The Colt...

[Deleted]

Castiel stood on the top of the grass hill where he had appeared, he looked down on the human world below him, a million thoughts running through his head. None of which an angel should have, questions, opinions, idea's, conflicts with his own nature. He believed that what they were doing, there work, was the most important in the world, the last stand against all he despised in heaven, hell and earth. It was not that that he ever questioned, never that, he was an angel of the Lord and he knew that their work was righteous and that they were at war, and in war, lines were always crossed, it was the way it had to be.

No what troubled him was the way that the Winchester boys went about fighting the war compared to him and his fellow angels. If the angels way was the only and right way, why then were Sam and Dean able to succeed in their fights? Uriel said they just got lucky, but Castiel wasn't so sure. He was beginning to think that, as humans, they may have something angels lack, which was simply, humanity. How was an angel meant to understand humanity, it was not possible, and yet at times Castiel wondered if it might not be a useful skill to possess.

Sighing he looked out at the world in front of him and the small town below him that Dean and Sam had saved not long ago. One which, as a test for the brothers, God and his angels were more than prepared to completely destroy. It had been the brother's alone that had saved the hundreds of people that Castiel now looked down on. He shock his head slowly and sat down on the grass. He had told Dean that he wasn't a hammer, that he did question, and did sometimes doubt, however, Castiel now had to decide to what extent these things affected him.

He knew that what ever happened, he was an angel, he would do his duty and follow the orders from his father the Lord. He had by no means lost his faith and he would not for any reason question his belief in his maker. It was some of the methods used that he at times had a problem with. When Dean had accused him and Uriel of being heartless 'Sons of bitches' he had of course had to agree. And that was the crux of it wasn't it, he had no feelings, no emotions, not like humans. Castiel was not sure, but sometimes he wondered what it would be like to be human. If he had been allowed to talk to her about it, he would have asked Anna, but that was of course forbidden at the highest level.....

Sighing Castiel torn himself out of his thoughts, he had to get on with business, it was time to give Dean and Sam their next mission. He was under orders to lead them to the colt, the one weapon that could help in the was and kill Lilith. True the knife the boys had could do it, but the trouble with a knife is that one had to get very close to Lilith to use it. The gun would remove this problem to a certain extent and so God had order that it be placed into the boys hands, though first he wished them to find it, with only some help from Castiel, they had to do most of the work themselves. Why Castiel was unsure, but he did not question, he just followed his orders like a good soldier does.

Leaving the hill where he had been standing he immediately found himself in South Dakota, near the house of Bobby Singer, he knew that the boys where here about to head out on a hunt. He walked to the house and entered without knocking. Angels did not knock, why would they, he stood in the living room and decided to just wait until someone came in and discovered him. Dean had repeatedly told him not to just appear next to him, something about it being creepy... So he waited.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Bobby still hadn't returned from his trip away which left Sam and Dean alone at his place for the moment until the next job came up. It had been driving Dean crazy to stay in one place though, even if it was the closest thing to home they had lately. Too much time to dwell on things. So he had immersed himself under the hood of his car, using the extensive supply of spare parts to do a little fine tuning to his baby.

Finding that his thirst was getting to him, he put down his spanners and wiped an oily hand across his forehead then stepped inside to warm up. After a brief stop at the refridgerator to snag a beer, he wandered into the living room and nearly choked on his mouthful when he saw Castiel casually waiting for him there. Coughing and spluttering a little, he wiped his mouth on his arm and gave the angel a glare.

"You do remember me saying that sneaking up was creepy right?"

[Deleted]

Castiel looked at Dean with his head turned to the side, studying him carefully. He didn't understand, he had made sure not to appear like normal. But now Dean was saying he was still sneaking up. Castiel really would never understand this man, or humans for that matter, no matter how fond he was of them.

"I did not sneak up on you Dean, I was waiting for you to find me" he told the Winchester, as though he was talking to a small child. "I need to talk to you Dean, and as you can not handle my real voice I must appear to you in this form, which means actually being in your presence occasionally" Castiel told him coolly. He was a little annoyed that Dean still did not seem to be ok with having an angel in his life. A lot of people would give their lives for such a thing. Then again, Dean had never been what one would call a devout man. "We have a mission for you" he added now looking away from Dean and out a near window. "And it won't be easy"

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"I did not sneak up on you Dean, I was waiting for you to find me"

Dean scowled a little and shook his head.

