Chapter 11 – A Good Mark for the Future

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" Spike yelled at him.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, et secta diabolica, Ergo draco maledicte et section. Ergo draco maledicte et legio secta diabolica Ut Ecclésiam tuam secúra tibi fácias servire libertáte, te rogámus, audi nos," Dean said as fast as he could.

Immediately, a pillar of black smoke erupted from the demon's mouth. The man that was left in his wake collapsed on the floor, breathing heavily. Spike and Buffy watched with open jaws as Dean rushed to him.

"Are you okay, Mark?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," he breathed.

"Uh… Dean?" Buffy asked.

"This is Mark. Michael's husband!" Dean said, looking up at her. Comprehension dawned on her face.

"Oh my god!" she said as she rushed forward to help. Mark had passed out and Dean was wiping away some of the blood on his face to make sure that the cuts there weren't too serious. Buffy picked him up. "Go get Faith," she instructed. Dean ran over to Faith who was still out cold against the wall. Dean picked her up easily and threw her over his shoulder. He then followed Buffy back to the entrance where she was waiting with Mark. Spike watched them, unsure of what to do. Finally, he decided to follow them. The group that had been patrolling the outside of the warehouse came running to them when they saw them.

"What happened?" Xander asked.

"Later," Buffy said. They carried Mark and Faith to the cars and laid them down in the backseat. As Dean straightened back up, he saw Sam walking toward him, looking perfectly healthy.

"Good work," he said as a greeting. Dean noticed that Brian and Willow were close behind him.

"Thanks," Dean said. "Someone had to do the work, since you were too busy napping."

"Hey, that demon had me under a sleeping spell… or something. I don't know. But Willow was able to revive me and Brian," Sam said defensively.

"Are you both okay?" Buffy asked, joining the conversation.

"Have a cut on the wrist, but other than that, couldn't be better. Well, I could do with some real food, but…" Sam said.

"Right, Brian, I'll take you home," Xander said. Willow decided to go with them to keep an eye on him until he was back with his mother. Xander, Willow, Brian and a few others climbed into Xander's car and took off. Dawn, Giles, and the other slayers who'd been watching the warehouse took Faith and Mark back to the house. They were going to attempt to revive them and maybe heal some of their injuries if at all possible. Buffy, Dean, and Sam decided to go grab Michael and bring him to the house to meet with his husband.

They drove in silence for only a couple minutes before they arrived at the motel. Dean led the way to Michael's door and knocked. After a few seconds, the door opened a crack and Michael's eye peered through the gap.

"Dean!" he cried with relief. He closed the door and they heard the latch being removed. The door was then opened all the way and he stepped aside to invite them in. "I was a little nervous, with all the earthquakes and lightening in the last few hours, it felt like the world was coming to an end! It was crazy. I'm glad to see you all are alright. Who are you?" he added, noticing Sam as they stepped inside.

"I'm Sam, Dean's brother," Sam said.

"Oh! Well, welcome! What are you all doing here? I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow, or did you finish your job early?" he asked excitedly.

"Actually, it turns out that our job and yours were part of the same issue," Dean said.

Michael frowned, confused, "What do you mean?"

"We found your husband," Buffy explained. "He was the demon that we had been trying to stop."

"What?!" Michael shrieked. "Oh my god! You didn't kill him, did you? Is he okay? What happened? Can I see him?"

"Yes, you can see him," Dean said. Michael moved immediately to the door. "Just a warning, though, he's a little banged up. He's at Buffy's house being taken care of now. We can take you to him, if you want."

"Yes, yes! What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Michael said quickly. He ushered them out of the room and they all climbed into the Impala. Michael was tapping nervously on the seat, but no one said anything. Before long, they had arrived at the house and Michael was already at the front door before the rest of them had finished climbing out of the Impala. He waited impatiently for them and clucked his tongue as Buffy opened the door. Buffy led them to a small room that Dean hadn't been in before now. He realized that it was like a small doctor's office, filled with medical supplies. There were three beds along one wall, only one of which was unoccupied. Faith was sitting up in the middle one, looking annoyed. She scowled at them as they walked in. Giles, Dawn, and Willow were standing on either side of the last bed. Willow was chanting quietly in Latin as Dawn was applying cream to some of Mark's cuts. He was still unconscious.

Michael ran over to him the moment he saw him, and unceremoniously pushed Giles out of the way. He grasped Mark's hand and began to whisper his name. Buffy, Dean, and Sam joined Giles watching the group at the bed.

