Six Ways to Sunday, Part 3, Leverage/Supernatural, NC-17

[phantisma]

Fandom: Supernatural/Leverage
Title: Six Ways to Sunday (Part 3...Part One is here, Part Two is here)
Characters/Pairings: Dean Winchester/Eliot Spencer, Nate, Sophie, Hardison, Castiel, mentions of Sam, demon!Meg
Rating: NC-17
Word count: ~6000
Summary: Continuing on directly from Part Two. Dean should have known Castiel was not going to be put off just by telling him to leave, and when he returns with news that Sam Winchester is alive, it changes everything.

A/Ns & Warnings: Written for ladywinchester This is not the part 3 I originally planned. And it re-routed a couple of times along the way. However, it does leave the door open for at least a part four.



The pit yawns open under him and he falls….falls forever into the screaming, the fire, until the screams become louder than thunder and the voices all become one. Sam. Sam screaming until his throat closes off in a bloody gurgle. He can’t see him, but he knows he’s there. Somewhere, in the dark and heat, in the sulfur choked air.

Dean screams himself as he’s dragged to the rack. Screams Sam’s name over and over into the abyss.

He jerked awake, still shaking as he sat up, pulling out from under Eliot to escape the crappy motel bed. His hands shook as he grabbed the nearly empty bottle of Johnny Walker and swallowed what was left, then padded into the bathroom to start the shower.

He hadn’t had that dream in a while, but the appearance of Castiel had awakened the fears and memories he’d left buried in a dark corner of his brain.

Dean turned on the water and stepped in, keeping the thoughts of Castiel and Sam at bay by thinking about the job in front of him. He’d never played a long con, not anything more than a casual few lies to get him information. He needed to have his head in the game to pull this off, even if Eliot reassured him that all he needed to do was show up and let Nate walk them through it.

Of course, that meant Dean had to risk himself on someone else’s word, and he hadn’t done that since…and he was back to Sam.

“Fuck it all to hell.” He stuck his head under the water and reached for the tiny bar of hotel soap. He finished up his shower, shoving Sam and all thoughts of him or Castiel firmly to the back of his mind. He emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a threadbare towel to find Eliot on his phone.

His eyes lifted, caught on Dean’s, then looked away. “No, we’ll be there.” He hung up and set the phone on the nightstand. “Nate. We’re set.”

“Good.” Dean rummaged in his bag for clean underwear, listening as Eliot slid out of bed and padded toward him.

“Everything okay?”

Dean nodded. “Fine.”

There was a pause, heavy with expectation, like Eliot was going to ask about the nightmares, then he just headed into the bathroom. A few seconds later the shower came back on.

Dean sighed and got dressed in his suit so he could play his part. He was putting on his shoes when Eliot came out of the bathroom. “You want coffee?” Dean asked, standing and reaching for his wallet. Eliot nodded. “Be right back.”

He exhaled and headed for the diner near the motel office. He could do this. This was nothing more than acting, and to hear Eliot tell the story, he only needed to handle the mark for a few minutes.

He got two coffees and headed back for the room, to find Eliot emerging, fully dressed and pulling his hair back into a ponytail. They got in the car and Dean handed him his coffee before starting the engines.

“Where to?”

“Head toward downtown.” Eliot sipped at his coffee as Dean pulled them out onto the street and headed downtown. “You ready for this?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah.”

“You sure?”

Dean looked aside at him. “You got something you wanna say?”

“Just…you didn’t sleep much. And judging from the way you were thrashing around, and yelling, it wasn’t very good sleep.”

Dean sighed and shook his head. Eliot wasn’t wrong. “I’ll be fine.”

The car was quiet for a few blocks. When Eliot asked, his voice was soft. “Who’s Sam?”

Dean tightened his fingers on the steering wheel. “Was. My brother. He’s dead, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay. Turn here.” Eliot pointed and Dean turned into the parking garage of some building not far from where he was supposed to meet the mark. “I’ll make introductions, then I gotta beat it to meet up with Feldon for my end of the job.” He pointed to where two guys were leaning against a van.

