Previously: The Apocalypse is nigh as more seals are being broken. Castiel finds out on a mission in the past that by obeying orders, he caused the tragedy the Winchesters went through and triggered even the Apocalypse. He starts wondering about the orders he receives, and goes so far as to confide his doubts to Dean who listens without judgment.

This chapter takes place in season 4 episodes 9 & 10.

oOo

Anna

The everlasting afternoon breeze of my favorite Paradise is making the kite swirl in the cloudless sky. The autistic man is controlling it with the same wonder he has displayed since the day he died, and that will never cease. The grass is still lush beneath my feet, the same laughter and distant chatter flow like a river's whisper. There's that same peaceful and joyful atmosphere. Nothing ever changes, here. Nothing except myself.

Today, I can hardly enjoy the peace and quiet of the place. I'm not alone under the warm sun rays. Slender and pale, Baradiel is standing there, staring at me unblinkingly. His vessel's face is set in that same melancholic expression frequently found on statues sculpted by Humans. Only the blazing glow of his true eyes is moving like lava. He is ready for action, just like me.

A rustle of wings lets us know of Samandriel's arrival. He promptly strides towards us, folding back his wings.

"Castiel. Baradiel. My Cherubs are checking on all their soul-mate couples. They will report to us any attempt from the demons."

I nod at the young Angel dressed in red and white. He seems nervous, judging by the unsteady way he looks up at me. Although shaded by his cap's visor, his eyes betray how worried he actually is.

"Thank you, Samandriel."

"Are you sure about this, Castiel? The unranked Cherubs' work has never been a target before."

"I know from a reliable source that demons are actively hunting for a couple of soul mates to break their bond and use their love to break the seal. We must not let that happen."

Samandriel lowers his head, his wings slumping. The last Angel created and the unranked Cherubs are not soldiers. They were not created for the battlefield and are not used to facing danger.

"Breaking such a pure bond is utter disgrace..." he says in a whisper.

A lock of dark chestnut hair slips out of Baradiel's bun as he spreads a wing. The vaporous end of his feathers brushes against Samandriel.

"Each of the seals symbolizes a sacred and divine element." His voice flows like warm honey. "To break even one seal would defile any living being to the last stage, would damn them in the most final way. Of all existing creatures, only demons are able to commit such sacrileges."

I can't help frowning.

"Demons and Dean Winchester," I rectify.

Dean was the first to break a seal, and I still believe he can be redeemed. After all, he had to break it since it was written, and he is working for Heaven now. For Destiny. Since the Apocalypse was written, the Winchester brothers are nothing but pawns like the rest of us, and their sacrifice will undoubtedly redeem every wrong they may have done. They will rest in peace in Heaven, just like Abel.

I try not to think about how lonely Abel's Paradise feels every time I go there.

Baradiel turns his head to arch an eyebrow at me.

"Lucifer made demons out of Humans, the only living species vile and ruthless enough to serve his dark agenda. Dean Winchester broke a seal and slaughtered thousands of innocent souls in Hell. The line between Humans and demons has always been ambiguous, Castiel, and your righteous man is no exception."

"Dean didn't know that these souls were innocent."

"Whether he was aware of this or not, in no way does it lessen the monstrosity of his actions or the pleasure he drew from them."

I can't think of anything to say, so I look up at the kite hovering in the sky like a lazy bird.

For the first seal to be broken, each of the souls tortured by the hand of the righteous man had to be innocent and pure. The demons had been preparing the Apocalypse for centuries, perhaps millennia, making pacts with naive or desperate Humans in order to hoard unsullied souls for this very purpose. I know from probing his memories and holding his soul in my hand that Dean ignores the gravity of his actions. He has no idea that he started the Apocalypse, and that the souls he ripped apart for ten years had not done anything wrong while they were alive. It is a burden on his conscience that I would like to spare him.

If I could, if it were not against my orders and in contradiction with free will, I would erase from his memory those years spent in Hell and all the pleasure he took in inflicting pain. The pleasure made his last ten years easier for him, but will be on his conscience until his last breath.

Baradiel is right. When I yanked him out of Alastair's claws, Dean had almost become just another demon. Evil had begun to corrode and poison his soul. Pleasure in cruelty is the first step that corrupts the soul forever.

The square of colorful canvas draws large circles and flutters in the breeze. It reminds me of distant memories of flying together with the Garrison, Anna as our leader, my eyes riveted on her wings and glowing figure. Waiting for her commands.

