Castiel had been spending the last twenty something years, trying to figure out ways to not fail Dean, but in every single instance, the angel felt as if he made everything worse. Castiel wanted Dean to have a normal life, but since their mother was killed by a demon, John Winchester sought revenge, and he took his sons along for the ride. Now, John was dead, traded his soul to save Dean, which Castiel was grateful for, but now Sam was dead. Stabbed in Dean's arms. Castiel could feel Dean's pain in his gut. The angel wanted to comfort Dean, but he couldn't, not without making himself known to Dean, which was forbidden. God wanted the angels to stay in Heaven; the angels were allowed to do what they could from Heaven, but nothing else. Thinking about this made Castiel angry with his Father.
"Who are you to tell me that I cannot save my Dean? You left Heaven. No one knows where you have gone. You left us. Why should I obey any rule you had set in place?" The angel quickly realized that he had questioned his Father and went back to watching Dean, who was now outside, without Sam, burying a box in the dirt.
"Dean? What are you doing?" A demon suddenly appeared. "No!" Castiel shouted, but of course Dean could not hear him.
"Winchester" the demon said. "Let me guess, you want to save your brother?" Dean's eyes gave the crossroad demon his answer.
"I get ten years right?" Dean said, though Castiel could tell it was hard for him to form the words.
The demon chuckled, "No" Dean squinted at her and she cracked another sly smile.
"That's the deal that everybody else gets." Dean said.
"But you are not everybody else. I'll give you one year, and one year only."
"Dean! No! Don't do this!" Castiel yelled, but it was useless because the Hunter could not hear him. For the love of his Father, the angel wanted to rush down and smite the demon bitch and send her back to Hell, but he could not. He watched as Dean sealed the deal with a kiss, then Dean rushed back to his brother's side to comfort him as he woke, not knowing what Dean had done. After a few minutes, Dean did tell Sam, who was almost as angry as Castiel, but Sam still got in the passenger's side of the Impala, glaring at his brother with what could only be a broken heart, as they drove down a long, narrow road.
(One year later)
Castiel knew this day would come but he would not believe it was today. The angel watched as Sam and Dean followed the demon Ruby into a room, but Castiel now realized, it wasn't Ruby. How could I not have seen it sooner? I have to warn them, but how? The angel knew that this was forbidden, but he did not care. Dean was down there about to be dragged to hell, so the angel whispered softly into Dean's mind, "It's not Ruby, look closer."
Dean reacted quickly and realized it was the demon Lilith. "Sam! Wait a second. It's not Ruby!" As soon as those words came out of his mouth Sam was thrown against the wall and Dean pinned on the table by the demon who most wanted to kill the Winchesters. Castiel wanted to intervene, to smite the bitch, but he had already done too much. Why must this happen? I don't understand, the angel thought to himself.
As Castiel looked back down upon the scene, it was unfolding to the finale. "Sick 'em boy." Lilith said in the most spine chilling voice a demon could ever use. The hellhound lunged at Dean and Castiel looked away. He didn't want to watch as his Dean was ripped to shreds. However, it was worse only hearing Sam's blood bursting screams and the tearing apart of Dean's flesh from his bones. "I'm so sorry Dean." Castiel said to the human as he took his last breath.
Suddenly, white hot pain spread throughout Castiel's body, he felt as if he was on fire, which normally, for an angel, bears no pain whatsoever. He fell to his knees the pain searing through his body, ripping at his grace. The angel let out an earth shattering scream, in fact it caused a small earthquake within a fifty mile radius of where Dean's body lay lifeless.
"I don't…understand. What…is happening?" Castiel said through grunts of pain. He knew his Father would not reply, God had been gone for years, but Castiel was angry now. "I deserve answers!" the angel screamed into Heaven, but again no one answered.
After a few hours, Castiel was used to the pain, although it had not stopped since Dean had passed. He stood up and paced around for a few minutes before making up his mind. It was a hard decision to make, defy Heaven and God to save his Dean, or remain loyal to Heaven and let his Dean rot in Hell. It should have been a hard decision, but it was very easy for Castiel to choose. In fact, the angel realized that this decision was made before he even contemplated it, but before he could fly off, Raphael appeared.
"Brother, I have orders. You are to go to Hell and retrieve the Righteous Man, bring him back to Earth. Then you will return to Heaven and watch over him. He has not yet finished God's plan." Raphael looked displeased having to say this, he did not believe in bring humans back from the dead, but it was Father's orders, and he could not disobey God. Castiel felt something inside him jump with joy. I can save him without defying Heaven. I will not lose my family and Dean will be saved.
"There are one thousand angels that will help you on this journey downstairs, they are waiting outside these doors. You must leave now. Be careful Castiel." Raphael then disappeared and Castiel went out to meet the other angels.
