They drove through the night to reach the Campbell compound, but a phone call to Sam changed their plans.
"We're about eight hours out," Dean said when he called.
"Uh, change of plans," Sam's voice said on the other end. "I need you to meet me. I'm in PA, town called Easter."
"What are you doing in Pennsylvania?" Kat asked as she pulled the atlas out.
"Caught a case," Sam replied.
"A case?" Dean asked. "It's been, like, a day and a half."
"I like to work," Sam said.
"Apparently."
"Glad we hashed that out," Sam said, sounding annoyed. "Call me when you two get here," and he hung up.
"Who died and made you boss?" muttered Dean. They figured out the drive and changed directions.
"Has Sam ever been like this before?" Kat asked.
"Like what?"
"This...serious. Curt," she clarified.
"The last time he was...it was because he was under the influence of a spirit," Dean said. "We were checking out an old asylum. Guy named Ellicott did some spiritual shock therapy that made him angry, like really angry."
"Did he come out of it?"
"Yeah. It wasn't too long after Jess died. He wasn't in the best of headspaces," Dean said.
"This was during the whole Azazel thing too, right?"
"Yeah."
"Whatever brought him and Samuel back...we need to find it and find out what it did to him."
"Couldn't agree more," Kat said.
"Any luck getting ahold of Sara?" Dean asked.
"You think the angels had something to do with it?"
"No, but they could help us," Dean pointed out.
"You gonna be good?" Kat asked after a minute.
"Why?"
"I'm gonna go into a trance to see if I can reach her. If you need to pull me out, squeeze my hand and say, 'Gilda, return to this plane'."
"Are you serious?" Dean asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"No...I thought it would be funny," Kat chuckled. "Just squeeze my hand and call my name." She settled back and closed her eyes, willing herself to go to her grove.
XXXXX
Her grove was empty when she arrived. She hadn't been back in a while, so even in her thoughts, it was overgrown. Kat ran her hand in a circle around herself and cleared the overgrowth and weeds. Once she was satisfied, she conjured up a couple of chairs, then centered herself in front of them.
"Sarakiel," she called. "I need you." After a minute...no answer. "Sarakiel!" she called again. Still nothing. "SARA!" she yelled as loud as she could. Nothing. It started raining as Kat began to feel alone and sad. Why wasn't Sara answering her? "Cas?" she said quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Cas, Dean and I need you. Please, Cas. Please talk to us." Kat was met with more silence, and the rain fell harder. "Something's wrong with Sammy, and Dean can't take it. I don't know what else to do," she whimpered, sinking down to the ground. "Cas, Sara...we need you."
"Kat," Dean's voice echoed through her mind. She felt a squeeze on her hand and woke up. The car wasn't moving and Dean was looking at her, green eyes full of concern. "What is it? You were bawling a minute ago."
"I didn't hear anything," Kat said, wiping the tears she felt rolling down her cheeks, voice raw from crying. "Neither Cas nor Sara answered me. I've never had that happen before. One of them has always answered me." Dean gave her hand a stronger squeeze and held out his other arm. Kat scooted over to him and let him hold her close.
"Maybe take me there sometime? To your grove. Sounds like it's a beautiful place." Kat smiled into his chest.
"I didn't know you could meditate," she joked.
"Good thing I've got a good teacher," Dean murmured into her hair. Kat sniffed and looked up at him. They smiled at each other and shared a kiss.
"We should get going," Kat finally said after a few minutes. "Sam's probably wondering where we are."
"You're right," Dean groaned. "We can't have him getting on our asses." Dean started the car back up and they got back on the road. With very few exceptions, Dean never let go of her hand.
XXXXX
The two of them changed before they met up with Sam, who was waiting for them in his suit.
"Thanks for coming, guys," Sam said as they walked up. Dean looked at his car and scoffed a little.
"Still driving the plastic piece of crap, huh?" Dean asked.
"What's your mileage again?" Sam asked in reply.
"Alright, you two," Kat said. "Pissing contest later. Job now." They headed into the morgue and Sam gave them the rundown.
"Officer Gerald Hatch, 17-year veteran, found dead in the ready room three days ago," he explained as Kat and Dean looked at the file.
