"I am sorry about what I said earlier Brother," Ishim stated as Castiel tended to his wounds. The older angel grimaced at the pain in his side, not used to healing from another angel's grace.

"What do you mean Brother?" Castiel asked with gravel in his tone. Ishim suspected this was a unique trait that his brother brought upon the vessel, for the woman he had once taken as a vessel had a similar gravel to his speech. The angel that healed him tried to sound indifferent to the brother that had insulted him, not just to his face with cruel facts brought back to the surface, but also in front of the friends he continually tried to prove himself to. Ishim knew his brother, though, and could sense the apprehension behind the question. He wanted the earlier insults to be erased, to be given atonement for the sins he had committed, but not trusting enough anymore to believe that was Ishim had in store for him.

Taking in another gasp of air at the sting of Castiel's grace sewing his skin back together, Ishim explained, "I realize know that you, yourself are not the troubling angel that Heaven has sent you out to be." Castiel still did not let much of emotions betray him, but he did allow Ishim to continue. "I see now that you are still as much as a warrior as you were back then, and that you still hold a piece of devotion for your brothers and sisters."

"Yes," Castiel agreed, "I do. What I have done, I have done because I thought it the best for Heaven and Earth."

There was so much sincerity in Castiel's voice, so much so that it was allowing his real voice to seep through that Ishim couldn't understand how any other angel could ever believe Castiel to be lying about such things. Obviously the young Seraph had good intentions, and truly hadn't meant to cause the damage done. Ishim thought about the Castiel he remembered, how, despite being one of the younger angels, had quickly risen to the ranks of leading his own garrison. It was his devotion to God and to his celestial family that had pushed Castiel to be one of the best Seraphs of Heaven. His younger brother had certainly been the best aspect of Ishim's garrison, and though he had been proud for his brother's promotion, the loss of such a good and loyal soldier had been hard at the time.

When he had heard the angels' lament over Castiel's first betrayal, Ishim could hardly believe it. How could Castiel, the epitome of what it meant to be an angel, choose the humans over his own brothers and sisters. Then, throughout the years, each story about Castiel's faults and betrayals became worse and more unforgiving. By the time Ishim had met Castiel in the diner, it had been his resentment of his brother, not just betraying the rest of Heaven, but essentially leaving everything he and Ishim and the recast of their garrison had once stood for behind. It was anger and hurt, as human as those may have been, that had led Ishim to act the way he had during that initial meeting.

Now, though, Ishim was seeing Castiel for the angel he had become. Not the betrayer that Heaven had painted him as, not the sinful creature that would destroy all that cross his path, but rather a simply misguided angel that had only ever wanted to do good.

Castiel finished the healing process, and seconds later Ishim felt better than he had in years. Castiel, on the other hand, seemed to slump forward, having drained too much of himself and not able to recharge as much as he once had been able to with the full force of Heaven behind him.

Ishim stood and stretched, enjoying the way his vessel felt and the way his own grace surged within him. Castiel then took his place on the couch, groaning at Ishim's energy. The older angel looked down with a smirk on his vessel's lips. "Thank you Brother. Truly, I appreciate it. Now," he stretched again, too full of life and grace to stay still, "I'm going to help you."

At this, a drained Castiel looked up with a practiced, raised eyebrow. "What matters right now is dealing with the woman."

Ishim shook his head. "I can deal with her." With a renewed energy about him, he was confident that he could take the human woman. She was, after all, just a human, and she no longer held the same sway over him that she once had. No, Ishim beamed inside, he would be able to finish her off swiftly, and then he could concentrate on helping his good, devoted, poor misguided brother back to the type of angel he had once been.

"I do not need anything," Castiel responded weakly. "I do not deserve it. We will take Lily down together, and then I will try my hardest to redeem myself to you."

Ishim patted Castiel's head gently, soothing the mussed hair as if the younger angel was nothing but a mere child. "There is no reason for you to redeem yourself. I understand now brother. You were tricked, used. It wasn't your fault."

Castiel frowned, not liking the fact that the had fallen prey to such tricks, but he figured it was better than nothing for Ishim to be on his way to forgiving him.

"You were misled. Trust me, Castiel, I understand." For Ishim too had once been misled, and though he had tried to fix that mistake years ago, it was only now coming to fruition.

"Metatron, he…"

"Not by Metatron. By that human of yours."

There was a brief moment of silence, that then became disgruntled understanding. "Dean…"

"Dean," Ishim spat the word out like it was decease, which might as well have been, "has made you weak. He manipulated you. Made you go against your brothers and sisters. Took you for granted. Treated you like a pet."

"No," Castiel began to argue, but he was weak and slow, and the door that led into the building had just been pushed open.

"Ishim!" The unruly hunter came storming in as if he were on some righteous mission, which was all but too ridiculous. He stood face to face with the angel, giving a concerned glance at the horizontal Castiel. "Turns out you were lying about what exactly happened between you and Lily. Care to explain?"

Castiel looked from the hunter to the angel, confused and beginning to understand that he might have once again been tricked to help someone that hadn't entirely been truthful. Ishim did feel some regret at having lied to his little brother, but there was no way around the lie. Instead, he focused on the detestable hunter, sneering, "I do not have to explain myself to a piece of trash like you." He could feel the energy of others coming closer, and though he felt confident that he could take Lily, there was something that warned him to hold back a little longer. Sighing, he glanced down at Castiel, "As I said brother, I will help you."