Some of the thousand looked displeased to be having to take this journey, the others were happy to help Castiel, but all were honored to be chosen by their Father to save the Righteous Man. Castiel led the way to Hell, and once at the gates, demons attacked from all corners. Luckily, the demons had not expected an attack, so the angels outnumbered them.
Getting into Hell was not easy, Castiel had already lost to angels, but now they had to find where Dean was being kept. Castiel could still feel white hot pain coursing through his veins and with every turn he could feel it getting stronger. The angels walked through Hell, blades in their hands, fighting any obstacle in their way, following Castiel's lead down dark corridors, through blood stained doors, never knowing who would attack next.
"No stop! Sam! Sammy!" The angel could hear Dean's screams in his mind, but he couldn't figure out where they were coming from. The screams seemed to be surrounding him, and Hell kept changing. Lucifer, now knew they were here and he kept changing the scenery on them. One minute they were in a dark field drenched on blood, the next they were in a dungeon surrounded by souls who were trapped in Hell calling out for help. The devil would send thousands of demons after the angels and it would take days to fight them all off. More demons dead, more angels dead, but Castiel did not lose faith.
Thirty years went by of Castiel and the angels fighting demons Thirty year of Lucifer changing the layout of Hell every time Castiel got close enough to where Dean was. Thirty years of Dean screaming out for Sam. Thirty years and at least a few hundred angels had died trying to save the Righteous Man. Castiel was beginning to get discouraged, but then the Dean's screams stopped. The angel stopped in his tracks and listened closely to the silence.
"Fine. I…" It was Dean's voice, it sounded broken, hoarse from all the screaming. "Alastair fine. You win. I give up." Castiel could feel how broken Dean was, but he couldn't let him give up. He charged forward, the other hundreds of angels following after him. Demons stood in their path, but Castiel was angry and he plowed through every demon that came along. He was covered in blood and tired, but that did not stop him.
One angel, named Samadriel, approached Castiel and said "I can hear him, the Righteous Man. He is with a demon called Alastair. He is…the Righteous Man is torturing souls. Castiel what do we do?"
"If you can hear him now as well that means we are dangerously close. We must stop Dean before his soul is warped into a demon." Castiel said pleading with the other angels. They all nodded in agreement and kept on through Hell.
Finally, after another ten years or fighting, Castiel reached a door covered in angel warding. He used the blood of the demon he just killed to cover the symbols in order to break the spell.
"This is it." Samadriel said putting a hand on Castiel's shoulder. The other angels, Castiel could now see were covered in blood and worn out, but they were smiling. "We have done it, we have reached the Righteous Man" an angel called Hester said.
Castiel nodded and smiled at them. "Thank you for all you have done. Now. Let us save Dean and return to Heaven where we belong." He kicked down the door and walked into the room. Alastair was sitting in a corner watching Dean, who was in the center of the room. He had a knife in hand and was cutting at a woman's forearm.
"Ah, Castiel. I heard you were here. I see you've found my workshop, and I believe you know my apprentice. Dean say hello to Castiel." Alastair said with an eerie smile. Dean turned around and Castiel's heart sank. Dean was dark, Hell was resonating through him, and for a second his eyes flickered black, but as Castiel looked closer, he could still see his soul, the very soul that he watched be created, the same soul that claimed all those years ago, and seeing his soul gave Castiel and flicker of hope. Maybe he will recognize me.
"Dean I am here to save you." Castiel started into his eyes looking for any signs of recognition, but Dean's stare was blank, cold, and empty. "I am Castiel, an angel of the Lord. I am here to take you back. Dean, look at me." His eyes began to soften and his lips trembled as if Dean wanted to say something.
"Well, this has been a lovely reunion, but Dean Sweetheart, it's time to get back to work." His green eyes flickered black for another second and he clenched his fist around the blade that was still in his hand. Castiel nodded to Hester and she grabbed Alastair, putting a blade to his throat. "And that's my cue." Alastair snapped his fingers, causing him and the woman that was being tortured to disappear from the room leaving Dean and Castiel, with the other angels to themselves.
The Righteous Man stared blankly at where Alastair once stood, then glanced at his blade, and lastly looking up at Castiel. "C-Cas?" Dean said finding it hard to form the familiar word that he had never spoken before. Castiel smiled at the familiar nickname his soul used to whisper in his mind when they were in Heaven.
"Yes Dean, it is Cas." Dean slowly walked over reaching a hand out towards the angel. Castiel grabbed his hand and watched as his soul shined brighter inside Dean than it had in years. Dean could not explain it, but the angel was familiar somehow, and he made Dean feel like he was at home, which then reminded Dean of Sam.
