I was so tempted to just split this update into two parts...but I went "Dammit, Skia, you promised them!" So a 5-part chapter it is. xD Enjoy!

We land outside in the parking lot and walk towards the diner. Uriel rolls his shoulders, relieved to be free of the veil and in a physical state once more. With a sweep of his hand, he swings open the door. As we walk in the demons jump up, surprise written over their faces. The waitress is the first to step forward and snarls,

"Hey, morons, can't you read? We're cl-"Her expression suddenly falls, replaced by one of pure trepidation,

"Wh-what are you-"

"The exterminators," Uriel says, a faint smile of glee on the corners of his mouth. One of the duller demons frowned in confusion,

"But we didn't call in no pest ex-" But Uriel turned his eyes on him, and in a split second the demon burst into flames before us. All the others had fallen silent, paralyzed by sheer horror. They knew they were the prey now.

"First off, we'd like to know which one of you killed a friend of ours. His name was Raguel," Uriel continued over the piercing screams of the demon as it wheeled around blindly into the kitchen. No one made a move to stop him. All eyes were on us. The waitress stammered,

"W-we don't know anyone by that n-name. Sir." I could tell Uriel was enjoying himself, perhaps too much than he should be. Before he could similarly spontaneously combust her, I narrow my eyes and step forward.

"Wait," I say, looking around at the terrified faces of the demons. They were telling the truth. Not a single one of them knew, "They're not lying. Let's make this quick."

Uriel has a look of disappointment, but he dips his head in obedience.

At my glance, we spread our wings. Pure energy surges outward from my vessel, spilling through and into the space around us and permeating the very air with power. I can barely hear the screams of the demons over the ear-shattering whine of my Grace as it manifests itself. For a brief moment, even I could not see. Then, the light fades and I am standing in a room full of smoking corpses. The smell is terrible.

I fold my wings, then look around to take stock of the damage. An old machine continues to play discordant music to the side, eerie and disembodied. There are no survivors- wait, there is one, huddled in the corner. It is the demon in the waitress' body, her hands pressed against her face as blood seeps through her fingers. My angel blade falls into my hand, but as I take a step forward Uriel reaches out and grabs my arm,

"No, let's leave this one alive." I look down at my arm, and he quickly drops his hand.

"Why?"

"Let her serve as a warning to the others. She'll be dead soon, anyways." I look back at the demon, who was still cowering pitifully on the ground.

"Very well."

We head out of the diner, and with a quick movement of my hand the lights blink off and toss the diner into darkness. Uriel slams the door closed behind us, so that to any mundane human it would appear as if nothing at all had just occurred behind the doors.

As we cross the vacant parking lot, I abruptly freeze in my tracks and cast the two of us back into a state of imperceptibility. And just in time, too. A car purrs up around the corner, headlights off, and stops about fifty feet away from us. As we watch, the figure inside pauses for a brief moment, then steps out- and it is none other than Ruby.

"Why is she back?" Uriel mutters to himself. The demon's face was a mask, and neither of us could tell what her purpose was of returning. She appeared to have mended herself from the injuries she had received in the morning. However, when she got closer, she must have sensed that something was wrong. The demon tensed, stopping in her tracks as she drew in a deep breath…then started in a dead sprint towards the diner. We followed close behind. Ruby took the back door entrance, stalking up and listening for a few moments before kicking in the door. It gave away with a loud CRACK, and I flinch, hoping that no humans were in the vicinity to hear it.

After fumbling for the lights and finding them all dead, Ruby breathes out a word of profanity before continuing in…and promptly tripping over the burned corpse of the demon Uriel had lit on fire. I hear her choke back a scream, hand clasped over her mouth as she takes in the small flames still flickering on the smoking body. Uriel laughs out loud, though it went unheard by anyone save me, his vessel's white teeth flashing in the dimness. It unsettled me greatly. Ruby, having somewhat gotten over her initial terror, glances around before slowly backing out. She pulls out her phone, dialing in the same numbers from the morning. After a few rings, the person on the other side picks up.

