A/N 1: *UPDATE* Not sure if notices go out every time I "update" a chapter (vs. adding a new one), but just in case I thought I would mention here that although I have updated the story with a new summary and cover photo, the chapter itself has only been edited for typographical/grammatical errors.

Also, as I am so new to writing fanfic, if anyone has any ideas on how to get a story noticed by more people, please PM me! I'm really not trying to beg for readers here, I'm just not sure what else I could or should be doing. *END UPDATE*


A/N 2: I'd like to say thank you again for the kind reviews, they really do mean so much to this very new writer! I'm updating far more often than I thought I would as a result of the encouragement! This chapter is also a bit longer than the others because I just couldn't reach a logical stopping point (I wanted the story to keep going too! Lol)

As I mentioned last time, I've tried to incorporate more exposition in this chapter so the back-and-forth conversations aren't as difficult to read. I hope this improves the quality. I've also brought a much-loved character into the story so I hope you all enjoy that as well!

**DISCLAIMER** Sadly, I do not have any ownership stake in Supernatural or in the characters portrayed on the show.


Sam ran his fingers through his hair and looked around the room wondering where on earth his brother had disappeared to! He literally could be anywhere! He might not even know where he is himself. He and Cas were so sure that he wouldn't know how to disappear yet that they figured it would be OK to take the demon cuffs off, and now look what's happened! He had no idea what Dean would or wouldn't do as a demon, and THAT'S why he had to find him – fast! Then it dawned on him, the Blade! He ran to Dean's bedroom with Cas trailing right behind. They searched all over, but it was nowhere to be found. Sam had to find his brother and make sure he didn't do anything he would later regret!

With desperation in his voice, Sam asked, "Can you find him Cas?"

Cas sighed and said "With so little grace left, I wouldn't dare to even try, even if he weren't warded. And without my wings, I couldn't find him any faster than you. I don't know, maybe Crowley knows something." So they headed to the dungeon where Crowley had been locked up.

Crowley looked up to find Sam and Cas coming back into the room, without Dean. "Let me guess, family pet ran away?"

"Not even a little funny Crowley, can you find him?" Sam asked.

Exasperated, he shook his head and said "He's got the bloody Mark of Cain gentlemen! I can't just use the demon lojack system to spit out coordinates!" Then he thought about it and said, "However, there is a spell, it's how Dean and I found Cain in the first place, it locates the source of the blade's power, the Mark, but you'll have to let me out of here to get the ingredients, they're very rare and difficult to find."

Sam and Cas looked to each other, but with neither one able to come up with a better idea, Sam grabbed the keys and released Crowley from the demon cuffs and devil's trap.

"Get the ingredients and come right back here to perform the spell!"

"Of course!" Crowley said, and left before they could change their minds.

"There's no way he's coming back." Sam said. "Dean's not going to be found until he wants to be found! Even if the spell could find him, he'll just keep moving around until Crowley finally gives up. That's what I'd do anyway."

Cas sighed, "You're probably right Sam. What do you want to do now?"

"All I know is that I can't give up trying, but we've got to come up with a way to help him when we do find him, so why don't you see what you can get out of Metatron. Maybe if you can get your grace back, and were able to heal Dean of his wounds, he'd want to come back for that. Meanwhile, I'll search the net for signs of where he might be."

"OK, good luck Sam! Pray for me if you need anything and I'll get back here as quickly as I can."

"Thanks, good luck to you too!" Sam said, then added, "Cas? Regardless of what you could do for Dean, I really hope you can get your grace back for YOU too. We need you around man, more than ever!"

That meant a lot to Cas, especially coming from Sam. Cas had always shared a special bond with Dean, but since they had managed to banish Gadreel from possessing Sam, and Dean had taken the Mark of Cain, Cas and Sam had grown close as well. There were times, especially while fighting the war in heaven, that Cas felt the boys only needed him around to do things for them. Of course, they were human after all and couldn't quite comprehend an angelic civil war, but it was nice to feel appreciated, to feel wanted! Not just for what you could do, but for who you were. Cas hadn't always understood that feeling, but his brief time as a human gave him a much deeper understanding of human emotion that his angelic existence could never afford. Now, with his grace almost gone, he was feeling more human every day. On his way back to the portal, Cas wondered what the boys would do without him, in case he wasn't able to solve the problem of his fading grace in time. He understood Sam's desperate drive to save Dean. He felt the same thing, the same need to save Dean's humanity, to save Dean even from himself when necessary.

