TW: Murder-suicide
May 2016
Dean groaned, putting a hand to his head. When he took it away, he saw blood on his fingers. "What the hell?" he asked. "Dean? Dean, is that you?" Dean tore his gaze away from his hand, taking in his surroundings. He was in the bunker, standing on a warding circle surrounded by a ring of fire. Cas stood just outside the fire, covered in blood. A strange gold dagger was in one of his hands. "C-Cas? What's going on?" he asked. "I'm so sorry, Dean," Cas apologized, staring at him sadly. "Sorry for what? Seriously, what is this?"
The warding underneath his feet was starting to fail and the fire was starting to flicker out. "I don't have time to explain," Cas replied. "Dean, you have to cast him out." Dean frowned, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Cast who out?"
"Michael."
April 2010
Sam and Dean entered the abandoned muffler factory as soon as the noise died down. Dean paused, picking up Cas' angel blade from the floor and handing it to Sam. He looked at the one dead angel body, and then headed into the concrete structure. The interior was just as he remembered- white walls with gold trim, pedestals, paintings, and all. Ignoring Adam for the time being, Dean rushed to the other corner where Mack cowered.
"Hey, bug. Are you hurt? How do you feel?" he asked her. She opened her mouth, and her lips moved to say the word 'Daddy', but no sound came out. "Bug?" There was the sound of wings and a familiar voice sounded behind him. "Dean, please. Did you think it would be that easy?" Dean straightened up, turning to glare at Zachariah. "Did you?" Sam charged Zachariah from behind with Cas' blade. The angel knocked it from his hand, throwing Sam against a screen. "Sam!"
"You know what I've learned from this experience, Dean? Patience," Zachariah mused. He waved his hand and Adam fell to the floor, coughing up blood. "Adam? Let him go, you son of a bitch." Zachariah ignored him. "I mean, I thought I was downsized for sure. And for us, a firing... pretty damn literal. But I should have trusted the boss man. It's all playing out like he said... You, me, your mute kid, your hemorrhaging brothers."
Zachariah turned his fist in Sam's direction, making him cough up blood as well. "You're finally ready, right?"
"Stop it," Dean begged. "Stop it right now!" Behind him, Mack was trying to cry out, but her voice still wouldn't work. "In exchange for what?" Zachariah asked. "Damn it, Zachariah. Stop it, please. I'll do it." The angel quirked an eyebrow, "I'm sorry. What was that?" Dean stared back at him brokenly. "Okay, yes. The answer is yes."
"Dean!" Sam cried out at the same time Mack screamed the word 'Daddy!' with no sound. "Do you hear me? Call Michael down, you bastard!" Dean's voice cracked, tears in his eyes. "How do I know you're not lying?" Zachariah questioned him. "Do I look like I'm lying?" Immensely pleased, Zachariah turned his back on Dean, reciting in Enochian. "Zodiredo... noco... aberamage... nazodpesade... He's coming." Sam gave Dean a questioning look and Dean winked back at him. "Of course, I have a few conditions." Zachariah turned back. "What?"
"The few people whose safety you have to guarantee before I say yes," Dean explained. "Sure, fine," Zachariah shrugged. "Make a list." Dean smirked, taking a step closer to the angel. "But most of all... Michael can't have me until he disintegrates you." Zachariah's face went slack. "What did you say?" he hissed. Dean took yet another step forward. "I said... before Michael can have one piece of this sweet ass... he has to turn you into a piece of charcoal." The angel laughed, but there was fear in his eyes. "You really think Michael's gonna go for that?"
"Who's more important to him now? You... or me?" Dean challenged. "You listen to me. You are nothing but a maggot inside a worm's ass. Do you know who I am... after I deliver you to Michael?" Zachariah asked. "Expendable," Dean deadpanned. "Michael's not gonna kill me."
