So this will be my last update for a few weeks. This fic is going onto a temporary hiatus (it will only be temporary). With the exception of any unsuspected events, I should be back to updating by the end of next month (August - for anyone who's not sure when this chapter was posted). But, if something else happens that continues to make my life too hectic to give me time to write, I will definitely post Chapter 11 before September and I'll just have to play it by ear as to when my following updates will be.

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Chapter 10: No Rest for the Wicked

Dean was about to hit the forty-eight hour mark when Castiel decided to check on him. Like many of the angel's check-ups, Dean wouldn't know he was there; he showed up invisibly and watched as both brothers sat with Bobby and a table full of books as the night went on. Dean passed out around two in the morning and Bobby went to bed not long later, knowing there was nothing they could do without their right minds on. Sam, however, refused to go to sleep. Not without a plan. Not without his brother saved. Cas somewhat admired that in the Winchester brothers, their dedication to each other… but right now it was rather stupid. Cas pressed his palm to Sam's head and forced sleep to take hold of him. He would be much more clear-headed after a few hours.

Cas took another look at the eldest Winchester and sighed loudly… Dean had once again given up hope in being saved. Knowing him as well as he did, Dean would probably have one last minute desperate plan, and if that didn't work then he'd accept his death. Cas stayed through the night to watch over the Winchesters. There was a strange longing that took over him. He'd never felt this particular type of longing before God had revived him, but now he felt it several times a day. He was lonely. He longed to have the camaraderie he felt over the past years in the camp. He hadn't ever been alone over those years. There was always a friend close by who he could converse with. Sure, none of them had ever really understood him, except from Dean that is, but he had been welcomed nonetheless. But now he was just a fallen angel; torn from heaven and left in the cold by his family simply because he couldn't explain to them, to Dean, who he really was.

Not having to sleep coupled with no-one to talk to meant that Cas was always inside his own head. His mind wandered off to the sadness of the previous days. After tracking and eradicating Benton, he had remembered about Bela's contract and gone to visit her. He had expected her to be rushing to complete her deal that would ensure her freedom from hell. However, she had been drinking by herself at an all-day bar. Bela didn't even bat an eyelash when Castiel appeared next to her and she went into a drunken rant. She explained the contract that a demon named Crowley had offered her. Cas just barely remembered the name from the books and inwardly cursed for ever forgetting something so crucial. Bela explained, in an inebriated slur, how Cas taking the colt back before she could hand it off had created a 'part 2' for the deal… she had to kill Sam. Cas knew that it was one of the demon's lies and it just furthered his assumption that they would have never let Bela out of her contract.

They sat in silence as midnight rolled closer and he expected her to beg and plead for his help and she did at exactly eleven fifty-seven… but it hadn't been what he was expecting. He remembered her tear guttered words as they escaped her when she beseeched him to end it. To kill her before the hellhounds ripped her to shreds.

And he agreed.

No-one should have to die that way. And in that moment he'd seen Bela as who she really was; a tired and abused girl who'd been manipulated by a demon in her time of need. She was scared, tired and eternally haunted by her past. Chuck's books had been misleading. Castiel wished that he could end Bela's contract for her but it wasn't in his power. So, instead, he did for her the only thing that he could.

Using his own power to ease Bela's suffering had made him feel… broken again. And he longed for the comfort of his friends and family that he'd left behind.

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When Dean woke up around half six in the morning, Cas saw the instant change in the man. The hallucinations had started, which meant that he was probably piercing the veil too. Dean wandered out of the living room and into the kitchen to grab a beer and Cas followed. There was a momentary pause from the human as he waited with the bottle to his lips.

"Okay…" Dean muttered quietly to the room. "I can pretty much guarantee that I'm going insane now but, erm… Cas, are you... here?" Dean continued as he cast looks around the kitchen. Castiel bit his lip. Dean could sense him now, which meant if he showed himself then Dean would be able to see him.

"Yes," Cas said solemnly as he made himself visible.

Dean's eyes went wide. His mouth hung open as he gawked at the angel and Cas knew what he was seeing. His wings.

