Control What You Can

Frozen in place, (y/n) finds herself trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. Before her stood a man, an angel, a being, filled to the brim with souls. Being a Phoenix, she could feel them inside of him, screaming for help as they're packed tightly into that tiny vessel. He was a bomb with a fuse too short for her liking. A bomb that could be capable of killing even a Phoenix like her. For the first time in a long time, (y/n) was terrified. Suddenly, Bobby's voice pulls her from her thoughts, voice bitter as he fills the silence

"Well...All right, then" The group watches as he begins to get down onto his knees, "This good or do you want the whole 'forehead to the carpet' thing?"

Castiel doesn't answer, eyes narrowing slightly as he looks upon the kneeling man. Bobby glances over at the 3 other people standing, motioning slightly for them to join him.

"Guys?" he asks expectantly, eyes pleading with them. Unsure of how to respond, the group silently begins to mirror his actions, kneeling down slowly. (y/n) watches as Castiel begins to grow frustrated, eyebrows furrowing at the sight of them.

"Stop." He orders them with a sigh, their bodies freezing upon hearing the command ,"What's the point if you don't mean it? You fear me. Not love, not respect...just fear."

"Cas-" Sam is quickly interrupted by the raise of Castiel's hand

"Sam, you have nothing to say to me." He motions to the bloodied blade resting upon the table next to him ,"You brought a Phoenix to incinerate me and then stabbed me in the back. Get up"

The group quickly stands upon their own feet again, heartbeats pounding in their chests as they await any more orders from the powerful angel. Dean takes a hesitant step forward, green eyes filled with a sadness (y/n) found herself pitying. It was obvious that the two must have been close, she could only imagine the heartbreak Dean must be going through having to lose a friend like this.

"Cas, come on. This isn't you!"

"The Castiel you knew is gone" He states it plainly, face never showing emotion as he stares down the man trying to reason with him

"So what, then? Kill us?"

"What a brave little ant you are..." Castiel's voice is low, condescending ,"You know you're powerless, you wouldn't dare move against me again. That would be pointless...So I have no need to kill you, not now. Besides, you were once my favorite pets before you turned and bit me"

Suddenly, the angel turns around and looks (y/n) dead in the eye, jaw tightening upon seeing her smaller form challenge his intense gaze. Understanding his intentions to be bad, a small cloud of grey smoke escapes from her clenched teeth, body ready to defend itself.

"This creature however-" He takes a dangerous step forward ,"-holds no sentimental value for me. I shall take it upon myself to rid the earth of her presence"

"Woah, wait a second!" Sam is quick to pull the girl back by her elbow, pushing her protectively behind his massive body and holding out his hand to stop the angel ,"(y/n) isn't a part of this, she just did what I asked her to!"

"I see you've grown attached to a little pet of your own...I'll let you keep her for now" Castiel, still eyeing the girl peering over the taller man's shoulder, seems to take his word for it and backs off.

"Who are you?" Dean accuses the angel, eyes full of hurt as he watches the scene unfold. Castiel turns back around to face him, a small smile gracing his lips

"I'm God" He states it as a fact, voice calm and unwavering ,"If you stay in your place, you may live in my kingdom, even with your little bird. But, If you rise up, I will not hesitate to strike you down."

With his hand still protectively grasping onto (y/n)'s shoulder, she can feel Sam's body tremble slightly. Glancing up at his face, the fluorescent lights casting shadows upon his sharp features, she watches as he squeezes his eyes shut. His chest shakes as he tries to quietly take in a breath.

"Not doing so well, are you, Sam?" Castiel suddenly turns back towards the pair, watching as (y/n) has to help support the grown man's weight. Dean, following the movement, instinctively steps forward, green eyes filling with worry. Sam clenches his jaw and avoid the angels gaze

"I'm fine" Sam turns to face his brother to poorly reassure him ,"I'm fine"

"You said you would fix him, you promised!" Dean shouts out only to be interrupted by Castiel

"If you stood down, which you hardly did. Be thankful for my mercy. I could have casted your brother back into the pit"

"Cas, come on!" Dean pleads once more, desperation evident on his features ,"This is nuts...You can turn this around, please!"

"I hope, for your sake, this is the last you see me"

Before anyone is able to say anything, a breeze rushes past their bodies, and the angel is gone in the blink of an eye. A sickening silence falls upon the room as the group processes everything that had just happened. Grasping onto the man's thick coat, (y/n) finds herself having to carry more of his weight than before. Furrowing her eyebrows, she glances up at Sam to see him groaning softly into his own hand

"Sam?" She calls out his name gently, soft hands reaching up to slowly grab a hold of his own hand still pressed up against his face. Dean, noticing the movement, takes a few steps towards his brother, eyes filling up with concern

"Are you okay?" Just as the question leaves his lips, (y/n) is finally able to remove his palm from his face, revealing to the group a steady stream of blood from his nose making it's way down his chin. Before she's able to react, the man's body folds into itself, her hands unable to grab onto his falling body before it hits the ground. Catching himself with his hands, the group watches as his palm lands straight into a pile of broken glass, scarlet colored blood pooling in a dangerous pile beneath his hand.

