#Rowena would do it. For free even.

[azrael08]

Dean gets hit with a love spell during a case and looks at Cas first trope except him and Cas are already together, so Cas and Sam assume nothings gonna change. And nothing really does, except that Dean now openly holds Cas's hand when their out walking around and he holds onto Cas's waist from behind when their just standing and he lets Cas scratch and play with his hair without pulling away from embarrassment and worst of all is the kissing!

Sam will be explaining what they should do next to catch the monster and when he looks up he sees Dean staring softly at Cas and Cas staring softly back which is fine, that's what they do, they stare, so Sam turns away. But when he looks back for the second time he sees Dean start peppering little smooches all over the angels face, just quick kisses on his nose and cheeks and forehead and neck too, all while they both smile dumbly, which is also fine, its not like Sam hasn't seen this before, they were exactly like this in their honeymoon phase at the beginning of their relationship, so he turns away again trying to focus but then he has a question to ask Cas and he turns and- HOLY SHIT THEY'RE MAKING OUT! RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM THEY'RE USING TONGUE AND CAS'S HANDS ARE AROUND DEAN'S WAIST AND HIS HANDS ARE IN CAS'S HAIR AND THEIR MOANING AND SAM NEEDS TO BEAT THEM OVER THE HEAD WITH A STICK-

[sammygender]

THANK YOU OLI I don't get the season 8 hype. No Cas, Sam and Dean have the same conflict they've been having the entire show with no new angles like why????

YEAH LITERALLY. inital conflict is literally dean being angry at sam for trying to move on and heal which is just so intensely unlikeable and for some reason i was shocked by it and it made me genuinely dislike him. to me dean is at his most awful in s8..... like he's not. he's definitely not. gadreel possession in s9 and like most of s9/10 with the mark is much worse than anything he does in s8 and killing amy in s7 was sooo awful too. but dean is just so intensely a dick in s8 and i was so angry with him and not even in a fun way. like in s9/10 he is AWFUL but i enjoyed the drama. i didnt even enjoy the interpersonal drama in s8. which is when you know something is wrong

then again. im probably too harsh on it and am basing it off memories of sitting through the first half because i LOVE the trials and sacrifice and the great escapist so so much. and i love kevin <3 he's s8 right. but. to me s8 will always be the worst season. maybe i just hate what it brings to the shows canon. sam leaving dean for a girl and a dog (which is NOT EVEN WHAT HAPPENED... and if it WAS it wouldve been justified.... id support sam even if i thought he abandoned dean unprovoked idc.....) is constantly brought back like the worst of his sins even as late as like. s11. SHUT UP. first half of s8 is just upsetting for sam reasons and not in a fun way

[indubioprocoffee]

“What the hell is this?!” Dean asked with a disgusted frown on his face. It was dinner time in the bunker; Sam was away all day with Rowena and when they came back he insisted on cooking for everyone instead of ordering take out as they normally did.

Now Dean was skeptically picking around in the dish in front of him, waiting for an answer.

“Just try it. Maybe you’ll like it,” Sam replied with an annoyed sight.

“But it all grey … and it has a weird consistency. You sure humans are supposed to eat that?”

“No, Dear. Sam tried to poison you all so he’s finally free to elope with me,” Rowena sarcastically said.

“Ew. I don’t know what disgusts me more, my food or the thought of the two of you together. Besides what were you two doing all day anyways?”

“Having crazy monkey sex in a motel room,” Rowena countered.

“No,” Sam objected, sending a stern glance in Rowenas direction. “We went mushroom picking in the woods. I’ve always wanted to do that and since Rowena was still here after our last case …”

“I would never have sex in a dirty motel room anyway. I’m more a five-star hotel kinda girl.”

“So this is mushroom?” Dean asked, his disgust renewed.

“Don’t look at it like it wants to kill you.”

“You don’t know that,” Dean insisted. “You should just have brought me a burger.”

“I’m trying to feed you something healthy for a change.”

“Yeah, thanks. Please stop.”

“You know, mushrooms aren’t even plants. They have their own category because they are so weird. But they are very important to nature; they filter all the toxins,” Rowena explained.

“Okay that’s it,” Dean said, dropping his fork on the plate standing up to leave. “I’m ordering pizza!” he shouted into the depths of the bunker. “Cas you want some?”

“Why?” Sam asked with an exhausted look on his face. “Why did you do that?”

Rowena smirked. “Well, dear … More left for me.”

@wigglebox

[samofmine]

thank you anon i had a wonderful time writing this

Sam is Dean's. One way or another, that's pretty much the only thing Dean is certain of now.

Now.

It hasn't always been like this.

Back when they were younger, Dean was always anxious, always worried Sam would leave him one day. He was too different, too silent, too much in his own little world and as much as Dean prouded himself in being the only person Sam would allow to enter his world, he also knew one day this would change and he'd be locked out forever.

So it wasn't much of a surprise when he announced he was going to leave. Stanford.

But even though he saw it coming, it still felt like something died inside of him, a light going out.

And later when they eventually found their way to each other, Dean was certain Sam would leave again. He never wanted the life, never wanted to be part of a fucked up family. He wanted to be normal.

Now, Dean knows Sam has forgotten about that. He finally understands he's never gonna be normal.

Most importantly, he understands Dean is as much of a freak as he is. They're in this together for life.

And, yes, Dean knows Sam is his. In every way he wants him.

This... Thing between them, the thing Dean never knows how to name, has only started a couple years ago. Yes, Dean still feels a longing for his brother rooted deep inside his chest that will never go away, even when Sam is in his arms, moaning his name, panting against his lips, he still longs for him. He thinks this is the result of all the years they lost trying to fight against... this.

Last night, they were bored out of their minds and decided to get hammered together, like they hadn't done in a long time.

Dean loves to see Sam drunk, loves how easily he laughs, how carefree he seems. They could talk about anything and laugh it off.

So, these are the only moments Sam really talks about his time in Stanford. Dean doesn't complain, really, talking about that time only makes the longing grow inside him, but he can handle it from time to time.

Yesterday Sam started to list the people he hooked up with while at college.

At first, Dean was laughing it off.

But then he mentioned someone. A guy.

Dean doesn't care to remember his name. But he does remember what Sam said about him.

The guy was the first one to fuck him.

Sam lost his virginity to a college no-name boy.

And Dean couldn't laugh about that even if he tried.

Which brings him to where he is now.

He found a spell in one of Rowena's books and spent the entire day getting things ready. If it all goes according to plan, Dean will go back in time.

He will reclaim what's his.

He finishes drinking the purple, oddly glowing liquid that tastes like metal and cheap grape juice and says the magic words.

He feels dizzy at first, like he lost consciousness for half a second and came back, and when he realizes... It worked.

Hell yes. Now he has to go find Sammy.

-

Sam is in bed, it's been an overwhemingly long day with too much to do and he really needs to rest.

But, of course, not even this goes according to plan.

He hears a loud noise coming from the apartment's kitchen and jumps out of bed.

He's terrified, hands shaking, and a million thoughts run through his head as he tries to remember what he should do. What he was taught.

He enters the kitchen with a baseball bat in hand, but, before he can see anything someone tackles him to the floor.

His eyes finally adjust to the darkness and he sees him - Dean.

"Easy, tiger!" He says.

Sam frowns.

"Get off me!"

Sam frees himself from Dean and walks to the light switch.

Now, with the lights on, he can see the boy - well, the man - clearly.

It's him, but it's not him as Sam remembers him.

"What the hell?"

"Missed you too, little brother." Dean smirks.

"How the- You-" Sam blinks, trying to gather his thoughts.

Did he fall asleep? Is he dreaming?

What kind of a weird ass dream is this? An old version of Dean breaking into his apartment?

As he thinks, Dean starts going through the kitchen's fridge, grabbing two bottles of beer.

"When you're done freaking out," Dean says, walking to the living room, "Come have a drink with me."

Sam takes another five minutes before he gets himself to follow Dean.

Dean explains everything to him. He explains how he came from the future. How Sam left Stanford, for a reason he won't mention, and they're together a few years from now.

Sam sips on his beer, feeling dizzy.

"But- why? Why would you come here talk to me?"

Dean's eyes darken.

"I know a secret of yours, Sammy."

Dean's voice is so different, even deeper than it already was. His eyes are still a green that seems to spark like a gemstone, and the crinkles by it only make him more good looking.

So, Future Sam probably still hasn't gotten over his crush.

"What secret?" He asks skeptically.

Dean smirks and scoots closer to him, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

He leans in to whisper on his ear.

"I know you've been thinking about me. In ways you shouldn't."

Sam widens his eyes and backs away from Dean on reflex.

"W-What?"

Dean's eyes are even darker now and he looks so sure, so confident, it makes Sam shiver.

"I have a secret, too." He says. "Few years from now, we're gonna be all over each other. I can't get enough."

Sam blushes at the words. He swallows dry, thinking of what to say. Dean's hand finds his thigh, traveling up, stopping on his hip.

Dean pulls him closer.

"Tell me, Sammy." He says, "Tell me how much you want me."

Sam takes a deep breath. Dean starts to kiss down his neck, pulling his hair lightly in a way he only now realizes he likes it, and yeah, there's no way this isn't a dream.

Sam lets out a whimper, getting lost in the feeling. He has wanted this for so long, so damn long, and he hated himself for it.

And now, Dean - older Dean, but still Dean - is right here, giving him everything he always wanted and more.

"Dean..." He says, blushing harder over how needy he sounds.

Dean nibbles on his ear.

"I want you, little brother." He says, "Want you so bad."

He turns Sam's face to look at him and Sam gets lost inside his eyes before he leans in, kissing him with so much desperation he feels himself losing his breath.

He straddles Dean's lap and of course Dean holds him, urging him to take his shirt off and attacking his nipples as soon as they're bare. Sam is already a mess, whimpering and gasping and moaning Dean's name, painfully hard in his pants.

Dean's hand touches him through the sweatpants.

"Tell me." Dean demands, and Sam can't even think of not answering.

"Want you." He breathes out. "Always wanted you, Dean. So fucking bad."

That turns a switch inside Dean and he groans, lifting Sam's body and laying him on the couch, taking off his pants and hovering over him as he takes off his own.

Dean steps back and looks at Sam, naked on the couch. Sam feels his entire body burn.

"You're so beautiful." Dean says, closer now, his hand travelling Sam's body with adoration. "So damn hot, made me lose my mind back then. Still does."

He kisses down Sam's torso and oh, finally, he touches Sam's cock, pumping it twice before taking the head in his mouth, eyes locked with Sam's the entire time.

Sam feels like his brain is melting, he can't do much other than whine and moan Dean's name, so he leans back and watches Dean, leaking precum inside his mouth.

When he's getting close, Dean lets his cock go with a pop. He whines louder.

"It's okay, baby brother. I'll make you feel real good."

Dean rubs the head of his cock, squeezes more precum out and coats his finger with it.

Sam knows where this is going.

Dean starts rubbing his fingers against his hole.

Sam lets out a gasp.

"De- Dean!"

"Shhh, it's okay, baby. Let me take care of you."

"No, Dean, I- I never, I mean, I haven't-"

Dean lets out a groan, tip of his finger entering Sam, and Sam shivers at the feeling.

"I know, Sammy." Dean says, "Gonna be your first. Gonna be the first cock you take in your virgin, tight little hole."

Dean's words are dripping with want, hunger even, and Sam all but melts under his touch.

His finger is all the way in now and he's thrusting it in and out, slowly.

"Ask for it, Sammy." Dean says. "Tell me you want me to take your virginity. Tell me you're mine."

Sam feels shivers running down his body as Dean starts to lick his hole while he thrusts his finger, overwhelmed by how gentle he's being.

"Want-" Sam mumbles. "Want you. Want you to be my first. Please, De-"

Dean adds another finger, this one covered with spit, and starts thrusting in harder. Sam feels weird at first, stretching around his brother's fingers, the burning pain too unfamiliar, but then Dean hits something inside him that makes his body jolt with pleasure and Sam hears himself begging for more of this, more of Dean.

Three fingers in and Sam is almost crying, hips moving trying to meet Dean's thrusts, wanting more of that feeling.

