Thanks to Jenjoremy for the beta magic and Gredelina1 for the help and support in the writing process.

Chapter Fourteen

"C'mon, Sammy, just one more," Dean wheedled.

Sam rolled his eyes and nodded. Dean grinned and raised his glass to the bartender.

She sauntered over to them and pulled out tequila from the rack of bottles behind the bar. As she refilled Dean's shot glass, she looked at Sam. "Your friend celebrating something?"

"You could say that," Sam said with a fond smile at Dean who was tossing back his shot.

She glanced at the almost full bottle of beer in front of Sam. "And you're not in the mood?"

"I'm in the mood, but someone's got to drive us home," he replied.

She gave Sam an appraising look. "You don't have to go tonight, do you? I have a little place upstairs. Your friend can sleep on the couch."

That wasn't at all awkward, Sam thought. To be propositioned by someone offering Dean a couch to pass out on while they got to it.

"Yeah," Dean said, joining the conversation at the exact wrong moment. "Sam'd like that, wouldn't you, Sam?"

Sam felt his cheeks heating and he ducked his head. "No, Dean. You're forgetting that Bobby is waiting for us." He forced himself to look up at the bartender. "Sorry, but we've got to get out of town tonight."

Her lips formed a moue of disappointment. "Who's Bobby? Your girlfriend?"

Dean cackled in Sam's ear, draping his arm over Sam's shoulder and leaning heavily against him. "Yeah. Bobby's a middle-aged mechanic with a myths and monsters obsession. Sammy's got a type."

"Oh. I've just gotta…. go." She hurried off to the other end of the bar.

Dean howled with laughter. "That was awesome."

"For you," Sam said, getting to his feet suddenly.

Without Sam to hold him up, Dean slid sideways until he was almost lying across two bar stools. He looked confused at the sudden change of position and peered up at Sam with a furrowed brow.

"C'mon," Sam said, easing him upright and then tugging him from the stool. "We should get out of here."

"But we're celebrating," Dean moaned.

"We've celebrated," Sam said. "And burning a lock of hair was a pretty loose excuse for you to replace your blood with tequila anyway."

They had come to Fairfax, Indiana to deal with the vengeful spirit of Dirk McGregor. It had probably been the easiest hunt they'd ever taken. All they'd had to do was find the right bus, snag the lock of hair from the bible and then set fire to it. It hadn't exactly tasked them and it definitely didn't merit the drinking session Dean had enjoyed.

"Nah," Dean said, pushing himself away from Sam and swaying slightly. "We were celebrating the awesomeness that is a do-over—"

"Time to go, Dean," Sam said curtly. "Bobby's waiting for us after all."

"What?"

Sam put an arm around Dean's shoulder and hissed in his ear. "Cas isn't here, Dean, which means any other angel could be here listening. We've got to be careful."

Dean pressed a finger to his lips and nodded dramatically. "You can count on me, Sammy. I won't tell anyone you're… Oops. Almost slipped." He grinned.

"I'm glad you're finding this so funny," Sam said, heaving Dean's arm over his shoulder and practically dragging him from the bar.

When the cool, fresh air caught Dean, he whooped, "Whoa, head rush!" and Sam groaned. Dean was going to be a charming passenger for the ride back to Sioux Falls.

They hadn't parked too far from the bar, so Sam only had to struggle down the street with Dean draped over him a little way before he propped him up against the side of the car and unlocked the door for him. Dean was looking up and down the street with interest, saying, "This is a nice town. We should stay a while."

"Sure we should," Sam said distractedly. "Tell me the name of the town and I'll find us a motel."

Dean's brow furrowed. "Fairbanks? Fairchild? Hell, I don't know, Fairground?"

Sam laughed. "Yeah, maybe another time, Dean."

Dean spilled in through the open car door and slumped in his seat. Sam pushed enough of him inside to close the door and then went around to the driver's side. He climbed in behind the wheel and started the engine.

"Sammy," Dean groaned.

"Yes, Dean."

"I'm hungry?"

Sam chuckled. "Just as soon as I'm sure you're not going to barf up all that tequila, I'll get you something to eat. Why don't you try and sleep a little."