Dean parked beside them and got out of the car. The older of the two pushed off the van and held out a hand. “Dean, Nate. Nate, Dean.” Eliot said as Dean shook Nate’s hand.

“Dean what?” Nate asked. It was amiable enough, but somehow the question irked him.

“Winchester.” Dean said, glancing at the younger man.

“And you know Eliot…how exactly?”

Eliot growled and poked his shoulder. “And this is Hardison.”

“Tech support.” Hardison supplied, glancing at Nate. The doors to the van opened and a pretty blonde poked her head out, handing Nate a rolled up document.

She looked Dean over as she stepped down from the van. Nate spread the document out on the hood of the impala and Dean moved to look. It was the blueprint of some building, with colored dots on it. “Here are the plans to the building.” Nate said, his fingers smoothing over the page. “Yellow are motion sensors, red are cameras, the safe is here.” He tapped a spot with a black box.

Dean leaned in, stiffening as he felt the woman move into his personal space. He grabbed her hand when she would have made off with his wallet. Her eyes went wide. “Oh, he’s good.”

“Parker.” Nate’s voice was low and filled with frustration.

She responded by sticking her tongue out at Nate, then sniffing Dean’s suit coat. Her eyes lifted to his and narrowed. She shook her head and walked away.

Dean looked at Eliot who shrugged. “Don’t mind her. I gotta go.” Eliot put his earpiece in and walked away.

Dean shook his head and turned back to Nate. “So I meet Alex, pass off these blueprints as the real thing and get clear. That it?”

“Nice and simple.” Nate said, standing and rolling up the blueprints.

“What about the safe?”

“Combination changes every eight hours.” Hardison said. “I hacked their system so that we control when it changes and what it changes to. When you're ready, I'll feed you the combination through the earpiece." Hardison held out a hand with an earpiece on it and Dean took it.

"Tell Tomas that she's only got a six hour window." Nate added as Dean settled the earpiece in his ear.

Dean nodded. "And if things go wrong?"

Nate smiled in what he supposed was meant to be a comforting manner. "We'll talk you through any bumps in the road. Just keep her occupied for at least a half hour."

Dean nodded again and took the re-rolled blueprints from Nate, turning and stopping cold because Parker was right there. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You smell like Eliot."

"Parker." Nate called. "The man has a job to do."

"I'm watching you." Parker stepped aside and Dean exhaled, shaking his head.

"Wow."

"You don't know the half of it." Eliot's voice said in his ear.

"And I'm not sure I want to." Dean responded. He double checked for his wallet before he left the garage and headed for the diner where he was supposed to meet the mark.

Alex was sitting at the counter with a cup of coffee as Dean approached, but before he could get to the door, Castiel was in front of him. Dean stopped, cussing under his breath. “Not now,” he growled, moving around him, only to find the angel in front of him again. “Fuck off, I’m busy.”

“Something wrong?” Nate asked in his ear.

“Dean, I must speak with you.”

“Nothing a ring of holy fire wouldn’t fix.” Dean muttered, moving around Castiel again. “Not now. I’m in the middle of something.”

Castiel grabbed his shoulder and Dean pulled away. “It is urgent.”

“Dean, what’s going on?”

Dean stared at Castiel. “Give me a minute, Nate.”

He pulled the earpiece out and closed his fist around it. “I said no, Castiel.”

“You are engaged in illegal activity.”

“I’m helping a friend.” Dean countered. “And I have to meet someone.”

“I need to speak to you.”

“So you said.” Dean wanted nothing to do with the damn angel or anything he had to say, but he knew from experience that what he wanted wasn’t exactly top of Castiel’s list. “Tell you what…let me finish this. Find me then. We’ll talk.”

“Very well.”

In a blink, Castiel was gone, or at least he wasn’t visible anymore, and Dean put his earpiece back in. He could still feel Castiel hovering. “Sorry about that. Alex is at the counter. I’m going in.”

“Sophie, how are things on your end?”