Dean takes his fingers out and leans down to kiss Sam, this kiss filled with passion and want and Sam feels the safest and most loved he's ever felt all his life.

"Gonna fuck you now, baby brother."

Dean says, and Sam feels him coming in, stretching him so much more, he feels like he's going to break, but Dean goes slow and kisses him the entire time until he's fully in.

Sam feels so full his body is taken over by an overwhelming bliss.

He wraps his legs around Dean's waist and pants against his mouth.

"Fuck me." He whines.

And oh, Dean does.

He thrusts inside him, slow but increasingly harder, groaning and giving Sam kisses and bites down his neck.

Sam can't put his mind to understand what Dean's saying, but he gets bits and pieces of it, like "So tight, so fucking tight" and "So perfect for me" and "Made for my cock".

Dean starts thrusting harder and Sam's cock is throbbing against his stomach, almost painfully. He reaches to touch it but Dean stops him, grabs his hand and lifts it, holding it on top of his head.

"Please- I need-" Sam whines, Dean hitting the spot inside him hard with every thrust. He feels like he's going insane from the feeling, too overwhelming, too new.

"You can come like this." Dean pants on top of him, "Come on my cock, Sammy."

Sam whines at the words because fuck, this is too much, Dean fucks him even harder and Sam feels it building up inside him, painfully slow with his neglected cock twitching and leaking, and then it hits him. He lets out a broken sob as he comes all over himself and Dean.

"That's it, Sammy. So good, such a good baby brother for me, fuck." Dean fucks him through his orgasm, groaning as Sam clenches around him, and it's not long until he's spilling inside him, warm and deep and Sam whimpers at the feeling.

When Dean pulls out Sam feels incredibly empty, and he grabs Dean's arms and pulls him down towards him, kissing him passionately, like he's still hungry.

Dean's hand finds his cock while they're kissing and Sam flinches, too sensitive, but his cock is twitching on Dean's hand.

He pumps it slowly until Sam is moaning against his mouth.

"That's it. You did so good, came so good just from my cock." Dean praises him, "Gonna make you come again, baby."

Sam is thrusting up in Dean's fist before he realizes and he comes with a scream this time, entire body shaking.

He falls asleep right after, exhausted.

He doesn't see Dean licking him clean afterwards, and he doesn't see Dean kissing his forehead and saying goodbye.

When Sam wakes up, he wonders if it was all a dream, but his body is still sore and he doesn't know how this is possible.

Years later, when he's back on the road with Dean, older Dean's words still haven't left his mind.

"Few years from now, we're gonna be all over each other."

So, Sam waits.

And he knows damn well it will be worth the wait.

[roonyxx]

Healing Love: Part 4

Summary: You have a normal life as a nurse, and you are content with it. But then a storm called Dean Winchester rolls into it and you get swept away by his charms. But secrets linger and threaten to drown you both.

Pairing: Dean x Witch!nurse!reader

Word count: 1160

Chapter warnings: angst, wounds and medical stuff (i am no professional and have no idea what the real treatments are), fluff.

support me :)

Healing Love Masterlist

My Masterlist

Deviders made by @firefly-graphics, give her some love!

“What are you.” he says again.

You struggle to get to your feet and look at his face, his eyes moving and alive, his chest rising with each breath.

Alive.

“I-“ how are you supposed to answer that? He will never want to see you again…

“I’m a witch, a natural witch.” You carefully say, glancing at both boys.

Will they kill you?

“I never hurt anyone. I promise.” You quickly add.

“Dean… y-you weren’t breathing, she saved you, without her magic, you would have been…” Sam doesn’t finish his sentence. You’re glad he doesn’t because you don’t want to think of that, what would have happened if you were just a normal nurse.

Dean tries to get up but hisses and grabs his stomach.

“Careful!” you say “I had enough to pull you back and fix the worse of the damage but you still have a long way to go.”

Dean looks up at you, his green eyes that are usually filled with joy are now cold and angry.

“Why did you lie to me. Do you have something to hide?” he snaps at you.

“Wh-what? No, of course not. I just- I figured out you were a hunter and- and well… hunters don’t care about what I do. They see my powers and go straight to the killing option.”

“Did you curse me? Made some spell so I would like you? what do you want?”

“Of course not! I didn’t do anything! I didn’t curse you! I just want to help you.” you explain.

“Sam can help me. Leave.”

“Dean…” Sam tries to reason.

“Your bandages still need changing so unless you want to die of infection, I need to see you at least every two days. Sam doesn’t know how to do it and I doubt another nurse will come all the way here, for free.” You cross your arms over your chest.

He might hate you now but that’s no reason for you to stop helping Dean.

“Once you’re all healed, I’ll disappear from your life.” You say.

The only respons you get is a grunt.

You turn and leave before he can see your tears fall.

The next two week pass slowly. You see Dean every two days and he doesn’t say a word. He’s very cold towards you, but at least he is healing.

Sam came to thank you and apologized for Dean’s behavior. He mentions his brother has trust issues.

It’s hard for you because you never hurt anyone, all you want to do is help. And to have Dean acting so cold hurts even more.

When you come in the bunker today, there is a woman there, talking to Sam.

You never saw her before.

You make your way down the stairs.

“Oh, hi Y/n.” Sam kindly smiles at you.

The older woman turns around and takes you in, “Ah so this is the famous witch who saved Dean.” Her accent gives a funny twist to her words.

Your magic rises in you at sensing her magic. She’s a witch, and a powerful one.

She sticks her hand out towards you, “Rowena, nice to meet you. So rare to find a natural witch these days, you aren’t looking for a coven, are you?”

You hesitantly shake her hand, “Y/n, and no. I have no interest in joining a coven.”

“A pity.” Rowena sighs and turns back to Sam.

“As I told your brother, aside from the healing magic there is no proof of other spells used. Dean seemed surprised when I told him that.” She tells Sam.

is that why this witch is here? Why isn’t Dean pissed at her? Perhaps it’s just you he hates.

“He’s in his room?” you interrupt the conversation and leave to do your work when Sam nods.

You knock.

“Yes.” You hear Dean say from the other side.

You come in and go straight to work, not even looking him in the eyes, but you can feel his stare burning into the side of your face.

You lift his shirt and start cleaning the bandages and his wound.

“It’s healing well.” You say out loud.

“It’s hurting less.” He tells you and you look up at him.

He sounds almost normal, that hateful glint in his eyes is gone.

You look back down and continue working.

“So you are talking to me, and letting in other witches that you apparently don’t hate.”

“I don’t hate you and I- I need her to check something.” He answers.

“Check if I cursed you? I didn’t.” you say.

“I know. She told me. I just…” he sighs and you look at him “I’ve been used so many times before, I was afraid it was happening again. And- and I didn’t want that because i- I really like you, Y/n.”

You’re staring at him, a little baffled. You weren’t expecting this.

“You treated me horribly when all I did was help you.” you tell him.

“I know…” he bats his eyes down, “I don’t deserve your help.” He mutters.

You sigh and touch his hand, “I can understand how you feel. But you hurt me. I can’t just jump back to what we had.”

He nods, “I understand” then a dark chuckle, “even when something good happens to me, I manage to ruin it.”

“You still have a chance, Dean. But I will need time, okay? You can start with being flirty again, I missed that.” You give him a small smile.

The smile he gives you makes all the tension in your body leave. You almost forgot how his smile can light up a whole room.

“I missed you too, Y/n. Thank you for giving me another chance.” He reaches out and touches your cheek.

You lean into his palm, “I guess you have questions?”

“I do, what is a natural witch? Rowena said they are rare.”

“I was born a witch, like my mother, and I draw my power from nature. I don’t need to do rituals or have contact with demons to have powers.” You explain while finishing up his bandage.

“And you can heal?” he asks, “or do other things to?”

“Healing is my main signet yes. I can also levitate some objects and feel the presence of other magic. Like the sigils in the bunker.”

“That’s so cool.” He moves a little to the side to make room for you in his bed.

“Would you lay with me while I ask more? I want to know everything.” He says.

“You just want me in your bed.” You chuckle and get comfy next to him.

“Why not both?” he grins at you.

You gently slap his shoulder and snuggle into his side, his scent a balm to your aching heart.

You spend the whole evening talking about your powers and explaining everything to him.

You don’t even remember when you fell asleep in his arms.

But you do know that it was the best sleep you had in weeks.

Forever Tags 2024: @jay-and-dean @flamencodiva @snowlovespie @awkward-and-indecisive @hobby27 @kazsrm67 @foxyjwls007

Dean tags 2024: @akshi8278 @pink-sparkly-witch @verytoadpapersoul @eevvvaa @muhahaha303 @alwaystiredandconfused @deansimpalababy @globetrotter28 @aylacavebear

Healing Love tags: @deans-spinster-witch @kr804573 @suckitands33 @bitchykittenconnoisseur @brightlilith @snowayumi @ailalovegood @shanimallina87 @stoneyggirl2 @chriszgirl92 @neptua

send me an ask if you want to be on any of my tag lists! (or if you want to be removed)

[magpiemoonchild]

the lovers and the hermit for the rook asks!

The Lovers: Who is your Rooks most significant relationship within the Veilguard? How do they help Rook feel seen and understood?

Rooks most significant relationship in the Veilguard, believe it or not, is Varric. While Rowena romances Lucanis and I have a lot of feelings about that, Varric believed in her. He thought that, even though she fucked up in the eyes of her only family, he supported her and boosted her into a position where she could feel free to help people. The little people, the poor and forgotten people, not just those who could afford her price.

The Hermit: When Rook is alone with their thoughts, what do they think about? Is solitude a blessing or a curse for them?

Being alone is something Rowena cannot stand. She spent most of her youth alone and so she flits from room to room, spending all her waking moments in someone else's presence. When she is alone, she is stuck with her thoughts, and that isn't something she can handle. She would prefer to put on a dorky, happy exterior so nobody sees just how broken she is inside.

[lol-jackles]

I really hope a revival or new season of SPN never happens. For me it's impossible to add something new without ruining what's already been done, and I like it the way it is. But after Misha's word vomit at the last convention the hellers are more excited than ever that they'll finally get what they want, Cass and Dean SO in love etc. Never gonna happen! But let's suppose that there really is another season of SPN: how do you predict it will go and what will be the reaction of the hellers?

My guess is a SPN revival would be a limited series taking place between 15x19 and 15x20, as originally intended in The Winchesters where Dean was narrating from the bunker.  It could be divided between Sam and Dean on a classic monster hunting trips and helping Rowena wrangle wayward demons back to hell.  There were hints in season 15 that some demons would not follow Rowena.  We could even meet Sam’s future wife.  I know Misha wants a rescue mission into the Empty to free Cas but that would run counter to Dean’s words to Sam in 15x20.  Nah, better to let sleeping dogs lie.

Hellers will always be bitter no matter what.  Let’s say everybody at WB collectively have an aneurysm and say Destiel is a thing in the revival.  99% of the hellers will still be mad because it wouldn’t confirm their fanfiction version.  Meanwhile 99% of the SPN audience who doesn’t know Destiel is even a thing will be WTF-ing because that ship just came out of nowhere. There are even The Walking Dead fans to this day that say the Richonne ship came out of nowhere even though it's been canon for years.  Therefore it makes absolute no sense to acknowledge a fanfiction ship because the general audience wouldn’t know about it and the hellers will be mad regardless for not conforming to their porno fanfictions.

[shallowseeker]

Always thinking about your The Winchesters idea. Henry killing the cupid would've gone so hard as an opener.

I don't even know where this post went. 😭

Henry-as-villain just always seemed like such a good idea! It's just... the fact that the MoL time-jumping magic uses up YOUR SOUL?! Delicious! It would've been such a good way to go about transforming Henry into a "dark" MoL...

Now, don't make me explain why the dude would be alive in the first place, cause obviously:

💀💀💀💀

That pesky little detail aside, I love the idea of John and Mary falling in love even without the Cupid. It would've been in line with SPN's free will themes and also such a nice twist on the history.

In trying to break them apart, Henry brings them closer together, until Henry is pushed to the brink... I think Henry could even echo Rowena, "I'd much rather have a son who's alive, even one who hates me."

