Chapter 01 — Meet the Boss
The tension in the room was so thick that it felt like it was suffocating her. Addison looks between Dean and Castiel. She glances at Bobby and watches as the older hunter kneels down. "Well, all right then," Bobby says, looking between the hunter and the angel. "Is this good or you want the whole forehead to the carpet thing? Guys?"
Addison starts to kneel down with Dean and Sam. "Stop," Castiel says. "What's the point if you don't mean it? You fear me. Not love, not respect, just fear."
"Cas…" Sam begins, taking a step forward.
Castiel turns to Sam. "Sam, you have nothing to say to me; you stabbed me in the back." He turns back to Bobby, Addison, and Dean. "Get up."
"Cas, come on, this isn't you," Dean says as they stand up.
"The Castiel you knew is gone."
"So, are you going to kill us then," Addison asks.
Castiel stares at her before turning to Dean. "What a brave little ant you are. You know you're powerless, you wouldn't dare move against me again. That would be pointless. So, I have no need to kill you. Not now. Besides, once you were my favorite pets before you turned and bit me."
Dean stares at his friend. "Who are you?"
"I'm God. And if you stay in your place, you may live in my kingdom. If you rise up, I will strike you down. Not doing so well, are you, Sam."
"I'm fine," Sam replies. He notices the worried look on his older brother's face. "I'm fine."
An angry look cross Dean's face. "You said you would fix him — you promised."
"If you stood down, which you hardly did," Castiel reminds. "Be thankful for my mercy. I could have cast you back into the pit."
"Cas, come on, this is nuts! You can turn this around, please!"
"I hope for you sake this is the last time you see me," Castiel tells them, then disappears.
Addison lets out a relived breath. She looks at the guys and sees them lost in their own thoughts. Her gaze darts back over to Sam and she sees his nose bleeding. "Sam," she softly asks, concern laced in her voice.
"Sam, you okay," Dean asks. Suddenly, Sam falls down, cutting his hand on broken glass. The three hunters surround him, each with worried looks on their faces.
The toilet flushes as Addison looks at her reflection in the dusty mirror. She was exhausted, physically and emotionally. She runs a hand through her freshly bleached hair. Dean had devoted all of his time and energy to restoring the Impala, which meant they had barely talked. She had called Patrick and had been relived to know that he was okay. Sarah was still hiding out, but was okay. "Ads." She turns to see Sam standing in the bathroom doorway. He had woken up the day before. Addison smiles and hugs him. His hug is tight and she closes her eyes, savoring the moment. He pulls back, but keeps his hands on her. "I didn't get to see you yesterday," Sam says.
"I might have been asleep or at the grocery store," Addison replies. "How are you?"
"Been better." Sam frowns, noticing the bandage on her right hand. "What happened to your hand?"
"Oh. Um, Cas. He took some of my blood for that spell."
"Are Patrick and Sarah okay?"
Addison smiles. "Yeah. Yeah, they're fine. Dad's going about his every day life, but he's staying at Sarah's. Since she has it demon and angel proof. And Sarah has decided to now hide out in Monte Carlo."
Sam scoffs. "That sounds exactly like something she would do."
Addison shifts. "You remember everything from when you didn't have a soul."
"Yeah, I do."
Addison nods. "Okay."
"Believed to be target hits high up in white supremacy organizations," the radio announcer says. "The FBI now believe the Ku Klux Klan has been forced to disband." Over the past few days, they kept hearing about the things that Castiel was doing.
Dean shakes his head. He was sitting in the Impala, working on the new passenger side window. "Can't argue with that one."
"Hey." He looks up to see Addison standing next to the door. She held a plate of apple pie in one hand and a bottle of his favorite beer in the other. "How's it going," she asks, setting the plate and beer down on the work bench.
"Fine," Dean replies, climbing out of the Impala. He eyes the pie and the beer, then sighs. "What do you want?"
"What makes you think I want something?" Dean's gaze goes between her and the pie. "What? I can't do something nice?"
"You? No." Addison rolls her eyes. "What do you want?"
"I get it. You're pissed."
"You mean because you hid something from me. Again. No, I'm not pissed, Addison."
"Look, I was going to tell you. I really was. But then everything happened. I only found out the day before."
Dean frowns. "You didn't know that Cas was working with Crowley?"
"What?! No! Believe me, if I knew that I would've told you the moment I found out. I…I thought you were pissed because I didn't tell you about that my blood could be used to open the door to Purgatory."
"You knew that your blood could be used to open a door to monsterland," Dean angrily says.
"Sarah said it was a possibility. But she wasn't sure. I only just found out. And I wanted to make sure that Dad and Sarah were safe."
