Castiel stood there in silence after confessing his new profound power, waiting for the Winchesters and that old man, Bobby Singer, to bow down to him and confess their love. The one thing the angel neglected to realize is that love had to be earned, and Castiel already lost their trust along the way. He didn't realize because of all the power consuming him, driving him towards the one goal he wanted to achieve since the end of the not so Apocalypse. Raphael had been destroyed, quite literally as he exploded with the snap of a finger, the same way his brother, Lucifer, had killed Castiel only two years ago. Maybe if he noticed the resemblance, these souls wouldn't consume him. Despite souls being the driving force behind feelings, Castiel felt nothing, and that was the price he paid.
Dean still stood there in complete shock, his watery blue eyes wide as the obvious fearful expression set in. This was not the same angel he had experienced so much with. Countless times they helped save the world together, or took downtime like at the burlesque house when Castiel couldn't manage to get laid, not even with a bit of money from Dean. Thinking about this, the hunter's mind even darted back to the time when Castiel claimed he was almost out of minutes on his cell phone, but what struck Dean as the most odd was his very first encounter with the angel. Castiel pulled him from perdition, and even though every fiber of his being told him angels did not exist, one had stood before him. That very instant scared him for being fearful of the unknown, and that's what he felt again, almost putting the past event to shame.
"Cas, how can we worship you? You're an angel, just hyped up on all the soul juice," the hunger questioned the angel, holding up his hands as if in surrender while he slowly approached the new God. "Let's just get the souls back where they belong and then we can talk about what happened." He repeated as if it would make a difference.
Castiel tilted his head to the side in absent wonder, almost like the old days when he was first so emotionless. Now his cobalt blue eyes pierced into the hunter, not to see into his soul, or to see reason, but to see right through him. "You can see me, speak to me, and yet you still deny me as your God?" He questioned, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "Why is it that you humans do not believe? I am here, so confess me as thy lord." Once again, he waited and no response came from any of the hunters.
For a moment, Dean's face skewed into one of anger, that temper boiling through, like his father when someone messed with his family. "Why would I bow down to you after what you did to Sam? You still betrayed us, God or not." Dean stood tall and defiant, not about to back down despite seeing Castiel's power. "We were never your butt monkeys, and we never will be." Even though they had worked together, Dean still didn't take orders from some dick in a trench coat.
"In time you will see, Dean, that I did this to save your world, to save you." The angel confessed, his expression not changing despite Dean's little outburst. With that said, the new "God" disappeared in the blink of an eye, creating a whole new dilemma and big bad for the Winchester boys to deal with.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean shouted, glancing towards his brother who had managed to make it there, despite the little mind trip Castiel forced him to go through. Bridging the gap between Sam and himself, he approached the younger Winchester.
Now they just had to figure out how to get out of there.
Back at Bobby's, the boys sat quietly in the living room in hard wooden chairs, reading through old texts, or trying to, in order to discover anything which might be helpful with the search for Castiel and how to stop him. See, after Castiel disappeared, Bobby called an acquaintance to help tow the Impala back to the Singer Salvage Yard and bring a new car for them to drive. His acquaintance pulled through, and as soon as they arrived back at Bobby's, they hit the books. Some of the texts were written in different languages, which lost the boys completely, and even Bobby struggled. This was new territory and a lot harder to focus on when it involved someone they knew and cared about at one point or another, or still did.
Shutting one of the musty old books in frustration, Dean huffed. "This is pointless. I should be working on my baby instead of searching for a lost cause," he explained, his eyes focusing on the oldest hunter in the room. "Let's face it. None of these books are going to tell us how to stop a mutant ninja angel."
Sam frowned, his brow furrowing as he thought about it. He hated to give up, but Dean had a point. They had no idea where to start searching for information, or if there was any information at all on this kind of thing. "I think Dean has a point. I could get on the net, but I'm sure nothing like this has been documented before." He explained, pausing before even grabbing his laptop.
Bobby ran a hand over his face, stress washing over him. He reached up to slip off his worn ball cap, scratching his balding head before slipping it back on. "Unless someone sells a dictionary on soul eaters and purgatory, I got nothin'." The older man stated, his years of hunting displayed by the wrinkles on his face. This obviously wasn't going to help reverse the aging process either.
Sam nodded and stood up from the hard chair, his joints cracking a bit from his height and sitting there for so long. Now towering over the other two men, he walked over to his khaki colored knapsack, pulling out his laptop and connecting to the net in a couple of minutes. Searching for anything would prove to be difficult. With no information in Bobby's books, there was going to be little to nothing on the net as well, which Sam knew. He just gave Dean an excuse to go outside and work on the Impala. Despite being brothers, Sam knew to give Dean some space, especially when it involved those Dean cared about. As much as Dean would never admit it, Sam knew his brother held a soft spot for the angel.
As soon as Sam sat down to search the net, Dean ventured outside to work on the Impala after that mass of demons had flipped it back before the confrontation with Castiel. However, the youngest Winchester and their surrogate father stayed inside. Bobby stuck to the books, but not before getting Sam and himself another beer. The hunter needed it if he was going to hit the purgatory book again. Translating the mother of all part was hard enough, and took several drinks of hard liquor. Glancing out the window, Bobby spotted Dean, a familiar look on his face. It was that same look the man bore when Sam had let him down by drinking demon blood. It was apparent that Castiel meant a great deal to Dean.
Tearing his eyes away from the oldest Winchester, Bobby's hazel eyes darted towards Sam after he heard a groan of discomfort escape the youngest. "You alright?" He questioned, the father figure in Bobby shining through.
With a hand rubbing his temple as if he had a headache, Sam nodded slowly to prevent further discomfort. "Yeah. Just a headache. Probably should lay down." He sighed, hating that he needed to stop his search so suddenly, but instead of telling Bobby he had flashes of memories, he stated the obvious. The hunter had to know Sam wasn't okay after what Castiel had done to him. That's what bothered Sam the most. They had to stop Castiel, and Dean wanted to save the angel despite what he had done to Sam. He understood it, but the youngest Winchester couldn't be entirely on board, not with his head splitting in half.
"Get some rest and I'll keep hittin' the books." Bobby responded and immediately focused on the books in front of him instead of smothering Sam with concern.
Turning off his laptop and shutting it, Sam set it aside before standing up. He glanced at Bobby momentarily before venturing downstairs. His best bet for sleep had to be the panic room in case he became violent. Descending the stairs to the basement, Sam stumbled slightly as his head throbbed. It felt like someone else was forcing their thoughts into his head, sort of like Lucifer, except that didn't hurt, and these thoughts were focused on the different sides of Sam aft his time with Lucifer. Trying not to think about it as he reached the panic room, he entered and laid his long frame on the bed, closing his eyes and letting sleep take him over.
Sam's sleep was anything but restful with thoughts and memories flooding his mind. Of course, there were his memories of soulless Sam, killing people mercilessly, but the torture memories of hell seared Sam in his sleep. His body felt like fire, that white hot pain he had experienced when Jake stabbed that knife into his back, although it wasn't truly happening to him now. It felt real though, like a bee sting in a dream. It didn't actually happen, but that prickling sensation still lingered upon waking up. However, something else started to happen. Memories flooded Sam's dreams, and not the pieces of him he had to find in his trippy mind walk. These were memories before hell, and especially his time with Ruby. Drinking the demon blood, pulling demons out flashed through his dreams. That's when Sam woke up in a sweat, a revelation hitting him in that very moment. Now he needed to speak to Bobby and his brother, and neither were going to like the idea he had in mind.
