Harry slammed his glass down on the polished wood of his desk. "The nerve of some hunters. Honestly, they think they're god's gift to humans. Ignorant, self important prats, the lot of them." He rumbled to himself as his office door opened. He chanced a quick glance up as he poured himself another glass.

"Is something wrong Mr. Potter?" Glenda's voice seemed strained. "You seem unhappy."

"Yes, I'm sure I do." He said rubbing a hand over his face and calming himself. "It's nothing. Did you finish the reports I asked you to do?"

She nodded placing the folders on his desk gingerly. She seemed concerned about his current demeanor but unwilling to budge into his personal problems.

"Thank you Glenda." He said downing his glass of scotch. "Why don't you take tomorrow off? Go on a long vacation with your family. I heard your son just got out of the hospital."

Glenda looked shocked that he knew anything about her personal life. "I…are you sure?" she said shifting feet.

Harry smiled up at her genuinely. "Of course I'm sure." He said. "You're a salary worker. Missing the day won't dock your pay so go ahead and enjoy yourself. You've been taking care of me too long."

She smiled brightly. "Thank you Mr. Potter." She said moving toward the exit.

"You're welcome Glenda. Have a good weekend." He said as the door slid shut.

He heaved a sigh. He hadn't slept in two days. Two damned days. Every time he closed his eyes he saw flashes of what was to be. It was damned annoying and he was getting tired of it. "Fucking angels."

He fully blamed Castiel for the little show that was going on in his head. After all, the damned angel was in more than half of the visions. Irritated he flung his glass at the wall quietly taking pleasure from its destruction. He exhaled again. This time he could see his own breath. His eyes narrowed. "What the-"

Something hit him from behind catching him off guard and his head connected solidly with the wooden desk. He felt his nose crunch sickeningly. He forced himself to roll away from the desk and whatever had hit him. He froze, blinking dazedly at the boy before him. Barely seventeen, the way too dead Cedric Diggory was standing there looking way too pissed. Harry blinked. "Oh man…I have got to stop drinking so much."

But he knew he was sober, or as sober as he could be after two bottles of scotch. Alcohol didn't do much for him these days. Cedric shifted to face him.

"You let me die." Cedric insisted. "You could have stopped them. You could have stopped me…but you didn't."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Look…kid." Harry said frowning. "I don't know if you've noticed, but magic doesn't leave a whole lot of reaction time. Besides, I was fourteen. What the hell did you want me to do?"

"Save me." Cedric said with a glare. "Save us."

Harry felt the icy feeling just as he was disapparating. Apparently he wasn't fast enough.

When his feet made contact with the ground he rolled feeling sharp pain in his back. "Fuck!" he yelled out trying to place a hand on the injury and failing. "I think he got my kidney."

Shuffling footsteps had him forcing himself to his feet and turning warily toward the person approaching. He just then took in his surroundings. Cars piled on top of each other in crushed stacks as far as the eye could see. He blinked back pain and confusion. A salvage yard? Why had he ended up in a salvage yard?

"Harry?"

Harry turned his eyes in the direction of the speaker and saw an antsy Sam holding a shotgun.

He put a hand to his forehead. "Fuck." He muttered. His magic must have sent him to the place he'd last been where it felt he had the highest chance of survival.

Sam moved past him seemingly finding his presence not as important as his mission. "Bobby?!" Sam yelled.

Harry winced at the sound. He tried to disapparate again but he didn't feel the pull on his magic. He was still firmly in the salvage yard.

"Bobby!"

"Oh for the love of-" Harry said wincing at the sound. He tried to cast an advanced point me spell and was surprised when it worked. "Over there." He said pointing to a specific car stack. He leaned heavily against the nearest car.

He watched Sam attack the trunk and pop it open only to get flung back and hit the nearest car's windshield quite heavily. Harry ignored him to focus on his injury. If he wasn't mistaken whatever had caused the pain was still…His fingers just barely brushed something. It was at too awkward an angle for him to reach. There was no hope he'd be able to pull whatever it was out on his own and with it still wedged in there he couldn't heal it. He tried to summon the item to his hand but it didn't work.

He looked up to see Bobby and Sam warily approaching. They must have noticed he was acting strange. It was pretty obvious. "You okay?" Sam asked moving closer than Bobby was willing to.