"Whoa," Dean said. "Somebody was over-hydrated."
"Basically, yeah," Sam chuckled. "The guy just...liquefied. Most of the meat, bones, dense tissues - they just turned to blood."
"I don't get it," Kat said, confused.
"Nobody gets it," Sam agreed.
"No, I get that," Kat clarified. "I'm saying, if the guy was a mop job, then what are we doing in the morgue? What's left of him to look at?"
"Not here to look at him," Sam said. "Here." He went to a drawer and pulled out another body. "Officer Toby Gray. They just brought him in. Found him dead in his patrol car, sitting at a speed trap on the outside of town." Dean flipped to the other file.
"Extreme allergic reaction," he read.
"Yeah," Sam said. "Boils. Covered from head to toe."
"On the inside, too," Kat read. "It says his airways are chock full of them."
"This seem a little witchy to you?" Dean asked, looking at his wife.
"On first look, yeah," Kat agreed. "But I don't see any signs of hexwork on the body."
"And there's no signs around the scenes, either."
"There's got to be some sort of link between skid mark and bubble wrap here," Dean said.
"No question," Sam said.
"Witnesses?" Kat asked. Sam went into his notes.
"Officer Ed Colfax," he read. "Saw Hatch go from a solid to a liquid."
"Another cop?" Dean asked.
"Hatch's partner," Sam said, nodding. He pushed the body back into its drawer and the three of them headed out to find the partner. On the way there, Kat couldn't help but notice that Dean was trying to work his way ahead of Sam's charger. When they got out, Kat looked at the both of them.
"Were you...were you racing me?" Sam asked as he climbed out.
"No," Dean said, chuckling slightly. "I was kicking your ass."
"Very mature," Sam groaned. They walked up to a specific house and knocked.
"Hello?" Dean called. "Officer Colfax!" The door opened, revealing an officer in dress uniform. "Woah, lookin' sharp, Kojak." Kat pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Who the hell are you?" the officer said.
"We're the Fed, Ed," Sam quipped. "We're here to ask you a few follow-up questions about your partner's death."
"Don't worry about it," Ed said. "It's nobody's business."
"Officer Colfax-" Sam started.
"Don't worry about it!" Ed shouted again and slammed the door in their face. Much to Kat and Deans horror, Sam kicked the door in.
"Dude!" Dean shouted, he and Kat following Sam in. They headed towards an office. The faces of family portraits were scratched out, recently it looked like. When they caught up with Ed, they found him scratching his face out of his police headshot.
"Office Colfax?" Sam asked, suddenly cautious.
"You all right?" Dean asked.
"Don't worry about it," Ed said, not looking up.
"Right," Dean said, looking fed up. "Look, Officer Colfax - Ed. We think that your partner died of unnatural causes." Ed started scratching his hat.
"Did he have any enemies that you know of?" Kat asked, trying to keep her voice kind.
"You might say that," he said.
"Oh yeah? Who's that?" Sam asked.
"They both had it coming," Ed continued. "Me too. I'll be the next to go, then it'll be over. And God will be satisfied." The three hunters looked at each other.
"What does God want you all dead?" Dean asked.
"'Cause of Christopher Birch," Ed replied. He knocked over a bottle of alcohol and let it spill for a second before cleaning it up, almost as if he didn't see it at first. "Damn it." Kat bent over and helped him out.
"Who's Christopher Birch?" Sam asked.
"He has no face," Ed answered. His behavior began to set alarms off in everyone's heads.
"Ed?" Sam asked.
"Officer, you all right?" Dean asked. Ed set the bottle upright.
"Who is Christopher Birch, Ed?" Sam asked again. When he didn't answer, everyone started getting antsy.
"Ed?" Kat shouted.
"Christopher Birch is a kid with no face...and a planted gun," Ed said, sounding insane. Then, they noticed blood starting to dribble down his face.
"Uh," Dean stammered. "You got a little something…" Ed put his finger to the small stream of blood on his face. "Yeah."
"Damn," Ed said, sounding a little too casually. "My head's been itching like a dirty jock." He then slowly fell forward onto a broken picture frame and was still.
