Dark eyes fixed Castiel in a resolute stare that would surely pervade most men with unequivocal fear. However, Castiel was not most men. The menacing glare of a goddess would not prevent him from finding his lost brother. After all the death and carnage dragging his home into barren wreckage, he needed one flash of hope that Gabriel could still be alive. The only archangel to reject the plan of an absent father could be the only real family he has left in heaven and Castiel had already lost him twice. Kali was not going to let him lose Gabriel a third time. A raw, guttural snarl escaped Kali's lips as Balthazar opened a thin line along her wrist, letting the blood flow against her sapphire skin in a stomach-churning contrast. Castiel struggled to watch the display, regret ever rising throughout his body, but he knew that this was the nature of necessity and, though regrettable, the torture was the only way he knew to find Gabriel. There was no summoning ritual in the seraph's knowledge and Gabriel's vessel was missing, presumably because it was in use. That left simple praying, which had already been attempted to no avail, or using the only lead they had.
"Where's your boyfriend, Kali?" Balthazar asked curtly and he traced the vein on her wrist with the blade. Balthazar didn't enjoy torture, Castiel knew, but he could play the part as well as any angel he'd met with his casual flirtation and soft voice. The quirk of Balthazar's lips flickered out of existence when Kali chose to answer the question by spitting what Castiel assumed to be venom into Balthazar's face. After all, the enchanted chains wouldn't really allow for much else.
"Go to hell." Kali hissed, somehow managing to fill her words with as much venom as her saliva. Balthazar's features twitched slightly in apparent irritation but quickly returned to a calm smile.
"No thank you sweetheart, once was quite enough. That assault on hell was nasty, wasn't it Cassie?" He paused to raise his eyebrows at Castiel, who inclined his head in agreement, before turning back to Kali. "I save his delicate arse from Alistair only to have him save the precious damsel and take all the glory. It did seem an awful lot of trouble just to save one pathetic-"
"Balthazar." Castiel growled a warning before he could continue. He understood Balthazar's misgivings when it came to the Winchesters but he would not allow him to insult Dean. He had many flaws but neither man nor angel could deny his importance in both the apocalypse and averting it. His thought process was interrupted by the man himself, screaming a threatening prayer into the empty air.
"Hey, Cas! You'd better get your winged ass down here because you got some explaining to do or so help me I will drag it down here myself!". Castiel winced at the ethereal ringing in his mind, the seventh prayer he'd heard this evening.
"Is the ape bothering you again?" Castiel looked up to see Balthazar's eyes fixed on him, completely ignoring the fuming goddess behind him who took her opportunity to voice her own opinion.
"Are you two going to commence with inflicting mediocre pain or are you going to copulate? I have to say this is the most unfocused torture session I've ever endured. Do you want to find your brother or not?" Castiel ignored the personal slight and instead fixated on the latter half of her sentence. If he could just coax information out of her without torture, he would be much better served. After all, the goddess of destruction had to have a rather high pain threshold.
"Do you know his whereabouts or not?" Kali's bloodstained lips twisted into a complacent smirk, one that tantalisingly hinted at knowledge Castiel was so desperate to achieve. He was tired of games and he needed his brother home, the only being more powerful than Raphael he could call on. Castiel knew that calling on Gabriel for his own civil war was selfish, truly, but he had no other options. If he could do this then he had no need of Crowley or purgatory. Even daring to hope that Raphael would listen to another archangel without violence was preferable to deceiving all those who believed in him, futile as it may be.
"His whereabouts? No, of course not. The last I saw of him was shortly after your so-called apocalypse when he terminated our involvement." Kali's account was interrupted by a snort of laughter from Balthazar.
"I'm sorry, honey, I really am but…you were dumped by Gabriel?!" He managed to choke out before creasing up again. Kali's eyes twitched slightly in irritation but her face remained smooth and passive as she contemplated Balthazar's form before continuing.
"He told me that he was going into hiding, however he refused to enlighten me as to how he survived his confrontation with Lucifer. It was my belief that he had perished. No great loss, it has to be said." Balthazar took a moment to whisper to Castiel.
"Sounds like somebody is a little bitter." His grin faltered as Castiel glared. Now was not the time for humour, he needed this investigation over quickly before Raphael could figure out his plan. It seemed as if this interrogation was getting him nowhere.
