Chapter 8: Let's Check on the Winchesters

October 10th, 2008

"Hey Bobby, you find anything new on these seals?"

It's been almost a month since Dean returned from Hell. It's been non-stop Hunting since then, but finally, a calm has finally fallen upon their little abode in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

While Sam and Bobby were going through tomes and ancient books, Dean was just smiling and eating pie on the couch.

Sam sighed in exhaustion, "You know, you could come and help us out instead of eating apple pie."

Dean pointed his spoon at his sibling, "Hey… its cherry pie. I've spent four months in Hell, and I have some catching up to do. Besides, you know how I feel about books. And you know how Bobby feels about food being anywhere around his books."

"I don't 'feel' anything about food near my books, you idjits. It's just that these books are one-of-kind… and I hate cleaning up after you boys."

Dean just smirked, "Ah, you know you would be lonely without us, you old coot."

"Whatever. Now, from what I can gather, there are 666 seals to Lucifer's Cage. All that Lilith needs to do is break 66 of them."

Sam added, "Means she has a lot of options. Also, there seems to be no order to them, no specifications, nothing to help us out. They don't even say what the first, last, or middle seals are supposed to be! We have to find a bunch of needles in a haystack of similar needles. We have no starting point and the whole of America to work with."

Dean just took another bite of pie before smugly stating, "Can't we just ask the angels? We do have Castiel in our corner of the ring."

"Dean, we know nothing about the guy besides the fact he raised you from Hell. Angels haven't been seen in over a millennium for a reason."

"Look, Sam. I know that, you know that, and Bobby knows that. Do we have other options besides going through more books?"

Bobby gave a cursory look at all the stacks of books that they haven't gotten to yet, "Doesn't hurt to ask."

Sam looked at Bobby incredulously, but the old man just shrugged, "Do you want to keep reading these books?"

Dean smiled. He finished his pie, closed his eyes, and started praying. "Hello? Anyone there? It's me, Dean Winchester. The guy you pulled out of Hell. Kind of hoping you can fill in some blanks we have about the seals to Lucifer's Cage and all. I don't know, could you send in Castiel to tell us about it…"

Both Bobby and Sam gave Dean an odd look, "He's right behind me, isn't he?"

Dean turned to look before he was startled out of his seat, "Dammit, Cass! Stop doing that!"

"It was not my intention to frighten you." Castiel's human vessel was completely average. Simple dress shoes, black suit, button white-striped dress shirt, loosened blue necktie accentuated by a beige trench coat. He was like some reverse-version of John Constantine, "Why have you called me?"

"We are trying to figure out which seals is Lilith going to break next, but we can't find anything about the pattern to them." Sam said this carefully since he still didn't trust the emotionless angel, so he didn't want to give away too much.

"There is no pattern. All that matters is that 66 of them are broken. Even we angels don't know what her endgame is."

Dean looked back up from the pie he resumed eating, "So how many they broke so far?"

"From what we can gather, they just broke the 2nd seal."

Bobby was shocked by this, "Already?"

"Indeed. It was not a difficult one, but the ease is unnatural. We can assume that the demons have been planning this for some time but…"

Sam perked up, "But what?"

Castiel got a worried look on his face – as worried as he could get for an angel – before stating, "Most of the seals deal with the corruption of the natural order. As such, to go against such order requires months, even years of preparation. Yet, we hear whispers of demons in place ready to break their seals when they get the call."

Sam closed the book he was going through, "It makes sense if you think about it: there must be some seal coming up that is a prerequisite for many future ones."

"Yes. The problem is that we can't determine which seal it will be. The 'Rising of the Witnesses' was already one of the major seals that could be broken – there is nothing else that comes to mind to the higher ups that could be broken next."

Dean nodded, "Why can't we just wait then?"

Everyone in the room looked at Dean in confusion. Dean looked confused back at them, "Well… it makes sense. If you can't figure out your opponent's strategy, shouldn't you just let him make a few more moves, like in chess? It's risky, sure, but do we have a better option?"

Castiel looked down, thinking it through, "While I am unfamiliar with this 'chess' you speak of, your strategy is correct. We can't risk giving them too much; we are at war. And like in any war, no one side can gain the advantage."

Bobby picked up on the subtext, "Sounds like you believe that are more than two parties involved in this fight."

