands behind his back and striding over to stand in front of Sam.

Sam gave him a questioning look and Zachariah rolled his eyes and reached out to tug Sam's gag free roughly. "What do you want with me?" the hunter demanded.

"What do we want with you?" the angel raised his eyebrows as if Sam had asked a dumb question. "Why, to help us stop the apocalypse, of course."

"I thought I was an abomination," Sam said, trying to keep the roiling in his stomach at bay. He was torn between wanting to fight his chains to get to the demon blood and simply throwing up at the scent of it.

"Oh, you are, Sam, sure enough," the angel said. "But it turns out we have need of your…special abilities. You're the only one who can kill Lilith, kiddo, and we need you to do it, before she breaks the final Seal."

There was a rattle of chains and a moan. Sam's eyes flicked over to Cas whose eyes were open again, looking straight at him. "Sam…no," he croaked. "It's not…"

The angel, Malachi, strode forward and shoved one of the pins further into Cas' skull, causing the angel to be cut off with a strangled cry. Zachariah nodded in approval.

"We just need to get you fit and ready for the final battle, Sam."

Sam's eyes widened and the angels who had brought the demon in, came over with two buckets filled with demon blood. Sam gagged as they put it at his feet and he turned his head away.

"No," he said firmly. "Look, if you want me to kill Lilith, I'll do it, but I'll find another way. I swore never to touch that stuff again."

"Well, hate to break it to you, but you're not leaving here until you drink every drop of this," Zachariah said firmly. "You'll need it to be strong enough to fight Lilith."

Sam narrowed his eyes at the angel. "Then I guess I'll just sit here forever then."

Zachariah moved so fast, Sam didn't even know what hit him. One minute he was chained to the chair, the next his chains were broken, all but the ones around his wrists, and Zachariah had him in a firm grip, yanking him to his feet.

"You listen to me, boy," Zachariah snarled into Sam's face. "You are not going to screw this up for me any more than you and your insufferable smartass of a brother already have. You really don't think I can make you do whatever I want?"

Sam snarled at him them, beyond the point of caring about consequences. Chances were they were all going to die soon anyway. What was the worst thing Zachariah could do to him? "You know what I think? I think you can't even keep your own soldiers in line. You've spent the past several hours trying to force Castiel to do what you want him to, and he's still not giving in. So screw you, I'll take my chances."

"Insolent pissant!" Zachariah snarled and forced Sam to his knees, one hand fisted in his hair and another clenching his shoulder so tightly Sam expected something to break. But he forgot all of that as Zachariah shoved him forward, forcing his head into one of the buckets of demon blood. Sam flailed, struggling against Zachariah, but the angel had an iron grip and he only forced Sam's head further into the blood, fully submerging his face so that he couldn't breathe.

"All of you will bend to my will before this is over!" Zachariah said. "I'm in charge until Michael comes to earth, and I want everything to be set for him. So you will do your duty. All of you will!"

"Zachariah!" Sam heard Cas' voice as if from far away. "Leave that boy alone."

"You have no authority here," Zachariah sneered with a derisive chuckle.

Sam was blacking out. He was holding out for as long as he could, but he needed air. Zachariah tightened his hand in Sam's hair insistently.

"Drink it, boy! If you drown I'll only bring you back and do it over and over and over again," Zachariah snarled at him.

Sam struggled, but he was weakening. He heard Cas give more weak protests before he was cut off with another scream, and Sam let out a helpless sob before he was powerless against the warm, thick blood that filled his nose and mouth, consuming him.

Dean and Anna followed the trail of power outages, seeming to center in on an older part of the city, but one that was just as populated.

"Okay, so there's not going to be any abandoned warehouses around here," Dean muttered wryly. "So where the hell would Zachariah set up a makeshift prison in the middle of San Francisco?"

"This is an old part of town," Anna said and then gasped and looked out the window. "Look!"

Dean's eyes widened as he caught sight of what she had seen and pulled off to the side of the road. He and Anna both got out of the car and hurried over to the group of shocked bystanders.

"What's going on?" he asked a woman standing by watching the sight as sirens sounded out, hailing the fire engine that tore up the road.

"It was so strange," she said. "I was just walking down the street and all of a sudden this tree just caught fire."

Dean shared a glance with Anna and she nodded slightly. "Huh, that is strange," he muttered and turned away to leave the befuddled people to explain what had happened to the firemen.

"You think that's a sign?" he asked.

She nodded. "We're getting close." She looked around then, a furrow in her brows. "Dean…this part of town. It's a historical district, there may be some place off the typical tourists' trails here that Zachariah could hole up."

Something surfaced in Dean's memory then. "Hold on, I think I have an idea." He jogged back to the car and Anna hurried behind him, climbing back inside. Dean pulled out onto the road as he explained. "A few years back my dad and I worked a case here, and we found out that there's old railway tunnels running underneath the town. They're not in use anymore, so they attract a lot of unwanted visitors." He drove down several side streets, trying to get his bearings. "I think…yeah, right over here."

He pulled into a parking lot and got out, motioning to Anna again. "The entrance is over here."

It was blocked off for safety, but Dean easily kicked the lock open and pushed inside, Anna right on his heels.

It was dark and he pulled a flashlight from his jacket, but he could already tell that someone had been here recently. There was warding painted on the walls.

