Chapter 4 - Fire Lake

Gabriel was pacing the floor in their suite in Heaven, in a highly agitated state. He'd been hyperactive ever since the couple had appeared to him and Liz in Heaven, hand in hand. Gail had cleaned the blood off their clothing and Cas had conjured up some tissues for them both, but they were well aware of how startling their sudden appearance would be for everyone.

As it was, Cas had been beyond upset when Gail had told him her story. It was like an emotional roller coaster. He had been both angry at and proud of his wife, and Gabriel, for standing up to Raguel the way they had done. But then, Gail had killed herself in her risky bid to be reunited with Cas in the Netherworld. But Death never came, she'd told him, so she had ended up in front of her own Suicide Board here in Heaven.

Gail tried to minimize some of her more harrowing experiences, so as not to enrage him, or traumatize him further. She emphasized that it had been entirely her idea to get sent to Hell, to try to persuade Crowley to revive Cas. When the King refused, she told Cas, she had persuaded him to send her back to the bunker. She wasn't lying to Cas, she rationalized, just omitting a rather large group of facts. If there was one thing they didn't need right now, it was Cas raining down Holy fire on Crowley. She still had no idea what the little gift underneath her hair was capable of doing to her, and they had more immediate problems.

Cas was looking at her evenly. If Gail thought he was buying her claim that Crowley had merely returned her to Earth safe and sound out of the goodness of his heart, then she was dreaming. But he had vowed not to be stern with her so soon after their frightening experience.

Then she had told him about her emotional return to the bunker, and her attempts to find the spell book. Sam had been quite right, of course. Even if the book had been there, the spell would never have been able to have been cast. Unlike Crowley, Castiel had no bones, in any location. He had been an Angel for so long that there were no vestiges of his human existence left.

Still, Gail had not given up in her attempts to be reunited with her husband. Cas was now holding both of her hands in his, staring into her eyes as she continued her tale. He knew that she was soft-pedalling quite a few things along the way. Even if he didn't use his Godly power, which he was trying very hard not to do, Cas knew his wife very well. She was shaking like a leaf, looking at him with wide eyes. She was terrified.

As she neared the end of the recounting of her ordeal, Gail started to cry again. "Death took me to you, but you didn't even know me, Cas! You had no idea who I was! Then he took me away, and he said that we were going to be apart for eternity, and that was my punishment. So then, I lied to him."

"You WHAT?!" Cas exclaimed, alarmed.

Gail explained about Ammit, and what she had told Death. "I lied my face off," she told her husband. "I had no choice! He was going to leave me there, Cas. I was going to be there all alone, and you and I were never going to see each other again! I did what I had to do."

Now, Cas was the one who was scared. She had lied to Death. She had lied, to Death. What were the consequences of THAT going to be? He had no idea how to kill Ammit. He didn't even know where the Lake of Fire was. But why had he not known Gail, when Death had brought her to their house in the Netherworld? When Cas had first arrived there after his death, he had been blissfully unaware of his wife's many ordeals. He had been crushed to be without her, but he had known he'd done the right thing, nevertheless. He could never have harmed her. Never. But when Cas had seen the little house that looked so much like their house on Earth, his spirits had soared. Surely the Father would not have given Cas a house like that if He did not intend for the two of them to be together. Cas had waited for Gail for thousands of years before now. If he knew that she was coming, he could wait some more. So he had begun to plant the flowers and the vegetables, to make the place attractive for her once she got there. Then the sheep had wandered into the back acreage, and Cas had started tending to them, as well. He had taken to the quiet and serene life, but it was hollow and lonely without her. Still, Cas had faith. He would wait outside every day, looking for her. Then, when she did not come, he would do his chores, and then, he would wait some more.

"But I have no recollection of Death bringing you there," Cas told her now. "One moment, I was there, and the next, I was waking up with you, back in Egypt." The enormity of what they had just escaped was starting to sink in now, and Cas began to tremble, too. He took Gail in his arms again, holding her close to him until their shaking subsided. "Oh, my darling," he said into her hair. "I'm so sorry that you went through all of that." He pulled out of the embrace. "But, I would do it again. And again, and again, to spare your life. But you must promise me that you will never, ever, do that again."

Gail smiled sadly. "You know I can't do that, Cas. Just like you would do what you did again and again, I would do whatever I had to do to get you back. Again and again and again." She touched his face. "I love you, sweetie."

"Without you, there is no me," Cas replied, taking her hands and kissing them softly. "I have always loved you, and I always will." He smiled through the tears that were pooling in his eyes again. When they remarried, those were going to be their vows. He told her this now.

Gail nodded. She liked that idea. But right now, they had much more pressing issues. "We need help figuring out how we can get to Ammit," she said, "and I guess we'd better announce to everyone in Heaven that you're back. Maybe we'll get Bobby to go down to the bunker and let everyone there know, too. Prepare them for your return. Remember how Bobby ended up here again, after he got the shock of Dean coming back from the dead?"

Now it was Cas's turn to nod. She was right. He certainly didn't want any of their human friends or family dying of a heart attack as soon as he popped into the bunker. Cas smiled again, thinking how good it was going to feel to see everyone again. He had been so lonely in the Netherworld. Once again, he wondered why Death would not have brought Gail to him, to live with him in their little house there. He had definitely thought of it as "their" house. It had had the best qualities of all of the abodes he'd lived in with her in every era, combined. Although he had missed the rest of their extended family very much, he had been resigned to the reality that he and Gail might have to be separated from them in the Afterlife. He and his wife were part of Heaven's Exalted, an elite group that was ranked high, above all others. Dean or Frank might call that snobbery, but that was simply the way it was. The Father had always employed a system of hierarchy. From Himself all the way down to the lowliest of Junior Angels, God had always rewarded those most loyal to Him with titles, and higher regard. Now, Cas was the serving God. It didn't get much higher than that. And even were he not God, Castiel outranked pretty much everyone now, except for Gabriel and Raguel. But somehow, his wife had not made the cut, as the expression went. This made no sense to Cas. None whatsoever. Gail had told him that Death said that was her punishment. But what about if their being separated for all of eternity was not her punishment, but Castiel's?

