A/N: Part 2 of my 7 Deadly Sins and 7 Heavenly Virtues series, following Avaritia.
"And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins."
- 1 Peter 4:08
«»
People, Castiel finds, don't have a fundamental understanding of what charity means. Even the books which are supposed to tell humans the core meaning of the words are wrong.
Charity, nowadays, is seen as raising material values – such as money and food - for a cause. Being it world hunger or giving a dollar to a homeless person on the street.
Like many things, humans distorted the meaning of the word, his Father's meaning of the word, and made it into something else.
The virtue of charity is a will, deep engraved in the human soul to give love selflessly, it's self-sacrifice and it's divinely engraved in the soul. It's supposed to reflect God and all his glory.
For all the years that Castiel had watched humanity there were not many that showed this kind of charity.
That is why when they called his garrison for a reunion, he was so amazed for all the charity that this Righteous Man showed in himself.
Michael showed them the highlights of The Righteous Man's past, up until the moment he sold his soul to an abomination and Lilith herself set her dogs to rip him to shreds and drag him down to hell.
Dean Winchester hugging his mother when his father had been absent and she had been distraught. Dean Winchester carrying the boy with the demon blood outside, clutching him tightly against his chest and starring at the burning house. Dean Winchester protecting and loving his brother without limitations. Obeying his father like a good soldier. Loving freely and showing kindness all through his life. Protecting the weak.
Dean Winchester sacrificing himself for the sake of his brother, because for all the love he had to give there was nothing worse than having no one to give it to.
Of the entire Garrison, Castiel had been the only one to flinch when he had seen Dean Winchester being ripped apart.
Balthazar had been aware of it when his grace recoiled the tinniest bit at the sight. He'd batted his wings once in amusement before focusing on the briefing again.
Michael was explaining them exactly why he needed his vessel for and how the incursion to hell would work.
Castiel listened, buzzing with the need to get going. Be a good soldier and rescue this soldier of God from hell.
Michael dismissed them, calling Castiel to him before he could leave.
Castiel he boomed, grace so bright that Castiel bowed automatically to it I want for it to be you that brings the righteous man to me. Raise him for perdition.
Castiel bowed his head Yes, Michael.
Do you know why I'm asking this to you?
Castiel would've shook his head if he had a human form as it was his grace pulsed a negative response.
Because you flinched when no one else would. You're ability to care will certainly permit you to reach out to the Righteous Man like no other in the garrison would.
Castiel's wings flared in surprise.
You may go, Castiel.
Castiel went, feeling stunned at the words from God's first archangel, one of the most powerful creatures in all of creation.
What was that all about, Cassie? Balthazar asked when he joined the garrison.
Castiel just pulsed confusion through his grace and joined the front of his garrison, ready to march down to hell and rescue The Righteous Man, Dean Winchester.
«»
His garrison is only sent to hell after the Righteous Man has been there for about twenty seven years.
Castiel faces blood thirsty demons for the first three years his garrison's fight there. They slowly conquer land, opening their way towards where they hope Dean Winchester is. Somewhere after the third year they have a miraculous break in the walls of hell's resistance. Enough to let them pass but not so much that any angel would get suspicious.
After the seventh year there, his garrison suffered a lot of causalities. Not as much as the aberrations that lived in this land of perdition.
The next years were made of strategic battles that only got them closer to the Righteous Man until they final got to the circle of hell where Dean Winchester was being kept.
And if anything the wall of demons protecting it was thick as ever.
They fought bravely, his garrison, opening the way so Castiel could slink his way through, slashing at demons with their angel blades and downright exorcising the ones that got too close.
Castiel was the first to get to the righteous man and he saw him like he hoped to never see another good man again: crazed with a twisted smile on his face and hands stained blood red as he carved some twisted soul in the rack.
"You know what your sin was?" the Righteous Man asked, leaning closely into the person's face, cutting a fine line down his throat and then deepening it, jamming the knife forcefully so he could tear the flesh enough to shove his fingers inside of it.
The man screamed.
"Nuh-uh." The Righteous Man smiled, slapping his hand over the man's mouth "No screaming or I'll rip out your vocal cords."
He slowly uncovers the man's mouth, who this time as the good sense to keep quiet. Dean Winchester smiles "It's lust, Larry. Not like I'm judging, lust is definitely one of my favorites, but raping Larry?" he shakes his head as if disappointed "That's disgusting. That's a sin!" he emphasizes laughing almost hysterically "Don't worry, I'll fix you up." He promises solemnly, dragging in knife down carefully and cutting the man's genitals in one twist of his wrist.
"Problem solved." He cheers happily.
Castiel stands still during the interaction because even though the man who's supposed to save humanity is standing in front of him cutting into a soul he's still so bright that Castiel can barely avert his eyes. He is truly a thing of beauty.
"And don't think I didn't see you over there peeping-Tom. How rude." He says turning to Castiel and smiling broadly, black leaking into his pupils and he has to stop this he has to stop this now before the righteous man can be further compromised.
"Dean Winchester." His true voice booms through the room, making the very structure of it shake "My name is Castiel. I'm an Angel of the Lord."
