Chapter 14

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It was just Dean and Emma, now. Sam had left and Dean did nothing to stop him. If anything, he agreed to his brother's leaving. Emma was not too happy about it. She, who wanted them to remain together to counter her brothers, feared what would happen if the brothers were separated. She fiercely believed, in spite of what they thought, they were stronger together. But now…it was just Dean and Emma.

Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd played on the radio. They were driving away from Greeley, Pennsylvania. Having just worked a case together. A vampire was hunting in town, they found him and cut his head off. Simple and clean.

Although, Dean was covering it up, he was tensed. He agreed for Sam to leave but it didn't mean he was happy about it. Emma could see it. She could feel it. Everytime, she tried to make him talk or talk about it, he shut her off. Made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. She had no other choice but to stop breaching this subject with him.

They drove well into the night and stopped at a motel for the night. Emma was already lying in her bed staring at the ceiling.

"God!" She heard Dean exclaimed. "Don't do that!"

She sat up in her bed and saw Castiel standing behind Dean. "Hello, Dean." The angel simply said.

She flopped back down on her bed. "Hey, Cas." She greeted the angel.

"How'd you find us?" Dean asked Castiel. "I thought we were flying below the angel radar."

"You are." Cas replied. "Bobby told me where you were. Where's Sam?"

Emma glanced at Dean. "Me and Sam are taking separate vacations for a while." He answered putting on a buttoned-up shirt.

"So, how is your search for Father going along?" Emma asked as she moved to the side of her bed.

"More importantly, can I have my damn necklace back, please?" Dean added.

"No, I haven't found him." Castiel replied. "That's why I'm here. I need your help."

"With what? A God hunt?" Dean retorted. "Not interested."

"It's not God. It's someone else."

"Who?" Emma stood.

"It's an Archangel. The one who killed me." Castiel told her.

"Raphaël." She said with dread.

"You were wasted by a teenage mutant ninja angel?" Emma rolled her eyes at Dean's words.

"I've heard whispers that's he's walking the earth." Castiel informed them. "This is a rare opportunity."

"For what? Revenge?" Dean asked.

"Information."

Dean scoffed. "So, what—you think if you find this dude, he's just gonna spill God's address?"

"Yes." Castiel nodded. "Because were going to trap him and interrogate him."

"You can't possibly be serious about this." Emma shook her head.

"Yes, I am."

"So, what—we're Thelma and Louise, and we're just gonna hold hands and sail off this cliff together?" Dean walked up to him. Cas remained quiet. "Give me one good reason, why we should do this."

"Because you're Michael's vessel and Emma is his sister. And no angel will dare harm you."

"Oh, so we're your bullet shield?"

"I need your help. Because you are the only one who will help me." Castiel was begging them. "Please."

Emma and Dean glanced at each other briefly before giving an answer. "Where is my brother?"

"Maine." Castiel moved his fingers to their foreheads about to zap them there.

"Whoa, whoa!" Dean stopped him.

"What?"

"Last time, you zapped me someplace I didn't poop for a week."

"TMI." Emma scrunched up her nose.

"We're driving."

It wasn't just Michael and Lucifer. She had four brothers in the beginning of all things. Michael, Lucifer, Raphaël and Gabriel. Archangels, just like her. The apocalypse was all about Michael and Lucifer while Raphaël and Gabriel were left to be forgotten. But Emma remembered them. The one who followed and the one who ran away.

She wanted to help Castiel, really, she did. But she dreaded the moment she would have to face her brother. She didn't fully remember her history with him. Pieces, mostly had come back to her. Since the day she had used her powers against Zachariah, although she forgot about it, she was remembering more and more about her past. Especially the life she had lived in Heaven with her father and brothers. Half of it felt like a dream.

"We're here why?" Dean, now suit up, asked Castiel.

Emma just like him wore a pantsuit. "A Deputy sheriff laid eyes on the archangel." Castiel replied.

"And he still has eyes?" Dean asked him. Cas did not answer. "Alright, what's the plan?"

