CHAPTER FIVE

000

Warnings and disclaimer are in the first chapter

000

-Previously-

Michael looked at Castiel and Harrison for a moment before said, "I'm here because I have work for you and your mate."

000

Castiel looked at Michael with suspiciousness in his eyes. "You have work for us?" he asked the archangel. "What sort of work?"

Michael waved a hand, setting up a powerful privacy ward to prevent eavesdroppers, before speaking. "I would like the two of you to become my agents," he said simply.

"Your agents? Why?" Castiel asked Michael with a slight confusion in his voice.

Michael sighed wearily. "Father has disappeared from Heaven."

"What?" Castiel gasped. "What do you mean with he has disappeared from Heaven?"

"I mean exactly what I said, he has gone disappeared. The last of our brothers to speak to him was Gabriel, but he too has also disappeared. Raphael has taken Father's disappearance the hardest; he is no longer the compassionate angel you once knew. He has become cold and disdainful and is among several of our brothers who wish to start the apocalypse," Michael explained softly to the two of them.

"Why would he want to start the apocalypse?" Castiel asked Michael.

Michael sighed sadly. "I think he hopes that this endeavour may gain Father's attention, wherever He may be. He would not sit idly while His beloved humans are eradicated."

"What if—" Castiel cut himself off when their waiter arrived at the table, carrying a tray laden with food. He waited patiently as the young man placed Harrison and his respective plates before them, before turning to ask Michael if he would like to order. After Michael politely declined the menu, the waiter left and Castiel picked up where he had left off. "Perhaps Raphael wants to use the apocalypse to restore the humans' believes in us."

Harrison shot Michael a nervous look before speaking up, "That could be the case," he fiddled with his fingers. "Not as many believe as they once did, choosing instead to rely on logic and science. But it would be much more effective if he used miracles and acts of goodwill to restore faith, not death and destruction. While it may convince the humans that God does exist, they may view Him as a cruel God for allowing so many to die just to regain His believers..."

Castiel nodded, sombrely agreeing with Harrison. "Would our agreement to become our agents prevent the apocalypse?" he asked Michael.

"That is what I'm hoping for. All I ask is that you help prevent the breaking of the sixty-six seals, if they're broken then Lucifer will rise," Michael hesitated for a moment. "But the first seal is already in danger of being broken."

"How?" Harrison asked. "What is it?"

"The first seal shall break when a Righteous Man spills blood in Hell. As he breaks, so shall it break," the archangel quoted. "Dean Winchester, the Righteous Man, currently resides in Hell."

"And you want us to get him out before the seal is broken?" Castiel asked.

"I do."

Castiel looked at Harrison, who nodded tightly. "All right, we accept."

Michael smiled at his youngest brother gratefully. "May Father's grace guard you from harm," he murmured, then disappeared with a flutter of his wings.

000

"Castiel?" Harrison called out several hours later, walking from the bedroom where he had been resting to the spacious library.

Castiel set aside the book he had been reading when the younger male appeared in the doorway, he smiled gently and beckoned him closer.

Harrison slowly crossed the room, when he arrived at Castiel's side, the Seraph tugged him down until he was straddling his lap. The cambion blushed at the provocative position, but made no move to get up.

"What do you think of our assignment?" he asked, gently winding his arms around Castiel's neck.

"It frightens me," the Seraph said honestly. "We'll face many dangers when embarking on this task, I don't want you getting hurt or..." he trailed off, but they both knew what he was about to say... killed.

"You have to have faith, love," Harrison whispered. "You need to believe that, even though your Father is nowhere to be found, He will not allow any harm to come to us."

"I do. I do believe..." Castiel rested his cheek on the top of Harrison's head as he allowed his grace to blanket them comfortably for a moment. But after a few minutes, he reluctantly moved Harrison from his lap and stood up. "Shall we get this over with, then?"

Harrison nodded. "Let's do it."

Castiel's wings unfurled and with a wave of his hand, his usual suit and coat attire disappeared, replaced with something a little more suitable for the excursion.

Despite the sober mood, Harrison could not help but admire his lover's lean physique in his somewhat form fitting clothing. Castiel seemed to sense what he was doing as a sly smirk stretched his lips.

"Are you prepared?" he asked Harrison slyly as he moved closer to wrap a wing around Harrison.

The cambion gulped at the innuendo, but nodded and said, "I am."

"Then let's be off."

With a flick of the Seraph's wings, the two beings disappeared from their home.

000

The moment Harrison and Castiel arrived in Hell, they were assaulted by an unbearable evil aura and heat of the place. Fortunately for Harrison, his demonic-half protected him from anything more than slightly discomfort the hostile environment brought, making the heat became tolerable for him.

