Chapter 6 - Wake-Up Call

Back in the present reality, God had summoned Death to him, and the ancient entity wasn't too happy about it. God had changed the entire status quo. He had yanked the Book of Life out of its rightful owner's hands, and promptly flipped the script.

"We had a deal," Death fumed. People were under the impression that he felt no emotions, but that perception was simply not true. Death was capable of a myriad of emotions; he just didn't go around expressing them all the time. He was a firm believer in self-control. But he was feeling anger now.

God raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so upset? Order has been restored. You received your souls from the Holocaust after Castiel corrected his error, and now, you are receiving extra souls, to replace the ones I've brought back."

"But they are the wrong ones!" Death exclaimed.

"What do you care? I thought it was merely a numbers game to you. So, you receive a Becky, instead of a Jody. An Andy, instead of a John. What's it to you?" God retorted.

Death looked at him incredulously. "You're upsetting the natural order of things! That was what this whole exercise was supposed to have been about, in the first place! You were supposed to be punishing Castiel for defying you. His family were to be systematically eliminated, one by one, in order to give him the incentive to do what had to be done."

"And that is exactly what happened," God said calmly.

Who was He trying to fool? "No. No," Death insisted stubbornly. "The final death never occurred. You changed the events. Castiel has learned nothing from the experience, because you pulled back. You didn't follow through."

"How I discipline my Son is my business," God said coolly.

"That may be, but I am still owed. More than a few souls, by my count. I will have them, one way or the other. I will wait for your Word."

Suddenly, Death vanished. God frowned. Death had made Him angry, but the ancient entity was also right. God had pulled His punch there, at the end of the cycle. Why? Was it because they had all suffered enough, by that point? Or had God just gone soft? There was a fine line between Free Will, and just doing whatever the hell it was that you wanted. Yes, God had abdicated the Office, but he was still God. The Original G-O-D, as the kids might say, and when He spoke, He expected to be obeyed. And just when had His children become so disrespectful, anyway?

He needed perspective. It was time to look in on the one person who might have an inkling of what God was wrestling with.

"Bobby Singer! How the hell are you? Come on in!" Dean said delightedly. He shook the hand of the man who had been one of their father's best friends while they were growing up. Now his and Sam's parents were dead, but even before that, they had lost track of Bobby. "How did you know where I lived?" Dean asked the man now, ushering him into the kitchen.

The truth was that Bobby hadn't known where Dean lived. He had just been driving around in the neighbourhood, and the strongest urge he had ever felt in his life had come over him to drive down this street. Then, an even stronger urge had made Bobby knock on this door. And the only reason Dean had been home was that Nicole had had a doctor's appointment this afternoon, and she hadn't wanted to bring little Elizabeth with her. There was a pretty strong strain of the flu going around, and the new mother hadn't wanted to take any chances.

"Can I get you a beer, Bobby?" Dean asked him. "It's five o'clock, somewhere."

"If you'll have one with me," Bobby said affably. "How's Sam? Is he doing okay?"

"We're great, Bobby. God, it's good to see you," Dean said, opening the fridge. "How long's it been?"

"Don't answer that question if you don't want me to kick your ass," Bobby growled. "The last thing I need is a reminder of how old and decrepit I am."

Dean laughed, handing Bobby a beer. "Yeah, I know what you mean. The other day, I found a grey hair."

"Ahhh, so what? One or two grey hairs on your head is nothing to get bent out of shape about," Bobby remarked.

"Who said they were on my head?" Dean said, smirking.

Bobby fixed him with a baleful look. "Despite that mental image, it's good to see you, Boy." He lifted his beer bottle. "Here's to renewing old acquaintances."

They clinked bottles and drank. Then they sat down at the kitchen table and talked, and then they talked some more. Dean called Sam at the University, and Sam said that he would come over right away. While they were waiting for him to arrive, the baby cried. So Dean brought Elizabeth downstairs, so her Uncle Bobby could see her. Then Dean fed her and deftly changed his daughter's diaper, while Bobby tickled her stomach. Then, by the time Elizabeth was down again, Bobby realized why he'd been sent here.