"Maybe not. But I am." Dean stabbed Cas' angel blade through Zachariah's head through his chin. The angel fell, the black imprint of his wings burnt across the wall and floor beneath his body. Dean had fallen back on the ground beside Mack. White light and an ear-piercing noise from above indicated Michael was coming. Sam had dragged himself up, helping Adam to his feet while Dean stared dumbstruck at Zachariah's dead vessel. "Dean, come on," Sam called out. Dean jumped, looking over at his brother. Adam had already made his way out of the room and Sam was holding Mack, staring back at Dean. "Come on, move it!" he urged Dean. Dean stumbled to his feet, heading after brother and his daughter. They managed to get out, but the door shut before he could follow. "No! Sam! It won't open!" he yelled, tugging at the handle.
"Sam! Sammy, help!" he yelled. "Hold on!" Sam's voice carried desperately from the other side. "We'll get you out. Just hold on. Dean! Can you hear me?!" He didn't respond, turning back away from the door, staring up into the light as Michael approached. "Yes," he whispered, and then his world went black.
May 2010
Michael frowned as he stared down at the burning horsemen's rings in the grass. He was definitely not planning on that fool Adam interfering and falling into the Cage with Lucifer. There was a flap of wings behind him and he turned to face Castiel. "Well... that's unfortunate," he scowled. "Let him go, Michael," Castiel snarled, angel blade slipping out from his sleeve into his hand. "Oh, but I'm just getting started," Michael smirked. "Let. Him. Go," Cas ordered once more.
"You know that blade can't hurt me, right?" Michael asked. "And even if it could, you wouldn't risk killing your boy toy. I really don't appreciate you defiling my vessel, Castiel." Cas was fuming as he glared at the archangel possessing Dean. "I won't let you take over, Michael. It's over. Lucifer is back in the cage. You lose."
"No," Michael smirked, raising his hand. "I win." He snapped his fingers, changing everyone's memories so they thought Adam had said yes. He still kept the main events intact, he just made sure no one remembered him possessing Dean. And then he went dormant.
April 2015
"You hid it where?!"
"Inside of me," Cas grimaced, painfully trying to get comfortable as he sat in Dean's bed. Dean was pacing nervously at the foot of the bed, wringing his hands as he questioned Cas on what happened. "And now Crowley has it?" he spat. "Yes," Cas confirmed. "I'm sorry, Dean." Dean stopped pacing, looking over at him, and his expression immediately softened. "No... No, you don't need to apologize, buddy. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Because of me, Crowley got his hands on the Angel Tablet. How can you say I did nothing wrong?" Dean bit his lip, green eyes searching Cas' face and darting over his other injuries. "You were just doing what you thought was right... There isn't anything wrong with that," he pointed out. "Except that every single time I do what I think is right, there are catastrophic consequences," Cas reminded him. "Yeah, but-" Dean began. "Stop, Dean. Will you just... just come here, for a minute?" Dean swallowed, pausing a beat, and then nodded his head. He circled to the unoccupied side of the bed, gingerly moving closer to sit beside Cas.
"Why aren't you healing as fast?" he whispered curiously as Cas grabbed his hand and started tracing patterns on the back of it. "My grace... it's very damaged," Cas answered slowly. "I think the combination of losing the Tablet and Crowley shooting me with an angel blade bullet weakened it." Dean frowned, watching Cas trace a heart shape on the back of his hand. "Is there a way to fix it?" Cas paused his art project to look over at him. "There... is one thing that might work, but I would never ask it of you."
"What is it, Cas?"
"No, I can't. It's extremely dangerous, even if my grace was intact," Cas shook his head. "Cas, please. If there's something I can do to help you get better faster, I want to do it." Cas swallowed, going back to tracing patterns on Dean's hand. "It would involve touching your soul, Dean. I can't."
"Do it. I don't care."
