A/N: Thanks to phantomq3, since I couldn't reply to you ^_^ Seriously, it's ALWAYS poor ol' Cas!
Also to Dean Winchesterp, it WOULD be pretty funny to see Dean's frustration if he got turned back *again*!
To JeffStarships, hehehe don't worry, Sam's stayed pretty human so far but we haven't seen the last of doggy Winchesters! ;)
For my other guest, thanks for reviewing!
Okay so as some of you guessed, this chapter is where the cover art is from ^_^ There's a full sized image on deviantart, user name is 29-pieces-of-me if you're interested :D
In other news, don't screw with Gabriel.
(thanks to a reviewer's tip that I totally had my Spanish wrong! corrected version follows! ^_^)
Chapter 10
Castiel reacted the second he saw Dean go down, bounding forward with a ferocious string of barking. His powerful jaws snapped open and closed, showing massive canines. The demons had tried rushing the fallen hunter, but—once again—Castiel was faster. The angel raced to Dean and then spun, positioning himself between his friend and the attackers.
"If you want to live, STAY BACK," he snarled, muzzle pulled back in a vicious display. Even though they couldn't understand his actual words, it was clear that they got the message… the memory of the last demon he'd killed was still as fresh as the blood staining his snout. Now that he wasn't restrained, and Lucifer wasn't there to hold the lesser angel under his control, the four hesitated, eyeing him with prudent wariness.
"He ain't got his wings," the female snapped after a minute, crouching a bit. "Get him!"
The demon to her left grinned and threw a hand up, trying to use his power to fling Castiel out of the way. The angel didn't budge; the smug looks dropped from their faces.
"My grace might not be stronger than the goddess anymore," Castiel growled, steely eyes locked onto the demon who'd tried and failed to attack. He took a menacing step forward. "But I'm still stronger than YOU."
The other three demons scrambled to move aside, abandoning the one that the angel was prowling towards. This one had already straightened up with wide eyes darting around for an avenue of escape, but there was nowhere to go. Castiel's growls deepened as he stepped forward again.
"Shit!" The demon raised a hand again, concentration warring with fear in his expression. The angel felt a pressure against him, but with one toss of his head, he pushed right through the force with ease. There was no way the demon could have failed to realize that he had just become the first target of the angel's wrath. "Someone grab him!"
The others didn't move to help, though. The demon tripped backwards and Castiel lunged with a roar. He caught the demon's raised arm, shaking him and ripping through flesh and muscle as the monster howled in pain. The demon wasn't as vulnerable as the dog had been, but the angel's teeth were still enough to damage him in a way that ordinary weapons couldn't.
"Get him off!" the demon bleated, sending up a caterwaul that pierced the dogs' ears and set them barking again. "Get… him… off!"
Castiel might have been wounded, might have been exhausted, but he wasn't going to let these demons anywhere close to Dean. If he faltered for even a second, they would gain the upper hand over him; if they rushed him, they could still get him down, and if Castiel got tied up again, it was highly unlikely that there would be a second opportunity to escape. They would see to it that Dean was unable to help him… one way or another.
That wasn't going to happen on Castiel's watch.
The other demons still hadn't worked up the nerve to move in yet, backing up even further as the angel wrenched his enemy down to the ground. The demon yelled again for help that wasn't forthcoming, as Castiel's claws raked down the monster's chest, tearing through its shirt and the first layer of skin. The angel growled around a mouthful of the demon's arm, shaking him hard enough that a bone snapped in his arm like a dried twig.
"To heaven with this!" the demon sobbed, before opening up his mouth and releasing a cloud of black smoke in hasty evacuation, leaving the dead body of its host behind.
"Damn it," the female demon snarled. "If they get away, Lucifer will have all our heads. Come on! We still outnumber him!"
The threat of Lucifer seemed to do the trick. Castiel fought not to show his fatigue as the three remaining demons converged on him, leaping on the angel in a squirming dogpile. Castiel's pulse quickened, knowing that this could well be the end, but he pushed through the dismay. He would fight to his last breath before ever letting them get close to Dean.
Grimly, the angel lashed out with teeth and claws, but they did outnumber him, and he had no weapons. No matter how hard he struggled, Castiel just couldn't extricate himself from their weight. His heart sank as he saw one of them grab the muzzle from the floor. He had lost.