"No can do, little brother. You're driving which means I have to stay awake and alert so I can stop you from wrapping my baby around a tree."

"Of course you do," Sam said in a soothing tone. "How about you just get comfy for now then?"

"That I can do," Dean said happily. He shifted himself so he was leaning against the door with his head resting on the glass.

Sam pulled the car out of their parking spot and directed them toward the Interstate. Dean lasted for all of five minutes before his grumbles about hunger became snores. Sam glanced to the side and saw his chin lolling against his chest and his lips slightly parted. Sam flipped on the radio and tuned it to an alternative rock station, smiling happily.

Sam drove as long as he could before pulling onto a side road to get some rest. He curled up against his door and used his jacket as a pillow. He didn't know how long he slept before a hand slapped against his arm. His eyes cracked open to see Dean grinning at him. "Time to switch seats, Sasquatch. You've had your fun."

"You okay to drive?" Sam asked sleepily.

"Would I be trying if I wasn't?" Dean countered.

Marveling at his brother's ability to overcome massive amounts of alcohol with ease, Sam slid across the bench seat and rearranged himself comfortably while Dean climbed in and ran his hands lovingly over the steering wheel.

Sam considered sleeping some more, but his dreams hadn't been exactly restful, so he rooted through the cardboard box of cassettes and found Dean's most violent rock. He jammed it in the deck and cranked up the volume.

Dean glanced at him, eyebrows raised. "Not tired?"

"Don't want to sleep."

"Nightmares?"

Sam nodded but didn't speak. Cas wasn't there, so he couldn't go into detail about them even if he'd wanted to. The truth was that Sam was struggling. The memories of his many decades in hell and his months spent soulless were always there, in the back of his mind, but it was worse when he was sleeping, as he had no defense against them. When he was awake, he could throw himself into whatever he was doing and at least try to forget about it. The rest of the time he suffered.

Sam smiled to himself as he stowed the cans in the cupboards. They'd stopped to pick up groceries to replenish Bobby's depleted stores on the way home, making a run to refill Bobby's drinks cabinet at the same time. Dean grumbled and criticized throughout the grocery shopping, only brightening when he saw the treasures on offer in the liquor store. As soon as they'd got the bags into the house, Dean had said something about needing to shower and had promptly disappeared. Sam could hear his voice now, belting out Zeppelin lyrics over the running water.

He heard a rustling sound behind him. He turned, smile already on his lips, only to find it was not his time traveling friend waiting for him but the present, dickish version. His smile disappeared.

"Castiel."

Castiel nodded slightly. "Sam. I am pleased to see that you have recovered from your recent…troubles."

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, I'm all better now." He turned back to the counter, trying to intimate to Castiel that he had better things to be doing than talking to him. "Dean's primping, so if you're looking to talk to him, you'll have to wait a while."

"I came to talk to you," Castiel said.

That was new. Sam had always been superfluous to Castiel in this time. Dean was the one the angels wanted. Sam was just a part of the package deal, unwanted until the final moment, necessary to doom the world.

Castiel moved to Sam's side, too close, shoulder-to-shoulder. Sam couldn't pretend to not see him so he took a pointed step away and met the angel's eye. "What do you want from me?"

"It's Uriel. He is missing. We cannot find him."

Sam looked innocently surprised. "Where did you leave him? Did you try retracing your steps?"

"I cannot sense him anymore," Castiel said stiffly and then his voice became toneless again. "Which means he is hiding himself from us or he is dead."

"Dead? Huh. I'd say I'm sorry but that'd be a lie."

Castiel scowled at him and then schooled his expression into a mask again. "I do not believe he is dead. Uriel was a great warrior. Something has happened to him. I need your help, Sam."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I thought Dean was the one you're all pinning your hopes on. What am I supposed to do?"

"You can look for him."

Sam huffed a laugh. "Sure. Because me and Dean riding the highways, whistling out the open window for him, is such a good plan compared to using angels, right?"

"I do not want you to look physically. I want you to use your visions."

"You really don't understand, do you? I can't just close my eyes and summon a vision. They come on their own, and they haven't come since I got off the blood."

"You're lying to me," Castiel said, crowding into Sam's space again. "I know you are having visions as you have just returned here from dealing with one. I saw you and Dean burning the hair that tied Dirk McGregor to the earth."