She had broken into his reverie then, squeezing his hand gently and telling him that they had better act as soon as possible. And that was when they had gone to announce to glorious news to their fellow Angels.

Gabriel was making Gail dizzy now, pacing back and forth, back and forth. Gail looked at Liz, who gave her friend a small shrug.

Gabe had been stunned when the two of them had come waltzing into Liz's office, hand in hand. He had been hiding out here ever since Cas and Gail had died, afraid to face anyone. Liz had taken him in, because that was the sort of person that Liz was. Gabriel had felt so low at that point that he had contemplated committing suicide himself. He had completely and utterly let his Brother down. Because Gabe had been afraid to fight Raguel in the first place, the Archangel had been free to use Michael's ring against Castiel in the horrible way that he had. There was no need for Raguel to have done that. None at all. If he'd wanted the Holy War so bad, he could have just compelled Castiel to declare it, and left Gail out of the equasion altogether. But Raguel had commanded Castiel to kill his own wife, the one person Cas loved beyond anyone else, just for spite. Just because he could. But although Castiel had marshalled all of his strength and refused, he'd known that he could only resist the power of the ring for so long. So he had made the ultimate sacrifice, and then, so had Gail.

And both of their deaths had been Gabriel's responsibility. He had failed Castiel by not having been man enough to take Raguel on before any of that mess had been allowed to take place. And then, Gabriel had failed his Brother again, when he had done nothing to prevent Gail from killing herself. The fact that he hadn't seen that coming was no excuse. He should have done...something. Taken her blade away from her, at the very least.

Gabriel had confessed all of this and more to Liz when he had gone to her in Heaven, seeking comfort. She had listened without judging, and after he was done with his confession, Liz had laid his head down on her bosom, and he had cried like a baby.

Then the process of building him back up had begun, and although it was still a work in progress, Liz's patience and understanding had helped Gabriel immensely. He sat in her office during the day, sometimes reading quietly and sometimes nattering away, but if he was bothering her, she would never let on. Some nights, he would disappear, but she would never ask him where he went. If he felt it was her business, he would tell her, Liz reasoned. Some nights, he would ask to come over to her apartment, and they would talk through the night, about a variety of different subjects. And eventually, when his puppydog face had sufficiently worn her down, Liz had let him into her bed, as well.

Liz had needed a little comforting of her own. Her heart had broken when she'd received the news. She and Gail were best friends in Heaven, partners in crime who shared giggly conversations and confidences. Liz had persuaded Gail to add a little altruism to her already busy schedule, and the two of them had worked side by side at the school and the seniors' centre. But that didn't mean they couldn't have some laughs along the way. The two of them had laughed so much. Who was Liz going to laugh with now? Who was she going to tell her secrets to? A short while back, before she'd gone to Egypt, Gail had encouraged Liz to give Gabriel a chance. And now, in a strange way, Gail had brought Liz and Gabriel together, because they had bonded over their grief for their fallen Brother and Sister.

Then had come the blessed day when they'd heard that Gail had come back. That news had brought pure joy, but it had only lasted a millisecond. Then had come the depths of despair, when the two of them found out that she had been cast into Hell. Gabriel had grabbed Liz's hand and stormed over to Bobby's office, demanding to know why. Liz had had to stand between the men to prevent a potential fistfight. Gabriel was still a pacifist at heart, but his angry confrontation with Raguel had served to give Gabe the wake-up call he'd needed. Some things were worth fighting for. So he had yelled at Bobby for sending Gail to Hell, even if that was what she had asked for. But then, Bobby had done some metaphorical counter-punching of his own, telling Gabriel he needed to shut his mouth, because it was his fault that Cas and Gail were dead in the first place. And that had been it. TKO. Gabriel had slunk out of there with his tail between his legs, because ultimately, Bobby was right.

But then, when they had heard that Gail was back from Hell and planning on getting Cas back, Liz had rejoiced. That was the friend she knew and loved. Liz had been filled with hope then, because like Gail, Liz believed that love trumped everything. If there was a way, her friend would find it. Gabriel had been less convinced, but for a change, he had held his tongue.

"Would you sit down, please?" Gail appealed to Gabriel now. "You're freaking me out."

"You. Lied. To. Death," Gabriel said, making each word its own sentence for emphasis. "Do you know what kind of shitstorm - sorry, Ladies - crapstorm you've unleashed, Gail?"

Gail took a moment to think about that. She made a face. "I couldn't help it! I didn't know what else to do!" she exclaimed. "That's why we have to figure out where the Lake of Fire is and kill Ammit, as soon as possible!"

"Oh, sure," Gabriel said sarcastically. "We're just gonna march in there and kill a Demon Goddess who's existed for centuries, on her own turf, using - what was that? Oh, yeah. You don't know. Well, there's a spectacular plan."

"How does somebody become a Demon Goddess, anyway?" Liz asked them, curious.

"She had to have moved up the ranks from the status of an ordinary Demon, distinguishing herself along the way," Cas said thoughtfully. Now that they had a problem to solve, he had compartmentalized his emotions for the moment.

"Distinguishing herself how?" Gail asked warily.

"Oh, the usual," Gabriel said dryly. "Outstanding Achievement in Torture, and General Rotten-ness. Killing and maiming for the King. She must be very good at that kind of stuff. Which is why it's not gonna be easy to kill her."

"You mentioned the King," Liz remarked. "Couldn't Crowley help - "

"No," Gail interrupted quickly. "No. We're not calling him."

Cas was looking at her curiously. Oh yes, there was more going on here than she was telling him, that was for sure. But right now, they had to stay focused on the problem at hand.

"What about Sam?" Liz suggested. "Maybe the lore's got something on the subject."

Gail frowned. "I'd like to avoid talking about this with them, if we can help it. I don't want this getting out. So please, please don't tell anybody. All we would need would be for Death to find out I lied to him. He meant what he said about those Reapers. Now, come on. We should be able to figure this out for ourselves."

"The way I see it, our first priority is to find the Lake of Fire," Cas mused. "Do you know where it is, Gabriel?"

