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Chapter Text

Castiel looked over at his leader, the man that he knew so well and yet so poorly lately. Was he really telling them to go in there? It was a trap… it had to be. Cas looked into Dean's eyes, and that was all it took for him to know the truth; because Dean was lying. It was a trap. And Dean knew it. 'Past-Dean' apparently knew it was a trap too because, seconds later, he was pulling their leader off to talk privately.

The only ones who didn't know it was a trap were his friends. He looked at them and considered telling them the truth… but he couldn't. If it was a choice between their lives and killing Lucifer, then they had to do what was best for the world. Cas stole a deep breath and made his decision; he wasn't going to jeopardise the mission by speaking out of line. He was a soldier, after all; that was all he had ever been. Their leader walked back a few minutes later by himself, and they all frowned. Usually, no-one – including Cas himself - would speak-up against their fearless leader… but Cas knew he was going to die today, so what was the point in holding his tongue?

"Where is he?" Cas asked, a little worried about the traveller from the past. Dean just stared at him and shook his head, which infuriated Cas. It was his last minutes on earth, and Dean couldn't even answer him one straightforward question?!

A few minutes later, Dean split off from their group, urging them to go on ahead while he went around the back. This didn't hit any of them as odd, but it broke Cas' heart. He surged forwards nevertheless.

It was a blood bath from the moment that they entered through the window.

Cas was the last one down, his friends having been torn apart in front of his eyes. He was injured and firing his gun almost aimlessly in an attempt to take down as many Croats as possible. Because… Hell… if he was going down, then he was going down swinging.

In the end, he got taken out by a knife to the back of the neck. It was a painful yet, thankfully, quick death.

Life was brought back into Cas’ body, and he gasped for air. Light filled his vision, and everything was suddenly loud… too loud. So loud that he couldn't distinguish between sounds. He was flooded with senses.

His grace greedily sucked in the power that was being supplied to him, and Cas was left wondering what was happening. Was this his afterlife?

Cas was still an angel, even if he was a powerless one, and angels knew nothing of what their afterlife was… he didn't even know if he had one. And if this was it, then it was both brilliant and horrible at the same time. His body wasn't used to feeling so filled with power, and it caused him pain.

Then, suddenly, the light dimmed and disappeared. The screeching in his head lessened, and his pain numbed. Cas took in a ragged breath and opened his eyes.

His vision was sharper than it had ever been before. He took in his surrounds and, in less than a second, he concluded that he was in no current danger: the Croats were all dead. Chuck was leaning over him and smiling weakly. But there was something different about him… Chuck wasn't human anymore. Cas tensed; ready to fight whatever was possessing his friend.

It took him a moment for his grace to recognise who was leaning over him. And when he did, his eyes widened in complete shock…

Chuck wasn't being possessed at all.

"Father?" he asked incredulously. Chuck nodded and moved back to allow Cas to stand up from the blood-soaked floor.

"Castiel."

"Why?" Cas was slightly surprised by just how much emotion he put into that one word. It was filled with hope, anger, fear and sadness. So much sadness. He hadn’t felt this much of anything in years.

"I didn't want any of this," Chuck, God, said, glancing around the room where their friends lay alongside the Croats that his Father must have killed.

"Then why didn't you intervene?" Cas growled out; years ago he wouldn't have dared to talk to his Father like this… but times had changed, he'd changed, and he found that he didn't actually care anymore… even if he was going to be killed for his outburst. Chuck looked at him sadly.

"I wanted to give you, and all of my children, free will…” Chuck said, sounding as though the weight of the world was on his shoulders. But it wasn’t. It hadn’t been that way in years, because Chuck had abandoned them to their fate. “I still do." Cas turned away from his Father and shook his head in rage. There was silence for a few moments.

"Why did you save me?" Cas finally asked, needing answers, even now.

"Because I have hope that you can fix this"

"That I can?" Cas shouted as he spun around to challenge God and scoffed in his face. "What about you? This is your world! Not mine."

"But you still care about it…” Chuck said, and Cas wanted to pretend that that wasn’t true. But he couldn’t. Despite everything, he still loved this world; he still loved… humanity. “I've restored your powers and then some. You should be able to tell that you're stronger now than you've ever been." Cas nodded stiffly. "I've given you more power than even any archangel… which is why you can see me now for who I really am."

"And what would you have me do with it?" Cas asked. It was supposed to have been sarcastic, but maybe there was a part in him still, hidden deep down inside, which still wanted a purpose. He wanted this whole thing to make sense, to be part of some grand plan, to be worth it.

"Whatever you want," God answered. They stared at each other for a moment until Cas turned away, barely able to look his friend in the eye anymore after the years of lies. "I'm tired of this war, Cas… I just want everything to be over. I won't intervene and tell you or anyone else what to do. I won't take away what little free will you have… this is the most I can do to help."

"I need to talk to Dean," Cas said instantly. Dean was his leader… and so much more. Cas needed to see him, to get his guidance and plan their attack.

"He's out back," Chuck said, his voice soft and sad; Cas' eyes widened at the tone of his voice, wasting no time in flying towards his former lover.

"No!" Cas shouted as he saw the broken remains on the ground. He immediately dropped to his knees and pulled the body into his arms. This couldn't be happening… Dean was their leader, he was supposed to be their saviour, he couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t. Cas' chest burned with grief as he looked at the empty vessel of the man he loved. "No," he whispered while tears spilt from his eyes. Chuck slowly walked up to him and placed a comforting hand on Cas’ shoulder.

"You have the power to bring him back," God said softly, and Castiel stared up at him with hope. "But we both know that he's not the same man that you fell in love with." Cas knew that Chuck was right.

He and Dean had spent a lot of time working with each other after Sam had broken the final seal and the brothers had gone their separate ways. They'd become very close and, after a couple of months, they'd had sex for the first time.

Afterwards, Dean had freaked out and insisted that it shouldn't have happened. They went on as normal for a week before giving in to the desire to copulate again… and after that, it had turned into a relationship, of sorts. They had been somewhat happy for a while - several months, in fact - before Sam had said yes in Detroit and the apocalypse had begun. That was when Dean had become withdrawn and cold. He blamed their relationship on him not being able to stop the devil and eventually they broke up. Dean became cold and brash and void of any emotion other than anger; he became their leader, and Cas had buried his pain in women and drugs.

"It doesn't matter…” Cas muttered. Because, regardless of their troubled past, the man in his arms was still Dean Winchester, and Cas needed him as much now as he had ever done before. Cas placed his palm on Dean’s face, but he paused before he could call his new-found powers to action. Cas turned to face God once again, worry overcoming him. "The other Dean, the one from 2009… where is he?" He felt a panic which he hadn’t felt in years when he realised that the man could have been captured or injured… maybe even killed.

"He's safe. Zachariah took him back to his time," Chuck told him, and Cas nodded as a thought occurred to him.

"You said that I could do whatever I wanted…” Cas said. “Is that true?"

"Yes."

"What if I wanted to go back in time? Would I be able to change how things played out?"

"In theory, yes," Chuck nodded again, but Castiel wasn’t as pleased with that answer.

"What does that mean?" He demanded.

"Time is fickle,” Chuck said. “You're more than powerful enough to be able to bend it to your will… but it will fight back to protect itself. You would need to make calculated measures, be patient, take your time and alter the small but important events… if you do something too drastic, then time will correct itself,” he warned, “and whatever you did will be undone."

Cas nodded, it was a bit confusing, but he understood what had to be done.

"I need some time by myself," he said, knowing how stupid that statement was since Chuck was God and omniscient. Regardless, his friend nodded, stepping back and disappearing out of sight. Cas took a moment to think over his plan and then he picked Dean up into his arms, got up from the dirt and flew towards their camp. He didn't go out into the open where anyone could see him. Instead, he went straight to the graveyard out back where all of their fallen comrades were buried… including Bobby.

Cas lay his former lover down onto the ground and, with a flick of his wrist, created a six-foot hole. He lowered the body into it and filled it in with the dirt. Silently, Cas grieved Dean's death. Despite everything which had gone wrong in their past, Cas knew he would always love Dean Winchester. Cas had fallen for him, in a very literal sense, and he knew that he would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Cas stared at the grave of his lover for hours, undisturbed as the sun set around him; then he summoned his strength and found his grace – or, as Dean would have called it, his 'angel mojo' – stirring at his will, and then Cas retreated into the past.

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It took Cas a while to be able to decide exactly where in time he should reappear. He contemplated showing up at the very beginning, back when Dean was only a child, but he didn't know much of those times other than what Dean himself had told him. There was too great a chance there that things would go wrong. So instead, he decided to show up at the time of the deal which had set the apocalypse into motion. He knew the exact day; May 17th 2008.

But Cas had something that he needed to do beforehand; so he instead went to the 16th. Cas flew straight to Heaven once he'd arrived, and it was there where he waited. There was someone he needed to have a conversation with and where better to wait for them than his favoured Heaven; the eternal Tuesday afternoon of an autistic man who drowned in a bathtub in 1953.

It didn't take long for the angel Cas was waiting for to sense his presence and fly directly towards him. Cas turned and saw his pure form in from of him.

"I… I don't understand?" 2008 Castiel said, and Cas smiled. "When are you from?"

"2014."

"It's forbidden to change the past."

Cas felt like laughing. Forbidden. It had been so long since he’d cared about what was or was not forbidden. Now, it felt as though there wasn’t a single rule of Heaven’s that he hadn’t broken.

Cas didn’t laugh.

"That’s true…” he said. “But that's not important right now."

"Of course it is," the celestial being said; he came closer and began to emit confusion and distress in waves. "You're more powerful… how?"

The explanation was too long for Cas to even consider telling the truth. Not here. Not in Heaven, where anyone could show up at any moment. Not when he had so little time before Dean made his deal.

"I'll show you," Cas said, instead.

Inputting a memory into someone’s head was easy – he’d done it many times before. But so many years of memories all at one time would have been impossible for Cas to accomplish before; now, though, he had no trouble showing his past self the future that awaited him. It only took a moment.

"I won't be going back to my own time," he said, feeling the way in which the celestial Castiel reacted to the memories with shock, but not repulsion.

"It's unwise for there to be two of us in one time for too long…" he said slowly, "which is why you wish to merge into one."

"It'll be safer that way,” Cas agreed. “Neither of us will be exactly who we were before, but we won't be dead."

The Castiel of the past agreed almost instantly, and Cas gave a quick smile at that. He’d always been a bit of a trouble maker, and so Cas supposed that he should have known his past self would have surrendered to his cause so quickly. It was a pleasant surprise, though, and Cas wasn’t used to that, but he wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth either. He waisted no time before reaching out with his grace and merging it with that of his past self. It took several minutes, and the process was more painful than he’d expected, but it was like Cas’ flaws and faults over the last six years were being wiped anew. Like he was pure again.

Once it was done, Cas found himself extremely thankful that he’d made his wards strong enough for no other angels to sense him. He knew that half of his garrison would have come running if they had felt that.

Still, he didn't want to risk getting seen, so he fled and went towards the reason he’d come all of this way, to the reason he’d done anything these past five years. Cas went to Dean Winchester. He watched silently as Dean sat beside Sam's body and grieved. He reached out with his grace and listened to his friend's inner thoughts; he waited until he knew that Dean was about to get up and leave for a crossroad at any minute before he showed up.

"Hello Dean," he said as he materialised; Dean flinched and spun around in shock.

"Who are you?"

"My name is… unimportant. I'm here to talk to you about your deal."

"I haven't made a deal," Dean bit out, he looked as though his eyes were scanning the room for a weapon that would work.

"Not yet."

"So what? You want to make a deal?" Dean asked when Cas said nothing more. Cas nodded and stepped forwards. Dean didn't pause for much longer before continuing. "My soul, plus ten years, and you bring Sam back."

"Not exactly," Cas replied, and Dean waited for him to clarify. "One year."

"I'm not taking that," Dean scoffed.

"It's the same deal you'll get at any crossroads," Cas said smoothly as he walked closer, not pausing until he was standing at the other side of Sam's body. "Except they would add in a sub-clause that said that if you tried to break the deal, then Sam would drop dead again… I'm not going to add that in." Dean stared at him for a moment.

"What are you? 'Cause you're not a demon."

"And how would you know that?" Cas asked; Dean looked pointedly upwards, and Cas followed his gaze. There was a devils trap painted on the ceiling, and he'd just walked right through it. Cas muttered a curse and looked back at Dean as he thought through his options. He could tell him the truth, that he was an angel… but in order to keep time from correcting itself, things needed to happen as they would have before; which meant that Dean needed to think he would die and go to hell… Obviously, he wasn't going to, but Cas couldn't risk telling Dean that. He sighed and racked his brain for anything he could say when he thought of his brother Gabriel…

"I'm a trickster," Cas announced, which made Dean frown and stand up.

"And why would you want my soul?"

"Oh, I don't," Cas said as he thought up a new story to tell his friend, "that's why I took away that clause. I just find it fun to mess with demons." Dean looked at him with confusion hidden behind that stony face – though, as hurt as he was, he was nowhere near as cold as the Fearless Leader which Cas had so recently lost. "You see, souls are power. The brighter they shine, the more powerful they are… and as you can probably guess, they don't get very many bright shining good-hearted souls in the pit. But you, you're… righteous."

Dean scoffed at that, but he didn’t move to argue it anyway.

"Okay, so you want me to be able to get out of the deal?” Dean asked. “So why make it in the first place?"

"Well, I could just bring Sam back without making one… but without a contract, the demons will never find out that you wanted to make a deal in the first place… so it won't be as much fun," Cas replied, thinking fast on his feet. Dean looked down at his brother and silence filled the air as he thought over the decision.

"If I made a demon deal, my soul goes to hell. What happens if I make a deal with a trickster?"

"Whatever I want to happen." Dean looked at him with a fearful expression as he thought over what a trickster would do with his soul, and Cas laughed dryly. "I have no use for your soul, Dean. True they hold power, but I have enough of that. I'm not greedy, I don't need more… so, I suppose, I will probably send it to hell."

"Then what's the point of this? If you're just going to send my soul to hell anyway?"

"First of all, they won't know you're going to hell until you show up there. And second, you'll have a whole year to weasel your way out of the deal along with my guarantee that nothing will happen to you or Sam if you try."

"How do I know that you're not trying to screw me over?"

"Because…" Cas drew in a long breath through his nose as he thought and after a few seconds shook his head. "Neh, I've got nothing." Dean looked over him with suspicion, and so Cas just shrugged. "Fine, go to the crossroads and try to get a better deal out of them... whatever they give you I'll match. There's no time limit… I'll wait." Cas materialised a chair and sat down in it next to Sam.

"I'm not leaving you here with my bother. You're coming with." The angel tilted his head and frowned.

"What do you really think I'd do?” Cas asked, insulted. “I'm not a necrophiliac, Dean. And even if I was, Sam isn't exactly my type." There was venom in his words and Cas pointedly ran his eyes up and down Dean's body. He smirked at how uncomfortable it made the man. Their eyes met, and Cas winked. Dean froze in place with barely masked fear in his eyes, and Cas laughed curtly. He realised that he was probably enjoying Dean's discomfort a little too much and that maybe he wasn't as okay with how his Dean had been acting in 2014 as he'd made himself believe. The angel pushed those thoughts out of his mind and stood up. "Let's go then." Dean swallowed and nodded, and they walked together to his car and drove in silence until they got to the crossroads; it wasn’t far away, but the silence was deafening, and Cas enjoyed every minute of it.

As he pulled the car to a stop, Dean glanced over at Cas and got out the car; he went around to the boot and began to pull out the items he needed to summon the demon. Cas flew out of the car and stood behind Dean, watching him lazily and maybe enjoying the sight of him bent over in the boot a little bit. Dean turned around and jumped at seeing Cas behind him, having not heard him move.

"Jeez," he said and took a calming breath, "make a noise or something." Cas chuckled a little, reminiscing. But then he brought his mind back to the task at hand.

"I think it would be best if you pretended I wasn't here,” Cas said. “I'm going to prevent the demon from seeing me in case my presence here makes her… unwilling." Dean just nodded, not really caring, and Cas stood back to watch the show.

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Dean walked to the crossroad and quickly buried the box; when he turned around to look at the trickster, he saw that the guy was leaning up against the front of the Impala with his arms crossed. Dean kept facing him as he waited, not wanting to let the guy out of his sight for too long. A few seconds passed, and Dean began to get impatient. He checked over his shoulders to look for the demon

"Oh, come on already…" he whispered and then began to shout into the night. "Show your face, you bitch!"

"Easy sugar… you'll wake the neighbours," said a woman's sickly sweet voice from behind him, and Dean quickly turned to look. She began to ramble on about him then, but he wasn't really listening… his mind too full with memories of Sam lying dead on that bed.

"I should send you straight back to hell," he grumbled.

"Oh, you should. But you won't." The demon walked around him, and when Dean turned back around, he could see the Impala, and the trickster, right behind her now. "And I know why."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, following in Daddy's footsteps, you want to make a deal. Little Sammy back from the dead and let me guess, you're offering up your own soul."

"There are plenty of others out there that would love to get their hands on it." He looked at the trickster who seemed pretty bored. "And it's all yours if you can give me Sam back and ten years," his eyes met the demons again, "ten years. And then you come for me."

"You must be joking," the demon snarled, and Dean's eyes flickered back to the trickster who had moved from leaning against the hood to lying on it, head back and looking up at the sky. He hated seeing his baby being abused like that but couldn't exactly do anything at this moment.

"It's the same deal you give everybody else," he said sadly, starting to realise that maybe the demi-God was right.

"You're not everybody else." She stalked forwards and whispered in his ear, "why would I want to give you anything?" Dean was looking down and thinking of anything that he could do that would make the deal last for longer than a year. "Keep your guttered soul, it's too tarnished anyway." Dean frowned as he thought about what the trickster had said about his soul being 'bright' and 'righteous'. Dean hadn't believed that he could be described that way, but even he wouldn't call it guttered or tarnished.

Dean had already decided he was going to take the trickster's contract, but he needed more than a year in case he couldn't break it in time.

"Nine years."

"No," she said and stepped back.

"Eight."

"You keep going, I'll keep saying no."

"Okay, five years. Five years and my bill comes due. That's my last offer; five years or no deal." She walked closer to him and moved her mouth near his, he pulled away slightly.

"Then, no deal."

"Fine," he said as defiantly as possible while facing defeat.

"Fine," she moved away and walked off, "make sure you bury Sam before he starts stinking up the joint." Dean stood still and looked at the demi-God who officially looked like he had fallen asleep on the bonnet of his car. He heard the sounds of the demon's footsteps as she walked away and, after a moment, they began to walk back to him. "Look, I shouldn't be doing this, I could get in a lot of trouble," said the demon, and Dean frowned as he turned to look at her. "But what can I say, I've got a blind spot for you, Dean. You're like a puppy, just too fun to play with... I'll do it." Dean stayed silent, he didn't want to make this deal. "I will bring your brother back. And because I'm such a saint, I'll give you one year and one year only. But here's the thing; if you try to welch and weasel your way out, then the deal is off. Sam drops dead, he's back to rotting meat in no time." Dean shook his head and pulled away.

"I'm not doing that."

"It's a better deal than your Dad ever got and it's the only one you're getting," she enticed, and Dean continued to shake his head. The trickster suddenly appeared next to the demon then, and she flinched away with wide eyes. He lifted one finger to his lips and shushed her; when she opened her mouth to speak, she couldn’t find her voice. Dean had to admit that that was a useful trick.

"You really do like the sound of this girl's voice, don't you?" The trickster said to the demon who was looking at him with fear in her eyes. "It takes me paralysing your tongue to stop it flapping." The trickster turned back to Dean, "can I kill her now? Or are you still trying to do the impossible?" He asked Dean, who shrugged and walked away.

"Whatever."

Dean didn't see what happened next, but there was a sudden bright white light which made him squint, even though he was facing the other way. When he turned around, the trickster wasn't there, and the body of the demon was lying on the floor with its eyes burnt out and smoking. He turned around looking for the demi-God and spotted him sitting in the passenger seat of his baby, he let out a sigh of relief and sat in the driver seat.

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"Don't blame yourself for not getting a better deal,” Cas said as Dean sat beside him, looking sorry for himself in a way which Cas found disturbing to look at but couldn’t look away. It had been so long since Cas had seen anything but hard eyes glaring back at him from Dean’s face. “Once Sam died, all crossroads demons were told that, if you came knocking, they could only give you that one deal."

"You could have just told me that in the first place."

"And you would have believed me," Cas said sarcastically as he looked Dean in the eyes. "You ready to deal now?"

"The same deal as you mentioned before?" Dean asked. His voice was firm, but Cas could hear the worry in it. "My soul, one year, and we're allowed to try and break it?" Cas nodded, "then yes."

Before Cas could react, Dean grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled their lips together. He watched as Dean slammed his eyes closed and tried to think of anything other than the fact that he was kissing a guy and it made Cas momentarily sad, but he decided to make the most of this opportunity.

He knew exactly what Dean liked, and so Cas put that to his advantage. He slid closer on the seat, and he forced Dean’s lips to move against his own, warming him up for a few seconds before Cas pushed Dean's lips apart with his own and licked at them. They were just as rough and chapped as he remembered, and the familiarity of it made Cas’ heart sing. He delved inside Dean's mouth and brushed their tongues together, remembering so clearly the last time they had done this. Funnily enough, it had also been in the Impala. Though, it had been the back seat where Dean had pushed him down against the leather and fucked into Cas’ eager body.

Feeling hot under the collar at the memory, Cas moved to straddle Dean's lap and ran his hand up into the man's hair, pulling it down to tilt his head and allow him better access. He hadn't actually been planning on sealing the deal with a kiss, but he wasn't going to complain, not when he could feel every nerve in his body become alight with want.

He brushed his tongue along Dean's and then licked at the roof of his mouth. Dean began to move his tongue then, pushing it against Cas' in a fight for dominance. But Cas just continued to taste Dean, cupping his face with one hand as the other continued to pull at Dean’s thick hair, feeling the hunter gasp into his mouth.

Cas moved his tongue in a circular motion several times then lowered it to dance with Dean's again, moving it back up afterwards to repeat the action. Dean moaned softly at the sensations it caused. Cas could sense the slight arousal that his kiss was causing in the man below him and he had to fight the urge to lower his hand to Dean's crotch and stroke, encouraging him to become hard…

But that was not why Cas was here. As much as he yearned for this, Cas knew that he could not let it continue. He pulled back, licking at Dean’s lips one last time as he went. Cas watched and smirked as the man slowly opened his eyes and stared at him in stunned silence. Dean cleared his throat to speak, but Cas just winked and flew away.

He was invisible when he arrived at the house where Sam's body was lying; he placed his hand on top of Sam's head and used his grace to heal him and summon his soul. Sam's eyes popped open as he gasped for air.

Cas watched as Sam woke up and tried to inspect the wound on his back. And he watched as Dean rushed into the house to find Sam alive. Dean sighed in relief and hugged his brother tightly. Cas frowned when Dean avoided Sam's questions and didn't tell him about the deal he'd made, but he figured that Dean was just waiting for the right moment. Cas sat in the back of the Impala as the boys drove to Bobby's house and stood in the back yard with Dean as he got yelled at by his surrogate father.

"You stupid ass, what did you do? What did you do?!" Dean kept quiet. "You made a deal for Sam, didn't you? How long did they give ya?"

"Bobby…"

"How long?!"

"One year."

"Damn it, Dean."

"But, it wasn't a demon." Bobby frowned and waited for him to continue. "He showed up and offered a deal and walked straight through that devils trap on the ceiling."

"Please tell me you didn't go making a deal blind to what you're up against."

"He said he was a trickster."

"He said? God damn it, boy, I could throttle you!" Bobby said as he grabbed onto Dean's jacket and if Cas hadn't known Bobby, then he would have been throwing him off of Dean now; but, before Bobby had died, he'd become like family to Cas too. In fact, it felt really good to see him again now.

"And send me downstairs ahead of schedule?"

Bobby dropped Dean's jacket after a moments pause.

"Would you even go to hell?"

"Yeah, that is if I can't find a way out of this…" Cas zoned out then when he heard someone approaching. He flew towards the intruder, still invisible, but soon realised he had nothing to worry about when he spotted Ellen. He watched as she climbed over the back gate, checked that no-one was around and started walking towards the house. After a moment he heard Dean and Bobby abruptly stop talking as they heard her approaching.

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Castiel had to physically stop himself from stepping in to help when the boy, Jake, forced Ellen's gun to her head. He did, however, use his grace to keep the gun from being able to go off. He wanted to stop the gate from opening but, if it didn't open, then the events of the next year would be too different; not to mention that John Winchester would stay in hell. He may have been able to last all that time without breaking the first seal, but who knew how much longer he could keep that up… it wouldn't be forever.

But then Azazel showed up.

He sent Dean flying through the air, cracking his skull on a headstone as he went. Cas was breathing heavily with anger and the effort it took to keep himself from appearing and smiting the demon where he stood. The yellow-eyed demon pinned Sam to a tree when he came to help, he then trapped Dean against the headstone and Cas couldn't help but roll his eyes at the brothers, even as worry clawed at his throat.

Azazel talked to Dean for a minute and then stood up, he gripped the colt and held it up to Dean's head, and Cas couldn't stop himself any longer. He appeared near Sam, but just far enough back that he couldn't be seen, and he pushed his grace at the eldest Winchester, freeing him from the demon's powers. Dean realised and scrambled away from Azazel just as John Winchester showed up. Dean looked up at his father in astonishment and then caught sight of Cas behind him.

Castiel noticed and sighed, he used his grace to move the colt from the dirt and into Dean's hand. Dean looked down at the gun, and Cas used that moment to turn himself invisible again. A minute later and Dean emptied the colt into Azazel's chest.

Cas supplied strength to Bobby and Ellen to help them close the devil's gate and watched as the Winchester's saw their father one last time.

And then he left.

Chapter Text

Cas realised that spending time watching over the Winchesters made it too easy to intervene. He'd been lucky that he hadn't done anything too drastic while he'd been in the cemetery that would force time to correct itself…

And so, when he left after Azazel died, he stayed away for several weeks.

At first, he wasn't sure what to do when he wasn't near the Winchesters since his only mission now was to protect them. But after a little thought, he decided to add additional wardings to himself. He had a natural warding that would conceal his presence if he wished to not be seen, but any demon would instantly recognise him as an angel. So, after he spent the first week manifesting a safe house and creating sensors that would alert him to monsters within a twenty, ten and five-mile radius of the place, he started upgrading them. It took him two days to strengthen his wards. Once he'd finished, he created sensors to give to the Winchesters. The sensors weren't physical, they were spiritual; so, once he'd made them and went to the brothers, he was able to place it on their souls while they were sleeping and they were none the wiser about it.

He took a moment to look through the papers that littered the table and nodded happily when he saw it was all about how to break a deal. He left soon after and spent the following two weeks meditating, something that he had learnt to do while he was powerless, but it had stuck with him now. His grace occasionally got alerted to the demons or monsters near the brothers, but Cas ignored it because of the low numbers. At one point he sensed a minimum of ten monsters in the same town as Dean and Sam and broke his trance, about to fly towards them when he read deeper. The monsters were changelings. He sighed and went back to meditating; changelings never actually attacked anyone unless they thought the person was going to take them away from the Mother they were currently feeding off. There was only actually one monster in the town that would attack them.

Even still, he found it hard to relax until he sensed the changelings' deaths.

The next time he sensed anything of real importance, it was a curse. Cas opened his eyes and immediately flew towards Sam Winchester. Dean and Sam were sitting in a restaurant. He landed in the seat next to Dean as both Winchester's were leaning forwards and facing the other way to watch a waitress walk away.

"Dude. If you were ever gonna get lucky," Dean said to his brother and Sam half turned to him before noticing Castiel. Both of the brothers jumped and pulled out their guns, holding them under the table towards the angel.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam asked, and Cas looked pointedly at Dean, who sighed and answered.

"It's the trickster that I made the deal with."

"Well, what the hell is he doing here?" Sam asked, and Dean shrugged and looked at Cas suspiciously, neither one of them had put their weapon away. Cas looked between both men and frowned at their ease.

"You do know that Sam is cursed, don't you?"

"What about it?" Dean replied snidely.

"You don't seem very worried…" The exact second that Cas spoke, a waiter carrying a tray walked past and slipped, sending the food crashing all over Sam, who jumped back, knocked his coffee all over the table and nearly fell off his chair. He dropped the gun that he was holding and it would have fired, too, if Cas hadn't used his grace to stop it.

"How was that good?" Dean asked, and Sam pushed his hand into his jacket pocket, revealing that it was empty. "Son of a bitch! Was that you?" Dean asked Cas, who frowned and shook his head.

"It's the curse…"

"You didn't take the foot?" Dean asked, and Cas squinted at the eldest Winchester in confusion. There was a time, only a few years ago actually, where everything Dean said would have pulled the same reaction from Cas, but it had been a long time since then, and Cas had gotten reasonably knowledgeable on the majority of Dean's pop-culture references… It felt strange to be out of the loop once more. Dean looked at Cas for a second longer, shook his head and ran for the door, Sam followed after his brother and Cas flew to sit in the back seat of the Impala. He watched Sam and Dean exit the building and look around before running towards the car. Sam tripped and fell on his way, and Dean stopped to help him up. "Wow. You suck," Dean said, "so what now your luck turns bad?"

"I guess."

"I wonder how bad." Dean got in his beloved car and turned around in his seat to face Cas. "Why are you here?" The angel paused for a millisecond as he thought over his options and decided it was easier to keep up this façade of not caring.

"Curses are entertaining," he replied with a smirk.

"Yeah, you're gonna leave now."

"Oh, don't be like that… I can be of some assistance. Like I can track down whoever stole the 'foot'. That's if you don't mind me laughing whenever Sammy here makes a boo-boo," Cas said, and Sam - who had just got in the car- turned a bitch face on him. But he was grazed and covered in food, so it didn't quite have the desired effect.

"No. I'm not letting you anywhere near my brother. So, you're gonna leave, or I'm gonna find something sharp and pointy to shove through your chest," Dean declared with a scowl and Cas lifted his hands in surrender before turning himself invisible.

[] [] []

Cas had to say that, even though he'd been lying to Dean about why he came to them, seeing Sam trip over every two seconds was fairly amusing. He'd stayed invisible and listened in on their conversations enough to find out that Sam's curse was at the fault of a rabbit's foot. He decided that he'd need to increase his wardings on the brothers since he hadn't been able to pick it up when it had been working in their favour. Dean dropped Sam off at a motel and, even though he wanted to go with the eldest hunter to search for the foot, he decided that he'd be more useful staying with Sam to look after him.

Cas spent about two hours sitting and watching Sam do absolutely nothing. He sighed and wondered if he should have followed Dean instead. He wasn't really paying too much attention to what was happening in the room and only broke out of his daydream when he saw Sam get out of the chair. Sam slowly walked across the room and then quickly used one of the quilts to put out a fire that the angel hadn't even noticed yet.

Cas was leaning against a wall on the other side of the room when Sam spontaneous caught fire himself. He surged towards the human, but Sam had already knocked himself unconscious while putting out the flames. Cas looked down at the youngest Winchester and, after determining that he wasn't injured, chuckled lightly at the man's predicament; but then two men entered the motel room.

Castiel's instinctive reaction was to incapacitate them, but he didn't. He had to know what they wanted first. And so he stayed alert and listened to them as they tied Sam Winchester up on a chair.

"Oh, he's awake," said one of the men, Creedy his name was.

"Back with us, aye?" Said the other one, Kubrick.

"We didn't even have to touch you. You just went all spastic and knocked yourself out… it was like watching Jerry Louis ride a stack o' chairs."

"Who are you?" Sam asked. "What do you wa-" Kubrick snapped his fingers to interrupt Sam and Cas frowned; the guy seemed to be an asshole with a bit of a superiority complex.

"I used to think your friend Gordon sent me."

"Gordon? Oh, come on…"

"Yeah. Because he asked me to track you down and put a bullet in your brain." At that, Cas stood a little closer to his friend; he wasn't going to let them hurt Sam Winchester.

"Great, that sounds like him."

"But… as it turns out... I'm on a mission from God." Kubrick raised his hand towards Sam and Cas grabbed hold of it before the hunter could touch his friend. "What the-". Cas turned himself visible and brought his fist down on Kubrick's face, effectively knocking him out. Creedy quickly took out his gun and aimed it, but Castiel picked him up and flung him against the wall before he could fire. Cas sighed and turned around to face Sam, easily breaking the bonds holding the Winchester to the chair.

"Errr, thanks…” Sam said. “Not that I'm not grateful and everything, but why are you helping?" He asked after a moment of staring wide-eyed in complete silence, and Cas looked at him, but he couldn't think of an excuse, so he settled for just turning himself back invisible.

[] [] []

When Dean had got back to the motel and found the two hunters unconscious on the floor, Sam hadn't told him what happened. There hadn't been enough time, and if he was honest, he wouldn't have known what to say anyway. It was all really confusing. But now they were on their way back from the cemetery after destroying the rabbit's foot, and there was no reason to delay it any further.

"They were working for Gordon," Sam said.

"Huh?"

"The two hunters."

"Well, that's just great… how'd you beat 'em up?"

"I… didn't," Sam answered, and Dean shot a glance at his brother.

"Well, they didn't knock themselves out… especially with your luck."

"It was the trickster," Sam said quietly, and Dean hit his hand against the steering wheel in frustration. "Dean, look I think we should look for other ways of ending the contract."

"Why? Because the monster that holds it decided to play nice?"

"Just listen, okay? He saved my life."

"We don't know that,” Dean argued back. “They wouldn't have killed you."

"They said that they were gonna put a bullet in my brain, Dean. You can't get much more dead than that." Sam shot his brother a bitch face, daring him to speak up and interrupt again. "But anyway, even if the trickster isn't on our side and he's just acting or lying, well what makes us so sure he's not lying about being the one to hold your contract? Killing him would just be pointless and a waste of time."

"Damn it, Sammy. You're too easily trusting, you know that? I mean, first, there was Ruby, and now this trickster too?"

"She said she can help y- you know what? No. I'm not getting into this again."

"And I'm not going to trust monsters!" Both the boys went quiet and Cas, who was sitting invisibly in the back seat, frowned at the knowledge that they were looking at killing him as a way to end the contract.

Chapter Text

Cas was finding it more and more boring to stay away from the Winchesters for any given period of time; so, occasionally, he decided to just drop in for a few hours. Today was one of those days; he flew towards Dean but sensed a woman in the house he was squatting in. Sam wasn't there. Both Dean and the woman were in separate rooms, and so he flew to the room which she was in first. She was pretty with lightly tanned skin and brown hair, and she was wearing a dress that was far too expensive for her to be standing in a house as rundown as this one.