When Cas arrived in heaven through the portal, Hannah was there to greet him.

"Castiel, what's wrong?" she asked, and got to him just in time to catch him as he collapsed.


"Time to wake up brother." He heard a familiar voice say as he slowly came to consciousness. When he opened his eyes he could hardly believe what he was seeing! Was he dreaming? Was his mind playing tricks on him? Was HE playing a trick on him?

"Gabriel?" He asked.

"He lives! You had us worried there for a while." Gabriel said.

"What's going on? Where am I? Is this real?" Cas asked as he tried to sit up to look around. He recognized it immediately as the eternal Tuesday afternoon in the heaven of an autistic man that Cas always enjoyed retreating to when he needed to be alone with his thoughts.

"I think you know where you are, I discovered this little gem when I was in your mind, and yes, it's real, I'm real, and you're in real trouble my friend."

"What happened?" Cas asked.

"Well, first, you collapsed, then Hannah put an A.P.B. out on angel radio for anyone that could help, preferably an arch angel with the juice to do whatever needed to be done. I guess I couldn't just let you die, could I? So here we are."

"What did you do Gabriel?"

"Don't get too excited there big boy, I just recharged your grace a bit. It's not a permanent fix, but it'll help for a while." And indeed, Cas did feel better.

"I have to get to Metatron to see if anything can be done to open heaven's gates and get our wings back!" Cas said as he tried to get up out of the hammock Gabriel had laid him in to rest.

"Not to mention your grace Cas, we've got to figure out a permanent way to repair or replace your grace too. Heaven needs you brother, and I'm sure Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum do as well."

Cas wondered if Gabriel knew about Dean, what he had done, what he had become? "You've got to get me to Metatron."

"Relax! Metadork is already being taken care of Cas. Hannah found heaven's best 'specialist,' so to speak. But so far, he hasn't said a word. Supposedly, without Daddy's word juicing him up, he's just another angel, but there's something else going on there Cas. I don't know what it is, but he's able to withstand more than any normal angel would."

Cas thought about that for a long while. He knew what heaven's "specialists" were capable of and he doubted even an arch angel could withstand that kind of torture. Then he thought about Dean and wondered if Metatron would be able to endure HIS particular brand of persuasion.

"Gabriel, I need to tell you about Dean. He may be the only one that can get what we need out of Metatron now." Cas then told Gabriel everything he knew, up to and including Dean's price for extracting the information they needed.

"He did WHAT?! He took the freakin Mark of freakin CAIN? The father of MURDER!" Gabriel whistled through his teeth. "Only a Winchester could think 'nothing left to lose' included his own humanity!"

"We've got to get the angels home Gabriel. They've got no business being on earth. They're confused and they don't know how to live among humans. I've also got an idea about my grace, but again, it all depends on giving Dean access to Metatron."

"Ok then! Well, there's no way the angels are going to agree to allowing a demon to torture one of their own, even if it does help them in the long run, not to mention the angel being Megadouche! So, it sounds like we need to stage a prison break my friend!"


It had now been weeks since Dean had disappeared, and Sam was becoming more than a little worried. He was frantically searching everywhere for him. He checked out various safe houses they both knew, and some he only suspected. He searched the internet for the use of any of Dean's or Sam's aliases, he looked out for hunts he thought might have interested him, and in sheer desperation, he even went by Lisa and Ben's to peek in there. Nothing! Even Crowley had given up looking for him!

On his way back to the bunker late one night Sam noticed Cas' pimpmobile parked nearby, with two figures inside. He instantly recognized the driver as Cas, the other looked only vaguely familiar. Noooo! It couldn't be!

"Cas!" Sam yelled over to him. "Is that who I think it is?"

Gabriel got out of the car and greeted Sam, "Hey Sam, good to see ya pal! Say, why don't we get ourselves inside your super-secret hidaway so we're not quite as exposed!"

"Gabriel! Yeah, yeah, of course!" Sam said as he led them inside the bunker.

