"Thank fucking God." Well. Dean was alive anyway. Sam opened his eyes to the familiar sight of the hotel lobby, albeit this time instead of an irritating archangel this time it contained his brother, tied to a chair and surrounded by a crap ton of chalk and blood sigils.
"Dean!" Sam ran to his brother, trying to loosen the bindings on Dean's wrists, examining him for any serious injury. "Are you okay? Where's Cas? Is the ghost-"
"I'm alright Sammy," Dean told him, "Thought I might have a concussion, and my back is gonna hurt like a bitch in the morning."
"Venganza-"
"She stepped out," Dean grunted, "I guess she took Cas for a stroll. How'd you get in?"
"Gabriel." Dean didn't really look pleased at the archangel's interference, but Sam was willing to put up with the snark if he saved their asses and kept the world from ending.
"You got here fast," Dean commented, "Less than twelve hours from Kansas to California? Gotta be some kind of record. Not that I'm complaining."
Sam paused to look at Dean in concern. "Dean, you and Cas have been gone for three days."
Dean looked puzzled for a minute, before scowling. "Goddamn ghost dimensions," he grumbled, "At least that explains how that thing had enough time to draw all these sigils."
"Yeah, no kidding," Sam agreed, "What are all these symbols even for?"
"She's tryin' to break out of the spirit world," Dean summarized, "She got stuck here 'cause of her psychic powers or somethin'. Looks like she picked up a few spells in the last hundred years and she's just gonna throw them all at the wall and hope something sticks. Including human sacrifice by the looks of things."
"And she actually possessed Cas?" Dean looked positively pained at the mention of his angel's name.
"Yeah, she's got him," he muttered, "She won't quit gloating about it either."
"Did she say anything about how she died?" Sam asked urgently, "Any way to find out where she was buried? I can get a message to Gabe and he can take care of it."
Dean shook his head resignedly. "She was burned. Some schmuck took her out and lit her up in the middle of the desert."
"She wouldn't have been buried then, even if there were remains," Sam shook his head, pulling the angel blade from his jacket, "Plan B then."
"What in the hell is that for?" Dean asked, dangerously quiet. Sam hesitated.
"It's…plan B," he admitted finally.
"No," Dean said flatly.
"Dean-"
"Sam, you're my brother and I love you," Dean overrode Sam's words, "But if you use that on Cas I'm gonna break every bone in your body."
"It's not Cas," Sam said firmly, "If it was we wouldn't be in this mess."
"He's in there," Dean whispered, "And he's in pain. She's hurting him. He's counting on us to save him, and I won't sacrifice him to save my own skin. That's not how we do things."
"Gabriel's outside," Sam told him, "It's his plan. He says the blade will burn the ghost out, and then he can heal Cas." Dean still looked doubtful.
"C'mon Dean," Sam huffed, "Gabriel didn't send me in here so I could kill his brother. He cares about Cas."
"He doesn't even know Cas."
"He probably likes Cas better than he likes you," Sam countered, and Dean had to give a wry grin. Gabriel wouldn't pick a Winchester over Cas, that was for sure.
"You got me there," Dean admitted, then, resigning himself, "Okay. I don't like it, but it's the best plan we've got. Cas or no Cas we can't have this Venganza woman going on any world tours."
"Right," Sam agreed, "Let me get you out of this-"
"No." Dean cut him off.
"Dean, I'm not gonna leave you here."
"Yeah you are," Dean ordered him, "You're gonna leave me here, and make yourself scarce. She doesn't know you're even here. Wait it out, let her get going on some villainous monologue, believe me she's the type, then make your move." Sam didn't like it, but it made sense. He sighed. Dean was always too eager to offer himself up as bait.
"Okay," Sam continued, "But no matter what happens, don't stop trying to get Cas to wake up. Gabriel says it's nearly impossible for a spirit to put a leash on an angel so she's gotta be holding onto Cas by a thread." Dean didn't respond. His eyes were focused just over Sam's shoulder, full of pain.
"You know," a terribly familiar voice spoke from behind Sam, "I am inhabiting a celestial being. I can hear everything you're saying." Sam didn't have to see the nausea on Dean's face to know that they were royally screwed. Fortunately he had the instincts to relax, letting the tension fall from his body before he felt himself being thrown backwards into the unforgiving plaster wall, otherwise he probably would have broken something. As it was, he was jolted enough to get the wind knocked out of him, the angel blade bouncing as it hit the floor. Castiel-Venganza, Sam thought fiercely to himself. Even ignoring the cold burning light in Cas' gaze, anyone could see that their friend was not currently at the wheel. Venganza looked at Sam curiously, holding him in place with mojo.
"Now where did you come from?" she mused, "I step out for a moment and suddenly my man has multiplied." A flick of Castiel's wrist and metal pipes, probably from hidden plumbing, burst from the wall to wrap around Sam's wrists, suspending him against the wall. Sam wished he could say this was the first time anyone had chained him to the wall by his wrists. He glared defiantly as the ghost approached him.