"So, you know nothing about Gabriel's movements?" He asked, forcing the anger down to keep his voice impassive.
"I know that you'll never find him. He doesn't want to be found, you pathetic winged children. Gabriel made that quite clear, he's done with all of your tantrums and spats. Forget him and move on." Kali replied, with a hint of satisfaction as she regarded the angels. Castiel felt his hope drain away like the grace of a dying brother.
"Balthazar." He stated, conveying both command and request in one simple name. Clearly understanding, his comrade stepped closer to Kali with a ready blade.
"Right you are Cassie, my sincerest apologies Destroyer." Castiel turned away with remorse, feeling Kali's accusing stare flaying his form.
"You are a coward, angel. You cannot bear to look those you execute in the eye or even have the decency to perform the act. Showing such weakness guarantees only one thing; you will fail in all that you endeavour and my only regret is that I will not be there to see it. I bought souls in the hope of protection from your tyranny but I no longer seek it." Castiel could hear the goddess, the monster, calling him clear as a prayer but still, he could not look as her accusations ceased suddenly, with neither scream nor cry.
Dean stared resolutely up at the starless night sky in the salvage yard, the moon struggling to shine through the thick grey clouds imprisoning all traces of light. His throat burned with every slight movement or swallow, hoarse from yelling nonsense at clouds all damn night. Sam and Bobby were inside, most likely discussing his sanity or his blind faith but there was no dragging him inside. If there was one thing Dean prided himself on, it was his determination; or his stubbornness if you asked anyone else. He'd tried bargaining, threatening, pleading and requesting politely but all had been met with a whole heap of nothing (except for one occasion where a rustle of leaves got his hopes up and Dean spent 10 minutes calling dead plant matter a variety of colourful names). Feeling tired, annoyed, sore and hoarse, he decided to try one last time.
"Cas? Please man, I just want to understand." His throat burned, raw and demanding as his voice croaked but the hunter started to continue. Or at least, he would have had he not have been rudely interrupted by the familiar beating of wings.
"Hello, Dea-"
"Took you long enough." Dean rasped, regarding the slightly bedraggled looking angel. Castiel narrowed his eyes slightly at the interruption but stepped forward quietly to gently brush Dean's throat. The moment the tingle registered on Dean's skin he jumped away, startled.
"What the hell man?!" He yelled in shock until he realised that the burning sensation had completely disappeared. Cas looked slightly hurt by his sudden reaction and Dean hurried to remedy the situation. "I mean, thanks for healing me but seriously, a little warning next time?" Cas inclined his head in understanding.
"My apologies." Regarding his friend with slowly diminishing suspicion, Dean cautiously questioned Cas.
"What was that thing with Kali about yesterday? I heard from Sam that you and your smarmy dickbag friend turned up and took her with you. Now I know you're fighting your little pissing match with the douchiest angel in the garrison so why the hell do you have time to press gang goddesses? Forcefully, if I might add." Cas continued his habit of staring relentlessly without even blinking throughout Dean's speech. It makes it very hard to focus when you're being x-rayed by pools of holy light. Attempting to read the expression in the angel's eyes was no mean feat but Dean still tried, surveying his features carefully before Castiel replied.
"Gabriel is alive." He said gravely, possibly betraying a hint of regret Dean thought, before glancing at Bobby's house briefly. Dean's brain took a moment to restart itself as he pondered the dilemma and then realised that he felt mostly apathetic on the whole. What does it matter that their kinda once enemy turned kinda once saviour was alive? Sure, it was impressive that he actually was alive but on the whole, he had bigger fish to fry.
"So the little shit got out then, good for him." Cas cocked his head in confusion.
"You don't seem surprised." As always, Cas won the prize for pointing out the obvious. Dean supposed that it was his older brother and, given that his own brother had always undertaken a surprising resurrection this year, he could afford some empathy for the man. He could understand why Cas was trying so desperately to find him, he just wished that he could help with Sam's soul with equal determination. He and Sam had been more like family to Cas in the past years than the entire heavenly host of dicks so why was Cas so preoccupied with looking for one estranged archan-son of a bitch! Dean clapped his hand to his forehead, marvelling at his own stupidity.
"Dean?" Cas inquired, looking concerned for Dean's sanity as always. An archangel that doesn't want the entire planet is roast is alive! One of the most powerful beings on the planet, why didn't he think of this before? Dean stepped closer to Cas, probably much too close, but he was too elated to care.
