Lioness

33. Like a Virgin

EXT. SKY - NIGHT / INT. TWO-SEATER PLANE

The small plane was being battered by bad weather. The pilot was Stan and the passenger was Penny.

"How you doing?" Stan asked.

"I'm great. This is great," Penny replied.

"Penny, it's gonna be okay. You know, a lot more people die in the shower."

"Good to know. Thanks."

"I didn't think we'd run into any weather, though."

"Look, can we just land? Please?"

"Couple minutes. All right? We're close. I'm sorry."

Outside the window, Penny saw a large shape and cried, "What was that?!"

"What?"

"Something just flew by the window! It was huge!"

"Probably just a bird, okay?"

"No! No, Stan, that was not a bird."

"Well, then, what was it?"

"I don't know."

"Penny, there's nothing out there. I promise. Hey, just close your eyes, okay? It's okay. Just lean back. Try to relax. Think of someplace nice. Waves on a beach."

"Stan?!"

Something pulled Stan from the cabin, leaving Penny alone in the plane.

"Oh! Oh, my God! No, no, no, no, no, no!" She screamed.

INT. BOBBY'S BASEMENT

Dean stood with folded arms, tapping his fingers against his other arm.

The panic room door opened and Castiel came out, rolling down his sleeves. Sam laid on a cot in the panic room, hooked up to an IV.

"Well?" Dean pressed.

"His soul is in place," Castiel informed.

"Is he ever gonna wake up?"

"I'm not a human doctor, Dean."

"Could you take a guess?"

"Okay. Probably not."

"Oh, well, don't sugarcoat it."

Castiel looked at him. "I'm sorry, Dean, but I warned you not to put that thing back inside him."

"What was I supposed to do? Let T-1000 walk around, hope he doesn't open fire?"

"Let me tell you what his soul felt like when I touched it. Like it had been skinned alive, Dean. If you wanted to kill your brother, you should have done it outright."

Dean looked around the basement. Castiel was gone.

Ariel, who had been standing by, narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips before turning to Dean. "You were right to do what you did, Dean. Sam needed to be restored to his full self and that unfortunately came at a cost. Let's not worry about that now and instead rest in the assurance and joy that your brother soul is where it now belongs."

Dean tucked her hair back with a smile. "What would I do without you, Ariel?"

Ariel didn't answer, but simply smiled before asking, "Do you need me?"

"Do you need to leave? I don't need you here, but I'd love if you were."

Ariel nodded. "Then I'll stay. Castiel has become quite insufferable and I'm not sure what's going on with him."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Ever since he took charge of Heaven, he's been different." She gave a small smile. "I'm sure I'm just overanalyzing things."