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Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Last Chapter

Haley had only taken a couple of steps away from the panic room when she came to an abrupt stop. There was a familiar sound behind her; the sound of fluttering wings, and her stomach dropped. She didn't want to turn around to see who it was standing there, because she knew that it had to be an angel, and it definitely wasn't Castiel. Slowly, hesitantly, she turned around. There were two men standing there, small, cruel smiles on their faces as they moved towards her. Before she even had the chance to scream, to yell for Sam or Dean or Cas, they each rested a hand to one of her shoulders.

And then everything went black.

Saving Grace

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Impulse

Van Nuys, California — The Angel's Room

Not even that long ago, Adam Milligan had been a relatively normal person.

Adam had lived a reasonably normal life, as far as normal was concerned, there had been nothing too out of the ordinary about it. There had been just him and his Mom, and, for the most part, he had been more than okay with that. But, one day, seemingly out of nowhere, absolutely everything had changed. A creature had barged it's way through his front door and that had been the end of his life. It hadn't been expected, and it sure as hell hadn't been natural, he could never, ever, forget the day that he and his mother had met their demise at the hands of the two ghouls that had broken into their home. There were things out there in the darkness that he had barely given a second thought to since he had convinced himself at the age of six that the monster in his closet wasn't real. But he had been wrong. He had been so, so wrong. There were things out there that he couldn't even begin to imagine, and it was one of those things that had killed him.

Yet, death hadn't been what he had anticipated. He hadn't known what to expect when it happened, no one ever did, but it had surprised him. He had never been someone to believe in a god or a heaven or a hell. He had always thought death to be just that, death. But, to his surprise, when he had closed his eyes for the final time, his final sight being the two ghouls that had pretty much eaten him alive, he had opened his eyes somewhere else. He had made it to heaven and somewhere, somehow, he had been fine with that. He could have stayed there, he was happy there, it was a good place to be. There was no pain, no suffering, no monsters and no evil.

Or so he had thought.

But, once again, he had been wrong.

One night, he had once again been ripped from the safety of his own existence by creatures he hadn't been sure were real. Angels. A man had appeared there in his heaven, a man with a bald head and a black suit. And, with a simple touch to his forehead, everything had changed once again. The next thing he had known he was lying on a bed with five people staring down at him; two brothers, a sister, an angel and an old hunter.

Adam had never quite known what his purpose was supposed to be when he had been younger. When he had sat there in school, barely listening to the same tedious teachers day in and day out, he had allowed his mind to wander to the future, to what life would be like outside of those four walls, outside of his home town, outside of everything he knew. It had crossed his mind that maybe one day he would grow up and do something amazing, or maybe his life was destined to simply remain what was considered normal. Maybe he would become some important business man with a wife and two kids in a nice house in a nice neighbourhood, or maybe he was going to be a sports star, or a doctor, he just had to cling onto the belief that there was a place for him in that world, that he had a purpose somewhere. Because, as a teenager, he just hadn't known it.

And then, that day in heaven, he had found it. He was going to be the one who stopped the devil.

At first he hadn't believed it, he had thought that the man standing before him must be mistaken. Because there was no way that him, Adam Milligan, the normal, boring kid who had never done anything even remotely significant in his life, was the one to save the world. But he had been insistent. He and the archangel Michael were going to finish off Lucifer, once and for all. He was going to be the boy who saved the world. And then, as a reward, he would get back the only thing that he had ever truly cared about in the world; his mother.

Adam relaxed back in his seat and looked around the room where he was now sitting. It was bright, classy, beautiful. It was decorated like it should be part of a rich person's mansion. He had no idea where he was, he didn't care. He took a bite of yet another burger taken from the pile in front of him and grabbed himself another beer. For once in his life, he felt as though he knew what he was doing, as though nothing could stand in his way of doing something right, something that was going to help people, something that was going to give him back his Mom. He was doing something that mattered. He had found his purpose.

"I see that you and your brother share the same refined palate." A voice sounded from before him, and he looked up to see Zachariah leaning against the edge of the large table. There was a small smile on his face, yet it looked forced.