"Sammy. What about Sam? Is he okay?" Castiel could see the worry in his eyes.
"Yes Dean. I am here to take you back to Sam." Dean smiled and chuckled a little under his breath. Castiel could sense how happy this news made him. Castiel put a hand on Dean's shoulder. "This might hurt a little." The angel released some of his grace in order to bind Dean to him as they made their way through Hell and back to earth. The other angels were in front clearing their path of any demons who tried to hinder their escape.
Needless to say, but getting out of Hell, was certainly easier than getting in, but saying goodbye to Dean for a second time was not. "I don't understand, where are you going? You need to meet Sam." Dean pleaded. Castiel apologized the best he could, but Dean would not accept it.
"It is all a part of God's plan, and so is this." Dean looked questioningly at the angel, but Castiel had already placed two fingers on Dean's forehead, erasing his memory of the escape, and putting him to sleep for a few hours so he and the rest of the angels could return to Heaven.
After Dean woke, he broke out of his coffin, saw a circle of fallen trees around him, and immediately tried to figure out where he was. He was confused and tried to think back to how he got out of Hell, but it was all black. He found the nearest store, which happened to be a gas station, but it looked as if it had been abandoned for a few days now. Castiel watched from Heaven as Dean fumbled around, drinking his weight in water, finding the paper which told him it was September, meaning he had been dead for four months, and washing the dirt of his face.
Suddenly, Dean felt a searing pain in his arm. He lifted up his sleeve and saw a red handprint, scared on his shoulder. How the hell did I get out of Hell? He put his sleeve back down and began to raid the gas station for food and water, when he came across Busty Asian Beauties. Dean smirked as he added it to his bag of necessities and then grabbing cash out of the register.
"Come on Dean this is not time for porn. You need to go find Sam." Castiel had not intended to say that to Dean, only to himself, but it had slipped and turned on the TV in the gas station, startling Dean. "Dammit!" Castiel said turning on a radio. "I've already spoken to him now, might as well try and tell him where Sam is." But Dean could not actually hear Castiel's true voice, not that he knew who Castiel was. All Dean heard was a high pitched buzz that shattered the glass throughout the store.
"Well that's not working." Castiel said to himself. He watched as Dean left and tried to call Sam, who phone was out and service, and Bobby, who threatened to kill whoever was calling because he thought it was a joke.
Later, Dean drove to Bobby's, who tried to attack Dean thinking he wasn't real. They went through every test they could think of to prove that Dean was in fact human. Once Bobby was satisfied, they began to try and figure out what the hell could've dragged Dean out and left that handprint on his shoulder. They also went to go find Sam, curiously enough, Sam was in town by where Dean popped up alive.
"Who are you?" Sam yelled as he tried to attack Dean, Bobby holding him back.
"What? You mean you didn't do this?" Dean said. Sam looked confused and angry, but Bobby finally calmed him down letting him know that he had gone through all the tests and Dean was not a monster. Once everyone else was calm, Dean asked if Sam knew how he got top side, but Sam explained that he was not the one who made a deal, although he wish he had.
"Well that does raise a sticky question." Bobby said and they set out to find out more information about how did got out of hell. Castiel desperately wanted to tell them, or at least give them clues, but the handprint was enough.
The angel watched the boys for hours as they tried to figure out anything that made sense. Bobby finally remembered the psychic, Pam, he knew and they drove out to go see her. Once they reached Pam she called out to Castiel forcefully. Castiel tried to warn her that seeing his true form would blind her, but she did not listen.
"I invoke, conjure, and command you appear unto me before this circle." she called repeated
"My name is Castiel, please stop. You cannot handle my true form human. You will be blinded." Stop."
"No Castiel, I don't scare easy."
"Please Pam, turn back. I do not want to harm you." Pam did not listen, she gazed at Castiel and was blinded. Castiel was now sure that Dean would go to the ends of the Earth to figure out how he escaped from Hell. The angel did not know how to feel about this. One side he was happy that he might get to finally be a part of Dean's life, because if Dean summoned him he would have to appear and make himself known, but Castiel did not want to hurt anyone else in the process.
A few hours later Dean decided to summon whatever it was that brought him back from the dead. This made Castiel very happy. Dean and Bobby mixed the ingredients and invoked the spell, at first nothing happened, because Castiel was off looking for a vessel so he could walk the Earth.
Once he found one, he appeared to Dean and Bobby, blowing out every light he walked by. From the look on Dean's face, he thought the lights were blowing out because of Castiel's power, but really Castiel was just nervous to reconnect with his soul, with Dean, and this time, he didn't have to wipe his memory.
Castiel walked cautiously towards Dean who asked "Who are you?"
"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."