"Now, wayward one, listen carefully."

Alice Smith narrowed her eyes at Naziel. She wanted to spit in his smug face, but feared the repercussions the action might elicit. On the other hand, she considered, how much worse could the situation get?

"You have work to do. A very important task. Soon, Dean Winchester's soul will be committed to perdition."

The turn in conversation was completely unanticipated and it caught Alice's full attention. She decided to hold off on spitting at him for the moment.

"By the time he arrives, you will be there as well. You must find him. When you do, say a prayer. Heaven will take care of the rest."

"The rest of what?" Alice probed.

"Never you mind."

Naziel reached for Alice's arm, but she pulled away from him.

"I'm not doing anything for you unless I know what it is I'm doing," she frowned. "And even then, there better be something in it for me. Since I'm doing it for a jerk like you, it better be something good."

"You will be doing nothing for me, you arrogant heifer," Naziel sneered. "Winchester is the one who will benefit from your cooperation."

"How?"

"Pray when you find him and we will remove him from hellfire."

"Why?"

"You ask too many questions. You will do this, Alice Smith."

"Like hell I will!"

Her immediate response seemed to surprise Naziel.

"Excuse me?"

"Seems like you need me to pull off this little operation of yours," Alice explained. "I want answers, or I'm not doing jack all."

Naziel smirked.

"You could watch your lover burn, knowing that something as simple as a prayer could save him, yet do nothing?"

Alice knew deep in her heart she could never do that, but Naziel didn't. Heaven had made a mistake by sending someone to enlist her who disdained her so severely.

"What do you think?" she replied tactfully. "Now tell me why Heaven wants Dean saved and I'll think about going along with this."

Naziel considered her carefully for a long moment and Alice was forced to wonder if she had overplayed her hand. How important was this little mission in the grand scheme of things, whatever that was? Exactly how much hot water would Naziel be in if he failed to secure her cooperation? Was it enough that he would be willing to compromise a little?

"The less you know the better," Naziel finally replied. "The less you know, the less the demons will be able to torture out of you after the fact."

Alice shuddered as she processed the grim picture Naziel painted. So they would save Dean and leave her behind. She supposed it made sense. Saving Dean from hell was one thing. Technically, his soul was clean. If Alice were to venture a guess, she would have said that without his deal, he was bound for Heaven. Snatching him from hell was bending the rules. Doing the same for someone like her was clearly breaking them.

"Take me too."

"Impossible."

"There's not a lot that's impossible for you people," Alice reminded him. "Believe me, I know you can do this."

"The ability to do something does not-"

"Damn it, Naziel, come off all that righteous crap!" Alice burst out, interrupting the angel. "This isn't a game! There's no way in hell I'm helping you unless you take me too!"

Naziel crossed his arms over his chest, considering Alice with piercing grey eyes that tried to see through her. Alice showed him desperation. There was nothing in existence she wanted more than to avoid hell. Not even Dean Winchester.

Naziel studied her for a moment that stretched into eternity, then laughed aloud.

"Anyone who could be so cold deserves to burn," he observed. "But I will do my best to grant your request, Smith."

"Promise."

It was a desperate last resort. Alice knew as well as Naziel that he was too powerful to be bound by her unbreakable oaths, but she didn't trust him. Deep down, Alice knew that the chances of her ever leaving hell again were slim to none, but she would try every trick she knew to increase those chances. At this point, none of it hurt.

"Very well," Naziel said, amusement tinging his concession. "I promise, Smith."

Alice was far from relieved. In fact, she was consumed with dread that made her feel sick down to her core, but there was nothing more she could do. Naziel reached for her arm again and this time, she allowed him to take her away.

Three Months Later...

Greta Smith strolled the communal greenhouse, more to clear her mind than police the upkeep of the herbs that were so essential to the Smith clan's operations. Her gaze swept over the greenery, but she saw nothing. Her mind was far away, her thoughts tumultuous as a stormy sky. It had been a very, very long time since Greta had laid eyes upon an angel of the Lord. Even longer since they had graced her with their divine commands. For most of her life, she had accepted that her family would never rise to grace in her lifetime. Perhaps never in perpetuity.

Yet, little more than an hour ago, she had been visited by a messenger from on high. She had received tidings both glad and grim. Warnings of the end soon to come, and assurances that if her family played their role to speed it along, they would be guaranteed paradise.

"Harmony!" she called after an eternity of silent pondering.

The greenhouse keeper snapped to attention at her side. Greta regretted raising her voice. Lost in her reverie, it had slipped her mind that the girl was so close.