"So you've been watching us," Sam said. "That's creepy and a little dumb. Why didn't you just come say hi?"

Castiel remained silent, and Sam drew his own conclusions.

"You were spying because you think we're hiding something from you?" He shook his head. "You can't seriously think we had something to do with Uriel's disappearance. How the hell could we do anything to him seeing as he's an angel and we're humans? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to shiv the asshole, but I'm kinda handicapped in comparison."

Castiel glowered at him. "Remember who you are talking to."

"Oh, I've not forgotten," Sam said darkly. "But you're all out of luck. I can't just 'look' for Uriel, and I don't know where he is, so you might as well just flap off."

"I'm not done," Castiel said.

Sam sighed heavily. He should have known this was going to come. Castiel wasn't stupid, and a lot had happened that he'd question, not just visions. Anna had escaped them, Uriel was 'missing', and then there was Sam's miracle recovery after Alastair. Even the dumbest angel would have questions, and Castiel was the farthest thing from dumb.

He heard the shower shut off and knew Dean would be there soon. He wanted to get this conversation out of the way before then as he couldn't control what Dean said and they'd not come up with a story for Castiel to explain anything that'd been happening. "Fine. Get whatever it is out of your system and then screw off and leave us alone."

"What happened to Anna?" Castiel asked.

Sam shrugged. "No idea. I wasn't here when that went down. Bobby told me he got knocked out, and when he woke up, she was gone."

"You're lying to me," Castiel said again.

Sam huffed a laugh. "About what? I wasn't here; you know that because Dean told me you stopped by the hospital, so what do you think I know?"

Castiel clearly had no answer to that, as he asked, "How were you healed?"

"Medical miracle? I don't know. I was in the hospital and then I woke up. I've got no idea what happened."

"What ailed you? I could not make sense of it."

"Dunno. I was unconscious, remember?"

Castiel's eyes narrowed. "Why are you lying to me?"

"Why are you asking me questions I have no way to answer?" Sam countered angrily. He heard footsteps padding down the hall and knew Dean was coming. He spoke in a rush, loudly so his voice would carry to Dean. "I don't know what happened to Anna. I don't know how I was healed. I don't even know what happened to me. I don't have answers to your questions, so quit asking them!"

Dean came into the room then, hair damp and expression stony. "What's going on?"

"Castiel wants to know crap I can't answer." He turned back to Castiel. "Here's an idea. Why not ask Dean? He was actually awake for some of it."

Dean locked eyes with Castiel. "What do you want to know?"

"How was Sam healed?"

"Medical miracle?" Dean asked and Sam snorted. "I don't know, Castiel. One minute he was unconscious, the next he was walking and talking. It's a gift horse. I'm not looking for teeth. Next question."

"Where is Anna?"

Dean looked confused. "I thought we'd already been over this. You said Lilith took her."

"I believed she had," Castiel said. "I have seen her, though. She is an angel again. She seemed to think I should already know what happened to her. She was very shocked when I tried to capture her."

Crap! Anna had gone looking for Castiel. Sam fought the urge to glance at Dean. He remained looking at Castiel with a look of impatient confusion on his face. "Anna's an angel? Since when? I thought she was just some girl you wanted to kill."

"She was a fallen angel. Somehow she got her grace back. Which is strange, as Uriel was in possession of her grace."

Sam laughed. "That's two of your questions answered. Uriel is missing and he had Anna's grace. Anna is an angel again, which means she got it back. She was taken by Lilith, who happens to be a badass demon. Put the clues together and you've got a dead angel and a newly powered up one." Castiel looked pointedly at a spot a few inches from Sam's face and a curl of realization settled over Sam. He narrowed his eyes. "Which you already worked out, didn't you?"

Castiel shook his head. "I had no—"

"Don't lie!" Sam snapped.

Dean moved to stand beside Sam and he placed a hand on Sam's chest. He could surely feel Sam's heart pounding against his ribs as anger and fear crept through him. Castiel had worked out what should have happened to Anna because he wasn't stupid. The same intelligence had brought him here asking his questions under the pretence of need because he knew something was happening. Sam wished he could have a minute with his Castiel; maybe he'd have some idea of what to say to divert his past self from the path of truth.