"I'm bloody fantastic." Harry bit out. "You want to get whatever the hell's stuck in my back out?"

Sam's eyes shot wide at that and he moved around. "That thing's right where-"

"My kidney is?" Harry snapped. "I'm aware."

"Let's get inside." Bobby said grabbing Harry's arm and dragging him toward the house with Sam's help.

Dean was waiting for them in the study. He eyed the new arrival to their forces with confusion, but when he saw the wound on Harry's back he stiffened.

"Bobby what do we do for a kidney injury?" Sam asked nervously.

"Normally?" Bobby said. "Leave it in there and get him to a hospital."

"Right now?" Sam asked.

"Just pull the bloody thing out." Harry snapped interrupting their conversation. "I can't reach it or I'd do it myself."

"You'll bleed out you idjit." Bobby said in disbelief.

Harry glared. "Pull. It. Out." He clenched his teeth as Sam hesitantly followed the command. He let out a ragged breath when he felt the thing was completely gone. He turned to Sam and spotted the offending object. "Well, bugger all. That was my favorite letter opener."

Sam just looked at him like he'd gone mad. Harry placed a hand near where the small object had penetrated his kidney and focused. His magic sputtered for a second, but it did heal the wound.

"Much better."

"Anyone want to tell me why Sean Connery is here?"

Harry couldn't help the smile that fixed on his face. "James Bond. Nice pick. I'm not entirely sure myself. Tried to apparate from my office when I got attacked. Somehow I ended up here instead of Tahiti. I think I took a wrong turn at Albuquerque."

Dean frowned and opened his mouth to argue but Sam cut him off.

"More pressing issues Dean." Sam said. "Why are people we know popping up and trying to off us?"

"Not just people we know." Dean offered. "People we couldn't save."

Harry didn't meet any of their eyes at the questioning gazes.

"I saw something on Meg." Dean continued. "Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"

"I don't think so." Sam offered unsure.

"It was a mark on her hand. Almost a brand." Dean tried again trying to spark Sam's memory.

"I saw a mark on Henriksen too." Sam said thinking back.

"What did it look like?" Bobby asked stepping forward.

"Uh…paper?" Sam asked and began to scribble a rough draft of what he remembered before holding I up so Dean could identify it as the one he'd seen.

"Yeah. That's it." Dean said.

Harry just groaned burying his head in his hands.

"What's wrong with you?"

"The mark of the witnesses."

Sam and Dean looked lost, but the shock on Bobby's face might have been priceless in a less serious situation. Bobby turned and skimmed his shelves before grabbing a specific book. "Come on." He said shuffling to the door.

"Where are we going?" Dean asked with confusion.

"Some place safe." Bobby answered.

They made their way down some stairs and turned leading them through a basement and down a hallway that led to a large metal door.

"Bobby, is this-?"

"Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. One hundred percent ghost proof."

"You built a panic room?"

"I had a weekend off." Bobby said with a shrug.

"Bobby. You're awesome." Dean said with a smile stepping into the room.

Bobby and Sam hesitated glancing at Harry who was eying the large door with a frown. When he caught their stares he huffed but moved past them and into the room. "I'm not a fan of small spaces." Harry admitted.

"Well I guess he was telling the truth about being a demon." Dean said with a shrug.

"Thanks for the vote of support." Harry said with a frown. "I'll keep it in mind next time your soul needs dragging from the pit."

Dean's rebuke was cut off by Sam.

"What did you mean by the mark of the witnesses?" Sam asked as Bobby secured the door.

"The mark of the witness is found on people who died…abnormally." Harry supplied reluctantly. "Someone's dragging up the souls and they aren't happy about it, but the mark is a controlling device of sorts."

"They're being forced to attack. They're like rabid dogs." Bobby continued. "The mark of the witness occurs during the rising of the witnesses."

"The rising of the witnesses?" Dean asked loading rock salt into a shell.

Bobby nodded. "Whoever did this had big plans. It figures into an ancient prophecy."

"Wait, wait. A prophecy? From what book?" Dean cut in.

"Well, the widely distributed version is just for tourists, but long story short revelations. This is a sign boys."

"A sign? Of what?" Sam asked confused.