"Go to Theus. Have him call the elders to meet with me. All of them."

Harmony nodded silently and set off about her task. Greta left with her, collecting a leaf of lemonbalm on her way home. It's scent soothed her senses and cleared her clouded mind. She had much work to do and little time in which to do it.

Ruby stood shirtless before a grimy full length mirror. She carefully examined the scar near her navel that Alice Smith had gifted her months ago. From the outside, the wound had been healed for a while, but Ruby knew better than to seal herself back into Allison Smith's body based on outward appearances alone. She probed the area around the fading scar, still angry, but losing definition around the edges. A week ago, this action would have elicited dull, throbbing pain deep in Ruby's gut, but now the pain was all but gone.

Ruby smiled quietly. It was time.

She produced a dagger and went to work carefully carving another binding seal into Allison Smith's flesh. This time instead of continuing the line of broken seals that marched down her shoulder, she started cutting above Allison's left breast. Halfway through, she became aware of another presence in the room. She used the mirror to scan the room and spotted Sam lurking in the doorway, watching her with a cold, indecipherable expression. Ruby had gotten used to seeing that look on his face. Despite all their time together, everything she'd done for him since his brother died, he still couldn't bring himself to fully trust her. Maybe deep down, he knew she was using him. Maybe if he hadn't been so devastated from losing Dean, he would have cared enough to stop playing her game.

Lots of maybe's. Maybe Ruby was overthinking things and this was just the closest Sam would ever let anyone get to him again. Maybe after being hurt so badly so many times, he had finally walled himself off the way so many in his line of work eventually did.

The binding link was complete. Ruby pressed a rag to the fresh wound to stem the flow of blood and turned to face Sam.

"What?" she demanded. She could see the questions hiding behind his stoic mask.

Sam approached her, uncrossing his arms from his chest as he neared.

"Why keep doing that?" he asked, nodding to the new binding link. "Why put yourself at risk of dying just to keep from being exorcised? Why is that body so important to you?"

Ruby thought her answer through carefully while she set the rag aside and secured a patch of gauze over the binding link.

"It's not the body," she finally replied. "Don't get me wrong, Allison..."

She swept her hands over herself.

"... she deserves this. She wasn't a great person. I'm doing the world a big favor by keeping her locked down."

Bitch, Allison spoke up half-heartedly.

"But... mostly, I just can't go back to hell," Ruby went on, ignoring her host's weak voice. Since learning of Alice's fate, Allison was slowly but surely fading back into the ghost she had become after her younger sister's first death. Ruby couldn't wait to be all but alone in her mind again.

"Because of Lilith?" Sam pressed.

"Well, yes. But... look, even for demons it's not exactly a vacation," Ruby explained. "I'd rather die for good topside than be sent back to that hellhole."

Ruby's words were carefully chosen and they had the intended impact. Sam's expression remained the same, but she could see the pulse of fresh agony that clouded his eyes. She knew he was thinking of his brother. He was always thinking of his brother. Ruby made sure of it.

The moment was shattered when Ruby's phone rang, shrill and unexpected. She had to stop herself from jumping in shock at the sound and instead forced herself to calmly check the incoming number.

"Bobby again?" Sam asked.

"Bobby again," Ruby lied, hitting the decline button and quickly deleting the call log for the unknown number. "How he got my number is beyond me."

"He's resourceful," Sam sighed. "And worried about me. He'll be fine. He has nothing to say to me that I haven't already heard."

"If you say so," Ruby said carefully, pocketing her phone and pulling her shirt on. The truth was that Ruby was getting calls from a number she didn't recognize. No one had her cell apart from Sam. Part of her wanted to slip away and call them back to see who it was, what they wanted with her... yet the mysterious calls filled her with more dread than curiosity. She could think of a few beings that would be able to find her number if they needed it and Ruby wasn't keen on hearing from any of them.

"You ready?" Sam asked, unaware of Ruby's predicament.

"Yeah. This demon isn't going to stay put forever," Ruby sighed. "Let's go."

For now, the mystery caller would need to remain just that.

Kaydie Smith held a solemn vigil in a room full of bodies. White sheets covered the human remains from head to toe, shrouding all eight of them from sight. The room smelled of eucalyptus and lilac, strong enough to disguise any scent of rotting flesh. She watched the door with fierce intensity, ears straining to hear anything through the silence that blanketed the room like the shrouds that lent decency to the dead. On the other side of the door, her grandmother was meeting with the elders of all the families that made up the Smith clan. This had happened only twice before in Kaydie's lifetime and it was an event that always marked great change.