"Ed?" Sam asked quietly. He walked behind the desk and checked him for a pulse. "Dead," he said, looking up at the other two.
"You hear that?" Dean asked, looking around. A buzzing sound suddenly became obvious to them. As they all focused on it, it seemed to be coming from Ed's hat. Sam slowly took it off and all three of them jumped as locusts came crawling out of a hole in Ed's head.
Later on in their hotel room, Dean was shifting through some papers. Sam and Kat were both on their laptops, doing independent research.
"Sweet," Dean said suddenly. "Blood, boils, locusts."
"Three of the more popular Egyptian plagues," Sam concurred. Dean picked up a jar that contained the locusts they took from Ed's house and looked at them.
"Yeah, but these guys," he said. "Ate their way out of a cop's melon. I don't remember that in King James."
"Meanwhile," Kat chimed in. "A kid named Christopher Birch was shot in the head last month after a vehicle pursuit. Hatch, Grey and Colfax were the three officers involved, and they filed the exact same police report." Dean got up and looked at Kat's laptop over her shoulder.
"Suspect exited the vehicle brandishing a firearm," he read aloud. "We were forced to fire."
"Just a kid with a planted gun," Kat said, echoing Ed's last words.
"Bunch of dicks," Dean spat. "So they pop the kid, plant the piece."
"Maybe Colfax is right," Sam said. "You know, maybe heaven has a hate-on for bad cops."
"So we're listening to the guy with a bug in his custard?" Dean asked, doubtful. "That's the theory you wanna go with?"
"Dean, angels got to have something to do, right? Now that we're post-Apocalypse?" Sam asked. Dean cracked open a beer and looked at Kat, who was pointedly looking at her computer.
"We should call Cas," Dean said. Kat tensed up a little.
"You're kidding, right?" Sam scoffed. "Dean, I tried. It was the first, second and third thing I did, soon as I got topside. Son of a bitch won't answer the phone." Dean sighed and sat down on one of the beds.
"Let's give it a shot," he said. He closed his eyes and sighed. "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray to Castiel to get his feathery ass down here." There was silence for a moment.
"You're an idiot," Sam smirked.
"Stay positive," Dean insisted.
"Oh I am positive," Sam replied.
"Come on, Cas!" Dean tried again. "Don't be a dick. We got ourselves a...plague-like situation down here and...do you...do you copy?"
"Like I said,'' Sam said, a little pissed and smug. "Son of a bitch doesn't answe…" He was cut off by Dean looking above his shoulder. Kat had turned and looked as well. "He's right behind me isn't he?" Sam turned and joined his siblings in looking at the familiar blue eyed angel standing in the room.
"Hello," Cas said simply.
"Hello?" Sam echoed.
"Y-yes," Cas stammered.
"Hello," Sam mimicked. "Hello?"
"Uh...is that still the term?" Cas asked, genuinely confused.
"I spent all that time trying to get through to you. Dean calls once and now it's 'Hello'?" Sam snapped, mimicking Cas again.
"Yes," Cas replied. Kat shut her laptop and went to the bathroom. Cas looked at her, confused, then looked at Dean.
"So, what, you like him better or something?" Sam asked, chuckling.
"Dean and I do share a more profound bond," Cas said. "I wasn't gonna mention it. Is Kat okay?"
"She tried calling you on the way here," Dean said, unable to keep a growl from his voice. "Tried Sara too. She was bawling barely a minute into the trance. Cas, I think what he's trying to say is that...he went to Hell for us. I mean, he really took one for the team. You remember that? And then he comes back without a clue, and you can't take five friggin' minutes to give him some answers? For that matter, where is Sara? I've got a bone to pick with her, too."
"If either of us had any answers, we might have responded," Cas said, his voice strong. "But I don't know, Sam. We have no idea who brought you back from the cage or why."
"So...it wasn't God?" Sam asked, sounding a little defeated.
"No one's even seen God. The whole thing remains mysterious," Cas said.
"What the hell does that mean?" Sam snipped.
"What part of 'I don't know' escapes your understanding?" Cas growled.