"What is taking so long?" The woman shouted as she looked up the stairs and leant against a table, "Sam's already halfway there… with his date."

"I'm so not okay with his," came Dean's voice from upstairs.

"What are you, a woman? Come down already." Cas turned from looking at the woman to the stairs as he heard movement towards them. His eyes widened at Dean's appearance. It seemed that Dean had been holding out on him; they'd spent a lot of time together over the past few years, but he'd never seen Dean look like this: he was dressed in a well-fitted tux that highlighted all of his best features and hugged his muscles. The entire outfit was tight in all the right places and a thrum of arousal heated in the angel's veins.

Cas stared at Dean with a slack jaw as his eyes ran up and down the man in front of him and his mouth went completely dry with want. He could feel his body respond to Dean, his heartbeat and breathing quickening, and legs beginning to feel weak; not to mention the tingle of desire that was steadily creeping down his body. Dean walked to the bottom step and looked right past him and at the woman, which caused a pang of jealousy, despite the fact that Cas knew he was invisible and so no one in the room knew he was even there.

"Alright, get it out. I look ridiculous."

"Not exactly the word I would use."

"What?"

"You know when this is over, we should really have angry sex."

"I'd be up for that too…" Cas muttered to himself as his eyes raked up and down Dean's body one more time. Of course, neither of them could hear him. Dean looked speechless for a moment as he shifted uncertainly. He crossed his arms and looked offended.

"Don't objectify me… let's go." Dean walked forward, and Cas had to step aside to keep the man from walking into him; he tilted his head to the side as his eyes followed Dean. He watched the curve of Dean's ass as he moved and smirked before following.

[] [] []

About an hour and a half later Cas was sitting in the small, confining room next to Bela while Dean searched for the hand. He'd learnt Bela's name as he sat in the back seat of the Impala and listened to the pair of them talk and he'd instantly recognised her from the 'Winchester Gospel'. He remembered that she made a deal with a demon to steal the colt and kill Sam in order to be released from her contract… so he was going to keep a close eye on her and, even though he'd much rather be with Dean and help him grab the hand, he wasn't going to leave her side when she was near either of the brothers.

Cas threw a look to the door as he heard footsteps approaching on the stairs… and they weren't Sam's or Dean's. He knew that he couldn't let anyone find out that Dean was no longer in the room and so he pushed a memory into the guard's mind to make him believe that he'd just checked on them.

But it was an Archangel's ability to make humans see things that aren't real and, even though Cas was now more than strong enough to be able to do it, he'd never tried before. The angel took a deep breath as the steps on the staircase stopped. He waited until they had turned to walk back the way they'd come from before he let it out again in a sigh of relief. It was only a few seconds later that the angel heard Dean nearing the doorway. His friend opened the door and rushed in. Castiel took another moment to gaze at the curve of Dean's ass in the tight-fitting trousers while the humans talked.

Dean pulled out the hand and wrapped it in a handkerchief and Bela made a grabby motion, wanting to take the hand into her bag to hide it. Dean flat out refused and placed it back into his pocket. Both humans turned to walk out of the room, Bela extremely close to Dean.

Then Cas saw her slip her fingers into his pocket and replace the hand with a ship in a bottle. She placed the hand into her bag and continued to walk out, but Cas grabbed her wrist, turning visible.

"What the hell?" Bela shouted, and Cas mentally soundproofed the room so that none of the woman's shouts could make it to the guests downstairs. Cas' face was set in a hard mask of dislike as she squirmed to get away.

"Let her go," Dean said in a firm voice as he aimed the colt at Castiel's head. The angel turned to look at it but refused to show his fear at the weapon pointed to his vessel's skull. His grace automatically cast towards the weapon to study its power, and the damage it could do to him. Cas baulked at the results. It wouldn't do a thing. Not a damn thing. And not just to him… but to any angel more powerful than a cherub.

The realisation that he and Dean had spent the past five years of their lives chasing after a useless gun washed over him and Cas felt the twinge of anger sit unpleasantly in his stomach. The gun would never have worked on Lucifer, and he'd completely wasted five years.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked, and Bela winced at the pain from where Cas was holding her wrist too tightly.

"He's breaking my wrist! That's what he's doing! Stop talking and shoot him!" Bela shouted as she pulled again to get away. Cas levelled her with a deadly glare but released a small amount of his grip, not enough for her to pull free though.

"Check your pocket," Cas said in a bristly tone, getting more and more agitated by the second. Dean glowered at him for a second and looked like he was about to attempt a witty remark when the eldest Winchester noticed Bela's shocked and worried look. He frowned and put the gun into his left hand, keeping it trained on Castiel as he lowered his right hand and pulled out the handkerchief-covered object. He flicked his wrist to move some of the light fabric out of the way and glanced down to see a ship in a bottle.

Cas watched, triumphantly, as Dean lowered the gun away from his face and glared at Bela.

"Where's the hand?"

"In her bag," Cas answered even though the question had been directed at the woman. Dean held the colt so that it was facing the ground instead of Cas and reached in to remove the object from Bela's possession. The eldest Winchester shook his head in exasperation as he looked at the hand in the handkerchief.

"I don't even know why I'm surprised," he muttered and nodded at Cas. "You can let her go now."

Castiel looked into the bright green eyes, taken aback by how much life was in them. In the future, Dean was hardly ever happy or content, he was just angry. Any emotion other than anger and resentment had wilted away long ago and was only a memory. But here Dean was filled to the brim of emotions. He was never just one thing; he was always happy, or excited, or boastful, or sad, or any of his other millions of emotions. Every one of them Cas adored to see, even the negative. Up until now, he had never seen this Dean angry, not really. He had expected to see a ghost of the future Dean in those eyes, he had expected them to be dead of anything but rage. But they weren't. He was angry, angrier than Cas had seen him so far, but his eyes were filled with other emotions too; there was fear and sadness and even excitement for the hunt. It was amazing to see those eyes look like that, enthralling.

Cas kept eye contact as he released Bela from his hold and she stumbled backwards, rubbing her wrists.

"Why are you here?" Dean asked, confused, and Cas shrugged. He wasn't really sure how he could answer that.

"I was bored."

"Right…" Dean muttered, and Cas could see the doubt behind the green eyes. Dean turned to glare at Bela and lifted a finger at her in warning. "You are not going to follow me."

"I'll make sure she doesn't," Castiel said before Bela had a chance to reply with a sharp comment. But then she cast a scared look at the angel and a pleading one at Dean.

"You're not going to leave me with him?"

"He's not gonna hurt you…" Dean muttered, and Cas was a little surprised. The eldest Winchester stared back at him, the 'are you?' plain to see in his eyes and Cas shook his head to say he wouldn't lay a hand on her.

"You say that as if he wasn't just about to break my wrist."

"You over-exaggerate," Cas muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"If you are staying with her, then take her to 29 Ox Road; me and Sam are staying there, and I need a word with her after this is over." Cas nodded and stretched his wings to fly them both to the abandoned house that his friends were squatting in. He would typically grab hold of the person he was trying to fly with, but he found the idea of touching Bela again somewhat unsanitary. So he instead carried her with his mind.

Once they landed, Bela took a step away from him and threw him a dizzy glare. She was scared, but he wasn't going to hurt her, so he showed it by sitting down and not paying the woman much attention. It wasn't long before he found himself immensely bored. He produced a book that he was currently reading and leant back on his chair as he found his page. There had once been a time when he wouldn't need any form of entertainment to keep him happy; but if he was honest he hadn't really known what happiness was back then, it had merely been a vague concept.

But then Cas had - as Dean had once said - 'lost his juice' and turned practically human. Now he found himself utterly unable to sit still for too long, and there was so much literature that he had always longed to read. Cas had started with British literature; he'd already read a series of books by Sir Terry Pratchett, and then he had moved onto Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He had to say that he found Sherlock Holmes to be a fairly relatable character at times.

Castiel was pondering his connection with the fictional character when he heard the front door open. He sat up instantly and searched with his mind to find that Bela had just snuck out: she obviously thought that he was distracted enough to not notice. Cas pulled the book away again and stretched out his wings. He reached out with his senses and found Bela instantly, she was running quickly away from the house and nearing the docks. He flew to the spot several feet in front of her direction. When Bela saw him, she fell backwards onto the floor in her efforts to rapidly turn back around. Cas sighed and lowered his hand to her in offering, but she pulled back away from it.

"You're going to ruin that pretty little dress of yours," he mocked, keeping in character as the bored trickster who really couldn’t care about her or the Winchesters, one way or another. But Bela just scowled and pulled herself up. She stood facing him defiantly, trying to make Cas believe that she wasn't scared. Cas frowned at her; she shouldn't be scared of him. Not because he was an angel and not going to hurt her - because, admittedly, she didn't know that - but because, in the books, she was described as practically fearless. She was always put into situations that could get her maimed or killed, but Bela Talbot never once let on that she was scared, even when she was.

So why was she acting this way now?

Cas tilted his head at her and skimmed her thoughts.

Everything was a jumble from her fear, and so her thoughts kept jumping rapidly from one thing to the next. But one thing that caught Castiel's attention was something that appeared several times; 'does he know? I have to get away from him… he could know. He seems to know a lot why wouldn't he know this'.

Cas frowned, thinking Bela must be thinking about her demon deal and, after a little more concentration, he was able to read more in-depth, and he was proved right.

'Shit!' Bela thought suddenly as Cas began to draw away from her mind, he looked closer at her and saw she was staring wide-eyed over his shoulder. Castiel didn't need to turn around to know what she saw because Bela's mind soon became active again with thoughts of the ghost ship: the death omen.

"Aren't you glad I stopped you from stealing that hand now," he said cynically.

[] [] []

"You know that what Sam and Dean do is for the good," Cas said to Bela once they were back in the house his friends were squatting in. "If you had gotten away with that hand, then you'd be dead within days, and it would just keep killing." Bela stared at him but didn't respond. After a couple of minutes, he gave up and just returned to his book.

"Who are you?" Bela asked, curious, but this time it was Cas' turn to not answer. "You're obviously connected to Dean somehow, but he seems to trust you as far as he can throw you. His first reaction to seeing you here was to threaten you, and it's not like he's all too happy that I'm around… So what is it? Why are you here?" Cas flicked his eyes up over the top of the book and glanced at her before returning to reading. "Ah. I see. You want to have sex with him."

Cas' eyes flicked back up to her and widened a little; Bela just smirked and shrugged.

"I saw you checking him out earlier, you were staring at his ass like it had personally offended you and you wanted to teach it a lesson," she said with a laugh. "I have to say though, I'm not all that surprised. In that tux… he looks so good even I want him."

Cas lowered his gaze back to his book and pretended to read while she grinned to herself. Bela knew next to nothing about him, but she'd found leverage which she could use if he were to tell the Winchesters anything about herself. And so she was now suddenly much calmer and back to the Bela that Cas had read about in the books.

Thinking about those books made him internally scowl. Now that the shock had worn off and he wasn't so consumed by grief, he had a lot of questions that Chuck… God… whatever he wanted to be called, needed to answer. He longed to go back to his Father and demand the truth, but he couldn't. Not yet. The other angels would try to stop Cas if they knew what he was up to, and he couldn't take that chance. So he was in hiding instead.

For all everyone else knew, Chuck was the new prophet. He was guarded by Raphael, and to go near that house would let the angels know that Cas was still alive, and then he'd be on the run from them. Again.

The angels just needed to think that he was dead… at least for now.

Chapter Text

Dean flinched back as the woman came near him, he couldn't help it, she was vile and evil, and he was probably going to die now.

He could hear his brother shouting in pain as the man tortured him, and Dean was in a murderous mood because of it. He needed to get out of these ropes, he needed to save his brother and himself. The meadowsweet around his neck rubbed and itched every time he twisted to loosen his restraints but, without a distraction, Dean knew he wouldn't be able to get free.

Dean took a deep breath, this was it he supposed. He and Sam would likely die here, and then he'd go to hell. He scowled up at the woman as she brought the bowl to him, her knife glinted in her hand, covered in Sam's blood. He may have sworn as she dug the knife into his skin, but he wasn't entirely sure; swearing was just his body's way of releasing his anger so he no longer felt like he would explode. It was natural, like screaming.

"Oh, goodness me! Somebody owes a nickel to the swear jar. Do you know what I say when I feel like swearing? Fudge," The woman, well Pagan God, said to him and he scowled as she brought down the knife to his arm again. He had a little more control of himself now and so could think more coherently.

"You fudging touch me again and I'll fudging kill ya!" He shouted, and the woman smiled at him.

"Very good," she praised and lowered the blade onto his other arm, slicing the skin. Dean's mind was running a mile a minute, his adrenaline had started to burn, and he struggled once more to get free without either of the Gods noticing. The adrenaline wouldn't last long, but he didn't think he'd last long either.

Dean felt sick as he thought over his behaviour from the previous weeks; he'd been so reckless. He was given permission to scheme his way out of the contract but hadn't thought he'd be able to, and so he'd been hasty in his hunts. Like just last week when they were hunting that vamp before they’d run into Gordon. He'd cut his arm open, not unlike the Pagan God had just done to him now, and lured the vampire with his scent.

He had been so sure that it didn't matter if he died then because he was going to hell either way, so why not use it to his advantage. Even afterwards, he hadn't cared that he could have died. But he'd just been numb to it all, and he wasn't anymore. Dean felt the fear that he might die course through his veins, and he knew that he didn't want to give up and act that way again.

If he could just live past this night…

The woman was still leaning over him, and Dean could hear Sam behind him and feel his brother struggling against the restraints when suddenly a hand grabbed onto the woman's head from behind, though Dean couldn’t quite see who the hand belonged to.

She started screaming as a bright light began to glow in her eyes, and Dean was fighting the urge to look away when the other Pagan God spun around to face his wife and went onto the attack.

The God surged forward and forced the newcomer in the room to stumble backwards into Dean's line of vision: it was the trickster. He looked exactly the same as every other time they'd met: scruffy, well-worn clothes with a gun belt hanging loosely around his waist, his hair an un-styled and floppy mess, and the start of a beard that never seemed to change or look recently trimmed even though it didn’t appear to grow.

The trickster looked slightly startled by both of the Gods' strength when the woman spun herself around to face him. She grabbed hold of the trickster’s arms, pinning them down and out of the way, as the male God neared him while wielding a knife. There was a sudden burst of energy emanated from the trickster that hit both of the Winchesters - though it clearly wasn't aimed at them because it felt to Dean like little more than a gust of wind, whereas the Gods were forced backwards by the force of it.

The trickster turned to Dean and Sam and lifted his hand at them, their bonds broke immediately, and both brothers scrambled out of the chairs and onto their feet.

"Run!" The trickster shouted, and they did. Both Winchesters rushed into the basement where they'd dropped their evergreen stakes. They grabbed the wood and turned to make their way back up the stairs when there was a sudden crash and a scream of anger from the female God.

Dean and Sam shared a look before bounding up the steps two at a time. They were in a rush; the trickster was fighting two Gods, and if he were to lose and die, then Dean and Sam would be stuck in this basement and probably wouldn't survive the night. At least if they attacked the Gods too, then they would have a fighting chance for survival.

When they got back into the kitchen, there was a hole in the wall where the male God was lying, dead. His eyes were smoking the slightest bit and looked like they'd been burnt out of his skull – much like the crossroad demon which the trickster had killed all those weeks ago.

The female God was angrier now than ever before, and more vicious too. She attempted to bite a chunk out of the trickster's arm, but he dodged her attack. Dean didn't waste any time and rushed forwards while she was distracted. He plunged his stake into the woman's back, getting right between the ribs and into the fleshy muscle of her heart.

The God coughed and spluttered as she died only seconds later.

Dean panted as he let go of his hold on the woman and the body dropped to the floor with a wet thud. He looked up into the blue eyes of the trickster and conveyed his gratitude for saving them in that one look. The trickster nodded and looked like he was going to disappear when Sam rushed forward.

"You're bleeding," the youngest Winchester said in a voice that was strained with the effort of hiding his worry. Both Dean and the Demi-God looked down at the direction that Sam was staring at and they noticed the dark red of blood on the trickster's shirt, growing at every second.

The trickster lifted up the shirt to unveil his taut, muscled abdomen and the gaping gash that was spread over it. Then the skin began to knit together before their eyes, sealing the wound with only the thin smear of blood to prove it had ever been there.

"I'm fine," he said, pulling the shirt back down. "I thought I told you two to run."

"We're not going to leave a job unfinished," Dean said, and there were a few seconds of silence until Sam piped up again.

"What was that light? I mean I couldn't really see because I was facing the other way, but it looked like you were causing it," Sam questioned with a slightly fascinated look that made Dean roll his eyes at his nerdy little brother. But the trickster never answered and, a second later, he disappeared entirely from their sight.

Chapter Text

Cas had long since finished his reading of the collection of Doyle books and was onto Jane Austen novels. He found the storylines less enticing than that of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries but enjoyed them none the less.

A great sadness was caught from both of the sensors which Cas had placed inside Dean and Sam, and Cas prepared himself for whatever was wrong as he stretched his wings and flew to his friends. He landed invisibly, as per usual, so that he could scope the room first, and Cas was shocked and saddened to find Bobby lying on a hospital bed and linked up to machines. Bobby had been a good friend of his in the future, and Cas had considerably missed the grumpy man. He didn't hesitate with his decision to heal his old friend.

Cas turned visible next to Bobby's bed and both the Winchesters stiffened at his presence. They didn't like him being here, and they really didn't like when he lowered his hand onto the comatose man's head.

"What are you doing?!" Dean shouted as he ran towards him and grabbed hold of Cas' arm. But Dean wasn't strong enough to stop him. Cas touched his palm to Bobby's forehead and pushed his grace inside to heal his mind and force him awake. Dean was shouting in Cas’ ear, telling him to leave Bobby alone when the man in question sat up suddenly in his bed, his breathing heavy and laboured. Dean fell silent as Cas removed his hand and Sam rushed to his pseudo father's side.

"Bobby! Hey! Hey, you alright?" Sam asked in a hushed tone, and Dean let his grip on the angel fall as he looked down at Bobby. The man was blinking sluggishly as he recovered from his induced nightmare, and Cas slowly stepped away to give him some room with his surrogate children.

"Course I'm alright, Boy," Bobby muttered, and Sam laughed light-heartedly.

"Thank you," the youngest Winchester said in earnest as he turned his eyes to Cas. The overwhelming sadness that had been emitting from both brothers had faded entirely now, and he could no longer sense their emotions without reading their minds.

"What happened Bobby?" Dean asked quietly, and the older man went into an explanation about the dream walker. Cas pondered his memory as he recalled the books and about how they were going to get dream root from Bela; he recalled, however, that she would use this as a distraction to steal the colt from them…

Cas wasn’t about to let that happen. He stuck around and said he wanted to help and, even though Bobby and Dean were both suspicious of him, no one objected. It was two days later when they realised that it was impossible to find this dream walker, even Cas couldn't, and Bobby was tired.

"I think I'm just gonna have to go back to sleep and fight him off that way," Bobby muttered around a yawn.

"That's not very wise," Cas said at the same time that Dean and Sam expressed their dislike of the plan.

"I can't avoid sleep forever."

"You can't face him alone, Bobby," Sam said in a concerned voice.

"Well, there ain't exactly a lot of options, Boy."

"We can take some of that dream-root crap and come too."

"And where are you going to get some?" Bobby said cynically.

"Crap," Dean muttered.

"What?"

"Bela."

"Bela? Crap," Sam responded.

"I can put you into Bobby's dream without the root," Cas said, and all three men turned to look at him.

"No offence, but I'm not really liking the idea of you in my head," Bobby said cautiously, and Cas shrugged his shoulder.

"I don't need to go in to send these two in."

"Hell no," Dean exclaimed.

"Dean… I hate to say it," Bobby started, "but it's the best idea we've got. Bela ain't exactly going to offer up the root for free."

Dean looked over at Sam for back-up, but Sam agreed with Bobby and so, outnumbered, the eldest Winchester gave in. Cas once again placed his hand on Bobby's forehead and pushed his grace inside, this time to make him sleep. After he was done, he sent the brothers in too while he waited in the room to watch out for them.

[] [] []

"You're going to die! And this… this is what you're going to become!" Cas reached out and grabbed the dream-Dean's head. He pushed his grace into it and disintegrated it; the body dropped dead. Dean looked up at him with wide eyes and Cas shrugged.

"It was annoying me," he said simply and walked off. Dean followed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean shouted, and Cas scoffed a laugh. He'd been doing as they'd asked and waiting outside of Bobby's head when he felt pulverising fear attack Dean, and he'd jumped in without a second thought. "And why do you look like a tax accountant?" Cas froze and looked down at himself. Sure enough, he was wearing his old suit and tan overcoat. He smiled lightly and rubbed at his chin, feeling that his stubble was shorter and more tamed, he then ran his hand through his hair. He was exactly how he used to be.

"I guess that, since I'm in here too, the dream has taken some of my memories as well," Cas chuckled. "I've missed this," he said, and Dean frowned in confusion.

"Well, yeah, I have to admit you look a lot better than the 'hobo' look you usually have." Cas decided to take that as a compliment and laughed, deciding that he would stay this way from now on. Cas did his best to curve his enjoyment and turned to Dean with a straight face once more.

"Where's your brother?"

"We got separated."

"Great," Cas muttered sarcastically, when he landed in Bobby's head he'd only just managed to sense Dean, and Cas knew him exceptionally well; however, in the future, he hadn't seen much of Sam past when Lucifer rose, so there was no way he was going to be able to track him down.

"Can't you find him?" Dean asked worriedly.

"No,” Cas said, shaking his head, “dreams are completely different to reality, and I'm not as powerful here. But don't worry, I'm sure he's fine."

"You seemed pretty powerful back there," Dean said snidely, and Cas smirked.

"That was easy… tracking is different. I only managed to find you because of the contract," Cas lied easily, thinking it best to not mention their bond… Dean barely even knew him yet. They walked aimlessly for a short time; at first in an alleyway, then the buildings turned to trees and right up ahead there was… Cas froze.

Dean walked ahead a few steps before noticing Cas’ hesitance and turned back to him. But Cas was staring wide-eyed at the camp that lay just ahead of those trees: Camp Chitaqua. Castiel took a few deep breaths and moved forwards again, towards the camp.

"What was that about?" Dean asked him, but Cas didn’t want to answer.

"You should stay here," he replied with a tight voice, and the hunter next to him shook his head.

"No."

"Dean…"

"Do you think I'm going to let you run around inside Bobby's head by yourself? No. I'm going wherever you are." Cas stopped at the entrance of the camp and turned to his friend.

"This is part of my dream, Dean… do you really want to know what I dream about?" Cas asked, though technically he never dreamt anymore because he didn't sleep now that he had his powers back again. But he meditated occasionally, and sometimes his mind wandered into a dream-like state. Dean seemed to pale at the thought of that, but he still nodded.

"Lead the way."

Cas turned and stalked into the camp; he had to check it out in case the dream walker was hiding out there, but he really didn't want to; especially not with Dean by his side. The two walked through the deserted camp, moving through every cabin and checking every room. When they got to his cabin, Cas concentrated on a picture there; one where himself, Dean and Chuck posed with their weapons and friendly smiles. Cas used his grace to turn Dean's face into someone else from the camp and then he carried on checking the cabin. He turned around to see Dean holding the picture and frowning.

"Where are we?" he asked as he put the frame back onto the table, but Cas just walked outside again. They checked every single cabin at the camp until there was only one place left to check. He sighed and walked towards the graveyard with Dean in tow.

In his time there had been around fifteen graves here... but in his dream, there were more like seventy. All of them belonged to the people that had resided in their camp.

Cas skimmed his gaze across the area and was satisfied that no-one was there, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around just yet. He took a deep breath and slowly walked up to a specific grave near the back of the lot. He crouched next to it and dipped his head in sadness. It was Dean's grave. Cas realised then that he still mourned for his leader. Which was insane, he knew, because Dean Winchester was alive and well and standing right behind him.

But his future was as of yet unchanged. And, if Dean stayed on his current path, it would be only a matter of time before he ended up buried at the back of a rickety old camp.

Cas lay his hand on the stone which he’d placed where his leader - his lover - was buried, and dusted it clean. There was no name or date or any kind of indication to who the man was which lay beneath, just a large grey rock. Dean watched Cas' actions silently; he could see the grief and sadness on Cas’ face and realised what a personal moment it was for him, suddenly feeling bad for insisting on coming with him. Cas had tears in his eyes as he looked up at Dean, but he blinked them away; leaving Dean to wonder if they had really been there at all.

"This is my family," Cas said quietly, answering Dean's previous question. He looked around at the rest of the graves surrounding them; he had known the people buried here for years. He would have died for any one of them.

But, in the end, it had been Dean he’d died for. Again.

"Big family," Dean noted, and Cas scoffed a laugh.

"You haven't met my other one yet… and let's pray you never have to." Dean looked at him, confused, and Cas sighed before he answered with: "You aren't the only ones who believe that family extends past more than blood." Dean nodded at that, and Cas looked back at the grave and then sighed. "The dream walker is not here… we should leave and try somewhere else."

He got up, and then his heart almost stopped when he saw Sam looming behind his friend. But it wasn't Sam… it was Lucifer. Cas quickly withdrew his blade and Lucifer chuckled, Dean turned in surprise and smiled at who he thought was his brother.

"Dean, that's not Sam. Step back!" Cas shouted, and Lucifer smiled while withdrawing his own blade.

"Don't worry, Castiel, I'm not going to hurt him so long as he stays out of my way." Cas tried to move towards him, but his ankle was suddenly grabbed. He looked down to see a hand rising out of Dean's grave and holding him. It was the kind of unmovable grip that could only happen in dreams and Cas cursed in anger. He struggled to get free as Lucifer approached him. "You, on the other hand…"

Dean looked around for something to use to his advantage and seemed to notice that the other members of the camp were also rising from their graves along with Cas’ lover.

"You stop using them!" Cas shouted in anger and sadness, he swung at Lucifer, but the Archangel was able to jump out of the way, leaning forward with his own blade to knock Cas' away. Lucifer then grabbed Cas by the shoulder and pushed him backwards onto the floor, he aimed his blade, ready to make the last move. Dean struggled with what to do, then he suddenly thought about the colt, and it materialised in his hand. He didn't have the time to stand in shock, though; he aimed the gun and fired it into Lucifer's head. Cas immediately jumped off the ground and to his feet.

"You okay?" Dean asked, but Cas shook his head.

"He's not dead" Cas panted out as he searched the ground for his blade. He knew that the gun wouldn't work on an Archangel, and since he knew it, the dream would know it too. Cas didn't have time to find his blade before Lucifer was standing again.

"Ouch," he said and then attacked Dean. He pushed him up against the trunk of a large tree and raised his hand, ready to snap Dean’s neck using his grace. Cas felt sick with worry, finally seeing his angel blade glinting in the moonlight on the nearby ground. "That wasn't very nice, Dean," Lucifer continued. Cas didn’t wait before he grabbed his blade and plunged it into the Archangel's back. Lucifer burst with light as he died and, thankfully, didn't leave any tell-tale wing-shaped scorch marks on the ground.

"Who the hell was that?" Dean shouted at him as he bent over to catch his breath; Cas resisted the urge to touch his arm and check for injuries. "And why did he look like Sam?" Cas sighed and looked back towards the graves; the people buried in them had stopped raising now, but limps and sometimes heads were sticking out from the ground, in one case the whole top half of a rotting body.

"He was my brother." Cas spit the words out as if they disgusted him, which they did. He walked over to Dean's grave and was thankful that only his hands were out of the dirt. He crouched by his former lover and placed one hand on the mud, the body started to move again, this time shrinking back into the ground. Cas swallowed hard at having to re-bury his lover and breathed heavily from the ache in his chest.

"Why was he wearing my brother?" Dean asked, but more softly now.

"It's a dream, our thoughts probably got muddled and produced him,” Cas lied, glancing momentarily back at Dean over his shoulder. “I know what Azazel said to you… he made you wonder if that really is Sam that I brought back; so you've probably been worrying that something like this could happen." Cas brought his attention back to his lover’s grave, running his hand over the mound of dirt beneath him gently, saying goodbye one last time.

He then got up and left. All the other bodies were still half out of their graves, but Cas didn't make a move to change that; he wanted to, but he knew it would take up too much of his power while he was still so weakened in this dream-state.

"Was that your…" Dean paused, searching for the right words since the hands had obviously been male, "partner?"

"Yes," Cas said simply, and they walked out of the camp.

"And your name is Castiel?" Cas looked at him and frowned.

"Yes"

"No wonder you didn't tell me, it's quite a mouthful," Cas smiled, but Dean could still see the heartbreak in his eyes.

"I didn't tell you because I faked my death," Cas said quietly as he thought his way through this mess he'd created, trying to keep it as close to the truth as possible. Technically, he hadn't really faked his death but, with his sudden disappearance, all the angels would think he was dead by now anyway. "There are a lot of monsters out there that would have some questions for me if they knew I was alive, and they wouldn't hesitate to torture or kill you if they thought you knew where I am." That part, at least, was one hundred per cent true.

"Mind being a little less vague? What are we talking about here?" Dean pushed for answers, and Cas sighed as he looked over at the Winchester.

"My brothers and sisters, for one…" Dean gulped as he thought that over; one of them in a dream had been bad enough, but Cas said that his other family was huge…

"Why do they want you?"

"It's… complicated."

"Well if you want me to keep your name a secret then I'm going to need more than that," Dean said, and Cas looked at him with surprise. "So, what d'ya say Cas? Storytelling time?" Castiel smiled at his nickname and nodded. He couldn't tell Dean the complete truth… but maybe a little wouldn't hurt.

"My older siblings… they want war,” Cas said. “A war so great that it would kill the world itself.” To talk about it as though it hadn’t happened yet was difficult. Because, although the apocalypse was, in fact, years away, Cas had lived through it once already. He remembered the carnage, the destruction, the death. It had been a heavy toll on them all. “Many of us didn't know about this, we were just the grunts, blindly following orders. I found out about what was really happening and so I attempted to stop it… I'm still trying to stop it."

"Why do you care?" Dean asked with a frown, and Cas lifted his eyes, catching Dean's green ones: wide and filled to the brim with emotions which Cas’ leader hadn’t been capable of in years.

"You are flawed creatures,” Cas said, “but you're better than us by far.” It was true. Cas’ kind were more akin to mindless drones than actual, living, breathing, sentient creatures. There was a reason why Cas prefered it down here, with humanity, than up there with his brothers and sisters. “I don't want to see any more of you die." Dean's brow furrowed, and Cas looked away.

"So, your family,” Dean said. “The one back at the camp… they were human?" Cas nodded but then remembered Chuck.

"Most of them, yes."

"Right… I've got to say, you're the first monster I've met that actually thinks we're better than you."

"Well, the rest of them obviously haven't spent time with my siblings," Cas joked. "So, you believe me?"

"Yeah… God help me, but I do" Dean muttered, making Cas smile. It was only a quick involuntary twist of lips before he forced himself back into his character.

Lately, he could feel it becoming harder and harder to act like he didn't care about the Winchesters, sometimes Cas’ mask would drop, and they could see him for who he really was. Cas wasn't sure yet if it would be a good or bad thing if he just dropped the act all together… so, until he decided, he would carry on the same as he'd started.

"So," Dean said while scouting the area in front of them. He looked to be faining disinterest, but Cas could hear the curiosity in his voice. “What happened back with the Pagan Gods? And again a few days ago with Bobby? Why do you keep coming to help?" He asked before quickly adding: "Not that I'm complaining."

Cas chuckled a little at Dean's words.

"The contract is a strong bond between us; through it, I sensed your pain when they were torturing you. I came because you two are fairly interesting… it'd be a shame for you to die."

"Wow… really feeling the love," Dean said dryly, and Cas huffed out a laugh. He thought back to a week ago when he had felt Dean being tortured, and Cas could barely hold in his shudder. The pain itself hadn't been too bad, he knew they had felt a lot worse, and so he didn't go straight away when he felt the cut on Sam's arm. It was only when he felt a similar cut on Dean's that he had gotten suspicious. When he had focused on the sensor inside Dean, he had felt the sadness and anger and horrifying fear that went with it, and Cas hadn't wasted any time in flying to their assistance.

He knew that they had been facing Pagan Gods because the sensors had warned him, but he hadn't expected the Gods to be as strong as they were. They'd had several sacrifices in the past few weeks, and so their reflexes were fast, and they were powerful. But he was still an angel, and no matter how strong they were, they couldn't kill him without an angel blade.

"I suppose that if I asked about that light, then you wouldn't tell me?" Dean asked, and Cas shook his head: there was no way to explain that he could burn the evil out of a body by his mere touch to their core. "Well, whatever it is, it sure comes in handy."

That's when Cas felt the dream-world shake and become unstable.

The dream-walker was dying.

[] [] []

Dean woke up with a harsh breath, his mind and body hurt at how sudden the dream had collapsed. He sat up and saw Cas standing in the room and staring at him. The trickster looked the same as he had done in the dream; his hair was short and windswept, his stubble was tamed and barely there and his somewhat dirty hippy clothes were replaced with a suit, blue tie and a tan overcoat. Cas nodded at him once and then disappeared.

"Was that the trickster?" Sam asked, shocked, and Dean looked over to where he was sitting in one of the chairs at the table, having gone to sleep there.

"Sure looked like," Bobby muttered from the other bed in the room as he rubbed at his temple.

"He was in the dream," Dean said quietly, and Bobby turned to face him, he didn't look happy about that. "Showed up not long after we got separated and he was looking like that… said something about it being a memory," Dean said around a yawn. "What happened to the dream-walker?"

"I… I don't really know how, but I brought his biggest fear into the dream… his Dad."

"More of that psychic stuff?" Bobby asked, and Sam shrugged, looking a little uneasy at the thought.

"No, I did something similar," Dean said, thinking about how the colt had materialised, "dreams are different than reality, we can do things we wouldn't normally be able to." Sam seemed relieved by his answer and smiled ever so slightly. "By the way, I think you're right about the trickster… killing him won't do any good, we've got to find a different way around the deal."

"What made you change your mind?" Sam asked, and Dean shrugged, he took a moment to think what he could tell his family about Cas and decided that, as long as they didn't know his real name, he could tell them pretty much everything.

"I was in his dream for a bit and… I don't know, it was an experience."

"What'd you find out?" Bobby asked, and Dean shrugged again.

"Not much… his name's Cas. I don't think it's his real name, but it's something. Also, his brother's a jackass."

"I guess I can relate to him there," Sam muttered, and Dean glared at him.