Sam arrived, and once more hugs and pleasantries had been exchanged, Bobby let out a breath. "Boys, I need your help. Do you believe in witches?"

"I know that you think I'm insane, but I assure you, I'm not," Cas said earnestly. "I'll prove it to you. Ask me anything about history. Anything. I can tell you which parts of the Bible are true, and which aren't. You would be surprised how much of it is artistic license."

Gail let out a breath. "None of that would prove anything, Cas. I'm really good at Entertainment and Literature, in Trivial Pursuit. Just because you know a lot about a subject doesn't mean you were there for it."

Cas snapped his fingers. Why hadn't he thought of it before? "I'll take you somewhere. Paris? London? Mars?"

"Sure, Cas," Gail said, bemused. "Let's go to Mars. Maybe I can get Captain Kirk's autograph."

"I don't know who that is," Cas remarked. "Give me your hand."

"Cas..."

"Give me your hand," he insisted. "Please."

"It's funny you should ask about witches," Sam said, grinning. He told Bobby about the night class he'd taught.

But Bobby wasn't smiling. "It's all true," he told the brothers. "All of it. Vampires, ghouls, werewolves...all of it. Now I know why I was led to this house."

"What are you talking about, Bobby?" Dean asked.

"I've got terminal cancer, boys," the older man said bluntly. "I'm probably not gonna last till Christmas. I think God led me here to this house so I could ask you to take over for me. I've been seeing this woman, Abigail. Things were going along pretty great until I found out that she's a witch, who belongs to a coven. They hex people to make money, and when somebody doesn't toe the line the way they want, they kill them. I've got experience with these kinds of things, but I'm too old and too tired to take down a whole coven all by myself. That's where you two come in."

"Are you nuts?!" Dean exclaimed. "We don't know the first thing about how to deal with witches."

"Sure ya do," Bobby assured him. "Sam taught a class on that stuff, and you took it!"

"Yeah, but that was just an academic pursuit," Sam argued.

Bobby sighed. "Look, I know it's a lot to ask. But there are innocent people being killed, you guys. I need your help. Whaddaya say?"

Dean and Sam exchanged glances. "I say I have a couple of phone calls to make," Dean told him.

Bobby's beard twitched. "If one of those calls is to the looney bin, do me a favour and let me know. Then I can pack my best underwear, in case they give me one of those things that opens in the back."

But Dean didn't call the authorities, because he believed what Bobby had been telling them. God help him. Instead, he called Kevin, asking him if he could take Elizabeth to their house for a bit. Then, he made his other call.

About twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. "You wanted to see us about something?" Frank asked his friend. Jody followed her boyfriend into the house.

Every word of it was true. Gail couldn't believe it. Cas had been telling her the truth!

He'd winked her to Europe, then to Australia. Then he'd called Gabriel on Angel Radio and the Archangel had showed up in Antarctica, where they'd gone to next, putting a coat around Gail's shoulders. Then, for good measure, Gabe had winked them all to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Then the Angels had brought Gail back to the park, and Gabe had snapped the coat away as she sank down onto the blanket, stunned by what had just transpired.

Gabriel smiled at his Brother. He was thrilled to see this side of Castiel, and he'd been even more thrilled when Cas told him over their frequency that he was planning to propose to Gail, once her equilibrium returned.

"I'll just leave you two kids alone, then," Gabe had said, smiling at the couple. The look of utter amazement on Gail's face was so cute. He would have to come up with some sort of a nickname for her. They had just been in the Antarctic, watching some penguins. They were little and cute, just like she was. Maybe he would call her "Penguin", then.

Gabriel winked himself away, and Castiel sat beside Gail on the blanket again. "Are you all right?" he asked her softly. "I didn't mean to overwhelm you, merely to convince you."

"Oh, I'm convinced, all right," she said in a shaky voice. She still felt a little dizzy, but she put her hand on Cas's arm now. "You've seen it all," Gail remarked. "All of history. Everything. You can go anywhere you want, do anything you want, but you're here with me?"

"I told you, there's no place I would rather be, and no one I'd rather be with," Cas assured her. "I love you. I want to be with you every moment of every day, from this moment on." He reached into his pocket, opening the ring box. "Will you do me the supreme honour of becoming my wife?"

