Title: Back Again
Chapter: 1. Angelic Marks
Pairings/characters: Dean, Sam, Castiel/OC
Rating: G (May change later)
Warnings: None
Genre: Romance/Action/Supernatural (duh)
Summary: When someone from Castiel's past returns, he doesn't know what it means. But the joy of having her return may not be enough to comfort any of them when they find out why she was sent back.

Disclaimer: I own nothing….Damn….

Author's Note: I haven't written a fan fiction in a while, so I might be a little rusty. Never written a Supernatural fic, so please point out any ooc-ness or anything wrong with the plot. Also, I've only seen through the first few episodes of season 6, so I don't know who brought Sam out of the cage, or if that's even been revealed. So, we'll safely say this takes place after the first few episodes of season 6. After Dean and Sam are reunited, and after they've ditched their "family." (I hated Samuel from the first episode anyway.)

"Find anything yet?" Dean's voice echoed through the dingy hotel room. Castiel didn't hear Bobby's response, but could assume it wasn't good when Dean sighed loudly, thanked the man with little to no gratitude in his voice, and hung up.

"Nothing?" Castiel asked, not bothering to look up at Dean. His eyes were focused on his hands, clutched together in front of him, his elbows resting on his knees while he sat on the bed.

"How hard can it be to find one lousy angel?" Dean asked angrily.

"Well, he apparently wasn't too lousy if he managed to pull me out of a cage in hell," Sam pointed out.

Now Castiel looked up to meet Sam's eyes. "I don't know why you two are so convinced it was an angel. All the angels in heaven are just as lost on the subject as we are."

"Who then?" Dean yelled, spinning around to glare at Castiel.

"I. Don't. Know." Castiel said slowly. He was talking to a five year old trapped a twenty-something year old's body, he was sure of it. "Yelling at me isn't going to give you your answer any—" Castiel stopped, one hand flying to the left side of his chest as a sharp pain shot through him. He cried out, falling forward onto the carpeted floor. Both hands scratched at the annoying fabric of his trench coat, and at his shirt.

"Cas? Cas!"

The blinding pain only increased, burning into his chest. He gasped for breaths that did nothing to lessen the pain.

"What's wrong with him?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? Cas! Can you hear me?"

Castiel opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a cry of pain. He closed his mouth again, teeth grinding together.

"Is he having a heart attack?"

"What kind of stupid question is that, Sam? Angels don't have heart attacks!"

"But his vessel. Jimmy is human. Is that possible? Cas did go on that rampage of eating red meat because of him once."

"Alright, call 911."

"Make sure he's breathing. Take that tie off; it's probably not helping."

Castiel felt fingers frantically pulling at his neck, but grabbed at Dean's hands to stop him. He took several deep breaths, the pain finally subsiding.

"Cas?" Dean asked. "You okay? We're gonna get you to the hospital, alright?"

Castiel shook his head. He tried for a moment to make his voice work. "No, it's fine. I'm okay," he said, his voice coming out more rough than usual, as if it hadn't been used in several decades.

"You're not okay," Dean said firmly. He pulled one of Castiel's arms around his neck and pulled him to his feet, dropping him carefully back onto the bed.

"Really, I'm fine," Castiel said, laughing slightly, his hand still covering the place on his chest. He understood what the pain had been now. The only question was why. He sat up, shoving Dean's hands aside when the man tried to push him back onto the bed. He carefully unbuttoned a few buttons at the top of his shirt, and pulled it down to reveal a mark on the left side of his chest.

((Author's Note: This is the symbol I found to show what was burned onto his chest:

Also, the next part, Castiel's explanation of this symbol is completely off the top of my head, and has no basis in the Supernatural world at all. If I missed anything, or anything goes completely against the Supernatural world, please tell me and I will try and edit it to make it correct as much as I can without disrupting the flow of the story.))

"Cas," Sam said slowly, dropping his phone onto the bed. "What is that?"

Castiel didn't respond immediately, eyes set intently on the mark. His fingers traced over the lines of it, as though moving of their own accord. This. This made no sense.

"Cas, what is it?" Dean asked.

"It's a symbol of unity," Castiel said.

"Okay, so why is it burned into your flesh?" Dean asked.

Castiel turned to look at Dean. "I-I don't know."

"Well, is there any, I don't know. Any reason you would have it?" Sam asked.

"I had it once," Castiel said. He took a breath and covered the mark back up, running a hand over his face, then started on his explanation. "Angels have marks like these when they're destined to be soul mates. To be married."