Adam cleared his throat and looked over him slowly, he wasn't sure what to say. He had been sitting there for quite a while, he wasn't sure what they were waiting for anymore. Surely, if it was Lucifer, they should be getting on with things. Shouldn't they have been hunting him down with everything they had to stop him? Why was he sitting there eating burgers and drinking beers? But he remained silent, choosing not to voice his concerns. "So, um..." He shrugged. "Are we ready?"

Zachariah said nothing for a moment, simply stared at him like he didn't have the first clue what he was talking about. "For what?" he asked, curiously.

Adam frowned at him. "What do you mean, for what?" he pushed. "For Michael."

Zachariah took a deep breath and looked down for a moment with a small smirk. "Oh." He nodded in understanding. "Right, about that," he sighed, mock sympathy written all over his face. Something was wrong. "Look, this is never easy, but, I'm afraid we've had to terminate your position at this time."

Adam's face visibly fell. "Excuse me?" He raised an eyebrow, more than confused, and sat up a little straighter, defensive. "What do you mean?"

"Hey," Zachariah said brightly. "Don't get me wrong, you've been one hell of a sport, really. Good stuff." He winked. "But, the thing is, you're not so much the chosen one as you are," He paused as if to search for the right expression. "A clammy scrap of bait."

"No," Adam shook his head, that couldn't be right. He didn't get it. "What about all the stuff that you said? I'm supposed to fight the devil."

"Hmm, not so much." he replied solemnly, an act that was clearly only provoking Adam further. He almost looked as though he were enjoying himself. "Hey, if it's any consolation, you happen to be the illegitimate half-brother of the guy we do actually care about. That's not bad, is it?"

Adam nodded slowly. He was really starting to wish that he had listened to his siblings in the first place. They had been right about him all along. "So, you lied." he concluded. "About everything."

"We didn't lie." Zachariah said, as if a little offended at his comment. "We just...avoided certain truths to manipulate you."

"Oh, you son of a bitch!" Adam was furious. His fists were clenched beside him, and the man before him was only making him madder by the second.

But the angel only huffed. He clearly wasn't phased. He obviously didn't care. He looked nothing but amused by the whole situation. "Hey, how do you think I feel?" he went on, his tone remaining bright and upbeat. "I'm the one that's got to put up with that dumb, slack-jawed look on your face." he quipped. "Kid, we didn't have a choice. The Winchesters have got one blind spot, just one, and that's family. And, you know what, I'm not taking any chances this time." He hopped off the table and circled it, walking to the other side of the room. Adam watched him curiously as he snapped his fingers and turned sharply in his seat at the sound behind him. They were no longer alone in the room. Haley was standing behind him between two large men, each of them had a tight grip of one of her arms. She looked from Adam to Zachariah, and her face visibly dropped at the sight of him. She was screwed, it was written all over her face, and she knew it. "Ah," A smug smirk spread over Zachariah's face. "Thank you, gentlemen." he said brightly, not giving them another look before they disappeared.

Haley gave herself a small shake, as if to regain some sense of feeling in her arms after their grip had been released. She shook her head slowly and gave a bitter laugh to herself. "Not you again." she muttered. She glanced down to Adam, who looked as though he didn't know what to say. "We told you he was full of crap." she added simply. She didn't sound angry with him, she didn't sound at all phased by what was going on around her, she just sounded annoyed, as though the whole situation was nothing more than an inconvenience to her. She looked to Zachariah and narrowed her eyes. "How'd you get out of the trap?"

Zachariah chuckled, a little bitterly. "You'd be surprised who's willing to help an angel for the right price." he responded smugly. "Hello again, Haley." He smiled, clearly resentful. "Have you missed me? Because I've sure missed you."

She scoffed at him, as though she found him funny. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked, suspicious. "How did you find me? Again."

The smirk didn't leave his face. If anything, it became smugger. "Well, you see, when Adam here slipped that he was staying with your good friend Bobby Singer, it wasn't all that hard to spring you along with him." he answered simply. "You see, Haley, once we know where you are, all the special tattoos and rib carvings your sweet angel sidekick could give you are nothing but useless."