"Well, isn't this touching," Hakeem said, stepping out from the forest.

Cas sprang to his feet. "What are you doing here?" he asked the Demon angrily.

"Doesn't this human have the right to know what you're REALLY asking her?" Hakeem said, smirking. He moved forward slowly. "You're really asking her if she wants to be a target for your many enemies. The instant you fell in love with the poor, unfortunate thing, you hung an 'Open Season' sign around her neck. There's a long line of us who would love to get to you by taking our blades to her, and they're not all from my domain, either."

Castiel opened his mouth to ask the question, and then he realized he already knew the answer: it was Jason. Jason was the only one he had told where he and Gail were going to be, and what he had intended to do here today. Gabriel had been right: Jason was not Castiel's friend. He had sent Hakeem here to do his dirty work. Castiel got his blade out of his pocket. "Run," he said to Gail. "Leave. Now."

"Oh, I think not. That would spoil all the fun," Hakeem said. Two other Demons suddenly appeared, pulling Gail to her feet and holding her by the arms. She struggled, but to no avail.

"Fine," Castiel said, and the tone of his voice was strange. It was almost too calm. He stabbed one Demon with his blade and pulled him off of Gail, then put his hand on the other's head, burning the eyes out of his skull. Then he grabbed the head of the Demon he'd stabbed with both hands and twisted viciously, snapping Its vessel's neck.

"Come on, then," Castiel said, gesturing to Hakeem. "What are you waiting for?"

"Me," Crowley said, appearing suddenly. He looked at Hakeem. "You lot have a real problem following the chain of command," he said to his lieutenant. "A good rule of thumb to remember? The King sees all, and he knows all. I didn't sign off on this little venture; therefore, I'm sending you on a Time Out. We have a new Torture Master. His name is Raguel, and he learned his techniques from the best. Didn't he, Castiel? I'll see you in a week or so, Hakeem. Let's see if you remember the chain of command when your brains are leaking out of your ears."

The King of Hell snapped his fingers, and Hakeem disappeared. Then Crowley walked over to where Gail was standing, giving Castiel a wide berth. He wasn't too worried about the Angel blade his brother still held in his hand. They both knew it couldn't harm him.

Crowley snapped the corpses of the Demons away, and then he made a small bow to Gail. "So, you're the young lady we've all heard so much about. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I apologize for the actions of my subjects. Not all of us are such ill-mannered brutes, although I have to confess, many Demons are."

"Demons?" Gail echoed. She felt like she was losing her mind. Any minute now, somebody from one of those prank shows was going to come out of the woods with a camera crew.

"Oh. I suppose you hadn't gotten that far in your tutorial, yet," Crowley said, nodding. "Allow me to explain, then. Demons are - "

"I know what they are," Gail said, not realizing that she had just interrupted the King of Demons. "I took a night class."

"You took a night class," Crowley repeated. He looked at Castiel, whose entire body was one big tense muscle now. What was Crowley's intent? "She took a night class," the King said to the Angel. Then he did something that Castiel had never seen before. Crowley threw his head back and laughed.

"Finally!" the King exclaimed, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes. "Finally, someone who knows exactly what our empty, meaningless existences have been lacking!" He looked at Castiel, whose mouth was still open in astonishment. "I take back most of the terrible things I've said about you, over the centuries. Not all of them, but most of them. This is what we've all been waiting for. This is going to be so much fun." He snapped his fingers, and Jason suddenly appeared, bound from head to foot. Then, Crowley snapped his fingers again, and an Angel blade appeared in his hand.

"I'll see you soon, sweetheart," Crowley said to Gail. He plunged the knife into her heart, twice in quick succession. "You'll thank me later," he told her, disappearing as Castiel ran forward, bellowing in anger and terror.

Seconds later, Gail died in Cas's arms. He wept over her body, and then he lowered her slowly to the blanket that would be her shroud. But first, he had business to attend to.

Castiel drew his blade, looking at Jason, whose eyes were wide with fear. "Let's see: where shall we begin?" Castiel said, looking calmly at his former friend.