"Unlikely but…"

Dean put away his pie again, "But?"

"Dean, do you know why we didn't raise you sooner?"

Dean just shrugged, "I just assumed that it was all part of some grand plan with the boys upstairs." He said it while pointing in the necessary direction.

Castiel nodded, "You are partially correct. While pulling you of Hell is indeed difficult, we could have done it sooner, but we had…difficulty…locating where you were buried." The angel was clearly embarrassed at this reveal.

Sam looked at the angel like he grew a second head, which was actually possible for their true visages, "You couldn't find where he was buried? We didn't even do anything to his casket – no wards, no iron, and no spell work of any kind. You couldn't just, I don't know, ASK US?"

Bobby nodded, "Even I would have agreed to the resurrection – and that's saying something."

"We were not allowed to do so," Castiel had to tread carefully in this conversation, "so as you can imagine, there was some difficulty – until we got a signal."

"What signal?" Both Winchesters said this in unison – a rare sight.

"A marker was placed on the grounds of your grave. With it, we were finally able to locate you and pull you out. You were not aware of it since it was burned away by your rising."

At this Dean quickly got out of his chair, "And no one thought this was suspicious? What, did you guys not look a gift horse in the mouth?"

"We had no choice. As you might put it, an opportunity presented itself."

"Wait a second. Did your angel friends also set up the supplies and the car?"

"No Dean. My… friends… had nothing to do with your mode of transportation. We just assumed…"

"YOU ASSUMED?" Dean had slammed his hands upon the table at this point, "That's it. We are now working under the assumption that there is a 3rd party involved in this little war that neither the angels nor demons are aware of."

"Dean," interrupted Bobby, "you realize you are implying that someone out there managed to force the two strongest forces in the universe to start the Apocalypse early?"

"Not necessarily Bobby," Sam jumped in, "it is much easier to work under the assumption that someone is merely using the animosity that already exists between the two sides. Starting the Armageddon was probably just some necessary stepping point. We can also assume that the 3rd party may actually be a force working within the demon army."

"How come?"

Sam just looked back at Dean, "You think there is an enemy group within the angel force?"

"Fair point."

"Without a doubt, Sam," interrupted a pondering Castiel, "it is unlikely that there is a faction of angels in Heaven who wish for the release of Lucifer from his cage. It is, however, plausible that there is a scion of demons who are playing both sides. But…"

"But? Why is there a 'but'? Why is there a 'but' Sam?"

"Dean, stop saying 'but.' Go on Castiel."

The angel nodded, "While demons may have access to the resources to play both sides, they couldn't place the marker that was on the grave. Only a human that wasn't possessed could have placed it. That… or an angel."

All the humans in the room looked at the angel speaking, looked at each other, and stated in unison, "It was a human."

"Indeed, an angel and a demon working together to start an Apocalypse is very unlikely."

Dean looked at the angel, "Don't you mean impossible?"

"'Impossible' implies that there is absolutely no chance of such event occurring. 'Unlikely' leaves a minuscule chance of such a possibility occurring. I am not ignorant enough to assume that an angel – fallen or not – couldn't possibly work with some high ranking demon."

Sam just looked at Castiel, "That… is terrifying in its implication. I guess all we can do is play it safe."

Castiel nodded, "Should we keep this theory to ourselves?"

Dean agreed, "Better safe than sorry. Just keep us informed if something else comes up."

"Indeed." Castiel teleported away after that.

Dean clapped his hands smiling, "So… who wants apple pie?"

December 6th, 2008 (1)

"34 SEALS ARE BROKEN? HOW?" shouted Bobby.

Dean and Sam have just returned to Bobby from Sioux City, Iowa. They came back from Magic City, USA, having killed a rogue 'magician,' so they were flying high. That was until Ruby told them how far along Lilith's forces were in freeing Lucifer.

When they returned, Castiel was already waiting for them, discussing something with the old man. What started out as a friendly discussion went straight to hell – poor choice of words – when Bobby started interrogating the angel.

"Shouting is not necessary. Even we were not aware how far along they have progressed in a month."

"A MONTH? It's been nearly two since we last had this discussion."

"You are partially correct Sam. But I can only assume they had made all this progress since Halloween when you killed Samhain."

