"Shit!" the young kid yells when he tries to kick the back door with his heavy boot for the fourth time, the lock still not budging one bit. "What is going on here?"
Dean tried the front door, most of the windows, and now the back door too but they're all closed tight with super glue or something, despite everything being so old and brittle that it should crumble with little force. This whole scenario is off, he thinks to himself. That mean guy must be like the crap his dad tells him about, the crap that wants only to hurt people. He and Sammy need to find a way out fast before the he gets back as Dean's starting to really, actually fear the guy.
Every couple of minutes while roaming around the house and trying to devise some kind of plan, Dean's eyes would glance over to Sammy who's still seated at the crooked, warped table to make sure he's as ok as he'll be and every time he's greeted by hazel eyes that are currently holding more fear within them than Dean's ever seen before.
"Stop looking at me like that," Dean scolds over to Sammy in frustration from his place still by the back door where he stands for a second to catch his breath. That look makes him upset every time he sees it.
"I'm sorry, Dean," Sammy returns, lowering his eyes into his lap. While peering down after making his brother mad, something he always felt awful about after he'd been yelled at, he makes an offer to hopefully lessen Dean's anger. "Can I help?"
"Nah," Dean responds downtrodden, now bummed out for snapping when Sammy did nothing wrong. He's just scared. "I'm not mad at you, Sammy. I'm mad at the jerk that took us here."
"I know," Sam sheepish voice responds, still feeling slightly responsible.
"Just stay there, ok? I'll get us out, I promise."
Sam looks at Dean and nods with little hope. He has a bad feeling about this.
Dean sighs and looks around the decrepit, wasting away house. Unbelievably, this place is worse than any of the flea bag places their dad's ever brought them to. There's still some furniture left by the last occupant that's now sagging and stained and some random items here and there lying around. Broken chairs, some old empty cans and glass bottles, an old school iron frying pan on the rusting stove that can't still work… bingo.
Picking up the very hefty piece of cookware, Dean walks to the window closest to the table Sam's sitting at.
"Holy crap," he comments, shifting the pan in his grip. "This thing is crazy heavy."
Sammy watches as Dean holds the pan handle like a baseball bat and winds up.
"Be careful!" Sammy calls out to when he figures out what Dean's up to. He doesn't want his big brother to get hurt.
"I'm always careful," Dean calls back over his shoulder with sarcasm as he gets ready. He swings with all his might, one of the glass panes shattering the second the pan makes contact. As the shards fall to the ground at his feet, Dean smiles wide. They have a way out. He's gonna get them out. He turns sharply to Sammy. "You ready to run?"
Sammy nods as he gets down from his seat quickly, ready to leave as soon as he can. He hates this place.
"Good because once I bash this window good, we're gonna have to run like hell outta here," Dean turns back to the window to take a few more swings but stops short instead. "What the hell?"
Both boys walk slowly to the window with slack jaws. Once in front of what should be a square of shattered glass, Sammy reaches up and runs his fingers over the smooth, unbroken pane that Dean had just busted and is now somehow whole again. Looking down at the dirty floor, there aren't even pieces of broken glass on the ground anymore. It's like the window healed itself when they weren't looking.
"Dean…" Sammy shaky voice starts to air all his worries.
"Yeah, I know dude," Dean answers, already sure of what Sammy was going to say to him.
"Look!" Sammy suddenly shouts as he points out the window after something catches his eye. They both put their faces a mere inch away from the glass as they watch a woman come out of the dark tree line. She has a man behind her with his arm locked around her neck and a gun pointed to her head. "Isn't that your teacher, Dean?"
"They're never gonna buy this," Lizzy says under her breath to her faux captor. "They know you won't kill me."
"That's fine," Dean answers, making sure once more that the safety on his gun is on while it's aimed at her temple. "We're just a distraction to buy time anyways. We just need to keep them occupied for a while.
"They might kill you," Lizzy tells him.
"No they won't," Dean boldly answers but honestly holds some reservation as to how true his statement is.
"But what if they decide to go for it?" Lizzy worries up to him while he keeps walking her toward the cabin. "This is dumb, Dean."
"And you thought we were gonna start being smart now?" Dean brushes off before he yells out to the angels he's been told are there. "Hey, dickbags!"
The clearing in front of the house stays eerily quiet as his insult echoes around them. No other sounds and no movement what so ever.