"Freak lightning strike on the heels of the fire that burned down the Center for Vibration Enlightenment today. Said a spokesman, 'This tragedy represents the largest loss in New Age motivational speaker history,'" an announcer says over the radio.
Sam frowns and looks at Dean over the Impala's hood. "Motivational speakers?"
"Yeah. I'm not sure new Cas gets irony any better than old Cas," Dean replies as Sam turns off the radio. Dean moves out from under the hood and gently lowers it. "Of course, old Cas wouldn't smite Madison Square Garden just to prove a point. He is off the deep end of the deep end. And there's no slowing down."
"So what? Try to talk to him again?"
"Sam—"
"Dean, all we can do is talk to the guy."
"He's not a guy, he's God. And he's pissed. And when God gets righteous, you get the hell out of the way. Haven't you read the Bible?"
Sam sighs. "I guess."
"Cas is never coming back. He's lied to us, used us, he cracked your gourd like it was nothing. No more talk. We've spent enough on him."
"Okay."
"Hand me that socket wrench."
Sam grabs the wrench off the work table and hands it to his older brother. "How's Addison doing? She seemed upset when I saw her earlier."
Dean shakes his head, turning his attention back to the Impala. "It'd be nice if she would stop keeping shit from me. Hell, she fucking knew that Cas could use her blood to crack open Purgatory. Not to mention you were alive for a year and she didn't fucking tell me."
"Dude, you can't pissed at her for that. I asked her not to tell you and as much as she disagreed with it, she respected my decision. She was the same way when I was with Ruby and on demon blood. You need to forgive her."
A month goes by with the hunters laying low. Dean devoted most of his time to restoring the Impala with Sam and Bobby pitching in at times. They all kept a close watch on what Castiel was doing through the news. "She's looking good. Considering," Bobby comments as he stands in the shed with Dean and Addison looking at a ready to be painted Impala.
"Considering," Dean repeats, taking a beer from the older hunter. "I should do this professionally."
"It would pay a hell of a lot better," Addison says.
Dean nods in agreement as he opens his beer. "So, you seen Sam lately," Bobby asks.
"Yeah, why," Dean replies. Bobby remains silent and Dean looks at him. "What? Well, spit it out."
Bobby sighs. "How is that kid even vertical? I mean, Cas broke his damn pinata."
"I know."
"I mean, I get how he came to help up back at the lab. Adrenaline. Sure. But now?"
"Well, he says he's okay."
"How?"
"I don't know. I just pray to God it's true."
"We need to come up with a new saying for that."
"Seriously, though, Bobby. I mean, look at our lives. How many more hits can we take? So if Sam says he's good, good."
"You believe that?"
"Yeah." Bobby stares at him. "No," Dean confesses. "You wanna know why? Because we never catch a break. So why would we this time? But just — just this one thing, you know? But I'm not dumb. I'm not gonna get my hopes up just to get kicked in the daddy pills again."
"Hey." They turn and see Sam making his way into the shed.
"Oh. How you feeling, sport," Bobby asks.
"Can't complain," Sam replies.
"Great. What's the word," Dean asks.
"Well, a publishing house literally exploded about an hour ago. Guys, the body count is really getting up there. We gotta do something."
"What we gotta do is hunt the son of bitch. Unfortunately, I lost my God gun," Bobby says.
"Well, is there some kind of heavenly weapon? I mean, maybe something out of that angel arsenal that Balthazar stole? There's gotta be something that can hurt him."
"He's God, Sam," Dean reminds. "There's nothing. But there might be someone."
Addison lights the match and tosses it into the bowl of herbs as the hunters stand around Bobby's basement. Instantly, Crowley appears in the devil's trap that was painted on the floor. A bottle of whiskey and a glass were in his hands. The demon looks around. "No. No, no," he exclaims. "Come on."
"Don't act so surprised," Bobby tells him.
"My new boss is gonna kill me for even talking to you lot."
Dean glares. "You're lucky we're not stabbing you, you scuzzy piece—"
"Wait, wait, wait," Sam interrupts. "What new boss?"
"Castiel, you giraffe," Crowley answers.
"Cas is your boss," Addison replies.
"He's everybody's boss. What do you think he'll do when he finds out we've been conspiring?" The hunters stare at the demon. "You do wanna conspire, don't you?"
"No. We want you to stand there and look pretty," Bobby snaps.
Crowley nods. "Listening."
"We need a spell to bind Death," Dean says.
"Bind," Crowley repeats. "Enslave Death? You having a laugh?"
"Lucifer did it."
"That's Lucifer."
"A spell is a spell," Sam argues.
"You really believe you can handle that horsepower?"
