The Winchester Three (S4): Lazarus Rising

Ch 2 Section 5

Late on that night...

Sam was asleep on the couch and Dean was fast asleep below him. Angel and Asa took the other side of the room to rest. Angel was fast asleep beside Asa until she awoke to a rustling noise. She opened her eyes, wiped her face, and looked over to see Castiel standing in the kitchen waiting for her. Checking on the three other men in the room, she carefully slipped out of Asas arms to join him.

Castiel studied Angel carefully, "Excellent job with the witnesses."

Her eyes narrowed, "You knew about all this?"

"I was, uh..." He motioned his head, "Made aware."

"You were... 'made aware'? And, what, you just sat back and watched? I almost got my freakin heart ripped out of my chest, man."

He shrugged in nonchalance, "But you didn't."

"Aren't you supposed to, I don't know, be guardians or something? You know, fluffy wings, halos, the whole shebang." She crossed her arms, "I was thinking you guys would be more like Michael Landon not raging dick-holes."

"You wear a cross around your neck. You've read the Bible." He met her glare with his own, "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Soldiers fight." She challenged, "Why didn't you?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns."

"Concerns?" She repeated defiantly, "You know how many people, good people, died because of these Witnesses? Since you're real, where the hells the big man upstairs, huh? Does he even exist or is he like the Wizard of Oz type?"

"There's a God. You shouldn't let your brother affect your faith in Him."

"Maybe Dean makes more sense." Castiel looked away from her in irritation, "Because if He was around what the hell is He waiting for? We're sitting ducks down here being slaughtered by war, diseases, freakin monsters and He's where? Sitting on a throne in Heaven?"

Castiel took a breath, "The Lord works-"

"Oh, do not say 'in mysterious ways'. The last thing I wanna hear is some half assed quote from a hallmark card." Castiel threw his hands up a little in exasperation as she studied him, "So what? Was Bobby right about the witnesses being a sign of the apocalypse?"

"That's why we're here." Cas nodded, "Big things afoot."

"Do I want to know what kind of things?"

"I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."

"66 seals?"

"Those seals are being broken by Lilith."

"Right, of course." Angel scoffed in realization, "She did the spell. She raised the witnesses."

"Mm-hmm." Castiel nodded, "And not just here. 20 other hunters are dead."

"She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor."

"We put those spirits back to rest. That has to count for something, right?"

"It doesn't matter." He shook his head, "The seal was broken."

"What's so important about these seals? Why does she want them broken?"

"Think of the seals as locks on a door..."

"Okay..." Angel nodded, "She breaks open the last one and opens what?"

"Lucifer's cage." He came to a stop in his pacing right in front of her and looked her dead in the eye, "He'll walk free."

"Lucifer?" Angel breathed out in shock, "Like... Satan?"

"Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in 2,000 years?"

Her throat became dry as shock filled her entire body, "To stop Lucifer."

"That's why we've arrived."

"But you failed on this seal, right? So what's that mean? Lucy's coming home for Sunday dinner?"

"We tried." Castiel glared hard at her, "And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost." Angel snickered sarcastically and Castiel glared harder, "Our numbers are not unlimited." He moved closer to her, "Six of my brothers and sisters died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here." A moment of thick silence stretched on as they stared each other down, "You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in."

Before she could react, Castiel vanished and left her alone in the kitchen to ponder his threat. In another beat of a second she was jerking awake in the spot she was sleeping in earlier. The boys and Asa were already up and about. Asa walked over and handed her a cup of coffee before studying her face.

"You okay?" When she didn't answer he pressed, "What's wrong?"

Both of her brothers turned to study her face at that and she stiffened, "Okay... so Sammy, I know you and Asa don't really have a problem believing in God and angels and stuff like that, right?"

They looked at each other before turning to her oddly, "Not really..."

"And Dean... you're starting to get on board?"

"Well... all the signs are pointing it out so i guess... maybe." He looked at her confused, "Why?"

"How do you three feel about believing in the Devil?"

"The Devil?" Asa repeated, "Like Lucifer?"

"The one and only..."

Sam shook his head, "Why are you asking all of this?"

She took a deep breath and delved into everything that Castiel told her.