Book 12 - The Second Coming

by GailDunn2

WARNING: ADULT CONTENT AND SITUATIONS. Lucifer has escaped, and Bobby has to assemble a ragtag group of humans and Angels to try to find him. Will Gail, Sam, Frank or Jody find out the secret that Cas has tried so desperately to keep from them?

2. Walk With Me This Day

Chapter 2 - Walk With Me This Day

"Gordon" had been perusing the Bible, too. When he and "Allison" had been shown to their room, he'd looked around, and the only reading material he'd seen besides the hotel literature had been the Bible on the nightstand. So he'd taken off his shoes and propped himself up on the bed, using every pillow. Might as well read in comfort. It certainly beat sitting cross-legged on a cold stone floor for untold centuries.

Aurielle emerged from the bathroom, frowning. "I haven't missed that," she said with distaste.

Lucifer looked at her, amusement in his eyes. "Hey, you wanted to experience all of the Earthly sensations. Every rose has its thorns, 'Allison'."

When they had first arrived on Earth, Lucifer had taken them downtown, searching for the finest hotel the city had to offer. After years of enforced self-denial, he'd wanted to live life in comfort and ease. And he wanted to hole up for a day or two, formulate a plan. Contrary to what the Winchesters, the Angels, and the King believed, Lucifer didn't have a grand, evil plan at the moment. He'd figured he would just play it by ear. He was certain the inspiration would come. Right now, he was just savouring his freedom.

They had taken new vessels outside the hotel. Aurielle had seen a very pretty woman standing out front waiting for a taxi, and Aurielle looked at Lucifer, who had nodded. Then Aurielle had engaged the woman in conversation and persuaded her to accompany Aurielle to the next street, where Aurielle told her she had a car parked. She'd be glad to give Allison a ride; one woman helping another. You couldn't be too careful these days. So the unsuspecting woman had gone with Aurielle, and once they were alone, Aurielle took her. It was kind of a shame to have to give up her previous vessel, the one she'd had for so long; but this one was very appealing, much more attractive than her old one had been. Castiel would be well pleased by the upgrade, she thought.

Lucifer himself had taken a homeless man who had been lying in the alleyway next to the hotel. He wanted to be someone who had fallen off the grid and wouldn't be missed. When he emerged from his cocoon to begin the operation, whatever form it might take, Lucifer wanted to be someone that no one would know, or recognize. And this guy would do just fine, once he cleaned the vessel up.

Once they had acquired their vessels, Lucifer had steered Aurielle further into the alleyway, pulling her behind a dumpster. Her back was against the wall, and he was standing very close.

"What are you doing?" she'd asked apprehensively.

Lucifer was amused. "Time for some Earthly pleasures."

She made to walk away, but he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me," Aurielle protested. "Just because I came here with you doesn't mean I'm willing to do anything like that with you."

Lucifer was grinning now. "Get your mind out of the gutter," he said cheerfully. "I merely meant, I was going to give us the opportunity to experience Earthly pleasures while we're here. You know: eating, drinking, sleeping, if we want. Some of those things can be very pleasurable." Then he did leer at her. "There are those others too, of course. And you'll want those if you're going to have a shot at Castiel. He's quite experienced in those areas now, thanks to the lovely Angel Gail."

Aurielle had frowned at the mention of her rival's name, and Lucifer's amusement grew. This woman sure had a one-track mind. Her entire existence revolved around Castiel, it seemed. And Castiel couldn't give a damn about her. It was equal parts pathetic and funny. Lucifer did kind of like Aurielle, though, because he liked crazy people. He understood them, and he fed off of them. They had a certain aura about them that Lucifer just loved.

Aurielle had thought about what Lucifer was saying, and she decided that he was right. Now that she was in a more visually appealing vessel, she needed to be able to feel all of the sensations that Castiel so obviously craved. So she allowed Lucifer to put his hand on her forehead, and the green glow emanated from his hand and illuminated the area where they were standing. Now she understood why they'd had to go behind the dumpster. If anyone saw them doing this, they would think that aliens had landed, or something. Which she supposed was true, in a way. That thought had struck her as funny, and she laughed as Lucifer removed his hand. She was already feeling like a new woman.

Lucifer had touched his own forehead then. Another green glow, and they were all set. They walked into the hotel lobby and checked in. Lucifer used Castiel's "two-finger system" to persuade the desk clerk to give them a deluxe suite, even though they had no money, no identification, and no luggage.

The instant they'd entered the suite, Aurielle had headed to the bathroom. She'd thought she was going there merely to check on her appearance, but once she was in there, she'd suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to urinate.

Lucifer was grinning at her when she'd emerged from the bathroom. Aurielle sighed. She supposed he was right; every form of existence had its good points and its bad points.

"So, what are we now? Demons, or humans?" she asked him.

"Both, and neither," he replied enigmatically. "We're hybrids, if you will. But don't worry, when the time comes, you'll have the best qualities of both. I'm sure your Castiel will be well satisfied."

Aurielle had been frowning, but now she brightened. Lucifer had said the magic word.

He knew that, of course, and he didn't mind stoking the fire. Aurielle's delusions would serve Lucifer well. She would assist him in whatever mischief he intended to make here on Earth, if he dangled Castiel as the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And when the time came for Lucifer to seek out the couple, Aurielle could have her Castiel; Lucifer would be occupying himself with Gail. He had not forgotten the way she had humiliated him at the meeting of the Originals, taunting him about being a virgin. And Lucifer hated Castiel. Though they had never actually met prior to that occasion, Lucifer had been hearing about Castiel for his entire existence, and he had already been sick of him when they'd finally met. Castiel the Great, their Father's favourite Son. No matter how much Castiel screwed up, and that had been a lot, God had always supported Castiel and given him blessings. Look at what he was enjoying right now. He was an Angel again, he had his friends and his exalted status in Heaven back, and he had the undying devotion of the little Angel Gail, whose memory had now been conveniently modified by the very same Father who had always indulged Castiel to the point of spoiling him. Lucifer knew all of this; now that he had been freed from the cage, he was back to full strength, and full power. He knew many things. His hatred for his Brother grew as he realized that Castiel had gotten off scot-free. He had been a monster, and he had hurt Gail and his friends very badly. But now, most of them had absolutely no recollection of that whole episode. Gail thought the sun and the moon rose with Castiel, and it made Lucifer sick. He was with Crowley on this one. Lucifer had plans for those two; he just had to figure out the best way to accomplish his goal. But he had to be clever about it. Lucifer didn't want to just knock on the door of the Angels' place and have an old-fashioned swordfight with Castiel over possession of Gail. There were several reasons for that, but mainly, Lucifer didn't think that would be good enough. Taking Gail by force would momentarily wound Castiel, but he would just call on Bobby and the Winchesters, and they would marshal the troops to get her back. Crowley might even join them. And Gail herself would fight him every step of the way. Lucifer had no interest in rape, contrary to what most would believe about him. He thought it would be much more satisfying to have Gail come to him of her own accord. But exactly how could that be accomplished? He wasn't yet sure. Step One would be to somehow pry her away from Castiel, and that would not be easy. Even though he could not see inside the bunker itself, Lucifer knew that there had been a strategy meeting there, and that Heaven and Hell had agreed to join forces to track him down and apprehend him. Well, he wished them luck with that. Lucifer had shielded himself now, and he had shielded Aurielle, too. Since she refused to get the warding tattoo, he'd had to do so to keep her from being detected by God or the Angels. Lucifer had even given them Earthly pseudonyms to use: Gordon and Allison. Two perfectly ordinary human names. And Lucifer had actually given himself a middle and a last name: Gordon Oliver Devlin. Six-six-six, the initials stood for God, and the last name was as close to "Devil" as he could get using six letters. Never let it be said that Lucifer didn't have a wicked sense of humour.

Their little "strategy" session didn't concern Lucifer much. How could they plan a strategy to defeat him when he didn't even know himself exactly what he was planning to do yet? The Winchesters were humans, and eminently vulnerable. Lucifer was quite familiar with Sam and his psyche from their time spent together in the cage, and even though he'd only met Dean very briefly that one time that Gail had brought him to the cage, Lucifer knew that Dean Winchester was even more screwed up than his brother. Actually, a lot more. It might be fun to play with him a little, first. Psychologically speaking, of course. Although Dean did have a very aesthetically pleasing appearance. Lucifer might not be as evil in certain aspects of his existence as his reputation would suggest, but he had decided that he would enjoy a little variety in his Earthly pleasures. Nothing too kinky, though. No extreme perversions would be necessary for Lucifer's current needs. After he was done with the Angel Gail, he might try an experience with the opposite sex, just to compare and contrast, in a manner of speaking. Then he might move on to threesomes, or even to an orgy. But that was about all that Lucifer was interested in. No pedophilia or sock puppets for him. Leave those things to repugnant beings like Metatron, or Crowley, perhaps. Lucifer was above all that. He had standards.

He setlled back into the pillows and opened the Bible as Aurielle moved to the window, looking down at the city below. Indianapolis, Indiana. Lucifer had chosen to come to a city in middle America, only a couple of states away from the bunker. Aurielle thought about Castiel; so close, and yet so far. She could almost feel him. He wouldn't be able to feel her, though. Even though she was a Demon hybrid now, Lucifer had shielded her from the Angels' vision, just to be on the safe side. Lucifer had called them "hybrids", whatever that meant. Well, she hadn't had any luck with Castiel when she'd been an Angel, or a Demon, either. Maybe this new incarnation could get his attention. She thought about the Earthly pleasures Lucifer had mentioned. She could still feel Castiel's kiss on her lips. He had kissed her in the cabin, and Aurielle knew that he had enjoyed it. He may claim he'd thought she was Gail at the time, but Aurielle knew better. Now she was mentally reliving the scene that Crowley had shown her of the Angels making love, picturing herself in Gail's place. Aurielle could feel herself getting excited as she pictured Castiel naked on top of her, kissing her. She couldn't wait to find out what that felt like. She would do anything he wanted, anything he needed her to do. Anything to get him, and to keep him.

Lucifer looked at Aurielle's back, smirking. He could read her just like the book he had in his hand. But what she was thinking about now would likely set this particular book on fire. Funny that it was the Angels who seemed to be more perverted than the Demons these days. Look at what Metatron had confessed to in the cage, though he could hardly be classified as an Angel any more. And just where was Metatron, anyway? Hanging around a schoolyard someplace? Waiting for recess? Lucifer shook his head slowly. And people called HIM evil.