We could bring in some serious Naomi vibes, too, with Henry trying to force John to do the thing that will save him:

Kill Mary Campbell.

[the-flaming-nightmare]

Tagged by the wonderful @nottapossum! 💕

So, this was actually a Regressuary request from one of my besties, but now it's just a regular ol' request fic that I'm doing for her lol. Here's what I've got so far:

From the time Crowley was two months old, the only thing that could calm him down or get him to sleep when he was fussy was the lullaby My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. And even after well over two thousand years, it still worked just as well as the first time.

Rowena paced the hallway of her apartment with her wailing, overgrown son cradled in her arms.

She'd been trying to get the wee devil to sleep for the past two hours, but it seemed that no matter what she did, her son just wouldn't settle down long enough to even attempt closing his eyes. She tried everything, warm milk, soothing body messages, pacifiers, and swaddling. None of it even remotely worked.

"I know, I know. You're so sleepy, my poor sausage." Rowena exhaled a soft sigh and pressed a kiss to her son's temple, continuing to lightly bounce him in her arms up and down the hall. "Mummy's trying her best, but I don't know what else I could possibly do to–" she suddenly stopped when recollection finally hit her–"Oh, of course. Why didn't I think of that sooner!"

If she had a free hand to slap herself across the face with, she would.

Tagging (if you wanna): @angelique-of-the-volturi-guard, @thegoeticcleric, @phantomhiveroyaltea, @anewkindofme, @actualalligator, @laneybishop89, @autisticalastor, @otpcutie, @snarkythewoecrow, @pibsboots, @cgetbrmj and anyone else who wants to join!

[hawkland]

SciFi Valley Con, what a weekend!

I need to share this somewhere because it was all so amazing, I'm still a bit dazed .

First, behold this set up, because holy shit was it a lot of work!

So, on to the details. Back in Charlotte, I'd promised both DJ and Ruth tote bags with my Garth & Rowena art, respectively (they'd seen other people carrying them around but I'd sold out before they stopped by looking for one.) Didn't know if they'd actually remember BUT Friday at SFVC was fairly slow so I went to get my autographs and hunt them down. First I went up to DJ who, as soon as he saw the tote bag, came rushing out from behind his table to give me a big hug. "I don't care if it's egotistical I'm carrying this around all weekend!" All Friday he had it out on his table, too, so that it ended up in one of the con's promo videos on Instagram.

Next up was Rick...who was just a doll, taking his time with each and every person! I was just going to get an autograph for myself but as soon as I showed him the painting he was just literally speechless for a while, came around to give me a hug, asked his handler to take that picture he posted on Instagram, I gave him a print and we chatted a bit but I felt bad taking up too much time. (I did go back on Sunday to get an autograph for Mr. Hawkland's office and totally cracked him up with my/our usual request for something mentioning feet, since the hubster is a podiatrist.)

Then I saw Ruth briefly had no line so I dashed over and handed her her bag and she was immediately all "Oh! Oh! Emily, come over here!" (Emily Swallow was signing the next station over.) "This is the artist who has that lovely painting of the two of us I was showing you!"

I'm now like....wait a minute...they're showing each other MY ART?!?!?! I knew Ruth liked the piece — it was the one I did for the femmeslash bang claimed by @father-salmon — Emily immediately slips out from her table where she had a long line and was like, "Hi I'm Emily" to shake my hand and I'm like OMFG I KNOW YOU ARE and they were just both being so sweet I could've cried. Ruth was asking if it would be ok if they made copies of that piece available for signing (like, absolutely?!?! I'M the one skirting the edge selling these prints...) Anyway, Ruth let me pick out a picture to get signed for free, I ran back to my table to get the new Amara piece I'd done signed by Emily and to print her prints of each. And she wouldn't even let me pay for getting it autographed either, just was being so kind, I mentioned how Season 11 is my favorite and how much I've come to enjoy Amara every time I rewatch and then she wouldn't let me leave without a hug. *sob* Saturday morning she even stopped by the table to look at more of my stuff up close and tell me how Ruth was carrying her bag around everywhere.

Oh and Sunday morning before we opened for the day, I'd just set up and stepped out to get something to drink, come back in and Mark Sheppard is at my table by my Crowley prints and postcards talking with his handler. He was like "Yeah I've signed a lot of these" and was surprised the big banner print hadn't sold yet (so was I). He actually remembered signing the original paintings back in Pittsburg 2-3 years ago, I do not know how he remembers these things.

Anyway. Sales were kind of meh since the crowd was only very partially an SPN crowd BUT I cannot remember having such wonderful interactions with guests/actors ever like this. It's a little freaky because it hit that the Creation con regulars (DJ, Ruth, Mark) definitely know & remember me. And I guess that's a good thing? I suppose we'll see how it all unfolds next year as this was my last con for 2024 (next year I'm planning on doing SPN Boston, New Jersey, Novi, Philly and maybe Chicago too.)

[canirove]

Granada | Chapter 25

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"Look who is back!"

"Hello, Luna."

"Oh, come here" she said, hugging Rowena. "We were so worried about you when we heard you had left to be at the front with Rúben… What got into your head to do that?"

"Love, I guess" she replied, trying to shrug.

"And when you fought against those men to defend the camp?"

"You know about that too?"

"Everyone in the city knows" Luna chuckled. "You are like a hero around here. I've even seen little girls fighting with sticks and saying they are like Princess Rowena."

"Oh. That's… I don't know what to say."

"Well, I know what to say. Thank you."

"Uh?"

"Thank you for defending my people. Your people" Luna smiled.

"It is my duty as the princess."

"Maybe. But I don't see the queen or your friend wielding a sword. A needle, maybe. But a sword? Nah" she laughed. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"I wanted to speak with Iris if she isn't busy."

"Today actually is her free day. Come" Luna said, leading Rowena towards Iris' room.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"I am so glad to see you!"

"I can tell" Rowena chuckled. "But if you keep squeezing me like that, you will manage to do what the enemy couldn't."

"Sorry, sorry" Iris said. "How are you?"

"I'm… I don't know how I am" she sighed.

"Oh, dear. What did Rúben do now?"

"I was hoping you would tell me" Rowena said, sitting down.

"Me?"

"He's been late to bed almost every night since we came back, and I thought that maybe it was because he was coming to talk with you."

"I haven't seen him since before you left."

"Really?"

"Tell me what happened, Rowena" Iris said, taking her hand on hers and giving it an encouraging squeeze.

"It all started after the last battle. I don’t know if they told you that he got hurt and was unconscious for a few days.”

“They told us, yes.”

“Well, at first I thought he was acting weird because he was still recovering, which can be normal. But his coldness towards me since that day hasn't disappeared."

"Coldness?"

"He avoids me, Iris. He can't be alone with me in the same room, and when we are alone it is as if he is scared to touch me. Did he tell you about the pillow wall?"

"He did" she chuckled.

"Well, now it is as if there is a huge invisible wall between us. And not only in bed. It is everywhere. And then…"

"Then what?"

"We both have nightmares. I've asked him about his, but he says he won't tell me until I tell him about mine."

"Then do it. Tell him."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because… I can't" Rowena said, getting up from her seat.

"Talking does help."

"I know, but… I'm not ready. Not yet."

"Does your nightmare involve him?"

"It has started to" she whispers, the images of Rúben lying dead on their bed coming back to her mind.

"Rowena" Iris said, also getting up. "You must talk to him. Tell him what you are feeling."

"As if it was that easy" she snorted. "He is constantly avoiding me or hiding from me!"

"But you are a clever girl. You'll find a way to corner him and make him talk."

"I guess I can try" she sighed.

"He loves you, Rowena. A love like yours doesn't disappear overnight."

"And I love him too. I don't think I will ever love anyone the way I love him."

"Then you will find a way to reach him and fix this. You'll see."

"Will you let me know if he comes to visit you? If he talks to you?"

"I will" Iris said, wiping away a tear from Rowena's cheek. 

"Thank you."

"Anything for you two" she smiled.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

"Are you sure he is in there?"

"Yes, my lady. He was cleaning Poppy."

"Great, thank you very much" Rowena said, walking towards the stables. This was her moment. She would talk with Rúben, tell him about her nightmare, and find out what was wrong with him. "Hello." 

No answer. Rúben just ignored her, busy brushing Poppy's mane. 

"How is she today?" 

Again, nothing. 

"One of the boys told me she's becoming a bit stubborn. Like her owner, I guess" Rowena chuckled. 

"Like her owner" Rúben murmured.

"Oh, look who remembered he can talk!"

"You are not funny, Rowena."

"Neither are you, Rúben. Especially not lately" she said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"I'm not in the mood to argue."

"Well, I am. What is wrong with you? Why do you keep avoiding me and acting as if I don't exist?"

"I am busy" he said, his eyes still fixed on Poppy. He hadn't looked at Rowena yet.

"You are always busy. Always!"

"Lower down your voice. You will scare the horses."

"I don't care!" she yelled, definitely making some of the animals nervous.

"We'll talk when you have calmed down" Rúben said, putting down the brush he was using and starting to walk away.

"I am calm!"

"You are yelling, Rowena. That's not being calm."

"Rúben! Rúben, come back here! Rúben!"

"Ouch!" he complained. "Did you… did you just hit me with a shoe?"

"I did. And I can do it again. Maybe that way I'll put some sense into that big head of yours."

"Me? Who is the one sneaking into the city again, at night, and alone?"

"Did Iris tell you I went to visit her?"

"I haven't seen her since before we left for battle, but a guard saw you and came to tell me."

"Oh. I see."

"You look disappointed" Rúben chuckled. "Were you expecting to find out I was seeing her again and use that as an excuse to finally run away?"

"What are you talking about?" Rowena laughed. "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay here, with you. I love you, Rúben."

"Maybe you shouldn't love me" he murmured.

"What… what does that mean?" 

"Oh, there you are!" Diogo said, walking into the stables. "He's coming."

"Who?" Rúben asked.

"Prince Lewin, of course."

"He's here already?"

"Not here here, he still is crossing the city. But yes."

"I better go get changed" he said, now walking towards where Rowena and Diogo were standing. "This is yours."

"Is that a shoe?" Diogo laughed when he saw what Rúben had given her. "Why did he have your shoe?"

"It's complicated" she replied, putting it on. "Let's go meet that prince."

"Yes, of course. But Rowena…" Diogo said, holding her by the arm. "I know something is going on between you and Rúben. he hasn't been the same since he came back. So if there is anything I can do…"

"If you could make him talk to you, tell you what is going on inside that stupid head of his…"

"I'll try" he smiled. "I don't like seeing him like this. Seeing you both like this. You love each other so much, that I just…"

"Thank you, Diogo. It means a lot" Rowena replied, kissing his cheek. "Now, the prince."

"Yes, the prince. Anne is already waiting outside, and I'm sure she's looking forward to gossiping about him with you" he chuckled. "Did you get to meet him? They say he is very handsome."

"I did not."

"Shame" Diogo said. He kept rambling about Prince Lewin, the new heir to the kingdom who had been their enemy until not that long ago, the one she had fought against. But there was only one thing in Rowena's mind, and that was Rúben's last words to her:

Maybe you shouldn't love me.