Haley simply rolled her eyes at the remark. She looked to Adam for a second, his eyes were wide, his face the picture of guilt. "Haley—" He opened and close his mouth, as though he didn't know what to say to her. He was at a loss for words. She was there because of him. He was there because he hadn't listened to her. He couldn't think of an apology to cut it. They had been right all along, and he had refused to listen to a word of it.

"You see, Adam," Zachariah went on. "And, I'm sure that Haley will agree with me here, Sam and Dean are about to put aside their differences and they're gonna come and get you both. And that's going to put Dean right here. Right where I want him." He grinned. "Right where I need him. I'm not going to chase him anymore, he's going to come right to me. This is the night, kids. Michael's seen it. The tumblers finally click into place, and it's all because of you two. And me. But," He shrugged. "Who's keeping score."

Haley blinked, she honestly didn't have anything to say to that. There was nothing that she could say. Because she could see how it was all going to work out. As much as she hated to admit it, Zachariah was right. Sam and Dean would come for them, no doubt about it, because she knew Sam had just enough faith left in Dean to bring him. And she wasn't sure, especially where her life, Sam's life, and Adam's life were concerned, how hard he would have to fight off saying yes. Because, if he was as serious about giving up as he had told her, there was a chance that a yes would come pretty easily. She tried not to let it show on her face, but she knew right there, they were done. They were screwed. Tonight was the night she was going to lose her brother.

Adam pulled her from her thoughts as he pushed himself up from where he sat, he looked furious. He shook his head at the angel. "I'm not going to let you do this."

Zachariah rolled his eyes. "Cool your jets, Corky." he muttered. "Sit down. We're doing it together. Plus, you still get your severance. You still get to see your mom, okay?"

Haley shook her head at him. "Don't listen to him, Adam." she told him. "He's full of shit."

Adam narrowed his eyes at him. She was right. All he had done was lie to him. Why should he believe him now? "She's right." he stated. "Why should I believe anything you say?"

Zachariah sighed dramatically. "You know what, I keep hearing this," He paused and mimicked a talking gesture with his hand, directed right at Adam. "But what I want to be hearing, is this." He closed his hand, and at the same time Adam fell forwards onto the table, coughing and spitting up his own blood. "Yeah," he nodded. "That's better."

"Let the kid go, Zachariah." Haley said to him, her voice firm, as she watched her brother struggle for air.

He slowly turned to face her and raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"

"You've got me, alright?" she reasoned. "Sam and Dean are still gonna come. He has nothing to do with this, you've fucked him over enough, just let him go."

Zachariah took a step closer to her and his face darkened. "He's not going anywhere. And neither are you." he said, his tone was low, threatening. "Don't think I've forgotten about what you and your little angel friend did to me. Let me tell you, I am the last person in creation that you want to provoke, girl."

But Haley smiled at him. "You don't scare me, Zachariah."

"You know something, I thought your brothers were insufferable little maggots, but you...you..." He reached out and roughly grabbed a handful of her hair, dragging her towards him. "You know, I've been waiting to get my hands on you again, Haley. I've been waiting to finish up what we started. You think the last time was bad? I'm gonna make that look like a walk in the park." he seethed. "You remember how much you screamed when I pulled off your fingernails, one by one? Hm? You remember how much you shrieked when we pulled out those pretty white teeth? Remember how it felt when I shattered your bones? One by one in alphabetical order? A to Z and then Z to A?" He chuckled as he thought back. "You think you knew pain then...you have absolutely no idea what's coming to you."

Haley laughed in his face, showing him her perfectly white teeth, as if just to make a point that none of the damage he had inflicted upon her had lasted. He stared at her as though she had actually gone mad. "Well, forgive me if I'm not shaking in terror." she said sarcastically. "Because I'll bet you that I last longer than you, Zach. You ain't gonna live through tonight, I promise you that. Haven't you heard? You don't fuck with a Winchester and walk away."

Zachariah narrowed his eyes at her, and she could tell that he was debating with himself whether he wanted to take her threat seriously or not. But he smirked. "Well, I'll remember that when I have you tied down and I'm carving out your spleen." he retorted.