"Is he going to be okay?" Sam asked Giles.

"Physically, he should be fine. We didn't find any serious injuries that were life threatening. Mentally, though… He played host to a particularly vicious demon for the last year or more. Those memories are not going to be pleasant," Giles said quietly. They stood quietly for several minutes as Willow continued to chant. Michael had taken the ointment from Dawn and was now applying the cream to several cuts on his arms.

"Mark!" Michael said suddenly. Everyone looked up quickly to see that Mark's eyelids had begun to flutter. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked around.

"Mike?" came his weak voice.

"Oh, thank god!" Michael said hugging his husband tightly. Mark coughed as he did so, prompting Michael to release him quickly. "Sorry," he said.

"It's ok," Mark said, smiling. "It's good to see you."

"C'mon, let's let them be alone," Dawn said pointedly to the others. Everyone but Willow and Faith left the room. Faith tried to leave, but Willow stopped her saying that she still needed to rest. Willow proceeded to continue chanting quietly over Mark, while they reunited.

The group made their way to the study, where they found Xander, Andrew, and Charlie, reviewing what had happened. Andrew offered them all sandwiches when the entered, which Sam disappointedly refused. He left for several minutes to go get something else from the kitchen.

"How'd it go with Brian?" Buffy asked.

"Fine," Xander said. "He and his mother were thrilled for him to be home. He agreed that he wouldn't tell her the truth about what happened. I think he didn't want to freak her out. He told her that he had been kidnapped by a bunch on unknown people and then released. He seemed to be trying to convince her that it was all a prank and he was treated fine. Don't think she bought it though, but was too happy to have him home to worry all that much… yet."

"He was a tough kid," Sam said, reentering the room with a large bowl of pasta in his hands. "He'll be okay."

They spent the rest of the evening relaxing, occasionally discussing the fight, but for the most part just enjoying the down time. Willow came in the room close to midnight and announced that she'd finished with Mark for tonight, and that Michael would be staying with him until he's healed enough to leave. Faith had followed Willow from the medical room, refusing to stay there any longer. Willow said that Mark was surprisingly resilient for what he had been through. He understood that the things that the demon had done were not his fault, and he shouldn't feel guilty about them. He also wanted Dean to know that the place in the woods that he had found was the sacrificial stone where the demon had killed the children all those years ago. This is probably why it made him feel so off at the time. The demon had been watching him through the trees as he examined the rock. Dean wasn't sure whether he was relieved that the creepy feelings he had experienced when he found that stone were valid, or whether he was more creeped out at what the stone table had been used for.

While they were talking, Castiel suddenly appeared on the couch, sitting next to Dean. Several people gasped, but no one screamed this time. Dean looked at him in surprise, "kinda late for a visit, eh Cass?"

"How did you do it, Dean?" Cass asked in his gruff voice.

"Do what?"

"The Mark! How did you get rid of the Mark?" he asked urgently. Surprised, Dean rolled up the sleeve on his right arm. Sure enough, the Mark of Cain was gone. Sam stood up to get a better look, a look of shock on his face.

"You didn't tell me you lost the Mark!" Sam almost yelled at Dean.

"I didn't know…" Dean said quietly, staring at the blank skin on his arm. "How did this happen?" he asked Cass.

"I asked you that," Cass responded, annoyed.

"I think I can answer that," came Willow's voice from the other side of the room. She was sitting at a desk with a small scroll unrolled in front of her. She was reading the scroll quickly with a smile on her face. "The Mark of Cain, right?" Every face in the room turned to her.

She began writing something in the air with her finger and mouthing something that no one could interpret. They all watched her for several minutes as she did this.

"Yup, it's right here," she said, finally looking up.

"What is that?" Cass asked suspiciously. "We've been scouring the Earth for any sign of a way to rid Dean of the Mark. We even asked the scribe of God, and Cain, himself. And you happen to have the answer here?" Several pairs of eyebrows were raised in Willow's direction.

"Well you may have asked Metatron and Cain, but did anyone bother to ask Abel?" Willow asked.

There was silence at this.

Willow sighed as though explaining 2 plus 2 equals 4 to Cordelia. "The Mark of Cain. It was given to him after he killed his brother, the ultimate betrayal. But Abel, who had been seduced by Lucifer realized after his death what his brother had done for him. He sent the answer of how to rid oneself of the Mark back to Earth once he found it out. He had hoped that his brother would find it and rid himself of it. There are two ways that one can rid oneself of the Mark," Willow explained to the group, who was listening raptly.

