Time's running fast. When Andrea steps out of the house, she has less than 20 minutes on the clock. She walks as far from the house as she can, and settling on a spot not too far from the main gate, she looks up and calls his name.

"Castiel?" She pauses, looking around. "Castiel, I know you can hear me!" Andrea says, louder this time. "Come on, goddammit! Show yourself, Castiel! You told me to call you if I ever needed your help, you bastard!" As the scream leaves her mouth, tiredness and despair fall over her like a blanket of stones, weighing on her, leaving her breathless and for a second she fears she can't face it.

"What do you want, Andrea?" At the sound of Castiel's voice, a wave of relief fills her. "If you are about to ask my help to go against Lilith, I cannot help you,"

His words are like a bucket of cold water, and her last hopes are completely crushed as she understands the hidden meaning of what the angel just said.

"You were never gonna stop her were you?" She asks in a small voice. "All this time, pretending to be the good guys… And you angels were just playing us around,"

Castiel's face remains blank, and he doesn't seem to react to her accusations. "Why did you call me?" Is all he replies, much to her frustration and she needs to take a breath to keep her cool.

"I need you to give this to Dean," Andrea says, extending an envelope to him. When Castiel doesn't move, she speaks again. "Look, I know you're not an errand boy but you did say that I could ask you for help,"

The angel studies her for a moment. "What makes you think I'll give this to him? Why trust me with this? I could easily make it disappear and you wouldn't even know it,"

"Even though you're back to being a good little soldier for the assholes upstairs, there's still good in you, Castiel," She doesn't miss the surprise in his blue eyes. It's just a flicker, but it's there and it's all she needs. "I saw it in that warehouse. You didn't need Jimmy. You could've taken that little girl, made her your vessel forever, and yet, you let her go because her father asked you," She pauses, letting her words sink in for a second. "I trust you'll give this to Dean at the right time," She says, putting the envelope on the hood of the closest car, and sliding it towards Castiel.

Andrea stares at the angel for just another moment before sighing. "Well, I must get going," She heads to the gates, but three steps in she stops and looks back at the angel. "Please, take care of them," She asks the angel, holding back her tears. "Take care of Dean, Castiel," Looking one final time at the old house that had become a true home to her, Andrea walks out the gates.

Castiel watches in silence as the witch walks away, and a small part of him can't help but think about how peculiar the girl is. Once she's far enough, he takes the envelope and disappears.

Upon arriving at the crossroads, Andrea is immediately surrounded by a horde of demons and even though she tries to fight them, they subdue her in a matter of seconds. She feels a blunt pain in the back of her head and everything goes dark.

Andrea is in a bed when she wakes up, in an unfamiliar room. The back of her head hurts, and she feels dizzy as she sits up. It's then that she sees a blonde woman in a white dress standing by the window. The pit in her stomach and the evil energy in the air immediately tell Andrea the woman is a demon, and a second later she recognizes the same feeling from her dreams.

"Lilith," She says, feeling a chill on her body.

Lilith turns and smiles at her. "I've been waiting for you to wake up. Took you long enough,"

Andrea snorts at her words. "Oh, I'm sorry I passed out when one of your minions knocked me out and gave me a concussion,"

"I told them you were not to be hurt. I assure you he's going to be punished accordingly,"

Andrea stares at the demon. "You're joking right?"

Lilith remains serious as she replies. "No, Andrea. I'm not joking. You were never to be harmed by demons. Their orders were to bring you to me, unharmed. Even after you joined the Winchesters, my orders did not change,"

"Really? I have been all but hunted by demons for over a year, and I was harmed. Quite a few times, actually. After that, in the last few months, Alistair attacked me twice, and a horde of your demons nearly killed me in Salem, so don't bother lying to me,"

"I'm not lying. Alistair had his own agenda, and that got him killed before I could punish him. As for what happened in Salem… Well, that wouldn't have killed you,"

Lilith's comprehensive tone and posture confuse Andrea. "Why are you doing this? Why are you here, talking to me?"

"I thought you deserved to know the truth, for once. I'm sure you have questions and I can answer them. No lies,"

Even though most of her doesn't believe in a single word the demon is saying, Andrea wants to hear what she has to say. She needs to hear it. "Alright. I just have one question," She finally says, after a long moment of silence. "Why me?"

Lilith actually smiles, much to Andrea's surprise. "Do you remember the ouroboros? The snake biting its own tail?"