"Is he right?" Dean asked tonelessly. "Did you already know what happened to Anna?"

Castiel shook his head. "I didn't know. I didn't put the pieces together until your brother laid out the facts."

He was lying, Sam could tell. He wanted to rage at Castiel, to tell him exactly why they were hiding things from him, because he couldn't yet be trusted to put the fate of the world before his bosses' manipulations. He couldn't though, as it would blow the whole plan. Sam had to suck it up and act like Castiel wasn't being a prize dick.

Dean sighed and raked a hand over his face. "I guess it doesn't matter then. You know the truth now, and you know we had nothing to do with it. Uriel's dead and Anna's on the demons' team, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it apart from run and duck if she comes close."

Sam forced a laugh through his anger. "Which will be all kinds of effective."

"Sam," Dean said in a warning tone.

"No, your brother is right," Castiel said. "You would be completely helpless against Anna. All you can do is try your best to avoid her." He drew a deep breath. "You must be careful."

"We always are," Dean said.

Castiel stared into Sam's eyes for a moment, as if searching for something, some clue to what they were hiding perhaps, and then he shook his head. "I must leave. My superiors will need to be told about Anna."

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but Castiel was already gone, leaving only a faint fluttering sound in his wake.

When Cas returned to the past he found Sam and Dean sitting on Bobby's back porch with beers and a radio playing quietly in the background.

He was expecting Dean's glower at his appearance, but Sam caught him off guard with his look of suspicion.

"Cas?" he said doubtfully.

"Yes. What has happened?"

Sam and Dean exchanged a pointed look and Dean shrugged. Cas understood that they were questioning the version of him they were seeing. Somehow, between the time he last saw them and now, something had happened to make them doubt him.

"In Carthage Ellen and Jo Harvelle were killed in an—"

"We get it," Sam said quickly. "It's you. No more." He glanced at Dean who was pale.

Cas nodded, seeing that Dean needed to hear no more. "What has happened?" he asked again.

"Your dick version paid a visit," Sam said. "He knows something's up. Unfortunately, you're not dumb."

Cas frowned. "Of course, I'm not."

Sam laughed softly and shook his head. "Well, he came with a story about how he wanted me to use my visions to track down Uriel, but I could tell he knew that he was dead."

"How does he know?" Cas asked urgently.

"Don't worry," Sam said. "He thinks it was Anna. But the point is, he knows something's going on. He asked about how I got 'healed', too. He's suspicious."

Cas considered carefully for a moment. He didn't think it was likely that his past self would work out what was really happening, but the fact he was questioning things was a problem.

"He's been hanging around, Cas, without us realizing," Sam said. "He followed us on our last hunt and we didn't have a clue."

"This was another of the hunts you took last time, yes?" Cas asked.

Sam nodded. "The vengeful spirit of a kid I went to school with for a while. We ducked in, burned the hair, and booked it out of there pretty quick."

It was still too much though, Cas thought. Of course his other self had questions. Sam's visions should have at least lessened their strength and pinpoint focus now that he was off the blood. The Winchesters were being reckless.

"You cannot do it again," he said firmly.

Sam looked confused. "Do what?"

"Follow another of your 'visions'. It is drawing too much suspicion. You must let things happen from now on. We cannot have the host realize what we are doing. They would send you back to your correct time and they would… deal with me." He didn't want to think of what they would do to him. The way things were in Heaven now, crimes dealt with swiftly and finally under Michael's rule, Cas would be punished severely, possibly fatally.

Dean glared at Cas. "So we're supposed to let people die because you and your buddies can't be trusted? You know that's not going to happen, right? Neither of us will just sit back and let people die."

"I am not asking you to let people die," Cas said. He would never ask that of the Winchesters now. He knew it was pointless, anyway, no matter what the cause. "I am asking you to not take the cases yourselves. You two are the ones the angels are focused on. You can tell what you know to other hunters and they can take the cases."

Dean started to speak but Cas barely heard him. His gaze was focused on Sam who was staring out at the junked cars with a deep frown on his brow. "Sam," he probed.

Sam nodded. "Okay. We'll do it, but I'm kinda struggling to come up with any hunters we can trust to do this."

