Dean Winchester imagined thousands of possibilities for him to get out of his deal. Most of them were ludicrous and ridiculous but he considered each and every one of them most probable then being rescued out of hell by an angel. Dean's instincts told him this was all some kind of trick. That this Castiel was some kind of super demon trying to manipulate him the same way Ruby tried to do with Sam. But that didn't couldn't possibly be true. Castiel walked through dozens of different Devil's Traps in the barn, salt didn't even phase him, and Ruby's knife didn't hurt him in the slightest. That's something even Lilith couldn't do. And after putting Bobby to sleep, the so called angel told him that God had work for him.
"I'm sorry. God as in the all-powerful CEO of the universe needs my help?" frowned Dean.
"He has an important task for you," Castiel nodded.
"And what the hell could that possibly be?" asked Dean. He found it a little curious how the so called creator of the universe needs little insignificant Dean Winchester's help.
"You don't need to know yet," Castiel stated.
"I don't need to know yet? I don't know how things work up in Cloud City but down here on Earth if you want somebody's help, you don't string 'em along," snapped Dean.
"You will know more when it is time. But until then you must prepare yourself. A war is coming," Castiel replied.
"What Heaven vs. Hell? Thought that was kind of obvious," grumbled Dean.
"Right now my brothers and sisters are waging war against demons across the planet but make no mistake that these are only skirmishes compared to what will come. We've caught them off guard but now they are regrouping and replenishing their numbers," explained Castiel.
All the while the so called angel explained a thought popped in Dean's head. "Did you rescue anybody else?" he asked.
Castiel shook his head, "You were the only one."
"Dammit there were dozens of people down there more worthy of rescuing then me!" snapped Dean.
"Our mission was to rescue you. No one else," said Castiel.
"Why me? Why not someone else?" sighed Dean.
"I told you. God commanded it," Castiel reminded him.
"Then he is screwed up in the head because I'm not worth saving," Dean said. The memories were hazy but he remembered everything that happened in Hell. The torture, the pain, the screams, at first they were just his own then they were his victims. One by one he stabbed, maimed, burned, disemboweled, and numerous others means of torture inflicted upon the damned. The demons saved the worse for last and cheered on as Dean tortured Bela to a laughing crowd. The things he did to her…Dean deserved to be put right back in the pit.
"It is not God who is at fault. It is your limited understanding of the grand design," Castiel stated.
"Screw your grand design. I'm not doing anything for you until you bring Bela back," demanded Dean.
"Abigail Grayson made the choice to sell her soul. She knew the consequences of such an act," Castiel said.
"She was a desperate frickin kid! Do you have any idea what kind of hell she grew up in?" shouted Dean.
"Terrible things happen to people all over the world Dean. Not all of them sell their souls," Castiel spoke without an ounce of sympathy in his voice.
"Yeah and you people sure do a great job helping them all out!" snapped Dean.
"We are here now," replied Castiel. He glanced his head up as if hearing or sensing something. "I am needed elsewhere. We will speak again," Castiel added. Before Dean could say anything, the so called angel disappeared right before his eyes.
After waking up Bobby and driving him back to his house, Dean called up Sam and waited until he showed up before they finally discussed what happened. Dean didn't believe his younger brother's story about leaving earlier in the night to get a burger but decided to let the matter slide. They had bigger problems at the moment like this so called angel named Castiel.
Sam was almost overjoyed when he heard the news. As far as he was concerned, this was a good thing. Finally they'd have a little backup for once in this fight. Dean on the other hand wasn't so optimistic. These so called angels just decided now to join the fray when they could have helped god knows so many other times. Demons didn't even seem to know who Castiel even was which means nobodies been seen or (pun intended) touched by an angel for probably a very long time. The conversation changed to the existence of God which probably meant yes if there are angels. Of course if he did exist, Dean wanted to punch the prick. All the terrible things that happened in the world and he doesn't raise a finger to stop any of it.
