To Meet Death

Kneeling down, (y/n) tightens the bindings around the wrists of the couple currently being held captive in their own home. The woman lets out a muffled cry for help, dewy eyes frantically searching her surroundings.

"Sorry, sorry..." Mumbling the apology out softly, she offers an awkward smile to the frightened pair before leaving to join the 3 men rearranging the couple's living room. She watches silently as Dean and Sam take it upon themselves to drag large pieces of furniture to the walls. Bobby races past the girl, navy green duffel bag in hand

"(y/n)-" he calls out to her, motioning for (y/n) to join him at a desk ,"-come help me with the spell."

Obediently rushing to his side, she aids the older gentlemen in setting up the ritual. Handing her a piece of white chalk, he instructs her to draw a symbol whilst he begins lighting an almost dangerous amount of candles. Sam, crystallized lighting in hand, walks over to place the large chunk into a golden metal bowl. Without any hesitation, (y/n) uses her strength to destroy the crystal, crumbling into bite size pieces. She hears the pitiful whimper of the man tied up in the corner and silently apologizes.

"Is that it?" Dean asks impatiently, green eyes watching Bobby as he throws in a few more strange looking items. When Bobby doesn't answer, he lets out an annoyed sigh before racing off to carefully place a bag of pickle chips he insisted on using as an offering to Death. Nobody really believed him, but didn't have the heart to say no.

"Dean-" Bobby calls out to the younger Winchester, waiting for him to stand back by his side ,"-give me your arm"

"What?" he reaches out a cautious arm anyways ,"Why?"

Without saying anything, Bobby grabs hold of a sharp knife and drags the silver blade across the exposed skin of Dean's arm. Hissing out in pain, Sam and (y/n) watch with amused faces as he begins to let out a colorful string of curses.

"Could have warned me next time!" Dean yells at the older man, watching as his scarlet colored blood streams down his own arm and into the golden bowl. Once Bobby has gotten enough, he pushes Dean away and carefully places the bowl down onto the intricate chalk design drawn on the wooden desk.

"(y/n)-" Bobby glances over at the frustrated looking Dean ,"-cauterize him or else he'll be complaining all night"

Dean, almost child-like, walks over to the girl and shows her his bleeding wound. Smiling softly, she places gentle fingers against the cut until she is burning the flesh. He lets out another curse before she's finished. Sam laughs lightly at the sight, smiling fondly at the way (y/n) was taking care of his brother.

"Thanks" he grumbles before yanking down his sleeve. Nodding her head in acknowledgement, the pair turn back to Sam and Bobby. It's then that the atmosphere seems to change completely. The air around them is tense, hanging down like a fog, as they realize what's about to happen.

"Ready?" Bobby asks the question hesitantly, almost as if even he wouldn't be able to answer it. Silently nodding to him, Bobby begins the ritual. The 3 stand back as they watch the older man begin speaking latin, voice loud and clear as he makes sure he enunciates every word. About a minute into the incantation, the house begins to tremble, walls rumbling as a wave of energy seems to pass through the ground beneath them. Glancing over at Sam and Dean, (y/n) can see that they are mirroring her own worried look.

"Te in mea potestate defixi-"

The glass cases all around the group begin to shatter, the tiny crystals scattering across the dark wooden floors as the rumbling grows louder. Bobby stands strong while the others instinctively cower beneath the explosions of glass, walls and ceilings cracking in root like patterns across the light surface

"Nunc et in aeternum!"

With these last words, having to be shouted to be heard over the roaring of the home, everything seems to still. A haunting silence falls around the group as they hesitantly search the room for any sign of Death. Dean, stepping forward, begins to talk to the open air, hands shaking slightly as he addresses the one they summoned

"Hello? Death?"

"You're joking"

A shiver runs down (y/n)'s spine, body instinctively freezing when her (e/c) eyes snap to the direction of where she had heard the voice. Sitting upon the desk they had used to summon him, Death stares at the group through hollow eyes. It's then that she feels it, the power radiating off of the gaunt looking man. It came off in waves, pulsing through the air at overwhelming speeds. She realizes now why they need him to stop Cas, he's the only one powerful enough to do it.

"I'm sorry, Death. This isn't what it seems-" Dean is quickly cut off by just a look, the man turning to stare directly at him through narrowed coal black eyes

"Seems like you've bound me" Holding up his skeleton like hands, the pale moonlight illuminates the almost clear string wrapped loosely around his wrists

"For good reason, okay? Just, uh, hear us out!" Dean begs with the ancient looking man, rushing over to the bag of greasy food he had brought ,"Fried pickle chip? They're the best in the state-"

"That easy to soothe me, you think?" Dean freezes, the group watching as Death begins to stride towards the middle of the room with an elegance (y/n) found herself fearing ,"This is about Sam's hallucinations, I assume?"