The Righteous Man snorts at that "Yeah, right. And I'm Santa."
Castiel would frown if he had had a face.
"I'm here to take you back to Earth." The sneer in his face falters.
"No, you can't. Whatever Sammy did you can't take him up on it. I don't care what kind of bullshit deal he made."
Castiel steps forward, the power of his grace towering over him "How dare you compare me to one of those abominations?"
"I-" he looks up right at Castiel, mouth falling open because now he's really looking, really seeing what Castiel is made of, his very grace on display "Oh."
The knife clatters out of his hand, just like that, black receding from his eyes and his entire soul brightening up more than he thought possible at just the prospect of finally being saved. Of hope.
If Dean Winchester was like this in Hell, he couldn't wait to mend him back together. His soul would be a thing of beauty when fully repaired.
"I don't- I don't deserve saving." He stutters, eyes skidding to the door and then back "I made my choice."
"And it was the wrong choice. Wouldn't you like to see your brother again?" one thing that had been clear during the briefing was that the best way to reach Dean was through his brother "Or would you prefer becoming one of these abominations and then going back to God's Earth to kill innocents? Your choice, Dean Winchester."
Dean gritted his teeth and nodded once. "Okay angelboy, how are we getting out of this shithole?"
"My name is Castiel." He informed.
"Okay, Castiel. Let's go before Alastair comes back. What's your exit strategy and how to you plan on passing through the demons and hellhounds?"
"I am an angel." He affirmed, stretching out his wings and gripping Dean Winchester on the shoulder tightly.
Earth-years later Hester would say that as soon as Castiel laid a hand on Dean Winchester he had been lost.
Hester would be right.
Castiel laid a hand on Dean Winchester's soul and he was lost in all the love and righteousness he carried. His soul so bright, it had been made to draw angels near.
He had always been a good soldier, always followed orders, but in that moment Castiel made the first selfish thing he had ever done in all of his existence: he claimed Dean Winchester's soul for himself, leaving a permanent mark as he raised him from perdition.
You see, angels had been created even before animals and, like many animals and humans, had instincts, impulses, always tightly controlled by the rigorous training all the angels had to go through every millennia or so.
Cas caved in to the possessive instinct. The instinct that screamed mine and claimed the brightest soul any human had ever possessed.
He raised to the earth, clutching Dean Winchester's soul in his hands and then he raised to heaven so he could mend the broken shards of Dean Winchester, in body, mind and soul.
He took Dean to a secluded room in Heaven and set him down gently.
"Where are we?" the righteous man inquired, eyes wide with wonder as he looked around himself to the room, made of marble and golds and delicate paintings and statues carved from stars.
"Heaven. This is where I'll mend your body, mind and soul." Castiel answered, laying Dean Winchester's body down on the table in the middle of the room, stark naked and ripped open.
The Righteous Man clenches his jaw, circling the table with something akin of contempt on his face.
"Why did you raise me, Castiel?" the man asks.
"I was ordered too." He answers honestly, fingers working deftly on Dean's body, mending his torn organs, weaving them back together with his grace, before he raises to the skin.
"Why?"
"Because you are the Righteous Man." He answers, looking up at Dean, wondering what Dean perceives him as. Dean's soul looks like his body. Castiel would like to know what is Grace looks like to Dean.
"I'm the what now?"
"The Righteous Man. The one who begins it and chooses its end." He answers, looking back down at his work. Castiel sows him together, a thin thread of his Grace mending flesh together, before he focuses on the scars.
The body is done quickly, getting back on extremely good conditions in no time.
The hard part comes next.
Castiel gets up and moves towards the man, one hand reaching out to the center of his forehead.
"Whoa! What are you doing?" Dean takes a step back and away from Cas, hands raised in defense.
"I have to touch your soul in order to repair it." He says and Dean shakes his head vehemently.
"There ain't nothing wrong with my soul." He argues taking another step, back hitting the wall.
"You have spent a long time in hell. It is my job to make sure nothing of it bleeds through your soul." Castiel tries to argue.
The last thing the Heavenly Host needs would be a demon righteous man, and although Castiel is almost sure that he raised Dean Winchester right he still has doubts.
"Tell you what. You explain to me what I'm supposed to have begun and then I'll let you bad touch me." Dean Winchester tries and God forgive him, but Castiel nods.
How could he deny this man, so bright and shinning anything at all. How could he do such a thing when Castiel himself left a brand on his soul marking him has his.
"You have a deal." He concurs, receiving in return a brilliant grin, Dean's soul pulsing a shade brighter. It is almost too much for Castiel to handle.
"You are beautiful Dean Winchester. And even before you or your brother had even born, it had been already scripted that the two of you would be the keys to end it. The final great battle the Heaven's would ever fight."
Dean clenches his teeth and nods "So, you want to use me as a weapon?"
"Of sorts, yes." The righteous man clenches his fists at his sides, before his entire body goes lax again "You said I was pretty?"
"I believe I used the term beautiful." Castiel corrects, inching closer to this soul, his soul.
