Day 26 – Prompt: Forced to choose

Summary: How did they always get themselves into situations like this on what were supposed to be easy hunts? Dean is presented with a horrible choice. Sam or Cas, one of them has to die.

What will he do? And how will he handle the consequences?

A/N: Chapter 26, 27 and 28 are connected into one story.

TW for this chapter: Someone dies in this, but because it's only temporary I didn't tag it as Major Character Death. So if you're sensitive to character death, please be careful.

Dean didn't know how they'd ended up in this situation.

Well, actually, he did.

They had been investigating a mass-disappearance that had been followed by an unusual, broad surge of monster activity in a relatively small city in Pennsylvania. Team Free Will had spent about two days questioning witnesses and doing research while killing the odd monster here and there that they'd come across. Despite their best efforts they hadn't been able to figure out what underlying cause they were dealing with. They had, however, narrowed their search down to a few abandoned buildings at the outskirts of town.

There had been a heated discussion between the brothers about whether it would be a good idea to stake the place out without any idea what they were walking into, but in the end Cas' argument that he was pretty good on grace and could probably at least stall whatever monster they'd encounter had convinced Sam.

Now, Dean was regretting his reckless tendencies as he stood alone and unarmed in front of an all too familiar figure.

The first building consisted of old offices and they had found nothing on the four stories. After that failure that had cost them way too much time they had decided to split up on their search through the second building, which was all apartments with a small common area in the back of each floor. Sam had gone upstairs alone while Dean and Cas looked around the ground floor.

No more than five minutes had gone by when they'd heard a commotion from upstairs, followed by muffled cries.

Sam!

Dean had thrown caution in the wind and had hurried up the stairs, Cas closely behind him. There had been sounds coming from the back area and they had tiptoed closer, gun and angel blade raised.

Dean had been the first to enter the room. His eyes had widened when the first thing he saw had been Sam, tied to one of two metal chairs that were positioned in the middle of the room. A familiar figure had stood behind the younger Winchester, a shining angel blade pressed to his throat.

It had only taken a second for Dean to recognize her and he had opened his mouth to call out a warning to Cas, but it was too late. The angel had already entered the room behind the hunter. The moment he had stepped past Dean, Cas had been thrown across the room and slammed into the wall where he had been held by an invisible force. Their weapons had followed suit, landing in the off corner of the room.

Cas had struggled against the hold, a strained grunt escaping him.

Eve, because against all odds and possibilities it was the Mother of Monsters that stood in front of them, had looked Dean straight in the eyes and smiled.

How had they ended up in this situation?

Dean's mouth was dry as sandpaper as he stared at Eve, his mind reeling. She was wearing the same girl that she had the first time they'd met. Though the fact that she was no longer using his mother's appearance was only a small condolence in the face of the revived ultimate monster.

"What, nothing to say to me?" Eve asked, that damned smile still in place. "It's been quite a while since we've seen each other. The last time was… ah right," she snapped her fingers like she was only just remembering, "when you were trying to kill me."

Her smile turned wicked and Dean could see the knife digging harder into Sammy's throat where she was holding him. He held his hands out in surrender, locking eyes with his brother for a moment. He could see him seething under the surface, even though he was trying to hold as still as possible with the threat of death only one wrong movement away.

"How are you still alive?" he growled at the Mother.

Eve cocked her head to the side. "Did you really think that you'd killed me? Honey, do you have any idea how human digestion works?" She let out a short high pitched laugh that hurt in the humans' ears. "Your plan might have seemed clever, but it was so very stupid. Phoenix ash doesn't enter your bloodstream in its pure form just because you eat it. If you would have injected it… well, maybe."

Dean's heart was pounding. Fuck, this couldn't be happening. Eve was one opponent he'd never thought he'd have to deal with again. They didn't have any phoenix ash left and their weapons, that were also out of reach, were pretty much useless toys against the Mother of All.

Dean was frenziedly trying to think of a way out of this. His eyes briefly flickered to Cas, who was still struggling against the invisible hold Eve had on him. He really wished they could be curled up together on the couch in the Dean cave right now. Dean bit his lip in thought. Maybe if Cas could get free…

The back of his mind was insistently screaming at him that Cas had no power in Eve's presence, but he tried to shut it up. He didn't have any other cards to play here. His eyes briefly met the angel's and there was only a glance needed between them to exchange the message.

