The blast picked Dean up off the ground and flung him into the wall. He slammed into the ground and curled into a ball, protecting his head as best he could. Intense heat washed over him, and for a brief, terrifying moment, he really thought he was going to die.

Then it was over.

The light vanished as quickly as it had come, plunging the room into darkness. Dean opened his eyes cautiously, but random flashes of purple and orange across his vision blinded him. He scrabbled in his pockets until he found his mini Maglight and clicked it on.

The bodies of the demons were scattered around the room. None of them moved. Dean carefully reached out to the nearest one. No pulse, no breath. They were all dead. Dean flicked the light to the center of the room, hoping...

Cas and Ami were gone. Vanished. So were Marax and Belial. Dean swore under his breath and lurched to his feet. "Sam? Ellen?" he called hoarsely.

He heard Ellen cough, and then, "Dean? What—what happened?"

"I dunno," he replied. "They're gone. The angels...and Marax. Can you see Sam?"

Ellen moved around faintly, and he finally found her with the flashlight. She looked pale and shaky, about the same as Dean felt. "He was over there, last I saw," Ellen said, pointing. Dean followed the gesture and sure enough, Sam was sprawled against the wall, head lolling and limbs splayed. Dean picked his way through the corpses and knelt beside his younger brother.

"Sam?" he called. "Hey, Sam. Wake up, kiddo." When Sam didn't respond, Dean checked his pupils. They contracted evenly, thank God, and Sam finally began to stir, reaching up with one large hand to bat the painful light away from his face. "Whoa, easy there, Sasquatch," Dean said, supporting Sam's head with one hand. "Take it easy."

Sam's face scrunched up with pain and he turned his head away from the flashlight. Dean obligingly angled it away. "Ami?" Sam whispered. "Cas?"

"Worry about them later," Dean said, trying (vainly) to ignore the tightness in his chest. "Let's get you out of here."

"Dean? Mom? Sam!" The voice bounced distantly down from the hallways outside, accompanied by another dancing flashlight beam. "Mom!"

"Jo!" Ellen called, lurching toward the doorway. "In here, baby!"

Jo burst into the room, her shotgun at the ready. She took in the situation with a single glance and lowered the gun, reaching out with the other arm and catching her mother. "I saw the blast and thought...what happened?"

"Not sure," Ellen replied. "We just...let's just get outta here first."

Dean hauled Sam to his feet and held him upright while Sam sorted out his legs. Once the taller Winchester got them working again, he allowed Dean to help him out of the room. "I think...Belial tried to hit Cas with something," Dean explained, piecing together his fragmented memories. "Ami musta blocked it or something. They've gone missing," he told Jo. "They're just gone."

"I'm sure they're all right," Jo said hastily, maneuvering her mother through the abandoned machinery. "They're pretty tough. They'll be fine."

They reached the outer doors and pushed through, wincing at the bright sunlight. Sam groaned suddenly and lurched sideways, nearly jerking Dean off his feet. When Dean saw the green tinge to Sam's face, he hastily let go of his brother and let Sam fall to his knees. Sam retched all over the gravel parking lot until all he was bringing up was bile and saliva.

Dean patted his back soothingly as he inspected the back of Sam's head. There was a nasty-looking goose-egg but it thankfully wasn't bleeding. After the dry heaves ceased, Dean pulled Sam once more upright and they limped, staggered, and shuffled towards the cars parked down the block.

Dean eased his brother into the backseat of the Impala as Jo likewise helped her mother into their truck. Jo found some water bottles in the back and offered Sam one, who took it gratefully to rinse the sour taste of vomit out of his mouth. Dean retrieved his cellphone from his pocket and tried to turn it on. It remained dead and silent. "Dammit," he muttered. "Hey, Sam. Gimme your phone."

Sam handed it to Dean without taking his arm down from his eyes. But it was similarly unresponsive. Dean growled with frustration. The blast must have knocked them out. "Jo!" he called. "Your phone working?"

She looked across at him. "Yeah, why?"

"Call Bobby and let him know what went down." Dean rubbed his forehead. His head was finally beginning to clear. They needed to find Cas and Ami. If they had survived. No, Dean told himself fiercely. They did survive. They're all right. And if they survived, then Belial and Marax probably had, too. Fan-fucking-tastic. "We gotta find 'em before they do," Dean muttered to himself. But where the hell had they gone? Dean didn't even know where to begin to start looking.

Dean rested his head against the side of the car. His body ached all over, Sam was concussed, Ellen was no better off than he was, and they had two friends MIA. His day couldn't possibly get any worse.

