Castiel realized belatedly that he should have eased the information to Bobby rather than outright demonstrating his shift from humanity to wavelength of Celestial intent. As Bobby backed into the study, his eyes never leaving Castiel's, the older Hunter reached round the door jamb for the shotgun filled will salt dipped iron rounds that he knew was hiding beside the table.

"Bobby –"

Quick s ever, he pulled the gun from its hiding place and fired off two rounds into his chest. Normally, he would not have even felt it; with his Grace still heavily diminished from the necessary restart, he flinched as he was forced to heal the damage dealt.

"Bobby, please listen to me."

"What are you?"

His grip on the gun tightened as he went for another shot. Rather than with for another painful blow, Castiel spread his remaining pair of wings and attempted to fly behind the Hunter only to misjudge the amount of strength needed and land directly in front of him. Using his position to his advantage, Castiel grabbed the barrel and pulled the shotgun from Bobby's hand. He kept his impassive expression despite the inner turmoil that followed the look on his adoptive Father's face.

"Bobby, how can I prove to you that it is me?"

"Right, because the boy I raised could teleport."

Castiel allowed a fond smile to pass his lips as he guided his mentor to his desk.

"I have much to tell you, Bobby. Many things have changed in the time that I have become acquainted with Dean Winchester."

His Father's face froze then, his eyes widening a marginal amount as the Hunter attempted to mask his shock.

"Dean Winchester? How do you know each other?"

"As I said, I have much to tell you. Please, listen."

Rather than waste any time, Dean headed straight back to the Profit's house and stormed in. He was going to find the damn Colt and he was going to have Gabriel keep a close eye on Castiel. He wasn't about to lose his friend for the third time since he met him. Fuck that; and fuck Fate while he was at it. Sammy wasn't saying yes to any God damned Angels (pun fully intended), while he was around.

"Gabe!"

He heard Sam close the door behind him and ignored him in favor of walking into the living room where he found Gabriel pouring over pages while Chuck sat looking nervous. Not that it was any different than any other time he sat around the house, but whatever.

"What're you doing?"

The Profit jumped, licking his lips before cautiously looking between Dean and the Archangel. Without looking up from the page, Gabriel waved at Chuck and offhandedly said, "You tell him." Dean, in turn, looked expectantly at the Profit while the man audibly gulped.

"Uh…while you were gone, Gabriel did some digging on Samuel Colt. He is, uh…"

Chuck cleared his throat.

"He's real, so it's likely –"

"The Colt's out there somewhere."

"Yes. Then I remembered mentioning it somewhere in the new book –"

"Eureka!"

Gabriel shot to his feet, clutching a page and nearly knocking the Profit over in his excitement. Then, there was a flutter of wings and Dean watched the Archangel propel himself towards him. His eyes were almost golden with light, enthusiasm coming off him in waves. He had forgotten that Sam couldn't see most of what happened, his brother flinching behind him when he 'suddenly' appeared in front of Dean.

"Balthazar had been working with a Demon."

"What?"

"Oh, shut up, Dean! The Demon, Crowley apparently, has the Colt."

"Let me rephrase the question – what?"

"Dean, I've found the Colt! This is important, this is huge! If it is as powerful as they say, we might have a real chance t avoiding the whole Apocalypse!"

"Yeah, and how are we gonna get the thing back from a Demon?"

Then Gabriel was laughing at him, that son of a –

"Dean-o, we're bad ass Angels! We can summon him and then smite him where he stands."

"What if he doesn't have the Colt on him?"

He felt a little smug as he watched the Archangel consider it a moment and then deflate.

"You seriously didn't consider that?"

"Look bub, I'm grasping at straws as it is. We're looking for a legendary gun with no known eye witness accounts. I find a solid lead and you're honestly expecting me to think of everything?"

And Dean had thought that look was a Sam exclusive.

"Alright, wise guy, what now? A Demon has the colt, what are we gonna do about it?"

"So, let me get this straight; Dean Winchester, drunken son-of-a-gun, womanizing extraordinaire, has some Heavenly purpose – as the Righteous Man, Michael's Sword, no less. Then his brother Sam, lawyer-bound, goodie-two-shoes, is the Dark Lord Lucifer's vessel. Oh, and not only are they supposed to bring about the friggin' Apocalypse; you're also an Angel who needs my help tracking down some amulet to help you find God. Tell me if I'm missing anything."