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Chapter Text

Castiel rubbed at his forehead as he attempted to fly towards Sam and Dean, but every time he tried, his mind got scrambled, and he forgot what he was doing and ending up doing something else instead. It was an obvious decoy that only Gabriel would think of doing, and it was really getting on his nerves. Castiel knew the exact moment that the Winchesters came near to the Archangel and if the perception filter was anything to go by, then Gabriel knew as well. Cas could easily break the field of energy that surrounded the filter and prevented him from entering… but it would alert his brother to the fact he was there, and Cas really didn't need that right now. So instead, he was left to test the walls and see if one part of the filter was weaker than the others.

And then Dean died.

Because of Dean's sensor, Cas felt the bullet pierce the man's chest. He felt the spluttering of Dean's heart as it tried and failed to keep the blood circling his body. He felt him go into cardiac arrest, and he felt the exact moment when his body gave out.

And then the day restarted.

Castiel's head spun, and he felt something akin to whiplash… this was not good. He remembered this from one of the books, and it had gone on for weeks. But he couldn't let that happen. Castiel felt sick at the idea of having to feel Dean's death again; he felt none of the physical pain, but it made him emotionally distraught. So he started going at the walls of energy with more determination.

But the next time Dean died it was a lot sooner than it had been the first day. He was hit by something travelling at high speed, probably a car or bus. This time he died of respiratory arrest when his lungs and other organs stopped working; it took longer for him to die. On day three, he was hit by something else, but it was different. His organs were destroyed, and he died on impact.

By the time that Dean started choking on day four, Cas was a mess. He couldn't get through the damned wall without alerting Gabriel… and letting the Archangel know that he was there could be a huge mistake.

But it was just one he was going to have to make. Cas gathered a small amount of grace and used it to push through the perimeter. He landed invisibly in a heap on the floor of the Winchesters' motel room. He stood up slowly and looked around, it was first thing in the morning, and Sam was just getting out of bed as Dean sang along to a song that was playing from the alarm clock. Sam looked as fed-up as Cas felt and he remembered that, out of everyone in the town, only the trickster - who Cas now realised must have been his brother Gabriel - and Sam remembered the repeated days.

Cas had felt Dean die, but Sam had seen it. And he was beginning to look numb to it all already.

"You need to leave," Cas said as he appeared in front of the Winchesters. "Right now." Both the brother's looked shocked by his sudden appearance but that only lasted a few seconds.

"Why?" Dean asked, and Cas pointedly looked at Sam. It would be better coming from Sam than himself.

"We're caught in a time loop and you… you keep dying," Sam muttered, "and then the day resets. And it's Tuesday again."

"That's crazy."

"Not necessarily," Cas said, and both brother's turned to look at him once more. He was feeling uneasy at how he'd broken his way through the wall, and it was showing by his fidgeting, but Gabriel could show up at any second.

"Okay… well, how come I don't remember any of this?" Dean asked, looking agitated by Cas’ discomfort.

"Because you're not supposed to remember. Only Sam is." Cas replied. He wasn't even supposed to remember any of the days, and he wouldn't have if it wasn't for the sensor he had placed inside Dean; if Cas wasn't able to sense Dean's death, then every time that the day reset his own day would play out the exact same way. And if there were no changes to his own day, then the resetting wouldn't affect him, and he wouldn't remember it.

"Why does it keep happening?" Sam asked desperately, and it reminded Cas, once again, about how many times Sam had been unable to do anything except watch his brother die in the past few days.

"One of my brothers is doing it."

Dean, who had been standing by his bed, seemed to stand up a little straighter now and Cas knew without even having to read his mind, that Dean was remembering Lucifer from the dream. Dean nodded and moved to grab his bag from the table; he started packing when he suddenly slipped on his own feet and went hurtling towards the ground. His head banged loudly on the corner of his end table and cracking his skull open. Cas didn't even have a chance to move and heal him before the day was reset.

He found himself back in the safe house he'd created and cursed loudly.

His head spun. He had felt and seen Dean die this time, and it was worse than he had thought it'd be. He felt his usual whiplash feeling from being forced back to the beginning of the day again. But this time it felt even more horrible because he'd been flung hundreds of miles away from where he had been when the last loop had ended. Cas took too long to find the ground under his feet when he stood up and by the time he thought he might be able to fly again Dean had already died for the sixth time. He'd bled out from being shot several times.

Castiel felt weak and sick when the day restarted, and he knew it was because of Gabriel. The Archangel had to know that Cas was trying to interfere with what he was doing and so instead of attempt to kill him, he decided to do this to keep him at bay.

But Cas was stronger than Gabriel knew and so he shook off the feeling quicker and forced himself through the field once again. He was later getting through then he thought he'd be and by the time he found the brothers, they were just walking into a diner. Cas stood across the street and saw them walking right past Gabriel without either Winchester noticing. Cas stared at the Archangel with trepidation… he was stronger than Gabriel now, but he still feared his older brother's power

After about five minutes, Gabriel left the diner, and Cas felt safe enough to enter. He walked in and stood next to Sam and Dean's table. Sam looked relieved to see him and instantly scooted over in his seat so that the angel could sit down, but Dean seemed worried. When Dean noticed Sam's reaction, his expression turned suspicious, and a bit hurt, which confused Cas, but he didn't have the time to investigate further.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked warily, casting his eyes back and forth between Sam and Cas.

"There's no time to explain again," Cas said to Dean and then turned to face Sam. "Why haven't you left yet?"

"Make time," Dean growled, his voice slightly raised, and Cas flexed his jaw as he took a deep breath in through his nose and ignored the eldest Winchester. Sam seemed to want to explain to Dean too, but he knew that Cas was right and they might not have the time to.

"The car broke down yesterday when we were on the way out of here; Dean couldn't fix it so it went to the garage and he got shot when the place was robbed."

"What the hell are you two on about?!" Dean all but shouted angrily at them, and Cas understood his reaction, but he couldn't help.

"Well, I can barely get myself in here so I don't think I can fly you two out," Cas muttered, "I'm going to have to talk to my brother."

"Wait. What about your brother?" Dean asked, looking a little scared and Cas took a deep, annoyed, breath.

"He stuck Sam in Groundhog Day," Cas said curtly to Dean; he used the film that he had once watched with Dean as a way to get the eldest Winchester to understand without having to waste time explaining.

"O-kay…" Dean said, drawing out the word, "and now you want to talk to him? Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't want to talk to him. I have to."

"Still…"

"I should start looking for him," Cas said suddenly and stood up from the bench. He walked straight out of the diner without another thought. He'd seen Gabriel sitting at a table, and the best way to find him would just be to wait until the day reset itself… but he didn't want to have to feel Dean die again.

However, he only had a few minutes before he felt Dean being impaled in the chest. He'd died almost instantly, and Cas was sent back to his safe house.

He took several deep breaths and sat out the dizzy spell that overcame him. When he got back to Dean and Sam, they were in the diner. He looked inside and wished that he could take his time confronting Gabriel… but he couldn't indulge his cowardice because he knew that Dean could die at any moment.

Cas walked into the diner. Dean noticed him instantly, and Sam turned around to see him as well, not expecting the angel to walk right past them and sit by the man eating pancakes at the counter. Sam realised straight away that the man must be Cas' brother and he stood up angrily, but Cas just glared at him until he sat back down.

"Castiel," Gabriel greeted around a mouthful of pancakes, apparently undeterred that his cover had been blown. "Tell me… why do you have such an interest in the Winchesters?"

"I could ask you the same question."

Gabriel shook his head and motioned at Cas with his fork.

"No. I'm just doing this because it's fun,” he said. “But you. You've got something up your sleeve. I can tell."

"You could say that," Cas said. His wardings couldn't hide that he was an angel from someone as strong as his brother, they couldn't even hide his identity. But they did hide his true power.

"From what I remember, you were never one hundred per cent obedient… but to come down here and take a vessel?” Gabriel continued, shaking his head. “I didn't expect that. You must have one hell of a reason… so what is it?" Cas felt Dean and Sam's restlessness radiating off them and knew that he didn't have too much time left to talk to his brother before they would intervene. He sighed in slight discomfort and ignored the question.

"You need to let them go."

"You expect me to believe that that's your reason?” Gabriel scoffed, taking another bite of pancake drenched in syrup. “You weren't obedient, but you were still a good soldier. If you had noticed something was going on and investigated, finding out that it was me, you would have informed others, and Michael would be the one sitting next to me right now. Not you."

"Gabriel, you need to stop with this game."

"But I'm having so much fun," Gabriel laughed darkly and stood up, apparently no-longer caring about Cas' reasoning. Cas grabbed his arm in a stronghold to keep him from moving.

"If you don't stop… then I will stop you," Cas said menacingly with a hard stare. Gabriel smirked and was about to retort when Cas dropped his barriers. He dropped his warding for only a brief second and allowed the Archangel to see exactly how powerful he was. Gabriel's slightly fear-widened eyes were the only evidence that he'd noticed before the Archangel fled the diner. Cas was surprised when he looked around and noticed that no-one but the Winchesters had seen Gabriel's disappearance.

Both of the brothers walked over to him at the same time that he felt the field around the city disperse.

"He's gone now, but I still suggest that you leave too."

"We'll get right on that… thanks," Dean added after a seconds pause; Sam must have explained to him about what was going on.

"Why was he doing it?" Sam asked, and Cas shrugged.

"He said it was 'fun.'"

"He was your brother? You're telling me that's just a coincidence?" Dean asked, and Cas tried not to bristle at that.

"I have many siblings."

"What did you tell him to make him stop?" Dean continued, and Cas shook his head and sighed loudly.

"That's not important… look, next time you need my help, just try praying. I'm a Norse God, I'll hear," he said, and then he turned invisible. A man sitting a few tables away dropped his fork back onto the table as he saw it, blinking as though he was seeing things, and both the Winchesters left the diner quickly.

Cas followed them until they left the town to make sure that they weren't going to be harmed and he couldn't help but overhear their conversations. He wasn't all that shocked to hear that, with Cas being secretive about his brother, they weren't feeling too trusting of him and they probably wouldn't be praying any time soon.

Chapter Text

Cas had been attempting to avoid Gabriel since they'd met, but the Archangel was searching him out. He wasn't sure why his brother was doing it, but Cas knew that he shouldn't talk to Gabriel about anything. He took a deep, unneeded, breath and flew away as he felt his brother approaching. It had been like this for several days now, and he was tired. Not physically tired, Cas could quite literally do this for years, but mentally he was exhausted. He didn't want to keep avoiding his brother.

Cas felt a warning go off in his grace not long after Dean was shot, it had only been a flesh wound to his shoulder, and so it was nothing to worry about… but now the sensors he'd left on the Winchesters picked up that they were in grave danger. He opened his mind to the information, and his eyes widened in shock. At least thirty demons were advancing on them, they'd be there in less than twenty minutes. Cas swallowed thickly with worry. He needed to go help them, but he could already feel Gabriel was getting close again, and it was probably a bad idea to lead him to his friends.

Castiel took a deep breath and sent his location to Gabriel. A couple of seconds later, the Archangel appeared.

"Hey, Bro, thanks for the invite."

"If you leave me alone for a couple of days, then I will be more than happy to answer your questions," Cas said, his words blunt because he didn't have a lot of time. Gabriel made a quip about how they don't just talk anymore but then looked at him for a moment and nodded.

"Two days," he said, and then he disappeared. Cas sighed in both relief and frustration and flew towards his friends. He was, as always, invisible when he touched ground, and he took a moment to take in his surroundings. Dean and Sam were in a cell, a tall black man with a shaved head wearing a suit was lying unconscious on the ground next to them, Dean was holding a gun at him, and another man was lying dead on the floor of the cell. A male officer and a woman were standing outside of the cell in a state of shock. The young woman stepped forwards.

"Is he… is he dead?" She whispered, and a second later, the black man began to cough and move on the ground.

"Hendrickson…" Sam said as he sat leaning against the bars of the cell and breathing heavily. "Hey… is that you in there?"

The man, Hendrickson, scrambled to a sitting position and pushed himself up onto the bed; Dean kept the gun pointed at the man's feet, ready to lift it and fire at him if needed. Hendrickson looked around in slight confusion and tilted his head.

"I…" he began, "I shot the sheriff."

Dean looked as though he was trying not to smile, but failed.

"But you didn't shoot the deputy," he said, and Sam glared at him while Cas laughed; he chose that moment to show himself. Dean spun around and aimed the gun at him, Sam jumped to his feet, and everyone else in the room stumbled backwards in shock and fear.

"Damn it, Cas! What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked as he lowered the gun, looking tense and frustrated.

Cas liked to hope that Dean had lowered it because he didn't actually want to shoot Cas, but he had a feeling it was more like Dean just knew it wouldn't do anything but piss him off.

"Oh, I just thought you'd like to know that more than thirty demons are hightailing there way here." Sam and Dean shared a look.

"How many more?" Sam asked, his voice strained, and Cas shook his head.

"I can't get a good read, there's too many travelling together as one."

"Well fuck," Dean said quietly, "do you know how long?"

"Fifteen minutes, maybe less." Dean nodded, looking at the floor while he thought.

"Thanks, Cas," he said eventually, sounding a little bit defeated and Cas listened into his thoughts, shocked to hear that Dean had already decided that he was going to die tonight.

[] [] []

It was hard for Dean to accept, but he knew that he was going to die now. He was going to go to hell.

"I can fly you all out," Cas offered, and for a moment, Dean had hope. But then it got crushed once he came to his senses a second later.

"We can't leave a swarm of demons here doing God knows what without at least putting up a fight," Dean muttered solemnly, and Cas nodded. Then the trickster disappeared.

"Shit," Sam mumbled beside him, "of all the times that Cas decided to help us out, now would have been good."

Dean nodded, but he completely understood why the trickster had left them to their fate: helping them out now would be suicide. He couldn't blame Cas for leaving them, but he also couldn't stop wishing that the trickster had stayed.

"Yeah, well there's no time to talk. We don't have very long," Dean said, trying his best to squash down his disappointment and fear. He turned around to face Hendrickson again and saw the man still hadn't recovered from being possessed; in fact, Cas suddenly showing up had probably set him back a few steps. "You going to let us out of these things?" He asked with his hands raised to indicate the cuffs that were still on his wrists. Hendrickson nodded and made a signal for the officer behind them to come closer.

"Keys," he said simply; the man handed them over, and Hendrickson started to unlock their cuffs.

"By the way, we owe you the biggest 'I told you so' ever."

"Alright, so how do we survive?" Hendrickson asked a moment later.

"We start with these," said a deep voice from behind them, and Dean jumped and spun around to see Cas standing there once more. Dean’s stomach uncurled slightly at the sight of the trickster holding up several anti-possession necklaces. Dean also noticed one of his duffel bags hanging off of Cas' shoulder that seemed to be filled with guns. The trickster put everything he was holding down onto a table, and Dean nodded.

"Yeah, everyone put one on. They keep you from being possessed," Dean muttered. Hendrickson moved away from the brothers and towards the table at the same time that Cas moved towards them. Cas lifted his hand and placed it on Dean's shoulder, precisely where he'd been shot earlier.

Dean flinched away a little bit before he started to feel something being emitted from Cas. It was hard to describe exactly how it felt as the invisible force sunk into his body; it was like a warm buzz, making Dean a bit light-headed as his shoulder muscles felt like they were being caressed from the inside.

A second later, when Cas moved his hand, Dean was healed.

"Thanks," he said, looking directly into the bright blue eyes that were shining back at him; he didn't know what else to say, still too shocked by the fact that Cas had come back.

"You're welcome," the trickster replied and broke eye contact to look at the bag of weapons which he’d dumped onto the table. "I got everything from your car, but I couldn't find the colt."

"Yeah, Bela rang me yesterday asking for our help,” Dean said, having to clear his voice before he could get any words out. “We got there this morning just to be distracted by Hendrickson arresting us while she got away with the gun."

Cas narrowed his eyes as Dean spoke and disappeared again once he'd finished.

"I really wish he'd stop doing that," Dean muttered, mainly to himself but Sam heard and agreed.

"Does he do that a lot?" Hendrickson asked, but before either of them could answer Cas was back. And he wasn't alone.

"Get off of me!" Bela shouted at Cas as she tried to wriggle free from his grasp on her arm. Cas just looked at her coolly and handed Dean the colt.

"Yeah, let her go so I can shoot her," Dean said icily as he looked at Bela, a scowl on his face. He was getting increasingly annoyed by her and was about to start yelling when Cas interrupted him.

"Dean, we have less than ten minutes. We need to start preparations."

Bela tugged more at Cas' grasp on her arm, and the trickster let her go. She backed away from them but didn't flee the room like Dean thought she might. She looked scared, close to terrified. And Dean knew that even though he really wanted a good screaming match with her, it would have to wait.

"Fine. We need salt and some kind of paint. Also, a blueprint of the building would be good," Dean said as he turned to the FBI agent, police officer, and secretary in the room.

"There's road salt in the storeroom," Nancy said quietly, and Dean nodded.

"Perfect. We need salt at every window and door. What about the paint?"

"There might be some spray cans in lock-up."

"Okay, I'll go check," Sam said, "you three get started with the salt." They nodded, and all four walked out of the room, leaving just him, Cas and Bela.

"What's going on here?" The woman asked, and Dean contemplated ignoring her but decided against it.

"We've got demons coming our way."

"How many?"

"About thirty," Cas answered for him and Bela's eyes widened.

"Take me back," she ordered at Cas, "right now. Take me back!" But the trickster just stared her down, looking as though she was little more than a nuisance.

"You're the reason they're here and in this mess, so you're going to help,” Cas said. “And unless you want your contract to end ahead of schedule then you better start soon," he said, his voice sharp and icy, and Dean could see all the colour drain from Bela's face. He was shocked to hear about her demon deal but decided there was no time.

Dean went to find Sam while Cas and Bela helped to do the salt lines. The brother's used the blueprint to plan exactly where each devil's trap was needed, and they both set out to paint them. Dean had just finished his last trap when Cas appeared next to him.

"They're here."

[] [] []

Cas’ grace rippled inside of him, repulsed by the presence of so many demons surrounding them. There was a brief onslaught of black smoke, but no demons got through the barriers. Afterwards, Dean pulled Cas aside. They walked away from the others and into a back room so they could talk easier.

"Why did you stay?" Dean asked and then hastened to add, "I'm glad you did, but I just want to know why."

"The same reason as before; you and Sam are interesting,” Cas said. He wanted to tell Dean the truth, to tell him just how much Cas cared about the two of them. But he knew he couldn’t. “But I'm sure you didn't bring me back here just to ask me that. So what do you need, Dean?"

"That light thing that you don't want to tell us about… how many can you take out with it?"

Cas thought for a moment about Dean's question. He could easily take out every demon here in one go if they were all in the same room… but that much angel activity would definitely alert some of his brothers and sisters. And he just wasn't ready to face them yet.

"It wouldn't be very useful in this situation," he lied to Dean, who simply nodded to himself as though he’d known that would be Cas’ answer.

"Okay. Well, in that case, I need you to fly Sam and everyone else out of here. I don't want them getting hurt."

"Dean -" Cas started to object, but his friend cut him off.

"No, Cas. I won't let my brother and all of these innocent people die."

"And I won't leave you alone."

"Then leave behind Bela," Dean joked dryly, but his laugh afterwards was forced and filled with sadness.

"You're not going to die today, Dean," Cas said determinately but, before Dean could say anything else, there was a loud crash in another room. The hunter and the angel rushed towards the noise, only to find Ruby standing in one of the devil's traps after breaking the glass window to get inside. They were the first ones in the room, but others followed seconds later.

"How do we kill her?" Hendrickson asked as he aimed a shotgun to the demon.

"We don't," Sam said as he forced the gun to lower, "she's here to help us."

Cas could feel the tension and frustration rolling off of Dean beside him, and it was mirrored in himself. Sam let Ruby out of the trap, and she walked past all of them and out of the room. Everyone followed her out with Sam last after he was done fixing the salt line.

"There's around thirty out there. So far," Ruby muttered to the room, and everybody nodded. Cas couldn't stop glowering at her. "Lilith sent them, in case you're wondering."

"Who's Lilith?" Dean asked, and Ruby turned to face Sam.

"You didn't tell Dean? Oh. I'm surprised," she muttered, and Cas had a sudden urge to wipe the smirk off of her face. "There's a big new up and comer. Real pied piper. And she really, really wants Sam's intestines on a stick."

"Did you know about this?" Dean asked suddenly, turning to face Cas, and he nodded. "Great. Did no-one think to tell me that a demon bitch is out there gunning for my brother?" Dean practically shouted.

"I figured you already knew," Cas muttered, and it was the truth. He turned to look at Sam and tilted his head at the younger brother. Ruby was now glaring at him; his wards had stopped her from knowing he was more than human, but Dean's words had made her look closer, and now she saw the warding.

"You must be the trickster I've heard so much about," she muttered dryly and squared her jaw. He glared back at her and answered coolly.

"I don't think we really have the time for introductions."

"No. I suppose we don't. We'll need the colt," she said, turning back to Sam.

"Got it right here," Dean muttered, taking the gun out of his jeans. "But we haven't got enough bullets for thirty demons."

"Well, how many have you got?"

"Ten. We haven't had a chance to make more," Sam muttered, and Ruby stood up and paced slightly in annoyance.

"Fine. Since I don't see that there's any other option, there is one other way I know how to get you out of here alive."

"What's that?"

"I know a spell. It'll vaporise every demon in a one-mile radius. Myself included."

"No," Cas said forcefully; everyone in the room flinched from the power in his voice and turned to look at him.

"We don't exactly have much of a choice. They do this, or they die," Ruby said, icily, and stepped close to Cas in an effort to intimidate him. He felt frustration boil underneath his skin and had to fight the idea of lowering his wards to give her a view of who she was really messing with. But, luckily, Sam interrupted their glaring match before Cas could do anything drastic.

"What's the spell?"

"She wants to sacrifice Nancy," Cas said, glowering at the demon in front of him.

"What, are you crazy?" Dean said as he walked closer to them.

"I'm offering a solution," Ruby answered snidely.

"You're offering to kill somebody!"

"And what do you think is going to happen to this girl once the demons get in?"

"We're going to protect her, that's what," Hendrickson added. As Dean, Ruby and Hendrickson were arguing, Cas noticed that Sam was quiet. He turned to look at the youngest Winchester and ignored the conversation going on around him. Sam looked pale and sad, making Cas realised that Sam would do it. He'd sacrifice Nancy to save the others.

"We're not sacrificing a virgin," Cas said firmly, making Dean very shocked. Ruby turned back to glower at him.

"Oh yeah? Well, what's your big idea, dumb-ass?"

"I'll do what I've always done," Cas said and materialised his angel blade in his hand. "Fight." Ruby took a scared step backwards as she saw the blade and the room fell silent.

"Where'd you get that?" She asked quietly, knowing exactly what it was.

"Where'd you think?" Cas replied. The demon didn't know he was an angel, but now she could see the angel blade she knew he was strong enough to kill one, which made him too powerful to get on the wrong side of.

"What is it?" Dean asked, a little worried by the tension coming off of Ruby. Neither of them answered for several seconds.

"It kills demons, that's all you need to know," Cas finally said, and Ruby shook her head to clear it, though she still looked visibly scared

"Sam?" Ruby asked, bringing him into the argument. "You know I'm right." There were a few more seconds of silence.

"What the hell is going on?" Dean muttered, "Sam, tell her."

"It's my decision," Nancy said, having already agreed to do it while Cas wasn't paying attention.

"Stop! Stop. Nobody kill any virgins," Dean shouted and walked out of the room, pulling his brother along with him. Cas stayed in the silent room with the demon, the thief, the FBI agent, the police officer, and the virgin while he waited for the brothers to get back and was relieved when Dean told them about the new plan. It was the best idea that they had.

[] [] []

A few minutes had passed since Ruby left when he started to sense Gabriel close by. He scowled and flew to find him. He was on the roof of a building across the road from the police station, looking out at the hoard of demons in front of the building.

"You need to leave," Cas told him; they’d had a deal, and he wouldn’t let his brother break it.

"That's not going to happen."

"I said I would give you your answers if you left. But you're not going to find out a thing if you hurt the Winchesters."

"I won't. Not now that I know they have a guardian angel on their shoulders," Gabriel said with a smirk. "And I never really was going to leave, just stay far enough back that you wouldn't notice me. But with all these demons…" Gabriel shrugged before continuing, "I figured that you'd need some help, Little Bro. Call it an act of good faith."

Cas took a deep breath in and let it out loudly as he thought. He looked over towards the demons on the ground and knew that he could use all the help he could get to keep these people alive.

"They're not going to like this," Cas said as he gave in. But before he would let his brother anywhere near the Winchesters, he had to explain about what the brothers did and didn’t know so that Gabriel wouldn't say something that Cas was trying to hide.

Like his name.

"Are you sure you don't want to be known as Cassy instead? It's got a much better ring to it then Cas," Gabriel said with a broad smirk. "I want a code name too. I've been going by Loki for a while now, so that's getting a bit boring… how about Spock? I could definitely pass as a Spock. Or maybe Sherlock…"

"Gabriel, we don't have time for this," Cas reminded him.

"Fine," he said grumpily, "just call me Gabe," the Archangel decided on, and Cas agreed before they flew into the police station together.

Just like he’d thought, Sam and Dean weren't happy when he showed up in the middle of the room with Gabriel by his side. They instantly recognised him as the trickster that they had previously faced, and Dean demanded to know what was going on.

"This is Gabe. He's one of my brothers, and he wants to help."

"We killed him," Sam said, and Gabe shook his head, about to say something snarky when Cas answered instead.

"Stakes don't kill us. It's a lie." He never would have said it if it wasn't for the fact that all the real tricksters had died out long before Gabriel had taken up his witness protection on earth. Both of the Winchesters looked annoyed at having to work with Gabe, but they weren't going to argue any further. Which, Cas realised too late, was what Gabriel wanted them to do.

"What's the matter, Dean-o? You still a bit upset about the Mystery Spot?" Gabriel asked in fake sincerity, and Sam's head instantly shot up to stare at the Archangel; it took a moment for Dean to understand. Gabriel momentarily shifted from the form he was currently in, to the man he'd been disguised as when he'd put Sam into the time loop.

"You've got to be kidding me," Dean said as he glared at the Archangel, but he was talking to Cas. Sam was trying his hardest not to burst forwards and attack Gabriel. "You expect us to work with that son of a bitch?"

"No. I don't,” Cas sighed. “I didn't bring him here… he followed me. And rather than turn him away I realised that we might need his help."

"If it makes you feel any better, I was only going to keep killing Dean until you found out it was me. Then I'd send you into a dream where Dean was dead for good and leave you there until you finally accepted that you couldn't bring him back. Now is that so bad?" Gabriel said, and Cas felt like hitting him.

"You're not helping, Gabe," Cas said through gritted teeth, and Gabriel shrugged.

"Fine. You want help? You're plan sucks. Someone is going to die, and it'll probably be her," Gabe said gesturing towards Bela who looked even more out of place than even Nancy did.

"Why me?" Bela demanded, and Gabriel shrugged again.

"You don't seem to be much of a team player."

"What are you thinking?" Cas asked to interrupt Bela's reply, and Gabriel smiled at him.

"They let the demons in, then we lock the doors, send them somewhere safe and play the tape. Simple."

[] [] []

Cas looked around him as the exorcise tape played and saw all of the demons pounding at the windows and doors which were being held closed by his and his brother's grace. They weren't going to get out. When the last demon had evacuated its host and been sent back to hell, they retracted their grace back into themselves and looked around at the waking citizens.

"I'll wipe their memories. You go check on everyone," Gabriel said, and Cas nodded before flying towards his friends.

"Cas?" Dean asked when he spotted the trench coat wearing angel. He hadn’t liked the idea of running away and leaving the two angels to do the dirty work, and Cas imagined that he’d been pacing a hole in the floor for the entire time that Cas had been gone. "What happened?"

"It went better than I thought it would,” Cas admitted. “Gabe is covering up. It's safe for you all to leave."

"Thanks."

Cas felt Gabriel's presence in the room and turned to see him leaning against a wall. He excused himself and walked up to his brother, knowing that the only reason he was still around was that he was waiting for his answers. He gestured for Gabe to follow him as he walked out into a different room in the abandoned house they were standing in.

"So, little brother. What are you up to?" Gabriel asked as he took out a chocolate bar from his jacket and began to unwrap it.

"I'm trying to stop it," Cas answered.

"Stop what?"

That was a loaded question. Cas was trying to stop more than just the apocalypse, he was trying to stop Dean from changing too, and stop Sam from drinking demon blood. He was trying to stop the never-ending battle that both the Winchesters were being pushed into.

But he couldn't tell Gabriel that.

"You know what."

"Then you're insane. It can't be done. The fight can't be stopped," Gabriel said calmly as if he was discussing what to have for dinner instead of the end of the world.

"I don't accept that."

"Well, it's time to,” Gabe said, taking a bite of his candy and shrugging. “Trust me, I've tried to find a way to stop it. They're my brothers; I didn't want to believe that they have to kill each other any more than you do. But there's nothing we can do to prevent it."

"So what? You're just going to give up?!" Cas shouted at the Archangel's indifference. He couldn’t help it; he’d seen first-hand what was going to happen if Lucifer broke free of his cage. "Half the world is going to be torched. Billions of people are going to die! They're better than us, and you know it. I know it, and I've not been here among them for half as long as you have. So, how can you just let them all die without fighting?!"

"I think I'm going to need to know more about this war," said a voice coming behind Cas, and the angel spun around to see Dean standing in the doorway.

Chapter Text

Castiel stared at his friend in shock, he hadn't heard Dean behind them. Though, that shouldn’t have been possible: he's a celestial being… no-one should be able to sneak up on him. But, Cas supposed Dean wasn’t just anyone. Cas turned to look at Gabriel, who shook his head at them and flew away.

Great.

"If this war was that bad, then why weren't me and Sam brought into this?" Dean continued, incredulously.

"You will be,” Cas said, “but you're no good to me if you're in hell."

"So that's why you keep saving my skin?" Dean asked, and Cas nodded. It wasn’t entirely the truth, but it was a lot closer to it than Cas had allowed himself to admit thus far. "And why you stepped in to take the deal in the first place?" Cas nodded again. "Then why the fuck didn't you just tell us that from the start?!"

"It's not that simple –"

"It's pretty damn simple," Dean insisted; he was angry and wanted answers, but he was met by silence from Cas' side. "Fine. Well, I'm going to need more details," Dean demanded, and Cas pondered over what he could tell his friend.

"Two of my brothers… you met one of them in my dream, they have what you might call a long-standing grudge against one another,” Cas said, edging around the truth. “They believe that it's necessary to fight. But if that happened, then the battle would be large, and it would destroy half the planet. So, as I've said before, I'm trying to stop it."

"Why do they need to fight?" Dean asked, crossing his arms. He was angry still, but at least he was staying to hear Cas out.

"It's a long story,” Cas said, but Dean just set his jaw and waited. Cas knew he wasn’t going to get out of this explanation so easily. “Our Father gave us a set of rules to follow. One of my brothers broke those rules, so he was cast out. If he comes back, then Michael has been ordered to fight him," Cas said, purposefully not mentioning Lucifer's name. "But that was many years ago; our Father has left now, and his order is moot.

“But, in his absence, I found out that some of my most powerful brothers are planning to force the disobedient to return so that Michael can fight him… They’re fed up of waiting and just want it over with. Though they have to wait for a very… specific event to occur before they can make any moves." Cas' mind was aching with the effort to give Dean the details he demanded without anything angelic being included.

"What event?" Dean asked, and Cas was once again forced to lie.

"I don't know. I only know that, whatever it is, it's rare and it would be near impossible to make the disobedient return without it happening."

"Right, okay… what's with this whole 'the disobedient' crap? Are you not allowed to say his name or something…? Is he Voldemort?" Dean said in his usual sarcastic tone that he liked to use when a situation scared him. And, although Cas was much more educated when it came to pop culture references, he still didn't understand that one. He squinted his eyes and slightly cocked his head to the left, which made a small smile appear on Dean's lips. "You know… the one who can't be named…" Dean continued before shrugging to himself. "You've never watched Harry Potter."

"No. All the music and films I know are because of what my… partner liked," Cas muttered and paused for a moment, remembering how desperate Dean had been to educate him on his favourite songs and films, but he didn't recognise the name… maybe they just hadn't got around to watching it before everything went to hell… literally. "Is it a film that you like?"

"Erm… I guess. I mean it's not something I'd go out of my way to watch but if it's on the TV then I will," Dean said, and Cas nodded, that would make sense as to why he'd never heard of it before then. "Okay, well. Is there anything me and Sam can do?"

"No, not until I find out more," Cas said, and Dean nodded to himself.

Cas didn't want to leave just now, but he knew that he couldn't just stick around; he didn't fit into this world, he never had and he probably never would. He could sometimes fool himself into thinking that he belonged here, but it was just a lie. Once the apocalypse has been stopped, he would return to heaven and probably never see Sam or Dean again, so there was no point in getting more attached. With that thought, he unfurled his wings and flew away.

[A few days later]

Dean looked down at the phone in his hand. Could it have been his Dad? He didn't want to get his hopes up. But, what if it was him? Surely he would be able to find Dean a way out of the deal. John Winchester was good like that, always able to find the loopholes.

He put the mobile back into his pocket and sat down in the Impala for a good minute before he started the engine and drove back to the motel.

The drive only lasted about ten minutes, and Dean thought over his options for the entirety of it. He wanted so badly to believe that it was really John. The drive back to the motel was torturously slow. He just wanted to know the truth.

Sam wasn't there when he got back, and so Dean grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge and downed it within seconds. He sat, mulling over the possibilities, for another minute before drinking his second beer, this time a little slower. Dean drained the contents of the bottle when Sam walked into the door. He got up and began to pace the room as he explained about the call.

"You really think it was Dad?" Sam asked wearily.

"I don't know… maybe," he replied because he really didn't have an answer. "Do you think Cas would know?" He asked suddenly as the thought popped into his head. Sam looked in deep thought for a moment longer and then shrugged.

"It's possible. I mean, he seems to know a lot. Maybe… it's worth a shot?" Sam replied slowly, and Dean nodded his head. Cas had told them to just pray to him, but what if he was in the middle of something important? What if it had something to do with the war? And they just interrupted him for some damn phone call… he wouldn't exactly be happy. Dean rubbed at his forehead as he felt a headache coming on. Thinking about his Dad was bringing everything back, he was on the verge of tears. Not that he'd talk about it, but he could hear his own voice cracking with the strain of not crying. He didn't think he could handle finding out that it wasn't really John.

Dean shook his head and threw himself down onto the bed opposite his brother.

"Okay. How do we do this?" Dean asked, and Sam shrugged again. "Great," he muttered under his breath and closed his eyes. "Well, here goes nothing…"

Dean closed his eyes and brought the trickster God to mind, starting to picture him. It was something that he tried to avoid doing, but now he didn't really have a choice. He pictured the tall frame covered in the dirty trench coat, the dark, messy sex hair, the piercing blue eyes and the gruff voice. Dean felt his body reacting slightly as he thought about Cas, but he shoved those thoughts deep down and locked them into a box.