"I thought Cas said this place was surrounded?" he whispers to Lizzy as they trek closer to the house.
"Trust me, it is," she assures, feeling their angry presence all around them. "They're just waiting."
"Fucking wimps," Dean mutters before taunting out loudly once he knows they are really there. "Marco!"
"Polo," a suited figure returns calmly and with conviction as he steps out from behind a tree a few feet from the cabin. Seven other angels make themselves known as they come out from the shadows and trees all around them, stance tall and sights trained on the intruders. "What do you think you're doing, Winchester?" he asks in an annoyed voice.
"Going for a nice brisk walk through the freezing Canadian woods. It's really breathtaking up here."
"You can never just answer a question, can you?" the ridged angel quips with a look of disappointment in the hunter.
"You want the truth? Fine. I'm getting my ass into this house while dabbling in a little hostage negotiations," Dean honestly responds with his patented grin firmly in place.
"Sorry," the nameless angel says as he holds his hands out to his sides and shrugs. "We have orders to keep you out at all costs."
"Even at the cost of her life?" Dean challenges with a nod towards his hostage, Lizzy acting right along like she's afraid while locked in his grip.
"Oh please. You'd never kill her, Dean," the angel rebuts with a tone of obviousness. "Did you really think this half-baked at best idea was going to work?"
"His brother is in there," Lizzy frightfully tells him while grasping at Dean's arm as if to pry them off. "He'd do anything for Sam, you know that."
"And he'll do anything for you too."
"Are you nuts!" Lizzy shouts over to the angel as he remains calm.
"Contrary to how you idiots view us, we're smart," the angel returns. "Dean would never kill the perfect Lizzy Noonan, we're all aware."
"You willing to take that chance?" Dean questions, barrel pressing harder into Lizzy's head as he challenges the all-too-sure angel.
"Absolutely," he returns with total confidence. "You'd won't pull that trigger."
"And how can you be so fucking sure, huh?" Dean questions with narrowed eyes.
"Because we'd stop you before you could do it." The angel stares him down, silver blade dropping down from his sleeve as he does. Looking around he sees that every angel surrounding them also has their weapons at the ready.
"Alright, you got me," Dean admits with over-the-top casualty as he pulls his gun away from Lizzy's head and place it in his waistband at his back. "I was just kidding. I'm not gonna kill her."
"We know," the angel rebuts, having been fully aware that this would be the outcome.
"I'm just gonna use her as an angel shield to get inside." The angels all take a step forward in threat and Lizzy moves into action. She pulls an angel blade of her own out from its tucked away place behind her back and turns to face Dean, jumping up onto him with her legs locked around his waist and her one free arm around his neck. Her right arm is extended out behind his back, sword pointing out to the angels, and she's looking over his shoulder.
"You bitches can't touch me without getting smote right in the ass and I know it," she calmly taunts and the angels all stop in their advancing tracks. "I'm fucking protected, douche bags. Anyone comes near him, you all die. Now back the fuck off!"
Dean starts walking with a normal, casual gate and a smirk as if to taunt the angels. It isn't every day that one so easily wins against the dicks of heaven so he takes a moment to really enjoy it. He has an arm wrapped around her back and he's giving the middle finger to the angels he passes while smiling at the resentment in their faces. She might be one of the best weapons in their arsenal right now. It's like they had a nuke on their side all along and just never knew it.
"You know, that was pretty fucking hot right there," Dean says to her when he turns his attention to the woman wrapped around him, having found her threat to keep him safe a bit of a turn on not surprisingly. "I love when you threaten to beat people up for me, baby."
"I have to defend my man, don't I?" she returns and kisses him hard on the lips in order to show off a little before looking back over his shoulder to add a little insult to injury. "Bet you regret making me love him so much right about now, don't you bitches?" The clearing remains silent as not one of the angels as a rebuttal for her. It was their doing after all and it's being rubbed right in their faces.
Dean reaches the front door and presses a finger to his lips in order to tell her to be quiet. He turns the knob slowly and pushes the entrance open, luckily without a squeak from the old hinges. The two can already pick up on the voices inside, Uriel being one of them. They step inside the threshold and disappear from the sight of the clan of angels outside.
"Look!" Sammy say while pointing out the window both children are looking out of. "Isn't that your teacher, Dean?"
