Metatron kicked me in the chest, beating me until I was barely conscious against the wall. I could just barely see the First Blade sitting on a grate a few yards away, and used what little strength I had to will it into my hand. Just as I was about to swing up and stab it into Metatron, the angel drove an angel blade deep into my chest with both hands. I gasped out as the sound of my blood pouring out of my body reverberated through the warehouse.
"No-o-o!" Sam and Dean's voices cried out.
Metatron backed away from me as I fell to the floor. Both brothers completely ignored him as they rushed to my side. I felt one of them grab my arm and pull me back up into a sitting position against the wall.
"Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey," Dean said.
My eyes shot open as the warehouse began to shake. As if remembering Metatron was still present, Sam moved to stab him with an angel blade, but the scribe vanished before he could make contact. Dean was holding a cloth desperately to my gaping chest wound in an effort to stop the blood.
"Dean, you and Sammy got to get out of here before he comes back," I spoke weakly.
"Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh. Shut up. Shut up. Just save your energy, all right? Oh, man. We'll stop the bleeding. We'll- we'll get you a doctor or- or I'll find a spell. You're gonna be okay."
He grabbed my hand, pressing it to my chest to keep the cloth in place.
"Listen to me," I rasped. "It's better this way."
"What?!"
"The Mark. It's making me into something I don't want to be."
"Don't worry about the Mark," Dean assured me. "We'll figure out the Mark later. Just hold on, okay? Get you some help. Sammy!"
Together, he and Sam lifted me off the warehouse floor and I groaned in agony.
"What happened with you being okay with this?" I directed at the younger Winchester.
"I lied," he admitted.
"Ain't that a bitch."
As we struggled toward the exit, I gasped for air.
"Guys. Hold up. Hold up," I moaned.
They paused, setting me down briefly on a piece of equipment.
"I got something I got to say to you," I gasped, barely able to breathe.
"What?" Sam asked me, tears pricking at both his and Dean's eyes.
"I'm proud of us."
Falling forward against Dean's chest, I closed my eyes and let go.
⁘
"Your husband, bless his soul, is summoning me as I speak," a familiar voice entered my subconscious. "Make a deal to bring you back. It's exactly what I was talking about, isn't it? It's all become so... expected. You have to believe me. When I suggested you take on the Mark of Cain, I didn't know this was going to happen. Not really. I mean, I might not have told you the entire truth. But I never lied. I never lied, Eleanor. That's important. It's fundamental. But...there is one story about Cain that I might have... forgotten to tell you. Apparently, he, too, was willing to accept death, rather than becoming the killer the Mark wanted him to be. So he took his own life with the Blade. He died. Except, as rumor has it, the Mark never quite let go. You can understand why I never spoke of this. Why set hearts aflutter at mere speculation? It wasn't until you summoned me... No, it wasn't truly until you left that cheeseburger uneaten...that I began to let myself believe. Maybe miracles do come true."
Something was placed in my hand and white hot power surged through my veins.
"Listen to me, Eleanor Winchester, what you're feeling right now- it's not death. It's life- a new kind of life. Open your eyes, Ellie. See what I see. Feel what I feel. And let's go take a howl at that moon."