XxxXxxX

The motel had been Jo's idea, because frankly, she didn't know what else to do. Sam needed someplace dark to rest for at least twenty-four hours and Dean and her mom looked about ready to fall over. Bobby had yelled at her for forty solid minutes before she finally told him off and hung up. She'd probably regret it later, but she was the only one of them not beaten to hell and she had other things on her mind.

Dean and Sam had taken over one of the beds, Dean spooning Sam as they slept. Dean would most likely wake up embarrassed as all get out, but right now Jo left them be. She turned the TV on to the local news and waited to see if their escapade made it to the press. What she saw instead surprised her.

"Congressman Graves held a press conference today asking for the release of his daughter, Mallory," the news anchor announced. "Mallory was last seen in the company of James Novak and these two unknown men." Two sketches bearing strong resemblances to Sam and Dean filled the TV screen. "Mallory was discovered five days ago in a motel room, along with the two assailants and a severely-injured Novak. She was hospitalized and in a coma for over twenty-four hours before waking. She claimed that the two unnamed men had not hurt her and had, in fact, saved her life before once more disappearing with all three men."

Jo muted the TV and glanced over at her mother, who was propped against the headboard. Ellen looked haggard. "That poor girl has family looking for her," Ellen said softly.

"We gotta find them," Jo replied. "But where do we start looking, Mom?"

"I don't know, honey," Ellen said wearily.

Jo's phone rang. Jo stared at it for a moment, sitting on the table. She picked it up and checked the incoming number. It was blocked. She answered anyway. "Hello?"

"Uh...hello?" The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Jo couldn't quite place it. "Um, who—who is this?"

Jo frowned. "Who are you?" she retorted sharply.

"I'm—my name is Jimmy. Jimmy Novak. I, uh, I don't know what happened, but I tried Dean's number and he's not picking up, and this number was stuck in my head for some reason and I'm not sure where I am and—"

Jo shot upright. "Jimmy?" she repeated. "As in...Castiel's Jimmy?"

There was a long silence. "Yeah," came the soft reply. "Yeah, that's me. No offense, but I don't know who you are..."

"I'm Jo," Jo replied quickly. "It's okay, I'm a friend of Dean and Sam. Listen, Jimmy, it's really important. Is Mallory with you?"

"Mallory? Who's that?"

Jo rubbed her forehead, glancing over again at her mother, who was listening intently. She didn't know how angel possession worked, if the host was at all aware of what was going on. Mallory's brief emergence from Amitiel's personality seemed to indicate that they were, but Jimmy had no idea what was happening. "She's a girl, uh, blonde hair...She's Amitiel's vessel?" she said hopefully.

"Oh...No. No, there's no one else here. Just me. And...I think there's something wrong with Castiel."

"Okay, it's okay, Jimmy," Jo said soothingly. "Just...can you describe where you are for me?"

"It's a parking garage. It looks like a bomb went off or something. Uh...there's a sign. The Sheraton. And I can see the river."

Jo scrabbled for Sam's computer and pulled up Google Maps, punching in the information Jimmy had given her. "Okay, I got your location. Stay put, Jimmy. I'm coming for you, all right?"

"All right," he replied, sounding relieved.

Jo hung up and grabbed the keys to the truck. "I'll be back as soon as I can," she told her mother.

"Be careful," Ellen replied.

Jimmy was right; it did look like a bomb had gone off. Piles of crumbled concrete, exposed rebar, and here and there a steel beam were scattered through the garage. Jo carefully picked her way through the mess, searching for any sign of the man she'd come for. She came across a pay phone that was shockingly still intact.

"Jimmy?" she called. "Jimmy, it's Jo. Where are you?"

She heard footsteps and a man appeared from around a pillar. Jo stopped in her tracks. It was Castiel. It looked exactly like Castiel. Except that the man's expression was frightened and nervous, two expressions Jo had yet to see cross the angel's face. "Jimmy," she called to him. "Are you all right?"

He didn't move as she walked towards him, but before she came within three paces, he suddenly said, "Christo." Jo stopped walking again. For a few seconds they both waited. Nothing happened.

"Satisfied?" Jo asked.

Jimmy nodded. "You're Jo?" he said, stepping towards her. His hair and black trench coat were covered in concrete dust.

"I'm Jo," Jo confirmed. "C'mon. Let's get you out of here. Dean and Sam are back at the motel. We were worried about you."

"I was worried about me," Jimmy mumbled as he followed her back towards the pick-up. "What happened? I can't remember anything."