"We…tell the officer that he witnessed angel of the Lord. Then the officer will tell us where the angel is." Cas said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"What?" Emma exclaimed.

"Are you serious?" Dean raised his eyebrows at him. "You're gonna walk in there and tell him the truth?"

"Why not?"

"Because that's how you end up in a mental institution." Emma rolled her eyes at him.

"And we're humans." Dean searched his pockets. "And when humans want something really, really bad…we lie."

"Why?"

"Because…that's how you become president." Dean walked away from them.

Castiel frowned up and looked down at Emma. She shrugged. "He's not wrong." And she followed Dean.

"Deputy Framingham?" Dean called to an African American man. He turned to them. "Hi, Alonzo Mosely, FBI." He flashed his badge to the deputy. "These are my partners, Denise Walsh," Emma showed her badge to the deputy. "And Eddie Moscone." Castiel did not move. "Also, FBI." Castiel snapped out of his staring at Deputy Framingham and showed him his badge. Upside down.

Emma shook her head. "Those new agents, am I right?" She smiled awkwardly. "Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Yeah. Sure. Talk here, though." He indicated his right ear. "Hearing's all blown to hell in this one." He said pointing to his left ear.

"That happen recently?" Dean asked him.

"Yeah—the gas-station thing." He sat down at his desk. "That's why you're here, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is." Dean cleared his throat. "Do you mind just, uh, running us through what happened?"

"Well, call came in—Disturbance out at the pump 'n' go on route 4."

"What kind?" Emma asked him.

"Would not have believed my eyes if I hadn't seen it myself." Framingham explained. "We're talking a riot—full-scale."

"How many?" Dean asked.

"30-40." He replied. "In all-out, kill-or-be-killed combat."

"What started it?" Emma frowned.

But before the Deputy could answer. Castiel did. "It's angels and demons, probably." He turned to the Deputy. "They're skirmishing all over the globe."

"Come again? What did he say?" The Deputy looked over at Dean and Emma.

"Demons." "Nothing." Dean and Castiel spoke at the same time.

"He means alcohol, sex." Emma said quickly. "You know we all have our demons, right?"

"I guess…" The Deputy looked at Castiel skeptical.

"So…what happened next?" Emma asked him.

"Freakin' explosion. That's what." Framingham answered. "Oh, they said it was one of those underground gas tanks, but, uh…I don't think so."

"Why not?" Dean asked him.

"It wasn't your usual fireball. It was, um…"

"Pure white." Emma and Castiel said at the same time.

"Yeah." Framingham said slowly, looking between Castiel and Emma. "Gas station was leveled. Everyone was…It was just horrible. Then, I see this one guy, kneeling there, real focused-like. Not a damn scratch on him."

"You know him?" Dean asked him.

"Donnie Finneman, mechanic there."

"And let me guess, he just, uh…vanished into thin air?" Dean suggested.

"No, Kolchak. He's down at St Pete's."

"St Pete's." Castiel repeated to Dean.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Thank you."

They went to St Pete's and there all they saw was an empty shell. Raphaël had seared this man's mind beyond repair. He wasn't responsive. Unmoving, drooling on himself. This fate could await Dean or maybe something far worse than that. Raphaël wasn't there.

They were now in an abandoned house. Dean and Emma waiting on Castiel. The Angel had a plan to trap Raphaël. Castiel would stop at nothing to find out the truth about his father. And he was sure Raphaël held the answers to his questions.

"Where have you been?" Dean asked as soon as Castiel appeared out of thin air.

"Jerusalem." Castiel answered putting down a jar next to Emma. An ancient looking one, cracked in many places.

"Oh, how was it?"

"Arid."

"What is that?" Emma asked him as she took the jar in her hands.

"It's oil. It's very special and very rare."

"Okay." She put it back down.

"Okay, are we gonna…trap Raphaël with a nice vinaigrette?" Dean asked.

"No." Castiel sat down next to her.

"So, this ritual of yours, when's it got to go down?"