VIGNETTE - TIME AFTER TIME

Castiel had intended to torture Jason slowly and painfully, wringing every last scream of agony out of him before he finally dispatched him to Hell. And that was where Jason would be going, of course. After everything he had done, Castiel was sure that Jason would be Crowley's right-hand man in a very short period of time. The only question that remained was whether Castiel himself would be on Crowley's left, should any of his many enemies finally catch up with him. The fact that Cas had been seeking redemption here on Earth with Gail may not count for anything at all when it came time for his Final Judgement.

But Castiel's heart was too heavy now to prolong Jason's death, so he merely stabbed Jason with his Angel blade, releasing his former compatriot's essence. Once it had dissipated, Castiel quartered Jason's vessel and winked the pieces away.

Then he turned to the heartbreaking task at hand. He removed the food and wine from the blanket, set the picnic basket aside, and wrapped Gail's body in the blanket, as if he were swaddling her. Her eyes were still open. Crowley's act had been sudden and shocking. Cas got down on the ground and cuddled Gail's blanket-wrapped body to him. He didn't close her eyes. That way, he could pretend as if she was listening.

He cleared his throat, blinking back the tears until he felt like he could begin: "You belong with me, and I belong to you. Our love is eternal. You are the most beautiful person I have ever laid eyes upon." Cas cleared his throat again. It was beginning to close up. But he meant to tell her everything he needed to say. "When I look at you, I see the sunrise. Everything lovely and good that our Father ever created is in your eyes." A tear slid down his cheek. "When you smile at me or take my hand, I know why I exist. I wandered around all those years, searching for you. And every time God let me find you, only to lose you so cruelly, I would lift my head up, and I would ask him why. Why? I never received an answer. Not once. But now, I know why: Because I had to earn my happiness. I had to earn your love. Whatever made me think I was entitled to receive such a perfect gift? Simply because I existed? The Bible claims that Father said to Job: 'Where were you, when I made the world?' I don't know if that's true, because I wasn't there. But it sounds like Him, all right. And, do you know what, my darling? Where WAS I, when He made the world? What made me think that I had the right to anything; anything at all? Much less anything as perfect as your love?"

Cas kissed Gail on the forehead, and he laid her gently down on the ground. Then he did close her eyes. He stood to his full height, holding his arms out in supplication. "Thy Will be done. Do with me what You will."

A moment later, both Castiel and Gail disappeared.

The first test had been passed. Castiel had now demonstrated the first Virtue: Humility. Actually, God thought with some humour, his Son had technically demonstrated a second Virtue, as well: Chastity. He had been a perfect gentleman while courting Gail. So, the Father was willing to throw that one in as a bonus.

The more God had thought about it, the more He had become convinced that Death had had a point: Castiel had gotten off a little too lightly in this New World Order. He'd been the top dog in Heaven, to use the vernacular, but somehow, he and Gail had found a way to reconnect with each other, and with many of the others, even though they were never meant to. So, God made a deal with Himself: Castiel had to show to his Father's satisfaction that he could demonstrate the Seven Holy Virtues. If Castiel could do that, the Father would bring the four of them back to that mountain, to resume the current timeline. Then, if Castiel fell into line and made the sacrifice that had been intended to be made, God would relent, and allow them all to carry on.

But for now, there were some more tests in store. God was curious about something: was His Son Lucifer inherently evil, or had circumstances made him that way? Lucifer had fallen in with Vincent now, but there was trouble in Paradise. Which of them would blink first?

VIGNETTE - WHEN DOVES CRY

Lucifer and Placida were engaged in a sweaty and particularly acrobatic encounter when Vincent strode through the door of the beachfront cottage.

"Hey!" Lucifer exclaimed. "What gives?"

Vincent lifted an eyebrow. "Why the sudden objection? There was a time, not too long ago, when you would have been calling for me to join in." He smirked, seating himself in the bamboo chair beside the patio doors. "Both of you." He glanced out the large picture window. At least the two of them hadn't bothered to draw the drapes. For a moment there, Vincent had been wondering if they'd been going prudish on him. No, that wasn't true. The truth was that Vincent was beginning to wonder if these two were conspiring against him.

Still, he waved his hand. "Go ahead and finish. I don't mind," Vincent said casually.

