Chapter 1
Who are you?
"Hello?" Sara answered her phone, getting into her car.
"Sara?" the voice was familiar. Goosebumps on her voice, she dropped the keys on her lap.
"Who is this?" Sara snapped.
"It's me." The voice came on again.
"This isn't funny, who's ME?" she yelled in the phone, whoever or whatever wanted to mess around with her they would be sadly mistaken.
"Dean."
Sara nearly dropped the phone but made out, "yeah, right, if this really is Dean, what was the first monster I killed on a solo hunt?"
The other line paused then said, "Ghoul."
"First fake name I used for the FBI?"
"Emily Heckol." The voice answered quickly.
"Alright, Dean, where are you?" She said after pausing to think for a while.
"Um, a gas station near where you buried me."
"Got it." she ended the phone call and started the engine. She sped toward where Dean was buried.
Sara got out of the car, silver knife in hand. She slowly entered the gas station, where Dean was waiting for her.
"Sara." he said as she neared, "Sara!" She quickly pinned Dean down, "Sara, it's me Dean!"
"Yeah, right." she raised the knife as he threw her off.
"Wait! Your full name is Sara Mary Winchester. You're probably the bad-ass of the family and you used to bite your cheek when you got nervous on a hunt." Sara slowly lowered the knife, not truly convinced he was her brother. Dean sighed then grabbed the knife from her hand, Sara recoiled expecting him to try and kill her. Instead he rolled up his sleeve. "I am not a Shapeshifter."
"Then you're a revenant."
"All right, if I was either, could I do this with a silver knife?" he said before cutting his upper arm with the knife in his hand, the blade did nothing, no sizzling flesh, no tell-tale sign he was a monster.
"Dean?"
"That's what I've been trying tell you." he said as she brought him into a tight hug. "God, you've gotten strong."
The small TV next to the counter turned on, static on the screen. After a second Sara turned to her brother, "Do hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Him." she cocked her head as if listening to something. "Castiel."
"Sara, you feeling okay?"
The TV turned off and Sara shook her head. "We need to talk. Hopefully somewhere less murdery." Sara kicked a rusty shelf, moving out of her as she made her way to the car.
"How did you bust out?" Sara said, taking out a flask and slowly screwing the tap off.
"I don't know. I just-I just woke up in a pine b-" Dean closed his eyes as she doused him with holy water. "I'm not a demon either, you know."
"Sorry. Can't be too careful." Sara said sheepishly as she handed him a hand towel. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Yeah."
"Dean, your chest was ribbons. Your insides were slop.' Sara said with a shiver. "And you've been buried four months. If you could slip out of hell and back in your body-"
"I know, I should look like a "Thriller" video reject." Dean said, throwing the towel at his sister.
"What do you remember?"
"Not much. I remember I was a Hellhound's chew toy. And then lights out." He paused for a second. "Then I come to 6 feet under. That was it." He flipped open the phone Sara gave him, "Sam's number's not working."
"It's not? Oh, he's alive, as far as I know." Reading the look on Dean's face.
"Good. What do you mean, as far as you know?"
"I haven't talked to him for months."
- You just let him go off by himself? -
"He wasn't going to let me come with."
"You should have been looking after him." he said, angrily.
Sara raised her hands, "I tried. The last months haven't been easy, you know. For him or me. We had to bury you."
"Why did you bury me, anyway?"
"I wanted you salted and burned. Usual drill, but Sam wouldn't have it."
"I'm glad he won that one." He muttered.
"He said you'd need a body when he got you back home somehow. That's about all he said."
"What do you mean?"
"He was quiet. Almost as quiet you were when dad died. Then he just took off. Wouldn't return my calls. I tried to find him, but he doesn't want be found."
"Damn it, Sammy." He muttered, putting one and one together.
"What?"
"Oh, he got me home okay. But whatever he did, it is bad mojo."
"What makes you sure?"
"You should've seen the grave. It was like a nuke went off."
"Then there was this-This force, this presence, I don't know." Sara said, "it wasn't a demon nor anything we've encountered before. It felt like it was… light." Sara threw up her hands as Dean looked at her like she was crazy.
"And then this." Dean pulled up his shirt, revealing a bright red hand print that seemed to be burned into his flesh.
"What in the hell is that?" Sara said, gently touching it.
"It was like a demon just yanked me out. Or rode me out."
"But why?"
"To hold up their end of the bargain."
"You think Sam made a deal?" Sara said, worry for her younger brother visibly showing on her face.