"Samandriel!"

With a silky rustle of feathers, an unranked Cherub appears in a mostly naked vessel, dressed in a bright red bathing suit – clothing protocol only applies to high-ranking Angels, and Cherubs have never received any instructions as to how to dress their vessels. Clearly in a panic, the Cherub throws himself at Samandriel and hugs him, burying his vessel's nose in his hierarchical superior's neck, whining loudly.

"Harry!" Samandriel briefly hugs him back. "What is the situation?"

"Harry?" Baradiel mouths, casting me a puzzled look.

The Cherub steps away from Samandriel and flings himself on Baradiel, throwing his muscular arms around him. Samandriel gives us an apologetic smile.

"His name is Hcnbr, but he likes to be called by the name of his vessel."

Harry finally lets go of Baradiel and turns to me with watery eyes and wobbly lower lip. I don't like this at all. The last time I met Cherubs, they... Oh no. I try hard not to move back or punch the Cherub when he wraps his firm arms around me tightly, almost lifting me off the ground and shoving his wet nose against my ear.

"It's awful!" he wails as he repeatedly rubs my back.

I press my lips together and stay stiff and stoic in his arms. His massive naked body squeezes against me in a mass of hard muscles. He keeps stroking my hair and rocking me from left to right, his beard tickling the skin of my neck.

"Brian and Susan were on their honeymoon after years of denying their forbidden love. I had worked so hard to bring them together... years of hard work... They're the perfect couple, my favorite! Their love is so beautiful, so powerful, so... you should have seen their wedding! So beautiful! I cried!"

"Harry," Samandriel says softly. "Can you please let go of Castiel and tell us what happened?"

The Cherub finally releases me with a long wet sniffle and turns to Samandriel, his wings shaking.

"Brian and Susan got on board a luxury cruise ship yesterday to sail around the world for their honeymoon, and I witnessed the demons possessing the entire crew, seizing my beloved couple and starting incantations..."

"It does look like what we're looking for," I cut in a neutral voice.

Harry nods frantically. Samandriel's face hardens.

"Harry, bring us to the ship immediately," orders the young Angel. "Maybe we can still save Brian and Susan."

The Cherub wrings his hands and nods again.

"Yes, please save them! Susan is pregnant but hasn't told Brian yet and I was really looking forward to it!"

With these words, Harry spreads his wings - which are not as impressive as those of Angels or Archangels - and hurriedly flies away.

We all land in the middle of a storm.

Without our wings to keep our balance, we most likely would have fallen overboard. Rocked by raging waves, the cruise ship looks abandoned. The rain is pounding on the entire surface of the ship but it doesn't reach our vessels, shielded by our energy aura. It isn't night time in this hemisphere yet, but it's pitch black all around us, with only a few ominous lightning bolts to chase the darkness away. I take a brief glance at the sky and see that it is filled with black clouds moving into a swirling tornado whose eye is positioned just above the boat. Definitely the work of demons.

"They're all inside!" Harry yells at us.

The stormy sea is swaying the boat around, massive waves crashing against the shell and washing down on the deck. Our vessels are unaffected by heat or cold, just sending us the information we need.

The Cherub rushes to a door and frantically turns the metal doorknob, to no avail, he barely manages to partially bend the metal as he pulls. He was not created for that. He's not a soldier. He may be stronger than a Human, but his strength is still insignificant compared to ours.

I push him out of the way and brush the door with my fingertips, blasting it off its hinges and clearing the path for us. Inside, the air is foul and heavy with sulfur and blood, getting more repulsive with every step we take. With Baradiel, Samandriel and Harry on my heels, I blast open the doors one by one with a mere wave of my hand without slowing down my pace for a second. My coat opens wide behind me and our footsteps echo through the corridors.

Focused on our mission, we walk in long strides towards a muffled sound deep down, unhinged by the raging storm making the boat sway even harder.

The last door explodes in front of my outstretched hand, and we burst into a sumptuous reception room where all tables and chairs have been piled up and stacked in a corner. There is a blood circle drawn on the floor with unfamiliar markings and sigils. It's all glowing, and in the middle of it a couple of bleeding Humans are fiercely and rabidly fighting with their bare hands... against each other. They are surrounded by a loud crowd stepping on corpses and laughing hysterically. They all turn their heads, focusing on us eyes that are completely filled with black. Hundreds of viscous, demonic faces.

