As usual, I don't own the boys or their friends, that joy is Eric Kripke's…lucky man!

I've been watching Season Eight and found that Sam was different, almost like a pre-series Sam mixed with season four Sam. A Sam who wants to live his own life, one away from Hunting yet has powers that he doesn't want to explain to Dean. With Amelia and Riot in the picture, it seems as though he was trying to recreate Jess and Bones. So, here is my explanation as to what is happening in Season Eight. Enjoy!

By the Grace of Angels

Part One-We Came Back Different

Chapter One-Different

Sam

Nobody ever comes out of Hell without being changed. Nobody. Even the Angels who had stormed Hell to retrieve Dean Winchester's soul came back different, especially Castiel who's Grace broke off a piece of itself to lodge in Dean's soul. That was the reason that when Dean met up with his brother, he was more righteous than he normally would have been. He was actually becoming like Castiel until Sam's fate reminded him of who he really was. The trip to the future, courtesy of Zachariah, actually was the wake-up call he needed to pull himself out of the whirlpool that was threatening to suck his humanity out of his soul. As Castiel fell and became more human (courtesy of Dean's soul), Dean started to become more himself, pre-Hell. So, it is a wonder that they thought that Sam would come back the same.

Sam also had part of Castiel's Grace in him from Cas being around during the Apocalypse and, especially, pulling his body out of Hell. But he had parts of Michael's and Lucifer's Grace in him also from being exposed to the Archangels for one hundred eighty years. What hadn't been known, though but it should have been, was that a part of Azazel's twisted Grace, the only uncorrupted piece, along with a piece of Gabriel's also resided within Sam's soul. The Azazel and Gabriel parts had time to integrate with the human's soul before he went to Hell and when his vessel came back, Cas' Grace kept it going until the soul was restored. Then it too was integrated within Sam. The Wall that Death had put up in Sam actually kept the Graces from the Archangels separated from the soul until Cas pulled it down, and then it was like a storm as the Graces strove to integrate with the other pieces. It drove Sam insane until Castiel himself had poured in more of his own Grace, this time that of an Archangel, into Sam when he took the burden of the memory of Lucifer from his friend. It was the glue he needed to finish bonding the Graces together.

Sam was still in the process of bonding them when Dean and Cas earned themselves a trip to Purgatory. Since Sam couldn't access his new powers then, didn't even know about them, he was helpless to stop the Leviathan's death from taking his brothers away from him. Yes, brothers since he had the Graces of Angels within him it made Castiel his brother, as much of a brother to him as Dean was. In fact, it was because they were brothers, that he was able to forgive Cas for tearing the wall down in the first place and then help him when he became the new god. Sam actually could see his own actions in what Cas had done: using the wrong methods trying to keep the apocalypse from happening. With Sam, it was drinking demon blood and using those powers, with Cas it was taking all the souls of Purgatory into himself. Both methods ended up letting monsters loose. Sam let Lucifer out of his Cage and Cas let the Leviathans out of Purgatory. Both paid for their mistakes: Sam went to Hell and Cas had exploded when the Leviathans left his vessel. So, yeah, brothers…more like twins.

Out of all of them, Balthazar was the one who actually figured it out soon after he met up with the soulless version of Sam. He knew the Grace pieces that Sam now carried were not of the original Angels but of a brother who had died eons ago. He could see that brother's Grace residing in the shell of the man who fought against and beat Lucifer. He felt a part of his own Grace break off to lodge inside Sam, a piece that had been lodged in him ever since the death that tore his heart out, and was glad for it. Joshua also figured it out when he saw Sam in Heaven but he didn't say anything, especially to Zachariah since that Cherubim would have smote Sam no matter whose vessel he was.

Sam had dreams, violent ones, all his life. After he was older and found out that Azazel fed him his blood, Sam believed that the dreams were a product of the demon blood, not realizing that they were actually memories being unlocked every night. Memories that showed him in battle with Michael, Lucifer and Azazel who wanted him to follow them. These three brothers tore him apart when he refused to take sides. When he lay dying, Gabriel, Balthazar and Castiel found him. Crying, his brothers held him, vowing to bring him back somehow, some day. Finally, it got too much and Sam let go with the sounds of his brothers' sorrow in his ears. As he died, parts of his Grace went out to the ones who had killed him and also to those who had found him as he lay dying.

Because Sam was to be an Archangel's vessel, his body and mind had been engineered to absorb the Grace and power of said Angel. What the Host didn't realize was that he was much, much more than a mere vessel. He was someone who had been lost to Heaven eons ago, someone that had been reborn into a human body under Michael's radar. Someone whose puzzle pieces were starting to fit back together now that he had all of them again. Samael.

Dean-

Dean's little trip to Purgatory changed him also. If you couldn't come back from Hell changed, you definitely couldn't come back from Purgatory the same as you left it. Since, like Sam, he was specially engineered to be an Archangel's vessel, when Dean was exposed to all the monsters that ever lived, he started to absorb their powers and characteristics. These changes, though, didn't control him except for being an Alpha and ultimate Hunter. But it also started to awaken memories of another time and another place.

Dean sat on his chair as the supplicants from his kingdom came forward. One of them was a priest who had ambitions of greatness. It involved the building of a tower so the priest could commune directly with God. Dean didn't really like the fact that someone would be so bold as to try to meet with the Creator face to face. In fact, he felt the whole thing was a disaster in the making but the priest was eloquent in his arguments. Finally, Dean gave his decision: the priest would not be interfered with but neither public nor treasury monies were to be used in the endeavor. It was the wrong decision as Dean soon learned as he watched his people become fractured since God had been very angry about the tower. He would have a very hard time forgiving himself for the pain and injury he had caused the ones he was to protect. Dean then vowed to be more vigilant and help where-ever he could.

