Demon Seals

Chapter Five: Next Steps

If you've seen season 8 of the show, then you know all about Heaven's Intelligence Division and the fact that Heaven has its own prison. There's a brief mention of both of these things in this chapter.

Also, remember that time passes much more quickly in both Heaven and Hell than it does on Earth in this story. 1 month on Earth = 10 years in Heaven/Hell. Enjoy!

"So, what's been goin' on since I went downstairs?" Dean asked the moment he and Bobby had returned to the salvage yard and Bobby's home.

The older Hunter sighed and pulled off his cap as he took a seat in his study. "At first? Just more of the same. Demonic possessions were still on the rise, along with missing persons reports all over the place." He frowned, eyes going distant. "Me, Ellen, Jo… we couldn't look for Sam, but we could track this, so that's what we did between Hunts and runnin' phones for other Hunters.

"Anyway, around the end of October, a lot of those missing people suddenly started showin' up." Bobby shook his head. "Most of 'em were living, but a few were dead, stabbed up through the chin or in the heart with a blade whose length matched the one Ruby had. And then more folks started goin' missin' startin' end'a October and into November, but their relatives reported strange behavior in the days before." He suddenly started searching through one of his many stacks of paper. "Let's see…" He pulled a series of stapled papers free and started flipping through them. "Here we go. There was a James Novak, went by Jimmy, who vanished that month, and his wife said he claimed an angel named…" He trailed off, face going blank.

"Bobby?" Dean asked "An angel named what?"

"Castiel."

Dean moved closer to look at the face on the missing persons report. "That's him," he said after a moment. "That's Castiel, or his vessel, I guess." He sighed and scrubbed at his face. "That matches up with when Castiel said Sam started drinking demon blood again." Dean smiled grimly before a yawn broke through.

"You've been awake long enough," Bobby said, setting his papers down and shooting Dean a stern look. "Why don't you go get some sleep?"

"We need to find Sam," Dean said, shaking his head.

"We'll find him, son," Bobby said, standing up, "but you're no good to me if you end up collapsing from exhaustion. Now get, we've both been awake too long."

Dean sighed, but finally gave in and retreated to the room he and Sam normally shared when staying here. He rifled through his duffel bag (Sam had kept it in the Impala's trunk, which came as an immense relief to Dean) and found some clothes to change into. It wasn't until he pulled off his shirt that he realized two things:

First, he had a burn on his left shoulder in the shape of a hand print. Was it Castiel's?

And second, his necklace, the amulet Sam gave to him for Christmas when he was twelve years old, he didn't have it. Dean searched through his things, but it was gone. Did Sam have it? He felt like a piece of him was missing. Just like Sam was missing.

When he finally gave into his exhaustion, it was only a few short hours before the nightmares invaded and he woke, sweating and gasping for breath. 106 years of Hell. It really felt like he'd been gone forever, even if the time up here didn't reflect it.

Please, he begged silently as he scrubbed his face with his hands, please let me find my brother again. He needs me with him and I need him back. He wasn't sure if he was actually praying this time around, but if that was what it took to bring Sam back…

It was a while before Dean was able to give himself back into the arms of sleep.

"Sam?"

It had been a month since Dean went to Hell. Sam was beyond exhausted, greasy, drunk, and starving, but none of that impaired his ability to sense demons or identify emotions.

"Ruby?"

The demon had ditched blonde in favor of dark brown hair and eyes. "It's another dead Jane Doe," she said, holding up a slip of paper that Sam didn't care to read. "Took me damn near a day to find one that wasn't ugly as fuck."

Sam stared and raised his eyebrows after a moment.

Ruby's expression softened. "I… I'm sorry for what happened," she said quietly.

Sam didn't want to hear it. "I thought you were dead," he said bluntly.

"No," Ruby answered, striding over and taking a seat next to Sam on the floor of the abandoned farmhouse he was currently ensconced in. "She — Lilith sent me into the Pit. I'm lucky I managed to escape at all."

It was the truth, or as much as Ruby was willing to tell. Sam looked away. "What are you doing here?" he finally asked, holding up the bottle in his hand and scowling when he realized it was empty.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" Ruby said incredulously. "I promised Dean I would be there for you if his death was unavoidable." She maneuvered herself so she was kneeling right in front of Sam, gently reaching out and placing a hand under his chin. He didn't want to meet her eyes. "Sam, please," she cajoled softly, and he forced himself to look up at her.

"I broke out of Hell to keep my promise to your brother," she told him in a quiet, sad voice. "I don't care if you wanna sit around and drink all day, or seek vengeance, or do research until your eyes go blind. You're not doing it without me."

"I already sent away Bobby, Ellen, and Jo," Sam told the demon. "Why should I let you stay?"

"Because you can't force me to leave like you could them," Ruby said simply. "Because you don't have it in you to kill me." She tilted her head slightly, eyes sorrowful. "Because I made a promise to the most important person in your life."

Sam looked at the blade lying next to him, ready for the next attack. It would be easy to pick it up and run it through the brunette, and yet…

Sighing, Sam met the chocolate brown eyes again. "Fine," he said. "Stay. Don't expect me to do anything in return."