"Can archangels get into Lucifer's time out box? Like without being trapped there eternally?" Cas's eyes settled on the hand Dean unintentionally placed on is shoulder and his entire face seemed to freeze, well more so than usual. Removing his hand to prevent flustering Cas further, Dean repeated his question.
"I suppose…they could if they were not trapped there initially. Do you think that Gabriel would bring Sam's soul back?"
"That's exactly what I think Cas so I'm gonna help you find the bastard. I know you've got shit to do upstairs so… y'know, you can do that. I've got this." The corners of Cas's mouth lifted slightly in his funny little way of a smile and Dean could have sworn he heard the faint rumbling of a chuckle as Cas dropped his head in amusement.
"What?" Dean asked, smiling in spite of himself. Lifting his head, Cas regarded him for a moment.
"You." He said, almost fondly, before disappearing in a whirl of feathers.
"Do you reckon he's done having a religious experience or what?" Bobby huffed, rummaging through a pile of mouldy pages Sam could have sworn he'd been through twenty times already. Peering through the window discreetly, Sam attempted to seek out Dean's silhouette which had been his source of entertainment for the night as it made various gestures and dances at the non-responsive sky; however, Dean was no longer visible to him.
"No clue, Bobby. I think he might have given up." No sooner had the words left Sam's mouth when Dean burst through the door in annoyingly high spirits. Bobby rolled his eyes and collected the pages that had flown off the desk from the displacement of air while Dean proceeded to grab a beer from the kitchen.
"I think I've found a way to give the tin man a heart." He sang, taking a swig of his beer. Cold horror swirled around the vortexes of Sam's mind.
"What, for real?" He asked tentatively, daring to hope that Dean was either drunk or teasing. Sadly, Dean's smile only grew wider.
"Yup, we have a martyr that doesn't fully understand the concept." Sam raised his eyebrows, prompting Dean to explain. "Gabriel is alive. Somehow he gave Lucifer the slip and has been hiding out ever since." A steady thrum of panic stirred in Sam's heart and mind as he remembered Crowley's warning. What this soul could do to him wasn't worth thinking about.
"And…can he restore my soul?" He enquired cautiously, trying to hide his intentions from Dean.
"Cas certainly thinks so. So we're gonna find him and make you a real boy again, Pinocchio." Forcing a smile on his face, Sam searched desperately for deterrence.
"How do we even know he's going to pull through? He couldn't even sacrifice himself right and then hid for a year while heaven is falling to pieces! Call me nuts but when the damn trickster is your only option for salvation, you have to consider whether salvation is really worth it? And have you even considered what Crowley said? What Cas said? I'll be a drooling mess if he crams that thing back into me and that's even if he does!" The light in Dean's face faded, his features hardening and becoming hostile in an instant.
"Wow Sam, tell us what you really think. He helped us stop the apocalypse." Sam huffed in amusement.
"Yeah, safe and sound from his hiding place! You want to trust that coward with going into Lucifer's cage? No way will he do it." Grabbing his jacket, Sam stormed over to the door. "I need some air." He let it slam behind him and headed out into the cold night air.
Sparks flew as Sam struck a match hastily, dropping it into the concoction of herbs before him. Heat erupted in his face as the bowl set alight, calling out across the Earth and heavens. There was only one angel that could make a flutter of wings sound sarcastic.
"Why here's one for the list of dumbest things ever. Summon the angel who wants to kill you." Balthazar's unimpressed tones echoed slightly in the derelict warehouse. Ignoring the urge to fill his face with holy oil, Sam kept his voice steady as he replied.
"Desperate times. I need your help, Balthazar." He knew already how Balthazar would take his request but he had no other options; he had to stop Dean from returning his soul. Both sanity and life were at stake. Balthazar huffed as he swaggered towards Sam.
"Interesting...Since last time we met, you wanted to -what was it? Oh, yes, yes -fry my wings extra crispy." A typical answer, as expected. Still, Sam persisted.
"That was a misunderstanding! I need some angelic advice and Cas won't help me." Balthazar's eyebrows quirked upwards in mild curiosity.
"Oh, do continue." He prompted, waving his hand forward in a noncommittal gesture.
"I need to know if there's a spell or a weapon, anything that can keep a soul out – forever."