A/N: I own nothing of Supernatural.

Chapter 10 – Nothing Else Matters

Raven stared back at the smug look on Gabriel's face. He was enjoying every second of the awkwardness hanging in the air between her and Castiel. What the hell was going on with her? Why did she kiss him back? He's a freaking celestial being. I'm so going to hell; she thought to herself and pinched the bridge of her nose. She glanced over at Castiel that was staring down at his own feet with a flustered look on his face. Why would he even kiss her? Were angels not supposed to be emotionless soldiers of heaven? She looked back over at Gabriel and a sudden rush of anger washed over her. This was her opportunity to get some answers from the archangel and she was so going to take it.

"Really, Cupcakes, if looks could kill…" Gabriel started, but Raven cut him off mid-sentence.

"I want to know what the hell this barrier thing is that you put up in my mind and you're going to tell me right now!" Raven hissed and planted herself with hands on her hips in front of the surprised archangel. She managed to wipe the big grin of his face in a second. His lips set into a thin line as he stared back at her with a stony expression on his face.

"I don't have to tell you jack squat, so you can just jump of that high horse of yours and remember who you're talking too." Gabriel hissed back.

"What? Am I supposed to tremble in fear because I'm in the presence of an all mighty archangel? Well, here's a news flash for you. Take your plans for my so called destiny and shoved it up your ass. I'm done playing my roll to keep Old Lucy in his cage." Raven spat back, her eyes filling with tears of frustration.

"Excuse me?" Gabriel said as he took a step closer to her. "Sorry to rain on your parade, cupcakes, but you don't have a choice in the matter. I have invested too much in you to just let you walk away. There are only a handful of seals left and…"

"I don't give a damn! I'm tired of being kept in the dark, so, either you tell me what you did to me or I pack my bag and…" Raven started but before she could finish Gabriel pressed two fingers to her forehead and she went limp. Castiel was just in time to catch her before she dropped to the ground.

"Gabriel! What did you do?" Castiel exclaimed as he stared back at his brother in disbelieve.

"I put her too sleep. She was giving me a headache." Gabriel said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You do realize that she will be even more furious with you when she wakes up. Why didn't you just tell her?" Castiel asked as he picked Raven up in his arms.

"Believe me, little bro, it's better that she doesn't know. There's too much at stake and I can't take the chance of her secret coming out." Gabriel said as he stared down at Raven, gently brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "She's our last hope if the Winchesters don't succeed. Just pray that it doesn't come to that."

"What are you talking about?" Castiel asked, concern evident in his voice.

"Just trust me, little bro, and keep her safe." Gabriel whispered as he laid his hand on Castiel's shoulder.

Castiel stared back at his brother and didn't miss the flash of sadness in Gabriel's eyes. With one last glance at Raven, Gabriel raised his hand and with a snap of his fingers he was gone. Castiel couldn't fight the feeling of despair that settled in his heart. He stared down at Raven. She looked so peaceful and innocent, untouched by all the evil that surrounded her. He will protect her, keep her safe and lay his life down if he had to. Nothing else mattered, just her.

Chuck's house…

Dean shoved Chuck up against the wall, murder in his eyes. He was sick and tired of Chuck's games. He wanted answers and if he had to beat it out of the guy, so be it. He just had the worst day ever. He had to leave Sam in a motel room filled with hexbags so that he could go and search for Raven that seemed to have disappeared into thin air. He left about a million voice mails on her phone and with each passing minute the fear that Lilith somehow got her hands on her grew in his heart. Than he was hit by that stupid minivan and to top it off his baby's rear window was busted out by some bastard teenagers.

"How do you know what you know!" Dean hissed.

"I don't know how I know, I just do!" Chuck squealed with his arms in the air.

"That's not good enough." Dean said as he pushed Chuck harder against the wall. "How the hell are you doing this?!"

"Dean, let him go!" Castiel's voice suddenly boomed behind Dean. "This man is too protected. He's a Prophet of the Lord."

Dean released his hold on Chuck and swung around. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Castiel standing with Raven's motionless body in his arms. His heart skipped a few beats as fear washed over him.

"What the hell happened to her, Cas?" Dean exclaimed as he rushed over to the angel and abruptly pulled Raven out of Castiel's arms. He quickly laid her down on Chuck's couch and his eyes darted over her body in search for any wounds, but there was nothing. He placed his hand on the side of her neck and let out a sigh of relieve when he felt her pulse under his fingers. Thank God, she's alive; he thought and dropped to his one knee next to the couch. He gently ran his fingers over her cheek, before he looked up to Castiel that was staring down at him through narrowed eyes. Dean's eyes travelled to the angel's clenched fists and slowly back to the stern expression on his face. Anger was flowing off Castiel in waves. A frown formed on Dean's face as he stared back at Castiel.

"Well, are you going to explain what the hell's going on, or not? Did you do this to her?"

"No, it was Gabriel."

"Gabriel? You better start explaining or so help me." Dean growled as he stood up and faced Castiel.

"I don't have to explain anything to you…" Castiel started but was interrupted as Dean gripped the collar of his coat in both hands and shoved him back a step.

"I swear if either of you two winged bastards harmed her, I'll hunt you down and kill you!" Dean yelled with a fierce look in his eyes.

Castiel blinked his eyes and in a flash he pushed Dean hard against the wall behind them with a loud thud. A picture that was hanging against the wall fell to the floor in a splatter of glass.

"Don't threaten me, Dean. I promise you that you will regret it." Castiel snarled, his one hand gripping Dean around the neck.

"Holy crap!" Chuck yelled as Dean and Castiel stared back at each other, neither willing to back off. "Guys! Raven's gone!"

