Disclaimer: You all should know who and what I do or don't own by now. But I will claim the idea behind this story. Also, keeping spoiler free.
One of the things that Dean hated most about Hell was the darkness. There were times he could barely see one foot in front of him. He could've been surrounded by thousands of demons, but in the dark, he couldn't see them. And he was alone.
But when he could see those demons, he was terrified. He saw waves of them. He took into account the differences in the view on the rack and off the rack. At the moment he was off the rack.
It must've been a slow day in Hell because there was only one as he looked down the rack, there was only one person on it. He supposed being was a better term to describe it. A bright being in a silhouette that was almost human. He stepped toward it and saw that it was an angel.
It's hands and feet were bound to the rack by chains. The chains were fastened to its wings by hooks.
He took a step closer to the angel. "Wake up," a voice growled. The angel didn't rouse.
Dean looked around wondering which demon had said that. He looked back to the angel who still hadn't moved. "Wake up," the voice yelled this time. The angel shook awake. "That's a good boy. Good little angel."
The angel slowly lifted his head, and Dean imagined that if he had eyes, he would be looking straight into them. "Please," the angel whispered. "No more."
"Come on, Castiel," the voice hissed. "We've only just begun."
"Dean, stop!" someone yelled through the wave of demons.
Dean spun around to search for the source. He wanted to know who it was, but he couldn't find his voice. He didn't even realize that he was a part of the scene. He thought he was just an observer.
Then he saw her. It was his mom. The same as he saw her when she was back in their home protecting them from the poltergeist. Standing next to her was his father. "Dean, how could you?" his father asked.
The two of them started walking toward him and the angel. "Dad? Mom?"
"How could you do this, Dean?" Mary asked.
"Do what?" The two of them looked to his side and his eyes followed instinctively. In his hand was a bullwhip with carvings all over it. "No," Dean said, dropping the whip. Then he heard it. The hiss in his voice. "I did this?" Dean said.
"Who else could've done this, Dean?" John asked. John walked over to the angel and started to unhook his wings. The angel sagged forward as his wings were free. "It's okay, Castiel," John said gently.
Mary went over to Castiel and put her hands on his cheek. "He didn't mean it," she whispered.
"I know. It's all right," Castiel whispered. His voice shook.
Dean walked over Castiel's other wing and tried to unhook the chains. "Don't touch him," John said. "You've done enough."
"John, it's all right. He's trying to help," Castiel said.
Dean unhooked the chains on the wing and started to unwrap the chains from his arms and legs. Mary and John caught him as he fell forward. The two of them flipped him over and sat him down. Dean knelt down next to him. "Are you ready to leave this place?" Castiel asked, raising a hand to Dean's cheek.
"Not yet," Dean said. He looked at his hand and saw there was a knife in it, like Ruby's but with different carvings.
He raised the knife above Castiel and quickly brought it down.
LRLRLRLRLRLRLR
Dean jerked awake, falling off of the couch. His shirt was drenched with sweat. He got up, groaning. When he looked up, he saw Michael and Uriel standing above him. Michael grabbed his arm and helped him onto the couch. He leaned over his knees, resting his head in his hands.
"Are you all right, Dean?" Michael asked, kneeling down in front of him.
"Bad dream," Dean mumbled.
"That's it?" Michael asked.
Dean looked up and met the eyes of the archangel. "No more lies, Michael. Where is Castiel?" Michael looked away. "Michael, just tell me. I can handle it."
"I'm not so sure about that, Dean. Bobby said—"
"I don't give a damn about what Bobby said. I want to know where Castiel is. I deserve to know."
"You deserve no such thing," Uriel growled.
"Stop it, Uriel," Michael said. The archangel inhaled deeply then slowly let out the breath, shaking his entire body. "Mammon pulled him down into Hell."
"He's in Hell right now," Dean yelled. It scared Michael into falling back. He quickly made his way to his feet. "Are you just going to leave him there?"
"He did what he had to do," Uriel said.
"We'll find him when this fight is over. We cannot risk sending even one of us down to retrieve him while there is war being waged on Earth."
"But he is the son."
"Don't you think we know that," Uriel spat.