(Dean's Point of View)

When Dean woke up from his dreamless sleep his head began to pound. He opened his eyes just to see the room spinning and twisting in a way that made him mildly sick. Then he cast his gaze over to his sleeping brother and almost pulled out the colt; Sam's face was twisted, evil and barely recognisable. He managed to restrain himself from attacking the creature that paraded as his brother when he remembered the information on demon deals… a couple of books had talked about hallucinations. Dean took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, everything was back to normal.

He got up from where he had slept at the table and moved quietly into the kitchen for a beer… though he had a feeling he'd be needing something much stronger. That's when he felt it. The itch on the back of his neck that told him he was being watched, he turned to his brother to see that he was still fast asleep at the table. The itch only got stronger as the seconds went on and then it got… familiar? It felt like Cas. It was impossible to describe, but somehow Dean knew that Cas was in the room. He brought the brown-tinted glass bottle down from where it hovered at his lips and spoke into the, perceivably, empty room. He felt idiotic as the words left his mouth and seconds dragged on. He was about to just shrug it off when a recognisable deep voice sounded in the room.

"Yes," was the only word that the trickster said and when Dean saw him appear his heart almost stopped beating.

The first thing Dean noticed were the wings. They were large enough that if they were fully extended then Bobby's kitchen would be no-where near big enough for them. They were white. Very white. They glowed slightly and it was… incredible. It took a moment for Dean's attention to be pulled from the wings and to the rest of Castiel. He was filled with… light. It was different though, tangible, like a fog that filled him to his core. It was anchored to his body but occasional wisps escaped and flowed outside before being pulled back into him.

"Wow," Dean heard himself breathe out and Cas rolled his eyes.

"They're wings, Dean… you may have heard of them," he muttered sarcastically. But Dean could make out a slight blush colouring his cheeks and saw the way his wings quivered at the attention.

"Yeah, I… why do you have wings?"

"How do you think I move around?" He snipped back but Dean couldn't care less about the snarky attitude, he was too enthralled by the white shine to give a damn.

"You've never had wings before."

"No… you've just never been able to see them before," Cas replied as he turned from the kitchen and headed back into the living room. He was still talking quietly for Sam's sake but Dean had completely forgotten about that and his next words were loud enough to wake his snoozing brother.

"Why can I see them now then?"

"Because you're piercing the veil."

"That doesn't sound too good…" Sam piped up, looking to his brother to make sure he was alright. That's when he noticed the completely mystified look on his face. "What happened?"

"Cas has wings"

Sam shot a look at the Trickster, frowned and then returned to staring at his brother.

"I don't see anything."

"You wouldn't," Cas said with a sigh and sat down on the sofa. Dean's eyes widened even more as the white feathers sank and disappeared into the fabric. "Human senses are too dull to see them without it damaging you… Dean is the exception because he's piercing the veil."

"And what's that mean exactly?" Sam asked as he sat up taller and wiped at his face, a little bit annoyed at himself for falling asleep.

"It means…" Cas took a moment to think about how to explain this and he met Dean's eyes. "It means that you can see what's behind the visage. You can see our true forms. Demons, shapeshifters, tricksters… you can see what we really look like."

"Well… that could come in handy" Sam muttered, "but why?"

Cas shrugged, "In Dean's case it's because his contract is coming to an end. It's there for the same reasons that the hallucinations are; to scare you. It doesn't tend to happen if it's not caused by a contract."

"Hallucinations?!" Sam asked and stared at Dean who was finally able to remove his eyes from Cas' wings to shrug at his younger brother. There was a noise on the stairs and a few seconds later Bobby walked into the room.

"Cas… you here to help out or…?" Bobby let the question run off and the trickster just nodded. "Great… well, would you know anything about tracking Demons? I was thinking of taking a few out and seeing what they could tell us about contracts that we don't already know."

"Quite a lot actually. But that won't be needed," Cas replied and Dean turned around from where he was looking at his surrogate father to see the trickster get to his feet and walk over to him. The white light collected in the palm of his hand as he raised it to Dean's head.