“Denten is wrapped up for the moment. Not sure how long I can keep him here though.”

Dean pushed the door open and crossed to the counter, sliding onto the stool beside Alex.

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, sorry. Had a little trouble getting away.” Dean put the rolled up blueprints on the counter between them, but kept his hand on them.

“Anything I should worry about?” Alex asked, sliding a hand onto his knee.

Dean smiled. “No, just a little office politics. I’m here now.”

“So you are.” She sipped her coffee. Dean waved down the waitress for a cup of his own and waited, but when she didn’t speak again he turned to look at her.

“Is there something wrong?”

“I don’t know, is there?”

“She’s balking, Dean.” Nate said.

“Considering I’m the one taking the risk here, I think maybe you should tell me.” Dean said, drawing the blueprints back toward him.

“I did some checking up on you, Mr. Osborne.” She crossed her legs as she turned to face him. “Do you know what I found?”

He raised his coffee cup and took a sip, trying to play it cool. “Not a freaking clue.”

“I found that you, Dean Osborne, lied to me.”

Dean snorted and put the coffee down. “About what exactly?”

“It seems Turner is already in bed with NASA, Dean…which makes whatever is in that safe worthless to me.”

“Hardison?”

“I don’t know.”

Dean tuned them out and shook his head. “What if I told you that he can’t close the deal?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh?”

“The prototype doesn’t work.”

“How is that better for me?”

Dean grinned and lifted his coffee, sipping at it. She had muscle with her that wasn’t Eliot. He needed to be smooth about this. “Because I know why it doesn’t work.” He pushed the blueprints at her. “You get it, I’ll make it work.” He drank another sip. “But I want half of whatever you sell it for, not a quarter.”

“Good Dean.” Nate said.

She hesitated and Dean stood, reaching for the blueprints. “Look, you don’t want it? Fine. We both walk away.”

“Not so hasty, Mr. Osborne.” She pulled the papers out of his reach and handed them off to a man in a suit beside her. “I think we can do business.” He watched as the man looked at the blueprints. He nodded to Alex. “Safe?”

“Black box.” Dean responded. “Yellows are motion, reds are cameras.”

“Combination?”

“I want the money we discussed last night upfront.” Dean countered.

She inclined her head and the man beside her handed her an envelope. “As promised.”

Dean grinned. “It resets every eight hours.” He checked his watch. “Which gives you six or so to get what you want.” He grabbed a napkin and the waitress’ pen. Hardison fed him the numbers and he wrote them down, then handed the napkin to her, taking the envelope in return. “Nice doing business with you.”

“Okay, get out now.” Nate said in his ear.

Dean pocketed the money and headed for the door. He needed to get clear before they realized they still needed him and decided to keep him until they had the goods. He exited the diner and headed back for the garage.

Or would have, if Castiel hadn't chosen that exact moment to appear again. "I really must insist."

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but everything went white and the ground shifted. He stumbled before he found his feet again and when he opened his eyes they were in some woods and they were alone.

"Damn it Cas!"

He turned around, but there was no where to go. "Where are we?"

"Away from distraction so you will hear me."

"I hear you just fine." Dean stalked away a few steps, then sighed heavily.

"But you aren't listening."

"You got nothing to say I want to hear." Dean said. "Now take me back."

"Those men were going to hurt you."

"I had it under control."

"Dean." Castiel's voice thundered around them and Dean turned to look at him. "Sam's alive."

Dean froze. "What did you just say?"

"Your brother is alive."

Dean held up a hand and shook his head. "No. He's not. I saw him go into the hole."

"So did you once." Castiel stared at him. "As I recall, you came back out too."

"No, you yanked me out. Are you saying that you yanked Sam too?"

Castiel frowned. "No. I didn't."

"But someone did." Dean rubbed a hand over his face. "When?"

"I don't know."

Dean charged at him, grabbed his coat and shook him. "Where is he?"

"That's why I need you. To help me find him."

A cold fury dumped into his stomach. "You need me to find him. You…you're the one that got to go home. You're the one that got fucking heaven. You left him down there. You left me alone."