"Ishim, don't…"

The warning was drowned out by Ishim's last remarks to the hunter. "You're the reason Castiel has fallen, his human weakness." His smirk grew, and his grace gathered together. "It's time you give your respect to your betters, boy."

Before anyone could stop him, Ishim flew away.

Lily was pissed to say the least. One, the angel that had ruined her life because of an obsession he had of her years ago, ending with him murdering her human daughter, had gotten away without a wound to show for her efforts. She was furious that Cas had healed him, and she had been very close to using her angelic power to take her revenge out on him as well. To make that matter worse, Cas hadn't stepped away from her threatening steps forward and hadn't stopped her from reaching for the grace that she had learned to call upon. Instead, he moved closer to her with a heart of repentance and apologized for his part in the damnation of her life.

"My ignorance does not excuse my behavior," Cas bowed his head in defeat, "and I will not stop you from exacting your revenge upon me."

It was the sincerity in the angel before her that made Lily hesitate. But the rage and pain that had been boiling since the death of her child was too strong to ignore, and she was about to do as the angel expected of her.

Until Dead stepped in front of Cas to shield him from an attack. Hardened green eyes were understanding of her pain, because they also held an abundance of it himself, but there was determination in those eyes as well. "Ishim is the one that took your daughter away from you. And I promise we will help you track Ishim down if you want, but Cas if off limits."

Lily tried to keep the angry tears at bay. She shook her head furiously, blonde locks slapping her cheeks. "You heard him. He accepts his part in her death! Ignorance is no excuse! He killed my baby! He killed my family!"

"And Cas is our family," Dean tried to explain before Cas could try to tell Dean that he need not defend him.

She glared, but there must have been something else in the hunter's gaze that made her begin to melt. Suddenly appearing smaller, she glanced from the hunter to the angel that he was attempting to shield, and then to the younger brother who was standing off to the side waiting to see when he would be needed. It was clear that while Sam understood her pain, maybe even more than the eldest Winchester did, that he too would stand by the angel's side.

"Fine," she conceded. "I will find Ishim, though," she promised, staring straight at Cas as she spoke. "And I will kill him." Haughtily, she turned back to Dean. "And I will do it myself."

Dean nodded and grabbed Cas by the elbow to drag him outside to the impala, not giving the woman the chance to change her mind. Lily stared after them as they left, frowning at the sight.

"You made the right chose," the younger brother had moved to stand beside her, his voice gentle and soothing. "Back then Cas was a soldier just following orders, and I know that doesn't make it right, but you have to know that he's changed. Since that time, he's disobeyed Heaven numerous of times for the sake of humans."

She scoffed, not really caring. The power she called upon for grace had long since taken away a majority of her humanity, and it was hard to accept such sentiments. However, she wasn't so far gone that she couldn't recognize herself in the hunter that led the angel away to safety, away from her. And no matter how far away from humanity the grace pulled her, she would never allow another human to fall victim to cruelty of the angels and their lack of emotional understanding.

"Tell your brother to be careful." She stated steadily. When Sam tightened his expression, she clarified, "Not of me, but of Castiel."

"Cas isn't…"

"I don't care how much you say he has changed since I've first met him. Angels can't reprogram themselves completely. And if there is one thing I have learned of angels through my experiences is that angels are not capable of love."

"Cas…"

She held up a hand to keep him from interrupting. "I can see the signs in front of me. I had called Ishim down and had learned from him all I could, and I adored him with everything I had. And for a while, I thought we had it all. Devotion. Knowledge. Excitement. Love. But I was wrong. He wasn't capable of love. He was obsessed." She shivered from the memory, surprised by the wave of fear that settled in after all these years. "Castiel may no longer be at the mercy of Heaven, but he is still an angel, and obsession is the only thing he is capable of when dealing with a relationship like the one he and Dean seem to have."

Sam frowned. "You're wrong. Cas isn't obsessed with Dean." He didn't even bother deny the insinuation that his brother was in love with the angel. "They're friends. Comrades."

Lily shook her head and began to step away. "Just watch out for him. I would hate for a similar fate to befall your brother."

"Cas?" Dean twisted around in the front seat of the impala to peer in concern at Castiel laying on his side in the back. "You going to be okay?"

"Yes. I used too much of my grace when healing Ishim, but I will recharge shortly. I just need to rest for now."

"Right." Dean tried to sound like he believed his friend, but the concern was still clear in his expression and the doubt was all but seeping through.

"Dean," Cas closed his eyes and breathed slowly, "I'm sorry."

"About what?"

"Ishim."

"That bastard isn't your fault. Cas, you…" but he didn't finish what might have turned into a speech, for Cas had fallen asleep. Without much thought to his instinctual actions, Dean reached out a hand to brush a few strands of dark hair back from a clammy forehead. "It's going to be okay Cas," he whispered. The apology for being so angry with him earlier because of Billie was at the tip of his tongue, but he figured he owed it to the angel to save it for a time that he could actually hear the apology. "It's going to be okay."

Unfortunately for the Winchester, nothing was ever really going to be okay, and Cas had the right to be worry about Ishim. For Ishim had disappeared with the promise to Cas that he would repay him, and Cas feared what that repayment might look like.