Sorry for the delay folks! The last couple weeks have been INSANE! Hopefully I will be more regular with posting now! This story is 100% complete so never fear! :) Hope you enjoy chapter 5!

CHAPTER FIVE

Tuesday afternoon

Waubesaukee Mall

Wisconsin

"Remind me to stop at Radio Shack before we leave." Dean said softly, staring at the mall. He shook his head at the ludicrous situation. "Seriously? This is where the big bad monsters have Cas and Crowley locked up? The mall?"

Bennett narrowed her eyes and shot him a look, "Unless I was wrong and it's just a bunch of demons shopping for deals on socks and underwear at the same time."

A little knot of the tension that had steadily been building since his argument with Casey worked itself loose and Dean grinned. He elbowed Bennett and said, "I like you. You know that? You remind me of me."

"Is that a good thing?" Bennett tilted her head, amusement brightening her eyes.

"Depends on who you ask." Dean winked as he pulled her to her feet and asked, "The demons have been moving them around to keep them hidden?"

Bennett nodded, "And they have this mall under quarantine for some kind of a gas leak or something to keep people away."

"I was wondering how they were managing to do their evil deeds without hordes of angry shoppers coming at them armed with coupons in the middle of the day. Usually evil deeds are done at night. Feels weird to be out here in the middle of the afternoon." Dean said, taking one last look at the mall. He shook his head, "Kind of creepy, actually. Ok, let's go round up the rest of the troops."

They headed back down the hill toward the Impala where Sam and Casey were prepping their gear. Sam looked up as they approached and asked, "This the place?"

Dean exchanged a smile with Bennett, "Yeah. And there's a sale on underwear."

"What?" Sam gave him an incredulous look.

Bennett just laughed and hopped onto the trunk of the Impala where Casey had finished loading their shotguns. Dean noted that she had turned her back to him as soon as he had walked up. They'd spoken less than a dozen words since their argument after the interrogation the evening before.

Fighting the disappointment and hurt that still burned in his gut, he said, "Looks like we've got five demons."

"Three on the perimeter," Bennett added, "And two in the halls."

Casey nodded, handing Sam a shotgun. She still wasn't looking at Dean, but said, "OK. That's doable. Did you get a read on Crowley? Any sign of him or my dad?"

Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, Bennett, tell them about Crowley and Cas."

"Um." Bennett chewed her lip, fighting back a smile.

"What?" Casey frowned, finally turning around enough that Dean could see her face. She shot him a quick glance, then focused on Bennett. "Are they ok?"

"They're fine, Casey. Promise." Bennett said quickly. "I mean, they got beat up and they're trapped; devil's trap and holy oil. But they're safe enough."
Sam poked her in the shoulder, "So what is it?"

Bennett rolled her eyes, "They're...well, I think they've gone crazy. Like completely nuts."

"What are you talking about?" Casey pressed, "What's going on?"

"They're playing I Never." Bennett said, then burst out laughing.

Dean watched with relief as an amused smile lit Casey's face. She raised an eyebrow and Dean said, "Apparently your father has never..."

Casey shook her head and covered her ears, "Stop right there. I do not want to know what my father has and has not done! Ew. Just ew."

"They're bored." Bennett smiled, "Crowley's winning because, well, he has a lot more life experience than your dad does apparently."

"You have got to be joking." Casey closed her eyes and prayed for patience. Because, heaven help her, rescue or not, she was ready to throttle her father and her uncle. She stared at Bennett, waiting to see if this was a joke. But Bennett just shook her head, eyes wide with amusement.

"Ok. We're going to divide up." Dean said, interrupting her thoughts. "We need to take out the perimeter guards. I'll stick with Casey," he watched as her shoulders stiffened and she turned away from him again, "and we'll head in the west entrance while you two meet up at the east door and come in that way. Kill the other demons as we find them, and then we all go break Abbott and Costello out of prison."

Sam raised an eyebrow, "That sounds so...so very organized."

"Years of practice." Dean quirked a grin and nodded to the deserted looking building. "Let's go gank some demons."

Casey finally looked at him for more than a half a second and nodded. Her expression blank, she said, "Let's go."