Dean got confused, "Samhain? What does he have…"

"He was the third seal," interrupted the angel, "and best we can tell, the trigger for this sudden influx of seal being broken."

Everyone in Bobby's house became solemn. This was not the outcome they expected from the passivity they had taken. Now was no longer the time for inaction.

"So now what? We let them show their hand – it's time to show ours. You angel boys have 34 seals to work with now. You should be able to know what they are gonna do now."

"Indeed Dean. The seals they have chosen, while easy to accomplish, have severely limited their future options. While some will be impossible to stop due to the availability of people in the world, some can definitely be delayed for a time while you boys work on your end."

Bobby interjected, "Their end? All they have been doing is killing monsters and dealing with the Yellow Fever."

"Their incident in Rock Ridge, Colorado, was in fact very illuminating to us. There was also their rescue of Anna Milton, which returns to us a very powerful general. If anything, their activities have in one way or another interfered with Lilith's plans or given us vital intel to work with." (2)

Sam sighed with relief, "At least we haven't lost yet. Can you at least tell us if we can do anything to stop the seals?"

Castiel shook his head, "No, I am afraid all information regarding the seals is carefully monitored and contained. The lower tier-angels are completely unaware of why they do what they do – only the belief that they are stopping His rising is preventing them from questioning their superiors orders."

"So even you don't know? What, did your bosses catch wind of the 3rd party?"

Castiel pondered at Dean's words, "Based on what has happened, they suspect something is going on. For some of the seals to have been broken, something… powerful must have been involved."

Dean sat up from his chair, "Define 'powerful'"

Castiel pondered, "One of the seals broken required several individuals to die under paradoxical circumstances in the same area within a preset amount of time. Typically, it would occur over a period of thirteen days – they did them all in one."

Panic was on Sam's face at that revelation, "Wait, are you telling me that thirteen people died under mysterious circumstances in one day?"

Castiel nodded, "It was presumably done so that Hunters like you would not have time to respond. It would have been unlikely that someone would not have noticed: one death involves burning in the cold, and another requires an individual to drown in a drought."

Dean whistled, "Yeah, people would have noticed – especially if they were spread out over multiple days. Kill them all in one day just makes a statistical anomaly."

"Indeed. Their methods of death were also… 'accidental' in origin. I haven't seen murders like this since they were forced by the Fates."

"The Fates? As in, the Greek Fates? The ones who weave your life on golden strings and write your end?"

"Yes Sam, those Fates. I am very close with one of them, and I have seen their work. On the rare occasions that someone's death must happen or is forcefully written, the events that transpire to end them are unnatural to the casual observer." (3)

Dean perked up, "Are we talking broken laws of physics weird or improbable circumstances?"

The angel replied, "You humans have a concept called Rube Goldberg machine…"

Dean nodded, "Got it – improbable circumstances."

Castiel nodded, "There is also the fact that the little chatter we got makes it seem that the demons breaking that seal were not responsible for its rapid completion. Their early conclusion of the seal has apparently significantly delayed Lilith's progress."

Dean asked, "Why is that? They are breaking down locks – you would think getting all at ones is a good thing."

Sam snapped his fingers, "Not if the breaking of the seals was the same thing as defusing a bomb. The seals must be broken in a specific order at specific times for Lilith's to progress. But the early completion of the deaths must have broken the chain. Guess you angels have some breathing room…What's wrong Castiel?"

Castiel wasn't paying attention to Sam, as his eyes were darting back and forth at the implications that the Winchester has spoken.

Dean was slowly approaching the angel, "Cass? You there buddy?"

Castiel finally noticed what happened, "I am sorry, I was listening to my brothers and sisters speaking. It seems that Sam idea is right – many of the demon operations that were currently occurring have been abandoned."

Dean cheered up, "Sweet. Score a point for the good guys."

Bobby gave Dean a look, "You idjit, don't you get it? The 3rd party interfering managed to stop the progression of the Apocalypse by who knows how long in ONE DAY! Granted, they killed thirteen people to do it, but we are at war, dammit! This is beyond what we anticipated."

Castiel agreed with the elder, "Yes, the involvement of an outside force is no longer possible to ignore as a fact. It also shows that this group is on neither side of the war."

Dean waved a finger, "Or…their playing both sides."

Everyone gave Dean an odd look.