"Death is the only player left that has the kind of juice to take Cas," Dean counters.
"They'll both mash us like peas. Why should I help on a suicide mission?"
"Do you really want Cas running the universe," Addison asks. Crowley's response is to pour some whiskey in his glass and drink it.
The next day, the trio are sitting around the den, researching, when Bobby enters the room with a Fed-Ex envelope. He opens it and pulls out a piece of parchment as the trio walks over to him. "It's from Crowley," Bobby says, showing Dean the parchment that had a post it on it.
"Well, who feels like hog tying Death tonight," Dean asks.
Bobby shrugs. "Old age is overrated anyhow."
A few hours later, they're spread out over the den, researching. "We got most of this stuff, but we have to make a run for a few things," Bobby says, breaking the silence.
"Like," Dean questions.
"Like an act of God crystallized forever."
"What's that supposed to mean," Sam asks.
"Thinking it means an actual crystal. See, lighting strikes sand at the right angle, it crystallizes into the perfect shape of itself."
"Lightning. Act of God."
"Jenga. You got yourself a fulgurite. We're gonna need a biggie."
"And let me guess. Rare," Dean says.
"I found the records of an auction. Winning bidder lives about nine hours from here."
The people who owned the crystal lived in a large stone house in a large suburban neighborhood. Sam, Bobby, and Addison climb out of the Impala and make their way to the house. Sam and Addison stand guard while Bobby cuts the security system. "Hey." The group turns and sees a security guard.
"Excuse me, got any Grey Poupon," Dean asks, walking up behind the guard. The guard turns and Dean slams his flashlight into the guard's face.
The guard falls to the ground, unconscious. Sam and Addison stare in disbelief at Dean. "Grey Poupon? Seriously," Sam asks.
Dean shrugs. "It's what popped in my head."
Addison rolls her eyes and turns back. After Bobby finishes disabling the security system, the group makes their way into the house and split up. Coming up empty handed, they met up with Bobby before going to look for Dean.
They find him in the den, finishing tying up a middle aged couple. "Hey, guys," Dean greets. "Uh, so this is Dr. and Mrs. Weiss."
"Hi," Sam says, glaring at Dean.
"I found the God thingy."
Bobby brushes past him and places a duffle bag on a large oak desk. "Well, let's light this candle."
After getting everything set up for the spell, Bobby chants in Latin. The house rumbles with some of the glass cases breaking and books falling off shelves. Then it suddenly stops. "Um...hello? Death," Dean calls, looking around the room.
"You're joking," Death says, appearing in the room behind Dean.
Dean spins around. "Sorry, Death. This isn't what it seems."
"Seems like you bound me," Death argues, holding up his hands to reveal a shimmering rope.
"For good reason, okay? Just, uh, hear us out. Um...Fried pickle chip," Dean asks, moving to grab a paper bag off an end table. "The best in the state."
"That easy to soothe me, you think? This is about Sam's hallucinations, I assume?"
The hunters glance at Sam. "What," Dean asks, looking between his brother and Death.
"Sorry, Sam, one wall per customer. Now unbind me."
"We can't," Sam tells him. "Yet."
"This isn't gonna end well," Death tells Dean.
"We need you to kill God," Dean replies.
"Pardon?"
"Kill God," Bobby repeats. "You heard right, Your Honor."
"What makes you think I can do that?"
"You told me," Dean snaps.
Death turns to Dean. "Why should I?"
"Because we said so and we're the boss of you." Dean ignores the three disbelievingly looks sent his way. "I mean, respectfully."
"Amazing." The hunters turn and see Castiel standing there. His face was red and it looked as if pieces of skin were peeling off.
"Cas," Addison nervously greets, backing away from the former angel.
"I don't want to kill you. But now—"
"You can't kill us," Dean interrupts.
Castiel raises a hand. "You've erased any nostalgia I had for you, Dean."
"Death is our bitch. We ain't gonna die even if God pulls the trigger."
"Annoying little protozoa, aren't they," Death comments. "God? You look awfully like a mutated angel to me. Your vessel is melting. You're going to explode."
"No, I'm not," Castiel argues. "When I've finished my work, I'll repair myself."
"You think you can, because you think you're simply under the weight of all those souls, yes? But that's not the worst problem. There are things much older than souls in Purgatory and you gulped those in too."
"Irrelevant. I control them."
"For the moment."
"Wait. Uh, what old things," Dean questions, looking between Castiel and Death.
"Long before God created angel or man, he made the first beasts," Death explains. "The Leviathans."
"Leviathans?"