"Cas, look," Dean said, getting up to defuse the situation that would have been started based on the daggers Sam and Cas were staring at each other. "If Sam calls, you answer, okay? You wing your ass down here, and you tell him 'I don't know'. Just because we have some sort of a - a bond or whatever…"
"You think I came just because you called?" Cas snapped. "I came because of this...and I didn't come alone." The bathroom door opened, and Kat walked back out...but she was walking differently; more upright, shoulders back, head held high. She looked at Sam and Dean, and her gray eyes flashed blue.
"Hi boys," Sarakiel said, smiling. Dean and Sam stared at her.
XXX
Kat was staring in the mirror in the bathroom, fighting every urge to slam her fist into it. Dean makes one call and Cas comes running...and Sara is still ignoring her.
"Son of a bitch," she muttered. "What the hell is going on?"
"Good question," a voice said in her head. She almost screamed when she heard it.
"Sara!" she cried in her head. "Wait...where's your body?"
"Not sure. I can't manifest it anymore," came the answer. "I need your help."
"Of course," Kat said. "Yes." She closed her eyes and let the archangel fully into her body.
XXX
"Sara?" Dean asked. Sara nodded. "What happened to your body?"
"Not sure. I can't manifest with my own body anymore. Regardless, we're here," Sara replied. Dean and Sam looked at each other, then decided to leave the questions for later.
"So you and the Halo patrol aren't the cause of these killings?" Sam asked, moving over to the two of them.
"No," Castiel answered. "But they were committed with one of our weapons."
"There's only one thing that could have brought this into existence," Sara continued. "You call it the Staff of Moses." The boys' eyes went wide.
"The staff?" Sam asked. Cas picked up the jar of locusts.
"It was used in a dominance display against the Egyptians, as I recall," he said, looking at the jar.
"Yeah," Dean scoffed. "That one made the papers."
"But I thought the Staff turned, like, a river into blood, not one dude," Sam pointed out.
"The weapon isn't being used at full capacity," Sara said.
"I think we can rule Moses out as a suspect," Cas added.
"Okay," Dean said. "But what is Chuck Heston's disco stick doing down here, anyway? I mean, don't you guys put away your toys?"
"Before the apocalypse, Heaven may have been corrupt, but it was stable," Sara said. "The staff was safely contained. But it's been chaos up there since we stopped it. In that confusion, a number of powerful weapons were….stolen."
"Wait," Dean growled. "You're saying your nukes are loose?"
"Afraid so," Cas answered. "You've stumbled onto one of them. We must find the weapon that did this. We need your help."
"That's rich," Sam scoffed. Cas made a noise of disapproval and tossed the locusts at Sam.
"Sam, Dean, my 'people skills' are 'rusty'," he snapped, air quoting around words. "Pardon me, but Sara and I have spent the last 'year' as multidimensional wavelengths of celestial intent. But believe me, you do not want that weapon down here. Help us find it or more people will die." The Winchesters were silent for a minute, then Dean looked at both of them.
"All right," he said. "Okay. Well, if the angels didn't pull the trigger, then that brings us back to motive."
"What?" Cas asked.
"Back to the case," Sam agreed. "Right now, we got three dead cops. Only think linking them...is this." Dean handed him a newspaper clipping. "Father of slain suspect calls for investigation," he read aloud. Sara changed into a more official looking wardrobe, and they teleported to the victim's father's house, who was shocked to see them...unsurprisingly.
"What the...how did you get in here?" Birch shouted.
"Mr. Birch, settle down," Sam said, pulling out his badge. "Federal agents."
"But you can't just walk in here!" Birch shouted. Sara walked over to a table with clippings about the deaths of the three cops.
"Quite a collection you've got there, huh?" she said.
"What are you trying to - " Birch began.
"Look, we know the truth, all right?" Sam sneered. "Christ didn't have a gun on him when those cops shot him. They set him up."
"Yeah," Birch said, calming down. "They're all getting theirs."
"And who's giving it to them, Darryl?" Sam growled. When he didn't get an answer, Dean joined in.
"Darryl? Did you kill Toby Gray and the others?"
"Me?!" Birch cried. "I didn't kill anyone! Look at how they died!"
