Chapter 12

Silence lay heavily over the room for a long moment.

"Wha…? What? I don't…." Lily couldn't concentrate, there were spots in front of her eyes and her legs couldn't support her. She collapsed into Bobby's side. Only his hunter's reflexes stopped her from falling all the way to the floor.

Bobby placed her in the chair behind him and Lily bent forward to place her head between her knees, breathing heavily. Bobby kneeled on the floor beside her. He looked at Castiel with fury in his eyes.

Sam was the first one to regain his composure. "Cas, is this possible? Has it happened before? Are there other…half angels running around?"

Cas turned to him after he confirmed that Lily was fine. "As far as I know, I'm the only angel who actively and regularly cures humans the way I have been. So, again, as far as I know, I'm the only angel who has done this. As for whether it's happened before…something similar happened a few thousand years ago."

Getting the reference instantly, Lily groaned. "I'm no virgin. Are you saying Joseph knocked up Mary and God gave the baby grace?" she muttered, slowly sitting up.

"No," Castiel answered. "Mary was a virgin and God caused her to conceive. Jesus was His son, not Joseph's. That is the miracle of His birth. And I'm not God."

Dean looked up. "So that story…it's true? Jesus was placed on the cross? God allowed that?" He looked irate.

Castiel looked at Dean. "Yes, it's true." He tilted his head. "Why are you angry?"

"He sacrificed his son!" Dean snapped.

"That's the whole point! John 3:16, 'For God so loved the world-'"

"Don't you dare quote the bible to me!" Dean growled.

"You sacrificed your brother to save the whole world. How is that different?"

Dean's eyes widened angrily. "Sam stepped into that knowingly! And I didn't want him to do it." He yelled, "We didn't have a choice!"

"Jesus knew what was meant to happen. He went into it knowingly."

Just then a voice came from behind them.

"He didn't really want to do it, either, but he understood," the voice spoke, drawing everyone's startled gazes. "Hello Dean, Sam. It's good to see you. Hello Castiel."

Standing in the archway between the living room and the dining room was Chuck.

Chuck turned to Lily, walked over and placed his hand on her head. She sat up and gave a sigh. She smiled at him. "Hello, Chuck." She swallowed tightly. "I think…I'm beginning to understand."

Chuck smiled at her before turning to Dean. "Dean let go of your anger. Everything happened a long time ago, and while it's still very important, it isn't relevant; not right now."

Chuck then turned to Castiel. "Do you believe God has a plan?"

Castiel paused. "I did."

"Now you feel like he has forsaken you and the humans?"

"Yes."

"He hasn't, you know."

"He gave up," Castiel said tightly. "He told Joshua he was done."

"Don't you see?" Chuck asked earnestly. "The angels and archangels were getting complaisant. They didn't walk the earth anymore. He was watching them and they weren't doing as he asked; even you, Castiel. Before now, when was the last time you came to earth to just have a look around?"

"It was forbidden and I wasn't ordered to."

"God didn't forbid it," Chuck told him. "Maybe Raphael did, or possibly Michael. By the way," He placed his hand on Castiel's shoulder, "You need to know that you got the order to rescue Dean from Raphael and he did, in fact, get that order from God. The problem was Raphael held the order to see if Dean would break the first seal. You should have been sent to Hell to get Dean the day he died. If you had gone then, you would have been in time." He turned to the Winchesters, "There's a reason I told you that." He didn't go into it any further, though.

Sam and Dean stared at Chuck, horrified. They were trying to take in everything that was happening and were standing completely still, almost in shock, as they listened to this man that looked like Chuck, but spoke as if he was much older.

"God watched the angels that came to earth when this all began," Chuck murmured. "He watched Raphael and Uriel. He mourned when your brothers and sisters fell in defiance of them. He watched Anna kill Uriel to save you, and he watched you – especially you. He watched you defy your orders and go against everything you had been trained to do. He watched you take the fall for the humans he had asked all of the angels to love. He watched you love them and protect them as much as you could. He brought you back - twice! Your absent Father hasn't stepped down - He isn't dead."

"He needed you to stand with the humans here to help and guide them. He gave you leeway to make those decisions for yourself. You didn't fail Him, nor did you disappoint Him."

Chuck turned around and looked at Sam and Dean. "This is the closest you humans ever got to the end, but it isn't the first time you've begun the journey. This is the first time the angels started to help it along, though. They say they are tired. They just want all of this to end." He paused for a bit and when he spoke again, his voice was chilling. "For the ones who helped pushed it along and get it to the precipice it was, the end will come – swiftly."

