Healer, No Healing!
prompt from bluedancingkittykat: What was going through Raphael's head when he found Sam and was waiting for his brothers?
Raphael recognized the child's cry as it tore through the universe. It had been before the age of man since last he heard an angel as young as this one. But this was not the bells and chimes of a giggling grace-child. This was the screaming crash of sharp and violent cymbals.
The shock-wave slammed into him and Michael, stopping their return to Heaven. Fragmented images of frozen fire and metal and pain surged through the sparks of grace fueling the energy cloud. The cry called for faces without words, some of whom he remembered from before. A name rose to the surface of the Healer's memory, and he realized he already knew this child. Samuel Winchester.
They had to act quickly. The Host was in chaos, if the frantic voices of Heaven were any indication, but they would be on their way soon. The brothers shared a look, requiring no words to convey a thought, and flew directly to the distress.
It brought them to the outskirts of a building that sat in an otherwise-empty field. An intricate patchwork of Enochian wards surrounded it. Some carried the symbols of specific angels—namely Gabriel and Castiel. "Impressive. Hmm," the oldest archangel ran fingers over the wards and they dissolved into wisps, "They would not have stopped Gabriel even before they were half-shredded by the blast."
Raphael walked toward the building that held the glow of young grace, savoring the cool earth against his bare soles. It grounded him in creation, allowing him to move within it rather than observing from afar. The humans' magic soaked into his skin, and whispered tales of sorrow and malice. He stretched out his grace, assessing the scene. "Two tainted souls—one dimmed beyond saving and neither a threat. The fledgling needs my attention. I do not know what these humans have done, but his grace has been damaged."
Regret and shame rolled off Michael in waves, and he paused to see his brother stop moving. "My presence will only cause him more harm. He needs..." his eyes grew wide and snapped up to the stars, "Gabriel! Father save us, what is he doing?"
Raphael followed his gaze and saw them immediately. Gabriel, bearing down on the Earth in a blaze of glory, with a seraph clutched to him for dear life. "He is going to kill us all if he tries to land at that speed. Go. I will take care of Samuel." Michael flew before the words finished.
A new voice spoke over the connection shared by all angels, and Raphael heard the Host fall silent to listen. The boy was awake and calling out to his flock. With measured steps, he moved into the building.
The taste of fear soured his tongue. Smoke billowed from holy fire recently doused, burning the archangel's eyes and throat. His grace resonated, slowly cleansing the space around his vessel so he could continue forward unhindered. Taking a deep breath, he began humming the same tune he would use to calm little ones in eons past. The low, pure tone rumbled pleasantly in his new body and he hoped it would soothe Samuel's storm of nerves.
It was like walking into Hell armed only with a song. Flames and sparks reflected in rippling pools of water creating the illusion that the entire room was moving. But all Raphael could see was small, round face staring up at him in horror from the hard floor—a mess of bruises and cuts draped in over-sized thin clothing.
As he drew closer, Samuel tried to wrench his arms from the manacles, and brought his knees up. Raphael saw the frantic swirling grace flare in agony as the boy's mouth opened in a silent scream. The Healer responded immediately, flying into the cage and kneeling beside the trapped fledgling. His eyes flashed when they caught sight of the collar and sensed it's purpose.
"Peace, child. You are safe now," he reassured automatically in Enochian. He wasn't expecting the shocked reaction to his words, nor the flurry of motion when he released the bindings that held the raw wrists. Sam rolled away, slamming into the bars and forced his body to its feet. Raphael started to move forward but was stopped by a ragged voice.
"No! You stay. Stay!" Sam ordered.
Raphael raised his hands to calm the fledgling, "You are injured. Will you not allow me to tend your wounds?"
"No! No allow. No touch! Stay," the boy demanded in broken phrases as he moved out of the cage with a warrior's determination. Raphael could only stare in confusion when Samuel took the time to retrieve something off the floor. It was clearly a difficult and painful act, but he valiantly returned upright brandishing a thin wooden rod. "Who you? Name!"
Unsettled, Raphael moved toward the cage door. He could feel the pain pouring off the young angel's grace. How was he even conscious, let alone standing? "I have never had a fledgling refuse healing. Why choose to extend your suffering, little—"
Samuel cut him off in a burst of fury, "I not fucking know you!"
The possibility of an angel not recognizing the Healer of Heaven had never occurred to Raphael. He winced at his own arrogance and knew he could not approach Samuel as one of the fledglings who had been under his care their entire existence. There was a human soul woven into their Father's grace inside the tiny body limping across the room—a soul shredded by Heaven and grace cut off from guidance by a damned collar.
Pushing down his own desires to act, Raphael conceded, "My apologies, Samuel."
"You know me?" Sam stared at him, openly suspicious.
