It was easier than Jack had thought it would be to clear all the angels and demons out of the Empty. The Entity that stood guard, the one who wore a woman's face now, wasn't happy to see him again.

"You!" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "You made it loud in here! No one can get any sleep now!"

"I know," Jack said. "I'm sorry. But, I'm going to help you now."

"How?"

"I'll take them all away. You can be alone here again. Then you can finally get some sleep. How's that?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You won't . . . bring them back?"

"No. I promise. This place will be closed and locked for good. I'll give you the peace you deserve."

"And what happens when they start killing each other again? Where do they go?

"I haven't worked that out yet. But I promise you, it won't be here. Now can I take them?"/

She looked at him for a long, long moment. "I suppose," she said. "Have fun."

All of a sudden, faces loomed up all around him out of nowhere. Some of them had been in the Empty for years, even decades. But of course there was no time here. They all wanted to know what was happening.

"You're all free," he said. "Demons, you can return to Hell. Angels, with me. This is still a work in progress, so bear with me. We'll work it out."

"And what about me?" Lucifer stood before his son, arms crossed in front of his chest, a smirk on his face. "You plan on springing me, too? Or will you leave me here and never think of me again?"

"I could do that," Jack admitted.

"You ungrateful little-"

"But I won't," he finished. "For now, you can come with us. Back to Heaven. Where," he added, seeing the anxious looks on the faces of the other angels, "you will be constantly watched, so don't try anything. Just because I've forgiven you doesn't mean that I or any of us have forgotten what you've done. It just doesn't count. From this point forward, only what you do now matters. Azazel, come forward, please."

The yellow-eyed demon shuffled towards the new God, trying not to make eye contact with Lucifer.

"Please tell the new Queen of Hell that I wish to see her as soon as possible. We need to figure out a way to all get along together."

"So we're gonna hold hands and sing Kumbaya?" Lucifer quipped.

Gabriel gave him a dirty look.

Jack ignored them both. "Let's go, everyone." To the Empty he said, "Thank you for your service. Enjoy your rest."

Then they were all gone.

For the first time in millions of years, the Empty was truly . . . empty.

The Entity shed its recently acquired face and settled down to sleep. Hopefully it wouldn't be awakened again any time soon.

The other angels waited in Heaven's Great Hall while Jack conferred with the archangels in his office. The room didn't suit him.

"There's too much white in here," he said. "It feels cold. It feels like a hospital. This is Chuck's taste, not mine. We've got to change this right away."

"As you wish, my Lord," said Michael.

"Suck-up," Lucifer whispered.

"Don't start," Raphael warned them. He turned to Jack. "I'm willing to do whatever it takes to keep the peace around here."

"Good. Peace is what I'm after. I need your help to work out a system of government that will keep the angels from fighting, and also from interfering with the humans. They can take care of themselves."

"So no more guardians? No Great Plan?"

"I don't know what my plan is yet. That's why we're here."

"Is Earth completely off-limits?" asked Gabriel. "We can't go there at all?"

"An occasional visit wouldn't be out of the question, but you can't stay there anymore. I need your help here. You've lived among humans for two thousand years, Gabriel; you must know them pretty well."

"Yeah, well . . ." The former Trickster looked embarrassed. "I haven't exactly behaved angelically the whole time."

"You were acting in character. I can forgive that. You understand there won't be any more of that?"

"Like I told Sam and Dean, tricks are for kids. I'm done with all that. Ready to start doing something positive for a change."

"All right. Michael? You've been away for a while. Are you comfortable here?"

I don't think I'll be really comfortable anywhere for a while yet. I did some pretty bad things too."

Jack spread his arms wide. "All is forgiven. From this point on, our only concern is the future. I suggest to all of you that you find the area that you feel most at home, and make that your jurisdiction. Lucifer? A problem?"

Lucifer was sitting tipped back in his chair, arms crossed and head lolling back. "You think you know everything. You've been God for what, a couple of days? It took our Father eons to create the heavens and the earth. You can't understand all that in a week."

"I'll learn as I go along."

"Sure you will. That's the old Winchester optimism talking. 'We don't know crap about what we're dealing with, but we're gonna pretend like we do, and no one will know the difference.' Please."/

Don't let him bait you, said a small, quiet voice in Jack's mind, the part of him that was Amara. He uses your own emotions as a weapon against you. You can beat him if you work from a position of logic rather than emotion. Stay in control.