Sam pulled out Ruby's blade as Dean and Casey headed off. He asked Bennett, "You good to do this?" She nodded quickly and smiled, but he grabbed her hand before she could move. He said, "Not that I don't believe you, but I don't believe you."

Bennett's smile faded and she took a deep breath. She said, "I'd rather be doing just about anything except this, but I'm ok."

"You had a panic attack at the grocery store," Sam said gently, "and now we're about to fight demons."

"I know." Bennett nodded, her hand tightening around his fingers, "I was trying not to...not to use the power. Ever since we got to the bunker, I was backing off; trying not to paint pictures all the time, see if I could handle it. And I freaked out." She smiled, "But I'm back to my old tricks, so you don't have to worry about me."

Sam shook his head and said, "That doesn't exactly make me not worry about you."

"I'm ready, Sam. Promise. I can handle it." Her eyes took on a faraway look for a moment, then she said, "I can hear them. They have no idea we're here. They're all just sitting in there thinking that they have the suckiest jobs in the universe."

"They kind of do."

"True." She hopped off the trunk and said, "They're not expecting us at all."

"Best news I've heard all day." Sam said, hoping their good fortune would last.

"I'm more worried about them." Bennett said nodding toward Dean and Casey. "They...I mean, they're just so...Are they going to be ok?"

Sam blew out a slow breath. Casey and Dean were visible, heading toward the entrance. They weren't walking particularly close to each other and there was nothing except concentration and professionalism in their movements. Sam said, "I don't know. They're having a hard time adjusting to everything."

"I wish I knew what was wrong...how to help them." Bennett whispered. She stared at the ground. "My parents yelled like that and...well, you know what happened to them."

Realizing that all she had for a reference point on relationships was her parent's epically dysfunctional marriage, Sam touched her chin and tilted her face up. He smiled and said, "Hey. Wanna know something about relationships?"

"What?"

"They take work. And sometimes they take a lot of yelling. It doesn't mean that they're falling apart." He thought about what they'd heard Casey and Dean say last night. He said, "Just because they say they're through with each other, it doesn't mean they really are. Ok?"

Bennett nodded, but looked far from convinced.

Sam said, "They're just trying to get used to each other and get used to being together. They love each other. They're both stubborn and independent and Dean has an overprotective streak about a football field wide. They just need time. Ok?"

"Ok." She nodded and looked a little bit reassured.

They skirted a set of dumpsters and Sam could just make out the first demon. Hovering in the shadows near the front door of the mall, the demon was possessing a guard. No one would have suspected anything if they happened to come by the mall. Sam paused beside a low cement wall on the outskirts of the parking lot. There was a lot of open ground to cover before he could get close enough to the demon to kill it. He glanced back at the demon and was surprised when he saw the demon suddenly begin to twist in agony. It fell to the ground, then exploded into smoky shards that quickly dissipated into the cool air. Sam turned to look at Bennett.

She shrugged in apology, "Sorry. Just seemed like a waste of time to wait till we got there to kill it. You can have the next one. Promise."

Sam smiled, "Yeah, don't put me out of a job."

They made their way toward the east entrance and Sam easily dispatched the second demon. Assuming that Dean and Casey had easily taken care of the other demon outside, Sam worked on unlocking the mall door. Pulling out his flashlight, he led the way inside. Everything was silent. The mall was dark and deserted. Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd been to a mall; even an open mall. Frowning, he honestly couldn't remember if he'd ever been to a mall in his entire life.

"There's one down the service corridor." Bennett whispered, hand on his arm. "Down this way."

"The other one?"

"Talking to Crowley." Bennett narrowed her eyes in concentration, then looked up at Sam in shock, "He's being really rude actually."

Sam snorted and turned to the left and walked through the mall toward the service corridor. He saw the demon as soon as he turned the corner and he ran forward and stabbed it with Ruby's blade before it even saw him. Letting the body fall to the ground, Sam felt a degree of satisfaction. So far this was proving to be the easiest rescue in the history of rescues. And that made him nervous. He turned around and looked for Bennett. She wasn't behind him. Frowning, he went back into the main aisle of the mall and found her staring at a window display.

"Hey. You ok?" He asked, standing next to her and looking at the lingerie on display. He swallowed and turned around, his back to the window and his eyes anywhere but on Bennett as she continued to stare at the rather revealing display.

