"I don't know what you expected." Amelia pointed out from the other side of Dean, "I've never been an actual Fed before, and Cas here has barely spoken to any human that isn't you." She tried to stretch her toes, but the cheap high-heels she was wearing didn't want to give her any room to move at all. If she was really going to get into the Hunting business full time, she really had to invest in some better costumes.

"I expected him to at least hold the badge the right way around." Dean grumbled, "It's just common sense."

"Like he knows which way a badge is supposed to be." She retorted, "I did try and tell you that."

"Oh, like you were much better." He scoffed, "You fell onto the deputy's desk!"

"No, you tripped me." Castiel watched the two bicker from the other side, completely baffled by their arguing as they walked towards the wardroom that held Donnie Finneman, the man who had seen Raphael. They seemed to be taking the situation anything but seriously, and while he did expect Dean's more blasé attitude, he'd never seen Amelia treat the archangels with anything but reservation.

They came to a stop outside the room, looking through the window at the poor man. He was sat in a wheelchair, staring at the wall away from them, not making a movement.

"I take it that's not Raphael anymore." Dean commented, looking over the man deeply uncomfortable at the sight.

"Just an empty vessel." Castiel confirmed with a nod.

"That's horrible." Amelia whispered, "I can't believe he just left him like that."

"He had no more use for him." Castiel replied factually, "The human mind is not built to withstand the power of an archangel."

"So is this what I'm looking at if Michael jumps in my bones?" Dean asked.

"No, not at all." Castiel replied, "Michael is much more powerful. It'll be far worse for you." Dean squeezed his eyes shut, turning his head away at the weight of what his lot meant for him. Most of the time he could ignore it, but sometimes it was waved right in his face and how was he supposed to ignore it then?

Amelia elbowed Cas in the side, the angel's gaze shooting towards her, a surprised look at the sudden assault, "Cas, some tact, yeah?" She snapped, "It's not like it matters, even archangels need permission and you're not going to say yes to the son of a bitch, are you?" She asked Dean.

He let out a snort of derision, "Hell no." He replied.

"Well there you go then! What's happened to Donnie is terrible, but unless you're going to say yes it's not an issue for you." Dean nodded.

"Yeah, you're right." He agreed before a small smile spread across his lips, "No winged princess is getting their greasy wings on this!" He waved his hands down his person and she rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to fire off a very witty retort as they normally did when trying to cover up their fears and insecurities in front of the other, but her cell rang and cut her off.

She pulled out it of her pocket, holding it to her ear, "Hello Bobby." She greeted, purposefully not calling him by his honorary title.

"Would it kill ya to pick up the damn phone?" He snapped and she rolled her eyes, heading down the hall and away from Dean and Castiel.

"I was under the impression Amelia and her Godfather were very close." Castiel commented as the two followed behind her, "And yet there appears to be a lot of tension."

"He got given a rather big blow, so he's dealing with it like a true hunter. Getting blind drunk and taking it out on his family." Dean explained, "Amy won't put up with it from him for much longer, though." There it was again, that nickname. He had been led to believe that her name was Amelia, but Dean never called her that. Perhaps he should reconsider it, she might not appreciate him using her full name.

"So Amy is being confrontational purposefully to pull him out of the his-" Dean stopped, spinning and pointing at him almost aggressively.

"No, you don't call her Amy." He interrupted, cutting Castiel off, "She hates it, she will get pissed if she hears you calling her that and she's angry enough as it is."

Castiel's brows furrowed slightly, "You just called her Amy, I thought she might prefer it considering her deep emotional feelings towards you." Dean smirked slightly - deep emotional feelings, huh? Then he shook his head.

"I can call her that, no one else can though. Not even Sam. Put it down to..." He rolled his eyes, "our deep emotional feelings or whatever." With that, he set off after Amelia again, leaving Castiel to stare after him, confused as always by Dean. He seemed to be agitated by Castiel's use of the shorted name. Protective, almost. He didn't understand how someone could be protective over a name, after all as far as he knew they weren't anything of value to humans, just a way of telling each other apart. Being confused by Dean wasn't new to him, though. He had so many questions he needed to ask, but he wasn't sure who to turn to. He'd never had the luxury of asking questions, he just did what he was told with the knowledge he was given. He had to figure out how to get them answered, but first he needed a way of keeping Raphael in place. He had research to do.