"The first way would be to save one's sibling from the fate of falling prey to Lucifer. Cain obviously couldn't do that since his brother was already dead. The second way would be to 'prevent the death of a tortured soul and save him from ultimate corruption.'" Willow looked up at them all with a grin on her face.

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean asked completely uncomprehending. Almost everyone in the room shrugged at him, as confused as he was. Giles, Cass, and Sam, however, all nodded and grinned at him.

"Mark!" Sam said.

"Yes, how did I get rid of it?" Dean asked again.

"No, Mark – Michael's husband. You stopped Spike from killing him, a 'tortured soul,' and then when you exorcised the demon out of him, you saved him from 'ultimate corruption.' Essentially, saving him from becoming a demon himself," Sam smiled at him.

"Apparently, to do what you did this evening, while still possessing the Mark of Cain, took extreme strength of will. Saving anyone goes against the very nature of the Mark. The Mark fought you on saving him and yet you did it without hesitation when you realized who the demon was possessing. I don't think you realize how unlikely it was for you to do what you did," Willow explained.

Dean looked down at his arm again and realized for the first time that he didn't have the little voice in his head telling him to kill. He didn't have the overwhelming urge to destroy. He felt free for the first time in a long time, and as he realized all this, his face split into a grin. His eyes found Sam's and they nodded at each other, both glad to finally be rid of the monstrous thing.

"Well, congratulations, Dean. This is wonderful news," Cass said in his deep voice. He turned to Willow, "Do you mind if I borrow that? I would greatly like to study it. I will, of course, return it to you once I'm finished."

Willow hesitated, glancing at Giles, who nodded. She handed over the scroll and Cass vanished again. There was silence in his wake, but Dean felt as though the weight of the world had been lifted off his shoulders, and he thought maybe he might actually get some sleep tonight. He sat back down and talk slowly started to break out. He didn't listen to any of the conversations, but enjoyed the sensation of being himself again.

Around 1 in the morning, when people were finally starting to go to bed, Sam stayed behind to spar with Faith, both of whom said that they had gotten enough sleep to last them a while. Dean raised his eyebrows at his brother but said nothing. He went back to his room and collapsed on the bed without changing, grateful that this job was over. He was just about to fall asleep when a knock came on the door. Guessing that it was Sam, he opened the door without a word and was surprised to find Buffy there. She seemed slightly surprised to find herself at his door too, because she stared at him for a minute before saying, "Sorry, can I come in?"

He stood aside to let her in and closed the door behind her. "What's going on?" he asked with raised eyebrows. He remembered the last time she had arrived at his room unannounced.

"I wanted to apologize for the way I've been treating you," she said.

"Have you been drinking again?" he asked her suspiciously.

"No!" she said defiantly. "It's just… it's been pointed out to me, that I've been treating you unfairly after… what happened…" she turned slightly red.

"Who pointed out to you?" Dean asked curiously.

Buffy grumbled, "multiple people."

"So, the big secret's not so big?" he said amused.

"Apparently, a lot of people realized what was happening. Faith and Willow, in particular, were adamant that I come apologize," she said.

"You don't usually have one-night-stands, do you?" Dean asked bluntly.

"No! Anyway, I've apologized and now I'm going to go," she said without looking him in the eye.

"Buffy," Dean said as she grabbed the door handle. She froze, her hand on the knob. "It doesn't have to be just one night," he finished.

She turned and saw his face, which had broken into a grin. She couldn't help it, she grinned too as she removed her hand from the knob, and instead locked the door.

THE END

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story as I really enjoyed writing it. I would love to hear your thoughts on it in some reviews :-) let me know if you think if something seemed off, or any loose ends didn't get tied up, or if any of the characters seemed OOC at all. I will admit that I wrote this a few years ago when Season 10 of Supernatural was still airing, hence the timeline, and some of the plot points from the Buffy Characters came from the comics, if you didn't already realize this.

Even though I'm a huge Spike/Buffy fan, I also love the idea of Buffy and Dean, in case you couldn't tell - I just think they would be ridiculously cute together, albeit a little broken but that comes with the territory.

I've been really enjoying writing lately, so reviews would be welcome as they help me with my writing so I know what I'm doing right and what could use some improvement. Thanks for reading!