"They fixed you?" Sam's voice came out raw as he spoke. "What do you mean they fixed you? What did the angels do to you?"
"They reverted my soul," Dean, or… not-Dean said. "They were able to fix all the damage Hell did to me."
"Angels can cure demons?" Sam didn't know how that could be possible. If your soul had been damaged and twisted until it broke into a demon, there should be no coming back from that. It just made sense; demons were broken human souls. There was no way to just revert what Hell had done, was there?
"They were able to save my soul," Dean told Sam while looking him in the eyes.
Was Sam making the same mistake again by not trusting Dean right away? He had been suspicious of Dean and his motives when he came back a demon and now Sam was doing it again.
But hell, he had a right to be freaked out. He had just stopped out to get breakfast and pie. Now he had a transformed brother, yet again.
Something about this story of Dean's though just wasn't making sense.
"If the angels can save demonic souls, why don't they save everyone? Wouldn't it be easier without demons roaming all over the place? Why don't they revert Lilith? Or Alastair?"
Dean shuffled his feet and looked at the ground. "I don't know, Sam. Maybe they have reverted other demons. All I know is that they came in the motel and I tried running away, only I was trapped by the salt lines. They tied me up in the bathroom and touched my head. Something happened and when I woke up, I was untied- and I was human."
Sam stared Dean down, trying to find any sign that he was lying. "It was just as simple as that?"
"I guess so. Listen Sam, can't we talk about this later? I'm just so happy to see you, I don't want to fight."
That was when Dean came across the few feet separating them and reached over to hug his brother.
Sam meant to keep his guard up, but he couldn't help but to melt into Dean's hold. The hug felt so nice; it had been so long since he last had his brother hug him. Sure, Sam had hugged Dean as a demon, but the older brother never returned the action.
It was nice to feel wanted. With demon Dean, Sam felt like he was only needed. Dean had needed Sam around, but had he honestly wanted him around?
Sam hugged Dean back, and felt Dean tighten his hold. Memories came rushing back of Dean as a human and their time spent together hunting, all the humanity that had been lacking in their time together while Dean was a demon.
But then again… Sam had grown to find trust and companionship in his demon brother. He had found that connection again and had formed a bond that was arguably stronger than the one they had when Dean had been human.
Suddenly, Sam's mood changed when he thought back about the past few months.
He found himself really missing his demonic brother.
For half an hour, Sam tried everything he possibly knew to prove that Dean was human. He used silver, iron, holy water, everything… while Dean stood there, patient and understanding.
Dean didn't react to anything. He was human.
Sam apologized as he placed the silver knife he had been using down. Dean waved it off and then dropped the bomb on Sam.
"Sammy, I'm so sorry to tell you this… and I'm disgusted that I could ever do this to you. I… as a demon… I've been lying to you about everything."
Sam let go of the gun he had been cleaning on the bed and looked at his brother. "Dean… what are you talking about? You were lying to me about what?"
"About Lilith. Sending her back to Hell won't solve anything. She's not really the last seal, we have to kill her before she breaks them all."
Dean went on to explain to Sam that demon Dean had been misleading him in order to start the apocalypse and that now that he was back human, he could see straight again.
Not knowing what to think, Sam excused himself and stated that he had to get the food from the car before it went bad. In reality, Sam just needed to get some air. Everything was happening too fast and Sam didn't know what to believe. He had been so sure that Dean had been telling him the truth before…
Sam needed some insight; he needed someone else's opinion. He couldn't call Bobby and freak him out, which meant…
Oh great.
Sam brought in the pie and Dean smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks, Sammy," he said as he placed the container on the table.
Alarms went off in Sam's head at the reaction. Dean casually placed the pie on the table, his smile never turning into a grin as he walked into the bathroom.
Dean always dug into his pie at first sight. Never ever did he decide to save it for later.
Something was very very wrong, Sam decided. He needed to get to the bottom of this before it was too late. He needed to get his plan in action.
