They made quite the group, trekking through Purgatory. Three angels, a vampire, the King of Hell, a Trickster, and Satan walk up to the door to Hell. It was like the start to a dirty joke that only Balthazar knew the end of.
"This is it," Benny declared as the door opened up, and a gaping black hole appeared in a tree before them. "Door to Hell."
"Will it even work on angels?" Anna asked.
"One way to find out," Castiel offered.
"Exactly." Gabriel shoved Anna through the door. She screamed and fell through it, disappearing.
"....I'm gonna say it worked." Balthazar concluded as the others stared at Gabriel, who shrugged.
"Oh come on, Cassie," He grinned. "You enjoyed that."
"I hope the demons rip her to shreds," Cas muttered as Balthazar slipped through the door.
"Say, Castiel," Crowley began. "Do you know if anyone has reclaimed my throne?"
"No one has," Cas explained. "One demons tried. He kidnapped me, actually." Crowley winced.
"Rookie mistake," He commented. "How quickly did he die?"
"Sam Winchester stabbed him and said there'd be no new king of hell." Crowley nodded and Gabriel smiled.
"That's my boy," The trickster grinned, stepping through the door.
"Wonderful." Crowley smiled. "Then the kingdom is mine." He walked through proudly.
"Um, excuse me," Lucifer started, following Crowley, and leaving Cas and Benny alone.
"Thank you," Castiel insisted. "For helping us." Benny nodded.
"Anytime, brother." He declared. "You tell Dean I said Hello."
"Of course." Castiel stepped up towards the door, sending one last glance back at the vampire.
"And I don't want to be seeing any of your faces back in my neck of the woods anytime soon, you hear?" Benny warned, but he was smiling. Cas nodded.
"I hear." And he stepped through the door.
*******
Dean finally left his room two days later.
His eyes were red and he looked utterly exhausted, but at least he was up and moving. Jack and Sam watched him warily as he entered the kitchen.
"Hey," Sam said gently.
"Hey," Dean replied, his voice hoarse as he opened the fridge and grabbed a beer, despite the fact that it was only 11 in the morning.
"How you holding up?"
"I'm fine," Dean declared, only confirming to the boys that he was most definitely NOT fine. "What'd I miss?" They shrugged.
"Not much," Sam admitted. "Got a call from Jodi. Apparently they've got a lot more demon activity up there for some reason. She said they keep babbling about some break in at Hell before she kills them."
"Weird," Dean said, sipping his beer.
"Yeah, but she and the rest of the girls are handling it. Mom's working a Rougarou case with Donna in Wisconsin, actually."
"Good for her." Dean paused. "How are you guys holding up?"
"Better,"
"There's pie in the fridge," Jack piped up.
"Yeah?" Dean forced a half smiled. Jack nodded.
"Yep."
"Well, I just might have to steal that." Sam smiled.
Sure, Dean still wasn't fine, but he was working on it. He was improving. That's what mattered, right?