Last Hope (Supernatural fanfic)

Chapter Twenty-Six

Castiel stood by the couch Hope was laying on. During the night Sam's screams had quietened, dissolving into periodic shouts and mumblings, while Hope's condition had deteriated. Her temperature indicated she should have been dead long ago, and though she no longer shivered, somehow the stillness was worse.

"What's wrong with her, Cas?", Dean asked. Purple bags hung under his eyes and he looked the way he felt. Like shit.

Castiel's wings fluttered anxiously, not that Dean could see of course, and replied, "I don't know". His voice sounded flat, hollow, defeated, and Dean couldn't bear it.

"When Sam used the force to gank the demons, a bit of demon... uh, stuff came out of her", he said, trying to help.

Cas looked up, "Really?". He stared at Hope with an unfathomable expression for a minute."I wonder..."

"What?"

"Well... I might be able to see what's wrong. But, it would be very painfull", Castiel looked sad and though Dean couldn't see them, his wings drooped forlornly, almost touching the ground.

Hope, happiness, then suspicion flashed across Dean's tired, unshaven and bruised face, "What would you need to do?"

"Touch her soul".

"Will it help her?"

"Possibly", the angel replied sadly.

"Do it", was the hunters immediate response.

Castiel looked startled and, truth be told, a little scared. "Pardon?"

"Do it", Dean repeated himself, determination flowing through every word. "If it might help her. Do it."

"But... it will hurt her", he looked worried, but Dean just nodded. "Okay".

Castiel peeled off Hope's singlet, revealing her pale stomach. And Dean watched in confusion as the angel then proceeded to roll up his sleeves and place a hand on her stomach gently. He hesitated for a moment, then plunged his hand through the pale skin and deep into her torso. Bright light flared around where Castiel's arm broke through the delicate skin. Hope's eyes flickered and her arm jerked, but she showed no signs of pain. Moments later Cas pulled out his arm, rolled his sleeves down and then pulled the thin fabric back over Hope.

"What is it?", Dean questioned, curiosity and worry eating away at him.

Cas looked confused, "It is hard to explain... she is... made from the grace of two angels. These two pieces are not... uh, compatable and cannot exist together".

Frowning, Bobby walked into the room with a beer, "Okay. But from what I heard it's never been a problem before".

"It's like... a sandwich", Castiel said.

"A sandwich?", Dean interupted.

"A sandwich", Cas repeated, "Do you have some paper?". Dean scrambled to find a pencil and paper, but returned with a paper napkin and pen.

"Okay. So this is her demon... uh,part", Cas said, drawing a rectangle and filling it in black, "And these", he drew another bigger rectangle above and below the black one, leaving them white, " are the two parts of grace she has. The demon bit kept them seperated, and they could coexist. But now it's gone, they either have to share the limited space, or join together to form one entity".

"What about her soul?"

Castiel looked at Dean, "That's not of import".

"Are you saying her soul doesn't matter?! 'Cos it matters to me Cas!", Dean said, all the frustration, anger and worry of the night bleeding into his words.

Sighing the angel replied, "It is important to me as well, Dean. But it has no effect on what's happening to her. The grace will do what it wants, regardless of her soul".

Castiel climbed on to Hope's couch and lifted her head onto his lap, where he proceeded to play with her blonde hair. Braiding it in complex patterns, before pulling it out to begin again.

After several minutes Dean spoke up, breaking the silence that had only been punctuated by the occasional cry from Sam, "Will she be alright? I mean, the pieces will join right?", Dean questioned. He'd grown close to the annoying girl and wanted her to be okay.

"Possibly. Or she could explode with the force of three hydrogen bombs", Castiel answered emotionlessly, still playing with Hope's long hair. All three men looked at Hope who was completly oblivious to her potential fate.

•°•°•°•°•°

Meanwhile, inside Hope's head, a change was taking place. Her mind felt like it had exploded, fragments of past conversations, faces and familiar places vibrated around her skull painfully. But she found, after an immeasurable amount of time, that she could think around the jumble of images so sharp they sliced her eyes, sounds so loud they echoed and the memories so strong they seemed to smash her into little pieces. She could push the broken shards of her mind deep into the back of her head and focus on the beautiful voice that had been whispering around her subconsious for, what felt like, a small eternity. It was soft, but determined, full of pain, longing and a sweet undercurrent of love.

"I shouldn't have let this happen", it whispered, "I promised". The words forming in her mind dripped with guilt and self-loathing. Hope felt a little crack form in her heart, and tried to comfort the cellestial voice that was whispering to her. She gathered the words, and she PUSHED. Sending the words and emotions tumbling out of her head. And into the mind of an angel consumed by grief.

"Don't be sad, I love you".

A/N: Which two angels do you think the grace is from? Sorry if it's a little short. If you want to see Castiel's diagram though, you can click on it to the right. Have a lovely day.

Love,

Grace.