But for Cas to escape, Dean would have to distract Eve. So keep her talking.

"I saw you die," he said, his gaze firmly locked on the monster. He couldn't let his attention drift to Cas again and give him away. "How is it that you seemingly kicked it if the ash didn't work?"

"Oh, I didn't 'kick it'. I have to admit that some of the ash's magic was still coursing through you at the time. It weakened me considerably, but it didn't even come close to a fatal dose. What it did, however, was to transport me back to Purgatory. Turns out I can't exist on earth when in a powered down state."

"Then how are you back?" He had to keep her talking at any price.

Eve considered him with a thoughtful look. "I recovered. At first I was content to just stay in my home. But then calls of my children reached me. They were being slaughtered in masses. So I had to do something. With some help from my most loyal I returned."

Thump.

Cas had broken her hold and dropped to the floor.

Unfortunately, the sound of it had alerted Eve and her head snapped around. She frowned at Cas, who was determinately straining against her power. He stretched out his hand and tried to push his grace towards her. Eve only chuckled. "Oh, fooling angel."

She let go of am and walked over to where Cas was locked in place.

Sam gasped when the blade retracted from his neck and he took a few deep breaths. Dean quickly surveyed his brother, trying to assess the damage. One arm was pulled back into the restraints at an odd angle, but apart from that and a few bruises he seemed to be fine.

Dean felt the almost irresistible urge to run to his brother's side. As soon as he moved, however, Eve whirled around to him and held up a reprimanding finger. "Ah, ah, ah. Stay where you are."

Cas used her moment of inattention to try and take a swing at her, but she had him pinned back in place before he'd moved more than a few inches. As she turned back to Cas, Dean's attention shifted to his angel as well. Eve considered him with an unhappy expression. "You should know better. I am much older than you. Next to me you are nothing more than a fledgling."

She cradled Cas' yaw in her hand and patted his cheek a few times.

Dean ground his teeth at the intimate gesture. Only he was allowed to do that!

Before Dean could do something rash, Eve retracted her hand together with the stupor she had put Cas in. Not even a second later she had the angel blade at Cas' chest. "Move. No funny tricks."

Cas didn't have any choice but to obey. He exchanged a desperate look with Dean and the hunter could see the frustration in his angel's eyes. If not for the weapon threatening his boyfriend's life, Dean would have stormed forward to fight at just that look.

Eve maneuvered Cas across the room with the blade held at his back. They came to a stop in front of the empty chair and when he gave her a confused look, she pushed him down impatiently. Not a minute later, Cas was also tied up.

Now Dean was the only one still unrestrained. It made him nervous.

His gaze flickered between his brother, his boyfriend and the monster holding them hostage. "So, what now?" He tried not to let his nerves shine through in his voice.

"Now," the easy smile slipped from Eve's face for the first time and was replaced with something darker. "the time for talking is over."

Dean's heartbeat instantly sped up at her words. The blade was still far too close to his family for his liking with how closely behind them she was staying.

Eve didn't let more than a few seconds of silence pass before she continued darkly, "Now, I kill one of them."

Dean's too fast beating heart stopped. He saw Sam's and Cas' eyes widen in tune with his own.

"No, wait!"

He wanted to jump forward in a desperate attempt to stop her, but to his surprise Eve wasn't plunging the blade into either of the men bound before her. She was simply watching the panic flash over Dean's face coolly.

"I'm going to kill one of them, but who it will be is up to you."

Dean stared at her uncomprehendingly for a few moments. What? Did she want to play some sort of sick game?

Eve looked at him like she was expecting some sort of reaction. When Dean didn't do anything other than frown at her, she sighed. "What I am saying is, you choose. You chose one to live and one to die."

Dean physically recoiled. "What?" His voice almost broke from shock.

No! She wouldn't… He-he couldn't… No, she couldn't demand that of him!

Dean's eyes flickered rapidly between Sam and Cas. His little brother looked as shocked as he did and even Cas' stoic face had broken into an uneasy frown, though his eyes were watching Dean with more concern than anything.

The Mother of All watched Dean, unmoved by the obvious horror on his face.

