Chapter 8: Burden of the Mighty part two

Jeannette led Castiel to an apartment complex where she took him up to her little apartment. It was small but had a more comfortable atmosphere than a motel room did. He was led to her kitchen table where she went to a cabinet and pulled out a little white box. He sat still as Jeannette took a piece of gauze dipped in rubbing alcohol and cleaned the cut on his head.

"You know," she said as she cleaned it. "You know my name but I never caught yours."

"It's Castiel."

"Castiel? That's a pretty name." She turned his head a bit as she looked him over. "You seem okay. I don't think you have a concussion. Is your head feeling okay?"

"I am feeling a bit of a sting but I think that might be from that alcohol you used," he said bluntly.

Jeannette smiled at him as she got a tiny bandage for his head. "You know most guys try to sound tough and just say fine but not you."

He hoped that he didn't do something wrong. "I'm sorry if I have offended you."

"No, no," she said quickly. "It's nice…different. You're different. Everything about you is different from your name to how you talk. I like it."

She leaned in to apply the medical tape over his cut. He felt a bit more stings before she finished.

"Thank you," he mumbled as she went to pack up her first aid kit. "You never had to trouble yourself over me Jeannette."

She waved it off. "You can call me Jean and it was nothing. I'm glad that someone is leaving my side today okay."

Castiel could see that Jeannette looked quite shaken and her eyes were slightly shining. He may not be too versed in picking up emotions in others yet but he could see that Jeannette was feeling quite upset. It wasn't difficult to see why she was.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all that today. I'm sure Teddy wouldn't want you to feel so sad because of him. He just wanted to help you."

Jeannette rubbed at her eyes. "I know but that's not why I'm upset. I'm not upset because of Teddy but for him. He was starting his senior year at the university and he was so excited about starting an internship in a month but that was taken all from him in an instant…all for my sake. His family must be devastated too." She went to lean against the refrigerator. "What upsets me most…is that when Teddy was stabbed, for a moment, I was relieved that I hadn't been the one to get hurt. That's what really hits me. I hated that I thought that as Teddy was bleeding at my feet." Tears were now freely falling from her eyes.

When he saw that she was heavily crying he stood up from the chair and took her head into his chest. She cried into him as he wrapped his arms around her torso to hold her as she let loose all her anguish and guilt. Castiel wished he still had his wings to further wrap around her to help her feel more at ease but he hoped that what he was doing would be enough.

"It's alright Jeannette. What you felt was a case of relief and it's very…human."

"Then humans stink. Maybe what you had said earlier was spot on. Maybe we have been portrayed negatively lately because lately that's all we can be."

"No, not always. The difference is what you're feeling now. You are not part of the negative side of humanity. The ones that are negative are the ones that threatened you and took Teddy's life. They are without remorse and regret and if they weren't then they would have turned themselves in to face up to what they've done. You aren't in the wrong and you feel so much for Teddy. Remorse and that is just as human as the relief and is one of the best thing about humans."

She squealed through her tears. "It still stinks."

"I think I agree."

He didn't know how long they had been standing there staring at each other letting her tears run their course. When they dried out they kept their solemn gazes on each other. Castiel didn't know why but suddenly his heart was beating very fast now and a sort of haze was coming over his eyes. The next thing that he knew was his lips were rubbing against Jeannette's. This wasn't his first kiss but it still felt so. The feelings behind it seemed much more focused and intense. Jeannette started to move the two of them towards her bedroom where they settled on her bed. Castiel had his coat and his shirt unbuttoned and pushed off his shoulders and he felt the slightly sweaty hands going across his back where she went to the bottom of his shirt and pulled it off to leave his torso bare in front of her. Cas' hands went to take off Jeannette's blouse. He began moving his lips down to her chin and began making his way to her neck. Her breathing became harder and her grip on his bare back got tighter. He started to pull her blouse off leaving her in a simple cotton bra. He began to lower himself even further as he kissed gently down to the side of her breasts. The heat that Castiel was feeling both within him and around him was the most stimulating he had felt in a long time but it was one that he found pleasantly addicting.

More clothes came off and soon they were a twisted and frenzied flurry of limbs as their moans and groans combined as well. The rhythm they set started slow but it soon escalated to lightning speed. Castiel couldn't stop running his hands across Jeannette's smooth thighs as he thrusted into her. He closed his eyes as he listened to her sighs and felt her hands grip his shoulders. The sighs and her grip became intensive when she finally came undone under him and he soon followed after her with a choked groan. They laid there with her head resting on his chest as they both gazed up at the ceiling letting themselves rest from their recent activity.