Sparing a glance at the bathroom door, Sam turned back toward his brother's bed. Dean's phone was still sitting on the nightstand where he'd placed it last night. Perfect.
Sam rushed over and grabbed it, flipping through Dean's contacts before he saw the name he was looking for.
"I'm grabbing a soda, Dean!" Sam called out, not knowing if Dean's rules to let him know where he was going still applied.
"Alright," Dean replied and Sam wasted no time hurrying out of the motel room.
Making sure he was far enough from the room to not be heard, Sam dialed the number he had highlighted. After a few laborious rings, the call was answered.
"Dean, better have some good news for me," Crowley cooed into the phone. "If you haven't found Alastair yet, I suggest you hang up now and leave me be."
"Crowley, shut up." Sam was surprised how brave he was in yelling at this demon, but he didn't have much time.
"Sam, eh? Well Moose, learning your brother's theft skills I see. How did you manage to sneak the phone past him?"
Crowley did have a point. Normally, Dean would have known if Sam was acting suspicious and trying to take something of his. Dean could read Sam better than anyone and he knew when his little brother was lying.
Or so Sam thought.
"Listen, something's wrong with Dean. I came back from getting food, and… Dean's human, Crowley. He's not a demon anymore!"
Crowley was silent for a long time for once and Sam assumed that was not a good sign.
"That's impossible," Crowley finally stated, sounding genuinely lost. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"He said the angels fixed him and restored his humanity! I… I don't know if this is really him or some crazy trick. Can angels do something like that?"
Crowley huffed on the other line. "From what I understand, no, they can't. But nothing would surprise me about those abominations. You seem to know your brother pretty well, you'll know if it's him."
"He's acting weird, but… but I've tried every trick in the book! Holy water, silver, iron, salt… everything! He's actually human, but he's just… so off that I don't know what to believe. He's saying that you and him have been lying to me and have secretly been trying to start the apocalypse. Is that…"
Sam jumped and dropped Dean's phone as Crowley suddenly appeared in front of him, looking pissed as he elegantly snapped his phone shut.
"Something got him," Crowley stated. "If he's saying that this has all been lies, then it's not him."
"Are you sure?"
"Even if he was human, he would know that we're doing the right thing. This is a trap, someone trying to lead you down the wrong path to free Lucifer. Oh joy."
"How do I know if you're telling the truth? You're a demon." Sam felt guilty for listening to this demon's word while he doubted his human brother's.
"If I were lying, would I risk coming here with the possibility of you killing me?"
"I guess not," Sam said. Crowley did tend to hide away from all his problems. Him actually showing up meant that this was important and needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.
"He could still be my brother," Sam tried to reason. "I mean, he's human now so of course he would be against me drinking demon blood, right? Maybe he assumes that the plan is a lie because it seems too risky and dangerous."
Crowley shrugged. "It's possible, but I'm not betting on it. That could be your brother and something erased his memory or changed it. Keep your damn eyes open. I'll stick around here until I'm satisfied nothing absurd is going to happen."
Sam hurried back into the motel as he slipped Dean's phone into his pocket. Dean was out of the bathroom and sitting on his bed. Shit, he would realize the phone was missing. Just great.
But Dean smiled as Sam came in. "Where's your drink?"
Sam tried not to panic as he remembered his excuse to go outside and call Crowley.
"Machine was all out. Probably hasn't been refilled in months." Sam tried to sound casual and he must have pulled it off because Dean nodded.
"I guess we should start tracking down that demon that's in town." Dean glanced out the window at the setting sun. "You're still going to need demon blood to kill Lilith, so you're going to have to get it from other demons. We'll drain it then kill it."
Sam couldn't believe his ears. Dean was still encouraging his blood-drinking even as a human?
