Sophia's Chronicles

A/N:

This chapter contains scenes from Goodbye Stranger.

Chapter 59: Three Angels, Two Hunters and A Demon

Raziel's office, New York – 7 January 2012, 10.40am

"Castiel seems to be on some kind of rampage," Dinah reported. "Loads of demon-killings."

"Doing his Heavenly duties, I see," Raziel sighed as he taped another cardboard box. His apartment was full of them now. A kind of tiredness dragged his muscles as he moved onto the pile of folders on the table and began packing them into a cardboard box. "What does it have to do with anything?" he nonchalantly shrugged.

"Wha- Raz!" Dinah fumed. Raziel paused mid-packing and turned to look at her. Her Maybelline-lined eyes frowned deeply and her head tilted in confusion. Her boss simply stared, equally dazed and confused. There were huge bags under his eyes like he'd drunk himself to… well, drunkenness, which had to be a kind of milestone for any angel. It was evident that he wasn't what he normally was that day. He was wearing a t-shirt and boxers for God's sake. "You said Naomi's sending him after the tablets. Whatever he's doing now… he's after the tablets! You know, the ones we're supposed to find?"

"Alright," he answered, before getting back to packing.

"Alright? Alright?" she exclaimed.

"What else do you want me to say?" he asked, squinting at a label on a folder and flipping through it to remind himself what was inside.

"How about an order? What should we do about it?" she flustered.

"I don't know," he shrugged again. "Leave him be? If he finds it, it'll be good for all of us."

"Not really!" she snapped. "What do you think Naomi is going to do with the tablets? With all of their untold power?" Seeing as what she was saying seemed to make no effect on him, she released a deep sigh. "What's gotten into you Raz? Is something wrong? Why are you sulking? More than usual, I mean. And why are you even moving? You never told us why."

"Because this place has been compromised," he explained, only bothering to answer her last question. Though he probably should have, he didn't tell anyone about Jeremiah's passing. How he'd discovered a bloody, mutilated corpse hanging from his ceiling. How he'd spent hours mopping up the blood and scrubbing away the stains from the floor. How he'd buried a good angel and let nature use his decaying celestial energy to spring new life. It just seemed too much to utter the words from his mouth. And it was his burden to bear. His alone.

"By who?" she probed when he didn't answer.

"You know who," he simply said. "I need a new office. Preferably one where there are no people for miles." No living things to grieve over when they perish. Then his head lifted like he got a new idea. "Maybe I should borrow Sophia's place. Do you think she'll mind?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Dinah droned. "Oh wait, you can't. Because she's gone. Which means she can't answer us, can't help us and she sure as Hell can't keep the tablets away from Naomi!" Impatient, Dinah grabbed the folder away from him, forcing him to look at her. "We need you, Raz."

"Do the others know that?" he lamented. "I don't think they'll want to listen to what I have to say right now."

"What, because of what Shemsiel said?" Dinah argued. "Well, fuck him. If we all stopped working every time he fucked up, the universe would be in shambles. Point is, fuck that guy. He doesn't know what it's like to be you and do what you do. You're the angel of fuckin' mysteries. He'll come around. So will the others. But right now we have a situation that needs dealing with."

Raziel cast her a relenting side-eye. "Fine," he accepted. "Get the others- Wait, give me 5. I should probably get into some proper clothes."

Later, Raziel stood in front of his team, impeccably dressed in a copper-brown coat with a black suit underneath, though the stench of last night's whiskey still hung around him like a thick cloud. "So… tablets," he drawled slightly. "Do we know which one Castiel's after?"

"The angel tablet," Shemsiel answered, a little too quickly. "So my sources tell me. Crowley's after it as well, which means there is a high chance of our dear friend Castiel running into demonic trouble."

"You got all that from your sources?" Pahaliah turned a sceptical gaze towards him.

"Well I've had to get more proactive, since 'proactive' is a thing we're all doing now," he quipped, craning his neck toward her. He still seemed salty about the whole thing with Raziel.

"Alright," Raziel cut off the glares between them. "Where is Castiel headed?"

"The last report placed him in Lincoln Springs, Missouri," Pahaliah reported. "Last night."

"Then time is of the essence," their leader concluded. "Do we know what exactly he's after? What are his leads?"

"Oh get this," Shemsiel began with mock excitement. "Lucifer's crypts. Who woulda thunk it…"

"I guess that makes sense," Dinah said. Everyone slowly turned to her, awaiting her insight. "I mean, nobody would expect Satan of all people to be guarding one of Heaven's most important documents."

"Yeah, but is he really guarding them? If demons can point an angel in their direction, it doesn't sound very much like he cares about what happens to them," Pahaliah inferred. "Why would Sophia allow this?"