"Okay, Cas," Dean spoke, keeping the image of the trickster in mind. "We… erm… we could do with some help here and -"

"Hello Dean," said the gravelly voice next to him and Dean jumped a mile. He knew who it was, of course, he did; he'd never heard anyone with a voice that deep before. But he still wasn't used to the guy popping up with barely a sound. Cas was sitting right next to him on his bed with a smirk on his face, looking amused.

Dean pushed down any inappropriate thoughts and got to work, explaining everything. Cas frowned and listened to everything Dean and Sam had to say.

"I'm sorry," he said delicately, "but that isn't your father."

Dean's heart sank, and he bit at the inside of his cheek, nodding sullenly. Of course, it wasn't; when did anything good ever happen to them?

"Do you know what it is?" Sam asked, and Cas nodded.

"A Crocata."

[] [] []

Cas stayed around long enough to help the Winchesters locate and kill the Crocata. He enjoyed helping them, it felt like the old days working with Dean again; and even though he'd not worked with Sam much before, he'd always respected him as a hunter and considered the younger man a friend.

He was getting a bit restless though, as Dean and Sam were still struggling to find a way out of the deal. Cas could easily break it, and it looked more and more likely that that was going to happen, but he worried about what affects that might have on the timeline. He wasn't from this year, which meant anything he did would have more chance of resetting time than if Sam or Dean did it.

Dean lifted his head from where he was putting his bags into the trunk of the Impala and looked over to the angel before slowly walking over to Cas' side. They stood side by side for several minutes, neither saying a word. Sam was currently in the motel room and packing away his things.

"I'm sorry that it wasn't your father," Cas repeated quietly.

"It's not your fault, Cas," Dean said, his voice strained and overloaded with emotion. When Cas had first returned here from 2014, it had felt odd to hear so much emotion in Dean’s voice. But not anymore. Cas had become used to this Dean once more. They went quiet for a few moments before Dean turned to look at him again. "So, where's your brother? I thought he'd be with you."

"No, I haven't seen him since the police station," Cas said, and Dean frowned.

"Why won't he help with the war?"

Cas licked his lips, slightly uncomfortable and not quite knowing how to answer all of Dean's questions. It was a lot more challenging to come up with convincing answers than he initially thought it would be. Keeping answers close to the truth without revealing too much was becoming exhausting.

"This war is against my own kind, Dean. My own family. I will have to kill many of my brothers and sister, and I've already accepted that… but Gabe hasn't."

Dean looked at Cas sadly and seemed to be about to say something else when Sam rushed out of the motel room. Dean looked at his younger brother for a moment before grabbing his bags and putting them into the boot of the car. Cas was about to leave when Sam called his name.

"Cas, hey, can I, erm… Can I talk to you for a second?"

Castiel and Dean both turned to look at the taller, floppy-haired Winchester. The angel nodded and followed Sam's lead back into the motel room, not quite sure what to expect. Sam sat down at the table next to his laptop, scanned the page and turned it around for Cas to see. It was an online article from a newspaper. He read the page in less than a second and raised curious eyes to meet Sam's.

"I saw this yesterday, and it has a lot of similarities to Doc Benton… he was this guy who found-"

"I know who he is," Cas interrupted, remembering him from the books and having a growing idea of where this conversation was heading. "In theory, it would be a loophole in Dean's contract…" he said, and Sam smiled brightly so Cas rushed to continue before the youngest brother got his hopes up; "however… I don't believe you should pursue it. Benton's formula should never have been created. It's pure science and mainly just blocks receptors for specific enzymes… but some of them are used in brain activities and without them present…”

Cas shook his head.

“If Dean were to take the formula, then it would corrupt his mind." Sam's face had dropped during the explanation, but that wasn't enough for Cas. He needed confirmation that Sam wouldn't go this route because the more he thought about it, the more it worried him. Dean had such a good heart and soul… even back in 2014 when he'd become closed off and angry. The thought of such an innocent plan being able to corrupt him into a monster was simply terrifying. Cas still loved Dean greatly, and he'd never let anything like that happen to him again. "You can't go after Benton, Sam. The formula would destroy your brother."

Sam looked a little scared of what could have happened to Dean if he'd gone through with the plan and nodded to the angel.

"Good… I'll take the case. You should work on trying to break the contract," Cas said, and then he turned invisible.

Sam threw glances around the room at his sudden disappearance and waited a few seconds before packing up the rest of his things and leaving the room. He threw this laptop bag onto the back seat as he got into the car at the same time that Cas flew inside of it. He knew he should leave now and stop Benton, but he needed to make sure that Sam wasn't going to do anything stupid just yet. Benton was, after all, a simple case. He knew where the man was hiding and that he wouldn't kill again for several days, so the angel had a little while left to spare.

"What was that about?" Dean asked as he slowly pulled away from the motel.

"I asked Cas about a case, and he took it. He said we should work on breaking your contract."

"So… he just disappeared?"

"Pretty much."

"Right…" there was a momentary pause where Dean seemed in deep thought, Cas just barely resisted looking into his thoughts when the eldest Winchester let out a heavy breath and nodded to himself. "So… we going Bobby's?"

Chapter Text

Dean was about to hit the forty-eight-hour mark when Castiel decided to check on him. Like many of the angel's check-ups, Dean wouldn't know he was there; he showed up invisibly and watched as both brothers sat with Bobby and a table full of books as the night went on.

Dean passed out around two in the morning and Bobby went to bed not long later, knowing there was nothing they could do without their right minds on. Sam, however, refused to go to sleep. Not without a plan. Not without his brother saved. Cas somewhat admired that in the Winchester brothers, their dedication to each other… but right now it was rather stupid. Cas pressed his palm to Sam's head and forced sleep to take hold of him. He would be much more clear-headed after a few hours.

Cas took another look at the eldest Winchester and sighed loudly… Dean had once again given up hope in being saved. Knowing him as well as Cas did, Dean would probably have one desperate last-minute plan, and if that didn't work, then he'd accept his death.

Cas stayed through the night to watch over the Winchesters. There was a strange longing that took over him. He'd never felt this particular type of longing before God had revived him, but now he felt it several times a day. He was lonely. He yearned to have the camaraderie he’d felt over the past years in the camp. He hadn't ever been alone over those years. There was always a friend close by who he could converse with. Sure, none of them had ever really understood him - except Dean, that is - but Cas had been welcomed nonetheless.

But now he was just a fallen angel; torn from heaven and left in the cold by his family simply because he couldn't explain to them, to Dean, who he really was.

Not having to sleep coupled with no-one to talk to meant that Cas was always inside his own head. His mind wandered off to the sadness of the previous days. After tracking and eradicating Benton, he had remembered about Bela's contract and gone to visit her. He had expected her to be rushing to complete her deal that would ensure her freedom from hell. However, instead, Cas found her drinking by herself at an all-day bar. Bela blinked at Cas several times and shook her head as though she was seeing things - which she very likely was - when he appeared next to her, and she went into a drunken rant.

She explained the contract that a demon named Crowley had offered her. Cas just barely recognised the name from Chuck’s books and inwardly cursed himself for ever forgetting something so crucial. Bela explained, in an inebriated slur, how Cas taking the colt back before she could hand it off had created a 'part 2' for the deal: she had been told to kill Sam. Cas knew that it was one of the demon's lies and it just furthered his assumption that they would have never let Bela out of her contract.

They sat in silence as midnight rolled closer and he expected her to beg and plead for his help and she did at exactly eleven fifty-seven… but it hadn't been what he was expecting. He remembered her tear guttered words as they escaped her when she beseeched him to end it. To kill her before the hellhounds ripped her to shreds.

And he agreed.

No-one should have to die that way. And at that moment, he'd seen Bela as who she really was: a tired and abused girl who'd been manipulated by a demon in her time of need. She was scared, weary, and eternally haunted by her past. Chuck's books had been misleading. Castiel wished that he could end Bela's contract for her, but it wasn't in his power. So, instead, he did for her the only thing that he could.

Using his own power to ease Bela's suffering had made him feel… broken again. And he longed for the comfort of his friends and family that he'd left behind.

Cas stayed to watch over his family as the hours passed. It wasn’t until six-thirty in the morning when they began to stir. Dean was the first one to wake, and Cas saw the instant change in the man. The hallucinations had started, which meant that he was probably piercing the veil too.

Dean wandered out of the living room and into the kitchen to grab a beer and Cas followed. There was a momentary pause from the hunter as he waited with the bottle pressed to his lips.

"Okay…" Dean muttered quietly to the room. "I can pretty much guarantee that I'm going insane now but, erm… Cas, are you... here?" Dean continued as he cast looks around the kitchen. Castiel bit his lip. Dean could sense him now, which meant if he showed himself, then Dean would be able to see him too.

"Hello, Dean," Cas said solemnly as he made himself visible.

Dean's eyes went wide. His mouth hung open as he gawked at the angel, and Cas knew what he was seeing. His wings.

[] [] []

When Dean woke up from his dreamless sleep, his head began to pound. He opened his eyes just to see the room spinning and twisting in a way that made him mildly sick. Then he cast his gaze over to his sleeping brother and almost pulled out the colt; Sam's face was twisted, evil and barely recognisable. He managed to restrain himself from attacking the creature that paraded as his brother when he remembered the information on demon deals… a couple of books had talked about hallucinations, but Dean hadn’t known they would be so haunting.

Dean took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything was back to normal.

He got up from where he had slept at the table and crept into the kitchen for a beer… though he had a feeling that he'd be needing something much stronger. That was when he felt it, the itch on the back of his neck that told him he was being watched. Dean turned to his brother to see that Sam was still fast asleep at the table. The itch only got stronger as the seconds went on and then it got… familiar?

It felt like Cas. It was impossible to describe, but somehow Dean knew that Cas was in the room. He brought the brown-tinted glass bottle down from where it hovered at his lips and spoke into the, perceivably, empty room. He felt idiotic as the words left his mouth and seconds dragged on. He was about to just shrug it off when a recognisable deep voice sounded in the room.

"Hello, Dean," was all that the trickster said and, when Dean saw him appear, his heart almost stopped beating.

The first thing Dean noticed were the wings. They were large enough that Bobby's kitchen would have been no-where near big enough to house them if they’d been fully extended. They were white. Very white. They glowed slightly, and it was… incredible.

It took a moment for Dean's attention to be pulled from the wings and to the rest of Castiel. He was filled with… light. It was different though, tangible, like a fog that filled him to his core. It was anchored to his body, but occasional wisps escaped and flowed outside before being pulled back into him.

"Wow," Dean heard himself breathe out, and Cas rolled his eyes.

"They're wings, Dean… you may have heard of them," he muttered sarcastically. But Dean could make out a slight blush colouring Cas’ cheeks, and he saw the way his wings quivered at the attention.

"Yeah, I… why do you have wings?"

"How do you think I move around?" He snipped back, but Dean couldn't care less about the snarky attitude, he was too enthralled by the white shine to give a damn.

"You've never had wings before."

"No… you've just never been able to see them before," Cas replied as he turned from the kitchen and headed back into the living room. He was still talking quietly for Sam's sake, but Dean had forgotten entirely about that now, and his next words were loud enough to wake his snoozing brother.

"Why can I see them now then?"

"Because you're piercing the veil."

"That doesn't sound too good…" Sam piped up, looking to his brother to make sure he was alright. That was when he noticed the completely mystified look on Dean’s face. "What happened?"

"Cas has wings."

Sam shot a look at the trickster, frowned, and then returned to staring at his brother instead.

"I don't see anything."

"You wouldn't," Cas said with a sigh and sat down on the sofa. Dean's eyes widened even more as the white feathers sank and disappeared into the fabric. "Human senses are too dull to see them without it damaging you… Dean is the exception because he's piercing the veil."

"And what's that mean, exactly?" Sam asked as he sat up taller and wiped at his face, seeming a little bit annoyed at himself for falling asleep at such a vital time.

"It means," Cas took a moment to think about how to explain this, and he met Dean's eyes. "It means that you can see what's behind the visage. You can see our true forms. Demons, shapeshifters, tricksters… you can see what we really look like."

"Well, that could come in handy," Sam muttered, "but why?"

Cas shrugged, "In Dean's case it's because his contract is coming to an end. It's there for the same reasons that the hallucinations are; to scare you. It doesn't tend to happen if it's not caused by a contract."

"Hallucinations?!" Sam asked and stared at Dean, who was finally able to remove his eyes from Cas' wings to shrug at his younger brother. There was a noise on the stairs, and a few seconds later, Bobby walked into the room.

"Cas, you here to help out or…?" Bobby let the question runoff and the trickster just nodded. "Great… well, would you know anything about tracking Demons? I was thinking of taking a few out and seeing what they could tell us about contracts that we don't already know."

"Quite a lot actually. But that won't be needed," Cas replied, and Dean turned around to see the trickster get to his feet and walk over to him. The white light gathered in the palm of his hand as he raised it to Dean's head.

Dean wasn't sure why he didn't move. He'd seen Cas burn monsters away from the inside by doing nothing more than placing his palm on their head… and now the trickster was doing it to him, but Dean didn't try to pull away. He didn't even flinch. He saw Sam quickly raise to his feet and Bobby reaching for a gun, and he heard them yelling, but he couldn't make out words. Every noise faded into the background, and the white light seeped out of Cas' hand and into him, covering his vision.

It barely lasted a few seconds before Cas was pulling back and everything returned to normal. Dean's head span and throbbed. He opened his eyes, which he didn’t even remember closing, and looked at the room. Cas was standing very close to him, Sam wasn't far behind the trickster, Bobby had a shotgun aimed and ready to shoot, but they were all staring at Dean.

"What?" Dean croaked as he looked at all of them individually, when he looked back at Cas he realised something and frowned. Dean cleared his throat before speaking again. "Where've your wings gone?"

But before Cas could answer Bobby returned to pointing the gun at the trickster and Sam asked a different question.

"What did you just do to him?"

"I cancelled the contract," Cas replied, answering both of their questions. The entire room stilled again. Sam was the first to move, he rushed past the trickster and pulled Dean in for a hug.

"Hey… Sammy,” Dean muttered in response to the tight embrace. “Now that I'm not going to hell, I might need my lungs… seriously, I can't breathe." Sam pulled back a second later with a grin on his face. Dean looked back at the rest of the room and saw that Bobby had lowered his gun but was still staring, suspiciously, at the Demi-God.

Dean took a deep breath in, and his head spun with it, but he felt good.

[] [] []

Cas watched as Dean and Sam embraced and smiled, everything was going to be okay. Bobby eventually lowered the shotgun, but Cas noticed that he never put it down and never clicked the safety back in place. He knew there were questions as to what Cas wanted spinning around the man's head, but Cas pretended to be oblivious.

"Why was he glowing?" Bobby asked which caught Dean's attention.

"Wait, what? I was glowing?" Dean asked and looked between the hunters in the room. "Is that why you two were staring at me like I'd grown a second head?"

Sam shrugged, which was the only confirmation Dean got, and then turned to look at Cas, waiting for an answer just like Bobby was.

"I had to cleanse your soul of the contract," Cas replied. He knew it wasn't much of an answer, but it'd have to do. The glow hadn't been bright, only a faint light under Dean's skin from where his grace had healed away any claim he'd had on it.

In truth, it had shocked Castiel just as much as it had the two humans in the room. It shouldn't have happened; but after a little thought, the reason behind it was obvious: grace-to-grace – or, in this case, soul-to-grace - contact was popular among angels with their lovers. Cas was in love with Dean; he had been for a long time, and his grace was rejoicing at being able to connect with his love's soul. But he wasn't about to tell that to any of the humans in this room. Not that he could, even if he’d wanted to.

Bobby narrowed his eyes at Cas for a moment before putting the gun down completely, apparently appeased with the answer. Talk between the humans soon mentioned a celebratory drink and Cas decided it was time to leave. He stepped back and was ready to fly away again when Dean turned to look at him.

"Cas, can we talk for a second?"

The angel stared back for a moment and then nodded, he followed as Dean walked out of Bobby's house and onto the front porch.

"So, erm… thanks," Dean said, and Cas smiled. "Seriously, I don't know if we could have done it without you,” Dean continued. “I actually don't know why you did do it. I mean I'm thrilled that you did,” he was quick to add, “but we’re not the only hunters who could help you out against this war; there have to be a few out there who would be less hassle than Sam and me."

"You greatly underestimate your own self-worth, Dean," Cas replied. It was very akin to the first-ever conversation Cas and Dean had ever shared, all of those years ago in that barn when this whole thing had begun. It felt like a lifetime ago, and yet it was such a relatively short time ago for Cas who had already lived for centuries before Dean had ever been born. "You and your family are the best hunters that I've met,” Cas continued, though Dean was so much more than just a hunter, and Cas wished that Dean could see that for himself. “Plus, you're amusing; it would be a shame if you died," he finished with a smile, and Dean huffed a laugh.

"Well in that case… you gonna come inside? Have a drink with us?" Dean offered, and Cas nodded happily, following his friend back inside.

[] [] []

Ruby waited near Bobby's house, it was now less than twenty hours before Dean's deal would end… so why had they not tried summoning her yet? She'd done everything perfectly: she'd gotten Sam to trust her, to believe that she had the answer for any situation. So, surely, he should be asking for her help by now.

The demon waited a few more hours, and by the time the sun was in the sky, she got anxious. This could only mean that they already had a plan. Ruby reluctantly left to make a call. She dragged the nearest person into an alleyway and drained his blood into a ritual bowl. She hesitated only momentarily before following through, not at all looking forward to what Lilith would have to say about this.

Just as Ruby had thought, Lilith was livid that Ruby hadn't been able to point Sam onto the course of action that they needed and, on top of that, she apparently wasn't able to keep Sam away from anything that could help him to break Dean's deal. Ruby's fear hit a new high. She had fucked up big. One mistake was enough for Lilith to throw her into the pit, and so Ruby knew she was done for. If she didn't find a way to make the plan work, then she'd be Lilith's new chew toy.

Lilith demanded results and, if there was one thing that Ruby was good at, it was thinking on her feet.

[] [] []

Ruby walked into the cul-de-sac that was currently overflowing with demons. She tensed when she felt several appear behind her. Lilith was wearing a young blond child today, blood soaking her pink dress. If Ruby's plan didn't impress her, then she was in for hell… literally.

"I'm in the middle of my vacation… this had better be good," said the sickly sweet voice of the child Lilith was possessing, and Ruby smiled nervously.

"I rang Sam Winchester after we talked, and I asked about Dean's deal… I've gotten him to think of me as a friend, just as you suggested. He told me that the trickster broke the contract yesterday morning."

"So, let me see if I've got this right…" the demonic child began, she was still smiling, but it made Ruby run cold. "A year ago I gave you instructions to alienate the Winchester brothers, influence Sam into tapping into the dormant demon blood, stop Dean from escaping his deal, and find out what this trickster wants with the boys, keeping him away from them if his agenda impedes our own,” Lilith listed everything off and, by the end of it, she wasn’t smiling any longer. “And you have managed to fail in every single one of these tasks?" Lilith snarled and waited for Ruby’s response.

This was it. This was Ruby’s last chance to keep her head attached to her shoulders.

"I have a plan to fix this,” she said. “It's guaranteed to get Dean into hell and Sam away from that trickster." Ruby felt like sighing in relief once she noticed that she had Lilith's attention and intrigue, but she wasn’t safe yet. "I know that it's never been attempted before but, technically speaking, it is possible to force a righteous soul into hell without a contract."

Lilith stared back at Ruby for several seconds, the silence deafening between them.

Finally, Lilith nodded.

“Go on,” Lilith encouraged, and Ruby straightened her shoulders, delving into the details of her plan and, when she had finished, the oldest demon gave her approval along with all the resources that Ruby needed.

[] [] []

It's was almost midnight. Almost time that Dean's contract would have been coming to an end… if Cas hadn't already cancelled it.

The humans had been celebrating with alcohol and some much-needed sleep, but Cas was still on edge. None of them knew the truth yet, and Cas didn’t know whether it was too soon to fill them in on the details of the oncoming apocalypse. He decided that he would wait and see how the timeline would respond to his interference first.

It was close to forty-one hours ago now that Cas had cancelled the contract and he was still waiting for time to snap back on itself, but so far everything had been okay.

He had stayed with the Winchesters and Bobby for several hours afterwards and helped them to celebrate Dean’s continued life, then he had decided that the hunters would probably prefer him not being there. As much as it pained him to admit it, Cas just wasn't part of this family anymore… hopefully, though, that would change soon; but, for now, he was just an outsider invading in on their family time. After coming to that conclusion and saying his goodbyes, it felt wrong to turn himself invisible instead of leaving. But Cas had to be there in case something were to happen.

He wasn't naïve enough to think the demons would just give up now that Dean was out of his contract, and Cas knew that he needed to be ready for anything.

At the moment, Bobby, Sam and Dean were all fast asleep as Cas watched over them invisibly, letting his friends rest, even if he couldn't do the same. It was exactly two minutes to midnight when his sensors picked up demons on the outskirt of town. Seven demons. Cas had to admit that it was a lot of demons for just one angel to fight. But he knew that he could take them, his fighting skills had improved exponentially over the last several years of being human and now he had more power than ever.

And anyway, this was why he was still there: to intercept any trouble before it got to his friends.

Cas took the first two demons out with a surprise attack, appearing behind them and using his grace to burn the evil from their vessels. And then there were only five. Cas barely had the time it took for the bodies to drop to the ground at his feet before the first demon attacked. Cas dodged the advance and swung back with his angel blade, slicing through the vessel’s neck and killing the demon inside. The remaining four demons were more organised in their fighting and worked as a group. They got in a few good shots, but Cas knew that nothing they could do would be able to kill him, not without an angel blade. This made him confident… cocky. He'd taken down another one by the time the pain started.

It wasn't his pain, and it didn't physically hurt him, but Cas knew what was happening now, and it made him freeze.

The demons took advantage of his momentary mind block and tackled him to the ground before laying punch after punch on him. He couldn't feel any of that pain either, his vessel was getting damaged, but he remained uninjured inside.

Cas pushed the demons off him and burnt one of them clean from their body, just as he heard Dean's scream for help in prayer form as the hunter’s chest was being torn to shreds.

Cas wanted to go to his friend and help out… but he couldn't, not without leading the demons to him which would mean more for the Winchesters to fight against.

He felt a claw tear across Sam's shoulder. Cas slashed out at the remaining two demons and caught one in the chest, but it wasn't deep enough to kill it. They kept coming at him, and Cas got more and more desperate to get away, his attacks becoming sloppy from all the fear building inside him.

He managed a lucky shot and was able to force his angel blade into the chest of one demon and got ready to jump at the last one when he felt cold settle in his veins. He knew the sensation that was making him feel sick to his stomach, Gabriel's antics had forced him to feel it so many times already.

The demon attacked him, and Cas once again fell to the floor, but this time he used it to his advantage and drove the angel blade straight through the demon's stomach. Once he pushed the empty vessel off himself, Cas flew away, back to Bobby's.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the house was the hellhound lying dead in the living room. Then he saw the blood. Dean's blood. A big pool of it in the exact place on the floor where Dean had been asleep not ten minutes ago.

There was no body.

Instead, there were bloodied paw prints and a large smear of blood left behind as a hound had dragged Dean's lifeless corpse away. Cas felt the emotions well up inside of him, and he was overcome with an urge to drop to the floor and cry over the man he loved, but Cas had to hide that away: the sooner he figured out what happened, the sooner he could bring Dean back.

All of that happened in a second. In the next moment, Cas realised that he had never once sensed the hellhounds' presence near either of the Winchester brothers, which meant they had been heavily warded. The demons must have been a trap to lure Cas away from Dean so that the hellhounds could get to him instead. And Cas had fallen for it.

Cas' ears picked up a conversation happening in the room, and he realised that so far he hadn't even moved his eyes away from blood on the floor. Cas heard Ruby's voice, and his head snapped to the side to glare at the demon who he was sure was behind Dean's death.

"I'm so sorry, Sam. I wanted to believe as much as you did that his contract was over… I didn't want you to have to be alone. I shouldn't have kept quiet about my worries when you said he cancelled it… I shouldn't have… I thought I could interfere if he pulled anything… I thought… I'm sorry you had to see that," the blonde demon rambled, her voice filled with fake sadness as she wrapped a cloth around Sam's injured shoulder while he cried silently. Her knife was lying on the ground next to her, covered in hellhound blood.

Cas growled at her; she was blaming him. She helped to kill Dean, and now she was blaming him. Anger and sadness fueled Cas as he strode towards her. Ruby spun around to defend herself once she realised that Cas was in the room, but he drove his blade into her chest before she'd even fully turned.

Sam jumped at him. He'd believed every word that the demon had spurted out.

Cas had to move the blade quickly out of Sam's way before the Winchester impaled himself on it. He pushed his hand onto Sam's head and forced him to sleep. The hunter collapsed to the ground. Cas stood stock still as the events of the last ten minutes finally started to settle in on him, his hand shook as he reached down to Sam and healed his injured shoulder. He looked around for any sign of Bobby Singer and saw him lying dead in the kitchen, claw marks on his neck, Cas took another few seconds to heal him and bring him back to life before flying away.

[] [] []

After days of searching for either Lilith or Dean's body, Cas came to the realisation that he wasn't going to find either. Lilith was strong and the most heavily warded demon on earth. She had to be; she couldn't have just anyone being able to find and kill her before the last seal could be broken.

And as for Dean… Cas wasn't even sure if his body was out there to be found.

Cas' bond with Dean, the thing which allowed him to find his hunter, was for his soul; the body was nothing more than an empty vessel. There was a line between soul and vessel, a connection, just as there was between angel and vessel. But with the body missing… it was near impossible to bring Dean back without going into hell to get him.

So that was just what Castiel did.

Chapter Text

Four months.

Dean had still been in hell for four months.

Their connection hadn't worked in hell, and so Cas had been forced to find Dean the old fashioned way. And that wasn't exactly an easy task for one angel who was chasing a soul that the demons were quick to move around, especially when he was at the same time avoiding his old garrison, who were also out looking for Dean. There had been a few times that the demons got sloppy with hiding Dean and Cas was able to get close… but the other angels had been able to pick up the evidence leading to Dean just as quickly, and Cas had to retreat before he was spotted.

When Cas had finally found his way to Dean, he had already spilt blood.

Dean had looked worse than the last time Cas had saved him: he'd broke sooner, he'd become more demonic. And it was all Cas' fault.

Dean hadn't been prepared for hell this time around because Cas had lulled him into a false sense of security by cancelling the contract. He should have warned him, should have made sure Dean was ready. But he didn't; so this time when Cas grabbed hold of Dean's arm, the handprint burned deeper. Dean was in more pain than he had been before as Cas used his grace to cleanse his friend of all things demonic. And it was all Castiel's fault.

When Cas raised Dean and remade his body, he placed him on Bobby's sofa. The gruff hunter was in the kitchen when Cas appeared, and the angel had left long before Bobby turned to see Dean asleep on the couch.

After leaving Bobby’s place, Cas' next stop was Gabriel. He knew now that he needed his brother’s help in this fight, needed help to stop the great war between Heaven and Hell, to stop Lucifer from rising from the pit. He had tried to do this by himself, but he'd messed up, and hadn't managed to change a damn thing… Dean had still gone to hell.

He’d still spilt blood there.

He was still the Righteous Man!

Cas didn't know why God had given him this power if he wasn't good enough to change anything. He was frustrated, exhausted… lonely. Cas had been fighting this war for years now, and he only wanted for it to be over. Unfortunately, despite his power, Cas couldn’t just make this whole thing go away any more than he’d been able to keep Dean out of hell.

When Cas found Gabriel only a few hours after escaping the pit, the Archangel was less than impressed to see him.

"How did you find me?" Gabriel demanded, his eyes narrowed, and Cas shrugged.

"I'm more powerful than your warding.”

"Yeah,” Gabe pouted. “You never told me why that is…"

"You never asked."

"I suppose I'm not really sure I want to know… that's got to be a hell of a lot of souls you've got there to make you this strong," Gabriel said, and Cas shook his head. Collecting souls was the obvious explanation for any angel suddenly increasing in power, and Cas should have just nodded along… but he couldn't lie anymore.

"It's not souls."

"Okay… that made this more interesting,” Gabriel admitted, speaking around the lollypop in his mouth. “But the answer is still no," Gabe said slowly, and Cas furrowed his brow and tilted his head in confusion.

"I didn't ask anything."

"You were about to," Gabe said, shaking his head and taking the lolly out of his mouth so that he could point it at Cas. "You want me to join you and stop the Apocalypse. And I can't. I'm sorry, Castiel, but it's time to give up now. You had a try, and you failed. And I was rooting for you, I was. But now that it's started,” Gabriel shook his head again, “nothing can stop it."

"I'm not going to give up,” Cas said, defiant. “And if you cared as much as you say, then you wouldn't either." Cas started pacing the room then while Gabriel stood back and watched, looking increasingly angry. True, Castiel had messed up, but there was too much at risk to dwell on past mistakes now.

"You can't seriously think that I don't care," Gabe spat angrily, and Cas just continued to pace. If the Archangel wouldn't help, then Cas would need to come up with a plan by himself. "What do you even think I was doing at the Mystery Spot?"

"Being an asshole," Cas replied swiftly without giving it much thought, and Gabriel grabbed hold of him to stop his pacing and force Cas to look at his way. Gabe was livid now, but Cas got the feeling that it wasn’t entirely aimed his way.

"I was trying to stop it,” Gabriel said, his voice biting. “It was my last plan, and it failed as much as yours has; so now it's time for us to give up." He spoke the final words slowly, trying to get them to resonate with Cas, but Castiel just shook his head.

"How is repeatedly killing Dean Winchester a plan to stop the Apocalypse?" He demanded, still bitter about that.

"It was encouragement," Gabe said, releasing his grasp of Cas' arm. "I thought if Sam knew what it felt like to lose his brother over and over again, then he'd work harder to save him, and Dean wouldn't break the first seal,” Gabriel explained. “But then you had to come in and ruin everything…" Gabe’s voice was close to a snarl now, and Cas rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't going to work."

"You don't know that."

"Actually, I do."

"How?!" Gabriel challenged, and Cas let slip another secret.

"Because I'm not from this time." A long silence stretched between the two angels as Cas practically shouted his secret. He was angry and fed up, it had been a long four months… literally. His time in hell made it appear more like forty years, which made his inability to save Dean seem like even more of a failure. “I’m from 2014, from a world devastated by Lucifer and his army; I know exactly what is to come, and I know that your so-called ‘plan’ didn’t work.”

Cas nearly expected Gabriel to call him a liar. But, as Gabe took a step back and studied Castiel, his eyes narrowed and sharp, Cas released that Gabe did believe him.

"Changing the past isn't exactly an easy thing, Cassy,” he said slowly. And, yes, Cas had come to learn that the hard way. “How much do they know?" Gabe didn’t have to elaborate further; there were only three people he could be talking about.

"Nothing," Castiel said with a sigh, and he just deflated.

"Good… keep it that way," Gabriel said. "You know what's going to happen and when… you've probably got more of a chance to stop this. Keep the Winchesters in the dark and keep them away from our brothers and sisters. If they know about us, about what this war really is, then they're going to find themselves knee-deep in angels… we're a manipulative species, and our siblings will spin their minds, make them believe that you're the bad guy," Gabriel explained and, after a moment's hesitation, Cas agreed that it was the better course of action.

He was a good warrior, but Gabriel was an Archangel. He was a leader and much more skilled in strategies: it wouldn't be wise to ignore his advice.

"You're still not going to help, are you?" Cas asked, but it was more of a statement because he already knew the answer. Gabriel didn't reply, he just smiled and flew away.

[] [] []

Cas sat on one of the sofas in his safe house for many hours, meditating to calm himself down; it was a technique he could now do for days at a time because he didn't need to eat, drink or move in any way at all. He was too agitated to read some more books, and so meditation was his only option for passing the time.

'I invoke conjure and command you to appear on to me before this circle.'

The words rung loudly through his grace and shattered his concentration. Cas shook his head violently as he remembered the events which had transpired the last time this woman had called for Cas… he couldn't let that happen again.

Even though Cas had a vessel this time, he knew that wouldn't be what this psychic would see… Pamala would gaze upon his true form, regardless of his earthly body.

'I invoke conjure and command you to appear on to me before this circle.'

Cas took a moment to compose himself into the fearless Demi-God that Dean and Sam were used to, and then flew towards them. He appeared invisible at first and sat down swiftly into a chair that he manifested in between the psychic and Dean. He turned himself visible just as the woman started to chant the third time.

"You rang?" Cas said sweetly, this shocked all of those at the table. Sam grabbed for the Colt and pointed it at him at the same time that Bobby grabbed his own gun, and Dean smoothly took out the knife and stabbed him in the chest. Cas looked down at the protruding object and smiled in memory of the first time Dean had done that to him. He looked up and saw the fear on all three hunters faces at Cas’ amusement from being stabbed with the 'big-time magic knife’ - as Dean liked to call it.

Cas grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled it out of his chest, looked it over and used his grace to clean it of his blood before handing it back to the hunter.

Dean cautiously took the offered object. He kept hold of it just in case, even though he now knew for certain that it wouldn't work. Dean sent a fear-filled look at his brother, and Cas followed his gaze, eying the gun that Sam was holding with a dry laugh.

"I thought we'd already established that these things don't work on me."

"In a dream… I didn't know whether to believe it or not," Dean replied, and Cas shrugged.

"How you doing, Sammy?"

"Don't call me that," the taller Winchester ordered.

"My apologies… what would you prefer me to call you instead? Hmm? How about 'the boy with the demon blood'? Yeah… I think that has a nice ring to it," Cas said polity… he knew that Sam wasn't drinking demon blood now, he could sense that he wasn't, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't start. So his family had to know everything for them to be able to prevent it further. Sam's face paled at Cas' knowledge, while Bobby and Dean both blanked.

"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded, and Cas shrugged once again, leaning back on his chair casually.

"Right… he hasn't told you…" Dean turned to look at Sam and shook his head, thinking that it could wait for another time.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asked instead.

"You were looking for me… I thought I'd make it easier."

"You're who raised Dean from hell?" Sam said, looking to the psychic for confirmation.

"I can't tell… not without finishing the ritual," Pamala said, and Dean nodded for her to continue.

"Well, sorry that we don't take your word for it, buddy,” he muttered to Cas. “But I think I'd prefer to know for sure." Cas stood up and made the chair disappear at the same time, he took a step backwards while raising his hands.

"Of course, don't mind me; just don't come complaining when her eyes burn out of their sockets…"

"What d'ya mean?" Bobby asked warily.

