"TELL ME WHAT THEY ARE?!"
"You can shout all you like Dean, kill me go ahead, but we will find out what you're up to."
"Are you saying Crawley isn't behind this?"
"Don't play stupid Winchester, although it has always suited you." A swift stab in to the thigh made the demon clench his jaw in withheld agony as the holy water pumped through the veins of a young soap factory worker; Jeremy.
"Dean, we've been at this for hours, I don't think he actually knows anything." Dean eyed his brother, and then back at the demon, he clenched his fists in frustration and threw the knife in to the wall, flying past the demons right eye, severing one of its free falling ridiculous bangs. Sam watched him leave the room; he watched the tension knotting his shoulders as he slammed the door behind him.
"Pouty little bitch isn't he." Sam started the chant.
Two steps at a time Sam strode up in to Bobby's living room, both of the older men looking frustrated with a whiskey in hand. Sam took a seat and opened his mouth to break the silence, but Dean beat him to it.
"I swear to God Sam, don't say it."
"But Dean..."
"We're not calling him. Period."
"But Dean, if Hell isn't behind these cracks then maybe its Heaven, we need to call Cas."
"We're not calling that son of a bitch." Sam sent a distressed look at Bobby for backup who returned with a helpless shrug.
"Dean." Dean released the bridge of his nose and begrudgingly looked him in the eye. "Seriously Dean, what happened in Vegas? Since Vegas we can't even mention Cas without you going nuclear, or shutting off completely. It's not healthy and it's jeopardising our work."
"Healthy." Dean threw himself up from the chair and launched himself across the room staring down Sam. "How is any of this healthy Sam? What we do. How we live. And then Cas comes in...A freaking Tinkerbelle with a halo...and just...AH! God damn it!..." Sam watched Dean clamp his lips shut, swallowing the rest of his rant.
Dean always felt Cas' presence seconds before he announced himself, and he felt the familiar light tingle dance up his insides stemming from the handprint on his shoulder. Sam saw Dean's whole body tighten as Cas appeared behind him. The air felt taut and thick with tension as no one dared move first, breath was held for seconds that felt like minutes before Cas finally sliced the friction fizzing in the air with a baritone;
"Hello Dean. You called."
Dean practically spat: "No one called you." Sam didn't know why Dean turned in to a teenage girl having a tantrum when Cas was around but it was undeniable that they needed Cas' help.
"Yes, thank you Cas, we need to know what's going on with the angels." Cas' eyes that had been scrutinising Dean's back, raised under his eyebrows, shadowed.
"It isn't the angels."
"Well gosh darn it, if it aint you damn pixies and it aint them demons then who the hell is causing this chaos?"
Cas looked at Bobby momentarily before turning away solemnly: "We don't know."
"Always the drama queen!" Dean had positioned himself, back against the wall, fresh drink in his hand and glaring darkly at the angel. Cas flinched and directed his gaze at Sam instead.
"We have been trying to gather information but we have been unsuccessful, and with nowhere else to turn." He tested a glance at Dean who returned with a look of disgust, Cas pursed his lips and continued: "But we might know someone who could help."
Sam unfurrowed his eyebrows and looked up. "What, who?"
"She's known as the Oracle."
"The Oracle? As in a medium?"
"Yes, but much more powerful, in some ways she is more powerful than myself."
"So she's not human?"
"She is considered more of a human deity. We don't really know much about her, she is forbidden amongst heaven, but there are ancient rumours of her...talents."
Dean hoisted himself off the wall and stood in front of Sam, nose to nose with Cas. "So why haven't you gone to her sooner?" His features were hard and his eyes appeared dead.
"...Personal space Dean..." Dean's eyes widened and his upper lip curled revealing his teeth as a scoff threatened to turn in to a snarl but he dismissed the growl and circled the table to stand behind Bobby. "Well, she is strong and she is dangerous, but angels are unable to gain contact."
Sam stopped trying to process his brothers hostility and snapped back in to the conversation; "What do you mean unable? As in forbidden by God?"
"Yes God has forbidden attempts too, but it is some sort of spell, a form of magic that even Lucifer couldn't break, Angels and Demons alike cannot get close enough to her."
"So you want us to do it?"
"Yes."
Sam turned to Bobby at a loss to make a decision. "We'll do it, wha'd we need?" Answered the gruff voice. Castiel sighed and sat in front of the grimy windows that gave his silhouette a luminescent edge, even Dean could see the exhaustion tremble faintly through his muscles.
"There will need to be a ritual, performed on the outskirts of where the Oracle resides."
"Well that's nothing new."
"And." Castiel tried to meet the three sets of eyes on him but couldn't and settled to look at an unidentifiable stain on the wall. "There needs to be a sacrifice."
"A blood sacrifice?"
Castiel answered with a deeper 'Yes' than usual.
"No! We're not doing that, no way." Dean had taken the floor again.
"Dean it isn't as bad as it sounds." Castiel pleaded.
"Oh, please reword it to make bleeding an innocent to death sound like a good thing."
"We don't have to kill anyone; we just need one pint of blood. And I will assist you in retrieving it."
"Like we are going to trust you to do that!"
"DEAN!" Both Sam and Bobby silenced Dean with warning looks. "Cas is our friend; you can't treat him like this." Sam turned back to apologise to Castiel who had sunken in to his trench coat, looking as forlorn as a lost puppy. Dean scoffed and stormed out the door without another word, but the gentle rumble of the engine said he had gone for a drive to cool off and would probably return stinking of booze and sex.
"You damn kids and your problems." Bobby poured himself another drink and even Cas didn't refuse the offer to down one or two. "Spill wings, what's eaten ya?"
"I...I don't know..." Still not meeting anyone's gaze Castiel feigned ignorance. Pushing them wasn't helping, Sam rolled his eyes.
"Fine, but seriously Cas you two have got to sort it out. Dean has been getting reckless, it's like he doesn't care anymore ya know. Well, care about his own safety at least." Cas lifted his head at this and Sam was sure he saw a flash of guilt or pain before his features hardened and 'Castiel' was back.
"Ok. But I need to tell you the ritual so you can start the preparations."