"That was nice," he mumbled.

That made Jeannette giggle even more. Castiel was coming to like the sound of it.

"Even how you are after sex is different. Most guys just like to be quiet right after it."

"Do you like it as well?"

It turned into an all-out laugh. "It's okay Castiel." She snuggled up to him and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to pull her closer.

They only stayed that way for about 10 minutes or so when a ringing sounded off.

"I think that's mine," Castiel said as he got up to look for his pants to get to his phone. He looked at the screen to see that it was Dean calling. "Yes Dean, I'm here."

"Where's here? We're at the motel that you told us about. What room are you in?"

"Oh…I haven't officially checked in yet." The time had gotten away from him.

He sounded confused. "Why? What's going on? Where are you?"

Castiel told them that he would meet them at the motel after they checked themselves in. He began to get dressed.

"I'm sorry but I have to go. I have people waiting for me."

"Oh," she said sitting up and keeping the blanket around her. "Will I see you again?"

"I don't know," he said as he paused in the act of putting his pants back on. "But I would like to."

She smiled. "Good night Castiel."

He smiled too. "Thank you again Jeannette."

"I told you that you can call me Jean."

Castiel finished getting dressed and left the building for the hotel. As he went off and headed for where Sam and Dean were he didn't see the figure a block away watching as he left the building and slowly tail him.


Sam and Dean waited in their motel room for about a half hour before Castiel knocked on their door to announce himself. As he walked in, Dean narrowed his eyes at him. He thought there was something…different about the former angel.

"Cas…are you okay?"

The former angel's smile faltered a bit but his mood was still high. "What do you mean Dean?"

"Well, you called us to come here. Said you had an emergency case for us and you show up at the motel that you asked to meet us almost an hour after we call you when we get here. Where were you?"

"Oh, I was with…someone."

"Someone?" Sam said. "This someone have a name?"

"Of course, her name is Jeannette."

Dean remembered seeing a smile like that on Cas' face when he went to that alternate future when he met the Castiel that was into drugs and sex orgies. He shared a look with Sam and he could see a similar conclusion forming in his head about their friend too. Dean had to resist the urge to start laughing.

"So what happened with Jeannette?" Dean said still fighting his urge to laugh.

"Dean," his brother warned.

Castiel wasn't disturbed or irked by this topic at all. "She merely invited me to her place to help treat me after she saved me from a speeding car."

"A speeding car? That wouldn't-" Dean caught himself. He had almost forgotten that something like that would more than hurt his friend. Despite him now being human, Castiel seemed the same so it was hard to actually believe that he was now as human as himself and Sam. Now he was feeling a little embarrassed for forgetting something like that and he wanted to change the subject quickly. "So, what did you call us here for?"

Castiel went to sit down in a chair next to Sam. "It would seem that there have been a number of people in this town that seemed to display high stakes heroics out of nowhere. From what I heard, they were just ordinary people who were suddenly self-made into heroes in a near instant. Just recently, a young man working in a restaurant braved going into a burning building to rescue a girl still stuck inside."

That's why he called them here? Dean was expecting disappearances or maybe even talks of a possible haunting but not some sudden bits of good deeds.

"I have to be honest Cas, that's not really much to go on."

"Yeah," Sam said agreeing with Dean. "What makes you so sure that it's our kind of thing?"

"For starters, every single one of those people are now dead. I overheard that they've all died within these last few weeks."

Okay, Sam and Dean thought that was enough to raise an eyebrow.

"Also," Castiel continued. "That young man just died yesterday afternoon, right in front of me and this was on him."

He produced a coin and gave it to Sam. Sam looked the coin over.

"This was on that restaurant guy?" he asked Castiel who nodded.

"Why?" asked Dean. "What is it?"

"It's gold. Pure, solid gold. No city restaurant worker would have something like that. Also…I think the writing on this coin might be ancient greek."

Dean took the coin to have a look himself. "Yep, it's all greek to me." He said smiling at his own little joke. Sam just blankly at him while Cas looked lost like usual.

