A/N: This chapter has content from the episodes Lazarus Rising and Fresh Blood. The song featured in this chapter is I am the Fire by Halestorm.


Chapter 23: The Fire


Am I brave enough?

Am I strong enough?

To follow the desire

That burns from within

To push away my fear

To stand where I'm afraid

I am through with this

'Cause I am more than this

I promise to myself

Alone, and no one else

My flame is rising higher

I am the fire

I am burning brighter

Roaring like a storm

And I am the one

I've been waiting for

Screaming like a siren

Alive, and burning brighter

I am the fire

I've been sacrificed

My heart's been cauterized

Hanging on to hope

Shackled by the ghost

Of what I once believed

That I could never be

What's right in front of me

I am the fire

I am burning brighter

Roaring like a storm

And I am the one

I've been waiting for

Screaming like a siren

Alive, and burning brighter

I am the fire

I don't believe I'll fall from grace

Won't let the past decide my fate

Leave forgiveness in my wake, oh

Take the life that I've embraced

I promise to myself

Me, and no one else

I am more than this

I am the fire

Despite his intention to stay up and his insistence that he didn't need any rest, Dean found himself dozing not long after Sam left. It almost felt like the second he'd let himself stretch out on top of the mattress, a fog settled over him, forcing his eyelids closed. He considered trying to fight it off for only a moment before he figured there was no point.

A little over an hour later, he was awoken by the television switching on, static filling the screen, and the radio on the nightstand simultaneously starting to whine. Dean rubbed the sleep from his eyes before he realized what was happening. Even though Ty had said it hadn't done him any good in the vision, he still instinctively rolled off the bed and snatched up a shotgun. He scanned the empty room, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Then the painful, high-pitched noise began. Even after experiencing it once, it was still shockingly piercing, like a dagger in his ear drum. He covered his right ear, gripping the shotgun in his left hand. Somewhere through the pain he remembered Ty mentioning a mirror on the ceiling and he glanced up just in time to see it shattering above him. Dropping the shotgun, he crumpled to the ground, hunching his back against the falling glass and clutching both ears. The rest of the glass in the room exploded, showering him with more shards, but he barely registered that around the pain in his head. It felt like this noise was going to liquify his brains if it continued for even one more second.

And, abruptly, it stopped. Dean remained curled in on himself on the floor, his head still ringing. He didn't even hear the knock on his door. He groaned, slowly raising his head when a very muffled sound reached him. He couldn't really tell what it was, nor was he ready to get back to his feet just yet, but the door suddenly burst open anyway. He tensed, but then relaxed when he recognized Ty in the doorway.

When Ty saw Dean on the floor surrounded by broken glass, blood leaking from his ears, she immediately realized what had happened as deja vu swept over her. The angel had come again. Using her boot, she cleared as much glass away from Dean as she could before kneeling next to him.

"Dean? Hey, are you okay?" she asked, cautiously brushing broken glass off of him.

Dean grimaced in pain, gingerly touching his left ear and frowning at the blood on his fingers, but he let her help him back to his feet. She cleared a spot on the nearest bed for him to have a seat and then crunched across the glass to the bathroom to grab a towel. She dampened it a bit then returned to his side to hand it to him. He nodded his thanks before dabbing at his bloody ears.

Ty waited a moment for him to recover, fidgeting impatiently, before she finally couldn't resist asking, "Did you see it?"

Dean shook his head. His ears were still ringing, making it hard to hear her, but he'd live. Man, this had to be the worst wake-up alarm in the universe.

"No. It was just like that fill-up station. Eardrum-bursting dog whistle from Hell that made all the glass explode and then nothing."

Ty frowned uncertainly, "Why would an angel do this?"

Dean fixed her with a level gaze, "Probably because it's not any angel."

Ty shook her head, "It has to be. You didn't see it. I don't know what else it could be."

"Technically, you didn't see it either." Dean replied, causing Ty to shoot him an annoyed glare. He gestured around at the wreckage of the motel room, "I mean, this looks like some kind of suped-up spirit to me, not some harp-playing, feathered choir boy."

Ty crossed her arms, "Okay, smart guy, then what should we do? Clearly this thing wants something from you and it's not going away."

Dean sighed and dropped the rag he was holding to his ear back into his lap, "I don't know. Normally I'd say we figure out what the hell this thing is, but you and Sam already have your minds made up so…"

Ty dug her phone from her pocket and held it up. She didn't want to fight again, especially not after last night, and Dean was right that they needed more intel so she offered a compromise, "Alright, so we've got something supernatural that we're not sure what it is. What do we usually do? Call Bobby."

