Chapter 5 - I Believe In Miracles

"Little help, here," Nicole said to her husband.

"Huh?" Dean said, rolling over towards her.

"I need help getting out of bed," she told him. "I swear, this kid's gonna come out as big as Sam is, right now. I can't believe I let you talk me into this. All the people we know, and not one doctor in the bunch. That hospital better keep the drugs coming when this kid comes out; otherwise, I'm going to ask Jody to raid her evidence locker."

Dean grinned. He leaped out of bed and rushed around to the other side to help his wife get up. She was as big as a house, now. It looked like their kid was going to be born around Labour Day, which would be fitting, since they were such hard-working people.

"Easy does it," he said to his wife, as he helped her rise slowly from the mattress.

"You should just install one of your car hoists here, to lift me up," Nicole said, grunting with the effort. "It'd be easier, and I probably weigh more than any vehicle you've ever had on those."

Dean said nothing for a moment, but he was smirking now. "What?" his wife said suspiciously, once she was on her feet.

"Nothing," he said, trying to look innocent. "I was just wondering if there could be another use for the hoist in this room."

"That's what those little blue pills are for," Nicole quipped.

"Yeah, right. As if I need those," Dean scoffed. "I've just been leaving you alone because I know it's a little difficult for you right now. But, just wait. Once you have the baby, it'll be Game On, again."

"Oh, goodie. My favourite game," Nicole said, smiling. She kissed her husband on the mouth, and he wrapped his arms around her as far as they would go. He returned her kiss, teasing her lips with his tongue. "Don't worry, I've got a whole bunch of games lined up for us," he assured her. "It'll be like the Olympics."

Nicole was still smiling. "As much as I'd love you to elaborate on that right now, I have to pee. Again," she added wryly.

She headed off for the bathroom and Dean sat on the edge of the bed, debating whether he wanted to get up, or sleep in. Maybe he should catch up on his rest now, though. Everybody he'd talked to with babies always said that was one thing you couldn't get enough of.

He grinned. Bring it on. Dean Winchester was living the dream. He didn't have to sleep; all he had to do was look at his wife, his friends, his franchise of vehicle restoration shops, and his bank account to know that life didn't get any better than this.

Jody was waking up now too, and she tensed for just a moment when she felt movement behind her. But, just as quickly, she relaxed. It was hard to get used to sleeping with someone again, after so long.

She smiled, rolling over to look at Frank. He was already looking at her, and he reached out to touch her face. "Good morning," he said softly.

"Did you sleep OK?" Jody asked her boyfriend.

"Yeah, till about two-thirty," Frank replied, rolling his eyes. "That was when Dammit jumped on me, and dug his claws into my crotch. For a minute there, I was afraid you were a little kinkier than I thought."

Jody laughed. "Nawww, I usually leave the instruments of torture at the station house."

Frank smiled, but she could tell that there was something on his mind. "What's the matter?" she asked him. Then, she sighed. "It's Gail, isn't it? Or, more specifically, it's Cas. Right?"

"Are you absolutely sure that guy doesn't have a record, Jodes?" Frank asked her.

"Positive," she said. "Nothing on him. Clean as a whistle. He's so clean he's like a space alien, or something. Even YOU'RE not that clean."

"I'll have you know that I shower every day," Frank said primly, and they both smiled. But then his smile faded. "You know what I mean, Babe."

Jody nodded. She did. Of course she did. When you had been a cop as long as she had, you became a shrewd judge of character. There was just something off about Cas. He said and did all the right things, and he treated Frank's sister like a princess. He had old-world manners, almost as if he'd stepped out of a bygone era, or something. Jody had joked to Frank that she wondered if Cas had a DeLorean parked in his driveway, and he had laughed. But that was one of the problems; nobody had ever been to Cas's place, and none of them knew what he did for a living. He claimed that his family had a fortune, but he would disappear for days on end sometimes, with no apparent explanation for where he'd been.

Jody sighed now. "I know you're worried about Gail, but if the guy's treating her OK, and he's not committing any crimes, there's not much we can do. She's a grown woman."

Frank nodded. "I know. You're right. And it's not like there's anything WRONG with the guy. He's just...weird."

Jody laughed softly. "If we locked up everybody who was weird, we wouldn't have any friends."

