(Book 5 Arrow/Spn xover) Family Is Who You'll Kill For

Blood, Sweat and Pain

It took he and Roy a little over two hours to finish decorating the walls, they cleaned up the paint and brushes and he went in search of Cas who he ended up finding sitting next to Dean on the deck. They weren't speaking, just looking out into the woods but Dean wasn't in the wheelchair anymore. The sling was gone and his legs were crossed, when he saw that he stopped just before he knocked on the door to let Cas know they were done. A jolt of fear shot through him, I'm not going to make it through this, I've seen the damage he can do when the Mark takes control. He won't stop until I'm dead. I have to trust him, have to. That's the only way I can help him. He tapped on the door, both of them twisted around to look at him and he was struck by how similar they looked. Blank faces, tight jaws and miles and miles of unsaid things in their eyes. Dean's eyes narrowed ever so slightly when he realized who it was tapping on the door but he didn't look away.

Cas stood up and opened the door. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"I gave Oliver the images and where they needed to be placed on you, Dig will take care of Dean and I'll be standing by just in case. Your hand?"

"Arm's better," he stated as he pushed up his sleeve, "We've sliced up our hands so much the palms are nothing but scars."

"Let's do this out of his sight," Cas pointed out.

He shifted his gaze to Dean who'd looked away by this point although his left hand was placed tightly over the Mark.

"Right." He and Cas walked to the formal living room, which had been stripped bare of all it's furniture and Cas pulled a bowl and a knife out of his pocket. Cas took hold of his arm, sliced deep into the flesh and collected a decent quantity of blood into the bowl, then healed the cut.

"Stay here, I'll get his, mix them, purify it and give you half for Oliver to use."

It didn't take Cas long to return with the bowl. "Here, send Oliver or Roy to let me know when he is done. Felicity is printing out the ritual."

"Got it." He took the bowl and joined Oliver and Roy in the bedroom he'd been using. "Here, Cas prepped it already."

Both of their faces were solemn, "Right. Let's get this done then," Oliver said.

He pulled off his shirt and sat on a chair across from Oliver while Roy held the paper that Cas had written the designs that they had to draw on his chest. Oliver started to sketch the designs and after the first one was done Roy frowned. "No, that's not right. Here, let me do it, I used to do graphic design. We don't want to screw this up."

Oliver seemed a bit surprised at Roy's rather authoritative tone but switched places with him. Roy didn't even flinch at dipping his finger in a bowl of blood then sketching ancient Sumerian runes onto someone's chest.

"Huh, you'd fit right in," Sam said.

"It's not like I haven't seen blood before," Roy pointed out, "Don't move, this one's tricky."

He stayed as motionless as he could while Roy rather meticulously copied the designs. About fifteen minutes later Roy leaned back and double checked his work.

"Damn Roy," Oliver complimented him, "They're perfect. I would have screwed that all up."

"Do you want to check them?" Roy asked.

"Not really, I trust you." That and I'm not all that keen about seeing our blood all over my chest. "Roy, tell Cas we're good to go. I think he wants to get Dean down there first."

Roy nodded and left leaving he and Oliver alone. "I'd wish you luck but I have a feeling you're going to need a lot more than that," Oliver said, "But for what it's worth, good luck."