Raphael couldn't tell if the boy had believed his identity a secret or if he didn't believe himself significant enough to know. Both options were childishly absurd, and the equivalent of a toddler who covered their eyes to hide. He smiled down into the fierce scowling face, "Of course I know you, child. I knew you the moment I heard your cry. Our Father has not made a fledgling in many millenniums. We have met twice before, but only one time did I have a vessel. I am Raphael, the Healer of Heaven." He presented his wings, a traditional gesture for angels when they announce themselves.
Samuel faltered in fear and wildly searched the room for something. "No, no, no..." he pleaded as his breaths became shorter and faster. The female human shifted on the floor as she started to wake up. A few feet away, the panicked boy froze in place. Raphael finally felt able to intervene.
He clapped his hands together, snatching the woman from the floor and dropping her in the cage beside the dying man. With a thought, he pushed her consciousness down to a level where she would not rouse without his permission. Samuel jumped at the sound and watched as his abusers were locked behind their own bars.
"You are safe, Samuel. I promise no harm will come to you. We will see you reunited with your family and caretakers, that is all."
His words only served to further aggravate the fledgling. Thin arms trembled under the strain of holding the stick out. "We?" he whispered, and Raphael understood.
"Michael is currently intercepting Gabriel and Castiel. They—"
"Why?!" The word was forced through a harsh cough.
Raphael blinked, unsure of the outrage he was sensing. "Why what?"
"Why stop them being here? If you help, why stop them?"
The smile came unbidden to Raphael's lips as he wondered at the determination each member of this tiny flock was exhibiting to get to one another. He hoped Michael had better luck convincing Gabriel that his charge was safe enough to slow their descent. "Ah, yes, I meant 'intercepting' in the sense that he is providing them assistance with their re-entry."
Clutching the walls of the hall with white fingers, Samuel made a face and continued to inch backwards on his one good foot. "What mean?"
Raphael explained as he matched each step. Seeing any child in such a state of distress was tearing at his grace. He tried to be reassuring as he approached the skittish boy, but Samuel still looked like he was expecting Raphael to smite him. "I do not know what led you to become separated from your flock, but they will be here soon." The promise was met with silence, and Raphael simultaneously cursed and marveled at the strength of will displayed in one so young.
They made steady progress until Samuel tripped on twisted metal and landed hard on the floor. Raphael moved on instinct when heard the wrenched cry. "No! Please no!" the boy begged and lashed out with the wooden rod.
It landed on the back of his hand and Raphael pulled back. Pain quaked through his grace and he felt anger burn lava-hot in his belly as he realized why Samuel had been holding it as a weapon. To use such a thing on a child was inconceivable.
"What is that thing?" his voice came out gruffer than intended and he had to settle his own emotions to stay focused on Samuel.
"It..." the small voice broke off, sounding lost, then continued in English, "It's an Olive branch. Noah's dove brought a piece back to the ark from the same tree or something. I don't..."
Tears streamed down the flushed cheeks as the boy turned onto his belly. Raphael inhaled sharply at the sight of his back. Grace seeped out from between thin shoulder blades, swirling sluggishly in a formless mass. He recognized the singe marks along the energy's edges. It was a common enough injury among soldiers who fought in battles involving holy fire.
"Oh Father, what did they do to you?" he choked out. How far had the world fallen that children were so casually brutalized? How far had Heaven fallen that no one saw fit to intervene?
A cold, angry voice answered him, "Nothing I haven't already experienced at your brothers' hands."
The truth sat like a boulder in the middle of his vessel, and he started to understand Michael's fits of guilt and sadness. His knees folded and he plead forgiveness. "I am sorry, Samuel, for my part in your suffering. Please, allow me to help. What would be most helpful to you right now?"
Hazel eyes studied him, weighing the archangel's worthiness to help. The boy's decision made him want to weep. "I...I go outside," he stumbled back into Enochian and waited to see what Raphael would do with the statement. The Healer lowered his head in acceptance and Samuel seemed encouraged by the gesture. He continued, a little bolder, "No fly. Only walk."
Raphael nodded and saw a little hand reach toward him. Slowly, he stood and wrapped his larger hands completely around the oh-so-breakable appendage. The show of trust overwhelmed him as he lifted Samuel gently onto his feet.
Being able to touch the fledgling allowed a closer examination. The over-sized shirt had slipped off one shoulder in the fall, and he could see welts from a recent beating. He grimaced at the smell of burnt grace. "Are you certain you do not wish healing? You have many injuries—some appear quite severe and painful."
He felt the muscles tense under his grip and Sam violently shook his head, spraying water from the tips of tangled curls. "No heal!" he insisted.
"I promise I will not heal you without permission. Will you lean on me as you walk?" Raphael rushed to reassure him, though he had never before sworn to not to heal an angel. Again, he found himself surprised by Samuel's response. A timid smile tugged across the bloody mouth and they limped out into the cool morning sun.