"Dean, Sam…since before you were born, God has been watching what was going on. He has been here on earth, watching and waiting. He could see the way events were evolving; what Azazel was doing for Lucifer; the plots and plans that got Lucifer out of his cage and took you to that cemetery. He was watching the angels that were working with Lucifer to bring on the end of days. It almost broke him and He told Joshua he was done with everything. He was powerless because he was so brokenhearted. Do you know what brought him back?"

Sam and Dean shook their heads numbly.

"It was you two. You boys gave up everything. You fought and fought to stop this. Sam, you made the ultimate sacrifice and Dean, you let him. Because of you, God is going to go back to heaven and take control again."

He turned to Castiel and placed his hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Castiel, you can stand down." Castiel stared at Chuck, in shock, and it took a few moments for him to comprehend the statement. The tension drained from his shoulders in a way that Sam and Dean had never seen before. There was a look in his eyes that the boys couldn't decipher, though. Neither Dean nor Sam could understand why he would look so... guilty. They both turned back to Chuck.

"What do you mean we've come close to the end? This has happened before?" Dean asked.

"Several times." Chuck smiled sadly. "Whenever there is great peril in the world and there is a potential for great numbers of people dying, I come to earth. I've been on Earth for most of the last 100 years, actually. Before that, I've been here at least once or twice a century, most notably during the Black Death..."

"You're not one of the horsemen," Dean interjected.

"No, I'm not."

Sam was looking at Chuck in shock. "Chuck, are you…are you God?"

Chuck smiled, but he didn't answer.

Castiel was looking at him. "You're the one who sent me here when Lily was dying; and again just now. You looked like an angel."

Chuck nodded, "Yes, I can take on any appearance on earth or in Heaven."

Lily was standing beside Chuck, "You came to me in a dream and you told me he was trying to make it right. What did you mean?"

"God couldn't stop Lucifer from his massacre of your home. He couldn't stop Sam and the other children from being infected by the demon blood. He tried to help, but the angels were doing so much harm…. Sam, Dean, Castiel and Bobby, and Ellen and Jo were the only ones he saw that were trying to stop it. After they succeeded, God's power and might started to rebuild. He couldn't reset time. He tried, but it was causing harm to the planet. That rash of earthquakes and tsunamis last year were his attempts to fix things. So he looked at you men and you, Lily and your boys, and he knew that he could make things better for all of you."

"There were other survivors. Is He helping them?" Lily whispered.

Chuck took her hand. "Nearly all of them are dead, either by their own hand or in some violent attack. The ones that are still alive are in mental health institutions. You're not the only survivor that was visited by a surprise 'surviving' family member. They'd been attacked and somehow survived, but made the foolish mistake of telling people what actually happened. God will help them, too."

Chuck let go of her hand and moved over to Bobby and pulled him to his feet. "We knew you had made sacrifices and that you've had to do many horrible things. We wanted to reward you. We sent you to Lily. She's very important to you, isn't she?" Bobby could only nod. "Once she got her feet under her, she was ready for you. She's Heaven sent; as you are to her."

"The baby is…just a gift. As for the baby's grace, well, I shouldn't worry about it. It won't be a bad thing. There isn't anything expected of her because of it. She will be extra healthy, smart, and strong. She will be a beautiful, normal, human girl." Bobby and Lily relaxed slightly at this revelation. "And Lily?" Chuck continued. "Your sparks of intuition are from the grace that is growing inside you as the baby grows. I think you'll loose that when you give birth." Chuck smiled and gave her a wink, but she couldn't imagine why.

"She won't have wings will she?" Bobby muttered.

Chuck recognized Bobby's attempt at humor and smiled. "No, no wings. She's not an actual angel. She's a gift from God with a little extra from Castiel. Allow him time with her as she grows. He didn't do anything on purpose." Lily nodded.

Chuck turned to Sam and Dean. "You two have been to Hell and back, literally as well as figuratively. You've been infected with demon blood, vampire venom, ghost sickness. You've lost your mates, your parents, and your babies. You've died more times than even I can count. You've done it all in the service of a mankind that doesn't even know how much they owe you." He paused. "God wants you to know how proud he is of you. He wants to reward you-."

"Wait a minute – vampire venom? Who?" Sam looked at Dean, but paused as the rest of what Chuck was saying sank in. He looked at Chuck with horror, "Babies? Jess?"

AN: Okay, I'm getting into some shaky stuff bringing Jesus into it, but I looked it up and the bible does say that he went to Gethsemane because he was human and he was scared. He went there to pray and begged His Father to spare him this suffering if possible.

No offense is intended in any way.

6 November 2011 There is an alternate version of this chapter in my stories list. Please read the warnings.