"We don't know that she did," Rahab answered.

"Anyway, that's enough of guessing who did what," Raziel ended the discussion. "We have to move in on him. Stop him from reaching the crypt. But if he does reach the crypt, you know what to do." They were all thinking the same thing. "Find out what the hell Lucifer keeps in his crypts. I've always wondered."

"Yeah," Rahab agreed. They all shared a brief chuckle over that one.

"We should definitely get on that, but I would like to introduce one more lead," Shemsiel interjected. "This is about the vessel, Zara Joshi. We may have something."

"Don't keep us waiting," Dinah urged.

"Clarksburg, West Virginia. A few missing people. Many dead people," he succinctly stated. "CCTV footage from a local pub shows our favourite human working the night shift before… things go South."

"South how?" Raziel probed.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Footage cuts out before we get to see what happens. But intel promises death, gore and glory. You guys go on ahead and get that tablet. I'll work this one alone," he suggested.

"This sounds important," Raziel considered. "Why don't we split up? Dinah and Shemsiel, work on getting Zara. Pahaliah and Rahab, you both get to Castiel and try to talk some sense into him. And I'll…" he looked around his apartment, at all the stacked boxes and empty shelves. "I need to get all of this sorted out."


Clarksburg, West Virginia – 7 January 2012, 11.06am

Reluctantly, Shemsiel stepped onto the gravel in broad daylight with his partner, Dinah. He'd hoped Raziel would let him do this on his own, which would have been convenient as Naomi would want updates. Regardless, he probably would work better with Dinah helping him. They'd always been good as partners. Being the quirkier members of the team, they understood each other much better than the others. With Shemsiel being a chronically casual dresser with a contrastingly posh British accent and Dinah knowing the ins and outs of goth-punk fashion, the two made a great pair. It was a great friendship they had. They used to talk to each other about the most personal things – like how Shemsiel felt when the love of his life had gone on to join Sophia in the angelic rebellion and subsequently got killed. Some wounds were difficult to heal but they'd been there for each other when things got tough. Most importantly, they had honesty. Honesty above all else was the cornerstone of their friendship. Which was why Dinah had the sneaking feeling that her best friend was hiding something. She kept a suspicious gaze on Shemsiel as he scanned the buildings around them.

"Hey, Shems, are you… okay?" she asked through cherry lips adorned with a single piercing on her lower lip.

"Yeah… why wouldn't I be?" he gave her a confident grin. "Nice new haircut, by the way. Suits you much better."

"Yeah, Mohawks are so last decade anyway," she smiled, running a hand through her stark black pixie cut. It made her bubbly cheeks stand out more and brought out her dark brown eyes. She followed him as he led them down the street in a direction he seemed sure of. "But I'm really asking. You seemed a little upset over Raziel's solo mission. I mean, we all were but you… you seemed just as pissed when Sophia… you know…"

Shemsiel let out an exhale, shaking his head in a tired disappointment. "It's just what I get for trusting leaders too much…" he grumbled.

"He was doing the right thing," Dinah tried convincing him. "Of course it was wrong for him to go off on his own, but ultimately he stopped something huge. You have to forgive him."

"I know, I know," he relented. The clouds shifted a little and a beam of sunlight showered them in its warm embrace, its light glinting off of Shemsiel's frosted tips. "I know he did more good than he ever did wrong but what he did to us was simply unacceptable. Raz is… going down the wrong path. He's not thinking straight anymore. All that he seems to be caring about is our reputation and image. It probably doesn't seem that bad now because he's winning, but it's only a matter of time before Naomi defeats him again and who knows what'll happen then?"

"Now you're just catastrophizing," Dinah lamented as they came upon an apartment building. "Where are we heading anyway?"

"Here," Shemsiel gestured towards the building. "It's where Zara stayed while she was here."

"How do you even know that?" Dinah shot him a puzzled glare.

"Because," he looked up to a seemingly arbitrary floor. Within a fraction of a second, they were both standing in the hallway outside a single white door. "This is the only apartment that is warded in town. Our girl knows a thing or two about keeping us away, it seems."

"Shocker," Dinah raised her eyebrows sarcastically.

"Hey, it's not an easy conclusion," he rebutted. "Who would've thought that Sophia taught her a few things?"

"If you were one of the most hated archangels, you would want your vessel to be out of anyone's reach too," Dinah explained. "Simple."

"Alright, smartass," he muttered under his breath. "So how should we do this?"

"Hm." She paused, sensing the warding and their general locations around the apartment. "Warding seems simple enough. We could crack it if we time this right."