"You told me that your blood was different! You said that it was safer for me because it wasn't from some random demon but from you! By drinking yours, I wouldn't get addicted…"
"Well, demons lie, Sam." Dean sounded weary instead of angry like Sam expected. "I was lying to you about everything, using your trust in me to manipulate you. We have to kill Lilith and you're the only one that can. You need to become more powerful, drink more blood…"
"You can't be serious." Sam shook his head. This wasn't right. It couldn't be. Dean's story before about needing to send Lilith to Hell instead of killing her had sounded so truthful. How could he have been lying the entire time? Sam was sure his brother had been honest with him.
But maybe because Dean knew him so well was the reason why he could lie so easily as a demon.
Even so, the thought that Dean was now encouraging Sam to drink more demon blood sent chills down his spine.
"You're telling me to drink more? I thought you'd be furious to know I've been drinking demon blood."
"I don't like it, Sam, but it's the only way. Trust me, if there was any other way to end her, I'd take it in a heartbeat. But there is none."
It was then that Sam remembered how Dean had explained to him that coming back from Hell as a human would have left him broken. The drunk, depressed and damaged Dean that Sam had been expecting was nowhere to be seen. He was not acting like a man who had been to Hell and back, or one who had turned into a demon and tortured countless souls.
In fact, Dean didn't seem to be worried about anything at all, except telling Sam the "real" plan. It was almost as if that was the only thing on his mind. Dean never asked about his missing phone, the pie sat untouched on the table, and Dean seemed to be in a genuine hurry.
Hurry for what? Wouldn't he just want to spend some time relaxing after all that had happened to him? It was like he wasn't affected by anything; of his death, of Hell, of his time as a demon…
What made Dean Dean seemed to be gone. Vanished.
"Can you just trust me, Sammy? It's me now; it's really me now. No demon."
Sam's face pulled into a frown. What Dean said wasn't right.
"It was always you, Dean."
"In a sense I guess, but I didn't care about you then, I was only looking out for myself and making sure that horrible plan was staying on track."
That couldn't have been more wrong. Demon Dean cared, there was absolutely no doubt in Sam's mind. And in Dean's own weird way he had been showing Sam that his little brother was still as important to him as ever.
Dean had been looking out for him. Even if he had been lying the whole time, Dean never wished for Sam to get hurt.
If this was his brother now, Sam wasn't sure he could relate to him anymore.
"But you do trust me, we'll do this, right? Together?"
Desperation was creeping into Dean's voice and before Sam could call him out on it, the front door was flung open.
Standing there in the doorway was Castiel. He had a body that looked achingly familiar flung over his shoulder and had Crowley's left arm clutched tightly with his right hand. From the look on Crowley's face, it was obvious that the demon could do nothing to free himself from the angel's hold.
In an instant, Sam could feel something… he hadn't had his demon drink today, so his powers weren't as strong. But the feeling was familiar… Castiel was carrying a demon. Sam could feel it, and Sam knew that demon…
Sam tapped into his powers with all the strength he had. It took him a moment to focus but he could finally access them. Crowley's soul was flipping out from nerves inside his body; Sam never saw a demon look so frazzled. But that wasn't what shocked Sam…
Castiel was carrying Dean. There was no doubt about that calm soul floating in the body. Sam knew Dean's soul; he could pick him out from a thousand demon clouds without breaking a sweat.
"Dean!" Sam rushed forward, ignoring the newly discovered imposter behind him. He stepped on the salt line, breaking it as he grabbed the body from Castiel, who did nothing to resist him. It was Dean, still in his own body, which meant that every word this thing behind him had said was all a lie.
Sam got his brother in a firm hold, noticing that Dean was knocked out and shivering visibly. Sam cradled his brother to his chest; this was bad, he could just tell.
"What did you do to him?" Sam choked out as Dean's head rolled limply back on his arm.
"Sam Winchester, I must apologize for being doubtful of you and your brother," Castiel stated simply as he walked inside, dragging Crowley along.
Sam walked back over to Castiel, being careful not to jostle Dean in his arms. "I said, what the hell did you do to him?"
While still looking undoubtedly spooked, Crowley nodded at Sam and winked from where he stood by Castiel, encouraging Sam's hostile behavior towards the angel.
