A/N: I'm glad the site's back to behaving. :D You all rock so much. :) See the first chapter for the disclaimer. The title and lyrics at the end are "Bitter" by Nine Days, which I also don't own. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and please review.


Bitter

Dean and Castiel enter the motel room after their lunch and drive in the rain, finding Bobby standing in the corner toweling off his neck. "You're an idjit, you know that?" he starts immediately.

"I'm aware of that," Dean replies, shrugging off his wet coat and plopping onto his bed.

"You live to make your brother feel like shit?"

Dean groans, but doesn't answer Bobby's question. Instead, his worry comes through. "Where is he?"

"In the shower. Answer my question."

"This isn't something that's easily forgiven, Bobby. He brought on the end of the freaking world!"

Castiel coughs from the perch he has taken on the sofa, causing the two hunters to turn to him. "Sorry," he apologizes. "Piece of pie in my throat."

Bobby looks back at Dean, who watches Castiel with brotherly concern. A look that doesn't go unnoticed by Bobby. "You alright, Cas?" the elder Winchester asks.

"Fine."

"Your brother's not," Bobby interjects, picking his fight up again with Dean.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Dean shoots back. "Hold his hand and tell him it's not a big deal, that it's not his fault while Lucifer's armies are massacring and burning innocent people just for the hell of it?"

"You think he doe'n't feel bad enough as it is?"

"He should!"

"He can hear you, you know," Sam interrupts sadly, walking out of the bathroom and flopping onto his bed.

Dean ignores Sam's comment, glaring at Bobby.

"How're you feelin', Sam?" the older hunter asks, his voice gentle despite the anger portrayed on his face. Anger that's currently only directed at Dean.

"Just peachy," Sam mutters into the pillow.

Dean and Bobby go back to their silent argument for a while until Castiel steps forward.

"Fighting isn't going to save the world from Lucifer," the fallen angel observes, causing two of the three hunters in the room to look at him.

"I thought you angels were supposed to be on top of this," Dean snaps. "After all, this is what you guys wanted."

"Once we knew it would be almost inevitable, Dean. Our goal had originally been to stop the breaking of the 66 seals."

Dean half-glares. "Bang up job."

Castiel rolls his eyes, tired of Dean's irritability. "We did the best we could, Dean." Despite the feelings of rage starting to build up inside him, Castiel manages to stop short of blaming Dean for starting this to begin with, as the angel knows he and Dean are the only two in the room aware of that fact.

And besides, the fault doesn't lie with Dean. The prophet Chuck has seen it, and the prophet Chuck has written it. No one's supposed to change that. It's fate.

Yet he and Dean have changed fate… sort of.

"Castiel has a point," Bobby finally concedes, trying to dissipate some of the tension in the room. Which is no small task, given that Bobby's angry at Dean, Dean's angry at Sam, and Sam's depressed. "Now, we need to figure out how to fight Lucifer."

"We can't kill him," Sam mumbles from the pillow.

"So, how do we lock him up?"

The two older hunters look at Castiel.

"Not with a devil's trap," Castiel says in an attempt at humor. Which, unfortunately, falls flat.

"Might help to find him first," Sam mutters.

"If you're gonna talk, get your face out of the damn pillow," Dean snaps.

Bobby swats at Dean, hitting the younger man in the arm. Despite this, Sam turns his head out of the pillow.

"We need to find Lucifer before we can do anything else," the younger Winchester repeats, not looking at anyone in the room.

"Never should've been let out of hell in the first place," Dean grumbles, and Bobby grabs the older Winchester by the scruff of his neck and drags him out of the motel room and into the rain.

*~*~*~*

"Look," Bobby starts the second the door to the room closes. "I know Sam screwed up, but throwing it back in his face every chance you get isn't going to help anything."

Dean glares, but doesn't say anything.

"Cut the kid a break for now. Yell at him more later. Can't you see he feels bad enough as it is?"

"He should," Dean gripes.

"How would you feel if you were him?" Bobby asks. "You just let out the one man who will destroy humanity as you know it, and if that's not bad enough, the one person you've always looked up to your entire life is throwing it back in your face. You might not care for him right now, but that kid still cares what you think about him."

Dean feels pangs of guilt stab him in the gut, if for no other reason than he does know how Sam feels. After all, he started this. Yet, Dean's not giving up the fight. "I'm not gonna friggen hold his hand and tell him he didn't screw up!"

"I'm not saying that. Just don't say anythin'."

Dean scoffs. "Oh, 'cuz that's a whole helluva lot better."

"Dammit, Dean. Stop bein' so damn stubborn. All you Winchesters. You're all stubborn as the day is long."

Dean shrugs.

*~*~*~*

Castiel sits with Sam, who is still lying on his stomach and staring at the wall. "It's not fault that lies with you, Sam," Castiel says, trying to give the younger Winchester a pep talk. "It's fate."

Sam shakes his head. "It's nice of you to say that, Cas, but I know that I messed up bad," the young hunter says.

