A/N: This story has sort of grown organically. The original idea I had for it was way simpler and involved far more sex. But…oh well! Man, can't believe this monstrosity is already 5 chapters… Thanks to everyone who's taken an interest! :)

Tethered

Chapter Five: Tearing Through

There were more demons than anyone had expected. Too many demons and not nearly enough hunters. If Castiel had known about the disadvantage, he'd done a bang-up job keeping that factoid to himself. Gwen would have been angry, but there was no time for angry – at least, no time to use her anger against anything but the black-eyed sons-a-bitches pouring out of every home, business, and garage in Pitchford.

They'd entered the town with ten hunters. It was barely past four in the afternoon, and they were down to five.

"Gwen, stop!" Ray grabbed onto the back of her jeans and yanked her back into the blocked-in alleyway they'd stopped to reload in. Nothing stood between them and the silent, ominous street but an empty dumpster. Mere yards away, the bodies of demons and hunters alike lie on the concrete with their insides on their outsides. Some of the demons had chosen to skip out in the middle of the fight, leaving their meat-suits behind; the remaining hunters took no chances and made the decision to destroy the empty bodies and avoid the demons' return. It was a sight that Gwen wouldn't ever be able to forget, but for now she was filing it under, 'not as important as suriving.'

Gwen wheeled on her partner. The toe of her boot was still poised between the dumpster and the wall as if she were in mid-leap out of the hidey-hole. "Ray, we can't just hide here!" she snapped. "We've gotta get to Rufus and the others."

The only grace they'd been given was that Bobby's cloaking charm seemed to be holding up. Demons had super-human senses, like really messed up Spidermen. The amulets that Bobby had given them and the rest of the hunters dulled those senses, giving them an equal playing field. They'd been warned that the effects would wear off.

Ray glanced over his shoulder. They were in a small pocket of space between a general store and an antique shop. Not four feet behind them, a tall wooden fence blocked their backs, while the dumpster kept them safe from the front. But the protection was temporary, and mostly just a false-sense. Clicking fresh salt rounds into his shotgun, Ray shook his head, sighing. "Gwen, please, just relax, goddammit." He sounded collected, even calm. Despite his occasional paranoia, Ray was a rock foundation in crisis. A natural leader, he only ever lost his cool when Gwen put herself in danger. It was for this reason that his hands shook as he checked his gun.

"Relax?" Gwen hissed. "How the fu—" Her words cut off, choked in her throat.

"Gwen?"

Her spine went ram-rod straight, ears literally perked toward some sound out in the street. She held a silencing finger to Ray, which he unquestioningly obeyed. Gwen's heart pounded in fresh leaps and bounds as she peeked between the dumpster and the wall. The sliver of sight was too small for her to see anything but the unmistakable sheen of blood on the pavement. But there were footsteps. The sound grew closer with clarity.

Ray's hands tensed on his gun. Before Gwen could stop him, he leapt to his feet and aimed above the top of the dumpster. She followed suit – her instincts wouldn't allow Ray to be a sitting duck all on his own.

"Oh, you're alive," said an unperturbed voice. The man looking back at them was utterly unmoved by suddenly being a target. But then again, not much surprised Castiel.

"Damn angel," Gwen muttered out the corner of her mouth. She lowered her gun, glad that at least she hadn't shot the guy; that would have been rude. Ray wasn't so quick to lighten his defenses.

"What the hell's all this, huh?" Ray snapped. "You tell us we're here to save the Winchesters, right? S'were the hell are they! People are dead cause 'a you, asshole!" He shoved his way past the dumpster and stalked toward Castiel. His fists were clenched, but at least he'd lowered his gun.

The angel only turned his head away from Ray, looking up the street. "I can't be sure, but I sense that Dean and Sam are being kept in that pink house." He pointed to a horrid pastel building several blocks away.

Gwen came up behind Ray and put a hand to the man's arm. The two exchanged glances, but after a moment Ray sighed heavily and jerked out of Gwen's touch. He positioned himself away from Castiel, keeping his back to the angel. Ray was still noticeably agitated, but he began keeping an eye out for more demons – Gwen figured he just wanted something to shoot at, but something told Gwen that they wouldn't run into any trouble while Castiel was with them.

"Cas," she said, keeping her voice soft nonetheless, "why can't you just go in there and do your thing?"

"You mean kill Mammon and save my friends?" He didn't look at her, only stared at the far off building.

"Well, yeah."