"Not quite," Castiel tells them as he along with Sam and John appear in the cabin without warning. The two boys whip their heads around immediately toward the voice. With the distraction Dean and Lizzy are causing outside they know they have bought themselves a precious few second to grab the kids and flee.
"Dad!" Sammy shouts as he runs over to John. John couches down low to the ground and Sammy barrels right into him, wrapping his small arms around his neck tightly. As he's getting nearly strangled by his youngest son that is shaking in his arms, John stands up and looks over to Dean. He's still standing by the window alone.
"You ok, Dean?" John asks over to his son.
"Yes sir," Dean says down to the floor, his head hung low with the disappointment he's sure his father will have in him.
"What's the matter?" John immediately asks, rushing over to his oldest son while his youngest stays attached to his side. "Are you hurt?"
"No sir." Dean doesn't look up at his father still. "I tried, I swear."
"We need to leave," Castiel loudly warns over the conversation he's watching, knowing Uriel can't be far if the angels out front have tipped him off already, which they surely have.
"Just a minute. Tried what?" John asks frantically, needing to understand what his son is so upset about. He kneels onto the wooden floor and lifts Dean's chin. "Tried what, Dean?"
"To get out," Dean tells him. "To get Sammy somewhere safe."
"I know you did," John says, his hand running down the back of Dean's head. "You did everything you could."
"But I failed. We're still here."
"We have to go!" Sam shouts, feeling their outdoor distraction won't stop Uriel from getting there for a long enough time for this little heart to heart. John doesn't acknowledge him at all, just focuses on his oldest son.
"You didn't fail," John tells Dean sternly as his son looks away with shame. "Hey!" Dean looks back with John's voice. "You didn't fail. You tried your best and I'm proud of you for that."
"You are?" Dean asks with bugged out eyes.
"Yeah, Dean," John tells him. "I'm always proud of you, dude."
Dean doesn't respond, he just moves in and hugs his dad as unlikely as it is for him to do. The more John sees of Lizzy, the more he realizes that she does in fact love his kids with everything in her, no matter what age. She was willing to have a gun pointed at her head while walking straight at the enemy for them. Now that's love and devotion and because of that John takes what Lizzy had said to him earlier very seriously. He trusts that she would say only the truth and he tries his best to make sure Dean has a better experience in the life than he's been given from here on out.
"Well isn't that so precious," Uriel bitingly announces as he appears without warning in the room, a suited angel to either side of him.
"Damn it," Sam laments when he sees that their opportunity to leave with the kids without a fight is now gone.
"Back off," John booms out, standing tall with one arm in a death grip around Sammy perched on his hip and the other pushing Dean behind him. "I'm talking my kids and we're leaving."
"That's funny," Uriel says with a tiny smirk, taking a step closer to the family. "I see now where Dean gets his wonderful sense of humor."
"Bite me, dude!" Dean shouts boldly from behind his father's frame with the insult. Now that his dad is there, his bravery has grown to a much higher place.
"Uriel, just let them go," Castiel interferes, stepping in front of John and his kids with a sure stance.
"No. Unlike you, I follow my orders."
"Look," Sam pipes up and gets the attention of the powerful and vengeful angel. "You already have me here, Dean and Lizzy too. You don't need to keep the rest of them. You have what you want."
"That is true," Uriel agrees. "But I highly doubt that you three are going to give in and actually let me erase your past few days. Call it a hunch."
"Not without a fight at least," Dean answers, walking into the room confidently.
"Oh good," Uriel complains. "I was beginning to feel this room's collective I.Q. was getting a little too high."
"Eat me, Ken doll," Dean quickly responds, doing anything he can to keep Uriel talking and stall for time.
"Always with you smart-assed quips. You never learn do you?" Uriel darkly says as Dean suddenly doubles over in pain. As he hits the floor, clutching his chest, the angel smiles. "Heart attack. Easy and mess free."
"Dean!" Sam shouts out, running to his brother. Dean grasps Sam's arms hard as tears stream out of the outer corners of his squinting eyes. His entire body is tensed and jerking with the sharp and all-encompassing pain in his chest.
"Alright!" Lizzy suddenly shouts as she steps into the doorway between the two small rooms of the cabin, the right side of her body hidden behind the doorframe. "Leave him alone and you can do what you want with us!"