[adidegmez]

spn s15 spoilers

s15 ep1(back and to the future)

one last time, the road so far. the demon is funny. i love big brother dean. their lat scene was awesome. we got work to do, this Show is going to kill me. this is the last season. their story will end. probably with a sad ending. i dont want to say goodbye.

s15 ep2(raising hell)

ketch! hi ketch. he knows how to make an enterance. rowena and ketch? rowena cared about jack. amara, i didnt think we would see her. kevin, ive missed you. where is jack, he was in the empty what is he doing now? we started saying goodbyes with kevin. and this will go on. i hate goodbyes.

s15 ep3(the rupture)

i miss crowley. ketch died. They're slowly removing everyone from the story. We're nearing the end. and now rowena. rowena is complicated, i love her. i thought rowena would want sam to kill her so that she could e the queen of hell or something like that. maybe she can return as queen of ell that would e nice. adam is still in the cage. dean, why are you so mad at cas? cant you forgive him? i wouldnt want their story to and like this but dean sam and cas theyre alive. there are 17 eps left. things will go bad. i hope they can get a happy ending, i hope they will all live but i dont think they will.

s15 ep4(atomic monsters)

i thought i saw benny. we got him and lost him in a minute. dean is gorgeous(i had to say it, he is always gorgeous). i love seeing deans smile, sam and cas too but dean is different, he is my favorite. becky, wow, she has a family? i would love to see team free will just doing laundry and talking with eachother without worrying about monsters. im happy for becky. becky youre gonna ruin winchesters life. poor boy it wasnt his fault but if he cant control it he has to die. if only there could be another way. Did Jensen sing the song? If anyone knows the name of the song, can you tell me? dean is hopeful we need that but Chuck is not gone. and he is going to ruin things. he will make the winchesters suffer, just because he enjoys it and doesnt like the winchesters anymore. and thats why i hate him

s15 ep5(proverbs 17:3)

why is sam having those dreams? is Chuck messing with his head? everyone is confused about deans pictures but he looks the same maybe a little bit older but same look. he even has the same hair. sam is the one WHO changed he look very different especially his hair. that doesnt make any sense everyone is suprised at deans not sams? lilith?!! only thing thet can kill the god (except jack i think) is gone. nice there is a link they can use that link. you were never free dean. i wish amara ould help them. maybe se will help them. but they need jack.

s15 ep6(golden time)

now eileen. Chuck is trying to break the winchesters. Dean doesn't seem to care because he's tired of playing Chuck's games and there doesn't seem to be any way they can beat Chuck right now. If they can find a way, Dean will go back to his old self. and they will beat Chuck. together, team free will (2.0 maybe jack will come too). what happened to banes twins. will we see them again? eileen is okay. well at least we have one good thing. Chuck is messing with cas now.

s15 ep7(last call)

dean is amazing, jensen is amazing. i love when he sings. he was happy at that bar, i love seeing him happy. it was good to see him happy in this last season, i hope we can see them happy more. sam cant die. they can beat Chuck but they still need help(maybe jack can help them)

s15 ep8(our father, who aren't in heaven)

they finally remembered adam. i love donatello but i miss kevin. hello rowena! i miss crowley, im glad she is the one whos in charge. i love rowena. adam is out of the cage. eileen and sam could be together. Chuck will kill eileen, right? Dean, you shouldn't still be mad at Cas, we're getting close to the end and you two shouldn't stay on bad terms anymore. i want jack back, when is he coming? okay, i hate Chuck. i used to love him when he was just a prophet but as god no i dont like him. he just watched all of them suffer and enjoyed it. and he is stil hurting them. he is a monster. i like this Michael. thanks to cage and adam he is better now. adam is in a better situation than the others. purgatory, i hope we can at least see benny.

s15 ep9(the trap)

of course chuck was behind all of this. benny is dead. when someone dies in purgatory where would they go? i thought they would born again in purgatory. dean finally forgave cas. No, this ending definitely wouldn't happen. Even if Sam and Dean had turned into monsters, they wouldn't have become monsters. They wouldn't have fought Bobby and Jody. They would have let them kill themselves. Cas is getting the mark. I hope this doesn't end badly like Dean's. jack!!! yes. why is billie doing this? idc Shell bring jack back. and he'll beat god. how can the light be bad? if hes bad, how can there be balance?

s15 ep10(the heroes' journey)

do they have bad luck or something? its Chuck isnt it? i heard some people say, garth didnt named his kid dean because he knew sam would name his kid dean and this makes sense to me. at least nothing bad happened to garth and his family. yeah they cant be normal. it was funny to see them like that but this isnt WHO they are.

s15 ep11(the gamblers)

hi jack! you finally came. my heroes. they are going to save the World. with cas and jack.

s15 ep12(galaxy brain)

I had forgotten about Kaia. Jack now has powers but he won't be able to use them. Kaia will be a problem. i hate Chuck. he is bored so he is destroying worlds. he needs to go. i loved old dean more.

s15 ep13(destiny's child)

when i watched about scoobynatural, i thought team would travel through different universes. for at least one season we couldve just watch them travel have fun save people but no they cant have fun more than one episode. if someone would help jack he can rule instead of Chuck. jack doesnt have a soul but he is good. i wish he had his soul. i loved meg. jack got his soul back, finally.

s15 ep14(last holiday)

i love deans reaction. cant they live like this? they are happy. of course they cant, Chuck wouldnt let that happen. Jack began to speak his father's language:) . dean, the birthday cake was nice. i love them.

s15 ep15(gimme shelter)

dean lied again.first to other kaia now amara. i hope he can keep his promise so he wouldnt be lying. jack will sacrifice himself. hopefully cas will find a way.

s15 ep16(drag me away (from you))

i hate seeing winchesters fight, especially when it's so close to the end. I hope they can be back to normal before this is all over.

s15 ep17(unity)

jack's not family? dean how could you say that he is your kid, he is a winchester. i love amara. i hope jack and amara can spend time with eachother. i hate Chuck. he manipulates everyone. it was Chuck all along. if only dean didnt lie to amara. she was nice she was trying to help but now she is dead. now jack is dying again.

s15 ep18(despair)

i want to say jack cant die but i cant be sure of anything. the story is ending in 3 episodes. billie didnt change she always wanted this. okay jack is alive nice. since this is the ep i can say it. cas will die in this ep and i know it. i knew it for a while i hoped this day would never come but here we are. this will be the day i learn this storys ending. i hate billie too. billie left her toy. does that mean theyll reap god and hell die like that and billie read it so she left the weapon to kill Chuck. i love Charlie. she was happy. eileen is gone. i thought maybe she and sam could be together. i love donna. i love garth. i love jody and the girls. i love bobby. Charlie bobby donna i thought they were safe, theyre gone now. i know how this will end cas will summon empty it will kill death and cas. i hope this wont happen but it will. cas will die. their story will end. cas is gone. and he didnt day goodbye to sam and jack. he saved dean. cas is gone.

s15 ep19(inherit the earth)

what is happening to jack? how can they beat God? how can they win? i hate Chuck. he killed miracle. Michael! adam is gone too. i didnt think we would see Michael again. and i didnt think i would be happy to see him but i am. there may be hope yet. maybe they can do something together. i cant deans reaction to lucifer was funny but i cant laugh. he thought cas was alive he thought he came bak and it wasnt cas he saw lucifer. i never thought we would see lucifer. i love lucifer when he is not serious or when he isnt trying to end the World. so he is good for now. i hate lucifer again. yes! Michael killed lucifer, i cant believe it. Michael betrayed them. i liked him. i cant trust anyone but team free will 2.0. i hate Chuck. i would take that ending, i would. they won but hey lost everything but they won and theyre together except cas. there is still one ep left. and evertones back. this is not the perfect ending because cas is not here but its a good ending. if only it was the end. because they are alive. they live. this felt right but why is there another episode. i hope we just see them grow old and live their lives but we wont. i know we wont. i just wish we could. i dont want to watch next ep. i know that ep broke everyone. i know how it ends. but why this should have been the ending. this felt right it wasnt complete but it felt right. this couldve been the ending why make us suffer more? of course i dont want it to end but if the story ending i would want it to be like this. this i want to say perfect but its not cas is gone but it was okay. im not ready to watch the next ep. but here we go one last ep. their story is ending here.

s15 ep20(carry on)

what happened to carry on? why didnt it play. i wanted just one thing i hope it at least plays in the end. im okay with just wathing them live their life without a big bad guy or something. why? why? why? it was always sam and dean, always. why end it like that? they were happy they were together they were both alive. i dont want to say it but dean is gone. sam is alone. bobby, hi! cas is alive?! that what they deserved as heaven. but dean shouldve had more time with sam. but im not going to complain they all can be together again. tahnks to jack and cas. yes this ending break me but it was beautiful. in the end they are happy and they are together forever. i just wish we couldve seen at least cas and jack.

this story was beautiful 2 brothers together with the help of their frinds and family they saved the World. and they got the ending they deserved it was meant to be like this dean would die and sam would live for everyone WHO died. spn writers i think they gave us a gift with jack, they made heaven a good place they made heaven what it was meant to be. and thanks to them and jack winchesters and everyone we cared about is happy. anyway im glad i witnessed their story for 15 seasons i laughed and cried with them. they mean so much to me all of them.

i dont want to say goodbye so this is a see you later because ill be seeing them. ill always remember them. i love all of them. i love dean sam cas jack bobby mary john kevin Charlie jody donna crowley rowena and the others WHO helped winchesters WHO loved winchesters.

im really happy im a part of this fandom. ill never leave here. im looking forward to see spn stuff. so

see you later

[avirael]

FFxivWrite 2024

Day 05 - Stamp

“What are you reading there?”, a familiar voice pulled A'viloh from his thoughts as he browsed through the notebook in his lap. He looked up to find Rael standing beside him.

“Ah, Rael! There you are! Did Rowena have what we need?”

“Fortunately yes!”, the Viera said and tossed a small bag with crafting materials to A'vi while they said down on the stairs beside him. “What kind of book is that?”

“Oh, that!”, A'viloh exclaimed, closed the notebook and handed it to Rael. “Zhloe’s little sister gave it to me while I waited for you!”

Rael took the book an turned it over in their hands. It was a rough leather cover with one leather cord to keep it closed and another one threaded in at th back to keep some rough paper sheets fixed inside. It was clearly self-made and although the workmanship wasn’t the best it seemed to do what it was supposed to do. Wondrous Tails was written in uneven letters on the cover and Rael had to smirk about the funny spelling mistake.

In the inside of the notebook Rael found lots of uneven pages divided by colorful pieces of papers. Most pages were still blank apart from empty grids consisting of wobbly lines and a few words scrawled here and there in the handwriting of a child.

The first few pages however had some notes on them already, written in a familiar small handwriting, that looked at least a tiny bit more clean and practiced, and a few tiny doodles here and there. The content of these texts surprised Rael.

“This one describes Ifrit? Did you write that, A'vi?”

“I did!”, A'viloh nodded. “Zhloe told her sister about us and so Khloe asked me for help because she thought there must be lots of adventurous stories we have to tell! You know, there are quite a few orphans here in Idyllshire and Khloe wants to cheer them up with exciting stories. I found the idea very cute, so I decided to help her. I mean, if it makes these kids happy I can afford a few minutes to write some things down in here, right?”

“Hmmm…”, Rael made and browsed a few more of the pages. “That sound like a very sweet idea to be honest. I just hope our stories are not too exciting for them…”

Excitedly A'viloh’s ears twitched up. “Our? So you want to help too?”

“Maybe”, the Viera shrugged. “Why not?…”

A'viloh beamed. “Great! She’s going to be so happy about this!”

So much excitement made Rael smile faintly too. After a few more pages they paused and pointed to another of these wobbly grids, just that this one wasn’t empty but instead had a few colorful stamps on it. A tiny yellow chocobo baby in one corner, a dancing green cactuar in another and also what looked like a birthday cake on one side of the grid.

“Oh these!”, A'viloh added and pointed at the colorful stamps. “See, for each story we write down Khloe will give us one stamp and once we have a certain number she promised me a reward!”

“A reward?”, with a disbelieving smirk on their face Rael raised an eyebrow. “What kind of reward would a little girl have to offer? Seashells and pebbles?”

“That’s rude!”, the Miqo'te scolded. “She says she sometimes gets some things for free from Rowena, which she wants to trade for stories.”

The look on Rael’s face turned even more incredulous. “Rowena doesn’t give anything useful away for free, you know that A'vi. Better don’t expect much…”

But A'viloh just shrugged. “I would be fine with a pretty pebble or seashell. It’s not really about the reward. I just wanted to help these kids…”

Thoughtfully Rael nodded and browsed back a few pages to look at A'viloh’s entries. On one page they paused and pointed a small doodle that looked like a particularly wrinkled potato with tiny legs and arms as well as an angry face drawn onto it.

“What’s that?”

“What? You can’t tell?”, A'viloh asked and folded his arms in front of his chest. “That’s Titan of course!”

