God glared at Metatron, feeling heat start to pool in the tips of Her fingers.

"Father, please, I –"

"You do not speak to me unless spoken to!" God snapped. "And you do not address me as Father. I renounce you as my child, Metatron. You have betrayed me beyond all redemption."

He whimpered and shrunk further into himself.

Satisfied that he would remain where he was, God turned to the angel on the floor. "Naomi, awaken. I have need of you."

Slowly pulling the instrument from the back of Naomi's head, God helped the flesh knit back together and smiled when the angel's eyes blinked.

"Father?"

Hello Naomi."

Naomi's blue eyes filled with tears as she grabbed at God's hand. "Father, please forgive me! I lost sight of what was important, what you taught us. I'm so sorry!"

With a soft smile, God placed a finger over Naomi's lips. "You recognise the wrong you did, I can ask for no more than that. You may do your penance in your own time, but now I have need of you."

She nodded. "Anything."

"Bring him to me. The last archangel."

Naomi nodded and vanished.

God rubbed Her temples tiredly. "I will deal with you later, Metatron. Know that you will be killed if I find you have left Heaven in my absence. Do you understand?"

He cowered and nodded. "Yes, Lord."

Her mouth set in a grim line, God disappeared to Earth. She had an appointment with the Winchesters.

….

"So, let me get this straight: You're human, I'm dying and God came back?"

Cas nodded at Sam. "Those are the basic facts, yes."

Sam blew out an exasperated breath. "And you found all this out while I was asleep?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Hey Cas, can you, uh, give us a minute?"

When Cas left, Dean shifted awkwardly in front of Sam. "Listen, Sam –"

"I could hear you."

Dean froze. "What?"

"I wasn't exactly asleep. I could hear what you said to me." Sam smiled. It had been nice, hearing Dean say it. Especially after all the years of 'no chick flick moments'. "And Dean, just so you know, you don't always have to look after me. Let someone look after you for a change."

Dean huffed out a laugh and ruffled Sam's hair. "Nice try, Sammy. But until you're better, that's not happening."

"I'm not getting better Dean. Kevin was right."

Shaking his head, Dean sat next to Sam. "Don't say that, Sammy."

"I can feel myself dying, Dean!"

"There's got to be something we can do!" Dean dropped his head onto Sam's shoulder. "There has to be something I can do."

"There's nothing you can do, but I am a different story."

Dean's head snapped up and he heard a soft squeak fall from Sam's mouth. "Who the hell are you?"

The woman in the doorway looked Dean up and down, before nodding in approval. "Dean Winchester. The Righteous Man. It's nice to finally meet my champion in person."

"Champion…what…?"

"You're God." Sam said flatly.

Smiling widely, God walked into the room. "And you're Sam Winchester. You know, I'm proud of you. You've gone beyond what was ever expected of you. Well done."

Dean stood up abruptly. "Hold up. What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to heal your brother. I'd say he's earned it."

A burning anger started to overwhelm Dean. "Earned it? Earned it?! He almost killed himself three times over and you say that he's earned it! Lady, you better explain something to me, or I swear…"

"Explain what?" She cocked an eyebrow. "Explain where I was? Explain what I was doing? What exactly do you want me to explain?"

"Where were you?"

Both Dean and God stared at Cas. He was clutching the doorframe, knuckles white, and he was glaring at God.

"Father, where were you? I screamed for you. I prayed for you to return. I went looking for you! So please, because I would dearly love to know, where the fuck were you?!"

Sam sucked in a breath at Cas' language. He almost never swore.

God looked apologetic. "Castiel. My brave, wonderful child. I promise you, I will put everything right. And I will give you a full explanation in time. But now, Sam, you must be healed or you will die before noon tomorrow."

Ignoring Dean's shout and Sam struggling, God placed Her hands on either side of his face and felt a gentle heat leave them. It sank into Sam's skin, before bursting back out of his body in a wave of black.

Sam sank back onto the sofa with a contented sigh. "Thank you."

Turning to look at Dean, God lifted a hand and traced his face. "Leave him to rest. I will be back shortly, but I feel I should deal with Metatron as quickly as possible. Expect another visitor tomorrow."

With a soft kiss to Her fingers, She turned and vanished on the spot.

Dean looked at Cas. "That was unexpected."

Cas shrugged. "Father has always been impulsive. Just read the Bible. And He has always been busy. Be grateful He even spoke to you at all."

"I don't exactly think that's a thing to be grateful about." Dean muttered, glaring at the floor.