The Archangel's forehead wrinkled. "Nope. No clue." Then his expression brightened. "You know who might know, though?" He nudged Liz gently. "One of your old geezers - I mean, senior citizens." He smirked. "That's some ancient knowledge, right there. I betcha some of them even fought the Demon Gods, back in the day."

"Leah told me her husband fought a Demon God, once," Liz said excitedly. "I didn't think about that until you mentioned it." She took Gabriel's hand, and Gail's lips twitched. Once this latest crisis was over, she planned on teasing her friend, big time.

"Leah? You mean Betsy Ross?" Gabe quipped.

"Who?" Cas said, puzzled.

"He calls her Betsy Ross, because she's been making this epic quilt for ages now," Liz remarked.

"Wait a minute," Cas said, thinking back. "Was that the lady who wanted the heat adjusted in her room? She said something to me about a quilt, when we were there for my visit with Noah. She said I was on it."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Liz said, smiling. "It's quite the piece of art. She told me every square represents a significant historical event."

Gail's lips twitched again. She put her hand lightly on Cas's thigh. "Did you ever strap on that toolbelt and fix the heat in her room?" she teased her husband.

He smiled thinly. "No, I never did. Truthfully, I forgot all about it. I suppose I'll be in trouble, now."

"Just make sure she doesn't poke you with that bony finger of hers," Gabriel cautioned Cas, gesturing to a spot on his arm. "I've had this bruise here for weeks."

"YOU have?" Gail said, surprised.

Gabe looked at her. "That's right, Kitten," he said casually. "With you gone, Liz roped me into helping out."

Now it was Cas's turn to fight from breaking into a grin. Gabriel, helping out at the Seniors' Centre. Liz wasn't just an Angel, she was a miracle worker. "Let's go see her, then," he said, taking Gail's hand.

"Aren't you going to go down and see Frank, and everybody?" Liz asked the couple.

Gail frowned. "We will, but I think we'd better take care of this, first," she said. "I don't think Death was making an idle threat."

"We asked Bobby to go down and tell everyone that we're fine," Cas added. "That will have to do until we can fulfill our end of the bargain."

"But remember, nobody is supposed to know about this," Gail said nervously. "We didn't even tell Bobby. We just said we had something that we needed to take care of, and that we'll be down to see them as soon as we can. Now, let's go. I'm anxious to get this done. For several reasons."

The quartet popped out.

"What do you mean?" Frank was asking Bobby angrily.

"What do ya mean, what do I mean?" Bobby retorted. "I told you. Cas and Gail are back, they're fine, and they asked me to come here and tell you all."

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed. "What the hell, Bobby?"

Bobby shrugged. "Hey, I was as shocked as you. They just waltzed into my office holding hands, same as always." His beard twitched. "I guess I was the safest bet, seeing as I already had my heart attack when YOU came back."

"So why aren't they here now?" Frank said, as Sam added, "And, how did she do it?"

"I don't know, fellas," Bobby said, putting his hands up in surrender. "Everything I know, you know. They said they had something that they had to do, and they'd come down as soon as they could."

Dean was smirking now. "Oh. Well, we won't see them for a few days, then. Boom-chicka-bow-wow."

Frank made a disgusted face. "Dude, that's my sister you're talking about."

"He's not wrong, though," Jody said, her lips twitching furiously.

"Hey!" Frank exclaimed. "In front of our son?"

Rob grinned. "I hate to tell you this, Dad, but - "

Frank put his hands over his ears, humming loudly. "I don't hear anything! Nothing!"

Everyone laughed, and Rob said, "She did it, Grandpa B. Riley and I felt so bad when she made us leave the house. But somehow, she did it. Riley must be flipping out."

Bobby smiled. "We all are, Rob. We all are."

"But that means you're not God anymore," Sam pointed out. "You OK with that?"

"Are you kidding?" Bobby said. "After all the crap that Gail has gone through, I'm just glad she's still talking to me. Cas, too." Bobby knew that Cas and Gail weren't putting off their visit to Earth so that they could get romantic, though. He had seen their faces. Whatever it was that they had to do, it was serious. But everybody looked happy now, so he decided to keep his mouth shut about it. They'd all been through way too much lately, without bringing up more potential problems.

"A toast," Dean said, as he and Sam passed drinks around the room. Bobby grabbed one, too. "To Cas and Gail, the latest members of the club."

"What club is that?" Rob asked, curious.

"The we-thought-they-were-dead-but-they're-not' club," Sam wisecracked with a grin. "It's kind of a thing around here."

Everyone laughed again, and then they lifted their glasses high and drank.

Liz tapped lightly on Leah's open door. The older Angel was sitting inside her room in an overstuffed armchair that looked about as old as the lady herself. She had the quilt on her lap, and she was sewing another patch onto it.

"Do you mind if we come in?" Liz asked tentatively.

"Who's 'we'?" Leah said, looking past Liz.

"Hello, Leah," Cas said as Liz opened the door wider. "Do you have a few minutes?"

She smiled, sitting up straighter in her chair. "Of course, my Lord. I always have time for the Almighty."

Gail looked at Liz, and the two of them tried not to laugh. Gail was always saying to her friend that Leah was sweet on Cas. Whenever the two of them would volunteer at the Centre, Leah would always ask Gail questions about Cas. Where was he? What was he doing? When was he going to come to the Centre again? Gail had joked to Liz that the woman was crushing on her husband big time, and the way that Leah was looking at Cas now suggested that Gail had been right.

Cas pulled up a chair and sat beside Leah, looking down at her quilt. "That's lovely stitchwork," he commented.

"Thank you, my Lord," she said, beaming at his compliment. "It's so nice to see a man who appreciates this sort of thing."

"I told you just the other day that I thought it was really impressive," Gabriel protested.

Leah looked up at him, making a "Hmph" sound. Then she looked back at Cas, smiling until her dimples were showing. Liz's shoulders were shaking now, and Gail was biting the insides of her cheeks.

"May I see?" Cas asked Leah. Gail thought the woman was going to swoon. If Angels could blush, Leah would be beet-red by now, she was sure.

"Of course, my Lord," Leah said, lifting the quilt from her lap.

