Prologue

"The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook." Psalms 77:18

The blinding white light shook the windowpanes as if attempting to break right through. Though there was nothing solid there to create such a trembling it was still there. Instead of showing any fear or attempting to flee, Castiel stands tall next to the prophet Chuck. He was expecting the higher-ups to send an Archangel after him for his insubordination but he didn't expect it so fast. He had to give Dean a head start he simply had to.

One other thing he knew, he had to get back to Dean as soon as possible. He couldn't afford to be dragged back upstairs for another spanking right now. Dean didn't know the most important part of all. Castiel didn't have time to tell him and now he could only hope that Dean stopped Sam from killing Lilith. If he didn't, well Castiel didn't want to think about that.

A ringing started up in Castiel's ears, a ringing so fierce that he was forced to sink to his knees. He needed a plan, yet he was entirely unable to think. Thinking was what he needed. That damn Zachariah had really messed things up now. Just as Castiel closed his eyes to shut out the pain, it suddenly stopped. The ringing disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. He opened his eyes slowly and found the Archangel had gone completely. Confused, he stood and turned questioningly to Chuck. Had Chuck prophesied something while he'd been incapacitated?

Chuck looked just as confused as his angel companion and rushed to his computer. He tapped at the keys for a few moments before looking at Castiel with a million questions in his eyes. "What happened?"

Solemn as ever, Castiel provided the only response he had. "I was hoping you would know that."

"So, this wasn't you?" Castiel shook his head and let Chuck continue, "Well I didn't do anything. You know I can't rewrite this stuff anyway. There's just nothing there, no ideas no visions, nothing."

Castiel furrowed his brow. That wasn't good. "Someone must have decided to block your ability to see what happened."

"Who could do that?" Frantic now, Chuck was furiously searching his manuscript, looking for any changes or alterations.

"Someone a lot more powerful than I." Castiel walked to the window and stared out of it for a moment. Finally, he spoke again, "You see nothing of the Winchesters?"

Chuck shook his head, looked up to find Castiel facing away from him and answered verbally. "I see nothing of anything. I can't even tell you what's going on with my cat. "

"Hmmmm." In his usual tightlipped manner, he didn't elaborate. "What's the last thing you did see?"

"I saw Sam, killing Lilith."

Alarmed, Castiel answered a bit more abruptly than usual. "Was Dean there?"

"I didn't see him. The last I have of him was leaving here."

"I have to find him." Without another word, he vanished.

Chuck scoffed and spoke to the open air, "Great, I'll just sit here and be useless then!"

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," Revelations 20:7

A great plume of black smoke poured through the crack in the concrete. Dean watched in horror for only a moment before turning to flee. He looked over his shoulder after a few steps and noticed Sam was not behind him. He turned back and pulled at his brother's arm, Sam stood there horrified and not moving.

Through the ever-thickening darkness Dean shouted, "Sam! It's time to go!"

Seemingly having no effect, Sam merely shrugged his brother off and backed up a few steps. Not knowing quite what to do, Dean instinctively reached for his shotgun. It took him a few moments to realize that he had nothing to shoot at. Instead he moved to Sam's side again and tried reasoning with him. He came this far to get his little brother and he wasn't leaving him here with Lucifer now.

"Sam, listen to me, this isn't helping anything. There's nothing you can do here. We need to find Cas; he will know what to do. Let's go, now!"

Sam looked his brother in the eye, pain filling his gaze. He shifted his gaze to Lilith's lifeless body every few seconds while answering. "Its my fault. I am the monster they thought I was. I did it, I ended the world. You're better off without me."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare do this to me now. That demon slut lied to you, plain and simple. She's dead; we'll fix the rest. I am walking to that door, when I get it open I will expect to see you behind you. I will drag you out if I have to."

He walked toward the door, throwing a glance behind him halfway there. Sam was still leaning against the wall and looking miserable. This was the last thing he needed. First he gets kidnapped by the lunatic fringe of Angels R Us, then he escapes the idiots and nearly gets flattened by an Archangel, he was not letting Sam get all moody and irrational too. He pulled at the door, expecting to find it blocked he pulled a little harder than necessary. When it swung open easily, he was knocked off balance for a brief second.

Before he turned, he made one final declaration to his brother. "I mean it Sam, you better be there. It's time to leave."

He finished his turn and was surprised to find the black smoke had disappeared. Alarmed, he reached for his shotgun again, just in case. Sam was facing the window. Dean nearly fell on his backside when Sam turned. His eyes had changed to reflect the deepest black that Dean had ever seen. He spoke in a rough, harsh voice that was not his own. "Yes Dean Winchester, it is time to go."

With a slight nod of Sam's head, Dean was thrown the several hundred feet to the end of the hall. The doors slammed shut at almost the same instant his head cracked against the solid rock wall.