Stairway to Heaven Part 1

Lebanon, Kansas

Sam was dead asleep on the bed he shared with Angela. Suddenly, he jerked awake when he heard loud rock music and pulled his gun out. Sam frowned when he noticed that it was Angela.

"Nice reflexes," Angela commented as she shut off the music.

"What's wrong with you?" Sam asked, still half asleep. "I could have shot you. Why aren't you sleeping? We got in like two hours ago."

"Not tired." She shrugged. "And we got work to do, so wake Dean up."

~/~\~

Later in the main room of the bunker, Sam and Dean walked in, each holding a cup of coffee. Angela was busy packing her duffle bag.

"What the hell, kid?" Dean grumbled sleepily.

"I called Cas. He said there's something going down in Missouri." Angela explained.

"What kind of something?" Sam questioned.

"He said he couldn't talk about it over the phone." Angela shrugged.

"Why?" Dean's brows furrowed.

"Because he is a weird guy, okay? He's a weird, dorky, little guy. But he happens to have an army of angels behind him, and, even though I hate to say it, if we're gonna take a shot at Metatron, they might be useful." Angela explained.

Angela went to put the First Blade into her duffel, but Sam noticed, and his brows furrowed in concern.

"Well, do you think we need the First Blade? Why don't we just leave that here?" Sam asked.

Angela glanced up at him. "We talked about this, and we decided that—

"No." Sam interrupted. "In all fairness, we didn't decide. You did."

"Okay," Angela rolled her eyes. "I decided that a hockey stick that can kill anything might come in handy, so sue me."

"How many times have we been around this block?" Sam sighed heavily. "Magic that powerful comes at a price, and right now we don't know what that price is."

"I'm fine. I'm fan-friggin'-tastic." Angela assured with a forced smile.

"And we're glad, honestly," Sam replied. "I'm not saying we bury the thing. I'm saying we just save it for when we really need it. Crowley. Metatron. The big boss fights. You don't have to have it with you all the time, right? I mean, just leave it. Please."

Angela pursed her lips as she set the blade to the side. "No problem. I'm gonna get Grace ready."

"Thank you." Sam sighed in relief.

~/~\~

Dixon, Missouri

Sam, Dean, and Angela approached the deputy outside of Colonel Scoop's. Grace walked with them, holding Sam's hand.

"Agents Spears, Aguilera, and Keys? FBI?" the deputy raised her brows.

"Uh-huh." Dean nodded.

"Your partner said you'd be along." She replied.

"Thank you," Angela replied with a nod.

~/~\~

They walked into the building and over to Castiel, who was talking with the sheriff.

"Thank you for coming." Castiel greeted the hunters.

"Spears, Aguilera, and Keys?" Sam quirked a brow.

"I've noticed your aliases are usually the names of popular musicians," Castiel replied.

"Wow," Dean muttered.

"Come here. Take a look at this." Castiel replied.

"Come on, Peanut," Sam told Grace.

They all approached a body on a gurney, the woman's eyes burned out of her head. Sam knelt down and handed Grace one of her stuffed animals to keep her distracted.

"Look," Castiel started. "And the other bodies are the same—burnt-out husks."

"Okay, so, what is this, some sort of mass smiting?" Angela frowned.

"I don't know what this was." Castiel shook his head. "Never seen anything like it. Six humans died here… And one angel."

"One of yours?" Sam raised his brows.

Castiel nodded in confirmation. "Was a good soldier. This attack… I knew he wanted a war, but this… This is abhorrent, even for him."

~/~\~

Castiel, Sam, Dean, and Angela entered Castiel's command center. Grace was fast asleep in Sam's arms. The command center was bustling with angels and Hannah rose to greet them.

"Commander." Hannah smiled.

"Oh, it's just creepy," Dean muttered.

"Sam, Dean, Angela, this is Hannah." Castiel introduced.

"The Winchesters—I've heard so much about you," Hannah replied.

"What can I say? Cas is a fan." Angela shrugged.

Suddenly, an angel in a red shirt took a box of evidence that Castiel was holding. "I'll start to examine this evidence."

"Y—oh, um…" Sam trailed off.

"Sir, this morning, Josiah wasn't at roll call," Hannah told Castiel.

"Uh, roll call? You hold, uh, roll call?" Sam's brows shot up.

"They like to hear me say their names," Castiel replied.

"I know a couple of women like that." Dean quipped.

"No one's seen Josiah since Ezra was murdered," Hannah added. "We think that—

"You think Josiah's the killer, that he is the mole?" Angela questioned.