Castiel went into his pocket to show the other three coins he found at the police station that he found as well as the paper that he wrote the case numbers. They had ancient greek writing too but the images on them all were different. One of them were of a tusked boar, an image of a horse and the last had a sort of bird of prey on them.

Dean went through the coins one by one and he officially felt creeped out. "So, it looks like we do have a case then."

"I'll see what I can dig up on these other 'sudden heroes' and get some addresses." Sam opened his laptop and started to look up the victims.

"I'll try to look up these designs," Dean said flipping the coin up in the air and catching it.

Dean's eyes were on the feminine archer displayed on the front of the first coin. For some reason, looking at the image made his arms get goosebumps. That was strange because images of girls don't usual have that kind of effect on him.

"What can I do?" Castiel asked.

"Don't worry Cas, I think we got it from here." Dean said as he settled on his bed to begin trying to look into the coins.

Outside in the motel's parking lot, the figure that followed Castiel from Jeannette's watched the window of their room with a savage and snarling smile on his lips.


Dean interviewed some friends of the fallen while Sam went to investigate all these incidents that these victims seemed to shine as heroes in. The first one was a janitor at the local high school who pushed a pair of kids out of the way as an air conditioner off a high building fell. He then went on to help a boy that was pushed in the deep end of a pool by bullies that couldn't swim well. He jumped in to help him even though he couldn't swim himself. Another was a secretary that helped a man who was having a heart attack in the street with CPR. She kept on doing other good deeds until she drove her car in the way of a drunken driver that would've hit an old woman and her granddaughter and she was killed in the collision. Another was a man that worked as a cashier at a store who caught a reckless boy who lost his grip as he was scaling a high fence to retrieve a baseball that was caught up there. Later he pulled a man that was assaulting a woman in an alley that hit him over the side of the head with a piece of brick that was nearby. They were all tragic heroes but Sam couldn't help but respect the acts and intentions themselves though he wished that these people had been more careful with how they handled them all.

Dean heard nearly the same thing about these victims: They were normal people that were decent enough but suddenly got a bite of a hero bug. He found no EMF readings or any signs of demons at their homes or at the locations where they had their moment in the spotlight. He visited the high school where the first victim worked to see if there was anything strange. He was patient zero. Nothing at the school seemed to jump out at him as he made his way to the janitor's office. Most of the guys possessions were in boxes as the guy had died near two months ago. Dean ruffled through the guy's things but didn't see anything out of the ordinary until a shimmer from the overhead light reflected something in the corner of the box. It was another one of those gold coins. This one had a great lion on it.

Dean took out his phone and dialed up Sam as Dean exited the school and went for his car. "Sam?" he said when he heard the click. "What's up?"

"Just checking in. I got back to the room just a few minutes ago."

"You have any luck finding anything about these people's records?"

"No, these people's histories are clean. Nothing unusual that I could see on any of them. I even checked the coroner's reports and there was nothing odd about the bodies. I even visited the morgue to see the latest victims and nothing jumped out at me. Did you find anything?"

Dean took the coin out to look at it. "Yep, another collector's gold coin. This one has a lion on it."

"A lion?" There was a small silence until Sam eagerly asked Dean what kind of lion.

"Do I look like a zookeeper? How am I supposed to know one lion from another?"

"Yeah, right. But this coin, who had it?"

"It was in that janitor's office. The one that saved those kids from that falling AC and who later drowned."

"The janitor; he was the first victim, right?"

Dean nodded even though his brother couldn't see it. "Yahtzee. Why does that matter?"

"Get back here. I think I might know what is going on."

He made it to the Impala. "I'm on my way. Mind telling me what's happening?"

"I want to see that coin first and see if I'm right or not. Besides I could use some help in research if I'm right."

"What about Cas? Maybe you can help teach him."

"I would, if he were here. He took off a little while ago."

Dean arrived at the motel room and was standing off to the side as Sam examined the coin. "Well?" he asked after his brother turned the coin over for the fourth time.

"I was right. This is the Nemean Lion."

Dean was taken aback. "The Nemean Lion? I know that…" he snapped his fingers repeatedly as the information was on the tip of his mind. "That was a…something to do with Hercules."

"A Labor. It was one of his labors. In fact, it was his first labor and you found it on the first victim. These coins that Cas gave us are other labors. The Capture of the Erymanthian Boar, the Cleaning of Augean Horse Stables, and the slaying of the Slymphalian Birds," he said as he showed them the three coins that Cas found in the evidence lockers.

