Author's notes: You'd never believe… but I am here again!

First of all, I would like to thank you guys for being so patient, I know I hadn't update in ages and you support means a lot. Thanks for waiting. I hope you didn't give up on me because I definitely didn't. Well, at least you can have my word on one thing – if I am going to abandon this story, I will at least post it so that you wouldn't have to wait in vain, okay?

I am actually still in progress but I've got new job and my school is crazy, and some other stuff came up, and … life happens :)

Thanks a lot for all the reviews and your interest!

This one is short. Let's say, it's like a teaser before the following longer chapter that will hopefully be posted soon. Well, at least not half a year later like this one :)

Chapter 4

Dean blinked, confused. "You mean, like, more than 'Run away, everybody! The Apocalypse is coming!' problem?"

Castiel considered his words for a moment. "Related," he nodded at last and gave Bela another meaningful look, or something like that, assuming it was never easy to say what exactly he was feeling or thinking about.

"Oh, no!" She put her hands up. "Don't even look at me! We've got only on hero here, and I don't want…"

"It's not like you can say you're not in," Dean chuckled interrupting her. "The end of the world is everyone's problem, sweetheart." He beamed at her, his eyes lingering on hers for a moment too long as if he was willing her to read something secret behind his words.

She kept her face blank though, and didn't look away first. Whatever it was this time, she was so not in it! God, she didn't want to even know about it.

Dean gave her a glare and decided to ignore her for a while.

"What is it, Cas?"

Castiel paused before speaking. "It's Lilith. I know that one of the seals is. You need to stop her from breaking it."

Okay, it wasn't entirely unexpected, if there could be anything unexpected about their situation at all.

"You know where she is?" His voice was pretty much disbelieving.

"Lilith? No, but I know what she's looking for, so if you-"

"So if I find it first, blah, blah, blah," Dean stopped him practically all vibrant from anxiety. "What is it?"

"A book."

"A… what? A book?" This was insane. At least it sounded insane. "Like, paperback, pages and all?" He let out a short laugh. "Why would Lilith need a book?"

"Because it's not just a book, Dean," Bela rolled her eyes suddenly caught by the conversation.

"How do you know?" He whipped his head around, his eyes big, and then span to look at Castiel again not waiting for her reply. "How does she know? Is it true?"

"It is."

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Dean, it is obvious, isn't it?" Bela shook her head, her expression condescending. "Lilith wouldn't be looking for a comic book. Otherwise I'm sure she'd know where to find you and borrow some."

He winced. Man, he hated it when she talked to him like that.

"That's right," Castiel's attention was all on Dean again. "This book… It's a very old one. Looks like a Bible, and many believe that it really is a Bible. Like a… first edition. But no one knows for sure because no one can translate it. It is believed that the book is written in one of the dead languages, one that never was known to the humankind. There are images – angels, and heaven, and even hell – the way humans see them. That's why it was mistaken for a Bible."

"But it is not." It wasn't a question.

"No, it isn't. It's a spell book written in cipher of some sort." An angel made another theatrical pause. "Heaven and hell spell book. There is a spell in it that can kill Devil himself."

"Seriously?" Dean's eyes grew wide.

"Absolutely. Lilith wants it because it is one of a few things on earth that can actually stop the apocalypse. If there is no Devil…"

"Then there's no on e to bring chaos and death," Dean finished for him. "Smart!"

"She doesn't underestimate you, Dean. That's why she considers the options. To leave you helpless in the end so that you had nowhere to turn."

"That was… huge. And not far from the truth I guess. The bitch is smart! I mean I'm flattered." Dean rubbed his face with both of his hands. "Okay, where is it? I find it, burn it, or hide it, or whatever."

"I don't know."

Dean's hands fell from his face. "You… what?" He blinked. "But you just said… you said you know, didn't you?"

"I said I knew what Lilith was up to. So, now you know. You have to find it before she did."

"How do you know she still doesn't have it?"

"Because we just know." Another voice answered before Castiel had time to response.

All three of them turned to see a slender red-headed woman standing at the couch. Her eyes stayed on Castiel's for a long moment before she turned to Dean.

"We know it because she is not using it against us yet," Castiel added to fill the silence.

"Anna," Dean cleared his throat and faked a smile.

And blushed a little, too. Bela's eyes narrowed and shifted from him to her and then back to him again. He was deliberately avoiding looking at her as his gaze slid around the room instead. And if by any chance she didn't know any better… Bela's lips twisted into a rather venomous smirk. Not that she cared of course…

"Hello, Dean," the girl – Anna! Bela grimaced – greeted him in a calm voice. Looked at Castiel then, and after that – at Bela, too. "We've got a problem…"

Bela chuckled – just couldn't help herself, really. "Okay, what else is new?"

"Oh… Bela, this is Anna," Dean seemed to remember a tad belatedly that they weren't introduced yet. Not exactly. "She's an…"

"An angel," Bela interrupted him nodding. "I guessed. It wasn't hard, considering the whole teleportation thing and all. There seem to be some many of them around lately. It's like an open house in Heaven or what?"

Her eyes weren't on Anna though. Or on Castiel, speaking of that. She was looking at Dean probably trying to burn a hole in him, and making him wish she succeeded in it because then he would just endure an agonizing and painful death and could finally escape that glare. And for a moment there were just the two of them in the room, or at least so it felt, and no one dared to say a word.

"You have fun here," she said when the pause became ridiculously long. "Don't forget to close the door when you finally leave."

She turned on her heels and stomped off and up the stairs to her bedroom fighting that terrible burning feeling in her chest.

