Cas appeared in the middle of the cottage's one room. He looked around at the blood-red symbols on the walls and the circle on the floor. It didn't look as though Sam and Dean had been there yet. That was good. Despite what the legends said, they couldn't be hurt if they performed the ritual correctly. However, they could be severely punished. As Cas recollected, the standard punishment was twenty years in a coma.

But they were on their way, Cas was sure of that. That was why he had left the grace and instructions. Sam and Dean knew Elizabeth would die soon, and they would not allow it to happen. If Cas did not return in time, one of them would perform the ritual. Being both human and angel, Elizabeth was as important to them as she was to heaven. Or almost as important, since angels, for the most part are irreplaceable. Not that humans are "replaceable", by any means.

Cas sighed deeply, thinking that maybe Elizabeth was partly right, that maybe angels can be unfeeling and uncaring. But not all.

Cas went outside and looked up at the sky. The morning glow was getting brighter, starting to turn the sky a pale pink. Cas had to find Elizabeth before the last star disappeared, in about half an hour. Sam and Dean still had the Enochian symbols burned into their ribs, hiding them from Cas and all other angels.

But not Elizabeth, Cas thought with a slight smile as he took to the air. As it turned out, he didn't even have to look for her. A large amount of demonic activity to the south pointed her out more clearly than if she'd sent up a flare. As he came down, he could see what was happening. Meg and three other demons held Sam and Dean up against two trees. Elizabeth knelt in the midst of them, holding her belly, coughing up blood.

Cas landed and placed a hand on the head of one of the lesser demons. Bright light poured from the possessed man's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and he collapsed in a heap. Cas dispatched the other two in a similar manner, after dodging and ducking a few swings from each one.

Only Meg was left. She gave Cas a look of contempt and disgust and scoffed, "Oh no, not you!" She vanished.

Dean shouted, "Cas, behind you!"

Cas rolled on the ground just as Meg slashed at him from behind with the angel blade, tearing his coat. He popped back up and grabbed the end of the blade. "Where did you get this?" he demanded.

Meg grinned. "From my father. My real father."

"Lucifer?"

"He lost it when he fell in his cage, and he told me many years ago that if I found it, I should use it. One way or another, he wanted me to kill you. All of you." She rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance. "Well, except for one, but he's still locked in with Lu, anyway."

Cas ripped the blade out of her hands, kicked her to the ground, and placed a foot on her chest, pinning her. Meg grinned smugly. "Kinky. You know, this is gonna screw up our relationship, don't you?"

Cas held the blade up in the air, scowling at the demon bitch.

"That's an angel blade, you moron," Meg said. "It can't kill me."

"No," Cas agreed. He drove it into her heart. Meg threw her head back and screamed. The black demon smoke escaped from her mouth and dissolved into the ground. Cas concluded, "But it'll hurt like hell." He tucked the blade inside his trench coat. He noticed the rip in the side of the coat and fingered it. "I really liked this coat," he said sadly.

Sam and Dean both fell to the ground now that Meg's demonic power had been broken. Dean growled, "Just once, I wish they'd pin us to the ground instead of a tree or a wall." The boys helped each other get up and then ran to Elizabeth.

Sam reached her first and held her in his arms. He looked up at Cas. "Is there still time?" he asked, tears glistening in his eyes.

Cas touched Elizabeth's head. Her pain disappeared and she was able to get up, with Sam's help. She was still very weak. "It's only temporary," Cas told them. "The curse on her is unbreakable. As long as she remains here, she will die when the last star disappears from the sky. She must go to heaven."

Elizabeth rested her head weakly against Sam's chest. Sam looked up at Cas. "There's no other way?"

Cas shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not." He looked up at the last star twinkling in the sky. "We don't have much more time."

Sam stood up, carrying Elizabeth in his strong arms. Cas held his arms out to her, and Sam transferred her to him.

Cas nodded to the other two. "Touch my arm." They obeyed, and they all disappeared together.