Disclaimer: I do not own the legal copyrights to Supernatural. I am not involved or affiliated with the show in any way. This is for fan purposes only and I am not making a profit off of it.

Author's note: Sorry for such a long wait between chapters, everyone! I'll try not to do it again, especially since Season 9 is upon us and I have *inspiration* for this fic now!

-ooooooooo-

The angel Castiel only walked the earth in male vessels up to now; males had considerably more power in the world, and Castiel was a soldier of the lord. A female vessel meant she had to think of herself as female; angelic gender identity was tied to that of the vessel. In Heaven, she had been genderless or thought of herself as male and a brother angel.

Her squishy, swaying female vessel had documentation proclaiming herself to be named Margaret Louisa Torres, aged thirty. Castiel knew that the vessel's twin sister had gone by the name of Rosaria, as that was the name she had heard in the prayers for help.

The vessel owned a plastic card marked "Department of Motor Vehicles" with her name on it; presumably, this led to her owning a motor vehicle. Additionally, the vessel was in possession of a wallet, another odd card that Castiel was assured was a credit card, and pieces of intricate green paper money. The money was marked with "United States," and Castiel realized she must be in America.

Making sure the vessel's thick, wavy black hair was secured in a ponytail, Castiel prepared herself to speak with her angelic brothers on the matter of Margaret Louisa Torres. Her vessel was not horrible. Merely squishy, swaying, and not ready for combat.

As she left the vessel's home, hips swaying annoyingly and chest feeling uncomfortably squishy—so this was what having a female vessel was like—Castiel heard the angel Raphael in her head.

Raphael also had a female vessel, one that was dark-haired, dark-skinned, and squishy. Perhaps Castiel had been deemed a sister angel rather than a brother angel because of the new squishy vessel, and thus given one of her sisters to speak with. "Castiel," she said. "Dean and Sam Winchester are to dispatch the ghosts of witnesses they could not save. You are to watch and evaluate them."

"I understand, Raphael." She knew this was related to Lilith; she would not have been expected to take a vessel otherwise. As an angel and soldier of the Lord, Castiel needed to follow orders. Her orders were to ensure that the Winchesters stopped the apocalypse, and she would fulfill those orders just the same as any other angel assigned to the job.

"Good. Do not disobey us again, Castiel. You have already been disobedient in getting yourself a female vessel rather than James Novak. We had plans for Novak."

Castiel had disobeyed. She had disrupted plans set in motion for the potential vessel James Novak. Now his fate was unpredictable; Castiel truly did not know what would happen to him. This was her fault, but "I will not disobey again," she said. "This sole act of choosing a vessel was based purely on which one had the greater need. The vessel Margaret Louisa Torres, which I currently occupy, would have been put in a mental hospital had she not accepted me. The vessel James Novak would have continued his life without need of angelic interference."

Raphael stated, "Understandable. While we had plans for James Novak to become your vessel, we will have to adjust them now that your vessel is Margaret Louisa Torres. Do not fail."

-ooooooooo-

Castiel watched the Winchester brothers dispatch the witnesses. She felt their technique was excellent; they certainly fought like soldiers, though they did not show the same mercilessness that Castiel herself would have done. She was a soldier of the Lord, though, and she did not have free will. The idea of free will confused her; perhaps this was why the Winchesters weren't as merciless as Castiel, who had once participated in killing the first-born children of Egyptians and fulfilled those orders without hesitation because the Lord had told her to.

For humans, however, they were impressive.

Now that she had evaluated them, it was up to her to debrief them and explain the situation. She concentrated on teleporting herself to the Winchesters' next known location, finding herself in a kitchen. Ah. So this was where they stayed? She didn't know enough about their habits, just that the Winchesters were hunters of the many monsters that roamed the earth.

Sam, the tall one with longer brown hair, was asleep on the couch; shorter Dean slept on the floor nearby. Soon, however, he stirred, glancing at Castiel and rubbing his eyes. He walked over to check on his brother, and Sam didn't move. Humans and their need for sleep perplexed Castiel; she didn't understand how sleep could possibly lead to higher productivity.

The man she had pulled out of Hell walked over to her. Castiel looked up at him, her vessel's brown eyes staring into his green. The Righteous Man let out a human grumbling noise, and Castiel spoke. "Excellent job with the witnesses," she said.

Dean made an odd facial movement with his eyes narrowed at her while his mouth made a small line. Was this an emotion? She didn't understand what he was trying to say to her with his face. "You were hip to all this?"