"Oh," She smirked up at him. "Trust me, buddy, one of us is going to kill you. I mean, come on, if you're that certain of yourself, by all means, take a swing right now."

"I know what you're doing, Haley." he replied bluntly. "And if you think that provoking me is going to distract me from snapping your little brother's bones, you're very much mistaken." He clicked his fingers, without even looking back, and Adam dropped to the ground in pain. He turned to glance back at him and threw him across the room into the opposite wall, knocking him out cold. "Now," He looked back to Haley and a sadistic smirk crossed his face. "Your turn."

As much as she wanted to pretend, as much as she played it down, the man before her terrified her. But she wouldn't give in. If she was about to die, she was going to do it with a smirk on her face, she refused to give him the satisfaction of cowering away from him in fear. "Take your best shot." she muttered, her voice strained as he tugged harder at her hair. "It's not gonna make Dean say yes. It's not gonna make your plan work. You're still gonna be known as that pathetic angel that could never catch the Winchester brothers."

Zachariah scoffed in her face and threw her across the room into the wall. A vase smashed behind her with the impact before she fell to the floor with the broken pieces. He strode towards her without remorse and gave the smallest flick of his hand to send her straight back to the other wall, this time even harder. "What do you think?" he called to her as he continued to walk around the table. "Are we having fun yet?"

She could even hear the smirk in his voice as she rolled onto her back with a groan. "Fuck you."

Haley opened her eyes to find him standing over her, hands in his pockets and a soft smile on his face. "I hope you've warmed up those vocal chords," he said simply. "Because you're about to do some screaming."

Meanwhile - Bobby's House - Living Room

Holding onto hope was something that Sam had always been good at. It was something that he had done all throughout his life. When he had been a child, he had been able to hope that he would one day make it out of hunting. When he had been at college, he had been able to hope for a normal life, he had been able to hope that he would do well, that he would make it, that everything would work out the way he wanted it to. But things had changed so quickly, the night that Dean had come back, crashing into his life at some stupid hour of the morning, pleading a case to him about their father. After that night, hope had seemed so much harder to grasp. That was when everything had been turned upside down. He had held onto the hope that they would find their dad again, but that had faded away fast. He had pretended that it was still there, for Dean's sake, but it had all been an act. There had been the hope that they would find out what had happened with Azazel, hope that they would learn the truth about his psychic power, but that hadn't brought him anything good. He had tried so hard to keep the faith in finding a way to break Dean's deal to hell, but that had tanked. And from there it had become a prayer that he could bring him back from the pit, and his return had brought on the apocalypse. Hope never seemed to serve him well anymore, and, truthfully, he didn't know how he still had it. And still, after everything, he was trying to find the hope in his brother, he held onto the belief that he wouldn't give up on him. Because he needed Dean, and that was no secret to anyone. He just prayed, for once, that hope would hold out for him.

Sam released a long sigh as he entered Bobby's study. He was sitting behind his desk, the same as he always was, eyes scanning the open book in front of him. He gave a small, concerned frown to the youngest Winchester as he entered. "Where's Haley?" he asked. He hadn't seen his sister for a long while. "And Cas."

Bobby shook his head slowly. "I think Haley's still down with Dean. I haven't seen her since she said she was going to talk to him." He shrugged. "And as for Cas, I have no idea where he is." Sam nodded, not looking to be taking anything in. "Sam, come on, you can't seriously be considering this."

Sam glanced up, eyebrows raised. "Considering what?"

But Bobby knew what was going on in his head, before he even had to say it, he knew. "You can't take your brother with you, Sam." he warned. "He ain't in the right mind. Hell, if that's your plan, why don't you just hand him over to the angel's now. Save the trip."

"He won't say yes, Bobby." Sam replied, defensive. "I know he won't. And, I mean, you never know, like you said, Haley's been down there with him for a long time, she always had a way of talking him around when he was planning on doing something stupid. She's the only one he'll listen to half of the time."

Bobby sighed, regretful. "Sam, I don't think even Haley's gonna be able to talk him outta this one. He's dead set on it."