Dean wasn't sure why he didn't move. He'd seen Cas burn monsters from the inside by doing nothing more than placing his palm on their head… and now the trickster was doing it to him… but he didn't try to get away. He didn't even flinch. He saw Sam quickly raise to his feet and Bobby reach for a gun and he heard them yelling but he couldn't make out words. Every noise faded into the background and the white light seeped out of Cas' hand and into him, covering his vision.

It barely lasted a few seconds before Cas was pulling back and everything returned to normal. Dean's head span and throbbed. He opened his eyes, which he must have closed to try and block out the bright light, and looked at the room. Cas was standing very close to him, Sam wasn't far behind the trickster, Bobby had a shotgun aimed and ready to shoot but they were all staring at Dean.

"What?" Dean croaked as he looked at all of them individually, when he looked back at Cas he realised something and frowned. Dean cleared his throat before speaking. "Where've your wings gone?"

But before Cas could answer Bobby returned to pointing the gun at the trickster and Sam asked a different question.

"What did you just do to him?"

"I cancelled the contract," Cas replied, answering both their questions. The entire room stilled again. Sam was the first to move, he rushed past the trickster and pulled Dean in for a hug.

"Hey… Sam. Now I'm not going to hell I might need my lungs… seriously, I can't breathe," Dean said and Sam pulled back with a grin on his face. Dean looked back at the rest of the room and saw that Bobby had lowered his gun but was still staring, suspiciously, at the Demi-God.

(Cas' Point of View)

Cas watched as Dean and Sam embraced and smiled, everything was going to be okay. Bobby eventually lowered the shotgun but Cas noticed that he never put it down and never put the safety back on. He knew there were questions as to what Cas wanted spinning around the man's head but Cas pretended to be oblivious.

"Why was he glowing?" Bobby asked which caught Dean's attention.

"Wait, what? I was glowing?" Dean asked and looked between Sam and Bobby. "Is that why you two were staring at me like I'd grown a second head?"

Sam shrugged, which was the only confirmation, and then turned to look at Cas, waiting for an answer just like Bobby was.

"I had to cleanse your soul of the contract," Cas replied. He knew it wasn't much of an answer but it'd have to do. The glow hadn't been bright, only a faint light under Dean's skin from where his grace had healed away any claim he'd had on it. In truth, it had shocked Castiel just as much as it had the two humans in the room. It shouldn't have happened; but after a little thought, the reason behind it was obvious. Grace-to-grace, or in this case soul-to-grace, contact was popular among angels with their lovers. Cas was in love with Dean; he had been for a long time and his grace was rejoicing at being able to connect with his love's soul. But he wasn't about to tell that to any of the humans in this room.

Bobby narrowed his eyes at Cas for a moment before putting the gun down completely, apparently appeased with the answer. Talk between the humans soon mentioned a celebratory drink and Cas decided it was time to leave. He stepped back and was ready to fly away when Dean turned to look at him.

"Cas… can we talk for a second?"

The angel stared for a moment and then nodded, he followed as Dean walked out of Bobby's house and onto the front porch.

"So, erm… thanks," Dean said and Cas smiled. "Seriously, I don't know if we could have done it without you… I actually don't know why you did do it. I mean I'm really glad that you did but there has to be better hunters out there who could help you and would be less hassle."

"You greatly underestimate your own self-worth, Dean," Cas replied after letting his friend talk out his worries. "You and your family are the best hunters that I've met… plus you're amusing, it would be a shame if you died," he finished with a smile and Dean huffed a laugh.

"Well in that case… you gonna come inside? Have a drink with us?" Dean asked and Cas nodded happily.

(Ruby's Point of View)

Ruby waited near Bobby's house, it was now less than twenty hours before Dean's deal would end… so why had they not tried summoning her yet? She'd done everything perfectly. She'd gotten Sam to trust her. She'd gotten him to believe that she had the answer for any situation. So surely he should be asking for her help by now.

The demon waited a few more hours and by the time the sun was in the sky she got anxious. This could only mean that they already had a plan. Ruby reluctantly left to make a call. She dragged the nearest person into an alley way and drained his blood into a ritual bowl. Ruby wasn't looking forward to what Lilith had to say.