"So, it's like an engagement ring?" Dean asked. He shot Sam a confused look, and Castiel sighed.

"It means much more than those rings your human women wear," Castiel said. "Not all angels have soul mates, but those that do are branded with these when they're born. Or, if their soul mate hasn't been born yet, they will be branded with one when their soul mate is born."

"So now you suddenly get branded with one?" Dean asked. "Yeesh, talk about robbing the cradle." Dean snapped his mouth shut at the look Castiel gave him.

"An angel can only have one soul mate," Castiel said angrily. "And as I said before, I've had this mark before. I was born with it."

"So how do you lose your soul ma—" Sam's voice broke off, and by the look on his face, Castiel knew he wished he hadn't spoken.

"She was killed," Castiel answered the unfinished question.

"Who?" Dean asked quietly.

"It was Michael."

"The Archangel Michael?" Sam asked. "Why would he kill her?"

"This civil war that's raging now in Heaven," Castiel said. "It's not the first one."

"But that doesn't explain why you have the mark now," Dean said.

"Wait, how long ago was it?" Sam asked.

"Why does that matter now?" Dean asked, glaring at his brother.

"If we know how and why she was killed, we might be able to figure out why he has the mark again now," Sam defended.

"That night," Castiel started. Both the brothers turned to look at Castiel, though the angel was staring at the wall, his eyes far away from the small room. "Those flames that killed your mother; they weren't the only ones that night. So many angels wanted to stop the demon from getting to you, Sam."

"But why?" Sam asked. "I thought the angels wanted the Apocalypse."

"They did," Castiel said. "They wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. You were Lucifer's true vessel, because he got to you as a child. It was written in Heaven in the beginning of time. God knew it would play out this way. That it would be two Winchester brothers in the end, fighting His battle. Some of the angels wanted to stop it. If the demon didn't get to you, Lucifer would have found a different vessel. A weaker vessel. Heaven took sides, and that night, a war like no other in Heaven began. Eloa was of the opinion that stopping the demon, and forcing Lucifer to take a weaker vessel would be for the best."

"What did you think?" Dean asked.

"What do you mean?" Castiel asked.

"Which side of the fight were you on?"

"I disagreed with her," Castiel said.

"You wanted the demon to kill our mother? You wanted Sam to be Lucifer's puppet?"

"That's not fair."

"It is completely fair!"

"I knew you two as nothing more than the chosen Winchester boys at that point," Castiel said. He stood up and walked to window, looking out. After a moment, eh turned back to Dean and Sam. "I wondered for a moment, if I'd known then what I know now, if I would have made the same choice."

"And?" Dean asked.

"And I would have," Castiel held up a hand to stop Dean before he spoke again. "It would have kept your mother alive, and would have saved you both a lot of trouble, yes. But would you rather Lucifer had had a weaker vessel? A weaker vessel that would've said yes to Lucifer from the moment he asked? A vessel that wouldn't have even attempted to fight Lucifer, much less actually win? Believe me, a year ago, if anyone was regretting his stand during that war it was I. But the Winchesters were a chosen line, and that day, when all of it came to a head, you two proved why, and proved wrong every doubt I ever had in you. So don't try and tell me I was wrong, because I would make the decision a hundred times over."

Dean and Sam were silent for several minutes. Dean finally broke the silence. "Cas, I'm sorr—"

"Don't," Castiel said firmly. "Just, the next time you go feeling sorry for yourself and wishing your life had been different, think about what that would've meant for the rest of the world."

"So, uh, how do we find out about that symbol?" Sam asked. Neither Castiel nor Dean argued the change of subject. Sam went to the library to get any books on angel lore he could find. Dean searched the internet for the same. And Castiel ran over the battle in his mind, wondering if he missed something. Some loophole that would allow Eloa to still be alive.

Author's Note: Ok, so as I was researching for angel names, I found where it specifically says in the Bible that angels do not marry. Oops? Oh well. I just thought it would be an interesting idea. So, we'll ignore that silly bit of information and press onwards. Anyway, this was the explanation of Eloa's name that I found, and thought it was fascinating, so that's why I chose the name:

Eloa - The angel of sorrow and compassion. She is said to have been born from a tear Jesus shed. In Alfred de Vigny's poem Eloa, we find Jesus at Lazarus grave. He is deeply moved by the grief of Martha and Mary after losing their brother. So he sheds one heavenly tear, and Eloa is born.

Please remember to leave comments! I love them, and it will let me know whether I should continue this or just forget about it!