Dean paced around the kitchen, his hands gripped tight on his hair. He stopped and turned to Cas, his voice coming out harsher than he meant. "Does your life really mean that little to you? Even after all that shit they did to you upstairs you're still willing to sacrifice yourself for them. Really, Cas? Really? You know you are unbelievable sometimes!" Cas lowered his head and shut his eyes. He knew it was a long shot and he knew Dean would hate it, but he just hoped he'd see the whole picture. He walked somberly up to Dean, clutching his hands in his own. "Dean, I think you're misunderstanding me here. This is the last thing I want to do, believe me, but if Metatron gets away with this, it's not just the angels that are going to be affected. It's everyone. I'm not doing this for Heaven, Dean. I'm doing this to protect you, and Sam and everyone else we've ever saved. I need you to trust me, just this once." Dean sighed and pulled Cas into a tight embrace, burrowing his face into the nape of the angel's neck. Cas squeezed his eyes shut, already regretting what he had to do, but there really wasn't another way. Barachiel would only suggest the same anyway. "It will be ok, Dean, we'll be ok." Dean let go of the clothing he'd gathered in his fists and looked back at Cas. "I know. Let's just go talk to the others before you go making any final decisions, alright?"
The angels and men sat around the conference table as they weighed their options, but everything they came to always ended up back at the same place which Cas knew was going to happen all along. The more they discussed it the more it made sense. Every now and again he would glance at Dean who either had his face buried in his hands or a cross expression smeared across it. Cas' heart sunk at the sight so he avoided looking at him the rest of the time. They went over the plan multiple times, until almost every kink was smoothed out. Cas wasn't about to fail this time and going at this winging it wasn't going to happen either.
Feeling his anxiety bubbling up, Dean left to clear his head with some fresh air. He felt terrified and angry and worried, like he was going to suffocate in his own skin. He toyed with his keys, spinning them around and around his finger, contemplating taking a drive for a while to get away from everything. He got in the Impala, spinning the tires off the dirt road, spitting rocks and dust everywhere as he went. All the emotions were like whiplash going from feeling like he was living some wonderful dream to have his heart crushed in a matter of hours. He should have been used to it by now between Cas and Sam and everyone else he'd ever loved. His breaths shortened and choked as he fought back tears. He pulled over on an overgrown dirt road and stumbled out of the car heaving breathlessly. A tear trickled down his cheek as he pulled out his gun from the small of his back and shot at a tree, causing splinters of bark to spray everywhere. He exhaled shakily, sinking to his knees, propping himself up against the Impala.
He closed his eyes and swallowed hard when he heard a ruffle of wings coming from the side of him. It was the last sound he wanted to hear at the moment. "I left for a reason, Cas. To be alone." He saw the familiar trench coat out of the corner of his eye as Cas sat next to him. "Not Cas. Try again." Dean swiveled his head around to get a better look at the angel, realizing it was Naomi. "What do you want, Naomi?" He sneered. "It's about Barachiel, Dean. He's been playing us the whole time and I'm afraid the path that he is sending Castiel down... it isn't good," she said with a pleading tone. "I know we've had our differences and you have every reason not to trust me, but if I'm right about this, Barachiel has been helping Metatron all along."
Dean's brow furrowed as he thought about Naomi's assertion, mulling over the last few weeks events. He didn't trust Barachiel, but what he said mostly made sense. But if she was right, then royal shit was about to hit the fan and he needed to know the details, especially since it involved Cas. "I'm listening."
She sighed, a moment of relief washing over her tense body. "Seraphiel came to me about Metatron centuries ago, concerned about his true intentions in writing the tablets. I know the word on the street is that he wrote these tablets by the word of our Father, but the fact is, Dean, it just isn't true. We always knew he had something corrupt in him that wasn't quite right, though he never gave us a reason to question him before now. He would have been executed on the spot if one of us had found out about his plan to shut down Heaven, but the clean up after the war between Castiel and Raphael was completely engrossing and he disappeared and Seraphiel hadn't the means to locate him," she said gravely, pausing to let Dean catch up. "Seraphiel caught wind that Barachiel had surfaced, and when Cas contacted me about Metatron, he saw it as an opportunity to protect Heaven from them. I don't know what you guys have been planning with Barachiel, but I'm begging you to cut your ties with him."
Dean clambered to his feet and looked at Naomi hastily before climbing into his car. She quickly added with a worried smile, "Good luck, Dean." He gave her an appointed nod and threw the Impala in reverse.
A/N: I AM SO SORRY GUYS I'm going to try to be better about getting these chapters done so y'all can have an ending finally :) I know this was a short one, but I really, really, really appreciate all the favorites and follows! Love you all!