Kaydie could feel the change in the air, hovering over her home like a swarm of bees waiting to descend and sow chaos. She wanted desperately to know more about what was going to happen, but Greta had given her precious few details, none of which were helping her decipher the meaning behind the mysterious events unfolding around her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp, rough intake of breath. It was desperate and hoarse, like a drowning victim sputtering after CPR. It startled Kaydie, bringing her back to alertness. She was disciplined enough that her widened eyes were the only visible indication of her surprise, scanning the room quickly trying to figure out where the sound had come from.

One of the bodies jerked and began thrashing beneath it's sheet. The breathing didn't get any less labored and spiked with panic as the man's struggles sent him crashing to the floor, still tangled in the sheet.

The sudden revival of the dead would have freaked anyone else out, but Kaydie had been expecting it.

"Hey, calm down!" she called. She took a few cautious steps forward. Behind the table, the thrashing stopped, though the man's breathing didn't get any less labored.

"Where am I?!" he demanded hoarsely.

"Somewhere safe," Kaydie replied. She was being intentionally vague. She didn't want to overwhelm him right now.

"Who are you?"

"A friend."

"You don't sound like any of my friends," the man replied gruffly.

"Well I'm here to help."

Slowly, the man got his breathing under control and Kaydie held her silence while he did. Finally, he rose shakily from where he had landed and Kaydie got her first look at him. Dean Winchester was naked as a newborn but for the sheet awkwardly wrapped around his waist. Kaydie forced a smile for his sake as he sized her up. She could see a glimmer of recognition in his eyes and knew he was trying to place her.

"I'm Kaydie Smith. We met once before," she reminded him.

"Right," he finally managed after a long pause. He sounded audibly parched, like someone who had just stumbled out of the desert after a week.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Kaydie went on. "If you come with me, I can get you answers... and clothes."

Dean regarded her with suspicion, but eventually nodded.

"How about a drink?" he croaked.

"I can arrange that too," Kaydie assured him.

Sam's powers were tricky to deal with. They were potent and dark in nature and it was Ruby's job to make him see the good they could do in the right hands. Luckily for her, Sam's desperation to get Dean back made that easy in the beginning. He was devastated enough to overlook almost anything in the name of his crusade.

Now, as Ruby watched him drag a demon from it's host in spurts and sputters, she finally saw something she had waited months to see. She saw satisfaction fill Sam's face as he came closer to exorcising his adversary. He was enjoying himself. All her hard work was paying off.

Her phone buzzed in her back pocket, silent but urgent. She frowned as she reached back to covertly dismiss the call.

Finally, Sam overcame the demon. It's host slumped, still and silent after all it's struggles. Sam stepped forward eagerly and put his hand to the man's neck, only to draw it away a moment later in disappointment.

"He didn't make it," Sam sighed. "They hardly ever make it."

"Most demons have no reason to take it easy on their host," Ruby replied. "We should get moving."

They erased all traces of their presence and left the man's body behind. Ruby would have preferred to bury the empty shells left after most of their practice sessions, but Sam insisted on allowing them to be found by the authorities. He wanted any family the meat suits may have had to get 'closure'. Sam had a considerate streak that often outweighed his common sense. Ruby found it nauseating, but she couldn't tell him that. She had to smile and commend his humanity. She had to act like it was something noble that she hoped to one day regain.

Ruby was sick to death of acting.

As she and Sam loaded their few tools into the back of the Impala, Ruby felt something she hadn't felt in months. An urgent tug that made the back of her neck itch. It was the sensation her ilk were subjected to when someone summoned them. Sam got in the car and waited for Ruby to do the same, but she couldn't resist this call.

"Ruby?" he called.

She allowed herself to be pulled away before he had a chance to turn and see her vanish. This summoning was unexpected and it filled her with apprehension. Who was forcing her to appear to them, and why? Her mind raced in the split second before she materialized at the location her summoner had chosen.

Ruby found herself in an upscale, brightly lit apartment. She blinked rapidly while her eyes adjusted. After working with Sam under the cover of nightfall, she was temporarily blinded by her new surroundings.

"Ah. Ruby, right?"

The voice belonged to a man. Ruby looked around and found him sitting on a couch behind her. He wore a suit and sipped a glass of whiskey. His red tie was undone, as was the top button of his gray dress shirt. A black suit jacket was slung over the back of the couch and a sleek, well shined pair of black dress shoes were kicked up onto a low coffee table.