"I personally found them entertaining, but he was concerned they'd chomp the entire Petri dish. So he locked them away. Why do you think he created Purgatory? To keep those clever, poisonous things out. Now, Castiel has swallowed them. He's the one thin membrane between the Old Ones and your home."
"Enough," Castiel orders.
"Stupid little soldier you are."
Castiel moves towards Death. "Why? Because I dared open a door that He shut? Where is He? I did a service taking His place."
"Service? Settling petty vendettas?"
"No. I'm cleaning up one mess after another, selflessly."
"Quite the humanitarian."
"And how would you know? What are you really? A flyswatter?"
"Destined to swat you, I think."
"Unless I take you first."
"Really bought his own press, this one," Death tells the hunters. "Please, Cas, I know God. And you, sir, are no God."
"All right, put your junk away, both of you. Look, call him what you want, just kill him now," Dean demands. Castiel slowly turns and looks at Dean.
"All right, fine," Death says, raising a hand. Castiel snaps his fingers and the shimmering rope around Death's wrists vanishes. "Thank you. Shall we kickbox now?" Death walks over to a chair and sits down. "I had a tingle I'd be reaping someone very, very soon." He glances at the terrified couple tied up across the room. "Don't worry, not you." Castiel vanishes and they stare at the spot he was standing at. "Well, he was in a hurry."
The hunters exchange a look. They were all confused about what to do. "Do something," Addison mouths to Dean.
Dean clears his throat. "Um..."
"Shut up, Dean," Death says. "I'm not here to tie your shoes every time you trip. I warned you about those souls how long ago? Long enough to stop that fool. And here we are again, with your little planet on the edge of immolation."
"Well, I'm sorry, all right," Dean replies as Death stands up. "I've been trying to save this planet. So maybe you should find somebody better to tip off."
"Maybe I should spend my effort on a better planet. Well, it's been amusing."
"Wait, hold on," Sam says, stepping forward. Death looks at him. "Give us something. You have to care a little bit about what happens to us."
"You know, I really don't. But I do find that little angel arrogant."
"Great, let's go with that," Dean says.
"Your only hope is to have him return it all to Purgatory. Quickly."
"We need a door," Addison reminds.
"You have everything you need at that lab. Get him to return there and compel him to give up the power."
"Compel," Dean disbelievingly repeats.
"Figure it out."
"But that door only opens in the eclipse. And that's over," Bobby comments.
"I'll make another. Three fifty-nine, Sunday morning, just before dawn. Be punctual." Death turns to Dean. "Don't thank me. Clean up your mess." Death starts to walk away, but stops. "Try to bind me again, you'll die before you start. Nice pickle chips, by the way."
Dean's sitting at the table in Bobby's kitchen with Addison's laptop and a bottle of whiskey. If the world was gonna end, he was gonna spend it relaxing the best he could. "You want some coffee with that," Sam asks, entering the kitchen with his pack over his shoulder and a jacket.
Dean shrugs. "Ah, it's six p.m. somewhere."
"We gotta hit the road. I mean, how are we supposed to get Cas to that lab by fucking 3:59 a.m.?"
"We don't."
Sam stares at his older brother in disbelief. "What do you we mean 'we don't?'"
"I mean we can't bring the horse to water and we can't make it drink. Why fool ourselves?"
"Dean, look. I know you think that Cas is gone."
"That's because he is."
"He's not. He's in there somewhere, Dean. I know it."
"No, you don't."
"No, I don't. But, look, I was pretty far gone sometimes myself and you never gave up on me."
"Yeah, and turns out that you're about the same open book as you've always been. Hallucinations? Really? I gotta find out from Death?"
Sam shifts. "What was I supposed to do?"
"How 'bout not lie? How 'bout tell me that you've got crazy shit climbing those walls?"
"Why? You can't help. You got a lot of pretty severe shit swinging your way lately and I — I thought — what — I thought why burst one of the good bubbles you had left? It's under control."
"What? What exactly is under control?"
"I know what's real, what's not."
Dean shakes his head, angry. "Sam—"
"Dean, look, we can debate this once we deal with Cas."
Dean nods. "You know how I'm gonna deal? I'm gonna stuff my pie hole, I'm gonna drink. And I'm gonna watch some Asian cartoon porn and act like the world is about to explode because it is." He turns back to the laptop and finds that a news website had popped up. "Hey. You gotta be kidding me." Sam walks around and sees the video of Castiel on the screen. "'Massacre at the campaign office of an incumbent senator by a trench coated man.' There's security footage." Dean plays the video and the brothers watch as Castiel eerily smiles up at the surveillance camera before it flickers out. Dean picks up his whiskey and drinks. "Well, I think reaching Cas is, uh, out of the cards." Sam sighs and walks out of the kitchen as Dean switches back to the cartoon porn.