"Maybe if you'd knocked on the door rather than just wandering in or maybe, oh I dunno, called ahead or something, I wouldn't have such a problem?"

He gave a dismissive wave of his hand, well aware that Castiel would keep randomly appearing when he least expected it no matter how many times Dean suggested other options.

"I need to talk to you Dean, and as you can not handle my real voice I must appear to you in this form, which means actually being in your presence occasionally"

"Well it's not my fault your real voice makes my head want to explode." He griped, recalling the ear piercing and skull splitting noise that was Castiel's true voice.

"We have a mission for you...And it won't be easy"

"Really? What a shocker." Dean deadpanned, letting gravity guide him into the nearest chair.

"When has anything you've ever asked me to do been easy?"

[Deleted]

Castiel was starting to get tired of the hostility from Dean, even angels had there limits and Castiel was reaching his. He walked closer to Dean and glared at him, the power of the angel emanating from him. He stood silently for a moment before he spoke.

"If you would rather return to hell Dean, I will send you back without a thought. You may not like me, or what we ask of you, but you will do it, or you will return to hell. You remember hell I think, was it fun Dean? Or would you rather put up with me bugging you from time to time?"

He spoke lowly, his voice threatening. He was not here to listen to the boy whine about how horrible angels were.

"Now tell me your choice and I we shall move on in which ever direction you wish."

He said as he backed away again and took a seat across from Dean, his hard eyes still on the man in front of him.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

While Dean acted blase and dismissive around Castiel, particularly in front of Sam, deep down he was scared of what the angel was capable of. Right now, his cold as ice stare was un-nerving Dean and he sub-consciously tried to back away from him. Castiel's threat of sending him back down to Hell made his eyes widen in fear, his blood run cold and his heart all but stop right then and there.

Yeah, he remembered Hell. Every minute of every day he remembered it and he most certainly did not want to return. He swallowed the lump of pride in his throat and managed to speak.

"What's the mission." He relented, yielding to the fact there really wasn't any other option than to do as Castiel asked. If he chose to send him back to the fiery pit, there wasn't anything Dean could do about it. He didn't know of any weapon that could stop an angel.

[Deleted]

Castiel looked at Dean, a very different look in his eyes now, he was not going to put up with Dean's hostility more than he had to, but he did not enjoy seeing the fear in his eyes at the mention of returning to hell.

"I do not wish you to return Dean, but I have my orders and as they stand, you help or you return." he told him seriously, some sadness on his voice. "There is nothing that can change that, not even if I prayed for it."

Castiel looked away, he personally did not like the way that Dean was being treated, used might have been a better word, but he also knew that without him they would be in even more trouble than they were now. He looked back at Dean all trace of hardness gone from his eyes, a look of business replacing it.

"The colt" he said "where is it?"

The new mission for Dean and Sam would be made a lot easier if they knew where it was, where ever it was it was hidden from the angels powers and would be difficult to find if the boys didn't have a least some idea of it's where abouts.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Help or return. Nothing like the promise of infinite torture, pain and suffering to motivate a guy.

"The Colt?" He repeated, relaxing slightly at Castiel's change in demeanor.

"Bela Talbot stole it from us to bargain her way out of a deal with Lilith." He cast his eyes down to the beer in his hands.

"She didn't suceed." His mind wandered back to Hell for a moment, to seeing Bela on the rack that he had gotten off thirty years down the line. Recalling how she screamed and begged for him to stop tearing her apart under Alistair's watchful eye. He cleared his throat, forcefully pushing the horrific thought out of his mind.

"I don't know where it is."

[Deleted]

Castiel's brow furrowed, this was going to make things more difficult. Still it did not really change what was to be done.

"We knew that Bela had the colt and tried to deal with it to Lilith, it was after that that it became hidden even to us. You need to find it Dean, you and Sam, that is the mission I have been sent to to give you. It is imperative that we get the colt back. If it is Lilith who has it, then that is clearly not going to make it easy. However we are not convinced she does, as we think Bela may have hid it before the hell hounds got her. Otherwise it is likely Lilith would have been using it.."

Finished speaking and sat waiting for Dean to answer him, expecting something along the lines of it not being his job to look for a needle in a hay stack or some such thing. But then as was very clear to even himself, Castiel did not fully understand the human mind and it's emotions...