Andrea nods. "The eternal cycle of life," She replies, remembering her grandmother's many teachings. "The sacred dance of death and rebirth,"

"Exactly. Endings and beginnings. But beyond that, the ouroboros is about two parts of the same whole. The snake has to consume herself to bear something new. And that's why you were chosen, Andrea. You are the end of something that began a very long time ago," With that, Lilith runs her right hand over her left arm, and Andrea watches dumbfounded as black lines appear on the demon's skin, revealing a mark identical to hers. "I was the first anima maga, Andrea. The first witch,"

Fear and disbelief awaken inside of Andrea at the same time, and she recoils against the wall, shaking her head. "No, no. That's not… you're lying,"

"You know I'm not lying," Lilith replies. "You know this mark cannot be forged," Andrea allows her eyes to study the markings that fill the demon's arm, going from her fingertips to the top of her shoulder, down her collarbone, on her chest, above her left breast, before disappearing inside the white dress. She knows those lines end right above Lilith's heart.

"What are you saying?" She asks the demon in a quiet voice.

"You and I are two parts of the same whole. I was the first, you are the last. It matters that you and I become one to bear a new dawn. A dawn in which the morning star shines brighter than the sun,"

Suddenly, the pieces of the puzzle come together, and Andrea understands exactly what Lilith is saying, and panic fills her. "No. No! I won't do this! I won't be a part of freeing Lucifer!"

Again, Lilith smiles. "You were born for this. You are my direct bloodline. Your blood is my blood. And our blood is the key. You and I are going to be one very soon, and then we're going to consume ourselves to free him. It's funny that you think you have a choice. This right here is a dream. I'm inside your head while your body is under a spell that will allow me to possess you. Once we're one, our blood will be spilt and he will be free. You can't fight me. You can't fight this. The faster you accept this, the sooner the pain stops. I trust you'll be smart about this,"

With that, the walls begin to crumble, and as they do, pain awakens inside of Andrea, all-consuming and nothing like anything she's ever felt.

Later that day…

"Well, it's about time," Dean says when Castiel finally appears to him. "I've been screaming myself hoarse out here for about two and a half hours now,"

The angel's face remains impassive. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Dean echoes, angrily. "Where the hell is Andy?" He demands, but the angel remains impassive. "What about Sam? What about the end of the fucking world? Not gonna answer that either? Alright. Then, tell me. What the hell happened in Illinois?"

"What do you mean?" Castiel asks, his tone blank as if he has no idea of what Dean's talking about.

"Cut the crap. You were gonna tell me something,"

"Well, nothing of import," The angel replies, trying and failing to brush him off.

"You got ass-reamed in heaven but it was not of import?"

At last, and for the first time since he had been taken back to heaven, Dean sees a spark of the old Castiel appear in the eyes of the angel. "Dean, I can't. I'm sorry," He pauses, face going blank once again. "Get to the reason you really called me. It's about Andrea, right? And Sam?"

"Where is she, Cas?" He asks again, more calm this time. "What happened?" When he woke up she was gone, but all of her belongings were still in the guest room and that, along with the fact that she would never leave her bike behind, immediately alerted him.

"What do you want to know about Sam?" Castiel deflects, not even bothering to hide that he's changing the subject.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Dean continues.

"Can he do it? Kill Lilith, stop the apocalypse?" He questions.

"Possibly, yes. But as you know, he'd have to take certain steps," At the angel's reticence, Dean speaks clearly, having had enough of all the secrets and half words.

"Crank up the hell-blood regimen,"

Castiel nods. "Consuming the amount of blood it would take to kill Lilith would change your brother forever. Most likely, he would become the next creature that you would feel compelled to kill. There's no reason this would have to come to pass, Dean. We believe it's you, Dean, not your brother. Just like Andrea, you have an important part to play,"

"What do you mean? An important part to play? Where the hell is she, Cas?! And don't you dare give me silence or some evasive generic answer. Tell me the truth!"

Castiel knows how much Dean cares for Andrea, he can read the hunter's feelings for the witch in his mind, so he gives him the truth.

"Andrea is with Lilith," As Dean starts to argue, not accepting the angel's words, Castiel interrupts him. "Dean, that was always her fate. I know this is hard for you, but she was destined for this. She's fulfilling her part. Just like you have to do. The only question for us is whether you're willing to accept it. Stand up and accept your role. You are the one who will stop the apocalypse,"

Understanding Cas is not going to tell him anything more about Andy, Dean focuses on the answers he can get from him.

"If I do this, Sammy doesn't have to?"

"If it gives you comfort to see it that way," The angel replies and Dean shakes his head.

"God, you're a dick these days," Taking a few steps away, he considers the angel's words and sighs."Fine, I'm in,"

"You give yourself over wholly to the service of God and his angels?" Castiel questions with a strong voice.

"Yeah, exactly," Dean replies.

"Say it,"

Mentally rolling his eyes, Dean repeats his words. "I give myself over wholly to serve God and you guys,"

"You swear to follow his will and his word as swiftly and obediently as you did your own father's?" Castiel demands, pushing him further at the mention of his father.

"Yes, I swear. Now what?"