"The apocalypse."

"Wait. Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, five-dollar-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?"

"That's the one. The rise of the witnesses is a mile marker."

"I've always hated Christianity. They have the most morbid ways of going about things." Harry supplied lazily from the chair he'd taken residence in.

"You wouldn't have anything to do with this would you?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"Yes, Dean. I like all my plans to revolve around stabbing myself in the kidney. No master plan is complete without that key detail." Harry said snippily.

Dean snorted.

"What do we do?" Sam said turning to Bobby and ignoring their bickering.

"There's a spell." Bobby said flipping through the book he'd grabbed on their way down. "It'll put the souls back to rest. If I translated right we've got everything we need in the house."

"I don't suppose we can do the spell here?" Dean butted in.

"What? You thought our luck was gonna start now?" Bobby said incredulously. "The spell has to be done over an open flame."

"The fireplace in the study." Sam supplied.

Harry smirked. "Fantastic."

"Doesn't have as much appeal as a ghost proof panic room." Dean said with a frown.

"I don't think bitching about it is going to make the situation change." Harry said pushing himself up from his chair. He was light headed but otherwise he figured he would be fine. "What do you say we go and put an end to these annoying fuckers? Well, another end." Harry added with a nonchalant shrug.

Harry flung the panic room's door open and stepped out.

Dean shared a look with Sam and Bobby. "That guy is seriously twisted."

"He's right though." Bobby said grabbing his book and following. "We need to work quick. Sam upstairs linen cabinet. There's a red box. Get it. Dean kitchen, silverware drawer. There's a false bottom."

They'd made it upstairs to see Harry standing by the unlit fireplace.

"Hemlock. Opium. Wormwood."

"Got it." Dean said as Bobby laid salt lines. He made toward the kitchen only to stop and glance back. "Opium?"

Bobby gave him an exasperated look. "Go!"

"Bobby." The small girl at the edge of the salt line called to the aged hunter. "You could have sa-"

Bobby heard a snap behind him and the two ghosts dispelled. Harry stood there glaring at where they had been before turning back to the fire place and arranging the wood he'd found to the side. "Is there a particular way the fire has to be lit?" Harry asked staring at the wood.

Bobby glanced over his shoulder. "No." He'd barely gotten the word out before flames leaped up the wood.

"Harry."

Bobby's head whipped around at the sound of another voice.

"You should have saved all of us." It was a woman in her twenties with long brown hair. Bobby thought she might be pretty if she tamed the mane down a bit.. "Why didn-"

Another snap this time not even dignified with Harry's turning around and the ghost disappeared.

The door to the kitchen slammed shut and Bobby glanced at it then Harry, unsure. "Dean!" Bobby called.

"I'm fine Bobby!" came Dean's reply. "Keep going!"'

Bobby turned his attention back to the bowls in front of him and he began preparing what ingredients he had in front of him. The less time they took once the boys were back with the rest the better. The spirits were sure to sense their intent at some point. His hands shook as he separated out what he needed.

Every time a ghost even started to manifest Harry would snap his fingers and send it packing much to Bobby's relief. He really didn't think he could concentrate while ghosts were harping him about his failures.

A gunshot from the kitchen told them that Dean was having his own encounter. Less than a minute later the door slammed open revealing Sam lugging a panting Dean. Both held their respective items out to Bobby.

Bobby hastily grabbed what he needed adding it to the bowl with the already prepared ingredients.

"What, no chicken feet?" Harry joked but it sounded strained to all of them.

Bobby shot him a half hearted glare before starting up a chant. The windows burst open the moment the first word had left his lips.

"Well, that's not good." Harry said as wind whipped through the room.

Apparitions seemed to come out of nowhere. Harry watched as Sam began to struggle with a moderately attractive blonde while Dean took on an overweight man. The little girls stood staring at the salt line which Harry had already deemed a lost cause. It would be gone in a few more seconds. Bobby's chanting became faster as he realized their urgency of the situation.

Harry snapped his fingers as the salt line finally broke. Cedric had been the first to try to cross and as such the first to dissipate. Harry turned his attention to the small girls trapping Sam. Bobby gave a pained grunt beside him and he turned only to see the bowl falling. "Dean!" Bobby managed to force out.