"Please, call me Castiel," the Almighty said charmingly. Gail rolled her eyes. Oh, brother. If Leah was about six thousand years younger, Gail might be jealous.

"See, I have all of the important moments in our history represented here," Leah said to Cas. She pointed to various patches on the quilt. "Here are the Crusades, the Inquisitions - both of them - and the Dawn of the Beginning."

"This is extremely well-crafted," Cas told the woman, and he wasn't using flattery this time. The quilt was indeed very impressive. Every square was a detailed representation of the event she was describing.

"You are depicted in a couple of the squares, so far," Leah told him, "But I'm sure there will be more. Your heroism is legend." She pointed. "Here you are, defeating Lucifer on the battlefield. Saving Heaven. You were so brave, my Lord."

Gail rolled her eyes again, resisting the urge to tell the older Angel that other people had been there, too. Gail ought to know; she had been one of them.

"And here you are, rescuing people from a burning building, at great risk to your own personal safety," Leah said, pointing to another square.

Gabriel looked at the woman, incredulous. Then he looked at Cas, raising his eyebrows inquiringly. When had Castiel ever done that? Cas gave him an almost imperceptible shrug. Gabriel peered closer at the square. No way. Was Cas shirtless in the depiction? Cas saw where Gabe was looking, and he shifted the quilt, hiding the square from his Brother.

"I have just begun work on this square, here," Leah told Cas, indicating where she had been sewing. "This square will depict the defeat of one of the triad, with the jawbone. But I haven't received the Word yet as to which of the three it will be."

Gabriel was pacing restlessly again. The old lady was starting to babble now. He reached down to pick up a couple of knitting needles from her vanity table and she said sharply, "I'd be careful with those, if I were you."

He looked up. She was still gawping at Cas. She must have eyes in the back of her head. "Careful? Of knitting needles?" Gabe said skeptically.

"I crafted them out of my husband's and my son's Angel blades," Leah said casually, shifting the quilt again.

Yikes. Gabriel took his hand back, as if the knitting needles were red-hot. Liz made a coughing noise to cover up the laugh that bubbled up in her throat.

"Is that the Nativity?" Cas said, pointing to another square.

"Yes, my Lord. How wonderful of you to notice," Leah replied, smiling widely.

Cas was transfixed. When he had begun to comment on the quilt, he had done so to flatter her. He knew that it was easier to get a person to open up if you expressed an interest in their passions. This quilt was obviously her pride and joy. But he could see now that that was for a very good reason. "This is beautiful," he said sincerely. "The detail is amazing. It's almost like you were there."

Leah laughed softly. "I WAS there, my Lord. I am the innkeeper's wife."

Gail's mouth fell open. "The innkeeper?" she blurted out. "THE innkeeper?"

Leah nodded. "Yes. When Joseph brought Mary to the inn, and we saw that she was in the family way and about to give birth, we had no rooms available. So we gave them the use of the stables. Oh, yes. I was there that night. It was the most magical night of my life." She tapped her finger on the square. "This material is from the Child's swaddling blanket."

Cas gasped. He put his fingers on the square lightly, reverently. This was unbelievable. God's Son's blanket. He closed his eyes for a moment, picturing the scene.

"Do you recognize it?" Leah asked Cas. He opened his eyes, looking at her sharply. "Recognize what? The scene? Of course I do," he said fervently. "All of us who were around at the time remember that night very well. How could we not?"

Gabriel cleared his throat. "Look, as much as I've been enjoying this parade of Dad'd Greatest Hits, some of us have places to be," he said irritably. "Maybe we should get to the point, Your Lordship."

Cas was still staring at the square, but he realized that his Brother had a point. He tore his eyes away from it, looking at Leah. "I need your help," Cas appealed to the old woman. "I understand that your husband fought a Demon God in the War?"

Leah dimpled again. "Yes, my Lord. He was a very brave man, much like yourself. The Birth inspired him to go into God's service. Uriah fought many battles, but one of his greatest achievements was the defeat of the Demon God Bathshear at the Lake of Fire."

Gail's heart sped up. Now, they were getting somewhere. She was on Gabriel's side on this one: it was about time.

"In fact, I have included a square depicting that event, as well," Leah said to Cas, shifting the quilt again. "I hope that isn't Pride. But it was a historic event, at the time. Unfortunately, Bathshear's apprentice, Ammit, has now taken over the Lake. But for many years, it was bereft of souls, and we had Uriah to thank for that."

"His apprentice?" Gail said, puzzled.

"It can take thousands of years for a Demon to rise through the ranks," Cas said matter-of-factly.

"I don't usually indulge in idle gossip," Leah said, leaning forward and putting her hand lightly on Cas's arm, "but Ruth told me that her sister told her that Crowley gave Ammit the promotion, after she was...inappropriately involved with him."

Gail nearly slapped herself on the forehead. Suddenly, she was watching a really bad soap opera.

"Here it is," Leah said, locating the square in question. They all leaned forward to look. "Here is Uriah," Leah told Cas. "He had beautiful blue eyes, and a physique much like yours." She touched Cas's arm more firmly now, prompting Gail to wonder if she'd be sent back to Hell for considering smacking an old lady.

"This is the Lake of Fire, and this is Bathshear, writhing in agony. And here, you see Ammit, observing the battle," Leah continued.

"That's Ammit?" Liz blurted out, horrified.

"That is her true form," Leah said calmly. "When she comes to Earth, she can appear as anyone she chooses."

Gail sighed. Great. Just great. So they were either looking for a horrible creature with the head of a dog, the body of a lizard, and the talons of an eagle, or they were looking for...anyone. Fantastic.

"Where is the Lake, Leah?" Cas asked the woman, holding his breath.

"It's deep underground, fifteen miles north of Jerusalem," she responded immediately. "If you go to the Four Corners and stand directly in the centre, you will be able to descend. But I don't know how you get out, my Lord. Uriah was never able to remember how he came to the surface, after the battle."

"Terrific. It's like the Roach Motel," Gabriel groused. "You can get in, but you can't get out."

"Let me worry about that," Cas said, with more confidence than he felt. He looked at Leah again. "I have one more question for you: how did your husband kill Bathshear? What weapon did he use?"