"Hey, Sam, it's me. You're going to want to see this." Uriel's face hardens, and I am at loss for words. Something was going on between Sam and this demon. Something very bad. I hear Sam's voice reply on the other end, thick with drowsiness,

"Wh-Ruby? Where have you been? It's-"

"I ran into some of Lilith's thugs this morning, okay? Just get your ass over here."

"Uh, yeah, okay. Where you at?"

"Some place called Johnny Mac's-"

"Wait, what?"

"What do you mean, 'what'? You're not scared of cheap diners, are you?"

"No, no, not that. I mean, I was just there this afternoon. It was crawling with-"

"Demons. Yes, I know. And they're all dead now." There was a pause.

"And you killed them all? By yourself?" It was Ruby's turn to be caught by surprise,

"What? Hell, Sam, you gotta wake up to the present here. Something big got to them. Something, like, demon-killing big."

"…Alright. I'm coming over right now. I'll be there in ten." I hear a car starting up just as Sam hangs up. As Ruby looks around and leans herself against the wall, eyes deep in thought, I say to Uriel,

"We must do something."

"I agree, Castiel. But-"He freezes in mid-sentence, head abruptly tilting upward. After a pause, Uriel nods once to the voice that only he can hear, "Yes. I will do that."

He turns to me, sighing, "I have been summoned. You are to go warn Dean Winchester; that is all. Oh, and try not to get him killed while I'm gone." He disappears in a gust, leaving me frowning with irritation. I was not some toddling child who needed to be watched. Uriel must be getting too full of himself. I toss a glance back at Ruby before taking a few steps and bearing myself back towards the motel.

Dean was alone in the room, asleep on the couch with a book spread over his lap. I saw that Sam had just driven off, and wondered why my superiors couldn't have just ordered me to stop the car or kill Ruby. Still, I did as I was told. Landing soundlessly beside the sofa, I paused, unsure of how to initiate contact with him. The first time that I had attempted to communicate to him had not ended very well, but now I've been commanded to speak to him? I was uncertain that he would understand me this time… But if I just woke him up, then he would no doubt notice that his brother was gone and go after him. With that in mind, I partially manifest myself in the room.

Just as I do so, the television hums to life, followed by the radio. Both begin droning with familiar white noise. Dean slowly blinks awake, looking around sleepily as he rubs his eye with a hand and I say to him, "Wake up, Dean Winchester."

Dean's expression changes in a split second as he sheds the last of his drowsiness and rolls over. I continue,

"Your brother is in great danger."

I watch, exasperation growing as he grabs the gun wedged into the side of his bed and stands. He glances down and sees Sam's bed empty.

"Do not let him take this path, Dean. No good can come out of it."

He lifts his pistol to eye level, walking past me and towards the door. He flinches as the drone around us increases in pitch, hand going to his ear.

"He's gone to Johnny Mac's to seek out Ruby, the demon who is poisoning his mind."

Dean groans in pain, the gun dropping to the ground as glass around him cracks and then shatters.

"Go find him, Dean. Now!" I turn my head upwards at the mirror attached to the ceiling. Cracks form like spider webs across the surface and cause Dean to look up as well. His eyes widen, and he lunges to one side as it comes crashing down…

Perhaps I was too harsh on him. I guess I was not as tolerant of humans back then as I am today. I might have gone further and probably actually killed him if Bobby had not burst into the room at that moment. I lift my hand, and silence falls like a blanket.

"What the hell is going on here?!" He rushes to Dean, crushing loose fragments of glass as he goes. Dean is trembling on the ground, cut and bloodied hands still gripping the sides of his head like a scared little child.

I watch as the older man helps Dean up and out of the room. In seconds, I am alone again. No doubt I have disappointed my superiors. I look around, taking in the shards of glass and flecks of blood on the carpet, before leaving.

It takes me a while to locate Uriel. In the end, I find him inside some run-down coffee shop. Across from him sits an angel whom I don't recognize.

"But just listen to me! If we-"Uriel stops mid-sentence when he senses me standing at the door and looks up,

"Oh, Cas," he seems suddenly subdued again, "Come, let me introduce you to a friend of mine."