Dean was silent a moment. She was right that on a normal hunt that was typically their next move, but things just kept coming one right after another and they still weren't any closer to any answers. He honestly wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. He frankly just didn't feel like thinking about it right now. Besides, Sam wasn't back yet and they'd rented the room through the night.

Mind made up, Dean stood up and took a step forward, snagging Ty's arm and pulling her towards him. She looked confused, but she didn't resist him, letting him pull her into his arms. He lifted his hand to her jaw, tilting her head back so he could kiss her.

"Later." he said simply before kissing her again.

Ty was a little surprised by Dean's actions, but she couldn't resist kissing him back. It probably wasn't the smartest course of action for them to be making out in a room surrounded by broken glass after narrowly avoiding being killed by vengeful spirits the night before and then being visited by what might be an angry angel the next morning, but it felt like they both needed the distraction and the comfort.

Unlike most of their interactions, there was no witty banter or teasing. They were both practically silent as they crunched back through the debris. Dean yanked the comforter off the bed to ensure there weren't any slivers waiting there before they tumbled onto the mattress and lost themselves in each other.

Sam was still frowning in thought as he pulled the Impala back into the motel parking lot. Ruby had given him plenty to think about. The good news was that she assured him the hex bags she'd given them to hide their location were working well. She'd needed him to give her his location in order to find him. The better news was that he'd convinced her to let him borrow her knife. With the bounty on Dean making him the number one target for every demon topside, a lot of the heat on Ruby had subsided, provided she continued to lay low. Finally, Ruby had told him that she believed his telekinetic powers hadn't failed because of a lack of demon blood in his system. While he would still need more demon blood to make him strong enough to face Lilith, his powers were already changing, specializing. According to Ruby, he was most likely losing the telekinesis, and perhaps also the visions, as his growing telepathic strength was channeled towards the power to mentally influence demons. He supposed it made sense since all the other special children they'd encountered seemed to have one specific, but often incredibly strong, power.

Regardless, he'd drank some more of Ruby's blood and she'd given him a pouch with some more he could take later in case they couldn't meet up again soon. He'd have to find a good place to hide it, somewhere Dean wouldn't find it. He'd settled for burying it under his underwear in his bag for now, but knew he'd have to find a better hiding spot. Dean had a bad habit of messing with his stuff with absolutely no regard for his privacy.

Grabbing the bags of food, including Dean's pie, of course, Sam climbed out of the car and headed for their room. He swung the door open and immediately froze.

Every piece of glass in the room was smashed and shards littered nearly every surface, but what had Sam's eyes going wide and his face flushing red with embarrassment was the sight of his brother and Ty's naked forms tangled together on the bed.

Ty made a startled sound, moving to hide herself behind Dean. Dean snatched one of the pillows to pull in front of him, "Jesus, Sam! Little privacy?"

Startling out of his shock, Sam quickly backed up, mumbling quick apologies as he started to close the door.

"Wait!" Dean called suddenly before Sam had shut the door all the way, "Is that my pie?"

Sam huffed in disbelief, then chided himself for being surprised. He should have known. He dropped the bag with Dean's pie inside the door without looking, then pulled it closed. At least some things in his life never changed.

Sam was just about to head over to Alex and Jo's room instead when the shattered glass in the motel room finally registered. That had been the room from the vision. The angel had come again.

He immediately felt a surge of guilt for leaving his brother alone. He'd known the angel would come when his brother was alone. He'd even seen the motel room in his vision. He should have been more careful.

After mentally berating himself for a few minutes, he finally forced himself to stop. Obviously, Dean was fine. Better than fine given the scene he'd just walked in on. And he would make sure he didn't make another mistake like this in the future. The only problem was, if he wasn't going to have his visions to give him an edge, they were going to have to find some other way to figure out what the angel wanted with Dean.

After a much needed day of rest, the hunters returned to Bobby's. Jo still seemed shaken, her eyes wide with unshed tears as she embraced her mother, but she was holding it together. She was a badass, Ty thought to herself, and between Ellen and Alex watching out for her, she'd be alright. She was now more concerned, once again, about Dean.

With Ruby's hex bags cloaking them from demonic detection, the brothers convinced Bobby it was safe to talk outside of the panic room and asked for his advice about Dean's latest visitation. Bobby had considered it for a moment before he finally advised, "I know a psychic. A few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking."

So, a few hours later, Ty, Bobby, and the Winchesters found themselves waiting on the front porch of a non-descript house. Bobby knocked on the door and a lean brunette in her thirties opened it. She flashed a wide smile at the group gathered before her.

"Bobby!" she exclaimed, enveloping him in a hug that included briefly lifting him off the ground.

The younger hunters shared a look behind his back, slightly surprised by the greeting. Oblivious, Bobby just grunted as Pamela released him, replying, "You're a sight for sore eyes."

