(A/N)-Okay, chapter 20! This story is slowly coming to an end, but believe me when I say that these next few chapters are what we've been building up to, because there is going to be plenty of action in here. Reviews are always appreciated and encouraging, so thank you so much for telling me your thoughts. (I meant to tell you guys, I've had a Tumblr for a few months but I've always forgotten to mention it. It's .com-and I'll follow you back! It's a mostly Supernatural/Doctor Who blog, so if you like either of those things, come follow me!) Okay, back to the story, this is the second half of "The Man Who Would Be King", which I don't own, nor do I own anything Supernatural related. That's the CW, not me.

Since that night when Cas told her about his lost year, things had slowly been getting better with Lydia. Dean and Sam had been staying at Bobby's house since then, trying to gather every bit of information about Crowley they could find. They hadn't come up with much yet-which Lydia was grateful for-but she could tell that they were getting close to discovering the truth. They had been capturing and torturing various demons to get information, but so far, the demons weren't talking. Lydia had even gone so far as to "accidentally" screw up some hunts and let the demons get away. Dean had been furious and snappy with her as a result, but Lydia could deal with it. As long as they didn't find out about Castiel and Crowley, she was happy.

This particular night, she couldn't stop Bobby from interrogating a demon named Red in the living room. The demon was suffering intense pain from Bobby's questioning, but there wasn't much Lydia could do about it. After an hour or two of Red's torture, Dean walked into the living room and nodded at the three of them. Bobby, Sam and Lydia all followed the hunter into the kitchen, where he quietly told them, "Cas popped in on me about two hours back."

"What'd you tell him?" Sam asked as Lydia felt the room start spinning.

"Nothing!" Dean exclaimed. "Told him we were on some crap monster hunt. He doesn't know that we're getting close to Crowley.." He looked at Sam and Bobby with a critical eye before reminding them, "You know, he's our friend...and we're lying to him through our teeth." Bobby tried talking to him, but Dean just snapped, "So maybe he burned the wrong bones! So Crowley tricked him! He can make a mistake guys!"

Lydia felt a surge of affection so strong, she could've kissed Dean then and there. She bit her lip and restrained herself, however, as Bobby sighed. "Nobody's suspecting' nothing yet, Dean. Just don't jump to conclusions just yet, boy. All I'm saying is I don't know. Now look, I hate myself for even thinking it, but I just don't know." Bobby shook his head, obviously conflicted. "I mean, we might be dealing with a Superman gone dark side here. Which means we've got to be cautious, we got to be smart, and maybe stock up on some Kryptonite."

The three men started to walk into the living room, but stopped at Lydia hissed, "You disgust me." They all looked at her, their eyes wide, but that didn't stop Lydia's fury. "Are you freaking kidding me right now!" Lydia yelled. "That angel fell for you! He has sacrificed everything for you! He is fighting a fucking war up there-and believe me, he's losing-and you guys haven't done a damn thing to help him! You just sit there and assume he's working with Crowley when you have nothing to support that whatsoever! Lydia's eyes were black with rage, and her breathing was heavy and erratic. "You three are the most selfish, irresponsible, people I've ever met, and the most pitiful excuse I've ever seen for friends in my entire life!" Once she was finished, Lydia stomped out of the room and flew upstairs into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She was so angry and frustrated that she literally started shaking, and before she knew it, there were angry, bitter tears forming in her eyes. She splashed water on her face and gripped the edge of the sink, trying to cool down a bit, but it really didn't help.

From behind her, Lydia heard Cas' voice. "Thank you."

Lydia put her head up and gave the angel a disapproving tone look through the mirror. "Were you spying us?" Castiel nodded, and she sighed. "You really shouldn't be."

"I know." Cas stepped forward and kissed her shoulder, then moved his kisses up her shoulder and stopping only when he reached her neck. In his low, deep voice, he growled, "But still, thanks. I'll see you soon." Lydia slid her hand back over he shoulder to touch him, but he was already gone.

She sighed, hating this tug-of-war she was being forced to play. "Yeah, Cas," Lydia bitterly said to the image of herself in the mirror. "You're welcome."

XXX

A little while later, Lydia found herself, gun in hand and Sam right next to her, breaking into a demon's house. She hadn't talked to him or the other hunters since she flipped out on them in the kitchen. She knew she should probably feel bad, and she did a little bit, but she definitely didn't regret saying what she did. The fact that they could doubt Cas' loyalties after all the angel had done for them angered her beyond belief. Yes, he was working with Crowley, but his intentions were nothing but pure, and that's what really mattered. At least to her.