A couple of hours later, Addison enters the kitchen to find Dean sitting at the table with her laptop and a glass of whiskey in his hand. She stares at him for a moment, then shakes her head and moves over to the sink. "Why are you watching porn on my computer," she tiredly asks.
"Did you forget that the world's ending," Dean replies.
"Doesn't mean you can use my computer to watch cartoon porn."
Sam walks in and Dean pours him a glass of whiskey. "Only if you turn that off," he tells his older brother.
Dean reluctantly shuts the laptop and slides the whiskey across the table. Sam sighs and sits down. "Sam?" The hunters turn at the familiar voice and see Castiel. The former angel was covered in blood.
"Cas," Sam says, standing.
"I heard your call." Castiel collapses against the wall. He looks up at his friends. "I need help."
By the time they get Castiel to the lab, his condition had worsened. Sam and Addison rest the angel against an old cabinet while Dean and Bobby prepare the rest of the spell. "We need the right blood. There's a small jar. End of the hall, supply closet," Castiel tells them.
Sam nods. "Got it," he says, then walks out of the lab.
"Dean."
Dean turns to his friend. "What, you need something else?"
"No. I feel regret. About you and what I did to Sam."
"Yeah, well, you should."
"If there was time, if I was strong enough, I'd fix him now. I just wanted to make amends before I die."
"Okay."
Castiel pauses. "Is it working?"
"Does it make you feel better?"
"No. You?"
"Not a bit."
Castiel turns to Addison, who was still kneeling next to him and had a hand on his shoulder. "Addison, I'm sorry."
Addison squeezes his shoulder. "Hang in there, Cas. We don't have long left."
Bobby nods in agreement as he makes his way over to Dean. "Where's Sam? It's go time," he quietly says.
Dean looks around the lab before walking out. The hallway was empty. He stops when he finds a jar of blood on the ground. "Sam," he calls out, but there's no answer. "Damn it." He grabs the jar and makes his way back to the lab. He immediately gets to work drawing the symbol needed for the spell.
"Good enough," Bobby says as he finishes. He and Addison help Castiel stand. They guide him over to the symbol, then quickly back away as Dean joins them. Bobby reads out the ritual while the others look on.
Dean rushes forward when Castiel collapses and pulls the angel upright. The symbol starts glowing on the wall and Castiel looks back at them. "I'm sorry, Dean," the angel tells them as wind picks up.
Bobby finishes reading the ritual and the wall opens up. A bright light shoots out Castiel's chest and into the hole. The light suddenly vanishes and Castiel falls to the ground. "Cas," Dean questions as the hunters run over to him. They kneel on the ground and Dean rolls Castiel onto his back.
Addison touches Castiel's neck. "He's cold," she states.
"Is he breathing," Dean asks, reaching up to check.
"No."
"Maybe angels don't need to breathe."
"He's gone, Dean," Bobby replies.
Addison places a comforting hand on Dean's shoulder. "Damn it," Dean quietly says, looking away. They stand up and look down at their fallen friend. "Cas, you child. Why didn't you listen to me?" Castiel's eye open and the wounds on his face disappear. "Cas?" Dean and Bobby help the angel sit up.
"That was unpleasant," Castiel says.
"Let's get him up," Dean tells Bobby and they pull Castiel up.
Castiel looks around. "I'm alive."
"Apparently," Addison comments.
"I'm astonished. Thank you. All of you."
"We were mostly just trying to save the world," Bobby tells him.
"I'm ashamed. I really overreached."
Dean scoffs. "You think?"
"I'm gonna find some way to redeem myself to you."
"All right, well, one thing at time. Come on, let's get you out of here."
"I mean it, Dean."
"Okay. All right. But let's go find Sam."
Castiel shoves them forward. "You need to run. I can't hold them back."
"Hold who back," Addison asks.
A growling noise comes from Castiel's stomach. "They held on inside me. They're so strong."
Bobby frowns. "Who the hell—"
"Leviathan." The hunters exchange worried looks. "I can't fight them! Run!"
"Go get Sam," Dean orders, shoving Addison and Bobby towards the door. "Go get Sam!"
"Too late."
Dean turns to see Castiel upright. Bobby stops at the door and stares. The look on his face was eerie. "Cas?"
Castiel grabs Dean's jacket and pulls him close. He could tell that Castiel was no longer in the body. "Cas is, hmm. He's gone. He's dead. We run the show now," the monster announces. The creature tosses Dean across the lab, then makes his way over to Bobby and does the same. He looks at the hunters in front of him. "Now, this is going to be so much fun."