With that, they both assumed positions at opposing ends of the apartment. Shemsiel hovered around the North end while Dinah took the South. Undoing the warding was a bit like cracking a code or solving a puzzle. It required intricate knowledge of how sigils worked and skill in directing energy into all the right places. It wasn't an easy task and it grew difficult depending on the complexity of the sigils used. Some sigils were impossible to crack but luckily, Zara had but a rudimentary understanding of sigil-work. There couldn't have been enough time for Sophia to give her a whole course on sigil-making and warding. With a coordinated burst of energy, the two angels managed to break the warding. Victorious, they both appeared in the living room and shared a triumphant chuckle.

"Hey, we still got it," Shemsiel said, standing with his hands on his hips.

"And you complained all those times back in Heaven that sigil-breaking would be useless," Dinah teased.

"Well, yeah," he huffed defiantly. "Sophia just had us breaking sigils for days on end. It got tiring!"

"Oh boo hoo, did you think you were gonna get plenty of rest in the infantry?" she reminded him. Angels were all trained as soldiers first and foremost, under Michael and Lucifer. In fact, that was how Dinah and Shemsiel had met in the first place. They'd been in the same garrison. "Did you think General Grumpy was gonna hold your hand and tell you 'oh Shemsiel, just a little more. I know you can do it!'" she mocked. General Grumpy was what they called their commanding officer, Sabrathan. The guy was uptight and annoyingly strict to these two, especially since they seemed to go against their natural angelic instincts to obey every word of their superiors. It had gotten them in trouble a few times, only when they'd been careless enough to get caught doing whatever it is they did to pass the time in Heaven.

"Only if he wanted me to blow him," Shemsiel quipped, giving her a suggestive raise of the eyebrows. "And you know, maybe he did."

"Yeah, I'm sure you would have done a great job at pulling the stick out of his ass," Dinah replied. "And putting another one in it."

"What can I say, I'm an angel of many talents," he bragged, puffing up his chest.

They both split up and searched the apartment. Everything seemed just as a home should be, which was odd considering its occupant had been missing for at least two months. No huge mess, no broken glass. Perhaps it made sense because demons and angels couldn't have gotten in with the warding in place. Shemsiel pulled open the fridge door and immediately grimaced at the smell. The food had all gone bad by now. Abandoning the fridge, he searched the cabinets. More food, some vodka and more alcohol. All signs of a drinking problem.

"Hey, I got something," Dinah called out from the bedroom. When Shemsiel entered, he found her standing in front of an open closet door. Here, finally, were signs of Zara probably leaving in a hurry. Hangers strewn about on the floor, clothes hanging about in cascades. What was more interesting was the presence of men's clothes and shoes too large for a 5' 6" woman to be wearing. "She was with someone. Huh."

"That is the more charitable explanation for the amount of alcohol in the kitchen," he added. They looked again around the room. Shemsiel pulled open a drawer and held up a pack of tablets. "Contraception. Expected."

"Wonder what Sophia would think of that," Dinah thought out loud. "Hey, do you think Lucifer would get jealous if his girlfriend's vessel was fooling around with other men?"

Shemsiel's face contorted with a confused frown. "That would be absurd," he immediately said, and then paused as if to seriously consider the proposition. Then, shaking his head, he simply said, "Get back to work, Dinah."

Inspecting every inch of the house, it made a lot of sense that Zara was not alone. Suddenly it made the place seem lonelier than it already was. All these signs of cohabitation, of two people who were in an intimate relationship. All the ghosts of memories that haunted this place. Yet it told nothing of the mysterious girl who lived here. Was she happy? Was she sad? Why did she stay here of all places, isolated from the world and presumably her family? What kind of person was she? Who was she here with? As if to answer the last question, Shemsiel's avid gaze found something white sticking out from under the dresser. Kneeling down, he picked it up. It was a polaroid. "I think I know who she was rooming with," he announced, passing the photo to Dinah. In the polaroid was a happy, smiling Zara, her body pressed against Nick's chest. They held each other close and Nick was kissing her forehead.

"Is that…?" Dinah trailed off.

"Yeah," Shemsiel simply said. "Now we know why Lucifer never showed up in this one."

"But how did they even find each other?"

"I don't know. Vessel telepathy? If that's even a thing," Shemsiel speculated.

"So our girl hits town, hooks up with Lucifer's vessel here and then trouble hits so they both pack up and leave," Dinah postulated, trying to put things together. "Two questions: What happened, and where did they go?"

"There was a shooting at the local pub where she worked. Up to 30 dead," Shemsiel informed her.

"God," Dinah muttered. "30 dead? That's kind of a big deal. Where were the news reports on this?"

"There weren't any," he frowned. "That means someone big did this. Someone with the power to control what people can and cannot know. Someone who would want an archangel's vessel. Or two, perhaps."