"Sunrise."

"Tell me something—you keep saying we're gonna trap this guy, but isn't that kind of like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?" Dean questioned him.

"No. It's harder."

"Do we have any chance of surviving this?"

"You do. Both of you." Castiel answered looking at Dean.

"So, odds are you're a dead man tomorrow?" Dean asked Castiel.

"Yes."

"Well, last night on Earth." Dean started. "What, uh…what are your plans?"

"I just thought I'd sit here quietly." Castiel answered him.

"Dude, come on. Anything?" Dean retorted. "Hm? Booze? Women?" Castiel looked away from Dean, uncomfortable with his question. "You have been with a woman before, right? Or an angel, at least?"

"You haven't? Ever?" Emma asked him. But Castiel was feeling more and more uncomfortable. "Wow."

"You mean to tell me you've never been up there doing a little cloud seeding?" Dean asked.

"Look, I've never had occasion, okay?"

"All right." Dean wet to grab his coat. "Let me tell you something, there are two things that I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay. Two, you are not gonna die a virgin. Not on my watch."

A brothel wasn't what she had in mind for Castiel's last night on Earth. But she wasn't against it. She got her alcohol, some really hot women, she was enjoying herself. At first, Dean had planned to drop her into a bar. But she had refused. She didn't want to miss all the fun. So, reluctantly he took her with them. To this brothel. In past lives, she had been to brothels. Whether it was as a worker or as a customer, she could not remember exactly. But tonight, she was a customer and she had every intention to enjoy herself.

There was one who wasn't enjoying himself. And that was Castiel. He looked around him completely terrified, as if someone was about to kill him. Right there in the middle of this crowd.

"Hey, relax." Dean said.

"This is a den of iniquity. I should not be here." Castiel told him completely panicking.

"Dude, you full on rebelled against Heaven. Iniquity is one of the perks." Dean retorted. A woman in a white nightie, blonde came by their table. "Showtime."

"Hi, what's your name?" She asked to Castiel.

"Cas. His name is Cas." Dean answered for the angel as the latter remained quiet. "What's your name?"

"Chastity." Chastity smiled sweetly at Dean.

"Pretty name, Chastity." Emma replied flirtatiously.

"Is that Kismet or what, buddy?" Dean chuckled as Cas downed his glass. "Well, he likes you. You like him. So, dayanu." Dean drank his beer.

She took his hand and pulled him up. "Come on, baby."

Dean stopped him ad gave him a wad of cash. "Take this. If she asks for a credit card, no. Just stick to the basics, okay? Do not order up the menu. Go get her tiger." Castiel did not move. "Don't make me push you."

"Do you really think it's good idea?" Emma asked but Dean was already gone. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

She ordered another drink and invited a brunette, wearing a black nightie to sit with her. They were joking and talking, enjoying each other's company. The brunette was playing with the buttons of her shirt. When someone screamed in the brothel. Emma sprang up and ran towards the sound.

"Get out of my face. Leave me alone. Bastard." Chastity was yelling at Castiel. "Screw you, jerk." And threw a bottle at him. "I'll kill you." She walked away from him and stopped in front of Dean and Emma. "Screw you too."

"What the hell did you do?" Dean asked him.

"I don't know. I just looked at her in the eyes and told her it wasn't her fault her father, Gene, ran off." Castiel explained. "It was because he hated his job at the post office."

"Aww, man." Emma moaned. "You don't go and tell that to people. Especially when you just met her."

"This whole industry runs on absent father, Cas. It's the natural order." Dean continued.

"We need to leave, now." Emma pushed them towards the exit as security guards came towards them.

They ended up in the back alley. Dean and Emma laughing.

"What's so funny?" Cas looked at them both confused.

"Oh, nothing." Dean put his arm around his shoulders. "It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard." Dean took out his keys.

"I don't remember the last time I've laughed that hard." Emma looked up at Cas. "Thank you, Cas."