"You're a hard gal to get ahold of," the man continued. His eyes swept over her, sizing her up. Ruby repaid his gaze in kind. It was immediately apparent to her that she had been summoned by a fellow demon. A fairly new one at that.

"Let me guess," Ruby said drily, glancing at the remains of his summoning spell, still smoldering in a copper bowl on the coffee table beside his feet. "You're the rude asshole that's been calling me non-stop since yesterday."

"Only if you're the inconsiderate bitch who refuses to pick up her phone," he replied snidely. Ruby opened her mouth to snap back at him, but he raised a finger to his lips and shushed her severely. To her surprise, Ruby found herself unable to speak. New as this demon was, he was still incredibly powerful. Her apprehension threatened to become fear as he set his drink down and stood.

"As much as I'd love to trade words with you all night, I called you on urgent business," he stated matter of factly. "Your work is in serious danger. I need to know how far you've managed to progress with Sam Winchester."

He released his psychic hold on her vocal cords and she swallowed hard to right them.

"What the hell do you know about me and Winchester?" she demanded.

"Everything. Now, update me."

Ruby was intimidated, but she was damned if she was going to let it show. She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him.

"You first. Let's start with who the hell you are and why your nose is so deep in my business."

"What, no one told you?" he asked. "I'm your new boss."

"I don't have a boss," Ruby snarled.

"Semantics. Let's argue them later," the other demon said dismissively. "Your little operation has been seriously disrupted and you needed to be informed. Plans are changing. From now on you'll be answering to me. Capiche?"

"No, no 'capiche'. The only disruption to my 'operation' is you yanking me away from Sam without having had a chance to give him an excuse. The kid trusts me, but you can only raise a hunter's hackles so far before they bolt on instinct. So if you'll excuse me, you can take your 'change of plans' and whatever it is you think you need to inform me of and stick it where the sun doesn't shine."

Ruby prepared to leave, but the other demon scowled at her and spoke before she could make her departure.

"Dean Winchester is back."

His words froze Ruby in her tracks. Her mind raced as she processed the implications of this new development.

"What? Why?" Ruby demanded. "How?"

If this were true, Sam would lose all incentive to keep working with her. He would abandon their quest to hone his powers. Everything would be derailed from the ground up. It might even become unsalvageable.

"You don't need to worry about any of that," the demon assured her. "What's important right now is that you accelerate with Sam. Time is of the essence. He needs to be ready before Dean can contact him."

"It's too soon," Ruby said, panic blossoming in her chest. "We need to find Dean and get him out of the picture again. He needs to die, asap."

"I'm afraid it's not quite that simple. Dean needs to do more than die, he needs to be brought back to hell."

"His contract-"

"Has been rendered invalid. Look, you're delving into details that you don't need to be privy to. Your job is simple. Focus on Sam. Make sure he doesn't find out that his brother is alive, but under no circumstances are you to harm Dean Winchester, no matter how close he gets."

"All this on what, nothing but your say-so?" Ruby sneered. "I can tell you're fresh out of the frying pan, babycakes. I take my orders from way higher up on the food chain."

"Really? Cause from what I can tell, you've been a free agent ever since the Winchesters took out Azazel," the demon said with a raised eyebrow.

Ruby was again forced to stop and take a minute to keep her composure. Whoever this kid was, she had to hand it to him. He knew way more than he should. Enough to convince her that he might be worth listening to.

"Ok, newbie," she said cautiously. "Let's do it like this. Tell me who you are and how you know what you know and I'll consider not hunting Dean Winchester down and gutting him like a trout. Keep trying to play it tough, act like you're somehow my superior, and I'll do what I've always done. I'll take care of the problem myself."

"Independent," the demon observed. "I admire that."

Ruby was done accepting other demons as her handlers. At least this guy seemed to be getting the idea that they would work together as equals or not at all.

"You can keep your admiration. All I want from you is information, so start talking," Ruby demanded. "Don't stop until I know everything you do. A name would be a good place to start. Unless you prefer to go by 'rude a-hole'."

The demon allowed her a smile and reclaimed his whiskey from the coffee table.

"Parsifal," he answered. "And since you're so keen to get clued in to everything, you might want to pour yourself a drink and have a seat. This is going to get complicated."

Dean sat in Greta Smith's living room, uncomfortable under Kaydie's intent gaze. Nothing had changed since the last time he had been here. It seemed like several lifetimes ago that he had come here looking for answers. Searching for Alice...

Alice Smith's tormented face flashed before Dean's eyes and he was deafened by a piercing, agonized shriek.