While in Purgatory, Dean's Hunting skills were honed to deadly perfection as he fought all the monsters that had plagued his life. With Benny and Cas by his side, Dean became faster than the average human, he also was stronger while his senses were sharpened to an almost preternatural perfection. There was only one thing missing out of his life at this point and he got it back when he finally got out of Purgatory-someone to protect. First Sam, then Kevin and his mother became the ones that Dean protected with his life. They were the missing pieces in his life. The Nephilim, Nimrod, was born again.

Castiel

Castiel was the youngest but one of two of the most powerful Angels ever born and it had to do with his ability to change. Ever since he rescued Dean Winchester, he had started to change into an Angel who really cared about humanity and not looked at them as poor relations. Very few Angels were like Castiel, one being his big brother Gabriel who also spent centuries among the humans. The difference between Gabriel and his baby brother was that Gabriel chose to hide among the gods and closing himself off from humans for the most part while Castiel chose to stay with the humans that he was charged to work with. Michael and Zachariah never saw that Castiel was anything more than a soldier but Uriel did and so did Anna. To Uriel, Castiel was a threat to his plans and to Anna, he was the wall between her and Sam Winchester.

What they didn't know was Castiel had the capacity to absorb another's personality so when he rescued Dean, he absorbed a bit of humanity from Dean. He also received some from Bobby Singer and Sam…especially from Sam. Even though he was actually assigned to Dean, he was closer to Sam in every way. He wasn't blind, he saw his mirror image in Sam with their beliefs in trying to save people by using any means necessary. Like Sam, he had also felt like a freak, so different from those around him that it was painful to be with his brothers sometimes. But he was no freak. He was the hope of the Host since he was the only one of his kind to be able to bridge the gap between Angel and Human. He was born to it as he was born to be by his brother's side when Sam reintegrated all parts of his Grace. Castiel was the third corner to a very important triangle of protection. He was the first flawed, human Angel ever born. God's hope for Angels and humans in the flesh. Samael's twin.

DCSDCSDCSDCS

Naomi kept Cas on a very short leash. She was among a very select number of the Heavenly Host who knew what was to happen and she was told to keep Cas working with the Winchesters, especially Sam. Dean was the Michael Sword, it was true but Sam was something very dangerous if not properly awakened. Besides Dean, only Cas could really reach Sam these days. Sam was drifting away from everything and everyone since Amelia found out her husband was still alive. She was his last love on a short list of disasters, starting with Jess then going to Madison and even Ruby. Those ladies ended up dying with him there. Sam was a bit relieved to know that Amelia was still living but that didn't stop it from hurting now that they were no longer a couple. He didn't know that it was Heaven who had reunited Amelia with Donald or why it needed to be. He didn't understand why he started to have powers again but suspected that it was the reason why Donald came back. He also didn't know that whenever he cried now, it would rain. After Amelia, he cried enough that a flashflood had happened in Texas and that alerted Naomi that her brother was waking up. She then got a Garrison ready to rescue Dean and Cas.

Before she could send the rescue team, Dean found a way out of Purgatory with the vampire Benny. Naomi looked into the future and decided to let the vampire stay on Earth but she was disturbed by the fact that Castiel didn't show up with them and found that he decided to stay in Purgatory for punishment. As much as Naomi understood her baby brother's desire to punish himself for what he had done, she knew that he was the only one who would be able to guide Samael when he fully awake since Castiel had carried the majority of Samael's Grace since his death. She also knew it was because of the bond between Castiel and Samael, of oldest to youngest, that would help the Archangel to remember himself fully. The bond between them was stronger than any twin born. It was just as strong as the bond between Sam and Dean.

Samael had been the kindest, gentlest of all Father's children and what happened to him was tragic to say the least. Because he didn't want to choose sides in Michael and Lucifer's stupid argument, they and Azazel had torn him apart in their fury. Because of their bond, when Samael died, most of his Grace lodged itself in Cas' body while the rest had scattered among his killers and those who had found him as he lay dying. Samael's death had stunned the whole of the Host and there were still many who mourned his loss. It was the deciding factor for Gabriel when he left Heaven saying that if Michael could do that to a beloved brother, there was no stopping him in doing it again. Gabriel said that frankly he didn't want to be another notch on Michael's sword. Balthazar, on the other hand, decided to stay with their baby brother and kept him safe as Balthazar was one of the few who would and did stand up to Michael on a regular basis. Naomi always suspected that it was Samael's Grace in both of them that kept the two together. She was sure of it when Castiel killed Balthazar after Samael's Grace went into Sam Winchester. It had been almost like the bond between the friends had been shattered and the resulting explosion rebounded on both Angels after the Grace found its way home. Again, mirroring what had happened between Sam and Dean though Sam didn't kill his brother but he had beaten him badly in the motel room before he broke the last seal.

When Sam was walking around insane, for a lack of a better word, his twin went crazy also and started to make the same mistakes that Sam had made. Since Sam still hadn't integrated fully, he couldn't help his brother like Castiel needed, though he had been able to forgive Cas for hurting him and he was also able to guide his brother into doing the right thing eventually. It broke Naomi's heart when word came down that everything had to play out. It was important because the events would become the catalyst in bringing Samael back fully. It was a costly decision since most of the Heavenly Host was now back with Father, waiting to be sent back to Heaven.

Father was keeping many of the Angels in time out for their actions in the recent Civil War. But with Samael's reawaking, Gabriel and Balthazar were brought back. Samael would need the ones he had been closest to for the help he would need since he would be confused and disoriented. Father also changed the sigils on Sam's ribs so the two of them, alone with Castiel, would be able to find him at all times.