Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

Dean is pacing. Its been days since Gabriel and Salem left for Asgard and they still haven't heard from them.

The hunter turns on an old radio, flipping through stations hoping it'll help ease his nerves. He's about the start pacing again when the house they are currently squatting shakes and a roaring wind rumbles outside. Castiel, who has been sitting quietly, looks frightened as white fog rolls across the floor. Dean is reaching for his gun when black fur and claws land on his face screaming, "He's coming! He's waking up!"

Dean yells as he rips the cat off of him in time to see Gabriel land on Sam. He turns quickly, eyes scanning the room as he searches for the other trickster. Loki appears in a rumpled heap near him wrestling out of the gold chains trapping him.

"Hold him down!" Sam carefully sets down an unconscious Gabriel. "Dean, grab him!"

"I can't! He's moving too much!"

Loki cranes his neck to split his mouth wide revealing dagger like teeth. He snaps at the arm closest to him, hissing when all he catches is a mouthful of air.

Dean growls, "Son of a bitch! We need to gag him!"

"Can't," says the black feline at the god's feet. "His mouth needs to be open or the purge won't work."

"How are we supposed to do that when he keeps trying to take a bite out of us?"

"Here! Here! Let me get this on him!"

Dean holds Loki down long enough for Sam to strap the trickster to a couch. When the chain clicks shut the metal gives off a dim glow and the humans back away. Black veins creep up Loki's neck as he continues to shout.

"I will have you!" His words slur together as he shakes away the sleep spell, "I will have each and every one of you! I will peel the flesh from your bones and savor the taste of your blood!"

"Come on, Puss in Boots, let's get this show on the road."

"My name is Salem, you child," the warlock flicks his tail in anger, "Go do something useful pretty boy and bring Gabriel closer or this won't work. Alright, ready? Here goes everything…"

~~0O0~~

The shouts are louder and the threats last longer. Loki's mouth doesn't stop as he bellows taunts and honeyed words to those around him.

"Pathetic excuse for a sorcerer! Your magic is nothing! You are weak! You will never be able to separate us! If we die, we take the angel with us!"

"Lucifer's vessel, demon child, free me. I can bring her back for you. I can give you Jessica. I can bring her if you free me from this prison. Don't you miss her? Don't you love her?"

"You need to destroy us! You cannot risk setting him loose!"

"I can see your damaged soul, Dean. It must be difficult to sacrifice so much and have nothing in return. I won't make you give up what you treasure most. I can give you your mother, your father, Bobby… I can return your family."

"I'm begging you!"

"I wonder if you taste better than your siblings, Castiel. You're sisters were too tough, not enough meat."

"Insects! Vile creatures! We will devour your worlds!"

"The Witch's Council has no power over me. I can break the enchantments that bind your human form. Won't you join me little feline? You would have your own kingdom to rule. Isn't that what you've always wanted?"

"Please, just kill me..."

~~0O0~~

"This is taking too long," Dean mutters when Loki begins to shout in a foreign language. "We need to speed this up. I don't think I can take any more of this. Hell, I don't think Sal is going to last much longer either."

Salem's ears flatten against his head as fatigue strikes his bones. It's been so long since he tried a spell this difficult with his watered down magic and small shape that it drains him faster. He stops for a moment to rest as the god quiets down.

"Salem," Sam places a gentle hand on the feline's back, "Is there anything we can do?"

The warlock tries to stay awake and nods, "Yeah, but it might not work. I'd need to borrow some energy. It won't be enough to kill you but it might knock you out for a few hours."

"Tell us what to do."

~~0O0~~

Sam drops like a stone after forty-five minutes.

~~0O0~~

Dean lasts another hour before his eyes roll back and he collapses, too.

~~0O0~~

Castiel fidgets under the cats piercing gaze and eventually asks if he may help. It takes almost another hour using the angel's energy before Gabriel wakes. The poisoned Grace is gone.

~~0O0~~

It's the god that watches the archangel place a hand on his neck to grip his head. He feels fingers card his hair in an attempt to soothe him when he begins to shake. Thick strands of magic pierce him wrapping his heart and soul, weaving in and around to tie his being to this world. He feels fear from the other inhabiting his body once the sharp tip of a bone is placed at his neck. In a moment of clarity Loki, not Leviathan, surfaces to speak.

"You are us but you are not us."

"Calm, Loki."

"I was never your equal. Just like Odin, just like Asgard. I was not enough. No, no, never enough because I am Loki. We will never be enough. We know how it ends. We know. We will always be Loki. I will never be..."

"I'm sorry, shh..."

Edited: 10-30-2013