"It's been more than a long time for me. Years." Emma saw him stopped by the driver's side. His smile fading. He was thinking about Sam.

The sun was up. It was time for them to set Cas's plan in motion. They were back at the hospital where Raphaël's vessel was. Castiel poured the rare oil around the empty shell of a man.

"When the oil burns, no angel can touch or pass through the flames, or he dies." He explained to the two hunters.

"Okay. So, we trap him in a steel cage of holy fire." Dean summed up. "But, uh, one question—How the hell do we get him here?"

"We give him a phone call." Emma crossed her arms over her chest. "Between an angel and his vessel, there's an open phone line."

"One just has to know how to dial." Castiel walked closer to Donnie Finnerman. His mouth near Donnie's ears and he spoke. It was more like a chant in another language.

"What's that?" Dean asked Emma.

"Enochian." Emma said softly.

"Do you know what he's saying?"

"I know it's Enochian but…I don't understand what's he saying." Emma shook her head.

"I'm here, Raphaël. Come and get me, you little bastard." Castiel finished and moved out of the oil circle.

"Just out of curiosity, what is the average customer wait time to speak to an archangel?" Dean asked Cas.

"Be ready." Cas answered instead. He lit up a match and dropped it in the oil. It burst into a ring of flame.

And they waited. Until the night came, they waited.

Emma wasn't in hurry to see her brother again. As it was said before, she didn't remember much of her brothers. Only pieces of it. That would come to her through dreams. Raphaël was never part of them. As if her relationship with him was non-existent. As if they weren't as close as she was with Lucifer, Michael or even Gabriel. He was her brother and yet, he didn't seem like he was. That's how she felt about him. Back at the motel room, when she said his name, thought about meeting him, she felt as though she disliked him. As though she couldn't stand him. She didn't understand why.

They drove back to the old house. Raphaël was a no show at the hospital. They waited him there for nothing.

"Well, that's a day I'll never get back." Dean commented as they walked back to the house.

"Dean." Castiel called him as soon as Dean pushed the door open. "Wait."

Electricity crackled in the old kitchen. Flying everywhere in the house. Raphaël had reinvested his vessel, Donnie. And he stood in the kitchen.

"Castiel." Was the first word out of his mouth.

"Raphaël." Castiel said back.

Emma stood next to Castiel but Raphaël didn't so much as glanced at her. Barely even looking at her.

"I mean, I thought you were supposed to be impressive." Dean started. "All you do is black out the room?"

"And the eastern seabord." Raphaël retorted. "It is a testament to my unending mercy that I don't smite you here and now."

"That's only because you're all bark and no bite." Emma told him.

"Or maybe you're afraid that God will bring Cas back to life again and smite you, you candy-ass skirt." Dean taunted him. "By the way, hi, I'm Dean."

"I know who you are and now, thanks to him, I know where you are." Raphaël retorted.

"You won't kill him. You wouldn't dare." Castiel said.

"But I will take him and my Sister to Michael." Raphaël countered and Emma frowned up at him.

"Well, that…sounds terrifying." Dean commented. "It does. But, uh, I hate to tell you…I'm not going anywhere with you." Dean grabbed a bear, uncapped it and drank.

"Surely, you remember Zachariah giving you stomach cancer." Raphaël reminded him, threateningly.

"Yeah. That was—that was hilarious." Dean joked.

"Well, he doesn't have anything close to my imagination."

"Oh, yeah?" Dean glanced at Castiel and Emma, as Raphaël took a small step forward. "I bet you didn't imagine one thing." Dean continued.

"What?"

"We knew you were coming, you stupid son of a bitch." Dean threw his lighter on the ground, the oil burst into flames. Raphaël was trapped. And he wasn't happy. "Hey, don't look at me. It was his idea." Dean looked over at Cas.

"Seriously?" Emma exclaimed.

"Where is he?" Castiel asked Raphaël.

"God." Castiel nodded at her brother. "Didn't you hear? He's dead, Castiel. Dead."

Emma did not believe him. God, their Father, wasn't dead. He couldn't be.