They inspected the entire back of the house, then met Dean and Bobby in the middle. "It's clear from the back." Sam told them.

Dean shrugged. "Maybe they're running. Y'know, got tipped and bugged out?"

"Yeah, that would be a nice thought, wouldn't it?" Bobby said bitterly.

The four of them all split up and searched the house for any trace of the demon, but surprisingly, they found nothing. No demon, no bodies-not even sulfur. When the hunters met up in the middle of the house, Lydia shrugged. "It's like Mr. Clean clean in here. Like the demon had OCD or something."

"Well," Dean looked up at the sky. "This is usually the point where we'd call Cas for help." Sam and Bobby immediately started giving Dean grief, and Lydia was on the verge of another freak-out, but before she got the chance to say anything, Dean said it for her. "Guys, this is Cas. I mean, when there was no one...and we were stuck-and I mean really stuck-he broke ranks. He has gone to the mat cut and bleeding for us so many freakin' times. This is Cas! Guys, don't we owe him the benefit of the doubt at the very least?"

Sam and Bobby still didn't look convinced, but Sam finally looked upwards and coughed awkwardly. "Castiel...this is really important, okay? We, um, really need to talk to you." When Cas still didn't come, he tried again. "Castiel, please. Just come on."

Bobby scratched the back of his head, sighing. "Guess he's busy. We're back to square one." He tried cheering up the disgruntled pack of hunters. "Well, we caught one hunter demon before. We can do it again."

Lydia nodded, then stopped and yelled, "Look out!" The words were barely out of her mouth before they were attacked by demons. She saw Sam being flipped over a table cruelly, Bobby slammed into a glass door, and Dean viciously being punched in the face. The demon had his arm around her neck from behind her, pressing the arm into her neck, chocking her. The demon lifted her off the ground so her feet were dangling off the ground, and she was coughing and sputtering for air. She tried flailing and kicking and prying the demon's arm away from her precious throat, but her efforts were all in vain. The room started spinning and Lydia felt her grip on consciousness slipping...

And then it was over. Lydia sunk to the floor, coughing and breathing heavily, trying to get some air back into her lungs. She was still seeing spots, but she could vaguely see Cas saving the pack of hunters, once again, by smiting the demons attacking them. Lydia blinked a few times, then stood up shakily and grabbed onto the wall to steady herself. Cas was looking at her in particular, making sure she was alright. Trying to assure him that she was, Lydia nodded at him. "It's good to see you, Cas."

"I'm glad I found you," Cas nodded back, looking at all of them closely. "I have news. I'm almost positive that Crowley is, in fact, alive."

"No shit, Sherlock," Dean grinned at the angel happily. It took Lydia a second, but she saw that Dean wasn't being nasty to angel like he usually was: he was only teasing him. The hunter then looked over at Bobby and asked, "Well, Bobby, what do we think about Cas saving our asses...again?"

"Well," Bobby looked Cas straight in the eye and said, "I think we owe you an apology. We've been hunting Crowley this whole time...and keeping it from you. We, uh...thought you were working with him. So we're sorry."

"Yeah, Cas. We never should've doubted you." Sam genuinely apologized to the angel. "Next time we'll just ask you, alright? We just hope you'll forgive us."

Lydia and Cas shared a knowingly look, but they both covered it with smiles. "It is alright. It's forgotten." Cas told the other hunters. He smiled even wider, shaking his head. "It's a little absurd, though. Superman going to the darkside. I'm still just Castiel."

Lydia felt all the color drain from her face as she the other hunters' faces all fell; there was no way Cas could've possibly known Bobby called him a "Superman gone darkside" unless he was spying on them. She inwardly cursed Cas for being so stupid, but on the outside, she kept a total poker face, as did Sam and Bobby. Dean, however, couldn't stop the pain and disappointment from seeping into his expression; he nodded painful as he tried to sound completely normal. "Then I guess we can put away the Kryptonite, huh?"

"Cas, can I talk to you in private for a second?" Lydia asked dangerously. Castiel nodded with a confused look on his face. Lydia took hold of his wrist and dragged him to one of the back rooms. Once they were alone, Lydia shook her head, pacing back and forth and messing around with her hair. "Jesus Christ, Cas! Why the hell would you say something like that? We're completely fucked! What the hell are we going to do?"

Cas had his head tilted to the side, still confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lydia, in aggravation and frustration, grabbed his head and shook it. "You told Dean you weren't a Superman gone darkside!"

"...Yes?"

Lydia brought his head closer to her and hissed, "You weren't supposed to hear that! You overheard that when you were spying on us earlier!"

