Ariel stayed with Dean for the next two weeks as Dean tried to cope without Sam. To do that, he dove headlong into his work. Vampires, demons… whatever it took, he did it. Even so, Ariel could see that he missed Sam. Both of them knew that she was a poor replacement for a brother, a blood relative, a lifelong companion, but Sam and Dean had to work out their issues. In order to do her 'temporary sidekick' work, as Dean titled it, she began to learn more about being a hunter. If she was going to spend so much time with Dean, then it was best that she learned his trade.

The first thing that he did was show her his father's journal. That was a whole guide to all things supernatural; quite educational, as she committed it to memory. Then, it was all a matter of practical application. Their first stop was making her some false ID badges. At this junction, she didn't care if it was wrong to manipulate humans like that. Humans were cannon fodder right now, for both Ari and Afriel; most of them were worthless sacks of meat, easily distracted by the next shiny thing. She just wanted to keep an eye on Dean. The clothes weren't a big issue: she manipulated the weak minds and stole the clothes that she and Dean needed. Dean taught her some of the nuances to pretending to be a federal agent or a law enforcement officer. By the time the two weeks were up, she was pretty good at it, sometimes even coming up to Dean's standards. The second step was setting the boundaries. Ari was allowed to hunt, but as Dean's second. She was to watch his back, and not to dive headfirst into danger. Also, she was never allowed to drive the Impala. That was Dean's pride and joy. She rode shotgun, and she didn't mind it; in fact, she enjoyed listening to the old mullet rock that was Dean's addiction on the long road trips.

Castiel found them later as Dean was cleaning the vampire blood off his jacket and she was cleaning the shotgun that Dean had indefinitely loaned her from his trunk. Dean was shocked and told him to give him some personal space. Ari didn't pay much attention to the conversation until Cas asked, "Where's Sam?"

Dean folded up the jacket that he had just been cleaning and tucked it in his bag. "Sam and I… are taking separate vacations for a while." Ari saw that he was conflicted, and she knew exactly what was going through his head. She and Michael were on that same plateau: taking 'separate vacations' until her brother was willing to talk to her again. The question was, when that time came around, would Ari have forgiven him for playing her like that? Likewise and yet differently, Dean wanted Sam to be safe, but he also couldn't trust him. From what she understood from the sparse details that she gleaned from their few conversations and from the intel that she knew from her prison time in the Citadel, Sam drank demon blood to try and kill Lilith, to save people, to make some good from his powers. But it got out of control. He tried to stop it several times, but he kept using and using. Dean tried to get him to detox, going as far as locking him in Bobby's panic room; that worked until Castiel set him free by orders of Zachariah (but Dean didn't need to know that). In the end, he was manipulated into using the powers to kill Lilith and set Lucifer free. Dean wanted so badly to trust him, but he couldn't find it in him to do it, yet.

She knew that, knew that feeling so well. She was the same with Michael and Lucifer. She wanted so badly to trust Michael, to trust God that what they were doing was right. However, he had lost that trust, even if he still expected her to follow his orders blindly. But Lucifer had a point, too. Humans were destroying this planet, the last true handiwork of God. If humans were out of the picture, then what a world this would be. However, he wasn't the greatest model of trust and honor, what with being locked in Hell for the last six thousand years. Where was that line that she was meant to follow, the one that separated right from wrong, from brother and brother?

"So, d'you find God yet? More importantly, can I have my damn necklace back, please?" Dean turned to face Cas as Ari put aside the shotgun and sprawled out on the bed to watch.

"No, I haven't found him. That's why I'm here: I need your help." Ari shook her head slightly. Cas really needed to take the stick out of his ass. What did she ever see in him? How did she ever fall in love with him? Personally, she had held a small light for him for a long time, but he had done nothing to make her believe that he reciprocated any of her past feelings.

"With what: the God hunt? Not interested." Dean rolled up his sleeves and looked at Cas with an expecting look on his face.

"No, it's someone else." Cas looked around, trying to not stare at Ari in horror as she sat up. She had most definitely changed, and he thought for the worst. She looked more now like a female version of Dean: flannel shirts, worn jeans, Timberlands. She even made the illusion of the anti-possession tattoo that Dean had on her shoulder. Afriel wasn't too pleased with that, but she was powerful enough to overcome it. Her face was framed with a minute scowl, but it was the weight of humanity: she had given up hope... completely given up.

Dean still talked. "Who?"

"An archangel. The one that controlled the seraphim that killed me." This got Ari's attention, but she still kept her mouth shut. The third lesson that Dean had taught her: always watch before engaging. This, she knew all too well from her service on Earth.