"You were not alone, Dean."

"Fuck you. Fuck you. You know I was. You know I was never going to be normal. No matter how hard I played house." He turned and shoved Castiel, though the angel barely moved. "Where the fuck were you when they came after me? When they killed Lisa and Ben?"

Dean stalked away, determined to find a way out of the trees. Castiel just appeared in front of him a few moments later.

"Would you have seen me if I had come sooner?"

Dean turned away, walked in a different direction. He wouldn't have, they both knew that. He stopped, but didn't look at Castiel. "Take me back."

"Will you help me find Sam?"

"Why?" Dean inhaled and let it out slowly. "Give me one reason I should help you find him."

"Because we don't know who raised him. Or why."

Dean wanted to tell him no. Wanted to tell him to go back to wherever the fuck he'd been. "Where do I start?"

"If I knew that, I would not have come looking for you." Castiel responded.

The world shifted again and suddenly Dean was standing in the parking lot of the diner. Dean whirled as he was grabbed, fists up to defend himself, but it was Eliot. The earpiece in his ear came to life, reminding Dean it was there.

"What the fuck happened?" Eliot asked.

Dean shook his head and stepped back. "You wouldn't believe me." Dean barely believed what had just happened and he had experience dealing with angels and their shit. Sam was alive. He looked at Castiel who was still looking at him with that…look. Like Dean had to do something or say something.

"Look, Eliot…"

"You're leaving." He nodded like he understood.

Dean took the earpiece out and handed it to Eliot. "There's…someone I need to find."

Eliot looked at Castiel. "This the guy from the motel the other night?"

Dean looks from Eliot to Castiel and back. "Yeah. Castiel, Eliot. Eliot, Castiel."

Eliot's eyes were stormy gray as he turned to face Castiel. "Friend of yours?"

"You might say that." Dean found it kind of amusing how Eliot was posturing protectively and Castiel as frowning at him. "Look, it's been fun, but…"

"Yeah." Eliot blinked as he stepped back. "You know where you're headed?"

"Haven't got a clue." Dean said honestly…though he figured he'd start at the last place he saw Sam. When he'd been pulled out of the pit, he'd landed in the ground where he'd been buried.

If the same was true for Sam it was a place to start.

"I have an idea." Eliot grabbed his shoulder. "We owe you one. Come back with me, let us help you."

"What?"

"No one is better at finding stuff that's lost."

"I don't think that is a good idea, Dean." Castiel said.

"Well no one asked you, buddy." Eliot responded.

"Thanks for the offer, Eliot…but this isn't just somebody."

Eliot crossed his arms and stared at him. Dean huffed. "Castiel isn't…just an old friend. He's…an angel."

"An angel." Eliot repeated. "Right. Okay, you know…I understand vampires and werewolves exist. I even half believe you when you talk about demons……"

"He speaks the truth, Eliot Spencer. I am an angel of the lord and I require his assistance."

Dean rolled his eyes. "It’s complicated.” He was wasting time. Sam was alive. He exhaled and forced himself to focus. “It's about my brother."

Eliot nodded. "We should probably not mention the angel thing to the others." He took two steps away and stopped, then turned back. "And maybe not the part about the guy being dead." He looked at Dean. "You coming?"





Eliot didn’t know what to make of the whole thing. Castiel was quiet in the backseat of the impala. Dean was silent beside Eliot, his eyes on the road. Eliot had seen his fair share of the strange and impossible, but angels were another thing entirely.

There was a flutter from the back seat, and just like that Castiel disappeared, but Dean didn't seem bothered. "You'll get used to that."

"So. Sam. Your brother, who you said was dead…"

Dean nodded slowly. "Yeah. Well. Thing is, it's hard to kill a Winchester. We just…keep coming back." He sighed and pushed up the sleeve of his t-shirt to show Eliot the handprint. "We've both died a number of times in the last five years. Sam…well, this time was supposed to be permanent. Then Cas shows up telling me he's alive."

"Cas…the angel." Eliot shook his head.