~0~0~0~

Amelia checked her watch as Dean paced the dark, abandoned house with a book in hand. Cas had disappeared a couple of hours ago without a word of warning, and they were hauled up in a house without electricity or running water. She'd been out for a fast food run, which they'd wolfed down with gusto while talking about anything but Sam. She'd been sorely tempted to ring up the younger Winchester, but she'd been so frazzled after her phone call with Bobby she'd just wanted to shovel junk food down her throat and reminisce.

"It's been hours, now. Should we be worried?" She asked and Dean shook his head.

"He's clever enough to look after himself." Dean reasoned, flicking a page, although if she asked she doubted he could tell her what he was reading. In fact, she was surprised he was holding it the right way.

"Yeah, unless he gets ambushed, then he's as screwed as anyone else." She pointed out.

"It's not like we can get hold of him." Dean told her, "So unless you've got him on speed dial, you're just worrying over nothing." Amelia rolled her eyes, sticking her hand into a bag of chips that sat on the wonky table in front of the window, looking out as she shoved a handful into her mouth. She wasn't worrying over nothing, with Cas being cut off from Heaven, all it would take was a few angels stumbling on him and he was a goner, and there was no reason to think he'd be brought back again. And he didn't even tell them that he was going anywhere, he'd just disappeared before they've even left the hospital. What was to say that hadn't happened already?

"I just don't like him being out there on his own." She replied after swallowing the mouthful, "Raphael is bound to know he's looking for him. What if he gets hurt?"

"I can assure you I am fine." They both spun around to see Cas stood in the open archway to the hallway, some sort of jug in his hand, his arms dangling at your side.

"Cas!" She cried, pushing off from the window and dashing over to him, relieved, "Where have you been? We've been worried."

"Jerusalem." He replied simply, stepping into the room and walking over to the table. Dean shared a look with Amelia, who just shrugged; like she knew why he was going there.

"Oh, how was it?" Dean asked, trying to get some more information out of him. It was like trying to draw blood from a stone with the angel, even now he was on their side.

Castiel put the jug on the table, "Arid."

"What's that?"

"It's oil." He replied, "It's very special. Very rare." Amelia frowned as he sat down in the old chair next to the table, slouching slightly. It was a strange look on the normally very rigid angel, and his quiet tone of voice just enhanced how tired he seemed.

"Are you okay, Cas?" She asked gently and he nodded.

"Thank you for your concern," he told her gratefully, if not still slightly baffled over why she was showing it in the first place, "but angels are a lot stronger than humans. Even being cut off from Heaven, I can still function to a much higher capacity than you."

"You say that, but your grace says otherwise." She pointed out and his brows furrowed. His eyes were glowing just as they always did, and they were as magical as they always were, but the light had dimmed slightly. Not as much as it had when he'd fallen back in line for Zachariah, and she hoped she'd never had to see it in that condition again, but she was sure he had no idea how much he let shine through.

"Acquiring the holy oil was more strenuous than I was expecting." Castiel admitted, "I should be back to full strength for confronting Raphael."

"So this ritual of yours, when does it got to go down?" Dean asked, closing his Dad's journal and putting it down on the table next to the oil.

Apparently he was only being talkative when it came to reassuring Amelia, because his reply was factual but brief, "Sunrise."

Dean rolled his eyes, enlightening as always, "Tell me something. You keep saying we're gonna trap this guy. Isn't that kinda like trapping a hurricane with a butterfly net?"

"No, it's harder." Castiel admitted.

"Do we have any chance of surviving this?"

Cas looked up at him, meeting his gaze and startling Dean just slightly, "You two do."

"So odds are you're a dead man tomorrow."

"Yes."

"Wait a minute!" Amelia cried, "You can't just go walking calmly to your death, Cas!" He straightened up in his seat slightly.

"I doubt there will be much walking." He replied.

"That's not-" She shook her head, she could explain sayings and turn of phrases to him another time, "What's the point in confronting the guy about where God is if you're going to be too dead to do anything with it?" The look on his face, the slightly startled widening of his eyes for just a moment, told her that there was a chance that he'd not thought this plan completely through.

"There is a chance that I will be able to convince Raphael that the apocalypse is not the way to go." He reasoned, "And, hopefully, with you and Dean there he will be less inclined to kill me."

"'Less inclined'?" She repeated, "You're working off 'less inclined'?"