Frank smirked. "Yeah, but just think of the conjugal visits. And, speaking of which..." He pulled the covers over both of them and grabbed Jody, and she laughed again. How glad she was that she had gone to Dean and Nicole's Christmas party last year. There had been a few interesting guys there, but Frank had stood out. He was tall, good-looking, and manly, without the kind of swagger that usually accompanied that kind of guy. When they'd started talking and Frank found out what Jody did for a living, he'd been fascinated, and not at all daunted. He'd liked her stories, and she'd liked his jokes, and by the end of the evening, they'd made a date for New Years' Eve. And now they were an official couple, two halves of a whole once more.

God was enthralled with the way things had been progressing so far.

He had been very uncertain about the fact that Castiel and Gail were in the process of re-forming their connection, but He'd had to concede that it was certainly preferable to the alternative. When Castiel had asked Gabriel if his Brother thought he was a thug, God had been pleased by the Archangel's response. Castiel HAD been behaving like a common thug. But as soon as Castiel had sought to win Gail's favour, he had resigned his post, and now, Ignatius was chairing the board. Of all of the Angels who could have taken the helm, Ignatius was one of the better ones, in God's opinion.

But there were a lot of situations and relationships that had yet to sort themselves out, and the Father had more pages of the Book to distribute. But in the meantime, it was time that Gail found out the truth.

Hakeem got the call from his contact in Heaven: Castiel and his little human girlfriend were going to be in Lake Nealy in an hour, having a picnic. There would never be a better time. They were going to be in a secluded spot.

Jason hung up the phone, sitting back in his office chair. This had been just the kind of opportunity he had been looking for. This was his shot, his chance to restore order in Heaven. One way, or the other.

He had been beyond astonished when Castiel had called an emergency meeting of the Upper Echelon board nearly one year ago, and told them all that he was resigning, effective immediately. Many of the men had been secretly relieved, of course, and a few of them didn't bother to hide their feelings about it. But Jason hadn't been one of those people. Instead, he had been dismayed, especially when Castiel informed everyone that he would be spending a lot of time on Earth, going forward. Earth?! Jason had exclaimed, unable to help himself. Whatever for? That was his own business, Castiel had told Jason coolly. Then he had gone on to say that, as the next highest-ranking member of the board, Ignatius would be taking over. Jason's black heart had sunk at that proclamation. He was pretty sure he knew what was going to happen next. The Special Forces that he and Castiel had handpicked and trained would be disbanded, and Jason's own fate would be very much in question. Once everything that he and Castiel had done came out, Jason would probably be tried for war crimes and either receive a lengthy prison term or be put to death, depending on how old-school Biblical Ignatius decided to go. But one thing was for sure: the fun and games would be over.

Well, that was exactly what had happened, except for the fact that Jason had thus far remained unindicted. Deciding that he couldn't afford to take the chance, Jason had paid a call on each and every Angel who would be able to bring his misdeeds to light. Luckily, there hadn't been too many. Castiel and Jason were both suspicious and guarded individuals who didn't share their confidences with others. Of necessity, they'd had to delegate some of the more objectionable tasks. Castiel was the acting God while the Father was away, and Jason was the head of Law Enforcement. It wouldn't do for one of them to get caught red-handed, torturing one of their fellow Angels. So Jason had visited the half-dozen Special Ops squadron leaders and told them that if they knew what was good for them, they would keep their big mouths shut about what they had been ordered to do, and who had ordered them to do it. Four had agreed instantly, but two had not, and those two men were now dead. Jason framed a third man for their murders, and that Angel had been put to death immediately, following a vote by the board. Then Jason had let it be known that if anyone who was left alive suddenly found themselves in a talkative mood, they would suffer the same fate.

Ignatius had left Jason in charge of Law Enforcement, because despite what he thought of the man personally, Ignatius had to admit that Jason did a good job. The crime rate in Heaven was extremely low, and if any Angel showed the poor judgment it would take to commit an offense under Jason's watch, that Angel would receive a punishment that was swift and severe. Ignatius had a bit more compassion than Castiel, but he was still a long-serving Angel, who was not averse to the use of Biblical corrective measures.

