The revelation came as a result of a case in Idaho where a man who lived on a farm outside a small town exploded, leaving nothing but his own bits scattered all over the place.

Castiel had come with them just in case it was another Rit Zien on the loose. People didn't know much about the man; Trevor Reyes , he was a recluse who didn't speak or interact much with others. The cops had mentioned the barn, which was locked.

And after Castiel mentioned that the barn was warded… of course Sam and Dean came back at night to snoop around.

Yet, no one expected what was inside that barn, it was like some sort of horrific museum. Of monsters. There were lots of weird things, disturbing things in glass cases and up for display like the most bizarre museum ever.

Vampire skulls, werewolf skeletons, witches' hair, rougarou organs in jars, demons' blood in vials, shapeshifter skin. There were parts of basically any creature they had ever hunted. Claws. Fangs. Skulls. Organs in jars. There were even several dissected skinwalkers. Each creature had its own display.

"I'm gonna throw up." Dean said, pressing the back of his hand against his mouth as he caught sight of a supposed hellhound fetus in a jar. What the hell was this place?

"Cas?" Sam's voice makes Dean turn to look at him before following his gaze. Cas stands frozen at the back of the barn, gaze fixated on something behind the shelf with tons of jars filled with organs and even more fetuses of things Dean really doesn't want to read the label of but is sure caught djinn on one.

And alright, Sam and him hunted things, but this was just fucked up. This had been someone who had thrown out of the window any moral code in existence. Seeing nothing but collectible items, not even a living being.

"Cas?" Dean calls this time, but the angel doesn't so much as react, prompting them both to approach him, walking up to him to see what's got his attention. Just to also freeze on the spot.

Because there was also a display of angels. But unlike the others, it was smaller. Two vials of grace stood on a glass case alongside several vials of blood and a jar with blue feathers. Two angel blades hung on the wall.

And on top of it all, the one thing that made their blood curl.

Mounted on the wall, locked in a glass case, were two enormous wings. Feathers a deep, vibrant green with golden streaks that shimmered beneath the dim light like fireflies. Thin, glowing bluish co-webs spreading like vines throughout the bones. Same lines that the brothers knew each feather would have if looked closer. Angel feathers. Angel-

"Cas, are those…?" Sam doesn't dare to finish the sentence. Because those are angel wings . Honest to god angel wings . And God… who the hell had been this guy? Who would dare to do something so blasphemous? It felt wrong in all kinds of ways. Sam didn't even know angels could make their wings corporeal.

Castiel doesn't answer. But he does move, and neither of them speaks a word as he grabs the vials of grace, pocketing them, same as with the angel blades. He then reaches up to the case holding the wings, he snaps the locks and opens the case. Reaching up to touch each wing at the base. His hands glow, and the co-web of grace completely cracks, and right before their eyes, the wings turn into glimmering ashes.

He then opens the jar, just sticking his hand inside, and much like the wings, the feathers turn to ashes.

"I will wait outside." He states flatly before walking out of the barn, giving them no time at all to say anything.

Sam and Dean decide to set the barn on fire, scavenging might have been a good idea, to stock up on ingredients, but not after seeing Cas' reaction. It just felt wrong. Plus, all these things… it made them sick to even entertain the idea of keeping something, not knowing how it was gotten.

Once out, the brothers were quick to get to the car where Cas was at, sitting in the back with an indecipherable look. Face strangely emotionless.

The drive back to the bunker was deadly quiet and uncomfortable.

"Cas, are you okay?" Sam asks after a long silence.

"I'm fine." The angel answers flatly, still staring out of the window.

Sam shares a look with Dean. Something wasn't right here, I mean, sure, that back there had been… unsettling, and neither of them could imagine how unsettling it might have been for Cas. But something about this reaction…

Cas has never reacted this strongly to angels dying, yes, he felt bad, and yes, he sometimes did get upset. But this was beyond any of his past reactions. It couldn't be the angel feathers either, he's seen them before at the bunker and he hadn't so much as blinked.

Had it been the wings? Those had been quite bloodcurdling, neither of them ever even thought angels could make them visible. And the brothers guessed that seeing those hanging up there might have been the equivalent of seeing someone hanging up a human arm on their wall like some sort of decoration.

Yet, somehow, Sam didn't think that was all.

The ride was quiet, and for once, Dean didn't dare to put music on. Something was so off here. But what? Dean was a patient man, he was, sometimes.

But he was also one of the most impatient people on Earth, so of course he reached a breaking point, killing the engine in the middle of nowhere and turning on his seat to look at the sulking angel.

"Alright, what is it? And don't give me that 'I'm fine' crap." Dean demands to know, Sam glares at him.

Castiel doesn't answer, he can't. Because it feels like if he does, he might just break apart. He had always known she was dead. He had felt it when it happened, but he never thought… there's an all consuming pain clinging to his chest. Burning like nothing he's ever felt before. A knot that grows and grows until it feels like he might just die. It feels like that empty hole that's always been there since her death had been torn back open.

"Cas? You don't need to say anything if you don't want to." Sam said, giving Dean a look when this one opened his mouth, seemingly ready to protest. "But know that we are here for you if you want to talk about it." He adds softly.

No answer came, and Sam thought that would be it, he didn't expect Cas to talk.

"There were five at the beginning." Came the whisper, making them both frown.

"Five what?"

"Archangels."

What?

"She was the last one God made, but while she was the last archangel to be made, she was one of a kind. When God was making her, he went overboard with the grace he imbued within her, this caused it to split…"

Castiel swallowed past the lump in his throat, this… what he would tell them might just change everything, just like it did with the angels when they all first learnt of who he was. There had been so much anger and resentment…

"From the excess of grace, the first angel was born, but because of their matching grace, they were the first and only twins Heaven ever had. She left Heaven not long after Gabriel did, nobody was happy, but she did not care. She was meant to be a watcher, to never interfere, but she didn't want to just stand by and do nothing, she wanted to help people, so she left… She died 20 years ago, no one knew how… the wings… they were hers."