"He can't die down there," Michael said. "It was the best thing he could've done."
"Castiel knows how to hold off until we get to him." The three of them turned around to see Gabriel walking in with Raphael in tow.
"You can't just leave him there."
"There are rules we have to follow, Dean," Gabriel said. "Even in war. We can't set foot in Hell."
Dean jumped up from the couch and walked over to him. "Screw the rules. Like you care about the rules. Why does it matter now?"
"It doesn't," Uriel said. "But I trust our brother's judgment."
"And you think that what he did was the best choice?"
None of the angels could look him in the eye to answer his question. "No," Michael said. "But what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing," Uriel answered for Dean. "That's what you're going to do because you shouldn't interfere."
"Well, you can't do anything because you're stuck here instead of trying to figure out a way to help him."
"What do you think we've been doing, Dean?" Uriel said.
"Dean, this has been hard for us too," Gabriel said.
"You sure as hell don't show it."
"Just because we don't show it like you do, doesn't mean that we haven't been affected by this."
"Of course it does, because you guys are angels. And you don't feel. So you can't possibly know what it's like to go through these emotions."
Uriel charged up to Dean and picked him up by his shirt. He pushed him up against the nearest wall and dragged the body up. "Don't you ever say that we don't know what it is to feel. We feel so intensely that a lot of the time it is unbearable. We were raised as soldiers and as soldiers, we were taught to force those feelings aside to get the job done. If we didn't, then we wouldn't be able to handle everything that went on around us. So don't you ever say that we don't feel. Because we feel this," he said. His voice cracked with the last sentence. "We're just better at hiding it than you are."
Michael and Gabriel made their ways on opposite sides of Uriel. "Uriel, don't," Michael said. "Uriel, let go. Uriel."
Uriel finally let go of Dean, the other two angels caught him and lowered him to the ground. "You do not deserve Castiel's loyalty," Uriel growled.
"It was not your decision to make," Michael said.
"It should've been. Because now we're at a stalemate until Mammon heals from whatever wounds Castiel gave him, and our brother has to suffer. You know what they're doing to him."
"We know, Uriel," Gabriel said.
Dean rubbed his throat trying to find his voice. "How?" Dean asked.
"We can see some of it," Gabriel said.
"Why just some?"
"That's all that Castiel lets us see," Raphael said. "He thinks that he's protecting us when he does that, blocking what's happening to him. But it's making it so much harder. And it's so much harder for Eli—"
"Raphael, that's enough," Gabriel said.
"I'm sorry," the healing angel whispered. "I'll be downstairs with Eli and Bobby."
"We should—"
"What is the sixty-sixth seal?" Dean interrupted Michael before he could even suggest leaving him alone.
"Dean," Gabriel said his name as a warning. He didn't want him to push for answers the archangel didn't want to give.
"What is it, so maybe I can stop it? I supposed to stop it, right?"
"You can't. It's not one of those seals you can drive somewhere and just stop like you did all the others."
"Why not? You said I'm supposed to stop this. What is the last seal?"
Gabriel looked to Michael for advice on what to do. "Tell him," Michael said.
"Maybe he'll finally shut up," Uriel said.
"Uriel, go and make sure that Raphael is all right," Michael said. Uriel left them without an argument.
"I didn't realize Uriel could be one obedient puppy," Dean said rubbing his throat.
"Dean," Gabriel said, sternly.
"I know, I got it. I'm sorry." Dean knew that it wasn't time for jokes. "So, the seal."
"Just tell him, Gabriel."
Gabriel took in a deep breath. "If Castiel dies, his wings are ripped from him. Then they are put above Lucifer's throne. When all the light is gone from them, then Lucifer can use them to fly out of Hell."
"That is really specific."
"It is."
"Then why would you let Castiel even come down if you knew that he was the last seal?"
"We didn't know," Michael said. "We knew that he was a seal, but we thought it was just like every other. We could defend it the way we tried to defend the others. But when we found out that he was the last one, he was already on earth, and the demons were already after him."
"But why send him down in the first place?"
"Because he was chosen to save you. Seal or not, he was the one that was chosen to raise you."
"Why didn't you guys just send him back to heaven after he raised me?"