"Well… as you know, this isn't my true form. However, you probably aren't aware that if I wasn't in a vessel, then most people wouldn't be able to perceive me without sustaining serious injuries… There are a few that can but," Cas paused as he gestured the woman’s way, "Pamela here, although being a fairly powerful psychic, isn't one of them."

"That's why you came?" Pamela asked suddenly, "to keep me from losing my eyes?" Cas considered lying but, as he'd just said, Pamela was a powerful psychic, and she would have probably picked up on his lies pretty quickly.

"Yes, actually." The hunters all stared at him. "It's fairly annoying, and I always get blamed for it even when it's not my fault… plus, for some reason, I'm unable to heal the wounds once they've been made."

"Thanks… I guess," Pamela said, and Cas smirked at her and nodded.

"Why'd you do it?" Dean asked abruptly, and Cas frowned at him, he tilted his head slightly to the side.

"I just told you."

"No… why'd you raise me from hell?"

"Oh, that… well, you were never supposed to go down there in the first place, I thought it only right to correct the mistake." He could tell that none of the Winchesters believed him, but that didn't matter so long as they didn't try to get a 'peek' at his true self again any time soon.

"You're the one who sent him to hell in the first place," Sam said through gritted teeth, and Cas shook his head.

"Nope. Ruby did that. Then I killed her, healed you, and brought Bobby back to life," Cas said, and when Sam just continued to glare at him, he continued in a sarcastic tone with: "no need to thank me, or anything." Cas could tell from looking at Sam that the youngest Winchester didn't believe him… nor did he want to, Dean seemed to not know what to believe, and Bobby was as unreadable as ever… it was probably the beard. Pamela was surprisingly calm about everything, and he frowned at her a little bit but didn't question it. "Granted it was partially my fault… I was expecting the demons to pull something and so I stayed close by, but I never warned any of you."

"If that's true then, no offence but, you suck as a bodyguard," Dean said. "Where were you when the hellhounds showed up?"

"I was fighting off demons on the outskirts of town… they were there to distract me," Cas answered and tried his best to keep all remorse out of his voice and away from his face. "And I fell for it…"

"I don't believe you," Sam snarled.

"I can see that." After a few more seconds of silence, Cas sighed heavily and turned to face Dean again. "Right now, we have bigger problems. That event I told you about… it's happened. The war is starting, and I need your help."

Chapter Text

Cas sat at a table in his safe house, with a pen and paper on hand, and began to scribble down everything he could remember about the remaining seals. He couldn't afford to forget anything… his foreknowledge was his greatest advantage. Some things would happen differently, especially now that he'd changed his tactic to a more head-on approach, but anything he could remember was valuable.

He'd left the Winchesters with Bobby and the psychic after Sam had attempted to jump over the table and attack Cas following him asking for their help. Castiel had told them that they needed his help as much as he needed theirs and then disappeared. He'd wanted to carve the Enochian into their ribs that would keep them hidden from angels, but he had figured that Sam wouldn't let him and so he was instead using his grace to hide them until he could earn their trust again.

It wasn't until after he'd finished writing everything down that he realised that one of the seals was about to be broken. The sacrifice of 40 virgins. Cas scowled in remembering the time that he had led his garrison to prevent that particular seal from being broken by Lilith. They hadn't been in time to stop the death of almost half of the innocents but had managed to keep the rest alive. At the time he had taken it as a victory, but now he knew that if only one person died, then he still wouldn't have done well enough. Cas didn't know if other angels would arrive to fight Lilith against this seal, but he was going anyway. If the garrison did make an appearance, then he would have to retreat before they saw him, but he wasn't about to take the risk on forty innocent lives by not showing up. Plus, he could do with getting to Lilith and killing her now before her death could be used as the final seal.

Castiel had almost an entire day left to prepare for the seal, a day that he found he actually didn't need. He was ready to start fighting again. He was ready for this whole thing to be over. The sacrifices would occur at a fire-damaged church at the edge of town. It didn't need to be done in a church, but it was just one of Lilith's ways of saying 'fuck you' to the angels. Cas went to the church and hid behind wards so that, when the demons started to enter the derelict building, they were unaware of his presence. He waited as they dragged in each and every one of the virgin sacrifices. Cas was on edge and ready to jump in at any second, but Lilith still wasn't here yet, and Cas couldn’t risk making a move too soon.

The minutes rolled on, and Cas became agitated, waiting for any indication as to the whereabouts of the first demon. The sacrifices were bound, blindfolded and crying; some were as young as seven, just children wailing for their parents.

Cas hated waiting on the side for Lilith to show before saving them, but he had to.

The doors to the church swung open with a bang, and Cas spun around, hoping that this would be the white-eyed demon making her entrance.

It wasn't.

Cas watched as the latest arrival, walked into the church. This demon was wearing a black suit and tie and appeared to be utterly disgusted by his filthy surroundings.

"Let's get this show on the road, shall we," the newest demon called out to the others. Cas instantly stood a little straighter, feeling his nerves begin to set in. This wasn't right.

They couldn't be starting without Lilith… this was one of her seals!

But that wasn’t going to stop them, it seemed.

One of the demons who’d helped to bring in the sacrifices took hold of the long blonde hair of a teenaged girl and dragged her by it as she cried and kicked out. Castiel didn't wait any longer before reacting; he turned himself visible and took out his blade. In one swift movement, he had the head of the demon separated from the body.

He turned to face the rest of the demons in the room. There were three grunts and the man in the suit. Cas had been fast and caught them off guard, so they were only just now beginning to react to him. One of the grunts charged towards him, and Cas was able to eliminate the threat without much hassle. When he looked back up, the remaining demons were turning to flee the building, the man in the suit almost at the door. Cas flew directly in front of him.

The angel grabbed the demon by his shoulder and spun him around to place the blade to his neck, only hesitating just before he slit his neck. Cas needed answers, and this demon was the best he had available to give them. With that thought in mind, he sent a sparse look over to the sacrifices as he made sure all of their blindfolds were still in place. Once he had confirmed this, he slapped his palm over the eyes of the demon in the suit and lifted his other hand - that was still holding the angel blade - at the two remaining grunts. He sent out a wave of his grace into the room, and they both perished instantaneously. The entire attack had lasted barely fifteen seconds.

The demon he was holding was struggling to get away, but it was no use, Cas was just too powerful.

"You're not going anywhere," Cas muttered, "we're going to have a nice little talk." With a mental note to inform the authorities about the whereabouts of the almost-sacrifices, the angel flew himself and the demon away.

After landing in another derelict building a few miles away, Cas pushed the demon away and into an already painted devils trap that he had prepared earlier that day. The demon was very quiet. Cas stared him down for several seconds before beginning his questioning. He never saw much point in beating around the bush, and so he jumped straight to the point.

"Why wasn't Lilith there? This was supposed to be a seal that she would break."

"What do you really think I'm going to tell you?" The demon muttered after a few seconds of silence. "It doesn't really matter if I do or I don't give you information… I'm dead either way, so I think I'm just going to keep quiet."

"I think you're forgetting that it's not so much whether or not I kill you,” Cas said, staring the demon down. “More like how much pain I put you through before I kill you."

[] [] []

The demon dropped to the ground, coughing up blood, as Cas retracted his grace. He never enjoyed torturing, but it was something he'd had to learn, and so Dean had taught him. As an almost-human, he had known the basics, but anything beyond that he hadn't been very good at; but now that Cas was an angel again, it seemed that using his grace was a very effective method. It made Cas feel… dirty inside to use a part of himself so pure for something so vile, but he had no choice.

The basic methods hadn't yielded much success, so this was his last resort.

So far, Cas had managed to get a chocked explanation about how Lilith was 'busy with something much worse'.

Those words felt very ominous and, ever since hearing the demon croak them out, Cas had redoubled his efforts. The angel once again sent his grace into the demon and listened as he screamed. The screams eventually turned to pleading for the first time that night.

"Please! Please. Okay, I'll tell you! Just, please, kill me!" The demon began to yell in a loop, and Cas drew back his grace as blood flowed from the demon's every orifice. Cas waited as the demon spat blood out and fought to catch his breath. "I don't know much," he began, "very few demons, two… three at the max, actually know her full plans. All I know is she's focussing on tactics for that Winchester… the one that's Lucifer's vessel."

"What does she have planned for Sam Winchester?" Cas asked after the demon had stopped talking and seemed like he wasn't going to continue.

"Ruby…" the demon said as he pulled himself into an upright position so that he was no longer sprawled across the floor; "she was the original plan. She was meant to create a distance between them and find a way to get Sam to start using the demon blood… basically, she was meant to sculpt him into the perfect vessel. But she failed. And now Lilith is planning how to fix everything; she doesn't have time for the seals, so she brought a few of us in for them instead." Cas thought for a moment as the demon sat on the floor and looked up at him.

"Who knows Lilith's plans?"

"I don't know," the demon said as he shook his head. His will power seemed to have crumbled, and now he was just giving in. "She likes to keep everything quiet. Ruby had been working with her for a year without anyone else knowing. We only found out when the deadline started to come closer, and she was failing… still, only a select few know".

Cas nodded his head and tried to think of more questions. It seemed a waste to get rid of such a compliant demon just yet. But when he couldn't think of anything else to ask, it became the only option. After Cas killed the demon, he left to see Dean.

He had kept his distance from both of the Winchesters for the past few days to allow them to calm down and get reacquainted, but with Lilith's new plan it became more apparent how much time was of the essence. He had to bring in some help of his own.

[] [] []

Dean was sitting on Bobby's couch with a bottle of whisky. Sam was asleep on the floor, and Bobby had gone to bed hours ago, but Dean couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. The nightmares were too vivid and the memories too fresh for him to get any proper sleep just yet. Alcohol seemed to be the only thing that could pull him into a dreamless sleep.

Neither Sam nor Bobby had noticed his excessive drinking since he'd been back from Hell… but maybe that was only because of their own excessive drinking while he'd been gone? Dean had no doubt that, soon enough, they'd notice the change.

He wasn't exactly sure what it was that made Dean lift his head from where he’d been staring into the bottle in his hands. But when he did look up, Dean could see the trench coat wearing trickster God leaning against the table in Bobby’s kitchen.

Their eyes met and, even though the room was near-pitch black, the blue in Cas' eyes seemed to glow with power. It had kind of intrigued and also scared Dean when they first met, but he'd eventually gotten used to that vibrant glow… now, after all that time in Hell, something so bright had once again come as a shock. Dean kept Cas' gaze for a moment, then he lifted the bottle to his lips and drained the remaining contents before standing up.

He probably should have woken Sam too, the thought crossed his mind as he stepped over his sleeping brother, but Dean automatically stopped it in its tracks. Sam was convinced that Cas was evil; that he'd lied to them, sent Dean to Hell, and was now back to mess with them some more.

But Dean didn't believe it.

It wasn't so much that he trusted the trickster, more like he didn't trust Ruby. And since all of Sam's explanation was based on her information, and Cas was the one who had finally killed that bitch, not to mention all the times he'd saved their asses since they'd met him… Well, Dean felt like he owed the Demi-God a chance.

Plus, after everything he himself had done in Hell, he wasn't exactly in a position to judge.

Dean walked past the trickster and out onto the porch at the front of Bobby's house, indicating with a nod for Cas to follow.

"Hello, Dean," the trickster said. It surprised Dean that Cas’ voice was still so familiar, even after all of these years. There was so much of Dean’s life up until he’d gone to Hell that Dean couldn’t connect with anymore, but he supposed that the trickster wasn’t one of them. Somehow, that was actually a comforting realisation. Dean nodded his head in greeting to the trickster, and a flicker of some emotion passed across Cas' face when Dean said nothing in return, but it wasn't there long enough for the hunter to identify what it was. "I need your help."

"Yeah, you said… Sam's not too happy about that."

"That's why I'm talking to you and not him," Cas snarked back. Dean raised his eyebrow at Cas who let out a deep breath and dipped his head. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"Right… well, what are you here for?"

“My eldest brother,” Cas said, “the one who disobeyed and was banished for it… Nick…” Dean quirked an eyebrow at the name, surprised by how normal it sounded, and a little disappointed, actually, since he’d been thinking of the guy as Voldemort up until this point. “He’s returning. My other siblings are making sure of that. Every day, they are breaking the wards, the… seals which are keeping him at bay. If enough of the seals break, then Nick comes back, and the war begins," Cas said quietly and Dean, who had been looking out over the junkyard, turned to face him instead.

He was stopped from saying any remark, however, when he noticed the blood spurted over the front of Cas' trench coat.

"Are you bleeding?" Dean asked as he stepped closer. Cas looked down at his chest, noticed the blood, and then shrugged.

"It's not mine… As I said, it's been a long day."

"And you didn't think to clean yourself up?" Dean muttered sarcastically as he took a step backwards and hopped that Cas wouldn't mention the apparent worry that he'd just displayed towards said trickster. Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean instead.

"What? You think forty years of running after you in Hell is an easy task? Not to mention raising your ass from the pit. You're heavier then you look,” Cas snarked back. “I'm tired. So, excuse me for not bothering over a bit of blood on my coat.”

"Sorry… And, er, thanks… for that," Dean replied awkwardly. After a few seconds of silence, Dean cleared his throat and gestured at the blood still soaked into Cas' coat. "So, what happened?"

"I killed a few demons to prevent them from breaking a seal."

"Wait. Demons? I thought this was a trickster thing,” Dean said. “Why are demons involved?"

"They like destruction, and this war promises an infinite amount," Cas replied, and Dean sighed deeply; whatever this war was, Dean was too tired to deal with it right now. He hadn't gotten a real night's sleep since before he went to Hell… he was both mentally and physically exhausted.

But after all the bad he'd done in the pit, he had to at least try to atone for some of it.

"So, you want our help to stop the seals," Dean stated, and Cas nodded.

"There's a potential one in a few days not too far from here. A spell will force ghosts to return and become vengeful," Cas said. Then he took a brief pause as he seemed to scrutinise Dean. "It's late; you should get some sleep, Dean. I'll give you more details tomorrow." Dean didn't want to sleep. He didn't want the nightmares. There was still a lot of questions that he needed answers to, and so he decided to ask a few now.

"Wait, Cas," Dean called out before the trickster had time to disappear on him. "You said that something very specific had to happen before all of this could begin… what was it?"

"The first seal," Cas answered, but didn’t appear to want to elaborate.

"Okay… well, what was the first seal?"

"It was…" Cas hesitated, and that only served to make Dean tense.

Eventually, Cas sighed. He looked as though he didn’t want to look Dean in the eye, but he wasn’t allowing himself to look away either. And, soon, Dean understood why.

"It was a righteous man spilling blood in Hell."

Chapter Text

Cas paused and waited for Dean to fully understand what he meant. Realisation dawned on the hunter, and Cas noticed his stricken face. He could see just how mortified Dean was at the notion that he'd broken the first seal.

"How… how do you know it's been broken?" Dean stammered out, and the angel felt saddened as he looked at his friend. Cas stayed silent for a few seconds, unsure how to confirm to Dean that he knew what the man had done, that he had been the one to break the seal. Cas had known from the beginning that this was the demons' plan and yet never warned either of the Winchesters; but how was he supposed to tell Dean that without telling him everything else or causing suspicion.

"It's not your fault, Dean."

The hunter's breathing stuttered, and Cas felt his friend’s pain like a physical injury. He wanted to comfort Dean, but he didn’t know if it would be welcomed.

"Yeah, no, of course not,” Dean said, his voice strained and angry, but it was all aimed at himself. “All I did was start a massive war that'll destroy the planet." Cas stared at Dean as the hunter rubbed his hand down across his face like he was trying to rub away the memories. Or maybe he was trying to convince himself that this was all a nightmare which he just needed to wake-up from and he'd be a kid again with his mother there to comfort him. There was only one thing that Cas could think to tell him, one thing that he truly believed.

"Everyone deserves forgiveness, Dean. Even you."

Especially you.

[] [] []

It was the night after the Rising of the Witnesses seal that Cas next saw Dean.

Sam and Bobby were with him and, together, they had successfully saved the seal from breaking. It had been a great relief to see them all working together as he watched in the shadows – he would have stepped in to help if they'd needed it. Dean had been a bit reckless in his assault against several demons and had hurt his shoulder; Cas feared his self-loathing was the cause of his rashness and wondered if it wouldn't have been better for him to have lied about what the first seal had been. But he quickly shut that line of thought down – he couldn't keep burying them in deceit.

Dean had gone to the bar down the road from the motel while Sam and Bobby had gone back to get some rest. After a while, once Cas had realised that he wasn't there to pick up women but instead to drown his sorrows in a glass, Cas showed up next to him.

Dean didn't even flinch – whether that was because he was used to it by now or that his reflexes had become so slow from the bottle he'd just drank, though, Cas wasn’t sure.

"Thank you for helping with the seal," Cas said after a moment of deliberation.

"Well, it's the least I could do,” Dean answered, “since I started this crap-fest and all." Cas’ heart twinged in sorrow for his friend. He didn’t reply right away, though; instead, lifting his hand to call over the bartender and order a drink of his own.

"What I'm about to say is probably a waste of breath – but you should stop blaming yourself for this," Cas said.

"Yeah, you're right," Dean muttered as he downed the rest of his glass, "it was a wasted breath." They sat in silence for a bit longer; Cas wanted to make Dean feel better, but he knew that nothing he could say would work. "So… why can't I remember you? In Hell, I mean. I can remember the whole damn experience – every second of it. But I can't remember you saving me."

Cas knew why Dean couldn't remember: it was his grace. It had cleansed Dean’s soul, burnt out anything demonic that was building in there, and protected him. A soul could see Cas' true visage without any repercussions – but put that soul back into a body, and it was possible that just thinking about an angel's true form could lead to some severe physical and mental health problems. Especially when the soul was as damaged as Dean's was right at that moment.

It could have killed him… again.

"It must have been something to do with the transition," is how he answered instead. "I wouldn't know. It's not like I've raised anyone from hell before."

So much for his honesty.

[] [] []

It'd been a few weeks since Dean had last seen Cas and, in that time, Sam hadn't stopped arguing with him. His brother didn't trust the trickster, didn't think that they should be working with him. But Sam didn't know why Dean had to help. How he had to atone. And Dean was left to wonder what Sam would think of him if he did know.

He wasn't about to test that anytime soon.

They were arguing – again – when Dean's phone rang, and they both left pretty quickly after that to help out a hunter friend.

"This argument isn't over, Dean," Sam said angrily as they climbed into the car.

"Oh, I know,” Dean said. “But there's something I just don't understand. You've always wanted to see the good in people, Sammy. So why not Cas too?"

"He's not people, Dean. He's a monster."

"And Ruby was a demon," Dean replied smoothly. "But you trusted her"

"Ruby helped us. She didn't give us a reason to doubt her."

Dean just shook his head as he looked on at the road.

[] [] []

Dean had definitely never heard of a Rugaru before so who was he and Sam to say anything about Travis' methods? But something just didn't seem right. That poor guy didn't even know what he was, and he hadn't hurt anyone. But they were supposed to just kill him? Part of him wanted to just do what Travis said – but he wasn't sure if he trusted that part of himself anymore. He wanted to atone, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do about this thing.

So he called Cas.

He waited until Sam was nowhere around before he prayed to the Demi-God.

"What do you need, Dean?" The trickster asked as he appeared.

"What do you know about Rugaru's?"

"A fair amount. Why?"

"Well, it seems we have a guy here with a strong hunger for raw meat," Dean explained. "Another hunter is working the case with us, he says that there's no way to stop the dude from turning… I was kind of hoping you'd know better." Cas seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering.

"You'll have to isolate him from everyone and any source of meat for around a week – maybe longer. It'll cause him a lot of pain but… it is possible." Cas confirmed and it was like a weight was lifted from Dean’s shoulders – he could save this guy's life.

"Okay; thanks, Cas. That really helped."

"Dean…" The trickster began to say instead of just leaving like Dean had expected him to do. "This other hunter, I can sense his soul… I don't like it. Something doesn't seem right about him – be careful. Keep an eye on him."

Before Dean could ask any questions, Cas had already left.

It wasn't long later that Sam came back to the motel room with food and Dean could pass on the plan – deliberately missing out Cas' name. Sam was on board, of course. They both explained the new plan to Travis, but he was less than happy about it.

Cas' words rang inside Dean's head as Travis left, and it made him tense.

It didn't take too much convincing for Sam to agree that they should keep an eye out for Travis. The Winchester's trailed the other hunter to the Rugaru's house – managing to stop him before he could hurt anyone. Travis shot at Sam for taking the monster's side as Dean lead the pregnant wife out of harm's way. He ran back to help his little brother, but Travis was already dead, and Sam was bleeding from his left arm where he hadn’t quite managed to dodge a bullet.

The wound was superficial and only needed bandaging up. But neither of the Winchester brothers could help but think how lucky they were that they had gotten there and stopped Travis before the man, Jack, had gotten home.

[] [] []

Dean and Sam waited Jack out through his cravings. They waited through his screaming, his shouting, his clawing at the door and his threats to rip them apart with his teeth if they didn't let him out. But Jack was in isolation with no meat of any kind for a little over a week before the noises just suddenly stopped one morning.

He'd gone through the craving and not been able to give in. He was no longer at risk of going through the change. He was a shaking mess, and they left him chained up in the abandoned bomb shelter for a few more days to make sure he was ready before they reunited him with his wife and unborn child.

"So," Dean began as he drove the Impala away from Jack's house. "Jack didn't change."

"No, he didn't," Sam replied – lounging back in the passenger seat with his eyes closed.

"I suppose that means that not all monsters are, well, monsters. They don't have to be evil just because it's in their nature."

"That's right,” Sam said, “but Cas is evil, Dean. This experience isn't gonna change my mind on that," he continued, correctly guessing where Dean had been going, and speaking without moving from his relaxed position. "He's evil, and you shouldn't keep trusting him."

Dean could understand where Sam was coming from there, could understand that trusting a trickster God was probably bad for business. But Cas had helped them out more times than Dean could count, and there was something about him which Dean just… connected with. Something which Dean didn’t quite understand.

Chapter Text

Lilith paced around the table of demons. Everyone in the room was silent and awaiting her orders.

"We need to push Sam Winchester back in the right direction," she said slowly while looking straight on at the other five demons in the room. They would all be crucial to her plans. "But that darn trickster keeps getting in the way. So far, we have learnt nothing about him – that needs to change. Tobias, I'm leaving this to you. Their group needs to be infiltrated, and their weaknesses need to be learnt. Ruby failed, but I trust that you won't."

The tall, gangly demon nodded his head, determined to make Lilith happy.

"Do you really think Tobias is the right demon for that?" Another demon scowled before Lilith could say anything further.

"Crowley," she sneered. "You're questioning my orders? You're lucky that I didn't feed you to the dogs for screwing up Dean's deal last year."

"It all worked out, in the end, didn't it? He still went to hell, he still broke the first seal," the smarmy demon replied. "And that's not really the point right now, is it?" Crowley paused and leant back in his chair as all the demons in the room stared at him, but Lilith made no other move to quiet him, so he kept talking. "The point is, that Tobias is the last person the Winchesters would trust – look at him; he talks like a prat, and he can't smile without pulling a muscle. They would peg him as a demon the second he got on their radar."

"You're a weasel, Crowley. I'm not letting you anywhere near those boys," Lilith responded, guessing Crowley's true intentions. "However… your crossroad deals could come in very useful," she continued as a new plan began to brew. Lilith smirked to herself.

The Winchesters and their pet trickster wouldn't know what hit them.

[] [] []

Dean was sitting at the bar alone while staring into his glass. It was still fairly early, and so the bar was still a couple of hours away from being busy – but he'd had a long day. He wasn't too sure what the demons were up to but why did they have to go playing with fire?

Today he'd been captured, beaten, tied up and thrown onto a boat in the middle of a lake that was then blown up! He'd barely been able to make it out alive and only managed to escape the damn boat seconds before it was set alight. He'd almost been the sacrifice for a seal, and he should be angry – and he was, right up until him, and Sam ganked the demons. Then he just felt empty. He'd saved a seal… great. He'd been saving them for months now; there just always seemed to be another one right around the corner. This fight was never-ending.

Sam was back at the motel, researching, but Dean just needed to get out of there. He needed a distraction. Though he didn't suppose he was going to be getting laid tonight, what with the black eye he was currently supporting from being kicked around by a group of demons.

"I'm guessing that you had a bad day?"

Dean turned slightly and saw Cas sliding into the seat next to him at the bar.

"You could say that," Dean replied. He downed the last of his drink and waved the bartender over to order another. Once he'd got his new drink and paid for it, Cas started talking again.

"This isn’t just about a bad day, is it?" He said as he indicated to Dean's current state of drunkenness. Dean said nothing in reply. "You need to stop blaming yourself." Dean once again kept quiet; he would never be able to quit blaming himself for everything that was about to happen. For all the deaths that would have been avoided if he'd just kept saying no to Alastair. "You need to have some fun."

"Fun?" Dean scoffed, and Cas nodded.

"How about a bet? See who can pick up a girl the quickest." Dean snorted into his glass.

"You really think you can beat me at that?" He asked, "You look like a tax accountant," he mentioned, indicating the trickster's current state of dress… only state of dress? Did Cas actually own any other clothes?

"I'll even heal that black eye of yours," Cas lifted his hand to Deans shoulder, and suddenly, the throbbing stopped. Dean smirked and agreed.

Cas ordered a drink, and then they turned to survey the crowd. They agreed that they just needed to get the girl's number – nothing more. It worked quite well as a distraction until, twenty minutes later, Dean was talking to a girl and he turned around to look at the bar. That's when he saw Cas with his hands all over this women. She was tall and leggy with brown hair and a large bust. The girl was kissing at his jaw. Cas opened his eyes and grinned at Dean, holding up a napkin that clearly had the girl's number on.

Dean had to admit that Cas had skills. So they decided to do the first to get three numbers.

Dean ended up winning the bet by less than a minute, and Cas was forced to pay for the remainder of their drinks. He looked down at the napkins with numbers on and frowned – he had no interest in calling any of them. Particularly the first girl, she'd been really dull.

Then Dean looked over at Cas' napkins, and one of the names jumped out at him. He frowned and pulled the napkin closer as he reread the name that was written above the eleven digits. Yep, that definitely said James.

Cas had got a guy's number?

Dean frowned as he remembered all the flirting and innuendos from back when they'd first met. Had those actually meant something? And then there was that god damn kiss that had taken Dean months to forget.

A million questions were running around Dean's head now; was Cas interested in him? Was he interested in Cas? And what if the answer to both those questions was yes? Could they actually be together?

[] [] []

Zachariah walked down the long hallway. He'd been summoned to talk with Michael, and that couldn't mean anything but bad news. He had only ever been to Michael's preferred Heaven twice before; it was that of some politician who had required a sizable amount of money from an inheritance. The house was vast and could be described as beautiful if Zachariah bothered enough for those things – but he usually didn't. And right at that moment, he was too worried to even fully notice his surroundings. A few moments later, he arrived at the room where the Archangel resided in.

"Zachariah," Michael acknowledged, and Zachariah bowed his head in respect. "Come in. I want a report on your progress." Zachariah, of course, knew what Michael was referring to. It was the only thing of any importance at the time being, and everyone was getting more and more restless the longer that Dean Winchester was left unfound. Zachariah gave orders to the leaders of five different garrisons. All five had been put onto the task of finding the vessel and rescuing him from perdition. They had searched hell for many earth months before receiving the news that the Winchester had already been rescued.

Then the search had moved to earth, but something was shielding their ability to track him.

"Unfortunately, there hasn't been much progress yet, Michael," Zachariah replied slowly and felt the annoyance radiating off of Michael's celestial form.

"You haven't been able to find Dean Winchester?"

"No, we haven't."

"And what about his brother?" Michael asked, and Zachariah shook his head. "Their friends?"

"I'm afraid not, Sir."

"Well then, whatever you are doing is turning out to be highly ineffective. Have you not tried new tactics?" The question was asked with complete calm, but Zachariah could sense the tension bubbling underneath the surface.

"We've tried estimating which cases the brothers will take on next, but so far to no avail."

"Maybe this needs some new eyes. Should I bring in someone else for your job?" Michael threatened, and Zachariah felt a sense of fear – he was of too high a rank, he knew too much, a demotion was not an option available for him. If he was fired, it would likely mean his death. "You have one last chance, Zachariah. Find Dean Winchester. Find whatever rescued him from hell, and destroy it."

Chapter Text

Dean was just leaving the morgue with Sam when he got a call from an unknown number. He stepped away from where Sam was still talking to the medical examiner for a little privacy as he accepted the call.

"Dean," the voice on the other end said, and Dean paused – people always sounded a little different on the phone, but he could swear that sounded like Cas. "What case are you working?"

"Cas? You have a phone?" Dean asked instead of answering. There was a sigh from the other end of the line.

"Yes, Dean, I have a phone. Now pay attention because this is urgent. What case are you working?"

"I'm not sure yet, we've only just left the examiner's office. There's still a lot of things it could be: ghosts, vampires, chupacabra…" Dean replied, there was a pause before Cas answered.

"It's not a chupacabra, Dean. It's ghost sickness."

"What is…? Wait a second," Dean said into the phone then removed it from his face and signalled for Sam to come over to him. "Have you heard of ghost sickness?" He asked his brother, who shrugged.

"Erm, yeah. Ghosts infect the living and cause them to become progressively more terrified... You think that's what we're dealing with?"

"Cas does," Dean replied, and he watched the irritation grow on Sam's face. But before his younger brother could say anything else, Cas was talking again, and Dean put the phone closer to his ear once more. "What'd you say?"

"I said that isn't everything… You're infected, Dean. You only have around 24 hours left before your body shuts down."

"That's not exactly the most comforting news, Cas. Are you sure?"

"Yes." Dean waited for further explanation that didn't come before sighing and rubbing at his face with his free hand.

"Well, you got any suggestions for dealing with it, at least?"

"The same way you deal with any other ghost… I would help, but I have a seal to protect."

"Yeah, no problem. I'll talk to you later." Hopefully.

Dean hung up and explained everything Cas had told him to Sam, who rang Bobby for help.

[] [] []

Cas paced nervously around the warehouse. He couldn't leave. He couldn't. The wormwood seal could be at any minute. The demons would be poisoning thousands of people at any moment, and he had to stop them. But he could sense the ghost sickness in Dean growing stronger. He could feel his fear, and it made Cas sick to his stomach.

He'd given them plenty of head start – told them minutes after Dean had been infected, So why wasn't he cured yet?! There had to be something wrong. Something was going on, and they needed his help! But so did the thousands of people about to be sacrificed.

Cas had spent days interrogating demons to withdraw as much information about their plans as possible. So he knew that they were planning on exploding a nuclear power plant. He knew which one too. And he knew they were going to do it by possessing several of the plant's employees. He just didn't know when the demons would make their move.

They hadn't gone for this seal the last time, but too much had changed in this timeline. The demons had broken very few seals and were getting more desperate. They were going at every seal that they could now, and Cas was beginning to lose too many. He wondered how the other angels were coping with the bombardment. How many had died because of him?

[] [] []

Dean wasn't too sure when the hallucinations had started. But they were getting progressively more vivid since that cop had tried to kill him. He started shaking as he heard the hellhounds howling in the distance. He can't go back to Hell. He can't. He had to just try and trust in his brother and Bobby. If anyone could get him out of this mess, it'd be them.

But if he did go to Hell again, would Cas be able to save him this time? Would he even want to? Cas wasn't here trying to stop Dean’s death, after all. Maybe he didn't care… Maybe he'd move on to hunters who were less trouble. 

Dean silently reprimanded himself. Cas was saving seals – he was helping to save all of the millions of lives that Dean, himself, had put into danger in the first place. Sam kept insisting that Cas was a monster, but if only he knew that that title was reserved for Dean himself.

What would Sam say then?

Dean heard a pounding against the door, it was shaking. Something was trying to get in. Dean stood up and grabbed for a weapon as his heart began to beat out of his chest. He wouldn't touch his knife because it was too risky and sharp, and his gun was in the car – he didn't want that accidentally going off. So he picked up a book to swing at the head of whoever was trying to get in. But then the banging outside the door stopped, and Dean froze. The door handle twisted and opened slowly – despite the demon warding that he'd had Sam place down before he'd left.

Dean's heart was pounding out of his chest, becoming very uncomfortable, until he saw who had walked in. Cas stood in the doorway, wiping his hands against his trench coat, with a sly smile on his face. And Dean just relaxed. Cas was here to help. Everything would be fine.

"Dean. Dean, calm down. I'm here now," Cas said as he walked forward and Dean was calm. All of a sudden, he just felt better, his heart was fine once more. Dean let out a deep breath and nodded. Cas smiled and walked those few extra feet and then suddenly, they were kissing. It was fast and pressing. Dean's eyes opened wide for all of a few seconds before he responded urgently to the press of the trickster's lips. Dean opened his mouth as Cas licked his way inside. It was just like he remembered it being back when he had sold his soul to the trickster. Dean had barely managed to forget about that first kiss but, since their bet at the bar a few weeks ago, he'd found himself thinking about it more and more often.

But now Cas' hands weren't all over some random girl in a bar; they were on Dean. The hunter bit lightly at Cas' bottom lip as the kiss continued. Cas surged forwards and led the, very willing, Dean to the bed and pushed him onto it. Dean, suddenly lying down, looked up at the trickster in amazement as Cas began to remove his trench coat.

"You're comfortable like this, aren't you, Dean," Cas spoke clearly with a smirk on his face. "You'd let me do anything I want to you… even while knowing that I'm powerful enough to squish you like a grape. You don't care anymore, though. Do you?" Cas continued as he threw the coat onto the floor. Dean didn't have any words, so he began to sit up. But the trickster just pushed him back down again. He hadn't realised, until right that second, how much of a turn on it was to be held down. Or maybe it was just because it was Cas?

The Demi-God pulled his tie from around his neck then, and Dean was about to speak when Cas shushed him with a finger to his lips.

"It's okay. I'm going to make you feel good."

Dean nodded. He'd felt like a walking corpse lately; he was dead on the inside, and he just wanted to feel again. Cas pulled Dean's hands up high and used the tie to fasten them to the headboard. Dean bit his lip, a little uncomfortable, and was able to speak for the first time since the trickster had kissed him.

"I dunno..." Dean muttered. But he was cut off by Cas' lips on his own once again. Cas moved past his mouth and licked at his jaw instead as he ground down at Dean’s hips.

"It'll be good. Promise," Cas muttered against Dean's skin, before leaning back with a grin on his face. "Maybe not for you… but definitely for us," Cas laughed. Dean, confused, pulled against his restraints. The look on Cas' face… it was twisted and wrong. He tried to sit up, but the trickster just pushed him back down again as he continued to sit on Dean’s waist.

