The four of them stood with the red-haired woman in front of them. Over a dozen other strangely dressed people surrounded them in a horseshoe formation. The warriors were dressed in everything from Greek and Aztec armor to military fatigues. Each of them had a symbol of a set of scales and a sword in front of it branded onto their left forearms. As soon as they had been transported, they kneeled down reverently. Then they pulled Dean and the Doctor down when they didn't get the hint.

The room in which they stood had wine red walls and a black marble floor with tiny flecks of sparkling silver. The walls had strange images painted on them in metallic gold paint. Scenes of battle, death, feasts, and dances. The ceiling was black, but it had the Greek constellations painted on it in silver. At the front of the room was a raised dais that a glass throne rested on. It reflected the red, black, and gold perfectly.

Sitting on the throne was a woman that looked scarily like Eris. She had the same pale skin and wavy black hair. But her features, though still sharper than a normal person's, were far less cruel than those of Eris, and her calm eyes were red, not green. (Although, that wasn't exactly reassuring.) Her silk dress was sleeveless and blood red, with black embroidery, and a gold metal belt hung around her hips. A black dagger was tucked into it. She was smiling kindly.

The woman said, "You did well Bellatorum." Her voice was like Eris's, except softer and less insane. She nodded towards the red haired woman, who smiled in return. "Were you able to recover any others?"

Bellatorum's smile dropped. "No, my lady. By the time we got there, Eris and hers had already massacred all but these four. They had planned to take the angel and Time Lord, and kill the other two. We just stopped Eris from taking the life of the long haired one." Bellatorum turned to Sam. "What is your name?"

"Sam. I'm Sam."

Bellatorum turned back to the woman. "This is Sam."

The woman smiled and stood up. "Hello Sam. Dean. Castiel." She paused for a moment before adding carefully, "Doctor. I'm sure all of you are wondering who I am."

"I know who you are," Castiel told her.

"I'm sure three of you are wondering who I am."

"That is more accurate."

She smiled. "Yes it is. I am Nemesis, daughter of Nyx and Erebus, mother of none, goddess of balance, justice, and revenge -"

"Sister of Eris." Castiel finished.

Nemesis frowned. "Yes," she admitted, "that too."

Castiel watched her warily. He knew that Nemesis was more likely to punish someone for stealing powers than actually steal them. But she was also Eris's sister, and the two were known to be close. The two may be working together. But if they were, then what was her motivation for rescuing them? Was it even a rescue at all?

Nemesis seemed untroubled by Castiel watching her and continued speaking. "These," she waved her hands to indicate the people around them, "are my faithful human warriors. They assist me in my work."

"Your work?" Dean asked, looking angry.

"Yes, my work. It is my job to keep balance on Earth-"

Dean snorted. "Well you're doing a bang up job."

As soon as he had finished speaking, Bellatorum grabbed him by the neck and shoved his face into the floor, her dagger at the back of his throat. "How dare you speak to the goddess in such a disrespectful manner!"

Castiel, Sam and the Doctor stood up and tried to run towards her, but they were stopped by several others, who wasted no time in giving them the same treatment as Dean. Despite being human, they were easily as strong as Castiel, a result of Nemesis's powers. The four of them were held with their faces in the floor. The warriors towered above them, waiting for orders.

Nemesis looked at Dean evenly. "Release them."

Bellatorum frowned, "But miss, he was disrespectful to you-"

Nemesis waves her hand in dismissal. "He's American, he doesn't know any better." Though her reply was humorous, her eyes were angry.

A blond man in army gear who was holding down Sam spoke up, "But the other three attempted to attack Bella, ma'am."

"They were attempting to protect their friend and brother. I shall not punish them for it." Her gaze shifted from the blond man to the four of them. "This time. Release them."

Slowly, the warriors let go of them and they stood up quickly. Nemesis nodded. "In answer to your statement Dean Winchester, there are many dark and dangerous forces in this world. I cannot fight them all." She looked at her warriors. "Perhaps it is best if we discuss this without the rest of you. We would not want another such incident."