So, except for the Special Operations force having been disbanded, things had been running along pretty much as they had before. But Jason was not happy. Believing Jason to be an ally and maybe even a friend, Castiel had finally confessed to the real reason he had been spending so much time on Earth. Castiel had fallen in love, and he was courting a woman. A human woman.

Jason couldn't believe it. A human? Castiel had always been vociferously anti-human. Most of the Upper Echelon were. They were convinced of their superiority over the insects that their Father had created, seemingly for His own amusement. But now Castiel was telling Jason that he had fallen in love with one, and was hoping to marry it soon?

Castiel's lieutenant had shaken his head slowly when his compatriot had told him that. "Did you receive a blow to the head recently?" Jason had asked his Brother sarcastically. "That's the only explanation I can think of for your claiming you want to enter into the sacred covenant of matrimony with...one of those," he added distastefully.

"I know it seems strange, but we have been condemning an entire race of people, sight unseen," Castiel said earnestly. "Gail is sweet, and intelligent, and funny. And her brother and their friends are good men, Jason. I have opened up my heart and my mind, and they have all helped me to do it. I had been prepared to go ahead with our plans to annex Earth, but now, having met those people and others like them, I realize that would be wrong. Earth is their home. We have no right to march in there and take it from them."

"No right?" Jason said, astonished. "Of course we have the right! We're Angels of the Lord!"

"Gail says that just because you CAN do something, that doesn't mean that you SHOULD," Cas stated.

Jason shook his head again. This was unbelievable. "Why are you allowing her to fill up your head with those ridiculous notions?" he asked Castiel. But then, the light dawned. "You want to lay with her, don't you? So you're just saying what she wants to hear, so she'll open her legs to you."

"Don't talk about Gail like that," Castiel had said angrily. "That's not it at all. We are in love."

"Oh, you are, are you?" Jason said, smirking. "Answer me one question, then: if she agrees to marry you, where will the two of you live?"

Castiel was taken aback by the question. Truthfully, he hadn't thought about that. Gail still didn't know he was an Angel, but she was a human woman. They certainly couldn't live in Heaven. "On Earth, I suppose," he said slowly.

"On Earth," Jason said, with an edge to his voice. "Why don't you just get Father to make you a human, then, while you're at it? Get out of my office. You disgust me."

"I am still your superior, even though I do not sit in the High Office anymore," Castiel said quietly. "I suggest you remember that."

Jason let out a breath in frustration. Castiel had lost his mind. He had to be shown the error of his ways. But he was a stubborn man, and Jason knew that there would be nothing he could say or do to deter Castiel from making the biggest mistake of his existence. So he decided then and there to take matters into his own hands. He apologized, and then he asked his Brother some questions about Gail, and about her and Castiel's relationship. Castiel had been only too glad to talk about those things. Jason picked up quite a bit of intel that he could use to his advantage. So, the woman had no idea that Castiel was an Angel, or what sort of a man he actually was? Great. Terrific. Then Castiel had pulled the ring box out of his pocket, and told Jason where he was going to take Gail today. He was going to propose to her just before the sun set. It was going to be so romantic.

Jason had smiled and congratulated his Brother. And once Castiel had left his office, he'd picked up the phone and called Hakeem, Crowley's senior lieutenant.

"How many people are coming to this picnic, anyway?" Gail quipped as Cas laid out all the food he'd brought.

"Just us," Cas replied, removing the cork from the bottle of wine. He had taken her question literally once again. But then he looked up to see her smiling, and he realized she had been joking. "Oh," Cas remarked. "You mean, because there is a lot of food, others would be joining us? That's amusing."

Now it was Gail who was amused. Cas was definitely one of a kind. They had been dating for the better part of a year by now, and wherever they went or whatever they did, Cas always reacted like it was the first time for him. It was adorable.

Cas was staring at her now. His nerves were on edge. How could he ever get up the courage to ask her what he wanted to ask her? She would surely say no. She knew nothing about him. He knew so much about her, but she knew nothing about him.

"I wish I could paint," Cas blurted out. "I would love to paint a portrait of you, just the way you look now. Or, if I could write poetry, I would write you a love sonnet. One per day, just like a calendar. But I could never do you justice."