Cas' face immediately fell. "Oh my God."

"Shit, Cas!" Lydia let go of his face and started to pace again. "Dean and Bobby and Sam are going to freak out."

"Do they know that you know?" Cas snapped.

"No!" Lydia whisper-yelled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Cas gripped her shoulders tightly-so tightly, in fact, that Lydia was positive she felt some bruising. "I am perfectly capable of dealing with the Winchesters by myself. If they start questioning you, deny everything. Pretend you don't know anything. I can deal with them, but I fear what they would do to you."

"They wouldn't do anything to me," Lydia shook her head. "Yeah, they'd be pissed, but they're not monsters, Cas. They'd just yell at me a bit."

Cas didn't seem reassured. "You don't know Dean. You've never seen him when he's really angry. It's not pleasant."

Lydia peaked out the doorway to see Dean, Sam and Bobby all huddled in a circle, talking quietly amongst themselves. "I better get out there soon. If I stay here too much long, they're only gonna get more suspicious."

Castiel nodded. "Yes, you probably should." He bent down and kissed her quickly before disappearing into the air. Lydia took a deep breath, trying to collect herself, before walking back to join the other hunters. Before she could register what was going on, she felt herself being attacked from behind again. It wasn't by a pack of demons, though-the person grabbing her was Dean. He clapped his hand over her mouth, secured his other arm around her tightly, and Lydia was even more shocked to see that Sam and Bobby weren't even trying to stop him; they were only watching the whole thing unfold with sad looks on their faces. Lydia was so surprised, she didn't even try to fight back. Dean dragged her over to the corner of the room, put her in a random chair, and held her down as Sam tied her arms and legs to the chair.

Once the full realization of what was happening sunk in, Lydia shook her head in utter disbelief and disgust. "You're insane. I knew you were crazy, Dean, but this is beyond crazy. You've finally snapped and gone off the deep end."

"I'm the one who's lost it?" Dean snapped back. "Cas is working with a demon! Crowley!"

"You don't have any proof of that." Lydia snarled defiantly in Dean's face.

Dean shook his head, his face dark. "Oh yeah? What about that Superman gone darkside comment? Cas must've been spying on us."

"Okay, maybe he was!" Lydia threw her head back, exasperated. "That doesn't automatically mean he's working with Crowley!" Lydia was quiet for a moment before asking, "Why do you find it so hard to trust him or me? Hell, I can even understand not trusting me! But after all this time, you still can't believe Cas?"

"I did believe him, alright?" Dean started yelling at her. "I put every ounce of faith I had in that angel! But he threw it back in my face!"

Lydia shook her head. "It's not like that. If you just sat him down and talked to him, maybe you'd realize that..."

"So it's true?" Sam pipped up from the corner. "You know what's going on, don't you?"

Lydia opened and closed her mouth, trying to explain, but she was getting very tongue-tied very quickly. Dean's voice was calm and dangerous as he said, "No more messing around, Lydia. Did Cas fake Crowley's death?"

"Yeah, he did!" Lydia exclaimed. "But you don't understand why, Dean! I'm telling you, there's a good reason why..."

"Frankly," Dean interrupted her. "I'm less interested in why he did it, and more interested in how long this whole thing has been going on."

Lydia never answered; instead, she looked behind Dean and started yelling. "Bobby, what the hell are you doing?" Her eyes widened and she started struggling to get out of the chair. "You're trying to trap him! You bastards!"

"We don't have a choice!" Dean angrily shouted.

"Yes you do!" Lydia screamed. "You have thousands of choices, millions of choices! But this is the wrong one, I'm telling you!"

"Dean!" All four sets of eyes looked behind them to find Cas standing on the other side of the room, his face angrier than Lydia had ever seen it before. "What the hell are you doing!"

The angel started walking towards Dean quickly, fuming, but Lydia could see that he was walking right into a trap. "Castiel, don't!"

But it was too late; a blaze of fire immediately started all around Cas, trapping him. Lydia had never seen an angel trapped inside a flaming ring of Holy Oil, but Cas had talked about it once, and the way he described it, it sounded horrible. The angels were all-powerful beings, but once they were trapped inside that little tiny circle, it was like being confined inside a too-small cage. Lydia knew it probably felt suffocating for Cas to be in that circle, and just the thought of it made her hate Dean Winchester all the more.

"What are you doing?" Cas roared. "Let me go!" He pointed at Lydia strapped to the chair, his face blistering angry. "Untie her right now!"

"No," Bobby shook his head. "We gotta talk. About Superman. And Kryptonite." Bobby asked the angel, "How did you know what I said? How long have you been spying on us, Cas? No offense here, but it seems pretty damn likely that you are."

