After another whole day of searching through books, looking up spells online and asking other witches, the Winchesters and their familiars were forced to accept the fact that there was no other way to reverse the spell. So, much as Sam didn't like it, they agreed to let Gabe attack Lucifer and get a blood sample.
"What if Lucifer hits him with a spell or something?" Sam asked Dean. The two of them were sitting on the couch in the living room, Cas sitting on the mantle above the fireplace. Gabriel was asleep upstairs.
"Yeah, I don't think he'd be able to dodge and carry a bucket of blood at the same time," Dean mused, running his hand through his hair.
Any ideas, Cas?
Cas felt the glow of pride that he felt every time Dean asked his advice for something.
Well, I could go with Gabriel and distract Lucifer while Gabriel gets away.
Then who would protect you from Lucifer?
You could use that invisibility spell that you used on us yesterday. Lucifer would be too busy trying to fend me off to target Gabe and he won't be able to attack what he can't see, so I'd be safe, too.
Good idea.
"Cas has an idea," he told Sam. The witch raised his head and looked at Dean with tired eyes.
"What is it?" he asked.
"What if we sent them both? They'd be under an invisibility spell so Lucifer wouldn't be able to see them, and Cas could distract him long enough for Gabe to get away."
Sam looked thoughtful. "It's the best idea we've had so far. And they'll be safer together than they would be alone."
"Right. So, tomorrow night?"
Sam nodded. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, getting up and going to the stairs. He called a quick goodnight before walking up to the room he and Gabe shared.
"It's pretty late," Dean said. "We should go to bed." Cas flew onto his outstretched arm and let Dean carry him up to their room. He settled onto the perch Dean had bought for him from PetCo and waited for Dean to slip into his bed before closing his eyes. "'Night, Cas."
Goodnight, Dean.
...oO()Oo…
The next morning, Gabriel was already awake when Cas and Dean went downstairs. Usually the two of them got up first, followed by Sam and then Gabriel, so Cas couldn't think of any reason why Gabe would be up so early.
He joined his brother on the coat rack and the two of them watched Dean bustle around the kitchen, making breakfast.
"Why are you up so early?" Cas asked by way of greeting.
"I don't know," Gabe answered. "I just woke up an hour or two ago and couldn't go back to sleep."
"That's weird."
"Very."
Dean looked over and narrowed his eyes at the two of them.
"Are you two talking to each other or are you just making noise to annoy me?" he asked.
"Who pissed in his Lucky Charms?" Gabriel asked, a little louder than was appropriate. Dean pointed his spatula threateningly at the eagle and Cas was sure that Gabe would have been smirking if he had been human.
"Gabriel, please don't purposefully annoy Dean," Cas said exasperatedly.
"It's so much fun, though," was Gabe's reply. The two of them sat side by side, watching Dean prance around the kitchen cooking food, singing terribly the whole time. Thankfully, they were saved from an encore performance when Sam stumbled down the stairs, yawning and running a hand through his hair.
He froze at the sight of Gabriel and the two of them stared at each other for a few moments, having what Cas assumed to be a conversation in their heads. Sam nodded and moved away, sitting down at the table and waiting for Dean to put their breakfast on plates.
There were two extra plates piled high with food sitting on the counter for Cas and Gabe, no eggs, of course. The familiars scarfed down their food quickly, fidgeting impatiently as the witches ate slower.
Calm down, Cas. Some of us have to chew our food, ya know.
Sorry, Dean, but we have stuff to do today.
What, exactly, do we have to do?
Hunt down Lucifer, remember?
Dean swallowed painfully and gave Cas a questioning look.
I thought we agreed to try to get the blood tonight.
Yeah, but it'll be hard to attack him if we don't know where he is. I was thinking that Gabe and I could follow him so that we're constantly aware of his whereabouts.
Dean chewed thoughtfully on a piece of toast while he considered Cas words.
He'd see you.
Not if you used the invisibility spell.
I don't know if it'll work if you guys aren't within a specific range of us.
Ask Sam, then.
Dean took a sip of his beer and turned his attention to Sam.
"Hey, Sammy?" Sam looked up from his book.
"Yeah?"
"Can we do an invisibility spell on someone who isn't here? Like, Cas said that it'd be easier to get the blood if they followed Lucifer today so they always knew where he was, and that an invisibility spell would prevent them from noticing them."
"Yeah, I see what you mean," Sam said. "I think I read somewhere that any spell will work as long as you have the blood of whoever you want to use the spell on."