"You know," she started conversationally, though her voice was cold. "I was happy with staying out of the way and uninvolved. I just wanted to be left alone. But then my children start dying left and right and I return to earth only to find out that some British organization has been systematically killing them off. And with whose great help? The Winchester's. You. It's always you! You call us monsters, but you helped them slaughter entire cities of my kids."

Her eyes were spewing sparks of anger and hatred and she dug her fingers painfully into both of her prisoner's shoulders as she leaned over them to hiss, "So I decided to come back and get my revenge."

"So why not just kill us?" Dean asked tonelessly. He'd locked eyes with Cas and he couldn't bring himself to look away from the soft shimmering blue. Without the angel's powers he didn't see any way they would get out of this. Hopelessness was filling his chest. "Why play games?"

"Because that would have been too easy!" Eve's voice had turned into a snarl and her grip on her prisoners became so tight that Sam couldn't hold back a pained sound and even Cas tensed up in his chair. "I want you to suffer for what you've done to my babies."

Dean thought absently that she wasn't as well informed as she thought she was if she didn't know that Sam had been the one more involved in the British douches' big plans, though he was smarter than to correct her on that. When he saw Sam open his mouth, likely to do just that, Dean shut him up with a single deadly glare.

"So, who is going to die? Your brother or your angel? You choose."

Dean's heart couldn't decide whether it wanted to jump out of his chest or crease beating entirely. He felt his breathing speed up and he had to actively work the panic back that was trying to claw its way up his throat. A way out! He had to find a way out of this!

"Stop this!" Sam hissed at Eve, though she seemed to be mostly ignoring her prisoners, her attention focused on the man in front of her. "This is just cruel!"

"Dean," Cas was calling Dean's name.

While Sam had sounded mostly angry, concern was most prominent in Cas' voice. When the angel called his name again, Dean blinked and realized that he'd been spacing out. He tried to pull his consciousness back to the room, but he felt like he was underwater.

Eve was starting to get impatient at his silence. She started dragging the angel blade first up and down Cas' torso, before she slowly moved it across Sam's throat.

"Tick, tock. I need a decision."

Dean's desperation had reached a point where he wasn't above begging anymore. "Just let them go. You can kill me instead! Please."

Both Sam and Cas instantly started to protest, but both of the standing people in the room ignored them.

"My offer stands. Either you choose one or I kill both."

"Why are you doing this?!" To his own surprise Dean felt a surge of anger welling up inside him. It chased away the numbness and put the room and situation around him back in focus.

"I told you, my-"

"Yeah, your kids or whatever, I know. But why do you care so much when you can make new ones with just a wave of your hand."

That appeared to have been the wrong thing to say. Eve cried out in rage and for a moment it seemed like she was going to attack him. Dean kinda hoped she would. With the blade away from his family, maybe he'd have a chance to get the upper hand… But the Mother of Monsters restrained herself.

The rage was still burning in her eyes, but she had reigned herself in.

"You don't understand. Those are my children! I love every single one of them. I can't just replace them with new ones like they meant nothing. I am first and foremost a mother. Every single death of one of my kids burns deep inside my very nature. And that is why you have to pay!"

Her grasp around the angel blade had become white-knuckled and she was looking at him with so much vengeance that Dean was surprised he hadn't combusted into flames yet. "You slaughtered hundreds of my babies! You will never understand what that's like! So the closest I can get is making you choose between the two people most important to you in the world and let you live with not just the pain of their death but also the guilt. I wanna make you feel the pain of a mother losing her children!"

Dean's breath was coming in short bursts and his eyes were desperately flickering around the room in search of an escape that wasn't there.

"I'll give you five minutes. If you haven't made a decision by then, I'll kill them both."

There was no getting out of this.

But how? Sammy was his little brother and Cas was his angel. How was he supposed to sentence one of them to death? He couldn't live without either of them.

His gaze jittered frantically between Sam and Cas.

Cas, his angel. The love of his goddamn life. He couldn't imagine a life without him anymore. Even the thought of having to wake up to an empty bed in the mornings was making tears collect in his eyes. The world would be gray and pointless without the angel in it.

But on the other side was Sam.

Sammy, his little brother. Who he'd spend his entire life protecting and taking care of. Who he'd practically raised. Who he'd sold his soul for and would do so again in a heartbeat. He had a responsibility to Sam to protect him that went beyond blood.

Dean tried to push the desperation down that was swallowing him deeper with every minute that ticked by.