Dean went to the one that Cas found on the last victim. The one with the female archer. "So, this one is-?"

"The girdle from the Queen of the Amazons," he answered.

Amazons. That explained why Dean felt the creeps from that coin. That was one memory that he still carried the scars of.

"So why would all these people have these coins? What exactly are we dealing with here."

Sam clicked onto a tab that showed an image of a gladiator looking warrior. "The coins are a sign from Hercules. He was a demigod that became a full god by his father Zeus. He became a deity of braves and heroes. It turns out he gives the coins to people who he strengthens the heroic natures that latent heroes have within them. He helps people become examples of bravery and hope for humanity."

"Then we're dealing with a god." Been a while since they tackled one of those. "So, what…Sorbo strolls into a town and turns nobodies that hardly get noticed into do-gooders that everyone sees?"

Sam shrugged. "I guess you could put it that way. But there is one thing we have to think about. Whenever Hercules does this, he chooses twelve people. The Amazon Girdle was the ninth labor and nine people have died."

Dean understood what Sam was trying to say. "So we got to find and stop this guy before three more poor mooks get famous around here."


Castiel came across a man that had a cart full of roses for sale. He remembered seeing some men giving women a flower and though it seemed like Jeannette liked him being different than normal he thought that she would like this normal gesture. He bought a good fresh one from the man and kept moving for Jeannette's building. He found a smile creeping on his face the closer he got. When he reached the building his smile was starting to show teeth. He entered and nearly danced up the steps as he rose through the floors of the building. His smile finally dropped when he saw the door to Jeannette's room ajar. The frame had a few cracks in it like it had been slammed into.

"Jeannette," he softly called as he walked in.

The apartment didn't seem too worse for wear. There were a few things strewn on the floor like they had been knocked down by someone rushing through the room. Castiel set his rose on the kitchen counter as he headed off for the bedroom. He hoped there was nothing wrong and he merely missed Jeannette who was in a hurry to head somewhere like work or something else. The bedroom seemed fine except he saw a shimmer in the center of the mattress. He saw that it was a gold coin on top of a note. It was solid gold coin with Ancient Greek writing on it. He looked at the note and read the first few lines before he sped out the door.


Castiel showed the brothers the note along with the coin that was on it. Sam was reading the note and Dean was turning the coin over in his fingers.

"To Castiel: Jeannette is in my care. If you want to see her returned then you must bring to me Dean and Sam Winchester me before midnight tonight. It's signed Hercules," he said as he folded it.

"What would Hercules want with the two of you?" Castiel asked them.

"Well, we did kill his father Zeus a while ago. I think he might be a little upset about that." Dean could understand the anger towards a father's killer. "What labor is that one?" Dean asked as he turned the coin over in his hand. "Finding a three headed woman for this guy?"

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean. "That's Geryon. A three headed monster that Hercules had to get passed in order to steal his cattle. What I want to know is why Hercules would leave one of those coins with this girl."

"Jeannette did save me from a runaway driver. Pulled me out of the way before I could be hit by the car probably saving my life before treating my injury."

"Another do-gooder. Where does Hercules want to throw down anyway?"

"He wrote some coordinates in the note. It's to a condemned parking lot area set for demolition."

"We have to get there now!" Castiel said a little hysterically. "Jeannette is in trouble."

Dean went over and held him back. "Whoa, watch it Casanova. Don't worry, we'll help your girl but first we have to know how. How are we going to stop Hercules?"

"I did some research on that. It looks like we'll need a bronze weapon imbued with Zeus' grace."

"Zeus' grace?" Dean asked a bit lost.

"I think that means electricity. Zeus would often grace the earth with bolts of lightning bringing light, fire and wrath down on anything and everything. So we need to run electricity through a bronze weapon."

"We have a bronze dagger in the trunk. We could hook up the car battery to it."

Car batteries do have a good jolt on them. Sam thought that was as good a plan as any. Better than standing with a bronze dagger out in a thunderstorm. "That might work."

"Might?" asked Castiel.

"We've done good with less." Dean said trying to reassure his friend.

It didn't.


The parking lot looked just as gloomy as it did from the picture they had pulled up from the net. There was a small glow of light seen from the third level that they could see from the bottom. They broke the look on the front of the fence and drove into the demolition zone.

"Maybe you shouldn't go in Cas," Dean said as they got out of the Impala.