Jack took a deep breath and tamped down the rising anger inside him. "If you think I don't know enough," he said, "then teach me. That's why we're here. I know I don't know it all. Yet. Knowing everything and understanding it are two different things. Help me understand."

The archangels nodded. All except for Lucifer.

"I'm outta here," he said. "Nice as it's been seeing you again, kid, I can't work like this.

"That's right," said Michael. "Because you always have to be in charge."

"Some of us are followers, Mikey boy. I'm a leader. I had more fun in Hell when I was in the cage. Remember that? Didn't we have fun?"

"You tortured me for a hundred years!"

"Well, it was fun for me."

"Why does he have to be here?" Michael demanded of Jack. "He won't work with us! He doesn't work with anyone who won't kiss his ass!"

"Stop it!" Gabriel was out of his seat, his face red. "This is why I left! The two of you, fighting all the time! You-" He pointed at Lucifer-"always needling him, and you-" This time he pointed at Michael -"rising to the bait! Can't you just let it go for once?"

Michael let out a long breath. "You're right," he said. "Someone has to be the grownup around here."

"I'm not taking this." Lucifer pushed his chair back. "I'm done. See you later, guys."

"Wait." Jack stood in his path. "Is this what you really want? To leave Heaven? Turn your back on your brothers, on all of us?"

"It ain't fun anymore, kiddo. Maybe I'll go torment the Winchesters for a while."

"No, you won't." Jack reached out and put his hands on either side of Lucifer's head.

"What are you doing? What-" And then there was a sensation of something being sucked out of him, like the last drops at the bottom of a juice box. He felt drained, spent, lighter somehow. When Jack released him, he fell back into his chair.

"What did you do to me?" he asked weakly./

Jack looked serious. "I removed all your power. It's all gone. You're free to go where you want and do what you want - but you'll live as a human. You'll live out a human lifespan, without your angelic grace, dependent on others to take care of you. I wouldn't go to Hell if I were you. All those demons, the ones you betrayed . . . they won't feel too kindly about having you around. But humans can be kind when they need to. I'd go to them."

He waved a hand, and Lucifer disappeared.

"Well," Jack said, stepping back to the head of the table. "It seems we're now short one archangel. I'll need to make another one. Does anyone have any objections?"

"Who did you have in mind?" Michael asked.

In response, Jack went to the door. "Castiel?" he called out. "Would you come in, please?"

Castiel entered the conference room, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "What is it?"

"Lucifer is gone," Jack said. "He didn't want to play nice, so I depowered him and sent him to Earth. So we have an empty seat at the table. Would you like to join us?"

Raphael stood. "I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."

"I left my blade outside," Cas said. "I . . . regret what I had to do before. It won't happen again. I can get along."

"I'll . . . try to work together. As long as there are no sharp pointy objects in the vicinity.

"Anyone else object?" Jack asked.

Neither Michael nor Gabriel had anything to say.

"Well, then. Castiel . . . I want to thank you for all you've done for me. I never would have been able to do what I did if not for your example and your teachings. This is your reward for a job well done."

He laid his hands on Cas' chest, and there was a slight glow which grew brighter and brighter. Cas' wings popped out, sparkling with blue, purple and silver highlights. They seemed to fill the entire room.

The glow gradually subsided, and Cas stood there looking stunned. "What - what did you do?"

"I elevated you," Jack said with a broad smile. "I made you an archangel. Because I need your help."

"With what?"

"With everything. All the things I want to do to improve this place. Will you help me?"

Cas stared at the boy he had raised as a son. Before Jack was born, Cas had seen the future, seen this child making a whole new beautiful world, and now it seemed that had come to pass. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I will."

A message came over Angel Radio. "Um . . . sir? The Queen of Hell is here. Shall I drop the barrier and let her in?"

"Barrier?" Jack asked.

"When Lucifer turned," Gabriel explained, "and was cast out, he would sneak back in, sometimes with one or more of his demons. Dad had to put up a barrier to keep out anything from Hell."

"I can understand why," Jack said, "but that's got to go. We'll work out how to keep track of who goes where, but for right now, shut it down."

"Well, tell him. That's - who is that on the gate?"

"Gadreel." At their looks, he added, "He's learned his lesson. This is part of his rehabilitation." He spoke over Angel Radio, and his voice reverberated through all of Heaven. "Let her in, Gadreel. Show her to the office, I'll be there in a minute."

He looked around the room. "Looks like we're done here," he said. "For now. Let the other angels know what's going on. I want complete transparency. It's no longer a case of 'I am your God and you will serve Me.' We're all in this together."