"Sam, it's not as bad as you think. If you hadn't have broken that seal, someone else would have. Ruby just used your anger toward Lilith to her advantage."

"She's been manipulating me for years. Dean's right. And I let her do it because I thought I was going to get something out of it. And the only thing I got was everything thrown right back in my face."

Castiel frowns.

"I'm an idiot," Sam continues. "And Dean has every right to be pissed off at me and to hate me. Hell, the world should hate me. They're all going to die because of me."

"You and Dean will stop Lucifer," Castiel assures him.

"How, Cas? He could be anywhere in the world right now. And if he ends up somewhere out of driving range, I doubt Dean's gonna go chase him. Dean hates flying."

Castiel shrugs. "Dean can find strength to do anything when he needs to."

"He still only lasted thirty years in Hell. And now, Hell's here on Earth. That's why it won't stop raining."

Castiel knit his brows together. "It doesn't rain in Hell."

Sam finally looks over at Castiel.

"What has Dean told you about Hell?" Castiel treads lightly.

"Not much," Sam replies. "He says he can't describe it, but he was tortured for thirty years before he became the torturer."

"Hell carves the humanity out of its victims. It slices them until they jump off the rack and become the demons that you and Dean have fought off your entire lives. Even if you think they still have some humanity in them, they truly don't."

"Are you saying Dean's a demon?"

Castiel shakes his head. "Dean was not down there long enough to transform."

"But he still jumped off the rack and started torturing people."

"Dean broke. He didn't change."

Sam shrugs, knowing he can't win against the angel.

"Hell is unspeakable," Castiel continues. "It is meant to punish the humans God didn't want in Heaven. The demons punish them for being human in the first place. Those who follow Lucifer get spared and freed to walk the Earth."

Sam nods. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Two years ago, before Ruby came along, a Hell's gate got opened in Wyoming."

"I'm aware."

"What happened to the souls we let out? The ones who weren't demons. Were they sent back to Hell?"

"John was not," Castiel says, answering the question Sam really meant to ask.

Sam furrows his brow, confused.

"John was brought to Heaven, where he rightfully belonged for saving as many people as he did. He only went to Hell because of the deal."

"So, when Dean dies again…"

"He will be in Heaven."

"But I'm going to Hell," Sam sighs painfully.

"I… didn't say that," Castiel replies.

"You don't have to. Anyone who lets Lucifer roam free should be sent to Hell to be punished."

"Hell would actually appreciate you."

Sam groans. "And Heaven wouldn't want me."

Castiel says nothing because he doesn't know the answer, but Sam takes that to mean that the hunter's suspicions are right. He pulls his knees upwards toward his chest, frowning.

"What did I do, Cas?" he asks sadly. "How did I let it get this far?"

"Stubbornness," Castiel replies.

Sam's breath comes out more like a whimper.

"There is time to make things right, Sam," Castiel says. "You're not dead yet."

"No, but if Dean has his way, I will be," Sam replies, fighting back tears.

"Dean would never kill you."

"Wanna bet?"

"You may aggravate him sometimes, but deep down, Dean still cares about you. And he always will, no matter what you do. He wants to protect you from pain, and gets angry when you end up hurting yourself. You releasing Lucifer and the anger Dean feels isn't as much about you as it is that he failed you."

Sam flinches, but whispers, "he didn't fail me."

"He feels like he does," Castiel replies. "And you know how difficult it can be to convince Dean otherwise."

Sam nods slightly.

"You two will be okay."

Sam scoffs lightly. "Yeah. It just won't be in this lifetime."

*~*~*~*

Bobby practically throws Dean through the door of the motel room, both of the hunters soaking wet. "Now then," Bobby says. "Let's work on finding Lucifer."

"The search could take a while," Castiel explains. "The demons will make sure of that."

"So, what then?" Dean starts. "We just sit back and let the angels tell us what to do?"

"The prophet Chuck may have an answer."

"And you're sure the archangel won't come after you?"

"They would have killed me by now."

Dean nods. "Well, let me change first before I go grab him." Dean shoots a pointed glare at Bobby before rummaging through his bag and disappearing into the bathroom.

"I'll get Chuck," Sam says, standing from the bed. He grabs his coat and walks out the door, leaving Bobby and Castiel alone.

"You get anywhere with him?" Bobby asks, nodding toward the door Sam just walked out.

"I don't believe so," Castiel replies.

"Yeah, same here with Dean."

"You didn't expect to, though."

"Damn Winchesters are always so damn stubborn."

"And bitter," Dean says, walking out of the bathroom and glaring at Bobby.

"So you got a little wet," Bobby says. "Get over it, Princess."

Dean rolls his eyes.

You carry your blues behind your eyes
Don't flatter yourself, I will survive
So carry your blues, your own denial
Your feathers are gone, you'll never fly

If I could change anything
Then I would wipe the years away
If I could change anything
Then I would brush the time away
If I could change anything
Then I would change everything
These bitter days shall remain