Dean found himself in a small, luxuriously decorated room. The walls were a pearl white edged with gold trim and there were several heaven-inspired paintings on the walls. Shit. Between the carved pillars, marble table, angelic statues…it was the kind of décor that even Kayla's parents would have thought too extravagant. So what the hell was he doing here?
"Hello Dean." He turned towards Castiel's voice. "It's almost time."
Obviously that was the only enlightening thing he was going to offer, so Dean continued examining the room. Is that a harp? When he turned back towards the table he saw two dishes had been put there, one filled with ice and his favorite beer, the other a plate filled with what looked like cheeseburgers.
"Hello Dean." Zachariah now. "You're looking fit."
Awkward. "Well look at this. The Suite Life of Zach and Cas." They gave him a blank look. "Never mind. What is this, where am I?"
Zachariah raised his arms, apparently more impressed with the room than Dean was. "Call it a green room. We're closing in on the grand finale here, wanna keep you safe before show time. Try a burger." He held one out to him. "They're your favorite, from that seaside shack in Delaware? You were eleven?"
Were they for real? "I'm not hungry."
"No? How about Ginger from season two of Gilligan's Island. You have a thing for her don't you?"
He raised his eyebrows. "Tempting. Where's Kayla?"
"That's sweet. She's with Bobby, and…one of Lucifer's kiddos right? Interesting choice of companions."
"Dominic." Castiel filled in.
"Why would…oh right, daddy's coming to town and all." He wondered what the specifics on his appearance were. "What's the game plan?"
"You let us worry about that. We need you focused, relaxed."
"Well I'm about to be pissed and leave so start talking chuckles."
Zachariah tilted his head, the way Cas did when he was trying to focus in on something. He nodded behind him and Castiel disappeared. "All the seals have fallen, except one."
"That's an impressive score, that's right up there with the Washington Generals."
"You think sarcasm's appropriate Dean? Considering, you started all this?"
Low blow.
"But the final seal, it'll be different. Lilith has to break it, she's the only one who can."
"Where?"
"We're working on that. Let us do our job and you do yours."
"I don't even know what my job is." Suddenly Cas was back, Kayla was with them.
"There," Zachariah smiled and spoke as if to a child. "Do you feel better now? You'll know the details in good time."
"Isn't now a good time?"
"Have faith."
"What, in you?" Dean laughed. "Give me one reason that I should."
"Because you swore your obedience." He stepped up to him. "So obey."
The angels disappeared.
"Dean I don't like this."
"You're telling me." He sighed and paused to collect his thoughts. "Dominic's with Bobby?"
"Yeah, well he was when Cas jerked me out of there. He came to help, he doesn't want daddy showing up anymore than we do."
From what they knew about him it made sense. "I suppose death of the human race would kind of cramp his style. He know anything useful?"
"I think he knows a hell of a lot more than we do. He said the angels were on Lucifer's side, he doesn't think we should trust them."
"Or maybe we can't trust him." Dean pointed out.
She couldn't argue there, but still, her faith had once again been shaken out. "But what if he's right, Dean, what if Cas is the angel's Ruby?"
He hadn't really thought about it like that and it was more than unsettling. Ruby played the good demon, the one that was different than the rest and befriended Sam in order to manipulate him. They've got Cas, the confused angel who doesn't know what side he should be on and they easily believed him. "Well. Aren't we just a bunch of damn chess pieces today?"
Kayla didn't like the idea any more than he did. What's more she felt horribly guilty about condemning Sam for believing in Ruby. Sam was a hell of a lot smarter than Kayla considered herself, and also a lot less trusting. She fell for Castiel's gospel faster than he'd fell for Ruby's and now no one knew what the hell was going on.
"Maybe he's not." He read the look on her face. "Maybe he's a pawn just like we are, maybe he doesn't know." It was more wishful thinking than actual fact.
"Maybe you should call Sam."
"I was just thinking the same thing." Dean pulled out his phone. He had to swallow his pride to pull Sam's number up and press the green button. The phone rang once and went to the machine. "Hey, it's me. I'll just get right to it I'm still pissed and I owe you a serious beat down. But, I shouldn't have said what I said. I'm not dad. We're brothers, we're family and uh…no matter how bad it gets that doesn't change. Sammy I'm s..." The machine beeped before he could tell him he was sorry.
"Why do you think she's doing it?" Kayla started looking at the paintings around the room. "Her intentions are obviously impure but she is making him stronger. What would be the point of trying to turn him into a demon?"
"Not a demon, stronger than a demon."
She nodded. "So he can do something they can't? There are two sides to this, maybe the angels do need you for something, and maybe the demons need Sam."
"Great." He sighed. "And it has something to do with Lilith."
"God I wish he hadn't yanked me out of there. We needed to know whatever he was about to tell us."
"Because Lilith is the final seal."
"Excuse me?" Bobby looked at Dominic, the stranger he was suddenly forced to listen to without so much as an explanation of where the hell he came from.
"All but one seal is broken, and Lilith's death is the final seal. She was the first human soul to be turned to a demon, and her bloodshed is what will break the final seal."
"And that's what we're looking for."
Dominic nodded, watching Bobby at his computer. "We're looking for something horrible, a horrible and violent tragedy. Most likely on sacred ground."
"Right 'cause that's rare."
"We're running out of time."
"Don't get pushy boy."
"Boy." Dominic smirked and chuckled quietly, he liked this Bobby Singer. He wouldn't call him boy if he knew who he was.
"Who the hell are you anyway? How do you know Sam and Dean?"
"They investigated me once…thought I may be up to no good. Obviously they were wrong."
"Yeah well you haven't proven that yet."