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked. "We know plenty hunters, and Bobby knows them all."

"Yes, but they're going to have questions about how we know so much and why we're not taking the cases ourselves."

"Walt and Roy," Dean said quickly. "They're dumb as posts but good hunters. We can tell them we scoped it out but got called in on something else when the time comes."

"No!" Sam said quickly, a look of fear in his eyes. "We can't use them. We need someone else."

Dean's eyes narrowed. "Why can't we go to them, Sam?"

Sam raked a hand through his hair. "They're just… We can't."

Cas didn't believe Dean would let it go at that, and was unsurprised when Dean leaned over and nudged Sam's shoulder with a fist.

"Want to tell me a little more, future boy?" he asked.

Sam drew a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "They killed us."

Dean frowned. "What?"

"After I killed Lilith, they heard what I did and what it caused, and they came after us. They got us both, shotguns to the chest."

"And you're alive because…?"

"Joshua," Cas said, saving Sam the pain of explaining about Heaven. "He is an angel, a great angel. He saved you both."

"Well, that's something, I guess," Dean said, turning to Sam. "What happened to Walt and Roy? We ganked them, right?"

Sam shook his head. "No. They were taken out by a nest of vamps they were going after about a year ago."

Dean looked satisfied. "Good."

"The point it, we can't call on them," Sam said. "Or Tim's crew."

Dean opened his mouth to ask, but Sam shook his head again. "Long story. Another time maybe. What I'm saying, though, is that there aren't many hunters out there that we can trust to do this without looking too suspicious. We have to do the hunts I know about, otherwise people will die, but Cas is right in saying we can't do them ourselves."

For a long time, the only sound was the radio playing quietly in the background, and then Dean locked eyes on Cas. "You can do it. You've got the juice to take out anything we can, and you already know it all anyway."

That wasn't strictly true. Cas wasn't aware of all the details of the hunts Sam and Dean had taken during the year after Dean's return from Hell. He had been otherwise engaged trying to protect the seals most of the time, and it wasn't as if they spent time reminiscing afterward, but if Sam would give him the information he needed, he could deal with each of the threats. He wouldn't even need to leave clues in the form of angelic kills, as Sam would be able to tell him how they'd killed each of the creatures previously. It was the simplest and most effective plan. Sam and Dean would be able to rest easy knowing people weren't dying because they couldn't take the hunts, and Cas of this time would have less reason to believe Sam's visions were still as powerful as they were when he was on the blood.

"Cas?" Sam said.

"I can do it," Cas said. "I will do it."

Sam breathed a sigh of relief and Dean nodded.

"That's one problem dealt with," Sam said. "But we've still got Anna to think of."

Cas nodded. Anna was currently at risk from all angels since they now believed she was working on the demons' side.

"What are you thinking, Sam?" Dean asked.

"I think we need to bring her in on the secret. She went to Castiel because she thought he was the one who gave her the grace back. She's got to know not to do that again, since the dick tried to kill her, but she's all alone out there now, and she's got to have questions. If we can find her, we can tell her what's going on. It might even help to have another angel on our side."

"Can we trust her though?"

Sam was silent for a moment, and Cas thought he knew what he was thinking. Anna had tried to kill John and Mary Winchester for the good of the world, but there was no need for that now. If they succeeded, there never would be need again.

"Yes," Sam said. "I trust her to do whatever it takes for the good of the world. If she knows the truth, she can help us. She will help us."

"I agree," Cas said. "We will need to find her, of course, and persuade her to come. I don't know how we will do that when she will surely be on alert for any sign of angels. She will not come if we summon her."

Sam smiled slightly. "Well…we could always try praying."

Dean laughed. "Score one for the humans."

"That might work," Cas said. "We can try at least."

"You want to disappear?" Sam asked, looking at Cas. "If she sees you here, she might not stick around."

Cas knew he was right, so he shielded himself both from humans' sight and angels' senses and moved to stand between two junked cars in the yard. He was close enough to see and hear what was happening, but not so close that Anna might arrive on top of him.

Dean looked around, comically twisting his neck to try to catch a glimpse of Cas. "Never going to get used to him just disappearing like that," he said.