"It's the best shot we have." He pointed out, "We need to find God, and with Michael and Lucifer preparing to fight, and Gabriel hasn't been seen since Lucifer was first put in the cage. Raphael is the only brother I have left to ask." She sighed, sitting down on the chair opposite him.

"Well, that sounds just fantastic." She murmured, "We'd better get it right, then, so you don't end up as soup again." That hadn't been pleasant to watch, and she'd only been alive a couple of seconds afterwards before she'd ended up being blown apart as well. This time she'd be more on guard.

"Raphael won't harm you or Dean," Castiel reiterated, sensing her distress.

"It's not me and Dean I'm worried about." She replied with a sigh, "You're going to get yourself killed and you don't seem to care."

"Stopping the apocalypse is more important than my life." He replied simply, like he truly believed that, and on some level he was right. None of their lives were as important as stopping the apocalypse but it didn't mean she had to like it. She huffed slightly, going silent.

"Well." Dean started, walking past the pair in the start of another pace, "Last night on earth. What are your plans?" Castiel turned in his seat towards Dean.

"I just thought I'd sit here quietly." He answered and Dean paused, looking at him incredulously.

"Dude, come on, anything?" He prompted, because that was no way to spend your last night alive, he should know, "Booze, women?" Castiel looked at Dean, mortified at the suggestion, before diverting his gaze anywhere but him, "You have been with women before. Right? Or an angel, at least?" Cas rubbed the back of neck as he looked down, almost embarrassed, "You mean to tell me you've never been up there doing a little cloud-seeding?"

"Dean, leave him alone." Amelia snapped, "Not everyone is the man whore you are."

"Says she who told me she became a slut during college." He retorted and she pointed at him.

"Don't bring up my promiscuity to justify your own." She retorted, "Just because we've both slept around a bit," Dean snorted, "does not mean he has to as well."

"I'm not saying it does." Dean argued, "but not once, really?"

"I've never had occasion, okay?" Cas grumbled, a slightly red tint to his cheek that he hoped no one could see, but he could feel burning there. Angels didn't trouble themselves in such acts, sexual exploits were an activity that his Father had given to the humans rather than the creatures that were tasked with watching over them, but the way Dean was talking about it made him feel like there was something to be ashamed about. He didn't like it and once again Amelia standing up for him made him grateful to have her on his side, because he would have no idea how to argue against Dean.

"All right." Dean declared, walking over to Amelia's chair, pulling his jacket out from underneath her, causing her to yell out in slight annoyance, "Let me tell you something. There are two things I know for certain. One, Bert and Ernie are gay." He paused for a moment, daring them to argue with him, but Castiel had no idea who he was talking about, and Amelia agreed with him so he continued, "Two, you are not gonna die a virgin. Not on my watch. Let's go." He headed out of the room and the house, towards the Impala. Castiel turned to Amelia, an actual worried look on his face.

"Where are we going?" He asked and she sighed, standing up and stretching slightly.

"I'm going to hazard a guess at 'nowhere good'." She replied, "Better not keep him waiting, Trench Coat."

"Do you address everyone an item of their clothing?" He asked as he stood up to follow. She shook her head.

"Nope, just the ones who wear trench coats." She explained before following Dean out, "you're in the back, by the way."

~0~0~0~

The music was cheesy, the room was dark and full of tables with little lamps on so you could barely see and Amelia was not impressed, not one bit. Dean had flat out refused to tell them where they were going until they pulled into the car park across the road from 'Secrets'. She'd protested, but Castiel seemed rather confused why there were at a bar and Dean told her if she didn't want to come in, she could make her own way back.

The fact was she didn't have a problem with these kind of places. As long as the staff were being treated properly and were getting the pay they deserved, each to their own as far as she was concerned. There were worse things in the world than a few prostitutes. It was the fact that he was bullying an obviously out of his depth angel into giving it up to some woman he'd never met without really having a say in the matter.

She smiled at the woman behind the bar lining one side of the den, handing the barely dressed barkeeper a few extra notes as she placed down the three pints of beer in glasses on a tray for her.

"I'm sure there would be a lot of our girls more than willing to accommodate your needs." Justine, the barkeeper, told Amelia, making sure to bend over more than she needed to as she leaned across the bar, "They'd probably be falling over each other, actually."

"Well, I never have been able to resist the draw of a pretty lady." Amelia flirted back, because while she was here there was no harm in having some fun, "However, I know my friends couldn't handle me showing them up."