Sam pulled a hand through his hair, he didn't know what to do. "Let me talk to him." he said. "If he says he's still ready to do it, I won't take him."

Bobby sighed and watched as he turned and left the room without another room, heading towards the staircase to the cellar. Just the idea of having Dean on lock down in the panic room was strange, he had never seen him so insistent on walking away from a fight before. It wasn't like him. And, no matter what Sam said, or how hard he tried to pretend things were going to be okay, Bobby could see how much it was getting to him. He was struggling with it, more than he would ever let on.

In all his life, Sam had never once seen his brother walk away from a fight the way he was doing now. Dean and Haley had always been the ones he looked to for strength, because they seemed to have it to spare. They never gave up, they never stopped fighting, at least, until now. It was hard to see them both so worn out and run down and hopeless, it just wasn't who they were supposed to be. It scared him a little. Because if Dean was planning to do something stupid, he couldn't say for sure that Haley wasn't planning something, too. If either of them had at least half an idea that they thought they could save their siblings, they would take it, and they all knew that. Sometimes it just meant that they didn't think things through.

Sam opened the door slowly and looked around the panic room. Dean was still handcuffed to the bed, lying down on his side with a tired look on his face. He didn't look angry anymore, he didn't look annoyed or frustrated, just weary. He closed the door behind himself and slowly moved across the room to sit on the chair beside his bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he sat down, the concern was clear in his words.

Dean pushed himself to sit up with a pained groan. His face was cut and a little bruised, but Sam could see he was in pain when he moved. "Word to the wise, don't piss off the nerd angels" he grumbled. Sam tried to smile at the comment, but he couldn't. There was nothing at all he could find to smile about anymore, and his brother seemed to notice that. Dean was being hard on both him and Haley and he knew it. He'd had time to think down there, and it hadn't been fair. None of it had been fair. "So, how's it going?"

Sam hesitated with his response. Where was he supposed to start? "Adam's gone." he told him simply, deciding it better to just cut to the chase. "The angels have him. Cas thinks the same room as they took you. He did a re-con, the place is crawling with mooks." He shrugged. "Pretty much a no shot in hell, hail Mary kinda thing."

Dean raised his eyebrows, thinking through his brother's words. "Ah," He nodded. "So, the usual?" he commented. He was too tired to put any real emotion into his responses, he was too tired to do anything. It was as though the angels had taken the very fight out of him. He just had no energy, at all. He didn't see the point. "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, for starters," He pulled a key from his pocket and leaned forwards in his seat. "I'm bringing you with."

Dean frowned at him, that was the last thing he had expected to hear. "Sorry, what?" he pressed, like it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard in his life.

"There are too many of them," he said, grabbing a hold of Dean's wrist. "We can't do it alone. And, uh, you're pretty much the only game in town." he said simply, clicking the lock on the cuffs to release him.

Dean rubbed at his wrist for a moment as Sam turned away from him, he tossed the key down to the desk and leaned against it, turning back to his brother. "Isn't this a bad idea?" Dean asked him, eyeing him warily, because he was more than sure that it was.

Sam shrugged. "Cas and Bobby seem to think so." he replied. "I'm not so sure."

"Well, they're right." he replied bluntly. "Because, either this is a trap to get me there and make me say yes, or it's not a trap and I'm gonna say yes anyway. And I will. I'll do it, fair warning."

Sam shook his head, as if to say that he knew better. "No, you won't." Dean narrowed his eyes. "When push shoves, you'll make the right call."

Dean looked down for a moment, he wasn't sure what to think about that. "You know, if the tables were turned, I'd let you rot in here." He scoffed. "Hell, I have let you rot in here."

"Yeah, well," Sam shrugged, giving a small smile. "I guess I'm not that smart."

Dean just didn't understand, at all. He didn't understand where Sam kept finding this faith in him, after everything. "I don't get it, Sam, why are you doing this?"

"Because," Sam looked up at him, and hazel eyes found green. "You're still my big brother."

