Supernatural does not belong to me, although I wish it did. I am simply playing in Kirpke's sandbox for a bit. All rights and ownership are the property of Kripke and the CW network. I am not making any money from this; it is for my own personal pleasure.

Synopsis: Set at the start of Season One, Dean had been in a wheelchair since his father disappeared more than a year ago and he finally has to tell Sam… There'd been an accident that night and Dean had paid a very high price….one he still doesn't understand. The story will have some hunts from season one and possibly into season two…the brothers will continue their search for their father…there will be alterations to the hunts to accommodate Dean's new situation. I have every intention of returning Dean to good health before this ends…but getting there is going to be bumpy.

Please keep in mind that I do not have a Beta, so all grammatical errors are my own. Not Slash. Brotherly love and Angst only…

Please Review: So I know there's interest

Chapter 62

Lost Souls

Castiel watched the reunion between Sam and Dean Winchester with interest. He knew that Dean wasn't dead, at least not completely dead, he had been banished to the Empty. But to get him back…to undo the spell that bound the brothers together, it could kill the eldest Winchester. So how was he supposed to explain that to Sam? They could resurrect Dean, but there was no guarantee that he would come back completely normal. Dean had been tainted by the supernatural, by angels and demons and nothing he'd ever been trained to fight. They had touched the man and he would be forever marked because of that. Monsters were one thing, but demons were the stuff of nightmares and not easily forgotten by the soul.

The one light in this whole thing was Sam. The pure love between these two mortals rivaled that of heaven itself and for that one reason alone, Castiel would do this, he would raise Dean. He wasn't an archangel. He was barely a worthy soldier at this point, but Castiel would do what he could to repair the damage. But he'd need Sam's help.

"Sam, I can save him." Sam's tear-filled eyes flashed up to meet the even blue of the angel's gaze. Castiel held up his hands to stop the coming questions. "Though, he will be marked. That is outside of my power to heal."

Sam's eyes shifted back to Dean in confusion, his fingers trembled just above his brother's chest. "What does that mean?" His face screwed into a pained expression that spoke volumes to the angel. "You're an angel. Can't you just fix him?"

He wished he could. For the first time in…well forever, Castiel wished he had the immense power of an archangel. Maybe, they could do what he couldn't, if they all agreed to work together; and that wasn't likely. "I cannot. It is outside my power. But I can bring him back."

The youngest Winchester's gaze flickered between his brother's far too still form and the angel before he finally nodded stiltedly. "Do it."

"You understand he will be—"

Sam's eyes hardened in resolve. "Marked. Yeah, I got it. Bring him back."

"Very well." The angel stepped forward and placed two fingers on Sam's forehead, and then he placed his other hand on Dean's. His eyes started to glow an inhuman blue and power flooded along his very being. Wind whipped through the air, pulling violently at the trenchcoat Castiel had come to like. White-hot fire burned along the connection and he felt the moment he touched it…Dean's lost soul.

Pain raced along the link between the brothers and Sam's head tilted back as a roar of mind-altering pain erupted from his very core. This was more than a simple healing or a resurrection. This was messing the very primal nature of humans and it was something that was forbidden. Even angels have rules they must abide by and Castiel was breaking rule number one. Those who are marked by God himself are not to be altered. Their fate must play out as God has commanded.

But the memories he'd seen inside Dean's head had altered something at the very core of the angel. He'd seen the suffering and the resiliency of humans on the most basic level and he couldn't un-know what he knew to be true. The world was better off with them in it than it was without them. That neither of the Winchester brothers could survive alone. When the time came, and it would come, they would die together. Because that was the way the fates had foreseen their destinies, the demons had tried to alter that. Castiel could feel the tremendous connected between the two souls he now touched. It was pure and clean of all the damage that the brother's bore on the outside. This was what pure love looked like and it was beautiful. Castiel hadn't told Sam that he was going to tap the power of Sam's soul to save Dean, that it was the only way to recover something that the Empty has absorbed.

It was over in a fraction of a second. The black vines retreated from Dean's body, the wounds healing and closing on their own. Sam's enormous frame slumped bonelessly to the ground. They were no long inside Dean's mind, but standing in the field where they had faced the demon Meg. Castiel stumbled forward, his hands now resting on his knees to try and keep his dying vessel on its' feet.

Neither brother moved, they simply breathed. Gabriel stepped from the edge of the forest surrounding the open area, the mud squelching beneath his booted feet. He frowned in irritation at the disgusting sound. His golden eyes blew wide with both understanding and reproach…and a little envy as he took in the scene before him. "You touched his soul?" He asked in shock.