"Samandriel, Harry," I speak in a commanding voice. "Break the sigils and secure the couple. Baradiel, take the ones on the left."

I can feel the skin of my forearm splitting open, and the blade sliding out of a large vein to fall into my hand. My wings spread out as I dash to the right. When I slap my hand on a demon's forehead to smite him, while killing off another one by thrusting my blade into his stomach, a bullet violently rams its way through my skull. Jimmy's soul is screaming inside of me and I quickly wrap my Grace around it tighter so he won't feel all of the pain. Blood is streaming down into my right eye and along my face, then down the collar of my shirt. I look up, dropping the two empty corpses, and see a demon in an evening gown standing on a golden balustrade. There is an evil grin twisting her hideous face and she's cackling, armed with a submachine gun. She opens fire again and four more bullets go through my vessel, piercing heart, lungs and stomach. I frown as warm blood fills my mouth and drips from my chin.

Demons are all around me, holding knives, and more bullets pierce my flesh as I kill them one by one, methodically. As I tackle one of them on the ground littered with corpses, Samandriel's voice echoes in my head.

Castiel! We secured the couple!

Good. Now I don't need to be so careful anymore.

Cover their eyes! I reply, crouching in a pool of blood and surrounded by the enemy.

I immediately raise my bloodied hand in the air, blasting out a wave of pure energy from deep within my Grace. Flooded with light, the room trembles and instantly stops swaying, and it gets pitch black. I stand up and let my blade return to my Grace, scanning the battlefield with a critical eye.

Baradiel snaps his fingers, and the power comes back on, bringing back the artificial light into the boat. Standing there with his eyes wide open, Samandriel is holding Brian in his arms and covering his eyes. Next to him, Harry is fiercely clinging to Susan. The unfortunate Human's head is tucked into the Cherub's pectoral muscles, and his wings are wrapped around her possessively.

In a rustle of feathers, Baradiel appears next to me with his hands in his pockets.

"The seal is safe. This is a victory."

I look down at the hundreds of lifeless bodies littering the ground, with their empty and fuming eye sockets. The blood filling my eye stains my vision red. Apart from the couple of soulmates, no Human on the boat survived our attack.

The seal may have been saved, but the loss of so many innocents in the process makes the victory taste bitter. I walk over to the soulmates and come to a halt in front of them. Samandriel and Harry release them, and they fall to their knees at my feet, shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. Their faces are bruised, veins ruptured under the skin adding purplish colors. They are covered with sticky blood and open wounds.

I reach out to them and they flinch, clinging to each other in terror. Just like Adam and Eve did in the past, when the Garden of Eden was ripped off from Earth. I brush two fingers against their foreheads and all physical damage disappears from their bodies and from mine, and all our clothes are clean and undamaged again.

"Do you wish to forget?"

The two Humans look up at me with wide, tearful eyes haunted by what they endured. I don't know why I'm offering. I've never done it before. Not for Lust's victims, not for any Human. Not without a specific order.

For the very first time in my existence, I am giving a choice that I myself have never been given. Even if it's just an illusion, free will is a beautiful idea of my Father that I wish to honor. Even if only once. I want to do for these two what I can't do for Dean.

"Yes..." Susan chokes, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Yes, please..."

"Thank you. Thank you so much, god bless you!" Brian says, sobbing.

I can feel Baradiel and Samandriel watching me as I touch their foreheads again, erasing their horrific memories. They collapse to the ground, plunged into a dreamless sleep. I look up at my brothers. Samandriel is smiling at me with gratitude.

"Thank you, Castiel, Baradiel. I never realized how hard your work as soldiers is."

Meanwhile, Harry is kneeling next to the sleeping couple and stroking their hair tenderly.

I turn my head to Baradiel who is waiting for my orders, standing as still as a statue. I signal him to follow me by spreading my wings. The next moment, we're back on the boat's deck. The dark ocean extends all the way to the skyline where the sun has already sunk down, but the last golden glimmers cast a shading of soft pinks and greens melting into a deep blue sprinkled with stars. A salty breeze ruffles my hair and makes my coat flap. Jimmy Novak's soul is gently fluttering inside me, so fragile and yet so powerful.

"For a seal of this value, the demons present were surprisingly low in number and quite weak."

Baradiel has a point, there's something off. We won this battle far too easily. This doesn't bode well.

"Probably a diversion," I say in a low voice. "We must have missed something much bigger. Whatever it is, the demons don't want us to interfere."