"You are wrong." Emma said.

"Am I?" Raphaël finally looked at her properly. "Do you remember the 20th century? Think the 21st is going any better? You think God would have let any of that happen, if he were alive?"

"Yes, he would have." Emma assured him. "Not because he is dead but because he has given up. On all of us. It's too hard for you, Raphaël, to admit that he abandoned us. Abandoned you. So, you'd rather assume that he is dead. The truth is too hard for you to bear."

"And who are you to pretend to know our Father?" Raphaël asked her. "You who have abandoned us."

"At least, she didn't start the friggin' apocalypse." Dean told him. Emma looked up at Dean.

"Who ran off and disappeared." Raphaël continued. "Who left no instructions and a world to run."

"So, Daddy ran away and disappeared?" Dean said. "He didn't happen to work for the post office, did he?"

"This is funny to you. You're living in a godless universe."

"And? What—you and the other kids just decide to throw an apocalypse while he's gone?"

"We're tired. We just want it to be over. We want…Paradise."

"And for this, you're ready to scorch half of the planet to death?" Emma asked him. "What? Because He's gone you think you can do whatever you want?"

"Yes. And whatever we want, we get."

Thunder crashed and the window exploded. Shards of glass flew in the room. Emma, Castiel and Dean ducked and protected themselves with their arms. The wind was now blowing violently inside the house, the rain was pouring inside.

"If God is dead, why have I returned?" Castiel asked Raphaël. "Who brought me back?"

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe Lucifer raised you?" Raphaël suggested.

"No."

"Think about it. He needs all the rebellious angels he can find. You know it adds up."

"Let's go." Castiel said to Dean and Emma and turned away from Raphaël.

"Castiel." Raphaël called him. "I'm warning you. Do not leave me here." Castiel didn't move. "I will find you."

"Maybe one day." Castiel retorted. "But today, you're my little bitch."

Dean followed him. "What he said."

Emma stared at her Brother one last time before following her friends. "You look stronger."

"I am." She replied looking back at him.

"You are remembering, aren't you?" He asked this time.

"I am." She nodded. "You hate me, don't you?"

"I don't." Raphaël said and it surprised her. "But if you stand in our way, we won't hesitate."

She was surprised by this. The way he spoke to her or even looked at her, made her think that he despised her. He hated her. He didn't but he and Michael would kill her, if they had to.

She looked up at him. Tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm sorry." And she left.

Sitting in the back of the Impala, she was lost in her thoughts. Had she really abandoned them? Was God really dead? Or just abandoned them? Was she any better than He was? All those questions were swirling around in her head. Questions that remained unanswered. For now, or maybe for forever.

"I believe he's out there." Castiel said.

"Good then go find Him." Dean told him.

"What about you?" Cas asked him.

"What about me?" Dean retorted. "I don't know. Honestly? I'm good. I can't believe I'm saying that but I am. I'm…I'm really good."

"Even without your brother?"

"Especially without my brother. I mean, I spent so much time worrying about the son of the bitch." He said. "I mean, I've had more fun with you in the past 24 hours than I've had with Sam, in years. And you're not that much fun." He looked over at Castiel. "It's funny. You know, I've been so chained to my family. But now that I'm without him…Hell, I'm happy." He looked over at Castiel but the angel was gone.

Emma moved to the front seat. "So, you're happy, uh? Even with me around?"

"You're annoying but you're okay." Dean replied.

"Thanks." Emma smiled softly. She looked out of the window. "You think I really did it?"

"What?"

"That I've abandoned them like Raphaël said." She sighed. "I mean, I know I left because of Michael and Lucifer but I didn't think…"

"What do you remember?" Dean asked her.

"Pieces." Emma exhaled deeply. "Some faces, voices. Lives that I have lived before. It's still blurry but it's more than I remembered before. Nothing useful, though. Nothing that can help us against my brothers."

"Don't worry, we'll figure it out." Dean promised. "We will."

She hoped for their sakes that they would.

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