Castiel sighed, his chest heaving like someone coming up for air. It was then that Gwen noticed blood on his coat and rips in his shirt. He must have only just returned from the forest, where he'd been forced to go and rest after taking down the wards at the border. The effort had nearly killed him, but he was making up now for lost time. Gwen could only imagine how many demons he'd killed.

When he spoke, it was with that same melancholy tone that Gwen had heard earlier in the field. "I'm afraid that will be impossible until Dean manages to break the demon's hold on his mind. Did Bobby explain the nature of her powers?"

Gwen nodded.

"Well, then you know it would be suicide for you, me, or anyone to enter that place now. Her powers are such that they create a whole new atmosphere. No one but a demon would be able to withstand entering that house long enough to do what we've come here to do." The angel sighed again. "Until a hole has been punched in Mammon's illusions, Sam and Dean are under her ultimate control. Wrenching them out before she's dead would kill them."

"She's that strong?"

Castiel finally looked back at her. The heaviness in his eyes answered the question for him.

~o~

Dean should have known it would be impossible to save the victims due to be killed that day. The first sacrifice was at three in the afternoon; a little boy this time. He wept and shrieked for his mother, his cries going beyond any sort of comprehension as the demons tore him limb from limb. Just after four, two of the participants came into Dean's room, covered in the boy's blood and eager for more. Dean would have fought them, but dammit, he was so weak. The demons beat him, torturing him better than any of Madeline's fabricated nightmares had ever done. When they left, Dean collapsed into a corner and lost consciousness. His dreams were empty that time, with no vision of Castiel to keep him company.

But when he awoke, Cas was there.

"Cas," Dean said in a strangled voice. He was close to tears, broken all over again. "Cas, what are you doing? Get me out of here, please."

Castiel only shook his head. He had blood on his coat, dirt on his face. He'd been fighting, and now he was here – so why wasn't he taking Dean away? "I'm sorry," the seraphim said, "but I can't do that yet. You still haven't done your part."

"What, Cas, what? What's my part?" Dean's voice cracked, falling into raw pieces. "Stop jerking me around! Help me!"

The angel leaned in close, close enough to kiss the shattered man on the floor. His lips stopped a hair's breadth away and whispered something. Dean had to strain to hear him. "You're already doing it, Dean. Stand up."

"Locked," Dean croaked automatically.

Castiel shook his head again. "Have you tried it?"

But the terrible truth was that he hadn't. It was only then that Dean realized it. Three days locked in that room and he never once tried to just open the door. Some kind of light bulb seemed to spark in the corner of his mind, illuminating the most obvious solution so much so that Dean was humiliated at having not tried it before. All at once, he found the will to stand. He was exhausted and weak – not to mention physically injured from his most recent beating – but suddenly the drive to stand mattered more than any of that. Castiel stood back, allowing Dean to rise without aid. Maybe Cas knew that Dean needed to do this for himself; the man was nothing if not stubborn as shit.

The few steps across the room were agony, and Dean nearly bit off his lip as he choked back pain. When he fell against the doorframe, one arm landing heavily against it, he remained motionless and panting for a moment. Suddenly the thought of having to move again to actually test the doorknob seemed impossible.

"Do it, Dean," said Castiel's voice in his ear. "You've got to."

Later, Dean would wonder why Cas didn't just open the damn door himself. But in that moment, everything seemed to rest on turning that handle. Could it be possible that he'd had the ability all along to free himself?

One hand that he hadn't realized was slicked in sweat and blood closed over the brass doorknob. He waited for something to happen – like a booby-trap in an Indiana Jones flick. "Here goes nothin'," Dean muttered, and turned the knob.

It opened.

~o~

Every plan has its chinks, its weak links and loosely-tied ends. Not even a demon can escape error, and Madeline should have known that. She had never accounted for strength of human spirit, a will to live greater than the acceptance of death. The biggest patch of thin ice in Madeline's plan had always been Dean Winchester.

A hole had been punched – torn, rather, because to punch implies intention. Dean hadn't known what opening that door would do, which is exactly what made it work. He'd proven himself an equal match to Madeline's tricks.

And Castiel was ready. Through all the doubt of his fellows, and the tremors of doubt within himself, he was there. The hole torn would not be repaired, because he was there to stop it from mending. He would tear as many wounds into as many beings as it took, because nothing would split Dean from him again.

Ah! Sorry for the short chapter!

Just a quick side-note: If you would please take a moment to go to my profile page and participate in the poll I have posted there, that would be a big help. I'm considering posting a new story up, but first I want YOUR opinion! :) Thank you very much for reading!