He started leafing through the Bible, idly flipping the pages. He landed on Revelation. Of course; this must be why he had picked up the Bible in the first place. Lucifer was a great believer in intuition, and in listening to one's impulses.

He bent to read. So, this was supposed to be his blueprint, was it? He saw the reference to the seven spirits with the seven golden candlesticks, and Lucifer got it right away. His old vessel may have become atrophied by all those millennia of being trapped in the cage, but his brain was not. So, Bobby was going to send seven Angels to search for him. And they would be imbued with Gail's golden essence. Lucifer knew that her essence was gold, too; he'd seen it when she had been collecting everyone's essences as part of the cure. And she was an Original, which meant that the designates would probably be infused with some of her powers. Unfortunately, he had no idea what those were. But the chapter also said that though these Angels would have commendable qualities, they would also be found wanting in some areas. Good. He could work with that. If they were lucky enough to find him, that was. But, who was he kidding? He would let them. He couldn't resist the thought of playing with them. And he was sure that Castiel and Gail herself would be two of those designates. How could you not send two Originals after one? So Lucifer could play with the lesser Angels until he'd had his fill, and then he would take Gail, or persuade her to let herself be taken. She may have forgotten about Castiel's Demonic phase, but Lucifer hadn't.

He bent to read some more.

Bobby had picked his Angels, and he sat behind his desk now, looking at them. He'd asked Cas and Gail to wait outside while he briefed the others.

He told his new soldiers about the situation, and that he was sending them down to the bunker immediately to receive a crash course in combat.

Chuck groaned. He remembered the workout he'd received from Cas the one time that Chuck had tried to train. He'd been sore for weeks afterwards, and his resolve to get into shape had fallen by the wayside. "Can I get Gail this time?" he pleaded.

The other Angels laughed, but Bobby's face was grim. "This isn't playtime, Chuck. There may come a time when you'll have to fight for your life or kill in order to defend yourself or someone else. I'm not sending all of you out there like lambs to the slaughter."

"I can take care of myself," Ethan protested. "I was a cop on Earth, and I'm the head of Law Enforcement here." Bobby had finally given him that long-overdue promotion.

"Why are you here?" Bobby asked Ethan.

"Why am I here?" Ethan echoed. "Because you called and told me to come here."

"No, I mean: why are you in Heaven?" Bobby asked.

Now Ethan was really confused. "Because I died?" he said uncertainly.

"And how did you die?" Bobby asked him pointedly.

"I was murdered," Ethan replied, and then he got it. He gave Bobby a tight smile. "OK, Bobby, I hear you," he said. "I guess I could use a bit of a refresher course."

"Me too," Kevin piped up. Ethan and Chuck looked sideways at him, smirking. The only fighting Kevin would have done on Earth would have been with his mother, over his bedtime, or his curfew.

Kevin frowned. He knew that no one took him seriously when it came to the subject. He was of slight build, shorter than the other guys, and he had only ever been known for his intellect. And, contrary to the stereotype, he didn't know any martial arts. Maybe he could fool the enemy into thinking that he did, if he watched old Bruce Lee films, or some Jackie Chan.

Linda was frowning at Bobby. She didn't mind the idea of going to Earth to hunt down the Devil and kill him, but she wasn't too wild about Bobby having drafted her son, as well. Kevin wasn't a fighter; Linda was the fighter in their family. But Bobby was God, and part of being an Angel was serving God. Linda had never been too good at following orders, though. That was the main reason she had left Kevin's father.

Becky was excited, of course. She was going to see Sam! She'd get Sam to train her, and he would probably have to touch her at some point. Now that the laws in Heaven were different, Kevin had become a little more bold, and it was becoming a problem for her. She had let him put his arms around her and kiss her on the lips, but when he had started to use his tongue, Becky had pulled away. She didn't want to do that with Kevin. Kevin had been puzzled. He'd been thinking about nothing but that very thing since the new laws had been passed, and he'd thought that Becky would want to try it, too. Hey, they were young, weren't they? All those music videos he'd seen on Earth were in the back of his mind. He didn't want to push Becky, but she had to give him a break here. They'd been together for quite a while now, after all. Look at Cas and Gail. They held hands and kissed all the time. And rumour had it they might be doing some other stuff, too. Maybe Kevin would try to screw up the courage to ask Cas how to go about persuading a woman to...then again, maybe not. Cas was pretty badass, and that subject was awfully personal.

Linda was looking from Kevin to Becky and then back again. There was something fishy with the two of them; she just didn't know exactly what. Since those so-called new laws had been passed, Linda had been keeping a closer eye on the couple. She had figured that Becky would try to tempt Kevin into doing something that maybe he shouldn't be doing. Or, maybe he just shouldn't be doing it with Becky. Linda didn't quite trust Becky to do right by her son. She was sweet enough, if a bit empty-headed, but there was just something about Becky that was a little off. So Linda supposed she was glad that they had all been chosen by Bobby to go down to Earth together. If Linda spent a bit more time with Becky, she was sure she could figure out what exactly was going on with her.

"Gail will be helping you ladies," Bobby said to Linda and Becky. "She's got a few tricks up her sleeve." He smiled inwardly, remembering what Gail had said about teaching them Dean's trick. Though he strongly suspected that Linda would already know it. Maybe she had even used it herself a couple of times. Linda was feisty, and she wasn't afraid to stand up to anyone. When Bobby had been thinking about the other Angels he was supposed to designate, he'd felt he should include a couple of females, so that Gail wouldn't be the only one. Lucifer might not be expecting that; weren't most of those old-time Biblical guys male chauvinists? Look at the former board members and how they had behaved when Cas had brought Gail into the boardroom to sit down at the table with them. So Bobby had picked Linda as the most likely female, next to Gail, who might give Lucifer a hard time. But then, when he had gone to talk to Kevin, Becky had been there, and she had begged Bobby to be included. Bobby had agreed, but now he wondered if that had been a stupid decision. Becky was sweet, and she meant well, but she was also incredibly naive sometimes. What if Lucifer were to get a hold of her? How would Bobby feel if that happened?

So he'd talked to Castiel about it, and Cas had said he didn't necessarily see a problem with it. Sometimes, females could surprise you. Look at Gail. She was a pretty good fighter; she had tangled with men nearly twice her size. Cas and Gail could help to train Becky how to defend herself, or at the very least, how to evade an attacker. And Cas happened to agree with Bobby; Lucifer likely wouldn't be expecting any of their little search party to be female.

"But what if Lucifer gets a hold of her?" Bobby had asked him then. "How would we feel about that if that were to happen?"

Castiel had looked thoughtful. "You know, that might not be a bad idea," he had said.

"What's not a bad idea?" Gail had piped up.

Castiel had replied, but he'd avoided her eyes when he said it. "Maybe we could use her as bait."

Gail couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You did not just say that," she had said, her eyes widening.

Then Castiel had looked at her, and his expression was grim. "We're in a war, Gail, or we're about to be. I thought you understood that. We all read Revelation, did we not? The Beast is loose, and Armageddon is at hand. We have to use whatever tactics may become necessary."

"Well, I'll be deciding what's necessary, and we won't be doing that," Bobby had said, frowning at Cas. He remembered Cas having told him about some of the stuff that Cas and Jason had pulled during the Angel wars, and some of it had chilled his blood. Hopefully, Cas wasn't regressing.

"And if we were going to do something like that, we would be using me, of course," Gail had told the men.

"No," Castiel had said shortly.

"Why not?" Gail had retorted. "I already know how to fight, and I'm an Original, aren't I? I'd be way better bait than Becky."

Now Castiel was sorry that he had brought it up. "Forget I said anything," he had said to them.

Gail had smiled then. "Yeah, I thought so," she'd said, kissing Cas on the cheek. She knew that this was a serious matter, but she couldn't let him talk like that. They had to stand together now. Nobody was going to be pushed out there like that to be bait for the Devil. Shame on Castiel for even thinking that way. But Gail knew what he had been like before. He'd told her in Dallas, and the lessons had been reinforced at the tribunal. He wasn't perfect, that was for sure. There were some dark pockets in there sometimes. But she loved him anyway, in spite of those. It's not like she was perfect, either. Whether Cas thought the sun shone out of her you-know-what or not, they had had their disagreements from time to time, and some of them had been her fault, too.

Bobby snapped back to the present. Thinking about that conversation and Gail's part in it had reminded him of the not-so-little matter he had to discuss now, before he called Cas and Gail in to join them.

"There's something I need to tell all of you," Bobby said. "Gail has suffered from PTSD, and she doesn't remember anything that happened after we all got back from the cabin."

Chuck's mouth dropped open. "What?" he exclaimed.

Bobby glared at him. "You heard me, Chuck. She doesn't remember ANYTHING," he emphasized. "She knows about the new laws now, and that she's the chairperson of the board, but that was because we told her about it. So I don't want anybody mentioning anything that might possibly upset her. Are we clear?"

Ethan knew Bobby was talking to Chuck, Kevin and him specifically now. They'd known that something had happened to Cas, and Chuck had seen it for himself when he had gone down to the bunker with Bobby. He had told his two friends about it in very vague terms, but not in any detail. Chuck had kept his private conversation with Gail private. He appreciated that she had trusted him enough to have been so honest with him about the subject. But now she wouldn't remember that conversation, either. In a way, it was too bad. Chuck felt that he and Gail had really bonded as friends that night, very good friends. But mainly, he thought it was a blessing that she couldn't remember. He hadn't personally seen anything violent happen between her and Cas, but what he had seen in his visions at the time had been bad enough. And, speaking of which...

"I brought my journal, like you asked," he told Bobby. Then Chuck frowned. "For all the good it'll do us. I can't open it now, and my visions are gone. I have no idea what Lucifer, Metatron, or Aurielle are doing. And we can't even interpret what I wrote before, because I can't even open the damn book now."

"That's all right, Chuck," Bobby told him. "If what we read is right, we might have a solution for that." He had told the Angels about what they had read in Revelation, and about their interpretations of the passages. He wanted them to go into this with both eyes wide open.

"So, if no one has anything they would like to say, I'll bring Cas and Gail in now," Bobby continued. He fixed the men with another stern look. "Remember what I said about Gail." Bobby still didn't know exactly how much or how little Chuck had told the two other Musketeers, but Bobby was no fool. He had been tempted to open up the channels and search their minds to find out, but he supposed that was a moot point now.

He buzzed Laurel, and a moment later, Castiel and Gail entered the office.