"Naomi?" Dinah inferred. "Heard she's been moving in on cable TV. Especially the televangelists."

"No, not Naomi," Shemsiel dismissed. "If she had Zara, she'd have all the tablets by now." And she wouldn't have been so surprised when I mentioned it to her, he thought.

"Yeah, but what if the vessel kept her mouth shut like she's supposed to? She's gotta be loyal to Sophia, right? Maybe Naomi's torturing her right now," Dinah reasoned.

"My money's on Crowley, darling," Shemsiel stated. "He's got motive for revenge. And he certainly wouldn't mind massacring a bunch of people just to get what he wants."

"And Naomi would?" Dinah still seemed puzzled. "How can you be so sure?"

"Call it a leap of faith," he shrugged. Then his lips curved into a sly smile. "I'll bet a hundred."

"Make it two hundred for me," she reciprocated the gesture, folding her arms in playful confidence.

"Guess I'll be shaking your hand with a new $300 watch, then."

"So what's next? Head down to the pub?" she suggested.

"I'm not sure what we could possibly expect to find there," he dismissed nonchalantly. "It's obvious that she must have fled from the scene, come back here, packed up her things and skipped town. We need to track her route of escape."

Dinah wasn't so sure about that. "But we should investigate every lead," she argued. "And according to you, it isn't even clear what went down in the pub!"

"Like I said, if Crowley was involved, it was demons," he stated conclusively. "We don't need to waste any more time on this."

"It's not a waste of time. Our job is to be sure." Dinah didn't know what he hoped to achieve by being so hasty. It didn't strike her as something he'd normally do. He was generally a meticulous person. "Hey, what's been up with you lately?"

"What?" He jerked his head towards her, earnestly not expecting that response. His heart skipped a beat, anticipating an avalanche of interrogative questions that he wasn't sure he could answer. "What're you talking about?"

"And don't say nothing because I know you're lying," she gave him a definite glare, confirming his worry. "You've been acting weird lately. What are you not telling me?"

"Dinah-" He stuttered a bit, unable to find the words. "I don't know what to tell you. You're misreading this."

"Am I really? Where did you get this lead on Zara, Shems? We've been at it for months without a hit and then you just bring it up out of nowhere," she probed, folding her arms.

"Is that really unusual?" he asked, reciprocating her increasingly cynical tone. "This is what happens in our line of work. Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't."

"Then tell me how you found this place," she demanded. When he hesitated, the worst possibilities came to mind. Even then, Dinah realised that if she wanted to get the truth from him, she would have to be more understanding. After all, he was her friend and deserved the benefit of the doubt. "I'm your partner," she began with a gentler tone. "Level with me, alright? I need to know if we're going to work on shady leads."

Shemsiel's gaze softened. He saw in front of him two options: lie to his best friend and concoct a story about interrogating demons, or tell her the truth that he'd struck a deal with Naomi. The first would have been easier – he could corroborate his story with the fact the demons had actually been involved and that he'd followed a hunch. She'd never know the truth. But if she did… he'd never be able to make up for it. Honesty was sacred between them. And he remembered that it was principle that motivated him to do what he did anyway – and spite for Raziel's violation of those principles in pursuit of a short-term success – so there really wasn't any point in starting to lie now. "Alright," he sighed, taking a seat on the bed. Dinah sat next to him, eyeing him warily as he rested his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward. "You're not going to like this."

"Let's hear it," she nervously urged him to continue.

"It's Naomi," he spat out. "She's offered to help."

Dinah froze in her seat. She hadn't expected that of all things. "In exchange for what?"

"She just… she asked me to let her know when we're close to finding the tablet and/or Zara," he said.

"Jesus," Dinah put a hand to her forehead as she contemplated the full implications of what he was saying. "You mean to tell me… that after all we've done, you're just going to hand over the tablet to Naomi? And how did she know about Zara?" Shemsiel's silence was answer enough. "You told her, didn't you? God, Shemsiel, what have you done?"

"It's the only way," he weakly rebutted. "We don't have a lot of time left. If Crowley has Zara, he'll have everything. With Naomi's help we can work faster. It doesn't matter who gets the tablet first, or that she knows about Zara. We have to do what is right for Heaven."

"At what cost?" Dinah shot back. "When Naomi gets her hands on the tablet, she'll put us all in labour camps and wipe our minds, just like she did with the angels in the Quartum fields. We cannot trust her!" Her breaths grew deep as she tried her best not to give into an outburst of anger, though she was failing at it. "And Zara… what do you think Naomi will do to her? Sophia entrusted us to take care of her vessel and now- now you've put her in Naomi's sights."