She stared at him. His tone sounded odd too. The vessel's mind said it's called sarcasm, and Castiel didn't know what sarcasm was. "I was, uh, made aware." She had watched him from nearby, not revealing herself. This had been Dean's test.

"Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance. You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest," Dean said.

He was angry about his heart? That didn't make sense to Castiel. How could he be angry about that? "But you didn't," she said. He shouldn't be dwelling about something that didn't happen.

Dean let out a sound that Castiel couldn't quite place. Human emotions were hard to read, but the sound made a noise that, to Castiel, sounded like hmph. "I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos—you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

Who was Michael Landon? Castiel didn't understand Dean's reference. She did, however, know how angels actually were. "Read the Bible," she said. "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

Dean walked closer to her, seeming to examine and eye her squishiness. Why was he staring with such intent? Did he intend to tell her that squishy females could not fight? "Prettiest damn soldier I ever seen. Why didn't you fight?"

Castiel tilted her head up as she made a human facial movement where she narrowed her eyes a small bit. "I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns," she explained. Lilith was far more important than a mere battle; Castiel hadn't even been called to fight.

"Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here! And, by the ay, while all this is going on, where the hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?"

He questioned God? "There's a God." Wasn't it obvious? If angels existed, there had to be a God. Castiel owed her entire existence to God existing. She wouldn't be around were there no God. Dean's eyes seemed drawn to the squishiness on her chest, and he was looking at her in a rather confusing manner. It wasn't any human emotion she was familiar with, anger or happiness or grief.

"Look, lady, I'm not convinced. Cause if there's a God, what the hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?" Now Dean looked angry, and Castiel recognized anger. Human anger had prompted much angelic intervention in the past; she had participated in several conflicts founded on human anger and the Lord deciding angels must intervene.

Castiel found herself momentarily distracted by the vessel's wavy black hair having decided to escape the ponytail she had pulled it back into. Perhaps she should cut the vessel's hair short if she were going to be a proper soldier. She tied it back again, looking back up into Dean's eyes. "The Lord works…"

Dean made a hmph noise and sounded like he was snorting. "If you say 'mysterious ways,' so help me, I will kick your ass. So Bobby was right…about the witnesses. This is some kind of a…sign of the apocalypse."

She made the vessel bob its head up and down a couple of times. The vessel told her that this was a nod, and Castiel made the nod. She thought it would explain things. "That's why we're here. Big things afoot," she said.

"Do I wanna know what kind of things?"

She cocked her head slightly and then shook it. "I sincerely doubt it, but you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the sixty-six seals."

He let out another snort, this one sounding slightly angry with a tinge of something Castiel couldn't recognize. It was happy…but not happy. "Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Sea World."

What was Sea World? "Those seals are being broken by Lilith," Castiel explained.

Dean's eyes were wide. "She did the spell. She rose the witnesses."
Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld.

She crossed her arms, imitating the human movement before stopping. She was an angel. She wasn't ordered to imitate human movements. "Mm-hmm," she said. "And not just here. Twenty other hunters are dead."

He seemed to understand, making the nod to her. "Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us."

"Lilith has a certain sense of humor," she explained. It didn't really make sense to her, but it might to the Righteous Man. Castiel didn't really understand humans, nor did she understand demons or humor.

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest."

Humans could be clueless sometimes. It was clear to Castiel that this method wouldn't work. "It doesn't matter. The seal was broken." It wasn't like they could fix the seal.

"Why break the seal anyway?"

"You think of the seals as locks on a door," Castiel explained. Hopefully Dean would understand that.

"Okay. Last one opens, and…"

"Lucifer walks free."

Dean let out a snort. It didn't look like he believed her. "Lucifer? But I thought Lucifer was just a story they told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

Humans were foolish sometimes. "Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me," Castiel said. "Why do you think we're here walking among you now for the first time in two thousand years?"

"To stop Lucifer." He seemed to understand now. That was good.

"That's why we've arrived."

He let out a noise that sounded like anger. "Well…bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice."

Castiel knew he was angry. She could not blame him; humans didn't fully understand what she was doing. She was still mourning the loss of six of her brothers. "We tried. And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited," she explained. "Six of my brothers died in the field this week. You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell. I can throw you back in."

She could not let him jeopardize the mission. Castiel teleported back to the vessel's home. She felt perplexed by Dean Winchester. He wasn't giving her respect, when she had dragged him out of Hell. This confused her. Perhaps it was simply because she had a female vessel? Would Dean Winchester have more respect for her had she chosen James Novak as a vessel despite his lower need? He did not seem to respect her, and he had called her pretty.

What did that even mean?