"Because he was chosen to lead you. And he grew close to you. When we tried to bring him back home, he refused. He wanted to save you. Not just from Hell."
"Well, he's back there now. We have to pull him out."
"No," Gabriel said, adamant. "He cannot die in Hell."
"So you guys are going to leave him there?"
"He has to die on a plane that is neutral. And Mammon has to be the one to kill him."
"That's the sixty-fifth seal," Michael added.
"So we leave him down there until what?"
"Until we figure out a way to fix or end this."
"Just bring him back up to heaven after you pull him out."
"He won't be strong enough to make the trip."
"So, you really have no other moves."
"None at the moment. We—"
"No!" Everyone looked around for the source of the sound. "No!"
"Eli," Gabriel whispered.
Michael and Gabriel disappeared from the room in a blink. Dean ran all the way down to the panic room.
When he got to the door, there was a wall of angels blocking his way from getting to where he wanted to be. "Move," he yelled.
"Dean," Sam said above all the commotion.
"Let me through," Dean said. He pushed his way though the wall. When he finally reach the other side, he found himself between Bobby and Sam. "What's going on?" he asked.
"I don't know," Sam replied. "We were just sitting here, and Eli just freaked out."
Eli was on his knees at the edge of his cot. Raphael was kneeling in front of him, holding the vessel's head in his hands. "Eli, look at me. What is the matter?" Raphael pressed.
"I can't see anything anymore, Raphael," Eli said. He was crying and his voice was shaking. "What's happening?"
"He's blind?" Dean asked.
"No," and angel growled from behind him. He was tall, and huge. His presence was intimidating, a lot more than the archangels. "I'm going to kill him. I swear."
"You will wait in line, Ramiel. You can have whatever is left when I am done with him," Uriel said.
"You better leave something for me to have."
"No promises."
"What does he mean that he can't see anything?" Dean pressed.
"Eli and Castiel are linked," Michael said. "Eli, like the rest of us, can see what happens to Castiel. We all have a connection to him."
"Except when he blocks us," Uriel hissed.
"He can do that?" Sam asked.
"He tries," Michael replied. "Sometimes he succeeds. He's been trying a lot more often since he's been in Hell. But no matter how hard he tries to block it, Eli sees everything."
"Like all the time?" Sam asked.
"When he closes his eyes."
Dean made his way to the Eli's side and knelt down beside him. "Eli," Dean said. "Tell us the last thing you saw."
Eli's eyes trailed to Dean, calming down a little. "Dean," he whispered. "Dean, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Hey, for what?" Dean said as if he were talking to a child. "Eli."
"I should've fought to keep him in my body. I wasn't strong enough. I can't see anything."
"Hey, listen. None of this is your fault," Dean said, grabbing Eli by his shoulders. "Listen, we're going to help him. You need to breathe."
"Okay," he whispered. "Okay." His eyes slid closed.
Eli's body fell forward, his head resting on Dean's shoulder. "Is he all right?" Dean asked.
"He's resting," Raphael said.
"Then why is he saying something?"
Dean pushed Eli off of his shoulder. His eyes were still closed. Dean leaned forward to listen to what Eli was saying. "Pater noster, qui es in caelis…" his voice trailed off.
"He's praying," Gabriel said.
Uriel walked over to them. He bent down and picked Eli up. He laid him gently on the cot. Dean stood up and turned to see all of the other angels kneeling. They all had their heads bowed. He saw that Bobby and Sam had made their way out of the room, leaving him the only one standing in there.
He walked around the angels, none of them acknowledging his presence as he moved around them. He finally made his way to his brother and Bobby. "What are you thinking of, boy?" Bobby asked.
"Nothing," he said, walking past them. He walked up the stairs without another word.
And here is another chapter. I'm keeping away from all the spoilers that are flooding the internet. It's so hard. Oh the temptation. But I really hope this chapter made sense. I'm trying to set it up, but I hope I can make it all fall into place at the end.
I just thought that I'd update this because I might be busy for the next few weeks. I turn 21 this week. Woohoo!!! I hope that this chapter turned out all right. Thanks for reading. Please review. Lil-Rock