"Bobby, give him a fucking chance to answer, would you?" Lydia yelled from the chair.

Sam glanced hesitantly at Lydia, then looked back at Cas, his face hard. "What about this craphole? How is it so, uh...'next to godliness' clean in here? And how exactly did Crowley trick you into burning the wrong bones?"

"You gotta look at me, man," Dean quietly said before Cas could answer any questions. "You got to level with me and tell me what's going on. Look me in the eye and tell me you're not working with Crowley." Everybody in the room held their breath as the angel looked at Dean pleadingly, then looked away. "You son of a bitch," Dean's voice was filled with bitter pain. "You're in it with him? You and Crowley have been going after Purgatory together? You have, huh? This whole time."

"You don't understand!" Cas was pleading helplessly with them. "I did it to protect you! I did it to protect all of you! If I can get the souls from Purgatory, I can stop Raphael." He licked his lips nervously, desperately trying to make them understand. "Please, you have to trust me. I'm still me. I'm still your friend. Sam..." Lydia shut her eyes, knowing full well what was coming. "I'm the one that raised you from Perdition."

"What?" Bobby and the brothers-Sam in particular-were stunned at this revelation. "Well, no offense, Cas..." Sam coldly told the angel, "But you did a pretty piss-poor job of it." The look in Cas' eyes became even more painful-if that were possible-as Sam started questioning him again. "Wait. Did you bring me back soulless...on purpose?"

Instead of Cas defending himself, it was Lydia that spoke up. "Sam!" The hunter looked at her, and Lydia could see that he was trying to keep up a cold facade. "Think whatever you want about him, but I promise you that Cas would never."

"What I don't get," Bobby folded his arms across his chest and stared intimidatingly at the angel. "is why you kept this whole thing a secret...unless you knew it was wrong?"

"Cas," Dean sighed. "When crap like this comes around, we deal with it. That's always what we've done. What we don't do is go out and make another deal with the Devil!" Dean shook his head, struggling to find the right words to say. "You should've come to us, Cas. We would've helped you."

Cas looked at the ground, that crushing look still lingering in his eyes. "Maybe. But it's too late now. I can't turn back now. I can't." Suddenly, there was a loud sound coming from above them and they all felt a powerful wind blowing. They could all see a cloud of demon-smoke quickly approaching them. Trying not to panic, Cas snapped, "Untie Lydia and go!" When the hunters hesitated. Cas' voice became more urgent. "She isn't involved in this! If you don't want her to die, take her and run!" Finally, it was Sam who raced over to the chair and started cutting the ropes binding Lydia to the chair. After a few seconds, she was free, and Castiel started shouting at them to go again. Lydia was unwilling to leave him, but before she could do anything about it, Sam's hand was on her shoulder and was pushing her out the door.

XXX

On the way back to Bobby's, nobody said anything. Lydia made sure that she was curled up in the farthest corner of the Impala, far away from the other hunters as possible. Once they got back to Bobby's house, Lydia shot out of the car like a rocket and went up to her room, slamming the door behind her. She went into her closet and started pulling out bags and suitcases and putting them on her bed. She began the agonizing process of packing all her clothes and personal things away, all while trying to keep it together. She didn't particularly want to leave-she had come to see Bobby, Dean and Sam as friends-but after everything that had just happened, she doubted she could stay here. She tried to pack as quickly and as quietly as possible, but she wasn't even halfway done when she heard the door creak open.

"You don't have to jump ship, y'know," Bobby's voice came from behind her.

Lydia shook her head as she folded another shirt. "No offense, Bobby, but I really don't think I have much of a choice here."

"Sure ya do," Bobby walked forward and stood next to her as she put her stuff away. "You've got a million of 'em. Yeah, this whole thing sucks out loud. But you don't have to ditch us completely because of it. We'll just...we'll figure something out."

"Yeah, that's the thing, Bobby!" Lydia tossed a random pair of pants onto the bed in her frustration. "You don't get it. If I stay here, I'm going to have to deal with you guys plotting against Cas, trying to stop him." Lydia put her face closer to Bobby's and said, "I don't want to stop Cas. I know what he's trying to do, and he's doing it for a damn good reason. Maybe you guys don't want to help him, but I do. So yeah, maybe I do have other choices, but there's no way in hell I'm choosing you guys over him." Lydia shook her head, trying to control the shaking in her voice. "I'm sorry. But this is how it's gotta be."