Castiel turned and glared at Crowley, causing the demon's smirk to fall instantly.
"Your brother was kidnapped by my brothers. I found them torturing him and overheard their plan. They were trying to lead you toward starting the apocalypse."
"The angels were torturing him?" Sam asked as he laid Dean down on his bed. The older brother didn't move an inch other than his shivering. "What did they do to him? Why is he like this? He doesn't seem injured."
"They poisoned him with a cycle of holy water."
Wow, this angel sure wasn't one to share information. It looked like Sam would have to keep pressing for more.
"What do you mean 'by a cycle'?"
"They infused an angelic spell into his veins which causes the holy water to increase by the minute as it spreads through his body," Castiel stated and even Crowley shuddered at the thought.
Holy crap, no wonder Dean was out cold. He must be in unbearable pain right now with the magic dosage of holy water constantly increasing instead of leaving his system.
Sam stood up from where he had been kneeling at Dean's side only to point at his brother.
"Fix him," he ordered the angel, his tone cold. "You fix him right now. He did nothing to deserve this."
The imposter-Dean backed up aimlessly from where he stood in the back of the room. The creature had nowhere to run and he obviously knew trying to lie his way out of this wasn't going to work.
Castiel nodded. "I was going to do so, but first I have to take care of a possible threat." The angel looked over at Crowley. "This demon was outside of your motel room, peering through the curtains. Should I dispose of him?"
Crowley's face went pale as he began struggling from Castiel's vice grip. "Let me go you feathered abomination."
Sam could have told Castiel to go ahead, but what good would that do? Crowley was the one who had helped lay out their whole plan for stopping Lilith. Sam figured he and Dean might be okay on their own, but killing Crowley wasn't necessary and for now the demon was useful, and wasn't causing any problems other than being annoying.
"Crowley's fine," Sam told the angel. "He's helping us with our plan. He's the one that got Dean out of Hell."
Some kind of emotion passed across Castiel's face although it was hard to read. Sam figured out the reason for the brief glimpse however. The angel was supposed to save Dean from Hell, it was the job he failed at and even though it would have jump-started the apocalypse, Sam figured a part of Castiel must feel bad for leaving Dean down there and letting him become a demon. Instead, Crowley had rescued Dean and was using the older Winchester's help to actually stop the apocalypse.
Who would have thought that a demon's motives would be better than the angels?
Castiel then let go of Crowley who proceeded to rub his arm and seethe at the angel.
"You dirty little flying rat, you have no right to harass me." The demon then turned towards Sam. "Moose, how about you let me know how this all pans out, hmm?"
Crowley stood there, smiling smugly until he began to panic again.
"Bloody Hell! Why can't I teleport?" He glared at the angel, who he realized must be the cause of his problems. "You better let me go now, if you know what's good for you."
Castiel ignored Crowley as he walked towards Dean. "Your threats are empty, demon. You can do nothing to kill me and you will be stuck here until I allow you to leave. If you are a part of this, then you must stay here to discuss."
Sam watched and even Crowley seemed a little interested as Castiel placed his hand on Dean's chest. A light blue light emitted from Castiel's palm as Dean groaned, a heart wrenching and painful noise.
Dean seemed to get even worse as his body began to buckle after Castiel pulled his hand away. Dean curled in on himself, arms flailing before finally coming down to wrap around his stomach, clutching onto it for dear life.
"You made him worse!" Sam yelled as he grabbed onto his brother's convulsing figure. Dean started making a gurgling noise and Sam knew what was about to happen.
Suddenly, a garbage basket was being thrown towards them and Sam looked up to see Crowley grimacing in disgust.
"I don't want to see or smell that, make sure the fool gets it all in there."
Sam didn't have to be told twice as he got the garbage bag over just in time and leaned Dean's head over it.
Dean started throwing up; expelling not only whatever had been in his stomach, but also an amazing amount of water. The holy water had been building up in his brother's stomach.