Once inside they caught each other up. It didn't take long for Sam to explain he was no closer to finding Dean than he was when Cas had left him. It took a bit longer for the angels to catch him up on what was going on in heaven.

Gabriel continued, "So Sam, if we're going to break Metatron out of heaven, we're going to need a spell of some kind. We've transferred almost everyone with any thinking power at all away from the prison, but we had to keep some in place to make sure he didn't break out on his own! Those that are left, we're going to have to subdue somehow. Obviously, we don't want to kill any angels getting him out, so we were hoping we could find something in this Wikipedia you've got down here that could help."

And so the researching began. Hours had passed with no luck at all. Sam couldn't help but think how this was usually about the time they would ask Kevin to find something in the Angel Tablet, but Kevin wasn't here anymore, and it was his hands that had caused it. He looked down at those hands and shook his head. Damn he missed that kid!

"I need a break guys, anyone want something to eat?" Sam asked, but of course they both declined. They were angels and therefore didn't need to eat, but Cas had followed him into the kitchen anyway and asked Sam if he was alright.

Avoiding the question entirely, Sam asked his own, "Shouldn't I be asking you that? How's the power-up Gabriel gave you working out?" Sam asked.

"So far so good, I feel good anyway. I haven't really had a chance to test it out since I'm trying to keep a low profile to both preserve the grace that's left and to keep heaven from knowing where I am or what I'm up to. Somehow we've got to get word to Dean though, to let him know we're bringing Metatron down."

"You know what he wants to do Cas, you ok with that?" Sam asked.

"I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but yeah, if that's what it takes to get the angels where they belong, to open heaven to the dead souls in the veil, and to get my grace so I can help Dean, then Gabriel and I both agree, Metatron brought this on himself."

Just then Gabriel came in, "There you are! Thought maybe you two snuck off for a little '7 minutes in heaven!' None of my business, but if you two think you could pry yourselves away from each other, I think I might have found something!" He pointed to a section of the book he was holding as he handed it to Castiel. "It's a spell that puts angels to sleep for a few minutes. Not permanently of course, and by the sound of it, probably not for very long, but maybe for long enough."

Cas began looking it over when suddenly Sam's phone began to ring, startling everyone. Sam didn't recognize the number, but that wasn't all that unusual so he answered, "Hello?"

"Hey Sammy" came the unmistakable and most welcome voice he had ever heard!

"DEAN! Where are you? Are you OK?" Sam had to force himself to stop shooting questions at him so Dean would have a chance to answer.

"Whoa, slow down there little brother. I'm OK, but I'm not going to tell you where I am, at least not yet. I'll probably be somewhere else by tomorrow anyway. But how are you?"

Exasperated, Sam replied, "I'm fine. Wait, no, I'm not fine Dean! I'm worried about YOU, tell me you haven't done anything that can't be fixed! No, you know what? It doesn't matter because there isn't anything we can't fix together, just tell me where you are man! I'll come get you!"

Gabriel nodded to Cas and whispered "I'm gonna see if I can find the ingredients we need for this spell and give this 3-way bromance some alone time!"

"Now Sam," Dean said, "if I thought we should be together right now it'd probably be a lot easier to just zap myself back to the bunker wouldn't ya think?" Sam couldn't argue the logic in that, but he so desperately wanted to be with his brother again!

"Dean, Cas here!" Cas said.

"Cas! Glad you're there. Hey Sammy, talk about having an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, huh?!" Dean laughed.

Cas didn't find it amusing. "We need to talk Dean." Cas then went on to explain what he and Gabriel were planning.

"Gabriel huh? So Lucy didn't get him after all. Well good on him, though it probably would have been nice if he had sacked up and helped out a few times over the years! Alright Sam, you gotta get Metatron there just like we did the first time we brought Crowley in, not that he'll ever get out of there alive to tell anyone, but I don't want him trying to hail anyone on angel radio either."

"Of course Dean, does this mean you're coming home?" Sam asked with hope in his voice.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world! But Sammy, don't get your hopes up about my sticking around – and if anyone tries to get those cuffs anywhere near me or tries to trap me, it'll be the LAST time you see me! I'll call you back tomorrow." Click.