Eventually the philosophical debate turned into a book club with anything with Angel lore in it. Dean sent Sam out to get pie and while he was gone, Bobby tried calling up an old friend of his in Nebraska, Olivia Lowry. She hadn't returned any of his phone calls for the past three days and that wasn't like her. Dean, all too happy to get out of book reading, suggested they go check up on her. Once Sam got back, the three headed to Olivia's house and found her a bloody mess. Something tore her apart like a wild animal.
Bobby tried calling up some hunters that lived nearby but they weren't answering their phones either. Dean and Sam headed to check on a hunter named Jed but he was ripped up as badly as Olivia. Bobby checked on two other hunters and they were dead too. Something was up and the three agreed to regroup at Bobby's house. On the way back, Sam needed to go to the little boys' room while Dean searched the gas station for some pie. What should have been a quick stop turned into life or death when the ghost of Meg Masters, the host of the demon Meg, tried to kill Sam. Lucky for him Dean heard the commotion and came running in with a shotgun. After shooting the ghost with two salt rounds and getting out of the store before the employees called the cops, the two tried calling Bobby but no answer.
The Winchesters raced back home and searched his property, splitting up. Dean checked the upstairs and was attacked by the ghost of Ronald Reznick, the paranoid man who took a bank hostage to try and catch a shapeshifter only to get killed by a police sniper. Dean was lucky enough to shoot an iron chandelier down on top of him. After Sam rescued Bobby, the three headed to the basement where Bobby had a ghost proof panic room. Apparently the man had a weekend off. Sam and Dean both saw the same symbol on the ghost's hands. It wasn't a tattoo and neither of them had it on them while they were alive.
While Sam and Dean stock up on salt rounds, Bobby tries researching the symbol and hits pay dirt. It was called the Mark of the Witness. All of them were witnesses of the unnatural and died unordinary deaths. These ghosts were forced to rise from some powerful spell. What's worse was that this was all part of some ancient prophecy from Revelations. In other words, this was a sign of the end times. The frickin apocalypse itself. As bad as that sounded, they had to get their priorities straight. First they needed to deal with these ghosts.
Bobby found a spell that could put the ghosts back to rest but of course there was a catch. Everything they needed to perform wasn't in the panic room. That meant they needed to gather up the materials and conduct the ritual at the fireplace, all the while probably getting swarmed by angry spirits. Making a mad dash for the materials almost got them all killed but they got what they needed and Bobby started the ritual. Dean and Sam fired off salt rounds left and right as the ghosts were all trying to rush them. The three barely survived but they completed the ritual laid the Witnesses to rest.
Night came and everyone was exhausted. Bobby nearly had his heart ripped out by Meg so he hit the sack early. Sam slept on the couch in the living room while Dean got the floor. Why didn't he ever choose something other than scissors whenever they play rock paper scissors? Dean was almost glad he was on the floor. Maybe he wouldn't get any sleep at all. That might sound terrible for some people but after the nightmares he's been having, Dean preferred insomnia. All those things he did to those people in Hell and Bela…the things he did to her was inhuman. He didn't deserve to be walking on this planet again after what he did. And yet Dean's the one that gets a free pass out of Hell while everyone else suffers.
He waited until he was certain Sammy was asleep then quietly grabbed his keys, a small box, some graveyard dirt, and a bone from a black cat. All the stuff had mystical properties so Bobby kept things like that all over his house. Of course the man would have put them in a safe if he knew what Dean was about to do with them. Dean drove to the nearest Crossroad he could find and buried the box with all the material along with a picture of himself. He knew Sam was going to hate for doing this all over again but Dean just couldn't take this. He had to make it right.
Dean didn't need to wait long before a woman with dark hair appeared behind him. "Well this is a surprise. I have to say when I got up this morning, Dean Winchester summoning me was the last thing I expected to happen," she chuckled.
