(A/N)-Chapter 22 is finally here! Much love to all of you who have reviewed and been patient with me and my crazy schedule. There's a hell of a lot that happens in this chapter, so it's probably going to be long, but here goes nothing, right? My name isn't Sera Gamble, so I don't own the show.

Lydia shakily stood on her feet, sharing a lingering work with Dr. Visyak, then focusing her eyes back on Castiel. "So you found her?"

"Yes," the angel seemed extremely proud of himself.

Lydia nodded slowly, the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach growing with each passing moment. "That's good, Cas. That's really good. She's going to help us now, right?"

Cas shook his head in response. "Unfortunately, the monster doesn't seem too interested in helping us. I was going to see if maybe Crowley would help persuade her. It seems that…"

"Can I talk to her?" Lydia interrupted him. "Alone?"

"Why?" Cas' eyebrows furrowed.

"I just do, that's all," Lydia shrugged.

Cas stared at her for a few seconds more, but finally let go of Dr. Visyak. Lydia took her by the shoulder and led her over to the farthest corner of the room, where she hoped Cas wouldn't hear her.

"Are you okay?" Lydia whispered as she grabbed the woman's upper arms.

The doctor looked up at her, her breathing deep and her eyes trying to mark her fear. "No I'm not okay! What's even going on right now?"

"I wish I knew," Lydia let go of her arms and started pacing back and forth, running a hand through her hair. "All I know is that we need the door opened to Purgatory, and you're the only one who knows how to do it."

"Oh no," Dr. Visyak's eyes widened and she took a few steps backwards. "You can't open that door. A few idiots did it a few decades back, and I'm what fell through. And you're lucky it was me, because the other Purgatory monsters would've destroyed this planet already. If that door opens, you're risking all of humanity here."

"I know that," Lydia sighed. "Really, I do. But if we don't, we're risking all of humanity too. At least if we do this, we'll have a chance to save the world. If we leave the door closed, we don't even have a fighting chance."

Dr. Visyak continued to shake her head, her eyes clenched shut. "No, no! You all never seem to get it! You can't just go around messing with Purgatory!"

Lydia impulsively reached out for Dr. Visyak once again, gripping onto her arm tightly. "Listen to me for a second, okay? Cas, out there, and his partner Crowley…you don't want to mess with them. No matter how strong you think you are, they're worse. Crowley's the King of Hell, and Cas is an angel who's getting desperate. If you don't tell them how to open Purgatory, Crowley will torture you, and Cas isn't going to stop it. So please, just tell me how to open Purgatory."

Dr. Visyak looked quite alarmed and didn't say anything for a few seconds. Finally, she managed to regain her composure enough to whisper, "No. I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"Please!" Lydia barked. "This is your last chance, I'm telling you! I'm a human working with the kings of Heaven and Hell. If they start on you, I can't stop it."

"I know." Dr. Visyak nodded solemnly.

Lydia, with a sympathetic nod, stepped away from her and called out to Cas. "We're done now, Cas." She watched helplessly as Cas touched Dr. Visyak's shoulder and led her away, straight into Crowley's lab. The two women kept their eyes locked on each other, never looking away until Dr. Visyak disappeared into Crowley's laboratory for good. Cas, before going in after her, gave Lydia a helpless look, the unnatural, cold look in his eyes gone. The only thing he looked was...resigned.

"Just do what you have to, alright?" Lydia murmured, looking down at the tiled floor, only watching Cas out of the corner of her eye. He nodded slowly, then disappeared into the lab as well, leaving Lydia alone to hear the first scream-the first of many-to come from Dr. Visyak.

XXX

As the screams increased in frequency and shrillness, Lydia became more and more desperate to drown them out. She knew damn well what Crowley and Cas were doing to that woman, and she couldn't do a damn thing about it except sit here and pray that Dr. Visyak would make it out alive. After a while, the screams stopped completely, and Cas came out, blood spattered all over his trench coat.

Lydia shut her eyes and she stood up, trying not to feel sick. "Did you get what you needed?"

Castiel nodded, his eyes downcast. "Yes."

"Is she dead?" asked Lydia.

"No," Cas shook his head. "But she will be soon."

Lydia shut her eyes once again, taking a deep breath in. "So now what?"

"We know everything we need to," Cas' voice, just like his face, was devoid of any emotion at all. "We need virgin blood and the blood of a Purgatory native, and we have both of those. As long as we do the ritual on the night of the eclipse, everything should work out perfectly."