Lucifer thought about doing just that for a moment, but it was no use. His mojo was gone. So to speak.

"I'll talk to Lucifer alone," Vincent told Placida. She climbed off the bed, gathered her clothes from the floor and left, without a word to either man.

Lucifer lay back in the bed, his head propped up against the pillows. He didn't bother to cover himself. Even though the heat from the encounter had dissipated, his vessel still felt warm. Besides, he had nothing that Vincent hadn't seen before, up close and personal.

The two of them eyed each other for a minute, and then Vincent said, "Are you conspiring against me?"

"What? No!" Lucifer exclaimed. "Why on earth would you think that? Because Placida and I had a little one-on-one? So what? Isn't that what hedonism is all about? Take it where you can get it?"

Vincent continued to look at him. "Are you aware that Blaise calls you Father, now?" he said in an icy tone.

"You must have misheard that," the Devil retorted. "What she actually calls me is 'Daddy', and it's sexy as hell. I'm encouraging all the young ones to do that, now."

"What exactly do you think we're trying to accomplish, here?" Vincent asked him, tight-lipped.

"Accomplish?" Lucifer scoffed. "I'm not trying to 'accomplish' anything." He got off the bed and started to dance in place. "Unless it's to have a good time. You know what they say: 'Do a little dance, make a little love, and' - "

"That's enough," Vincent snapped. "I recruited you because of your reputation. Of course I knew who you were, 'Bill'. But so far, you haven't done a single thing."

"What do you want me to do?" Satan said, throwing his hands up in frustration. "How about if I go back up to Heaven, then? Dad's not there. He's never there, any more. Maybe I'll fry Ignatius's brains right out of his skull, and then take over the Office. Be in charge of a bunch of sexless, lily-white Angels. How would that be?"

"Well, at least you'd be taking care of business, then, instead of laying around all the time, doing nothing," Vincent said tartly. "If you like taking virgins so much, why don't you go soil some Angels?"

"So, THAT'S it. You're just jealous that I'm getting in there first, most of the time. Well, so to speak," Lucifer smirked. "Here's an idea, then: how about if I kill you, and then you can try to wrest the scepter out of Crowley's hands, if you want to rule something so badly. Maybe the two of us can hop into bed together, both figuratively, and literally. That's if he doesn't mind my sloppy seconds, of course."

"Maybe I should just kill you," Vincent seethed. "Then, I wouldn't have to listen to your endless, empty bragging about how fearsome you are!"

"Empty?! Let me tell you something." Lucifer rushed over to the patio doors and flung them open, stepping outside. "I could fling my arms out right now and every bird, animal and fish within a one-thousand-mile radius would drop dead. Not to mention the people. But I choose not to, because I don't care. Unlike you, I don't have this compelling need to prove that mine is longer than anyone else's. I guess your parents didn't hug you enough, growing up. Did Mommy not want to breast-feed you, cause it creeped her out too much?"

"You're a fine one to talk about parents," Vincent retorted. "You're so hated, so vilified by your entire family that they made your name synonymous with being an outcast."

"So what? Who needs them, anyway?" Lucifer blustered. "I prefer it here. Booze, broads, and tropical weather. What's not to like?"

"If you stay, it's because I allow it," Vincent said in a clipped tone. "I am the head of this family, not you."

"Wow. Get that stick out of your butt. You sound like my Brother; the one who was supposed to have been your son-in-law, in a different reality. Boy, you dodged a bullet, there. Or maybe HE did," Lucifer said. He had come back into the room now and was standing toe-to-toe with Vincent, eyeing him contemptuously. "I go where I want to go, and I do what I want to do, Vince. Remember that."

Vincent nodded, as if receiving the answer to a question. But he hadn't had to ask the question, because he'd already known the answer. "OK, off you go, then. It's been real," he said sarcastically. Then he took the vial of Angel blood out of one of his pockets and the gris-gris bag out of the other. He splashed the blood in Lucifer's face and broke the bag, shouting the incantation for the banishment spell. For all his posturing, Vincent knew he didn't have the power required to kill an ancient being like Lucifer. Not yet, at any rate.

