Dean and I had gotten Sam to the hospital.
Sam laid in his hospital bed, comatose after the aftermath of almost finishing the trials to close the gates of Hell. There was a breathing tube attached to his mouth and nose. His arm was strapped to a beeping monitor.
Dean sat at his bedside worriedly.
I stood behind Dean, a hand on his shoulder.
Dean looked at me, taking my hand.
I looked at the TV in the room.
It showed pictures and videos of the falling angels.
The news headline read: Global Meteor Shower.
~~~~~~~
Dean and I were talking with a doctor, looking at medical scans.
"The MRI shows massive internal burns affecting many of the major organs," the doctor told us. "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."
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Dean told us.
"If your brother continues on this trajectory, the machines might keep him alive, but--" the doctor started.
"He'll be dead," I finished.
"Technically, yes," the doctor answered. "I'm afraid so."
"So, there's--there's no recovery?" Dean asked. "I mean, there's no bounce back? There's no nothing?"
"I'm afraid that's in God's hands now," the doctor told us.
"You're a doctor," Dean told him. "You're a medical professional. You're trying to tell me that my brother's life is in God's hands? What, is that supposed to be a--a comfort?"
"Mr. Dougherty--" the doctor started.
"No, God has nothing to do with this equation at all," Dean told us.
"I didn't mean--" the doctor started.
"That's not good enough," Dean told us, walking out.
I sighed, not knowing what to do.
~~~~~~~
I was still with Sam.
A woman walked in.
I stood. "Hi."
"My name is Kim Schortz, and I'm a grief counselor here at the hospital," the woman told me.
"Right," I told her. "Yeah."
"Are you Mrs. Dougherty?" Kim asked.
I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry, my husband's not in, so..."
"It's okay," Kim told me. "This can't be that easy for you, either. I'm afraid, as hard this may be, this might be a good time to talk... about the inevitable."
"Look, I'm sure you're a nice person and that you mean well, but 'inevitable'?" I asked. "That's a fighting word where I come from. There's always a way."
"And I am a prayerful woman who believes in miracles as much as the next," Kim told me. "But I also know how to read an EEG. And unless you're telling me you have a direct line to angels or God..."
"Yeah, no, I, uh..." I trailed off. "I don't." I got an idea. "But I might have something better. I got the King of Hell in the trunk."
I walked past Kim.
"Uh, is--is that..." Kim trailed off. "I'm sorry. Is that a metaphor?"
I walked into the hospital's car park, walking toward the Impala, tapping on the trunk. "Crowley, listen up, you son of a bitch. One for yes, two for no. You alive?" There was no response. "Come on. Don't be a pouter." There was a knock. "There we go."
A man in a suit grabbed me by the back of my neck, holding an angel blade to my throat. "Ness Singer-Winchester."
"So, you know who I am," I told him.
"Yes," the angel answered. "And you'll be helping me."
~~~~~~~
The angel pushed me down against the Impala's trunk, standing very close, holding the angel blade raised threateningly. "If you lie to me, Ness, I will rip your throat out. Where is Castiel?"
"Who's asking?" I asked.
"Try ever angel who was ejected from their home," the angel answered.
I nodded. "Oh. Oh, well, in that case, I have no clue."
The angel slammed me against the trunk twice, sliding me up to the back windshield, raising the blade to stab me.
A man caught the angel's arm from behind. "Easy there, brother. This young woman has done no harm. Are we creatures of wrath or compassion? I would argue the latter."
"Forgive me, brother," Angel 1 told him. "I don't recognize you."
"Happy to make your re-acquaintance," Angel 2 told him. "After you disarm." Angel 1 let me go, turning to face Angel 2 completely, punching him in the face. "Come, now. Is that any way to treat a brother injured in the fall?"
Angel 1 tried to stab Angel 2 with his angel blade. Angel 2 caught is arm, punching him twice in the face, tossing the blade aside, punching him in the face. Angel 1 punched him in the face twice, making him turn away, taking him by the jacket, pushing him into a nearby SUV's window, making the tinted glass shatter on impact, making Angel 2 bleed from his mouth, stepping closer.
I took the angel blade from the ground, stabbing Angel 1 in the back, killing him with a flash of bright white light, letting the body fall to the ground. I looked from the seared angel wings on the concrete to Angel 2. "Who are you?"
The angel leaned against the SUV weakly, wiping the blood away. "Never mind me. You're the wife of Dean Winchester. I heard his prayer, and I am here to help."
The angel fell unconscious.
I nodded awkardly. "Okay."
I looked around to make sure no one else was coming.
~~~~~~~
I had called Dean to get some help to get the angel out of view, into a garage where we knew no one would come.
We had him trapped in a circle of holy fire.
Dean had explained he had prayed to all angels for help, not knowing that they wanted Cas dead, and that they were willing to use us to find him.
The angel woke up.
"You want to help?" I asked. "Start with a name."
The angel stood. "Ezekiel."