"Mrs. Noonan?" young Dean asks with absolute shock when Lizzy appears before him. She looks a little different, not so school teacher and a whole lot more bad ass. Damn it, he might love school now. She's pretty cool.
"Giving up that easily?" Uriel asks with surprise.
"Yes! Make it stop!" Lizzy shouts back, her eyes dark and angry with the pain she witnesses Dean endure, the pain she can feel in her chest from what he experiences. "Now!"
Uriel snaps his fingers and Dean's struggling stops as he lays out across the floor breathing heavily and feeling the relief of the heart attack ending.
"And I thought Sam and Dean had a weakness for each other," Uriel laughs to the lackey angel on his right. "These two might be even worse. It's pathetic."
"You ok?" Lizzy checks on Dean without leaving the doorway. He looks up to her and gives her a silent thumbs up in response before dropping his head back onto the floor to give himself more recuperation time. She nods back, letting him know she was ready to carry out the step two of their impromptu plan and that his pain wasn't for nothing. Looking back at Uriel with absolute hatred, Lizzy starts wheeling and dealing. "Alright fuck face, let John and the kids go and we'll do what you ask."
"Do you take me for a moron?" Uriel angrily asks her.
"If the shoe fits," Dean's labored voice remarks from the floor, getting a face of such anger from Uriel that Lizzy gets nervous that the heart attack might start up again.
"No we don't," Lizzy corrects, getting the mad angel's focus back on her. She could kill Dean for his mouth sometimes. "We just want to assure that they're safe. Cas can take them back right now while you do what you have to with us. It's a fair deal and you know it!"
"Elizabeth, no," Castiel tries to warn over to her, very weary of this plan. He doesn't trust Uriel left alone with the hunters at all. However, when Lizzy looks to him, he's calmed. Something in her eyes suddenly makes Castiel go with her. He trusts her fully and in the moment she somehow, without talking, lets him know they're good. "Fine, I will take them back now."
"And you have to leave them alone!" Lizzy points to Uriel. "Once we're back where we belong, there's no need for you to go after the kids or John. They're off limits!"
"As long as I get what I want." The Cheshire cat grin Uriel shares makes the hunters nervous.
Castiel walks over to the family standing huddled together, ready to take them back to safety, when John looks over to Lizzy. He smiles sincerely over to her, a silent thanks of sorts, before Castiel and the group disappears.
"Making the big boy decisions now are we?" Uriel asks of Lizzy.
"Damn straight," she returns with a half-smile, feeling confident now that the kids are safe.
"Guess we know who wears the pants in this relationship," Uriel insults down to Dean on the floor.
"Nope. I'm the brains of the operation," Lizzy rebuts with a grin. "Fuck off, Junkless. Literally!"
Lizzy slaps her hand hard onto the sigil she drew in her own blood on the back of the wall separating the two rooms. Bright white light begins to illuminate the room and Uriel along with his two cronies shout out in surprise as the glow overcomes them. The light bursts through the room and dissipates quickly, leaving the three hunters alone in the crumbling cabin.
Sam huffs loudly in alleviation once Uriel is gone and looks over to Dean on the floor. "Come on," he says as he pulls Dean up to stand. "Cas'll be back for us soon."
Once Dean is on his feet he looks over to Lizzy. "L?" Dean calls to her unmoving frame in the doorway. It take a second of looking at her to realize something is very wrong. She's standing in the exact same place as she was when she activated the sigil. Her hand is still on the wall and her eyes are completely unmoving, staring straight ahead at nothing. The cut on her forearm is still bleeding, the drops falling off of her elbow at a quick rate, but she doesn't react to it at all as the red puddle on the floor grows quickly. "Hey! Lizzy!"
Walking quickly to her, Dean waves a hand in front of her face and she doesn't flinch. He then shakes her by the shoulders, but nothing. No response whatsoever, just vacant eyes.
"L, come on! Talk to me!" Dean shouts to her, getting Sam's attention too. He moves to stand behind Dean and he stares at the frozen woman with fear.
"She's dazed," Castiel explains when he suddenly appears in the room. "Side effect of the sigil. She has angel blood in her and that part of her reacted to it."
"She gonna be ok?" Sam asks with wide eyes.
"We have to go," Castiel ignores the concern. Dean and Sam grab onto each of Lizzy's arms and Castiel takes them out of there immediately.