CROSSROADS ☁︎ Supernatural

PART 31 - CASTIEL

Castiel found Dean sitting in the library with his head buried in his hands.

He was so deep in thought, he didn't even notice Cas coming. The wiring inside his brain was overloaded. Why was Riley reacting to him this way? Was it just her losing her soul? Was there something more? They seem to get along back then. A lot has changed since then but nothing really happened in the meantime between them either, so they just had to pick up where they left off. There must've been a way to make it last and figure their relationship out.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel said and Dean's head shot up in shock.

"What the hell, Cas, don't you knock?" Dean's voice sounded as if he used it for the first time that day.

"I..." Castiel looked puzzled.

"It was a joke, okay?" Dean rolled his eyes. "Just..."

"What is it, Dean? You look really disturbed."

"Why don't you sit down for this," Dean pointed to the seat in front of him.

"I'm okay, thank you." Castiel remained standing next to the chair.

"Sit down, Cas." Dean sighed. He was aware Cas was not a subject to human condition, it still made him uncomfortable for Cas to look like he was about to leave.

"Okay," Casstiel said once he settled down. He looked almost as worried as Dean at that point. "Speak now."

Dean took a deep breath. And started with the story. "It's about Riley. She's..."

"A girl? You called me in about a girl?" Dean got Cas on the edge of his seat.

"Listen to me, would you?" Dean stopped him. "She's in real trouble and we need to act fast. She... means a lot to me and Sam. She saved our dad."

Cas couldn't ignore the urgency in Dean's eyes. He sank back to the chair. "Who is she?"

"We go way back. We got real close over a case involving our dad and then our paths parted. We believed she was dead but she wasn't and now she's back and we're about to lose her again."

"What has she done?" Even Cas couldn't be fooled with this, he sensed something was up. This wasn't just a case.

"A deal. She made a deal ten years ago."

"Dean, I have no power to..." Cas was almost apologizing for something which couldn't possibly be his fault.

"For our dad. We believe she made the deal for our dad. We owe it to her. He's already dead, how is the deal still on the table?"

"It's Hell, Dean, but they honor their word when it comes to this. Where is she now?"

"Here, Sam's with her. She had a violent episode... she's having hallucinations but I've never seen anything like it. I really didn't think she was coming back from it. How do we redeem her? But for good, no hooks to surprise us later." Dean was dead serious. There was a loop and he was about to find it, no matter what.

"Dean, you can't just mess with the order, there's always consequences for such actions." The angel remained patient with the human.

Dean spoke with no hesitation. He thought about that long and hard and he was not taking no for an answer. "Oh yes, I can and I will."

"Hey, Cas," Sam interrupted them just as Castiel was about to lecture Dean about his recklessness. "Thank you for coming on such a short notice."

"No problem." Cas stood up.

"Let me introduce you... This is Riley, our family friend. Riley, this is Castiel. He's an..."

"Angel," she breathed.