Dean blinked as he suddenly found himself back in the motel room. Sam was sleeping albeit a bit fitfully. Seeing who was sitting beside the bed caused a growl to form in Dean's throat.
"How is he?" God asked as she appeared beside the bed looking down at Sam.
"He's beginning to devlop a low grade fever but other than that fine." Gabriel said as he bit into his candy bar. "Hey Deano! Looks like Mamma Mia found you, and you don't look too happy. Not liking the truths she's showing you?"
"Get away from Sammy you dick!" Dean said lunging forward.
"No can do big guy. I have my orders." Gabriel waved his candy bar in God's direction. "Mommy Dearest charged me with watching over him until you finish your little trip down memory lane. And believe me having her as your guide is a lot more enjoyable than having me.
I end up falling on My own sword for you and Sam thanks to Luci and the first thing I have to do when I get back is round up Leviathans and toss them back in Purgatory. I am so not a happy camper right now."
"Gabriel, Just do what I asked you to do and stop antagonizing Dean." God said. "I only brought him back here to see that Sam is still alive, although he is getting sicker."
"I'll keep an eye on him. I'll let you know if he starts getting close to seriously ill." Gabriel said snapping up an issue of Mad Magazine.
"Thank you, Dean it's time for us to go." God said waving her hand only for the two of them to appear on a suburban street that Dean quickly recognized.
"What do Lisa and Ben have to do with anything?" Dean asked.
"Do you think that your choices were made in a bubble? The decisions you make affect effect everyone you come in contact with. You chose to come to them, you chose to follow Sam's last wish when he threw himself into the pit. But did you think about how those decisions would effect others?"
God asked. "You became a part of their lives. Even knowing that it meant dragging them into the life of a hunter. But why did you make that choice? You were never happy here for all that you tried to fool yourself into believing that you were. Why do you think you were so willing to to go with Sam when he finally showed up here?"
"Sam asked me to try." Dean said.
"It's not the first or last time Sam made a request of you, requests that you ignored." God studied the house. "You even knew it was a bad idea before you showed up on their doorstep. Sam wanted you to try to have a normal life yes, but do you think that he truly wanted you to drag others into something that he had fought so hard to get away from? Would Sam have really wished them to be targeted by demons, to be used as hostages?"
"Okay it was a bad decision, I get it." Dean snarled.
"Do you really? Because as I recall Castiel cleaned up this mess for you." God said. "Sound familiar? Isn't that what you expected me to do when it came to the Apocalypse, what you expected Gabriel to do when you made your grand speech back in that warehouse?"
"Let's try another point in time." God waved her hand again and Dean found himself in a motel room where a child was screaming on a bed while Castiel touched the child's soul. God shook her head. "You know Sam better than anyone else on this Earth and yet how long did you stick your head in the sand until you just couldn't live in denial any longer? You had seen the signs you knew something was wrong with Sam but you simply closed your eyes and let it continue."
"Sam had been in the cage! For all I knew it was from his experience there." Dean said.
"You didn't spend time in hell and come back as yourself? You never questioned? You just accepted that this was a side effect?" God crossed her arms. "You can do better than that."
"There was a lot going on." Dean said.
"Granted, but when has that ever taken precedence over Sam's well being? When did anything ever take precedence over Sam?" God asked. "You did finally get your head out of your ass and fix it with a little help from a mutual friend. An opportunity he took on my behalf to try to teach you a simple lesson one you did not learn, or perhaps did not take to heart. You still couldn't see beyond the moment."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.
"You only saw the immediate results of letting the child live. You didn't see how you effected the world. Every decision you make has far reaching consequences and they come back to you. Would you like an example? Castiel and the now returned to Purgatory Leviathans."
"Cas is the one who betrayed us by working with Crowley!" Dean argued.