Soon, the water began to become tinged with red, confirmed Sam's fear that it had been eating away at Dean's stomach, causing it to blister and bleed.
"I am unable to heal him by my own power, but I was able to allow his body to now expel the poison," Castiel stated, seemingly unfazed by Dean's retching.
Dean coughed some more, now vomiting up pure blood. If Dean weren't a demon, Sam would have been sure that his brother would be dead in the next few minutes from blood loss.
Crowley made a disgusted noise and Sam glanced over to see the demon looking like he was going to be sick himself.
"Why don't you go over and keep an eye on him," Sam motioned over to where the Dean-imposter was standing. "Make sure he doesn't try anything funny."
"Oh, it would be my pleasure," Crowley purred in creepy tone and Sam was reminded of just how dangerous and lethal this demon could be.
The imposter let out a squeal as Crowley approached it, backing up into the far wall of the motel in fear. Huh, it didn't seem like a threatening creature, in fact, it seemed frightened and lost.
Sam turned away from the scene and focused back on his brother. Dean was still throwing up and Sam looked to Castiel with pleading eyes.
"This won't lead to any permanent damage, will it?"
"I do not believe so but I cannot be certain." Castiel was watching Sam's hand as it ran up and down Dean's back in comfort and stroked the sweaty hair off his brother's forehead. "You care about him, don't you?"
"Of course I do, he's my brother. I love him, demon or not. I don't get why that's so hard to understand," Sam huffed.
"He would ask about you when my brothers were torturing him," Castiel said. "He would shout your name, ask if you were safe and threaten my brothers if anything was to happen to you."
Typical Dean, not thinking of himself even when he was in mortal danger and putting all thoughts aside to worry about Sam.
"He really said that?" Sam asked even though he knew what the answer was.
Castiel decided to ignore Sam. "He was worried about you as well. Your brother is different from other demons."
Sam sighed. "Me and Dean are a team, we look out for each other and nothing is going to change that. I tried telling you this before, remember?"
Castiel ignored the question once again. Sam was seriously beginning to think that the angel didn't realize that Sam's comments were questions. "If my brothers could be so wicked, then perhaps a demon does not have to be purely evil."
Before Sam could say something back to that there was a high-pitched scream and both of them turned to see Crowley pinning the creature to the motel wall, a knife at its throat.
"You are going to so kindly inform me what the hell you are and why you chose to fester with my plan, alright?" Crowley shook the creature as it struggled.
"I didn't want to! They threatened me! They said that they'd kill me if I didn't do what they wanted!"
"And what did they want?" Sam asked.
"They wanted you to believe killing Lilith was the right thing. They wanted the apocalypse to start. I told them that I'd rather be dead than help with that. I wouldn't want to be living during the end of the world! Then they told me they'd allow me a spot in heaven. Heaven! I'm a monster, when I die I go to the battlegrounds of purgatory. I couldn't deny the offer."
Crowley shoved the creature against the wall again, the blade gently piercing the skin of its neck. "I said, what are you?" Crowley sneered, bringing the knife just centimeters away from the creature's eye.
"I'm a shifter, alright! Please, please don't kill me!"
"That's impossible," Sam stated but had to turn away when Dean made a distraught groaning sound. "I tried silver on you. I tried everything I could think of and you didn't react to one of them."
"They protected me against any of my weaknesses so you wouldn't find out."
"So you just came here and pretended to be Dean?
Eyeing Crowley's movement of the blade, the shifter shook his head. "It wasn't that easy. They made me live through his life. I was in some sort of alternate world. It was as if I saw Dean, going through 28 years! I had to practically be him for 28 whole years! I learned to think, talk and act like him. I even began to care about you even though I didn't even really know you."
Sam gasped. "They wanted you to be like a copy of Dean."
"They wanted me to be a better version. To do the things that your brother won't do because he's a demon now. They said you liked the physical contact, pats on the back and hugging, you missed that and you wanted to be able to see that your brother cared for you. The angels believed that you would be so desperate for those actions that you'd follow whatever I asked of you."