"He used Bathshear's own talon, my Lord," Leah replied. "My Uriah cut off his hand with his Angel blade, and then cut Bathshear's throat with his own claw."

Cas nodded. Good to know. So, if they could get close enough to Ammit, they had the way to kill her. The trick was going to be getting close to her. Cas may be God now, but Ammit had been a Goddess for a while, and she was clearly very powerful. Any entity that had enough power to unease Death was not an entity to take lightly.

"We must go now," Cas said to Leah. He took her hands in his for a moment. "Thank you for showing us your beautiful quilt, and for the information. You have provided a valuable service to Heaven. To me," he added.

"Oh, thank you, my L-Castiel," Leah said in a quavering voice. He let go of her hand and rose. "Please be careful at the Lake," the older woman said to Cas. "The Demons who keep the Lake have enchantments that we do not possess. Even you." She looked down at the quilt on her lap, and then back up at him again. "I will pray to you when I finish the square with the jawbone."

All four Angels said goodbye to her, and then they popped themselves back to Liz's office.

Gabriel turned to Liz. "I'll come and see you when we're done," he said to her, taking her hand.

"You're coming with us?" Cas said, surprised.

"I let you down in Egypt, Brother," Gabriel said in a serious tone. "I wasn't there for you. That's not gonna happen again." Then, because Gabriel was Gabriel, his lips twitched. "Besides, if I don't get into a fight soon, Liz is gonna start questioning my masculinity."

Gail rolled her eyes comically. "Imagine what Frank or Dean could do with a line like that."

"That brother of yours is pretty quick with the one-liners, isn't he?" Gabriel remarked. "Makes me wonder if he and I aren't related, somehow."

"Maybe you are," Gail said, shrugging. "With my family, you never know."

Now that Liz had feelings for Gabriel, she felt concern for his safety. But she understood why he had to go, and the three of them combined should certainly have enough power to deal with one Demon, Goddess or not. So she gave Gabe a quick kiss on the cheek and wished them all good luck.

Gail was smirking again. She gestured to Liz. "You realize we're totally going to talk about that when I get back, right?"

Liz giggled. "It's a date."

Then the trio vanished.

"The Four Corners," Gabriel announced, looking around.

"Why do they call it that?" Gail inquired.

"Thousands of years ago, this was the town square," he told her. "Us old-timers still think of it that way. I used to hang around here with my buddies, plotting mischief. My misspent youth. I wasn't always the fine, upstanding man you see here today."

"Noooo. Say it isn't so," she said teasingly. "Why is it that I can picture you in Fonzie's leather jacket, snapping your fingers? Did you sing doo-wop?"

"It wasn't the 1950s," he responded, smiling at her imagery. "More like 50, B.C. Having said that, though, I do know a surprising number of songs from that era."

Cas was ignoring their banter. He was looking down at the ground, concentrating. He could feel the power emanating from deep under the ground, and the anguish of the souls who were being cast into the Lake. And he could hear Ammit, laughing.

"How do we get down there?" Cas said aloud, frustrated.

"She said you have to be in the centre," Gabriel told him, moving closer to where Cas stood. "That's not the centre. Here." He put his hands on Cas's shoulders, moving him to the left a couple of feet.

Suddenly, the ground around them rumbled, and Enochian symbols popped up in fire on a rock to Cas's right. The Angels peered at the writing on it, and Gabriel cursed softly.

Gail was still trying to parse it out. "I'm getting better at the language, but - "

"Only those who hold blades can descend," Cas translated.

"Dammit!" Gabriel exclaimed. "That's the stupidest rule I ever heard of!"

Cas gave him a half-shrug. "Be that as it may, that's what it says. As you no longer have your blade, you cannot come. But you can help me, nonetheless."

Cas looked at Gail, and she said, "Oh, no. No way, Cas. You're not going down there alone. Not after the last time. I have a blade, and I have powers, and I'm going with you."

Cas's expression was warm and loving. He smiled grimly. "Actually, my love, that wasn't what I was going to say at all."

Gabriel made a face. "Do I need to be here for this conversation?" he said irritably. He was bitterly disappointed now. He'd worked himself up for a fight and now, because he'd flung his blade in that stupid river years ago, he was going to be useless to them. Again.

"Sorry, Gabriel," Cas said. "I just know my wife very well. She thought I was going to ask you to stay up here with her, while I went down there by myself." He took Gail's hand. "And yes, that would be what I would normally do. But I have learned my lesson from what happened with Raguel. I want you by my side, my darling. I will protect you with my life if it comes to that, but I will not prevent you from helping me, either. When Leah was talking about me, having defeated Lucifer, she made it sound like I was the only one there. But I had a lot of help. You were very brave there. I feel very badly now that I did not correct her at the time, but I wanted you to know that I am very aware of your value." He looked at Gabriel again. "I was merely going to ask you if you will stay here. If we do not surface in half an hour, I'd like you to go to Heaven and see Ethan. Explain the situation to him, and ask him to send a garrison. I'd like to take care of this ourselves, but I just want to be prepared, in case we need the backup."

As Gabriel nodded, Gail said, "Maybe ask Paul if he wants to come, too. Give him a blade from the weapons cabinet. He might be able to help us out, down there. He gave me a shortcut to get out of Hell that nobody else knew about."

Cas's eyebrow rose, but he did not comment. They hadn't really had a chance to talk in any detail about her experiences in Hell, but they would be talking about it. Cas would make sure of that. Still, he thought her idea regarding Paul wasn't a bad one, so Cas asked Gabriel to include the former Demon, if Paul was willing to come.

Then he and Gail descended.

Ammit had been casting all of the souls she'd been ingesting over the last few days into the Lake of Fire, enjoying seeing their anguished faces and hearing their tormented screams as they sank into the flames. It was funny, really: the bad ones screamed just as loudly as the good ones. Sometimes, even more so.

This was getting tedious now, though. As she felt her power grow, Ammit was feeling ever more omnipotent. She was really savouring the feeling of great power. She, and she alone, decided whether the dead would be cast into the Lake, or spared. None would be spared, of course; she wanted them all. But she COULD spare some, if she wanted to. It was a heady feeling.

