Chapter 10: Riders on the Storm

Sam dragged his eyes open, pulled back into consciousness by the gruff sound of Dean's voice. A moment later he had to shut them again as white light filled the room.

When the brightness faded, Sam looked up at his brother.

No. It was immediately apparent that this was not Dean. Even before he snapped the chains holding him like they were made of paper and eased the gag from his lips with more grace and confidence than Dean ever had, Sam knew.

"Michael," he whispered. The archangel bent down, healed him with a touch, and took the Deus Manu from Sam's lax hand. Sam watched with wide eyes as the archangel wearing his brother turned to Ishtar, who was inhaling the twisted souls from Purgatory one by one.

"Well, look who it is," she taunted. "I've been at this for a while now, Michael. Are you sure you want to test me?"

Michael raised his silver sword in one hand, the Deus Manu in the other, and said, "There's a faster way to do that, you know."

Ishtar snatched Raphael's discarded blade off the ground and struck. As the two exchanged blows, testing each other's defenses, Sam edged past the now-still zombies to where his gun fell during the fighting. The undead didn't react to him. With all of Raphael's angels gone and Ishtar focused on Michael, the zombies defaulted to inaction without new commands from their goddess.

Sam spotted his handgun beneath a middle-aged zombie's foot. Sam wet his lips and swallowed. He pushed the putrid, rotting foot up with one hand and grabbed the gun with the other. He'd never been so happy to have two working arms. Sam wove back through the lines of undead until he had a clear shot. As soon as the circling goddess had her back to him, Sam fired.

Ishtar spun, cursing him in annoyance. Sam grinned at her, and Michael fired the divine weapon. Ishtar screamed and spread her arms as the light hit her back, but two of the zombies nearest the fighting jump into action, leaping past Sam to intercept the blast. They were instantly vaporized. Ishtar fell to the ground injured, but not dead.

She crawled toward her horde as Michael advanced. Sam spun and opened fire at the advancing wall of zombies. There was no way he had enough ammo for this.

An explosion lit up the far end of the warehouse, taking out a big chunk of the wall and bigger chunks of the dozen zombies near flames died down. As the smoke cleared, Sam watched with an open mouth as Bobby marched through the gaping hole in the wall, flanked by Tamara and six other hunters Sam didn't know. They all carried grenade launchers.

Another zombie ran at Sam, who shot it in the face with his gun. He never thought shooting a zombie in the face with a handgun would make him feel inadequate, but there you go.

Ishtar's shrill cries rang above the cacophony. "Don't kill me! I just wanted Him back! Just like you!"

Sam turned in time to see Michael stop his advance. Sam almost yelled at him to quit hesitating and kill her (they had unkillable zombies to deal with), but the archangel called, "Sam, come here."

Sam hurried over, and Heaven's Prince handed him the Deus Manu. "Keep her from escaping," he said. The archangel turned to Ishtar and his voice turned to steel. "If my little brother is dead, I will not show you mercy."

Sam pointed the weapon at the goddess (as much as he could point a sphere), hoping if she did make a break for it he could figure out how to fire the damn thing.

Michael crouched down and placed a hand where Ishtar's knife still protruded from Castiel's chest. He frowned, tilted his head, and pulled the knife out sharply. "He is still alive! I can feel his grace now." Dean's green eyes narrowed in contemplation. "This knife somehow muted it."

Sam wanted to watch, but he kept his eyes on Ishtar. "Can you heal him?"

"Dean asked me the very same thing," Michael said. "It is good to know my brother has found such loyal friends. And yes, I can."

Then came another, slightly dimmer, flare of light, and Sam heard Castiel gasp in a breath.

"Dean?" the angel rasped.

"He is fine, brother," Michael said. "He says to tell you that he'll kill you if you ever die on him again."

"He's awake?" The shock in Castiel's voice made Sam turn his head to look at the two angels for a second.

It was one second too long. Ishtar threw Sam to the side and thrust a second, smaller knife into Michael's – Dean's, Sam thought – spine. Before anyone could react she wrapped an arm around Castiel's throat and dragged him through the open gate into Purgatory, yelling an incantation as they crossed the threshold.

The door slammed shut. The warehouse fell silent as the undead become dead again, and the wall became just a wall.

All Sam could think was, it's my fault.

Cas! Dean yelled. He felt like he was hanging onto a spinning merry-go-round by his fingertips and somebody greased the rails. Any second now he would lose his grip and then he'd be lost inside an archangel somewhere. Michael, get him back!