"Perhaps another seal?"

"Or it could have something to do with that weapon they use to kill us..."

Baradiel doesn't seem convinced by my theory and remains silent for a while before speaking again.

"Why did you give them a choice?"

I glance at Baradiel, then go back to gazing at the skyline like him. No hint of judgment or accusation in his words. Only confusion and curiosity.

"Because I could."

"I don't understand."

I remain silent. I'm not quite sure to understand either. I can't say whether I showed compassion or egoism. Relieving their suffering and earning their gratitude, if only for a second, has taken some of the burden off my shoulders. Never before have I been thanked by the creations of Father whom I have been watching and protecting for more than forty million years.

Did I do it out of vanity?

Finally, I pull myself out of my thoughts. I have no time to analyze the reasons for my actions.

"Baradiel, destroy the boat in a way that makes it look like it sunk, and drop the soulmates on a shore close to human civilization."

And with these words, I hastily fly away.

I haven't had a chance to check on Dean Winchester for a few days. I need to make sure he is still alive and unharmed.

oOo

I appear with a silent flap of my wings in a hotel room, just in time to hear a muffled cry of pain - Dean's voice - that immediately sets all my senses on alert. The air smells like blood and alcohol, but there are no enemies in sight.

I stop my blade from slipping out of my forearm. Judging by the Winchester brothers' physical state, whatever danger they faced, I'm too late. The righteous man's shirt is stained with blood and he's walking unsteadily to the mirror. Obviously, they recently fought and were injured. Which is standard for hunters, and even more so for the Winchesters. By the look of it, it doesn't seem to require my intervention. In case of amputation, I would have had to fix the problem, because the vessels assigned to the Archangels are to remain undamaged. So I stay concealed in the ephemeral parallel reality Humans can't perceive, wondering what kind of creature they've been confronted with.

"You sure about Ruby? 'Cause I think it's just as likely she used us to find radio girl and then brought that demon in to kill us."

I frown and take a closer look at Dean.

Ruby. The demon Sam Winchester used to frequent goes by this name, the one we defended him to see... Is that why the demons tried to lure us away with the soulmates seal? Were they trying to kill the Winchesters? Or is there something else?

I don't like this. And what Sam says next hits me like a lightning bolt.

"No, she took Anna to keep her safe."

Anna.

Is that...? No. It can't be.

I knew it was likely to happen at some point. Born Human, she's been walking the earth without being closely watched and protected like Camael had been. It was only a matter of time before demons or Angels would find her - it would have been surprising if she actually managed to escape us for her entire mortal lifetime.

If demons get their hands on her, they will learn about our plans, our weaknesses, and every secret to which her rank - mine now - gave her access. That would be a disaster. And particularly painful for her. An eternity of agony in Hell.

Now there is my chance to fix my first failure. To restore the Garrison's reputation. To prove my worth as a General.

"Yeah. Well, why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?" Dean asks.

First, I need to be sure it is her. If my theory is correct, then... Then I will have to act quickly.

"Because that demon is probably watching us right now, waiting to follow us right back to Anna again. That's why he let us go."

There's no demon watching you, Sam. I am.

I spread my wings and fly away in a hurry, Dean's answer to his brother fading into silence. The hotel room and its organic scents are replaced by an endless, white corridor, with white doors as far as the eye can see. Angels in suits are walking back and forth, files in hand, not paying any attention to me.

I storm into Zachariah's office without knocking and come face to face with Lavavoth, my hierarchical superior's personal secretary. She looks up from a file she was working on and lifts an eyebrow. For all her composure, her puffed up feathers on her wings give away her surprise.

"Castiel?" she says flatly. "How may I help you?"

"I need to talk to Zachariah."

Lavavoth snaps her file shut and pushes her glasses up over her nose, squinting.

"He's been in a meeting for the past two days. What do you want from him?"

"New orders to deal with an unexpected situation."

"Orders are no longer directly communicated, Castiel. You have to wait for the Revelations update like everyone else."

Now she's starting to get on my nerves. I take a couple of angry strides to the personal assistant, who immediately backs off and lets out a squeak. Her file drops to the ground, scattering sheets of paper at our feet. Stuck in her retreat by the wall, she unfurls her wings to flee, but I grab her by the collar to make sure she stays put. From this close up, her true face is but a shapeless mist of light smothered by my aura, and I can see her vessel's eyelids fluttering like a hunted animal's.

"Where is he? Which meeting room?"