Before Lydia could say anything else, Crowley came out, yelling, "Cas! She escaped! She's trying to find Bobby Singer and the Winchesters!"

Instinctively, Cas reached out for Lydia, and they disappeared almost immediately. They landed in an alleyway, right behind Sam, Dean, and Bobby, crouched around Dr. Visyak's dead body. Lydia's knees immediately started shaking and she was nothing short of terrified as Cas calmly said, "I'm sorry that this had to happen." The three hunters stood up, anger written all over their faces. "Crowley just got carried away." Lydia felt a wave of shock at Cas' complete and utter lie, but the shock only doubled when Bobby physically tried to attack the angel, only to be held back by Dean and Sam. And the look of he gave Lydia... She shook her head, listening to what Cas was saying. "I don't care what you think, Dean. I've tried to make you understand, but you won't listen. So please, go home and let me stop Raphael. I'm warning you, I won't ask again."

"I think we both know the answer to that, don't we?" Dean sneered.

Lydia watched, as if in slow motion, as Cas disappeared, leaving her standing there alone. It took a second, but she saw him reappear behind Sam, a stony look on his face. Lydia only had time to cry out, "Cas, don't!" before the angel put a finger to his temple. Sam, with a garbled cry, collapsed on the ground, face twisted in pain.

"What the hell did you do!" Bobby shouted. Cas, instead of answering him, walked back over to Lydia and disappeared with her, taking them both back to Crowley's lab.

"Cas!" Lydia screamed. "You broke his freaking wall! You might've killed him!"

"I didn't kill him," Cas explained calmly. "He'll have some serious side effects, but death, in all likeliness, isn't one of them."

"In all likeliness!" shrieked Lydia. "Cas, you need to go back and fix him!"

Cas shook his head. "I will as long as Dean and Bobby stand down."

"Oh Jesus Christ," Lydia rubbed her head, frustrated. "This is seriously not good. This might just be the stupidest thing you've ever done."

"Sorry I'm trying to stop Raphael!" Cas growled.

"I'm not saying that's a bad thing, Cas!" Lydia protested. "I'm just asking...did you really need to break the wall in his head?"

"I did what I had to," replied Cas. Lydia shut her eyes and sighed heavily, not wanting to argue about it any longer. She still had faith in Cas, but that faith was shrinking with each passing moment.

XXX

The next few hours passed by very slowly, almost to the point of torture. Lydia and Cas sat in Crowley's lab and waited for the demon to be finished with the mixture that would open Purgatory for them. Lydia had opened her laptop a few times and tried to watch a movie or two, but she was so anxious that she couldn't focus. There was nothing to do but wait, and that's what they did.

After hours and hours of waiting, Crowley finally emerged, holding a jar with blood inside it, much to Lydia's disgust. "Your Purgatory power-shake is ready. Half-monster, half-virgin. Sounds delicious, doesn't it?"

"Wait, half-virgin?" Lydia held up her hand. "You killed a virgin?"

"The girl was very sick," Cas didn't even blink. "She was only hours away from dying." Then, the angel looked back at Crowley and sternly said, "Crowley, I'm renegotiating our terms. You get nothing, not one single soul. I would never hand all that power to the King of Hell. I'm not stupid, nor am I wicked. Here are your options Crowley: flee, or die."

Crowley was absolutely livid. "We made a pact, you stupid angel! Even I don't break contracts, certainly not like this!" Cas didn't answer; he just kept on staring at Crowley, arrogance and pride written all over his face. "Boy, you can't trust anyone these days, can you?" And with that, after one last look, Crowley disappeared.

Before Lydia could say anything, Cas snapped, "Please don't."

"Okay, fine!" Lydia held up her hands. "Since you insist on doing every possible thing the wrong way today, I won't say anything. It's only to beat Raphael, right?"

"Lydia, please," Cas said through gritted teeth. "Once this is all over, you can lecture me all you want, alright? But for the next few hours, I'm asking you to stay with me."

Lydia didn't look happy about it, but she nodded. "Yeah, whatever. But you're really scaring me, Cas. Just...just tell me you know what you're doing, and it's all gonna work out in the end."

"It will," Cas insisted. "What I'm doing...it seems cruel. But I can promise you, that I'm doing this for all the right reasons."

