Arael was irritated. Sure it was nice letting Dean meet his parents before they were his parents, but she hated time travel. Half the time the lower angels couldn't even get the poor bastard in the right timeline, though from the feel of it Castiel had help from an arch angel.

She remembered Sealtiel, though she only trusted Gabriel at this point.

She stayed awake for a short time, letting Dean handle this mess. She only made sure that he returned to his timeline.

It was easy to find it...she just made sure she wasn't still in the pit.

"I'm so bored...this is somewhat an odd feeling for me..." whined Arael.

Dean took that as a good sign considering how turn up she had been when he had found her. If she could feel boredom, the she wasn't concentrating on how much pain she had been in. If that was the case then he would happily let her borrow his body so long as he didn't feel tired in the morning.

Sam didn't care and let her use his laptop so long as she agreed to use the headphones and didn't keep him awake wanking all damn night like Dean had a few times.

Arael had laughed at Dean's indignant shout and agreed to avoid those sites for now, to Dean's annoyance.

It was surprising easy for the brothers to accept that there was an angel borrowing Dean's head, even if her powers were rather weak at the moment.

She could do something, but at the moment it was safer all around for all of them if she pretended to not be there. The last thing they needed was for the angels to learn that she was inside Dean when she was supposed to be in the pit. If they really needed the help, she could turn Dean into another Rider...and she occasionally tortured Dean with visions of his beloved car after he got the upgrade.

Dean didn't know whether to drool at the idea of such a badass car, or fear for his baby. It was a fifty-fifty split.

Arael was yawning from watching a bunch of really old monster movies she had found, so it came as a surprise when she recognized one of the bar wenches.

"What...the...hell?"

'What?'

"That bar wench looks like Mina from the really old Dracula movie. How weird."

'No more late night monster movie marathons for you. We get enough of that hunting thank you!'

Arael snorted before she went to sleep.

A few days later however she took control from Dean and showed a picture of the really old black and white cinema form of the Wolfman.

To the shock of Dean and Sam the witness confirmed that was what he saw, down to the last detail.

Arael felt rather smug.

"How?"

"She's been watching the old black and whites while we're sleeping. How did you know?"

"I told you I recognized Mina. Now think boys, what sort of beastie do you know that can take the form of many monsters?" asked Arael amused.

Dean openly cursed.

"There's a damn shape shifter on the loose," said Dean. He hated shape shifters, almost as much as he hated demons and hell hounds. It was because of a shifter that he had been put on the FBI's most wanted list!

"One with a love of the classics apparently," said Sam dryly.

"Right. Time to gank a bar wench," said Dean sourly. On the plus side, at least they had a heads up about what it was...even if it was because the angel in his head was an old movie nut.

A few hours later, Arael went right to sleep when Dean picked up the other bar maid. She had no interest in that. At least not with a girl.

Arael was irritated. Dean had been infected with Ghost Sickness, and to insure he didn't suddenly drop dead of heart failure she had taken full control.

Sam wasn't happy, and they had a limited amount of time before Dean was fully infected by this crap. They were waiting to call Bobby because Sam didn't want him to freak out over Arael...or hit them for not telling him to start with.

Arael had to knock Dean out to shut his panicked ramblings from annoying her further. She drew the line when Dean freaked out over a little lap dog.

"Let's go and find out what the good sheriff knows about this mess," said Areal.

"Do you have to do that echo voice effect?" asked Sam.

"Can you think of a better way to prove to Bobby I'm not a demon?" asked Arael.

Besides, she had recently started to watch some of the more popular Sci-Fi shows, starting with Stargate SG-1. She thought that voice effect was pretty amusing.

"It's just weird is all," said Sam.

"At least you don't have to worry about me hitting on everything female in sight," said Arael. Sam snorted in agreement.

A few hours later Sam finally called Bobby in. He had to, because Arael was forced to put her full attention on Dean to keep him alive and not panicked.

Apparently even Ghost Sickness couldn't beat the experience Dean had with hell. He trusted Arael completely, and he knew she wouldn't let him die.

"So let me get this straight... Dean is currently meditating to avoid dying while we kill this ghost? What do you take me for, an idjit?" snapped Bobby.

Dean didn't meditate. He was too active for that.

Sam sighed. He had been wanting to avoid telling Bobby, but Arael settled it for him.

"For the love of God, tell him already! It's not like he wouldn't have noticed like you did!" said Arael. Bobby jumped. That was NOT Dean.