"You CANNOT interrupt a higher Council's confidential meeting!" she yelps. "It's against the rules!"

"This is an urgent matter. I insist," I hiss, pressing my forehead against hers.

Her square, black-rimmed glasses are sliding down to the tip of her nose and she is frantically flapping her wings, to no avail. She's firmly pinned against the wall and I'm not letting her go.

"Titus' Paradise! In the Coliseum!" she finally gasps in a high-pitched voice.

Titus? His soul's admission to Heaven had been controversial, and I was opposed to it. And to this day, I still don't understand why the hierarchy refused to send him to Hell - I've never quite understood the logic behind their verdict - it's often unfair to me. But why would the Council hold a meeting there?

I guess my confusion is obvious, as she glares at me stiffly when I loosen my grip on her collar.

"Since the word spread that you've been using Human Paradises for your meetings with the Garrison, it's become the new trend here. Aside from a few Angels sticking to the rules, no one uses meeting rooms anymore. They say it's old-fashioned now. Proud of yourself, I bet?"

Lavavoth lifts up her pointed chin, looking judgmental.

I don't care about any of this. I let her go and snap my wings open, desperate to report the situation to Zachariah.

"No, Castiel! Don't you dare! You need to wait until they're done, it should only take about twenty more hours!"

As I take off in a strong wingbeat, I feel her arms wrapping around me, following me in my flight. Lavavoth is clinging to me, throwing me off course, and together we land into the Coliseum, crashing hard into the ground under a bright blue sky. In a tangle of limbs - her foot wearing a stiletto heel strikes me right in the jaw - we are welcomed by phantoms of applause that can always be heard in this Paradise. I shove the personal assistant away and manage to stand up on the blood-stained sandy ground, surrounded by shadows of gladiators and ethereal lions. Lavavoth scrambles to her feet and glowers at me before she turns to the terraces made of stone. Her disheveled brown hair falls out of her loose bun, and her suit is all covered with sand.

"I'm so sorry, Zachariah! I tried to stop him but he wouldn't hear it!"

I follow her gaze. A portion of the terraces is occupied by about fifty Angels, including Zachariah who's staring at me with a displeased look on his face.

"Well well, Castiel. You sure know how to make a dramatic entrance! I'm not sure whether to applaud or send you off for rehab."

The other Council Angels chuckle quietly. I dust off my coat and step forward resolutely. I already lost too much time with Lavavoth. Demons are likely to get their hands on Anna before we do.

Better get straight to the point.

"I know for a fact that demons are out there searching for Anna. And that she is able to intercept our communication channels."

Zachariah tilts his head and spreads his wings, reappearing right in front of me.

"Let's go talk somewhere else, shall we?" He puts one hand on my shoulder, the other one on his personal assistant's, and shouts out loud to the Council. "Just carry on without me, I'll be right back!"

The Coliseum vanishes instantly, to be replaced by the cold silence of Zachariah's office. He sits down, crossing his ankles on his desk. Lavavoth rushes to her knees to pick up the scattered file, muttering curses at me.

"Anna's case has long been closed, Castiel. Reopening it would require the whole procedure to be redone, with the authorization of the entire administration. That's at least six months of tedious paperwork. Surely you're aware of that?"

"I am aware," I say through gritted teeth.

"And what guarantee do I have that the Garrison will actually manage to take her down this time? You failed the first two times!"

Zachariah raises a mocking eyebrow, and his personal assistant steps to his side, standing stiff and smug, with her hair neatly combed again. She chuckles, earning an approving look from her superior.

"Killing her is not necessary. What really matters is to stop the enemy from finding her. I would suggest sending her to rehabilitation instead."

"Rehabilitation?"

He lets out a high-pitched chuckle as he clasps his hands on his stomach, and Lavavoth seems to mimic his every facial expression like a mirror.

"You should know, my dear Castiel, that when rehabilitation has failed once, a second one has almost no chance of being successful."

"But Anna is - was - a good element. Demons have a weapon to kill us and now they want to take her! Our number is not unlimited and has not been increased since the Love Division was created. Wouldn't it be wiser to spare and recycle Angels as much as possible?"

Zachariah removes his feet from the desk to lean forward on his elbows.

"Do you remember what I said to you when you took the position, Castiel? I see a lot of potential in you, lad. I believe you'll climb high up the chain of command, but only if you learn not to think. I'm going to let this one slide and assume that you've been around primates too much lately."