They still sat, staring at him.

"Well, go! I'll let you know when we'll meet again."

They scattered, and Jack made his way to what had been his grandfather's office. It was way too big, and way too white. That would have to change.

There was a long white table in the middle of the room, and an infinite number of chairs around it. In two of these chairs were a man and a woman. The woman, Jack recognized.

"Hello, Rowena," he said.

She brightened when she saw him. "Hello, Jack! I'm so pleased that you're in charge now. You know my son, Fergus."

"No, I don't. We've never actually met, but Sam and Dean talk about you all the time."

"And how are Moose and Squirrel?" Crowley asked. "I miss them. In the way that you miss an irritating hangnail. Or a rotten tooth, once it's finally pulled."

"They're fine. I take it you two are ruling Hell jointly?"

They looked at each other. "For now," Rowena said. "It seemed the best way."

"And all is well? I tried to restore it exactly as it was. Is that okay, or do you need to fix anything?"

"Well," the Infernal Queen said, "it is a wee bit empty. All the demons are back, but the humans haven't returned."

"Yeah, about that . . . from now on, we won't judge the humans when they die. They decide for themselves where they go. It's not surprising that not a lot of them choose to go to Hell. You might get a few really bad people, but not like before. Oh, by the way - no more deals. You're not to interfere with the humans in any way."

Crowley's mouth fell open. "No deals? Not at all? But how will we get souls, then?"

"We're taking a hands-off approach; you need to as well. I'll have agents on Earth ensuring that our agreement is not broken. But I will give you something."

"And what's that?" the former King of Hell smirked.

"We're removing the barrier permanently."

"Barrier?" Rowena asked.

"The barrier," her son told her, "between Heaven and Hell. Does this mean we're going to merge?"

"Not exactly. The rules are changing. They're not set in stone yet, but one of them is that Heaven and Hell will no longer have a locked door between them. We can go there . . . and your people, with certain safeguards for everyone's protection, can come here. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I thought you should know."

Rowena smiled. "Well, aren't you a clever boy? Not like your father at all. Where is he, then?"

"You mean Lucifer? He's been banished to Earth. He didn't want to play well with the rest of us."

She shuddered. "I hope you didn't just leave him there."

"Oh, don't worry. He's powerless. He can't hurt anyone anymore. I'm not a vengeful God. I'm not into smiting. But I won't put up with anyone causing trouble."

"But I like causing trouble."

"I don't want anyone to get hurt. Are you with me?"

Crowley seemed to be mulling it over. "So . . . we can't make deals, but we can come and go as we please?"

"As long as you behave yourselves. We'll meet on a regular basis once I've worked out the rest of what I want to do. I'll let you know."

"All right," Rowena agreed. "Come on, Fergus."

Crowley hesitated for a moment. "Will you . . . do something for me?"

"Of course," Jack said.

The demon leaned in close to him. "Tell Sam and Dean," he whispered, "hello for me. For us."

"All these walls," Jack said. "They have to come down."

"Pity we don't have the trumpet that brought down the walls of Jericho," said Raphael.

"I'm a little rusty," said Gabriel, "but I could give it a try."

"We're not going to war," the young God said. "We'll all work together. I have so much I want to do. Where do I start?"

"I know where," said Cas. "Come with me. Just you, Jack, please. The rest of you wait here."

"Where are we going?"

"To talk to the smartest man I know. And break him out of jail."

"There's a jail here?"

"For Heaven's offenders. I take it that's something else you want to do away with?"

"Once I've figured out a system to replace it. We'll be back," he said to the other archangels.

Heaven's jail looked like something from an old cowboy movie. Jack had watched a Clint Eastwood marathon with Dean one time, and this rough box of stone with barred doors and windows looked like it had come straight from Hollywood.

There was a man sitting on a stone bench inside the cell. He lifted his head when he saw them approach, and Jack got a shock.

"Bobby!"

"Not the Bobby you know," said Cas. "Not the one from Apocalypse World. This is the one we know. The original."

"Damn right," the man said. "Who's the kid?"

Jack stopped and raised a hand. "Hello," he said. "I'm Jack. I'm here to get you out of here."

"You got the key?"

In response, Jack shook his head. Then the walls started shaking. One by one, the stones tumbled down and then vanished. When it was all over, they were standing in an empty field.

"How the hell did you do that?" Bobby asked.

Jack's eyes glowed gold. "I'm God now."

"We'll explain on the way," said Cas. "We need your help, Bobby."

"You need my help? For what?"

Jack just smiled.