After the black smoke cleared, Lucifer was gone. The properties of the spell were such that the Devil would be unable to gain access to the island on which Vincent and his voodoo family called home, not without some kind of overriding spell. And who needed him, anyway? Vincent was plenty evil enough for the both of them.

Papa walked out to the beach to give his followers the good news.

VIGNETTE - LIKE A VIRGIN

Dean was standing in the shower, trying to wash all the blood off of himself. Yuk. How did men like Bobby DO that, day after day?

At first, the whole thing had seemed like a really fun adventure. Now that Dean was the manager of a few car repair shops, he was more on the administration and marketing side of things, which meant that he was more of a businessman than a hands-on kind of guy. He'd joked to Nicole that he would have to set up a gym in the basement so he wouldn't get too out of shape. Maybe the two of them could work out together. Nicole had laughed, saying maybe, but seeing her husband flex his muscles was what had gotten her pregnant with Elizabeth in the first place.

Dean's wife was at Quinn and Sam's house now. The sisters-in-law were pretty close, which was convenient for the Winchester brothers, since they too were very close. But how in the hell was Dean supposed to explain to Nicole what he and Sammy and their friends had just done?

It had seemed like such a lark, at first. Their old friend Bobby had shown up unexpectedly at Dean's door, and they'd had a bittersweet reunion. Sam had come over, and the men had had a couple of beers and reminisced. But then came the sad news that Bobby had terminal, inoperable cancer, and he had a favour to ask. Incredibly, he had wanted the brothers to go with him to the location where a coven of witches was to meet, and kill them all.

Dean and Sam had exchanged astonished glances, but then both of them had realized that they weren't as surprised as they probably should have been. Sam had taught a class on supernatural beings, and Dean had attended every one, and had actually paid attention, for a change.

"How many?" Dean had asked Bobby matter-of-factly, as if he'd been preparing his whole life for the question.

"I'm not sure. Could be a dozen, or more," Bobby had replied.

"We'd better get some reinforcements, then," Dean had said, and then he had put in the call to Frank. Jody had been there with her boyfriend, so Dean had invited the Sheriff to come, too.

The main core of Hunters was back together now, and they had gone into that record company building and kicked some witch ass. Abigail and Barnabas were both dead, along with a dozen or so others. The diminutive redhead who was the head of the coven had gotten away, but Bobby had declared it a good days' work, regardless. He'd thanked the four of them and then they'd all gone their separate ways to get cleaned up.

Dean's dilemma was twofold as he toweled himself off. How the hell was he supposed to tell Nicole what they had just done? And, the bigger question was: how was he supposed to tell her that he wanted to do it again?

VIGNETTE - WHAT'S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

Gabriel felt like a real cad. After all this time, it had finally happened. After dating dozens of women on Earth, he'd finally met one who had fallen head over heels in love with him. There was just one problem: he didn't feel the same way.

Felicia was cute, sweet, blonde and curvy. She had all the attributes that Gabe liked in a woman. Well, except for one. She was TOO sweet. Too understanding. A couple of times, Gabriel had stood her up when they'd had a prearranged date, and he hadn't always had a good explanation. Part of it was because he couldn't divulge what he really was, of course, or the fact that he was only assigned to Earth, and not a resident. Sometimes, Gabriel was off the grid. At least, those were the excuses he used to himself. But eventually, he had to admit that, although a certain part of his anatomy was still very much in the relationship, his heart was not.

The trouble was, Felicia was way too forgiving. If she'd only torn a strip off him for standing her up and asserted herself, Gabriel would actually like her a lot better. Somewhat perversely, if she would only tell him off, even just once, Gabe might be inclined to stay in the relationship.

But she wouldn't, and she didn't. Felicia made excuses for him, instead. They'd arranged to meet at the Rogue Angel for a drink, and Gabriel stammered out that he liked her, he really, really did. But he had to go out of town on business, and he had no idea when he might be back.

Felicia had been full of questions. Where was he going? Maybe they could Skype, or could she come and visit him there? Did he get any time off? Maybe he could come back on weekends, or holidays?

Finally, Gabe had had to give her the old "it's not you, it's me" speech. She had looked at him with the hurt evident on her face, and he had braced himself. Now, she was going to make a scene. Curse him out. Maybe throw her drink in his face. Something.