I clench my fists and stifle the anger growing inside of me. I'm wasting precious time that I could have used to do something useful, like tracking down Anna and briefing the Garrison.

"What are the orders?" I finally say flatly.

"Oh, because of course you want an answer right now. Unbelievable! Just yesterday, a whole pack of first-class Cherubs barged into my office for an issue completely out of my jurisdiction!"

"Time is running out, Zachariah."

He throws his arms up in defeat while Lavavoth clicks her tongue.

"Alright, alright! I will reopen the file. But as you know, orders are orders, even two decades overdue. Anna is still facing the death sentence. Take Uriel with you and kill her properly this time. No mistakes. I won't be able to cover up your screw-ups to the bosses forever!"

oOo

Virgil and Rzionr Nrzfm snap their mouth shut and rise to their feet when I enter the torture room. They share a meaningful glance, then silently stare at me with their back straight. Obviously, I interrupted something.

"Castiel." That's Uriel's deep and warm voice. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your coming?"

He is bending over his work with his wings folded behind his back, I can see his elbow moving, while his victim, tied to a chair, starts screaming. Not bothering to turn to face me, he keeps slicing into the demon's flesh and pouring holy water over the open wounds.

"Stop with the torture, Uriel. I have work for you. For the entire Garrison."

My brother's arm pauses, and there is a quiet moment before he turns around. His three purple eyes floating over his human face stare at me, unreadable.

"It is a high priority mission," I say in the silence that not even the tortured demon dares to break. "The seals protection comes second until we have accomplished it."

Uriel frowns and places his bloodied scalpel on the tray with a tinkling.

"A more important mission than the coming Apocalypse?"

I nod sternly, then close my eyes to send out a call to my entire Garrison.

The demons are searching for the dissident Anna. Leave your station and find her before they do. She must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Uriel opens his eyes wide and steps closer, unfurling his wings with heinous eagerness.

"This is precisely what the demon was confessing," he growls.

"It was a bit vague," says Rzionr Nrzfm in his childish and rather nasal voice, "but he did mention a female Human who has access to all of our plans and secrets."

Virgil nods.

"If Anael's Grace echo kept her rank and connections, they will get sensitive information from her."

"Exactly," I say. "That's why we need to find her before they do. Dismissed!"

Rzionr Nrzfm and Virgil immediately fly away, while Uriel squints angrily, walking back to the demon to stab him in the heart with his blade. With a muffled grunt, the body flickers and collapses on the chair, lifeless.

"Except you, Uriel. Zachariah wants us to work together."

My brother's wings tighten as his blade returns to his Grace. He lets out a bitter laugh and shakes his head.

"Oh, I sure know why he wants you and I to have some alone time..."

"What do you mean?"

Uriel turns to face me, hands deep in his pockets, weariness shadowing his eyes.

"Nothing. Where do we start?"

"With the Winchesters. They seem to be involved. Tricked by demons into finding Anna."

"No wonder. Your two little hairless monkeys like to stick their noses into the wrong places."

Well, Uriel has a point here. Still, I don't like the way he talks about the Humans under my care, but there's not time to waste chastising him.

"Let's go."

oOo

"Keep your energy down, Uriel!" I hiss as we appear at the forest's edge, a few hundred meters from the cabin where I located the Winchester brothers.

The ground is trembling, and the cabin lights are flickering. He's going to rip out the trees from the ground and fry the electricity lines for miles around.

"I can't help it," he growls, his human eyes glowing with his Grace's blazing light. "If Anna is in there, it's more than tempting to wipe out the entire state to get rid of her at last."

I cast him a warning glance, and he reluctantly unclenches his fists, his eyes fading back to their natural color. He still keeps glaring at the cabin in the distance.

"What are we waiting for? For her to flee again?" he snarls.

He holds out his open hand and I see the door slamming open. I grab his shoulder with a disapproving frown.

"I'm the General, Uriel. I am supposed to go in first."

And with these words, I flap my wings and appear close to the cabin, apprehension constricting my Grace. I walk in through the open door, with Uriel following my steps.

The Winchester brothers are standing there, facing us and armed. Dean's eyes are focused on me, but I quickly shift my gaze to Sam and his shifting features and then to the hideous, viscous, rotten face of the demon at their side.

I can feel another presence. A faint one. One that I wouldn't have noticed if all my senses weren't alert. A dim presence, void of soul and grace, radiating something distant, reminiscent of the past. The barely noticeable echo of a celestial force that I would recognize from any other.