"I'm sorry but I'm not going to be sitting this car and wait. Jeannette put herself in harm's way for me and that is what got her involved in the first place."

"Yeah but Cas you aren't an angel anymore and we are going up against a god here. You could really get hurt in there."

"So could you and Sam but you both are going in regardless of that fact," Castiel argued back.

"Dean," Sam said putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. "If we leave him here then he's just going to follow us in as soon as he can. We're not going to stop him. Let's just let him come in with us where we could watch him."

Dean huffed. "Fine, but do what we say and stay behind us."

"Fine," he agreed.

The three of them walked into the bottom level of the parking lot with no real incident happening. They climbed up the two levels to the third floor where they saw the light. They quietly stepped into the level and saw candles a fire in a barrel lighting up the wide center with a chair in the middle. There was someone sitting there with some whimpering escaping from her lips.

"Jeannette!" Castiel let out as he tried to run for her but the Winchesters held him back.

"Hold it," Dean said as they looked around for any sign of the god. This just screamed trap to him.

"Took you long enough! Trying to wait until nightfall where it would be easier to sneak in. All too predictable. It's a good thing I set up all this light up ahead of time huh?"

A figure stepped out from behind a column a little bit aways into the light. Castiel recognized him. He was the cameraman for that reporter that was at the restaurant. Dean snorted.

"You're Hercules?"

Hercules nodded. "I am."

"Dude…I was expecting a buff looking mountain muscle man. You…you're kind of a let down from all those old films."

He slammed his hand back into the column beside him where a chunk came clean off. "I really hate being compared to those steroid buffs. The only thing strong about them are their stupid chins. Put a sharp object in their way and they run for the hills. Makes being a hero look like such a cliché."

"Let Jeannette go!" Castiel demanded.

He smiled at Castiel before he nodded. "I don't see the harm in that." He went over and snapped the ropes keeping her tied to the chair and she immediately took off for the boys. She went for Castiel and he took her into her arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm okay but Castiel, what's going on?"

Sam and Dean walked up to stand closer to the god.

"You wanted to see us?" Sam asked as they faced him down.

"Well, you got us." Dean pulled out the bronze dagger. "You really are brave but you're not too smart are you?"

Hercules just chuckled. "You think I'm scared of you just because you pull that out?"

"That's how I know you're not smart."

Hercules chuckled. He looked towards Sam. "Sam Winchester. Here," he said as he went through his pocket. He then tossed something at him. "For you."

Sam caught it. It was another of Hercules coins depicting a labor. This time the image was of an apple. "Your eleventh labor: Stealing the golden apples of Hersperides."

Hercules nodded as he was impressed. "You're a smart man. I may not be your biggest fan seeing as how you helped destroy my father but I can't deny that you are a good man. Sam Winchester, you are a hero." He then showed them one more coin he had in his possession. "Catch Castiel." He threw the coin for the former angel who managed to catch it. "I don't give those to one of you but seeing as you're full on human now, you qualify."

"Spare me. I'm not into collecting coins," Dean said wanting to tear those coins from their fingers.

"Don't flatter yourself Dean Winchester. I present those coins to those that are heroes or are capable of being heroes and you are neither."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "I don't mean to tute my own horn but I think there are a buckload of people out there that might disagree with you."

Hercules sucked on his teeth. "Please, you think that because you're a hunter who tracks and kills things of the night that it makes you a hero? Heroes are my business and you sir are no hero. Far from it actually."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Dean growled at the god but Sam held him back.

"Then what are you doing to the heroes here anyway?" asked Sam.

"Doing? Nothing," he answered starting to pace a little. "This world is changing for the worst these days. It seems that people get their rocks off seeing such terrible things happen to good people. They line up outside crime scenes or push and watch relics and videos where nasty things happen to people like its theatre. Humans get more excited hearing about terrible things rather than good things. Back in my day, the people used to spread stories of bravery and heroics. They would line up to get glimpses of people who showed the world the glory of laying everything on the line for everyone even if it costs them everything to try and make things right. That's what I do. I find people who have it in them to be examples of good for this rotting world. Then I help spread the word and what better way to do that than in local news media. Good people doing good things are far better than violence and terror typical to your 6 o'clock news." He looked to Jeannette. "You Jeannette…surely it worked for you and a few others in your restaurant when you saw Teddy after hearing of him selflessly running off to save that girl? Made you want to be a better person yourself. Help and save others as well. The fact that I gave you a coin should show you that you have the potential to be an example to those around you."