"I won't let it get to that," Shemsiel vowed. "I'll have it under control." He chanced a peek at her and saw a mixture of fury and concern in his partner's eyes. But so far, she was handling it much better than he'd expected. And he'd expected a sore pain in his upper arm or even a black eye by now. What she said, however, did give him perspective. He was suddenly confronted with the notion that keeping this secret to himself may have led him to eventual failure and possibly death. Perhaps it was foolish to do this all by himself. "But you're right. We can't trust Naomi. I need your help."

"You got a lot of balls asking me to help clean up your mess," Dinah defiantly folded her arms.

"Please, Dinah. I'm trying to do the right thing," he pleaded. "Help me make this right. We have what we need to find Zara. Let's find her and keep her safe from Naomi and Crowley. I can't do this without you."

Silence fell between them. Dinah cursed under her breath. "You owe me one," she sharply uttered.

"Gladly," he sighed in relief. "You can't tell the others."

"Not until we find Zara," she glared at him. His smile quickly faded. He didn't like it, but it was her choice and he respected it. And he probably deserved it too.


Lincoln Springs, Missouri – 7 January 2012, 11.26am

Pahaliah kept her eyes out for the brown trench-coated angel. Her vision darted around nervously and her long, straight brown hair bobbed around with it. She fiddled her thumbs as she surveyed the suburb before her. She almost gasped loudly as a hand rested against the small of her back. "Relax, mi amada," Rahab appeared alongside her.

"Oh, it's you," Pahaliah broke out into a smile. The sight of him warmed her heart. Suddenly she felt a lot better.

"So, do we know what we're looking for?" the large, olive-skinned stud asked.

"A trail of demons," she stated. They both took to the sky to get an aerial view of the place. "The demon King must be well-aware of the many dead in this area. He would have sent more to take care of the problem."

They flew around, scanning the houses and roads for anything suspicious. "So uh…" Rahab rubbed the back of his bald but stubbled head. "Are you ready for this?"

"Ready for what?" Pahaliah asked, keeping her gaze on the earth below.

"Seeing him again," he said, a little nervously. "Castiel."

"Huh." Pahaliah huffed. "I'll be alright. But if he tries something, you know I'll be the first to give him what he deserves."

Rahab was slightly unsettled by her demeanour. She wasn't usually like this – stoic with tightened shoulders like she was ready to punch some sense into anyone who upset her. And she wasn't the kind of angel to do that either. It was just… something changed in her ever since the civil war in Heaven. Having moved in together, the both of them had plenty of time together for work and each other. While their relationship was alright – more than alright – there were moments like these when he wondered whether she would truly return to the kind, sweet angel that he once knew. "Maybe it wasn't the best idea for Raziel to put us both on this case," Rahab wondered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she snapped, folding her arms. "You think we both can't do our jobs just because we have history with Castiel?"

"Not saying that we can't. I'm just worried that in the heat of the moment, we may not be thinking straight about the things that matter," he concerned.

"We, or just me?" She shot a glare at him. "You think I'll just go off on him, is that it? Do you think I'm out of control?"

"No, no, that's not what I meant," he defended.

"And even if I did, which I won't, tell me he didn't have it coming," she spat out. "Tell me you wouldn't do the same for what he did to us."

"Pahaliah, stop," he beckoned. When she didn't, he sought her hand and they both landed in an empty street corner somewhere. "Do you see this? You're getting upset. This is what I mean. We need to be clear-headed on this."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said unapologetically. "Am I getting too emotional for you? Maybe you should leave me before you regret ever telling me you love me."

She turned to storm away but Rahab simply grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him. Through her brief protests to push him away, he pulled her into a deep kiss and she relented. With a soft moan, she felt her heart calming down, soothed by his willingness to love her even in her state of volcanic fury. Rahab pulled away, though he still held her close and rested his forehead against hers. "I'll never regret," he whispered.

Pahaliah pulled him into a hug, resting her head against his and closing her eyes. She felt like she had all the peace in the world and simply forgot whatever it was that upset her in the first place. She relished the feel of him – his warmth, his tight hold on her, his hypnotising musk. Briefly, her eyes fluttered open. That was when she spotted it. "Winchesters," she muttered.

"What?" Rahab asked, letting her go and setting her gently on the ground.

"There," she pointed somewhere behind him. As he turned, they both saw what looked to be a '67 Chevy Impala parked outside a house. Sudden flashes of bright light came through the window. Some kind of a skirmish was going on. With no time to waste, the two angels hurried into the house. In front of them, the two Winchesters sat on a couch, impeccably dressed in suits while their favourite angel stood in front of them.

"Castiel," Rahab greeted. The Winchesters shot up to their feet, taken by surprise.