"I do," Cas snapped. "Dean, it could kill you." Dean pulled his hand out of Cas', forcing him to look over at him. "I want to do this, Cas. You'll be careful, I know you will." Cas held his gaze for a long moment, and then nodded. "Okay. But I did warn you, remember that."
"I trust you," Dean assured him. Cas took a deep breath, preparing himself to do the soul touch. However, before he could do anything, Dean's eyes flashed blue and his posture changed. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Castiel," Michael warned. "M-Michael?" Cas gasped, trying to put some space between himself and the archangel. It was difficult for him to do, considering the extent of his injuries. "How- When-"
"Back during the first apocalypse," Michael replied. "That fool half brother of the Winchesters foiled the fight between Lucifer and I. And then you came back demanding I release my vessel all in the name of love. It was disgusting, really. So, I realized I had to go dormant, bide my time until I could truly take over."
"You made everyone believe you possessed Adam... Wait... All this time, Adam's been down there... Completely human with Lucifer in the cage?" Cas' eyes widened in shock. "An unfortunate casualty, I'm afraid," Michael replied, not looking sorry about it at all. "W-what happens now? I assume you still refuse to give Dean up."
"You would be correct. It's not time for me to make my move. But I will do you a favor before wiping both your memory and Dean's. I'll heal you."
"You'll... heal me?" Cas blinked, brow furrowed in confusion. "Why?" Michael smirked at him. "Well, I can't very well have Dean begging you to do a soul touch again, now can I? That would cause all sorts of problems. And don't worry. You'll both still remember talking about losing the angel tablet to that fool demon Crowley. A stupid move on your part, by the way."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Cas rolled his eyes. Instead of responding, Michael held up his hand. His palm glowed blue with grace, his eyes shining as well as he healed all of Cas' wounds. "Farewell, Castiel. I have a feeling we'll talk again real soon." The archangel snapped his fingers, wiping both Cas and Dean's memory.
May 2015
Michael stood in Sam's hospital room, studying the medical scans the doctor had just brought in. "The MRI shows massive internal burns affecting many of the major organs," the doctor was explaining to him. "Oxygen to the brain has been severely deprived. The coma is the result of the body doing everything in its limited power to protect itself from further harm." Michael took a deep breath, forcing himself to sound more like Dean. "This wasn't supposed to happen."
"If your brother continues on this trajectory, the machines might keep him alive, but-"
"He'll be dead," Michael finished, turning to face the doctor. "Technically, yes," the doc nodded. "I'm afraid so." Continuing the charade, Michael thought about how Dean would actually react to hearing such news. "So, there's- there's no recovery? I mean, there's no bounce-back. There's no nothing." The doctor gave him a sympathetic look- his acting paid off. "I'm afraid that's in God's hands now."
Michael squared his shoulders, scowling at the doctor's word choice. "No. No, pull the plug."
"S-sir?"
"He wouldn't want this. Not this way. If there's no recovery, there's no point. Pull the plug now." The doctor swallowed, wringing his hands. "Mr. Smith, there's no need for that yet. Your brother is still alive, he's still fighting. Yes, things seem bleak now, but-" Michael slammed his fist on a nearby tray of instruments, sending the items flying as he pretended to get angry. "I SAID PULL THE PLUG! NOW!"
"V-very well."
Five minutes later, Sam Winchester was proclaimed officially dead.
July 2015
Kevin looked up from his notes at the table in the bunker library as Michael approached him. "Hey, Dean," he greeted him. Michael stopped, approaching Kevin at a slower pace so as to not draw suspicion. "Hey, do you notice anything off about Cas lately? Between you and me, I'm a little bit worried about him," Kevin continued. "Don't worry about Cas. Cas will be fine." Michael stared at Kevin for a moment, and then reached out, grabbing his head. Cas was rounding the corner into the room as Kevin screamed, spotting the white light flooding out of Kevin through his eyes.