"Well, who else?" Hannah shrugged. "We searched the grounds, but he's vanished.

"Not without wings," Dean replied. "He's an angel, but he's still got to travel like he's human, which means walk, drive—means he's gonna leave a trail."

Sam handed Grace to Angela and sat down at one of the computers.

"Alright," he sighed. "What was his vessel's name?"

"Sean Flynn from Omaha," Castiel answered.

"This guy?" Sam turned the computer monitor.

"Yeah, that's him." Castiel nodded.

"Alright. Looks like someone just used his credit card at a Gas-n-Sip in Colorado." Sam commented.

"And that's how we do things in the pros." Dean smiled smugly.

"Commander," the angel in the red shirt walked up. "I have something. The phone's memory chip has a video time-stamped just before the explosion."

"And now the moment you've all been waiting for." The customer's voice rang through the speakers.

"What?"

"No!" a little girl yelled.

The man ripped open his coat to reveal a sigil carved into his chest. He rammed an angel blade through his heart. "I do this for Castiel!"

~/~\~

"What the hell was that?" Angela demanded.

"I don't know." Castiel shook his head. "I didn't—I would never ask an angel to sacrifice himself to kill innocents. I'm gonna be sick."

"Cas, why would an angel blow up a Colonel Scoop's in your name?" Sam questioned.

"That's not what he was doing. Roll it back. There." Hannah pointed at the girl in the booth. "That was an angel—Esther. She's one of Metatron's."

"So, this was some kind of hit?" Dean raised his brows.

"I don't know." Castiel frowned.

"Stop saying you don't know." Angela snapped.

"You can't think I would allow something like this." Castiel retorted.

"Cas, I know you try to be a good guy, okay?" Angela sighed. "I do. You try. But what you got here, this is a damn cult."

"Angela." Castiel frowned deeply.

"And the last time you had this kind of juice, you did kill humans and angels," she reminded. "And you did nothing but lie to me, Sam, and Dean about it the whole damn time!"

"Can we, uh—can we take this somewhere else?" Sam cut in quickly.

~/~\~

The four of them entered Castiel's private office.

"Will you stow the baggage, Angie," Sam muttered. "Look, we've got a case. Let's work it. Cas, did you know the angel in that video?"

"Yes," Castiel confirmed. "His name was Oren. He was a new recruit. He worked in community outreach."

"And what does that mean?" Dean questioned.

"Some of my troops are stationed at a local hospital," Castiel explained. "They help where they can. Minor miracles—it's nothing that would get attention."

"So, what was he doing in that video, with the stabbing?" Sam asked.

"The Enochian runes that were carved in his chest—I… I think that they were meant to focus energy." Castiel replied. "When he stabbed himself, it unleashed all that power."

"So, what about the girl? What happened to her?" Sam raised his brows.

"If she was the target, if the blast was focused on her, then more likely than not, she—she was atomized." Castiel sighed heavily. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, you don't do jack." Angela replied firmly. "Me, Sam, and Dean will head to the hospital, see if we can find somebody who knew this… walking nuke."

"Hold on. These are my people. I can help." Castiel replied firmly.

"Well, that's sort of the problem." Angela huffed. "I mean, the Manson girls aren't gonna give us a straight answer with Charlie in the room, so just hang back."

"So, I should just sit here?" Castiel raised his brows.

"Pretty much." Angela nodded.

"No." Castiel pursed his lips. "If you don't want my help, then I will follow Josiah's trail to Colorado. I have to do something, Angela."

"Alright, fine." Angela conceded. "But Sam and Dean are going with you."

"What?" Dean frowned.

"Because you don't trust me?" Castiel narrowed his eyes.

"To help." Angela shrugged.

~/~\~

Sam, Dean, and Castiel drove down the dark road in Castiel's car. Grace sat in her car seat in the back with Sam.

"Abaddon is dead." Castiel raised a brow.

"And then some," Sam replied.

"Oh, no." Castiel sighed heavily.

"Okay." Dean scoffed. "Um… Ominous."

"Does Angela seem different to you two?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah," Sam whispered. "Lately, she seems to be… amped up—you know, on edge."

"Effects of the mark?" Castiel questioned.

"What else?" Dean's brows furrowed.

"She does seem angry," Castiel noted. "I mean, she's always a little angry, but now it seems like… more. I think a part of her actually believed that I ordered those angels to, you know… You don't, do you?"