"Don't want to hurt their pride?" She suggested and Amelia nodded.

"Oh you have no idea." She replied, handing her a few more notes in with the money for the beers, "Dean thinks he's the best, but let me tell you," She leant in closer, across the bar, "I'm quite the player myself." She fell back onto the flats of her feet again, "Although, I'm sure all the women say stuff like that, you've no reason to believe me."

"We don't get a lot of women." Justine commented, "A few, but not many." Amelia smirked, waving away the change as well.

"Oh, you've never seen anyone like me, sugar." She drawled out in reply, picking up the tray, "It's a shame I'm here on business, otherwise I'd show you." She winked, turning and heading back to the table, placing Cas's drink in front of him, then her own before slamming Dean's in front of him, spilling it on the table, "Don't be a pig all your life, Winchester." She snapped as he held his hands up in annoyed surprise at the mess she created.

"Me? You're the one stomping around like a baby." He snapped in reply, taking a sip of the beer anyway. She sat down next to Cas, glaring at her friend as she did.

"Drink up, Cas." She remarked, pushing the beer towards him slightly, "If you're both insisting on doing this, you'll need it."

"I tried beer, it was disgusting." He told her and she nodded.

"I remember." She replied, "Drink up."

"I don't remember you being so high and mighty." Dean told her, "Now you've been resurrected, you suddenly gone bible basher on me?" She rolled her eyes.

"It's not my first resurrection, dumbass." She snapped, "Anyone can see he doesn't want to do this." She motioned to Cas, who hadn't taken a drink, or in fact moved since she told him to drink. Dean rolled his eyes.

"Hey. Relax." He snapped as one of the women walked around them to another table.

Castiel leant across the table, like he was about to impart a great secret, "This is a den of iniquity. I should not be here."

"Dude, you full-on rebelled against heaven." Dean reasoned, "Iniquity is one of the perks." He wasn't wrong, but it didn't stop Amelia booting him in the leg. He just told her to piss off as a woman in a small white negligee headed their way, "Showtime." He whispered, taking a drink.

"Hi. What's your name?" She asked, sending Cas her sexiest smile. His eyes drifted down her body, then shot back up to her face. Amelia felt so sorry for him, it was probably the first time he'd even seen anyone on display in such a sexual manner, even if he didn't want it he had no idea what to do to get away.

"Cas." Dean snapped and the poor angel jumped, "His name is Cas. What's your name?"

"Chastity." The woman replied and Dean couldn't have been happier.

"Chastity?" He asked and she nodded in confirmation. He turned to the other two, a dirty great grin on his face.

"Wow. Is that kismet or what, buddy?" He asked Cas, whose response was to start drinking the pint in front of him, gulping it down, "Well, he likes you, you like him, so dayenu." He waved his hands like he was commanding his kingdom. Amelia leant closer to Cas, trying to get him to look at her.

"You don't have to do this." She reminded him gently, "You can-"

"Shut up, Amy." Dean snapped, "He wants it, she wants it, it's perfect." The woman, Chastity, took the look of helplessness on Cas's face as nerves and reached down, taking his hand and making him stand up.

"Come on, baby." She coaxed gently, walking them over to the doorway to the back rooms. Dean followed, offering him some 'advice' and a wad of cash before joining her back at the table.

"You're a real ass, you know that?" She snapped, "The poor man's terrified, you shouldn't have encouraged him."

"I know you're crushing on him, but he's an angel, Amy." He pointed out, "The only angel trying to stop this apocalypse, the dude deserves a little fun."

"A little fun he actually wants to participate in." She retorted as a woman in red walked over, placing a cocktail on the table in front of Amelia.

"On the house." She purred, leaning in closer, "Justine will be waiting in room six for you, sweetheart." She told Amelia, who shook her head.

"I didn't book any time with her." She replied politely.

"As I said, on the house." The woman replied pointedly. Amelia smirked at Dean, who looked absolutely dumbstruck, before turning to look at the woman behind the bar, who was heading off towards the rooms. She wasn't a bad looking woman, so she shrugged, picking up her cocktail.

"Don't wait up, dweeb." She told Dean, who grabbed her arm to stop her walking off.

"You're seriously going to go in after her?" He asked and she nodded, "But she-"

"If it's good enough for Cas, it's good enough for me." She snapped, yanking her arm back, "Double standards or what, Winchester?" She left his side, hooking her arm through Justine's and the pair walked to the back rooms, "So, tell me Justine, do you come here often?"

