Castiel wakes up floating in a void. "What..? Where am I?" A figure materialises beside him out of thin air. It's a skinny man, wearing a simple white shirt and jeans, with messy hair and a short, scraggly beard.

"Hi, Cas. I thought it was time we had a little talk." Castiel blinks in confusion.

"Chuck the Prophet? I don't understand. I'm dead. The Leviathans killed me." Chuck sighs.

"Look closer, Castiel."

"F-father? Father?! Where have you been?! I prayed to you, I believed in you! I begged for for a sign and you ignored me!" He grabs Chuck by the front of his shirt and tries to shake him, but it's like trying to shake a building.

"I never ignored you, son. You ignored Me, otherwise you would have listened to the small voice inside that said opening Purgatory was a very, very bad idea. Now countless numbers of My children are dead and the Leviathans are loose upon creation. And you're dead. Again." Chuck's hands cover Castiel's and removes them from His shirt with ease. "Welcome to free will, My son." Castiel closes his eyes, falls to his knees and starts to weep. He speaks in a broken whisper.

"Father, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean..." Chuck leans down and squeezes Castiel's shoulder gently.

"I know, Cas. I know. But we're not here so I could lay blame." He smiles a little at the irony of echoing the words Castiel said to Dean not that long ago. "It's not blame that falls upon you, Castiel. It's destiny."

"Destiny?"

"Sam and Dean are going to need your help, son. So I'm going to send you back."

"Father, after all I've done..."

"Yes, Cas, after all you've done I'm not going to allow you the luxury of death. You're going back to repair what you broke."

"How can I face them after what I did?"

"Don't worry, it'll be a while before your path and that of the Winchester's will cross again."

"How will I live with what I've done?"

"You won't remember. For a while, at least."

"Why? Why are You doing this?" Chuck smiles again.

"Destiny, My son." He leans forward and pulls Castiel into a hug, kissing his forehead gently. "Now go, and have faith this time." Castiel disappears, leaving Chuck momentarily alone in the void until another voice speaks.

"That was very risky."

"I know." Chuck tilts his head and considers Death. "So was hanging around for pickle chips and creating an eclipse. But you had faith, so how could I not?" Death snorts in derision.

"I didn't believe in that foolish child of yours."

"No. You believed in the Winchesters."

Death inclines his head, and there is silence between them for a moment before he asks, "So what now?"

"Now? Now we wait." Death nods again, then gestures, and a chess board appears, floating in the void between them.

"Care for a game while we wait?"

"For My sake, no. Chess is so boring. Let's play Yahtzee instead."

"No. You cheat."

"Me? Cheat Death?" Chuck snickers. "You know I don't do that, old friend." Death laughs, too.

"The angel you just returned to earth begs to differ."

"That's different."

"How so?"

"Because I said so. Now are we going to play Yahtzee or not?"

"We could go to that little deli in Spain instead."

"Ooh, the one with that olive bread?" The voices fade, and the void is empty once more.