Chapter 21: Dire and Consequences

"Wait… what?!" Dean mussed his hair. "How did we fail? Lilith's dead. Wasn't the whole point to stop her from setting Lucifer free by breaking the last seal?"

"Her death was the last seal, well, one of them…" Cas sighed as he spoke something in Enochian that Sam assumed was a swear given the reaction of the other angels nearby.

"So, when I killed her I let Lucifer free." Sam replied, a look of horror consuming his face as he realized the literal hell he'd unleashed on earth. His hands shook as he crossed his arms in front of him and squeezed himself. "I doomed humanity…"

Cas noticed Sam's impending breakdown and remembered the conversation he and Dean had had about lying as a way to spare others' feelings. While he was notably a poor liar it made sense to attempt to do so, if for no other reason than to comfort the man. Sam looked like he was about to burst into hysterics, "It was not entirely your fault. I should have talked about the possibilities of tonight before we arrived. There are only a handful of seals that could have been the final to break. The easiest of which was Lilith's demise." Cas paused for a moment, musing, "I suppose I should have seen that in advance, given the unlikely nature of unifying all four of the horsemen's rings…"

"So what now? Hell won." Dean spat as he kicked the wall.

"Not yet. Heaven and hell are only just beginning their conquests. Now Lucifer is free, but he still needs a vessel-as does Michael. Only after that can the two battle and have resolution." Cas remarked, glancing at the two brothers.

Sam and Dean looked at each other for a moment, "Lilith… she said that I was a vessel worthy of her master-Lucifer." Sam breathed.

"Yes." Cas commented glancing to avoid eye contact with the man, "You do fulfill the requirements."

"And what the fuck does that mean?" Dean asked, exasperated and seriously pissed off.

"It means that your brother has the blood in his system that marks him as a candidate for Lucifer's vessel. And given how he narrowly avoided death in Cold Oak, he may be the only option left."

"What? I thought the whole 'murder festival in an abandoned mining town' was to determine yellow-eyes' next host." Dean asked, confused.

"Partially, yes." Cas replied, "But the yellow-eyed demon fed your brother and all the other victims of that massacre his blood to mark him as a potential host for Lucifer when they were infants. It's what gave them their powers. If he wanted you as a host, it means that Lucifer would also."

"He did what to me?" Sam asked, gawping at the discovery that he was currently hosting demonic blood in his system.

"You are going to be fine Sam. You have proven to me beyond doubt that there is little chance you will willingly allow Lucifer to enter your body. Likewise, Dean you have proven that there is little chance that you will allow Michael to use you as a host." Cas stated as he looked at either brother.

"Why would Michael want me as a host?" Dean asked, numb at the sheer amount of earth-shattering realizations that he'd learned in the past few moments.

"To give a condensed version of your lineage you are a righteous man. Descended from Abel and shown to be willing to sacrifice anything for your family, you are a rare combination in this world." Cas smiled-well, Dean noticed the smile, to Sam it simply looked like a twitch at the corner of his mouth-"It is part of the reason why I first came to you."

Dean exhaled and looked upward for a moment before spying the markings on the wall in chalk, "Let's get out of here and regroup. We have some serious shit to deal with." He walked over and smudged the chalk with his arm, freeing the angels from their temporary prison. The other heavenly beings flashed away, leaving only the two men and Castiel standing at the entrance of the structure.

"Given how even the most incompetent police force is going to notice the bloodbath at the chapel I think it might be a good idea not to go back for the car." Sam commented.

Dean nodded in agreement, "She was a nice car, but she'll never be baby." The Impala was the most recent in a long line of cars that the brothers had gotten over the years, but baby-the dark green Buick Century that John Winchester had used to transport the brothers when they were young-was easily the most well loved of the automobiles the brothers had owned. If not for an unfortunate attempted murder of the brothers leaving her at the bottom of the Potomac, chances are she'd still be the car they used. Dean had wept when he was told that no one was willing to dredge the river to get it out.

Sam sighed, "No car ever will." And with that the two brothers and angel disappeared from the cold evening air in Maryland.

**SPN**

With most of the agents dead and the devil free R was understandably upset, unnerved, and unhappy when the angels and few remaining agents gathered together in the conference room on the thirty-seventh floor. There were a total of 17 field agents left of over 150, a number which included the four angels.

R looked out to the rows of empty seats in the auditorium-like space before he slowly lowered his head, shaking it back and forth. After a moment he inhaled and regained his composure, walking up to the front of the small platform where there normally was a microphone. Today there was no need, as all present easily fit in the first two rows.

"I am not going to mince words, yesterday our agency was victim to a massacre. We were unprepared for what we knew was going to be a difficult battle, and as a result we had a heavy loss of life. Those of you here were either lucky enough to be not present in Ilchester, or survived the brutality there."

R paused to look at the brothers and Cas, as well as three other men seated near them in the first row. Sam and Dean didn't know the names of the other agents-they rarely had time to talk with the others socially-but the three men had survived and instead of being killed by the demons were simply maimed. One sported a fresh leg plaster cast, another had a large gauze bandage wrapped around his right arm and most of his face, the last was now missing from his left leg.

"We know that heaven and hell are now going to go full-force with their plans for the apocalypse. They intend to find hosts for the archangel Michael and Lucifer. At present that is all we know, but we will continue this fight and we will win. I suggest you rest, come day we have much work to do."

**THE END**

Author's Note:

Hello everyone! Thank you for reading! I apologize for the longer gaps between posts, I've been a bit busy with a few different things with my job and personal life. I won't be publishing a sequel to this piece for a while, just because I have a few other ideas I want to do first-but I promise there will be one for this eventually. If you could hop over to my Harry Potter fic-Best Left Untold-and give it some love and reviews I'd appreciate it, no one's reviewed it yet and I'm feeling unsure if it's worth continuing. In any case, thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!