"Okay," Lydia nodded, still not entirely convinced. "Do you mind zapping me back to my hotel room? I'd like to shower before we have to open Purgatory, y'know?" Cas nodded, reaching forward and touching Lydia' forehead, sending her back to her motel. To Lydia's surprise, she was too tired to even stand, let alone shower. She crawled into her bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

XXX

A few hours later, Lydia woke up with a start. How long had she been asleep? Had she missed the whole thing? Cas would've woken her up, right...? To her relief, Lydia saw that she had only been asleep for a few hours. It was getting close to the eclipse, though, so Lydia put on some clean clothes and prayed to Cas to come get her. After five minutes, though, he never answered her. In frustration, Lydia walked outside and started the hike towards the building. It was only a thirty-minute walk, but it was still annoying. Once she finally reached the building, Lydia shouted out for Cas, only to be greeted by her own echo. Lydia walked into the lab in time to see a bright flash of light. She shielded her eyes, and once the light disappeared, she could see Castiel standing over Balthazar's body, an angel killing blade in his hand.

Once Cas looked up, he seemed a bit alarmed to see her standing there. "Lydia..."

Lydia shook her head, stepping towards him in a blind rage. "You son of a bitch!" Without thinking, she shoved him as hard as she possibly could. "You killed him! Your own brother! He tried to help you and you fucking stabbed him!"

"He betrayed me!" Cas roared, showing more anger than he ever had with Lydia. "He was a double agent for the Winchesters!"

"So you killed him!" Lydia screamed, getting in his face, both of them growing angrier by the second. "Dean was right! You are way off the rails here! You..."

Lydia was silenced by the sudden, sickening sound of a slap, and she felt a pain on the right side of her face as she stumbled backwards, shocked. She and Cas stood an arm's length away from each other, both staring at each other, eyes wide open in shock. Cas took a small step towards her, but Lydia immediately backed up. "Don't touch me."

"Lydia, I didn't mean..."

"Don't touch me!" Lydia screamed, getting further and further away from the angel. "Don't ever come near me again!"

"Lydia, I'm sorry," Cas told her firmly. "But I'm under a considerable amount of stress right now, and I just..."

Lydia was about to tell him exactly what she thought of that, but before she got the chance, she looked out the window to see a thick, black cloud of smoke forming outside. She recognized it right away-demons. Then, she felt her heart stop when she looked under the smoke to see Dean's Impala, Dean and Bobby standing outside of it.

"Oh hell no..." Lydia started to bolt towards the car, but Cas grabbed her by the shoulder and held on tightly, holding her back. With a cry of mixed anger and disappointment, she broke Cas' hold on her and raced down the stairs and out of the building. She ran up to Dean and Bobby, screaming the entire way. "Get in the car, get in the car!"

"'What are you talking about?" Dean snapped.

Lydia, relentless, starting shoving the both of them into the car. "Just do it!"

Dean and Bobby looked up, final seeing what she was talking about. Bobby raced towards the passenger seat as Dean practically dragged Lydia into the backseat, barely having enough time to shut the car door before the demon smoke reached them. Lydia let out a shrill shriek as the car flipped upside down, then heard or saw nothing until she felt somebody shaking her. "Lydia!" She opened her eyes to see Dean shaking her, looking down at her, an almost worried expression on her face. "Lyd, you gotta stay with me. You good?"

Lydia nodded, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah, I'm fine." Dean nodded back, and he, Bobby, and Lydia began to climb out of the wrecked Impala. Bobby extended a hand to help her up, and Lydia accepted it, trying to regain her balance.

"What the hell happened back there?" Bobby asked her.

"He's starting to lose it," Lydia admitted slowly. "He tortured Dr. Visyak, killed Balthazar, killed a virgin, slapped me..." Lydia pointed to her cheek. "He's getting desperate. Really desperate."

Dean and Bobby were both silent for a moment before Dean asked quietly, "You know that we're still gonna try and stop him, right?"

Lydia nodded as she shrugged. "Wouldn't expect anything less." Then, she bit her lip, looking up at Dean questioningly. "How's Sam? He okay?"

"I have no idea," Dean laughed bitterly. "He's back at Bobby's right now."