The psychic stepped back and transferred her gaze to the hunters standing behind Bobby. Her gaze first traveled up and down Sam and Dean appraisingly before shifting to Ty. She raised an eyebrow at the female hunter and sent her a smirk, her eyes flicking knowingly back towards Dean. Ty shifted uncomfortably, but said nothing. She mentally started up on the mantra she'd used the last time they'd seen Missouri: 'Don't think about Dean.'

"So, these must be the Winchester boys." Pamela said, still grinning, "And Ty, right?"

Bobby nodded, "Sam, Dean, Ty, this is Pamela Barnes, best damn psychic in the state."

With his usual flirtatious grin, Dean greeted her, "Hey."

"Hi." Sam echoed, more awkwardly.

Ty just tacked on a salute, keeping her focus on not thinking about the man next to her.

Pamela's grin became more of a smirk again as she focused on Dean, "Mm-mm-mm, Dean Winchester. The man everybody's after, huh?"

"If you say so." Dean shrugged.

"Come on in." Pamela ushered them inside.

The hunters stepped inside the house and Pamela closed the door behind them.

"So, you hear anything?" Bobby cut to the chase.

"Well, I Ouija'd my way through a dozen spirits. No one seems to know who the latest baddie after your boy is."

"Is there any other way to confirm what we're dealing with?" Ty asked, hoping this wasn't just another dead-end.

Pamela nodded, "A séance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed."

Bobby tensed, "You're not gonna...summon the damn thing here?"

Pamela shook her head and shot him a reassuring smile, "No. I just want to get a sneak peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal."

"Well, I'm game." Dean said, glancing at the others. While he knew that Sam and Ty were pretty sure they already knew what this thing was, there was no way he was going to buy that a) angels existed and b) they wanted anything to do with him specifically. This had to be something to do with Lilith's bounty and the sooner he could prove that to them, the better.

Pamela nodded and wasted no time preparing the ritual. Moving into a room just off the living room, Pamela spread a black tablecloth covered in arcane symbols over a small, round table. Sam looked at the symbols warily, then glanced over at his brother to see what he made of this. He wasn't surprised, but was still disappointed on Ty's behalf to find Dean distracted by Pamela squatting in front of a cabinet, revealing a tattoo across her lower back that read 'Jesse Forever.' His head was cocked to the side as he stared, not even subtle about his actions.

"Who's Jesse?" he asked.

Pamela laughed glancing back over her shoulder, "Well, it wasn't forever."

"His loss." Dean replied and Sam elbowed him hard in the ribs, "Ow!"

He glared over at his brother who sent him a glare right back, shooting his eyes over at Ty who was standing across the room with Bobby. Dean rolled his eyes and was about to tell his brother to lay off since it wasn't like he was trying to pick the woman up or anything, but before he could get a word out, Pamela stopped as she passed by him and flashed him a smirk.

"Might be your gain." she said flirtatiously. Dean almost gaped, thinking suddenly that maybe Sam had a point and Ty was going to murder him. Then Pamela shifted her gaze to Sam and offered him a wink, "You're invited too, grumpy."

Now Sam was the one gaping after her as she continued on to place several tall candles on the table.

"For the record, you would totally not be invited." Dean hissed at him, holding a finger up in Sam's face before he moved back across the room to stand close to Ty and hopefully keep himself out of trouble. Sam shook his head and followed after.

Pamela arranged the candles around the table then directed the hunters to each take a seat as she lit them. Once she had them all burning, she took her own seat between Dean and Bobby.

"Right. Now, take each other's hands." she directed, waiting until they had done so, "And I need to touch what our mystery monster is after."

Dean jumped, banging his knees against the table when he felt Pamela's hand on his upper thigh.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "Pretty sure it's not after that."

"My mistake." Pamela grinned, sending another smirk in Ty's direction. Dean's eyes flew to her as well, a nervous expression on his face. This chick was definitely trying to get him in trouble.

Ty's eyes shifted from Pamela to Dean and back. She had the distinct impression that Pamela was well aware of her relationship with him and she was enjoying making them both squirm a little. And she had to admit, it was kind of funny seeing that slightly panicked look on Dean's face. So, she just rolled her eyes back at Pamela who chuckled lightly and lifted her hand to the table to take Dean's.

"Okay." She closed her eyes and the other hunters all followed suit. Taking a deep breath, she started chanting, "I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle."

As Pamela chanted, the television in the living room flicked on, showing static, just like the TVs at the fill-up station and the motel had during Dean's encounters. Dean's eyes flicked open in concern, but Pamela kept going.

"I invoke, conjure, and command...Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy." she said with a firm shake of her head, eyes still closed.

"Castiel?" Dean asked.