"Excuse me?" Dean didn't get it.

"His name is Raphael."

"You were torched by a teenage mutant ninja angel?" Ari stood up and finally spoke.

"How did you find out?" She crossed her arms over her chest as she peered at him with narrowed eyes. "You haven't been to the Citadel."

"I listened to the messages, Ariel, from before this started." Castiel's voice was blunt with her. "I heard the orders that Raphael gave Chamuel: to guard the prophet from anyone that threatened to harm him. I traced his voice to his location."

"Whoa, wait." Dean looked over at Ari. "You know him?"

"Yes. Raphael was the co-healer alongside me. Apparently, a lot has changed since I've began my service. I don't remember him controlling seraphim." Ari tucked the shotgun in Dean's bag and ran her fingers through her tousled hair.

"Well, I've heard the whispers that he himself is walking the earth now. This is a rare opportunity."

Dean shrugged his shoulders and tried to brush it off. "For what? Revenge?"

Castiel corrected him in that monotone voice. "Information."

"What, you think you can find this dude and he'll spill God's address?" Dean walked over to the sink to clean up his mess.

"Yes." Castiel didn't move from his spot. Ari shook her head; he really needed to learn how to act more human. "Because we are going to trap and interrogate him."

Ari's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "Do you know what you're talking about, Cas? You want to trap the fifth most powerful archangel in the history of Heaven's records, and grill him for info?"

That definitely got Dean's attention. He leaned against the sink and looked at Cas, trying to see if this was for real. "You're serious about this?" He made some random movie reference, something about a Thelma and a Louise that neither of the angels got. He took the knife from his belt as he asked, "Give me one good reason why I should do this."

"Because you're Michael's vessel. No angel will dare harm you."

Dean turned back as he tucked the knife in with the shotgun. "So I'm your bullet shield?" Ari looked at Cas with a cocked eyebrow: not a good way for him to get their help.

"Because I need your help. Because you are the only two that will help me." Cas tried his best to show his desperation, but that didn't work too well. It made him look slightly constipated instead.

Dean and Ari shared a glance, and she nodded her head. Dean looked back at Cas, and acquiesced. "All right, fine. Where is he?"

"Maine. Let's go." Cas made to place his fingers against Dean's forehead to zap him across several stateliness when Dean backed away.

"Whoa, whoa!" Cas looked confused as Ari just chuckled. "Last time you zapped me someplace, I didn't poop for a week! We're driving."

The three of them drove in relative silence (save for the Led Zeppelin tape that Dean tucked into the player) as they reached Maine. Cas took a good look at what Ari had become. She was more and more human as the days passed. She seemed pissed at him for some reason, but he couldn't figure out why. She refused to talk to him, instead talking only to Dean when they made pit stops along the way.

When they reached the town, Dean and Cas went to go interrogate the local deputy sheriff (apparently, he had seen Raphael and lived without any injury) as Ari found them suiting accommadations. The only thing that Cas asked was that it was unused and private. So, she found them a dilapidated house on the outskirts of town. She knew that Dean and Cas were going to take a while, so she headed out to the local diner for some much needed food. Ari discovered slowly that the longer she stayed on the earth plane, the more food she needed to consume and the more sleep she needed. That was all right by her: she always enjoyed trying new things.

It was mid-evening when Dean returned, alone; he had called earlier for directions to the place. She looked up from John Winchester's journal (she paged through it to keep herself sharp) when he came through the door. "Where's Cas?" Ari looked around to see if he would appear behind her.

"Went somewhere. Don't know where." Dean's movements seemed a little unsure as he unpacked his weapons; he never felt safe without them nearby.

"Dean, what's wrong?" She placed the journal aside and walked up to him.

"Ari, are you possessing someone?" Dean looked confused when she laughed.

"Dean, no." She cleared her throat as she explained. "My Father gave me a special gift before my service began and after he rescued me from Hell. That gift allowed me to become a chameleon of sorts: I could change my appearance at will. Some things I can't change, like my wounds from Hell, or the brands on my arm. Soon after, however, I stuck with one style of a vessel and kind of became that vessel. When I'm on Earth, I have my own custom-made vessel without possessing someone like Cas or Michael have to." Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "Why are you asking now?"

Dean sat in the old armchair that she had just vacated. "Cas and I just went to St. Martin's Hospital and found Raphael's vessel. He's a vegetable." He looked up at her. "Cas says that it would be worse for me if I let Michael ride in my skin."