"Oh, come on, this feels like I am watching a classic thriller movie in which a company is fueling a war between two forces. This means that them accelerating the timetable for that seal was to delay the impending Apocalypse… Which means that they are playing both sides to see which one will win in the end… I hate to say this Castiel, but there is definitely some sort of corporation between angel and a demon."

Castiel had to nod, unfortunate as it was, "That is no longer undeniable. With the amount of regulation we have regarding the seal and the operations to break them, it must be someone high-tier."

Bobby whistled, "If the corruption is so high up means that there is no one we can trust, except for Anna."

"We are screwed then," said Dead deadpanned, "First me coming back from Hell, then the angels, then the Apocalypse, now a possible Legion of Doom? This is becoming more and more like a Saturday morning cartoon."

Castiel was confused, "I do not understand the reference."

"You don't have to, Cass. Just… go back to Heaven and do your angel duties. We will do what we can on our end."

"Well then…Farewell, Winchesters…Mr. Singer."

As Castiel teleported away, Dean said underneath his breath, "At least he said 'goodbye' this time."

March 25th, 2009 (4)

"So let me get this straight," started off Bobby as the boys returned after being missing for nearly a month. "Castiel's supervisor named Zachariah removed your memories, took you who knows where, made Dean some sort of posh-executive and Sam the tech support in the same company, put you in a deadly situation without your regular skills…All to prove that Hunting was in your genes and that you guys have a better life than you think?"

"There is also probably something about hexing you not to notice our absence and that we have grander roles in the future, but…yeah, probably."

Castiel didn't want to set Bobby off, but he had to add, "In all fairness, many were against this… misuse of time but he was my superior – there was nothing I could do about it."

"REALLY!? This was the best of use of the time they thought they had while in a WAR with HELL to stop THE APOCALYPSE!" Dean wasn't wrong, but he needed to vent after eating salad for a month and listening to NPR.

"Dean, calm down. Just be glad we managed to remember as much as we did."

Castiel looked up at that, "What do you mean? Zachariah may have misused his authority, but his alterations to your memories were absolute. You were never supposed to remember anything – the ghost should have only forced you two to work together by coincidence."

Dean got real focused on that little slip-up, "So us always meeting in the elevator was supposed to happen but Sam having his dreams and remembering monsters wasn't?"

Bobby thought about it, "Seems like someone interfered with your boss's experiment, Castiel. All it takes is introducing one rogue variable… Oh, balls."

Sam and Dean beat Bobby to the punch, "Wait, wait…the 3rd party?"

Castiel shook his head, "No, the building and you both were constantly under watch. No one got near anyone of you without us knowing."

Sam just looked conflicted, which Dean caught, "Sam…what are you thinking?"

"Well…the angels made me technical support, so I would always get calls regarding computers and stuff. But…"

Castiel walked up to Sam, "But what?"

"Once in a while, some kid would call me at random times, always about weird stuff. Things like having a ghost in his laptop, his dad being a demon, or a shapeshifter replacing his nanny. I thought it was some sort of prank, so I ignored him but…The calls stopped after I started getting the dreams and doodling monsters."

Bobby chuckled, "That is some jacked-up loophole in your security, angel. Didn't you monitor their calls? Guess all it took to shake out Sam's memories were some keywords, huh?"

Castiel was clearly annoyed, "This is…unexpected. If we had completely removed your memories, such involvement would have done nothing. Thankfully, such process would have left a significant chunk of your being empty which is why we didn't do it. Sam's nature may have also played a role…"

"Nope, I got a similar call once. I can only guess that since I was always on the line with some executive sucking-up, he always went to voicemail or I just declined the call. I wouldn't get enough exposure, so the kid must have focused on Sammy instead."

Dean noted that Sam was sitting on the couch thinking about something intently, "What's up, Sammy? You remember something else?"

"Remember that shapeshifter we dealt with during Oktoberfest in Canonsburg?" (5)

Dean played along, "Yeah, sure? The weird guy who wanted to be a classic monster."

"Dean, do you remember that kid we overheard in the restaurant who said he would be all the monsters since he couldn't choose? It was a weird conversation to hear during Oktoberfest and the killings were kept quiet but… that conversation is what led me realize that our killer was a shapeshifter."

Dean nodded slowly, "You think his voice sounded the same as the caller?"