"Its name. It's whispering to me, warning me to turn back." Pamela explained. The whine of the static from the TV seemed to get louder and the table began to shake, but Pamela was undaunted, "I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face."

The whine and the rattling only continued to get more violent as Pamela repeated her invocation. All the hunters had their eyes open now and were looking at each other worriedly.

"Maybe we should stop." Bobby suggested.

Pamela shook her head, "I almost got it. I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!"

Suddenly the candles flared up several feet into the air and Pamela screamed. Her eyes finally flew open, but they were filled with white-hot flames. She collapsed onto the table and the rattling, white noise, and flames abruptly died out.

Leaping from his chair and easing Pamela onto the floor, Bobby barked out "Call 911!"

Sam scrambled out of his chair, digging out his phone as he hurried into the next room to place the call. Ty and Dean crouched next to Bobby as he leaned over Pamela. She appeared to have regained consciousness, but trails of blood coated her cheeks below her eyes and when she opened her eyelids, the sockets were burned black and empty. Ty couldn't quite suppress a gasp at the sight. It was just like those bodies Bobby had encountered before, the ones that had been found with the body of what she now thought must have been an angel. Jesus, did an angel do this?

Pamela sobbed in panic and pain, "I can't see! I can't see! Oh god!"

Sam and Dean made themselves scarce before emergency services could arrive at the house, leaving Bobby and Ty to stay with Pamela and field the inevitable questions. Henriksen had declared them officially dead, but Bobby had barked at them not to do anything stupid like be on the scene of a strange injury like this that would certainly draw police attention when they didn't need to. Which was probably for the best anyway because Dean was in no mood to talk to some Mayberry detective who thought he smelled something fishy.

"God damn it!" he swore as he stormed out of the house towards his car. He really wanted to punch something. Preferably this Castiel, whatever the hell he was. He yanked his door open and threw himself into the driver's seat, waiting impatiently for Sam to join him. As soon as his brother's door was closed, he dropped his foot on the gas and peeled away from the house.

"Hey, take it easy." Sam said, "You're driving like we're leaving the scene of a crime."

"Might as well be." Dean snapped through clenched teeth, "That woman is blind now because of us."

Sam frowned. Not only was Dean right that Pamela was now seriously injured because she'd helped them, but they were no closer to answers than they had been before. He felt Dean's mood starting to settle over him as well.

"And we still have no clue who we're dealing with." he said quietly.

Dean paused as he considered his brother's words.

"That's not entirely true." he finally said.

Sam looked over at him questioningly, "No?"

"We got a name. Castiel, or whatever." Dean explained, "With the right mumbo-jumbo we could summon him, bring him right to us.".

Sam immediately shook his head, "You're crazy. Absolutely not."

"We'll work him over. I mean, after what he did?" Dean insisted, his fingers tightening around the steering wheel as the desire for vengeance surged through him again.

Sam stared at his brother. So often he wished he knew some way to force Dean to see reason, but just as often his brother proved completely impervious to being reasoned with, "Pam took a peek at him and got her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face-to-face?"

Dean shot a look back at Sam, his frustration clear on his face, "You got a better idea?"

"How about anything but that?" Sam replied, his own frustration seeping into his voice.

Dean was about to snap back at him, but both brothers fell silent as flashing lights and sirens appeared ahead of them, racing back the way they'd come. The mood was somber for the rest of the ride back through town until Dean found a 24-hour diner that looked like a good place to wait for word from Bobby and Ty.

A few hours later Ty called to give them an update, letting them know that Pamela was stable and out of the ICU. Bobby wanted to stay with her a bit longer and Ty was going to stay with him no matter what the surly, old man said (her words). The brothers considered heading back to Bobby's, but Dean was in no mood to answer any questions if Alex, Jo, and Ellen were still around. So, instead, they found a cheap motel for the night.

Neither brother had brought it up again since their conversation in the car, but the plan to summon Castiel still hung unspoken in the air between them and they both knew that it was only a matter of time before one of them brought it up again. Ultimately, it was Dean who broached the topic, although he did so not with words, but with actions as he hauled their weapons into the room, dumping them out on the bed. He picked through the pile, sorting through his options and loading up a bag with everything he could think of that might work on this "angel."

"Dean…" Sam began as he watched his brother warily from across the room.

"Stay out of it, Sam. I want you and Ty to stay out of harm's way. I'll take care of this." he declared without pausing in his weapon selection.

Sam shook his head. He should know better by now but it still left him feeling incredulous at just how reckless his brother could be, "Well, Dean, you're not going by yourself. You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"Just another day at the office. A massively dangerous day at the office." Dean replied with a somewhat sardonic smirk.