"Bobby wait! Dean's in there, but he brought someone with him from the pit."

"He's possessed?"

"Arael's not a demon. I put him through all the usual tests and even exorcised him in a devil's trap. Dean found an angel in the pit...one who hasn't fallen," said Sam quickly.

"How do I know this 'angel' didn't trick you both?" growled Bobby.

"Because I'm the source of the Ghost Rider's powers," snapped Arael.

Sam blinked.

"Seriously?"

"Mephistopheles' favorite torture. He ripped out my Grace and shoved it into his Riders and forced me to power them. If the current one hadn't found a way to return it I wouldn't have regained my sanity long enough for Dean to see me. Though because I left before he regain his position, he now has Lucifer's Grace," said Arael. And that had amused her to no end. Mephistopheles' son, shoving the Grace of the same angel who created demons to begin with.

She wondered how the bastard would take that news...or even if he knew that she had escaped his prison.

"If you're an angel, where's your wings?" demanded Bobby. If he saw wings he might believe this spirit.

Arael's eyes grew cold.

"My wings were the first thing they took. I've been in the pit for centuries Robert Singer, and they took great pleasure in ripping out each feather and forcing me to heal while I was forced to power the Riders. There's a reason why Castiel didn't notice I had hitched a ride with Dean when he took him out of the Pit," snapped Arael with an angry hiss.

Bobby raised a hand in surrender. He would put down a devil's trap for Dean to walk through later before he believed this angel, but for now they had no choice but to trust them. Arael was the only thing keeping Dean alive.

A few hours later, Bobby watched as Dean walked through the devil's trap without even pausing. He felt something unclench inside him.

Dean wasn't a demon.

He then slapped both of them on the head.

"OW!" yelped Dean.

"That's for not telling me sooner, ya idjit!"

Sam didn't complain, mostly because they did deserve it for not trusting Bobby.

"So where to next?" asked Dean.

"The deadline for Samhain to rise is coming up soon."

"Samhain?" said Dean aloud for their benefit.

"Samhain is the demon who began the whole Halloween myth. People used to dress up to hide from him. Eventually it became the commercial nonsense you know today. He can only rise once every six hundred years, and unfortunately for you two, that happens to be this year."

"What's she saying?" asked Sam. Bobby raised an eyebrow...he had thought Dean was sharing his head with a boy angel.

"She said that the deadline for Samhain to rise is this year. If he misses it he'll have to wait another six hundred years. Thing is she had no idea where he'll come up."

"What does he need to rise?" asked Bobby.

"Three deaths via witchcraft over three days. The third death will become his new body," said Arael.

"Three deaths by a witch over three days. Last death is the new body," said Dean.

"Can Arael tell where the witch is?"

"Considering how important this is, Lilith will likely use an experienced witch. I can tell if a soul is older than the body, but that's about it. I can also sense demons."

"She can sense if the witch is hiding in a younger body. Said that Lilith will likely used a more experienced witch to bring Samhain out," said Dean.

"How does this angel know about the seals?" asked Bobby.

Dean's eyes flashed as Arael took control. Bobby noticed that the eyes were a bright blue instead of the green he was so used to.

"Just because I was being tortured into insanity didn't mean I couldn't listen. The demons bragged about the first seal breaking and some of them were eagerly talking about Lucifer being set free by Lilith. Dean was in too much pain to hear them, but they spoke of which seals Lilith might break. The rest I learned from my garrison commander," said Arael.

"Who was your commander?"

"Gabriel. He left centuries ago because he was sick of the fighting between Micheal and Lucifer, shortly after God left. It was because of Micheal that I was in the pit in the first place...he wanted to have one of the lower angels replace him to keep the peace."

"How were you captured?" asked Bobby.

"Word of Micheal's plans leaked to the demons, and they sent an arch demon out without us knowing. I screamed for them to come help, but Micheal ignored me. If Dean hadn't let me borrow his body, I would still be in that pit," said Arael. Her tone was full of anger and suffering. Bobby shivered. Any doubts he had about Arael vanished hearing that.

Then he remembered something he had heard offhand from a neutral witch doctor.

"I've heard that Gabriel's been hiding in some church. One of my old friends mentioned that one of the better exorcists over there bitched about his self-righteous attitude a lot."

"Samhain first, then we see if it's Gabriel. Arael needs a lot of healing before she can be of any help to us, and she's still really pissed with the other arch angels. He's the only one she trusts," said Dean.