As she thought, the demon was livid that Ruby hadn't been able to point Sam into the course of action they needed, and on top of that was she apparently wasn't able to keep Sam away from anything that could help break Dean's deal. Ruby's fear accelerated. She had fucked up big. One mistake was enough for Lilith to throw her into the pit and so she was done for. If she didn't find a way to make the plan work then she'd be Lilith's new chew toy.

Lilith demanded results and if there was one thing Ruby was good at, it's thinking on her feet.

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Ruby walked into the cul-de-sac that was currently overflowing with demons. She tensed when she felt several appear behind her. Lilith was wearing a young blond child with blood soaking her dress. If Ruby's plan didn't impress her then she was in for hell… literally.

"I'm in the middle of my vacation… this had better be good," said the sickly sweet voice and Ruby smiled nervously.

"I rang Sam Winchester after we talked and asked about Dean's deal… I've gotten him to think as me as a friend, just as you suggested. He told me that the trickster broke the contract yesterday morning."

"So, let me see if I've got this right…" the demonic child began. "A year ago I gave you instructions to alienate the Winchester brothers, influence Sam into tapping into the dormant demon blood, prevent Dean from escaping his deal and find out what this trickster wants with the boys and keep him away from them if his agenda impedes our own… and you have managed to fail in every single one of these tasks?" Lilith snarled at the younger demon as she finished and waited for a response.

"I have a plan to fix this. It's guaranteed to get Dean into hell and Sam away from that trickster," Ruby answered quietly and continued to explain after noticing she had Lilith's attention. "I know that it's never been attempted before but, technically speaking, it's possible to force a righteous soul into hell without a contract…"

Ruby continued to tell Lilith of her plan, every minor detail she had been able to think of in the last few hours and, when she had finished, the oldest demon gave her approval along with all the resources she needed.

(Cas' Point of View)

It's was almost midnight. Almost time that Dean's contract would be coming to an end if Cas hadn't already cancelled it. The humans had been celebrating with alcohol and some much needed sleep, but Cas was still on edge. None of them knew the truth yet and Cas figured that there was no rush in telling them so he would let them relax for a few days before mentioning anything to do with angels and an oncoming apocalypse.

However, even if he was letting them rest, Cas knew that he couldn't do the same. He wasn't naïve enough to think the demons would just give up now that Dean was out of his contract.

At the moment, Bobby, Sam and Dean were all fast asleep as Cas watched over them invisibly. It was close to forty-one hours ago that Cas had cancelled the contract and he was still waiting for time to snap back on itself, but so far everything had been okay.

Cas had stayed with the Winchesters and Bobby for several hours and helped them to celebrate, then he had decided that they would probably prefer him not being there. As much as it pained him to admit it, he just wasn't part of this family anymore… hopefully that would change soon, but for now he was just an outsider invading in on their family time. After coming to that conclusion and saying his goodbyes, it felt wrong to turn himself invisible instead of leaving. But he had to be there in case something were to happen.

It was exactly two minutes to midnight when his sensors picked up demons on the outskirt of town. Seven demons.

Cas had to admit that it was a lot of demons for just one angel to fight. But he knew that he could take them, his fighting skills had improve exponentially over the last several years of being human and now he had more power than ever. And anyway, this was why he was still there, to intercept any trouble before it got to his friends.

He took the first two demons out with a surprise attack, appearing behind them and using his grace to burn the evil from their vessels. And then there were only five. He barely had the time it took for the bodies to drop to the ground at his feet before the first one attacked him. Cas dodged the advance and swung at him with his angel blade, slicing through his neck and killing the demon inside. The remaining four demons were more organised in their fighting and worked as a group. They got in a few good shots but nothing they could do would be able to kill him, not without an angel blade. This made him confident… cocky. He'd taken down another one by the time the pain started.

It wasn't his pain and it didn't physically hurt him but he knew what was happening and it made him freeze. The demons took advantage of his momentary mind block and tackled him to the ground before laying punch after punch on him. He couldn't feel any of that pain either, his vessel was getting damaged but he was uninjured.

Cas pushed the demons off him and burnt one of them clean from their body as he heard Dean's scream for help in prayer form as his chest was being torn to shreds. He wanted to go to his friend and help out… but he couldn't without leading the demons to him which would mean more for the Winchesters to fight against. He felt a claw tear across Sam's shoulder. Cas slashed out at the remaining two demons and caught one on the chest, but it wasn't deep enough to kill it. They kept coming at him and Cas got more and more desperate to get away, his attacks becoming sloppy from all the fear building inside him.

