~ Chapter Sixteen ~

Sam wasn't really sure what the plan was anymore.

And the more he, Bobby, Dean and Castiel talked it over and over, the more time they lost, the more likely it was that his niece wasn't going to make it out of this disaster and the more Dean and Castiel looked like they were about to either start crying, screaming or ripping their hair out. So it seemed like a great thing when they finally all piled into the Impala, Dean and Cas in the front seat, Sam in the back. Everyone but Dean, who was driving, naturally, was busy loading up their guns, sharpening a knife or something, all while being mid-prayer that they didn't get pulled over by a cop and put into jail for one, speeding, and two, having a full arsenal of weapons in the trunk of the car and then some in their hands. It didn't seem like something that would fly with the cops, even in Sioux Falls.

It turned out Dean knew just where their villainess would be based on her note that he was adamant about not showing to anyone. He promised that he had hyper-analyzed the scrap of paper and was 100% positive about where they were going. All they had needed was a plan.

They had pulled the car up to an abandoned warehouse in about twenty minutes of speeding down the highway. And go figure – a demon-ness and her slaves would be camped out in the rankest, darkest place in town.

Still no sign of a plan.

They unloaded the trunk of the Impala, each loading themselves up with as many weapons as one could reasonably hold. Dean had the Colt, claiming that he was still a better shot than Sammy and it was his little girl they were trying to save, wasn't it? And duh, it was. The front doors swung open almost instantaneous with Sam and Bobby's push, expecting to come face to face with an armada of demons, but nope. The place was just as empty, dark and run-down as it looked on the outside. That was never good.

They decided to split up, Dean taking the left half and Sam and Cas taking the right. Sam didn't mind doing this with Castiel, the guy sure learned quickly and he had a great knack for being silent when he needed to be, like right now. He'd always been sort of a quiet guy though, Sam thought idly as they turned the first corner into a hallway lit by tiny flickering candles all along the floor against the walls. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu walking along with Cas though before remembering that they'd been in a similar situation once: it was against Azazel that time though. Somehow Cas had gotten roped into the whole ordeal along with the guy's younger brother, who didn't end up quite so lucky. The memory was set up in a similar way to where they were now. Before they'd been in another gigantic, dying building too, but whether it was a warehouse or something else, Sam couldn't remember. He only recalled how silent and empty the entire building seemed until that one moment. Shit hit the fan all at once then, demons had swarmed in from everywhere, practically oozing out of the walls, but somehow they managed to handle all of them while Dean had snuck off behind everything over to Azazel with the Colt and –

"Sam?" It was Castiel, and they were standing at a point where the dimly lit hallway divided into two.

"We need to split up." Sam murmured, trying to decide which one he'd take.

Cas nodded. "I'll take the left and we'll meet back in fifteen minutes."

"Good."

They split up and Sam briefly doubted the choice; leaving his brother's husband alone in a possibly demon-filled warehouse didn't seem like the best thing to do. Then again, what choice did they have? They didn't exactly have bountiful time to take both hallways together just to be safe.

Sam marched on through the endless hallways that never changed, and it dawned on him for a moment that he might be walking in a circle and the damn demons could've pulled one over on him just now and he'd be dead in a heart–

"Sam!"

He spun around at a kid's voice, and almost yelped with joy when he saw Jo tearing down the hallway towards him. She was in tears by the time she finally collapsed into his leg, clinging to him like her life depended on it. Well, it might.

"Jo, are you hurt?" He knelt whispered down to her as he knelt, trying to get a better angle to see her, rather than the usual three-foot difference.

She shook her head into his leg, wiping her face on his jeans in the process, but God, he was relieved at this.

"C'mon, your dads are here too, we're going to get you home."

She perked up a bit at this and nodded, standing up from her curled up position and took his hand, stretching up in the same way he stretched down as they shuffled along as fast as they could through the hallways.

"Sam?" Jo asked, looking up once she had settled down a tiny bit.

"Yeah?"

"Why does all this bad stuff happen to us? We're good people aren't we?"

He didn't have an answer for her; he shook his head and frowned.

She pouted a bit, clearly hoping for that answer and Sam sighed, knowing he'd have to share the crappy answer that had just come to mind.

"It's because we're not normal." That much of an answer was sufficient for him now, though he knew that in a kid's mind it sure as hell wouldn't be. It was all that he could offer for the time being though, at least until they got to safety. Wherever that was.

She was silent as they kept walking in near darkness, but she seemed to have a basic understanding, which was nice.

"Sammy?" Dean's voice echoed down the hallway, a little too loud, too raised for the situation, where someone could easily hear them… where no one had heard them. Nothing was happening for a reason, he got it now, and that sent a lively chill down his spine.

"Daddy!" Jo let go of his hand and darted over to Dean once he was in sight, and though their presence was comforting to him too, he was still firmly on edge.

"Jo!" He scooped her up, hugging her tiny frame to himself and kissing her hair.

Sam shifted in his place to get a good look around the corner he and Castiel had split up only ten minutes ago.

"Dude, come on, Cas went down this way." He nagged at his older brother, tugging on his arm a bit, feeling all to anxious that something was going to jump out at them or they wouldn't make it out of here in time.

Dean finally got moving but he wasn't happy. "You told him to go off on his own?"

"No," Sam snapped back, "he wanted to split up. Don't blame me for this." He picked up the pace, striding ahead of Dean for a few moments, listening to Dean wordlessly grumble something, unable to swear because of Jo on his hip.

They don't get very far before Castiel nearly collides head first into them, looking startled to see all of them together, but his face lights up when he lays his eyes on Dean and Jo. It's sweet, it really is, but something's wrong here. Horribly, horribly wrong.

But Dean lets Castiel take Jo out of his arms anyways, and watches with stifled glee while Cas kisses and hugs their little daughter, who's finally safe and sound.

Cas takes it further than Dean though, coos to her, speaks to her in a tiny voice that he would never use, calls her sweetie, honey, baby, love, too many names that Sam's pretty sure he's never used before.

It's all happening in slow motion, but it's whipping by him faster than the speed of light at the same time and Sam can't tell what's going on.

He doesn't know what's going on, and they didn't have a plan before this, but maybe he has an idea of one now.

He's already tensing in anticipation of a reaction he's praying won't come. "Cristo."

Castiel twitches violently, nearly drops Jo and glares up at Sam with wide, shimmering black eyes.

"It took you long enough." It says with a depraved, wicked smirk.