"Someone's coming!" Captain howled from his cage; Castiel's ears swiveled around, his head lifting warily. Those thundering paws were either the demon dog returning, or…
The door to the front crashed open, nearly cracking from the force with which the newcomer flew through. The Golden Retriever didn't even pause, but galloped towards the demons holding Castiel down. His own muzzle was pulled up in a snarl, baring his teeth.
"Sam!" Castiel called with relief. He wriggled furiously, forcing the demons to divide their concentration between him and his friend. The hunter collided with the group, bowling them over and freeing the angel from their grasp.
"Zorro, get in here!" Sam shouted, practically foaming as he fought with the demons. "Wake Dean up! Whatever it takes! We need his help!"
He and Castiel ended up side by side, a wall between the demons and the unconscious hunter. To Castiel's surprise, a diminutive Chihuahua came scurrying in, panting hard in obvious effort to have kept up with his short little legs. He slipped right past the demons, making a beeline for Dean, still curled up on the floor.
"Sam, are you alright?" Castiel quickly asked, even though he knew there wasn't time to trade stories. An enormous weight had been lifted off the angel's shoulders, just to see that he hadn't accidentally sent his friend to somewhere from which he would never make it back.
"Yeah, great, let's get rid of these guys first, though! Cover me!"
Not sure what the young hunter intended, Castiel nevertheless nodded and stepped in front of Sam, making himself as large as possible. His muzzle pulled up, showing gleaming canines again and daring the enemy to try getting closer.
"What's going on?" one of the demons demanded as the three regrouped and eyed the newcomer. "Is that… is that Sam Winchester?"
"It must be. Right into our arms," the female replied. She sneered, advancing a step. Castiel snarled at her and slashed his claws against the concrete, throwing up sparks that momentarily stopped her in her tracks. She glared at the angel, but her eyes flicked down to the blood still coating his paw. He'd already gone through two demons; clearly she wasn't eager to be the third.
"Dean! Hey, hey Dean! Wake up, muchacho, your bro needs you!"
"Sam?" Castiel called over his shoulder, though it came out like an imposing woof that would hopefully make the demons think twice. They were prowling closer, though. "Whatever you're planning to do, do it quickly!"
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus…"
One of the demons gasped, jerking slightly. All three of them traded looks of both horror and confusion. Castiel blinked. Of course… it didn't matter what voice said the exorcism, as long as the Latin was correct. From behind them, he heard the hunter stirring.
"What the hell- hey! Ew, get off!" Dean's voice grumbled, followed by the Chihuahua's excited yip. Castiel absorbed it all, paying attention to everything, but keeping his focus on the task of preventing the demons from rushing in.
"Omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii," Sam went on, not stopping to see how his brother was doing. A demon cried out, twitching as the exorcism tried to pull it out of the human body it had stuffed itself into. Its black eyes locked onto the continuously growling Sam, the only one making any sound… the only one who could be saying the exorcism.
"It's him! Stop him!" the demon shouted, pointing at Sam and then flinging his hand to the side. The hunter went crashing into the cages with a yelp.
"Sam!"
It sounded like Dean was scrambling to his feet, but the angel leaped towards the one who'd attacked Sam, preventing him from getting anywhere close to the hunter.
"Finish it, Sam!" Castiel shouted, baring his teeth and crouching low as the demons pulled back, looking for a way around him.
"Omnis legio," Sam went on shakily, "omnis congregatio et secta diabolica."
This time, two of the demons dropped down to their knees, clutching at their throats and shouting as they struggled to keep the black smoke inside the human receptacles. There was a yapping from Zorro, words of encouragement, and then a gasp from Dean.
"Attaboy, Sammy! Exorcizamus te-"
Castiel wasn't at all surprised that even without the ability to understand Sam, Dean was still able to pick up on his brother's plan in the blink of an eye. Between the two of them reciting the spell, and Castiel standing between the three and the brothers, the demons couldn't get anywhere close enough to stop them. They writhed in place, trying to fight the exorcism, until finally they could resist no more.