Castiel swallowed hard once again, jaw set tight as his vision blurred, he knew she was dead, he's always known it, he had known it from the moment it happened. But he didn't expect… he should have looked for her.

Meanwhile, the Winchesters stared wide eyed, processing what Cas had just said. A fifth archangel, seemingly one who had flipped Heaven off just to help people. Her wings had been those, meaning… meaning that guy back there had possibly killed the only archangel who might have been on the side of humans.

All for what? For some fucking wings he just hung up like decoration and left to collect dust? And what Cas said, that twin thing. He said an angel, an archangel, had an angel twin. Wouldn't that make it a crazy powerful angel?

"Her name was Cassiel." Castiel states, fingers curling around the vials of grace in his pocket, of Cassiel and Ezequiel. And he felt sick, to know his brother had died at the hands of that man, all because he trusted Metatron.

Sam and Dean frown at the name, sure, most angels had quite similar names, with that of ending in 'iel'. But Cassiel was just one letter away from sounding exactly like-

Oh.

Oh.

Realization hit like a hammer.

And oh shit, that was…

"Cas… I'm sorry." Sam said, not knowing what else to say, because suddenly his reaction makes sense, and shit. He didn't even want to imagine how it even was to actually feel someone die.

Did it still hurt? Did he still feel it? How did that connection he had mentioned worked?

"It's fine… I knew she was dead, I have always known it, I just… I didn't know it had happened like that…" Cassiel had been good. She hadn't deserved to have her wings taken, she always helped humans, she was always on their side. And this…

He clenched his jaw, his sister had not deserved such an ending. And he wonders how that man got to her, had he deceived her? Had she thought them friends just for him to stab her in the back? Had she suffered? It made anger curl somewhere deep inside, anger and grief.

"Do you want me to take you somewhere?" Dean asks suddenly, Castiel turns to look at him with an odd expression. "You took their blades and grace, if you want to… I don't know, do something…" Dean had no idea what angels even did for the dead ones, did they make funerals? An equivalent of it? What?

He had no idea, but he also had no idea what else to do or offer.

Cas says nothing, he just stares, making Dean shift uncomfortably, he's about to just turn around and start the car, because he really sucks at these touchy feely situations, when Cas speaks.

"Oregon, there's a lake… I believe humans call it Crater lake now."

Dean nods, he knows that place, sure, he's never been there, but he knows what Cas means. He turns around and drives. He might not be as good as Sam comforting people, but he can do this. He can drive. This is something he can do.

The drive to Oregon is quiet, and they make it there late enough for there to not be anyone but them around. Which good.

Neither Sam or Dean says a word, they both stay quiet, and while they follow Cas, they also make a point to give him space, not wanting to leave him alone but also not wanting to intrude.

The lake… the hunters had seen many lakes in their lives, but none of them could quite hold a candle to this one. This whole scenario was like nothing they had ever seen.

The sky was filled with thousands of glittering stars, the arms of the Milky Way spreading among the stars, reflecting upon the crystal water from the lake in a way that was almost mesmerizing.

And the lake itself was massive. The water seemed to almost glow with the reflection of the moon and the stars above. Something about this whole thing seemed almost… ethereal. A sort of pull that made their hairs stand on end and the air feel… lighter. Like a weight being lifted off them.

And Cas walked on water as if it was made of solid matter. He walked straight to the center before stopping, and thanks to the moonlight, Sam and Dean were able to see as he pulled out the blades.

Just to drop them in the water.

The vials however, he opened one, and the grace from within poured out, bright and twisting, but as it came into contact with the water, the light shifted, bending and contorting until it took on the shape of a fish, a fish with striking silver scales that shimmered beneath the moonlight with a soft glow.

The fish glided through the air for a few seconds before it dropped into the water. And just like that it was gone.

The second vial was also opened, but unlike the other one, as the bright light began shifting, it took on the shape of some sort of small bird, feathers glowing a vibrant green, like some sort of bioluminescent bird, it circled Cas for a fleeting moment, its chirps seeming to echo throughout the entire place, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere all the same.

And much like the fish, it promptly left.

Cas stood there for a bit longer before turning around and walking back. Neither said anything as they followed after him, they were curious, yes, but it felt wrong to ask.

"The original gate to Heaven hides beneath that lake, the one angels used when Earth was still new. Because of this, the lake and the ground surrounding it cannot be approached by anything that is not human or holy in nature."

That… was not what Sam or Dean had been expecting to hear. But it would explain that feeling lingering in the air, and while there were several questions, neither spoke. This was not the time for questions.

"If an angel dies and leaves behind grace, it can be disposed of there. Our grace is a part of us, like a soul is part of a human. Just… different. It's more like the echo of who we once were… there's no afterlife for angels when we die. But releasing their grace there… it's the closest thing to peace an angel gets after death."

Not Heaven. No afterlife. But something in between. Castiel remembers Anna telling him once that while angels might not have an afterlife, that being released here, to take on the form of an animal, to exist even as an echo of who they once were. It was like returning to nature, to still exist as their Father's creations, but with less expectations, to just… exist.

To just be.

He's unsure about understanding fully what she had meant. What even that meant. But bringing Ezequiel and Cassiel here was the least he could do for them. And it relaxed him to know that they could still exist here, that their memories were still ever present…

And he hopes that when he dies, he can be brought here too.

Even if he doesn't deserve it.

A/N: Picture the glowing bird as the one from Journey to the center of the Earth, but instead of blue, it's green