"What?" Dean's voice is quiet, barely able to reach anybodies ears as Death continues

"Sorry, Sam. One wall per customer" he raises his bound hands up again, voice dangerously low ,"Now unbind me"

"We can't-" (y/n) is finally able to speak up, voice gentle as she tries to soothe the angered being ,"-y-yet"

"Then tell me, little Phoenix-" he narrows his eyes at the girl, bony hands grasping tightly at his intricately designed cane ,"-why can't you?"

"We need you to kill God" Dean's request seems to surprise Death, coal eyes widening as he stares down the Winchester

"Pardon?"

"Kill God, you heard right-" Bobby seems to snap out of his frozen state, voice soft as he continues ,"-we need you to kill God, your...honor?"

"What makes you think I can do that?"

"You told me" It's as if Dean's answer struck a chord within Death, an amused smile spreading across his thin lips.

"Why should I?"

"Because-" Dean's confidence grows as he continues, chin rising as he stares down the powerful being ,"-we said so, and we're the boss of you...respectfully"

A gust of wind blows through the group, cool air breezing past with a powerful aura to battle Deaths. Sensing the change, (y/n) twists around on her heels, eyes widening at the sight she sees. The group, seeing her movement, follow her gaze until they land on the same form she's fixed on. Standing in the large archway was Castiel, bubbled and red skin barely hanging onto the flesh of his face. The word 'bomb' appears in (y/n)'s mind when she stares at him.

"Amazing..." the trenchcoated angel let's his gaze fall upon Dean, bright blue eyes vacant as he stares at the Winchester ,"I didn't want to kill you, but now-"

"You can't kill us-"

"You've erased any nostalgia I had for you, Dean" Raising his hand up, fingers about to snap them out of existence, he freezes upon hearing Dean's next words

"Death is our bitch" He challenges confidently, watching Cas slowly shift his gaze onto Death still leaning against the desk ,"We ain't gonna die, even if God pulls the trigger."

"Annoying little protozoa, aren't they...'God'?" Death's voice is calm, unwavering and commanding the silence of the room. Tilting his head to the side, peering skeptically at the dark haired man before him, a small smile pulls at his pale mouth.

"You look awfully like a mutated angel to me. Your vessel's melting, you're going to explode."

"No, I'm not" Castiel defends angrily, jaw clenching ,"When I've finished my work, I'll repair myself"

"You think you can because you think you're simply under the weight of all those souls, yes?" Death talks to him as if he were a child, a parent teaching their young when they're wrong ,"But, that's not the worst problem. There are things much older than souls in purgatory, and you gulped those in, too."

"Irrelevant. I control them."

"For the moment"

"Wait-" Dean's frantic voice interrupts the two, body turning to face Death ,"-what older things?"

"(y/n)-" Her name passes his lips smoothly, tar black eyes snapping to her small form ,"-I assume you have Elias Finch's memories. He was there shortly after they were created, you should know what I'm talking about."

Meeting his gaze, she realizes then what he was referring to. She'd have nightmares, flashes of a story too frightening to believe to be true. (y/n) never thought anything of it, thinking the horrible things she saw were just products of her imagination.

"They're real?" her voice comes out quiet, vulnerable, as she asks the question. Death nods slowly.

"What?" Dean asks impatiently, green eyes glancing between Death and the Phoenix as he tries to understand what they're talking about ,"What's real?"

"Long before God created Angel and Man-" Death addresses the group of humans, explaining slowly to make sure they get it ,"-he made the first beasts..."

"The Leviathans" (y/n) finishes for him, (e/c) eyes fixed upon the wooden floorboards as he continues

"I personally found them entertaining, but he was concerned they'd chomp the entire petri dish, so he locked them away."

"That's why he created Purgatory, isn't it?" (y/n) questions the slender man, chest tightening at the thought of those horrible creatures. Death confirms it with a nod

"He needed to keep those clever, poisonous things out." Death turns to Castiel, seemingly lost in his own thoughts for a moment ,"Now Castiel has swallowed them. He's the one thin membrane between the old ones and your home-"

"Enough"

"Stupid little soldier you are"

"Why?" Castiel takes dangerous steps forward, melting body barely holding itself together as he walks toward Death ,"Because I dared open a door that he shut? Where is he? I did a service, taking his place?"

"Service?" Death challenges ,"Settling petty vendettas"

"No. I'm cleaning up one mess after another, selflessly."

"Quite the humanitarian."

"And how would you know?" Castiel narrows his light colored eyes at Death, taking another step forward until the two are only a foot apart ,"What are you, really? A fly swatter?"