"Now you wait, and we call on you when it's time,"

Once again Andrea finds herself being pulled out of darkness, only to be wrapped in excruciating pain. In the midst of pure agony, it's hard to say what's real and what's not, but she has glimpses of a familiar brunette and a blonde woman around her and every time they come closer, the pain gets worse and worse. She hears someone screaming, and then the brunette comes closer, and everything goes dark again.

"Finally," Ruby says, stepping away from theanima maga'sbody. "I love it when they scream, but she takes it to another level,"

Lilith looks up from Andrea to the brunette. "These spells are extremely painful," she comments, and Ruby doesn't miss the thoughtful look in the eyes of the Queen of Hell, as she briefly touches the markings burning the skin on the witch's hand.

"You're not feeling sorry for this idiot, are you?" As fast as the words left her mouth, Lilith is on top of her, a hand pressing her throat, forcing her against the wall, while a surge of rawest and evil demonic power overwhelms her.

"You're not here to comment, Ruby," Lilith hisses. "Should I remind you of your place once again?"

"N-no," Ruby whispers out, struggling to breathe.

After another look, Lilith lets her go, returning to the side of the unconscious witch. "The spell is almost done. Soon, this body will be mine, and we'll complete our work,"

After Sam mysteriously manages to escape the panic room, Dean starts looking for him, with Bobby's help. However, when he finally finds him almost a day later, they fight and Sam ends up leaving for good with Ruby.

Returning to Bobby's, he can't stop thinking about his brother and ends up arguing with the older hunter.

"I told him, "You walk out that door, don't come back" and he walked out anyway! That was his choice!" Dean yells.

"You sound like a whiny brat. No, you sound like your dad. Well, let me tell you something. Your dad was a coward,"

"My dad was a lot of things, Bobby, but a coward?" The older hunter nods.

"He'd rather push Sam away than reach out to him. Well, that doesn't strike me as brave. You are a better man than your daddy ever was. So you do both of us a favor. Don't be him,"

Dean looks out the window, not really agreeing with Bobby, but also wanting to quit this stupid fight, and that's when it happens. He's no longer at Bobby's house. He finds himself in a large and lavish appointed room. The walls are white with gold trims and details. Looking around, he sees Castiel standing there, beside a marble table.

"Hello, Dean. It's almost time,"

He tries to ask Castiel for more information, but when that proves to be pointless, he starts walking around the room, observing the magnificent paintings on the walls. When he turns, he's surprised to see that on the marble table is now a silver bowl packed with ice and full of beer bottles, and a large platter of hamburgers. Just as he picks up a beer bottle, a voice stops him.

"Hello, Dean. You're looking fit," Zachariah says.

Putting the bottle back, he stares at the angels. "Well, how 'bout this? The suite life of Zach and Cas," When the angels just stare blankly at him, unable to understand his joke, Dean shakes his head. "Never mind. So, what's this? Where the hell am I?"

"Call it a Greenroom," Zachariah replies. "We're closing in on the grand finale, here. We want to keep you safe before showtime," He points at the food on the table. "Try a burger. They're your favorite. From that seaside shack in Delaware. You were 11, I think,"

"I'm not hungry," Dean replies even though his mouth waters a little with the memory of the taste of those burgers.

"No? How about Ginger from season 2 of "Gilligan's Island"? You do have a thing for her, don't you?"

Dean considers his offer, not sure he understands what the angel means. "Tempting. Weird,"

"We'll throw in Mary Ann for free," Zachariah continues with his creepy smile.

"No, no. Let's... bail on the holodeck, okay?" Dean says, taking a step back. "I want to know what the game plan is,"

"Let us worry about that. We want you... focused, relaxed,"

As usual, his words only fire up Dean. "Well, I'm about to be pissed and leaving, so start talking, Chuckles,"

Sighing, Zachariah tells him the truth. "All the seals have fallen. Except one,"

"That's an impressive score," Dean says, sarcastically. "That's... that's right up there with the Washington Generals,"

"You think sarcasm's appropriate, do you? Considering... you started all this?" Zachariah pauses for a second to let his verbal blow sink. "The final seal... it'll be different,"

Ignoring the jab, and keeping his face blank, Dean questions him. "Why?"

"Lilith has to break it. The final seal has a few special requirements. She's the only one who can do it. And it has to be done tomorrow night -- at midnight,"

"Where?" He's itching to find the bitch, kill her and get Andy back.

"We're working on it,"

"Well, work harder," He replies angrily.

With a face Zachariah replies. "We'll do our job. You just make sure you do yours,"

"Yeah, and what is that, exactly? If I'm supposed to be the one that stops her, how? With the knife?"

"All in good time," Zachariah answers ominously.

"Isn't now a good time?"

"Have faith," The angel says, pushing Dean's annoyance to the limit.

"What, in you? Give me one good reason why I should," So far, Zachariah had done squat to prove his worth, and Dean didn't forget what the angel had done to Sam and him and especially to Andy.