Castiel lifted tired, bloodshot eyes and nodded. His vessel wavered as the muscles threatened to fall; only his strong will and failing angelic grace prevented him from folding to the ground. "I had to." He grunted around the pain of his body.

The archangel shook his head in reproach. "That's forbidden, Castiel." He stepped forward and placed a gentle on hand Castiel's shoulder sending a line of power along the connection. "It's not allowed for a reason."

The dark haired angel straightened and ran his fingers along his sides as the power of the archangel restored what he'd depleted, healing what he'd broken. "I know that. I could not allow them to be separated. We are not done here. They are not done."

Gabriel's shoulders lifted and fell in a steady rhythm as he simply breathed; he turned to look at the brothers. "You realize what you've done?" he walked to Sam's side and leaned over, his fingers drifting along the strong shoulder of the young man that was supposed to end the world. Reset it for the angels to fix what mankind had broken over millennia of fighting in god's name. "You can't go home, brother. Not ever."

A pain greater than he'd ever felt lit up his body when he realized that Gabriel was right. He'd given up his home and his family for these two brothers…he prayed to God that his decision had been the right one. Because he'd just reset the entire playing field and no one angel was supposed to have the ability to do that. In fact, without Gabriel's actions just now, Castiel would have forfeited his life for that one action.

"There is a reason why angels aren't supposed to touch a soul. It binds you to them…to that bloodline…forever Castiel…that's why you're supposed to die if you violate the rules of God. It was the only way to keep angels from interfering with free will." Gabriel revealed information that Castiel had not been privileged to. Archangels knew things that normal angels did not. They had been around since the beginning, the stuff of primordial creation, and they were bound by God himself to keep his secrets.

Realization descended on the angel and he turned his full attention on his older brother. "And because you saved me, just now…you cannot return home either." It wasn't a question; it was an absolutely devastating fact. "Brother…I am so sorry. I did not intend for you to give your place in heaven for me."

Gabriel shrugged. "Ah, I never really liked the place anyway. Too many rooms and glowy white lights." His gaze shifted and he threw his arms wide. "If I gotta be somewhere for eternity? This ain't bad." A breeze drifted across field and the storm that had been raging when this had all started thundered in the distance. The sun was just rising over the horizon; it was throwing soft yellow streams of light across the muddy field that marked their last battle.

"The demon is not gone." Castiel said as he turned toward the brothers again. "They will try again."

Gabriel nodded. "Yup." A smile pulled at his lips. "And the Winchesters will be waiting."

Castiel's gaze drifted to the unmoving form of the man he'd just given up his eternity for. He couldn't explain the connection he felt to the young hunter. The connection he felt for both the brothers was beyond his comprehension and that was truly terrifying for a being that had always known how the world would end. How the angels would end and all of God's work would be destroyed. Because he'd just tied his destiny, if it was possible for an angel to have a destiny, to them…to the Winchesters.

"Do you know what will happen to Dean? What price he will have to pay for being reborn?" It wasn't ideal, raising someone from the dead…no not just the dead, but from the Empty. The place where there is no longer existence; the place where angels go when they die. No human had ever been sent there and so no human had ever been brought back. They shouldn't have been able to bring Dean back. But the connection between Sam and Dean had allowed them to transcend the laws of God…and that would come with a price, a price Dean would be asked to pay.

"Did she succeed?" Castiel finally asked. He knew he didn't want to know the answer to this. But because of his actions he no longer heard the chatter of heaven…but Gabriel would. Archangels couldn't be so easily struck deaf to heaven's words. "Did she unlock the first seal?"

Gabriel's gaze shifted and his golden eyes sparked angrily. "She did."

"Then it is coming? Nothing we did here mattered." He allowed the bitter disappointment to flood through him. Feelings…Castiel wasn't all that sure he could deal with all these feelings.

"It mattered." Gabriel responded simply. He reached out and gently grabbed Castiel's shoulder, shaking his brother lightly. "You gave the world a fighting chance. That's worth something, Castiel. Even if you can't see it right now." His eyes dropped when a low moan of pain escaped from Sam's lips. "You gave them the Winchesters."

TBC…

Author's Note: Super short chapter I know. Sorry, but I'm working on the next evolution of the story and I wanted to get some feedback from the readers and see what you thought of the shift. Thanks for reading and reviewing and sticking with me through this long…very long story.

Please Review: Let me know what you think of the directional shift?