"All right, Ezekiel," Dean told him. "How do we know that you're not hunting us or Castiel like the other angels?"
"Oh, I'm sure there are many angels who are," Ezekiel told us. "Many more are on their way here, most likely."
"How do you know that?" Dean asked.
Ezekiel looked at Dean. "You put out an open prayer like that..."
I looked at Dean. "You must really be desperate."
Dean looked down, nodding.
"Believe it or not, some of us still do believe in our mission," Ezekiel told us. "And that means we believe in Castiel... and the two of you."
"You said you were hurt during the fall," I told him.
"I was," Ezekiel told us. "Entangling with my brother back there did me no favors. But what strength I have left, I offer to you."
~~~~~~~
We released Ezekiel from the holy fire and took him to Sam's hospital room.
Sam was still in the coma.
Ezekiel put a hand on Sam's chest.
"You still able to cure things after the fall?" I asked.
"Yes, I should be," Ezekiel answered. "But... he's so weak."
Dean's phone rang. He answered. "Who is this?" He looked at me. "Cas."
I gestured for him to go talk out in the hall.
Dean walked out to talk to Castiel alone.
~~~~~~~
The hospital started to shake.
I looked at Ezekiel. "One of yours?"
"Trying to secure a vessel," Ezekiel answered. "We need to move."
"No, no," I told him, gesturing to Sam. "If we move him, he dies."
"If we stay, we could all die," Ezekiel told me.
I picked up a whiteboard marker, drawing angel-proofing symbols on the walls.
~~~~~~~
The walls and the back of the door were now covered in angel-proofing.
I capped the marker, putting it down, looking at Ezekiel. "Long as these are up, no angels are coming in. No one's coming out. You gonna be okay with these?"
"I'll manage," Ezekiel answered. He looked up. "What?"
"They're here," Ezekiel answered.
"Okay," I told him. "Do not open this door for anybody but me or Dean." I pointed at Sam. "Save him. You hear me?" I walked out of the room, looking both ways down the hallway. "Dean? Dean!" Every window in the hallway started to shatter. I ran through the glass shards toward the fire alarm, pulling it. "Everybody out! Now! Get out!"
~~~~~~~
I started to walk into a hallway until I saw Kim and a farmer having Dean cornered on the floor, stopping, hiding behind the wall.
"Let me make this easy," Kim/Angel told him. "Tell me where Castiel is, or your wife's gonna wish she was dead." The farmer/angel broke the glass around a fire ax. Kim/Angel pulled Dean to his feet. "I'm gonna strip off all her skin, and you're gonna watch."
"Bite me," Dean told her. Kim/Angel punched Dean, making him fall to the floor. Dean groaned, laughing, standing. "Anybody ever tell you you hit like an angel?"
Kim/Angel kicked Dean, making him fall.
I used the angel blade that I had gotten from the angel Ezekiel had saved me from to cut into my arm, using my blood to create an angel banishing sigil on the wall where they couldn't see it or me.
~~~~~~~
The farmer/angel started to use the ax to break Sam's hospital room door.
I stood behind him, driving the angel blade through his head through his mouth, killing him with a flash of bright white light, taking it out, letting him fall. I kept my back to the wall, inching toward where Kim/Angel was still beating Dean.
Dean was bloody and beaten.
Kim/Angel slammed him against a wall, making him slide to the floor, raising her angel blade to stab Dean.
I stepped out of hiding, arms raised slightly innocently. "Wait. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. I'll tell you where Cas is. If you leave me and Dean alone. I just have one question."
"Ask," Kim/Angel told me.
"If Heaven is locked, then where do you go when I do this?" I asked, slamming my hand down onto the angel banishing sigil I had drawn behind the wall, making Kim/Angel disappear with a violent flash of bright white light. Dean looked at me in relief, breathing heavily in pain. I ran toward Dean, kneeling next to him. "Come on. We got to get in there."
I helped Dean stand, leading him into Sam's hospital room, closing and locking the door behind us.
Dean looked around at the angel-proofing, looking at me. "Nice artwork. Let me guess. Yours."
I nodded.
The EEG monitor started to beep loudly.
Ezekiel was sitting by the bed, with a hand to his side.
"What the hell's happening?" I asked.
"This just started," Ezekiel told us. "And the warding. I'm afraid I'm weaker than I thought." I grabbed the marker, crossing out the sigils on the walls. "I am sorry."
"No," Dean told him. "No, no, no. No, we had a deal, okay? We fight. You save."
"And would if I could," Ezekiel told us. "I'm just afraid it's too late."
"Are you kidding me?" Dean asked. "Are you saying there's no way to save my brother's life?"
"No good ways, I'm afraid," Ezekiel answered.
"Well, what are the bad ones?" Dean asked.
"Dean," I told him.
"We're out of options here, Ness," Dean told me. He looked at Ezekiel. "Good or bad, let me hear them."
"I cannot promise, but there is a chance I can fix your brother from the inside," Ezekiel told him.