"You smote them with the staff of moses," Cas said, glowering at the man.
"The hell kind of Fed are you?" Birch spat, looking Cas up and down.
"We don't have time for this," Cas spat, getting in Darryl's face. "Where is it?" Suddenly, a boy ran in, brandishing what Cas and Sara immediately recognized as part of the staff.
"Leave my dad alone!" he shouted.
"Is that?" Cas asked, looking at it.
"Yes," Sara confirmed.
"Shouldn't it be bigger?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Sara confirmed again. "It's been sawed off."
"Leave him alone!" the boy shouted again. "It wasn't him!"
"Aaron, get out of here!" Birch shouted. Cas pressed two fingers to the man's forehead and he fell asleep on the sofa.
"What did you do to him?" Aaron cried.
"It's all right, he's just sleeping," Dean assured him. Aaron pointed the staff at Dean. Sara teleported next to Aaron and easily took the staff from his hands.
"Sara, take it easy!" Dean called. "Listen, we're not here to hurt you, okay? But we need to know...where did you get this thing?"
"Please don't kill my dad," Aaron said, sobbing. "It was me. I did it."
"Okay, nobody's killing anybody," Dean said softly. "What's your name?"
"Aaron," he said. "Aaron Birch."
"Okay, Aaron Birch," Dean said. "Where did you get this?"
"You won't believe me," Aaron said, almost sobbing.
"Try me," Dean insisted.
"It was an angel," Aaron said after a moment.
"An angel," Dean repeated.
"Those liars, they killed my brother, and nothing bad even happened to them. It's not fair. So I prayed to God every night he would punish them. God didn't answer. But he did," Aaron said.
"His name," Sara asked. "Did he give you a name?"
"No," Aaron replied. "He just said I could have justice, but I was gonna have to take it myself. He...he gave me the stick."
"He just gave it to you?" Dean asked. "Come on. He didn't just give it to you, did he, Aaron?"
"I bought it," Aaron admitted.
"You bought it?" Sam chuckled. "With what? What's your allowance?"
"What did the angel want for it," Dean added. "What did you give him for it?"
"My soul," Aaron said.
"You sold your soul to an angel?" Sam said.
"Can that even happen?" Dean asked Cas and Sara.
"It's never happened before," Sara said. "An angel's buying souls."
"That could explain why he cut the staff into pieces," Cas added.
"Why?" Sam asked.
"More pieces, more product," Cas reasoned.
"More 'product'?" Dean repeated. "Who is this guy?"
"We'll find him," Cas said. Sara walked over to the boy and put him to sleep in a similar way to his father.
"What did you do that for?" Dean asked, angrily.
"Portability," Sara said, picking him up. They teleported back to Sam's hotel room and she dumped Aaron on the bed.
"Do you two realize that we just kidnapped a kid?" Dean asked.
"If the angel we seek truly bought this boy's soul, when a claim is laid on a living soul, it leaves a mark. A brand," Cas explained.
"Like a shirt tag at camp?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Sara confirmed, looking at Cas as she rolled up her sleeve. "But I can read the mark and find the name of the angel that bought the soul."
"How?" Dean asked.
"Painfully for him," Sara admitted. "The reading will be excruciating." She went to put a hand on the kid's chest, but Dean jumped in and stopped her. "Dean," she said, looking at him, annoyed.
"He's a kid, Sara. A...Sam?" Dean said, looking at his brother. Sam was quiet for a moment, then looked at the angels.
"Any permanent damage?" he asked.
"What?" Dean cried, looking at Sam with disbelief.
"Physically, minimal," Cas said.
"Oh, well, yeah, then by all means, stick your arm right in there," Dean said sarcastically.
"Dean, if I get the name, I can work a ritual to track the angel down," Sara insisted.
"And I'm all for that," Dean replied. "But come on. There's got to be another way."
"There is no other way," Sara said.
"You're gonna torture a kid?" Dean said quietly, looking hurt. Sara looked at him and sighed.
"I can't care about that, Dean," she said, her voice low. "I don't have the luxury." With that, she pushed her arm into Arron's chest. Aaron started screaming as his chest lit up around where Sara's arm was. Dean went to pull her out, but Sam held him back. After a moment, she pulled back as Aaron fell back unconscious. "He'll rest now," she said.