She nodded her head. "Yeah, Dean. You would be in a vegetative state for the rest of your life, your only purpose left to simply be Michael's vessel whenever he came to Earth." She saw that this totally freaked him out, so she walked forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "That's why any angel needs permission to ride around in a human. That human has to understand all of the consequences of being ridden around."

Just then, Cas came back. He had an ancient amphora in his hand. "Where've you been?" Dean stood up and looked at him.

"Jerusalem."

"Oh, how was it?" Dean put a smile on his face and tried to grimace as Castiel graced them with his appearance.

"Arid." He put the jar down on the table.

"What's that?" Dean looked at the jar with apprehension.

"Oil. Very special; very rare." Cas sat down in the chair opposite of Dean and looked at the corner across the room.

"Great. We're going to trap Raphael with a nice vinagrette?" Dean wasn't convinced, but Ari took one sniff of the oil and knew its purpose.

"No."

"So this ritual of yours, when's it gotta go down?"

"Sunrise."

"What ritual, Castiel?" Ari looked at him with her hands on her hips, demanding some answers.

"We're going to summon Raphael and question him." That got her laughing.

"Man, Cas, you're one crazy sonofabitch, you know that? Summon the archangel of the seraphim and question him…" Dean looked at Ari with a plead in his eyes, and she reassured him. "Oh, don't worry. It's doable. Just, I don't think Raph takes well to being summoned by supposedly dead angels, is all."

Dean turned back to Cas. "Do we have any chance of surviving this?"

Cas looked at him and nodded. "You and Ariel do."

Dean looked at him. "So odds are, you're a dead man tomorrow?"

Cas answered. "Yes."

Dean began to walk closer to the door. "So, last night on Earth: what're your plans?"

Cas remained seated. "I thought I'd just sit here quietly."

That led into a rather embarrassing thread of conversation where Dean found out that Cas was still a virgin. Dean shot a look at Ari who just shook her head. "You two never?"

"Well, it's not like we had time, Dean." Ari tired her best to hide her chuckle. "Though, trust me, I had plenty of offers from others." Dean shot her a look, but she shook her head. "Take Cas out, Dean. God knows, he needs it." And that was the end of that conversation.

The next morning, Dean and Cas left for the hospital, while Ari stayed at the house. Two was enough to gather attention, but three was just too many to remain out of sight. Besides, they would mostly be waiting. They did have an alternate plan, and that was where she came in. It was nearing sundown when they came back. Ari just left her seat when Raphael's vessel entered the room. It was a shower of lightning bolts and thunder as he slowly entered his vessel. She just watched as her once-best friend came for a visit. At that point, Dean and Cas entered the house.

"Castiel." Raphael's voice was deeper now, more lethal. His vessel was that of an African American mechanic, but even still, his aura had changed. He wasn't the healer that he once was. Something had drastically changed.

"Raphael." Cas motioned for Dean to stay near the wall as he walked forward to confront the archangel.

"Ariel." The cold brown eyes bored into her, but for once, the presence of Afriel gave her strength.

"Raph." She addressed him by his old nickname, but it had no effect on him.

"Funny, and I thought you were supposed to be impressive. All you did was make a nice light show." Dean chose sarcasm to make himself known as he walked to Cas' side.

"And control the seraphim that smote you the first time, and and black out the entire eastern seaboard." Raphael turned his attention back to Cas. "It's a testament to my unending mercy that I don't smite you here and now, Castiel." Ari's brow creased as a thought hit her: when had Raphael gotten this sinister? What was the puzzle piece she was missing? "You too, Ariel. Your brother is not too impressed with your actions, and he told all of us to, if we saw you again, to remind you of your place.

"Or maybe you're full of crap." Ari shot Dean a look that made him re-think his words. "Maybe you're afraid that God will bring Cas back again, and smite you and your candy-ass skirt." Raph's look bore a hole into Dean, figuratively at least for now. "By the way, I'm Dean."

"I know who you are, and thanks to him, I know where you are."

Castiel looked at the archangel in horror. "You won't kill him. You wouldn't dare."

"But I will send him to Michael." Ari growled, trying to keep Afriel in.

"Well, that sounds terrifying. It really does." Dean was scared, Ari could see it, but he was trying his damnedest not to let anyone see it. He walked over to the fireplace where a cooler was. Grabbing a beer, he opened it to have something to do with his hands, tossing one over to Ari. "But, I hate to tell you. I'm not going anywhere with you." Then, to further insult Raphael, he turned his back on him and took a deep swig of beer.

But that didn't fool Raphael for a second. "Surely you remember Zachariah giving you stomach cancer?" Ari winced at that: she remembered that, too. Getting your Grace slowly yanked out of you was never a feeling that you forgot.