I was uncertain if the angel in concern was actually willing to be referred as a "friend". His vessel looked a bit sick and sheepish, and when he made eye contact with me he quickly looked away. I strode over to their table and sat down. There was an uncomfortable length of silence before Uriel finally motions towards the other angel,

"Castiel, this is Samandriel. He's a younger one," he added, as if I couldn't tell the age of an angel. When I don't reply, Uriel continues,

"Ah, yes, so we were just discussing the string of recent angel murders. Samandriel here was called to meet with me to discuss it." Samandriel quickly nodded, still not meeting my eyes when I peered down at him. The human he was in possession of was that of a young adult male, but obviously not his true vessel.

"And what have you discussed thus far?" I inquire, averting my gaze to turn towards the only customers, an entangled couple in the corner of the small shop. Both smelled thickly of alcoholism.

"Our Garrison and his have decided to join together and uncover the killer."

"His garrison sent him?" I said it a bit rudely, but the other angel did not seem to care.

"Oh no," Samandriel quickly replied," My superiors are all occupied with other matters at the moment. I-I was available, so I came."

"Occupied? Is there any word on Lilith, then?"

"Not that I have heard, no. But something is going on. They're just not tel-"

"What about you, Castiel?" Uriel interjected, "I presume you were successful in warning the Winchester?"

"Well, he's alive," I say, about to cast him a look of reproach, before Samandriel turns to me suddenly with eyes full of wonder,

"You were the one who raised Dean Winchester from Perdition?" Word can spread fast in Heaven. I nod, and he continues,

"So…you're his guardian." I frown. I never heard that word mentioned when I was given my instructions. Or perhaps I didn't look closely enough through the subtext. Those always eluded my understanding, and even more so when I spent time among the Winchesters. Uriel, noticing my discomfort at the word, says,

"Would you like to go examine the scene?" referring to where Judith had been murdered. I nod, and all three of us are whisked away. The couple never noticed us.

We find no trace of a demon, just like the last killing. Uriel called over Ezekiel, the first one to find Judith's body, to testify what he had seen. Samandriel stood to the side, fear radiating from him in waves. I didn't confront him about it only because I deemed that he was still young, and probably had not even been in a battle before. After Ezekiel finishes speaking, I notice a spot of something dark in one corner of the alley. It is blood. I walk over to it and bend down, scraping some off with a fingertip, and immediately I know that it is from Judith's vessel. Ezekiel comes to stand beside me, glancing back at where Uriel stood with Samandriel, before leaning and whispering,

"Do you really think a demon could have accomplished this?" I look up, confused at why he is so secretive about this, but I reply back in a low voice,

"There are a few demons that have possession of angelic blades." Ezekiel nods, but something still seems to trouble him,

"But even a demon with an angel blade cannot overpower an angel so easily and leave so quickly. Judith's blood was still warm when-"

"When did you say you found her body again?"

"Early this evening." But I remembered that Uriel had told me she had been killed last night. I straighten suddenly, turning towards Uriel,

"Uriel-"

Just as he looks my way, I feel myself being summoned again. This time, though, instead of the voice of a psychic, I hear Bobby's voice calling me in Latin. I can only form the words,

"I must go," before I unfold my wings and take flight.

Dean and Bobby had done a poor job on attempting to ward the old barn. Most of them, understandably, were to trap demons, while others were for various pagan deities. One or two symbols appeared to be for angels, but they were mediocre at best and probably couldn't even ward a fly. I stand outside, watching them move about restlessly and anticipating my coming with an array of useless weapons. I wait. They grow even wearier, eventually taking seats facing the door. I wait more, until finally I hear what I have been waiting for.

"Yes, I understand," I reply as the voice fades. I stride towards the building and listen as Dean complains to Bobby,

"You sure you did the ritual right?"

"Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?"

I flick my hand, causing the small barn to suddenly quake. Immediately, the two humans jump up as if they'd been burned, hands going to their weapons. I step out from my invisibility, allowing some of my energy to pour out and into the building. I hear light bulbs shattering inside.

I am standing outside the door now.

I hear Jimmy's heart beat in time with my Grace. He knows something is happening; something that will change our lives and perhaps even the course of history forever.

I fix my gaze on the door. My destiny awaited behind those simple wooden planks.

It swings open, and I do not hesitate:

I walk in.

/is fangirling so hard

Please review! *u*