"Did you get a name? What is it?" Sam asked. Sara looked at Cas. They shared a look for a second, and Cas' face changed from serious concern to surprise.
"I thought he died in the war," Cas said.
"What?" Sam asked again. "He was a friend or something?"
"A good friend," Cas sighed.
"Well, your frat buddy is now moonlighting as a crossroads demon," Dean snapped.
"Balthazar," Cas said. "I wonder…"
"So we can find him now, right?" Sam asked. Suddenly, an angel appeared out of nowhere.
"Balthazar," he grinned. "Thanks, Castiel. We'll make good use of the name." He drew an angel blade and attacked Castiel. "By the way, Raphael says hello." They tussled for a minute before they both ended up out the window, landing on Sam's car.
"CAS!" Sara shouted as they fell. When the three of them got to the window, the other angel was gone and Cas was lying there. A moment later, Cas came back up to the room.
"Alright, who was that?" Sam asked.
"A soldier of Raphael," Cas said. "He must have followed me when we answered your call."
"Raphael?" Sam repeated. "The archangel? I'm sorry, what's going on here?" Cas went to get a bowl from the kitchen as Sara looked at the boys.
"We haven't been idle while we've been gone," she began. "It's Civil War up there right now. Raphael has his angels that are loyal to him. Michael's angels are split up right now. Some follow him, others follow me. There are those who are just confused and taking this opportunity to be...like Cas. Trust me when I say that this is the last thing that any of us want. Raphael has always been a traditionalist. He's...well, he wants to finish the story the way it was written."
"You mean...the apocalypse?" Dean asked. "The one that we derailed?"
"Yes, that one," Cas said, pulling a flask of holy water out of Sam's bag. "Raphael wants to put it back on the rails."
"Why?" Dean asked again.
"I need myrrh," Cas said, looking around. Sara grabbed some from Kat's stash and handed it to him, along with chalk. Cas started drawing on the kitchen table as Sara turned back to the boys.
"So what about Kat?" Dean asked, changing the subject. "Why didn't you answer her when she called?"
"I wanted to," Sara replied. "I wanted to see her, and you. Tell you guys what was going on in Heaven. But Raphael made his move quick and I didn't have any time to relax or step away. This is the first time I've felt confident enough to leave command."
"And what about Kat now?" Sam asked. "Now that you need a vessel again, what's going to happen to her?"
"She's the one who said yes, Sam. Dean," she turned to the older brother. "You know I'll keep her safe. Nothing is going to happen to her on my watch."
"That's what you said when her soul got stolen," Sam quipped. Sara flipped him to the floor and knelt on his chest, eyes glowing blue.
"I've been on edge for the past year, Sam Winchester. With what just happened and what we just discovered, I am just in the mood to send you back to hell," she growled. Sam looked right back at her, no emotion on his face. Sara looked at him for a minute, then let him up.
"Dean, I need your blood," Cas said, grabbing Dean's hand and slicing his palm.
"Ahh!" Dean hissed. "Why don't you use your own."
"It wouldn't work," Cas replied. "I'm not human." Dean looked at Cas for a minute, but squeezed his hand over the bowl and let a few drops of blood drip in. Cas added the myrrh and holy water, and began to work an incantation in Enochian. They heard sirens start coming down the street.
"Uh, Cas," Sam said, looking out the window. "How long does this spell take?"
"Got him," Cas finally said. "Let's go."
"Woah, what about him?" Dean said, looking at Aaron.
"Don't you think the police will take him home?" Cas asked. Everyone shrugged and held on to Sara and Cas.
XXXX
They ended up outside a huge mansion.
"I was expecting more Dr. No, less Liberace," Dean commented. They walked up to and inside the mansion. There was art everywhere, and music coming from upstairs. Sara and Cas looked at each other, drew their blades, and teleported upstairs.
"Cas," a skinny blonde man with an English accent stood in front of them. "And Sarakiel. You're here."
"Balthazar," Cas said.
"It's good to see you two," Balthazar said. "He told me you were floating around."