"Cas… what's going on?" He asked in vain, and another laugh sounded from inside the motel room. Dean was just able to see the figure walk out of the shadows and towards them. Alastair.

"I really thought that you would know better than this, Dean," the demon said as his smirk grew wider. Dean's eyes shot up towards Cas, who was no longer paying any attention to him and just seemed bored. Alastair pulled out a long knife as he walked closer. "Now… let's have some fun."

[] [] []

Cas was itching underneath his skin. He could sense Dean's heart beating fast and hard – maybe only minutes away from giving out? He needed to go help. But he was still waiting for the demons to show. He couldn't justify leaving to help one human and potentially letting thousands more die… even if that one human was Dean.

But when the demons finally showed up, Cas wasted no time in disposing of them – just managing to restrain the leader of the group in a devils trap as he went to go help Dean, instead.

When he arrived at the motel room, he could tell instantly that Dean didn't have much time left. The hunter was muttering and squirming on the bed as his heart was pounding so rapidly in his chest that Cas was very concerned. Nothing he could do, short of destroying the ghost himself, would be able to cure the ghost sickness, but he could heal his friend enough to give Sam and Bobby a few extra minutes. Which is what he did.

Cas laid a hand on Dean's shoulder and was able to just barely weaken the effects of the ghost sickness for a little longer. Dean's eyes flew open, and the hunter flung himself off the bed and in a defensive position when he saw Cas.

"Dean?" The angel called out, worried. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… nothing," the hunter replied as he pushed himself so that his back was against a wall. "Just another hallucination."

Dean stayed like that, armed with a book as his weapon until Sam and Bobby got back. Cas had only been there for a few minutes by this time, and he was almost certain that they hadn't actually needed his help. But he had momentarily relieved Dean's discomfort, and that was enough for him.

When Cas was able to return to the warehouse that he had trapped the demon in, however, he found that it was empty and the devil's trap was broken. It seemed that the demon had been freed from Cas' trap, and the angel sighed in frustration; it wasn't too big of a deal but, if he was going to keep on top of these seals, he needed to keep questioning demons.

Chapter Text

Dean ran a shaking hand over his face. It had been several weeks since his hallucination, but it was still affecting him. He brought the tumbler filled with whiskey up to his dry lips and sipped at it. He was alone in the hotel room because Sam was at a library again, still searching for a way to kill Cas. But Dean didn't know what to do anymore. Weeks ago, he had been tortured by his hallucination of the trickster, and Dean had realised that he'd been letting his guard down around him. He had told Sam that he was going to be more cooperative in searching for a way to kill Cas because he wanted to cover all of his bases.

But Dean knew his true feelings, and he couldn't deny any longer how he felt for the trickster. He also couldn't deny how little he knew about him. And, over the past few weeks since the hallucination, he realised that he was at a fork in the road. He needed to either fully commit to hunting Cas. Or he could choose to continue to trust the Demi-God.

And if he was going to trust him, then Dean thought he might just give in to his desires for a more intimate relationship.

Dean sighed before taking another swig from his drink. He emptied the glass, grimaced, and then began to pour himself a refill, all the while contemplating the long night he had ahead of him.

"Pour one for me?" Came Cas' voice from behind him, and Dean flinched slightly, splashing some of the alcohol onto the cheap, veneer table he was sitting next to. Dean took a moment to collect himself before turning around to face the trickster.

"You got another seal that needs saving?" Dean asked, ignoring Cas' request for a drink.

"No seal,” Cas said. “Not today, anyway. The demons appear to be regrouping – they've lost too many fights, and I doubt that their management is happy about it." It sounded like a brag, but Dean thought he could see worry in Cas’ gaze.

"So… what? You're just checking in?" Dean asked, and Cas shrugged. Dean stood and leant against the table, taking a sip from his glass as what Cas had insinuated sunk in. The trickster had no reason to be there with him: he wasn't asking for a favour or using Dean for his own agenda. He was there just because he wanted to talk. He was bored, and Dean was who he had come to for companionship.

A small smile flirted on Dean's face as he thought that through. Dean thought about that kiss, the real one, from the first time they’d met. The hallucination had been a pale imitation of it, really, and as the days passed, the hallucination faded; it had felt so real, at the time, but now… Dean couldn’t understand how he’d ever believed it in the first place. It was like waking up from a dream. Because the real Cas…

Dean didn’t want to finish that thought, but he couldn’t help it.

The real Cas would never hurt Dean.

Dean felt so naive for even thinking it. But it was the truth; he was so sure that it was the truth! Cas had proven time and time again that he cared for Dean, for humanity, for everything.

Sam was wrong, Cas wasn’t a monster. He couldn’t be. He might not be human, but he was a better man than most of the people Dean knew. He was a better man than Dean was, that was for sure.

Dean felt his heart beating heavy against his chest as Cas just continued to stare back at him like that. Like… like Dean was the only important thing in the universe. Dean wasn’t used to anyone caring for him that way.

Maybe that was why he made his next decision. Maybe that was why Dean placed his glass onto the table and walked forward. Cas watched his movements and opened his mouth to say something, but Dean didn’t want to give himself time to rethink this. So he surged forward and, before Cas could react, Dean grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss. It wasn't chaste either. It was dirty and born of a sexual need. He needed Cas, and he needed him now.

[] [] []

Dean's lips were on his own. They were warm and wet and tasted like whisky. And it was everything that Cas had been missing.

It was like everything was just falling back into place again. He was finally back at Dean's side – where he was supposed to be. It was an odd thought; he'd stopped believing in destiny a long time ago… but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was meant to be with Dean, that they would always find a way to be with each other. It was both comforting and worrying, so he pushed it out of his mind. He bit lightly down on Dean's lower lip and teased it with his tongue. Dean's breathy gasp of surprise was like music to Cas. He loved it and craved more. So he grasped at Dean's sides and pulled him closer.

Cas licked wantonly at Dean's lips before pushing his tongue inside and tasting his mouth. Dean responded instantly and pushed back as good as he got, moaning loudly against Cas’ lips, and responding by slipping the overcoat off Cas' shoulder. They were rushing, both just needing each other. Cas knew that their first time together in this universe would be fast and messy.

A part of him felt bad about that - not that it had been any different in his own universe - but Cas couldn't bring himself to slow things down. They would have time to kiss and thoroughly learn each other's bodies later, Cas reasoned as he helped Dean by shucking his coat off and onto the floor.

He contemplated just making their clothes disappear so that he could feel Dean’s naked skin against his own, but decided that it was more fun to undress each other instead.

And so they did. Cas pulled back momentarily when his fingers found the hem of Dean's shirt so that he could pull it over his human's head – revealing the hard expanse of abs which tensed as Cas' fingers gently brushed over them.

There was a moment of complete stillness before Dean grabbed for Cas' clothes. His tie and shirt were yanked away within moments. Once their skin was exposed, their mouths were back on each other. Dean was sucking the Cas’ lower lip into his mouth as Cas scraped his teeth lightly against the Dean's skin and they both pulled frantically at the clothes which remained, rushing to feel rough hands against sensitive hardened skin.

Cas got Dean's jeans unzipped and smiled triumphantly against the kiss. He began to walk forward slowly, pushing Dean backwards and eventually against a wall. Their lips separated as a surprised huff escaped the man's lips.

In the next second, the angel had his hands pulling Dean's jeans and boxer briefs down past thighs with a sharp shove. He got a nice view of Dean's dick, and he appreciated the view before Dean bent down to remove the clothing from around this ankles. Cas took that moment to remove his own trousers. So, when Dean righted himself, they were both standing completely naked. He saw the way that Dean's eyes roamed over his body and felt his skin go hot under the attention.

After a moment, Cas leant in closer and kissed Dean again. He ground his hips against Dean's, the blessed friction encouraging their cocks to harden to attention. Dean's hands moved down Cas' body and found their way onto his hips, gripping tight as they moved against one another. Cas broke the kiss and pushed against Dean, licking and biting at his jaw and neck as he steadily thrust their erections together, sensitive hot skin pressed against skin, sliding and grinding and pushing for more.

"God, Cas!" Dean groaned, sucking in a deep breath as Cas squeezed at his ass, "fuck". Cas chuckled at the reaction he caused and adjusted their position, slipping his thigh between Dean’s legs to increase the glorious friction.

Dean grabbed hold of Cas' hair and pulled him off his neck so that their lips could connect once more. Dean nibbled at Cas’ lower lip and tugged lightly at his black hair, and Cas allowed him to as he gave another, particularly hard and shameless, thrust against Dean’s body. Then the hunter moved away from Cas’ lips and sucked at his ear, nibbling it in an attempt to gain control. But Cas needed to make this good for Dean… maybe that way it would turn out different than last time. Maybe, this way, Dean wouldn't think it was a mistake.

Cas placed his hand on Dean's chest and easily pushed him off and back against the wall. He then smirked and slid his hand slowly down Dean's chest. His fingers roaming over the familiar body, tracing the strong muscles in ways that made Dean shiver. Cas pulled away even further and ran his eyes over the form next to him admiringly, paying special attention to Dean’s large protruding cock, which throbbed with need at Cas’ longing gaze.

He brushed it lightly with the back of his hand, and it twitched, then Cas moved his hands to Dean's hips instead. He pressed against him once more, and Dean moaned, but Cas swallowed the sound with another kiss. He trailed his lips down along Dean’s body, licking and biting quickly at the muscle on show as he dipped lower and lower, before finally reaching Dean's dick.

Cas smirked and lowered his lips to the large, throbbing cock in front of him, sucking the tip into his mouth, tasting Dean’s pre-come and smiling. It wasn't exactly a pleasant taste, but it was Dean, and so Cas lapped it all off. He ran his tongue over the length of Dean’s dick and got a shudder and moan as a reply. Cas kissed again at the tip and slowly opened his mouth and lowered until Dean’s cock was pressing against the back of his throat. Cas hummed, delighted, as Dean’s hand found his hair, eliciting a shudder of delight.

"Cas!" Dean moaned his name as Cas started to bob his head up and down Dean’s thick cock. Cas looked up at his lover to see Dean’s head thrown back against the wall, panting heavily, and shaking with the power it took him not to thrust into Cas’ hot wet mouth.

Cas rarely used his manipulation of the universe to summon objects, not like Gabriel so often did. But he had more than enough power to do it, so he summoned a small tube of lube. He discretely spread some on his fingers as he continued to bob his head on Dean's dick while his other hand held onto the man's hips.

Cas slowly brought his lubed fingers up to Dean's hole and brushed against it, pressing but not entering. Not yet. He watched Dean’s face carefully for any indication that Dean wasn't okay with this, and Dean’s eyes shot open in surprise, but he didn’t object yet. So Cas went slow, circling Dean’s rim and pushed against it gently, but didn't attempt to go any further. Dean's eyes fell closed again, and he pushed his hips down against Cas' fingers.

"Yes," Dean whispered, almost incoherently, as he nodded. Cas didn't need any more confirmation that Dean was willing and, in one smooth motion, he slipped the tip of his middle finger into the hunter's ass. Dean hissed lightly, and so Cas sucked sharply on the dick in his mouth – using the blow job as a way to distract his lover from the stretch against his rim.

He solely pushed the rest of the finger inside and began to open Dean up. It was a slow process at first, Cas not wanting to push too much too soon. But after he brushed against Dean's prostate, it began to speed up. Dean pushed back onto Cas' fingers in a needy fashion, begging for more. More fingers. More pleasure. Dean quivered and moaned under Cas' touch as he got closer and closer to his orgasm. He was squirming for something deeper, but Cas could see how close he was. So he pulled back. All at once removing not only his fingers but also his mouth.

The angel sat back to see Dean panting from how close he came to his orgasm. It was quite a sight, and so Cas just smiled and watched him come down from the edge. When the hunter finally opened his eyes, he smiled back at Cas and lifted his aching arm to tap at his own lip.

"You've… got a little…" he said through heavy breaths. Cas licked his tongue along his lip where Dean had indicated and cleaned away the pre-come that had landed there. He stood up and felt Dean's eyes raking over his unclothed body; he discovered that he was also thankful that he didn't blush easily, because that look would have turned a regular human beet red.

Cas ran his hands up Dean's sides and smirked before leaning forward and close to Dean's ear.

"Are you ready for me?" He whispered, lips brushing skin as he spoke.

Dean nodded his confirmation and so Cas flipped him so that his front was now pressed against the wall. Dean didn't have time to react to the new position before Cas was covering his own erection in the lube he’d manifested. Cas placed his dick at Dean's entrance and the man tensed, Cas realised that he might have started to panic at the idea of what was about to happen, and as much as Cas wanted to take, he needed to make sure Dean was okay too.

"How you doing there?" Cas asked as he pressed his cock alongside Dean’s entrance but didn't go inside. Despite Cas’ act of indifference, if Dean wasn't entirely sure that he wanted this, then Cas would never even think of taking this any further. Dean swallowed and nodded. "You sure?" The angel asked, he made his voice taunting, but he was concerned.

"Just fuck me already, Cas!" Dean bit back, and so Cas pushed inside. Dean inhaled sharply against the pressure, and Cas remembered the first time that Dean had fucked him, the shock of being completely filled. It was uncomfortable, but it got a lot better.

And then he remembered the many times that he had fucked Dean and how much the hunter had loved to be the bottom. This Dean didn't know that yet, he had never done this before. But he would know how great it could feel soon – and Cas would be the one to show him.

Cas rocked slowly at first, moving his hips in circular motions and searching for that pleasure point as he pressed deeper and deeper into Dean’s hole. During his time as a human, Cas had become very used to the feeling of another person wrapped around his dick, but it had been so long since then that Cas almost felt overwhelmed by it now.

Dean shuddered and gasped out a moan as Cas hit the prostate. Dean's body quivered with pleasure, making Cas inhale sharply at the tightness around his dick. He started to move faster now, harder, pushing in and out of Dean and hitting his prostate with every inward thrust. Both men groaned and panted, but it wasn't enough for Cas… he wanted to make Dean scream. And so he pulled them backwards slightly and bent Dean over just enough to make it perfect. He pushed harder into the man and, as their bodies collided, he was rewarded for his efforts.

Dean screamed his name over and over again. Each word giving Cas all the more encouragement to go faster… harder. Dean's body was perfect as he thrust in and out repeatedly. Dean tried to push back against the thrusts, but he didn't need to as Cas was pulling him onto his dick with his tight grip on his hips.

"Cas!" Dean moaned out in immense pleasure, and Cas pushed harder; he got into a pace that would be difficult for a human to maintain and, after that, Dean wasn't able to speak anymore; his head was tilted to the ceiling, eyes closed and lips parted in a silent scream as his orgasm built and exploded out of him, his body arching as he painting his stomach and the walls white with his come.

It took a great effort for Cas to slow his rocking hips, but he managed to still his hips. His own orgasm was still so far away, but it was his own fault: he’d probably paid too much attention to Dean's dick earlier, built him up too high too fast. Cas contemplated just pulling out and finishing himself off by hand, but Dean rocked back against his dick encouragingly.

"Keep going," Dean muttered breathlessly, his face plastered against the hotel wallpaper. Cas nodded. He lowered his face to the back of Dean's neck and pressed a short kiss there before resting his forehead against Dean's shoulder. He tightened his grip once more against Dean's hips and sped up his thrusting once again.

He didn't go as harsh as he had been earlier, but Dean's tight, warm hole was clenching around Cas’ dick every time as he continued to slam against Dean's prostate, helping to bring Cas closer to his own high. He quaked and let out a series of breathless moans as he came inside Dean a minute later.

He stayed buried inside the beautiful heat of Dean’s body for a few more moments as he regained his breath before he finally pulled out.

"That was… incredible," Dean whispered, panting heavily as he turned around to lean his back against the wall; they locked eyes with each other, and Dean grinned. Cas leant forwards and kissed Dean's smiling lips, running his tongue over them and licking into his mouth. The man laughed, still high from his orgasm, and encouraged the wet kiss that came from Cas.

When it was over, Dean collapsed to the floor, panting for breath and barely able to speak. Every muscle in his body hummed and he was so weak that he only just managed enough energy to twist his legs out from underneath himself and splay them out across the floor in front as he leant back against the hotel wall.

"I think… I think you actually came close to killing me just," Dean said, only half-joking.

"Not quite," Cas replied, chuckling as he stretched and looked down at his lover; "but I'm sure you wouldn't have minded going out like that."

Cas turned and looked at his clothes that were scattered around the floor. He got up to put them on and turned back to see that Dean had closed his eyes, looking as though he was seconds away from sleep. Cas wanted to curl up next to the man and stay with him… but Cas didn’t know how Dean would react to that. Didn’t know whether Dean would come to regret their night together when he woke up later, and Cas didn’t think he could take being rejected by Dean again right now. So, instead... instead of indulged himself in his urge to cuddle, he flew away.

But not before taking a mental picture of his blissed-out lover on the floor, sprawled out in a half-sitting position with his chest and stomach covered in come. The wall above him was also streaked slightly in the white substance, and some had dripped into his messy, sex-hair from where his head was leaning against the structure. And Cas couldn't see it, but he knew his own come was slowly dripping out of the man's backside. He was the perfect image of sex.

When Cas left, he wasn't sure where to go; he just knew that he didn’t want to be alone right now. So he flew towards Sam Winchester instead. The youngest Winchester was currently at a library, researching ways to kill him. Cas still felt hurt that a man who he thought so highly of would despise him in such a way… but then again, they thought he was a monster, so Cas supposed that was his own fault.

After a few hours, Sam’s face lit up. He quickly packed up several useless books and put them back on their shelves before taking the one he'd been reading from to the front desk to check out. Cas followed him out the library, and when he saw Sam get into the Impala, he flew back towards the motel. Dean was still passed out against the wall, naked and covered in their come. Cas moved forwards and placed his hand on the man's shoulder, he shook him gently and woke him up, but turned invisible before he could be seen.

Dean's eyes slowly opened and he stretched, he winced at the dull pain the movement caused in his ass, while his eyes searched the room. After a moment, Dean dragged himself up off the floor and forced his aching muscles to move until he groggily walked into the bathroom for a shower. Cas watched him and smirked. He heard the running water and fought the urge to join him under the hot and relaxing spray. A few minutes later, Sam walked in the door. He didn't seem to notice the slight stains on the walls and floor where Cas and Dean had so recently had sex.

"Sam?" Dean shouted from the bathroom, and the youngest Winchester rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm back," he shouted in return, and then the sound of running water was cut off as Dean left the shower. Sam was emptying his bag onto the table as Dean entered the room with a towel wrapped around his waist, and grabbed the clothes from the chair while discreetly kicking his discarded clothes from earlier into a less-questionable pile next to his bed. But he didn't move just yet to go back into the bathroom to get dressed.

Dean looked very deep in thought, the smile that had graced his face before slowly dropping away and turning serious. Sam noticed and waited a few moments for Dean to speak.

"Do you really think that Cas is one of the bad guys?" He asked, and Cas moved closer to his lover, feeling the emotions reel off him.

"I do,” Sam said. “Everything about him… it just doesn’t make sense. Nothing makes sense. Like, don't you think it's weird that the only tricksters we've run into in this supposed 'trickster war' are Cas and Gabe? If they're not the bad guys, then where are the others? And why are there so many demons involved? It's too suspicious."

Dean nodded slightly, and even Cas had to admit that he hadn't done very well in covering his own story.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Dean replied in a dull tone.

"But it's okay… I think I've had a breakthrough." Sam picked up the book he'd borrowed from the library and flicked it to the right page before showing it to his brother. There was a large picture of an angel blade on the page, and Dean took it without a word. "So, get this, there are apparently millions of different types of tricksters around the world, and they're all killed by different weapons." Dean nodded to show he was listening as Sam kept on talking. "And that's why it's been so hard to find the right thing to kill Cas with… because we have to find out what kind of trickster he is first."

"Yeah, we already know that, Sam."

"But this blade is said to be able to kill any type of monster, trickster or otherwise," Sam continued as he ignored the interruption and finished with a broad smile and glint of pride in his eyes.

"I don't know, Sam. A lot of these theories are just that… there's no proof that this thing will be able to kill him."

"Look at it, Dean,” Sam said, sounding frustrated now. “Doesn't it look just like the blade that Cas carries around?"

Dean nodded soberly.

"I'm still working on where to find it," Sam added, “but I think this is the real deal.” Sam was right, of course, the angel blade could kill almost anything. But Cas wasn’t concerned about that. There were so few of them around on Earth that Cas didn’t see the point in worrying over it.

The room fell silent once more Dean turned to head back into the bathroom. That's when Cas noticed the dried come that was still plastered into his hair. He reached out and lightly brushed his finger against the wet follicles, cleaning away the rest of the mess. Dean's head snapped around to look for Cas and frowned as he checked the room but saw nothing. Cas sighed as he watched his lover pause for a second longer before padding off into the bathroom.

Chapter Text

Castiel took a long, slow breath. He was content. His life hadn't been this good in a long time, and right now, he had hope that everything could work out. It was possibly stupid to feel confident over all of his worries just because one thing had slotted into place. But that one thing wasn't just anything. It was Dean. Love was a powerful emotion, and it was making Cas feel invincible. If he could get Dean to fall for him even though he was feigning being a monster… well, he could do anything. Right?

Cas began to worry then about how Dean would react when he found out Cas had been lying to him this entire time… maybe it would soon be time to tell the boys the truth? He decided to talk to Gabriel about it because, really, how long could he be expected to keep up this charade?

Cas couldn't wait for the moment he would get to be himself around Dean again. But for now, he was staying away. Not permanently; oh no, Cas couldn't do that even if he wanted to. But a few days would probably do Dean some good. He didn't want to seem too pushy with their relationship. If he kept his cool and stayed back for a while, then Dean was less likely to freak out, right?

If he was honest with himself, Cas wasn't entirely sure of what he was doing and if it would make things better or worse than the last time. But he had to try.

[] [] []

Dean stared at his phone on the table and repeatedly tapped his index finger against the tough, glass beer bottle that he was holding. It had been days since he'd last seen Cas. Days since they'd had sex against the hotel wall.

Days .

It wasn't like they usually saw each other every day - or even every other day - but he was still concerned. Because for Cas to just disappear without a word after what had happened? It either meant that he was hurt somewhere… or that he just didn't care as much as Dean did.

Dean didn't really know which was worse.

And it wasn't even like he could voice his thoughts to anyone. Because who was he going to talk to? Sam? Yeah… he could really see that going down well. He didn't think Sam would have any problems with the 'turns out I'm not quite as straight as we originally thought' part of the conversation, but he might object when Dean told him that he found this out when he let Cas - aka, the trickster that Sam was searching desperately for a way to kill - fuck him against a wall.

And it was good.

Dear God, it was good!

No one just disappeared for days after having sex that great.

So maybe Cas really was hurt?

Around and around the worries span in Dean's head. He couldn't seem to fully concentrate on anything else lately. Sam had noticed and tried to get Dean to open up about what was bothering him, but Dean would just snap back instead. So Sam eventually gave up and found them a hunt, instead.

A hunt was good. It exercised Dean’s brain and gave him something else to concentrate on so that he wasn't constantly questioning himself, wondering if he should pray to Cas to check up on him and make sure everything was okay…

The only time that the hunt wasn't useful was when Dean was waiting around like he was currently doing now. He'd got back to the motel room earlier than planned from his trip to the victim's apartment, and Sam was still at the morgue, so Dean had nothing else to do than just sit here and drown in his own self-doubt.

Dean continued to tap his finger against the beer bottle. He shifted in his seat and looked over at his phone, waiting for… something. A message, maybe, from Cas. He picked his mobile up and started to unlock it before shaking his head and placing it, roughly, back down onto the table again. He took another swing of his beer and waited some more. The clock on the wall ticked by slowly, but Dean knew that Sam would be back at any minute. That was kind of a relief; soon it would be out of Dean's hands. Once Sam was back, Dean wouldn’t be able to call Cas even if he decided it was necessary - because it wasn't like they could have the conversation that Dean wanted to have while Sam was around.

"I'm being an idiot," Dean muttered to himself, shaking his head and realising he was acting like a teenager with a crush. Dean took another swig of his beer and picked up his phone; he was dialling Cas' number before he could talk himself out of it.

Dean listened as the phone rang and rang, but Cas didn't answer. He closed his eyes and sighed as he hung up without leaving a message. Dean wouldn't ring again, that would be too needy. He'd rang once and made the first move, now it was Cas' turn.

[] [] []

After the case was over, Sam went to the town's library to research the blade he'd found and so Dean was once again alone in the motel room. He rubbed at his forehead momentarily and then turned on his TV to help pass the time. He was just settling down and watching a rerun of Doctor Sexy when Cas showed up.

To say that Dean was shocked when the trickster turned up again after days of silence, would be an understatement. Dean attempted to remain calm, to put on a chilled front, and cleared his throat to avoid making some sarcastic remark that would probably make him sound more like a jilted lover than anything else.

"Hello, Dean," the trickster said as he collapsed into a nearby chair, looking as cocky as ever. Dean would have really liked to put him in his place about now…

"Hey, Cas. How are ya?" He replied, reaching for the TV remote as casually as possible and beginning to flick through the channels to hide the fact he was indulging in an episode of Doctor Sexy and make it appear as though he was just channel surfing instead.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Just peachy."

Dean didn't know what he was doing, he realised. It had been a long time since he'd liked anyone as much as he now liked Cas and he wasn't entirely sure how to deal with that.

"So," Cas started, cutting right to the point. "Do you regretting what happened last week?" Dean's thumb froze on the remote, and he spent a moment analysing Cas' words. He obviously didn't regret it… but did this mean that Cas did? Dean set his shoulders and told himself to grow up before he turned to look from the TV to an expectant Cas.

"Not at all," Dean said. He was building up the courage to ask if Cas was regretting it when the trickster smiled at him; not a smirk, but a genuine smile. It only lasted for a second before it faded into something smugger, but Dean suddenly felt warm all over.

"Perfect," Cas purred. "Because I think that we’re due a repeat." Dean's eyebrows lifted slightly at Cas' bluntness, but he didn’t disagree. His nod was almost unperceivable, but his smile must have revealed his answer because, the next thing he knew, Cas was out of his chair and stripping off his trench coat. Dean stood up from where he'd been sitting against the headboard of the motel bed and met Cas' lips in a rough kiss.

Cas' hands buried in Dean's hair instantly, running through it and tugging at the strands as his tongue slowly took Dean apart. He shivered when Cas caught his lower lip between his teeth and pulled smoothly at it. Dean brought his hands to Cas' ass and squeezed as he pulled the trickster flush against his body. Cas moaned into Dean's mouth, and Dean’s body reacted to it.

One of Cas' hands gave a final tug against Dean's hair and dropped to his jeans, instead, fiddling with the button but not popping it open just yet.

"How long do we have? When will Sam be back from the library?" Cas murmured against Dean's kiss-bitten lips. Dean shrugged.

"Probably hours; less if he finds something." Dean felt Cas' answering smile against his lips and let out a soft gasp as the trickster quickly undid his jeans and pushed his hand inside Dean's pants, cupping his semi-hard dick through the thin material of his boxer briefs. But something about what Cas had asked just didn't sit right inside Dean's mind… how had Cas known where Sam was?

Dean frowned at Cas as he pulled his lips away and took a minute to study the trickster. It was kind of ridiculous to be questioning something so small; Sam was always at the library lately so, obviously, Cas would've just assumed that's where he'd be now.

But, then again, Cas wasn't around enough to know that Sam was always at the library… unless…

Unless Cas could turn invisible.

Dean felt stupid just considering it. But then he remembered when he'd been piercing the vail. The memory was dulled from his time spent in hell… but he had definitely been able to sense Cas in the room, even when his eyes told him there was no one around. And his gut had been right.

"Can you turn invisible?" Dean asked slowly and watched Cas' face carefully, noticing a slight twitch to his eye.

"Yes," Cas confirmed quietly, but he didn't move away. His hand was still down Dean's jeans and cupping his dick.

"And you've been spying on us."

There wasn’t any anger in Dean’s voice. He knew that he should be pissed… but he wasn’t.

"I like to think of it as checking in on you; not spying," Cas admitted, and Dean nodded as he thought. Cas still didn't move away, and neither did Dean.

"You were worried about us?"

Cas didn't answer, but Dean didn’t need him to. He thought about how many times Cas had shown up to save their lives or to just heal them when they were injured. He'd saved Dean from Hell, for God's sake. Dean knew there were a lot more hunters out there who would be less of a hassle, and yet Cas kept coming back to them. Because maybe at first it had been about finding someone who would help him fight the war… but, somewhere along the way, Cas had begun to care about them too.

Dean kissed Cas then, it was slower than they had ever kissed before, but it was no less intense. He let his lips wander and began to mouth at Cas' jaw as the trickster gave a gentle squeeze at Dean's half-hard dick and began to stroke it encouragingly. Dean liked this side of Cas, the side that showed how he really felt, the side that cared. He wished that Cas didn’t always hide it behind his cocky attitude, and Dean opened his mouth to say just that.

But then Cas slipped his hand down Dean’s briefs and cupped his naked cock, and Dean just about forgot how to so much as breathe, all conscious thought flying out of the window along with his dignity as Dean whimpered and moaned.

Dean fell back onto the bed, pulling Cas along with him, where they remained for the next hour while Cas fucked him until they were both exhausted and falling asleep.

[] [] []

Sam was exhausted from the hunt; he knew that he should have just gone back to the motel to sleep, but instead he went to the library and worked until he passed out on top of the mythology textbook.

His dream was confusing. It felt too strong, too real.

He was walking along a beach, one that Bobby had taken him and Dean to when they were kids… it was one of his only normal memories from Sam’s entire childhood. But he could feel the sand shifting underneath his toes and the icy bite of the wind against his face and ears. He'd never had a dream this real before. And that was another thing that was new: he'd never been able to tell he was dreaming before.

Maybe it wasn't a dream at all? Everything was just too… clear.

Sam continued to walk down the empty beach, not really knowing where he was going but just having the urge to walk. It wasn't long before he came across a balding man in a black suit; the man was standing and facing out over the ocean.

"Hello, Sam," the man said as Sam approached. "Tell me? What is it you're doing stuck in a stuffy library researching an angel blade?" Sam frowned but stayed silent, and the man turned to face him. "You have a monster problem, hmm? Something that normal methods just can't handle?"

"A trickster," Sam surprised himself by answering.

"Well, in that case, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the blade you're after is real and it would be able to kill a trickster easily," the man said, his tone casual as though he were talking about the weather. "The bad news is that you're never going to find one on earth."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Sam blurted out, and the man smiled at him.

"Let me help you."

Sam paused. He didn't know who - or what - the man in front of him was and he wasn't about to go rushing into working with one monster to get rid of another.

"Who are you?" Sam asked slowly, eying the man in front of him with suspicion. The man only smiled wider and stepped forward.

"My name is Zachariah. I'm an angel of the Lord."

Chapter Text

Dean woke gradually from the hand gently shaking his shoulder. He was drenched in a cold sweat and shaking slightly as he lifted his hands to rub the crust from his eyes.

"You should let me take your nightmares away," Cas whispered - because Sam was still asleep only a few feet away - once Dean had sat up in his bed. This wasn't the first time that Cas had woken him from a nightmare, it wasn't the first time that he'd offered to take them away from Dean, and it wouldn't be the last time either.

"I deserve them," Dean croaked out through his dry throat. Cas handed him a glass of water and sat on the side of the bed, watching as Dean sipped from it. He did deserve the nightmares. No matter what the trickster said.

He had tortured souls in hell and brought on a war bigger than he could have imagined. So, yeah, he could put up with a few nightmares when his punishment should be much, much, worse. Once Dean's eyes had adjusted to the dark room, he looked up from the cool water in his glass to Cas' face. But the trickster seemed off.

"What's up, Cas?"

"A seal broke tonight," Cas said, pausing and sighing. "It was my fault."

"Hey, don't say that. You can't save them all by yourself," Dean assured him, but Cas shook his head.

"I let a demon get away from me last month. And now that they have someone who's met me they're able to put up more specific wardings." Cas turned to face away so that Dean could only see half of his face. "They're not very strong wards… but they are stronger than before, and it's enough to slow me down and give the demons more time."

"Cas, listen to me…" Dean lifted his hand, which wasn't clutching the glass, and touched his fingers against the short stubble on Cas' jaw. "It wasn't your fault."

Dean wondered if this was how Cas always felt, constantly trying to reassure Dean that he shouldn't blame himself for a mistake. But Dean's mistake was something much more substantial than a demon escaping. He decided to put it out of his mind though and leant forward to capture Cas' lips in his own.

The kiss was brief and gentle, but it put a small smile on Cas' lips again, so it was perfect.

[] [] []

Dean wasn't particularly surprised when Cas appeared, lounging in the backseat of his car, when they were on their way to Bobby's. The trickster had been working with them even more often than normal despite Sam's protests, which were growing weaker and farther apart. Dean had to wonder if Sam was beginning to begrudgingly accept Cas' presence over the last few weeks. However, the atmosphere in the car still became icy for the rest of the drive, and so Dean was thankful that it didn't last very long. They pulled up outside Bobby's house only twenty minutes later, and Dean immediately recognised the truck parked nearby.

He slid out of the Impala and heard the slam of car doors behind him as he walked up to the front door. Dean knocked loudly and, only a few seconds, later Ellen was swinging the door open.

"Dean," she greeted with a smile and pulled him into a big hug. But when Ellen pulled back, she slapped Dean and stared him down. "What you can't pick up a phone? Are you allergic to giving me peace of mind? I gotta find out that you're alive from Rufus?!"

"Sorry, Ellen," he said quietly.

"Yeah, you'd better be. You better put me on speed-dial, Kid." Dean heard a huffed laugh behind him that he knew was coming from Cas. Ellen looked over his shoulder at said trickster with her brow furrowed. "Who's this?"

"Cas; he's a friend," he said and ignored Sam rolling his eyes. Ellen continued to stare at the trickster for a little longer before turning to look back into the house where Bobby was standing behind her. Bobby gave a simple nod, and Ellen turned back with a smile.

"Well come on in, boys. We have a lot to talk about," she said, seemingly appeased. Jo was standing in the kitchen and pouring herself a drink. She stopped to give Dean a quick hug, and he smiled at her happily.

"Not that it's not great to see you, Ellen," Sam said as he followed Dean inside. "But what are you guys doing here?"

"We have a lead on Lilith," Jo answered and then paused when she saw Cas, but she didn't say anything, probably having overheard the earlier conversation between Dean and her mother. "And we could do with some help." The girls continued to explain about where Lilith is and how they'd come across the information. When they were done, Dean saw Cas nod minutely.

"I'll take care of it," Cas said, and Dean jumped up straight from where he was resting against the table.

"Hey, hey, hey! Not without us, you're not!" He was quick to say before Cas could disappear on them. "What are you, suicidal?"