I cannot, Dean.

Why not?!

The gate is closed. We will need Sam's help to re-open it. The archangel grunted as he pulled the knife from his (their) back. The blade was black. Dean knew it hurt Michael more than the archangel let on, but he wasn't in the mood to feel sympathy. He and Sam had a gate to open. Michael must have sensed Dean's need to see his brother, because his eyes turned and brought Sam into their field of vision. Poor kid probably thought this was all his fault despite the fact that Dean was the one who opened the gate in the first place.

"Dean does not blame you, Sam," Michael relayed without Dean's permission.

"Maybe he should," Sam replied, climbing to his feet from where Ishtar had thrown him. "How do we get in there and get Cas back?"

"I can reset the spell to open the gate enough for you and Dean to enter Purgatory, but only your souls," Michael explained to both of them. "You would be killed in minutes if you took your physical forms as well."

Wait, you're not coming? Dean interrupted.

Will you miss me?

"Purgatory is not a realm meant for angels, nor for humans," Michael said out loud. "I will be unable to accompany you, and you will be able to get out with Castiel because you do not belong. If you need the protection a physical body provides in order to make the journey back to earth, Castiel will be able to hold you inside his vessel."

Dean faded out again as Sam started to ask another question. It was exhausting trying to grip awareness hard enough to stay there for more than a few minutes at a time. Jimmy was wrong. "Chained to a comet" was an understatement. When Dean clawed his way back again after a short breather, Bobby stood there with half a dozen other hunters, including Tamara.

When did they get here?

During the fighting, Michael replied. Bobby shouted at me for five minutes as soon as he us.

Huh. So, what'd I miss?

Michael responded by sweeping his gaze across the impressive amount of blood sigils covering a different wall of the warehouse. Sam has been informing Bobby of our plans. We are nearly ready.

So, what are our plans? Dean asked. Other than "go in and get Cas out" I mean.

Dean felt his mouth curve into a smile that wasn't his, which had to be one of the strangest experiences in his very strange life. Michael stepped away from the wall and over to where Sam, Bobby, and Tamara were arguing about something.

"Is Dean awake again yet?" Sam asked.

Michael nodded. "Shall we go over the plan again for his benefit, and Bobby's?"

"Sure." Sam launched into an explanation. "So, now that the sigils are up, Michael's going to send me and Dean through into Purgatory, but just our souls. Human bodies apparently are a bit fragile for the environment there. We find Cas, which Michael said shouldn't be too hard because angels aren't meant to be in Purgatory, either, so he'll stand out. Then we find another portal to spit us back out again."

Bobby snorted. "Well that sounds fool-proof."

"It will be difficult," Michael agreed. "But the Winchesters have faced longer odds before. They will also have one of Heaven's most powerful weapons to aid them." He held up the Elhiym Yad. "It still carries part of Dean's soul, so he will be able to use it even without a physical form."

What happens to our bodies while we're gone? Dean asked.

"While Sam and Dean are in Purgatory I will remain here, both to ensure that there is no further civil war in Heaven and to guarantee that Lucifer cannot take advantage of an empty vessel," Michael said, looking pointedly at Sam.

So you're gonna be in the driver's seat the whole time I'm gone?

I will be in Heaven most of the time. Your body will not be in danger.

Not what I'm worried about.

Then what? Dean could feel the archangel's confusion.

Just make sure you drink some beer and eat some burgers while you're in here. I don't want to come back to a body fueled by health food.

Michael chose to ignore that. "I will close the gate to Purgatory behind Sam and Dean to prevent any of the perverted souls from escaping," he said. He walked back over to the bloodied wall. "Sam, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," he drawled, then looked back at Bobby. "Take care of the Impala, or Dean'll kill you when we get back."

Dean couldn't see, because Michael was doing something with his hands and the sigils to activate the spell, but he knew the older hunter nodded. Baby would be in good hands.

With a groan and a growl, the door to Purgatory opened again, and Dean felt Michael start to push at him. The archangel placed a hand on Sam's shoulder as well, saying "Good luck," then spoke to Dean alone.

You are very good at saving your little brother, Dean Winchester. Now go save mine.

The swirls of red and black closed in, and Dean heard Sam mutter, "Here goes nothing."

Just as he felt himself detach from Michael, Dean yelled Geronimo!

Then he fell into Purgatory with his little brother to save his angel.