"Please," one woman was begging her now. "Please. I'm a righteous person. There's got to be some kind of a mistake. I went to church twice a week, I volunteered at the hospital, and I gave to a number of different charities, whenever I could afford it. I was a good person. Please."

Then some of the other people started begging too, and Ammit rolled her yellow eyes. What made them think that she cared? Still, she was growing bored now, so...

She waved one of her scaly arms and conjured a rope. "I'll tell you what," Ammit said to the people who were nearest the edge of the Lake. "I will place half of you on the other side of the precipice, and then I will stretch this rope over the Lake. Each side will pull with all their might, and whichever side is the weakest will be pulled into it."

"You expect us to play Tug-Of-War for our souls?" one man shouted angrily.

Oh, yes. So THAT was what it was called, Ammit thought. But she was an ancient being, who'd spent very little time among humans. Humans seemed to have slang expressions for everything. It was difficult to keep up. She shrugged. "Or I could just throw all of you in, right now," she said to them.

"No, no, we'll do it!" the man said hastily.

Ammit nodded. She'd thought so. But now she had her justification, if she'd felt she needed one. If challenged, she could simply say that if these people who were protesting were truly righteous, they should be unwilling to tug hard on the rope. Weren't those people on the other side just as deserving of being spared? Wasn't God always preaching sacrifice?

When Cas and Gail suddenly appeared in the cave, they were alarmed to see the screaming people already cast into the Lake treading the flames as one would tread water, and the people on either side of the great chasm, pulling mightily on the rope. Each side seemed evenly matched as far as strength went, and Ammit was watching avidly. Just as one side seemed to be getting the upper hand, the other side would dig in their heels and put up a fierce struggle. Ammit was captivated. She'd never seen such an exciting spectacle.

She had been so enthralled, in fact, that Ammit hadn't seen the couple appear, not until they raced over to the people pulling the rope.

"Help us, please!" one of the women shouted to the Angels.

Gail looked at Cas, then at the woman, with a puzzled expression. "Why don't you just let go of the rope?"

"We can't!" the woman yelled. "It's enchanted, somehow!"

Ammit was shocked to see God and his wife show up, out of the blue. She had no idea how they'd found the Lake. She knew that Castiel was also an ancient being, but if he had known where she was all along, wouldn't he have come here by now?

The Demon Goddess raised her arms, preparing to do battle, but then she noticed that the Angels were trying to help the people on the rope. Gail grabbed the rope on the near side and Castiel popped over to the other side, taking hold of the other end of the rope. Ammit lowered her arms, highly amused. She'd thought that Castiel was more intelligent than that. This should be fun to watch.

The Angels had panicked. They had been in such a rush to help the people that they hadn't stopped to consider the logistics of what they were doing. Cas was the first one to realize how foolish they had been.

"Let go of your end!" he shouted to Gail, at the top of his lungs.

"I can't!" she screamed back. "It won't let me!" Now Gail was starting to regret her rash action. The side she was on was losing, and the line of people was moving ever closer to the Lake. They were losing ground rapidly now. She could see the unfortunate people at the front of the rope toppling off the cliff, and hear their screams of agony as they fell into the flames. Crap! She tried to pull harder, but she wasn't strong enough. She was trying to pry her hands off the rope, but she was stuck to it. Her feet started to slip, and she struggled for purchase. But it was no use. She could feel the heat from the flames on her face now, as she inched closer to the precipice.

Cas could see what was happening on Gail's side, and he was shouting incoherently now. They had just reunited, and now he was in danger of losing her once again. He should never have let her come. Or, he should have brought an entire battalion of Angels with him in the first place. What the hell had he been thinking? What was he doing, being God? Every decision he made was the wrong one.

Ammit was watching eagerly now. Both Castiel and Gail were glued to her enchanted rope, the same as the humans were. She couldn't wait. If God and an Original Angel were to be consumed in the Lake, Ammit would receive more than enough power to unseat Death from his lofty position.

Gail was hysterical now. No. This couldn't be happening. She closed her eyes in terror, flashing back to the utter agony of the flames licking up her body from her feet, when Crowley had burned her at the stake in Camelot. Now she was screaming loudly. Oh, God. Heavenly Father, please don't let me die like this. Not again. I'm sorry I lied to Death. She opened her mouth wide in desperation, attempting to expel her essence out of her vessel. Maybe she could enter Cas, just long enough for him to get her into another vessel. But she couldn't expel her essence, either. She was screwed.

Gail's toes were hanging over the precipice now, and Cas was losing his mind. He had tried everything she had tried, and he was also unable to break the enchantment. Now, he was praying to the Father, too. Please spare her this agony. Please. Please.

Suddenly, Paul appeared on Cas's side of the cliff.

"Paul!" Cas screamed. "Help! Please!"

Instinctively, Paul ran towards where Cas was. "No!" Cas shouted. "Help Gail!"

But it was too late; Paul had already taken the rope in his hands. Cas yelled incoherently again, in fear and frustration.

Then suddenly, Cas was freed from the enchantment. The instant the rope fell from his hands, he popped over to Gail's side. But then, he paused. What should he do now? In desperation, he put his arms around her, to help her pull.

As soon as Cas's hands covered Gail's on the rope, the bright white glow came from his fingertips, tinged with blue. The glow mixed with the golden essence that had come out of her hands the instant that he had touched her, and the rope disintegrated.

The people on either side of the precipice fell safely to the ground, exhausted, as Ammit howled with rage. She took a deep breath, then another, trying to calm herself. She had never seen anything like that before. She had heard of Castiel by reputation, of course, but she had thought that her enchantment was unbreakable. That was the same spell she had planned to use on Death. But now, she was concerned. Bathshear had passed his knowledge and his enchantments on to her before he had met his demise, and he had assured her that the rope would work on the most powerful entities in existence. Ammit had been counting on that rope to bind Death. But if Castiel could break it, there was every reason to believe that Death could, too. And, extra power or no, there was no way that Ammit could afford to gamble with Death and lose. Nor could she defeat the Archangels Raguel or Gabriel in a straight fight. Now, she did not dare try to take on Death without at least one of the Books in her hands. But she still had no idea where they were, or how to find them.