Bobby nodded, looking down at the ground. "Well, Lyd...if things are different after this...it's been a nice ride." He clapped her on the shoulder before walking out of the room, leaving Lydia feeling strangely lonely. After a few minutes of sitting on her bed, lost in thought, Lydia stood up and started packing again. She hadn't gotten far, however, when she heard a knock at the door. Assuming it to be Bobby again, she just asked him what he needed. She was surprised, however, when she turned and saw that it was Sam standing in the doorway.

Lydia slowly put down the shirt she was holding and folded her arms across her chest, turning so she was facing Sam completely. "What are doing here?"

Sam gave her a half-shrug, his eyes never directly making contact with hers. "Bobby told me you were leaving. I figured you might need help packing."

Lydia thought about it for a moment before shaking her head decidedly. "No, it's fine. I'm almost done anyway."

"Oh," Sam nodded. "I'll just go back downstairs, then." Sam pushed himself off the doorway and started walking downstairs.

Lydia watched the empty doorway for a second before going over and opening it. "Sam?"

Sam was standing in the middle of the staircase, looking up at her. "Yeah?"

Lydia didn't answer at first; she wasn't sure exactly what she wanted to say. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, "Thank you. I know there's been a lot of shit that's happened recently, like tonight, but you're still a really good friend. So...thanks."

Sam nodded, finally making direct eye contact with her. "You're welcome." They both nodded awkwardly before Sam turned around and walked back downstairs.

XXX

By the time Lydia finished packing all her things, it was a little bit after midnight. Lydia had tried praying to Cas several times throughout the night, but she never got an answer. She was lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling for what was probably going to be the last time, playing with the necklace she was holding, before she heard voices from coming downstairs. She slowly tiptoed downstairs to find Cas in the living room, talking to none other than Dean Winchester himself. Lydia was about to barge right in on their conversation, ready to defend Castiel, but then she realized it was just that- a conversation. It wasn't a one-sided interrogation or Dean yelling at Cas or the angel hiding something like it usually was; it was an honest-to-God conversation. A heartbreaking one at that, but Lydia stayed hidden and listened to them talk.

"How'd you get in here?" Dean asked him.

"The angel-proofing Bobby has on the house..." Lydia heard what sounded like a little bit of humor slip into the angel's voice. "He got a few things wrong." Cas sighed. "I wanted to talk to you, Dean. I want you to understand..."

"Believe me, I get it," Dean stopped him in his tracks. "Blah, blah, Raphael, right? You know what, Cas? You are a freakin' child. Just because you can do what you want doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want!"

This conversation was very quickly going downhill, and everybody knew it. Lydia had to try her hardest not to give herself away as Cas determinedly told Dean, "I know what I'm doing."

"Cas, listen to me," Dean's voice was quick and harsh. "Next to Sam, you and Bobby are the closest thing I have to family-you are like a brother to me. Hell, even Lydia's like my sister-in-law or something!" Lydia had to really restrain herself this time; she and Dean fought, true, but she still thought of him as her friend. Hearing him say that he thought of her in that way was definitely a surprise, but a good one. Reminding herself that the conversation was still going on, she tuned back into what Dean was saying. "So if I'm asking you not to do something...you got to trust me, man. And if you don't...I don't even know, Cas. I'll just have to do what I have to do to stop you."

"You can't, Dean," Cas replied. "I'm an angel. You're just a man."

"I've taken some pretty big fish."

"Cas?" Lydia finally walked down the rest of the steps and stopped the conversation from going any further. She gave Dean an apologetic look as she said, "I have my stuff packed upstairs. I'm ready to leave when you are."

Dean seemed more surprised than Cas did. "Wait...you're leaving?"

"Yeah," Lydia was thrown off-guard. "Didn't Bobby or Sam tell you that?"

"No," Dean shook his head. "You're just...leaving? Just like that?"

Lydia wrapped her arms around herself tighter as she answered, "Well, when you tie a person to a chair and question them like that, it usually isn't a good thing."

"Lydia," Dean, instead of growing agitated, grew apologetic. "Look, I'm sorry. But..."

"You know what?" Lydia put up her hand. "Just save it, okay? You're my friend, Dean, but you're an asshole. And if you're just going to chase down Cas and punish him like he's some puppy that disobeyed you...I'm going with Cas. I'm sorry, but I am."

Dean nodded, looking a mix between angry and upset. "So you're going to choose him over us, right? You two are just gonna run off and work with Crowley?"

Lydia shook her head, but only muttered, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Dean started rubbing his eyelids. It was right then and there that Lydia realized that from now on, things were going to be much, much different. The battle lines were drawn. She took Cas' hand, let him upstairs, and in just a few seconds, they were both gone.