Dean looked down to his lap, it didn't make sense to him. He couldn't comprehend how Sam could just keep going all the time. Haley, either. They never seemed to give up on him, no matter what he did or what he put them through. No matter how stupid or reckless his behaviour got, they always had his back. They were always there. He knew that it had to be hell what he was making them watch him do. If he were in their shoes, watching one of his siblings repeatedly try to walk out of the fight, he wasn't sure what he'd do. But they were still there. "I need a drink." he muttered, voice low.

"No," Sam stopped him. "What you need to do, before we go anywhere, is sort things out with your damn sister. Before we find Adam, you fix things with her." That brought a frown to Dean's face. He had fixed things with her. He and Haley were fine. At least, they had been when she had left him there earlier. So, why didn't Sam know that? Hadn't Sam seen her? Hadn't they spoken to each other? But Sam seemed to now be on the same train of thought, because if she wasn't there with him, where had she gone? "Where is Haley, anyway?" he asked, apprehensive. There was suddenly a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What do you mean, where is she?" Dean frowned. "I was about to ask you that question."

"I don't know where she is." Sam said, now he was getting worried. "We haven't seen her since she came down here to talk to you. She never came back up."

Dean's face contorted from concern to complete horror, the first real emotion he'd shown since Sam had walked in. "What the hell, Sam?" he snapped, his tone harsh, as he all but jumped to his feet. "That was like an hour ago, how could you not have realised that she'd gone?!"

Sam shook his head, getting just as frustrated as him. "Well, I don't know if you've noticed, Dean, but she's not really one to sit around for the family discussions anymore." he countered, tone defensive. "Kind of keeps to herself, don't you think? What do you want me to do, put her on a leash?"

He looked livid. "Unbelievable." he muttered, pushing past Sam on his way to the door.

Dean ran up the stairs from the panic room and stormed through the living room, not saying a word to Bobby as he passed. He came to a halt at the bottom of the stairs. "Haley?!" he called up, figuring that maybe she would be in her room and Sam just hadn't noticed. At least, that's what he was praying for. "Hales, I'm not kidding around, get your skinny ass down here right now!" There was still no sound of movement, no indication that anyone was even up there. "Dammit." he muttered, turning to Sam who stood behind him, a concerned frown on his face, as though he had only then realised how serious things were. "Check outside." he instructed before heading up the stairs. He checked every room, slamming the last door closed in frustration before he marched back down to his brother, hoping that he was going to have found more than him.

He headed back into the living room, not even noticing the curious glances from both Castiel, who was now leaning against the desk, and Bobby, who was sitting behind it. Neither said anything for a moment, sharing a look between them as though to determine who would break the silence first. Dean looked explosive, like he was ready to crack. He had only been out of the panic room for a couple of minutes and he was already on edge.

"What's all the shouting?" Bobby pressed curiously, moving from behind the desk and into the middle of the living room.

Dean ignored him completely, as though he hadn't even noticed they were there. His attention turned to the door as Sam walked inside. "You found her?" he asked, almost desperately, but he could see by the remorseful look on his younger brother's face what the answer was.

Sam shook his head, looking between the three men before him. "She's not outside."

Green eyes went hard at the statement. "Dammit, Sam." he growled, running a hand through his hair. "He's got her."

Sam frowned at him. "Who?" he asked, a question which only earned him more of a glare from his eldest sibling. "Zachariah?"

"Who the hell else?" he snapped.

Bobby frowned, looking between the two of them slowly. They both wore hard, concerned frowns on their faces, seeming to be having a conversation between themselves without so much as opening their mouths. "What's going on?" he asked simply. But neither gave him an answer. "Where's Haley?"

And it was with that question that Dean finally turned to him. "What the hell do you mean, where's Haley, Bobby?" he all but yelled in his face. "You three were supposed to be keeping an eye on her."

Bobby blinked, appearing nothing but taken aback by Dean's tone. "Dean," Sam warned, seeing how riled up his brother was getting. "Cool it, alright? We all thought she was down with you." he retorted defensively. "I mean, she was still here after they'd taken Adam, right? If they had him, why would they come back for Haley? We don't know that he has her. She could be anywhere."