Sam couldn't take this anymore. Frustrated, he snapped back, "So, you're the guy with nothing to lose, huh? Oh wait, let me guess. Because you're already dead, right?"

Dean shrugged, "If the shoe fits."

"You know what, man? I'm sick and tired of your kamikaze trip. I thought we were past this crap."

"Whoa, whoa, kamikaze?" Dean protested, "I'm more like a ninja."

Sam glared at him, "That's not funny."

"It's a little funny."

"No." Sam replied flatly, "It's not."

Dean sighed. His feelings about fighting against the odds in terms of the bounty on him had been all over the map. However, the longer it hung over him without any obvious solution, the harder it was to resist a nihilistic attitude about the whole thing. The only thing he could think of doing was to try summoning Melchiresa again, but Ty was so adamantly against that idea that he was left feeling like things were basically hopeless. This was the only other option he could see and it made the most sense for him to be the one to handle it. Besides, he just couldn't stomach the idea of another person getting hurt on his behalf. Not now.

"What do you want me to do, Sam? Sit around all day writing sad poems about how I'm probably gonna die? You know what? I got one. Let's see, what rhymes with 'shut up, Sam?'"

"Dude, drop the attitude, Dean. Quit turning everything into a punchline. And you know something else? Stop trying to act like you're not afraid." Sam said heatedly.

"I'm not!" Dean insisted.

"You're lying. And you may as well drop it 'cause I can see right through you."

"You got no idea what you're talking about." Dean snapped, turning back to his preparations.

Refusing to be put off, Sam insisted, "Yeah, I do. You're scared, Dean. You're scared you're going to die and go to Hell. You told me yourself that you don't wanna die."

"So what? That doesn't mean I'm scared." Dean argued.

"You are so!"

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I know you!"

Dean raised an eyebrow skeptically, "Really?"

"Yeah, I've been following you around my entire life!" Sam yelled, frustrated that Dean would even suggest that he didn't understand him. Him, of all people, "I mean, I've been looking up to you since I was four, Dean. Studying you, trying to be just like my big brother. So yeah, I know you. Better than anyone else in the entire world. And this is exactly how you act when you're terrified. And, I mean, I can't blame you. It's just…"

"What?" Dean demanded.

It was hard to force the words out and Sam could feel tears stinging his eyes, "I wish you would drop the show and be my brother again. 'Cause...just 'cause."

Dean paused. He couldn't stand to see Sam like that, on the verge of tears asking for him to act like his brother again. His whole life had been about protecting the kid. He was still trying to protect him, but…well, he didn't want to make him feel like he'd already lost him. Not yet.

"All right, fine." he finally replied, "But I still want you to stay out of this. If this thing figures out that you're having visions about it, there's no telling what it'll do. I'll take Bobby, okay? Besides, you don't know this thing wants to kill me. Ty thinks it just wants to talk."

"Yeah, 'cause we're usually that lucky." Sam scoffed, still sniffling a little.

"True." Dean nodded. He held up the Colt before he added it to the bag of weapons he was packing, "But that's why I'll be prepared."

Feeling as ready as he'd ever be, Dean zipped up the bag and set it on the floor.

"Dean, wait." Sam said suddenly.

Dean raised his eyebrows questioningly at his brother. Sam stood and went to his bag, digging around in the depths before he found whatever he was looking for and turned back to him. Dean was surprised when he saw his brother holding out a familiar-looking knife to him.

"Is that…?" he began.

"Ruby's knife." Sam nodded, "Take it. Just in case."

"How the hell did you get this?" Dean asked as he took the blade.

"Uh…pinched it from Ruby at the precinct. Guess with the hex bags she hasn't been able to track us down to get it back." Sam lied.

Dean grinned and clapped his brother on the shoulder, "Nice work."

Sam just nodded, not wanting to say anything else that might make Dean suspicious. He felt bad about lying to him after the conversation they'd just had, but at least Dean would have one more weapon with him.

Dean added the knife to his stockpile. Now he just needed to wait for Bobby and figure out how he could convince the old man to go along with his plan and leave Ty out of it. He knew Bobby wouldn't like the idea of summoning this thing, but he figured if he could convince him to do it, he'd at least agree that it was too dangerous to let Ty know what they were up to. Damn woman had a nasty habit of putting herself in harm's way.

Late that night, Bobby used spray paint to draw a large symbol across the cement floor of the abandoned barn, completing the last of the various symbols he'd arranged around the place, covering nearly every available surface. Dean glanced up from the table where he was setting up the assorted gear he'd brought to take in Bobby's work.

"That's a hell of an art project you've got going there." he remarked.

"Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe." Bobby explained, "How you doing?"

Dean nodded at the table, "Stakes, iron, silver, salt, magic knife, Colt. I mean, we're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of."