"These two will take all of you down to the bunker for your training," Bobby told them. "I think we can probably only give you a couple of days, at the most. We'd better not wait too long."

"Is that your journal, Chuck?" Gail asked.

"Yeah," he replied, holding it up for her to see. "But I can't open it now, and the visions have all stopped."

"Mine, too," Kevin said. "It's like we're being blocked, or something."

"That wouldn't surprise me," Gail told them. "Apparently, they've shielded themselves." She gestured for the journal. "Can I see that for a minute, Chuck?"

He stood, handing it to her. "Are you going to try opening it?" he asked her. "Good luck with that; I've tried everything."

"No, I'm not going to try to open it," she replied. Then she turned to Cas, extending the book to him. "You are."

He looked at her for a moment, then looked at the book. He knew what she was talking about, of course. They had all discussed this when they'd been going over Revelation together. Suddenly, he was afraid to try. Did he want to be the Lamb, or not? Did he deserve to be?

"Come on, Cas, we haven't got all day here," Bobby said impatiently.

Castiel looked into Gail's eyes. She gave him an encouraging smile. She looked like she believed he could do anything, and when she looked at him that way, he felt like he could. Cas wanted to be the Lamb, for her. He'd certainly been lion enough in the past year.

He took the book from her and opened it with ease. Gail's smile widened. "There you go," she said softly.

Cas looked at her with wonder. He couldn't believe it. He was the Lamb, and he was worthy? Was this a sign from his Father that he was finally the Angel he'd been striving to be all these centuries?

Then he looked down at the book, and his heart sank. The pages were blank!

"There's nothing written in here," Cas said disbelievingly.

Chuck had sat back down, but now he bounced out of his chair. "What? What do you mean? Let me see that!" he exclaimed. He walked over to Cas, snatching the journal from his hands. Chuck riffled through the pages. Cas was right. They were all blank.

Chuck looked up at everyone. "But this book was filled with stuff," he said, astonished. "I was going to go over it again once we could open it. I'm sure there was something in there we could use, but I can't remember what it was now."

Gail put her hand on his arm. "That's OK, Chuck. I'm sure it'll come back to you. As someone who's experienced memory loss myself recently, I know what I'm talking about. I've been getting some flashes of things coming back lately. They don't make much sense to me yet, but at least I'm seeing them." And she had seen some things, but they were puzzling to her. Cas down on his knees in front of her, head bowed. What had he been doing, tying her shoes, or something? Cas giving her flowers. While that was a nice thought, she couldn't recall him ever having done that before. And, Cas down on his knees in front of her again, but for an entirely different and wonderful reason. Though that one might have just been wishful thinking, she had thought with amusement.

Castiel was looking at her. Now he was alarmed again. What was she seeing? And how could she be seeing it?

"OK, we'd better get this show on the road," Bobby said briskly. "Cas, Gail, you go ahead with Chuck, Becky, and Kevin. I'll bring Ethan and Linda." As the Angels had not yet been officially assigned to Earth, they still required escorts to go there. That was a safeguard that had been put in place ever since the original God had been in charge, and Bobby had held on to that one. He thought that made a lot of sense. You couldn't have renegade Angels just popping down to Earth whenever they felt like it. It suddenly occurred to him that Felicia was an Angel, and she lived on Earth. How had that happened? Maybe the original God had sent her down there for some reason. And then she had met Mark, the human she had married and adopted a son with. Maybe Bobby should give her a call and let her know about the current crisis. Lucifer could potentially zero in on her, too. If he was looking to target Angels, Lucifer could very well track her down.

Felicia and Mark were watching TV. Or at least, she was trying to. Mark was flipping from channel to channel, and it was driving her nuts. Why was it that when men had the remote, which was pretty much all of the time, they couldn't ever seem to be able to settle on one program? Her father had been like that too, once he had discovered the wonders of television. Of course, she guessed her dad could receive a pass on that one. Ignatius had been an Angel since very early on in the game, and TV had been a whole new world for him. Felicia had been an Angel for quite a while herself now; her mother had been pregnant with Felicia when her father had originally died of a heart attack all those centuries ago, for the first time. But when Felicia had accidentally drowned years later, father and daughter had been reunited in Heaven, and they had been very close, up until the day that Felicia had decided to slip through Heaven's portal in order to explore Earth. The portal no longer existed now, but it had been there back then. Perhaps because Felicia had been taken relatively young, she had really missed Earth. And even then, she had been in love with Mark, though only from afar when she had been alive. She started slipping out of Heaven regularly just to watch him go about his daily routine, but one day, she had been careless and he had caught her. They'd started talking, then flirting, then kissing, and before she'd known it, Felicia found herself telling him who and what she really was. But he'd seemed to understand, and he'd told her it didn't matter to him. He loved her, and he'd take her however he could get her, he'd said with a smile. They had gone to bed together for the first time that night, and Felicia had been astonished at what he'd done to her there, and at the things it seemed that she was willing to do to him. If it had been anyone but Mark, she would have felt decidedly impure about the whole thing. But Mark had a silver tongue, and did he ever know how to use it, Felicia had thought with amusement. So she had gone back up to Heaven for the final time and told her father that she loved Mark, and she was staying on Earth to be with him.

Ignatius had been livid. A human! He wouldn't allow it. But he didn't control his daughter. That fact became evident when she'd turned her back on him and fled to Earth. Then Ignatius had had to explain to the other board members what had happened. They had all agreed that it was disgusting, and he was well rid of her. All except for Castiel, of course. He had smiled, and he'd had a faraway look on his face. Almost as if he'd been wondering what it would be like to be Felicia. To just take off to Earth and stay there. And to be that much in love.

Felicia sighed now. Her father had told her his side of the story before he'd died, and he had apologized over and over again for all those lost years. But at least they had had the time together since he'd come to Earth to find her and had moved in with her and Mark and Robbie. Even though Ignatius had become mortal and died when he'd given up his Grace for Castiel, they had reconnected as a family before his death. Humans had parents who died all the time, and she'd just had to come to terms with that.

She snuggled into Mark's arms as he continued to channel-surf. Mark had been so supportive and so understanding during her time of grief. She was so lucky to have him. They still made love as often as possible, and she couldn't believe that he was still so good to her, after all these years.

Mark kissed Felicia softly on the forehead. He really did have feelings for her, and she had been a welcome distraction all of the years that he'd been stuck here, waiting. But the time had finally come. His Master was finally here. Mark could feel Lucifer's presence here on Earth, and he was merely waiting for the call.

In the meantime, there was Felicia, soft and warm in his arms, and there was the TV. He would watch a bit longer, and then he would take Felicia to bed and enjoy her there, for as long as he could. Robbie was at one of the neighbour's houses, and they wouldn't be bringing him back till late. Maybe Mark would arrange for a bit more babysitting over the next few days. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to stay here with her in this house. When Lucifer called for him, he would be required to go.

Mark found one of those televangelist shows, and he put the remote down for a moment, watching in fascination. He'd read about this guy in the paper. His "Ministry" was worth millions, and so was he. Mark smirked. So much for the so-called vow of poverty. Or did that only apply to priests? Who the hell could keep those things straight, anyway? So many religions in the world. Way too many, really. After coming into contact with a religious man, Mark always felt like washing his hands. They were all such hypocrites. Sinning beyond belief on Saturday night, but dressing in white robes and telling everybody they were supposed to deny themselves when Sunday morning came. The only honest and true religion was Lucifer's: say what you want and do what you feel. Mark had always believed that. When he had written Revelation, the blueprint for the second coming of the one true God, Lucifer, Mark had couched all of the verses in vague, almost existential language. And of course, he'd had to write it so the "good guys" won in the end. That was what had been expected of an Apostle, and a Gospel writer. But he'd used John's name. Mark was no Judas; he wasn't about to deny his true Father in public. And his loyalty had paid off. Lucifer had finally risen again, and Mark had received the glorious news in his head. Wait there for Me, and I'll be in touch.

Mark looked at the man on TV with interest. There could be something to this. The guy had millions of dollars, and probably had almost that many followers, and he wasn't nearly as eloquent or as charming as Lucifer. And Lucifer had real powers. If Mark's Lord and Master were to gain a public platform such as this, and use his considerable powers of persuasion and illusion on the gullible masses, their army could increase exponentially, and much more quickly than in the olden days. Maybe he would mention this to Lucifer when they had their face-to-face meeting, see what he thought.

Mark shut off the TV and looked down at his wife. She was smiling at him, as usual. He would really miss her when he had to leave to go into Lucifer's service. If he thought she would come with him, he might have asked her, but Felicia was far too Angelic for that. Look at the group that had come to her father's funeral. Mark had nearly choked when God himself had shaken his hand in the church. And who would have ever thought that the famous, or should he say notorious, Castiel would have attended? Castiel was a renegade among Angels, and as far as Mark knew, he'd had nothing but disdain for his fellow board members, and they for him. Yet he had made a brief eulogy at the church on Ignatius's behalf, and Mark had seen Felicia hugging him. Mark had stayed well away from that group. He'd been a little afraid to receive Bobby's close scrutiny. Even though Mark could sense that Bobby was more man than God, he also knew that Bobby had been imbued with many Godlike powers, and Mark hadn't wanted to take the chance that the faux God would be able to sniff him out. And Mark knew how much his Master hated Castiel, so he'd stayed well away from him, too. Though if Mark had been able to get Castiel alone, he might have attempted to kill him, as an offering to Lucifer. But the group of Angels had arrived together, and after the service was over, they had left together. Or at least, they had been standing together when Mark had had to accompany Felicia to the limousine for the funeral cortege, so Mark assumed that the group had ascended together from there. Perhaps it was just as well, in retrospect. Mark knew that Lucifer liked to play with his food before he ate it.

Funny, though; there had been a female Angel with the men, and Mark had had no idea who she was. She must be a fairly recent addition to Heaven. Mark had been stationed on Earth for a number of years, and even though he was quite familiar with the board members and Castiel, and had been provided with intel on Bobby from their inside source in Heaven, Mark knew next to nothing about the female Angel. She had stood comfortably enough with Bobby, though, and at one point Mark was sure that he had seen her holding Castiel's hand, which for Angels usually signified an affectionate relationship of some sort. So once the service was over and the opportunity had presented itself, Mark had asked Felicia about the female. Felicia had told him that she was the Angel Gail, who had stood the tribunal with Castiel, and her father had told Felicia as part of his deathbed confession that the two Angels were romantically involved. Mark had been astonished. Castiel had a girlfriend? Wonders never ceased.