Anna is here. I'm sure of it now.

My wings are shuddering behind my back, and I quickly pull myself together. My old memories and my past attachment to my sister and superior should not interfere with my mission. I must eliminate her without hesitation, as ordered.

"Please tell me you're here to help. We've been having demon issues all day."

"Well, I can see that," Uriel says, glaring at the demon. "You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?"

I should say something before Uriel gets carried away.

"We're here for Anna."

Dean gives me a suspicious look. I haven't taken this parameter into account. It is possible that the appearances could give the righteous man a negative image of us. He doesn't know Anna or her crime or our common past.

"Here for her like... here for her?"

"Stop talking!" Uriel spits with growing impatience.

Uriel... I say directly through our Graces, as a warning.

Then, he continues more calmly.

"Give her to us."

The only answer he gets is a hesitant silence, until Sam Winchester finally speaks.

"Are you gonna help her?"

Anna already received help. Back when Adam and Eve were alive. As Zachariah told me, the hierarchy won't give her a second chance. Since rehabilitation is out of the question, it would be better to grant her a clean death by our hands rather than let her suffer whatever fate the demons may have in store for her.

"No," I say flatly. "She has to die."

"You want Anna? Why?"

How can I explain them? Killing Anna won't bring me any satisfaction, no matter how much I resent her. She abandoned us. She abandoned me, at the worst possible time, leaving me to take charge of the Garrison, the responsibility for the upcoming Apocalypse, and the relentless agony of my doubts. She knew what was coming. She had to know. She ran away, and I have been paying the cost of her cowardice and selfishness for more than two decades.

How to explain to mortals whose life expectancy hardly exceeds a few decades, what forty-two million years of trust and brotherhood destroyed by the worst kind of betrayal means?

Before I can think of an explanation that Humans might understand, Uriel steps forward, losing his nerve.

"Out of the way."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dean steps in. "Okay, I know she's wiretapping your angel chats or whatever, but it's no reason to gank her."

"Don't worry." Uriel smirks. "I'll kill her gently."

Anger flashes across Dean's face.

"You're some heartless sons of bitches, you know that?"

Heartless? Well, Angels in their true shape have no use for a heart. Our Grace doesn't need one to flow around.

"As a matter of fact, we are," I say flatly. "And?"

We're wasting time here. It would be wiser to just get on with the mission regardless of what the righteous man may think of us. I will have the opportunity to explain to him later why we did this, when it's just the two of us, without Uriel to make the situation even worse.

"And? Anna's an innocent girl!"

Sam seems outraged, as though he can't believe what we said, but I can't let him say that. Anna caused too much harm to be defended.

"She is far from innocent," I say.

She is, in fact, on the same level as Lucifer and Azazel. An Angel who has openly disobeyed.

The Winchester brothers share a look.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means she's worse than this abomination you've been screwing," Uriel snarls, gesturing at the demon. "Now give us the girl."

These last uttered words, filled with anger, send a thrill through my Grace, and from the corner of my eye I can see Uriel snapping his wings open threateningly, even though mortals can't see them at all.

The Winchester brothers share yet another look, and I avert my eyes. I know Dean's soul. I know he will oppose us. And when he does, I won't hesitate to push him off or knock him unconscious. I might even request a dispensation from the hierarchy to wipe this unpleasant incident from his memory.

"Sorry," says Dean as I suspected. "Get yourself another one. Try JDate."

I keep staring at the ground silently, and let Uriel handle the situation.

"Who's gonna stop us? You two? Or this demon whore?"

He grabs the demon - Ruby - with a strong grip and tosses her against the window before pinning her against the wall, clearly intent on smiting her on the spot. I have no objection to that. Killing a demon doesn't require authorization from me or the hierarchy, and this demon has a bad influence on Sam anyway.

Leaving my brother to fight Dean - he is perfectly aware that he is not allowed to kill him or cause him permanent damage - I walk to the door from which Anna's faint presence is radiating.

Let's just get it over with.

Sam is standing in my way, with fear on his half-human half-demon face.

"Cas, stop… please."

I reach out with two fingers and press them against his forehead, knocking him into a deep slumber. Eyes locked on the door, I grab the handle, and...

A strain on my Grace. I can feel it thickening and congealing in my vessel, as my wings spread and become rigid in my back. A familiar sensation reminiscent of Azazel's drawling voice, of Camael's golden eyes so full of rage...