"From the inside?" Dean repeated. "So, what, you gonna open him up?"
Ezekiel shook his head.
"What, possession?" I asked. "You want to possess Sam?"
"I told you," Ezekiel told us.
"No way," Dean told him.
"Understood," Ezekiel told him. "It's your call."
"No, it's Sam's call," Dean told us. "There's no way he'd say yes to being possessed by anything."
"He would rather die," I told them.
Dean nodded ruefully.
Ezekiel stood painfully, waving a hand in front of the monitor, using angel magic to silence it. "I'll leave you alone, then."
Ezekiel walked toward the door.
Dean hesitated. "Wait."
~~~~~~~
Dean turned to face Ezekiel. "If I consider this--and I mean just consider it--I need something, man. You got to prove to me how bad he is."
Ezekiel put a hand on Sam's forehead. "Close your eyes."
Dean closed his eyes.
Ezekiel put his other hand on Dean's forehead.
~~~~~~~
Ezekiel took his hand away from Dean's forehead.
"What the hell you doing, Sam?" Dean asked.
"What?" I asked.
"Sam's having a damn conversation with Death," Dean answered. "Making a deal with him. If Sam goes with him, Death makes sure he can't be brought back."
"As you can see, there's not much time," Ezekiel told us.
"I know," Dean told us. "Damn it. I know."
~~~~~~~
Dean looked at Ezekiel. "How will it work?"
Ezekiel was holding his side. "Mutual benefit, I suppose. I heal Sam while healing myself."
"And when he's healed?" Dean asked.
"I live," Ezekiel answered.
"Even if I said yes, it doesn't mean squat. Sam will never say yes," Dean told him. "Not to you."
"But he would say yes to you," Ezekiel told him.
Dean and I looked at Ezekiel in confusion.
~~~~~~~
Ezekiel went into Sam's mind, pretending to be Dean, to get Sam to say yes and let him in so he could heal him.
Sam/Ezekiel, Dean and I walked outside the hospital.
"So?" Dean asked. "How's it look in there?"
"Not good," Sam/Ezekiel answered. "There is much work to be done."
"Yeah, but he's gonna wake up, right?" I asked.
"He will," Sam/Ezekiel answered.
"So, what he does--what, is he gonna feel you inside, triaging his spleen?" Dean asked.
"He will not feel me, no," Sam/Ezekiel answered. "There is no reason or Sam to know I'm in here at all."
"You're joking," I told him. "No, this is--this is too big."
"And what will he do if you do tell him he is possessed by an angel?" Sam/Ezekiel asked.
"Well, he'll have to understand," I told them.
"And if he does not?" Sam/Ezekiel asked. "Without his acceptance, Sam can eject me at any time, especially with me so weak. And if Sam does eject me, he will die."
I looked at Dean, knowing what he would do, not knowing what to do about it.
"Then we keep it a secret for now," Dean told us. "Or until Sam's well enough that he doesn't need an angelic pacemaker or I find a way to tell him. I--I... as for him being in a hospital, we'll have to figure something out."
"I can erase it all, if you like," Sam/Ezekiel told us. "He will not remember any of this."
~~~~~~~
After dark, Dean was driving us in the Impala.
I was in the passenger seat.
Sam was in the backseat, asleep.
Dean looked at me. "Well, say something."
"Oh, I'm saying it," I told him. "This sucks."
Dean nodded. "I know."
"Even if we don't tell him, Dean, he's gonna find out, sooner or later," I told him. "And when he does find out, he's gonna be pissed."
"Which is why we gotta be careful," Dean told me. "You're gonna help me with this, right, Ness?"
I sighed. "I want him to live, too. And I don't want you to lose your brother. So... I can't believe I'm saying this... but your secrets safe with me."
Dean looked at me, nodding. "Thank you."
"But as soon as Sam's good enough on his own..." I trailed off.
"I need to tell him," Dean finished. "Yeah, I know."
"Okay," I told him.
There was a few moments of silence.
Sam slowly woke. "Where are we?"
"Whoa," I told him. "Sam?"
"What?" Sam asked.
"Okay, take--take it easy," Dean told him. "How you, uh, how you feeling?"
"Tired," Sam answered. "Like I--Like I slept for a week."
"Well, try a day," I told him. "You've been out since the sky was spitting angels."
"What the hell happened?" Sam asked.
"What do you remember?" I asked.
"The church, feeling like crap, the angels falling, and that's it," Sam answered.
"But you're feeling good?" I asked.
"Yeah," Sam answered. "I mean, I just, um... You've been driving around with me passed out in the backseat for a day?"
"Oh, I mean, we stopped, you know," Dean told him. "Let a few Japanese tourists take some pictures. Nobody got too handsy. I knew you'd pull through. I meant what I said at the church. You're capable of anything, Sam, and hell if you didn't prove me right."
"Good," Sam told us. "'Cause we got work to do."
I nodded barely in agreement.
Dean and I exchanged a look, looking away.