3. Unwelcome Company

If Alex didn't make it back inside by now, I definitely know he's not going to, not while we've got an angel on our territory.

I'm not too surprised by Castiel showing up. Someone was bound to, eventually, whether intentionally or not.

"You don't look so hot, Castiel," I mock. In fact, he looks rather ill, even for an angel. He's one look away from keeling over, actually. It makes me wonder what's happened since I was exiled to my new life. Why should I worry about them? They abandoned me. They gave up on me, so I gave up on them. I don't care.

"Josette," he rasps tiredly. Hearing my old name really bothers me. He sounds as tired as he looks. He's going to be easy pickings. He looks pathetic. Maybe I can snatch his blade from him and end him quickly. I don't see any weaponry on him just yet, but I know he's packing.

"I didn't realize we were gonna have company," Alex says behind me.

"I didn't either," I say, continuing to watch as the angel stumbles towards us. "You know, I'm sure if you stripped a few layers, you'd feel much better." I wink at Castiel. In turn, I feel Alex's hands on my hips, applying pressure. A sign that he obviously doesn't like what he's hearing. I roll my eyes. "What do we owe the pleasure?"

"I've come to take you home," Castiel says.

I cackle harshly. "Take me home, huh? I'm already here." As further proof, Alex nibbles on the side of my neck. "My home isn't with you."

"Your home isn't with him." The angel is panting lightly. "It's with me, and Sam, and Dean."

"The people who gave up on me?" The venom rises in my voice. "The people who turned their backs on me?"

"They love you, Josette. They worry about you."

"Say the word, and we'll kill him together," Alex purrs in my ear.

"Shh," I hiss. I pull myself away from Alex and move towards Castiel. "I'm not going back with you. You're not going back to them."

"This isn't you, Josette."

"Josette's dead, Castiel. She died a long time ago."

"You and I both know that's not true."

"You're in denial." Reaching a hand out, I see him wince in pain, grab at his head as I give him the pain. It's enough to make him buckle onto his knees on the ground. I show my black eyes to him. "The woman you know doesn't exist anymore. This is who I am now. This is who I'm meant to be."

"No, that's who he wants you to be." Castiel groans in pain. "That's not you. This isn't you." With a feeble effort, I feel his magic push against me. It only makes me stumble back, giving him enough time to get onto his shaky legs. He reluctantly pulls out an angel blade. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

"I wouldn't stress too much." I smirk.

Without any weapons, I attack. Castiel blocks my punches, my kicks. He swings the blade at me just to keep my away from him. He doesn't want to hurt me. His movements are slow, too slow. It's almost annoying. This isn't how I pictured this fight to be.

"Come on, fight, Castiel," I purr as I send him reeling with an uppercut. "Don't give me a pass because I'm a woman. You're a fucking angel. Fight like one."

"Josette," he says weakly.

"The name's Avery now."

Out of nowhere, Castiel gets some fight in him. He must be using his weak state as a fake-out. Impressive. When he strikes, he makes little cuts. Little ones that sting like a bitch. When it comes to our power, we're an even match.

When I'm tossed away, bleeding and coughing, Alex decides to join the fight on my behalf. The idiot.

As I get to all fours, I watch Alex fight Castiel. How he's still faster than me, how powerful his punches seem when Castiel absorbs them. The angel doesn't have an issue with fighting Alex, he's more than happy, it seems, to let the angel blade cut into the demon. I'm on my feet, seeing some of my cuts starting to heal on my arms.

But this is my fight, not Alex's. He shouldn't be doing this. I feel that even more so when I see the angel blade run through Alex's stomach. He doesn't short out. I start to run for him, to save his ass before he gets himself killed—

I'm too late.

Castiel takes Alex's stun to his advantage. Placing a hand on the demon's forehead, Alex is smited in a bright light.

And I scream in outrage.

The anger in me is a ferocious dragon now, more than determined to kill Castiel where he stands. As Alex's body drops to the ground, I make sure to get Castiel on his knees with the most severe pain in the head I can possibly give him. It's enough to make him cry out. One knee is down as I slowly walk towards him.

"I was better off without you," I sneer as Castiel gets onto both knees now. "You just can't let me go." I stand before him. He's looking up at me, blue eyes full of pain, body trembling. I knock the angel blade out of his hand, and using my foot, kick it up into my own. "You're a fool, Castiel, thinking that you could barge in here and try and pull me out of this. You can pull the darkness from the girl, but you can't pull the girl from the darkness."

"That's...not...true."

"Shh." I raise the angel blade, aiming it right at his heart. "Don't speak. I'll make it quick, I promise." I touch Castiel's stubbled cheek, see the lost look in his eyes.

"Josette...please." He grips one of my arms desperately. "You don't want to do this."

I quirk my mouth. "Yeah, I do."

"We let you down, we know that. We want you home."

I snort. "My home isn't with you."

"It is. It's always been with us. And you know that. You don't want to do this. If you did...I would be dead by now."

Do it. He wronged you. He's the first to go. Your brothers will follow. I'm prepared to bring the blade down on Castiel, but my arm won't comply. No magic is holding it there, it's doing that on its own. I don't understand...

With what strength he has, Castiel pulls on my arm, jerking me down towards him. When his hand touches the side of my head, I scream in pain. He's not hurting me, he's pulling memories I've long stored away since leaving the bunker. Memories of Sam and Dean. Of Cas. Of the good times. The times that no longer mean anything the day I decided to change my name, change who I was.

"You never forgot who you were," Cas grunts. "You just buried those memories."

I find myself dropping the angel blade. No. I refuse to let him win. Snarling, I try to shove Castiel away, but my mind is winning me over. I see flashes, flashes severe enough to have me close my eyes.

Me, the blonde hair, brown-eyed girl. The perfect mixture of John and Mary Winchester. I see their faces. I see Sam and Dean. My little brother who I always had to look after. My older brother who was a better dad figure than our real dad ever was to me. Bobby Singer, who was the father we Winchesters never had growing up.

The childhood years: Sam breaking his arm. All those motel rooms and lonely Christmases without Dad. Celebrating birthdays, most of the time with Sam and Dean, without Dad. Riding in Baby's backseat, cuddled up with Sam on the long night drives because neither of us was ever allowed up front, because that's where Dean always sat.

The time I left my family behind. Finding a place in Rexford, Idaho. Getting a job. Meeting my then seemingly-perfect ex-boyfriend, Greg. The breakup, my outrage. Finding Cas, who I had just thought to be a whacky homeless person. Being reunited with Sam and Dean after all those years apart. Being roped back into the family business, the very thing I walked out of when I was old enough to do so.

"Enough," I hiss, opening my eyes. My body is now shaking. "Stop it."

"That is who you are, not this."

"You're...wrong."

"I'm taking you home."

And as proof of that, in my incapacitated state of mind, he put two fingers to my forehead, rendering me unconscious before I can pull away.

**[looks around at weary readers] It's okay, guys. It's okay. Cassie has come to bring our Winchester home.

And I knew it was gonna be a rough reunion. She's had some pent-up anger since she fought Dean in the bunker.

Franco will not be cheating death anytime soon. He shall remain dead, back in Purgatory. (And no I'm not psyching you guys out. For real, he's dead. Cas killed him. End of Franco.)

But now I gotta ask, even though one ship was for a short time: Cassette? 

Avery Franco? 

Or both?**