"You get him?" Bennett asked, but she sounded distracted.

"Mmhm." Sam nodded, eyes on the floor. For a moment, they were silent, then he dared a quick glance at her. She was smiling at him. He cleared his throat and asked, "What?"

"I think I need to go shopping." Bennett continued to smile innocently at him and nodded at the display. "What do you think?"

"Uh...sure. Yeah. I mean..it's not open now so…" Sam felt his heart rate double as she moved closer to him.

Bennett's smile just grew wider. And less innocent. She asked, "Know what else I think?"

Sam shook his head.

"I think you should kiss me." She reached up and grabbed his collar, pulling him down closer to her level.

"You do, huh?" Sam couldn't fight the smile. "You remember we're hunting demons here and trying to rescue…"

"I know. We took care of three of the demons, Sam. Don't we deserve a moment?" Bennett asked, giving him a quick kiss. "Besides, this isn't exactly the first time we've kissed while surrounded by demons."

"You're trouble, you know that?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

Heaven help him if Dean caught him...

"Does this seem too easy to you?"

Dean nodded, "I wasn't going to say it aloud, though."

Casey chewed her lip as she looked around the empty mall. She couldn't even hear a clock ticking. It was very quiet. Which could be good, or could be bad. She asked, "Scared you're gonna jinx us?"

"Little bit, yeah." He grinned back at her, teeth bright in the dim light of the hallway. They'd taken out two demons without breaking a sweat. Looking to the right and left, he asked, "Which way do you think?"

Casey tilted her head and held up a finger. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on listening. Holding her breath, she finally heard it. The arguing. Opening her eyes, she whispered, "I can hear Crowley."

"Ok. Head that way?"

"Yeah. I don't hear the other demon." Casey shrugged, and turned the corner. Tightening her grip on her Angel blade, she stared down the hall and saw an empty store front. Covered in plastic wrap, the glass doors advertised the newest underwear boutique, opening soon. Casey glanced up at Dean and said, "I guess you were right about the underwear."

Dean nodded, "That where they are?"

"I think so." She led the way down the silent hall. Nothing jumped out at them and she didn't sense any malevolent presences in the vicinity. As they drew closer to the store, she saw a glow of light from behind the opaque plastic. And she heard the arguing.

Crowley's voice was hoarse and tight, "No, no, no, you're absolutely wrong. It wasn't 1723, it was 1724."

"You are incorrect."

"You wanna argue about what continent it was on?" Crowley shouted. "Or do you want to concede your point and move on to the next question?"

"I want you to cease talking to me." Castiel said, clearly fed up.

"We tried that, Angel Daddy. Lasted one day before you couldn't hold your peace any longer." There was amusement in Crowley's voice now. "I have to say, Cas, you lasted longer than what I expected."

Casey smiled despite herself. Suddenly, the thought of her father and Crowley being trapped together in one room for over a week made her want to laugh. Neither of them exactly had the right personality to be trapped together for any period of time. If they hadn't been trapped in their respective circles, she figured they probably would have killed each other long ago. She glanced at Dean and saw her amusement mirrored on his face. A little knot of misery loosened in her chest at the sparkle in his eyes. Maybe there was hope for them yet. She heard her father arguing back with Crowley and she rolled her eyes.

This was priceless.

She followed the argument and pushed back the plastic divider aside to find Crowley, head pillowed on his suit coat, lying on his back in the devil's trap while her father stood facing the opposite direction in the circle of flaming holy oil. They were both in their shirtsleeves, ties off and Cas's coat was in a crumpled pile on the ground behind him.

"Never thought I'd see this day." Casey said, hands on her hips. "You two in a room together, not trying to kill each other."

"Casey, love!" Crowley's head came off the ground and he grinned at her, "I knew you were going to get us out. Always such a smart girl..."

"You said you believed she would have moved on with her life by now." Cas turned, expression irritated. He smiled when he looked at Casey, though. "Casey. It is good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Dad." Casey smiled, relieved that he was alright.

Dean stepped closer and couldn't hide his amusement at the sight of Cas and Crowley glaring at one another from their respective circles, "You two ladies ready to get out of here, or do you have more slumber party games you wanna play?"