The mini-army looked at her in surprise, but left without protest. They went through a door that was designed to blend in perfectly with the wall. Bellatorum looked back at her goddess once before joining the others.

"Now, let us move on to more important matters. Such as my sister and her consort."

Castiel frowned. "I did not recognize the man. He had godly energy and powers, but he feels different somehow."

"That is because he was not always a god. But you knew that already, did you not Doctor?" Her eyes fell on him suspiciously.

The Doctor's face was distant, as though he were not there completely. He nodded. "I know him."

"Well who is he?" Dean demanded, looking at him angrily.

"He's the Master."

"Who?"

"The Master, I just said that."

Sam asked him, "What is he?"

"He's a Time Lord. Well, was a Time Lord, anyway."

"He is one of your kind?" Nemesis asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes."

"Have you met him before?" Castiel asked, moving closer to the Doctor as though to offer comfort.

The Doctor nodded. "The last time I saw him, he was being pulled into another dimension. Long story."

"Wait a minute," Dean said, "I thought you said you were the last of your kind?"

"Again, long story."

"What I don't get," Sam began when he saw that Dean was about to keep interrogating the Doctor, "is how he's here? The Doctor said he was being pulled into a different dimension, not a different universe. How'd he get here?"

Nemesis looked up at the constellations on the ceiling as she spoke. "My sister can sense extreme sources of chaos, even from other universes. It is possible that she sensed whatever was happening in the Doctor's world, and pulled part of it towards her, thus bringing the Master here."

Sam nodded. "Ok, but that still doesn't explain how he's a god now."

Nemesis answered, "It may be that my sister stole the powers of another god and was somehow able to give them to the Master."

"Would that work?" Castiel asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

Nemesis sighed. "I do not truly know. Most humans could never contain the powers of even a minor god. It would destroy their bodies and drive them insane, but..."

"But the Master is not human. He's a Time Lord." Castiel finished her statement for her.

"What does Eris even want with him anyway?" Dean asked, looking at Nemesis. "She doesn't really need him to go around killing gods. What's the point."

Nemesis shrugged elegantly. "Perhaps she...enjoys him."

It took the rest of them a moment to understand what she meant. Then Dean, Sam, and the Doctor all made 'eew' faces. Castiel still didn't get it.

Nemesis waved her hand. "It matters not. What matters now is how I shall stop her."

"Well, do you think we should do?" Castiel asked her.

Nemesis looked at him. "Perhaps my meaning was not clear, dear angel. I shall do whatever is necessary to stop my sister. You four shall remain in this temple until then."

They immediately began protesting, none more so than Dean. "No way. That bitch tried to kill my brother-"

Nemesis faced him with an icy look that made them all think of Eris. "That bitch, as you called her, is my sister. Regardless of what she has done, you shall not speak of her in such a way. And I am perfectly capable of handling her."

Dean started to say something else, but Sam stopped him. "Ok, but what if she comes here? Does she know where we are?"

"She knows of this place, but she will not come here."

"How do you know that she won't?"

"It is against the ancient laws to attack the temple of another god. My sister in insane, not foolish."

"What if that's not enough? She could be on her way here right now."

Nemesis shook her head. "She will not." She turned from them without further explanation. "Daniel!" She shouted, her voice reverberating through the temple.

The blond warrior walked in through the disguised wall. "Yes ma'am?"

"Escort these four to their rooms. I suspect they need rest, and I know I need to think."


Castiel paced the room that Daniel had taken him to. As an angel, he didn't need sleep, but he knew it would be a bad idea to disturb Nemesis, and Dean and Sam almost fell asleep on their way to the rooms. He was tempted to leave altogether, but Nemesis would see that as disrespect, and they needed her help. So he stayed.