"Let's go upstairs," Mark said to Felicia.

Metatron was also holed up, but he was staying in considerably less expensive digs than Lucifer. He had never really been able to get the hang of the "two-finger system", so he hadn't even bothered to try it. He had retained his same vessel for the time being, and Metatron knew he wasn't handsome enough, nor glib enough, to talk anyone into anything. So he had walked the streets of Seattle until he had found a more affordable-looking part of the city, and then he had used his powers to knock a well-dressed man out, stealing his wallet. Metatron had taken the man's cash, but not his credit cards, or his vessel, and he had used the cash to pay for a couple of nights at a motel.

He was there now, trying to figure out what he wanted to do with himself. Metatron had tried different variations on the theme, but nothing had ever worked out for him. What could he do that he hadn't done before? What did he even want to do?

Metatron knew what he DIDN'T want, however, and that was to have anything further to do with Lucifer. He'd had enough of that guy. Let him take over the world, or whatever he was going to do. Metatron didn't care. He was an Original, and he had his own powers. He would be just fine. Let Lucifer run roughshod all over the Earth. In fact, slaying one-third of the human race was probably a fine idea; that would certainly winnow out the worthy from the unworthy. And by the unworthy, Metatron meant the stupid people, of course. Though one-third wouldn't even come close to taking care of that little problem, it would be a damn good start.

He looked around the room. Not much to look at in these economy places. There was the inevitable TV on the dresser, and Metatron considered putting it on, just for a moment. He had a lot of time to kill right now, until he decided what to do with himself. But he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He supposed he'd succumb to the idiot box eventually out of sheer loneliness or boredom, but he wanted to leave it alone for as long as he could. Although Metatron did love to make witty pop culture references, he'd always thought that people who watched a lot of TV were lazy. Instead of using the minds that God had given them, these people just sat there, feeding off of others' creativity. It was the writers who were the unsung heroes; they were the ones who had all the ideas, and they poured their hearts and souls into the product, while the actors were the ones who got all the credit.

Maybe that was it. Metatron had been a Scribe for untold centuries, and he'd always wondered what it would be like to actually create something for himself, something that he could call his own. Transcribing others' words was one thing; writing an actual story himself, maybe even a book, would be quite another.

His gaze fell upon the Bible on the nightstand. Whoever had written that had been on their game, that was for sure. Best-selling book of all time. People read and re-read it many times over, and millions followed people who used quotes from the book to bolster their own opinions. People might have thought it would have been Metatron who'd written the Bible, or at least had transcribed it, using God's own Word. But they would be wrong. God was too busy playing games to write His autobiography. None of the Originals knew who had written the Bible, and if their Father knew, He wasn't telling.

Suddenly, Metatron wanted to write, to compose, more than anything. Why had he not thought of that before? It was an ideal activity for him. He could stay here for a while, keeping a low profile until he figured out what to do with himself, and in the meantime, he would write his magnum opus. Maybe it was time for the world to know the real story.

He let himself out of the room and went in search of a stationery store. Metatron couldn't wait to get started.

Gail sat in the training room, watching the action. Sam and Dean and Cas were training with the designates, and this had made for some very entertaining viewing.

Chuck was sitting on one side of her, Ethan on the other. They had progressed well and were being given the opportunity to rest while the other, less skilled Angels got in some more practice.

Chuck was toweling off the sweat, and he looked exhausted. But he had worked very hard, and he thought he'd improved quite a bit in the short time they'd been training. Contrary to his joke in Bobby's office, he had requested that Cas work with him. All due respect to Sam and Dean, but Chuck knew that Cas would give him the biggest challenge. And now that Cas was back to full-on Angel, he was relentless, and a stern taskmaster. Gail had had to admonish him a couple of times over it. She had taken over the role of the timekeeper, making sure the Angels were able to take breaks once in a while, and that Sam and Dean got breaks, too. She used a rotation system, and when one of their human friends needed a bit longer, she had stepped in to replace them.

"Are you going to be all right, Chuck?" Gail teased. "Your face is awfully red."

"That's because Kevin is embarrassing us," Chuck said loudly, teasing his friend.

Kevin and Sam were facing off, and Kevin looked at Chuck, making a face. "Oh, ha ha, very funny, Chuck," Kevin said sarcastically.

"You're Asian, Kevin," Ethan joined in. "Shouldn't you know at least a few martial arts, or something?"

"That's a racist stereotype," Kevin shot back. But he knew their ribbing was all in good fun. People called them The Three Musketeers for a reason; the three male Angels had grown very close to each other, and their friendship was such that they could say just about anything to each other now.

"Oh, yeah? How come your mother is kicking the crap out of Dean, then?" Ethan said, grinning.

Dean looked at him. "She is not," he said huffily.

"I'm not?" Linda retorted. "Then why has Gail had to heal you three times already?"

As Dean opened his mouth and closed it again, trying to think of a suitable retort, Cas said, "All right, everyone. Let's get back to work."

Dean sighed. Captain Buzzkill strikes again. He understood the importance of what they were doing here, though. None of these Angels really knew how to fight. They were as green as Gail had been when they'd first started training her. And as hard as they had all been working, more work was obviously needed. Only Ethan was more or less a natural, but then, he'd been to the police academy when he was alive. The one thing he'd needed to learn was how to use knives and holy water as weapons. Chuck had started out a little slow, but he had actually improved so much that Dean thought he'd be fine. And Linda was fierce. Dean had known her to be the same way in life, especially when she'd been trying to protect her son, and she was no different now. She had actually hurt Dean pretty badly in practice, and he had shrugged it off to the others, but he'd considered asking Cas to switch partners. He didn't dare, though, unless he wanted to be razzed for days.

Castiel had paired everyone up initially, but that had been before Gail had instituted the rotation system. He could see the logic in what she was doing, though. He knew that he was working them all hard, and he knew that they did need breaks every now and then. But there were not enough trainers to go around. The rotation system ensured that all the Angels got a turn.

This particular rotation had been difficult for all the parties involved, though. Linda had indeed proved to be a worthy opponent, and Cas thought she was just about up to Ethan and Chuck's level now. She had gotten to Dean a couple of times, and Castiel would have been amused by that fact if he had not been so focused on getting them all ready for what they might have to face. If anything were to happen to any one of them, Castiel would feel responsible. Bobby had left him in charge of the training program, and Cas wanted to do a good job. After all of the terrible things he had done, Cas needed to balance the scales as much as he could.

Cas looked at Gail, as he always did when he thought about the terrible things he'd done when he had been a Demon. She was joking with Chuck and Ethan, but she must have sensed him looking at her, because their eyes met and she smiled at him.

Gail was very proud of Cas. Even though she'd had to rein him in a bit sometimes, he was proving to be an extremely good teacher. She had also seen the level of progress that Chuck and Linda had made under Cas's tutelage, and Gail had high hopes for Kevin too, once he became a little less tentative.

But Becky? There was no way. Her efforts were half-hearted, at best. Gail didn't think that Becky was unmotivated, or lazy; she just didn't have the aptitude. Gail could understand that. Not everyone did. And when Sam had been paired with Becky originally, Becky had been particularly bad. So Gail had switched up the partners, putting Becky with Cas. Clearly, poor Becky needed all the expert training she could get. And Gail had known that Cas would be patient and compassionate towards Becky. But something curious had happened when Cas and Becky had faced off. Cas seemed suddenly reluctant to even simulate an attack on Becky. Any moves he'd made had become tentative and half-hearted.

"Hey, quit slacking off, Cas," Chuck had called out to him. "If you need a rest, just say so."

"I don't need a rest," Cas said.

"Well then, what's the matter? You worked us hard enough," Ethan chimed in.

Becky thought of something. "Is it because I'm a girl?" she asked Cas.

"No, it can't be," Gail said, shaking her head. "He's fought females many times before. In fact, he stabbed me right here in this room early in my own training days."

"I remember that," Sam said, smiling. Gail had been fine, and it was so long ago that they could laugh about it now. "I thought Cas was going to commit hara-kari after he did that. He was upset for at least a week afterwards."

"Yeah, Becky, don't worry," Dean teased. "If he'll stab her, he'll stab anybody."

Everyone laughed at that, including Gail. But Cas did not smile, and as he frowned at Dean, his friend realized that his comment had been very insensitive, considering what had happened when Cas had been a Demon. He raised his eyebrows to Cas in apology.

Chuck had laughed, but then he too realized that maybe it wasn't so funny, after all. He hadn't told Kevin and Ethan about that particular proclivity of Cas's, and he had minimized the extent of Cas's violent behaviour at the time. And now, he was glad he had. Cas was back to normal now, and there was no point in sharing that knowledge with anyone else any more. They all needed to be able to trust Cas, both as their instructor and as their friend. Still, Chuck was grateful that God had wiped Gail's memory clean of that whole ugly time. Heaven needed her and Castiel to lead by example now, especially now that the new laws were in place. Many Angels had been wondering what sort of behaviour was allowed, or even appropriate, with each other now. And Heaven's Golden Couple could lead the way in that regard. Though it wasn't too long ago that they were doing things that, while not specifically excluded in the laws, would certainly not be fit for public knowledge. But they seemed perfectly Angelic now, and very happy too, and Chuck was glad. They needed all the unity they could get if they were to defeat Lucifer.

Cas hadn't thought that what Dean had said was one bit funny, but he realized he was extremely sensitive about the subject, especially these days. That was why he had been having such a hard time training Becky. Ever since the cure, and his visit to the womens' shelter, Cas had been reluctant to be the slightest bit confrontational with a female. He had even allowed Brenda to touch him a bit more often than he generally would have, due to that fact. Granted, Brenda had to touch him sometimes when she was helping him with his wardrobe. It was her job, after all. But she had taken advantage of that fact, too, and he had let it slide because he'd been averse to being even a little overbearing with a woman. But he could see that Becky wasn't going to get it, no matter how long he trained with her. Even if Cas were currently capable of sparring with her as he would with a man, Becky just didn't strike him as someone who would ever be comfortable in any form of combat. So he had switched to self-defense tactics only when it came to Becky. Maybe he would talk to Bobby about holding her back, keeping her at the bunker; perhaps Sam or Gail could give Becky something to do to assist the team from here.