"I'm more than capable of working on my own, Dean," Cas countered.

"We're sure you are," Ellen said softly and yet still asserting. "But Dean's right. Lilith ain't no ordinary demon. She's top of the chain… too much for one hunter to take down."

"I'm much more than just a hunter," Cas said slowly, but Dean could see that he was going to agree, anyway. Ellen and Jo stared at Cas silently for a moment before Bobby spoke up, answering their unasked question.

"Cas is a trickster."

[] [] []

To say that Ellen wasn't concerned when she found out that Cas was a Demi-God would have been a lie. She knew that the Winchester boys were good hunters, some of the best that she’d ever met, but teaming with the enemy was one hell of a pill to swallow. Ellen was nervous. She had to be able to trust everyone she was going on a hunt with, and how could she trust a monster?

And so once they had got their plan sorted and everyone dispersed to get ready for the hunt tomorrow, Ellen pulled Bobby aside to ask him a few questions.

"Do you really trust that trickster?" She asked quietly, trying to keep any judgement out of her voice, but likely failing. Bobby huffed a sigh and leant back against the wall behind him.

"Not as much as Dean does,” he said. “But a helluva lot more than Sam.” Ellen nodded slowly, thinking that over.

"Well, why does Dean trust him so much?" She asked. Out of the brothers, Sam was generally the more open one, and it was unusual to see their situations reversed.

"I don't know," Bobby said with a small shake of his head. Ellen asked a few more questions, but the answers didn't get much more helpful. She decided to keep a much closer eye on the trickster; something had to be going on that Bobby didn't know about.

It didn't take her long to figure out what it was.

"I'll be damned," Ellen muttered quietly to herself not twenty minutes later as she watched Cas bring Dean a bottle of beer from the fridge, catching the tender moment that passed between them, the way their hands lingered just a little too long and the way their faces were both open and adoring. And, at that moment, she knew… Dean had taken ‘in bed with the enemy’ far too literally. "Idiots," she muttered, talking about not only the love-sick Cas and Dean but also Sam and Bobby for not noticing it themselves.

Ellen let her issue with Cas drop after that, confident that no one could fake the look of pure love that crossed the trickster’s face every time he even glanced Dean's way. Cas wouldn't do anything to put Dean in danger, she was sure of it. And he would never risk losing him by putting his loved ones in danger either.

[] [] []

Dean hated sneaking around behind his family's back. Not telling Sam about Cas was one thing… but everyone else too? They didn't hate Cas. Dean contemplated filling Bobby in about what was happening, but figured it would have to wait for another time, he didn't want anything to be on Bobby's mind if Ellen's lead turned out to be true and they ended up fighting Lilith tomorrow.

Dean didn't think Bobby would be bothered that he was sleeping with a guy. But he might be bothered that said guy was a trickster. And he would definitely be bothered by keeping it a secret from Sam. So, no, tonight wasn't the right time to tell anyone.

But someday.

Everyone started to slip away as the night went on. Bobby went to his room, Ellen and Jo shared the guest bedroom, Sam and Dean kicked out on the sofas. Just before Jo went up, she frowned in Cas' direction.

"Where are you going to sleep?" She asked quietly. Dean kept his eyes closed tight, he'd been reading too much into everything Jo and Cas had been saying all night, making himself jealous for no reason.

"I don't sleep," Cas told her quietly, and Dean eventually heard the woman's footsteps up the stairs. Dean relaxed when he heard the light scrape of a wooden chair in the kitchen as Cas sat down. He let out a long breath and drifted off to sleep.

Dean opened his eyes and found himself lying in a large, soft bed. The sheets were cream with very pale green swirls, and the pillows were thicker than he'd ever had before. He sighed and pushed his head deep into the pillow, it felt so good. He was naked, but the room was warm enough that he didn't feel any chill while lying on top of the thick duvet.

"You like the bed?" Cas asked. He sounded like he was lying right next to Dean, but Dean’s head was still buried deep in the pillow, and so he couldn't be entirely sure.

"Fuck, yeah," Dean said and then paused as he remembered how he had fallen asleep last night. How had he got here? Where was here? He pulled himself up so that he was leaning the majority of his weight onto his elbows as he lay on his stomach. Cas was lying next to him, sans all clothing. Dean felt his dick give an interested twitch as his eyes roamed over his lover's naked body. Cas watched him with a smile as Dean's eyes paid particular attention to Cas' long thick, cut dick.

Dean's mind got a little lost in fantasies for a moment before he remembered his question.

"Where are we?" He asked once he'd finally been able to drag his eyes back up to Cas' face.

"Technically," Cas said slowly, putting great emphasis on the word. "We're still at Bobby's. You're dreaming. But this is a real hotel room in London. I could take you there one day after this mess with the war is over?" Cas asked with a small smile still lingering on his face.

"I'll have to remember to ask you when I wake up," Dean laughed and crawled closer to Cas' body.

"No need. I'm really here, Dean." Cas reached out his hand and buried it into Dean's hair. "This is really me." Dean just nodded, accepting Cas' word for it. After all, he had helped them to enter Bobby's dream once before, so this wasn’t all that different.

Dean leant forward and captured Cas' lips with his own, licking his way into them and marvelling at the sounds the trickster made in return. He pulled himself on top of Cas and ground down against him, enjoying feeling Cas' thick dick harden between them. Cas' hand grabbed Dean's ass cheeks and heaved him up so that his legs straddled Cas' upper thighs and he had to bend over to continue kissing his lover's lips.

Dean felt Cas' dick in-between his thighs, thrusting up between Dean's cheeks and brushing against his hole. He shivered in response to every thrust and ground back down in the same rhythm. It would be so easy to let Cas open him up and push his dick inside, taking everything from Dean that he was willing to give. He loved the feeling of Cas' dick thrusting inside of him, fucking him hard and fast and unrelenting until Dean came with a scream of pleasure. It was ridiculous how Dean just wanted to be used by Cas. It should make him feel bad, but he couldn't give a damn. Not when Cas would always hold him tightly afterwards and kiss him slowly, taking care of him in a way no one had ever done before. The juxtaposition of the rough sex with Cas' loving, caretaking, nature was odd but amazing; and Dean just couldn't get enough of it.

Dean wanted to prolong the moment, and so he moved Cas' hands away and slid down his lover's body until his lips were only inches from Cas' long, hard cock. He could feel Cas' eyes watching him as he licked a long stripe up from the balls to the tip, feeling the thrumming pulse against his tongue. Dean ignored the unpleasant bitter taste of pre-come that gathered at the slit and continued to mouth at the trickster's dick. Cas rived beneath him, his breath hitching and faint mewls escaping his lips as Dean began to suck at the tip of his dick. He tried to not be too harsh, he'd only given a blow job once before, but he'd received many in his lifetime, and so he knew, more or less, what to do.

He hollowed his cheeks so he could take in more of Castiel's dick until his mouth was full. He didn't dare to slip down any further in case he started to gag; maybe one day he'd try deep-throating, but today he just wasn't ready. Cas buried his fingers deep into Dean's hair, but he didn't push his head down further; instead, he simply gripped it hard and tugged slightly but not painfully. Dean slowly began to bob his head up and down Cas' cock, using his hand to work at the area that he wasn't able to reach with his lips.

Cas shivered and moaned beneath him; he could barely keep his hips still, but Dean was gracious for the effort. Cas was praising him from above; telling Dean how amazing he was, how beautiful. Dean lifted his eyes up to watch Cas come undone. The trickster's head was dropped back against the cushion and pointing up to the ceiling as if he was in the middle of a prayer. Dean didn't know why he found that image so pleasing, but he realised in that second that he definitely had a kink. He decided that he'd have to convince Cas to play around with a devout/sinner roleplay sometime.

Cas' eyes appeared to be closed, but Dean couldn't tell from this angle. Not until Cas lifted his head to look down at him, opening his eyes as he did so. Dean made eye contact with his lover and caught the wicked smirk on his face. He suddenly couldn't help it any longer, Dean used his hand that wasn't already working at the base of Castiel's cock, to reach down and tug at his own. Dean worked himself quickly because he knew that he couldn't wait until Cas' dick was buried inside his hole, he needed to come right then. He started to breathe heavier around the cock in his mouth as he struggled to reach his own climax, letting out a soft moan that vibrated against Cas' skin, and the dick in his mouth twitched happily.

" Fuck," Cas breathed, scrunching his fist into Dean's hair. Dean sucked a little harder and began to bob his head faster, trying his best to tease Cas closer to the edge of his orgasm. It didn't take long before the trickster was crying out Dean's name and coming inside his mouth. Dean tried his best to swallow it all, ignoring the unpleasant taste as best he could, but a little bit of Cas' come escaped his lips and dribbled down his chin.

Dean gave one last suck before he took Cas' spit-slick and softening cock out of his mouth. He dropped his forehead to Cas' lower abdomen and worked his own dick faster with his hand, soon coming all over the bedsheets. His body shook as he orgasmed and he managed to hold himself up only momentarily before collapsing on top of Cas.

The trickster let out a quiet huff of air and reached down to pet Dean's hair as he came down from his high.

"That was awesome," Dean muttered into the warm skin of Cas' hips, eyes closed and voice sleepy, and Cas shook with silent laughter beneath him.

"It was," the trickster agreed.

Dean woke up on the floor of Bobby's living room to Cas' rough tongue lapping at his abdomen, and he froze, shooting a wareful glance at his sleeping brother only a few feet away on the sofa.

"Cas, what're you doing?" He whispered frantically.

"Relax, I put Sam into a deep sleep. You could kick him, and he wouldn't wake up." Dean looked back down at where Cas was leaning over his hips, looking dishevelled and beautiful. He nodded once, trusting his lover and letting him continue to lick the drying come from Dean's body. It felt terrific, and Dean had to bite his lip to keep from moaning; he knew that he would have been hard again if he hadn't only just come.

Once Cas was finished, he sat back and smiled down at Dean, who leant up for a brief kiss.

"I'm sorry," the trickster apologised, and Dean frowned at him in confusion. "I was trying to stop our physical bodies from reacting to the dream, but I lost concentration," he explained, and Dean just smiled up at him.

"I'm sure I can forgive you," he replied and leant in for another kiss.

Chapter Text

Ellen and Jo's source ended up being yet another dead end; the boys drove back in a sullen mood but Castiel knew that he couldn't stay for much longer. He had seals to save and there was too much work still to be done. So, instead of following Dean around for a little longer like a lost puppy, he said a quick goodbye to the brothers and flew away. He had all intention of returning after a few days to check in, but he hadn't been expecting to be forced back to the Winchesters after the sensors alerted him to the presence of an angel nearby.

He landed in the motel room and instantly recognised the angel that was standing opposite both of the brothers.

"What are you doing here, Zachariah?" Cas growled out, making the Winchester brothers jump and look at him. He was standing at the far end of the motel room, a few feet behind his former superior.

"Castiel?" Zachariah asked in complete shock once he'd turned around to face him. "We thought that you were dead…"

"Not exactly," he replied as he withdrew his angel blade. Zachariah noticed and laughed curtly.

"What do you think you're doing? Do you really think that you can kill me? How pitiful." Zachariah withdrew his own angel blade and charged forwards. Sam smiled in relief at having the angel on their side to help to kill the trickster; while Dean grimaced and had a mental battle about which side he was on… his lover's or the supposed angel's.

Cas easily blocked Zachariah's attack with his own blade. He then smoothly pushed the angel away with his elbow, causing his former superior to drop his blade and it went flying across the floor. Cas straightened his arm and sliced at Zachariah as he stumbled backwards. He caught the man's chest with his blade and the bright light of his grace poured out of the gash. Cas quickly pushed Zachariah to the floor. He then straddled him as he pushed the blade deep into his chest. Light burst out of the angel and his wings left scorch marks on the ground below as they burnt off. He raised his head to see Dean directly in front of him.

Both brothers were covering their eyes from the bright light, but once the light diminished they looked back towards Cas. They could easily see the wing marks on the floor and walls in the room and that proved to Dean that Zachariah had, in fact, been an angel; and now he was scared. Because Cas had killed him, Cas had killed one of the good guys… which meant that he must be evil. Cas could see the fear and hurt from his lover's betrayal in Dean's eyes and wasn't sure what to say. He got up onto his feet and looked down at Zachariah's empty vessel just as he heard the sound of a blade being picked up. He didn't need to turn around to know that Sam was holding Zachariah's dropped angel blade and was about to charge on him. He lifted his gaze once more to meet Dean's eyes as they flicked worriedly to his brother. But it didn't really bother Cas; he knew that his wards were too strong for a human to kill him… angel blade or not.

"Yes, Sam… that blade can kill me," he said without turning. Sam faltered and looked down at the blade, unsure what to do now that Cas knew he was holding it. Both Winchester's shared a look of fear where Dean shook his head… Cas could see the turmoil in his lover's gaze and knew exactly what he was thinking: if Cas could kill an angel then he could definitely kill Sam. An hour ago Dean wouldn't have thought that Cas would ever hurt him or his brother… but now?

The angel sighed and materialised another angel blade which he passed to Dean.

"You should have one too," he said, hoping to gain back some of his trust which he knew was fading away at every second that passed. "They come in handy." Dean slowly reached out and took the blade from him.

"This is the same thing that you had at the police station," Dean said and Cas nodded even though it wasn't a question. "It kills demons… what else?" Dean asked and Cas shrugged as he put his own blade away.

"Pretty much everything."

"Why are you giving them us if they can kill you?" Sam asked and Cas reluctantly broke his eye contact with Dean so he could turn around and look at the taller Winchester brother instead.

"Call it an act of good faith…" Cas muttered. Sam looked over Cas' shoulder to Dean who was standing only a foot away from Cas, angel blade at the ready. Cas tilted his head to the side, deciding to listen in on Dean's thoughts.

Dean was thinking that fast that it was almost incoherent. But Cas was able to pick out a few rushed sentences that were repeating 'evil', 'he killed an angel', 'Sam was right' 'I need to do this', 'I can't do this'. Cas knew that he was putting a lot of faith in Dean by not turning around to face him, but he needed to know what he would do… and so he stayed facing Sam. After a few seconds, he heard the sound of Dean dropping his weapon and 'I can't kill him' rippling through the hunter's mind. Cas moved away from the Winchesters and was about to fly away when his senses picked up on more angels, ten of them at least. His eyes went wide and he summoned his weapon once more.

"Pick up the blade!" Cas growled at Dean. Both the Winchester's perceived Cas' words as a threat and Sam's grip on the knife tightened while Dean looked scared, lost and hurt at the thought of Cas wanting to hurt them, he stayed deadly still. "For fuck's sake, Dean," Cas practically shouted as he summoned the blade to him and strode towards them. Sam stiffened and was about to lunge at the oncoming threat when Cas just pushed him out of the way and shoved the blade into Dean's grasp.

"What's happening?" Dean asked once he realised that Cas didn't want to hurt them. Cas didn't answer and a few seconds later the room was flooded with angels.

"Castiel?!" A blond woman asked in shock and she stepped forwards, Cas winced at the happiness in her voice and hoped that his friends didn't pick up on it. "We thought you were dead."

"So I heard."

The woman's gaze dropped to his blade and she frowned.

"You killed Zachariah?" She asked incredulously and several of the angels, including herself, pulled out their weapons. She took a step towards him and Cas raised his blade in a warning.

"You should leave, Hester… I don't want to hurt you." Hester gritted her teeth and was about to attack him when there was suddenly a new presence in the room.

"Castiel… please… stop this madness," the angel said as he walked up to Cas, who was suddenly overwhelmed with a variety of emotions ranging from anger to sadness at being judged by his brothers and sisters. They didn't know what was going on. They didn't understand!

"Leave, Uriel," he said as he turned the blade to face his former ally. The man raised his hands in a peaceful manner to show that he was unarmed. Cas backed away slightly, towards the Winchesters in hope that he could escape without having to kill anyone else. He heard Sam move towards him and even though it couldn't kill him, Cas knew that being stabbed with the blade would weaken him, something that would have dire consequences when he was surrounded by angels that wanted him dead. He was about to move to stop the hunter from stabbing him when Uriel lifted his hand and pointed at Sam.

Sam stopped his pursuit and fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Before Dean even had a chance to shout out his brother's name Cas flew to the position just behind Uriel and held his blade against the angel's neck.

"Let him go!" He growled into the angel's ear.

"He was going to kill you," Uriel protested calmly.

"Like he could," Cas commented dryly. In front of him, he could see Sam writhing on the floor with Dean leaning over him and staring up at Castiel with big, round, eyes.

"Castiel, please. You're my brother, my friend. We fought side by side for millenniums and you're just going to throw it all away for this mud monkey?!"

"Yes," Cas growled out in rage. "These two are under my protection."

"And you're going to choose them over me?" He asked incredulously. "After everything we've been through… you're just going to kill me?"

"Don't act like you wouldn't do the same thing," he sneered. "I know of your plan to free Lucifer and I know that you would kill anyone, including me, who doesn't join your mad crusade." He saw that Sam had passed out on the floor. "I am not your friend, Uriel," Cas said as he released the angel, he pulled away for a second and then plunged his knife in the man's back, who proceeded to drop to the floor in front of him. Cas flew over his body to get to the Winchesters, he placed a hand on Dean's shoulder and flew all three of them to a safe house before any of the other angels broke out of their shock and decided to attack him again.

Sam was placed on one of the double beds and Dean knelt next to him.

"Is he going to be okay?" the oldest brother asked, softly.

"He'll be fine," Cas answered as he summoned a knife and sliced his arm. He began to paint the angel banishing sigil on the wall. They were silent for a moment and then Dean lifted his head to look at his lover, he frowned at what he was doing.

"What is that?"

"Protection against angels… if they come here after us then all you have to do is place your hand on this sigil and they will be sent away." Dean nodded and watched Cas work for several seconds.

"So… angels. They're basically just dicks with wings?" Dean asked and Cas huffed out a laugh.

"Pretty much."

Dean nodded. "And you know them all personally?" He accused. Cas took a deep breath as he knew what was coming and he wasn't sure he was ready to tell his lover the truth.

"No." Cas shook his head, "not all of them. But… many of them, yes."

"And how did that happen, exactly? That guy said that you were friends…" Cas stopped his work and looked over at Dean for a moment before he turned back to painting the sigil. "How does a trickster become friends with angels?" Cas stayed silent for a few more seconds while he finished the sigil then turned to look at Dean.

"That's a long story"

"I've got time," Dean insisted and Cas sighed as he finally gave in.

"I'm not a trickster, Dean."

"Then what are you?" he asked warily, but he already thought he knew the answer. Cas leaned against the wall next to the sigil.

"I'm an angel," Dean nodded and looked down at his brother.

"Why didn't you just tell us that in the first place?"

"That's… complicated."

"Cas!" Dean shouted and stood up as he looked over at the angel, "you've been lying to me since we met! I deserve some God damn answers!" Castiel looked at his lover sadly and nodded. He moved away from the wall and into the living room, indicating for Dean to follow. They both sat on the sofa.

"I'm not from this time," Cas said after taking a deep breath, Dean lifted his eyebrow but said nothing. "I'm from 2014. I came back to this time to change things."

"So what… you got your hands on a DeLorean?" Dean joked and Cas huffed out a laugh. He remembered Dean saying something similar in another life, but he had never understood his references back then.

"Not quite…"

"What did you come back to change?" Cas took another deep breath and launched into his explanation of what had happened the first time around, starting from when Dean had made the deal and leading up until Cas had been brought back to life by God. He didn't go into too much detail… just enough for Dean, who just sat quietly and listened for the whole thing, to know the basics.

"So, I started the apocalypse?" He asked sullenly when Cas had finished.

"Dean, no, you can't think like that."

"But you just said that the first seal was when I tortured souls in hell… and we both know that that still happened."

"It's not your fault," Cas said as he placed his hand on top on Dean's in a comforting manner.

"Of course it is." Cas moved closer to the Winchester and kissed him delicately, Dean automatically kissed him back but he was too broken to put any real thought into it.

"You're not to blame for this… you never were," Cas whispered softly once the kiss had finished.

"So… were we together in your time?" Dean whispered, he sounded drained of emotion.

"For a while, yes. It started not long after you and Sam went your separate ways, but once Sam said yes to Lucifer… it started to get in the way of our roles."

"That's a nice story, Cas. What really happened between us? How did I screw things up?"

"You didn't screw things up." Dean locked eyes with the angel and silently pleaded for the truth. Cas took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, he broke their eye contact and looked down at his hands instead. "You changed, you started to blame yourself more than ever before for how everything played out, you lost that… spark, that made you who you are." There was silence in the room and he could feel waves of sadness coming off of Dean. "That's why you have to stop blaming yourself, I can't see you turn into that man again, Dean… I won't let that happen."

Dean nodded and started to clench and unclench his jaw, Cas watched in awe. Something about that simple movement made his features sharper and more attractive, he licked at his cracked lips as his eyes travelled over the face of his lover, memorising its beauty. Dean turned and met his eyes.

"Fuck, Cas… when you look at me like that I have real trouble believing you're an angel," Dean laughed and Cas smirked. He leant forward and pulled the man into a deep kiss. Their tongues explored one another's mouths, just tasting each other. Cas moaned as Dean pushed him back onto the sofa, climbing on top of him. They broke apart from the kiss, panting heavily for oxygen, and leant their foreheads together. Cas' hands ran over Dean's body and he squeezed his ass, causing the man on top of him to take a sharp intake of breath. Cas chuckled and leant up for another kiss, though this one was slower and imitate. Eventually, the long kisses turned into shorter loving ones.

Cas sucked on a sensitive part of Dean's skin for a moment longer, enjoying the mewls that escaped his lover's mouth. He leaned back and they kissed again, then when the kiss broke they lay with their foreheads touching once again. They were quiet for a while, just basking in each other's presence and absorbing what had happened that day.

"I can't believe angels really exist," Dean muttered and Cas just nodded. "And God, too… the apocalypse… it's all just a lot to take in."

"I know," Cas whispered and Dean lifted himself up a bit to look into his lover's eyes.

"Thanks for telling me the truth," he said honestly and Cas sighed.

"I should have told you a long time ago," he muttered and Dean smiled slightly down at him.

"Yeah, you should have," he agreed and then dipped back down to kiss the angel again. Cas got lost in the moment with Dean. He'd been worried about how the hunter would take the news ever since they had started sleeping together and it was a relief to now be entirely sure that Dean wouldn't hold his lies against him. He was mesmerised by Dean's tongue brushing against his own and making him moan lightly, so mesmerised that he didn't notice Sam waking up in the other room. So mesmerised that he didn't hear the younger Winchesters footsteps until it was too late.

(Dean's Point of View)

"What the fuck?" Sam practically shouted from where he stood, shocked, in the doorway and Dean jumped off of Cas' lap instantly. His eyes quickly flicked between his brother to his lover and back again. Cas got up more slowly, but his cool didn't change the fact he looked completely debauched. "What is happening here?" Sam insisted as neither Dean or Cas spoke up. He expected Cas to make some snide remark but he instead stayed completely silent. Sam waited a few more seconds for an answer, but when none came he continued, quieter but still just as angrily. "Have you completely lost your mind, Dean? He is a monster. We should be hunting him, not fucking him."

"Gee, Sam. Tell me what you really think," Dean muttered as he tried to come up with a way to explain to Sam. Though his brother had a point; Cas wasn't a monster, he was an angel, but Dean hadn't known that when they'd first started having sex.

"You let Dean go to hell," Sam said as he turned to face Cas, "and then brought him back months later to make us think you're on our side. You may have Dean fooled but not me."

"Sam, please. I'm just trying to help you," Cas said but Sam shook his head, approaching fast.

"We don't want your help," Sam said angrily and Cas moved his head up towards the sky like he does when someone is being unreasonable or annoying, Dean smiled. But then he caught sight of something in Sam's hand; it was only a slight glint of shiny metal, half hidden up his coat sleeve. But he recognised it and began to panic. It was an angel blade. While Cas wasn't paying attention Sam thrust the blade into his chest, catching him off guard. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

"No!" Dean shouted and he rushed forwards, but he was too late. Blood was pouring through the angel's shirt as he staggered backwards in shock. Sam caught Dean before he could reach his boyfriend but Dean pushed him away and hurried to Castiel's side as the angel collapsed to his knees on the ground. "Don't die. Don't die," he whispered as tears flooded his eyes. "Please!" But there the light was fading in his blue eyes and his muscles were becoming weaker. Dean leant his forehead against his lover's and cried. "I love you," he whispered to the limp body next to him and he was shocked by the truth of the statement; he hadn't realised until this moment just how much he cared for Cas… and now he was going to die. "I love you," his voice was weak and cracked from his heartbreak as he spoke.

"I love you, Dean," Cas spoke, very quietly. Dean realised his skin was warm to touch, too warm; it was getting hotter and hotter. But he didn't let go, he couldn't let him go. A moment later and Cas inhaled sharply and his body cooled rapidly, Dean pulled away very slightly to look at his eyes. "It's okay, I'm going to heal. I'll be okay," Cas croaked out his promise and Dean nodded. But his boyfriend still looked weak and unstable, his head was lolling a bit as he tried to focus.

"How?" Dean muttered, not entirely sure if he was being lied to.

"I increased my warding a long time ago. Nothing less powerful than a high-level demon can kill me… not even with an angel blade," Cas said in return. Then took in a sharp breath as he moved to sit up straight instead of where he was slumped over Dean, "it's still just as painful though," he muttered. Dean smiled and pulled him into a kiss. It was soft and slow and he used it as a way to express just how much Cas meant to him as he cradled the angel's head in his left hand. A couple of moments later they pulled away and just stared into each other's eyes.

Cas wrapped his fingers around Dean's hand that was still putting pressure on his wound and then pulled it away and just held it. His blue eyes glanced over Dean's shoulder towards Sam.

"I should leave," he said quietly and Dean was about to protest but he just nodded and pulled him in for one last kiss. Cas disappeared after that, though Dean wasn't really sure if he'd flown away or just turned invisible… but Sam would think that he was gone. He didn't move from where he was kneeling on the floor and neither of them said anything for a long time.

"What the hell, Dean?"

"It's none of your business," he replied curtly.

"I can't believe this… he's a monster! When did you even start to like guys anyway?"

"I don't like guys, Sam. I only like Cas," he said through gritted teeth, he still didn't move to face his brother.

"Damn it, Dean. He's obviously brainwashed you or something!" Dean spun around to face Sam and glared at him as he stood up.

"He's not brainwashed me, Sam. And he's not evil!"

"He's not evil?" Sam copied in disbelief, "he killed angels today. He killed Ruby. And God only knows how many more."

"Oh yeah, the angels. You mean the guys that tried to kill you? And by Ruby do you mean the demon bitch who was manipulating you?!" Dean shouted and stepped closer.

"According to Cas! But he's a monster, remember!"

"He's not a monster"

"Well, he's not human." Dean shook his head, he wanted to shout to Sam that Cas was an angel, that he was one of the good guys, that he'd saved their lives countless times and was trying to save the world! But he knew right then that it wouldn't matter, anyway. Sam wouldn't believe him and Dean didn't feel like standing around and explaining. So he turned around and he left. Sam didn't try to follow him, which was as much of a relief as it was hurtful. Dean realised once he left the house, though, that he didn't actually know where they were. He looked around but the house was in the middle of the woods with only a dirt road in front of it. There was a car though. Dean walked over and climbed inside, hotwiring it easily. And then he just drove. He didn't know where he was going but he figured he'd get to a road sign soon enough, there was plenty of petrol in the tank too. After about an hour, though, he pulled up at the side of the road and leaned his head against the steering wheel. He had expected Cas to show back up and now he was worried.

"Cas?" he said to the empty air.

"I'm here, Dean," Cas said, he lifted his head and looked at his boyfriend. His eyes drifted over his face, and he noticed how pale and tired he looked, and then down at the blood-soaked remains of his shirt.

"God, Cas. I'm so sorry," he whispered and moved his had to cup his boyfriend's face, Cas leant into the touch slightly and swallowed.

"You have nothing to apologise for," he replied softly, but Dean still blamed himself for not being able to stop it.

"Can I look?" he asked softly, needing to make sure that Cas was really healed like he was acting. Cas nodded and began to unbutton his shirt, his movements were slow and stiff and Dean could tell he was still in pain so he pushed his hands away and did it himself. When he got to his chest he ran his hand over the small red scar there and tears spilt from his eyes. "It's not disappeared?" Dean questioned and Cas shook his head delicately.

"It's scared my grace. It's not going to disappear," he replied evenly.

"It will stop hurting though… won't it?" Dean asked worriedly and Cas nodded again. "Thank God." He brushed his hand lightly over the scar in deep thought. "You were burning up… you felt like you were on fire… what was that?"

"When an angel dies, their grace burns out of their vessel. That was trying to happen to me but my warding slowed it until it could stop it."

"And that's why you're in so much pain," Dean said as a statement, he didn't need it answering but Cas nodded anyway. He looked away from the inflamed skin and into deep blue eyes, "is there anything I can do to help?" Cas paused before he shook his head.

"No. It'll stop hurting eventually."

"You're lying to me again, aren't you?" Dean said quietly. Cas didn't answer which was all the answer Dean needed. "What can I do?"

"It's not worth it"

"Well, I'm a big boy now… I think I can make that decision on my own." Cas quirked his eyebrow.

"You definitely are a big boy," he said and chuckled lightly at his own joke, then he stopped abruptly at the pain the movement caused. "Fine. It involves me giving you a part of my grace to keep inside you, for a day or so, until it heals and then taking it back into myself to let the healing spread," Dean nodded and was about to talk but Cas shook his head. "It has side effects. The main one actually isn't applicable in this scenario because you're heavens vessel so your body is more than capable of handling grace without exploding. But there are others… For starters; while my grace is still healing it would cause you pain"

"Let's do it."

"No, Dean. I won't do that to you. I'll heal."

"But how long will that take?" Cas shook his head.

"Not long."

"Don't lie to me. Please. We're past that," Dean said with a pleading tone.

"Somewhere between a few months and a couple of years to disappear completely… but I live a long time Dean. To me, that isn't too long."

"I'm not going to let you go through that when I can help."

"Dean…"

"Cas, is there any other way to help you?"

"Yes," he sighed, "but it's much too dangerous… you could explode if it was done wrong so there is no way that I'm letting you do it."

"So I guess this is our only option."

"No, Dean. I'll heal soon enough without it."

"Fine, if you don't want to do it for yourself… then do it for me. Think about it, Cas. You are quite literally my guardian angel. You've saved us countless times and so if you're too hurt or too weak then demons, and angels, can get to us as well as to you," Dean said, hoping that Cas would take the bait and sighing in relief when the angel nodded a few moments later. "Okay… how do we do this?"

"We'll have to go somewhere safe in case you pass out… I have another safe house," he admitted, withdrawn. Dean nodded and a few seconds later Cas flew them to another street. He was shocked when he looked around to see an abandoned factory surrounded by fields and trees and nothing else in sight other than the road. He turned to Cas, worrying that the angel was getting weaker and unable to fly correctly. But he just started walking and so Dean followed.

"Where's the house?" He asked and the angel indicated to the factory ahead of them.

"In there." Dean quirked his eyebrow but followed Cas inside and found himself inside a hallway of a seemingly ordinary house.

"Well, now you're just showing off," Dean laughed, but it was uneasy with worry at seeing how much pain his boyfriend was in. Cas moved down the hallway and into the bedroom that was on the ground floor. He sat on the bed and indicated for Dean to lie down next to him.

"This will be painful, Dean," Cas said quietly, "if you want to change your mind…"

"I'm not going to change my mind, Cas," he said and Cas nodded and leant back against the headboard.

(Castiel's Point of View)

Cas summoned his grace and it sluggishly came into reach. He was injured badly and so it took several seconds to be able to use it. Dean was right, he wouldn't be able to defend them if he needed to, he would be almost useless… again. Sam was Lucifer's vessel which meant he'd had more power, add to that the demon blood that he'd ingested as a baby and he was almost capable of killing him… which meant that the injuries were much more extensive than he assumed they would be. He closed his eyes and searched for the least damaged section of his grace to offer up to Dean. Cas placed his palm on his boyfriend's chest and pushed his grace outwards. The human stiffened and began to breathe heavily.

He could feel the pain that he was inflicting on Dean and wanted to cry. Then Cas' pain increased significantly at the loss of a part of his grace. After a few seconds, he felt Dean lose consciousness and he let out a pained sigh. He opened his eyes and slipped down from the bed to the floor beside it, then he curled in on himself and breathed heavily in his attempts to keep from screaming.

He managed to prevent himself from crying out in pain by knowing it would wake Dean, who needed to sleep. He'd passed out more because of how overwhelming it is for humans to contain grace than because of the pain, but the sleep would help Dean's body to heal and make the pain decrease.

After about twenty minutes, Cas forced himself into a meditative state.

[] [] []

Dean woke up five hours later, feeling like he'd been stabbed. It took him a while to remember everything but, once he did, his eyes shot open. At first, he couldn't move through the pain, but he forced himself to. He sat up and noticed the scruff of dark hair of the man sitting on the floor against the bed and sighed in relief.

"Cas? You okay?"

But the angel didn't answer.

"Cas?" Dean said again, beginning to get worried. He pushed himself off the bed and knelt by his boyfriend, smiling lightly when he noticed that he was still breathing, and sat next to him. Dean was overcome by the sight of the angel in that minute, though. He looked just like he had when Dean was piercing the veil, bright white wings sprouted from his back and engulfed the majority of the room and a light fog filled Castiel's core… Dean realised it must be his grace when he reached out to attempt to brush a hand through one of the wings and noticed a very faint version of the light fog on his own skin.

Dean was fascinated for a moment, feeling like a child with a new toy. Then he looked back at the brilliant white wings and slowly lowered his hand to touch one. He wasn't sure if it would work, but the wings turned out to be tangible. They were soft and warm to the touch and they fluttered when Dean made contact with them. He smiled brightly as he delicately brushed his fingers into the light feathers. Seeing these again was worth the pain, Dean decided as he stared at Cas and wondered how he'd never been able to see that the man was an angel; even when he could see his wings the first time around, he had bought Cas' excuse. He really was gullible.

Chapter Text

“The girl is ready. Should we inform the angels?” One of her demons, Tobias, asked. Lilith was sitting with her council once again as her most recent plan was on the cusp of unfurling.

“And let them take the Winchester away from us?” Lilith asked, eyes sharp and menacing despite the sickly-sweet voice that she put on. The demon in front of her cowered and shook his head.

“No.”

“That’s right,” she smiled. “We need Sam Winchester alive.”