"Awesome," Dean breathed out, and followed Bela on, "Give me a sec,' not really addressing anyone in particular.

Bela marched into her room and slammed the door behind her back making her point clear. Fury was boiling inside of her as she tried oh so hard to convince herself that she wasn't actually… jealous or something else ridiculous. Jealous? Oh God, of course she wasn't! What a crazy idea! Of some… some skinny red-headed, angelic, probably powerful, maybe somewhat magical… She winced at the thought. Why would anyone… And besides, why would she be jealous of Dean Winchester? Seriously? No way! Impossible.

The door burst open two seconds later and Deal walked in, also not in the best of moods, if his glowering gaze was any indication.

"Okay, what is it this time?" He poked his finger at the door, obviously referring to whatever happened downstairs.

"What?" She quirked her brow up. It wasn't that hard to keep her cool, at least externally. Arms crossed on her chest, she put on her best bitch face before turning to him.

"What?" Dean repeated. "Are you kidding me?"

"You have no right to come here with… angels, and drag me into all of this!" She snapped.

"You're already in, Bela, in case you didn't notice."

And that was just as much as she could stand!

"You know, that's it!" She bellowed. "I can put up with you feeling yourself at home at my place, coming and going whenever you want. I can put up with your friend popping out of nowhere and scaring hell out of me." She came up to him and pointed her finger at his chest. "But I am not going to make tea parties for your girlfriends. So do me a favor, go down, get out and solve your problems somewhere else! And don't forget to take your friends with you!"

"My… what?" Dean let out a bark of a laugh, loud and humorless. "She's not my-"

"Don't you dare lie me in the face," she cut him off, way too sure she was right.

They glared at each other intensely, handles balled and lips pursed tight as though they actually could start swinging any moment. The tension filled the room and became almost tangible.

"Why do you even care, Bela?" He scoffed with a great deal of sarcasm. "You dumped me, remember?"

Her breath hitched but she hoped that nothing about her face changed. "So this is what? Revenge? Cute!" She drawled poisonously. "How very mature. But you're right. I don't give a damn. Do what-the-hell-ever you want, Dean!"

"Fine!" His jaw was tight.

"Fine!" She hissed.

He stomped downstairs breathing through his nose like a bull that had red cloth before his eyes, angry and frustrated because the damned women never knew what they wanted and the bloody demons were taking over the world, and he didn't exactly know how to deal with both at the same time. Just put one against the other, he thought darkly. Now that was an idea!

But right now all her wanted was to think of demons, if only because they were simpler. Concentrate on demons, do something to save the world and get Bela Talbot the hell out of his mind!

"We're leaving, come on," he all but ran past Anna and Castiel that were still standing where he left them a few minutes ago and into the kitchen area. Grabbed his duffel bag from the floor, tossed it onto the counter and started shoving his stuff into it muttering something about bloody fucked up chicks under his breath.

"Dean-"

"What?" He snapped whirling around. "The book, remember? Kill the Devil, get a thank you. It's not like we have frigging time for… tea parties." He grimaced when Bela's words slipped out of his mouth. Great!

Castiel and Anna exchanged glances in that way that he hated most, if only because it never meant anything good but they were sort of tiptoeing around it searching for the right words, and other crap. And all he could actually do was feel like a moron. And he was just a little too pissed for it.

"Dean, we can't just leave," Castiel said looking too I've got bad news for you for Dean's taste. "I mean – just leave."

"Yeah, that's what you said." He reminded him with mock patience.

"We can't."

"Fine, you stay," he was so not in a mood for any of that, and he didn't exactly want to explode, which was going to happen in, like, half a minute, if they just didn't leave him alone.

"They are looking for her."

"Awesome," he tucked his blood stained jacket atop of the rest of his belongings. And began to fight with the zipper cursing because it got stuck. "Who should I call to tell where to find her and finally put an end to all of that?" And God help him if he wasn't serious.

He yanked his duffel off of the counter with his good hand and winced when his muscles tensed painfully in the left shoulder all the same. He still felt like crap and with the prospect of driving somewhere where he could have some rest he couldn't even dull it with alcohol.

Grimacing all the way, he went to the door. Don't forget to close the door, he mimicked in his head. Oh, I'll close it alright!

"Dean, wait!" Anna stepped forward. "Alastair is after her."

And she might have as well just punched him or something. He stopped frozen and turned slowly, processing the information but too struck to wrap his mind around it. "Come again?"

"That's what I was trying to say. Lilith wants her bad, they need her."

"Why?"

Another exchange of looks followed, and this time it was really annoying.

"Why?" Dean repeated, his heart started to thud dully against his ribs. Angels! "I mean, it's Bela! Have they even spent time with her? Or having her around is some form of torture?"

"They wanted her from the start," Castiel spoke. "We thought it was because-"

"They miss her in hell so much! Yeah, I can imagine that. Awesome company and all. But-"

"She's into it as much as you are," Anna stopped him.

He swallowed hard. "How?"

"It was you who broke the first seal and started the Apocalypse."

"I kinda remember that," he breathed out.

"But it was her blood you shed to start it," she went on. "And now she is back. And whatever I means, they don't like it."

"Plus, she's someone they can use to get to you and Sam," Castiel added and God damn him if there wasn't humor in his voice.

"What makes them think so?" He frowned.

"You brought her back. It's a bit… obvious, no?"

"Crap!"

He unclenched his fingers and let the duffel bag hit the floor. He closed her eyes and rubbed his eyelids. Breathe. He had to breathe. Now, that was just… And he actually had to… to do what?

To be continued!

Thanks a lot for reading! Reviews are always welcome!