"Do you really think someone could just come in and pretend to be Dean and I wouldn't notice?" Sam said angrily. "Even if you had 28 years of practice, Dean is my brother and I know him better than anyone!"
The shifter sighed and hung his head. "I see that now. I didn't even make it through one day. They're going to burn me alive. I didn't want any of this. Please, let me get a head start and try to run from them. I'm sorry."
Crowley was smiling wickedly at the shifter; he had no intention to let the creature go free. Sam was more understanding. The shifter had come out and revealed everything to them; it wasn't going to be a threat any longer.
"You know if my brother was lucid right now, he'd kill you in a heartbeat," Sam stated.
"I know that, and I don't blame him."
Dean seemed to be getting a little better. He was just coughing weakly now; the blood emerging from his mouth was significantly less. Dean was back now, safe. Sam figured he'd let the shifter go. The angels would probably kill him anyway even though the guy didn't deserve it.
"Go. Hurry before my brother wakes up," Sam told the shifter and it nodded gratefully. Crowley seemed bummed as he let the creature go, scowling reluctantly.
"Wait," Castiel finally spoke up, a thoughtful expression on his face. "The angels will find you all. They will be angry and be able to locate you and try to twist you into their plan."
Castiel walked over to Sam and placed his hand on his chest just as he had with Dean. There was a blinding pain; it felt like his ribs were getting torn out of his chest and Sam practically fell on top of Dean.
Gasping in pain, Sam watched as Castiel did the same to Dean, who buckled and groaned, eyes rolling to the back of his head. When he glanced over, Sam saw Castiel repeat the action on the shifter as he then began walking towards Crowley.
"You are not doing any of your disgusting angel mojo on me, you great winged nightmare." Crowley started backing up even though it was no use.
Castiel reached him and as soon as his hand touched Crowley's chest the demon doubled up in pain, crumpling into a heap on the floor.
"What….," Sam panted. "What the hell did you do to us?"
"I engraved protection onto your ribs. There is a spell carved into your bones," Castiel said as Crowley gave him a 'what the fuck' look. "You will no longer be able to be spotted by angels. They will not be able to come to you unless you pray for them."
Castiel then turned to the shifter. "Leave now," he ordered and the shifter didn't waste a second as it scurried out of the room. "Demons cannot pray to angels. The prayers will go unanswered, so you must pray for me if you are in need of my assistance, Sam Winchester."
Sam nodded. He was actually surprised that the angel did this for them. "Thank you, and thank you for saving my brother. But please, just call me Sam, okay?"
Castiel nodded but he didn't vanish like Sam thought he would.
"Why are you still here?" Sam asked. He noticed that Dean had stopped expelling blood and was now reduced to whimpering quietly.
Castiel walked to the bathroom and Sam was shocked as he returned with a wet washcloth. He knelt down by his brother and even though Sam wanted to pull Dean away from the angel he resisted.
Castiel handed the washcloth to Sam who took it and began cleaning his brother's face. As Sam finished wiping the blood off of Dean's face, Castiel spoke up.
"Your brother is an interesting demon. He is doing the right thing not because of greed, but to protect you. There is something special about him and as I will continue protecting you, I will protect your brother as well."
"Aww, well would you look at that, you boys have your own personal guardian angel," Crowley cooed dramatically but was ignored by all the other members in the room.
"Thank you. Thank you for giving Dean a chance." Sam couldn't believe it, maybe things finally were going their way for once.
"I would be foolish not to stand on your side after finding out my brothers' true motivation," Castiel stated somewhat sadly before his expression turned blank once more. "It is about time we wake your brother, he has much to learn."
Castiel leaned towards Dean. "Dean, you must wake up," he stated, causing Crowley to chuckle.
Dean simply groaned, closing his eyes shut tighter.
"Can it wait?" Sam offered. "He's in pain and needs time to heal."
"No, I must leave soon before my brothers come and search for me. They will not be happy about my betrayal and will soon lock off my power from heaven. I must speak to your brother before I try and avoid them."