"Rahab. Pahaliah," Castiel acknowledged. His arm poised ready to brandish an angel blade in case anything went wrong. "What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Pahaliah answered, keeping her expression neutral as best as she could. She didn't say anything more, wondering if the Winchesters were up to speed with what they were doing. She looked to the Winchesters, remembering what her boss told her about them. "You have nothing to fear. Raziel sent us."

"Right, why should we believe you?" Dean retorted. Being Winchesters, they weren't generally very trusting of angels. Whatever cooperation they'd offered Raziel before was merely circumstantial and due to necessity. So even though they particularly enjoyed watching demons blow up, they remembered to be cautious. In any case, it was Raziel who had proven his worth, not the two angels standing before them. "Why doesn't Raziel come down here himself?"

"Because he's busy. He is a leader and he has many things to deal with, least of all two humans," she said, though she really didn't intend disrespect. It was the truth. "No offence."

"Hm." Dean took note of that. At least they're self-aware, he wryly thought.

"But you do remember us, don't you? We saved y-"

"Duluth, we know," Sam interjected. "We never properly thanked you for that. Still, we don't trust easy. Considering our past experiences with your kind. No offence."

"It's alright, Sam," Castiel reassured. Naomi's voice resounded in his head, telling him to let them help him. After all, the deal with Shemsiel meant that Naomi would allow their two teams to work together, even if either of them had ulterior motives. His gaze hesitantly shifted to meet Pahaliah's. "They're telling the truth. They're good angels. Angels who I've wronged in a horrible way. I hope you can both forgive me."

That certainly took Pahaliah by surprise. Here she'd envisioned this conversation to go down a lot differently, with more outrage and arguing about intentions. She looked to Rahab, who frowned slightly before letting up. "We didn't come here to forgive anyone," he began, keeping his voice calm and steady. "We have a job to do."

"We were sent to aid your efforts," Pahaliah informed him. It wasn't entirely true, but he didn't need to know that.

"Very well," Castiel nodded. He addressed everyone in the room. "The other demon escaped. I bound the one I caught in a devil's trap. I'm gonna interrogate it now."

"Wait a second, Cas," Sam halted him. "How about you answer some questions first? Like, where the hell have you been?"

Pahaliah averted her eyes, sensing discomfort rising in the room. It seemed they had come in during a personal conversation.

"You heard me, didn't you?" Dean asked.

"You prayed to him?" Sam looked to his brother, surprised. Dean returned an affirmative head tilt.

"Yes, I heard you. But that's not why I'm here," Castiel took a seat opposite them, sighing. It was almost touching, seeing that the unbeatable Castiel held himself accountable to two humans, albeit inconsistently. But then again, what did he have to gain from this? "I've been hunting demons."

"So this is you," Sam understood. "Why?"

"I've been tracking Crowley's trail," Castiel explained, keeping his intentions vague. A purposeful tactic, the other angels supposed.

"Wait," Sam straightened up, forehead creasing into a frown. "Crowley's alive? You're sure?"

"We can confirm," Pahaliah interjected. "The demon King is wounded, but he is very much alive."

"Yes," Castiel agreed. "I've been trying to undermine another of Crowley's operations. Similar to the one you helped Raziel with"

"Without us?" Dean inquired.

"I've been trying to help, Dean. And in my search, I uncovered that Crowley has sent out demons to find Lucifer's crypts."

"Lucifer had crypts?" Sam and Dean exchanged a puzzled look.

"Dozens of them, apparently," the angel said.

"It's news to us too, amigos," Rahab chimed in. "But that's where the hype's at, apparently."

"But why the storage wars?" Sam asked. "I mean, what the hell are they all looking for?"

Castiel wryly glanced at Pahaliah and Rahab. Pahaliah gave him a small nod, as though encouraging him to tell them whatever it was he was inclined to tell them. Clearly, they'd anticipated that he wouldn't be fully transparent with the Winchesters. He was working for Naomi, according to what Raziel had recounted to them after his solo mission. Yet, they hadn't quite expected him to be so… accommodating of their presence. Whatever it was that changed Castiel after the encounter with Raziel, they were grateful for it. "They're looking for a parchment that would allow them to decipher the Word of God tablets without a prophet," Castiel lied.

"A Heavenly decoder ring? In Crowley's hands? Awesome," Dean lamented. "It's a miracle that he hasn't found any of the other tablets, huh?" Yes… a miracle, Pahaliah thought. That's one word for Lucifer's involvement in all of this.

"The crypts were, uh, lost over time. Only those closest to Lucifer knew their whereabouts," Castiel recalled. The other two angels felt a tinge of disappointment at that. This lack of security on Lucifer's part, trusting a bunch of demons with his secrets – surely he knew better than that? They couldn't imagine that this would have sat well with Sophia.

