Dean smirked at the laptop screen that was lighting his face in the darkened motel room, his teeth glinting slightly. Castiel noticed how his eyes seemed to crinkle at the edges when he truly smiled. Dean was just reaching down towards the zip of his jeans when he noticed Cas standing in the small kitchenette of the motel room. He slammed the laptop closed and scrambled to his feet.
"Cas! We spoke about this, man," Dean hissed indignantly, thanking whatever gods were listening that the angel hadn't appeared a few minutes, or even seconds, later.
"My apologies. Where is Sam?" Castiel said stiffly, the information he was about to relay to the brothers was urgent, but he forced himself to follow what little of etiquette he knew.
"Uh... he went down to the library for a few hours, I think, why?"
"I have some news about a... case you may be interested in," Castiel was slightly proud that he had managed to use the correct terminology.
"A job? We're on one right now, can't it wait?" Cas noted the way Dean's eyes flickered to the laptop and back. He marked it down to erratic human behavior, as he did with most of the irregular things he noticed only Dean doing.
"No, it is of the utmost import," Castiel informed him, and Dean slumped slightly, sighing.
"Okay, fine, what's up?" At that, Castiel burst in to movement. He swiftly removed the newspaper from the pockets on the inside of his coat, laying it flat on the table. Dean approached warily, not sure where this was going. The headline was about a large shooting star seen over fields in Missouri, and Dean had no clue what he could possibly do with this information.
"I have suspicions that it was not, in fact, a meteorite falling to earth," Castiel supplied simply, remembering it was 'polite' to withhold information until asked directly for it. Dean looked at him unexpectedly, until he realized.
"What do you think it is, then? An alien?" Dean joked, but the humour was lost on Castiel.
"I believe it was Hades," the angel said, and it frustrated Dean that Cas was always talking in these little short bursts with hardly any explanation or padding.
"You mean... Greek god of the underworld?" Dean was surprised, he'd known about the pagan gods etcetera, but Greek mythology had never really crossed his mind that much, especially not the gods.
"Indeed, I believe it was she who-" Castiel was cut off by a stuttering Dean.
"Woa- wo- what? She? Hades is a chick?"
"Yes, is that a problem?" Castiel was severely confused, surely Dean should not be worrying about the gender of the problem, but about the very problem itself.
"No... I bet she's hot," Dean muttered, making Cas tilt his head in further confusion.
"The temperature is not relevant."
Dean stared at the angel a moment then walked back to the laptop. Once opening it, he quickly closed the tab he was using, thankful he had the forethought to mute the sound. Pulling up a trustworthy lore site they frequented, Dean sat down at the table.
"Sit down, we'll be here a while," Dean instructed, cracking his knuckles as he prepared for the hell that would follow.
"But Dean, we have to get to her before-"
"Can it, Cas, we're not just going rushing in with no know-how!"
"I have adequate knowledge on Hades herself, as I do on most Gods we share the upper universes with," Castiel informed him stuffily.
"Well, give me all you got."
It took Castiel a moment to realize that Dean was asking him to tell him all he knew, and not to turn his pockets inside out and profess his lack of personal effects. "Hades is, as you know, the Greek goddess of the underworld." He paused to make sure Dean was listening. "She is the daughter of-"
"Cas, I don't need a history lesson, I just need the... you know, useful stuff," Cas looked confused, making Dean sigh. "Does she have any weaknesses? Could salt keep her out?"
"No, the only known weakness she has is water. Her physical form is made out of a solid fire-like substance, if her 'fire' is put out, she will most likely become her ethereal form. That should be avoided as best as possible, seeing as she will be hundreds of times more powerful."
"Great, so what can we use to keep her down?"
"As I said, water, it apparently causes her great pain to be in contact with it. In fact, the reason she rarely comes to earth is because of the moisture in the air." At that, Dean rubbed his chin, taking a moment to think.
"So why is she down here?"
"I believe she did not come willingly. When we enter this universe, we do not... 'crash' like she has, it seems more likely that she fell," Dean snorted at that, the image of some hot chick with red hair falling from a bunch of clouds rising in his mind. "Elysium is very similar to Heaven, except it is more of a city of sky than the various boxes of personal heaven that creates my home."
"But if she's the god of the underworld, shouldn't she be... you know, under?"
"No, the correct name for that particular place is Hades, it resides slightly above the host," Cas corrected, and Dean laughed. He'd heard that Hades had named hell after himself, but he didn't actually think it would be true in this context.
"Named it after herself? That's a bit self centered, isn't it?" Dean asked, rising to his feet.
"I... wouldn't know. Dean, we must hurry," Castiel implored as he stepped up closer in to Deans personal space. The human went to say some thing but was interrupted by Sam bursting in to the room, pistol drawn. Dean quickly stepped away from the angel, struggling to recollect his thoughts.
"Um... Dean?" Sam asked worriedly, eyeing Castiel in confusion.
"Sam, we're going God huntin'."