Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay, guys! I'm going through odd patches of business, but hopefully it'll be over soon. How about yesterday's episode though?! All the stuff between Sam and Dean was what I'd been missing for a loooong time. I can't wait to see the rest of this season!

Thanks to Nina Ferraro, SPN Mum, funkypanda, lindsayd16, What You See in the Shadows, ncsupnatfan, and 1983Sarah for their reviews on chapter 20!

Chapter 21 - And The Masquerade

Castiel arrived in Heaven with a distinct lack of coordination. His waning grace did not take kindly to the trip, and he stumbled harshly when he appeared, nearly plowing into a desk in front of him.

Hannah was on her feet and steadying Castiel before the weakened angel had time to react. "Are you all right?" She asked, concern evident in her tone. "Your grace is nearly gone," she added, this time stating, not telling.

Castiel sighed deeply and straightened up, pausing briefly to ensure he would not fall over. "I am fine, Hannah. This grace is not well, but it is also not the largest issue we have to handle. I need your help."

Looking like she wanted to argue, Hannah pursed her lips for a few moments before she slowly nodded in agreement. "All right. What's the problem?"

Moving more smoothly, Castiel made his way around the desk and out of the room, indicating for Hannah to follow him into the office. As soon she entered, he closed the door and moved over to his desk and and relaxed against it. "I was on a hunt with the Winchesters," he began.

"I remember," Hannah acknowledged. "How did it go?"

Castiel made a face. "Not as well as it could have, but there is still hope. That is not what I need to discuss with you."

"Did something happen on the hunt?" Hannah prompted him, curiosity starting to grow in her expression.

"The hunt itself is irrelevant," Castiel explained, "but the reason people were being attacked was because a portal had been opened into Avalon, and creatures were escaping. The problem has been handled, but the tool used to open the portal was a master key from Heaven, one of the items Metatron had hidden away in his vaults. However, that is not the problem either. The problem is that the key was somehow activated remotely while still locked away. There was no way to know where the key was located, and the vault had not been opened. Whoever caused the portal to open had to have a phenomenal amount of power, and they chose for the portal to open into Oz specifically, when any random location in Avalon would have been simpler." Castiel paused, then waved a hand at Hannah. "I cannot trace back the power that activated the key, but I was hoping you could help."

Hannah made a thoughtful noise, considering the information. Beginning to pace slightly, she was quiet for a moment as she thought before she finally turned back to answer. "Metatron couldn't have done it," she pointed out, looking irritated by the certainty of that fact. "His power is limited, being in prison, and he wouldn't be able to do something like that without it being detected. So, the question is who knew about Metatron's vaults?"

Castiel reached into his jacket and pulled the key out of one of the inner pockets, holding the golden block of wood carefully. "Could you use the key to determine the source of the power that managed to use it?"

Hannah pursed her lips again. "I can certainly try." Moving forward, she laid a hand delicately on the key, closing her eyes in concentration. The light of her grace began to glow, and her brow furrowed as the seconds ticked by. Finally, she withdrew her hand and opened her eyes, a perplexed look on her face. "The power that last operated this key originated in Heaven. Whoever did this was one of us."

With a sigh, Castiel nodded his agreement. "I suspected that to be the case, but I do not know who has this kind of power in Heaven any longer. Could you do something like this, if you had known the exact location of this key?"

Hannah slowly shook her head. "I could have tried, but I likely would not have succeeded. Certainly not with enough focus to open a specific portal, rather than a random one. Perhaps you should ask Metatron."

"You said he could not have done it," Castiel reminded her, raising an eyebrow.

"That doesn't mean he doesn't know who could have," Hannah pointed out. "Either way, it was his vault that was affected. If nothing else, he will be curious, and that may be enough motivation for him to help you."

Castiel considered the golden block in his hand for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Very well. I will let you know what I discover."

Hannah took the comment for the dismissal that it was, and dipped her head once in acknowledgement, opening the door and letting herself out of Castiel's office.

Castiel took his time opening the safe behind the bookcase and placing the key inside, letting his gaze linger on the Horn of Gabriel for a moment before slowly closing the safe and replacing the bookcase. He didn't particularly want to speak to Metatron, but it was true that the angel might well be tempted to cooperate out of sheer curiosity. Castiel was not inclined to feel hope when it came to Metatron's willingness to help, but maybe this would prove to be a successful attempt at getting helpful information from the former scribe of Heaven.

The journey down to the prison should not have taken Castiel any time at all, but he took the long route. Had he flown, the strain would have been too much on his grace so soon after arriving in Heaven, but he also relished the opportunity to stroll leisurely, not in any hurry to reach Metatron's cell. He had a few books from his shopping trip with Sam in the pockets of his trenchcoat, in case he needed to entice the angel, but he was hoping to not have to resort to bribery.

"I can hear you brooding from a mile away, Castiel," Metatron called out, his tone bored. "Please tell me you have something entertaining to tell me, or I may just wither away from boredom."