"Yeah. He's…Well, he's an angel, and believe me that came as a shock too." Dean's hand tightened around the steering wheel and then released. "He…uh…he pulled me out." He shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Eliot.

"Out?" Eliot asked.

"Hell." Dean answered. "I…it's a long story, but I died. I was in hell. Castiel pulled me out. Just not in time."

"In time for what?"

"I…started the apocolypse."

Eliot frowned and stared at him. "You what?"

Dean shook his head. "It's a long story."

"I bet it is."

"Just…to end it, Sam ended up taking his own trip down under. Only Castiel says he's back…and this time he didn't pull Sam out."

"But if he's an angel. Why can't he find Sam?"

Dean took one hand off the wheel and gestured at his chest. "We have…this sounds so ridiculous…we have Enochian symbols carved on our ribs, it hides us from angels."

"Enochian symbols." Eliot had to agree, Dean's whole story was sounding ridiculous. If he didn't know better, he'd swear Dean was trying to con him.

"It's a long story."

Eliot held up one hand. "Okay. I get it. Just…lets not tell the team anything about hell either."

"Not a problem." Dean parked them outside McRory's. There was a flutter in the back seat and Castiel reappeared. Dean looked over his shoulder at him. "No offense, Cas, but maybe you should let us handle this."

"I do not understand."

"Exactly." Dean opened his door and got out. "You are worse at the whole human thing than before." They headed for the door, Castiel still following them. Dean stopped them at the stairs and turned to the angel. "Look, go into the bar, have a beer…or something. I'll come get you when I need you."

Dean shook is head as Castiel backed away. Eliot headed up the stairs with Dean behind him. Nate and Hardison were the only ones in the loft when he opened the door. Nate lifted a glass in their direction.

"Nicely done, Dean. Nicely done. We should have the whole thing wrapped up by dinner."

Dean pulled an envelope from his back pocket and handed it to Nate. "Here."

Nate frowned and took it, then handed it back. "Consider it your cut."

Dean shook his head. "No, man. I don't….not my thing."

Nate shrugged and dropped the envelope on the counter before lifting his glass. "Suit yourself."

"Actually, Nate…Dean could use our help. Hardison's help mostly."

Hardison lifted his head. "What kind of help?"

Dean turned to him. "I need to find someone."

Hardison nodded. "We can do that. Just let me wrap this up."

“How long?” Eliot asked, glancing at Nate who was looking a little bit pissed.

Hardison looked at Nate, then up at Dean and back. “Don’t know. Could be awhile. Why don’t you leave me some information and I’ll get started.”

“Maybe I should just go.” Dean said heading for the door.

Eliot caught his elbow and stopped him. “Hardison, the name’s Sam Winchester. He was last known to be in the vicinity of…” He looked at Dean.

“Lawrence, Kansas.” Dean said, closing his eyes and turning away.

“Go downstairs. I’ll be there in a minute.” Eliot said quietly. Something was clearly going on, even Dean could feel how cold the air had gotten.

Dean shook his head. “I’ll just head back to my motel.”

“Not tonight.” Eliot said. “My place. I’m gonna cook dinner.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “You cook?”

“Go on. And see if you can get your friend to…go away.”

Eliot waited for him to close the door, then crossed to Hardison and leaned in close. “This is his brother. He’s been missing for almost a year.”

“Long time.” Nate said.

“I know.” Eliot responded. “But he got news recently that Sam’s alive. Could be in trouble.”

“How exactly do you know this guy?” Nate asked, coming closer with his glass of whiskey.

Eliot crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. “It matter?”

“It does if you’re taking this team into trouble.”

“Known him a while. Ran into him on a job a couple of years ago. He helped me out. Haven’t seen him in a while, ran into him again a few days ago.”

Nate nodded. “And the guy in the trench coat downstairs?”

Eliot’s eyes flicked to the monitors for the cameras on the bar and the exterior. “A friend of Dean’s.”

“Name?”

“Dean introduced him as Castiel.”