Kevin had joined in on the repartee with Chuck and Ethan, but the fact was that he was not a very good fighter, and he knew it. Stereotype notwithstanding, Kevin had always pictured himself as a badass superhero ninja, or something. He had assumed that once he was trained up a bit, he would be as good as the others, if not better. He was young, after all, even younger than Ethan. What he'd lacked in skills he should have been able to make up for in energy and enthusiasm, and the benefit of seeing lots and lots of action movies should have counted for something, as well. But Kevin had been embarrassed to find out that he didn't quite have the aptitude for fighting that he'd thought he would have. Even his mother had fought way better than him. But maybe it wasn't all Kevin's fault. When they had first gotten here, Cas had assigned Sam to be Kevin's trainer, and Kevin had been OK with it. Or, so he had thought. But when Sam had come at him, even though the weapon was fake and the attack only simulated, Kevin had freaked out a little. He guessed that Cas had forgotten that Gadreel had been in possession of Sam's body when he had killed Kevin. So when Kevin faced Sam, the young Prophet was actually looking into the face of his own murderer. He knew this was Sam now, and that Gadreel was long gone, but Kevin couldn't help how he felt. He didn't want to admit this to anyone, though. At his age, it was hard enough to be taken seriously without whining like a baby about your feelings. Castiel had advised at the onset of training that they were here to prepare the Angels for combat. Once they were sent out there, they had to be ready for anything. They could well find themselves in a fight to the death, and Cas, Sam, Dean and Gail were there to help prepare God's designates for that possibility. So Kevin tried his best, but he'd kept looking at Sam's face and remembering how terrifying it had been to have been killed by the Angel who had been wearing it at the time.

Sam was a smart guy, but he was oblivious to Kevin's discomfort at the moment. He had been too busy watching Becky watching him out of the corner of her eye. Like Gail, Sam now had a huge chunk of memories missing, but he did remember the time Becky had accompanied Kevin here to the bunker, when Kevin had been recruited to translate the Demon Tablet to prevent Metatron from closing the Gates of Hell. Becky's eyes had followed Sam around the room then, and they were still doing it now. It was unnerving him a bit. Was she still hung up on him, even though years had passed, she was an Angel, and she was with Kevin now? Should he be worried about this?

Linda had also noticed Becky looking at Sam, and now Kevin's mother thought she might be starting to get it. So THAT was why Becky's relationship with Kevin seemed a little off. Becky may be with Linda's son right now, but it appeared to Linda as though Becky might have a thing for Sam. Linda had also seen her son looking at Sam with a strange expression on his face. Did Kevin know? And to further complicate matters, Linda could swear she had seen Sam look at Gail a couple of times, with a similar expression on his face as the one that Becky had had when she'd looked at Sam! What was going on here? Linda was a perceptive individual, or at least, she had been one in life. Was her imagination just working overtime, or were there some complicated emotional issues in play here?

Gail was scanning all of their faces now, and she saw a number of different expressions there. Some, she could read, and some, she couldn't. But there was only one thing she had to say about what she was seeing, and she said it now: "Break time!"

Dean looked at her gratefully. "I could kiss you right now," he quipped. Then he smirked at Cas. "If you'll put your weapon down first, that is."

Everyone laughed again. Cas laughed, too. He only had a rubber knife, of course; the same kind they used on the TV show. The two men continued to look at each other as Dean realized that was another remark which could possibly be in poor taste, considering what had transpired between Cas and Gail when Cas had been a Demon. His friend had exhibited signs of extreme anger and jealousy any time that any guy had even looked at Gail. But Dean couldn't censor everything he ever said, or he would explode. Besides, things were OK now. Well, except for the fact that Satan was loose on the Earth and Armageddon was at hand, of course.

The Angels returned their faux weapons to the table, and Chuck passed towels out to the ones who had been sparring. They all started chatting about the training they were receiving and comparing notes.

Gail walked up to Cas and the Winchesters. "How do you think they're doing, you guys?" she asked.

The men exchanged glances. "They're coming along," Sam said.

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "Some of them are pretty much there."

But Cas frowned. "They're being kind," he told her. "Ethan is competent, and Chuck can probably hold his own now, but the rest of them need much more training."

"We've only got one more day, Cas, and then Bobby wants them out there," Sam pointed out.

"Then we'll just have to work harder," Cas said fretfully.

Dean groaned. "Come on, Cas. Maybe you guys can do this 24/7, but Sam and I need to eat, and sleep. And I've had to go to the bathroom for the last half hour."

"I thought that need might have gone away when Linda cut you that last time," Sam said, grinning.

Gail smiled as Dean said, "Shut up, Sam." Then Dean looked at her and asked, "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing," she replied. "It's just good to see that I'm not the only female who can kick your ass."

Dean glared at her, then at his brother, and muttered something under his breath about what the two of them could do to themselves, which Gail was pretty sure was anatomically impossible. Then he stalked out of the room, with Sam hot on his heels.

Cas looked at Gail. Her lips were twitching furiously. "How would that even work?" she quipped.

"I wondered the same thing when he told me to do it to myself an hour ago," Cas responded, trying to keep a straight face.

Gail laughed, and he put his arms around her and kissed her softly on the mouth. "Careful, your students are watching," she teased. "You don't want to set a bad example."

"I thought I was setting a good one," Cas said lightly, smiling down at her. He kissed her again, and this time the kiss lingered a moment. "You could teach a class on how to do that," Gail breathed.

"I'd be willing, as long as you were the only student," Cas said, raising an eyebrow to her.

"You're either going to have to stop being so sexy, or I'm going to have to call for a longer break," she teased in a soft voice.

"How I wish you could," Cas said with a faint smile. "But we need to get back to work. We're running out of time."

"I know," Gail acknowledged. "But I also know that Sam and Dean are getting tired. That's why I think we need to call in reinforcements."

"Who did you have in mind?" he asked her.

"I think we should call in Frank and Jody," Gail told him. "They can help train everyone, and I can help them help you, in case you ever need a break." She raised an eyebrow to him now. "Don't you ever get tired?"

Cas frowned. "I can't allow myself to get tired," he responded. "This is way too important."

Gail nodded. She knew. "OK, I'll pop out and get them, then," she told him.

"I'll go with you," Cas said quickly.

"Why?" she asked him.

He gave her a look, and she shrugged. "Come on, Cas." Gail looked at the Angel trainees. "We're sending THEM out there, aren't we?"

"Yes, but - " he started to say, but Gail interrupted him, shaking her head. "But, nothing," she said firmly. "I'm no more important than anyone else here."

"You are to me," Cas said earnestly.

Gail smiled. "And that, right there, is one of the million reasons that I love you," she said softly, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll be right back."

She popped out of the room as Cas frowned. He really didn't want her going anywhere by herself. Lucifer, Metatron and Aurielle were all out there somewhere. Any one of them could be standing outside the bunker right now, waiting to take whoever happened to come out.

Chuck tapped Cas on the shoulder, startling him.

"Sorry, Cas," Chuck said. "I was just wondering where Gail went. I saw her pop out."

"She went to get some more trainers," Castiel replied absently. He should not have let her go out by herself. But, when had he ever been able to stop her from doing anything that she wanted to do? She was stubbornly independent, and it was that fact that was going to be the death of him one day.

"Good," Chuck said, smiling. "Those guys need all the help they can get."

Despite his concern over Gail, Cas smiled. "'Those guys'?" he said to Chuck. "What about you?"

"I'm good to go," Chuck replied, puffing out his chest a little.

"Don't you know that Pride is one of the Sins?" Linda said, elbowing Chuck in the ribs. She had walked over to where the two men stood, and now the other Angels were following suit. They were all grouped around Cas now, waiting for instructions, it seemed. Cas felt strange. Since when had he been a leader, of anyone? But Bobby had entrusted him to prepare their Angel friends, and they were putting their trust in him, too. It felt weird, but good.

"We're just waiting for Gail to get back with Jody and her brother Frank," Castiel told them. "Jody's a Sheriff, and she and Frank are both experienced Hunters. They're going to help train you."

"Oh good, another woman," Linda said. "Maybe she can help Becky. You don't seem to be doing her much good," she told Cas.

Castiel frowned at her, but he said nothing, because Linda was right. He knew he hadn't done a good job with Becky. But he just couldn't bring himself to attack her.

"Mom!" Kevin protested.

But Becky looked at Linda, nodding. "I know, I'm not very good, am I?" Becky said.

"Don't get discouraged, Becky," Kevin said, taking her hand. "I'm not very good, either." He looked at Cas. "But I'm not giving up. I'll just work harder, that's all."

Cas gave Kevin a tight smile. "That's the attitude, Kevin. I'll tell you what. When Jody gets here, we'll put Becky with her, and I'll train you myself."

Kevin groaned. "Oh, God, what did I have to go and say that for?" he said, and all the Angels laughed. They'd all had their turn with Cas, and he was a good teacher, but he was relentless.

Gail popped into the room with Jody and Frank just as Sam and Dean were coming back in. The brothers' faces lit up when they saw their friends.

Sam shook Frank's hand, clapping him on the shoulder. "How's it going, Frank?" he asked Gail's brother.

"Same old, same old," Frank replied. He looked at Castiel. "So, we've got the Devil to worry about now, and Metatron and Aurielle are back again?" he asked Cas.

"Bet you wish you'd stayed in Hell," Sam quipped to Frank, who smirked.

But Jody was puzzled. The last thing she remembered was Cas and Gail, coming back from the cabin, then she and Frank had stayed here in the bunker that night, and that was it. Then, suddenly, Gail had just shown up, out of the blue. She'd told Jody what was going on, and that Heaven needed Jody's help. Jody was fine with that, but she wasn't sure she could just take off again, especially since she'd just gotten back. But when she'd asked her deputies if they would be OK without her again so soon, they had laughed. "'So soon'?" they had said. "You haven't had a day off for nearly a year." And everything else at the office had been weird, too. Files were closed that had been open when she'd gone to the Sheriff's conference, the weekend that Jody had helped defeat the Demons which had amassed behind the bunker. Which was OK, she supposed; the guys must have been trying to impress her in her absence. But the dates had been all wrong. When she had pointed this out to the men, they had laughed. The Sheriff must have been smoking some of that stuff they were holding as evidence in the latest drug bust. She kept insisting that they should be using dates from last year. She probably COULD use a few days off.

When Gail had shown up, Jody had started to think that her deputies might be right. Apparently, Cas and Gail now lived in Vancouver. When had that happened? Hadn't they just gotten back from the cabin? Jody had said this to Gail, and Gail had shrugged. "I know, it's weird, right?" she had said. And that had been it. Then, when Gail had brought Jody to the motel where Frank had been staying, Jody's puzzlement had grown. Frank had been staying at the bunker, last she'd seen. How had he gotten all the way to Maine, then? Frank had joked that he drove like a maniac, but still...