"No, man," Dean assured. "Cas, listen. You got a weird thing going on back there. Those other angels, the way they stare at you, i-it's like you're part rock star, part L. Ron."

"They've put their faith in me," Castiel replied.

"And maybe that's the problem." Sam shrugged. "I mean, people have been doing messed up crap in the name of faith—in the name of God—since forever."

"Well… I'm not trying to… play God." Castiel muttered. "I'm just trying to get my people home."

~/~\~

Wellington, Colorado

Sam, Dean, and Castiel were at the Gas-n-Sip in Colorado talking to the store clerk. Dean held Grace, who was playing with his jacket lapel.

"Yeah, I saw him, officer." The clerk nodded. "He filled up some old, uh, woody station wagon."

"Don't suppose you, uh, got the license plate number?" Dean questioned.

"No." the clerk shook his head. "But he was headed to an address in Pray, Montana."

"How do you know that?" Castiel frowned.

"Guy asked for directions." The clerk shrugged.

"Oh." Sam nodded.

"Uh, you want me to write that down?" the clerk asked.

"Yes. Now. Please." Sam nodded.

~/~\~

Angela was questioning a female angel in a doctor's coat. They were sitting across the table from each other in a room that resembled a boiler room.

"What do I call you?" Angela asked.

"My angelic name is 18 syllables long. Let's stick with Flagstaff." She replied.

"Copy." Angela nodded. "So, you knew this Oren guy?"

"We worked together at the hospital," Flagstaff confirmed. "He was a joy—bright, full of life."

"Yeah, I hear he had a real explosive personality." Angela quipped.

"Do you think this is a joke?" Flagstaff glared.

"Do you see me laughing?" Angela asked, stone-faced. "Is there anything else you can tell me about him? For example, why he'd light his own fuse."

"No," Flagstaff replied. "Can I go? I have lives to save."

"Welcome to the club." Angela retorted, earning a smirk from Flagstaff. "Something funny?"

"Not funny 'ha ha.' But you think you help people—it's amusing." Flagstaff replied condescendingly. "I help people. A clogged artery here, a tumor there. I do good in this world. You—you believe every problem can be solved with a gun. You play the hero, but underneath the hype, you're a killer with oceans of blood on her hands. I hate people like you."

Angela stared at her calmly and then leaped to her feet and threw the table between them aside in one swift movement. She threw Flagstaff and her chair backward, but caught them before they hit the ground and instantly had an angel blade to her throat.

"Honey, there ain't no one else like me." Angela snarled.

"Don't… please." Flagstaff begged, scared out of her mind.

"Oren. Friends?" Angela growled.

"Constantine… And Tessa." Flagstaff gasped.

Angela frowned at that name. "Tessa? The reaper, Tessa?"

"You know her?" Flagstaff frowned.

~/~\~

Pray, Montana

Sam, Dean, and Castiel pulled up outside a warehouse. Sam held Grace in his arms.

"That looks like the car the guy at the gas station was talking about, right?" Sam asked. "Maybe Josiah's still around."

"This place is… radiating power." Castiel muttered. "I haven't felt anything like this since… since Heaven. We have to get in there."

Sam handed Grace to Dean and attempted to pick the lock. However, the door refused to budge no matter how much Sam banged his shoulder against it.

"Step aside. I got this." Castiel muttered.

Castiel threw his body into it and jangled the door handle a few times. However, nothing happened. Castiel turned to the Winchesters, frowning deeply.

"I don't got this."

~/~\~

Outside of an auditorium, people walked up the stairs. Tessa walked up to the stairs, but was stopped by Angela's voice as she stepped from behind a post.

"Hey, Tessa." She greeted. "You're supposed to be working at the hospital tonight, but when I stopped by, you were gone. So was an ambulance. Pro tip—they all have GPS."

"Good to know." Tessa nodded. "So, you're here. Why? You just love musical theater?"

"Only if it's 'Fiddler.' We need to talk." Angela replied.

"Can't. Sorta got a date." Tessa shrugged.

As she turned to leave, Angela grabbed her jacket to pull her back but accidentally revealed a part of a sigil carved into her chest. Angela clenched her jaw.

"Not happening."

Tessa tried to jerk away, but Angela handcuffed her and shoved her to a wall.

"Where's the other one? Where's Constantine?" Angela demanded.

A/N: Hey, guys, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I can't believe that there are only a few more chapters left. As always, thank you for the recent reviews! Love you guys, xoxo :)

~Emily