._.__.~Castiel~.__._.

It was all a blur. It happened so fast. I almost didn't realize what was happening. Almost.

I saw her standing there, my beautiful Felicity. I could hardly register what was happening, but I soon realized with startling clarity.

It was her wings that caught my attention most. Instead of the radiant shade of blue that I remembered, they turned black, withering away until they became a singeing pile of ash.

I tried to call to her, but I had lost my voice. I couldn't speak. Though it was clear that she could; she whispered something to me. Something that shook me to the core.

"You promised."

And in an instant, her eyes became as black as night, no longer the warm, kind grey I knew. Demonic black. The demon had taken over. I was too late. I couldn't save her.

She was lost.

._.__.___.____.

I awoke to the sound of my name. Felicity was looming over me, worry written all over her face.

"Are you alright, Castiel?" She asked.

"I am fine. I... I just dreamt."

"Yeah, I can tell. What the hell was it?"

"I... I don't want to talk about it." I murmured.

"Come on, Castiel, what happened?"

I sighed defeatedly. The girl I inevitably fell in love with just happened to be one of the most persuasive people on the planet.

"I saw you. Your... your wings. They became black and disintegrated. The demon, it took over."

She caressed my face in her hands. "Castiel, that won't happen, okay? I promise you that nothing will happen. You told me that you would protect me, remember?"

"I do remember. But... sometimes it's just hard to fight when I'm punching at shadows."

"You can't give up hope now. Especially now that we're getting closer to figuring this out. Dean dropped by about an hour ago while you were still asleep and told me that we might have found a way to communicate with this thing."

"We can communicate with the demon?"

"They're figuring out everything right now, but yeah. It's an old spell, and they're still finding the ingredients. I would've offered to help, but I wanted to wait until you woke up. I guess it's a good thing I did."

"Then what are we waiting for? We need to go."

We went downstairs where Sam was sitting in the library reading an old book. It looked to be hundreds of years old.

"Sam. Have you found all the ingredients for the spell?" I asked.

He glanced over at us. "Hey guys. We almost have everything. Dean's looking for the lamb's blood, then we'll be set."

"What sort of spell is this exactly?"

"Well, it's pretty ancient. It was used only once, back in 1492. And you'll never believe who used it."

"Who?" Felicity asked.

"Christopher Columbus. So get this, when he set sail on the ocean blue, one of his crew mates was possessed. Not by this particular demon, but it was still pretty powerful. And once it became discovered, it shut down. Completely dormant. Until Columbus used this spell. Turns out, he was a hunter. More like a hunter in training, but a hunter all the same."

"Did the spell work?" I asked, tired of all his pointless rambling.

"Yeah. He used it to interrogate the demon, then it was exorcised."

"Excellent. What needs to be done?"

"Well, there are about four ingredients; lamb's blood, the tooth of a Great White, holy water, and the ashes of a pure hearted man."

"And what would we do with this stuff?" Felicity asked.

"Whoever has the demon inside them, must be cleansed with holy water. The ashes are to be 'dusted on the victim's body as a symbol of sinlessness'."

"Great, I'll be covered in dead guy." She muttered.

"The lamb's blood is used for a sigil that must be drawn on the vessel's forehead that looks like this."

He showed us the sigil which was drawn in the book. It looked like: §

"What about the tooth?" I asked.

"That's where it gets interesting. You know, more interesting. Once you're cleansed, dusted, and symbolized, the tooth is used to... well, it's basically the key to the door. The sigil is supposed to be pierced by the tooth while the incantation is spoken."

"So I'm supposed to be stabbed by a shark tooth?" Felicity summarized. I discreetly held her hand, our fingers interlocking.

"You don't have to do this." I whispered.

She sighed as our eyes met. "But I do. I need to know exactly what's going on. This spell is the only way of doing that."

I nodded in understanding. She was right; this was the only way.

I looked back at Sam, who was eyeing our entwined fingers. "Do you know when Dean will return?"

He looked back up at me. "He should be back any minute now. We've got the holy water, obviously, the tooth, and the ashes which were actually in the dungeon, believe it or not."

"This place never ceases to amaze me." Felicity grinned. I couldn't help but smile a little as well. Whenever she was happy, I was happy. Whenever she smiled, that's just what I did.

"Yes. I suppose the wonders never cease, do they?"

We took a moment to gaze into each other's eyes until we heard the sound of Dean's return. He walked into the library, saw us, and smirked.

"Well, if it isn't 'Felistiel'." He chuckled.

I tilted my head to the side. "I don't understand. I don't know anyone by that name."

He chuckled again. "I'm talking about you two! Felicity and Castiel. That's 'Felistiel'. Okay, never mind. I got the lamb's blood. That all we need?"

"That covers it," Sam replied. "We just need to go down in the dungeon and... cuff Felicity with the demonic handcuffs." He looked to Felicity.

"What?" I growled.

"When this spell is cast, that demon will surface. It'll, in a way, control her. Only temporarily, though. Once the spell wears off, it'll go back to wherever inside her head it came from. Plain and simple."

"Plain and simple?" I repeated. "Plain and simple? I will not let this demon have control over her in any way!"

"It's okay, Castiel." Felicity tried to reassure me.

I looked back at her. "No, it's not. This is just wrong. This should never have happened to you. I swear, I will smite that demon myself."

"I will be fine, Castiel. I promise. Just five minutes, at most. We need to know what's going on here."

"What makes you think the demon will even talk? You might not get any answers at all."

"It's worth a shot. Come on, Castiel. Don't you trust me enough to do this?"

I sighed lightly. "Of course I trust you."

"Then let's get the spell going. Okay?"

I nodded slightly. "Okay."

We went to the dungeon and cuffed Felicity with the demonic handcuffs. I didn't like this at all, but it was difficult to say no to her.

She was washed with the holy water and had the ashes dusted on her. I used the lamb's blood to draw the sigil on her forehead and picked up the tooth.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked.

"Absolutely." She answered.

I sighed again. I gave her a brief kiss and then inserted the tooth in the sigil; it was directly in the center.

She began to yell and cry out in pain, but I tried not to let that stop me. It was an awful thing for me to do, not to mention wrong, but I had to continue. I was doing this for her.

As the blood from the wound trickled down her face, Sam spoke the incantation. I couldn't really hear it, though. I was too busy feeling horrible about what I was being forced to do.

And once it was all over; once I removed the tooth, and Sam finished the incantation, Felicity was slumped over in the chair, unconscious.

"Felicity?" My voice shook slightly. "Felicity?"

Her head snapped up, scanning the whole room. I looked into her eyes and nearly broke down in tears.

They were black.