She let out another scream of rage. Already, she could feel the surge of power she'd experienced from burning the Righteous dissipate, much like a seasoned drug addict's high wears off shortly after using. She beckoned with one clawed arm, and Mark came out from behind a rock. He was wearing a choke collar attached to a chain, which Ammit yanked on now.

"You told me my rope would work," she snarled at him. "You said that Castiel would be too weak to break it."

Mark was choking, but even if he hadn't been, he had no idea what to say. Of course he'd said that. He'd said it because he'd known it was what she'd wanted to hear. Ever since she'd eaten his heart on Earth, he had been kept prisoner by her in this underground cave. Mark had pleaded with her not to throw him in the Lake, which was the final death for any entity. He could provide her with vital information on Castiel and the others, Mark had argued persuasively. So Ammit had allowed him to live, but as her pet. He soon learned the kinds of things to say that would appease her, and make her feel more powerful. And it was a good thing, too, because as time had gone on, it had become increasingly apparent that Mark had very little useful information to give her. Things had changed a lot over the years, and Castiel had changed, too. When Castiel and Gail had combined to disintegrate that rope, Mark had been watching from his perch behind the rock, whimpering in fear. He had known how angry Ammit was going to be when that happened.

Cas, Gail and Paul had all gotten to their feet now, and Cas was striding purposefully towards Ammit with his blade drawn. He was eyeing her wrists. If he could get close enough to her to cut off one of her hands, he could cut her throat with her own claw, as Uriah had done to Bathshear.

Ammit felt fear now. Castiel was rushing towards her, his jaw set with determination. She pushed Mark in front of her as a shield.

Cas laughed derisively. "If you think for one moment that I will hesitate to run my blade right through that piece of filth - "

"Please, save me from her, Castiel," Mark begged plaintively.

Gail and Paul exchanged incredulous looks. He had to be kidding with that.

"I will cast him into the Lake," Ammit warned Cas.

Cas was smiling without any humour now, and the sharklike glint appeared in his eyes. "Be my guest," he said calmly. "He could benefit from a good cleansing by fire." He looked at Mark, and his glare was penetrating. "Tell me, did Felicia beg for her life like that, you coward?" He started to move closer to where they stood.

Ammit was afraid of Castiel's calm advance, but she was also becoming enraged again. A part of her had been hoping that as a Gospel writer, Mark might have been valuable enough to use as a bargaining chip. "You are useless to me!" she screamed at Mark. She yanked hard on the chain, flinging him into the Lake.

And then, she disappeared.

Cas swore viciously, as Gail and Paul rushed over to where he stood.

"Watch it, Castiel, there's a lady here," Paul quipped.

"I should have thrown my knife right through him," Cas said through gritted teeth. "I should have cut his head off. Anything, to get to her."

"Why didn't you just zap her with your Godly power?" Paul asked him.

"Don't you think I tried that?!" Cas asked him furiously. "I was unable!"

"OK, Boss, OK," Paul said, holding his hands up in supplication. "Take it easy."

Cas took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Paul." He looked over to the people who were still laying on the ground on either side of the Lake, and then, at the Lake itself. Mark was screaming in agony, sinking slowly into the flames. That was the only thing about this whole mess that had turned out the way it should. "I'm going to see if I can help those people," Cas told them. He gave Gail a quick, tender kiss on the forehead. "Thank you for your help, Paul."

As Cas moved towards the victims, Gail looked up at Paul. "Where did you come from?" she asked him. "Not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but..."

He grinned. "Gabriel was antsy, so he popped up and over to the boardroom. Told me you thought I might come in handy for this particular mission. You should have asked me right away, Boo. Not only did I know how to get down here, but I also know how to get back up."

Her face broke into a relieved smile. "Oh, Paul! That's great! But, how do you know that?"

He winked, nudging her. "Crowley has loose lips when he drinks. Let's just put it that way."

Despite the heat from their proximity to the Lake of Fire, Gail shivered for a second. She had been so busy since her sojourn in Hell that she hadn't had the chance to process her feelings about that whole ordeal yet. And maybe that was just as well.

Cas had been putting his hand on the victims' heads, ascending them to the Garden to be sorted. So far, every person whose mind he had read had been a good person, not deserving of being here. Now he was even angrier with Ammit. If this was what she was doing, she had to be stopped.

When the last of the souls were gone, the Angels glanced back at the Lake. Only Mark's hand was visible now, as he sank into the flames. He had stopped screaming.

"Adios, motherf-" Paul glanced at Gail, and then he checked himself: "-lover."

She laughed, then took him by the hand, reaching for Cas's hand with her other one. "Let's go," she said, and Paul took the Demon knife he had borrowed from Heaven's weapons room, courtesy of Gabriel, and held it aloft. After a moment, a spark jumped out of the Lake and landed on the blade, making it glow a bright red. Then, an instant later, the three of them were back at the Four Corners, and an anxious Gabriel was rushing towards them.

"Oh, man," he said to Cas. "Thank - well, YOU - you guys are OK."

"We're fine," Cas told him, "but Ammit escaped."

Gabriel frowned. "Holy crap. So, all of this was for nothing? Great. I was so worried. You were gone for so long."

Gail's forehead wrinkled. "No, we weren't. We were only down there for - what? - fifteen minutes or so?" she said, looking at Cas for confirmation.

"Nuh-uh," Gabe said sassily. "Try a couple of hours. Longer, even. I waited the half hour, and then I went to Heaven. I went to see Paul first, and he said he could get you guys out. So I elected not to bring any soldiers. I hope that was OK."

Cas was fuming inside. On the one hand, he was extremely grateful that Paul had shown up when he had, to help save Gail from being pulled into the Lake. Her safety was his top priority, of course. But if Gabriel had brought some soldiers, as Cas had asked him to, perhaps they could have eliminated Ammit.

Now Paul was excitedly telling Gabriel about the rope, the Lake of Fire, and Mark's fate, and Gabe was looking at the younger Angel, bemused. How different he was from his father, Gabriel was thinking. Raphael had been a giant douche. But, Gabriel was puzzled now.