"Then how did Crowley find them?" Sam posed.

"His demons have been possessing locals who may have some special knowledge," Castiel reported.

"That would explain the crazy room at Ann's house," Sam inferred. "But how did they know where to start looking in the first place?"

"That is a great question," Pahaliah said, rueing to think about what else Crowley must have done on top of torturing Samandriel to get this far.

"I don't know," Castiel replied honestly. "I'm hoping the strange-haired demon in the kitchen is more knowledgeable than the others I interrogated." With that, he rigidly got up and entered the kitchen. Perking up, Pahaliah gave Rahab a knowing nod and he followed Castiel, wanting to keep an eye on the interrogation while Pahaliah remained with the Winchesters momentarily.

"Raziel told us of your instrumental aid in helping him stop the Quartum delivery," she said to them. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well, making demons explode was a rare opportunity that we couldn't pass up," Dean shrugged it off. "Especially if it meant signing Crowley's expiration date."

"The last time we talked with Raziel," Sam began. "He said the angels were hunting him. What happened?"

"He was being framed," Pahaliah replied, though she knew it was only half-true. Raziel did kill those angels and no one was proud of that, least of all Raziel. But the urgency and hostility of the angel-hunt was all perpetuated by Naomi. "But things have been resolved now. Because of what he did, with your help, hundreds of angels were saved that night."

Sam nodded, his throat muscles contorting as he gulped. That was good and all, but there was still one problem. "What about Cas?" he asked with a lowered voice. "Is he…"

Pahaliah beckoned him to stop. "We'll talk about this later," she spoke in a hushed tone. "Away from him."

Later, in the kitchen, they all stood ominously around the demon, with the angels closer to her to inspire fear and the Winchesters on the other end of the table, observing. The demon's wrists were bound to the table and she was sat on a chair caught in a devil's trap.

"Sam and Dean Winchester," the demon snarled, displaying her evil black eyes. She suddenly broke out in a controlled chuckle, pretending that she wasn't scared to the bone by the three mighty celestial beings in the room and the two notorious brothers who bested Lucifer. "Oh, the thoughts she had about you two. Mostly you, Sam. What can I say? She has a thing for smutton chops."

Dean leaned forward, beginning, "Alright, you douchebag, listen-"

His interrogation was cut short by Castiel, who promptly drove his blade through the back of the demon's palm, laid out temptingly on the table as a target of torture. The other two angels flinched, taken aback by his swiftness. Though they knew torture was part of the job, they tried to avoid it as much as they could and it still unsettled them, no matter how many times they'd seen it happen. But seeing as Castiel was taking the lead on this one, they remained silent, letting him do his thing.

The demon screamed, pain exploding in her wrist as Castiel pulled out the blade and left the demon's spirit to burn under her wounded wrist.

"Who told you about the crypts?" Castiel pulled back the demon's head by the curlers, demanding his answers.

"I thought angels were supposed to be the good cops!" the demon protested. With no semblance of mercy, Castiel drove the blade through the back of her other palm, sparing the abomination no relief. The demon's cries of agony pierced the air as sparks erupted under her skin. "Wait! Stop! Stop!" she begged. "We have a hostage!" Castiel paused, allowing the demon to catch her breath. "It's one of Crowley's pets. She's at the Murray Hotel, down by the interstate. She knows the towns where all the crypts are buried. She saw them all back in the day."

"And she told you about the parchment?" Sam asked. Uh oh. The lie was unravelling.

"What parchment?!" the demon flustered.

"Hey. Hey! Think he's the only bad cop in this room?" Dean angrily yelled. "Stop lying! We know what you're really looking for."

Pahaliah straightened up from her position leaning against the wall, hoping Castiel would do something quickly before the demon spilled the truth. "No. I am telling you, we're looking for-"

Just as she'd hoped, Castiel plunged the blade deep into the demon's chest, killing it.

"Cas! What the hell was that?!" Sam exclaimed.

"It told us what we needed," the angel replied monotonously.

"No, she didn't! You can't just-"

"Yes, he can," Pahaliah cut off his protests. "You boys may not know it, but we're kind of in a time crunch. Crowley's already way ahead of us. We should get to the hotel now."

"Hold on a second-" Sam demanded. Once again, his voice was cut off by the fluttering of wings. The boys flinched. They were standing alone in the kitchen. "Cas!"

"Damn it!" Dean rushed out the door, his brother following suit.