"Concealing sigils," Anna said, touching one. "Just as I thought."

They walked further until they saw lights up ahead and the sound of voices could be heard. Dean and Anna stopped and pressed themselves against the side of the tunnel in case they could be seen. Dean could clearly make out Zachariah's voice and then a sudden gut-wrenching scream with a ring of some sort of familiar frequency in it. Anna paled.

"Cas," she whispered.

Dean swallowed hard and motioned for her to edge forward. The tunnel opened into a train station and Dean took in the scene there.

The first thing he saw was Zachariah standing smugly in the middle of the platform, looming over a crumpled figure. Dean knew it was Sam instantly, though couldn't tell what shape his brother was in. Anger flared up in him just at knowing Zachariah was near him though.

"Dean," Anna hissed and pointed to one side of the platform.

Dean's jaw fell open despite himself. There was Cas. He was chained between two pillars, on his knees, and from their point of view, all Dean could see was a mess of blood and black feathers.

"Son of a bitch," he hissed. "What the hell… are those wings?"

"I'll kill him," Anna said firmly. "He forced Castiel to manifest his wings. Dean, the agony that would have caused him…"

More rage welled up in Dean and he clutched Cas' angel blade tighter in his hand. "We gotta get them out of here."

Sam's figure suddenly shuddered and he vomited on the ground. For some reason that made Zachariah furious and he started yelling again and then kicked Sam in the stomach, sending him flying into a wall.

Dean started forward, but Anna yanked him back firmly with a hand on his arm.

"Don't, there's too many of them," she hissed.

Dean glanced around and saw reluctantly that she was right. Aside from Zachariah, there were five other angels in the room, two of which seemed to be guarding Cas.

"What do we do then?" he demanded.

"Stay here," Anna told him, drawing her own blade. "I'll draw some of them off, get them to follow me. When I do, you step in and take out the others. I'll find you when I can."

"Anna, that's idiotic!" Dean snapped.

She gave him a small smile. "Tell me you wouldn't do the same?"

Dean sighed, and nodded. "True."

"You have the element of surprise. Malachi and Josiah will be more worried about torturing Cas than looking for a rescue party," she told him. "Don't hesitate to use the blade, just…whatever you do, don't use the banishing sigil. It will work on Cas too, and in his condition," she shuddered slightly. "I will kill him."

Dean swallowed hard but nodded. "Okay."

Anna nodded back and disappeared.

Dean clutched the angel blade tighter and waited for his moment.

Zachariah yanked Sam out of the bucket and threw him to the ground, just before he passed out. Sam sputtered and coughed, gasping in air past the sticky blood that coated the inside of his nose and mouth. He'd been unable to help swallowing some of it, and he could feel it roiling inside of him already.

"You've got the taste for it again now, haven't you, you disgusting abomination?" Zachariah sneered, looming over Sam's limp figure. "You'll be unable to help yourself to the rest.

But Zachariah was wrong. Sam's chains were loose, disarranged when Zachariah had pulled him angrily from his chair, and he wriggled one of his hands free, not even hesitating a second to shove a finger down his throat.

He retched violently and kept vomiting, his body doing the rest of the work to evacuate the foreign substance. He quickly rubbed some of the blood from his face with his sleeve too, finally able to see again.

Zachariah growled with rage. "You little bitch!" he kicked Sam hard in this stomach and the hunter flew backwards with a grunt, rolling several more feet, his stomach aching. "I'll force it down your throat if I have to!"

Sam prepared himself to fight for all he was worth, but he didn't have to. One of the other angels called out if surprise as there was the sound of wings flapping.

"Hello, Zach, I heard you were looking for me."

Sam blinked in surprise as he saw Anna standing there. His breath caught in his throat. Had she betrayed Dean? But then where was his brother?

"You," Zachariah snarled.

"That's right," Anna said. "You want to know where Dean is? Then you best come find him." And with that she disappeared.

"After her!" Zachariah shouted, snapping to the two angels who had brought the demon in. "The rest of you stay here!" And then he and his lackeys were gone.

Sam struggled to get on his hands and knees, but his head swam, the heady effects of even the small bit of demon blood he had ingested compromising him. He couldn't believe he had craved this stuff at one point. Of course, part of his body still did, but he wouldn't let it defeat him this time. He wouldn't give into that craving. He couldn't. Not ever again.

Josiah strode over to him then, and reached down to grab him by the front of the shirt, hauling him upright and slamming him into the wall.

"Might as well give Zachariah a hand with you while he's busy," the angel sneered. "Let's see how much demon blood we can get down your throat before he comes back."

Sam struggled.

"No" Castiel forced out before a whimper escaped his throat as Malachi clenched a hand around his injured wing.

Josiah punched Sam in his already sore stomach, doubling him over and giving the angel a chance to shove him down in front of the buckets of demon blood again. The smell itself was overwhelming and Sam struggled for all he was worth.

"This will be easier if you stop fighting," Josiah snapped, a hand on the back of Sam's neck, forcing him down. "But on the other hand… a lot less fun."

Before he could shove Sam's face into the bucket again, though, a shout sounded further down the tunnel, followed by a flash of light. Sam whipped his head around to see what had happened and saw Anias falling off the platform and onto the unused rails in the tunnel.

As he collapsed, another figure leapt onto the platform as Sam watched with relief.

Dean.