“Titan?”, Rael replied and began to laugh. For a moment A'viloh just stared at them angrily but then he had to laugh too.

“Maybe I will leave the doodles to you next time…”

[garmonboziasworld]

Danni Winchester has left her brothers in 2006 after the death of their father, John Winchester. The siblings haven't spoken in years but when the Darkness is released, Danni reunites with her brothers. If she had known what turn her life would take from that moment on, maybe she wouldn't have come back at all. But you can't run from destiny, can you? A Supernatural Lucifer x OC Corruption Arc/Soulmate Trope

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Chapter 10: Don't think, Danni, feel

Weeks had passed without anything on Amara or Castiel. Until one day, they finally got a lead.

“Sam! Danni!”

Dean yelled through the whole bunker until his siblings were joining him in the war room.

“What is it?” Sam asked.

“Crowley just called. Looks like he broke free from Lucifer's chains and now he claims to have a Hand of God. He wants to meet us so get in the car, I'll explain the rest later.”

They did as they were told and just a few minutes later, they were on their way to St. Louis to meet with Crowley at the old post office. After a small rant about how Lucifer had kept him as his prisoner and that he must be dealt with, Dean had enough.

“That's what we came here for? Some lousy grudge match with Lucifer? Where's that Hand of God you talked about?”

“The Horn of Joshua. I have it. And I'm willing to entrust it to your capable hands.”

“If we do what?”

“If you help me exorcise Lucifer from Castiel's vessel. And then, return him to his cage immediately.”

“Even if we could exorcise him out of Cas,” Danni said, “there's no way to put him back into the cage without Rowena. Lucifer snapped her neck.”

Crowley eyed her cautiously. “And how do you know that?”

“He told me.”

“Ah, of course he did. You're his darling after all.”

“Hey, that's not the topic here right now, okay?” Dean said. “Fact is, we need Lucifer to defeat Amara. He has defeated her before. He might be the only one powerful enough to use the Horn.”

“Dean's right,” Sam said. “Priority is to put the Horn in Lucifer's hands and set him loose on Amara.”

“After we exorcised him out of Cas and put him into a new vessel,” Dean added.

“What?” Sam asked. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Dean answered. “We're not gonna send Lucifer into battle inside Cas. What if he doesn't make it?”

“Dean, it's a strong vessel. It's held Cas for years and we know what he's been through. It can hold Lucifer.”

“It? It's not an it, Sam, it's Cas. He's family.”

“And he wanted to do it,” Sam remarked. “Look, this is exactly how we always screw ourselves. We make the heart choice, not the smart choice. Cas’ choice deserves to be respected.”

“Even if it kills him?”

“It's killing me listening to you two bitches bicker!” Crowley's angered voice stopped Sam and Dean. “I gave you the terms of my deal. You put Lucifer back in the cage, then you get the Horn. And if he's not back in the cage, the Horn stays hidden.”

“That's not reasonable, Crowley,” Sam said, “even for you.”

“I don't need to be reasonable. I'm the King.”

Danni sighed. “Crowley, Lucifer is strong enough already but with the Hand of God, he'll be strong enough to defeat Amara. And he's the only one who can do it. Sending him back to the cage won't do any good in the fight against Amara. What are we supposed to do with a Hand of God if we have no one suitable to use it? We need him.”

“Oh that you need him is no surprise to any of us.”

But their conversation was interrupted by a rumbling of the ground. They all stepped outside the post office and looked into the sky which had darkened with thunder.

“I think that's her,” Dean said and they quickly went back inside.

“So what now?” Sam asked.

“Was that enough reality for you, Crowley?” Dean asked but Crowley stayed stubborn.

“Why are we arguing?” Crowley asked. “We all know that he has to go back to the cage.”

“Yes, when it makes sense,” Sam said. “Amara is the bigger picture here. He gets rid of her with the Horn of Joshua, then we get rid of him. Check. So are you with us now or what?”

“No,” Crowley answered. “I have the Horn and without that, you're lost.”

Dean approached Crowley. “When we sprung Lucifer from his cage, we had Rowena and the Book of the Damned. And we'd need both to put him back there. And both of which are gone.”

“Ah, guys?” Sam interrupted them. “Look at this.”

He pointed at a rusted cabinet with a burned message on it.

Back from the dead, Fergus.

Dean was spraying a huge enochian sigil onto the ground. They had met with Rowena in an abandoned church, prepared to summon Lucifer and exorcise him out of Castiel.

“I hate this,” Sam said. “And by the way, where's Crowley? We're essentially all set up.”

“Yeah,” Dean said. “He boxed us into this so the least thing he could do is-”

“Show up?” Crowley completed his sentence. He was suddenly standing in the church with the Horn in his hands. “Here it is. Our bait. Because without bait, a trap wouldn't be a trap, right?”

“For the record, we still think this is a bad idea,” Dean said. “We should be using him, not icing him.”

“I know. You told me often enough now. So Mommy,” Crowley said, facing Rowena, “tell us the fascinating story about your resurrection.”

“Thanks to a spell I had embedded in my body,” Rowena explained. “And once it sensed my life energy draining, the spell was activated and resurrected me. And since then, I have been hiding. Because if he knew I'd be alive, I wouldn't be so any longer.”

“Oh, and no mucking around like last time,” Crowley warned her. “The warding and the holy fire won't keep an archangel but for a moment. If he shows up at all.”

“He'll show,” Danni said. “He's too eager to take Amara out.”

“If you say so,” Crowley said and wanted to hand her over the Horn but he stopped and gave her a warning look. “No tricks.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, I don't know, like handing him over a powerful weapon without hesitation? Because you can't help yourself? How about that?”

“You think I'll just place it into his hands?”

“All I think is that it shouldn't be you talking to him.”

“Are you expressing concerns about betrayal and backstabbing? You, Crowley? Seriously?”

“Crowley’s kind of right, you know?” Dean asked. “Are you sure you want to cast the summoning spell? We can do it as well and you hide with Rowena.”

“No,” Danni answered. “We talked about this. The second he sees you, he'll know it's a trap.”

“Alright,” Dean nodded. “Fine. But as soon as we get the feeling that this is getting out of hand, we're stepping in.”

“Dean, I know what I'm supposed to do. Making sure he takes the bait, then we exorcise him. Which is still a stupid idea.”

“You tell him,” Dean said and nodded into Crowley's direction.

“And you wonder why I don't trust you?” Crowley asked. Tired of arguing, he gave Danni the Hand of God. “Go ahead whenever you're ready.”

She sat down on one of the benches and started to recite the spell to summon Lucifer. Loud thunder rolled through the air and the others hid before Lucifer appeared in the centre of the sigil. Danni quickly lighted the holy oil around it, creating a ring of holy fire that trapped Lucifer, just to be sure. He looked around, amused and his eyes landed on Danni holding the Hand of God.

“Hello gorgeous. And hello Danni.”

She scoffed quietly. “Charming as ever.”

“I've got a reputation to lose.”

“It wouldn't do you any harm to lose that reputation.”

Lucifer laughed quietly. “Oh, I hate to admit it but I missed this.”

“I didn't summon you to bicker.”

“No? Too bad. Then why did you? Changed your mind about moving downstairs? Honeymoon in hell?”

She looked down at the Horn, then she looked at him again. “A gift of reconciliation. Considered how our last meeting in the bunker went.”

“Aw, you shouldn't have.”

“Listen, our best chance to take Amara out is you using a Hand of God. I'll give it to you. But I have a few conditions.”

“Are you in a position to make conditions?”

Danni ignored his question. “You will deal with Amara, get out of Cas’ vessel, and you'll leave. Just like you promised you would.”

“Yes. If you keep your mouth shut and don't say a word to anyone. We know how that turned out. So why should I still do it?”

“Will you do it, yes or no?”

“If I say yes, how would you know I don't lie?”

“I guess I just have to trust you.”

Lucifer's amused laugh echoed from the church walls. “Oh my, you have to start learning that you can't trust me. I mean look at you, the last time we saw each other I tried to kill your brothers and now here you are, bringing me a Hand of God. It's pathetic how much you want to please me.”

“You think that's what this is all about? You? Not the nearing end of the world and all our death?”

“You tell me,” he said and shrugged. “You're the one who's bringing me a powerful weapon like a dog who's playing fetch. Where did you get that anyway? It's not like they're lying around every corner.”

“I spared no expense and effort for you.”

“Didn't expect anything else from you.”

“Will you help us now, yes or no?”

“Alright, how about that … I’ll handle Amara and leave Cas’ vessel. The rest is up for negotiation.”

Danni looked at him and slowly nodded her head. “Okay.”

“Pleasure doing business with you, darling.” He clapped his hands and looked at Danni. “Let's get to it. Douse the flames.”

“Just one more thing,” Danni said and looked at his anticipatory face. “The order wasn't quite correct.”

“What?”

She put the Horn aside and quickly sliced the inside of her hand and activated a sigil drawn on the table. The sigil on which Lucifer was standing started to glow and he slowly lost control of the vessel. As soon as he was unconscious, her brothers and Crowley rushed out of her hiding place. Dean didn't lose any time.

“Cas?” Dean called. “Cas, show yourself.”

After a few seconds, Castiel was back in control. “Dean?”

“Cas?”

“What … what are you doing? What's going on?”

“Cas, listen to me. We don't have a whole lot of time, okay? You've got to-”

But Dean didn't get far. Castiel was struggling to keep the upper hand and after a short moment, it was clear that he was gone. And that Lucifer was back in control. He laughed, visibly amused and straightened again.

“Look at that. It's Crowley, Sam and Dean. Smells like betrayal in here, doesn't it?” He laughed once more and shook his head. “Wow, you guys almost had me there for a minute. But these spells are not just what they used to be, right?”

“Cas!” Dean yelled. “Expel him! You got to kick Lucifer out. You hear me?”

“Honestly?” Lucifer asked. “I think he's happy with the arrangement. I mean, he did invite me in after all, Dean.” He slowly walked to the end of the sigil near the burning fire ring and eyed Danni. “That was a huge mistake, Danni. Tricking me. You should know better than that. Hand over the weapon. Or we can just wait for this warding to fail and I'll just take it.”

Danni saw how the sigil on the table slowly stopped burning, meaning that the sigil controlling Lucifer's powers wouldn't work any longer.

“Guys?” she called.

Before her brothers could react, Crowley quickly left his vessel and the red smoke of his essence entered Castiel's vessel which was standing in front of them motionless.

“What the hell?” Dean asked. “What is he doing?”

“Don't know,” Sam said and eyed the motionless vessel. “Let's just hope Crowley knows.”

“What do you think is going on in there?” Danni asked.

“No idea,” Dean said.

In the background, Rowena left her hiding space. “We're losing time! Look, the warding starts to fail.”

“Come on, Cas,” Dean grunted. “What the hell.”

“Dean? Sam? Look at that …” Danni pointed at Crowley's empty vessel. On his forehead, the words Help me appeared burned into his skin.

“Alright, we'll get him out of there,” Dean said. “Sam? Grab the cross, we're exorcising him.”

Sam started to chant in latin. Castiel's vessel was shaking and Dean splashed holy water on it. It took a bit but eventually Crowley pulled back out and entered his original vessel again. 

“Crowley?” Sam called.

“Useless,” he said. “Lucifer's hold on him is too strong.”

“Lads, the fire!” Rowena yelled and quickly hid herself again.

The holy fire went out and as soon as it did, Lucifer came back to consciousness. 

“Oh shit …” Danni mumbled and grabbed the Horn.

“Well …” Crowley said and simply left them.

“It's just like Crowley to leave right when the party is getting started,” Lucifer said. “Have a seat.” With a gesture of his hand, Sam and Dean were forcefully pulled down on the church pews. The only one still standing was Danni since his force didn't work on her. 

“Really, Danni? I mean all of this? Come on,” he said and looked at her, shaking his head. “Trick me? Lying to me? Trapping me? Exorcising me?”

“To be fair,” she started, “it was Crowley's idea.”

“I'm not interested in your excuses.” His voice left no doubt that he was angered. 

Danni raised her hands placatingly. “Let’s prepone those negotiations you talked about.”

