Note: Everything else is currently on hiatus because I'm totally fixed on this idea right now, and like I said before, I can't commit to anything. So here we go. I don't own Castiel, Kripke does. I don't own the Torchwood characters, Russel T. Davies does.
When Castiel landed he was frighteningly alone. He'd expected to be dropped in a field, sure, but this was less than a field. It was scorched earth. Nothing would ever grow there, let alone a monument for the grace of an angel. He was to have no tree, it looked like. And that troubled him, because that would be his last reminder of ever having been an angel of the Lord.
And if he was dropped into the field along with his own grace, then was he being given another chance? He stood up, brushing the soot from his behind, and looked around. His grace would've been quite visible were it there with him for there was no brush, leaves, or any other vegetation to hide it. So, basically, WTF. And on top of it all, it was suddenly occurring to him that he could remember every bit of his life as an angel. That couldn't be right.
He was shocked to hear the sound of his own voice when he found himself squealing at the unexpected assault from behind.
"I've got him, Tosh, but the GPS's seemed to go on the fritz. If you could direct me back to the SUV?"
More dry, brushing foot-strokes against the burnt soil and he was accosted on both sides.
"I'm here, Owen, you can ease up. God, you're twisting his arm. No wonder he's making such a horrible fuss." She took the reigns, more gently than Owen, and Cas found himself and his footing as he was walked forward, following the man who first attacked.
"I'm terribly sorry about Owen. He doesn't know his own strength sometimes, wiry bugger."
"Who are you?" Cas choked out, finding the feeling of his own voice much louder in his head than he had when he was still the omnipresent messenger of God. He was no longer above his mundane fleshy body. He was down in it.
"We're Torchwood." Gwen and Owen spoke simultaneously.
"Oh, you always get to say it. Why don't you let me have a go at it once, eh?"
"Stop your whining, Owen. Tosh; we're coming up on a burnt out log. How far are we from the SUV?"
"Well, then where's Jack? Didn't he say he'd meet us up between here and the car with the gear?"
"Excuse me…" The fallen angel interjected.
"And Jack's got his panties in a twist because WE'RE not on time?"
"E-excuse me…?"
"Jack? Is that you? How long've you been on the wire?….Yeah well I don't give a shit what you heard. Where are you?"
"Owen, leave him be. He wouldn't have abandoned us unless he had a damn good reason. Isn't that right, Jack?" Gwen snarled.
"Excuse me!" Cas finally shouted.
"What!" The two shouted back.
"My name is Castiel. I am a messenger of God…er…..well, I was, until just now. But I still claim the authority to interrogate. If you are who you claim to be, where are you taking me? Are we in London?"
"God no." Owen laughed. "And I'm not surprised you know about them. They weren't exactly under the radar. But we are. This is Cardiff. Will you go willingly, or are we going to have to sedate you? Because if you are who you claim to be…then we know that you don't exactly have a life to return to. And we have questions that need answering."
"You and me, both. You've wasted centuries studying things that don't really exist." Castiel spoke calmer now."And you've spent your whole life serving someone who doesn't exist."
"Owen, really. Go easy on him, eh?" Gwen put a soothing hand on the former angel's lower back as she gently pushed him on. "He doesn't yet know."
"Know what?"
Owen sighed and looked back over his shoulder. "You don't know….that God doesn't exist. I mean, he did once, but he burned out long ago. God is dead. And you….you are not his child. It breaks my heart to tell you this, but you are in fact an alien. Your God was a great ball of energy."
"Oh, I don't doubt that we are alien to you. And I know that God is nothing but energy and love and grace." Cas stumbled over a rock, twisting his ankle slightly. Gwen held him up and took little notice of his hobble as they trudged on.
"Love? Maybe. I can't really say, because Love isn't exactly scientific, is it?" Owen's tone was cruel. "Imagine a star. A great big star not unlike our own Sun. Well, actually, I lied. Very much unlike our Sun, because, you see, this star was special. This star had a mind of it's own. It was a great consumer, it was. But much more than that, even, it was a converter, and so a producer."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"No, of course you don't. But allow me to enlighten you."
"Owen, please. Save it."
"Enough, Gwen, he needs to know." Owen resumed his story. "As I said, the star was a producer. A converter of energy. It could take energy and turn it into matter. It created the solar system. More impressively, it created you gorgeous beings. And us. Humans. You see, you were a prototype of sorts. You were created on another planet. We could never know which one, but rest assured it wasn't in this solar system. And there were many of you. You weren't a failure, you were just too many. And so 'God'…" Owen signed with his fingers. "'God'…decided to take a handful of you away. And that was when he created the solar system here. And you were to work under him as over-seers of his new creations; the humans. As far as you knew, there was nothing else out there. Never was. You see…since 'God' had control over all sorts of energy it was quite simple for him to erase your memories. You've never seen him, have you?"
"That doesn't mean anything."
"Oh, that's right." The human grinned, heading towards the SUV which was now in sight. "Because of Faith. Faith justifies all of God's shortcomings, don't it?"
Gwen held onto the fallen angel's arm as Owen unlocked the vehicle and opened the door, helping her to get him inside.
"Will you cooperate?" Gwen asked, straightening his tie for him.
"I will." Cas nearly spat at her as she reached around him, buckling him in and warning him not to mind the gadgets and gear surrounding him. She then got into the passenger's seat, buckling herself in before Owen took off.
"If you know so much…" Castiel sighed, watching the scorched ground turn to small scattered tufts of grass that gave way to shrubs and eventually a full-fledged forest with a narrow trail which was just the right size to carry the vehicle through. "Then tell me how it ends."
"How what ends?" Owen asked. "The story? Happily ever after, of course." he snorted.
"No…I mean the world. You can see the past, surely you can see the future. If it's all just some ribbon, time, and you really do have the power to jump from time to time and place to place, then you should know."
"Oh, that's not us." Gwen corrected. "Sure, it's possible and it's happened to us before, but we don't have any control over it. We don't know anyone who does. Jack's been all over the place. Jack was there when the world ended. But he sits on all of that. Good luck getting him to talk. He hasn't even told us."
"Well, aren't you taking me to meet him?"
"Yep. Providing he's at headquarters." Owen rolled his eyes. "Which he's likely not, since that's where he's supposed to be."
"I'm looking forward to meeting him, then." Castiel nodded. "And after that, you'll let me go?"
"Uh…sure." Owen smirked.
"We'll have to see what Jack says." Said Gwen, as reassuringly as she could manage with such uncertain news.
Afterward: This chapter is short compared to the next few. Yes...I have them already written. See? I'm not that horrible.