Ruby smiled and huffed a tiny laugh. "I can live with that," she said, holding up one of her hex bags that Sam was sure was spelled to cloak the holder's location from demons. "But first thing, I won't tolerate surprise demon attacks." She stuffed the bag in her jacket pocket. "Second, I keep the knife until you're ready to prove you're actually in fighting shape. And third, you need better digs with a fucking shower. You stink, Sam."

Sam chuckled for the first time in ages. "Fine," he huffed, tossing aside the empty liquor bottle he still held and handing Ruby the knife. She rose and backed away to give him room to stand. He wobbled some, but managed to keep from crashing back to the ground. Ruby gathered the bare essentials he had brought in with him, helped him load up the Impala, and then she insisted on being the one to drive. Sam put up a token fight, thinking of what Dean would say to him if he knew he was letting a demon drive his baby, but quickly capitulated because he knew he was in no shape to be behind the wheel. He hadn't been in good shape to do anything for the last few weeks (the last month since Dean died).

Fuck. Dean is in Hell.

Ruby found a decent motel about an hour down the road, got them checked in, and then all but shoved Sam into the bathroom to get himself cleaned up. It was kind of weird to have a demon on his ass about the way he smelled, but Sam couldn't help but take some kind of comfort in having someone around to fuss over him.

What would Dean think of the way you've been living for the last month?

Sam turned on the water as hot as he could stand it and tried to drown out his thoughts. That night in his dreams, he screamed uselessly at the demon torturing his brother, begged Alistair to stop it, to leave Dean alone. He woke, sobbing against Ruby, and clung to her in lieu of having no one else to turn to. The demon said nothing, but held him, all the same.

Castiel hovered warily out of Danielle's range, uncertain as to whether or not he was truly ready to resume the duty of guarding… well, watching the young soul.

Sariah had been very displeased about his interaction with Danielle, and so Castiel had been reassigned to stand guard at the doors to Heaven's prison for a period of ten years.

The time he spent there had been most… unpleasant.

And the message he was meant to take away from the experience was clear:

Do not disobey your orders.

Danielle was sitting at a corner table in a bar, clicking away at the device in front of her (a lap-topper?) as Jared was involved in a memory with what appeared to be coworkers, or possibly friends. Danielle suddenly sighed, glanced up right to where Castiel was watching her, and shook her head.

"I was wondering if you'd ever come back," she said, and Castiel knew she must to speaking to him."Sariah showed up after you left and threatened to send me to the 'reconditioning specialist' over in the Intelligence Division if I didn't get my act together and start playing by the rules like a good little soul who so kindly did the work of Heaven."

It did not seem as though she was playing by the rules. Still, Castiel kept his silence.

Danielle rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat. "I get it," she continued stubbornly, "you've got rules you're supposed to follow, and I'm supposed to do the same. I won't ask you to reveal yourself again, but don't expect me to stop talking to you. Just you, though." She looked over at where Jared was laughing at a joke one of his memory-friends had just told. "I don't really like any of the others."

Castiel remained quiet. "You know, Castiel, you've been gone for what, ten years?" She smirked. "Please, feel free to let Sariah know that I'm aware of how much time has passed. Most of the time, Jared knows, too." She started tapping away on the… computer? "Anyway, I wanted to tell you a story."

Despite himself, Castiel drew a tad closer, and from the small grin tugging at the corner of Danielle's mouth, he knew she was more than aware of it. "Once upon a time," the young woman began, "there was a brother named Michael who had a younger brother. Michael always did everything asked of him by his father. His little brother loved their father, but he often questioned his commands, particularly when asked to care for creatures he thought weren't worthy of his care." She looked right at Castiel. "Then the younger brother went too far, did something unthinkable."

Where was she going with this story?

"The brother snuck into a garden, hoping to trick the creatures into acting as much less than they were. Then he went after the first daughter born to the creatures and twisted everything she was from goodness and light to darkness and evil. He convinced one of her brother's to kill their other brother. And so the father commanded Michael to punish his brother and lock him in a cage in the depths of Hell."

Lucifer.

Danielle was talking about the fallen angel.

"But what no one knew was that the father created a way for the younger brother to be set free. All it took was the father leaving his sons alone, and Michael's anger drove him to make a choice that would one day set that brother free. You probably know it as the Apocalypse."

Castiel almost allowed himself to become visible, almost strode up to Danielle and demanded to know why she was telling him all of this, how she knew such horrible things, if they were at all true… But he had his orders. He was not, under any circumstances, to interact with this soul.

"I think that's enough for today," Danielle said abruptly. "Don't hesitate to report the full details of this encounter to Sariah." She glanced at her device, frowned, and then shut it. "I've got a memory to enjoy with my husband. See ya around, Castiel."

Within seconds, Danielle had risen, slid into place under the arm Jared threw out right as she walked up, and then she was just as lost in the memory as her life partner had been.

This soul was most curious, Castiel thought. He left and sought out Sariah's presence so he could tell her everything Danielle had said to him. His superior stared at him for a long time in contemplative silence when he finished. Finally, she said, "Thank you for sharing this with me, Castiel. It is undoubtedly falsehoods she was speaking, meant to try and sway you from what is right. However, I think it would be… wise, to have you partnered with other members of the garrison from now on."

"I agree," Castiel replied. "Thank you, Sariah."

A companion would ensure he was not swayed by anything the soul tried to tell him. In fact, a companion should make Danielle stop talking to him altogether.

That could only be a good thing.