Castiel thought for a moment.

"No, that is the situation."

"Right, that's all."

He could hear the sarcasm in Bobby's voice, the scoff that the seasoned Hunter did not bother hiding. Yes, he understood the absurdity of the situation, but it was also time sensitive. He did not have the time for Bobby's cynicism. Grabbing a pen and a discarded piece of receipt paper from the desk, Castiel quickly drew a sketch of what the amulet should look like. Handing it over, he watched as Bobby's eyes widened once more. Good, he recognized it. That should simplify this task.

"This amulet provides protection to the wearer and burns hot in the Lord's presence. I need it. Do you know where it is?

"Well, I've seen it, but it's long gone now."

This conversation was not going where he had thought it would.

"How so?"

"I gave this to Sam a long time ago."

Then Castiel remembered the story of Uncle Bobby's amulet that Sam had given Dean for Christmas.

"I haven't seen Dean wear it since his Father died, always assumed it was lost in the crash with the truck. After that…could be anywhere."

"When did the crash happen? Where?"

"What are you on about? Anyone could've picked up that damn necklace by now, there's no sense –"

"Bobby."

He tried to convey with a look alone that he wasn't using his head. It worked, apparently.

"You ain't got the juice for a trip back."

Briefly, Castiel considered this.

"There's Gabriel."

"Right, 'cause leaving those two knuckleheads alone wouldn't be the end of the world or anything."

Castiel noted his sarcasm and word play, opting instead to ignore them both.

"I have a favor to ask."

"You sure this is gonna work?"

"I did not just brave Zachariah's strong hold and pull this blade from my brother's corpse for something that 'might work'."

Thankfully, Dean shut right up. Gabriel was in no mood for his ass-hattery as he wiped the still slick blade onto one of the other ingredients. Saying a small Enochian enchantment, he dropped the two into the mix and moved back as the cloud of smoke rose from the map and all of the lines turned red. Then, as the energy moved, all at once it focused on one spot.

"Looks like we'll find Crowley and the Colt…here."

Then there was a flutter of wings, Castiel not only in the room but stumbling in his haste to land and move towards him with purpose. How he managed to some off as graceful as he almost fell over ws beyond the Archangel.

"Gabriel, I have located the amulet."

Oh, well fuck.

Dean still wasn't buying the whole 'God will save us' spiel.

"That's great, Cass; guess what?"

Then he was turning to him, relief and confusion marring his features. What was there to be –

"Hello Dean. Sam."

Oh, he really didn't think that…did he? Then Dean realized that he had never given him reason to believe otherwise. Weakly, he continued.

"We found the Colt, a Demon has it. We even have his location, could possibly –"

"It will have to wait."

"…What?"

"You are not going alone and I will be taking Gabriel with me so that we can procure the amulet."

"Dude, it's just a Demon; I think Sammy and I can –"

"It is too dangerous. The answer is no, Dean."

"Then what will you have us do? Sit around with our thumbs up our asses while we wait for you to get back? Sounds a little dumb, doesn't it? All of your eggs in one unprotected basket?"

"I have discussed the situation with a mutual friend; Bobby has agreed to watch the three of you."

"So now we're being babysat?"

Dean was pissed, to say the least. Yeah, he'd only really fought two Demons and beat one. Sure, his track record wasn't the greatest, but that didn't give Castiel the right to treat them as children.

"Wouldn't it make more sense to go for an actual weapon rather than an amulet that might help you find God – if he even wants to be found?"

Dean really knew what buttons to push, apparently; Castiel all righteous fury and disdain for the second time in one day as he once again closed the distance between them.

"The Colt is still a theoretical weapon and until it is proven otherwise you will follow my lead. So long s we are all set on the insane task of stopping the Devil, this is how we will do it."

Then he was grabbing onto his and Sam's shoulders, sending them to Bobby's front porch where Sam fell down the steps he was a little too close to and Dean slammed waist first into the railing. Fuck, Cass really was gonna need to figure this thing out before he got someone killed. Then Chuck appeared, rolling off of the swing onto the floor before crawling to the railing and puking through the posts. A couple of deep breaths later, he stood and shakily addressed both of them.

"I really hate it when they do that."