"Cas!" Dean cried, "Don't hurt him! Come on Cas, wake up!"
"Have no fear," Venganza purred, "I am feeling merciful."
"I wasn't talking to you," Dean snapped. The ghost possessing Castiel sighed.
"Regardless," She continued, still looking at Sam, "You shall bear witness to my liberation. Then I shall figure out how you managed to enter this plane, and take that power as well."
"You'll never get away with it," Sam insisted, "Cas, I know you're there. Don't stop fighting."
"You are both beginning to irritate me with your pleading," Venganza muttered, "Luckily my preparations are complete, and all I need is the sacrifice."
"What sacrifice?" Sam asked, though given that Dean was currently tied to a chair in a circle of chalk runes, he didn't really have to guess. Venganza pulled Dean's hunting knife from Castiel's belt.
"I need the life blood of a human," she said, with unsettling enthusiasm, "I rather enjoyed the poetic symmetry of killing my host's lover. It seemed very passionate." Sam's thoughts scrambled as she turned and approached Dean, stepping carefully over the intricately drawn sigils on the floor. He wrenched his arms against his restraints, calling out to his brother, who was trying to move as far back in his chair as his bindings would allow, away from his angel's deadly approach.
"Don't you touch him!" Sam shouted, "Cas! Fight, man! She's gonna cut his fucking throat!"
Sam thought he caught a twitch in the ghost's movement, and he felt a bolt of hope until Venganza turned around, and with an irritable gesture, cut Sam's voice off sharply.
"Bitch," Dean snarled, "What did you do to him? Let him go! Let them both go. Cas!"
Venganza took a fist full of Dean's hair and yanked, exposing his throat as Dean gasped and choked at the uncomfortable position. Sam cried out, though no sound emerged, his arms aching from bearing his weight. The blade glinted in Castiel's hand as Venganza prepared to complete her spell. Dean's eyes were closed, and his pulse fluttered in his neck.
"C'mon Cas," Dean begged, half laughing as Venganza drew his knife ever closer to his throat, "How many times do we have to do this before they'll leave us alone? We've been through all this before. I know you won't let this psychopath kill me. I know you won't. Castiel." Dean's voice dropped to a whisper, and Sam watched in horror as Venganza set the tip of the blade against his brother's throat.
Dean was in his happy place. He would be a lot happier of course if Castiel's hand wasn't pressing a knife into his neck, but that wasn't really in his control right now, and on the off chance that Cas could still read his mind, his last thoughts weren't gonna be about the thin line of blood that was beading along the razor sharp edge of his knife. No, if Dean Winchester was leaving this world it was gonna be on a good memory, one that involved Cas' skin under his hands and a staticky radio station humming in the background.
Careful. You know I can't stop you if you aren't careful.
Apologies.
Nothin' to apologize for, Cas.
"Dean?" That wasn't part of the script, Dean thought to himself.
"Dean." Wait a second…
Dean looked up in shock to see Castiel's blue eyes staring down at him, widened in horror. The knife in his hand clattered to the floor, and Dean gasped as the pressure was relieved from his throat. Cas' body seized, his back arching sharply as gold fire coursed down his cheeks like tears. Venganza wasn't gonna let go of her meal ticket without a fight.
"Cas, hold on!" Dean shouted as Castiel battled for control of his own vessel. The angel fell to his knees, but Dean watched as he raised his right hand, agonizingly slow, as if every second cost him. It fell to the floor with a crash, which Dean realized was actually the sound of Sam's bonds breaking. Sam scrambled to his feet, grabbing the angel blade where it lay on the tile.
"Sam! Do it! Do it now!" Cas cried, eyes never leaving Dean's as he convulsed on the ground. The dark blue was fading back away to cold yellow. Castiel was weakening, and Dean cried out, struggling against the ropes that tied him down.
"Don't you leave me Cas, keep fighting! We're gonna save you," he promised as Cas fought Venganza's possession. Castiel stilled, then his head shot up to lock on Dean with murderous flaming eyes.
"For that the angel will watch you suffer!" The spirit shrieked, rising just as Sam raised the angel blade behind her back.
"Now Sam!" Dean shouted, and Venganza turned as Sam brought the steel down for all he was worth. Dean shuddered as he watched the blade sink into his angel's chest, fighting a wave of nausea as Venganza screamed with Castiel's voice. They could save him, they could save him, they could save him, he repeated fiercely over and over as Sam yanked out the angel blade and Rosaura Marianela Venganza's ghost burned out of Cas' body. Dean shut his eyes just in time as Cas practically exploded in a ball of light, the bright blue of his Grace nearly indistinguishable from the angry gold of Venganza's soul. Dean did his best to protect his eyes and brace himself against the now shaking floors, the force of Castiel's exorcism too much for the pocket reality to handle. A bizarre hum filled the air, but Dean could hear his brother shouting.
"Gabriel! I've got them! Pull us out! Pull us out!"
The noise increased, and Dean's senses were overloaded as he dropped into blackness. The last thing he could remember seeing was Cas, twitching on the ground with a hole in his chest.