Chapter Twenty
If it hadn't been for Sam, Dean would have rushed from the motel room, no thought, no planning, just straight to the warehouse into what was surely a trap. Fortunately, Sam made him stop and think before flying off the handle. They gathered their weapons, though the only ones that mattered were the angel blades. They discussed the best way to go in, hopefully without attracting attention. Formulating a plan had actually helped Dean to calm down and focus. And now that they were on their way, he felt even better.
Dean was hoping the fact that they suspected they were walking into a trap would work to their advantage. Instead of barging in through the front door, they would try going in through a back door they had found the night before. It was situated on the side of the building and led into a large, two story room with offices on the upper level and a work area below. From there they could see down multiple hallways, where multiple rooms were located. One of which had to be the one where Amie was being kept.
Dean sent Amie a text, telling her to sit tight. He hoped she would listen. She'd never dealt with angels before, therefore Dean didn't think she would realize the kind of danger she was in. Angels were dicks, and if they would stoop to taking her, they wouldn't hold back on anything else.
Rather than park at the warehouse, where the Impala would surely be noticed, Dean pulled down a side street and backed Baby into the parking lot in front of a small real estate office, its windows boarded over. As he left the car, he grabbed Amie's boots from the back seat, where he'd thrown them when they left the motel. When Sam gave him a funny look, he shrugged and gestured for him to get moving.
Dean moved quickly down the street, following Sam. It only took them a couple of minutes to get to the back side of the warehouse and then slip around to the side door. Dean pulled his angel blade, while Sam pulled not only his blade, but Ruby's knife as well. Dean's nerves were raw, anticipation making him hyper-sensitive to every sight, every sound. He dropped Amie's boots by the door as Sam moved to open it.
At that moment, a blood-curdling scream ripped through the early morning air. It was quickly followed by another. Before the second scream had stopped, Sam was through the door with Dean right on his heels, pushing his way to the railing surrounding the upstairs walkway.
Dean tried to take in everything he was seeing at once. Amie was tied to a chair below them, blood dripping to the floor from two cuts to her left arm. Her clothes were torn and dirty and one foot was bandaged with what looked like part of her shirt. She was conscious, but her eyes were glazed and unfocused. A woman was standing next to her, an angel blade covered in blood in her hand. Two extremely large, extremely angry looking men stood to either side of Amie, their business suits stretched uncomfortably across their shoulders.
The woman looked up at the boys as they entered the room. "Ah, the Winchester brothers have finally arrived. Please come downstairs so we can talk," she encouraged as she moved a step closer to Amie.
Dean and Sam exchanged glances, then in unison, they moved down the stairs. Dean was watching Amie closely; the blood pooling under her chair was worrying him.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Dean started toward Amie, but the woman stepped in front of her, blocking him.
"Not yet," she cautioned, waving the blade in front of her face.
"Are you Katarina?" Dean demanded. He certainly hoped so, because he was going to kill the bitch.
"I am," she responded. "And you must be Dean, judging by the look of fury on your face. I do not want to hurt Amie anymore. Nor do I wish to kill her. Just tell me what I want to know." Katarina stepped behind Amie and held the blade loosely to her throat. "I just want to know where to find Castiel. I promise not to hurt him."
Dean laughed. "You'll understand if I don't believe you." He took a step closer, fists clenched in anger. "Let her go, now," he ordered. "Then maybe, just maybe, I won't kill you." Dean watched Amie closely as he moved forward. She was still conscious, though he didn't know for how long. He took another step closer.
One of the big guys behind Amie moved forward. Dean put his hand up. "Okay, okay, staying right here, Jumbo. Just let her go. Maybe then we can talk."
"No," Katarina answered. "Tell me where Castiel is. Once I have him, I will let her go." The angel pulled Amie's head back to expose her neck, her fingers resting on her chin. She pushed the blade into Amie's neck, the tip drawing blood. Amie cringed and Dean could tell she was trying not to scream. "Should we show Dean how much it hurts to be cut by the blade of an angel?"
"No, wait!" Dean snarled, hands up in surrender. He turned his attention to Amie. He needed her alert. "Amie? Amie, baby, look at me." Dean breathed a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes. "Hey, you okay?" he asked quietly.
Amie took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think so," she managed to gasp. "Pissed and my damn arm hurts." She sat up straighter in the chair. Dean could see the concentration it took on her face.
"Enough!" Katarina yelled. "My patience is wearing thin." The angel bent forward, her head next to Amie's, the blade at her jugular.
Amie snapped her head back as hard as she could, connecting with Katarina's nose. Dean heard a crunch. The angel stumbled back a couple of steps, dropping the blade from Amie's neck. Dean leapt forward, tackling Amie and the chair she was in to the ground.
"Dean!" Sam yelled, sliding Ruby's knife across the floor.