"No!" he cried. "No! No! No! Kevin?!" Cas ran forward as Kevin's body dropped to the floor. Michael extended his hand, holding Cas off. "Dean?" the angel asked. "There is no more Dean," Michael replied. Cas gasped in pain, sinking to his knees. "But I played him convincingly, I thought."
"How did you...?" Cas gasped. "I heard you talk with the Prophet tonight," Michael explained, holding up a hand to show off black dust on his fingertips. "Altar a sigil... even the slightest... alter the spell. I told you before, Castiel. I was just waiting for my time to strike. And now... it is finally time." With a flap of his wings, the archangel vanished from the room. A tear slipped down Cas' cheek as he was released, staring at Kevin's dead body.
September 2015
Michael stalked slowly into the hotel suite where Abaddon was holding both Mckinley and Crowley hostage. The demoness used her powers to pin him to the wall, holding onto one of Mckinley's arms tightly. "So glad you could join us," she purred. "Here's how this is going to go. First... the kid dies... then you die... then I'm going to get rid of the king so I can take over Hell. That's quite the to-do list."
"Go ahead. Kill the girl," Michael smirked. "I don't care." Mack whimpered, trying to pull out of Abaddon's grip. "You don't care?" Abaddon echoed. "Nope. She means nothing to me. But you should know, you won't get the chance to kill me after. Because I will be killing you, and the other demon scum you trapped with that bullet."
"You aren't Dean Winchester," Abaddon realized. "You- Oh, God."
"People keep calling me that," Michael huffed in annoyance. "Can we just get this over with? I have more important things to do." Abaddon looked away from him, focusing on the young girl in her grasp. "Sorry, dear," she smirked. She let go of her, making a twisting motion with her hand. Mack's neck snapped, her lifeless body collapsing to the floor. At that moment, Michael doubled over, eyes flashing blue briefly.
"N-no... Bug..."
"Dean?" Crowley called over. Dean straightened back up, eyes flashing blue once more as Michael took back over. "Not. Now," he snarled. The archangel set his sights on the two demons left in the room. Abaddon backed up, fear filling her eyes. Michael's angel blade, a golden dagger to differentiate it as an archangel's weapon as opposed to a normal angel blade, dropped into his hand. "Don't even think of trying to smoke out," he threatened. Abaddon let out a whimper as he advanced, plunging his dagger into her stomach. Red energy burst from the demoness' body and she screamed as she died.
Michael extracted his blade, turning to Crowley next. "Oh, come on. This isn't even a fair fight. At least let me get this bullet out before you kill me, please." Michael looked down at the demon with disdain before plunging his blade into Crowley's stomach, killing him as well.
May 2016
Dean doubled over as the last of the holy fire died down. The warding beneath his feet had almost completely failed as well. "Dean! No!" Cas cried. Dean straightened, rolling his shoulders back as Michael took back over. "That was a nice try, Castiel. But it's no use. Dean belongs to me now. And the last thing standing in my way from taking over... is you. Now give me... my blade."
"Not a chance."
The last of the warding failed, and Michael left the circle, lunging after Cas. Cas' grip tightened on the archangel blade, slashing it and keeping Michael at bay. "This is futile, Castiel. You can't win. Surrender to me, and allow the new world to begin." Cas shook his head, slashing at the archangel with the gold dagger once more. "I told you, that is never going to happen."
"If you kill me, you kill Dean."
"I know. Dean, if you can hear me in there, I truly am sorry for this." Lunging forward, Cas buried the archangel blade in Michael's stomach down to the hilt. Michael gasped, blood dripping from his mouth as Cas twisted the blade. A single tear ran down Cas' cheek as he pulled the blade out, Dean's dead body falling to the floor of the library. Two giant wings were singed into the floor and up the wall beneath his body. Cas lay down beside his boyfriend, taking his hand. And then he plunged the dagger into his own chest.
The imprint of his wings mingled with the ones left by Michael, leaving behind two bodies of lovers who remained hand in hand, even in death.
THE END