"It sounds like that was one of Bathshear's spells," he mused aloud. The Archangel looked at Cas. "I'm surprised you were able to break it. Even I couldn't do that years ago, when those belly-dancing twins tied me up with one of those ropes in Mesopotamia. Not that I tried that hard to get out of it." He waggled an eyebrow at Gail, who rolled her eyes.

"You know, half the time I think you're making those stories up," she said to him.

"And the other half?" Gabe asked her.

"The other half is afraid you're not," she quipped, making a face. The two of them laughed together.

Cas was thoughtful. "Are you telling me that that spell held YOU?" he asked Gabriel, ignoring the byplay between the two. "An Archangel?"

"Yeah, but you're God," Paul said, puzzled. "Shouldn't you be higher up on the food chain?" Gabriel's lips twitched at the phraseology.

But Cas was shaking his head. "I have additional powers now, but technically speaking, if an Archangel could not break that rope, I shouldn't have been able to, either."

Gabe was eyeing Cas now. "Are you sure you're not holding out on me, Brother?" he asked Cas.

"What do you mean?" Cas wanted to know.

"Are you sure you didn't hold back a little of my juice from our little visit to Area 51?" Gabe asked Cas coolly.

"No. I mean, yes. Of course I'm sure," Cas insisted.

"Area 51?" Paul said with interest, but Gail held up a hand to quiet him. She was anxious to hear her husband's answer to Gabriel's question. They'd been down this road before, and it had been a very contentious issue between them at the time.

"I'm telling you the truth," Cas said emphatically, seeing the expressions on their faces. He let out a frustrated breath. "Fine," he said to Gabriel. "Come in and look, then, if you don't believe me."

"OK," Gabriel said. "I think I will."

The men opened their mouths simultaneously, and as Gail and Paul watched, the purple smoke came out of Gabriel's mouth, did a loop in the air, and entered Cas's mouth.

"Were those sparkles I saw in there?" Paul asked Gail, nudging her gently. She was trying not to laugh, but she had to admit that she'd seen the same thing. Gabriel's essence was certainly a lot brighter than it had been before. "I think somebody's in love," she said teasingly.

"Hey, I can still hear you, you know," Gabriel said, but he was using Cas's mouth to do it. "OK, this might officially be the weirdest thing I've ever witnessed," Gail said to Paul. "And that's saying a lot."

"Archangels are good at multi-tasking," Gabriel/Cas said. "Just because I'm in here searching Cas's mind doesn't mean that I can't still hear you. But I'm trying to talk to Castiel now, so gimme a second."

Gabriel was walking down the hallways of Cas's mind. There were a lot of doors there. Some of them were open, but a number were locked, as well.

"Nice try," Cas said to his Brother. "I know you. All of the intimate moments with my wife are private. That's why those doors are locked."

"There's a lot of locked doors here," Gabriel remarked, smirking. "You dog, you. Atta boy, Cas."

Cas made no comment, but his lips twitched briefly. Meanwhile, Gail was watching his facial expressions change, as he was Gabriel, then Cas, then Gabriel again. It was freaking her out. Both men were in her husband's body right now, talking to each other. And here she was, talking to Paul, a former Demon-turned-Angel who was the son of Raphael, another Archangel who Cas had killed, and who had butted heads with Gabriel, back in the day. Surreal was an understatement for how this felt right now. She was going to have to lay down in a minute, from all the spinning her head was doing.

"You doing all right there, Kitten?" Gabriel said. Cas's mouth was grinning now. "You'd better watch it. Now that I'm in your husband, so to speak, I can hear what you're thinking."

"Can you?" she said tartly, raising an eyebrow, and he laughed.

Paul was staring too, and Cas's eyes shifted to him. "Raffy's kid," Gabriel said, shaking Cas's head. "I can't get over it. Your dad and Cas and I had some moments with each other back in the day, that's for sure."

"I'm aware," Paul said dryly. Just as Gabriel didn't quite know what to make of Paul, Paul wasn't quite sure how to take Gabriel, either. Cas and Gail seemed to trust him, but the guy struck Paul as a little...smarmy. Paul's father hadn't had anything good to say about any of his fellow Archangels.

"Raffy didn't have anything good to say about anything," Gabriel said sarcastically. "He was a giant dick." Gail did a double-take. It was so strange to see talk like that coming out of Cas's mouth.

Paul did a double-take, too. He hadn't said anything, only thought it. But then, he realized: God could also read HIS mind, couldn't he? He supposed he should be angry about what Gabriel was saying, but the bottom line was, Gabriel was right. His Dad HAD been a giant dick.

"Gabriel, you're making everyone uncomfortable," Cas chided him sternly. "You're here to look for any traces of your essence, not to read peoples' minds. That's an invasion of privacy. Now, please stick to your mission, and then leave."

"Yes, Your Lordship," Gabe said, rolling his eyes. He walked up and down the corridors, glancing into all of the rooms that Cas had left open. But it was just a formality, really. As soon as Gabriel had entered Cas's mind, he'd known that his Brother was telling the truth. It had just been so irresistible, getting the chance to walk through Castiel's mind. His Brother had always been a little on the enigmatic side.

But as Gabriel came back up the hallway towards the front door preparing to exit the house, he saw a set of steps leading down, and a white glow coming from the area. "What's that?" he asked Cas curiously.

"What's what?" Cas said, puzzled.

Gabe pointed to what he was looking at. "That," he said.

Cas frowned. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't see anything. Now, if you are satisfied, I would like to go back to Heaven. We are going to have to figure out what to do next."

Gabriel threw his hands up in surrender. Obviously, his Brother didn't want to talk about whatever was down there. Gail was looking at Cas curiously now. Maybe Cas was keeping something from her. It was a good thing Gabriel hadn't asked Cas about the mystery area out loud. But he'd better leave it alone. Gabe definitely didn't want to stir up any kind of domestic situation between the couple. They'd been through enough lately. Besides, Gail was pretty scary when she got mad.

"Okay, Brother, all right," Gabriel said mildly. A minute later, everyone was back to themselves, and the Angels all winked back to Heaven.