Bobby did not feel at all reassured and wondered again how the hell the boy had talked him into this. Frowning, he grumbled, "This is still a bad idea."

Dean resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Yeah, Bobby, I heard you the first ten times. What do you say we ring the dinner bell?"

Bobby reluctantly nodded. He moved over to a second table where they'd set up the things for the summoning ritual. Combining the ingredients and ignoring the pungent smoke that arose, he recited the invocation. Dean tensed while Bobby did the ritual, eyes tracking back and forth across the space for any sign of danger. However, nothing seemed to be happening. As Bobby intoned the last few words, the barn remained still and empty apart from the two hunters. After a few more minutes, Dean relaxed back against the table. A few minutes after that, he couldn't resist sitting on the table and swinging his legs, feeling bored. Even Bobby had a seat a minute or so later, although his eyes kept roaming across the barn.

"You sure you did the ritual right?" Dean eventually asked as he twirled Ruby's knife against the table. Bobby shot him a glare, so he quickly apologized, "Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?"

Before Bobby could unleash the scathing remark he had in mind, a loud rattling sound came from the warehouse roof and the sheet metal started flapping angrily against the structure. He and Dean both immediately grabbed shotguns and moved back to the far end of the building, looking around warily.

"Wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind." Dean offered.

As if just to prove him wrong, the door suddenly burst open. A dark-haired man in a business suit and trench coat stalked into the room. As he passed below them, the light bulbs overhead shattered in a shower of sparks. Dean and Bobby simultaneously opened fire as he approached, but the bullets didn't seem to even phase him. Dean immediately switched tactics, reaching behind him to grab Ruby's knife.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm the one who will save you from perdition."

"Okay, great. Thanks for that." Dean remarked before plunging the knife into the stranger's chest.

The trench coat-clad figure looked down at the knife sticking from his chest, unconcerned. Dean watched in disbelief as he casually pulled it out and dropped it on the floor, a tear in his jacket and a small bloodstain the only evidence that Dean had just stabbed him. Meanwhile, Bobby attempted to take advantage of the distraction by taking aim at him from behind with the Colt. However, without even looking behind him, the stranger grabbed a hold of the gun's barrel, twisting it upward forcefully. He turned to face the other hunter and almost casually reached up, tapping two fingers against Bobby's forehead. Bobby immediately crumpled to the ground and the Colt clattered to the floor next to him.

Turning back towards Dean, he fixed him with an ominous stare, "We need to talk, Dean. Alone."

Dean's gaze snapped towards the gun as he debated whether he'd be able to reach it fast enough to get a shot off. The angel, or whatever the hell he really was, appeared fairly unconcerned. He kicked the gun, sending it sliding under the table before he strode over to flip through the book of rituals Bobby had left there. Dean glared at him as he crouched down to check Bobby's pulse.

"Your friend's alive." the man said.

Bobby's strong pulse confirmed his statement, but that did little to reassure Dean. He straightened slowly, still glaring, "Who are you?"

"Castiel."

Dean flashed a sarcastic sneer, "Yeah, I kind of figured. I mean what are you?"

"I'm an angel of the Lord." Castiel stated, meeting Dean's gaze unflinchingly.

"Not buying it." Dean shook his head, "What are you really? Some supercharged spirit?"

"This is your problem, Dean. You have no faith." Castiel said.

Dean could almost feel Castiel summoning power to himself when lightning suddenly flashed and in the bursts of light, humongous shadowing wings appeared, stretching from Castiel's shoulders. When the lightning faded away, the wings disappeared. Now Dean finally understood what Ty had said about the wings from that first vision. Unwilling to dwell on the idea that this was a real angel, Dean shifted gears.

"Some angel you are." he scoffed, "You burned out that poor woman's eyes."

Castiel's intense expression softened incrementally, "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be…overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that."

Dean's eyes widened a little, "You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?"

Castiel nodded in confirmation. Dean almost winced remembering how badly that sound had hurt.

"Buddy, next time, lower the volume." he said dryly.

"That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong." Castiel admitted.

"And what visage are you in now, huh? What, holy tax accountant?"

"This? This is...a vessel." Castiel explained, gesturing at himself.

Dean's eyes narrowed. He knew this whole angel nonsense was shady somehow, "You're possessing some poor bastard?"

Castiel's lips turned ever so slightly upward in what Dean had to assume was a smile for him, "He's a devout man. He actually prayed for this."

"Well, I'm still not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?" Dean demanded.

Castiel frowned in confusion, "I told you."

"Right." Dean said sarcastically, "And why would an angel want anything to do with me?"

"Because God commanded it." Castiel said solemnly, "We have work for you. Like the Witnesses."