Castiel considered going to Dean's room to watch over him. He knew that the man thought it was creepy, but Castiel enjoyed making sure he was safe. Although, considering how Dean had reacted to his confession earlier, he feared that he would be especially unwelcome tonight.

Castiel was contemplating what he should do now, when someone knocked at his door. "Who is it," he called.

"It's the Doctor."

Castiel stood up and went to crack open the door. "Doctor?" He saw the brown haired man standing with his hands in his pockets.

"Hello!"

Castiel widened the door. "What is it you need?"

"Well, nothing really, it's just that I don't really sleep a lot and I knew you don't either, so I figured that maybe we could not-sleep together." He paused his speech for a moment. "I feel like that last part came out weird, was that weird?"

"I don't think so."

The Doctor shrugged and walked into the bedroom, happily plopping down on the bed. Castiel stood looking at him awkwardly. The Doctor scooted over to the side and patted the space next to him. "C'mon, I'm not gonna bite you."

Reluctantly, Castiel lay down on the bed next to the Doctor. They were silent for a minute before Castiel said, "Earlier, you said that you know the Master. How?"

The Doctor stiffened. He wasn't smiling anymore. He just looked sad. Grief and age had been hidden under a cheerful smile for who-knows-how-long, suddenly come to light.

"I'm sorry," Castiel said, "I should not have asked you that-"

"No, it's ok. I just don't usually talk about it." He paused for a moment before continuing, "He used to be my friend, when we were kids. In fact, he was my best friend, for a long time." The Doctor seemed to be collecting his thoughts, not sure what to say exactly. "He used to be normal, but when we were kids... The Time Lords had a ceremony that when you were eight you would look into the Time Vortex, which was where time and space met. Some would be inspired, others, like me, would run, and others would go insane." The Doctor stopped then, staring at the wall, lost in his own mind.

"And the Master, he was one of these people?" Castiel asked.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah, he was. I remember, for weeks afterwords, he wouldn't let anyone except me near him. Any little noise hurt him."

"Why?"

"He said that he heard drums, in his head, constantly. He still hears them, I think."

"Why did he let you near him and no one else?"

"He said I was comforting. He got better, after a while, but he would till have... attacks, I suppose you could call them, where the drums would get louder and he'd hide away from everyone." The Doctor could remember him, curled up in a ball with his hands pressed to his ears as though he were trying to block out the noise, tears in his blue eyes, eyes that pleaded for help that no one could give him.

"That must have been horrible, for him and you."

"Yes. Yes it was." He smiled, but it was self-depreciating. "You know, something happened, a few years ago, where he did a lot of really horrible things to a lot of innocent people, myself included. I stopped him, but the people around me, my friends... they wanted to kill him. They wanted me to kill him. I couldn't do it. I know it's crazy, but even after everything else, I looked at him and I saw my friend. And he needed me. I wanted to take him with me, away from Earth, but someone shot him. He could have survived, but he didn't want to, because he knew it would hurt me more if he died." His voice started to tremble, and tears leaked from his eyes. "I had to burn his body, Castiel... my best friend, the only other Time Lord, and I had to destroy him..." His voice broke. Hot tears washed down his face as silent sobs overtook his body.

For a moment, Castiel did nothing. Then he turned on his side and wrapped his arms around the Doctor at an attempt in a comforting hug. The Doctor didn't move for a moment. Then he returned the hug, tightening his arms around Castiel so hard a human would have been hurt. He sobbed into Castiel's shirt, his hands gripping his hair.

"And now," the Doctor said, gaining control of himself, "he's back, and I don't know what to do. What if he dies again, Castiel? I don't know if I could live through that again."

Castiel cradled him comfortingly. "Don't worry, it'll be ok." Human words that he knew meant nothing, but might bring comfort. He kissed the Doctor's forehead, a promise he wasn't sure he could keep.


AN: Wow, that turned out way more emotional than I thought it would. Damn. I am good. Please favorite, follow, comment, or not if you don't want to. That's cool too.