Sam nodded, "Maybe. But then I recalled something that happened on Halloween. Before we went to fight that bastard – and before he was possessed – I ran into some kid who told me to put on a mask or else the monsters would know I was human." (6)

Dean waved his hands, "Wait. I thought your idea about painting our faces was your own?"

Sam nodded, "Yeah, but it was that black-haired kid's comment that made me remember it."

Dean got a panicked look on his face, "Uhh, Sammy…this black haired kid…was he young looking but somewhat tall and buff for his age?"

Bobby and Castiel realized that the boys just stumbled on to something odd while Sam answered, "He also wore glasses…"

Dean fell down on the other side of the couch, "I thought I hallucinated him when I caught the demon virus in Colorado. But then I thought I saw glimpses of him in Kansas, Washington, and Nebraska. I assumed I saw him back in that high school in Indiana. I definitely saw him in Magic City – he was doing a card trick and told one of the kids watching him that he picked it up after doing some work for an old magician…"

"Who gave him a book of tricks – just like our killer… Dean, weren't you in Kansas back in 1973?" (7)

Dean realized what was happening, "Son of a bitch! He was outside Cole Griffith's house when we both went ghost – he was only there for a second, but I know I saw him!" (8)

Castiel was slower on the uptake, "Does that mean you have both seen the same child ever since Dean rose from Hell?"

Dean shook his head, "No…there is no way that some almighty force hidden in the darkness playing both sides IS A KID!"

"Dean, the child is probably a vessel…"

"THEN THAT'S WORSE, cus' that means that however powerful this force is, the child is strong enough to contain it!"

Castiel had to agree with the sentiment, "More likely he was a perfect vessel but still…children are rarely used as vessels for a reason."

Bobby jumped, "That's dandy and all but there's a bigger issue here. John trained the boys to remember every little detail – how the hell did they miss that kid for so long?"

"Most likely the same way their memories were sealed by Zachariah."

Dean pointed, "Explain angel! I don't like knowing that someone hands were in my noggin more than once! Besides, wouldn't Zachariah or you notice at some point after sifting through our noggins?"

"We don't need to put out hands in your head, Dean. The child most likely used a spell that played on the notions of ignorance and blending into the background. He didn't come back to you until you started prodding your memories."

Sam nodded, "Camouflage – you don't notice it's there until it is, then you can NOT see it."

"Indeed. Such subtle manipulations to your memories is most likely why I never spotted it whenever I healed you. Truly ingenious."

"Ingenious? WE'VE BEEN PLAYED CASS! Don't you get it – we have been moles without knowing it!"

"You're jumping the gun, Dean. It is more likely that whoever… whatever this kid is, it is more likely that he just watching you boys rather than manipulating you."

Castiel walked up to Sam and Dean and put his fingers on their foreheads. He held them there, light shining from his hands before he pulled away in a hurry. "No… this magic… we sensed it before…"

Dean just slammed his hand into his head, "The killings, isn't it? It was at the murders wasn't it?"

Castiel shook his head, "No, worse. We have felt it at sites of a few seals. We just assumed that it was some high-level demon who was watching from the sidelines, managing the operations but now…"

Sam stood up annoyed, "Dammit! I haven't felt this manipulated and played ever since…," Sam stopped mid walk.

Bobby asked first, "Since when, Sam?"

Sam carefully worded his answer, "Ever since we met that Trickster."

Castiel asked, "Trickster?"

Dean perked up, "You mean the one from the college in Ohio and the one who put you in a time loop in Florida?"

Sam pointed, "I still believe that it was a grand illusion but… yeah."

Castiel thought about, "Indeed. No mere Trickster has the power to rewrite time. In fact, no Trickster has such power."

Bobby quickly pointed out something, "Not if it was a god."

Everyone looked at Bobby, "Well…We have run into Pagan gods before, and some gods have abilities in similar veins, like Loki, Set, and Anansi the spider."

Castiel shook his head, "Anansi was never a god, just a very powerful being. Your theory, however, has merit…"

Dean clapped his hands, "A coalition of Pagan gods! It's perfect! They had the power until Christianity came along (9). If enough of them started working together, they would definitely have enough juice to play both sides without getting caught. Once Armageddon began, and both sides weakened each other, they would come in, kill both of you guys off, and still have enough humans left to worship them again. It's brilliant!"