Castiel did not particularly appreciate being forced to approach Metatron on the prisoner's terms. He would have preferred to maintain his steady approach, but he reluctantly moved forward until he was within view of the cell. "Should I take that to mean you finished your book?"

"Quite a while ago," Metatron replied, sounding put out. "To what do I owe this visit?"

"As it happens," Castiel began, a plan beginning to form in his mind's eye. "I do have a story for you, and I need you to help me with something. For this task, I believe your own curiosity being satisfied will be a satisfactory reward."

Raising an eyebrow, Metatron shifted until he was facing Castiel, his back up against the cell wall where he sat on the ground. "All right, you have my attention. What's happening down on good old planet Earth these days?"

Castiel began to explain, leaving out anything Metatron didn't need to know. He didn't explain Dean's demon nature and the test that was the hunt, nor did he explain what became of the kael, or the friends of the Winchesters he had met in Oz. Instead, he limited his story to the power he had felt in the town, the discovery of the vault, the contents of the vault, what the key had done, and the most recent revelation that it had been activated from Heaven. Coming to the conclusion, Castiel finished with, "As you can imagine, it is important to determine who within Heaven has the capacity to activate a master portal key that you hid in the most remote and unnoticeable location such an object could be placed. There is no coincidence here. Someone knew where it was and activated it on purpose. I believe that you are just as interested to know the party responsible and the reason behind the action as I am."

Nodding slowly, Metatron began to clap, raising his eyebrows teasingly at Castiel. "Very good. I'd say you edited quite a bit of your little tale there, but the bit about my vault was interesting enough, so I'll let it slide."

"How very generous of you," Castiel deadpanned. "Do you know who activated the key?"

Metatron smirked, relaxing against the wall and waving a hand dismissively. "I might. I have my suspicions, at least."

"Are you planning to share?" Castiel prompted, exasperation starting to seep into his tone.

"Castiel, there is a fundamental lesson I keep trying to teach you that you keep failing to grasp," Metatron informed him, his tone dripping with insincere patience.

"What might that be?" Castiel asked, not really interested in the slightest.

Metatron frowned at him. "Spoilers ruin the story!" He exclaimed, as though this was the most important truth he could convey.

"But a story cannot move forward when information is missing," Castiel pointed out, hoping that Metatron would actually help this time, rather than throw him vague suggestions. There would have been no point to his visit to the prison if he was unable to recover any useful information.

Metatron tapped a finger to his lips, considering that. "I suppose that's true." He shrugged. "All right, then. I'll tell you where to start looking for your answers if you give me a new book. To be honest, I don't know specifically where your answer is, since you've locked me up and all."

"How do I know your information is good?" Castiel asked, exasperated. "If you do not know where this person is, then-"

"I know enough," Metatron interrupted. "We're talking general location here, Castiel. That's more than enough."

"Very well. Would you prefer another Agatha Christie novel or a Fantasy volume?" Castiel had one of each with him, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to offer a choice.

Metatron thought about it for a moment before getting up to move closer to the bars. "Fantasy. I'm curious what you found for me."

Castiel fished the large copy of The Paradise War out of his pocket, handing it through the bars to Metatron. "Now, where do I need to search?"

Weighing the volume in his hand, Metatron scanned the back cover briefly before making a noise of pleased acknowledgement and returning to his spot by the wall. "Fair's fair, I suppose. There are several Heavens scattered around that aren't being used for one reason or another. Some of them were prepared and never occupied, some were vacated by especially clever souls who managed to get out and find loved ones, and some are just empty. There aren't many, but they're around. Because they're empty, they're easily manipulated into whatever you need them to be. I find that they can be made into cages just as easily as they can be used as hiding spots. They've been used for both. You're going to want to take a good hard look at the Heavens, but other than that, I'm afraid I can't help." Settling back, Metatron cracked open the book and began to scan the first page.

Sensing that was as much information as he was going to get, Castiel left immediately, moving to return to the main office area to find Hannah. He found her almost as soon as he made it up to that room, causing her to start slightly when she turned to see him entering purposefully.

"How did your talk with Metatron go?" Hannah asked eagerly, moving quickly to Castiel's side.

"It was enlightening, to an extent," Castiel acknowledged. "Tell me, is there any way to tell if any of the Heavens are empty, as in without a soul?"

"Not easily," Hannah admitted. "I can look into it for you, see if I can narrow it down. Was that his answer?"

Castiel had to shrug at that. "I am not sure what I am looking for," he admitted. "Until I get a chance to search Heaven, there is no telling whether or not Metatron gave me any valid information."

"Then I will get to work," Hannah replied, moving over to a desk full of paperwork. "I will ask around for you, and let you know what I find. In the meantime, you can take a look at the most recent records. I am not sure how well kept they are, but if they are in any semblance of order, either from Naomi's reign or before, you may be able to find something of help there."

Castiel nodded once in reply. "Thank you, Hannah. I will begin there." It would be no small undertaking to scour Heaven for something or someone he had yet to even identify, but Castiel was determined. This was a mystery that had to be solved, but more importantly, it was a mystery large enough to take his mind off of everything else that was going wrong that he couldn't fix.