Sam sighed. He didn't like the idea but he knew exactly how to get his brother up, no matter what type of pain he was in. Sam left Dean's side only to grab the pie container that still sat untouched on the motel table.
Walking back over to Dean, Sam sat next to him and opened the lid. He broke a piece off of the pie and moved the forkful in front of Dean's face.
"Come on Dean, I know you smell that. I have pie waiting here for you bro, and the sooner you wake up, the sooner you can enjoy it."
Sam almost laughed when Dean began to fight to open his eyes. Finally Sam saw a sliver of black and Dean started struggling to speak.
"S'my?" Dean coughed, a loud hacking noise but luckily with no blood this time.
Sam made sure he was in Dean's line of vision as he smiled. "Right here, Dean." Sam rubbed Dean's back again as he coughed. "Can you keep your eyes open for me?"
Dean obeyed although it was obviously a struggle. "You 'kay? Angels didn't get 'ya?"
"I'm fine, Dean, geez quit worrying about me and think of yourself for once." Sam started to argue but didn't say anything else as Dean's eyes finally zoned in on the pie.
"That apple?" He muttered, his expression becoming hopeful through the pain as Sam laughed.
"Yeah, here." Sam shoved the piece in Dean's mouth before his brother could protest. It was only after Dean swallowed did Sam remember about his bleeding stomach. "Shit, Dean. I'm sorry, I forgot about your stomach. You shouldn't be eating anything while it's damaged."
Dean reached out a shaking hand for the tin. "I can eat through the pain, gimmie it."
But Sam placed the pie on the nightstand. "You can have the pie once you're feeling better, right now we have to talk. Remember Castiel? He saved you from the angels that were torturing you and he wants to talk to you."
Sam moved slightly out of the way so that he could still be next to his brother but Castiel would be in Dean's view as well.
"What the hell…," Dean started and then trailed off, his voice too weak. He tensed as if he wanted to protect Sam from the angel, but he was too weak to do much of anything.
"Hello Dean, I would like to apologize for wanting to murder you and then attempting to send you to Hell and also for succeeding in breaking your neck."
Dean scoffed, his face pale but annoyingly amused. "Way to be subtle with it. Hell, at least you can apologize, whatever dude. I guess I should say sorry for literally stabbing you in the back."
"I will accept your apology," Castiel stated, not realizing that Dean probably wasn't being genuine.
Dean gave the angel a strange look. "Why would you care to save my ass anyway? I thought you believed I should rot in Hell."
"When I witnessed my brothers torturing you, I heard their true plan. They were deceiving me to start the apocalypse. They believe Lucifer needs to be released to start a battle between him and Michael."
"Okay, well I can't be Michael's vessel anymore so why didn't they just kill me? Wouldn't that save a lot of trouble?"
"They seemed to finally understand what I am seeing, that you both have a codependent relationship. My brothers needed to keep you alive in case it did not work out with the shifter. Then they planned on threatening Sam by using you. They would make him go along with their plan and they would keep him alive. However if he refused they would execute you in front of your brother."
Sam shivered, feeling sick at the thought and Dean's face became furious.
"Son of a bitch, they're never going to leave us alone, are they? I have no chance against an angel!"
"I have already insured that you will be left alone. I carved sigils on your ribs as well as Sam's and this demon you are working with. The angels will no longer be able to track you."
"So that's why it felt like I was getting carved apart like a pumpkin. Thanks a lot." Dean rolled his eyes.
"You are welcome," Castiel stated cluelessly. "The angels are growing more desperate and will stop at nothing to make sure Lilith is dead."
"Well this is all splendid." Crowley rolled his eyes from where he stood. "Can you let me go now?"
Castiel turned to face the demon. "I doubt you would want to leave after I tell you the information I have come across."
Dean lifted his head weakly, his interest piqued. "And what's that?"
Castiel's blue eyes met Dean's black ones. "I have discovered the whereabouts of Alastair."