Sam hopped in, "It would explain how they managed to get around the magics of both demons and angels. They may not have as much power as when they were worshiped in the past and may be weaker than certain angels and demons, but they are still masters in their respective domains. They can use gods of magic like Hecate to get around certain roadblocks."

Dean shook his head, "Sammy, you are such a nerd for knowing that."

"He is however right Dean," Castiel was looking out the window, "we angels have no way to tracking down gods of old and we have limited ways to stop them from interfering. I also can't bring it to my superiors as there is no possible way to set up wards against them all."

Bobby nodded, "It's brilliant when you think about – a force no one cares to pay attention to because they are your equivalent of retired geezers. That was your mistake, though – just because they are retired doesn't mean that they aren't experienced enough to watch and interfere from the sidelines."

"I will do what I can with what limited authority I have. I will return when more information because available to me."

Castiel teleported away before Dean asked, "Is he gone?"

Sam looked at his brother confused, "Yeah, we just saw him…"

"No, I mean, can he still hear us? Cus'… everything I said was just stuff I made up on the top of my head."

Bobby started to choke-cough, "BUT YOU WERE RIGHT!"

Dean pointed at Bobby, "But it is too easy. It fits too neatly together, especially with us CONVENIENTLY seeing a kid for the last few months."

Sam just thought about it, "You think the Pagan gods are the red herring?'

Dean nodded, "Definitely. I mean… maybe I am overthinking it. But… all the planning, all the manipulations… I've been in Hell long enough and heard enough of their bickering to spot demon involvement when I see it."

"Dean, you realize that we are back to our initial idea that demons and angels are working together, right?"

"I know Sammy! But unless someone comes and tells us otherwise, we are playing with two very terrifying and unlikely theories."

Bobby tipped his head, "Guess all we can do is keep moving forward and play along, boys. The 3rd party is bound to slip up eventually."

The Winchesters had nodded before Dean asked, "Can we stop calling them the '3rd party'? I mean, can we just call something like, I don't know… how about 'The Outsiders'?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Why 'The Outsiders'?"

Dean just looked as his brother annoyed, "Because they are outside the normal field of play."

Bobby and Sam couldn't argue that logic.

April 6th, 2009

"Hey Bobby, you got a package."

Dean walked into the living room while Bobby and Sam from their books – a familiar scene.

"Does it say from who?"

Dean checked the package, "No, seems like it was hand delivered. Should I open it?"

Bobby shrugged – closest thing to a 'yes' in the house. As Dean opened the package, a book fell out.

Sam noted the book title first, "Oh no…"

Dean finally picked up the book and read it, "'Mystery Spot' by Carver Edlund. That was kind of Chuck."

"Dean, there a letter on the floor."

Dean picked up the letter, opened it, and started reading it out loud:

"Hello Bobby, Dean, and Sam.

Hope you enjoyed meeting Chuck Shurley – the man may be troubled, but at least someone out there is chronicling the good work you do.

Keep fighting the noble fight, it will end well in the future. All you have to do is give it time and have faith.

Not all things are what they seem. Those who are your side can be against you, and those who are part of the enemy choose to fight against them.

Always remember: we play the roles we are given and expected. One can decide to be weaker than anticipated. One can pretend to boast more power than actually available to them. One can even choose to do neither and stay out of the fight.

We live in a world of free-will and choices. Remember what you are fighting for.

P.S. Hope that you don't jump the shark! (You will get the reference soon enough)

Sincerely,

your 'creepy' kid friend,

Harry M."

If the men in the house could be gawking at the moment after hearing that letter, they would be. Bobby was first to respond, "Guess we know who has been stalking you boys."

Sam jumped in, "You think he is screwing with us or is there some deeper message in that letter?"

Dean crumbled up the letter, "Sammy, if we start playing that game, we gonna start reading into everything. For all we know, his book choice can have a deeper meaning as well!"

Bobby nodded, "At least you have a name – Harry. Doesn't seem angelic, demonic, or pagan to me. He could just be human then."

Sam was still confused, "What do you think he meant by 'jumping the shark'?"

April 17th, 2009 (Winchester's find out about their half-brother Adam Milligan) (10)

"SON OF A BITCH!"