"What good is being an example if it gets you killed?" asked Dean. "Those people couldn't stop themselves once they got started."

"You think that what happened to them is my fault? I didn't drown, stab or run into any of them. That is the price that heroes must pay in the line of doing good for the world. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good but you still do so knowing that what you left behind will make the world better. The fact that you don't know that Dean is why you are no hero. That's why I'll enjoy taking your hide and ripping it apart for what happened to my father. I won't deny that the man wasn't perfect but he was still my father. Sam…you I will feel a little sorrow for. I would rather you out there doing what you do best for the world but you must answer for your part as well."

Hercules then lifted his right foot and stomped it down to let loose a small shockwave that sent the hunter flying backwards in the air where he rolled down a few paces.

"Dean!" Sam shouted off before he ran towards Hercules with a hunting knife.

The god grabbed Sam's wrist and stopped the move to stab him in its place. "You feel that you are so unworthy of so much Sam when the fact is that you have more than proven yourself. It's a shame that you've allowed your brother to make you believe otherwise."

He then disarmed him and grabbed the lapels of his jacket and hurled him across the lot where he slid all the way to hit a column. Hercules then went for the uneasy couple. Castiel stood in front of Jeannette as he approached.

"Stay behind me," he said as he tried to block view of her from Hercules.

However, Hercules held his hands up in submission. "You seem to have the wrong idea of me. I have no desire to hurt you both. Just turn around and leave."

"And leave my friends here to suffer punishment at your hands? I'm sorry but I can't in good conscience do that."

He then tried to throw Hercules a punch but he effortlessly blocked it. "I didn't want to hurt you Castiel but you are leaving me little choice now." He then picked him up and threw him towards where Dean was still lying.

Hercules started to stomp over to the former angel when he felt something hit the back of his head. He looked down to see that it was a rock of cement. It had come from Jeannette.

"Leave Castiel alone," she said defiantly.

Hercules just rolled his eyes. "You too? Maybe I picked my heroes a little too well."

Castiel saw that he was heading for Jeannette and he felt a rush of energy and everything seemed to be super focused. He took note of the bronze dagger Dean still held tight in his grasp and he pried it out of his grip as he ran at the god and jumped on his back. Hercules twisted and turned to try and throw him off but Castiel took the knife and jammed it right in front of his heart. Hercules froze in place as Castiel fell off of his back and Jeannette ran to him. They backed away as Sam ran to them. Dean started to stir a bit and looked blurry eyed at Hercules who was clutching the blade in silent agony.

"Too well indeed," he managed to choke out before he fell backwards with a thud.


Castiel was sitting in front of Jeannette in her home as he tried to explain everything that had happened. Needless to say that she was a little overwhelmed by it all but she seemed interested as well.

"I'll never look at those old Hercules movies the same way again," she said finally with a small laugh. "So then," she said sobering up. "This is what you do…deal with monsters and gods wherever they pop up?"

"Sometimes," he answered a little timidly. "To be honest I prefer smiting demons."

Jeannette's eyes widened. "Okay, something new that I don't want to think about." She steered her mind away from all this new bit of monster talk and went to grab his hand. "And here I thought that my life wouldn't get exciting anytime soon."

"It is stimulating but I find enjoying the sunshine during a warm day to be more enjoyable at times."

She smiled at him as she took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "Castiel…thank you; for saving me."

He was caressing her hand just as lightly. "You saved me first Jeannette. You put yourself in true harm's way to help me, a total stranger."

"I told you that you could call me Jean. Besides, I thought all that sudden hero stuff was just Hercules messing with my mind."

"He merely tapped into the heroic impulses that were already present. You are truly a person that is willing to step into danger for the sake of others. Simply exercise it with more caution and you are truly a needed hero to be had around here."

"And you're a hero to be had out there. If you weren't I wouldn't be here right now."

"I haven't felt like much of a hero recently. I've…done some things in my time that were far from heroic."

"Well you were my hero last night. You got one of those coins from him too so maybe you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

Castiel smiled slightly. "You don't even know what I've done Jean."

"No, I might not but I can see that whatever it was you aren't proud of it. You probably want to try and make up for it and I have to say that you're on the right track…though I might be a bit biased considering that it involved saving me."