"I want to make a deal," said Dean.
"You want to make another deal? Angels are popping up and now I get the first ever repeat customer in demonic history? What is the world coming to?" the demon laughed.
"Shut up. I want my soul for Bela's. I only want enough time to confirm she's alive and well then you can do whatever you want with me," Dean said firmly.
The demon threw him a look. "Where's this passion to save that woman coming from? Are you in love with her?" she asked and Dean didn't give her the satisfaction of an answer. "Wait. It's not love that's driving you to do this, it's guilt," the demon realized and slowly smiled.
"I remember you Dean from the Pit. You were quite the superstar. Alastair's big new up and comer. Dean-a-mania was running wild down there. Watching humans torture other humans is the ultimate entertainment for us. You drew some huge crowds. Thousands would gather round to watch you play with your latest victim and boy you were good. But the one time you would set an attendance record was when Alastair brought out that wimping…" the demon mocked until Dean rushed forward and pulled out Ruby's knife, putting the blade to the demon's neck.
"If the next word out of your mouth isn't yes, I swear I will kill you and give the same deal to someone else," Dean warned her.
"Okay then. You want to damn yourself again, who am I to stop you?" the demon smiled. She was about lean forward for a kiss when suddenly she gasped and screamed. Her eyes and mouth lite up like flashlights as Dean staggered back. It was only then did he realize that someone was holding the demon by the head. Not just someone but rather something. The angel Castiel. The light subsided and the demon dropped to the ground, lifeless with burnt out eyes.
"I did not raise you just for you to condemn yourself again," Castiel said.
"Where the hell have you been? Hunters were getting killed left and right today. I nearly got killed with Sam and Bobby and you just show up now!" shouted Dean.
"I was needed elsewhere but I was eventually made aware of your situation. Besides you did well," commented Castiel.
"Yeah but what Olivia Lowry, Jed, and all the others who got killed?" growled Dean.
"This is war Dean and in war there will always be casualties," stated Castiel.
"Spare me the pep talk Michael Landon. I thought angels were supposed to guardians with fluffy wings and halos. Not dicks," snapped Dean.
"Read the bible," Castiel said. "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."
"Then why didn't you fight?" demanded Dean.
That comment seemed to have struck a nerve in the angel. "I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns," said Castiel.
"Concerns? People were getting torn to shreds down here!" Dean tried to keep his voice down but he couldn't help it. "And by the way while all of this is going on, where the hell is your boss? If there is a God?"
"There is a God," Castiel said matter-of-factly.
"I'm not convinced cause if there's a god, what the hell is he waiting for? Genocide? Monsters roaming the Earth? The freaking Apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?" demanded Dean. For the first time since Dean had seen him, Castiel look frustrated. Was he angry by the human's remarks or was it something else? Doubt? Confusion?
"The Lord works…" Castiel tried to say but Dean wouldn't let him finish.
"If you say mysterious ways, so help me I will kick your ass," Dean interrupted. Castiel didn't say anything as if to mean he wasn't going to have this argument. Fine, they needed to talk about something else anyways. "Do you know what happened during the four months I spent in Hell?" he asked.
"Yes," Castiel answered.
"Then you know why you made a mistake. All the things I did down there…" Dean said.
"We don't make a mistakes Dean. You are needed here," said Castiel. Dean was getting sick of the angel's inability to ever give a straight answer.
"Then why me?" demanded Dean. The angel didn't give him an answer. "Fine I'll just find another Crossroad Demon!" Dean snapped. He turned to walk away but found Castiel had teleported directly in front him.
"That won't work. I've told the rest of my garrison to seek out other Crossroad Demons and warn them not to bargain with you," said Castiel.
"What are you highway patrol? Just giving them warnings? You should be killing every last one of those sons of bitches!" shouted Dean.
"Killing every demon is not our priority. As I said before we have larger concerns," stated Castiel.