Three black plumes of smoke shot upwards in tandem with three matching howls of fury. The empty bodies slumped down to the ground, and silence reigned in the pound. Castiel breathed heavily, glaring at the three who had tried to harm his friends, before turning his attention back to the Winchesters.
"Sam… Dean!"
"Cas! Oh my god, I'm so glad we found you… Is that BLOOD? You're hurt!"
"Sam! What the hell is going on? Where have you been? Cas, you alright?"
The angel stepped forward, nodding to Sam but stealing a look at Dean to make sure he wasn't too injured from being thrown into the wall. Aside from a bruise on his forehead and a bit of blood, he seemed to be unharmed.
"I'm fine," he assured Sam, which was a significant stretch of the truth. "Much of the blood isn't mine. We've been looking everywhere for you. Lucifer is searching for you as well."
"Yeah, I know. Look, there'll be time to catch up later, but we gotta get out of here. Dean! Dean, thank god! You're… you're human. I'm confused, I thought…"
"Geez, Sammy," Dean said with a sigh, kneeling down in front of the Retriever. "I was worried sick! You okay?"
Sam barked, dipping his muzzle in a nod, then looking behind Dean. "Yeah," he said, though conversation was futile at the moment. "Yeah, Zorro's been a big help."
Only now did Castiel finally turn his attention back to the Chihuahua who'd run in behind Sam. The little dog was standing stock still, huge eyes directed straight at the angel. Castiel blinked, uncertain as to why exactly the dog named Zorro was staring at him like that. Dean twisted around as well, seeing that they were looking at the Chihuahua, and frowned.
"Were you licking me?" Dean demanded, though the dog ignored him completely.
"Un ángel…"
"Um..." Castiel cleared his throat, scratching behind his ear awkwardly. "Yes."
"Un ÁNGEL…"
"Yeah, I have no idea what any of you are saying," Dean grumbled. "But let's save it, okay? We gotta get out of here before they come back. Cas, you healed enough?"
"So you WERE injured!"
"It's not of import, Sam. We should free the rest of these animals. The enemy will not be kind when they find we've escaped."
The younger hunter nodded agreement. Castiel wasn't ready to breathe a sigh of relief—not until they were all safely back in hiding while they figured out their next move—but at least they were all together once again. With the addition of Zorro, who was still staring at him with uncomfortable fascination, of course.
Now if they could just kill the goddess and return to their normal forms…
Gabriel stepped through the doors of the pound, frowning slightly. Death didn't bother him, not anymore, not really. Humans had died here, but hell, he'd killed his share of them, too. What bothered him more was the fact they'd been killed by demons—their stink lingered in the place—which meant those black eyed sons of bitches had gotten the same idea he had. It couldn't be coincidence that they'd been here, at a dog pound, on the same day that Circe had transformed his brother and those two Winchesters.
The question was, had they been more successful in their search than Gabriel had been so far?
Ignoring the dead humans in the front room, the archangel made his way into the back where all the animals should have been. All of the cages were empty. Gabriel wasn't sure what to make of that, though he did hope that the animals at least had been spared. None of this was their fault.
A glistening puddle caught his eye, covering the floor almost three quarters of the way to the back, and Gabriel flew the distance in an instant. His jaw tightened as he knelt down, dipping two fingers into the still sticky mess.
The archangel's face darkened, a herald of wrath and vengeance. The other puddle with the trail towards the back was demon blood, easily recognizable by the darkness it cast, but this…
Gabriel's hand tightened into a fist. This had come from an angel. Gabriel knew, just knew, that it was Castiel's.
"Damn it," Gabriel said, sighing as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was murder written in the golden orbs, a thunderous rage. Someone was going to pay, and those damn Winchesters had better hope that Gabriel found the demon responsible, otherwise it was going to come out of their asses for getting Castiel mixed up in this to begin with. The TV land he'd sent them to was nothing compared to what he'd do when he was really angry.
At least there was more demon blood than there was angel. Gabriel was going to hold on to that fact as hopeful evidence that Castiel had emerged the victor. But to have lost this much... his brother must have been horribly wounded.
There was a banging sound from the back, announcing someone's presence. Gabriel slowly straightened to his feet, fists tightening at his sides; his highly tuned senses registered demon. Perhaps even the one who had so stupidly injured Gabriel's brother. Static started to crackle around the archangel in a frightening mirror of his mood.
