"There you guys are!" Emma runs over to Castiel and pulls him into a hug. "I was getting worried about you!"

"Well, we're fine," he says, which is more or less true.

"Thank god," she says. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

Castiel takes a step back, and Emma has no choice but to stop hugging him. He's too exhausted to hug her.

"Where are the kids?" James asks.

"In the car," she says. "What happened in there?"

"The demon got away," Castiel says.

"Castiel saved all of us," Hannah adds. "He's a hero!"

Castiel chuckles half-heartedly. "I'm no hero, but I appreciate it."

"Of course he saved you," Emma says. "He's always been the knight in shining armor. That's why we love him."

Castiel chuckles. James was right — Emma really is the ego boost he needs. He may not agree with her perception of him, but he appreciates it nonetheless.

"Can you show me where my kids are?" the man asks.

"Yeah, sure, come on," she says. "Follow me. I'll bring you to the car."

The whole group of them start to follow her, but she stops when she notices that. "Hey, Cas, wanna stay here? I can drive over and pick you up."

"What?"

"Well, you look tired," she says. "You can hang out here, and I'll drive over and grab you."

"Oh, thank you," Castiel says, and he truly is grateful.

"I'll stay with you," James offers. "Don't want you passing out all alone."

"Oh, no, I don't think that's going to happen," Castiel says.

"Yeah, you might as well come with me and the fam," Emma says.

"I don't want to leave him alone," James says. "Especially because the demon could still be around, and he's the only one who'd be able to see it."

"I still think —"

"Emma, go get their kids," James says firmly.

Emma groans. "Fine."

As she leads the family to the car, James sits down on the grass. He pats the spot next to him. "C'mon, sit down."

Ordinarily, Castiel would fight it, but he's too exhausted to stand, so he takes the invitation and sits down.

"What happened to you?" James asks.

"I'm just... not as strong as I used to be."

"Why not?"

Castiel shrugs. "I've lost a lot of grace. My power comes from Heaven, and they're been weakened considerably. Neither factor works out well for me."

"Ah, yeah, I'm sure that would do it," James says. "I should probably thank you for saving me."

"Don't worry about it," Castiel says. "It's what I do."

"Yeah, but you look exhausted," he says. "It couldn't have been easy on you, so thank you. Really."

Castiel smiles slightly. It's nice to be appreciated. The Winchesters have just come to expect it from him. "You're very welcome."

"I'm pretty sure this whole family owes you their lives, you know," James says. "Even if Emma and I had exorcised it on our own, we couldn't have helped them. It kinda makes me feel better knowing they're all ali–"

Bang!

"What was that?" James asks as they both scramble to their feet.

"Nothing good," Castiel says. His world feels as though it's spinning, but he ignores it as he takes off after Emma, with James right behind him.

As soon as he lays eyes on her, he realizes what he should have noticed already — this isn't Emma; not anymore. The demon didn't escape; it just possessed a new host to take after the same family, and it suceeded. In Emma's hands is a pistol, likely one she carries at all times, but not for situations like this. The husband is lying dead on the ground, a bullet wound in his head, and Castiel steps into view just in time to see her shoot the wife, too.

Hannah screams and runs away, and Castiel instantly changes his course from Emma's direction to the child's. She shoots in their direction, but the demon's aim is worse than Emma's was when they first met, and it misses by at least a foot. By the time she fires the next shot, Castiel has time to step in front of the kid, so it hits him instead.

"Castiel!" Hannah screams.

"Don't worry; I'm fine," Castiel says through gritted teeth. "Listen, I'm going to carry you to my friend, and he's going to take you inside. Do whatever he tells you to do, and don't ask questions until you've done it. Okay?"

She just nods, eyes wide.

Castiel picks her up with ease and runs towards James, only taking one more bullet in the process. As he drops her, he says a brief, "Make a salt circle," to James before running towards back Emma.

"Castiel!" James yells after him. "Whatever you do, don't you dare hurt Emma!"

Castiel doesn't respond. He's too far away for yelling back to be worth the effort. Instead, he hurries back to Emma, who drops her gun on the ground with a smirk.

"You know," she says, "there's not a single demon who hasn't heard of you, and with all the incredible stories I've heard, I never imagined you'd be this damn stupid."

"Where are the kids?" Castiel asks.

"Oh, you mean these kids?" Emma opens up the car door, revealing both children lying on the back seat in a pile of blood. "Yeah, they didn't take too kindly to the black smoke. Had to shut 'em up somehow." She shrugs and closes the door. "I've been looking for the Winchesters since the gates of hell opened up, and, just when I thought I should give up, you show up."

"I don't understand why you're monologuing," Castiel says. "This isn't a Shakespeare play."

She chuckles. "I'm just saying, I can't wait to see the look on the Winchesters' faces when I track them down and tell them I killed their pet angel."

"Trust me, they won't care," Castiel says. "You know what might interest them, though?"

Her brows furrow together in confusion. "What?"

"You going to hell," Castiel replies with a small smirk. Dean would be proud of that line. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus —"

"Oh, no you don't," she growls and charges at him.

Without stopping his exorcism, he grabs her arm and twists it behind her back. He kicks the back of her knees in, and she falls to the ground.

"Omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta —"

She grabs his shin in both hands and snaps it in two, and Castiel groans. She takes that opportunity to pull Castiel down on the ground with her. She hops on top of him, straddling his hips, and slaps a hand over his mouth.

"Don't you dare finish that ritual," she growls.

Castiel tries to bite her hand, but the best he can manage is a half-assed lick.

Emma pushes open Castiel's trenchcoat, which would almost make him feel as though he belonged in one of Dean's pornos had it not been angry and frantic. "Where the hell is your blade?"

Castiel grips it tightly in his sleeve, where he knows she won't be able to find it. In an ordinary fight, he could easily stab her, but that wouldn't just kill the demon; it would kill Emma, too, and that's not a risk he's willing to take. But if he just stays here, clutching his blade like his life depends on it — which it does — then he's going to be here until the end of time, unless she manages to get it.

Of course, there's always another specific option that he really wouldn't like to entertain...

But if it's a choice between risking his life and Emma's, he's willing to do the stupid thing. He throws his blade to the side as far as he can, and Emma runs after it immediately.

Not ever waiting to get to his feet, Castiel says, even quicker than before, "Ergo, draco maledicte. Ecclesiam tuam securi tibi —"

Emma picks up the blade and heads towards him, and Castiel continues the exorcism as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Even as Emma lunges at him, blade in hand, Castiel side steps it, uttering the words, "Facias libertate servire..."

"Don't —" She slices the blade across his arm, and Castiel recoils, holding the wound in his other hand.

But it doesn't stop him from finishing the final line of the exorcism, and Emma collapses to the floor, and the demon smokes out of her body and straight to hell.