All three hunters were silent for a second before Lydia remembered what was happening. "Shit, it's gonna start soon. We gotta get in there." Lydia, with Dean and Bobby trailing behind her, started running and went directly into Crowley's lab, watching Crowley and Raphael performing the ritual from the top of the stairs. Dean pulled out an angel-killing blade and threw it at Raphael, but instead of hitting the angel like everyone was hoping, Raphael caught it in his (her?) hand without turning around. Slowly, Raphael and Crowley turned around to look at the hunters, smirking as they were telepathically thrown down the stairs, Bobby landing on the floor, Dean on a table, and Lydia on the very last step.

"Bit busy right now," Crowley sneered at them. "I'll be with you in a moment." He turned away from the hunters and continued to chant at the wall. "Aperit fauces eius ad mundum nostrum, nunc, ianua magna aperta tandem!" Lydia braced herself for the impact, but nothing happened. Crowley looked over at Raphael and shrugged. "Maybe I said it wrong."

"You said it perfectly, Crowley," Castiel appeared behind them, holding a jar of blood. "All you needed was this jar."

Crowley scowled as he walked towards the wall and touched the blood on it, bringing it to his tongue, tasting it. "We've been working with dog blood. Of course." He turned back at looked at Cas, arms folded behind his back. "So how'd your ritual go, Cas? Better than ours, I'm assuming."

Cas closed his eyes, causing a bright light to come out from within him. The light started filling up the room and eventually became so bright, the other five in the room had to shield their eyes. But the light soon faded, and Cas looked at all of them and smirked lightly.

"You can't possibly imagine what it's like," Cas' voice sounded so unlike him, it was terrifying to everybody in the room. "All of them inside of me. Millions upon millions of souls." Crowley, seeing his chance, disappeared right away, leaving Raphael to Cas' wrath, all be himself. "Is something the matter, Raphael? Did somebody clip your wings?"

"Castiel," Raphael started pleading. "You let the demon go, but not your own brother?"

"I have plans for the demon," Cas told him calmly. "But you, on the other hand..." With a snap of Cas' fingers, Raphael exploded, the blade he was holding falling to the ground. He was dead. Cas didn't revel in this for long, however; he starting pacing around the three hunters, his voice still eerily calm. "I saved you yet again, you see. Even though you doubted me, fought against me…I was right all along, wasn't I? Even you, Lydia. You doubt me right now."

"That's not true," Lydia whispered. "I trusted you all the way. Just not some of your actions, that's all. I wouldn't abandon you, Castiel."

"We're all sorry," Dean told the angel gently. "Really, we are. Let's just defuse you, okay? All that nuke inside of you…it's not safe, alright? The eclipse is going to end soon, so let's get them souls back to where they belong. I know there's a lot of bad water under the bridge, but all of us-we were a family once. I'd have died for you, and hell, I almost did a few times. I dunno if that means anything to you right now, Cas, but please listen. I've lost Lisa, I've lost Ben, and now I might even lose Sam. Please don't make me lose you too. Cas, you don't need this kind of juice anymore! Just get rid of it before it kills us all!" Cas looked downwards, thinking about this for a moment. Lydia actually thought that he was going to listen, too, but the angel's pondering expression soon changed into that inhumane look again.

"You're only saying that because I won," Cas told him, causing fear to come creeping back into the hunters' hearts. "Because you're afraid of me." Behind the angel, Lydia saw Sam-she had no idea how he got here but the way he was stumbling and clutching at his head, it didn't look good-pick up the angel-killing blade that Raphael had dropped. Once she realized that he was trying to kill Cas, her eyes widened and she shook her head; she was too shocked to say or do anything, so she just stood there dumbly, silently pleading with him not to do it. "None of you are my family," Cas said icily, continuing with his speech. "I don't have a family. Not anymore."

Sam, with an air of finality, stabbed Cas' back with the blade. Lydia suppressed a scream and instead shut her eyes, not wanting to watch the man she loved die. After a few seconds and nothing happened, she heard Cas' voice. "Hello, Sam. I'm glad you made it." Lydia opened her eyes again, and watched as Cas reached and pulled the angel blade out of his back, like it didn't even hurt him. "But I'm afraid the angel blade won't work, because I'm not an angel anymore." He turned and looked at Sam, giving him a frightening look, and Lydia, for a moment, thought that Cas was actually going to kill him. Lydia stormed over to Sam and stood in front of him, blocking Cas' path to him. Cas didn't even seem fazed at this gesture; he just glanced coolly back at Dean. "I'm your new God, a much better one. So you will bow down to me and profess your love onto me, your Lord. Or I shall destroy you."