“Odd name.” Nate sipped at his drink, but his eyes didn’t leave Eliot’s. “What is he mixed up in?”

“Just looking for his brother.”

Eliot’s eyes flicked to the screens again. “Shit.” Parker had lifted a wallet and was looking at the camera.

“Name’s Jimmy Novak.”

“Parker-“ Eliot turned to head for the door, but Nate caught him.

“He’s got about five dollars and a picture of him with a woman and a girl.” Parker said. “Nothing else.”

“Seems your friend lied.” Nate said.

Eliot pulled away. “Not exactly. It’s…complicated.”

“Oh!” Parker sounded startled and Eliot looked around Nate to see Castiel holding her wrist.

Dean appeared beside them and Eliot shook his head. “Parker, bring them both back up here.” Nate looked at Eliot. "I had Hardison do a little background on your friend."

Eliot didn't like the tone in his voice, or the way Hardison ducked his head. "Yeah, and? We all got pasts Nate."

"Not like this."

"Dean isn't your average criminal, Nate." Eliot shook his head, trying to come up with an explanation that didn't end with hell and angels and all the rest. "He's…"

"A killer." Hardison finished, clicking his pointer and filling the screen with information about Dean, police reports.

"I can explain that." Dean said as the door opened. "Maybe not in a way that you'll believe me, but I can explain it."

"We are wasting our time with this." Castiel said.

Dean put a hand on Castiel's chest. "No, we're doing this my way. You owe me."

"You're not going anywhere…Jimmy." Parker moved around them, squinting at Dean.

"My name is not Jimmy."

"Dude, I can't believe you're still carrying that wallet." Dean stepped away from him to address Nate. "Look, I know my record is…colorful—"

"Is that what you call it?" Hardison asked, clicking his remote.

Dean glanced at the screen and hung his head. "I'm not a killer…at least not…I'm a hunter, okay?"

"A hunter?" Nate asked, setting his drink aside.

"You kill Bambi?" Hardison shook his head and clicked his remote again, filling the screen with bloody crime scene photos.

Dean winced. "If Bambi is a possessed co-ed or a werewolf or a vampire, yeah then maybe I do. More often then not, by the time I kill them, they've already been dead a while." He pointed to the screen. "That one there, wasn't me. It was Sam. Her name was Madison, and three nights out of the month, she was a real dog. Her favorite treat was human hearts."

"You expect us to believe that?" Hardison asked.

"What I don't get…" Dean said, moving closer to the screen, "…is how you put all of this together…I've never seen it all together like this, not even when Hendricks was after us. You've got stuff here I've never been tied to."

"It's what he does." Eliot said, glaring at Nate.

"So you're a hunter." Nate ignored Eliot and came toward Castiel. "What does that make your friend here?"

"I am an angel of the Lord." Castiel responded in a straight deadpan. "And you, Nathan Ford, are not going to deter me from my mission."

Nate blinked at him, then turned to Eliot. "Is this guy for real?"

"There's no such thing as angels." Parker said in a loud stage whisper to Nate. "Right?" She looked at Eliot who could only shrug.

"Believe what you want. Eliot thought you could help. If you can't, me and Jimmy here can get lost." Dean started for the door, but Castiel pushed past him to look at the screens where Hardison was bringing up information about Jimmy Novak, including family pictures.

"That was the family of the man whose body I now inhabit. Are they well?"

"You're the angel, shouldn't you know that?" Hardison asked, his voice squeaking.

"I have not looked in on them in a long, long time." Castiel responded.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should. Seems they lost their house, and had to move in with her mother. Little Claire is having trouble in school since the disappearance of her father."

Suddenly, with a fluttering noise, Castiel was gone. "Great." Dean rubbed at the corners of his mouth. "The last time he went home we had to fight off a horde of demons." He started for the door.

"Where are you going?"

Dean stopped and looked at Eliot, then Nate. "Well, since Castiel is gone for who knows how long, I have a long ass drive ahead of me. The only place I know to start looking for my brother is in the graveyard where I watched him jump into hell."

