Metatron's expression was like death itself as he stood, patting off the dust and plaster that was now all over his suit.
Sam struggled against the force that had him pinned, meaning he had to watch his brother try and fight the most powerful entity they had ever come across; with his fists.
Dean turned from Lirael and moved her behind him. "Go try and help Sam." He told her quietly, keeping his eyes on Metatron.
Sam could see Lirael assessing the situation, but she listened to Dean's instruction. There was a small flash of light as Lirael moved further away from his brother, but Sam thought nothing of it. The guardian angel then stood before him, sensing the energy that was pinning Sam to the wall.
On the other side of the large room, Metatron and Dean walked towards each other. The man threw the first punch, but the angel evaded easily by moving to one side, landing a punch of his own into Dean's ribs. They all heard the cracks of several ribs breaking, and Sam wondered why Dean looked so surprised.
Lirael was biting her lip, unsure of whether to help Dean or not. She quickly turned back to Sam and tried to peel him off the wall with little success. "Come on!" she muttered, glancing back at Dean.
Metatron was laughing, he had picked Dean up by his shirt and was holding him several feet in the air. Dean struggled against him, trying to take his mind from the pain throbbing in his side. He felt so weak all of a sudden, how had he found the strength to knock Metatron from his feet before?
Something sparkled around Metatron's neck, and Dean's eyes narrowed with determination.
"You are a silly little man, Dean Winchester. You can't fight against angels."
In the corner of his eye, Dean could see Lirael take a few steps towards him. His lips drawn into a subtle smile, he punched Metatron in the face whilst grabbing hold of the necklace around the angel's neck with his other hand. Surprised, Metatron let Dean go and he fell to the floor.
Dean snorted. "Not so silly now, eh?" He muttered, pulling himself to his knees. He raised his hand, where he held a small vial on the end of a black lace necklace. Metatron's eyes widened as Dean pulled out the stopper and threw back the glistening white liquid into his mouth. Dean shuddered as another piece of his soul entered his body, and he had to use his hands to steady himself. The sensation always made everything a little fuzzy whenever he took in another piece of soul, but today it felt sobering. Everything in his mind was filled with most incredible sense of clarity as he suddenly knew what all of this meant.
Blind fury filled Metatron's entire being. The lapse in concentration meant that Sam was released from the angel's power and fell to the floor too.
Seeing her job with Sam was done, Lirael ran back to Dean and helped him to his feet. Again, Sam saw a flash of a bright white light as Lirael reached Dean. As his brother stood up straighter, even Sam could see that he was filled with a renewed sense of strength and confidence.
Dean looked Lirael straight in the eye and smiled a knowing smile. "One more piece to go." He told her, his eyes glistening with tears that he wouldn't let himself cry.
"One more piece." She replied hoarsely, her eyes sparkling too. Lirael took a tight hold of his hand for a moment and then stepped back.
Sam sprinted towards her. "What's happening?"
Lirael just smiled at him as a tear trickled down her cheek. He then realised that she moved towards Dean every time he moved away from her.
Metatron was rushing towards Dean with a string of punches. With the speed of no ordinary man, Dean dodged every single one. He caught hold of Metatron's fist and twisted it until the angel fell to his knees in pain. "Usually at this point I would try to think of something witty or wildly inappropriate to say, but this is just too much fun." Dean said darkly before kicking the angel in the face.
Castiel then reappeared next to Sam, with a fraught look on his face. "Michael is coming. To use Dean as a vessel once more."
"Tell him he's not needed, Castiel." Lirael told him firmly. "Do it now."
Castiel looked to the ceiling as it began to shake. "It's too late."
"Touch me." Lirael said simply.
"What?" Both Castiel and Sam asked, a bit puzzled by the instruction.
"Both of you; hold on to me." She told them impatiently, holding out her arms as she faced Dean. They each took one of her hands, and Sam saw light crackling around his brother for a short moment.
Dean then kicked Metatron in the face, sending him hurtling through the wall behind him, straight through three solid inches of concrete. He stalked towards Metatron's body and pulled him from the rubble. "Just to warn you now, I'm pretty much an expert at making people suffer. And you made the woman I love suffer. That means I owe you a heck of a lot of suffering, don't ya think?" Dean said, throwing the angel into the centre of the room.
Metatron crawled to his feet, his eyes widening as he looked up at Lirael, Castiel and Sam. When he finally stood, Metatron was positively shaking with rage. "All this time…and the rest of your soul was right here with me the whole time!" He bellowed, turning back to the elder of the Winchester brothers.
Now Sam was just confused. "Could someone please tell me why my brother is The Hulk of a sudden?"
"'cause this son of a bitch made me angry." Dean answered with a smirk, squaring up to Metatron again.
When Sam looked to Castiel for answers, the angel was almost laughing as he spoke. "The reason we couldn't find the final shard of Dean's soul…it was in Lirael all along." Castiel smiled at Sam. "They're connected in a way that I've never seen before. She's able to lend him her energy, and now we're lending ours to her."
The shaking of the building intensified with Michael's approach, and a sharp ringing began to echo through the room. Sam ducked his head, covering his ear with his free hand.
Metatron let out a roar. Raising his arms into the air, he closed his eyes. A heartbeat later Dean found himself in a large marbled hall facing Metatron.
"Oh crap." He said, realising that Lirael was not with them and that tug in his heart was starting up again.
"Indeed." Metatron replied, his lips curling into a dark smile. He moved across the hall, his footsteps echoing all around them. "Without your little friend you're a little more fragile aren't you…"
Dean took a step back, trying to think. A jab of pain suddenly hit him in the chest, and he knew that he wouldn't last two minutes with Metatron without Lirael around. The angel raised his hand and Dean was flung against the hard walls and pinned there.
"Now, I wonder how long it would take me to peel off your skin, strip by strip. And then how long would it take me to remove your organs, one by one…and I wonder how long you would last then…" Metatron waved his hand again and Dean's shirt disappeared. The angel took another step until he was about 2 feet away from his foe.
Dean Winchester had experienced this before, Metatron knew this. He had always tried to avoid this form of punishment, the anticipation waiting for each strip to be ripped off hurt more than the physical pain. He closed his eyes and tried to picture Lirael's face.
When Dean had disappeared, Lirael had let out a wail of pure agony, and then slumped to the floor, barely conscious.
"Cas what do we do!" Sam cried, checking her pulse and whether she was breathing. He sat her up against him. "Castiel!"
The angel was staring over Sam's shoulder. Sam followed his gaze and did a double-take when he noticed Chuck standing at the doorway.
"Hey, Sam." Chuck said, unfolding his arms.
Sam lay Lirael back on the ground and stood up. "Chuck? What're you doing here? Have you seen something?"
"I'm here to help, Sam. Castiel." Chuck greeted with a respectful nod of his head.
"Father." The angel replied, bowing slightly. "Metatron has Dean on another plane, I can't get through. Our only connection to him is also unconscious."
Sam looked from Castiel to Chuck several times.
"Don't worry, Dean is still alive and I can help with your connection speed. It'll be like when I invented optical fibre broadband." Chuck grunted, crossing the room and stopping beside Lirael where he then knelt beside her.
Sam's head was reeling. "Am I missing something?" He shouted. He had done nothing but be confused today, and he was royally pissed about that.
Castiel chuckled. "Oh yes. I forgot to tell you. It seems like my father was a lot closer to us than we had imagined. He never abandoned the mission, he was with us all along."
"As in, Chuck, the prophet, who orders naughty phone calls during the day…who we found passed out drunk – A LOT….is your….he's…"