Dean grabbed the knife and quickly cut Amie's bonds. She rolled off the chair, struggling to her feet. One of the burly guys was heading directly for her, but Dean jumped in front of her, slicing at him with Ruby's knife. He didn't expect it to make a difference, after all the guy was an angel, but it might give Dean enough time to get out his angel blade.
Instead, when the knife cut his arm, the guy hissed and drew back in pain. Dean thought he smelled sulfur. Surprised, Dean grabbed him and stabbed him in the chest, hoping his hunch was right. He seemed to explode in light, collapsing. He was a demon. Dean saw the other guy, the one he'd called Jumbo, take off across the room, his eyes flashing black as he turned.
"Sam! Demon!" Dean hollered as he threw him the knife. Sam took off, close on the heels of the other demon, racing down one of the hallways that extended out of the room.
Dean spun around, looking for Amie. She was on the floor, tying what looked to be the sleeve of her shirt around her upper left arm. She was using the rest of her shirt to staunch the flow of blood. Dean crossed to her in two quick strides.
He took her face in his hands. "Hey, baby," he said, kissing her forehead. She smiled weakly at him. "Did you see where Katarina went?" Amie shook her head.
Dean stood up, looking around. For all he knew, she was long gone. Maybe when her demon bodyguards went down, she had decided it was best to cut and run. Dean figured it was probably a good idea if they did the same thing. When he turned to help Amie up from the floor, Katarina suddenly appeared in front of him. She hit him, sending him flying across the room. He landed against the stairs, slamming his head on one of the concrete steps. The last thing he saw before he passed out was Katarina walking toward him, angel blade swinging in her hand.
When Dean came to, his head was pounding. His head was in Amie's lap. He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea washed over him. He groaned and laid his head back down.
"What the hell?" he mumbled.
"Stop moving, Dean," Amie ordered. She was holding something against the side of his head, so he figured it must have been bleeding.
"Where's Katarina?" Dean asked, trying to figure out how he was still alive. He should be dead, since Katarina had been coming at him with a blade in her hand.
"She's right there," Amie answered. "Sam grabbed her from behind when she was headed for you." He put his head up just enough to see Sam standing in front of them. Katarina was standing in a ring of Holy Fire several feet behind him.
Dean struggled to a sitting position, Amie helping him. "Nice work, Sammy," he managed to say. "What do you say we ask her some questions?" He reached for his blade on the floor.
Katarina had the decency to look frightened. "I will answer your questions. There is no need to use your blade."
Dean was so pissed off by what came out of her mouth that he shot to his feet despite the pounding in his head and the nausea. He had to grab the stair railing so he wouldn't fall. Anger blinded him.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Dean bellowed, advancing on Katarina. He pointed at Amie. "Do you see her? The cuts on her arm, the blood, the torn clothes? You did that. And you want me to NOT use my blade on you? I will fucking kill you!"
Sam put his arm out to stop him. "Dean," he said quietly in Dean's ear. "Stop. Let's see if she'll talk. Let's find out why the hell an angel had two demons working for her. Let's find out why she is holed up in a warehouse that a demon told us about and what she wants with Cas. Then maybe you can kill her."
Dean took a deep breath, trying to see past the anger at what the angel had done to Amie. He knew Sam was right, but that didn't change how he felt.
"Okay, but you talk to her. I can't even look at her without wanting to kill her." Dean walked away, Amie trailing behind him. He went up the stairs toward the offices, hoping to find one with a couch where he could lie down for a while.
Amie grabbed his hand. "Let's find someplace to sit down so I can look at your head. I want to make sure the cut doesn't need stitches," she ordered.
"Already ahead of you. But I think I need to look at your arm, first. It looks like shit. And you're pale as hell. You probably lost too much blood," Dean shot back.
They finally found an office with a couch in the back corner of the room. Before Dean shut the door, he could hear Sam and Katarina talking. Hopefully Sam was getting something useful from her. Dean crossed the room and sat down. Amie knelt beside him on the couch trying to look at his head. He pulled away from her. "I'm fine, it's just a bump. It's not even bleeding anymore. Now give me your arm and let me look at it," he practically barked. Amie punched him on the shoulder, but she sat down and laid her arm in his lap.
Dean carefully unwrapped the makeshift bandage Amie had made from her shirt. She had two vertical slices from the angel blade on the inside of her left arm—one that stretched from her elbow to her wrist and another that was shorter, but much deeper. They would both need to be stitched up. She winced when Dean touched them.
"Sorry," he murmured. He kissed her arm, just inside the crease of her elbow, his lips moving gently down the length of her arm until he reached her hand, then he started back up again. He gently rewrapped the shirt around her arm. He took her face in his hands. "I thought I lost you. Don't do that again," he ordered quietly. Dean kissed her, his thumbs tracing the contours of her cheekbones. Amie nodded, returning his kiss, her right arm wrapped around his neck. When the kiss ended, she rested her head on his chest, her left arm resting across his lap.
Dean laid his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes. He kept both arms wrapped around Amie. She wasn't leaving his sight again.