"That's what I would have done." She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Yeah, hi, I have a cell phone account with you guys and I lost my phone. I was wondering if you could turn the GPS on for me." Someone started to talk on the other side, "Yeah, the name's Wedge Antilles. Uh, social is 2474. Okay, yeah, thank you."
"How'd you know he'd use that name?"
"You kidding me? What don't I know about that kid? Where's the beer?" Dean said, ransacking the mini-fridge.
"If you remember it was you and Sam who drank."
"Right." he said, opening the computer and quickly typing in some information. "Sam's in Pontiac, Illinois." he said after a second.
"Right near where you were buried."
"Right where I popped up."
"A coincidence, don't you think?"
A woman opened the door to the hotel room, "So where is it?"
"Where's what?" Sara said as Dean and her looked at each other.
"The pizza that takes two people to deliver?"
"I think we got the wrong room." Dean said as Sara rolled her eyes.
She pushed into the room as she said, "Hey, Sammy."
"Who are you?" Sam said, pushing Dean against the wall.
"Like you didn't do this?" Dean said, shoving his brother off.
"Do what?" Sam said confused as he grabbed a knife from his bag on the floor.
"It's him, Sam." Sara pushed her brother off Dean.
"It's him." Sara rolled her eyes. "I've been through this already. It's really him."
"What?" He said, taking his eyes off Dean and staring at Sara.
"I know." Dean gave them a twirl, showing off his body. "I look fantastic, huh?" Sam brought him in a surprise hug.
"So are you two, like, together?" the woman said, pointing at Dean then to Sam.
"What?" Sara started laughing.
"No." Dean and Sam said, both glaring at their sister.
"He's my brother." Sam explained, turning to the woman.
"O- oh Got it, I guess. Look, I should probably go." the woman said, turning towards the door and walking quickly through it.
"Yeah, yeah. That's probably a good idea. Sorry."
"So call me."
"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, Kathy."
"Chrissy."
"Right." the woman slammed the door, leaving the siblings alone to their reunion.
"So tell me, what'd it cost?"
"The girl? Heh." Sara chuckled.
"I don't pay, Dean." Sam said glaring at his siblings.
"That's not funny, Sam." Sam looked puzzled "To bring me back. What'd it cost? Was it just your soul, or something worse?"
"You think I made a deal?"
"That's what we think."
"Well, I didn't."
"Don't lie to me, Sammy." Dean snarled.
"I'm not lying."
Sara looked up, and backed out of the room, "Guys, I-I-I gotta go, I'll be right back." neither looked up at her instead they kept bickering.
"So, what, now I'm off the hook and you're on, is that it? You're some demon's bitch boy? I didn't wanna be saved like this."
"Look, Dean, I wish I had done it, all right?"
"There's no other way this could have gone. Tell the truth.
I tried everything. That's the truth. Opening the Devil's Gate hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in hell for months. For months, and I couldn't stop it. So I'm sorry. It wasn't me, all right? Dean, I'm sorry.
"It's okay, Sammy." Dean sighed, starting to have a headache. "You don't have to apologize. I believe you. Don't get me wrong, I am gladdened that your soul remains intact but it does raise a sticky question. If you didn't pull me out then what did? So, what were you doing here if you weren't digging me out of my grave?"
" Well, once I figured out I couldn't save you I started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback."
"All by yourself?"
"Yeah, Sara had better things to do. Anyways, I was tracking these demons out in Tennessee and out of nowhere, they took a left, booked up here."
"When?"
"Yesterday morning."
"When I busted out."
"You think these demons are here because of you? But why? Why now?"
Dean shrugged, taking a sip of beer. "I don't know. But some badass demon drags me out, now this? It's gotta be connected somehow."
"How you feeling, anyway?" Sam saiding after a while.
"I'm a little hungry."
"You probably want this back." Sam said, taking off a necklace, it was Dean's.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, don't mention it."
"Hey, Dean, what was it like?"
"What, hell? I don't know. I must have blacked it out. I don't remember a damn thing."
"Thank God for that." Sam said as they both took a swig of beer.
"Yeah."
"Guys we have to go." Sara said as she slammed the hotel door closed. Her eyes flashed with something, she was panted and she looked worried.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"Just trust me. We need to, at least me and Dean." Sara said grabbing her bag by her bed.
The two men glanced at each other then shrugged, when was their sister wrong? "I assume you'll wanna drive." Sam said as they neared Dean's old car.
