Dean slaps me awake.

"Sam, come on. It's just you and me, man. You gotta help fight off Metatron."

The air around me is humming, filled with a million invisible bees that are all droning out the same tone: danger. danger. danger.

It's just Dean and I.

"Where's Cameron?" I demand.

Dean pretends that he didn't hear me.

I repeat my question, louder this time. Dean ignores me, handing me my shotgun. "I reloaded it for you. Let's do this."

Before I have time to ask again, the door to the dungeon explodes open, and we are instantly eyeball-deep in hand-to-hand combat. Hand to hand, man to angel. An army of fierce supernatural beings, with Metatron at their head.

Someday, we'll have good odds.

I'm not holding my breath.

I swing my blade with one hand, severing one grunt's throat. With the other hand, I shoot at Metatron, but he keeps managing to dodge my bullets.

Another angel henchman meets his fate at the tip of my blade, but as he goes down, he swings out his own knife and catches my shoulder, the smooth edge of the blade bumping along as it catches, and then cuts muscle and skin on its way down.

So great, my left arm is useless. I blink, the pain and shock making me unsure of myself.

Fortunately, with our brother instinct, Dean is making up for this. We go back to back, me shooting as many angels as I can aim at, Dean swinging his blade. Cas is with us; he circles around us, frying his enemies out with a single touch, one, sometimes two at a time.

"Dean." I get out between shots. "Just tell me that Cameron is safe and alive."

"Alive?" Dean shouts, stabbing out. "Probably."

My heart drops. What has my brother done?

"Safe?" Dean answers my other question. "I'm gonna have to say no."

I grip my shoulder in my hand as I look around.

"Did we get all of them?" I pant.

Cas reappears to answer my question, sweat shining on his forehead.

"No. Metatron has retreated."

"So does that mean that the sigils won't work?"

"Yes." Cas states.. "They're useless if he is not here."

"Let's get him back down here then!" I say.

"Dean, what sigils? What's going on?"

Dean won't meet my gaze.

"Cameron?" I can barely whisper the question. She can't be out all alone. She doesn't even know how to draw the sigils.

"It was the only choice we had." Dean insists.

"No...no, no...I'm going after her." I mumble, starting to reload. My right hand refuses to help, and the shells that were in it make a clattering rain around my feet.

Dean grabs my shoulder. "If you go after her, she's definitely dead. You know that." he warns.

I know.

I can't go after the girl, so the best use of my energy seems to be to rip Dean apart.

"How could you, Dean?"

"Don't. Don't you blame me for this! She volunteered, and if she hadn't, we would all be dead right now! Including her! Including you! So shut up!"

I slug him across the jaw. Even though it murders my shoulder, the hit feels good.

"So what happens when she finishes? Huh? She gets zapped up to kill Metatron?" I demand.

I know it's not true. I know she'll return here, and Cas will do the heavy lifting. But I'm too wound up to be rational. "What if Metatron goes after her, huh? How does she not die if that happens?"

"It's not going to happen." Dean tries to calm me down.

"Says who?" I'm practically screaming now. "Metatron will either kill her or use her as leverage. Dean, you've doomed her!"

"Not if Metatron isn't coming back." Cas says softly.

"How are you so sure, Cas?" I demand. "How do you know he's not coming back?"

Cas looks over my shoulder and smiles. "I don't. I was lying. Stalling you."

"Why?" I ask, wondering why he's smiling.

"Until she got back." Cas replies, pointing over my shoulder.