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea, finding the Colt. Gee, why hadn't I already thought of that one." Dean automatically snarked back, reigning himself in before Castiel decided to make good on his threat to send him back to Perdition.

"I want to find it as much as you do, but I got no idea where to start looking. I'd have thought with your whole power of godliness, you'd at least be able to point us in the right directon?"

[Deleted]

Castiel just sat for a time watching the wind blow outside the window. He didn't return he's gaze to Dean as he start to talk once more.

"All I can tell you is what we know Dean, nothing more."

He pulled out a piece of paper from the pocket of his coat and hands it to Dean.

"That is the last known location of Bela and the colt before she was sent to hell, I would suggest you start there. Of course if you do not think you and Sam are capable enough for the job, I will report as much back to God."

Castiel knew enough to know that questioning the man's ability was a sure way to at the very least to get them to try and search for the colt.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

All you can tell me, or all you will tell me...? Dean pondered, taking the slip of paper, unfolding it and reading the location on it. He pulled a face when Castiel suggested that he and Sam weren't up to the task.

"Don't worry your fluffy white wings over it, alright. If anyone can find it, it's us." Dean asserted, folding the piece of paper again to tuck into his shirt pocket.

We better find it, cause I don't wanna get dragged back to Hell....

"You gonna enlighten me as to what you want us to do with it when we get it back again? Or is that something else you can't tell me? I mean, if this is a mission from God or whatever, there's more to it than just finding the Colt, isn't there?

A tiny part of him dreaded that he would be ordered to use it on Sam once it was recovered. Both Castiel and Uriel had warned that if Sam kept using his powers, that they'd be forced to stop him. Would they force Dean's hand to accomplish that? He definatly wouldn't put it past them. Of course, he knew that was a holy order he would never follow. Come Hell or high water.

[Deleted]

Castiel rose from the chair and looks down at Dean in his chair. He would have liked to have told Dean what the plan was, but if he was completely honest, not even Castiel knew everything that was planned. There was a hierarchy among angels also and Castiel was not at the top of it. He was higher than most, but he still was not told everything. He was told exactly what he needed to know. Nothing more, nothing less.

Then there was the fact that half of what he was told he was under orders to reveal to no one, and that included Dean and his brother.

"I have told you what you need to know, I have to go now. Good luck Dean and I will be watching when I can."

With one more look at the man before him, he was gone in the blink of an eye.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

It only took a blink of his eye. One minute Castiel was standing over him, then next there was a rush of wind and a flicker of light and Dean was left staring at an empty space in the room. There was a kind of relief in the fact he was now alone again and he let out the heavy breath that had been stuck in his lungs since the mention of being dragged back to Hell.

So now he had yet another holy mission from God. Find the Colt. Like it was going to be that easy. The question that kept coming back into his head though, was not how he was going to find it, but rather, why did God keep assuming that Dean was the right man for the job? What was so special about him that had earned him this attention? If anything, after all the attrocities he'd done, surely he should have been the last guy on the list to fight the good fight?

After a long look at the beer in his hands, as though it held any kind of answers, he sighed and took a drink. Then another. And another. He downed the entire bottle in one and came up gasping, tempted to throw the empty across the room but knew that a pile of broken glass would only make Sam ask questions. Besides, Bobby would kick his ass for trying to trash his house while he was away.

Instead he returned to the kitchen, dropped the empty in the trash and dug out Bobby's stash of whiskey instead. He didn't even bother getting a glass, just unscrewed the top of the bottle and put it to his lips, only stopping when he couldn't stand the burn in his throat anymore.

[Deleted]

Bobby pulled his old pick up to a stop in front of his door and headed in to the kitchen, if he ever needed a cold beer, it was today. He had been hunting and it had not gone exactly to plan. He had got the sucker, but not before it took a couple of brilliant hits in, he now had a busted lip and a cut over his forehead. "Goddamn demons" he was muttering when he arrived in the kitchen and stopped dead for a moment before realizing it was Dean downing half a bottle of his whiskey.

"Easy there boy, if the drink don't put you on your ass I will for drinking my best scotch like that." he said "It's 1 o'clock in the afternoon Dean, what the hell's got into you?"

He watched the younger man, Bobby knew that Dean had not told him everything about his time in hell, and that was fine, if he wanted to keep it to himself, it was none of Bobby's business. But he could tell it was eating the boy up inside, and that worried the older man who looked at these boy's like his own.