Frank had been just as puzzled. As far as he knew, he had just been with everyone at the bunker. He had obviously gone back out on the road after Cas and Gail had been saved, but here his sister was again, telling him that Lucifer was running around loose on Earth, and that Metatron and Aurielle were "back". Hadn't Cas just killed them both in the cabin? What a crazy world they lived in now. People kept getting killed, but nobody ever seemed to die.

Lucifer being free had gotten Frank's attention, though. That was some pretty serious crap. When Gail had told him that Bobby had handpicked some Angels to come to Earth to search for the Devil, Frank had envisioned a bunch of big, burly guys. But this ragtag group surprised him. Frank knew that Sam and Dean could fight, and Cas had kicked ass both in the Demon dustup and at the cabin, apparently. And Gail and Jody would be just fine. But these Angels looked like they had never even picked up a weapon, let alone ever used one. He was glad Gail had drafted him and Jody; this bunch needed all the help they could get.

It was a peculiar group that was assembled in the training room now. Castiel and Dean were the only ones who retained full knowledge of all of the events that had transpired since the cabin.

Chuck knew more than any other Angel did about Cas's Demon phase, but even he didn't know every detail. But in a way, he had actually been relieved that his journal pages had been blank. Chuck had handed the book to Gail in Bobby's office without thinking. He had written down every word of his prophecies in there, and while a lot of them had had to do with Lucifer's rising and the potential End of Days, there had also been a comparatively large section on Cas and Gail in there. How Cas had gone from Angel to God to Demon to monster and back to exalted Angel in the blink of an eye. Chuck had written about their sex life too, and he had spent a little longer than might be decent in doing so. He had been honest with Gail during their heart-to-heart, the one she wouldn't remember now. It had gotten Chuck a little excited when he had watched Cas kissing Gail with his tongue. Chuck had never seen Angels do that before, although he supposed that they had the green light to do it now, thanks to the new laws. And maybe some of them were doing that, behind closed doors. But Cas and Gail had been doing a lot more than that, and the last vision that Chuck had written down before the journal had sealed itself had been about them. They were both full Angels again, but Chuck had seen them last night, and he had been amazed. Cas had been undressing Gail slowly, kissing and licking every inch of her skin as he had uncovered it. Then, when she was completely naked, Cas had taken his own clothes off, and he had buried his head in-between her legs. Gail had held his head as she cried out, and then Cas had climbed on top of her and moved slowly in and out of her as they'd looked at each other, smiling. Then she had reached up and pulled him down to kiss her. She had wrapped her legs around him, urging him to go faster, and Cas had. Then he had moaned through their kiss, and then he was still. And then the couple were kissing and cuddling, and Chuck had been about to put down his pen when incredibly, they had started up again. Gail had been caressing Cas's chest and stomach, moving her hand down his body as they talked, and suddenly, Cas's voice caught and Chuck knew where her hand had gone under that sheet. Chuck had felt jealous; no girl had touched him there in years. Chuck admonished himself for continuing to watch this, but he just couldn't seem to stop. Then Gail had moved down Cas's body and taken him in her mouth, and Cas had closed his eyes, smiling. Boy, Chuck would have been smiling, too. And why was he still watching them, anyway? Chuck was an Angel, and a good guy. Was he depraved, or just deprived? Gail's head was bobbing up and down now, and Cas was reaching for her. His hand found her, and his fingers started to move in and out of her. Gail made a noise that Chuck had never heard come out of a woman before, a kind of half-gasp and half-whimper. Then she stopped what she was doing, and Cas stopped, too. Why? Chuck wondered. But then Cas was pulling Gail up to kiss him, and then she lowered herself onto Cas as he grabbed her by the hips, moving her up and down. Then Cas cried out, and then he motioned to Gail to bring herself up to his mouth. Cas extended his tongue and licked her a couple of times. Gail's body jumped, and Cas held her away from him for a moment. Then he brought her close to his mouth and his tongue, and Gail was moving with him. Cas's hands were caressing her body lightly, teasing her in other places, and when Gail began to cry out, Cas pulled her body closer to him. Gail was saying his name, telling him how good it was, how good he was. Then she laid her body on top of Cas's, and he wrapped his arms around her, covering them both with the sheet as he did so. Cas stroked her hair, talking softly to her. He was telling Gail how much he loved her, and then he kissed her face, starting at her forehead. When he reached her lips, Gail opened her mouth and licked Cas's lips, and then Cas licked hers. Chuck could see that Cas was caressing Gail's body under the sheet as they kissed, and he had shaken his head in disbelief. Surely they weren't about to go again? Was Cas Superman? Could all Angels do this, or was it only these two? And, when could Chuck try it?

He continued to watch in astonishment as his Angel friends kissed. Then Cas rolled Gail off of him and gently laid her on her side, with her back to him. Cas was still caressing her body, and he started moving against her as she smiled. Then Cas threw the sheet off and Chuck watched, open-mouthed, as Cas pushed into her from behind, reaching around to stroke her, whispering into her ear. Then Cas licked her ear delicately and Gail sighed in contentment, closing her eyes. She moved her body against Cas's, and when he told her that he had to go faster, she opened her legs wider to give him better access. Cas's fingers sped up too, and he licked her neck as she moaned. Then Cas pushed forward, closing his eyes, and then he gasped. Gail was smiling. She had obviously done something that Chuck hadn't been able to see that had made Cas react like that. Being a man, Chuck wouldn't have thought of it; but Gail had moved a part of herself in a certain way that she thought Cas might appreciate, and she had surprised Cas by doing that. He groaned loudly as he pushed into her one last time. Then he was still, but his fingers kept moving, and Gail was writhing against his hand as he smiled. Then, when she was done, Cas put the sheet back on them and he cuddled her, staying inside her. Gail made a remark about wishing that they could sleep, so that they could fall asleep in that position and then wake up in that same position and start all over again, and Cas had laughed.

Chuck had written all of this down, and then he had read what he just wrote. The library had suddenly become very warm, and Chuck needed a cold shower. Or a girlfriend. Preferably a girlfriend. Now that he had seen Cas and Gail like this, Chuck wanted very much to be doing the same thing himself, with a willing female. But he couldn't think of any other Angel that he could even approach, let alone embark on this type of relationship with. Of course, Heaven had millions of Angels; Chuck just hadn't met all of them yet. He would have to try to be patient. Maybe he could meet a nice girl before the world ended.

Frank clapped Cas on the shoulder. "So, what's the plan?"

Cas was a little surprised by Frank's affectionate gesture, but then he remembered that Frank would have no recollection of anything negative that might have happened between them. God had indeed been merciful; apparently, he had re-set Frank's and Jody's minds and memories to Cas and Gail's safe emergence from the cabin, but neither remembered ever having been in the cabin themselves. That meant that they had no recollection of Crowley having taken most of his essence out of Cas there. That would have raised too many questions, so apparently, God had modified it.

So Cas and Gail quickly briefed Frank and Jody on their discussion with Bobby and Crowley about Revelation, as Sam and Dean were talking with the Angels. Predictably enough, Frank was shocked and angry that Crowley had been included.

"Well then, you're really not going to like the fact that there are going to be a bunch of Demons running around on Earth shortly," Gail said to her brother.

Frank's mouth dropped open. "What? Why?" he exclaimed.

"Because we need all the troops we can get," Gail told him.

"Yeah, but...Demons?" Frank said, incredulous. "Won't they just sign up with Lucifer? Kill a bunch of people?"

"Crowley promised Bobby they'll behave themselves," Gail advised her brother.

"Oh, Crowley said," Frank retorted sarcastically. "Well, he's a trustworthy guy, right?" He turned to Cas. "Are you in favour of this?"

Castiel frowned. "Of course not," he said to Frank. "But, Bobby agreed to it. And he said we're to leave them alone."

Now it was Frank's turn to frown. Bobby may be God, but Frank thought this was a very bad idea. "Yeah?" he said, shaking his head. "And are THEY gonna leave US alone?"

"Crowley claimed he will instruct them as such, yes," Castiel said stiffly. He was on Frank's side on this one. "I remain unconvinced."

"He said we have a common enemy, and he's going to have them focus on finding Lucifer," Gail pointed out. She put her hand on her brother's arm. "Crowley's not so bad, Frank. He wants to help."

Frank laughed derisively. "He's not so bad? Will you listen to yourself?" He looked at Cas. "Talk to her, will you?"

Castiel sighed. While it was wonderful to be on the same side as Gail's brother for a change, he was reluctant to get in the middle of a dispute between Frank and Gail. Cas hadn't forgotten that he and his Demonic ways had been the cause of many a problem between brother and sister, and it had been Cas's fault that Frank had spent so much time away from Gail.

"He doesn't need to talk to me," Gail said sharply to Frank.

Sensing the potential for an argument, Dean grabbed Frank by the arm. "Come on, Frank. "Let's whip these Angels into shape."

Dean and Sam took Frank and Jody over to the weapons table as the Angels gathered around them.

Meanwhile, Cas was looking at Gail. "He's not wrong, you know," Castiel said, gesturing to Frank.

Gail shrugged. "I don't blame him for feeling like he does about Crowley," she said. "He just doesn't know him as well as I do."

Castiel's eyebrows shot up. "And how well DO you know him, Gail?" he asked her quietly. He hadn't forgotten that they had been separated for months up until just recently, even if she had. Was there something that he didn't know about, that he should?

Gail opened her mouth, then closed it again. Why had she said that? "I don't know," she said in a more subdued tone. "I've just been having flashes of memories here and there, and he's been in some of them."