Felicia cleared her throat. "Can I buy you a farewell drink?"

VIGNETTE - WAIT FOR ME

Sam Winchester also had a problem, and his was a lot more serious.

Dean had called his brother at home a few hours after they'd gotten back from taking care of the witches, and his brother had been all hopped up on the adrenaline of the experience. Plus, Dean had talked to Nicole as soon as she'd gotten home and put Elizabeth down, and somehow, Dean had convinced his wife to give him her endorsement to go Hunting, at least part-time.

Now, Dean wanted Sam to do the same, and that was the source of Sam's problem. Quinn wasn't going to be nearly as understanding as Nicole seemed to be. Sam hadn't even intended to tell his own wife what they had done, reasoning that it had been a one-off thing, to help an old family friend.

Sam wasn't a naturally deceptive man, but there was a reason for his reticence. Quinn's father was in the local penitentiary, awaiting a death sentence for murder. At his trial, he had testified that the victim had been attacked by some sort of a monster, and he had actually been trying to revive the woman. That was why he'd had her blood all over him. Sure, she'd been attacked by a monster, the DA had said sarcastically. He was sitting in the defendant's chair. They'd done a cursory psych evaluation on Quinn's dad, and found him to be sane. Of course he was. He'd been telling the absolute truth.

That was one of the things that had sparked Sam's interest in supernatural creatures. Which was all very well and good, when it was only an intellectual pursuit. But Sam knew that there was no way that Quinn would be OK with him going out there, actively hunting and killing monsters. No way.

VIGNETTE - EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE

God was watching Castiel avidly to see what he would do, now that the love of his life had been taken from him, yet again. Would he head straight for the crossroads with his blade? Exhort Ignatius to lead a raid into Hell? Rant and rail at his Father?

No, no, and no. Astonishingly, Cas began to travel throughout each country and each city and town, performing healings and charitable acts.

Death visited God again. "What would you have me do with her?" he asked the Almighty Father.

God pursed His lips. Now, Castiel was exhibiting Kindness and Charity, two more of the Virtues. His Father was surprised, and more than a little impressed. But there were three more Virtues to go.

"Keep Gail in Limbo for now," He instructed Death. The ancient entity gave Him a curt nod, and then he disappeared. He really didn't care about the disposition of Gail's soul. She had been a mere human this time, with no standing, or significance. God had a bee in His bonnet about testing Castiel for the Virtues, and there was nothing that Death could do about it but hope that Castiel would fail the test.

VIGNETTE - NEUROTICA

Lucifer continued to wander aimlessly around the United States, looking for something to do. He began to people-watch, marveling at how humans got through life. They were like little ants, hustling and bustling around. No wonder he and his brethren had always thought of God's creations as insects. It was because they were.

Yet they persevered, against all odds, with vessels that had a short shelf life, unaware that there were all manner of otherworldly beings walking amongst them, most of who had no more regard for them than they would for the barnacles that had attached themselves to the underside of a boat. Satan was unsure if he hated them, or felt pity for them.

He happened across the Rogue Angel one night, and like the others of his kind who had gone in there, he was amused by the name. So he went in, of course, missing Gabriel by mere minutes. The only other one who would have recognized him would have been Castiel, but God's most miserable Son was still performing good deeds around the globe, hoping that if he did enough of them, the Father would see fit to ascend Gail.

Lucifer sat down at the bar next to an attractive, blonde-haired woman, who looked as though she had been crying. He ignored her, signaling to the bartender to bring him a drink. Whenever the Devil beckoned, humans obeyed him instantly, if they were less than stellar people. This was just one of the many qualities that he brought to the table. But Vincent hadn't taken the time or trouble to find that out, had he? The Voodoo Priest had been more concerned with his own ego than what would have been good for the team. Well, good riddance. Who needed him, anyway? Lucifer was Satan; the Devil, himself. He was who the bad ones prayed to, and the righteous ones shook rosary beads and other useless trinkets at in an attempt to ward off. But he could go anywhere he wanted; do anything he wanted.

"Hi, honey," he said to Felicia. "Can Daddy buy you a drink?"