"Yes he did but did you ever stop to think why?" God asked. "Castiel is a child, for all that he witnessed the formation of this world. A child who was sent here by Zachariah. In fact they are all children, only the Archangels could be considered adults and at times they are even more childish than the seraphs. All Castiel knows of human behavior he learned watching you and Sam."
"You want me to believe that Castiel doesn't know anything about us if he's been watching that long?" Dean snorted.
"There's a big difference between watching and experiencing Dean. Castiel only gained perspective by experiencing the interactions between you and your brother." God said. "How do you think he interpreted your behavior towards Sam in the days leading up to Lucifer's release from the cage? You taught him distrust."
"Wait just a minute!" Dean said.
"You never gave Sam your complete trust." God said. "Yes Sam had fallen under Ruby's spell and you even fell for it a bit didn't you? How did you handle that situation again? In full John Winchester style you attempted to control him. Did you forget how well that turned out with John? You pushed him away from you when he rebelled against being treated like like a well trained dog. All the while you spouted words about how he was your brother and you had to take care of him like he was a toddler who hadn't even mastered potty training. Do you think that Castiel never learned that lesson from you?"
"Taking care of Sam is my job." Dean said.
"Take care of him, not smother him, not expect him to look at you as if you were well, me." God said. "Instead of letting go of the apron strings, you simply wound them tighter. Had you put more trust in Sam then Ruby and Lucifer would not have had that to use against him. Had you tried to show the same faith in him that he tried to show in you, but you wouldn't."
"I don't see what my relationship with Sam has to do with Castiel." Dean said.
"Did you ever think that maybe, just maybe you gave Crowley the opening that he could exploit? Castiel was facing a war in heaven, I think it speaks volumes that after all the help he gave you, he didn't trust you to be at his side when he needed your help." God said. "After seeing how you treated Sam, do you believe that he would expect you to have more faith and understanding for an angel? After all you think that they are all feathered dicks right?"
"I'm not the only one that's screwed up and made mistakes." Dean said "Sam made mistakes and Castiel too."
"I'm aware of the mistakes that others have made Dean, but this little chat is not about others it's about you and your mistakes. You're the one who put yourself out there as the General of Team Free will. When an army wins the war, it's the general that gets the credit because he leads the army. When an army loses a war it's the general that gets the blame. You set yourself up to be the general, you have to accept responsibility for the mistakes of your team." God said. "Castiel and Sam paid for their mistakes they have done penance. What penance have you done?"
"I went to hell." Dean snarled.
"Oh yes, 30 years on the rack and then you broke and picked up a blade. No more being on the receiving end those last 10 years. And even during the first 30 you knew that you could stop the torture at any time. I'm quite sure that's comparable to 100 years plus stuck in a cage with two enraged archangels and not having any hope of making them stop using you for a chew toy. I'm sure Sam's time in hell was a walk in the park. And when his soul was rescued by Death, Lucifer had managed to bury a piece of himself deep in Sam's psyche to continue to torture him through hallucinations. Sam has paid dearly for his mistakes." God's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Castiel took Sam's madness onto himself to make amends to your brother for the wrongs that Castiel had done to him, and let's not forget Castiel being dragged to Purgatory along with you and Dick Roman. He left your side because he was being hunted by Leviathans. The first thing Dick Roman did was to put a bounty on his head. You did show loyalty in finding him, I grant you that. You did try to rescue him and I'll grant you that also. But Purgatory was Castiel's penance. He made a mistake, one he wanted to atone for; it's why he allowed the vampire to bring you back and stayed behind with Leviathan hunting him.
Purgatory was bad but believe me it could have been much worse. Castiel ran a lot of interference for you; he kept the worst things away from you Distracted a lot of the monsters that had a personal vendetta against you for sending them there, and threw himself in the path of the Leviathan that got too close."
God tilted her head in that angelic way. Dean was reminded of Castiel. "Gabriel tells me that Castiel has joined him. Shall we continue your lesson since Sam has two angel's watching over him?"