Dean blinked as he looked around the dingy motel room. The last thing he remembered was snuggling down into the large comfortable bed in the cheerfully decorated bedroom he had taken at Delores house. Spinning around his eyes feel on the form of a sleeping Sam curled on the far bed and a Boy Scout sitting in a chair pulled up to the side of the bed. Suddenly it all came back, the poltergeist hunt, God showing him all of his mistakes, Gabriel snapping at him.
"So you remember, good." the Boy Scout said. The child reached out and brushed a lock of Sam's hair back, tucking it behind Sam's ear. "He's doing better. He's stable now." The boy stood up and walked over to look up at Dean. "But you have not fixed things yet."
"What do you mean I haven't fixed things?" Dean asked.
"Have you forgotten when Castiel first pulled you out of the pit?" God asked. "Only the righteous man could spark the events that would lead to the Apocalypse. And only the righteous man could stop those events."
"Sam, he stopped it. He put Lucifer back in the cage." Dean said.
"He didn't stop it Dean, only delayed the final showdown. It's time that you see what will happen if you don't stop it." God stepped forward and placed a hand on Dean's arm.
The scenery shifted. They were standing on a flat plain, mountain peaks rising majestically in the distance. They were in the middle of a makeshfit camp. People were huddled into a group on the ground looking shell shocked.
Dean slapped his hands over his ears as a horrible discordant note raced through the air. Dean stumbled as a strong wind accompanied the blast stirring up dust and sending debris swirling through the air. Dean felt a tremor in the ground at the same time as a second discordant note sounded. He realized that the mountains looked different the majestic peaks that he had clearly seen just minutes ago were gone. Plumes of smoke and ash were spewing into the darkening sky.
"What's happening?" Dean shouted.
"Gabriel." God watched Dean flinch as another blast rolled across the plains. "He is calling the armies of Michael and Lucifer to the Plains of Meggido. He will continue to sound his horn until all are assembled. And with each blast of his horn another of the Prophet John's prophecies come to pass.
Mountains crumble into the ocean, seas run red with blood, earthquakes ravage the continents, comets fall from the heavens." God pointed off toward the distant mountains. "Around the globe volcanoes long dead are erupting spewing ash into the skies, blocking out the life giving rays of the sun. Only a handful of people will survive the Doomsday blasts. And those who survive will pray for death as the temperature drops and they freeze to die while Ice creeps down from the poles to meet at the eqator. Those who do not freeze will starve. Animals will die from the cold, crops will not grow."
"Will anyone survive?" Dean asked.
"Some, but they will no longer be the same. Another species will rise to take your place, perhaps Reptilian or Insectoid." God said. "This world will be a Paradise, but not for you. Not for humanity, you will be extinct.
I have sent Gabriel away to give you a chance. I will allow Castiel to assist you by providing information but that it all. You must take the action to stop this from happening Dean, you are the Righteous Man."
Dean rolled out of bed and landed on the hardwood floor with a loud thump. He pushed himself up into a sitting position. He was still there when the door opened admitting a worried Sam and Garth.
"Dude! Did you just fall out of bed?" Sam asked reaching down and grabbing his arm pulling him up and depositing him on the bed.
"Oh shit Sammy. I just, I think I just...I had a dream." Dean said scrubbing his hand across his face.
"It must have been some dream." Garth said. "I'm guessing it wasn't a good one."
"I need to talk to Cas." Dean said. "I think it was...God."
"God?" Sam and Garth questioned at the same time.
"Castiel please if you're not too busy, if it was God, could you.." Dean started only to be interrupted by a gravelly voice.
"Hello Dean, Sam...Garth." Castiel said.
"You're here." Dean said.
"You prayed for me." Castiel said.
"Did I just dream about God?" Dean asked.
Castiel tilted his head and studied the hunter. "I do not think so. I sense my father's presence on you. You were with him."
"What he showed me was real?" Dean asked.
"I do not know what he showed you. All I know is that he has instructed me to answer your questions." Castiel said. "Perhaps the Magi should be present when I do."
Delores had immediately put on a pot of coffee. She had had been a bit awed at first having at Castiel sitting at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee steaming in front of him. This was an angel who had descended into hell and raised a human soul.
He was definitely not what she expected. He reminded her of Peter Falk in Columbo. It had to be the trench coat that he refused to remove even though the kitchen was quite warm.
"Before we start, I must tell you that I can only answer the questions you pose." Castiel said. "You need to take advantage now because I have a task that I cannot be away from for long."
"What task?" Dean asked.
"I have been charged with watching over Sam, Gabriel can no longer do so." Castiel said.
Sam remembered Gabriel saying that he was busy keeping him alive in another place. "Gabriel said he was keeping hell out of my dreams. Why did he stop?"
"Father has consigned him to the cage." Castiel answered.
"Gabriel is in the cage? With Lucifer and Michael?" Sam asked. "Why?"
"Father considered it an appropriate precautionary measure." Castiel said.
"When I was dreaming, I saw a lot of natural disasters. God said that it was Gabriel. Was that for real?" Dean asked.
"You have seen the Doomsday blast, like the prophet John. The one known as The Revelator. When Gabriel sounds his horn all of those things will come to pass." Castiel said.
"Is that why he's in the cage?" Dean asked. "To keep him from sounding his horn?"
"Eventually that would become a risk, however it is not why Father confined him." Castiel said.
"If I might ask a question," Delores piped up. "Why did God consider confining him a precautionary measure?"
"Father wishes to keep the Fallen from locating and opening Lucifer's cage." Castiel explained. "Only the Archangels present when Michael sealed the cage the first time know the secrets of the cage." Castiel explained. "Raphael no longer exists, and Michael was in the cage. Gabriel was the only one free who knows. Father determined that the safest place to hide that knowledge from the Fallen was within the cage itself."
"Cas you keep mentioning the Fallen what are they, demons?" Sam asked.
"They are not demons, they are fallen angels. Not those who were simply cut off from Heaven like I was or who tore out their grace like Anael or even ran way like Gabriel." Castiel said. "They are the ones who were cast down during the previous Angelic Wars. They have been rejected by heaven and are sworn to Lucifer."
"Lucifer's army?" Sam asked.
"A better description would be his Generals. They have been leaderless until now because of Lucifer's imprisonment. Lucifer did not have to time to mobilize and organize them when Sam released him, but they did become active and begin to seek him out. Sam cast Lucifer back into the pit before they could reach him." Castiel explained. "Dagon is different, he was once an Archangel. The Fallen are organizing under him. They are searching for the means to raise Lucifer once again. Should that happen, The Battle of Meggido will occur."
"How do we use the swords to stop Dagon?" Dean asked.
"Only Michael's sword can kill Dagon." Castiel said "But Lucifer's sword can kill the rest of the Fallen. Michael and Lucifer are the most powerful of all the host. The swords were forged from their grace. They can only be wielded by true vessels."