"He?" Sara asked. Balthazar turned off the lights and music.
"I believe you two have flown together, Castiel. Oh you know, the old frog in the throat," he said. The body of the angel who attacked them lay on the floor. A frog jumped out of his mouth and let out a loud croak.
"Even I know that's a bad joke," Cas said.
"We grieved your death, Balthazar," Sara said, looking confused and angry.
"Yeah yeah, I'm sorry about that, you know," Balthazar said, brushing it off. "I wanted them to think, you know, so...they wouldn't come looking for me." The other two angels looked around.
"What...is all this?" Cas asked. "What are you doing?"
"Whatever I want," Balthazar declared. "This morning, I had a ménage à - what's French for 12?"
"You stole the Staff of Moses?" Sara asked.
"Sure, sure," Balthazar said. "I stole a lot of things."
"You were a great and honorable soldier," Cas said. "We fought together."
"Yes, too many times to count," Balthazar replied.
"We know you," Sara said, moving over to him. "You're not some common thief."
"Common? No," Balthazar laughed. "Thief? Eh."
"We need your help," Cas pressed him.
"I know," Balthazar said. "I've been hearing all about the two of you, and as far as I'm concerned, the three of us, nothing's changed. We're siblings. Of course I want to help you."
"Thank you," Sara said. "I need the weapons."
"Don't ask that," Balthazar said, his demeanor changing.
"Why take them?" Cas asked. "Why run away?"
"Because I could!" Balthazar shouted. Both other angels looked shocked. "What?" he asked, looking between them. "What? I mean...you're the one who made it possible," he continued, pointing at Cas. "The footsteps I'm following - they're yours. And you're supporting it," he cried, pointing at Sara. "What you two did, stopping the big plan, the prize fight? You two did more than rebel. You tore up the whole script and burned the pages for all of us. It's a new era," he laughed. "No rules, no destiny. Just utter and complete freedom."
"And this is what you do with it?" Sara asked quietly, looking around.
"Hey, screw it, right?" Balthazar said, grinning. "I mean, dad's not coming back. You might as well blow coke and jump on the bed. You two proved to me we could do anything, so I'm trying everything. What difference does it make?"
"Of course it makes a diff...it's civil war up there!" Cas cried.
"I know."
"If we can beat Raphael, we can end this!" Sara pleaded. "Just give me the weapons." Balthazar started laughing again.
"Do you know what's funny about you, Sarakiel? You actually believe you can stop the fighting. It will never stop," Balthazar replied, a note of darkness in his voice. "My advice, take you and your mate here, grab something valuable, and fake your deaths."
"You've gone insane," Cas said, shaking his head slightly. "Your little holiday is over. Raphael knows you're alive by now."
"Oh, Raphael can try me anytime," Balthazar replied. "I'm armed." When Sara and Cas didn't seem swayed, he sighed. "I'm sorry, you two. All else aside, I'm really, really happy to see you. Even though you still both have sticks up your asses." Sara opened her mouth to say something when they were interrupted by a thunder crash. They looked around and back to each other.
"Was that you?" Balthazar asked the other two. Sara and Cas shook their heads. "That's my cue then. Tell, uh, Raphael to bite me." With that, he flew off, disappearing. Sara and Cas looked at each other and walked out of the room, only to be greeted by a vanguard.
"You're making a mistake," Cas said, trying to reason with his attacker. "Please. There's another way. Brother, please. I don't want to hurt you." The angel attacked, but Cas threw his blade and exorcized the angel from the vessel. Sara had just put down her own attacker.
"Why won't any of you listen?" she cried to the rest of the gathered angels.
"They don't listen, Sarakiel, because their hearts are mine," a voice said behind Sara. She turned and saw Raphael throw Cas against a set of double doors, knocking them open.
"NO!" She cried, and tackled her brother. They fell and scuffled for a few seconds, wherein Raphael managed to gain control of the fight and landed several punches on Sara's face before kicking her down the stairs and teleporting down to give her another punch. Raphael then drew his own blade and grinned. "Somehow, I don't think you've got anyone to save you this time."