The back door into the long room flew open, revealing a demon who clearly wasn't paying close enough attention, to have not noticed the danger he was storming headlong into. It was grumbling under its breath, but stopped with a jolt as it finally seemed to realize that it wasn't alone.
"Hey there," Gabriel greeted him, the mockery of friendliness doing nothing to alleviate the electric charge surrounding him. The demon's eyes widened, and it took a step back.
"Wait," the black eyed monster whispered, a tremor in his voice. "You're… but… but that can't be…"
"So you know what I am," Gabriel said. He was still smiling, but it hid a grim, deadly cool. "How about that."
The demon swallowed, taking another step back as Gabriel advanced. "You feel like… like an..."
"Archangel?" he supplied. Pausing, Gabriel looked down at his hand, still sticky from the blood, then held it up as evidence. "So, uh… any chance you know something about this?"
Rather than answering, the demon opened its mouth wide, in preparation to smoke out, but the archangel wasn't about to give him a chance to escape. He'd flown the remaining distance between them before the demon could blink, a hand covering the monster's mouth to trap it in the vessel.
"Now that's just rude," Gabriel complained. The smirk fell away from his face, and the archangel slammed the demon back against the row of cages, hard enough to make it whimper into his hand. Once again, he held up his palm to show the blood-dipped fingers. "You know what this is?"
Terrified, the demon only shook his head, eyes flicking rapidly between the blood and the archangel. Gabriel leaned in, freeing the monster's mouth as he wrapped an arm around its shoulders instead.
"This," he explained, "is angel blood. Here's the thing… angels aren't supposed to bleed. I know, I know," he added with a jovial air as the demon whimpered again. "We've got an unfair advantage over you demons… we can kill you with a snap of the fingers-" The archangel paused to demonstrate. He didn't put any power into it, but the demon still flinched with a low moan. "-but demons can't hurt us. At least, not you low-level yahoos. So, what I want to know… how did you lot do this… and was it you?"
"No!" the demon cried out, trying and failing to squirm away from Gabriel's unyielding hand. "It wasn't me! Look, I had nothing to do with this!"
"The angel… I'm just gonna guess it was Castiel?"
"I- well, yes. Please… please, it wasn't my fault, he got turned into a dog somehow, and… and it wasn't me!"
Gabriel nodded, grip on the demon tightening even more so that the monster yelped in pain. "Uh huh, so where is he now? What did you do with him?"
"They escaped!" the demon sobbed. "The angel, the Winchesters… they got away, and Lucifer is gonna kill us if we don't find them! Please, you have to believe me, I don't know where they are now! They exorcised us, I only just now got back in a new body and came to check! Okay? I don't know! "
Great. While Gabriel was obviously pleased to hear that his brother at least wasn't still being held captive by the demons—or Lucifer—he was back to square one. Castiel had hidden himself too cleverly, and not even the archangel could track him. Gabriel only hoped that even if his little brother didn't have enough grace left to break Circe's hold, he was still able to heal… Damn, this was so much blood.
"Okay," Gabriel finally said, shoving his hand towards the demon's face again. "I'm gonna ask you one more time… did you do this? Did you hurt Castiel?"
"No! No, please… please believe me, it wasn't me, I swear!" The demon was practically bawling now, trembling so hard with very reasonable fear that the cage he stood against was rattling.
"Hmm." Gabriel tilted his head, examining the demon, letting him sweat for a moment. Then, finally, he decided, "I believe you."
For a split second, the demon's fear seemed to ease, its body slumping slightly in Gabriel's grasp. One look at the archangel, though, was all it took to realize that there was no mercy to be found here.
Fortunately, it didn't have long to dwell on its imminent demise. Gabriel's blade was in his hand before the demon even knew what was happening. Fiery orange spurts of light flooded the narrow room as Gabriel plunged his sword deep into the monster's heart, smiting its mangled soul to oblivion. The screams barely echoed for a second, and then it was gone.
The archangel's face furrowed back into an intense frown as he jerked his blade free, pushing the empty husk to the floor without a second look. There was nothing more to see here, nothing to be learned. Time to be moving on.