Dean Winchester snorts "You're an angel. Aren't you supposed to be above the lust thing and all of that?" he inquires.
Castiel frowns and tilts his head "It has not to do with lust. I am seeing your soul, Dean Winchester and it is a thing of glory. You are made of love and righteousness and charity an-"
"Charity?" Dean asks surprised, a little disbelieving.
"Yes. Although you humans interpret charity in the wrong way, for it is not the act of giving money or goods. Charity is a theological virtue. The greatest of them all. It is supposed to represent God. Charity is self-sacrifice and will and love. And that, I can assure you, Dean Winchester, you have plenty."
But the righteous man just shakes his head at him, dismissing all that Castiel had just declared and that he knows to be truth.
"No. No, I'm not- That's not me, man. I'm just a dude."
Castiel squints at him.
Humanity is an entrancing thing to watch. All of those complicated emotions and thoughts. It is hard to follow.
"You do not believe me." Castiel concludes, utterly confused as to why this human would not listen to the words of a soldier of God "I can show you, then." Castiel decides, raising two fingers and touching Dean's soul, his conscious. For those are two separate things that can not exist without each other.
So he shows the oldest brother of the Winchester household, the Righteous Man, just how bright his soul his. All the times he had shown charity without even realizing it.
He starts with the most recent event: the crossroads deal this man did to save his brother.
"This isn't right." Dean tells him "I did this because I couldn't live without him. It was selfish."
"No." Castiel denies "It was charity. You sacrificed yourself selflessly for the sake of your brother. It was not his time to leave earth. It shouldn't have been yours either, hadn't demons interfered with both your lives at such a young age."
Castiel changes scenery, going for the lesser things. All the times Dean Winchester had put himself between his intoxicated father and his baby brother, and before that, the times he had consoled his mother. The times that he had loved someone limitless only for that to be ripped from him and above all, the self-sacrifices he had done for his brother during his short life, leaving loves and bowing to people. Becoming a whore and a thief when the need to keep his brother save had been extreme. Protecting the weak without ever asking anything in return.
Dean Winchester is a good man, and Castiel showed him just that, before returning back to that secluded spot in Heaven where he was to keep Dean Winchester and mend him back together.
The man takes a deep shaking breath, had tilting slowly down as he tries to recover from the onslaught of images.
"I just did what needed to be done." He answers, and that. That right there is why Dean Winchester as the power to single handedly make Heaven fall and Hell bend and crawl for him.
"We had a deal, correct?" Castiel asks, fingers itching to touch that soul one more time. Just one more time before he returns it to its flesh and blood and thrusts it down back to earth.
Dean clenches his teeth again - a human habit that seems to have stuck with him – and he nods his assent to Castiel.
The angel reaches one hand over and touches him where he had left his mark before and the oldest Winchester whimpers a little bit, thrusting his arm into Castiel's touch.
In some years Hester will look at Dean Winchester and say 'The very touch of you corrupts' and Castiel will be half-crazed if not completely when that time comes. He pities Hester for thinking that, for the touch of the Righteous Man does not corrupt, it enlightens. It makes you reveal in knowledge and pure bliss. It is everything an angel ever aspired to be.
If it had been up to Castiel, he would show this man to the Host and they would touch and they would bow, for Dean Winchester is the ultimate consort. He would rule all of Heaven with a smile.
As it is, Castiel delves his grace inside Dean's soul and lets the feeling of glory wash over him, searching every corner of this soul for a touch of hell, only finding the bad memories and nothing else.
Dean Winchester is clean and it is with great regret that Castiel pulls his hand away.
"You are clean." He declares "It is time for you to return." And without further warning, he grabs the righteous man and places him back in his body, and then, just because he can't help himself, he delivers a kiss in each cheek and then in his forehead.
It occurs to him that the Heavenly Host might not be in accord with Castiel's interactions with the Righteous Man. They could easily send him to be trained again and that is nothing short of painful, the tugs and prodding at his very grace.
It is with a final decision that he kisses the righteous man once more in the forehead and makes him forget all about him. The angel who saved him.
Castiel thrusts Dean's body into his burying site, the impact of the landing without disturbing the actual grave burning all the trees around it.
The angel's grace burns too bright.
«»
Castiel watches as Dean Winchester claws his way out of his grave and walks out, looking perfect as ever.
He tries to make contact with him, but the older Winchester doesn't seem able to stand his true voice.
It is then that Castiel decides to take a vessel. Jimmy Novak is a good man with a good family that Castiel will protect. At least that is the agreement.
The first time he meets Dean in person the man stabs him in the chest. And Castiel feels torn between congratulating himself in doing a good job and regretting that Dean Winchester forgot him.
Ultimately it doesn't matter. Dean Winchester may be his charge, but his chances of survival are not big.
Castiel is an angel and he should not make attachments.
Castiel will also look back on this moment several times through the years, when he had said "I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition" and he'll laugh at how much a fool he had been. Marking Dean's soul and convincing himself he hadn't been attached. Hester would be right. Once Castiel had laid a hand on Dean Winchester, he had been lost.