And it was true. The more Gail had thought about it, the more bothered she had become that she had no idea how they could have gotten from Point A to Point M without her having any recollection of any of it. So she had been thinking furiously, trying to jog her memory. She'd had a couple of small breakthroughs, but Gail wanted more. That memory of sitting down in the diner with Crowley had been the first one that she'd recovered, so Gail thought that she would start there. She'd concentrated on Crowley's face, and the feeling she got when she looked at him these days. It was strange, really. In the past, all she had felt towards Crowley had been anger, fear, and mistrust. Angels weren't really supposed to hate, she guessed, though it seemed like a lot of them did, anyway. So, OK; she had hated Crowley. But then the King of Hell had gone and revived Cas after Cas's execution, and he had restored Bobby' sanity, even though there had been nothing in it for him to do those things. And then he had come to the cabin with their friends, and he had taken all of the Demon essence out of Cas that the King had put in him in order to give him the extra oomph Cas had needed to defeat their enemies. At least, that was how Gail looked at it, anyway. Not having any memories of the horrifying period afterwards, she tended to feel warmth towards the King of Hell. But there was something inherently ridiculous about that, and Gail knew it. Heaven and Hell, Angels and Demons. Natural adversaries. And look at how Cas and Crowley were with each other. There was no way that Gail should ever have any sort of cordial relationship with Crowley. But some of the disjointed memories that had been coming back seemed to suggest otherwise. She now remembered laughing with Crowley and talking about her favourite boy wizard books and movies. When would they ever have done that? And, in a surreal moment, Gail's mind's eye saw Crowley actually touching her naked body, healing painful injuries she had somehow incurred. Had that really happened? But, why on earth would it have? There was no way she would ever willingly disrobe for the King of Hell, and if she had, where would Cas have been at the time? If she'd had injuries, why couldn't Cas have just healed them?

Castiel was looking grim now. He didn't want her recovering any memories that had Crowley in them. Those would be far too dangerous. And again, he wondered how it was even possible that she seemed to be regaining any memories at all. God Himself had wiped her mind clean, from the time of the cabin on.

"What do you remember?" Cas asked her nervously.

"Nothing that seems to connect to anything else," Gail responded, furrowing her brow. "That's the trouble. And a lot of it doesn't even make any sense, cause it's so weird. Some of it has got to be false memories, because those things would never happen. Dean, punching you in the face? Sam, kissing me?" She laughed. "If I was a human, I'd put it down to eating something spicy before bedtime and then having bad dreams. Maybe Bobby is right; maybe I'll have to see someone after all this is over. If I do have PTSD, we're going to have to do something about it."

Cas felt awful. She would have to see someone, all right, and it would have to be him. He had been selfish yet again. Cas had wanted so badly to repair their relationship that he had asked God to modify everyone's memories, so that he wouldn't have to suffer anyone's bad opinion of him. But, like everything else Cas had tried, it had backfired on him. Now Gail thought she was crazy, and she thought that some of what she was remembering were delusions, or false memories. But it was all true, though he could not reassure her of that without giving the game away. He had to keep his mouth shut, though, at least for the time being. This crisis was bigger than them; there had to be unity amongst themselves, or Lucifer would just pick them all off, one by one.

So Cas did all he could do at that particular moment; he enfolded her in his arms. "We will do something about it," he assured her. "Once the current situation is resolved, we'll get you the best care there is."

"I've already got that," she said, smiling up at him.

He gave her a squeeze, and a light kiss on the lips. Then he glanced over at Frank out of habit, but Gail's brother was smiling at them. Frank had not approved of his sister having a physical relationship with Cas in the past, or at least, that was how Cas had perceived it at the time. But he realized it had been the Demon who had been ultra-sensitive in that regard. The Demon had wanted to do what he'd wanted to do, whenever and wherever he had wanted to do it. So he had pushed the envelope, acting very inappropriately with Gail in Frank's presence, and the Demon had made Cas say bad things to her brother about her, and what they'd been doing in bed together. Cas loved what they did together in bed, but those things were only for the two of them, and they should not be talked about to others. Cas knew that, of course, but the Demon hadn't, or he hadn't cared. Frank had been quite right to be angry about that. So, maybe Gail's brother didn't actually disapprove of their relationship, just the way that it had been presented to him at the time. This gave Cas hope, but he also knew that it was likely false hope. Once Cas had to come clean to them about everything he had done, Frank would be back to hating him again, and Cas saw no reason why Gail would not feel the same way. Perhaps he should just let the end of the world happen. If Gail hated him, it would be the end of his world, anyway.

"What's up with those two?" Frank asked Dean. He was watching Cas and Gail, and Cas's affectionate gesture towards Gail had made him smile.

"What do you mean, what's up with them?" Dean asked him.

"You know," Frank said, lowering his voice. "Do Angels - I mean, can they - " He gave Dean a look.

Dean frowned. Right; Frank wouldn't remember any of that, would he? Lucky him. "How the hell should I know?" he said to Frank.

Gail's brother smirked. "Don't get your knickers in a knot. I was just curious. They live together, don't they?"

"Yeah," Dean said softly.

"Well, I guess that's their business," Frank said thoughtfully. Then he smiled again. "Hey, I'm her big brother; I need to make sure she's being taken care of, don't I?"

Chuck couldn't help but overhear, mainly because he'd been listening. Yeah, she was being taken care of, all right. Multiple times, in fact, if what he'd seen last night was any indication of a typical night in Cas and Gail's bedroom. So, apparently Frank and Jody were suffering from the same kind of memory loss as Gail was. Interesting. Chuck knew that they had to be, or Frank wouldn't be talking to Cas like he was, nor would he be smiling at the couple now. Poor Frank. His brain had been messed with a couple of times. Crowley had had to modify Frank's memory when Cas had killed Frank in the very room they were standing in now. And now it seemed like God had seen fit to let Cas off the hook big time, not only with Gail, but with his ersatz brother-in-law, and with their friends, as well. Sam and Jody had obviously had their memories modified, too. Chuck knew this whole PTSD line of goods Bobby was trying to sell was a crock. Chuck guessed he'd had to tell Gail something about why she was missing so much time, and that was the cover story he had come up with. But Chuck had seen God's hand on everyone's heads in a brief vision, except for Dean's, and for Cas's himself. Chuck shook his head. Castiel had to be the luckiest son of a you-know-what in the history of the world. Ever since Cas's execution, he had been making out like a bandit. Become a Demon, do whatever you want, and then just get your Father to take out his magic eraser and make it all go away. And now, not only did everyone love Cas again, but he was still getting all the sex he could handle, maybe even a little bit more than he'd counted on. Must be nice. It was a good thing that Chuck was a good guy now, or he'd be tempted to hate Cas's guts.

Suddenly, Bobby popped into the room. He frowned as he looked at everyone. "What's everybody doing just standing around?" he said irritably.

Gail made a face. She'd gotten so carried away with her own problem, and with Cas, that she'd allowed the break to stretch further than she'd intended.

"I just gave them a break," Cas said quickly. "They needed the rest."

Dean shook his head, smiling. Cas, protecting Gail as always. Dean was so glad that Demon Cas was gone. This was the friend he knew and loved, the Cas that Dean would gladly follow into battle.

Bobby was somewhat mollified, but he was still looking stern, so Gail hastily said, "You heard the boss, everybody." She clapped her hands. "Let's go. Chop chop."

Bobby looked at Cas. "I want to talk to you for a minute." Gail nodded and said, "We'll start without you." She walked to the middle of the floor and started pairing everyone up.

"How are they doing?" Bobby asked Castiel.

Cas gave his assessment, and Bobby looked thoughtful. He seemed to be debating with himself. Finally, he said, "We need them out there, Cas. Crowley called me. He's already got hundreds of Demons roaming around."

Castiel's heart sank. They'd known about this, of course, but it was still disgusting to hear.

"If we're buying into this whole Revelation thing, we've got to find Lucifer before they do," Bobby told Cas. "Besides, I don't trust Crowley, and I definitely don't trust his Demons."

Cas nodded. Bobby was preaching to the choir on that one. "Give me one more day, Bobby," he said. "I'll have them ready for you then." He frowned. "All except for Becky. I don't think she'll ever be good enough. Do you think that selecting her was a mistake?"

Bobby shook his head. "I did think so, at first. But she's got to be one of the designates."

Cas was puzzled. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I asked Matthew about it," Bobby replied.

Castiel's eyes grew wide. "Matthew?" he echoed.

"You know him?" Bobby asked. Then he kicked himself. Of course Cas would know Matthew. They had probably gone to Angel school together.

"Yes, of course I know him," Castiel replied. "He's the last one of them in Heaven now. Mark disappeared, Luke is in the Netherworld, I believe, and John defected to Crowley and was killed in Crowley's den just before Gail escaped from there." Castiel was thoughtful now. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the alleged authors of the Gospels. Cas had had a passing acquaintance with John and Luke before John had defected and Luke had been killed, presumably by John himself. Then Mark had gone missing, probably fearing that he would be next. Rumour had it that he might be on Earth somewhere, hiding out, though exactly who he was hiding from was unclear. Cas had only seen Mark once; a passing glimpse in a hallway in Heaven. But Castiel and Matthew had spent some significant time together in Heaven, talking about theology and philosophy, and playing chess while doing it. Matthew was highly intelligent, and he had offered a worthy challenge, both on the board and in conversation. For someone who had apparently written the Gospels based on God's word, Matthew had certainly played Devil's Advocate very often. But no matter how hard Castiel had tried to pin him down, Matthew had always sprung up again. And he would never exactly admit to having written anything, nor would he talk about any of his alleged fellow Gospel writers. He had expressed shock when John had been killed, though not as much as when John had allegedly killed Luke. Also, Matthew had exhibited no discernible reaction to Mark's disappearance. Castiel supposed that the men who wrote the Gospels, or had supposedly written them, had their own group dynamic, just as the board members had. Just as Cas had now, with the Winchesters and his other group of friends. Gail looked his way and they exchanged brief smiles. There was so much yet that he had to tell her.

"Well, if you know him, you know who he is, and his connection to the Bible," Bobby said now. "So I went to see him, to ask him his opinion about this whole Revelation thing. He told me it's all true. Those were all prophecies, and they were all written by one of his group, though he refused to tell me which one. Could even be Matthew himself, for all I know. Anyway, he said that we have to follow the blueprint if we hope to defeat Lucifer." Bobby reached into his pocket and took out a piece of paper. "He gave me all seven Angels' names, before he and I even started talking. Everyone here is on it, along with your names from Revelation, the names you're supposed to use on Earth, your commendable points, and your 'admonishments', as he called them. I think he's the real deal, Cas. So, Becky stays."

Cas nodded again. He was not about to argue with someone who'd written the Gospel of the Lord, let alone possibly Revelation itself. They would just have to work with it. He looked at Becky now. Gail had paired Becky with Dean now, and Dean was trying his best, but Becky wasn't putting up any kind of a challenge for him. Cas nearly smiled. He could just bet that Gail had switched up the partners to spare Dean for a bit. Gail had paired with Linda herself, and Linda was matching Gail move for move.

"Can we at least keep Becky here in the bunker, then?" Cas said hopefully. "Maybe she can do some computer research for us."