Harry snapped his fingers and the blonde woman disappeared as Dean caught the bowl.

"Fireplace." Bobby got out as he fell. Harry caught him before he could hit the desk.

Dean tossed the bowl in the lit fire and a new wind seemed to sweep through the room taking the spirits with it. Silence echoed for a second before Sam shoved a heavy desk which had been pinning him to the wall away and stumbled over.

Harry released Bobby and brushed off his suit, not that the thing was salvageable. A damn shame too. It had cost him more than some people made in a month.

"Well, that was mildly entertaining." Harry said with a huff.

Three sets of eyes turned on him incredulously. He shrugged. Dean's face slowly turned to one of hostility.

"So why are you here anyway?" He asked indicating the room.

"Watch your tone." Harry warned. "I'm not in the best of moods at the moment. I might decide you'd be better off without a tongue."

All three looked wary at that threat.

"You will not harm Dean Winchester."

Harry couldn't repress the groan that fought its way up his throat. "Oh god." He said rubbing his temples. "Not you again. What, ran out of baseball games to influence?"

Castiel's head tilted slightly belying his confusion at the statement. "I have not been near any human recreational sports." He turned to Dean. "Good job with the witnesses."

"Hullo." Harry said raising a hand in a sarcastic wave. "Not like he did it alone."

"Your help, while unexpected, was beneficial." Castiel admitted. "You have our gratitude."

"Fantastic. Gratitude. Just what everyone wants for Christmas. You can skip the Mercedes this year Santa." Harry stood from where he'd been leaning against the wall. "I don't suppose you can tell me why my magic went wonky and sent me here? You see, I have a few theories about it myself and none of them have anything to do with my magic doing it on its own. Now then, if you're ready to make your 'grace' stop interfering with my apparition skills I'm gonna jet. I have work to do after all."

Castiel looked mildly shocked. "You knew?"

"I had my suspicions. Thanks for confirming them. By the way," Harry moved closer to Castiel until he leaning only a few inches from the angel's borrowed face. "Mess with my magic again and you won't like the consequences." With that threat hanging in the air he disappeared.

The room seemed unnaturally tense after the Brit's departure. "Will he be okay?" Bobby finally spoke up slumping back into his chair. "He was stabbed after all."

Castiel seemed to contemplate the question for a moment. "He will be fine." He turned his attention to Dean when he spoke up.

"So you knew about all of this?"

Castiel's face remained completely blank. It disturbed Dean. "I was made aware of it, yes."

"Well gee. Thanks for the heavenly assistance. You know I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest. "

"But you didn't." Castiel said in a way that was not at all reassuring.

"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wing, halos. You know Micheal Landon…not dicks."

Sam swore he saw just the slightest flicker of annoyance in Castiel's eyes but it didn't touch his face. "Read the bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah? Then why didn't you fight?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had bigger concerns." Castiel said moving a bit too close to Dean for comfort. Without so much as blinking Castiel stepped forward and placed his fingers on Sam's and Bobby's foreheads. They slumped in their chairs. "There's a reason I sent him here."

"What the hell did you just do?" Dean asked moving to his brother's side eyes flicking worriedly between Sam and Bobby.

"I've put them to sleep. It's only temporary."

"Why?" Dean's voice was laced with distrust.

"They mustn't hear what I'm going to tell you." Castiel took a step back. "We sent Harry here as a sort of test."

"A test?" Dean barked out laughter. "Well did we pass your heavenly test?"

"Not a test for you." Castiel said with a frown. "A test for him. We had to make sure he would aid you if push came to shove. We needed to know where his intentions lie."

"Well I hate to break it to you but the guy was definitely only helping so he wouldn't end up being stabbed in the kidney twice." Dean said derisively. "Can't say I blame him, but seriously what is he anyway?"

"I'm afraid I'm unable to tell you that at the moment."

Dean felt anger throttle through him full force. His argument with Castiel wasn't a pleasant from that point forward, and it ended on startling note when Castiel threatened to throw Dean back into hell shortly before his abrupt departure.

If Harry had been unhappy with the Winchesters before he was absolutely livid now. Dean in particular he'd grown to dislike. The guy was way too self involved. He tossed away the file he'd been reading on the two. Bobby Singer's file lay beneath a pile of others.