"Feel like sharing them or does the lowly human not need to know?" grumbled Dean.
"You do need to know. The rising of the Witnesses is one of the 66 seals," answered Castiel.
"I'm guessing that's not a show at SeaWorld," quipped Dean.
Castiel ignored his joke. "Those seals are being broken by Lilith," he said. Well that certainly explains who started this whole mess and why the ghosts were attacking hunters. Lilith probably had a lot on her plate now that angels were back in town so she wanted to get rid of as many hunters as possible so she only had to deal with her new problem.
"She did the spell. She rose the Witnesses," Dean said his thoughts out loud.
Castiel nodded, "And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead."
"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they could barrel right after us," said Dean. It was also had a psychological effect on the hunters. They probably hesitated seeing the victims they couldn't save. It certainly worked on Dean, Sam, and Bobby.
"Lilith does have a certain sense of humor," commented Castiel.
"Well we put those spirits back to rest," pointed out Dean.
"It doesn't matter. The seal was broken," Castiel replied.
"Why break the seal anyway?" asked Dean.
"You think of the seals as locks on a door. When the last one opens, Lucifer walks free," Castiel answered.
Dean frowned, "Lucifer's just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."
"Three days ago you thought there was no such thing as me," Castiel pointed out. So Bobby was right. The Witnesses was a sign of the Apocalypse. "Why do you think we are here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years? To stop Lucifer and to do that we have to safeguard the seals. Our numbers are not unlimited and we haven't won every battle. Nothing else matters except the seals. That is why we couldn't stop the Witnesses from killing your friends."
"Well if you need help with these seals then get Sam or Bobby or Ellen or Jo or any other hunter on the frickin planet. You don't need me for any of this," said Dean.
"God commanded us to rescue you from Hell. You're more important than me or any other angel in this world," stated Castiel.
"Like I said. Your god screwed up," replied Dean.
Castiel glared at him, probably the first time Dean's ever seen him angry. "I lost six brothers rescuing you. Angels I had served with for millennia. They did not die for someone who is useless to our cause," he growled. It was somewhat frightening to see Castiel like this.
"How many more times do I have to say it? I'm not your guy. I don't care what God wants with me. All I want to make at least one thing right before I die," Dean challenged him.
Castiel didn't back down. "You would throw your life away for one woman at the expense of billions?" he asked.
"You just killed a demon by touching it. I'd say you and your buddies will get through this just fine without me," said Dean.
"And what of Sam and Bobby?" asked Castiel.
"They don't need me. They'll keep on fighting," answered Dean. They'll be pissed at him no doubt but this isn't their choice. It was Dean's.
Castiel sighed, "I should have removed those memories of your time in perdition. I thought they would motivate you to fight harder but I was wrong." Dean didn't know they could remove memories but he guessed they could mess with human minds. He didn't remember completely what he did but slowly over the past few days the pieces came back. All the atrocious and horrific moments.
"You weren't wrong about that. I want to fight but every second I'm doing that, Bela is down in hell being tortured in ways I can't even describe. So yeah I might not be saving a billion lives and you can call me selfish but right now I don't care about any of that. I don't know how but I'll find a way to exchange my soul for Bela's and I won't stop until I do," Dean said.
He was about to walk past Castiel again but the angel just teleported right in front of him again. "You won't find one Dean. The only way you can rescue her is through us. Do as you are told, complete the tasks we require of you, and we will bring her back," Castiel said.
"Are you blackmailing me you son of a bitch?" snapped Dean.
"You just tried to do the same with me. Serve us or Abigail will rot in hell for eternity," Castiel threatened before teleporting away.
(I know some people might not like what Castiel did here but remember this is the same angel who threatened to throw Dean back in hell just because he felt disrespected. Right now Cas is interested in gaining Dean's cooperation and will do anything to achieve that. Going to skip ahead a few episodes as nothing is really different for them. Don't worry though. Bela will show up again sooner then you think.