~0~0~0~

Dean was not happy that Amelia not only had pulled a hooker without even trying, but that she'd actually gone with her out the back, so he'd set his aim high and tried for a little action himself. He'd managed to hit it off rather well with the woman in red who'd told Amelia about Justine's enthusiasm, a lovely blonde by the name of Nicola. He'd managed to coax her into sitting with him at his table, buying her a drink in the process. Amelia wasn't the only person who could pull a beautiful woman, he knew he was going to get his.

"Cheers." They clinked their glasses together, Nicola raising her glass to her lips as a very loud, high pitched scream rang through the place. The music was immediately cut off and Dean was out of his chair, dashing towards the back corridor, bursting through the curtains to find a lot of the girls in the hallway, all watching as Chastity screamed at a very dishevelled, very confused Castiel.

"Get out of my face! Leave me alone! Bastard! Screw you, jerk!" She threw something at him that he barely managed to bat away in his daze, "I'll kill you!" She screamed in frustration, turning and storming past Dean. "Screw you too! God! Oh! Jerk!" Another of the doors opened and Amelia rushed out, trying not to fall over as her boots were undone.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, Justine appearing in the doorway after her.

"That's what I'd like to know." Dean replied, joining the pair, "The hell did you do?"

"I don't know." Castiel told the pair, "I just looked her in the eyes and told her it wasn't her fault that her father Gene ran off." Amelia snorted in amusement while Dean rolled his eyes, "It was because he hated his job at the post office."

"Oh Cas," Amelia laughed, patting him on the arm, "I wish I could have been there for that!"

"What?" He asked her, because he wasn't sure what he'd done wrong. He'd been nervous, he hadn't really wanted to participate in the anything with the woman, but he'd seen the sadness in her soul and had wanted to reassure her. Apparently that had been a giant mistake, but it had stopped her trying to strip him.

"This whole industry runs on absent fathers. It's, it's the natural order." Dean tried to explain without being too offensive to the crowd of girls who were still trying to work out what had happened to their fellow co-worker.

"Dean, we've gotta move." Amelia told him, nodding towards the two bouncers that entered through the door Chastity had left through.

"Come on." He grabbed Castiel's arm, dragging him down the hallway. Amelia bent down, zipping the sides of her boots together before turning to Justine.

"Next time, sweetheart." She grabbed her hand, placing a kiss on the back of it before jogging to catch up to the two men. They quickly exited out of the back fire door into the alley outside, Dean pulling the door closed quietly as to not draw attention to them. He'd started laughing, Amelia hadn't really stopped while Castiel didn't really know how to feel.

"What's so funny?" He asked the pair and Dean clapped a hand on his shoulder as they headed towards where the Impala was parked.

"Oh, nothing. Whoo. It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard." He explained, "It's been more than a long time. Years." His smile faltered slightly as his mind went over the reasons why it had been so long. They all quickly rushed across the road and he forced a smile back on his face, determined not to let the shitty state of the world ruin his bad mood.

"How did it go with you and Janine?" He asked Amelia as he opened the driver side door.

"Justine." She corrected, climbing in the front seat next to him. The truth was nothing really happened, she'd been too worried about Castiel to really enjoy herself anyway. They'd snogged a bit, groped a bit but the scream had stopped anything more happening, "And I'm not kissing and telling. You want that, go rent a porno like the rest of the losers." He turned the key, starting the engine in that glorious roar he loved, but turned his head to glare at her.

"Hey, I am not a loser." He snapped.

"You were with one of those women?" Castiel asked, sounding surprised and she nodded.

"Yeah, just a freebie." She explained, "Why, not against some angel code, is it?" He shook his head, sitting back in the chair behind her.

"No, God has little interest in your sexual orientation." He replied, "It's just that despite you telling me otherwise, you and Dean seem to have a special relationship. I was not aware you were inclined to polygamy." Dean laughed harder than he had when they'd left the bar, driving them off down the road and towards their temporary dilapidated home.

"Yeah, Amy, cheating me with some hooker." He practically cackled, "I'm hurt."

"We're not dating!" She exclaimed, turning in her seat to look at Cas, "We're not!"

~0~0~0~

I made you wait all that time, and all you get is a bit of filler. I'm sorry, but it was rather a hoot to write so I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reading, you're all angels.

The good type, not dicks.