Lucifer laughed his dark, quiet laugh which didn't mean anything good. “You were in a bad position to negotiate before but it even got worse.” He took a few steps into her direction since there was no holy fire or sigil left to trap him. “I thought you're supposed to be on my side? Fulfilling my every wish? But see, that's exactly why I have trust issues in our relationship, that's why I said I don't need someone like you. You're just like everybody else. I mean, you said yes, you accepted being my soulmate and still here we are. You betrayed me, just like everyone before you. But, I tell you what, I don't hold grudges. I'll give you one more chance.”

Danni felt her brothers’ eyes on her. This was probably one of the worst scenarios how this could have ended for them. She sighed deeply. “What do you want me to do?”

“Don't worry, all you have to do is give me the Hand of God.”

“Danni, don't,” Dean said.

“Oh right, you two are still here as well.” Lucifer chuckled and eyed Sam and Dean. “Right on cue, I'm reminded of your existence. Because you see,” he said and looked at Danni again, “if you won't give me the Horn, I'm going to kill them. Maybe just one to start with, so in case you'll change your mind, you're left with at least one of them. Or I'm feeling generous and I'll free you from both of them.”

“You don't have to blackmail me,” Danni said. “You can have it.”

“Danni, what the hell?” Dean grunted.

“Dean, we need Lucifer to defeat Amara. He might be the only one powerful enough to use the Horn against her. I know you're worried about Cas, we all are. But our priority is to get rid of Amara. Crowley's plan was stupid right from the beginning. We all know it. Just because his ego was too big for that tiny vessel of his.”

“He had the Horn, we didn't have a choice,” Dean said.

“Yeah, but now we have it,” Danni responded. “So now we're doing it our way. Lucifer gets the Hand of God, and he'll take care of Amara. And once he did, we'll take care of the rest. But first of all, Amara needs to go.”

Danni looked at Lucifer and after taking a deep breath, she handed him the Horn. Lucifer took it from her with a mischievous grin.

“I do have a little gift for you as well. I hope you like it.”

He balled his fist and Sam and Dean started to grunt in pain. 

“Sam? Dean?” Danni watched her brothers who had difficulties breathing. “What are you doing? You got what you wanted! You said you wouldn't hurt them!”

“Didn't I tell you that you'll have to learn not to trust me?” 

“No,” Danni exhaled and looked at her brothers. “No, no, no. Don't. Please. You're killing them!”

“That's the intention, darling.” He kept on torturing them until the wall of the church exploded. And to everyone's surprise, Amara entered the church.

“Lucifer,” she said. “Dear Nephew. My, you've changed. I came here because I could feel you hurt Dean.”

“You were safely sealed away,” Lucifer responded. “You're going to wish you'd stayed there.”

Lucifer absorbed the power from the Horn and used it against Amara. A stream of Energy engulfed Amara in a white light. But after Lucifer had used all of the Horn's power, Amara was still standing. Now it was her who used her force against him. She raised her hand and pulled him over to her. She grabbed his face and looked at him.

“I think you and I need to have a nice, long chat.”

And then, she disappeared, together with Lucifer.

Sam entered the war room with three new bottles of beer.

“So, Rowena and Crowley. Like mother, like son. They both took only the split of a second to take off and leave us alone with him.”

“Yep,” Dean said and took the new beer out of Sam's hand. “Anyone who's surprised about that may raise his or her hands.”

“Who cares,” Danni said and peeled off the label of her beer bottle. “Archangel plus God power isn't enough to defeat Amara.”

“But,” Dean said, “if the thing has to be used by God's chosen, then maybe an archangel who got kicked out of heaven's cool kids club doesn't qualify.”

“And the Horn is out of ammo so back to square one,” Sam sighed. 

“So what now?” Danni asked.

“We can find another Hand of God.”

“Even if we can, then what?” Danni shook her head. “Do you know another one of God's chosen?”

“Actually, we do,” Sam said and looked at her. “You were chosen by God, weren't you?”

Danni scoffed. “Yeah, but chosen for what, Sam? I think being chosen as a soulmate doesn't qualify me for the job.”

“We can think about that later,” Dean said. “We don't have a Hand of God at the moment. Until we do, we find Cas and bring him back home.”

Danni massaged her temples and sighed. 

“You alright?” Dean asked her.

“Yeah, just … headache. I don't feel so well.”

“Hey, why don't you lie down, hm? It has been a rough day.”

“Guess you're right,” Danni said and stood up. She took a few steps but then she suddenly stopped and struggled, convulsing in pain.

“Danni?” Sam asked and when she stumbled to the floor, screaming in pain, he and Dean jumped off their chairs and quickly hurried to her side. “Danni!”

“What's wrong?” Dean asked and looked at her, suffering in agony. “What's going on?”

“I don't know, I … It just hurts,” she groaned in pain. “It hurts like hell.”

“What hurts like hell?” Sam asked concerned.

“My soul.”

A week had passed since Amara had taken Lucifer with her. And since then, Dean and Sam were desperately looking for any leads. On Amara, on Castiel and Lucifer, anything. One day, Sam came back into the library and saw Dean researching. He looked over his shoulder as he heard Sam approaching.

“How is she?” Dean asked.

“She's sleeping. For now,” Sam said and sat down next to Dean. A deep sigh escaped his throat and he stroked over his face.

“Any more of those pain attacks?”

“Yeah. They come and go. But it seems they're getting worse.”

“What the hell is that, Sam?”

“I don't know. But Danni still thinks it's her feeling Lucifer being in pain. She thinks Amara is torturing him.”

“Even if she is, why would Danni feel it?”

“Dean, she's his committed soulmate after all. They're connected. If he's in pain then maybe she can feel it, too? It sounds reasonable.”

“Great,” Dean said. “So it's not only Cas who's suffering but also our sister.”

“Well, it may sound awful but at least we know Cas is alive as long as Danni feels this pain.”

“I don't understand, Sam. Amara has beef with God, with Lucifer. But someone like Cas or Danni? She doesn't care about them. And if it meant hurting Lucifer, then killing Cas would mean nothing to her. We need to find him, Sammy. As soon as possible. Not just for his sake but also for Danni's. I mean how long do you think she can endure this? Look at her, she's looking awful.”

“I know, Dean, but what are we supposed to do? We have no clues at all.”

“You think I don't know that? We have to find some, Sam.”

“And we will. Okay? And until then, maybe it's best if we go out there, back to work. Keep moving, keep working.”

“And what about Danni? Do you want to leave her alone? She can't stay here all by herself. I mean what if something happens?”

“Of course I don't.” Sam scoffed.

“So what are we supposed to do? It's not like we can take her with us either.”

“Dean, we won't find Amara or Cas staying here in the bunker.”

“I'm not going out there while our sister is in the state she is in now.”

“I'll be fine.”

Sam and Dean turned around and saw Danni leaning in the door frame to the library.

“I thought you were sleeping,” Sam said.

“I was. But guess what, being in agony is quite the sleep killer.”

Dean eyed her and her pale face. “You are not fine, Danni, and we won't leave you alone. Not now.”

“Dean, there's nothing we can do,” she said. “And Sam's right, maybe you'll find something while being out there. I'll call you if anything happens or it gets worse, okay?”

“I don't like this.”

“Neither do I,” she admitted. “But we need to save Cas and defeat Amara and we won't do that while sitting around here in the bunker. So get out there.”

Dean sighed and Sam showed him something on his tablet. “Check this out, Dean. Hope Springs, Idaho. Guy named Wes Cooper killed himself after killing a coworker. According to reports, nobody knows why. Apparently, he was a perfectly happy guy, and then, snap. Could be soulless, right? And who is known for eating souls?”

“Amara,” Dean said. “Well, it ain't much but given what we got? I'll take it.” He looked over to Danni once more. “And you're sure that you'll be fine?”

“Fine is relative but yeah, I will. And if I won't, I'll call you.”

“Alright.” Dean sighed. “Then let's go, Sammy.”

Her brothers packed their stuff and left. Danni went back to bed and tried to get some sleep. But it wasn't easy. The rare times she could actually manage, it didn't last long because the pain woke her up quickly again. Whatever Amara was doing to Lucifer, it was awful. And she bet that it would even feel worse for Lucifer. She really hoped that her brothers would find any hints while being out there. She didn't want to worry them but she had no idea for how much longer she could endure this.

Dean and Sam had been gone for roughly a day now. Danni slowly crawled out of bed after sleeping for a bit. She felt weak, but given the circumstances, that was no surprise. Slowly, she made her way out of her room and into the kitchen. And to her surprise, she spotted Sam and Dean.

And Chuck. God.

“What the … Is that really you?”

He looked at her and smiled. “Hey Danni. It's good to see you again. Though I wish you'd be in a better condition.”

“ … how?” She asked and looked at her brothers.

“He just showed up,” Dean said. “Standing there in the middle of the road.”

“Why did you come back?” She asked Chuck. “Why now? Couldn't you have shown up a little earlier?”

“Uh, Danni, you better do not piss off God, okay?” Sam said.

“I don't care, Sam. He didn't care about anything. Or anyone. He just …” Danni looked at Chuck. “You told me everything would be alright once I did what you wanted me to. And I did it. But nothing is alright. We're-”

A sudden wave of pain hit her and Dean was quickly at her side, catching her before she collapsed onto the ground.

“Breathe, Danni. Okay? Just breathe.”

“I … I can't,” she gasped and held on tight to Dean's shirt.

“You can. Don't panic. Just breathe, in and out.”

The pain stopped as quickly as it started and Danni finally took a deep breath. She looked up at Dean. “It's getting worse. We don't have much time left.”

“What's wrong with her?” Chuck asked Dean.

“She's feeling pain. Probably Lucifer's.”

“Of course she does,” Chuck said. “She's his soulmate. That's why she shares his pain. By saying yes, her soul intertwined with his grace and now she's feeling whatever he's feeling. If he's suffering pain, then so is she. To take some of the burden off of him and endure it herself. That's the magic of soulmates.”

“There's nothing magical about being in cruelsome agony,” Danni spat at him. “And it's your sister who's doing this to him. I did what you asked me to so at least have the decency to return the favour. If she wins and kills all of us then saying yes to your screw-up son was worth shit.”

Chuck looked at her and he sighed deeply. “You're right. You're totally right.”

Dean helped Danni to sit down and Chuck continued.

“You have to understand this about the Darkness. She's relentless. A force beyond human comprehension. It's the only reason I came off the sidelines.”

“So, where is she?” Dean asked.

“I don't know. She warded herself specifically against me. What have you guys come up with?”

“Nothing,” Dean said. “And we're at it for months.”

“Well,” Chuck said, “matter of time.”

“We don't have time!” Danni said angrily. “Amara has Lucifer and he isn't doing well. And probably Cas neither.”

Chuck looked at her and sighed. “Didn't I tell you that your connection is a powerful one?”

“Yeah.” Danni said. “And?”

“Well then use it.”

Danni huffed and looked at her brothers before she looked at Chuck again. “What do you mean, use it? How?”

“If you can feel his pain, you can also feel him.”

“You mean I can locate him?”

“You can, yes. Use your connection, use your shared pain. Reach out to his soul. Or grace, in his case.”

“You think you can do this?” Dean asked her.

“I uh … maybe? I don't know,” Danni answered. “It's … I don't know how.”

“Trust yourself, Danni,” Chuck said. “Just open up. To everything. To your feelings. You did it once, you can do it again.”

“You say it, I already did that. So what exactly do you want me to do?”

“You may have accepted what you are, what you're feeling. But you're not allowing it. You don't see yourself, and him, as what you are. Soulmates. You have to start viewing him as exactly that. Your destined mate. This feeling of guilt and shame, the fear of what others might think about you …” He gave Sam and Dean a short glance. “It's holding you back. It's restricting you. Don't think, Danni, feel.”

“I can't … If I do it, I … I'm scared of the consequences.”

“Don't be scared,” Chuck said. “There's nothing to be scared of.”

“Danni?” Sam put his hand on hers and squeezed it. “It's alright.”

“Sam, you don't know what you're saying. This … connection, embracing it to the fullest, accepting whatever I'm feeling, truly accepting it … There's no going back then. Do you understand?”