"Making friends everywhere you go."

Harry didn't even bother to raise his eyes from the dark wood grain of his desk. "What do you want Gabriel."

"Oh please. Don't call me that." Gabriel said in a pouting tone.

If Harry didn't have splitting head ache he might have humored the angel sitting in front of him, as it was he directed a particularly vicious glare his way.

"Oh, I know that glare. You've been hanging out with the Winchesters again." The angel said with a smile.

"What do you want? I'm not in the mood right now."

Gabriel stood and stretched forward placing a bottle of aspirin on the desk. Harry took one look at it and groaned. "Just came to drop off a gift. I heard you ran into my little brother and that you weren't too happy with him."

"You could say that." Harry said popping the top off of the aspirin and sniffing at the bottle. "These real or did you just magic them up like you do everything else? I don't need an imaginary cure."

"I grabbed them from the convenience store down the street." Gabriel said with a smile.

"Fantastic." Harry said popping several in his mouth and swallowing them dry. "Did you seriously come here just to check up on your 'little brother'?"

"You doubt my intentions." Gabriel said with mock shock.

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'd be an idiot if I took you at face value all the time." He said sliding out of his chair. "I'm going home to sleep. If you want to talk we can do it tomorrow."

Gabriel shrugged. "I didn't really come to talk. Just the gift. Goodnight Harry."

Gabriel disappeared from the room moments before Harry himself did. The inconspicuous bottle of pills still lay on the desk forgotten.

Dean certainly wasn't in the best of moods, Sam noticed. He wanted to say something to his older brother but was worried that anything he said would set the hunter off.

Dean was pacing back and forth angrily in Bobby's study while the older man flipped through book after book to no avail. Every once in a while Dean would stop, look at Bobby and ask, "Anything?"

It was like a sort of routine he was developing and Sam could see it was starting to wear on Bobby's nerves and the last thing Sam wanted was to be in a room with two grumpy hunters. "I'm going to go grab something to eat." Sam offered.

"Pie." Dean said simply.

Sam knew the demand well enough and he smiled at the familiarity of it. He was still getting used to having Dean back. He had to keep reminding himself that the last week or so hadn't been some really long elaborate dream. "Right. You want anything specific Bobby." Bobby waved a hand dismissively, Sam's signal that he was fine with whatever. "I'll be back." He assured them as he made for the door.

Dean slammed himself onto Bobby's couch. "I don't get it." He said running a hand through his hair. "Why can't we find any lore on him? What is he anyway?"

Bobby shrugged closing another book. "I don't know. I've been looking for days and I can't find anything that matches his description."

Dean let out a frustrated sigh. "There's nothing? Not a single thing on the guy?"

"It's startin' to look that way." Bobby said pushing away the nearest stack of books like they were covered in anthrax. "I don't know why you're so obsessed with finding a way to kill him anyway. All he's done is help since he showed up."

"Because that's what we do Bobby. We find the supernatural freaks," He moved his hands from left to right. "and we gank them. It's that simple."

"I don't think it is that simple kid." Bobby said readjusting his hat. "The world's not made of black and white. There are grey areas. Maybe this Harry guy is one of them. Not everything is evil."

Dean scowled. "Well, I'm not going to trust him." He said stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest.

Bobby rolled his eyes. He was used to Dean being stubborn, but not this stubborn. Usually Bobby could talk reason into him. Bobby frowned. Dean was becoming more and more like his old man. It wasn't a trait Bobby could admit to admiring. He hoped he wouldn't have to threaten Dean with a shotgun like he had John someday.

Sam trudged back in about thirty minutes later carrying bags of food much to Bobby's relief. It wasn't that the man was particularly hungry. It was just that Dean always seemed to be in a better mood after eating. He sincerely hoped Sam hadn't forgotten the kid's pie. He didn't want to hear more bellyaching about Dean's favorite food being gone.

Bobby plopped himself into one of the dining room chairs. "So I take it you boys will be leaving again soon?" He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Sam and Dean were the closest thing he had to family, but he was certainly tired of Dean's attitude at the moment. He figured a hunt would do wonders for his attitude problem.

Sam looked to Dean as usual to make the call. Dean shrugged. "Probably in the morning."