"Some of us have already looked there." Dean whirled as Sophie came into the room, her eyes black.

"Shit." Dean backpedaled, pulling Parker with him.

"Sophie—" Nate started, but Eliot held him back.

"Nate, that ain't Sophie."

"Hello Dean." She kept coming, smiling at him. "Long time."

"I know you?" Dean asked still moving them all back from her.

"Aw, I'm hurt…I thought we had something real special…"

"Meg." He said the name with disgust.

Sophie grinned. "Been all over that town looking for our boy, Dean…he's not there." Her arm shot out and caught Dean by the throat, lifting him off his feet.

Eliot jumped forward, shoving at Sophie, who laughed and looked at him. Like she'd punched him in the jaw, Eliot went flying backward. "He's yummy…all that violence inside him…it's kind of a turn on, don't you think Dean?" Her free hand grabbed Dean's groin and she laughed. "I see you do. So tell me, Dean…how are we going to find little Sammy?"

Eliot crawled up on his knees. "Parker, you still got that rosary you stole from that priest the other day?"

She looked at him wide eyed. "I was gonna give it back."

He held out his hand and she unwound it from her wrist and tossed it to him. He didn't know the whole ritual, but he was betting Dean did. He held up the crucifix and stood, stepping closer as he started to speak the Latin.

Sophie laughed and looked at him. "Oh, I don't think so, but thanks for—"

She stopped, dropping Dean and turning to where Hardison stood behind her, a rosary in his hand as well, the crucifix pressed to her skin. Dean held out his hand for Eliot's and grabbed Nate's glass of whiskey, dropping the crucifix into it. He was already speaking the Latin as he was stepping in close. Sophie seemed to be choking even as Dean threw the whiskey in her face.

Sophie's head fell back, her mouth open and black, inky, greasy smoke poured out of her forever. Hardison caught her as she collapsed and the smoke disappeared. Dean took the now empty glass back to the counter and filled it with whiskey from the bottle, downing it without bothering to remove the rosary.

"Everyone okay?" Dean asked once the glass was empty. Nate was kneeling by Sophie who was out cold, her head in Hardison's lap. Dean snapped his fingers to get Eliot's attention, then tossed him his keys. "Black duffle bag in the trunk, salt, holy water. We need to lock this place down."

Eliot caught the keys and nodded, heading for the door. Dean was right, they were gonna have to make the loft a little safer. Only problem was, Eliot didn't begin to know how they were going to manage that.


Dean poured a little more of the alcohol and downed it before turning to face the others. While Eliot was getting the things he would need to secure them against more demons, he had to figure out what his next move needed to be.

He poured more whiskey and crossed to where Sophie was starting to stir. "She'll probably have a terrible headache and need a lot of rest, but she should be okay."

"What…" Nate looked up and Dean handed him the glass. He took it and nodded his thanks. "What was that?"

"That was a nasty little bitch of a demon that I somehow haven't managed to kill yet. She keeps coming back like the proverbial bad penny." Dean said. "Though, her coming here like that tells me a few things."

He looked around him. "Just the one door into this place?"

Nate nodded, then reached for Sophie as she sat up. "Are you okay?"

She squinted at Dean, then held her head with one hand. "I don't know. What happened?"

"Long story." Dean responded. "You should get some rest."

"Parker, take Sophie up to my bedroom." Nate said as he helped Sophie up. The door opened and Dean took his bag from Eliot, fishing out the canister of salt and tossing it to Eliot.

"Get the windows."

"We're on the second floor." Eliot protested.

"Humor me." Dean responded, pulling out a can of spray paint and heading for the door.

"What are you doing?" Nate asked as Dean squatted and started to paint the floor with a devil's trap.

"Making sure that can't happen again." Dean paused and glanced at him. "It's called a devil's trap. Once a demon steps into it, they can't leave it."

"And the salt?"

Dean sighed. "Look. I get that this is new for you. And it's a lot to take in. Give me five minutes to make sure we're secure, and I'll explain what I can." He focused on finishing the devil's trap and when he was done, he stood to find them all watching him. He crossed to the duffle bag and shoved the can of paint back into it, pulling out a flask of holy water.