"Yeah, right." Dean shook his head at him. "Haley wouldn't just walk out, Sam. You know that. Not without telling someone. She wouldn't do that to you."

"Well, we don't know that," Castiel said, and his tone took them all by surprise. He stood from where he leaned against the desk and looked right at Dean. "What did you say to her down there?"

Dean looked stunned, he looked like he wanted to punch the angel right in his face. "Excuse me? I didn't say anything to make her walk out of here if that's what you're trying to say." he seethed. "He's got her, I know it."

"How?" Bobby pressed.

And that was when Dean realised what was happening. It all made sense. "Because, it's all a trap." he said quietly. His eyes were wide as though some horrible, awful thought had just walked up to him and slapped him. "They don't want Adam, they want me." Sam found his eyes, and he saw the panic. "This is all to get me there. Pack your crap, we're going to get them." he barked, and then he marched his way out of the room, Sam presumed was to get some weapons.

Sam, Castiel and Bobby stood in a tense silence, none of them saying a word for a moment after Dean had left. It was like none of them dared speak, maybe out of a fear of what they'd say. It was a sure thing that Dean would go and get his sister and brother back, he always would, no matter what. But they were all thinking the same thing. Dean wasn't acting like Dean anymore. He wanted to give up, just hours ago he had been ready to hand himself over to heaven to be a vessel of the apocalypse.

"Sam," Bobby eventually spoke up, quiet enough that Dean wouldn't hear him, as he looked up at the youngest Winchester. "You can't take him with you, just look at him."

But what could he really say? What argument could he really give? "They've got Haley, Bobby." Sam sighed, defeated, as though they all knew there was no other way. "And Adam. You really think he's gonna just sit around here and leave them where they are?"

"That's exactly my point." Bobby said, his voice hushed and hurried. "Sam, there ain't a lot of things that he wouldn't do when Haley's life comes into it, you know that, they know that, hell, everybody knows that. Why else do you think they'd come back for her?"

"He's my brother." Sam shook his head slowly. "I trust him, Bobby." he replied simply. "He wouldn't do that, he wouldn't say yes."

"Sam, you don't know that." Castiel cut in, his voice hard. "You can't be sure."

Sam slowly turned to face the angel, a frown on his face. "It's Haley, Cas." he stated, as though that was enough of an argument that he should understand. "Would you be willing to sit this one out?" Castiel looked down, saying nothing. "So do you really think that you're gonna be able to keep Dean away from there. I can guarantee you that if we don't take him he'll call an angel down here just to get to her. He won't let them have Haley. Or Adam." He shrugged. "At least if he's with us we know what he's doing, right?"

Before any of them could think up a response, or a more logical argument, the door banged behind them. Dean stood and looked between the three of them impatiently. "We ready, or what?" he asked bluntly.

"Dean," Castiel shook his head. "I don't think—"

But Dean stepped forwards before he had the chance to finish, there were mere inches between their faces, but Dean seemed to tower over him like never before. "Listen to me, Cas," He spoke in a low voice, almost growling the words at him. "If you back out of this now and you don't take me to my kid sister, I swear to god I will call down every single angel that I can and I'll make sure I bring my own damn apocalypse right to your doorstep, okay? I am not leaving her there. Not with that sick bastard." But Castiel still didn't look convinced by the idea of taking him, and that only seemed to push Dean further. "She trapped him and left him there for dead, do you really wanna think about what he's gonna do when he gets his hands on her, Cas? Seriously? We need to go, like now."

Castiel sighed, still in two minds about what they were doing, but nodded all the same. There was no arguing with him, he knew that. There was no keeping Dean away from his sister, not in the frame of mind he was in now. Sam had been right, had they refused to take him, had they gone there without him, there wasn't a doubt in his mind that Dean would have found another way to get there, and it would more than likely have come in the form of calling down another angel that would hand him right over to Zachariah. That was the last thing they needed. He knew exactly what they needed to do now, and he knew how. Because he was right, Zachariah would be gunning right for her now, especially after what she had done to him. She was his main target. She was in the most danger. And Dean wouldn't back down from that.

"Alright," Castiel sighed, looking between the brothers. "Let's go."