Cas froze. They'd need blood for the spell. Gabriel looked at him in concern and scooted closer. Dean felt his discomfort and held out his hand for Cas to perch on.
What's the matter?
I don't do needles. I had a… bad experience once.
He could feel Dean sifting through his memories, searching for the incident that Cas was referring to.
Wow, that must have been pretty painful.
It was, and ever since then I've been terrified of needles.
Well, I promise that you can trust me. I would never hurt you.
Cas could feel the truth in his words and let himself relax a little. Dean smiled.
Okay, if you guys are so set on doing this-
We are.
-then let's get this done.
He took a last huge bite of pancake and stood up. He headed to the cabinet where Cas knew they kept the first-aid supplies and pulled out two sterile needles. Cas tried not to shiver and focused on counting Dean's freckles. Gabe hopped onto his arm as they passed and the three of them went to the bathroom.
Gabe went first, thankfully. He held out his wing and waited patiently while Dean filled the syringe with blood. When it was Cas' turn, Dean let him go through some of his memories to distract him. It worked, and Cas didn't even feel it as he was too busy watching a ten-year-old Sam try to cook breakfast.
"All done," Dean announced when he was finished. He labeled the two samples so that they wouldn't get mixed up and led the familiars downstairs to the basement where Sam had already prepared the alters needed to perform a blood spell. They prepared the pictures and set them on the altars, but didn't use the blood spell just yet.
Sam cast the oral spell over them and Cas felt the familiar tingling sensation cover him and knew the spell had worked. He let Dean see through Cas' eyes so that he knew where they were and fidgeted impatiently when Dean took too long walking up the stairs and opening the back door. It was only after he and Gabe had launched themselves into the sky that he remembered that he had no idea where to start looking.
He lives in an apartment on the corner of Fifty-fifth and Graham Street. Try there first, but be careful.
Thanks, Dean.
"Hey, Cassie," Gabriel screeched. "Sam told me where he lives, come on." Gabriel banked left and Cas followed. The two of them kept an intense look out for any sign of Lucifer as they headed towards his apartment building. When they finally found it, they perched right on top where they could see everyone who entered and exited the building.
"We should split up," Cas cawed. "You stay here and I'll look around."
"Okay," Gabe agreed. "But if you see him, tell Dean to tell Sam to tell me."
"You, too." Cas flapped his wings and took off from the building. He kept low, just barely above the treetops. He had no idea where Lucifer might be, so he just checked out all of the places around the apartment. He wasn't at any of the restaurants, stores or the park near his apartment, so Cas expanded his search zone. He was looping in ever-expanding circles around the apartment, trying to find any sign of the witch.
For two hours he searched, Dean's presence in his mind. He was heading back to the apartment to check in with Gabriel when he felt the oily feeling that meant the spell had worn off.
Dean, do the blood spell.
You're visible again?
Yes, and tell Sam to do the same for Gabriel.
Alright, hold on. This may feel weird.
Cas landed in a tree to wait. A few moments later, he felt the tingling return, but it felt different. Instead of going over his feathers, it seemed to be coming from inside of him. He wiggled uncomfortably, but it didn't last long, thankfully.
Did it work?
I think so. Thanks, Dean.
He returned to his flight and two minutes later, landed next to his brother.
"Anything?" Gabe asked.
"No," Cas replied. "I can't find him anywhere."
"And I've gone to almost all of the windows, but he isn't in any of the apartments."
"Where could he be?"
"I don't-" Gabe's sentence broke off and a second later Cas understood why. He felt a huge wave of panic from Dean, but it was quickly blocked as the witch slammed down a wall in his mind. "Something's wrong."
Cas' eyes hardened and he took off, followed closely by his brother. They flew as fast as they could, and Gabriel could fly pretty damn fast, back to the house.
Dean! Dean, answer me!
Dean didn't reply and Cas' fear spiked. He flapped his wings harder and shot through the air. They went to the backyard, where the back door was always kept open. Gabriel didn't hesitate in ripping a hole in the screen door with his talons and flying inside, Cas hot on his tail. The familiars froze at the scene that greeted them.
Lucifer was battling with Sam and Dean, and he was winning. Sam was being held in place against the wall by Lucifer's magic and Dean was crouching behind the upturned sofa, shooting spell after spell at Lucifer. The older witch easily dodged them and shot a few of his own. They went wide, but Dean was grabbed by some invisible force and slammed into the wall next to Sam.