"Short version. Demons need a human host. They'll take anyone they can, all it takes is a small weakness…anger, fear…criminal activity. Once they're in, they control the person completely. They can use their memories and thoughts to fool you. To expose them, say Christo to them or splash some of this at them." Dean tossed Nate the flask. "It's holy water."

Dean rubbed his head and looked at the three of them. No one said anything for a long minute. Then Dean sighed. "I should probably go after Castiel. His family could be in trouble."

"What about Sam?" Eliot asked.

Dean looked away. "If neither side knows where he is, he's probably safe enough, for the moment."

Eliot crossed to him. "Let Castiel take care of his family. He's an angel, for fuck's sake. Let me make you dinner. Hardison can look for Sam."

He knew better. He should be a hundred miles away before nightfall. Still…He sighed and went to the counter where there was a pad of paper and a pen. He scribbled down Sam's description, and a list of aliases he was likely to use if left on his own. He handed the list to Hardison. "That should give you a place to start. If he's okay, and just hiding, he might be using one of those names."

"Wait, you're just going to leave us here?" Hardison asked. "After…that?" He waived his hand at the stairs.

"You're safe now. Nothing can come through that door." Dean grinned at him. "And you're a big boy. Handled that rosary pretty well. I'm sure you'll be fine." He grabbed the duffle and headed for the door.

Eliot was behind him before he was even on the stairs. There was an urgency now that he'd decided to stay. Memory bubbled just under the surface and Dean needed activity and alcohol to keep it at bay. He pulled out onto the street almost before Eliot had the door closed, following his directions at reckless speeds until they were at Eliot's place.

Dean scarcely waited for the door to close before he grabbed Eliot and spun them until he found a wall. His kiss was fierce and drew a hiss from Eliot, who grabbed at Dean's hair, yanking back a little. "Ain't you all fired up?"

"Ain't you all talky?" Dean countered, bringing his knee up between Eliot's legs, pressing against his cock as it hardened.

"You want action?" Eliot asked and suddenly Dean was on the ground, Eliot straddling over him, their groins rubbing together. "I can do that."

His hands found their way to Dean's belt, ripping open his jeans and getting inside before Dean rolled them, pinning Eliot's hands at his side so he could lean in and nip at his lips. Eliot lay slack against the floor until Dean lifted his hands to pull at Eliot's shirt, then Eliot was grabbing at him and they were rolling again, ending up against the wall.

Dean growled and kept at the shirt, eventually getting it up enough to confound Eliot's attempts to get a hold of his. Dean sat up, dumping Eliot backward and coming away with a torn shirt, and Eliot's bare chest under him.

"That's more like it."

Eliot chuckled and before Dean could do more than run a hand over tight abs, Eliot was gone, standing and grinning at Dean who was climbing to his knees. "You want some, you're gonna have to do better than that." Eliot said, his hands unbuckling his own belt. His cock filled his hand and he stroked it slow.

Dean stood, pulling his shirt off before pulling his own cock out to stroke it. "Maybe I'll just take it." Dean whispered over Eliot's lips, licking at them before he dropped to one knee and took his whole cock into his mouth in one move. Eliot stumbled back a step, grabbing at the chair behind him. Dean didn't slow down, just sucked in deep and set a hot pace.

Eliot's hands grabbed at his head, but Dean pulled them away. Eliot struggled, but when Dean swallowed around him, Eliot gave in, his come coating Dean's tongue and sliding hot down his throat. Dean didn't let go, just slowly stood, licking and sucking at Eliot's skin as he went until he could cover Eliot's mouth with his own.

Eliot nipped at his lips and pulled away. "Whiskey's in the cabinet, bedroom's down the hall. Get naked. I plan on fucking that attitude right out of you."

It was only a beginning, they would spend the night fucking and drinking and fucking some more. Dean grabbed a bottle from the small cabinet Eliot had pointed to while Eliot went to lock the door. And when it was over, he would find his brother.