"You will," Sam said carelessly. He laid his palms flat on his knees and raised his eyes to the sky. "Anna, it's Sam Winchester. We kinda need to talk to you." He paused for a moment and then said, "We want to help."

There was a soft fluttering and Anna appeared standing between them. They both started and craned their necks to look at her.

"Uh, hi," Sam said awkwardly.

Anna smiled slightly as she moved down the steps to stand in front of them. "You called."

"Didn't think you'd answer," Dean said.

"I did. You said you could help. Help with what?"

Sam looked uncomfortable. "Castiel. We heard he saw you again and we figure you might have a few questions."

"I do," she admitted. "Do you know why he was so shocked to see me again after he was the one that forced the mantle of angel upon me again? Also, why did he try to kill me then when it would have been easier when I was still human?"

Dean grinned at Sam. "This is all you, Sammy."

Sam drew a breath. "Okay. It's kinda complicated, but the answer to both of your questions is that it wasn't the same angel both times. The one that gave you your grace again, basically saving your life, is Castiel from a few couple years in the future. The Castiel of this time is the one that tried to kill you."

Anna looked at him blankly. "There are two Castiels?"

Dean laughed. "Two Sams apparently, too. It's damn unbelievable, right?"

Sam glowered at him. "It sounds stupid, I know, but it's all true. Cas and I came back in time to fix what's happening in our time. Cas took my soul and stuffed it in my body of this time so we could change things."

"I would like to believe you," Anna said, "but I know Castiel. I fought alongside him for millennia, and I know he would never disobey like that. He could never have received Heaven's sanctions for it. You cannot change the future. There are rules."

"Cas isn't the same man you knew," Sam said. "He actually Fell for the sake of the world. Trust me, I'm not lying."

Anna's mouth pressed into a thin line. "He Fell?"

"He did, and it killed him. He was bought back, obviously, as a full angel again, but he still suffered. He's not the same, Anna."

Cas watched her face as she mulled it over in her mind. She was silent for a long time and then she nodded decisively. "Okay. I believe you, but I have to ask, what can be bad enough for Cas, the most faithful son of God I ever knew, to turn his back on Heaven like this?"

Cas knew the time was right for him to reveal himself. He stopped shielding himself, and he saw her stiffen as she sensed him. Her blade dropped into her hand.

"I will not harm you, sister," he said gently as she spun to look at him. "I only want to explain." Cas's own blade slid into his hand and he crouched slowly and placed it on the ground and stepped back from it. "You are armed, I am not. Will you listen to me now?"

Anna was still tensed and her grip around the hilt of her sword was tight, but she nodded for him to continue.

Cas braced himself and then began the long tale of the future. He told her everything, sparing Sam none of the shame of his failure, because she knew him so well that she would sense it if he tried to conceal anything. He told her of his confusion and indecision as he began to doubt Heaven and then the absolute fear as he finally tore himself from Heaven's will and Fell. He told her of Michael and Lucifer's aborted battle and Sam's sacrifice. He spoke of Raphael and the war and his damned deal with Crowley.

When he came to a stop, Anna was staring at him wide-eyed. "You made a deal with a demon?"

Cas bowed his head. "I was desperate. I thought it was the only way. It wasn't until I stopped and listened to my friends that I realized how wrong I was."

"And now you need my help, to do what exactly?" she asked.

"Protect Sam and Dean," Cas said. "Myself of this time is growing suspicious, and I cannot be here with them all the time. I have to return to my own time to deal with Crowley and the people I left behind. I cannot risk Crowley acting without me. I need you to watch over them. Sam especially. The demons will be desperate now that he has voluntarily stopped drinking the blood. We would be stupid to believe they do not have a backup plan."

Anna nodded thoughtfully. "I can help keep him safe."

Cas sighed with relief. He had always had faith that they would succeed, he would never have risked bringing Sam to this time otherwise, but now he had certainty. With two angels working for the same goal alongside Sam and Dean, they would succeed.

So… Anna has joined Team Free Will, Castiel has inconvenient questions, and Sam and Dean have got to step down from the hunts. Not so good times. We're coming down to the end of the story now. There are 16 chapters total and an epilogue.

Until next time…

Clowns or Midgets xxx