Gail never knew what to say when Cas got like this. He was unbelievable. She had never met anyone who talked like he did. Who wore his heart on his sleeve like he did. She reached out and touched his face. He was so handsome, and his eyes were so blue. If other people in her life hadn't seen him and talked to him, Gail would swear that he was a figment of her imagination. There was only one problem: she knew nothing about him. Every time she tried to ask him for details about himself and his life, he would change the subject somehow, and then they would usually end up talking about her. She didn't even know how old he was. She had never even been to his place. They had been dating for nearly a year, and she had never even seen where he lived.

He took her hand and kissed it, and then he kissed the inside of her wrist, where the pulse point was. That set her pulse racing, all right. That was another thing they had never done. Except for kissing and hugging and hand-holding, Cas had never been physical with her. He took the word "gentleman" to a whole new level. At first, she'd thought that was very sweet. But now, a year down the road, it was driving her nuts.

"Whenever I feel down, or discouraged about something, I close my eyes and picture your face," Cas told her now. "Whenever I feel as though none of it has any meaning, I come to see you, and my faith is restored."

"Where do you go, when you're not with me?" Gail asked him, for the umpteenth time. "What do you do?" She was trying not to let his beautiful words distract her. This was ridiculous. She knew nothing about him.

"If I could be in two places at once, I'd be with you, always," Cas replied, beautifully but evasively. "Tomorrow, and today. Forever. If the world should end today, I would spend its last hours with you. And then, when the planet was gone, I would bring you to my plane of understanding, and we would fly together, for all of eternity."

"OK, that's it," Gail said angrily, scrambling to her feet. "I'm out of here."

Cas leapt up. "What? Why? What's the matter?"

"You're kidding me with this, right?" she fumed. "Cas, we've been going out for almost a year now, and I don't know anything about you. Nothing. How old are you? Where do you live? What do you do all day? What's your favourite colour, even? Do you have any brothers or sisters? What about your parents?"

As Gail tried to catch her breath after her rant, Cas sighed. She was right, of course. How on earth could he ask her to marry him if she didn't know anything about him? He'd just been afraid that she wouldn't like his answers. "Please, sit back down with me, and I'll tell you everything," he said to her. "Please."

After a moment, Gail sat back down on the blanket and Cas sat close beside her, taking her hand. He breathed deeply. "I'm as old as time itself. I was there at the Beginning of everything. I am God's second child. I dwell in Heaven, but I only live when I'm here with you. What do I do all day? Count the minutes until I'm able to be here with you again. My favourite colour is whatever colour you are wearing at the time. I have billions of Angel Brothers and Sisters, and my parents are Adam and Eve. And the Almighty Father, of course."

Gail regarded him balefully. "Do you think what you're doing now is funny? If I'm going to be your girlfriend, I have the right to know some basic things about you, you know. But you don't have to mock me."

"I'm not," Cas said, distressed. "Everything I just told you is the absolute truth!"

"Did Frank put you up to this?" she persisted. "Or Dean, or Sam?"

"No," Cas said, bewildered. "No one knows about my status. Well, except for Gabriel. He is an Archangel. Technically, he outranks me, but Father assigned him to Earth, and put me in the High Office. But after I met you, I resigned my post there, for a number of reasons. Why don't you have something to eat, or a glass of wine? That's what humans do at picnics, right? Then, we can talk. I'll answer any questions you might have. You were right. You have the right to know about me, especially because I hope that you will be more than my girlfriend, soon. But I'm putting the cart before the horse. Here. Take some wine." He poured a cup and handed it to her.

Gail took it from him and had a gulp or two, simply because she had no idea what to say or do at this moment. Cas was nuts. He was delusional. That had to be it. She'd seen movies and read books about this kind of thing. He'd obviously suffered a break from reality. Maybe something really bad had happened to him, some terrible trauma that he'd needed to repress. So he had created this whole persona and backstory about himself, so he wouldn't have to deal with who he really was. Boy, oh boy. Cas was the one who should be the writer. Gabriel, an Archangel? That was probably the most absurd thing of all.

What was she supposed to do now?

VIGNETTE - BLUE MONDAY

Andy took the bus home from the library and unlocked the door to his apartment. As he always did, he left the door unlocked while he went around and checked all the rooms. If there was somebody there, he had to be able to run back to the front door and pull it open so that he could make his escape. In nearly every horror movie he'd ever seen, and he'd seen a lot, the person coming home always locked the door immediately, and then they always had to fumble with the locks to open it again, when they were running away from the killer. That was just crazy.