VIGNETTE - INTO THE GROOVE

"Oww! Hold on, Winchester! We're stuck! You have to move to your right," Frank said irritably.

Dean shifted the desk, but he moved it in the opposite direction of where Frank had said that he wanted him to go. "Uhhhh, that would be your other right, Einstein," Frank said dryly.

"You can't talk to me like that. I'm your boss," Dean said.

"Not here, you're not," Frank pointed out. "You said we'd be equal partners."

"Hey, if all you're aspiring to be is an equal to my brother, you're not aiming high enough," Sam quipped, entering the front door of the duplex. He shook his head at the sight of the men. They had been trying to maneuver a heavy oak desk up a narrow flight of stairs, and they'd gotten stuck, about halfway up. "If Archimedes could see you now," Sam remarked. Predictably enough, Dean frowned. "Who's that?" he said, wiping sweat from his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Some Professor guy at the University?"

Sam shook his head again, smirking. His brother was a lot of great things, but a Rhodes scholar was not one of them. "Here, let me help you with that," he offered. "I need to talk to you guys, and I'd like to do it today."

He suggested a way for the men to shift the desk so that it wouldn't get stuck on the landing, and once Frank and Dean had the piece of furniture moved into the small office they were going to use for their Investigations business, Dean reached into the portable fridge he'd made sure to install first thing, and pulled out three bottles of beer. "We have to christen the place," he said by way of explanation.

"Fine, but if you want me to smash my bottle on the desk, you're gonna have to clean up the mess, afterwards," Frank wisecracked.

"Has anybody heard from Gail, or from Cas?" Sam asked Frank.

Gail's brother frowned. "No. Our mom's really upset. When Jody and I went over there, she told Jody she wanted her to track them down. But Jody told her things don't work like that. Gail and Cas are both adults. If they left town together, there's nothing the cops can do about it. I mean, they're not Bonnie and Clyde, or anything. Gail's a grown woman. An inconsiderate one, but still..."

"Do you know for a fact that she and Cas left town together?" Sam persisted.

"No, and that's one reason we're opening up this company," Dean told his brother. "We're gonna find out for sure. And there are a lot of other people out there who are missing family members too, cases the cops can't or won't touch. And if it just so happens that some of those people were abducted by monsters..."

Sam nodded. So, there it was. He'd figured as much. He took a deep breath. "I want in," he told the men.

"You do?" Dean said, surprised. "I thought you said Quinn was gonna have a cow if you came into the monster-hunting business with us."

"This is a private detective agency, isn't it?" Sam said innocently. "That's what I told her it was, anyway. I told her I wanted to go into business with my brother, and my best friend. I told her we were going to try to find Gail, and make sure she's all right. I know she's a grown woman, but I just think it's odd that nobody's heard from her."

"I kind of did too, but I'm on the fence," Frank remarked. "Our parents have always treated her like she's a little kid. Especially my mother. She probably just snapped. I mean, she and Cas have dated for a year, and she was still living at home. They probably just went somewhere so they could have sex."

"You realize you're talking about your little sister, right?" Dean said, smirking.

Frank answered his friend's smirk with one of his own. "Yeah, I know. Gross. But I still think I'm right."

Sam was sitting back in his chair now, and he was frowning. "Listen, I hate to be 'that guy', but did you ever wonder if..." He trailed off.

"What?" Dean asked. "If what?"

"If Cas did something to her," Sam said hesitantly. "I mean, how much do we know about that guy? Nothing. Does anybody even know his last name?"

Frank paused. "Yeah, of course I thought about that, Sam. But I just can't picture it. If you could have seen his puppy dog eyes, whenever he looked at her...no. He couldn't have. No way. The guy had it, bad."

"Just like you have, for Jody," Dean teased him.

Frank grinned. "Yeah," he said again. "You've got me, there. As soon as I track down my sister and kick her in the ass, don't be surprised if you guys get an invitation in the mail to a very special ceremony."

"Are they opening up a new Dunkin' Donuts in the neighbourhood? Awesome," Dean wisecracked.

"I'll do the joking around here, Winchester," Frank said. He looked at Sam. "Welcome aboard, other Winchester. Now, let's get started."