Dean stared at him in surprise, "You were hip to that?"

"I was…made aware." Castiel confirmed.

Dean reflexively retreated to anger, since the pain and guilt from dealing with those particular ghosts was still too fresh, "Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance. You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest."

"But you didn't." Castiel pointed out.

"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos… You know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

Castiel's frown deepened, "Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah?" Dean scoffed, "Then, why didn't you fight?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

"Concerns?" Dean repeated incredulously, "There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh? If there is a God."

"There's a God." Castiel said with absolute certainty.

"I'm not convinced. 'Cause if there's a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?" Dean demanded since this was at the heart of why he couldn't bring himself to believe any of this angel crap. Because if angels were real, then that seemed to mean that God had to be real and Dean just couldn't believe that there could be any such being. Nothing all-powerful and benevolent could let this much pain and evil exist.

"The Lord works…" Castiel began.

Dean interrupted him quickly, "If you say 'mysterious ways,' so help me, I will kick your ass. Whatever. So, Ty was right, then? About the Witnesses. This is one of those Seals."

Castiel nodded, "That's why we're here. The Raising of the Witnesses is one of the 66 Seals and those Seals are being broken by Lilith."

"She did the spell. She rose those ghosts, the Witnesses."

"Mm-hmm. And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead." Castiel confirmed.

Dean frowned at that news. It wasn't surprising, but it was still not great to hear, "Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor."

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest."

"It doesn't matter. The Seal was broken." Castiel said, which frankly pissed Dean off all over again. Putting down those ghosts had almost killed them, but this guy, whoever or whatever the hell he really was, didn't seem to give a rat's ass.

Dean clenched his jaw for a moment, but managed to keep his anger under control. Instead of snapping or attempting another attack, he forced himself to keep pumping this Castiel for information, "And if she breaks them all, Lucifer goes free, right?"

"Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?"

"To stop Lucifer." Dean said, not really asking but still looking for confirmation.

"That's why we've arrived." Castiel nodded.

Dean couldn't quite keep himself from scoffing and biting out sarcastically, "Well... bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the Witnesses."

Castiel fixed him with a deadly serious stare, "We tried. And there are other battles, other Seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited. Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect."

Castiel's words and steely gaze were pretty chilling considering the powers Dean had already seen him display, but before he could say anything else, the angel had vanished with a sound that was distinctly reminiscent of the flapping of wings. Dean stood frozen in place, staring at the spot where he had been until the sound of Bobby groaning as he regained consciousness snapped him out of it. This was insane. There had to be another explanation. And as soon as he dragged Bobby back to the house, they were going to find it.

Meanwhile, Ty had gone over it and over it, but she kept coming to the same horrifying and incredibly aggravating conclusion: Dean had been right. They had no other leads when it came to Lilith. So, she worked quickly putting together the things she would need, knowing she didn't have much time before Dean and Bobby returned from whatever they were doing for Pamela and they'd be headed back to Bobby's. It wasn't quite as sophisticated a setup as she would have been able to manage at Bobby's, but she figured it would have to do. She wondered briefly if Bobby would be impressed by her memory and improvising skills or just pissed at how reckless she was being. Knowing Bobby like she did, she figured it would probably be a little of both although he'd never admit to the former.

Crouching down on the pavement in the back of the motel, behind the dumpsters and out of sight of their room and the parking lot, just in case Sam decided to wander out to the car, Ty finished drawing the summoning circle and dusted the chalk off her hands. She took a deep breath, searching her mind one more time for another solution, before she finally went ahead and started the ritual.

"Well, well. You're certainly not the person I expected to hear from."

Ty straightened, facing the monster she had summoned, but when she saw the girl she was possessing, she found herself momentarily too stunned to speak. It wasn't lost on her how similar this girl looked to her. Melchiresa must have noticed her shocked expression, because she smiled and gestured down at her body.

"Oh, this?" She twisted to each side as if showing off a new dress, "I got it for Dean. Do you like?"

Ty shook her head, trying to refocus, "Look, we need to talk. No Colt, no Devil's Trap, no tricks, okay?"

Melchiresa ignored her, "She's a relative, you know. Second cousin or something. You've never met, but I guess the looks are on your mother's side."

Ty found herself once again shocked into silence, but this time it was because of the panic that had just gripped her. How could she be so naive? She was a hunter, she hunted with the Winchesters, and she was even in some kind of a relationship with one of them. Every demon knew the Winchester name. Of course they would want to hurt her anyway they could and if by extension they could hurt the Winchesters, all the better. She had stupidly thought that staying away from her family and keeping contact to the bare minimum necessary to keep them from reporting her as a missing person was enough to keep them safe but Melchiresa had been in her head. She already knew all about them.