He blinked and the awful vision fled. He shuddered with trauma, goosebumps popping up all over his body. Despite the horror he felt at the brief vision, he tried his hardest to chase it, but it slipped away instantly and refused to resurface. Dean thought that he was already as unsettled as humanly possible, but he now realized that wasn't the case. The flash felt like a memory, but it was no more than a snapshot. He could recall nothing else.

Slowly, Dean nursed a tall glass of water while he avoided eye contact with Kaydie. When he'd asked for a drink, he'd been hoping for something much stronger, but was too parched to complain. Hell was fresh in his mind, terrible memories crashing over him like fiery, unrelenting waves. At least, up to a point.

"I'll do it! I'll do it! Stop, please, just stop! I'll do it, I swear!"

Dean's stomach lurched with nausea so intense that for a moment he thought he was going to throw up water all over Greta's sofa. The last thing he remembered was finally giving in. Finally breaking.

And after that... nothing. Darkness, then pure, brilliant white that had turned out to be nothing more than a perfumed cotton sheet.

"If you're gonna blow chunks..." Kaydie spoke up, "... The bathroom is that way."

She pointed and Dean shook his head.

"No, I'm... I'm good," he croaked. "How much longer?"

"Have you seen me getting updates?" Kaydie said sharply. She was struggling to keep herself from snapping at him, but her patience was dwindling quickly. Kaydie was no nonsense and to the point, and she couldn't stand people who asked stupid questions. Even so, she could tell that Dean was a mess. Who wouldn't be in his shoes?

Kaydie had long struggled to cool her naturally quick temper. She knew it was her achilles heel, the one chink in the armor of staunch discipline she had practiced all her life. She decided to treat Dean Winchester like another exercise in self control. She took a deep breath and tried again.

"I mean, not too much longer," she amended. "Can't be."

Dean had no way of telling the time, so to him, the eight minutes that passed after their brief exchange felt like hours. Finally, he heard the front door opening and turned in his seat to face the direction of the front door. Greta Smith made her way into the living room. She looked much the same as she had the last time Dean laid eyes on her, if not a little younger. She had a spring in her step and a gleam in her eye as she took a seat opposite from him.

"Dean," she said warmly. "It's good to see you again, son. You must have a lot of questions."

Understatement of the century.

"You could say that," Dean frowned.

"Ask away. I'm here to help you understand everything."

Dean took a moment to decide what to ask first.

"Why... no, how am I here?" he finally settled on.

"Righteous souls don't belong in hell," Greta said. "I don't want to overwhelm you... tell me, have you ever seen an angel?"

Dean recalled his time in Bisbee, recalled the woman named Anna who Alice had claimed was an angel. He remembered her impressive powers, strong enough to evaporate twenty demons with a light he had been advised to close his eyes against. He had no explanation for what she really was, but he had a hard time swallowing the narrative that she was an angel of the Lord.

"I've seen things I can't explain on my own," Dean conceded. "But that's kind of in the job description, isn't it?"

"A skeptic," Kaydie scoffed from the corner. Greta shot her a warning look and she quickly fell silent again.

"You're right," Greta told Dean. "This job will show you things you can't explain, things that are hard to accept. How long have you been hunting?"

"Damn near my whole life."

"Then I can only imagine the things you must have seen and been through. Especially now that you've seen the other side."

Dean shuddered violently and sipped his water again to calm his churning stomach.

"Once you've experienced resurrection, everything changes, " Greta continued. "You're part of a very exclusive club. One that is incredibly blessed. From now on, you'll see things that will make your previous life seem like a game. Things that will be hard to accept, hard to rationalize. You'll need to have an open mind. You have work to do and skepticism will only slow you down."

"What work?" Dean asked.

"Holy work," Greta told him with a beaming smile.

Outside the Smith compound, a woman in black stood just within the cover of the woods surrounding the property. She watched silently as a truck was granted entry through the formidable front gates. Mosquitoes flitted all around her, and she grimaced as some of them bit. Even so, she remained still to avoid being seen. When the gates closed, she finally broke her pose, shaking like a dog to dislodge the irritating insects that had settled over her.

"Damn bugs," she cursed. "Damn Smiths. Damn it all."

She exhaled loudly in frustration and ran her fingers through black bob-cut hair. It was too short to tie back and internally, she cursed that too.

She hard another car approaching and decided there was nothing more to be learned about this point of entry. She melted back into the woods, bright blue eyes the last feature to vanish into the leafy darkness.