Castiel let go of Dean immediately and their eyes simultaneously jumped to the couch that was now empty.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed as he did a 360 degree turn, his eyes searching frantically for any sign of Raven.

Castiel turned to Chuck that was shifting anxiously from one foot to the other.

"What happened?"

"I don't know… she was lying there and the next moment she just… just disappeared into thin air." Chuck stuttered and rubbed the back of his neck. This was not supposed to happen. He didn't see this. Crap, crap, crap! Dean and Castiel looked ready to commit multiple homicides. This is not good, not good at all.

"What the hell, Cas! How can she just vanish? Someone or something took her!" Dean offered as he paced up and down, running his fingers through his hair. He stopped in his tracks and Castiel noticed as all the color drained from his face. "Oh, crap! Lilith!"

"No, it was not Lilith." Castiel said as he met Dean's eyes.

"Who the hell then?" Dean uttered with panic in his voice.

"It was Zachariah!"

Raven's eyes fluttered open and she stared up at the blue sky above her. She could feel the warmth of the sun shining down on her. She pushed herself up on her elbows and took in her surroundings. She was in the middle of some kind of field, green grass with patches of wild flowers swaying lightly in the slight breeze. Where the hell was she and how the hell did she get here? She racked her brain and the last thing she could remember was her yelling at Gabriel and then… She woke up here, where ever here was.

"Hello Ravenna." A voice sounded behind her. She jumped up and spun around almost tripping herself, but miraculously found her balance as she stared back at the bolding man in a dark blue suit.

"Zachariah." She breathed and didn't miss the smug grin plastered on his face.

"Ravenna Lenore Woods, it was quite difficult to find you. Well, I had you, so to speak, but then Castiel snatched you away before I got the chance to talk to you." Zachariah said as he put his arms behind his back.

"Yeah, and who says I wanna talk to you? So do yourself a favor and zap me back, cause I'm really not interested or in the mood for any of your mind games."

"Oh, believe me, you will want to hear what I have to say." Zachariah offered and with a wave of his hand two chairs appeared out of nowhere. He made himself comfortable in the one and gestured to the other chair. "Please, take a seat. We have a lot to discuss."

Raven glanced at the chair and back to Zachariah smiling at her. She didn't really have a choice. No one probably knew where she was and if she wanted to get back to her own reality she was going to have to play along. She settled in the chair and glared over at the angel.

"Gabriel sure put a spell on you, but I guess that was his way of keeping unwanted attention at bay and to ensure he had the element of surprise when needed. By the look on your face, I take it that he left out the part why? And branding Castiel as your fellow guardian angel, another smart move, cause that makes Castiel untouchable, even to me." Zachariah chuckled and leaned forward in his chair before he continued. "All that to protect your little secret. I bet you don't even know of the big influence he had on your life all these years? The countless times he deliberately pushed you on a certain path? He has been playing you like a puppet, pulling all the right strings."

Raven folded her arms across her chest. "Okay, I get it. You like to reveal everybody's skeletons in the closet. So what's the deal? What do you want?"

"Straight to the point, I like that. Let's just say that when the times right I will ask you to assist me in a certain way and if you keep up your end, I will tell you everything I know and just to show my gratitude I will help you get rid of that barrier he put up in your mind. So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Raven snorted. "Am I just supposed to take your word on this?"

"You can refuse, but that will be ill advised. Gabriel will never tell you the truth and the only other person that knew, died when you were 12."

Raven's eyes snapped back to Zachariah. "My father knew?"

"He died to keep your secret from the demons. I was by his side and with his dying breath he told me everything. He practically begged me to save you, so I zapped your unconscious body into the woods nearby and the rest of the story you know."

She and this secret was the reason her father was tortured to death by demons? Tears slowly slipped down her cheeks. It was her fault her mother died giving birth to her and now she learned that she was the reason her father died too. She basically murdered her own family.

"So, do we have a deal?"

Raven stared back at the angel through tear filled eyes and nodded slowly as she swallowed down on the lump in her throat. "Yes."

Raven appeared on the pavement in front of the motel they were staying. She recognized Dean and Sam's voices and noticed them standing beside the Impala and slowly made her way to them.

"I don't know where he took her and Cas can't find her either. I'm telling you Sam, I'm so freaking tired of the angels and their sick games. I swear, one of these days I'm gonna kill that bastard if it's the last thing I do." Dean said as he gave his brother a worried look. Something behind Sam caught his eye.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Dean, what?" Sam exclaimed as he noticed the surprised look on his brother's face. He followed Dean's eyes and when he turned around he noticed Raven straying towards them.

"Raven?"

Dean was by her side in seconds, grabbing her by the shoulders. "What the fuck did that bastard do to you?"

"Nothing." Raven mumbled, trying to pry herself free from Dean's grip.

"Nothing? Don't freaking lie to me. You look like crap. What did he want from you?" Dean ordered as he forced her to look into his eyes. The tear marks still obvious on her colorless cheeks. Zachariah was a dead angel that was for sure. No one messes with the people he cared about, no one.

"I said nothing! Now let me go!" Raven yelled as she ripped herself loose from Dean's grip. "Can we just get the hell out of here?"

Dean stared down at her stunned into silence by her sudden outburst. He felt Sam's hand on his shoulder and saw the look in Sam's eyes, begging him to let Raven be. He let out a long sigh and turned to the Impala. He was gonna get his answers, but for now he will let her calm down. Whatever happened had to be bad. He could just feel it.

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AN: Special thanks to supernaturallyaddicted, lovelyme9, .7, GG and ChristinaWinchester for your awesome reviews. You guys made me jump with joy like a crazy person. Also thank you to everyone that read, followed and favorited. You all are the reason I keep writing. Love u all!