"I almost forgot." Dean grinned as he opened the door. "Hey, sweetheart, you miss me? Oh." He sat down and wiped his hand on the radio and other various car parts until his eyes landed on a iPod. "What the hell is that?"
"That's an iPod jack."
"You were supposed to take care of her not douche her up."
"Dean, I thought it was my car." he said as Dean threw the iPod out the window.
After a while of silence and a few tries form Sara it start a conversion, Dean finally opened his mouth. "Really? There's still one thing that's bothering me."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, the night that I bit it. Or got bit. How'd you make it out? Lilith was gonna kill you."
"She tried. She couldn't."
"What do you mean, she couldn't?"
"She fired this, like, burning light at me. And it didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something."
"Immune?" Dean said, glancing at her sister.
"Yeah. Heh. I don't know who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that."
"Huh. What about Ruby? Where's she?"
"Dead, or in hell." Sam shrugged as Sara's eyes narrowed at him from the back seat.
"You've been using your freaky ESP stuff?"
"No."
"You so sure about that?" Sara said moving her head to the side.
"Yeah, now that you've got immunity, whatever the hell that is just wondering what other weirdo crap you got."
"Nothing, guys. You didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go. It was practically your dying wish, Dean.
"Yeah, well, let's keep it that way." Dean said glancing back at Sara who was rolling her eyes. You can't lie to a psychic, he remembered her saying a year ago.
"So?"
"I don't understand, this is where he said he would be. Maybe he needed more time to find a vessel." Sara shook her head.
"Still no clue what we're dealing with."
"That's not entirely true."
- No?
"We got a name. Castiel."
"With the right mumbo jumbo, you can summon him." Dean said staring at her sister.
"You're crazy." Dean didn't back down, "Absolutely not."
"We'll work him over."
"You can't be serious." Sara said, sighing.
"As a heart attack."
"We don't know what it is."
"It could be a demon, it could be anything."
"So then we gotta be ready for anything."
"It's not a demon." Sara said, shaking her head.
"This is a bad idea."
"Couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?" Dean said, looking at Sara.
"We could choose life." Sara sighed before starting to summon Castiel.
"You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean said. Sara glanced up at him a death stare directed at him. "Sorry. Touchy, touchy." he said as the whole building started to shake, the roof slamming up and down. "Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind."
The doors broke open and a man dressed in a trench coat and suit stepped in, his tie was loose and as Dean and Sam raised their guns, aiming as Sara stepped in front of them.
"Who are you?" Dean called as the man neared.
"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."
"Yeah, thanks for that." he said.
"We need to talk, Dean. Alone." Castiel said as he tapped Sam's forehead, he fell to the ground, unconscious. He moved toward Sara then stopped, his hand dropping to his side. He looked at her for a second longer than comfortable and Sara moved away from him.
"Your brother is alive." he said as Sara checked her brother's pulse.
"Who are you?" Dean said, glaring at the man.
"Castiel."
"Yeah, I figured that much. I mean, what are you?"
"I'm an angel of the Lord."
"Get the hell out of here. There's no such thing."
"This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith."
"Some angel you are." Dean muttered, looking at his unconscious brother.
"My real voice can be overwhelming to some humans, most cannot even hear me."
"You mean the gas station and the motel? That was you talking?" Sara asked as he nodded.
"Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. Like you, Sara. I thought you would be one of them. I was correct." Sara nodded to him, for some reason she trusted the man.
"And what visage are you in now, huh? What, holy tax accountant?" Dean said, not as trusting as his younger sister.
"This? This is a vessel." Castiel tugged on his trench coat.
"You're possessing some poor bastard?"
"He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this."
"Look, pal, I'm not buying what you're selling."
"So who are you, really?" Sara calmly said.
"I told you."
"Right." Sara drew closer to the supposed angel.
"And why would an angel rescue me from hell?" Dean said, his eyes even with the angel's.
"Good things do happen, Dean."
"Not in our experience."
"What's the matter?" His eyes calmly bored into Dean, "You don't think you deserve to be saved?"
"Why'd you do it?"
"Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you. And Sara, you too."
"I don't like being bossed around." Sara said, catching Castiel's arm as he turned to leave. She gasped when she saw his true form, he truly was an angel, his wings were speckled with brown and black, white feathers, perfectly imperfect. They contrasted against his eyes, a light blue. His hair was golden-brown, curly and slightly longer than what was normal. She let go. "Who are you?" She whispered as he left, feathers rustling as he disappeared.