Cas shot him an aggravated glance; it looked like he was on his last nerve. Crowley eagerly rose, dusting his coat off. He glared at Cas, then said, "Please. Angel Daddy and I have exhausted any and all topics of conversation. And I have things to do."

Castiel shot him a glare, then looked back at Casey, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Dad." Casey nodded, using her powers to extinguish the holy oil from around her father.

"Pestis?" He asked, stepping toward her.

"Destroyed." She smiled, giving him a hug.

"Good riddance." Crowley said, staring expectantly at Dean, then down at the devil's trap. "Little help here, Squirrel?"

Dean rolled his eyes. It always pained him to have to play nice with Crowley. He'd known from the beginning that working with the demon was a bad idea on a good day. Sooner or later, that misguided alliance was going to take a turn for the worst.

He said, "Come on, can't fault a guy for enjoying the moment…"

"Yes, yes, actually I can." Crowley grated, apparently finding his last nerve to be raw. "If you don't mind, it's been a hell of a week."

"I bet." Dean grinned and broke the devil's trap.

Crowley immediately stepped out and said, "Been great. Family reunion and all. I really must be going."

Casey looked at him in surprise, "You're just going to walk away like that? Where are you going?"

"I have a kingdom to get back to. Pestis may be out of the picture, but I need to know what a certain ginger we all love to hate has been up to lately." Crowley said, and then his expression grew solemn as he touched her arm, "Besides that, I need to make sure the demons that were holding us haven't gone tattling to their boss about you, darling. Best keep your forbidden lineage a well-kept secret."

And then he was gone.

Casey frowned. She was only slightly surprised by Crowley's abrupt departure. It did concern her to think that the demon horde might be communicating with Abbadon about her special powers. That could be disastrous.

Cas put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Casey. Crowley is not the only one who has things to attend to." His expression grew troubled, and he tilted his head as if listening. He said, "There is something...something is not right."

Casey saw his angel blade appear in his hand and she tightened her grip on her own. She saw Dean take one distinct step closer to her and she didn't even bristle. Her attention was elsewhere. Focusing. Listening. Just like her father. Because he was correct. Something was very wrong. She felt it. The presence. And not the presence of demons.

"Echo? What is it?" Dean asked, his hand brushing her elbow. Gentle, not hovering, just being there. "Cas?"

Casey looked up at him and said, "It's angels."

Dean's eyebrows shot up, "What? Angels? What.."

"We need to leave now." Cas interrupted, expression pinched with worry.

"Well we can't just go." Dean said, already moving toward the door, "Sam's out there with Bennett."

Cas' expression flickered and he looked even more stressed. He said, "I will go find them; Casey, you and Dean leave now."

"Dad?" Casey asked, concern growing at his worry. "What is it? It's angels…"

"Metatron's angels." Cas said, his voice low. He started to speak again, but Casey interrupted him.

"It's too late." Casey said, looking from her father to Dean. She could see everything that was happening out there in the mall and she knew they weren't going anywhere. Casey said softly, "The angels have them, Dean."

They'd been heading to the west side of the mall together when the angels had appeared. Everywhere. No warning, as usual. Sam grabbed Bennett's hand and pulled her closer to him when the first angel stepped in front of them, blade brandished.

"We do not wish to harm you." An angel to their left said in a dry monotone.

Sam glanced around the area and counted ten angels. All looking less than friendly. All with their blades in their hands. He tightened his grip on his knife and glanced at the speaker. He said, "No? Why does it look like an ambush?"

"We are here to speak with the others. Remain where you are and no harm will come to you."

"Uh huh." Sam's jaw tightened. He had a feeling that harm was very likely to come to them all. He hadn't seen such a show of force from the angels since...well, he wasn't quite sure when. "What do you want?"

"It doesn't concern you."

Sam snorted, "I'd say it does. It concerns me a lot, actually."

He stepped forward. One step. And found himself with a blade to his neck.

"Sam!" Bennett shouted as she was torn from his grasp by another angel.