When the boys finally got to their destination, there was nothing but the sound of grunts and stabs as well as bright angelic light coming from the room obviously intended for Crowley's hostage. Before Castiel could have a chance to thank his companions for going along with his lie, the hotel room door swung open with the force of a Winchester's kick, revealing the disenchanted brothers.

"Thanks for waiting," Sam huffed, panting to catch his breath.

"The hostage is in there," Castiel pointed towards an unopened door. Cautiously, Dean made his way to the door and twisted the nod, revealing a familiar face. There she was, cuffed on the floor and sporting a variety of bruises and assaults on her body – Meg.

"Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" the demon snarked, lips curving into a smile of untold relief. Rahab moved to undo her cuffs and help her to the couch in the living room. "New friends, Cas? Didn't take you to be the social type. Mm, this one's stocky. Can I keep him?" Meg's gaze was caught by Pahaliah's glare as she sat. She looked between the two angels, slightly amused. "You're both steady… Not the typical feather ensemble, are you?"

"They're helping us," Sam informed her.

"Hm." Meg suppressed a smirk. "I've been gone for… how long? And in that time, Crowley's been torturing me, Lucifer is trapped at the bottom of the ocean and you boys are trusting angels other than Cas? Next thing you're gonna tell me is that the sun's setting in the east."

"Evil is a great unifier," Castiel said, while the others settled in comfortably.

"So, I got to ask. Um..." Dean began. He did a vague gesture with his hand. "What's up with the hair?" Sam shot him a bored look. "What?"

"Aww. Thanks for noticing, Dean. But this wasn't my idea. It was Crowley's. And it's just another reason I want to stab him in the face," Meg drawled in her slow, sinister voice.

"Wait a second. You've been telling Crowley the location of Lucifer's crypts," Sam inferred.

"What can I say? I needed a break from the constant torture," she confessed. "And I did visit them all during my time with Yellow Eyes, and then again when our beloved Queen needed something done. But don't worry. I haven't exactly been giving them the Glengarry leads."

"You mean you've been lying to them?" Castiel clarified.

"I just get them in the ballpark. Enough time's passed and enough's changed that they bought it," she elaborated.

"Why lie?" Dean asked.

"Buy myself some time, dummy. Try to find a way to get free."

"Wait," Sam interjected. "So... a bunch of innocent people died so you could... buy yourself some time?"

Meg suppressed rolling her eyes. "Hi. I'm Meg. I'm a demon."

"Hold on a second," Rahab spoke up. "What do you mean… your Queen needed something done? You're talking about Sophia?" He exchanged a concerned look with Pahaliah.

"Yeah… her," she replied, eyes widening and contracting with an awful reminder of her last experience with the monarch. "She tried to kill me just because I showed up when my King, Lucifer, called us to help her. But maybe also because I was hitting on her vessel." Dean raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to make of that. "What? There ain't nothing with an ass like that in Hell!"

"Alright," Pahaliah was visibly impatient. "What did Sophia need help with?"

"Oh this is an interesting story. It's the root of all of… this," Meg began. "She just storms in one day and asks Lucifer for help. Says she needs to hide something. She wouldn't tell him what. So we all go with him to the crypt and when she finally shows up, there it is…" Castiel seemed to be getting uncomfortable. Meg was going to tell them. But Naomi reassured him that it would be best to go along with it. "… the angel tablet. From what I saw that day, Mother Dearest wasn't too happy about us being there. Then it's all rumours but it's said that she put a hit on every demon who ever came with Lucifer that night, just to protect the location of the tablet. Which is why yours truly has been on the run ever since."

So there it was. The truth was out. The truth behind why they hadn't been successful in retrieving all the tablets. It wasn't that their calculations were wrong. Sophia had been cautious. She'd tried to protect the tablet from discovery, only this sole surviving demon had lived to undermine her decision.

Sam and Dean exchanged surprised looks. "Wait a second. Did you just say 'Angel Tablet'?" Sam pointed out.

"You know, I get why Crowley calls you 'moose' now," Meg retorted, amused by his look of total confusion. "Yes, Angel Tablet. Crowley found out Lucifer had it, figures it's stashed in a crypt."

Castiel averted his gaze. "Well, this is news to me, as well. Demons I interrogated, they must have been lying about their true intentions," he lied again.

"Really?" Dean pressed. "'Cause I saw you Zero Dark Thirty that demon. You were more than persuasive."

"You're both missing the point," Meg interjected. "I lied to them, which means they're digging in the wrong place. But not for long. They'll be back here soon. So, who's up for fleeing?"

"She's right," Sam said, straightening up. "We need to find those crypts before they do. Meg, you're the only one who's been there."

"Help us get there before Crowley," Pahaliah requested.

Meg did a little smirk. "Three angels, two hunters and a demon. Sounds like a grand ol' time."