Dean's face, from what Ari could see, turned scared for a moment before regaining his composure. "Yeah, that was just hilarious."

Raphael began to move closer to him. "Well, he doesn't have anything close to my imagination."

Dean shot a look to Castiel that went unnoticed by the angry archangel in the room. "Well, I bet you didn't imagine one thing."

Raphael was getting frustrated with the games. "What?" His voice was getting gruff.

Dean's face turned into a grimacing smug. "We knew you were coming, you stupid son of a bitch." With that, both Castiel and Ari ignited the lighters in their hands and lit the ring of oil that Raphael had unwittingly stepped into. A ring of angel-fire encompassed Raphael as he stood there and watched. Now, he couldn't leave the circle without killing himself.

Dean looked shocked by the results. "Hey, don't look at me. It was his idea." Cas glared at him.

Cas looked at the archangel. "Where is he?"

Raph crossed his arms over his chest and looked at him. "God? Didn't you hear? He's dead, Castiel."

Dean and Castiel looked at each other before looking at Ari. She only stood there and shook her head. What Raph had said had only re-affirmed what she already believed. "But there's no other explanation. He's gone."

Cas wouldn't accept that. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Raph's voice began to tinge with something bordering on sympathy. "Do you remember the 20th century? You think the 21st is going any better?" He nodded with his chin over to where Ari was standing. "She's living proof that God doesn't care anymore, Castiel. What kind of a Father would let his firstborn daughter rot in Hell for over a thousand years, and then sentence her to four thousand years of servitude to the humans?" His gaze turned back to Castiel. "You think God would've let any of this happen if he were alive?"

Dean, being quintessentially Dean, tried to lighten up the moment. "Oh yeah? Then who invented the Chinese basket trick?"

Ari was tempted to punch Dean again; didn't he learn his lesson the first time she hit him? Raph had the same idea when he growled out, "Careful, boy. That's my father you're talking about."

Dean wouldn't stop there. "Oh yeah. He'd been so proud that his sons started the friggin' Apocalypse." He put his beer down on the window sill and looked out for a moment.

"Who ran off and disappeared. Who left no instructions, and a world to rot." The sympathy was gone from his voice. "He only came back when Ariel's service was over to make sure that the demon hadn't taken a deeper hold on her. Then he left us again."

"So Daddy ran away…" Dean stole a quick look at Raphael as he walked back to Castiel's side; Ari took up a post against the wall nearest to Dean. "He didn't happen to work for the post office, did he?"

Afriel barely came loose, but she controlled herself. Raphael always had more will power than her. "You think this is funny? You're living in a Godless universe!" Now, it was almost like pity coating his voice.

That answer wasn't good enough for Dean. "And? You guys decided to throwing a friggin' Apocalypse while he was gone?"

Finally, the truth came out. "We're tired. We just want it to be over. We just want… paradise." Now that was something that Ari understood well.

"So, what? God dies and makes you the boss? And you decide to do whatever you want?" Dean was getting up there on the anger scale, but he was not quite close yet to furious as Raph stayed so nonchalant at all this.

"Yes! And whatever we want, we get!" The wind, whistling in all of its gale force, forced the window behind them open. Cas went to protect Dean from the worst of the glass breaking, but Ari stayed where she was.

"If God was dead, then why am I still here?" Castiel's voice was beginning to strain against the volume of the howling wind.

Raphael just stood there and remained cool about it all. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe Lucifer brought you back?" Ari snapped her head over to him at the mention of her brother. That was one avenue of though that hadn't occurred to her. Lucifer did own province over that power; it was never taken away from him during the Fall.

However, that wasn't a good answer for Cas. "No."

Raph resisted a chuckle. "Think about it. He needs all the little rebellious angels he can find. You know it adds up."

That was enough for Cas. "Let's go." He looked to Dean and Ari before making to leave.

"Castiel!" Raph's voice raised a bit. "I'm warning you. Do not leave me here." Fire began to dance around his eyes. "I will find you."

Ari made her exit, but not before she heard Castiel's reply. "Maybe one day, but today, you're my little bitch."

Ari was exhausted as she made for the Impala. She could barely focus in the rainstorm. She let Dean drive and Cas ride shotgun; all she cared about is sleep…

Tomorrow was another day. They now had archangels after them for blood, the hordes of Heaven and Hell looking for them to fight in their war, and the lines were yet to be clearly drawn. This, as Benjamin Franklin once said, was going to be a bad war that led to a good peace. But what would that peace have in store for them all…