"Stay away from my family." Ty finally ground out between clenched teeth.

"Relax." Melchiresa said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "I've already let it slip through the infernal grapevine that the Falkner clan, especially you, are off limits. There are some demons out there powerful or stupid enough to want to mess with me, but with Lilith after the Seals and angels back in the mix after two centuries, they've got bigger fish to fry."

Ty had to take a moment to absorb all of that. As it sunk in, she knew she should focus on getting more info about angels and the Seals, but she found herself hung up on a different question, "Why...why would you do that?"

Melchiresa smiled in a way that was frankly unsettling. She looked around like she was looking for a place to sit, then wrinkled her nose in distaste at the sight of the dumpsters. With a sigh she turned her attention back to Ty, "How much do you actually know about the way possession works, Ty?"

Ty crossed her arms over her chest angrily, "More than I'd like."

Melchiresa rolled her eyes, "Oh, don't be bitter. I'm talking about compatibility. Demons, angels, ghosts, anything that needs to take control of a human form, we all deal with it on some level or another."

Ty frowned as she listened, interested despite herself, "Wait a minute. So, you're saying that's why some people get possessed instead of others? Because they're more compatible with the demon or ghost or whatever?"

Ty found her thoughts returning to the first hunt she'd ever been on with the Winchesters, the haunted highway outside Phoenix. It had always bothered her that the ghost had chosen to possess her instead of Dean, even though he was the one who had summoned it. Was this the reason why? And if it was, what was it about her that made her more…compatible?

"Exactly." Melchiresa nodded, "We demons aren't usually too picky, but when you happen upon a good host…even we can get attached. Angels are even worse. They need a suitable vessel and they need the vessel's consent. That kind of juice tends to liquify uncompatible humans too quick anyway."

Ty felt like she was a step behind with all this info. Angels possessed people, too? That didn't seem right, but what did they really know about angels anyway? Didn't Melchiresa say this was the first time angels had been out in the world for centuries? Well, this must really be the apocalypse then.

"Which is why, dear Ty, when I found you, my perfect host, I knew I couldn't let you go that easily." Melchiresa continued, forcing Ty's attention back to her.

Ty's eyes widened in surprise and she couldn't stop herself from backing up a step, "I thought this was about Dean."

Melchiresa took a step forward, "Oh, it is. Partially. You wanted to talk, Ty? No tricks? Here it is. I want you both, package deal."

Ty backed up again, shaking her head. Undaunted, Melchiresa continued moving forward.

"But, now that you've got that pesky tattoo, I need you to say yes. You let me in and I'll protect Dean, help you fight Lilith, stop her from freeing Lucifer. I'll even let you out to play every once in a while. Full partnership. What do you say?"

Ty was so shocked that she backed into the bowl she'd used for the summoning and almost fell on her ass when she tripped over it. She caught her balance physically, but internally she was still reeling.

Melchiresa smirked confidently, "It's the deal of a lifetime, I have to admit. Share your body with me, save the man you love, and stop the world from ending? I'm almost embarrassed about how generous I'm being. And I wouldn't wait too long to decide, either. Lilith is making quick work on those 66 Seals."

Ty couldn't handle this. So, she did the only thing that she could. She ignored everything inside of her that was screaming, ignored everything Melchiresa had said about compatible hosts and her offer. Instead, she latched onto the hunt: Lilith and the Seals.

"66? There are 66? How many has she broken?" Ty demanded, "Do you know what they are?"

Melchiresa chuckled and Ty had the distinct impression that she knew exactly what was going on inside her at the moment. It made her feel sick down to the depths of her soul that this demon knew her that well, that she was somehow the perfect host for her. This was even worse than being compatible with a homicidal ghost! What was wrong with her? Something must be if she was a perfect match for Melchiresa.

"Hmm, I probably shouldn't have told you that." Melchiresa mused, "Probably should have made info on the Seals part of the deal, but since I let that slip I might as well tell you. Lilith is keeping things pretty close to the vest since the B-Team rained on her baby murdering parade. But demons are horrible gossips. From what I hear, she's ramping things up. Has her heart set on breaking at least half by the New Year."

"That's less than three months from now!" Ty exclaimed.

"Sure is." Melchiresa agreed, "And that's all you're getting out of me for now."

"No, wait!" Ty said quickly as Melchiresa turned away from her, "What about Dean? Why is Lilith after him? How do I keep him safe?"

"You already know the answers, Ty." Melchiresa said with a wink, "Call me when you're ready."

In between one blink and the next she was gone in the night. Ty growled in frustration. She really hated that disappearing trick. Well, at least she'd gotten some intel. Now she just had to figure out how to share the information without explaining where she'd gotten it.