"Are you all right?" Castiel asked his lover.

Harrison smiled a small smile as he formed a sword from his own blood. "Just peachy. Please lead the way?" he asked the Seraph.

Castiel nodded then cautiously began walking along the maze-like corridors.

000

"Are you insane?" a honey-blond haired angel cried, looking up at his older brother incredulously.

"Undeniably no," Michael smirked.

"I cannot believe you!" Gabriel exclaimed. "Why would you send our brother and his cambion into hell on this reckless mission?"

"It's not reckless, and I did it because I have faith in them. They're both powerful, if anyone could pull this mission off, it would be them," explained Michael.

"Do you think the cambion's demonic side will react adversely to being in Hell?" Gabriel asked his older brother.

Michael shook his head. "His demonic side and human side balance each other out, you have nothing to worry about," he told the sandy brown-haired archangel.

Gabriel hesitated, scrambling to formulate an argument, when several seconds passed and he still had not come up with anything he sighed and shook his head. "I really hate it when you're right..." he mumbled.

000

Harrison flicked the blood from his sword as he heaved a heavy sigh. They had been in Hell for two days now and they still were not closer to finding Dean Winchester.

/Have you found anything yet?/ Castiel asked through the link they had formed between their minds.

/No, I still do not find him. What about you?/ the cambion continued walking across the corridors of Hell.

/Nothing on this end either.../

Harrison was about to respond when he spotted a familiar flash of short light brown hair through the bars of the door he had just passed. /I think I may have found something,/ he said as he moved closer to the door, ignoring the pained screams emanating from behind it.

Castiel was behind him immediately. "This door?" he asked the cambion.

Harrison nodded and backed up a step as the Seraph stepped forward and threw the door open. They were both relieved and horrified when they saw that it was not Dean who was screaming, it had been the man he had been torturing.

For a moment all four of the room's occupants froze, then Dean, whose pupils' and iris' were a fathomless black, leapt at them, brandishing a knife expertly. Castiel easily waylaid him, a hand on his forehead knocked the hunter out cold.

"We are too late," Harrison whispered to Castiel when he looked at the unconscious hunter in his lover's arms. "The seal had broken..."

"There's nothing we can do about that," Castiel said. "All we can do is preventing the others from breaking. Now we must take Dean and leave."

"I'm afraid you won't be taking my favourite toy anywhere," someone said from behind them.

Harrison and Castiel spun around to face the newcomer warily.

"Alastair," Castiel growled warningly when he found out who the newcomer was.

"Angel," the demon said. "You're far from home and in the company of..." Alastair paused for a moment, uncertainly assessing Harrison, "... a human. How interesting. You'll be able to tell me all about the, no doubt, fascinating events that led up to this current situation while you're being tortured on the rack." Alastair waved his hand and suddenly a group of demons were flanking them.

Castiel effortlessly conjured a shield of pure light to ward of the attacking demons as Harrison frantically began chanting the incantation that would take them back to the living world.

Alastair's eyes widened up when he sense Harrison's aura. "You—" before he could finish the sentence, man, cambion, and Seraph had disappeared from Hell.

000

Harrison woke up with a gasp which prompted a violent coughing fit. As he seemingly hacked up a lung, a warm hand settled on his back and began rubbing in soothing circles.

"Are you all right, beloved?" Castiel asked.

Harrison nodded as his coughing fit slowly subsided. "I am all right." Slowly he straightened up and retrieved the soul he had dropped upon their arrival. "Mister Winchester's soul is still intact, all we need to do now is return it to his body now..."

Castiel disappeared from the room with a flutter of wings only to return only a few seconds later, carrying the body of Dean Winchester. He gently set it down on the floor and healed the deep gouges the hellhounds had torn into his chest. Harrison then passed him then gently pulsing soul and he carefully returned it to the body, they waited tensely for a moment, then Dean took a great gasping breath as his heart once again began beating.

"It is done," Harrison sighed in relief.

Castiel move the still unconscious hunter to the guest bedroom with a flick of his wrist, before enveloping Harrison in a warm hug. "Well done, beloved," he whispered against Harrison's forehead.

"When do you think Michael will come to see how the job went?" he asked the Seraph.

"Not long. He, no doubt, already knows that the first seal had been broken, even though we managed to rescue Dean Winchester from Hell," he told Harrison.

"I hope he will at least give us a warning next time he shows up, he just about gave me a heart attack last time," he mumbled softly.

"My brother is not known for his..." Castiel's words trailed off at the sudden arrival of an angel that was definitely not Michael. He glared at the angel for a moment, wrapping his arms even tighter around Harrison. "Zachariah..."

000

Tbc...

000