"I wasn't there when it happened," Jo told him. "But from what Dean said, Belial tried to smash you—I mean Castiel—with something and Amitiel stopped him. Whatever she did blew out the whole factory, you guys with it. On the plus side, she killed a crapload of demons doing it. How do you feel?"

Jimmy stumbled over a pile of gravel. "Okay, I guess. I've got this cut on my arm, but it's already starting to heal. Castiel is taking care of it, I suppose."

Jo glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "Speaking of which...you said something was wrong with him?"

He rubbed at his temple fretfully. "He's still in here. I can feel him, like bits of broken glass. But...he's not responding. I can't get him to wake up."

"Oh," Jo replied. She grimaced. She just didn't know enough about angels to know what to do. "Why don't we get you back to the motel and worry about this later, okay?"

Jimmy nodded in agreement, his face pinched. "Okay." They reached the truck without further conversation, but Jimmy suddenly turned to Jo. "You...you haven't found Amitiel, have you?" he asked quietly.

Jo shook her head. "No. I was kinda hoping she'd be with you. You don't have any idea where she might be?"

He sighed. "No. I mean, Cas might, but I'm not getting anything from him anymore. You mentioned a factory...how far away did I end up?"

"Clear across town," Jo replied, starting the engine. "Dean said something about banishing sigils before he passed out, but it didn't sound like that's what Ami did. Whatever she did."

Jimmy stared out the window, his blue eyes distant. "Cas really cares about her," he said softly. "She's his sister, you know."

Jo tightened her grip on the steering wheel. "We'll find her, Jimmy," she promised.

Dean was awake and waiting for them when they got back to the motel. "Jimmy!" he exclaimed, catching sight of the man. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine," Jimmy replied a little testily. "And so is Cas. I don't know what happened; I've been pretty out of it since..." he gulped suddenly. Dean grabbed his arm and peered at the shorter man's face.

"What is it, Jimmy?" he demanded. Jimmy turned his face away.

"I was awake for some of Cas' time with Marax," Jimmy replied. "Castiel was too weak to protect me and I..." he cleared his throat and frowned. "What's wrong with Sam?"

Dean blinked at the sudden topic change but decided to roll with it. "He's got a concussion. He'll be okay. Are you sure you're fine?"

"Why do you keep asking me that?" Jimmy snapped. Dean glared at him.

"Because you look about ready to fall over, dude. Sit down." When Dean shoved Jimmy towards a chair, Jimmy abruptly let his legs crumple beneath him, collapsing into the chair. His shoulders slumped and he buried his face in his hands with a loud groan.

Ellen walked over to him and handed him a cup of coffee she had made in the motel's tiny kitchenette. He looked up, surprised, before taking the proffered mug. "I'm Ellen," she told him. "I'm Jo's mother."

"Nice to meet you," Jimmy replied a little flatly. "Jimmy."

"Uh-huh. Well, you listen here, Jimmy. You've been through a hell of a day, so you just sit there and get some rest. You can ignore this idiot, too, if it makes you feel better," Ellen said, slapping Dean gently upside the head. Dean flinched and glared at Ellen without much heat. Jimmy cracked a tiny smile.

"Thanks."

Ellen turned to Jo. "We've been monitoring the police scanner in case anyone's come across Mallory. So far, no luck."

"That may be a good thing," Jo pointed out. "They've already attracted media attention the last time the police picked 'em up. I don't think we'd have an easy time breaking 'em out a second time."

Dean looked sheepish. "Not our fault," he muttered petulantly. Ellen threw him a mild glare but didn't comment.

"Bobby called while you were out," she went on. "He's reached out to his contacts in the area and told them to be on the lookout for Mal. Hopefully one of them'll run across her before Belial and Marax do."

"Are we sure they survived?" Jo asked, claiming her own cup of coffee. God, it felt like forever since her last hit of caffeine.

"If Jimmy and Cas did, the others probably did, too," Dean replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "Good news for Mal and Ami, bad for Belial and Marax."

Ellen nodded. "Right. So. We should start keeping an eye out for demon sign. That might give us an idea where those two are. We gotta take care of 'em before they do too much damage." She turned to Dean. "You said an angel can be killed by another angel, right?"

"Cas told me that the only thing that can kill an angel is an angel sword," Dean replied. He glanced over at Jimmy and his eyes widened. "Whoa! Jimmy! What's going on?"

Jimmy was bent over again, clutching his head. His mouth was open in a silent scream and his face was frozen in a mask of pain. Dean dropped to his knees in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "Jimmy!" he called. "C'mon, man, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Jimmy's wide, frightened eyes fixed on Dean's face. "Mallory..." he panted. "I know where she is."