“And why is that?” A smarmy voice asked from across the room and Lilith gritted her teeth. If Crowley wasn’t so vital to her plan then she would have had him killed by now for all of his questions. Lilith liked to keep her plans close to the chest and her demon subjects each only knew the parts which were vital to them. Crowley had weaselled his way up to the position of King of the Crossroads… or so he liked to call himself. But she didn’t trust him to clean the dirt from her shoes, let alone with a vital detail such as this one: Sam Winchester was Lucifer’s true vessel.

That was why the demon blood was so important to the plan. He needed to be strong, strong enough to kill even her, in order to secure them their victory in the war against the angels. And his soul needed to be damaged and his will weakened enough that he would say yes and let the dark lord into his body. But they were running out of time and they needed to act quickly to ensure that happened.

Lilith didn’t deign to answer Crowley. Instead, she moved to the table and picked up the angel blade gently. Such a powerful weapon and she was the only demon to hold one, having secured it as a part of her alliance with the angels. Surprisingly enough, they had been the ones to send the message to her. She was surprised to learn that they wanted this Apocalypse as much as she did and their attempts to stop it was just an act. But there was one being standing in their way. Lilith turned and held the blade out to Tobias.

“You know what to do,” she told him.

Castiel needed to die.

[] [] []

Sam was confused. He didn’t know what to believe anymore.

When Zacharia had first entered his dreams, he had been mistrustful on the angel. He’d been burned before because of his beliefs and he didn’t want another monster to ever take advantage of that again. But the dreams continued, day in and day out, for weeks. And slowly, the angel had earned his trust.

Zacharia had told Sam that he and Dean were an important part in God’s plan and he wanted to speak to them both in person. So, Sam had given up the location of their hotel room. Zacharia had thanked him, smiled, and placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder. Sam had awoken instantly and forcibly. It had been disorientating. After only a moment, Zacharia had appeared before them but he’d barely finished introducing himself before Cas had shown up.

And Sam had thought that was it. They had heaven on their side. But instead, it all went to hell. Zacharia was killed and the angels who showed up afterwards had tried to kill Sam. He’d passed out from lack of oxygen and woken up in a strange bed only to find that Cas and Dean were apparently a thing now. Sam still didn’t understand how that had happened: Dean had never shown interest in men before, nor had he ever really been in a serious relationship. But, somehow, he had fallen in love with the trickster. Sam hadn’t really thought it through when he’d stabbed Cas. He’d just wanted to protect his brother.

But Cas didn’t die and Dean had left with him. Sam had been trying to get in touch with him since then but to no avail, since his brother was refusing to pick up his damn phone. And his attempts at tracking Dean had also failed. Honestly, Sam was worried. As a hunter, Dean should know better than to just disappear off of the map like this.

"I don't know, Sam,” Bobby was saying one night after Sam had been ranting about how stupid Dean was acting. “Dean has a point. Ruby was bad news. We can't trust anything she said."

"She saved our lives. Multiple times!"

"And so has Cas. Look, just stop being such an idjit and talk to your brother about this, would ya?"

“You don’t think I’ve tried, Bobby?” Sam said, frustrated. “I must have called Dean a hundred times. The dick doesn’t answer.”

“That’s not like him,” Bobby muttered, shaking his head. And yeah, Sam agreed. But what about this situation was like Dean? When did he go around dating monsters? And why wouldn’t he tell Sam about this? Sam had thought he’d found out the last of Dean’s secrets the first time he’d met Alastair and discovered that Dean had tortured souls in hell. But, apparently not.

Sam had a lot of questions and he needed answers.

[] [] []

Sam’s worries about Dean’s safety were tampered down once Bobby agreed to give Dean a ring. His older brother had answered but hung up again once Sam had taken the phone, warning Bobby that the next time he called he better have a real reason. Sam had nearly thrown the phone against the wall in frustration and had only restrained himself because it belonged to Bobby.

After a few more days of radio silence, Sam talked Bobby into contacting Pamela Barnes, who was all too happy to help track down Dean with a little of her physic persuasion. She had a locating spell which worked using their shared genes in Sam’s blood. Pamela had required a long moment of silence to concentrate, so long that Sam had worried that the demon blood Yellow Eye’s had bled into his mouth as a baby might affect the outcome…

But, soon enough, Pamela had a location: Greybull, Wyoming.

Sam managed to talk Bobby into coming along too, but the older hunter was extremely disappointed when he’d discovered Sam wasn’t planning on actually talking to Dean. No, his brother had made it abundantly clear that he didn’t want to see Sam. That wasn’t what this was about. This was about making sure Dean was safe from that trickster. So, they hung back and watched.

They watched him sneak into a large building and they waited a few minutes before approaching closer. They decided to go around back to see if they could figure out what was going on. They checked every window but the place looked empty. Until, finally, they found Dean.

He was in a large open room with a sigil of some kind painted onto the floor. Dean was being restrained by one demon as another stood in front of him holding a knife. Sam was about to run inside to help when suddenly Dean broke free from the first demon and flung him across the room and into a wall, hitting the second demon in the process.

Sam could only blink at his brother in shock. Dean looked just as surprised, staring down at his own hands. But he only wasted a moment before picking up a discarded blade off of the floor and using it to scratch away the paint and break the sigil. A moment later and Dean had disappeared completely into thin air.

Sam and Bobby remained silent as they turned to look at each other. They quickly moved away from the window and Sam considered going back to the car to pick up the colt and then storming the building, but they had no idea about the case unfolding in this town nor whether there were more demons hiding inside.

They quickly got back into the car and drove away.

“Okay, Sam,” Bobby said, breaking their stunned silence. “Whatever you’re planning, I’m on board.”

[] [] []

It had been about a week since the attack… A week since Dean had found out Cas was a damn angel and then watched him immediately get stabbed by Sam. Cas had only been able to hold on by the skin of his teeth. It had been only a week since Cas had given Dean part of his angel grace to keep safe and, in some weird way that Dean didn’t quite understand, help Cas to heal. But a lot had changed in those few days. For one, Cas was sleeping. At first, the angel had brushed it off as meditating, but soon he was needing to ‘meditate’ for 13 hours a damn day and falling into it despite his willpower trying to keep him alert.

Dean didn’t care how Cas tried to dress it up, it was sleep. And, eventually, Cas had admitted it too. He’d tried to deny it for so many days because he was worried about what it meant for the state of his powers. But Dean had calmed him down and reminded him that sleep was a good thing. It was how the body, and hopefully Cas’ grace too, healed itself. Cas had taken one hell of a blow to the system and getting a little sleepy was nothing to be alarmed over. Or so Dean hoped anyway. He’d never met an angel before… but how much different could they really be?

Cas hadn’t said anything about it again since. But Dean wasn’t sure whether that was because he believed Dean, or he just didn’t want to upset him. Dean hoped to a God that apparently did actually exist, that Cas would be alright.

Another thing that had changed was that he wasn’t speaking to Sam, for obvious reasons. He was actually staying solely in Cas’ safe house for the time being. He’d explored a little while but it was just a standard house, which was weird as hell considering it was inside of an abandoned factory building. He’d eventually come across a notebook filled with what looked to be Cas’ notes on the Apocalypse.

Dean had flicked through the pages and discovered that a seal was about to be broken. He’d packed his bags and helped Cas into the shitty car he’d stolen (God, he missed his Baby) because Cas had insisted on coming along to be nearby and on hand to help in case he was needed. But Dean was fine on his own. Especially now that he had this… this… this angel sight. It was like he was piercing the veil again. He could spot a demon a mile away and he’d been surprised to find that he could talk to reapers now too.

That was how he’d met Tessa again. And it had been difficult to remember her and the time that he had refused to go with her into the afterlife. If he had done, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe the world would have been safe. Maybe if Dean had just died then the damn Apocalypse wouldn’t be creeping closer and closer day by day. But before he’d had a chance to deal with that, the demons had appeared and kidnapped Tessa in a flurry of black smoke.

Dean tracked her down and discovered the building Cas has told him about, covered in angel warding sigils. For a moment, Dean had worried that he wouldn’t be able to pass through. But he took a deep breath and tried anyway. He’d had to grit his teeth as the grace inside of him twitched painfully while he passed the border but, once he was inside, he was fine. That was until he was ambushed by Alastair and his goons.

Dean had taken out one of the demons with his new angel blade, but then it had been knocked from his grasp. One of the demons grabbed his arms and kept him restrained as Alastair sacrificed the first reaper. But then it was Tessa’s turn and if she died then the seal would be broken. Dean couldn’t let that happen.

As Alastair had lifted the scythe to Tessa’s neck, Dean had felt a new kind of strength build inside of himself. He’d never felt power like that before. He hadn’t known he could do it, he’d just acted on gut instinct and soon that demon had been flying through the air as sinply as if Dean had been tossing a pancake.

But it was fleeting. Once he’d broke the seal and Tessa had teleported them both out of there, once Dean no longer needed that angelic strength to protect himself and the seal, he couldn’t seem to conjure it back up again. He’d gone back to his motel room and tried other things too. Things that he had seen Cas do in the past, like levitate objects. He knew that he shouldn’t, Cas had warned him against it, but what was the harm in one or two little tests?

The next morning, Dean got the call. He was wrapped up on the bed with Cas at the time. He grunted at the sound and opened his eyes a little to see Cas practically lying on top of him: the angel barely reacted to the noise, pulling himself closer to Dean. Dean kissed the mess of dark hair softly and wrapped an arm around his angel. At the same time, Dean was reaching for his phone. A couple of seconds later, and with more than a little effort, he had it in his hand and answered the call without disturbing Cas.

“Dean,” came Bobby’s voice from the other side of the line. “Are you working a case?”

“Hey, Bobby,” Dean whispered so as to not wake his boyfriend. “No, I just got done with one. Why? What’s going on?”

“There’s some pretty strange activity going on over here and I could really do with your help,” Bobby answered and Dean nodded to himself.

“On my way. What’s happening?”

“It’s… well, it’s hard to describe. I’ll tell you everything once you get your ass down here. Just hurry.” Bobby ended the call sounding distressed and Dean worried about what that could mean. It wasn’t often that Bobby acted so strange. He put the phone down and wrapped his arms around Cas in order to lower the angel off of himself without waking him. Dean didn’t want the weakened angel in danger, so he just picked up a spare piece of paper and scrawled out a simple note to say why he was gone and promising to call when he got there, which he left taped to the door. Hopefully, Cas would use it rather than just flitting off with the use of his powers.

Dean kept telling him if he didn’t walk more than he was going to get flabby!

It’s just a joke really, he knew that Cas couldn’t put on or lose weight as an angel. His body was immortally stuck in its present state. But Dean didn’t like to think about that too much though as it always made him a little anxious when thinking about their future. But even admitting that to himself was a shock: Dean had never really thought he could have a future where he would grow old and chubby. But now… Cas made him feel hopeful.

Dean dressed quickly and sped his way over to Bobby’s house, getting there within just five hours of making the call. Bobby was waiting on the porch and motioned for him to hurry, which he did: whatever could get Bobby acting like this had to be big. Maybe he’d have to call in for some extra help too.

“What’s happening, Bobby?” Dean asked again and the gruff older man shook his head.

“Everything’s down in the basement. It’ll be a damn sight easier to show you than to explain,” Bobby said as they hurried through the house. Dean followed him into the panic room where Sam was sitting and going through papers. Dean wasn’t surprised that Sam was here and he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be proved right, but he would push through it if Bobby needed him to. When they walked in, Sam raised his head and frowned at them. Bobby obviously hadn’t mentioned that he was coming.

“Can I talk to you for a second, Bobby?” Sam muttered through a clenched jaw and Dean rolled his eyes as his brother walked past without a word to him.

“Good to see you too,” Dean shouted after him, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he plastered a fake smile on his face. Dean walked further into the room to look at the papers on the desk and frowned: the first clipping was just a lonely-hearts page from a newspaper. Well, Bobby had said it was a strange case. The other pages on the table were just as random, he skimmed over the ones he could see: an article about agriculture, one about a cat that won some kind of competition, and one about a phone review.

Dean was frowning so hard his forehead hurt and was about to shout over his shoulder to ask again just what kind of case they were working when the door to the panic room slammed shut. Dean spun around as he heard the lock slide into place.

“Guys!” Dean shouted in the empty room. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry, Dean. But we have to do this,” came Sam’s reply and Dean fruitlessly pushed at the door.

“Have to do what, Sam? Let me out!” Dean shouted… he was getting a little anxious. Had whatever case the two had been working on messed with their heads or something?

“This is for your own good, Boy,” Bobby answered and Dean banged his fist on the iron door. “Whatever that trickster is doing to you needs to stop.”

“What?” Dean shouted, outraged. “Bobby, Cas isn’t doing anything!”

“Then explain how you threw that demon ten damn feet with enough power to crack a wall, Dean!” Sam shouted. And Dean’s mouth fell closed. How did they know about that? “We were there last night. We saw everything.”

“Yeah, well, what can I say… I’ve been working out,” Dean joked and then banged on the door again. “Now let me out.”

“We can’t do that, Son,” Bobby replied and Dean knew that his only option was to tell them the truth. He rested his head on the door and took a deep breath. He didn’t really know why he was keeping this from them anyway: Cas had just done so much to keep his identity a secret to protect them. And Dean knew it was valiant but stupid. They needed to know about this kind of crap. But Dean supposed he was always one for trying to protect Sammy. What kind of big brother would he be if he didn’t?

“Listen,” Dean said, forehead still pressed against the cold iron door. “Cas isn’t what you think.”

“He’s brainwashed you, Dean,” Sam said and Dean gritted his teeth.

“For God’s sake, not this again. He’s an angel, okay!” Dean finally shouted, pulling back from the door and lifting his hands in exasperation. The men on the other side of the door were silent and Dean took that as a bad sign rather than a good one. Bobby opened the little flap on the door so that they could see each other. Bobby was frowning in at him as Sam stood a little further back looking thoroughly unimpressed. They didn’t believe him. “I’m telling you the truth, guys. He’s an angel. That’s why he knew all of those douchebag angels, and why he knew what Ruby was up to, and that’s why the demons are so involved in this war. It’s their fight!”

“Dean…” Bobby said cautiously and Dean didn’t need to hear anything else to know that nothing he said was going to change their minds. They thought he was brainwashed. And Dean could understand why they might be concerned. But, damn it, couldn’t they trust him about this! Cas had done nothing but help them this whole time.

Dean pushed away from the door and started pacing the room. He dug his phone out of his pocket but it was no use, the signal was poor enough in Bobby’s house because of how far out they were. But in this underground room made entirely of iron? It was non-existent.

Dean supposed he had one option left… Cas had been warning him against using the grace inside of him, but Dean had been too curious to resist. After discovering that he could chuck a man his size halfway across the room without even breaking a sweat, he’d tested it out a little. Not massively, though. It turned out he had less control when he wasn’t fighting for his life.

He’d first tried the telekinesis out on something small like a pencil. After a few tries, he’d just about got it to roll off the table. Eventually, with practice, he’d managed to get the pencil to lift back up onto the table. But it had taken a lot out of him to do so. He’d had to eat 5 big macs and then crashed on the bed in the deepest nap that he had ever had before. So, Dean didn’t hold out much hope that this would actually work…

Walking back to the door, he saw that Bobby and Sam had moved back and were talking to each other in hushed voices. Dean leant against the door and closed his eyes. He pictured the other side of the door and imagined reaching out and slowly turning the lock until the door opened. But this door was much heavier than a pencil. He screwed his eyes up tight and pushed with everything he had, but all he got in return was a migraine.

Dean banged angrily once more on the door and pushed away again.

He didn’t even realise he was sending out some sort of mental distress call until Cas replied.

‘Dean? Where are you? What’s wrong?’ Cas asked and Dean blinked, looking around the room quickly before realising Cas’ voice was in his head.

“Erm… I’m stuck in Bobby’s panic room…” Dean said aloud, not sure how to respond in any other way. Cas clearly couldn’t hear him.

‘I’ve found your note,’ Cas said. ‘I’m coming right over’.

“Wait, no!” Dean shouted, panicked. But it was useless. He moved quickly towards the door again in just enough time to see Cas appear from thin air, standing on the bottom step to the basement. Cas looked tired. He was still so drained from when Sam had stabbed him that he didn’t seem to be fully aware of the situation.

“What’s going on here?” Cas asked. The confused look on his face was enough to make Dean smile. He never got to see his angel look like that, Dean was usually the one a step behind in their relationship. But then he saw how Sa tensed suddenly and was reminded that now was not the time to think about such a thing. Sam thought that Cas was a danger to Dean and he’d do anything to help his brother.

“You need to calm down, okay,” Dean said to Sam. “Cas is an angel,” he insisted. “He’s here to help us. That’s all he’s ever done. Just, for a minute forget what Ruby told you. Has he ever done anything but help us?” Dean insisted, refusing the break eye-contact and willing Sam to understand. Sam was silent and looked as though he was genuinely trying to see what Dean saw.

“Prove it,” Sam eventually challenged and Cas sighed.

“Would you, either of you, believe anything that I showed you?”

“It depends,” Bobby muttered. Cas shook his head but Dean saw him unfurl his glorious glowing white wings. There was sudden unnameable energy in the room that made the skin on the back of Dean’s neck prickle. The lights began to flicker and Dean could hear the sound of thunder right above them. Suddenly, Cas’ wings began to cast a shadow in the room as they splayed open wide. Sam took a step back. But, as quickly as they’d appeared, the shadows disappeared. Dean watched as Cas’ wings fluttered closed again. He had to admit, the real thing was much more amazing than the shadows they left behind.

“A trickster could do that too,” Sam said and Cas huffed out a breath of exasperation, raising his hands in disbelief and turning to shake his head. But Dean could swear he heard some doubt in his brother’s voice. The feel of that energy which had sparked through the room like electricity… even Sam couldn’t pretend that it had been just some illusion. It was no trick.

“Say you are an angel…” Bobby said slowly, his eyes trained on Cas. “That doesn’t explain why Dean was able to throw that demon around like he weighed nothin’.”

“You did what?” Cas asked, surprised, as he turned to face Dean once again, he was frowning and looked somewhere between angry and disappointed. “I told you not to push, Dean.”

“It was instinct!” Dean defended himself, hands in the air. “It was pretty cool though, right,” he laughed and grinned at his little brother. Sam looked as though he didn’t know what to think. Cas shook his head and explained how Dean was holding some of his grace for the time being to let it, and ultimately Cas, heal.

“If you’re an angel… then why do you need our help to stop this war? Don’t you have enough juice on your own?” Sam asked and Dean felt the smile slip from his face. It was time to tell his brother the truth. The whole truth. But before he could open his mouth, Bobby was speaking.

“I didn’t wanna believe it because it just sounded… insane. But this war, it’s not between tricksters, is it?”

“What are you talking about, Bobby?” Sam asked at the same time that Cas shook his head. And, you know what, Dean was really getting fed up of being stuck behind this door, he could barely see anyone.

“Some of them seals, Boy. I did my research… They’re signs of the Apocalypse.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Sam asked, turning to face Bobby completely now. Dean took that as a good sign… Sam was starting to think of Cas as less of a threat.

“Angels, Lucifer, the damn Apocalypse… Boy, if I started believing in that crap I woulda belonged in a damn asylum. But now I know angels are real… well, it changes things.” The room fell silent again and Dean felt hope brewing in his chest. They were beginning to believe him.

“As much as I love this panic room, Bobby. I’d like to get out now,” he snarked. Bobby and Sam shared a look before Bobby nodded his head and took a step towards Dean. But then the door to the basement slammed open and everyone spun around to see the source of the noise. Dean pushed himself closer against the metal but, no matter how much he strained, whatever had caused the noise wasn’t visible from the small hole in Bobby’s panic room door.

Suddenly, everyone was moving and grabbing weapons and there were demons charging down the stairs, Dean could instantly see their twisted faces under the human’s they were possessing.

“No!” Dean shouted, beating against the door with his fist. His family was being attacked while he was locked in this damn panic room with no way to help. All he could do was stand and watch. Cas dispatched the first 2 demons quickly with the demon blade while Bobby fought them off with the demon knife and Sam loaded the colt and began firing. But there were too many and his family wasn’t prepared for the onslaught. How had Cas not sensed them? That was supposed to be impossible!

One of the demons produced a demon blade and Dean watched with wide eyes as it marched forward and sliced at Cas. The angel was able to jump out of the demon’s way just in time, receiving only a small cut on his arm from the blade. But he was already so weak that he faltered in his next movements. And the angel blade was soon plunged into his chest.

Dean stared at the scene, his jaw slack, and he wouldn’t have believed his own eyes if he couldn’t feel the grace inside his chest twinging in pain.

Cas stumbled back, grasping at his wound. Dean could see a bright white light spilling out behind Cas’ fingers and he knew that this was it. His wardings were trying to save him, like before. But he was too weak: no warding could prevent what was going to happen this time. Dean slammed his fist against the door again, feeling pain rattle up through his arm and into his shoulder, as Cas fell back onto the floor.

He was shaking his head as tears gathered in his eyes. His friend, his lover, his boyfriend was dying and Dean couldn’t even be there with him! He couldn’t even see him anymore.

‘Goodbye, Dean,’ Cas’ voice rang in his head again and Dean’s heart clenched at the words. Not like this! Why did it have to be like this? He saw the light finally fill the room in a brilliant flash of white which they all had to cover their eyes from. And then Cas was gone. He couldn’t see him, but he knew it was true. He knew it like he knew how to breathe. The grace inside of him felt empty and cold now and Dean’s legs felt like they were going to give out. The only thing that was keeping him standing was knowing that Sam and Bobby were still fighting for their lives.

Chapter Text

When the demons came, they were overrun. They appeared from every direction and before Sam knew it, Cas was dead and the wings of an angel were scorched onto the floor. Sam could only blink in shock, distracted enough that a demon was able to knock the colt out of his hands.

He picked Cas’ blade off of the floor and used it to defend himself as best as he could. He was knocked to the floor and struggled to keep the demon on top of him from plunging a blade into his chest when suddenly a gun sounded and the demon was shot in the head. His eyes flickered and lit up like an electric shock had run through him as the demon died.

And then someone was chanting an exorcism. A woman. Sam looked up and saw none other than Bela Talbot standing over him with the colt. She had only gotten a few words into the exorcism when the demons all suddenly up and left their hosts, retreating. Sam looked around in surprise but he supposed that they had done what they’d come here to do: they had killed Cas. Sam spared Bobby a glance to make sure he was alright before his eyes trained onto the door to the panic room.

From the hole in the door, he could see part of Dean’s face. He looked broken. Sam pulled himself to his feet and moved towards the panic room, twisting the lock to open the door. Dean just stood there silently. He looked at Sam briefly before his eyes returned to Cas’ body lying on the floor.

“Dean…” Sam began to say, but he didn’t know how to finish that. Only half an hour ago he’d thought that Cas was evil. But now… now he supposed it didn’t matter whether he was or wasn’t because Dean was going to have to mourn him no matter what. Dean walked past Sam and into the room. Everyone was silent as Dean knelt beside Cas’ body. He brushed his hands through Cas’ hair and pulled his body into his arms. He was shaking but silent.

“What’s happening?” Bela whispered and Sam could only shake his head, it was too much to explain. They decided to check the rest of the bodies for pulses, but all of the empty vessels were already dead. Once they’d finished, they looked back to Dean but he hadn’t moved an inch.

Sam placed his hand on Dean’s shoulder and Dean looked up at him, his eyes red and his face wet with tears. He looked devastated and that broke Sam’s heart.

“He was one of the good guys,” Dean mumbled and Sam nodded because, whether that was or wasn’t true, it was a moot point now anyway.

“Come on,” Sam encouraged and Dean looked down at Cas’ body again, then he turned his head further and brushed his fingertips against the wing marks scorched into the concrete where Cas had died. After a moment, Dean picked Cas up completely and carried his body upstairs. He lay Cas down on Bobby’s sofa and sat beside him silently. Sam and Bobby shared a look with each other before deciding to give him some time alone to say goodbye. They moved to stand out on the porch and that’s when Sam got his first real look at Bela.

She was beaten and bruised. She looked as though she’d been through Hell.

“What the hell happened to you?” Bobby asked, also getting his first good look at the woman.

“It’s a long story, Bobby,” she brushed away. She looked down at the colt she was still holding and passed it to Sam. There was something different about her but Sam just couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

“Where’ve you been all this time?” He asked. “We thought you’d gone back to England.”

“I was somewhere, but it wasn’t England,” she laughed humourlessly. Eventually, she shook her head. “It’s not important right now. What have you done to piss off all of those demons?”

“That’s er…” Sam and Bobby shared a look. “It’s a long story,” Sam finished.

“I’m not going anywhere,” she encouraged and Sam nodded. He started going into the whole story, including the information they had only really just learnt themselves about the Apocalypse. Bela didn’t look as surprised as Sam would have expected. Actually, she was pretty emotionless. She had clearly been through a lot lately. Which brought up another question. What was Bela even doing here? They hadn’t even heard from her in nearly a year.

“Why are you here, Bela?” He asked.

“I need your help with something,” she admitted, surprising them. It had to be big for Bela to ask for help. “But that can wait,” she said, turning to face the kitchen window. Sam turned as well, though they couldn’t see Dean from this position. “What happened between him and Cas? He’s acting like they were…” Bela drifted off. Like they were in love.

“They were,” Sam confirmed. Bela turned to face him quickly, her eyebrow raised high on her face, the first show of emotion she’d had since she arrived.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Dean was always a little too macho to be completely straight. And Cas was definitely smitten.”

“I wouldn’t really describe Cas as the smitten type,” Bobby muttered and Bela laughed then. It seemed to surprise her, as though she had forgotten what laughter was like. Sam worried once again what she had been through.

“You clearly never saw Cas when he thought no one was watching,” she said. “Yeah, he put on that tough guy act. But he would look at Dean like he was his whole damn world… I would know, people look at me that way all the time,” she bragged and Sam rolled his eyes. They waited a little longer before going back inside. Bobby excused himself without giving much information about what he was up to and Bela hung back in the kitchen with a glass of water as Sam went to sit with his brother.

Dean didn’t look as much in shock anymore. He looked pissed. He looked ready to take on the whole world for revenge.

“How are you feeling?” Sam asked.

“Like I’m ready to kick some demon ass.”

“Good,” Sam nodded. The demons were hunting them down in their own house now. This was personal. They’d probably be back and Dean needed to be ready for that. “We should get a pyre ready,” Sam said and winced at his own insensitivity. Cas’ body wasn’t even cold yet…

“Have at it,” Dean muttered, standing up and gesturing at Cas’ body. Sam frowned in surprise and stood up to.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sam asked.

“Okay?” Dean scoffed. “No. But that isn’t Cas. It’s just an empty vessel.”

“A vessel?” Sam questioned. This was the first he was hearing about this.

“Yeah, Cas told me about it. An angel’s visage, or whatever, is too powerful for human eyes so they have to take a vessel.”

“He was possessing someone?” Sam asked, jaw tight. He was trying so hard to be okay with everything, for Dean’s sake, but that was messed up.

“Not exactly… there’s a lot you still don’t know.”

“Then tell me.”

“I will,” Dean nodded. “But Bobby needs to hear this too and I don’t feel like saying this crap twice.” Sam could understand that. He could wait a little longer. Dean patted Sam on the shoulder and walked into the kitchen to grab a beer from the fridge. He frowned down at Bela, who was sitting at the kitchen table, as though he hadn’t even realised that she was here. “You look like you’ve been hit by a car,” Dean muttered and Bela gave a sarcastic smile

“Charming as ever, Dean,” she said and rolled her eyes. Dean took a beer and sat next to her, taking his first sip as Bobby walked into the room looking a little frazzled.

“You okay, Boy?” Bobby asked and Dean gave a thumbs up. Sam gave one last look at Cas… or, he supposed, Cas’ vessel, before moving closer to join them.

“How did they even get through your house, Bobby?” Dean asked and placed his drink back onto the table. And it was true, there were devil’s traps and warding sigils all over this place, it would have been impossible for so many demons to navigate them without a single one being caught. Bela got up and started pacing. Sam watched her for a moment but soon turned his gaze back to his family when Bobby started speaking.

“The traps were all broken,” Bobby said, his voice gruff and uncertain. He shook his head slowly.

“What? How?” Sam questioned. The demons would have needed a human working on their side to break so many traps…. everyone in the room turned their gaze to Bela. She looked between them with wide eyes, her jaw clenched in fear. But she made no move to deny it.

“You bitch,” Dean snarled and Sam had to jump forward to hold Dean back as he attempted to dive over the table to get to her. He looked as though he wanted to kill her.

“I’m sorry, okay!” She shouted, taking several steps back and raising her hands in submission. “They made me do it.”

“No one makes you do anything,” Dean said with murder in his eyes as he struggled against Sam. Bobby soon moved to help hold him back too.

“That’s what I thought,” Bela said, shaking her head. “But then I was kidnapped by a demon named Alastair.” Dean froze suddenly and stopped struggling. It looked as though he’d been slapped across the face by the name. And Sam could understand why considering Alastair was the one who’d tortured Dean in hell. Sam looked closer at Bela and took in the bruises and cuts that were visible to him. But it was more than that, Sam hadn’t quite been able to put his finger on what it was earlier but now he knew: she looked broken inside. “He… he told me to say hi to you, Dean.”

The fight had left Dean now. He was still shaking with rage but it was no longer directed at Bela. Slowly, Sam let go of his brother and Den adjusted his jacket. He shook his head and left the room without another word. Bobby looked as though he was going to follow but Sam put his hand in the way and shook his head.

“Let him go,” he said softly. Dean needed some space right now.

[] [] []

Dean walked aimlessly around Bobby’s lot for a while. He didn’t really know for how long he was gone, he was just lost in his own head. He was thinking about Cas. About the first time they’d kissed… it had been to seal the deal to bring Sam back. Cas had had a beard at the time and it had scratched at Dean's face but he’d kind of liked it. Not that he’d wanted to admit that to himself at the time.

He thought of the first time Dean had realised how much Cas cared. They’d been stuck in a dream world and had stumbled their way into a cemetery filled with Cas’ loved ones. Cas had knelt down at one grave in particular and, for the first time since they’d met, Cas had dropped that mask he was always wearing. Dean later found out that the grave was his… or future-his, really. Dean hoped that he never became the dark, bitter, empty man that Cas had known. But Cas had loved that man anyway.

He remembered that time in the police station when they had been surrounded by demons. That was when he’d realised that Cas would just always be there for him, no matter what. Cas had kept trying to brush it off and pretend that he was only there because it was interesting and he was bored… but he’d used that excuse too many times for Dean to buy it at that point. When Dean really thought about it, he supposed that day was when he’d first started falling in love with Castiel.

Dean felt physical pain at the loss of his boyfriend. He would never see Cas again. Never hear his voice or kiss his lips. Nothing.

Eventually, Dean returned from the junkyard to Bobby’s house, finding a pyre in the back garden. Dean’s chest felt heavy as he watched Sam toss another log on the structure. He was going to have to say goodbye to Cas now for good. Dean approached Sam and they silently finished the pyre.

Once they were done, Dean went inside and picked Cas’ body up from the sofa. Slowly, he carried the body outside. With Sam’s help, the body was placed on top of the pyre. Bela and Bobby soon joined them as Dean tossed his lighter onto the mound and watched it go up in flames.

What he’d told Sam was the truth, this wasn’t really Cas. If anything was Cas then it was the wing-shaped scorch marks on the floor in Bobby’s basement. But, regardless, it was difficult to watch the body go up in flames.

Once the funeral was over, and to be honest Dean was surprised that Sam had even proposed a hunter’s funeral in the first place considering he had only yesterday planned on killing Cas himself, they went back inside. Dean grabbed another beer from the fridge and sipped it silently.

He felt Bela’s eyes on him but he tried to ignore it. It wasn’t until he’d drained the bottle and she was still looking at him that he snapped.

“Why are you even still here?” He asked. Bela wasn’t exactly his favourite person to begin with. Never mind, after what she had done today.

“Because…” Bela said, her voice dark and her eyes hard. “I want to force feed Alastair his own knives. And I need your help to do it.”

Now that Dean could get behind.

[] [] []

Lilith smiled and rejoiced.

Castiel was dead. She didn’t even need her underlings to come back and confirm it, she had felt the earth shake at its core when he had lost his fight. He really had been powerful. But her demons had done what the angels couldn’t. Lilith grinned and sat back in her chair. Today was a good day.

When the angels had left a message of a truce with one of her demons, she hadn’t known what to think. Surely, it had been a trap. But she’d allowed some of her more trusted underlings to meet with them and uncover the truth. It turned out that Michael wanted this Apocalypse as much as she did… and wasn’t that a surprise… the goody-two-shoes angels wanted a war.

But there was one thing standing in their way: the trickster sitting on the Winchesters’ shoulders. Which, as it turned out, wasn’t a trickster after all but a rogue angel. They assumed he was staying at Bobby Singer’s house but they couldn’t be sure as it had been completely warded against angels… but a demon could still get through.

The angels wanted some of Lilith’s demons to break in and destroy the angel-proofing on the building so that they could enter. But that wasn’t a good enough deal for her. Yes, getting Castiel to disappear was vital for her plan to succeed, but now that she knew what she was truly up against she was sure she could find a way to do that by herself without the angels’ help. After all, she’d been taught everything there was to know about angels by Lucifer himself. Trapping and keeping one would be easy.

But, after Castiel was out of the picture, she still needed someone who could infiltrate the Winchesters’ inner circle to do Lilith’s dirty work. She already had the perfect person in mind for the job, but there was so much red tape around raising the dead and Lilith couldn’t get around that no matter what. But the angels didn’t have to deal with that.

So, in return for the assistance of her demons, she asked for two things: first, she wanted an angel blade of her own. But most importantly was the second thing: she would grant the angels free access to hell so that they could raise Bela Talbot from the dead. Surprisingly enough, they agreed to both stipulations.

An angel had flown down to the depths of hell and offered Bela Lilith’s deal: they would revive her and wipe Hell’s claim on her soul clear if she did Lilith’s bidding on earth. Obviously, the woman agreed. She was no fool, after all.

But Lilith never intended on keeping up her end of the bargain with the angels. Let them be the ones that claimed Castiel’s life? No. He had been a thorn in her side for too long. The demons would be the ones to take that victory. And, anyway, the angels may want this Apocalypse but they certainly didn’t plan on losing it. They knew as well as Lilith did that Sam Winchester was Lucifer’s true vessel. Keeping him on the straight and narrow would be a benefit to them but a devastation to Lucifer. Sam needed to be at full strength for this fight. Lilith wouldn’t give the angels the opportunity to take Sam from her grasp.

So, she’d stationed the demons outside of Bobby’s house, their vessels warded by witches to disguise them, and waited until they were sure that Castiel was present. And so now Castiel was dead, Bela had infiltrated the Winchesters’ inner circle and was reporting to Lilith, and the angel warding remained. Everything was going exactly to plan.