That made Castiel laugh a bit. He often heard Dean say that he didn't have a good sense of humor but he found a great deal of it in Jeannette. Perhaps Dean just wasn't as funny as he thought he was.

"Well…you are right in that I have unresolved things to see to out there in the world. My friends and I have to leave."

Jeannette took a sticky note and wrote down her number. "Here," she said handing it to him. "If you ever want to talk, don't be afraid to call or even visit from time to time Castiel."

"You can call me Cas."

The two of them stood close by each other as they gazed down at each other's lips before Castiel took the initiative and gently leaned in and brushed his lips together with Jeannette's as she softly ran a hand at Castiel's cheek while he gripped her sides. He was quite liking this bit of human interaction very much.


Dean was waiting outside the building outside the Impala while Sam was in the front seat looking things up on his computer. His mind went back to what Hercules said. How he wasn't a hero. He'd spent years wondering why he had to be a hero and a god of heroes said that he wasn't one? What did that mean? Hadn't he saved countless people and ask for nothing in return? If that wasn't the definition of a hero then he was a monkey's uncle. Considering that Sam hadn't bedded any monkeys (that he knew of) then Hercules didn't know what he was talking about. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for people, especially for his brother's sake. He'd proved that before, especially recently with allowing that angel possess his brother to save him from Death. Seeing his brother in the car alive and well was worth it.

Sam was having thoughts on what Hercules said to them as well. He knew he had done some very terrible things in his time: Running away from his family, trusting Ruby over Dean, drinking demon blood and a bunch of other terrible things when he didn't have his soul on top of them. Yet, Hercules said that Sam had the makings of a real hero, one who was willing to risk and give up his own life for that of others in an instant. Odd as it was, Sam actually felt grateful to the god. It was like a weight he didn't realize was on him was lifted off from his shoulders.

The front doors to the building swung open and Castiel appeared out of them with a small content smile on his face.

Dean lifted himself off the side of his car and walked over to him. "Ah, look who's doing the walk of shame now."

Cas just raised his eyebrows. "What do I have to be ashamed about?" he asked in confusion.

Dean just laughed and rolled his eyes. "Nothing," he chuckled. "Nothing as long as the girl was happy with your work."

"Jean did give me her number." He showed them the paper he got from her. "It will be nice to have someone else to talk to from time to time."

"Yeah, perks of being a hero Cas. Let me give you some Hookup 101 facts. One: when a girl gives you her number it's a chance to do anything but talk. Two: that deserves one of these." Dean then went and slapped his hand a little hard on Cas's back. "Thataboy"

Sam just shook his head and rolled his eyes. Castiel got in the back of the Impala as Dean went for the driver's seat. They pulled out and headed off for the bunker.


End of Chapter 8

A/N: I hope that you all liked Castiel's little hookup. I thought that it sucked that Castiel's first sex experience was met with having to kill the one who took his virginity. Yeah, this one wasn't perfect either but at least he could look back on the girl with fondness. The things Hercules said to Dean and Sam are actually a window to issues that they will have to deal with as times goes on. Personally, I think that Sam is a man who feels the need to never stop trying to repent for things that he has long been forgiven for. He feels he owes the world but he's proven that he will do what he has to for it already when he was willing to suffer the cage for all eternity. Also, when he saw that Amelia's ex was back he chose to sacrifice what could've been his chance to settle down for her to have her ex back with no complications. Dean, on the other hand, he is willing to sacrifice anything and everything but only when it comes to the sake of his family. What he wants for his family comes first no matter what despite it might hurting or destroying everything else. His entire attitude during Season 8 proved that. He put so many people through pain for the sake of the gates of hell being closed, saying that sealing hell would be worth anything but when the price for him to pay was the loss of his brother for good it suddenly wasn't worth it anymore. That ultimately is what is going to cause problems that will be damn near unrepairable in the future. One more note, I have put an image link of the angel currently inside of Sam, or rather his former vessel, on my profile. Also who I had in my head for Agent Donavan. If anyone wants to take a peek at them is welcome to. Tell me if you think they're fitting or not.

The next episode here will be called Heaven's Most Wanted. A series of incidents where people take their issues too far leads Team Free Will to confront someone from heaven that isn't so divine. Also, the consequences of failing the Trials takes shape and gives Abaddon some much needed clout in securing power in hell in the form of a new player to the game.