In the distance, the growing presence of the Righteous Man alerted Raphael to the incoming humans. It seemed all the members of the hybrid flock were approaching their location at speeds that exceeded any safety limits. Before he could announce the news, he felt the boy's body collapse.
Wrapping an arm around Samuel's waist to take hold of his other side, Raphael was careful not to touch the emerging wing buds. "Samuel," he began but the stubborn child shook his head. A heartbreaking half-sob slipped past clenched teeth and Raphael barely resisted the impulse to swaddle the little one in grace, "Samuel, if you refuse healing then you must rest. You cannot continue to stand in your condition." The body was weightless to the archangel, but he felt it start to sag and patiently waited it out.
Samuel lurched forward without warning and Raphael couldn't prevent him from stepping fully on the burned sole. Helplessness frustrated him as he watched fresh tears pour over the face scrunched up in pain. Grace twisted, barely contained by the battered vessel it could feel but not hear.
"Enough, child." He kept his voice low and did what he'd wanted to do since first hearing the boy's cry. He carefully lifted fledgling off his feet and held him close.
Samuel went wild fighting with all the effectiveness of an furious kitten. "No! No! NO!" he spat.
Sharp teeth nipped against his arm and he tried not to be amused. Instead, he just kept his grip on the flailing child gentle, but unyielding, and searched for somewhere to take him. "You are safe. We will find a place to sit comfortably and wait for the others to arrive," a low growl sounded in the back of Samuel's throat, "Shh, the fight is over. Rest now, you fierce fledgling."
Raphael hummed a song to soothe the storm building below Samuel's skin. Pinpricks of static sparked along his wings and he winced at the sensation. There was no denying the young angel's powerful potential. He found a bench set far enough away that the building didn't loom over them and released the squirming bundle of limbs. The boy quickly scooted as far from him as possible and curled in on himself.
Looking to the sky, Raphael spied all three angels and was relieved to note their decreased speed. Another check on the Righteous Man's group of hunters confirmed they should arrive at roughly the same time. Michael, do not land on the humans. They are almost here, he silently sent to his oldest brother as he continued to hum.
It was an amazing thing to witness the moment Samuel recognized the sound of the approaching car. The chaotic grace settled its restless shifting and sang with tentative hope that lit up the smudged and streaked face. Raphael couldn't help but laugh, "I believe that is the human equivalent to how Gabriel and Castiel are approaching our location as well."
The peace was broken when another familiar presence appeared much closer. Raphael shifted his stance, prepared to protect Samuel. The landing was announced by an explosion of sound from behind the building and the healer grabbed Samuel's shoulders to steady him in the aftershock. A small voice asked, "Was that...was that Cas and Gabriel?"
"No," was all he could say as he gathered his grace into his preferred blade. The silver staff thrummed in his hand, ready to defend the fledgling and his human family from the unpredictable newcomer. A man turned the corner and came to a stop in front of them. Emotions passed through the cold eyes, too fast for most to even notice, but Raphael saw each and every one. He had always been able to read Lucifer like a book.
Samuel stared, radiating surprised recognition instead of fear. With the collar in place, there was no way for him to identify the archangel by his grace. There was an odd excitement in his voice when addressed the figure, "Vince Vicente?" But as soon as the leather-clad vessel took a step and smiled cruelly, Raphael felt the horror spark off Samuel's grace. The boy knew who stood before them.
"Of course it's you!" Lucifer proclaimed, "Seven and a half billion humans on this decaying planet, and it is always you. Why is that?" He kept using sudden dramatic gestures, grinning in delight when they made Samuel flinch away.
"Lucifer, why have you come here?" Raphael drew his brother's attention away from the shaking child with an honest question. Why would Lucifer expose himself to his newly restored brothers while wearing a weaker vessel? The archangel was already burning through this man's body—he was clearly outmatched.
"What, and miss that 'new feather' smell?" he mocked, sneering at the child leaning into Raphael's hand, "Call it curiosity. Every angel in creation heard him. I gotta ask, roomie," Lucifer used the word like a slur, "I never heard you scream like that. What did they do that I didn't, hmm?"
Anger rolled through Raphael at the crude taunts, knowing the heinous deeds they referenced. His wings snapped into place around Samuel as he roared, "Enough! Leave here, brother." He felt the small body curl in closer, seeking safety against his side.
"And why would I do that, brother?"
Before Raphael could respond, a piercing pitch cut through the sky above signaling their brothers' re-entry. He suppressed his glee at Lucifer's dawning comprehension, but was silently glad to see the cocky attitude vanish. It was good to know the archangel was still capable of fear.
Raphael let it sink in, then answered, "Because our brothers are on their way. Gabriel is eager to return to this child—you remember how protective he is over fledglings. It is in your best interest to leave. We can settle our differences another time. Please!"
His words went unheeded, and the Healer smiled at Lucifer as Michael, Gabriel, and Castiel all landed in an explosion of earth. They both knew it was over.