“Look, no matter what happens, nothing will change between us. We're your brothers. Always have been and always will be. Get that?”

Danni looked at Dean and he simply nodded. “It's okay. Sammy's right. We got you. Wherever this is going.”

“Alright …” Danni said quietly and squeezed Sam's hand in return. Suddenly, Dean's phone was ringing and he picked up the call. Whoever he was talking to, it was a short conversation.

“Who was it?” Sam asked.

“Metatron.”

“Metatron?”

“Who the hell is that?” Danni asked.

“He used to be an angel and my scribe,” Chuck answered.

“And what did he want?” Sam asked Dean.

“Said he got some information we'll need to know. He wants us to meet. Something he gotta show us. That was it.”

“Alright, then let's meet him.”

Danni and Dean were sitting at the table in the war room when the door opened and Sam entered. But he wasn't alone. He had company.

“Alright, don't touch anything, okay?”

“Dean!” The other one said and walked up to the table. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“I didn't invite you, okay? You've been circling the bunker and you sent me like 200 messages with dumb-ass emojis. You got three minutes.”

The man sat down and looked at Danni.

“Danni, right? Completing the Winchester trinity.”

“Yeah. I've been meeting an ass full of people lately, who the hell are you now?” Danni asked, looking at Metatron.

“I'm Metatron.”

“Aha …” was Danni's short answer.

“Not the chatty type, huh?”

“She's got other things to worry about, okay? She's trying to find Lucifer.”

“Lucifer? By what, just sitting around?”

Dean looked at him. “She's his soulmate.”

“Oh God the Almighty,” Metatron whispered and looked at Danni. “So it's true. I wrote the prophecy about Lucifer's soulmate myself all this time ago when I was God's scribe but I never thought it would actually come true. No one did.”

“Yeah, we all wished it would have stayed that way but look at her,” Dean grunted.

“She said yes, didn't she?”

“Yeah. And know she's trying to find him, okay? Because wherever he is, Amara is there with him.”

“And what exactly is he doing here?” Danni asked Dean and nodded at Metatron.

“He wants to help. He knows a lot of spells and he learned that God wants to suicide himself out of the whole situation, leaving us alone with the Darkness.”

“And I want to save him,” Metatron said. “I was at his side since the creation. So if there's anything I can do, I will do it.”

“Alright,” Dean said. “The plan is to rescue Lucifer from Amara once Danni finds him. Then he teleports us out of her hideout and we use him to fight Amara.”

“And how exactly are we going to keep Amara busy while liberating Lucifer?” Metatron asked. 

Dean sighed. “I guess that's up to me. She came to me, wanted to see me.”

“What?” Sam said. “When?”

“Doesn't matter when, Sam. It's a perfect diversion for her, that's what matters. So once we're ready, we go our separate ways.” Dean looked at Danni. “We're ready whenever you are.”

“I … I just need a moment.” She left the table and retreated into the kitchen. She grabbed the edges of the kitchen sink to stop her hands from shaking and looked at herself in the mirror. 

You may have accepted what you are, what you're feeling. But you're not allowing it.

Chuck’s words were echoing in her head. He was right. She didn’t allow it. Not just because she was scared of what Sam and Dean, and Castiel, would think about her, but also because of all the things Lucifer had said to her since he had been freed from the cage.

Are you afraid you could do something, let's call it, sinful? Something forbidden? Something so morally wrong and defiling that the guilt you'd be feeling would eat you up?

You'll be putty in my hands.

You'd give in to me without hesitation. And do you know what I'd do then? I would twist your soul, corrupt it, and turn you into something your brothers would hunt down.

I'll just grab you and you'll join me in hell. And you won't be able to help it but to be devoted and obedient.

And especially, she remembered one thing he said to her. After she’d asked him why he simply didn’t just take her since she was nothing but his property in his eyes and she’d already said yes.

You did. True. But somehow, that doesn't seem to be enough. Guess that's one of the many soulmate mysteries no one knows the answer to. Or maybe you just didn't mean it? Anyway, it may stop you from being, let's use a word you're familiar with, submissive, but it won't stop me from simply grabbing you and dragging you with me to wherever I want.

Was that it? Didn't she mean her ‘yes’? Was her not allowing their connection to its full content what was holding her back to be what Lucifer wanted her to be? Was that what was stopping her from becoming his willing puppet? If so, then … 

“God, I can't.”

She couldn’t do what Chuck asked her to do. Not if this was the consequence.

But then she thought about Castiel. He said yes to Lucifer as well and let him in, and he did it to save the world. Of course she couldn't compare what he did to what she was about to do. But it didn't matter. They were facing the end of the world. And as her father told her once, in order to get everything, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything. Sam and Dean had sacrificed so much already on their journey until this day. Their friends, their souls, their lives. Now it was her turn. The thought made her skin crawl, she couldn’t remember a situation in her life in which she had been more scared. But she needed to have trust. In her brothers, Castiel, herself. Maybe even God. Maybe he’d never allow any of those things Lucifer taunted her with to happen. After all, Chuck did nothing but encourage her to embrace the bond with Lucifer. He wouldn’t if he knew it would end bad for her, would he? She took a last deep breath and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her family and friends needed her. And they were counting on her. She couldn’t let them down.

“Alright, Danni,” she said to herself. “No more running. And no turning back. Allow the devil in.”

She let go of the small kitchen sink and slowly walked back to the others and as she did so, she felt something deep inside of her uncoiling. Like a knot that finally loosened. She stopped in her tracks and supported herself against the wall. She felt as if she was trapped in a cocoon, unable to move. But then, as quickly as it had appeared, the numbness faded away again. And what remained was difficult for Danni to grasp. All she knew was that she felt different. And she was … cold? No, not really. She felt cold, but she wasn't.

“Is that you?” She whispered, asking herself that question. Was that Lucifer's grace she was feeling? This cold rush pumping through her veins with every heartbeat? It had to. It felt strange, and Danni had to get accustomed to this new sensation for a few moments. Then, she slowly continued to walk into the war room and all eyes were on her as she entered. She took a deep breath and looked at everyone at the table.

“Reach out to her.”

[watching-sam-and-dean-again]

So, this little ditty has been floating around in my Twitter orbit, and people’s replies are pretty much what would be expected from something like this in the SPN "Family". Before I get into some of the trends I saw, I want to note a few points I saw made along the way. One person said that Ruby should have just been one character on the last row, and Meg should be included, and I agree. I also saw someone point out that Sam and Dean shouldn’t even be on the list. I agree with that statement, too, because the show is about them, so we technically shouldn’t be able to remove either. Finally, I think there could easily be about two more rows of characters on this list to consider from, but it is what it is.

(Souce)

Anyway, let’s get back to what I found in the replies and quotes. You have a good number of people with what I consider to be pretty reasonable selections. For example, pretty much everyone gets rid of Samuel, Gordon, and Kevin. I pretty much agree with these. Kevin is fine but compared to Death (iconic), Rowena (very popular), and Sam Fucking Winchester the poor guy just can’t compete. Gordon is a murdery jerk, and Samuel is a bag of dicks. Then we have our legions removing John because, well, he gets hate from almost every side, so while I don’t agree with removing him, personally, I’m not surprised either. Many many people remove Mary, which again, is understandable for me. There is a fair amount of Castiel removal (more of my thoughts on that later). Finally, out of the more reasonable responses, a lot of people remove Ruby 2, which I have mixed feelings about.

Then we get into the ridiculous takes. More people than a show about brothers, that couldn’t even exist without Sam, chose Sam. I’m sorry but, eat shit. There ain’t no Dean if ain’t no Sam, and there ain’t no show if there ain’t no Sam. Take your AA ass or shipping delusions and go. Next, we have the people who crossed out literally everyone except for Dean (excuse me while I roll my eyes), everyone in the Winchester family except for Dean, everyone except "Dean's boyfriends" (excuse me while i roll my eyes so hard I get a migraine), and everyone but Dean and Castiel (you guys can see my response above. It starts with an "E" and ends with a "shit"). This is a bad take because besides the fact that you can’t have the show at all without Sam, you also need the Winchester family as a whole if you’re going to have Dean because so much of his character is informed by them. Finally, we have the people who crossed out everyone except for Sam. Honestly, I think this was done more in response to the hellers and AAs, but, come on guys, the show wouldn’t work with just Sam either. And as much as I love him, he isn’t the only good or necessary character.

Anyway, this got me overthinking thinking about my own responses, and I realized that it wasn’t that easy for me to pick. I ended up having to think of this "assignment" from a few angles: who is least necessary to the story, who overstays their welcome the longest, and who just annoys me? Now, it wasn’t always clear which criteria the people who answered on Twitter were using, but most seemed to be looking at it from one of these angles.

So, I’m going to put my responses from each of these angles under the cut, as well as some of my reasoning (because I’m me and I can’t just do the activity WITHOUT some kind of commentary on it … sorry). So, if you’re interested, please do see my thoughts below. If you’re not interested, but want to do this for yourself, feel free to use the image I posted above, but just include the source if you post it.

First, while I really enjoy Benny, I had to remove him in this case because I don’t think he fundamentally changes Dean or Sam. He come between them, yes, but it’s not even his fault that he does, rather it’s because of Sam and Dean's own issues. Purgatory effects Dean more than Benny. Second, I already said Samuel is a bag of dicks, and I’ll stick to that. Mitch seems like a sweetheart, but Grandaddy Winchester sucks. Third, While Bella is a good foil for the boys in Season 3, and the show could have done more with her character, she doesn’t have a lot of impact on the greater scheme of things. Fourth, Kevin does have a place in the plot as a prophet, but the other two play a more significant role in either their impact on the boys or the plot (and I wasn’t crossing off Sam). Finally, I had to chose Gordon, even though I like how he is used in Seasons 2 and 3, Ruby and Crowley have more lasting impact on the boys and the story overall.

A lot of characters are either underutilized on Supernatural, or they stay so long that there isn’t anything left to do with their character but make them worse. My first pick is Mary for this because, while I don’t mind the idea of bringing her back in theory, the execution was … lacking. I don’t think her coming back did a lot for her character. Yes we get to see Dean tell her he loves her and hates her, and we get to see her ignore Sam unless he’s supporting her, and we get to see her put literally everyone before her boys, but … well, you get my point, I think. I chose Samuel because after him being in the story in "In The Beginning", I don’t love how the show used him, and The Campbells story line didn’t amount to much. Third, both Lucifer and Castiel overstayed their welcome in similar ways, for me. Both had a couple of natural end points that the show could have just stuck with: Luficer/Nick in Season 5, Season 7 when Sam stopped hallucinating, and at the end of Season 13; and Cass in Season 7 and at the end of Season 12. Both of their stories could have had stronger finishes if ended more definitively sooner. If I had to pick, I think Nick in Season 14 is the most egregious over staying of an SPN character's welcome. Forth, I chose Rowena not because she stayed too late into the show exactly, but because she has some side story and early story beats that I wasn’t very invested in. Finally, it pains me, but I have to say from this list, that Crowley outstayed his welcome the longest. Or rather, the writers stopped knowing what to do with his character, wasted at least a season on bad side plots with him, then had the character go out on a whimper.

Okay, here’s my last criterion for this simple little twitter activity. First, I’ve seen a lot of people cross of Lisa with relish, but honestly, I think she was a pretty decent person and put up with quite a lot. And it was so real of her to know the score: "As soon as Sam walked back through that door, I knew it was over…" (or something like that). I’ve also seen people say that Dean's "one who got away" should have been Casey, and while I think that’s a fair argument, Cassy pretty much told him to beat it in Season 1. Anyway, I chose Mary here for the reasons described in the last section, and for her generally sulky demeanor and ignoring of Sam. Second, sorry, Samuel, but for reasons already discussed, plus you trying to trade your grandson's lives to a demon, you gotta go. Third, we have Lucifer and Cass once more sharing my ire. If we are talking Season 12 Lucy, or who-gives-a-shit-about-this-storyline Nick, than Mark P has to go. However, if we are talking only late seasons Castiel, he has to go for the crimes of becoming an under-powered angel, letting Sam get killed by mutant vamps and not caring at all, and becoming a generally boring simp. It’s a toss up. Fourth, Kevin, I’m sorry, I’m adding fuel to any fans out there campaigning for "justice for Kevin." I don’t dislike Kevin, I just Like OG Death and later seasons Rowena more. Finally, this might be controversial, but I like most of Gordon's episodes and I like what he reveals about Sam and Dean. The character is a jerk, but I like how he’s used. Also, I picked the original Ruby, even though I think she’s stronger than Gen acting-wise because her characterization of her is so no-nonsense and harsh, that I wouldn’t have bought Sam being manipulated by her in the same way as Gen's Ruby. I can’t see Sam and that version of Ruby hooking up or her working him the in the same way.

