Chapter 1
"Where the hell is he?" Dean asked rhetorically in regards to Castiel as he bent down over his brother and pulled him into his arms as Sam continued to writhe on the ground in pain from the trials. "Don't worry, Sammy. Cas is going to be here any second. I promise you, you're going to be all right. Everything's going to be all right."
"What's go… going on?" Sam struggled to ask.
Dean ignored the angels falling through the skies and stared straight ahead as he answered, "I'm not really sure. It doesn't really matter right now. I've got to get you some help."
Sam held tightly to his brother as Dean struggled to lift him off the ground and replied, "You can't. You have to… have to deal… with Crowl…"
"Crowley can rot here for all I care," Dean replied when Sam began to cough uncontrollably. "I'm sure another one of his cronies will be here to free him some time. I told you, I only care about you right now. I'm taking you to the hospital. The doctors may not be able to figure out what's wrong with you or how to fix you, but at the very least they can find something to help you with the pain."
"Dean, you can't…" Sam struggled against him until he interrupted.
He said, "Don't try to argue with me, Sammy. I don't care what's going on. I'm sure that the hospitals and everybody else will be more concerned with the sky show, but they're going to have to make time for us, now stop fighting me and help me get you into the car."
Sam did the best he could and together, they both finally managed to get inside Dean's impala and then Dean hit the accelerator with as much force as he could and sped off toward the city to find the nearest hospital, despite the king of Hell still being locked up within the church, while the angels continued falling downward from the heavens.
Meanwhile…
Castiel just stood in the same spot where Metatron had zapped him to in the middle of nowhere and stared up into the sky as he watched his brothers and sisters fall. What was happening was bad and it was all his fault. He had wanted so badly to fix his past sins, that he too easily believed Metatron's story. He never wanted to close the gates of Heaven in order to fix it, he wanted to rule over it, as well as the earth just as God once did. Since God had disappeared, a number of angels tried to step up in his place, but none of them have gotten this close until now.
It was then that Castiel's thoughts were interrupted as a voice sounded from behind him saying, "You're not the only one to blame for this, Castiel. If only we had not lost sight of what God's true plan was, if I had just listened to you, we wouldn't be here now."
"Naomi?" Castiel stated in surprise to see her standing before him. "I thought you were dead. I thought Metatron had killed you."
"He did, but somehow, I was brought back, just as you had been a number of times before," she responded softly. "A part of me believes God is still out there, somewhere, or this wouldn't be possible, but until he reveals himself to us again, it is our job to fix things, to stop Metatron and restore all our brothers' and sisters' grace. And we can do this together, with help from anyone else who is willing. Will you join with me, Castiel?"
Cas looked up once again at the skies, then turned back to Naomi, and answered, "If I agree, I must find the Winchesters. From now on, everything I do must go through them. I have done too much without them and it has always brought nothing, but pain and suffering. Besides, Sam is in trouble. He needs help."
She nodded and replied, "I know."
Two nights later…
Dean stood from the chair he was sitting in, walked toward a vending machine, and began to deposit quarters into it so he could purchase something to eat, then moved to a table nearby to pour himself a coffee to help him stay awake. The hunter was exhausted, but sleep was something he wasn't willing to give into just yet, despite the pleas of the doctors and nurses around him.
He was in a hospital, where his younger brother lay in a coma, a tube running under his nose to help him continue to breathe properly, as whatever was happening to him had begun to shut his body down, little by little. Despite his cries for Castiel, the angel had yet to appear, and Dean was slowly losing hope that he could save his brother. All of what they worked for through the last year was for nothing. Sam was dying, for nothing.
After getting his coffee, Dean started to walk back toward his brother's room until he was suddenly interrupted by the last person he expected to see right then; Crowley, who appeared to be back in good shape despite the beating he had taken from him and Sam as they tried to cure him from being a demon.
"Well, I see you managed to get out of all our traps," Dean spoke coldly. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Don't worry," Crowley responded. "I'm not here to finish off your brother, or to try to kill you either, as much as a part of me would like to, but I'm not quite back to my charming self. Whatever Sam did to me to try to cure me almost worked and probably would have if you had not stopped him. If anything I am grateful to you. Bet you are shocked to hear those words come out of my mouth."
Dean stared at the demon and then said, "A little bit, yeah. Let me ask again then, what the hell are you doing here?"
Crowley smiled as he answered, "I just wanted you to know that I was free and that things will eventually go back to normal between us."
"You came here to tell me something that I already knew?" Dean asked skeptically.
"I suppose I did," the king of hell replied smugly. "Let's call it a warning. Good luck, Dean. You're going to need it if you have any hope to save little Sammy."
With that said, Crowley vanished just as fast as he appeared and Dean shook it off as he walked back in to sit at his brother's bedside, then spoke up to him, not knowing if he could hear him or not, saying, "I just ran into Crowley outside in the hallway. What you did to him seemed to mellow him out for a little while. You'd never believe it, but he actually thanked us, for not completing the last trial, but then he threatened us again, so he'll be back to his old self in no time. I need you, Sammy. I need you to wake up. If you can't do it on your own, I swear that I'll find someone who can help. I will save you like I promised I would. Just hold on."