They both struggled fiercely, but Lucifer was stronger.
"Where are they?" he growled.
"We'll never tell you," Sam gasped, struggling to take in air from the intensity of Lucifer's hold.
"We'll see," Lucifer said softly. He made a fist and Sam choked, eyes wide as he struggled for breath. That was the last straw for Gabriel. He dived at Lucifer, raking his talons across the witch's face. Lucifer screamed in pain and released Sam and Dean.
The witches slumped to the floor and Cas flew over, landing on Dean's knee. He felt the Bond open up again and was bombarded by his witch's relief.
Cars?
Yeah, it's me.
Is Gabriel here, too?
Lucifer screamed again and a new set of claw marks raked themselves across his face.
"ENOUGH!" he yelled suddenly, and Cas could feel the power he pushed out through those words. The invisibility spell melted off and Cas froze. Lucifer grinned evilly. "Gotcha."
Gabriel flew over to Sam and landed on his arm, glaring daggers at the witch. The four of them watched him with suspicion, waiting for the next attack. He held up his hand and began to chant in Latin. Sam and Dean's eyes widened and then they, too, were chanting. It was a battle of magical strength, and the familiars could do nothing but watch helplessly.
"Sam, Dean!" a new voice called. A scruffy-looking man waltzed into the living room, face buried in a notebook that he was scribbling furiously in. "Hey, I need your help. What do you think-"
He looked up and noticed for the first time the damage done to the room and Lucifer standing there with his palm pointed towards the four of them. He was so out of place that all three of the witches stopped their spell-casting to stare at him.
"What the ever living fuck is going on here?" he asked calmly.
"Lucifer," Dean snarled, "put a spell on our familiars that trapped them in their animal forms and then he came here and attacked us."
"Is that true?" the man, who Cas assumed was a witch, asked Lucifer. Cas could feel the power in his words and his eyes widened a little. He was even more powerful than Lucifer. Speaking of, Lucifer was obviously trying hard to get out of the witch's magical grip, but couldn't.
"Yes," he ground out through clenched teeth.
"Then, fuck you, asshole," the witch said angrily. He muttered a few words under his breath and Lucifer's eyes rolled back in his head. He fell to the floor, unconscious. The witch then waved his hand through the air and reversed all of the damage Lucifer had done, including the spell on Cars and Gabriel.
Cas blinked in surprise when he found himself human again. He looked at Gabriel and gave him an ecstatic smile, which his brother returned, before his attention was once again grabbed by the man in the center of the room.
"Sorry about him," he said to Sam and Dean.
"Yeah, well, just deal with him," Dean said angrily.
"No, I was going to take him to the candy shop and reward his behaviour," the witch said sarcastically. "Of course I'm going to deal with him, ya idjits." He rolled his eyes and waved his hand again, and he and Lucifer were gone.
Dean gave a relieved sigh and turned to Cas with a huge smile on his face. He grabbed Cas in a hug and the familiar reveled in the fact that he could hug again.
"I'm glad that's over," Gabriel quipped. "I was starting to have candy withdrawal."
Cas snorted at his brother and leaned his head on Dean's shoulder, to the exact spot where his handprint rested.
"Who was that witch?" he asked. "Was he a member of the ruling coven?"
"Yeah, that was Bobby Singer," Sam answered. He sat down heavily on the couch, pulling Gabriel down with him. "The others are Chuck Shurley, Crowley McLeod and Ellen Harvelle."
"Why does the name 'Harvelle' sound so familiar?" Gabriel asked.
"That's because Ellen's daughter Jo was the waitress at the diner we went to a few days ago."
"Oh, right." A pause. "So, what do we do now?"
"I have no idea," Cas said. "It's not even three o'clock yet, but I'm exhausted from all the flying we did."
"Go to sleep, then. Me and Sam'll just hang here," Dean told him. Cas gave him a grateful smile and headed upstairs to his bedroom. He waited at the top of the stairs for Gabriel, waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, when Gabe finally walked up the stairs, he was carrying an entire shopping bag full of candy.
"'Night, Cassie," he smirked as he walked by, taking a bite out of a Snickers bar. Cas chuckled.
"Goodnight, Gabe," he said as he went to his own room. He fell onto the bed, not even bothering to take off his trenchcoat or shoes. As he slipped into slumber, his last thought was of how glad he was that all of the craziness was finally over.
A/N This isn't the end.