"Sam!" Dean is quick to join (y/n) kneeling down onto the ground, hands reaching out to help her lift the whimpering man to his feet. Transferring the weight onto Dean, (y/n) gently grabs a hold of Sam's bleeding hand and turns it around so the deep wound is facing the ceiling.

"I'm sorry, this is going to hurt" Placing her fingers onto the dangerously deep gash on the soft flesh of his palm, she uses her powers to messily cauterize the wound, cringing at the pained scream tearing at his throat.

"What are you doing?" Dean yells at the girl, anger lacing his words as he holds onto his brother. Bobby joins their side and is quick to defend the girl, calming the worried brother

"She's stopping the bleeding, it's helping, Dean"

As soon as she's finished, his palm no longer bleeding, Sam passes out into his brother's arms. Carrying the man with a groan, Dean tries to support the weight. When he has trouble, he shoots the girl a glance to let her know. Rushing to his side, (y/n) transfers all of the weight back onto her own body, wrapping an arm around his torso to keep him somewhat standing

"Awesome, this is just fantastic!" Dean screams out in frustration, boots kicking at the shards of glass scattered across the floor ,"We couldn't stop Cas from becoming God and now this?"

"Dean-"

"No-" Dean interrupts Bobby, green eyes filled with a rage (y/n) couldn't help but shiver slightly at the sight of ,"-I'm not taking any of your bullshit right now, Bobby, I'm angry. I'm allowed to be angry, alright?"

"Dean, I'm not saying you aren't allowed to be angry-" Bobby tries to explain, exhaustion evident in his voice as he continues ,"-I'm just saying that we shouldn't waste our time here being angry at something we can't control."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we need to go home. Figure out what to do next, take care of your brother, do things we can do."

"And how are we supposed to get home with Sam, huh?" Dean scoffs, hands at his hips as he strides towards Bobby ,"You have a car you can pull out of your ass?"

"Sam and I bought a truck here-" (y/n) quickly intervenes, trying to deescalate the situation ,"-I'll sit in the trunk with Sam, Dean drives"

Without waiting for anyone to respond, she makes confident strides towards the way her and Sam had come in, bodies disappearing in the shadow covered hallways. Lugging the man's massive body up the metal staircase they had taken earlier, she shoves her shoulder into the rusted door. It flies open upon the force. Spotting the beat up truck parked in the grass, she drags Sam over.

"Where'd you find this hunk of junk?" Bobby asks, the pair of men following after her. Walking around to the back and opening the flap of the truck bed, she hoists Sam's body up and lays him down onto the cool metal

"Sam found it on your property-" (y/n) explains, hopping up into the truck with Sam and dragging his body back to rest against the back metal panel ,"-Looks bad, but it still drives pretty good"

"You can drive?" Dean asks, face contorting in confusion as he stares at the girl busy trying to prop up his brothers lifeless body

"I'm over one hundred years old, it would be embarrassing if I didn't know how." Crawling down to lock the truck bed's flap back into place, she points a finger to Dean ,"I'm not very good though, so that's why you're driving."

"Not going to argue with that..." Dean sighs, staying behind as he watches Bobby start to slip into the passenger seat ,"You sure you'll be okay with Sam back here? It'll be a little while until we're back at Bobby's"

"I'll be fine, Dean" (y/n) answers honestly. Looking into his green eyes she finds something she didn't remember seeing before. Gratitude. Before, Dean was standoffish, unable to fully trust her, and unsure of how to feel about her looking after Sam. Now, she found him being more relaxed, almost relieved to see her next to his brother. He was coming around to her and she found her chest warming slightly at the thought. Dean clears his throat suddenly, hand coming up to rest up onto the cool metal

"Thanks, (y/n)-" he's hesitant to continue, his vulnerability with a monster scaring him slightly ,"-for taking care of Sam and risking your life back there..."

"I promised you guys I would help-" (y/n) offers a kind smile, comforting the nervous man before her ,"-it's the least I could do"

Nodding quietly, he returns the smile before making his way to the drivers side of the truck, doors creaking open as he shoves himself into the small compartment. (y/n) watches the night sky, tar blackness sprinkled with glowing stars, as the truck begins to roar to life. Pulling out from the grass patch she had messily parked in, the broken down group finally turn away from the shit storm that was just unleashed, eyes focused on the road ahead as they make their slow roll down the gravel strewn street. Bobby was right. There wasn't anything they could do about the new god and they couldn't sit around moping about it. What they needed to do was plan, take small steps towards a final goal, and fix the man currently being held tightly in the arms of the Phoenix growing too attached to the group. Do what you can. Control what you can. A good motto to use during times of chaos.