A/N: The sequel is coming up in a couple of days! So that this isn't a completely pointless and space-taking update, here's the summary and the first scene.

Summary: After Harry and Ash died taking out Azazel, things gradually went back to normal for the Winchesters. Now, eighteen months later, they've been approached by the angel Castiel with a task: Get Harry back from Death's domain so that he can fulfil his task as vessel to an angel. Getting Harry back is only part of the battle though – Harry won't come back without Ash, and he's bound to be upset about the whole vessel thing. But if it'll stop an apocalypse… he's still not happy. The angel wanting to possess him is going to have to do some pretty drastic negotiating.

MIT 2: Apocalypse When?

Chapter One: That Could Be Inconvenient

"Dean."

"Gah! Cas, stop that!" Dean spun and glared at the angel. He hated it when anyone snuck up on him, and the angels seemed to be particularly good at it. Then he took in the fact that Uriel wasn't with him. "Where's Chuckles?"

"I have been given a task which Uriel is forbidden to participate in," Castiel informed him, having gotten used to Dean's lack of respect for the other angel – or anyone, really. "A task which you and your friends should be able to help with."

"And that task is?" Dean was still wary of the supposed 'good guys', and especially when it involved the people he knew.

"You once knew a young man named Harry Potter."

Dean paused, having to think hard for a moment, before it came to him.

"Oh, Harry. Yeah. He died about... a year and a half ago. Didn't really know him that well, but his lover gave us information on Azazel. Why?"

"He must be brought back from Death's domain."

"Wait... what?" Dean was extremely confused. They needed to bring someone back to life? "Uh, no offence dude, but why not do it yourself?"

"He is in Death's domain. Not in Heaven or Hell. Neither angels nor demons can infiltrate that realm. Only the Reapers can, and none of them are inclined to help us."

"And why do you need Harry back on earth so badly?"

"Because he was meant to be a vessel for an angel, but the conditions for his possession were never met before he chose to die."

This made Dean sit heavily and stare at Castiel, trying to work out what the Hell was going on.

"You do realise," he said slowly, "that bringing Harry back is going to mean bringing Ash back too?"

"Why would that be so?" Castiel looked confused. "Surely they are not physically joined together."

"I wouldn't bet on that," Dean muttered, blushing as he remembered some of the stories. "Anyway, Ash is the love of Harry's life. He died so that they could stay together. He's not gonna come back if Ash isn't here."

"Oh. That could be inconvenient." The angel looked a little put out, which was rather amusing for Dean to watch.

"By the way," Dean went back to the main point of the conversation, "how would we get either of them to come here? Their bodies were destroyed when they died, so there's nothing to bring them back to, and I don't know of any ritual that could bring them back anyway."

"You must summon Death and bargain with him," Castiel shrugged. "Do not promise him souls, or do anything that would put you in danger. I am sure you'll be able to negotiate their return, in their proper bodies. Death can do many things that we cannot, given the right motivation."

"And you're sure that we can give him the motivation?" Dean was sceptical, but the angel looked surer of himself.

"I am certain."

Dean looked down, then up again, determination flooding through him.

"Well, if we're gonna get them back, I'd best go talk to Sam and Bobby. Figure out how to raise Death."