Fighting was not an option because he was afraid to swallow as close as the blade was to him. So he held very still and tried to catch sight of Bennett. She was off to the right, held by another angel with his hand around her throat. Her eyes were wide, but she wasn't fighting. Sam could tell she knew better than to struggle given that they were completely outnumbered.

The angel who had been doing the talking moved forward and said, "Be patient and you will be released in due time. We are not here for you. We've come for the half-breed."

Cas pushed past Casey and said, "You two need to leave now. I'll…"

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen." Dean interrupted Cas just as Casey was about to do the same thing. He joined Cas at the entry of the store and said, "We're going together."

"There are at least...ten angels." Casey said, troubled. She looked at her father, "Why?"

"I don't know." Cas said, stepping out into the hall.

Dean grabbed Cas' arm, pulling him back inside the storefront and asked, "Hey, we wanna work on a plan here? Casey just said ten angels. There are three of us. We aren't walking straight in there…"

"We would prefer that you did." A cold voice spoke from the far end of the corridor.

A light suddenly illuminated the area and Dean shielded his eyes until it reduced from

supernova to very bright for a mall wattage. He saw five angels standing at the far end of the hall. All of them were armed and looked about as ornery as most angels seemed to look.

Cas pulled out of Dean's grasp and took point as he walked out into the hallway. He said, "Who are you and what do you want?"

The angel in the lead, a haze of brightness surrounding him, smoothed his tie and said, "My name does not matter. You will never need utter it nor speak of me again. You need only step aside and let us take what we have come for."

"Which is?" Dean asked, having a deep, dark fear of what it might be.

"We have come for the abomination and her father."

Dean and Cas instantly stepped, as if by perfect practice, shoulder to shoulder in front of Casey. His heart was pounding in his chest and he couldn't have cared less if Casey was shooting daggers at the back of his head. He couldn't not try to protect her. He didn't hear any protest from behind him, though, so he figured she was still in shock.

The angel stepped closer and said, "We will take her and Castiel and leave."

"Oh you can leave, alright, glowstick." Dean said, wishing he had holy oil or an angel blade in his hand instead of a shotgun full of salt. They'd packed for demons, not angelic hosts. "You can take your band of merry men and get the heck out of here because you aren't getting either of them."

"I believe you will find you are mistaken." The angel said, snapping his fingers.

Dean felt the gnawing fear in his gut double when five more angels appeared, two of which had their shiny daggers pressed against his brother and Bennett's throats. Sam shot him an apologetic, but aggravated look. So much for this all going so well, Dean cursed. He wanted to do it again when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Let them go and we can talk." Casey said, voice calm, firm, in control. She pushed forward so she was in between Dean and Cas; passing Dean her angel blade as she moved. He accepted it without hesitation, his movements so practiced that the angels missed it all together. Casey drew their attention to herself as she asked, "What do you want with us?"

The lead angel laughed and said, "Oh, we won't be doing that until you and Castiel have surrendered to us. Then, perhaps we will allow the human collaborators to live."

Cas held up a hand, "Wait. I will come with you…"

"Dad!"

"Just allow the others to…" Cas started, but the other angel cut him off.

"Very well."

"Wait, what?" Dean spoke up, his fingers tightening around the blade he held carefully hidden. He had not expected Cas' negotiation to have success. It was unexpected and concerning.

The angel said, "We accept your terms, Castiel."

Immediately, two of the angels, and Castiel, disappeared.

"Dad!" Casey called out, as she lunged for the nearest angel to her right.

Dean immediately moved forward and ran Casey's blade through the nearest angel. His victory was abbreviated when another angel threw him across the room. He landed in a heap against the wall, groaning and trying to get to his feet and regain his grip on the precious blade. Before he could move anywhere, though, he was shoved against the wall; held immobile and furious. Bennett was fighting the angel holding her and Dean hadn't expected her to have such a well developed vocabulary.

His amusement faded as he continued to fruitlessly fight to escape the angelic powers that held him against the wall. As he struggled, Dean saw Sam break free of the angel holding him. Sam spun around and landed a punch that had the angel stumbling backwards. Another hit and the angel fell backwards onto the ground, but not before he was able to use his power to throw Sam through a storefront window.