Bobby grunted in agreement. He could give them directions once they dealt with this demon and stopped the rising.

Sam took one look at the sexy cheerleader and hissed at Dean, "Two words: Jail Bait."

Dean was about to reply when Arael beat him to it.

"Two words. Old Hag," she countered.

Dean took another look at the cheerleader when he heard that. If Arael said that this was a witch, he would trust her. After all, none of the teens had noticed an older person slip the hex bag, and he knew they could change their appearance.

They followed the girl into a secluded alley before they killed her. They hid the body so that they could make sure there wasn't a second witch.

Dean and Sam went back to the hotel shortly after interviewing the art teacher, who Arael said was the second witch only to run into a major problem.

Castiel and Uriel. Arael hissed at the taller one.

Sam noticed Castiel looking at Dean oddly before he found something. The angel who looked past his little demon blood problem long enough to shake his hand also slipped something into his palm.

Sam slipped it into his pocket before Uriel saw it.

When the angels left, Sam looked at the paper. It was in a language he couldn't read, so he handed it over to Dean to see if Arael could.

"'We need to talk'," read Arael.

Once they killed the second witch (after looking up his home address) before midnight even came, Arael set up an angel-proof place so they could speak without heaven overhearing them. Castiel appeared once it was done and stepped inside.

"I have asked around Heaven. There are conflicting stories, but Sealtiel remembers Micheal sending one of Gabriel's garrison commanders to Earth."

Arael took control and Castiel noticed immediately.

"So someone finally learned the truth?" she asked bitterly. Castiel didn't blame her in the least.

"If I had known you were down there I would have taken you too," said Castiel.

Arael looked at him, searching his soul. Castiel let her, not hiding anything.

"Will wonders never cease, one of Micheal's angels who isn't a sycophantic asshole," said Arael in open surprise.

"What happened?"

"An arch demon caught wind of Micheal's great plan and set a trap. I screamed for a week before they dragged my broken body to the pit and tortured me for centuries. Mephistopheles' favorite torture was forcing humans to take my Grace and turning them into the Riders. If the current one hadn't willingly let it go, I might not have caught Dean's attention at all."

"A demon used your Grace to create the Ghost Riders?" said Castiel horrified. The thought of having his Grace ripped out and forced into the same humans they were meant to save...it was no wonder Astarael went insane.

"Dean saw me in the pit, and when the demons were distracted by your rescue allowed me to use him as a vessel so I can heal and hopefully go home. I will say this, even if I do return to heaven I am never trusting the arch angels again. They are liars and betrayers," said Arael angrily.

"I told Sealtiel about my suspicions... he has agreed to keep his silence until the others find out on their own."

Arael looked openly surprised at that admission...then again Sealtiel had been rather close to Gabriel. The two were pranking buddies.

"What do you plan to do now, Astarael?" asked Castiel.

"I'm going to find Gabriel. He's the only one I trust who can heal me enough that I can actually do some good before the seals are broken."

Castiel nodded.

"I can possibly restore you enough that you can hear the chatter," he offered.

Arael looked surprised. Clearly Castiel was different from the other angels. Most of them wouldn't hesitate to abandon her after the ordeal she went through.

"Thank you," she said in honest surprise.

Castiel put his hand on Dean's head, and let some of his Grace reach Astarael. She could feel the warmth of it and knew Castiel was definitely unlike the others in heaven. He genuinely cared about the humans and he was unhappy with the fact that they had abandoned her when she had cried for help.

Hearing the voices of heaven again really brought her tears of joy.

"I will do what I can to help find Gabriel, but he's been hiding for centuries," said Castiel.

"We have a lead. One of Bobby's friends said that one of the exorcists is in regular contact with an angel claiming to be Gabriel," said Sam.

"If the exorcist is John Constantine, I should warn you that it's not Gabriel. That particular angel is a seraph from Uriel's garrison by the name of Kirael. She takes great pleasure in reminding humanity of it's faults," warned Castiel.

Dean retook control so Arael could absorb the Grace properly.

"Then I will have great fun in blowing her cover," said Dean. Constantine will likely be pissed about the ruse as well, and would be happy to remind the angels that they didn't belong on Earth.

"I will try to help where I can. However because I have been asking about Astarael the others are starting to take note of my actions," warned Castiel.

"You've already done more than they have. If push comes to shove you can travel with us for a while," said Dean. Sam nodded in agreement.

Castiel vanished, and the two left after making sure that the demon wouldn't rise.