No...!

I struggle against the force stiffening and igniting my Grace. Sounds grow muffled. Everything becomes blurred.

I feel myself being violently hurled away, and all goes black.

oOo

I sharply open my eyes, my vision filling up with vegetation and sunshine. I can hear birds chirping and sun rays bathing my skin with warmth. Except for the birds, there is nothing but silence, the familiar humming of my siblings' voices missing. Disoriented, I let my lungs fill up with air as I gaze up at the clear blue sky. Stiff and congealed in my veins, my Grace is weighing me down and hindering my senses.

"Fuck! This is all because of your stupid monkeys, Castiel!"

I turn to face Uriel who's angrily kicking a rock from the path snaking away into the trees. Far in the distance, there's a city. We are surrounded by scents of grass and sunbathed earth.

"What is clear now is that Anna remembers everything," I state drearily. The dry grass rustles under my feet as I walk to my brother. Sighing out of frustration, he is leaning against a road sign. I point at the sign that reads Кандалакша in capital letters. "And we know where we are."

Uriel snorts.

"Russia. Great! What's the point of knowing where we are? By the time we get back, Anna will be long gone, or she will have already revealed all of Heaven's secrets to demons."

His ethereal wings are dangling down from his body, as limp and useless as mine. Uriel knows the effects of this seal like I do, he knows that there is no point in trying to fly or communicate with Heaven. All we can do is wait for our Graces to become fluid again.

I lean my back against the other pillar, while Uriel shoves his hands in his pockets. He stares at the landscape with a sullen look to conceal his frustration.

"We should have left your Human to rot in Hell, if you ask me," he growls angrily. "He keeps getting in our way when we're on mission. If it were up to me, I would drive his head into the ground to teach him to show respect in the presence of superior beings."

I throw him a side glance, annoyed by how relentlessly Uriel has been criticizing the righteous man ever since we came back from Hell.

"Don't talk about Dean like that. He is the one destined to defeat Lucifer and save the Creation."

"So much for a savior!" Uriel says with a sneer. "An arrogant monkey consorting with demons and fallen Angels, and whose brother is an abomination! He's no better than a demon!"

"Be quiet, Uriel!" I snap back. "I forbid you to talk about the righteous man that way!"

My brother slowly blinks and looks at me wide-eyed, scanning me from head to toe. Then he narrows his eyes suspiciously.

"Why are you defending him, Castiel?"

"He's under my protection. I am his Guardian."

"No... There's more…" He steps away from the pillar and walks towards me, staring at me closely. I hold his gaze unblinkingly. "You like him," he says in an accusatory tone.

I silently clench my fists. Is my fondness for Dean so obvious?

I felt compassion and curiosity for the righteous man from the moment I raised him from perdition. But my interest for him grew stronger every day, until I entrusted him with my most shameful secret - those doubts that have been consuming me for thousands of years and that I had never dared to voice. For all the millions of years that we spent side by side, never before had I developed such a close bond of trust with Uriel, nor with any of my brothers.

It might be because Dean is Human and therefore could listen to me without judging what Angels see as a disgusting crime. Or it might be the weight on his shoulders that reminds me of my own.

Uriel seems to take my silence for a yes, and he puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't ever forget," he says earnestly, "that the last time one of our brothers was stupid enough to put a human being above what truly matters, he died because of it."

Camael's mention makes me avert my gaze. A distant echo of his last prayer to me still rings in my head, clear as a bell.

I would do it again without hesitation if I had to. I don't regret any of my actions.

My brother's grip tightens on my shoulder, forcing me to look him in the eye. I can't help but blink in disbelief when I see supplication in his gaze.

"Don't lose sight of what truly matters. Heaven. The Garrison. Us. Our family. And remember that Humans are inherently bad, destructive, the very origin of demons."

I hold his gaze while his warm hand squeezes my shoulder.

"No, Uriel. You're wrong."

He snatches his hand back as if it had been burned, his face shut again behind a mask of cold anger. Then he turns his heels and steps away, hands deep in his pockets, like he does every time he is displeased.

We remain silent until our Graces finally become fluid and radiant with power again.

oOo

In the next chapter

"What's so funny?"

"Your monkey banged Anna!"

"What?"

"Oh, this is perfect. While you were rotting in here for standing up for him, your little pet was screwing our sister. Seems like betraying Heaven and the Garrison wasn't enough for Anna, she simply couldn't help fornicating with monkeys too!"