But the problem with doing it this way was: how did you know that someone wasn't going to sneak in through the unlocked front door, when you were in the bedroom down the hall, checking the closet? So once he had searched the place, he would have to come back out, and do it all over again. This process could and usually would be repeated, over and over again, until something would happen to snap Andy out of it. Then he would lock the door and make himself something to eat, while going over his notes.

Andy went to the library nearly every day to do research on voodoo and dark magic, and he thought that he was on the verge of figuring out how to take his brother down. In this reality, Andy was a young, vital man, who wasn't crazy. Well, except for a little OCD, maybe. But it made sense for someone in his position to be extremely cautious. If Vincent knew how close Andy was to figuring out the spell, he would go nuts.

There was only one problem: Vincent DID know, and he wasn't going to give his little brother the opportunity to rain on the party. Now that Vincent had the Devil in his camp, there was nothing he couldn't accomplish. But, Andy had to go. Vincent and Lucifer had already visited Vincent's other brother Oliver, and they had annihilated him. Now it was time to do the same with Andy, before his research led to Vincent's demise.

As Andy sat down to look at his notes, Vincent and Lucifer suddenly appeared in front of him. Andy sprung to his feet.

"As it turns out, you were worrying about the front door for nothing," Vincent sneered. "Satan and I don't need doors. We go wherever we want, whenever we want."

"Satan?!" Andy exclaimed, looking open-mouthed at the stranger.

"The one and only," Lucifer replied smugly.

"You're in league with Satan?" Andy asked his brother in astonishment.

"Actually, I look at it more like, he's in league with me," Vincent retorted, and Lucifer's grin faded a bit. They were going to have to have a little chat soon about who was riding on whose coattails, here. Lucifer was a household name, the epitome of Evil. Vincent was a murderous, amoral bastard with the sex drive of a long-term inmate set loose from prison, but it was Lucifer who everyone was afraid of, and rightly so.

"Whatever the case may be," the Devil snapped, "we know you've been doing some research on how to bring our little empire down. But it's you who's going down, right now. And not in the good way." Hey, Lucifer had once been a long-term inmate, himself. Angels were celibate, or at least, they were supposed to be. They had no idea what they were missing. None.

Vincent rushed forward and grabbed his brother by the throat. "Do you have any last words, before I squash you like a bug?" he snarled.

"Yes, I do," Andy said, as bravely as he could considering that his heart was hammering away a mile a minute. "The Angels will bring you both down."

"The Angels?" Lucifer scoffed. "Oh, that's rich. My Brothers and Sisters have their Sainted heads shoved so far up their own asses that their haloes are crooked. They have no idea what's really going on. By the time they get here, they'll find out they're too late. Vincent and I will already be running things. They'll have to bow down to ME, if they want to survive."

"Too bad you won't be here to see it," Vincent said to his younger brother, squeezing his neck tighter. Then, the Voodoo Priest looked at Lucifer. So far, the Devil had been all talk, but no action. "Get your hands dirty," he said tersely.

Lucifer glared at Vincent for a moment. Oh, yes. They would be having that chat about who the Alpha Dog was, and they would be having it soon. But for now, he didn't really mind kicking in for the cause. Especially since all he had to do was snap his fingers and -

SPLAT! Andy exploded, sending blood and brain matter splashing all over his apartment. Vincent was soaked through, but Lucifer had thrown up a shield with his other hand, and he was perfectly pristine. "It looks like YOU'RE the one whose hands are dirty," he said to Vincent, smirking. "Along with every other inch of you. Oh, well, look on the bright side. Your whole family is dead, now. Seems like a bit of an extreme way to avoid family reunions, but, whatever. Run along home, now. Maybe you can get little Blaise to lick some of that blood off of you. She's pretty good. I had her, last week. Hey, don't look at me like that. What else would you expect from the Devil himself? You're just pissed off that I got there first. Well, cheer up. There's lots more deflowering left to be done. In any event, after you get cleaned up, I think we should have a little talk about who's in league with who. I don't see YOUR name in the Bible as the Numero Uno bad guy. See you around, Vincent."

Lucifer snapped his fingers and then he was gone, leaving a gaping Vincent behind, his brother's guts still dripping from his face.