Dean peaked into the barn at Austin playing basketball, then turned back to me.
"So... if this works and we capture Cain, then what?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we co... if we come to it," I swallowed. "You know last week, when I said that I would go down swinging when the time came? I meant that I was at peace with that. I just didn't realize the time would come so soon, you know, like right now. I'm scared, Dean."
He grabbed my hand, pulling me against his chest and holding me there. I closed my eyes, clenching my jaw to combat the tremor that had started up as tears threatened to fall.
"Come on," he whispered after a few minutes, guiding me away from the barn.
⁘
Sam, Dean, Cass and Crowley worked together to get Cain in position in the Devil's Trap we'd put in the barn while I hung back.
"Cass, hey, you okay?" Dean asked him.
"I'm fine," the angel replied. "It worked?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"My turn," I said.
"Ellie, look, we want to help," Sam piped up.
"No. No, with you in the ring, it'd just be a liability."
"Eleanor?" Cass pressed.
"I'd be too worried about what he could do to you... or what I could. Plus, I need you four out here to take care of whatever comes out of there. And I'm serious. I mean whatever comes out."
"Happily," Crowley said, holding out the First Blade. "What guarantee do I have that you'll give it back when you're done?"
"If I survive and I come out of there and I don't give it back, you'll have a much bigger problem on your hands," I admitted.
I took the Blade from Crowley, looking at it intently as red tendrils spread up my hand toward the Mark.
"Ellie?" Dean asked.
"I'm good," I nodded.
Walking up the stairs, I turned back to look down at the four men. Taking a deep breath, I opened the barn door and walked inside.
"Hello, Eleanor," Cain greeted me. "At a loss for words, my daughter. Allow me."
He started pacing, kicking away straw to reveal more and more of the Devil's Trap.
"This is the part where you tell me it's not too late and I can lay down arms, abandon my mission. 'We don't have to fight'."
"I'll spare us the formalities," I replied, walking toward the Trap. "You're past talking down. Cain, you're fully mental."
"Oh, I prefer to think I've finally gotten clear. When I made my bargain with Lucifer, killed Abel, I released a stain upon the earth, a stain deeper and far more lasting than mere precedence."
"Your bloodline's tainted, so you say."
"So I know," Cain stopped pacing. "Not all killers are my descendants, and not all my descendants are killers, but enough are, enough that I know that extinguishing them is the least I owe this world. Can you honestly tell me that humanity's not better off with fewer Tommy's and fewer Leon's... fewer you's."
"And the kid?" I quirked a brow.
"He could go either way. I prefer to be thorough."
I was standing at the very edge of the Devil's Trap as we stared at each other.
"How's it feel, Eleanor, to be holding the Blade again?"
I raised the Blade from my side, looking down at it.
"It feels like a means to an end."
"Then do it," Cain told me.
Stepping into the Trap, I made several attempts to stab Cain with the Blade. Cain evaded them all, throwing me to the ground. Getting to my feet, I tried once more with the same result. Punching Cain, I swung at him with the Blade, and he grabbed my wrist, both of us grappling for control of the Blade.
"That seems a bit weaker than I would expect from you with the Blade," Cain locked eyes with me. "I think you can do better."
I threw another punch, hitting him in the face.
"Unless..." Cain continued as I punched him again. "You're holding back."
I lunged at him, and he grabbed both my hands. We remained like that, struggling for the Blade.
"What is it, Eleanor? Do you think if you hold back just enough, you won't succumb? That you'll leave this fight the same as you entered?!"
With a shove, I was sent sprawling to the ground once more.
"Look to my example, girl! There is no resisting the Mark or the Blade. There is only remission and relapse!"
He punched me savagely, turning and walking a little ways away. I coughed before slowly rising to my feet.
"You told me this day would come," I said. "You told me that I would have to kill you."
"Is that so?" Cain smirked.
Holding out a hand, he flung me across the barn through a window.
"I'm afraid you misunderstood my intentions here, Eleanor. When your pet angel found my burial site, I thought about ending him and swatting him like a fly."
I got up, looking around the barn.
"But then I thought about you," Cain continued. "Your biggest weakness, the thing I noticed the moment I met you, your courage, your reckless bravado."
Finally, I spotted the Blade lying on the edge of the Devil's Trap.
"I let him go, knowing he would report back to you, knowing you would bring into battle the one thing that can kill me, the one thing I truly want."
We were both looking at the Blade then. I dove forward, trying to get to it, but Cain raised his hand, causing it to slide along the ground toward him. He stopped it with his boot, picking it up. The familiar red tendrils ran up his wrist as he held up the Blade.
"Oh, it's been too long," he inhaled. "That old feeling makes me wonder how I ever had the strength to resist."
I ran to attack him, and he grabbed me by the throat.
"This may be hard to believe, in light of what I'm about to do, but I care about you, Eleanor. I truly do. But I know I'm doing you a favor. I'm saving you."
"Saving me from what?" I choked out.
"From your fate."
Cain threw me across the room then.
"Has it never occurred to you?" he asked, kicking me onto my back. "Have you never mused upon the fact your living my life in reverse? My story began when I killed my brother, and that's where your story inevitably will end."
"No," I shook my head. "Never."
I groaned as he put a foot on my chest.
"It's called the Mark of Cain for a reason. First... first, you'd kill Crowley. There'd be some strange, mixed feelings on that one, but you'd have your reason. You'd get it done, no remorse. And then you'd kill your husband, Dean. Now that one... that I suspect would hurt something awful. And then!"
Cain lunged to the ground, kneeling over me and pressing the First Blade to my throat. As he continued, I noticed a knife tucked under his coat.
"Then would come the murder you'd never survive, the one that would finally turn you into as much as a savage as it did me."
"No."
"Your brother, Sam. The only thing standing between you and that destiny is this Blade. You're welcome, my daughter."
As he raised his hand to plunge the Blade into me, I grabbed the knife from his belt and cut off his hand at the wrist. He fell over, grabbing his wrist and blood spurted on the ground. Getting up, I grabbed the First Blade as Cain got to his knees.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"Tell me I don't have to do this," I said, tears in my eyes. "Tell me that you'll stop. Tell me that you can stop!"
"I will never stop."
I felt a tear roll down my cheek as Cain lowered his head. Raising my arm, I plunged the First Blade into Cain. Outside, thunder rolled.