"Hey!" a voice from the side came. "Look at my junk!"
"No." was the only word that Sara heard Raphael say before he was turned into a pile of salt.
"Same thing happened to Lot's wife," Balthazar chuckled. "Iodize the poor sucker, and your kitchen is stocked for life." He laughed at his own joke and went over to help Sara up just as Cas came downstairs from fending off his own attackers.
"You came back," Sara said, coughing.
"Well, now Raphael will have to go shopping for a new vessel," Balthazar said as Cas ran over to Sara and embraced her. "Should give me a nice long head start on him. Until next time."
"Next time," Cas repeated.
"No time like the present," Dean said from behind Balthazar as he flicked a lighter and lit a circle of holy oil. The angel looked around and then to Dean, furious.
"Holy fire. You hairless ape!" he shouted. "Release me."
"First, you're taking your marker off of Aaron Birch's soul," Dean demanded.
"Am I?!" Balthazar fired back.
"Sam?" Dean called. Sam came from a corner, uncorking another bottle of holy oil.
"Unless you like your wings extra crispy, I'd think about it," Sam said, smirking. Balthazar looked to Sara and Cas.
"Castiel, I stood for you in Heaven," he pleaded. "Sarakiel, I was loyal to you. Are you gonna let -"
"I believe the hairless ape has the floor," Sara said, still leaning on Cas a little. Balthazar looked around for a moment, then laughed.
"Very well." He took a breath, touched clasped hands to his forehead, then exhaled. "The boy's debt is cleared. His soul is his own."
"Why you buying up human souls anyway?" Dean asked.
"In this economy?" Balthazar answered. "It's probably the only thing worth buying. Do you have any idea what souls are worth? What power they hold? Now, release me," he demanded.
"Suck it, ass clown," Dean spat. "Nobody said anything -" Sara raised her hand and lowered the flame. "Sara, what the hell?"
"Castiel's debt is cleared," she said, her voice echoing with residual power.
"Fair enough," Balthazar said, and with the sound of wings, he was gone.
"Cas, are you out of your mind?" Dean cried, looking up at Cas...who was gone. They caught the tail end of Sara's grace leaving Kat, who blinked a little and looked at Dean, shrugging. "Cas?!" he called. "Oh, friggin angels! Come on!"
XXXXX
They made it back to the Impala, and Sam and Dean had to rearrange the trunk where all the guns and knives were. Once they were done, they joined Kat, who was looking at the creek that they were parked next to.
"So, you okay?" Dean asked Sam.
"Me?" Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I'm great."
"Really?" Kat asked. "Because you've got us wondering."
"Us?" Sam asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Us meaning you and Dean or you and Sara?"
"All of the above," Kat replied. "When Sara was looking at that kid's soul?"
"I was right there," Sam said.
"Really? 'Cause I feel like I was the only one raising a card," Dean said.
"Right," Sam said, suddenly stuttering. "I mean...I was with you...but, I don't know...W-we needed the intel."
"Yeah, I know," Dean said. "But we tortured the kid to get it." Sam sighed, but didn't say anything. "I just didn't get the feeling that you...that you even cared."
"You're wrong," Sam insisted, but neither Dean nor Kat missed the stammer.
"Hey, man, I'm just trying to figure this out," Dean said, shaking his head. "Because something's different about you. I mean, that comment to Sara about Kat? You know something's different."
"Yeah," Sam gave in. "Yeah, I know."
"Really?" Kat asked, not believing him.
"Yeah," Sam insisted. "I mean, I've been hunting non-stop for the past year, kind of...kind of on the wild, you know? I suppose I'm a little rough around the edges."
"Yeah, I get that," Dean said. "I just don't think I'm getting the whole scoop. You went to Hell, Sam. And believe me, I know what that does to a guy."
"To you," Sam replied.
"What?"
"You know what it does to you," Sam repeated. "It tortured you. You know? I think it still does. But Dean, I'm okay."
"So you're saying," Dean stammered. "You're stronger than me?"
"No," Sam laughed. "Just saying we're different." Sam paused, slapped the roof of the Impala, and got in. Dean and Kat looked at each other. They both looked worried, but got into the car and got on the road.