Bobby had been watching Becky too, and he saw Cas's point. Maybe Becky was supposed to be part of the group, but that didn't mean that she should be sent out there to be sacrificed, either. No way was Bobby going to be that kind of God.

"OK, Cas, I think we can work something out," Bobby said soberly. "I'll talk to Sam."

"Ow!" A yell, coming from the training area. The men looked over and saw Gail sinking to the floor, bleeding profusely from the stomach.

Cas raced over to her. He fell to his knees in front of her, putting his hands on her stomach underneath her top. "What happened?" he said.

Gail smiled, grimacing through the pain. "It was my bright idea to graduate to real weapons, and Linda got me good. But you'll be glad to know she went for my flank side first, and I protected it."

Cas looked down at Gail's top. Linda must have really stuck her. Even though he'd raced over here immediately, Gail's top was already soaked with her blood. The sight sickened him, and it sickened him even more to realize that there was a time when it would have excited him. He would never forget about that, as she apparently had. He never would, and he never should.

"Thanks, Cas," Gail said, kissing him on the cheek. She hopped up onto her feet.

Linda was standing there, stunned, the knife in her hand still dripping with Gail's blood. "I'm sorry," she said, appalled at what she had done.

But Gail smiled. "Don't worry about it," she told Linda. Gail looked past her at Bobby and called out, "I think she's ready, Bobby."

The others laughed nervously. They knew that Gail was OK, but it had still been scary to witness. Most of them in the room remembered when Metatron had stabbed Gail to death in Las Vegas, either because they'd seen it with their own eyes, or in a vision. They had been focusing on Lucifer, but now they were reminded that Metatron and Aurielle were out there too, and they had better not forget that.

Bobby could read all of their faces, and though they had just started up again, he thought they would benefit from another break. If they carried on right now, the way they were looking, there would be no point to it. There was no place for doubt in a life-or-death struggle. Bobby would have to remind the Angels of that. And he needed to brief each one individually, using the information that Matthew had given him.

So he called them all to come over to where he stood, and then he said to the humans, "Take five. Get something to eat or make a pot of coffee. I have to talk to the Angels for a bit."

Sam, Dean, Frank and Jody left the room, and Gail looked at Bobby. "Can you give me a second to go home and change my top?" she asked him, looking down at herself.

Bobby nodded. That was probably a good idea. The Angels were all staring at her, and Linda was still looking mortified. "Go," he said to Gail. Then he looked at Cas, who had Gail's blood on him, too. "In fact, why don't you both go and get cleaned up? I'll take each Angel individually and tell them what I need to tell them, and I'll save you two for last."

Cas took Gail's hand, and they vanished from the training room.

Gail had a quick shower, and she emerged from the bathroom wearing fresh clothes. "That's better," Cas said, smiling. "I'll wash up, too."

When he emerged from the washroom, Gail was sitting on the bed, looking thoughtful. Cas went over to where she sat and he sat down beside her.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Cas," she assured him. "Just thinking."

Cas frowned. "What about?"

"Just wondering what's going to happen," she said soberly. "Hoping everyone's going to be all right." Then she smiled. "If I were Lucifer, I'd be scared of Linda, though. She'll kick his ass."

But Cas did not smile. "No matter how many times I tell myself you'll be fine, I can never get used to seeing you hurt like that," he told her.

Gail touched his face, and he took her hand and kissed the palm. "I want you to stay in the bunker with Becky," Cas said to her, bracing himself for her reaction.

Gail did not disappoint. "Why?" she said, taking her hand away from his. "Because I got stabbed in practice? Linda stabbed Dean three times!"

Cas shook his head. "It's not that, Gail."

"What is it, then?" she said, agitated.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you," he said earnestly.

"I don't want anything to happen to me, either," she said with a half-smile. "But we're part of the group, aren't we? Hey, I don't want anything to happen to you, either. I'll tell you what. We'll ask Bobby if we can be sent out together. How's that?"

Cas sighed with relief. "That would be the next best thing, yes," he said to her.

"You're cute when you're protective," she said teasingly. "Aaah, who am I kidding? You're just cute, period."

Cas smiled. "I'm glad you think so. I don't think anyone else in the training room would agree with you right now."

"Who cares?" she said lightly.

He leaned forward to kiss her, and as he'd hoped she might, Gail opened her mouth and gave him her tongue. He loved to kiss her like that; it was so intimate. He wrapped his arms around her as the kiss continued.

Then Castiel broke the kiss. "We should not be doing this right now." But his arms stayed around her.

"You sound like Castiel now," she teased softly.

His brow furrowed. "I AM Castiel," he said, puzzled.

"You know what I mean," Gail said, smiling.

"Yes, I do," he answered. His voice was soft now, too. "And I meant what I said. I am Castiel. You told me I was welcome any time."

But Gail looked puzzled now, and he cursed himself. That was another thing she wouldn't remember. He'd better think of something, quick.

So he kissed her again, as Cas always did, and he lifted her top slightly, touching her bare skin. He had only done that the one time as himself, but he had liked it very much. This time he had panicked, looking only to distract her from what he had just blurted out in his excitement to be doing what he had been doing.

This time Gail broke the kiss. "Well, whoever you are, I still think you could teach a class on how to do that," she breathed, smiling. "But you're right, we shouldn't be doing this now." So, of course, she kissed him again.

Castiel was still touching her bare skin, and he was getting excited now. They needed to stop. But he didn't want to stop. When they went back to the bunker, Bobby was going to send them to seek out Lucifer, Metatron and Aurielle, and they would have to be on their guard at all times. He felt the need to protect Gail, as always, but he also felt the responsibility for all of the Angels who he had been training. Since when had he become the one who was supposed to look out after a flock of Angels? He couldn't even look after himself, most of the time.

But being with Gail always gave him confidence in himself. She had so much faith in him it was amazing to him, and he felt stronger when he was with her. Cas was the one who joked with her and her friends, and he was the one who was intimate with her here. It was Castiel who took on the role of protector and disciplinarian, and it was Cas who got to have all of the fun. Maybe Castiel could let his halo slip just this once, before he had to take them all into battle.

Castiel's hands travelled north, and he was tentatively touching Gail's breasts now. Her skin was so soft that it was unbelievable. He felt very shy about touching her in such an intimate fashion, but Gail was smiling at him and touching his face, giving him the courage he needed to proceed. He kissed her again, using his tongue, and when he received hers in return, he grabbed the bottom of her top and pulled it off over her head.

She started to unbutton his shirt, and when he saw that she was having difficulty, he smiled and took her hands in his. Gail looked at him uncertainly now. His face was different somehow, and though he was smiling, his expression was unreadable.

"Allow me," Castiel said. He unbuttoned his shirt deftly. He knew she'd always had trouble with the buttons on mens' shirts, no matter which of them had been wearing one at the time.

Gail was relieved. She'd thought for a moment that he had been about to stop her. His expression was so strange, so unreadable. And they really shouldn't be taking the time to do this now, when they were needed back at the bunker. But she was starting to feel the gravity of the situation now, too. Lucifer's legend loomed large in her mind, and Gail was afraid for all of them. She had seen Bobby when he'd gotten out of Lucifer's cage, and he had been certifiably insane; so much so that he had had to check himself into a mental hospital. And from everything she had been able to discern, Sam had been the same way, a few years prior. If Lucifer could do that to them, what could he do to her, or to Cas? Or to Chuck, or any of their other friends? And the things that they had read about in Revelation, the events that Lucifer was apparently supposed to bring about? Well then, no one was safe, were they?

Castiel had his shirt off now, and he kissed her again, touching her gently. "This may be the last time we're able to be together like this for a while," he told her, and his expression was serious now.

"I hope not," Gail tried to joke, but she was afraid he might be right.

Castiel made love to her then, for only the second time as himself. He was gentle, and very tentative, so different from the way Cas normally was, and he did not smile. But he held her tightly throughout, and he told her that he loved her, over and over again. And when they were done, he put Gail's clothes back on as if he were dressing a child, kissing her on the forehead when he was done. Then he put his own clothes on and knelt in front of her, touching her face with both hands.

"Thank you," he said to her.

"What for?" Gail said softly. She was extremely puzzled now. She had never seen Cas quite like this before. So quiet; so solemn.

"For everything," he responded. "For loving me. For letting me love you. For the happiest time of my whole existence."

She looked at him sharply. "Don't do that," Gail said.

"Do what?" Castiel asked her.

"Don't say goodbye," she replied. "You sound like you're saying goodbye. Nobody's dying, Cas. Nobody. Do you hear me?" She was raising her voice now, because he was scaring her.

"No, of course not," he said hastily. He had frightened her, when he had simply been trying to express his feelings. "Of course no one is going to die. I was just trying to tell you how much I love you." Castiel leaned forward and gave her one more kiss, a long, slow one, and then Cas took over.

"I think you're right about Linda, though," he said softly in Gail's ear. "If I were Lucifer, I'd be extremely worried."

Gail rewarded him with a laugh, and she embraced him tightly. "I love you, Cas," she said. "Now let's go kick Satan's butt."

They joined hands and winked themselves back to the bunker.

Satan's butt was currently on the edge of the bed, and he was using the remote to flip from channel to channel, fascinated by what he was seeing. Like his Brother Castiel, he was captivated by the variety of the images, and like young Kevin, he had been delighted by the music videos and their overt sexuality. There was a Sin on every station, it seemed, and Lucifer was sure he was going to enjoy his time here on Earth.

"Would you just settle on one thing for a minute?" Aurielle said irritably. The constant changing of images was starting to give her a headache. She was sitting on the other bed, watching him watch the TV. The only things that had held her interest were the scenes of sexuality that were depicted on the screen. Aurielle did indeed have a one-track mind, and she had been fantasizing about herself and Castiel in a multitude of different positions and situations ever since she and Lucifer had gotten here.

"All right, I will," Lucifer said cheerfully. He kept on clicking for a moment, and then he said, "And... boom."

He had landed on the same televangelist show that Castiel had been watching that morning, and that Felicia and Mark had watched later on. OK, this was entertainment, Lucifer thought, smirking. A pudgy, middle-aged guy with a Southern accent, railing on about sin. Like he had any idea what he was talking about. But it was remarkable. His studio audience was listening to him, enthralled, expressions of rapture on their faces.

Lucifer sat up straighter. Rapture. That was it. He continued to watch the man, studying him. And when the program was over, Lucifer turned to Aurielle and grinned.

"We have a plan," he said to her.