"Destined to swat you, I think" Death provokes quietly, voice deathly calm as he stares down the angel

"Unless I take you first."

The group, still standing to the side, watch helplessly as the tension grows between the two. Glancing at each other, they all share the same anxiety ridden look. Death chuckles darkly, goosebumps rising across (y/n)'s (s/c) skin

"Really brought his own press, this one." Taking slow and methodical steps, Death turns around for a moment only to turn back around to face the angel with an even more intimidating glare ,"Please, Cas. I know God, and you sir...are no God."

"All right, put the junk away, both of you!" Dean's gruff voice cuts through the deadly quiet air, the 3 other people in the room sharing nervous glances as he continues ,"Look, call him what you want. Just kill him now!"

Castiel slowly turns towards the older Winchester, baby blue eyes vaguely showing the hurt he felt upon hearing those words. Nobody speaks for too long of a second, breathing stops as the air grows still. Death, eyeing the mutated angel before him with disgust, sighs lightly

"Alright...fine." raising a ringed hand above Castiel, he begins to bring it down upon him. (y/n) watches as if the world slowed down, pale hand barely able to graze the black hair on the angel's head before Castiel snaps his fingers. With the small click, the invisible binds around Death's wrists illuminate momentarily before shattering to the floor. Eyes widen at the sight. Death stares at his own hand for a moment before bringing it back down to rest at his side,

"Thank you-" he watches as Castiel slowly turns back towards him ,"-shall we kickbox now?"

When Castiel doesn't answer him, he rolls his eyes, huffing out an annoyed sigh before stepping away from the angelic bomb before him. Walking over to the bag of fried pickle chips still resting on a nightstand, Death sinks himself into the leather cushions of the chair next to it

"I had a tingle I'd be reaping someone very, very soon-" He snatches the paper bag, glancing over at the couple still bound together in the corner ,"-don't worry, not you"

Suddenly, another gust of cool wind breezes past the frozen group. Castiel has vanished. Feeling the air in her lungs return, (y/n) tries to calm her erratically beating heart from bursting out of her chest. The amount of power in the room when the two of them were there was drowning her. With the angel gone, she felt like she could at least breath again

"Well, he was in a hurry." Death states plainly, munching on the green colored chips grasped between his bony fingers. Taking a sip of the cold beverage Dean had provided him, Death sits casually in the presence of 4 very terrified people.

"Uh-" Dean is interrupted as fast as the sound passes his lips

"Shut up, Dean." He obediently complies and listens as Death continues ,"I'm not here to tie your shoes every time you trip. I warned you about those souls, how long ago? Long enough to stop that fool and here we are again, with your little planet on the edge of immolation."

"Well, I'm sorry, alright?" Dean tries to defend himself, vulnerability showing through the cracks in his armor ,"I've been trying to save this planet, so maybe you should find somebody better to tip off-"

"Maybe I should spend my effort on a better planet." Death takes a moment to look around at the dejected looking faces before continuing ,"Well, it's been amusing."

Using his cane, the lanky man begins to walk away from the group. In a moment of desperation, (y/n) rushes over to stand in front of Death, soft hands helplessly in front of her to try and stop him from leaving. He rolls his eyes with a sigh, stopping his movement out of pity for the girl

"Please-" she begs him softly ,"-help us. Anything at all, we don't care, just do something"

"And why should I clean up your mess?" He asks the entire room with a raised eyebrow. Sam steps forward, body next to (y/n)

"You have to care at least a little bit about what happens to us..."

"You know, I really don't, but I do find that little angel arrogant" Death sighs tiredly.

"Great! Let's go with that!" Dean seizes the opportunity to get Death on their side.

"Your only hope is to have him return it all to Purgatory. Quickly" He explains to the group. (y/n) furrows her eyebrows in response, pinpointing a few holes in that plan

"We can only open the doors during an eclipse, how can we get the souls back to Purgatory without it?"

"I'll make another since you've been so polite, little bird. 3:59, Sunday morning, just before dawn. Drag Castiel to that lab and compel him to rid his vessel of those souls."

"Compel him?" Dean scoffs in disbelief. Death turns his back on the group and strides forward a few feet.

"Figure it out." He spits the words in Dean's direction before turning back around. The group watches as he makes a slow walk towards the large archway of the living room. Just before he disappears, he throws an amused smile over his shoulder, chills running down everybody's spine

"Try to bind me again-" he starts, tar black eyes narrowing in their direction ,"-you'll die before you start...thanks for the pickle chips by the way."

And with those haunting words, the skeleton like man's form morphs into a cloud of black smoke, body disappearing from their eyes as the smoke disperses.