Anyway, if you actually read this far, many thanks. I know these kinds of things don’t interest everyone, but there is a little meta commentary mixed in here.

If anyone is interested in participating, I’d love to see who you would eliminate and for what reasons! Are there any characters not pictured who you would remove? Why?

[shallowseeker]

The demon has the proverbial cat-that-ate-the-canary expression, a Joker-esque grin stretching across his face as he clicks the safety off the secondhand pistol.

"Wow, I expected better of the infamous Dean Winchester."

"Bite me."

"You walked right into that snare, buddy-boy. You ain't goin' nowhere now, not with your angel pal neutered."

The ring of holy fire is smokier than the usual, flaming up hot and wet, stinging Dean's eyes as the particles from the floor leech and leap into the air.

They'd been lured into the warehouse by, of all things, the sound of a crying child. Classic urban legend of a mistake. Embarrassing, really.

Cas is restless at Dean's back, probably two seconds from doing something stupid, like blanketing himself in front of Dean like an angel-bullet-shield.

"Hey!" the demon barks, his gun-hand shaking. (Nervous amateur. Probably a low-class demon.) "I said no sudden moves. I've got me some angel-killing bullets in my chamber here."

He could be bluffing, but god-damn if Dean's stomach doesn't drop to his toes.

"And I know what you hunters must be thinking. 'Why no sulfur at the crime scene?' or maybe even, 'Wow, that's the freshest-smelling demon I've ever met.'"

"Oh, trust me, Bel-air, we weren't thinkin' that."

Cas crowds in closer behind him, and Dean doubles down on getting the demon ruffled.

"Just so you know, wise-guy, even without your sulfur trail, your BO was enough to make me gag. But I just thought you were the typical low-life basement dweller, still suckin' on Mama's teat."

"Funny. The way I hear it, you're the one crying to Mama Winchester from the safety of your shitty Hobbit hole."

Dean shrugs. "There might be an occasional tear. What can I say? I'm tender-hearted."

Cas has slipped one arm from his coat sleeve. Dean does an exaggerated shrug on the opposite side, adding a little leg shimmy to draw the demon's attention. (David Copperfield, eat your heart out.)

"I wonder. Tender-hearted enough to save your angel pal? Tell me where Rowena MacLeod is and I'll consider letting you both walk."

"Rowena? What the Hell makes you think we're on speaking terms with her?"

The demon holds up a phone. Jack's lost phone. Rats.

"Your boy JACK plays Scrabble online with a Row-M.C.-heart-emoji, complete with her detailed, red-headed profile image. You hunters really are dumb as rocks."

Oh, for fuck's sake. Dean's gonna have to stage an online privacy intervention with everyone after this.

"You got us. We're one big happy mafia hunter fam. What's it to you?"

Cas's free hand snags on his waist, feeling for his gun holster, and Dean is seized by a fit of trepidation.

Can an angel shoot a gun from angel trap, or would it ricochet back somehow, fouled up by an invisible forcefield? There's a good chance it ricochets back, right? Otherwise, angels'd just throw their blades past the fire ring.

Might be worth the risk, though. From the looks of things, two bangs and they're both toast. Cas squeezes his waist, silently asking permission. Dean nudges back.

The gun goes off before Dean can even worry about the blowback, and the demon goes does like a sack of meat.

Dean rushes to scuff his foot over the line and whips off his jacket to further break the ring. Cas, still holding the smoking gun, rushes forward and hits the demon point-blank.

Adrenaline surging, Dean stumbles over to join him.

"Holy shit."

"I can't throw my blade because it's a part of me, but your gun penetrated the trap, no problem."

"Yeah... Dude. After this, we're arming you the Hell up with extra normal weapons. I don't care if you don't like carrying 'em. Could save your life in a bind like this."

Cas grunts, then scowls down at the mess they've left of the demon. He sweeps a hands over the gun, pensive.

"Whatsa matter? Feelin' dumb that we only just worked that out?"

"Marginally."

Dean snickers.

Cas shifts his arm back into his coat sleeve before crouching down to rummage through the demon's pockets.

"That was a nice move, slipping your coat arm like that. Your leftover sleeve looked just enough like a real arm not to tip him off."

"Thank you, Dean. Your verbal assault and distracting movements were also critical to victory."

Something about the way he says 'distracting movements' has Dean heating up on high alert. He clears his throat. "How the Hell did he evade us anyway?"

Cas rummages around some more before procuring a fancy bottle of cologne.

Dean resists the urge to depress the spray end. "Huh."

"I think we've finally figured out how the boutique perfume line fits into this case. The witch must be selling it to demons as a sort of neutralizing cloak."

"So this whole thing boils down to demonic deodorant?"

Cas nods, pulling out his cell phone to text Sam and Jack the details. "I'm not sure what they want with Rowena, but maybe they want to kidnap her and make use of her talents. She does smell nice. And potion-making skills aren't far-removed from perfumes."

Dean chokes. "What? Rowena smells nice? You've got to be kiddin' me."

"I've got a keen sense of smell."

"Yeah, yeah. I remember." It's hard to forget that Cas had once detected a bladder infection from smelling a corpse.

Dean clears his throat, "But you're saying that humans smell, what, nice to you now? Thought we'd all be more like shitty molecules or walking piles of death."

Cas confiscates the demon's phone and a few handwritten papers before training his eyes on Dean. "I didn't think that would interest you all that much."

There's something in Cas's tilted, upward-gazing expression that feels like a cross-examination, one that will determine if Dean's free to walk or doomed to death row.

"Uh. I'm just fuckin' curious, okay? Demons stink to us, so it would make sense that humans stink to angels."

Cas's answering smile is almost too subtle to catch. "Depends on the human."

"Right. Cause Rowena smells soooo good."

Cas locks the safety on Dean's gun and pockets it. (Dean's gonna need that back eventually.)

"She does. She puts much effort into her personal care. Beauty sleep. Personal spa days. She once told me she frequently bathes in rose petals."

"Are you shittin' me? You like it when humans soak in their own filth with herbs n' crap?"

"I liken it to, what is it you were trying to teach Sam to make a few weeks? With the marinations?"

"Stew?"

"Yes."

"Now I know you're shittin' me."

Cas smiles a little wider, and Dean scoffs.

"And anyway man, if there are demons out-and-about wearing Versace Erose for Men, you gotta give me my gun back."

Cas looks sheepish. "When I was withdrawing your gun, I ripped your holster."

"What the?" Dean's hand goes to his hip. Yup. Holy crap. How does that even happen, by catching one of the metal studs?

“How the fuck did you accidentally rip leather?"

Cas shrugs. "I was under duress."

Dean makes a big show of rolling his eyes as he steps closer. "I don't need a holster to handle a gun, dumbass."

If nothing else, the banter offers a good excuse to plunge his hand into Cas's pocket. Part of him wants to prod further, to tease in the weirdest ways, and he's almost too chicken-shit to do it.

Instead of diving for the pocket, he fingers the hem of Cas's sleeve. "How would you like it if I just up and ripped your clothes, huh?"

Cas straightens, quietly assessing. "It wouldn't bother me, especially if you were in the process of saving my life."

Dean puts two fingers to the inside of Cas's wrist, right where folks tend to dab stuff like cologne. Perfume. Whatever.

It'd be hard to grab Cas's knife from this angle. Dean dimly recalls doing it long-ago. He'd had the Mark of Cain back then, a deep unyielding power that protected the integrity of his skin.

Now, grabbing a triple-blade from here...it'd likely cut him.

"Might, uh, might be good to practice the move sometime. You know. Because we might actually need to grab for each other's, uh, weapons in case of, you know, unexpected...ness. Like today. Might be good to practice so something dumb doesn't happen, like you ripping my holster...or me cutting my hand."

He's horrifically aware that he's babbling.

But Cas doesn't blink. He flips his hand over, extending a loose, open palm, almost like he's reaching for Dean's hand.

"I can trigger my blade, but the timing is important to catch it by the handle."

The corpse of the demon gurgles, like it's still alive. Might be a good idea for Dean to stake him with Cas's blade. Just in case.

"Ready?" Cas asks, and holy shit.

Now?

Dean doesn't know what to say, so he nods frantically. With a Shhhk, the blade snaps out, and Dean snakes his own out to take it. For the briefest of moments, Dean's hand is sandwiched--Cas's blade one one side, Cas's open palm on the other.

Dean firms up his grip and pulls the blade up at the ready. Gives it a little flip to show off his prowess with the triple edge. As always, Cas's blade is unnatural in its perfect, otherworldly balance.

Cas takes a long inhale, and Dean has the urge to tease him again. ("You exercisin' that keen sense of smell, bud?") But before the taunt leaves his lips, there's motion near the door, just over Cas's shoulder.

A man in a cheap suit, raising a gun.

Heart in his throat, Dean acts on instinct. Lets the blade fly.

It hits its target with deadly accuracy, spraying arterial blood from the demon's neck and blinking a shock of demon-black before it thuds to the ground.

Dean's ragged breathing fills the air like a panic attack.

Cas is calmer. As before, he moves off. Then he kneels and yanks his blade out from where it had lodged. He returns it (still bloody) to his sleeve. Then he empties the demon's gun of its angel-blade bullets.

When he crosses the room, he holds the bullets out for Dean to inspect. It's moments like this where Dean wishes that, for all their utilitarian value, bullets like this never existed.

The more invincible Cas can be, the better.

"Did you get empty Bel-air's bullets out, too?"

"Yes."

Cas closes his hand and pockets the rest of the bullets. On the way back from his pocket, he fishes out Dean's gun and extends it.

"Here. We should patrol the parameter."

Dean closes around the gun. "B-be careful," he chokes out. "I don't like that they have those angel-bullets onboard, you know?"

Cas nods, and they move into a guarded position, flattening against the wall and close-crawling towards the exterior of the warehouse.

"Don't like that you can't smell 'em or whatever either," Dean whispers, not expecting a reply.

"Yes. All I can smell right now is you."

It's not the right time for Dean's chest to be hammering this hard, and it's definitely not the time for his mouth to malfunction and spit out the stupidest words since MacArthur Park.

"Do I at least smell better than Rowena?"

The silence goes on too long, and Dean almost forgets to scan the parameter. He's afraid to look back, to see whatever expression (or lack of expression) Cas must be wearing.

"Yes."

Dean's heart does a terrible flip-flop.

"Oh," he rasps. "Good. That's...good. You...yeah."

Suddenly all he wants to do is go home to where it's safe and warm. Not out here where douchebag demons could be lurking around the corner with their melted-down angel-killing bullets.

They patrol the rest of the parameter in silence, while Cas's 'yes' echoes like a skipping records in Dean's head.

When they finally make it back to the car, Dean lets the silence ride. He reaches for the radio, intent on letting music wash away the intensity of the evening.

But before Dean can cover up the silence, Cas breaks it.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

There's a third-degree burn starting on Dean's neck. "Cas," he grits.

"Many humans smell pleasant to me, Dean. You included."

It's nice for Cas to be the one rambling for once. Dean smirks.

"What, you sayin' 'm not special? I thought my musk was wholesome organic, like a marinated stew."

Cas quirks a brow, surprising Dean with a volley of his own.

"Well. You could use some rose petals."

Dean barks a laugh as he turns up the radio, and Cas leans back with a tiny smile.

"Maybe I will!" Dean shouts over the music.

///

Loosely inspired by this post I didn't wanna bother you with my shit-posting but thanks for the random brainworms