Suddenly, Zachariah's in his face, anger in his eyes. "Because you swore your obedience. So obey,"

That makes Dean stare at Castiel, who has been silent this whole time, but he just looks down guiltily.

Andrea? Andrea.

The voice calling her name brings Andrea back from the darkness. She feels weak and faint as if she's not herself.Am I dead?She asks herself.

Don't be silly, you're not dead, Andrea,the voice replies, and suddenly, Andrea realizes the voice is not hers. Like everybody, she had conversations with herself, but the voice in her head, replying to her wasn't hers. Was this it? The moment when she finally lost her mind?

You're not crazy,the voice answers again.And you're not dead.

Who are you?Andrea thinks, directing the question to the voice that can clearly hear her.

Although we existed as two different beings, we are now one. I am you, and you are me. Finally, the beginning met the end, and the end found its beginning.

Suddenly, as if a bright light is lit in the middle of the darkness, Andrea remembers. Lilith, her story about being the firstanima maga, Lucifer, the spell, the pain, and she understands.

It's Lilith inside of her head. No. Not her head. Her body. Lilith is possessing her.

As her mind struggles to adjust, the demon takes over, and she's brought back from the darkness of her mind to a weird backstage position, as Lilith opens up the world to her. Andrea tries to take the reins of her own body, but it's useless.

I'm in control, Andrea. Don't bother fighting me. I'm in control and I'm not going anywhere. However, I don't want to leave you trapped in a dark little corner. Be a nice girl and watch in silence, ok?

Hours after Castiel screwed him over, taking away the door, Dean's still trying to break out, this time, smashing the wall with one of the golden pedestals. However, just as the foundations become visible, the wall magically repairs itself.

"Son of a bitch,"

Suddenly, Zachariah appears in the room.

"Quit hurling feces like a howler monkey, would you? It's unbecoming,"

"Let me out of here," Dean demands.

"Like I told you: too dangerous out there. Demons on the prowl,"

"I've been getting my ass kicked all year. Now you're sweating my safety? You're lying. I want to see my brother," He demands yet again.

Zachariah doesn't cede. "That's... ill-advised,"

"You know, I am so sick of your crap riddles and your smug, fat face. What the hell is going on, huh? Why can't I see Sam? And how am I gonna ice Lilith?"

The angel sighs.

"You're not going to ice Lilith," Zachariah finally admits.

"What?"

"Lilith's going to break the final seal. Fait accompli at this point. Train's left the station,"

Dean can't believe his ears. "But me and Sam, we can stop…" Suddenly, everything makes sense. "You don't want to stop it, do you?"

"Nope. Never did. The end is nigh. The apocalypse is coming, kiddo, to a theater near you,"

"What was all that crap about saving seals?"

"Our grunts on the ground -- we couldn't just tell them the whole truth. We'd have a full-scale rebellion on our hands. I mean, think about it. Would we really let 65 seals get broken unless senior management wanted it that way?"

"But why?" Even after hearing him say it, Dean still can't wrap his head around the truth.

"Why not? The apocalypse? Poor name, bad marketing -- puts people off. When all it is isAli/Foreman. On a... slightly larger scale. And we like our chances. When our side wins -- and we will -- it's paradise on earth. Now, what's not to like about that?"

"What happens to all the people during your little pissing contest?" Dean questions, but a part of him already knows the answer.

"Well... you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. In this case... truckloads of eggs, but you get the picture. Look... it happens. This isn't the first planetary enema we've delivered,"

For a second, Dean looks at a statue on the mantelpiece, but just as the thought forms in his head, Zachariah speaks again.

"Uh, no, Dean. Probably shouldn't try to bash my skull in with that thing. Wouldn't end up too pleasant for you,"

"What about Sam? He won't go quietly. He'll stop Lilith," At this point, Sam is his only hope.

Inhaling deeply, Zachariah replies. "Sam... has a part to play. A very important part. He may need a little nudging in the right direction, but I'll make sure he plays it,"

"What does that mean? What are you gonna do to him?"

"Sam, Sam, Sam.Marcia, Marcia, Marcia," Zachariah mocks. "Forget about him, would you? You have larger concerns. Why do you think I'm confiding in you? You're still vital, Dean. We weren't lying about your destiny. Just... omitted a few pertinent details. But nothing's changed. You are chosen. You will stop it. Just... not Lilith, or the apocalypse. That's all,"

"Which means?"

Zachariah points at a painting on the wall. "Lucifer. You're going to stop Lucifer. You're our own little Russell Crowe, complete with a surly attitude. And when it's over... and when you've won... your rewards will be... unimaginable. Peace, happiness... two virgins and seventy sluts," The angel says chuckling. "Trust me -- one day, we'll look back on this and laugh,"

"Tell me something," Dean says with venom in his voice. "Where's God in all this?"

"God? God has left the building,"