Suddenly, he had his father's stern voice in his ear. Protect Sammy. Take care of Sammy.

I love you, Dean. You deserve so much. The memory of Cas' words in his head was sweet.

Dean wanted to destroy something. Or break down crying.

No, no, NO! He couldn't live with either of them dying. He couldn't choose!

"Dean," his head snapped up when he heard Sam's voice. "It's okay. I know you love Cas. That goes beyond just family."

Sammy was trying to smile, though it was strained. His little brother, always so selfless and good. He didn't deserve to die.

Kill him or save him.

He was never going to kill Sam and Dean was more than certain that he had been saved long ago.

Dean's gaze flickered to Cas. When he looked into those blue eyes his heart ached. He loved him so much. More than he ever thought he could love anyone. Cas returned his look openly and his own love was reflected back at him.

"I know how much Sam means to you, Dean," he rumbled in a deep reassuring voice, like he was only concerned with easing Dean's burden instead of his own possibly impending death. "I could never fault you for saving your brother's life. You two need each other."

Dean shook his head and ripped his gaze away. He looked at Eve in unconcealed desperation. Her eyes were cold and unmoved. A small smile played around her lips as she watched his despair. "One minute," she said calmly.

Dean's vision was spinning, he couldn't think clearly anymore. Both options were horrible. Which was less horrible? Was there even such an option?

As his mind plummeted into chaos, the most fundamental parts that had been engraved in him came through stronger. The one thing that had been implanted in the core of his being since he was four years old.

Protect Sammy. Always protect Sammy. That comes first, Dean. Your most important duty is to take care of your little brother.

He couldn't lose them both!

As he watched Eve counting down the seconds on one hand through foggy vision, his body responded on autopilot. "Sammy. Save Sammy. Cas…k-ki-"

He couldn't say it. As soon as the words had left his mouth, his gaze snapped to the angel. Tears were brimming at the corners of his eyes. Sam was looking between them in horror and he was saying something, probably protesting, but Cas just nodded in quiet acceptance.

He looked like he had expected this outcome and that alone was almost enough to make Dean take back what he'd said. But the voice of his father in his head was drowning out everything else and wouldn't let him.

"Very well," Eve said and stepped closer behind the angel.

"I-I'm sorry. Cas, I…" he stammered. He couldn't dislodge his gaze from the angel's. They were locked in an exchange of pain and despair.

Cas just smiled sadly at him. "I know, Dean."

The hunter was incredibly grateful that the angel didn't try to tell him that it was okay. It would never be okay.

"I'm so sorry, Cas," Dean whispered again.

He watched Eve level the blade at his angel and he wanted to run forward, wrap Cas in his arms and protect him. But he couldn't move.

"I forgive you…" Cas whispered.

And then Eve was done waiting.

Against what Dean had expected, she didn't use the blade. Instead she just snapped her fingers in one last show of power and light started to flood out of Cas as he was burning out.

The light hurt his eyes, but Dean still forced himself to watch until the end. Until Cas' body slumped to the ground, bounds miraculously disappeared.

As Dean watched his angel's body fall, he suddenly didn't care how Eve would react anymore. He ran forward. He picked Cas' lifeless form off the ground and cradled him in his lap.

"No, no, no, no. Cas!" A sob forced itself out of Dean's chest as he gently put his hands on Cas' scorched cheeks.

Somewhere behind him San had also been freed and was attacking Eve with a cry of anguish. She simply put out a finger and stopped him. Another finger and the curses he'd been spewing at her were shut up as well.

"My revenge is paid. Don't seek me out and we'll never have to stand against each other again. I hope we won't ever come across each other's paths in the future."

With that she gracefully left the room and possibly the building, state, if not planet. The moment she was out of sight, Sam could move again.

Dean didn't care about any of the things that were happening around him. His heart was breaking in two and Cas was taking the other half to wherever he had gone.

As Sam kneeled next to him and settled a comforting hand on his shoulder, Dean couldn't help but curl into his brother's broad frame. He still didn't let Cas' body go, kept it pressed to his chest and buried his face in his hair. He wanted to be angry, to shout at Sam, but he couldn't muster up the energy. Instead he broke down and gave into the comfort of his brother by his side.

Sam was saying something, but Dean couldn't hear him. His world was crumbling around him.

He wished Eve had killed him too.