As he fruitlessly fought to escape the angelic powers that held him against the wall, Dean saw seven of the angels take a step forward. The spokesman angel said, "I wouldn't even try to fight. With our combined strength, even you," he looked at Casey with a disturbing smile, "you who are an abomination to our kind, are completely powerless."

Casey was fighting, though. She said through clenched teeth, "You are all going to die for this."

The angel laughed, "I think not. Kill the girl."

"No!" Casey screamed as the angel holding Bennett raised his blade.

She still was fighting against the combined angelic powers to escape their hold on her, but she had enough power to send that angel stumbling backwards, giving Bennett opportunity to move away. Before she could make it very far, another angel stepped in front of her and punched her hard enough that she crumpled to the ground without a sound. Casey could barely breathe as she watched Bennett fall and tried to fight against the combined strength of the angels.

The lead angel crouched in front of Dean but stared over at Casey as he said, "If this is the way you want to behave, abomination, I think it's time we take something precious to you."

His hand closed around Dean's throat.

"Stop! Leave...leave us alone!" Casey begged, fighting against their powers without any success. "I'll go with you, just let them go."

"So like your father," The angel said, smiling as Dean choked. "You should never have existed. Your father deserves to pay for his sins and so do these humans who have allowed you to live."

Casey watched as Dean met her eyes. He was speaking volumes without saying a word. I'm sorry. Don't do this. It broke her heart, seeing the pain in his eyes and she shook her head even as she tried to communicate wordlessly back to him, I love you.

Casey watched his eyes widen and she knew he had received her message. She smiled sadly, then closed her eyes.

Dean had seen it in her eyes. Casey was going to do whatever it took to save him. And he knew he wasn't going to like the cost. She closed her eyes and he wouldn't have been able to breathe even if that angel didn't have a hand around his neck. Dean could feel his head pounding, his heart thudding and the black spots in his vision told him that he didn't have long before he was going to find himself unconscious. Then dead. Blinking past the dark spots, he kept his attention on Casey.

She was fighting against the angels with everything she had. For a moment, he feared the eight remaining angel's combined power was every bit as overpowering as the angel had claimed. Would she have the power? But then, he felt the angel's hand release him and he gasped in a desperate breath as the angel moved back. All of the angels stepped closer to Casey, their faces reflecting their shock. Dean still couldn't move, but at least he could breathe again. He watched an angel step in front of Casey, his blade coming down through the air toward her heart.

"Casey! No!" Dean shouted hoarsely, trying again to get to his feet to help.

Casey's hand came up and grasped the angel's arm. Her eyes opened and they were a fierce steel grey. A smile spread across her face as she stood up, shoving the angel backwards. She still held his arm, and as soon as she was on her feet, she wrenched his arm and stabbed him with his own blade. He flashed out and Casey let him fall. The other angels banded together and raised their hands. Casey stumbled backwards slightly, then rebalanced.

Dean watched in shock as a bright light began to fill the room. Casey looked over at him with her grey eyes and shouted, "Close your eyes!"

Knowing better than to argue, Dean slammed his eyes closed. A second later, he heard a high-pitched sound then felt what seemed to be a massive explosion. He slammed against the wall, then crumpled to the ground, covering his ears with his hands. The noise turned to the sound of a thousand jet engines, and the room was so bright that he felt like he was staring at the sun even with his eyes closed tightly. The ground shook and he could hear windows shattering all around him.

Then it was silent.

For a long moment, Dean couldn't move. Not that he didn't want to move. But he couldn't move. His head was ringing and he felt leaden. Whatever Casey had just done, it had been insanely powerful. His bones ached from the concussive wave of the explosion. So he remained where he was for a minute, just sucking in precious breaths and waiting for his head to stop spinning. As much as it hurt with his eyes closed, he wasn't sure he was looking forward to opening his eyes.

Finally, he couldn't wait any longer. He needed to check on everyone else. Forcing his eyes open, Dean looked up and saw the eight angels still standing there, arms outstretched. Casey was standing too, wavering, face ghost white. She took a deep breath, her grey eyes met his and she smiled, then she was consumed by a blinding white light. The room vibrated and Dean watched in shock as the the eyes of the eight angels burned out and they fell over to the ground in the same moment that the white light around Casey flashed brighter then exploded.

Casey was gone.

Uhoh! :D