Authors Note:

Last night, I finished Eros's Arrow. It is 52 chapters long. While I understand this is a pretty grand venture, there is a lot of story to tell. I have grateful to all of you that have stuck with me this far and continue to give me encouraging words of support. You can not imagine how much your comments mean to me. It excites me to see the story through your eyes and relive it all over again. Finishing this book has been bittersweet. I always refer to this as my personal canon but as I wrapped up the epilogue I knew that there was no story left to tell. I feel really really good about the story as a whole so I hope you continue to enjoy it.

I post chapters as I go over them and edit them. I just want to make sure there are no slip ups becuase when I was writing chapter 26, I had absolutely no preconceived notion as to how the story would end. Even as I finished Chapter 50 and started into the epilogue, I didn't know that the story would end as it did. So I kind of took this story as a little journey as well. I just got to the end of the road before you did.

Never stop reading!

Sarah Jane

Chapter 26

Shouting in the distance teased at Dean's mind but he pushed it away. He wanted to stay with his angel and just be domestic for a few minutes longer. Let the world go by without him.

Dean!

Dean sat up, jarred into alertness, and clutched at his skull. Volume, Cas! He shouted at the voice inside his mind.

...sorry, Cas whispered through his thoughts, and suddenly Dean could see an image in his mind from Cas's point of view of creatures pouring out of the woods and towards the town.

"Fuck!" Dean exclaimed, and in an instant Cas was standing beside him.

"Thousands of monsters are flooding into town, Dean," Cas said making the most obvious statement of the year.

"Are hunters already fighting?" Dean asked, but heard no response. Dean turned to Castiel and registered how he was already fully dressed, and that his eyes lazily watched Dean who was very much undressed.

"Cas! Focus!"

"Yes! Dean, they are already fighting," Cas said looking away, and his cheeks colored a little. Cursing under his breath, Dean tossed clothing over his body roughly and went for his guns.

"What's out there, Cas?"

"Sprites," Cas said flatly and Dean turned to stare at him.

"What?"

"Sprites," Cas repeated, "and a dozen other fairy type creatures. You can't see them though, which will make this more challenging. I seem to be able to see their energy signal, but no one else here will." Dean waited for Castiel to say this was a joke but the words didn't come.

"What the fairy fuck," he said flatly, and Castiel burst into laughter. "Cas!" Dean said surprised at the angel's newfound ability to laugh.

"I'm so sorry," Castiel said around chuckles, "that was funny." Finding a clip of silver bullets, Dean rammed it into his semiautomatic and loaded the first round.

"Stop screwing around Cas and zap me down there." The angel obliged him.

They appeared suddenly in the throes of battle like none Dean had ever seen. Around him hunters fought and thrashed against unseen foes. He could hear the droning sound of running and footfalls, watched the dust around him shift from movement, but the creatures that challenged them remained unseen. The sun was setting as well which meant that things would get even worse in about thirty minutes.

"Cas!" Dean breathed.

I can see them, Dean, Cas whispered in his mind and suddenly Dean was seeing two visions of the same scene. The one his eyes showed him and the one Castiel saw. He pointed his gun to shoot and missed a small winged creature that turned with bared teeth to lunge at his ankles.

A little help, Cas! Dean called out in his mind and Cas plunged a silver knife into the creature's back. The then turned and handed another one to Dean.

Close your eyes and trust in me, Castiel mind sent and Dean obliged him. With one clear picture in play, he kept his eyes closed as he trashed at creatures around him. He defended hunters where he could but mostly hacked away at large swaths of their numbers. Winged creatures of all shapes and sizes assaulted him, and Dean spun in an endless circle to receive them. Some ran in spite of wings, but most flew which caused Dean to slash wildly at the air. Castiel fought to stay with Dean, fought to keep the image he projected in place as he clawed through the fairies with his own blades. Dean was amazed at how they continued to pour into the clearing from the woods and he suspected this was every single fairy folk from across the country if not more.

How are we going to stop them from coming? Dean mind sent to Cas who was drifting further away from him in the battle. Dean's knife slashes did not receive as much purchase and his view became skewed. While the fairies were fairly easy to overcome, their numbers were overwhelming. Dean grew winded and he could feel the bastards taking bites or jabs out of him. He whirled frantically and stabbed at the air.

Be still, Dean, Cas mind sent to him and suddenly his hands were on Dean healing both wounds and fatigue from the hunter. Dean gasped in the sudden mending.

There are too many! Too many! Dean's mind wailed in despair.

I know, Cas said solemnly and images flashed through Dean's mind, suggesting retreat.

Suddenly a creature just inches away from Dean appeared in a burst of flame that burned out only a split second later; carrying with it the fairies dying scream. Dean looked at Castiel, puzzled. Then another creature some distance away burst into flame, then another, and another. The two men, minds bound as one, stared in awe and horror as flames consumed the unseen creatures in droves.

Father in heaven, this is Grace we are seeing. So much Grace killing so many things. Hunters, scattered amongst the wreckage were spared as the fire waves moved past them and into the trees. The soft screams of so many dying creatures falling in unison might have impressed Dean in the past, but he could sense that the compounding loss of life left Castiel feeling utterly devastated which was a very sobering thing. They were witnessing the death of clans, of families, of entire species. All burned away in seconds of fire and soft tiny screams. Castiel fought against tears from the horror he was witnessing, and Dean could feel tears of his own slipping down the ashen grime of his face.

Cas. This is a little too much, get out of my head, man. The angel softly withdrew.