He managed a lucky shot and was able to force his angel blade into the chest of one demon and got ready to jump at the last one when he felt cold settle in his veins. He knew the sensation that was making him feel sick to his stomach, Gabriel's antics had forced him to feel it so many times. The demon attacked him and Cas once again fell to the floor, but this time he used it to his advantage and drove the angel blade straight through the man's stomach. Once he pushed the empty vessel off himself he flew away, back to Bobby's.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the house was the hellhound lying dead in the living room. Then he saw the blood. Dean's blood. A big pool of it in the exact place on the floor where Dean had been asleep not ten minutes ago. There was no body. Instead there was bloodied paw prints and a large smear of blood left behind as a hound had dragged Dean's lifeless corpse away. Cas felt the emotions well up inside of him and he was overcome with an urge to drop to the floor and cry over the man he loves, but he had to hide that away. The sooner he figured out what happened, the sooner he could bring Dean back. All of that happened in a second. In the next second he realised that he had never once sensed the hellhounds' presence near either of the Winchesters which meant they had been heavily warded. The demons had been a trap to lore him away from Dean so the hellhounds could kill him. And he'd fallen for it.

Cas' ears picked up a conversation happening in the room and he realised that so far he hadn't even moved his eyes away from blood on the floor. He heard Ruby's voice and his head snapped to the side to glare at the demon who he was sure was behind Dean's death.

"I'm so sorry, Sam… I wanted to believe as much as you did that his contract was over… I didn't want you to have to be alone… I shouldn't have kept quiet about my worries when you said he cancelled it… I shouldn't have… I thought I could interfere if he pulled anything… I thought… I'm sorry you had to see that…" the blonde demon rambled, her voice filled with fake sadness as she wrapped a cloth around Sam's injured shoulder as he cried silently. Her knife was lying on the ground next to her, covered in hellhound blood.

Cas growled at her; she was blaming him. She helped to kill Dean and now she was blaming him. Anger and sadness fueled him as Cas strode towards her. Ruby spun around to defend herself once she realised that Cas was in the room but he drove his blade into her chest before she'd even fully turned. Sam jumped at him. He'd believed every word that the demon had spurted out. Cas had to move the blade quickly out of Sam's way before the Winchester impaled himself on it. He pushed his hand onto Sam head and forced him to sleep. The Winchester collapsed to the ground. Cas stood stock still as the events of the last ten minutes finally started to settle in on him, his hand shook as he reached down to Sam and healed his injured shoulder. He looked around for any sign of Bobby Singer and saw him lying dead in the kitchen, claw marks on his neck, Cas took another few seconds to heal him before flying away.

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After days of searching for either Lilith or Dean's body, Cas came to the realisation that he wasn't going to find either. Lilith was strong and the most heavily warded demon. She had to be… couldn't have just anyone being able to find and kill her before the last seal could be broken.

And as for Dean… Cas wasn't even sure if his body was out there.

Cas' connection with Dean… the thing that allowed him to find his hunter, was for his soul, the body was nothing more than an empty vessel. There was a line between soul and vessel just like there was between angel and vessel. But with the body missing… it was near impossible to bring Dean back without going into hell to get him.

So that's what Castiel did.

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As far as I can remember the show doesn't actually say if Cas can or can't see hellhounds but I thought, well if he couldn't before then he can now because he's more powerful. Also I figured that, since Crowley forced Bobby's soul into hell but no demon had done it for getting a righteous man, Crowley was probably the first one to do it.

Like I said at the beginning of this chapter, this will be my last post for several weeks but I promise that this fic won't be stopped completely and updates should start back up again before the end of next month. I am really sorry for where I left this before going on my hiatus. I didn't realise until today which chapter it was that I was leaving you hanging on... sorry.

Anyone who wants to contact me while this is on hiatus can do so via my instagram account (pieprincess_andthe_fallenangel), if you have any questions about my fic and future updates then you can ask me on there