"Who did this?" Dean asked out loud, thinking it odd to hear his own voice again, and the bewildered hunters all turned to look his way. "Who could have possibly done this?"

"Dean." Came a calm voice from behind him and Dean whirled around. While it had been less than a week, it felt like a lifetime, and in an instant there he was. Sam. He stood larger than life, his Recurve casually gripped in his hand. Dean's eyes fell on the thing and an ice pick of fear stabbed down his spine.

"No!" Dean shouted and ran to his brother. "No, Sammy, no put it down!"

"Dean listen to me..."

"Sam it'll kill you! Cas spent hours healing your soul! Hours!" Dean faced off his brother and reached for his bow which Sam jerked out of reach.

"Dean if you would just listen..." but Dean was beyond listening. All that time Cas spent on Sam to repair what his brother did. The way it exhausted the angel but he did it anyway. For Dean. Always for Dean. And Sam repays him by throwing the whole pan of dishes out the window. His soul. What would happen to Sam's newly repaired soul? Well he was going to stop this if he could and kick Eros's ass for good measure.

"Sam, this ends now!" Dean lunged at Sam. He faintly heard Castiel calling to him from behind but all his attention was on his brother. He had to stop Sam from killing himself!

As though in a daze, Dean stared with eyes wide as his brother deftly took a step away from him, pulled back on his bow, and fired an arrow directly at Dean's heart. Dean felt the impact of the spirit arrow, heard Cas screaming his name, then the world turned to blackness before his body even fell to the ash and the dust.

"What did you do to him?" Castiel wailed as he stumbled over to where Dean laid between them.

"He's just asleep," Sam said calmly as he examined his brother. He loved Dean more than anything, but the guy could be so hot headed sometimes. If he would have just calmed down enough to listen...

That's Dean for ya, Gabriel chuckled in his head. Man it's good to see the ol' blockhead again.

Sam leaned over and pulled at the arrow that binded Dean to sleep until it snapped in his hand. Castiel watched in amazement.

"That's... that's Grace. You're actually touching Grace with your mortal hands." His eyes held Sam's gaze and the amazement took on a hint of fear. "How could you possibly be doing that?"

Tell him, Sam! Tell him about me. I can't wait to see the look on his face. Castiel the little lap dog. Following Dean around like the cowed pet he is. Pathetic angel.

No, Sam voiced in his mind and Gabriel deflated, seemingly hurt. Gabe, you are my secret right now and, well for the time being I want you to stay a secret. Calling him Gabe always seemed to perk up the angels spirits, validating his informal relationship with Sam, and he agreeably faded to the backdrop of Sam's consciousness. It had taken Sam a little bit of adjusting to come to terms with having to share his body and mind with the spirit of an angel, but their training seemed to have helped speed the process along. Castiel was studying him, expecting an answer. Dean's obedient little angel.

"Castiel the little lap dog", Gabriel's words rung in his mind. Sam smiled at him warmly.

"Castiel, Dean will probably need an explanation when he wakes up. Can you reassure him my soul is intact?" Sam took a step forward, curling his hand into Castiel's tie and jerking him close. He bent his head to speak softly at Castiel's ear. "My soul is intact, is it not, little Castiel?" The angel closed his eyes, refusing to meet Sam's challenge. It was just as well.

After discovering the truth behind Castiel's bond: that humans served angels but certain angels were bound to sentinel humans, Sam couldn't blame this particular angel for always putting Dean first. But it disgusted Sam to think that Castiel could deceive him into thinking that they were friends. He didn't know why he didn't see if before when it was all so very clear to him now. Angels only served their precious father, and the human they had the unfortunate obligation of being bound to.

Falling in love like he did, and dragging Dean into that mess with him, only made things complicated and confusing. Sam much preferred to think of Cas as a slave to the angelic ties of his duty, than to think he was actually capable of loving with free will.

"You will tell him," Sam tried again, his voice carrying warning, "that I am able to use the Recurve safely now." Castiel's eyes remained closed, refusing to acknowledge Sam's presence, but he nodded affirmation; the slightest movement of his head. In that instant, Castiel submitted ever so slightly to Sam as his superior. Sam would take it for now. He had plenty of time to show Castiel what his true place was. Reaching out, Sam gently patted the angel's head.

"Good boy," he whispered in Castiel's ear and then brushed past him to greet the other hunters.

The moment he approached them, his Chosen were at his side. He smiled broadly at them and greeted each one in turn. Donna, Shawn, and Kim no longer thought of Eros as any type of leader. They follows Sam; took orders from Sam. With luck, soon all the hunters would do the same. Dean... he loved his brother, but Dean was too influenced by Castiel. His opinions were tainted. Sam fought only on the side of humanity.

"Tonight marks a great victory!" Sam cheered and the hunters cheered with him even though many didn't understand yet what had happened. "Tomorrow I want to take things one step further and go to the source. Cut the head off the snake. The vampire master showed me a witch named Serrath who carries a scepter of power. It is this scepter the commands her army. We take the scepter, we end the war." This definitely aroused attention as hunters turned and talked of this news with disbelief. Sam had no interest in letting them figure it out on their own. "I guarantee victory!" He shouted, "follow me, and we will end this war." Some of the hunters cheered, their excitement stirring them up.

"Are you with me?" They cheered.

"Are you with me?" They screamed.

Sam smiled, satisfied, and walked back to his town with his kinsmen. Tonight, they would party for many might not live past tomorrow.