Disclaimer: I do not own the legal copyrights to Supernatural. I am not involved or affiliated with the show in any way. This is for fan purposes only and I am not making a profit off of it.
Author's note: Canon divergence from 4.01 "Lazarus Rising." OFC vessel for Castiel (mixed-race, doesn't look a thing like Jimmy Novak because the vessel is of no relation to him), otherwise the same personality as canon. Also note that I'm working off episode transcripts, so there will be slightly altered canon dialog. Which I do not own.
The Angel of the Lord called Castiel hadn't chosen a female vessel before. Castiel was supposed to choose the devout human known as Jimmy Novak, but a human female's prayers got the angel's attention first. She had prayed for deliverance, hoping to find peace for her troubled mind, and Castiel responded by selecting the female to become her—Castiel was now female, the angel guessed—vessel rather than Novak. She'd been summoned by the human Bobby Singer, to answer for what happened to Dean Winchester. The hunter of monsters. A modern-day Lazarus.
A loud rattling shook the roof as Castiel stalked into the warehouse. Her long black hair was tied back into a hasty ponytail, and she wore a trench coat and business suit. It was the sort usually tailored for male humans, Castiel having found the first suit and trench coat she could pick out of the Goodwill donation bins. The two humans, Dean and Bobby, were armed with shotguns, positioning themselves at the far end of the warehouse; the light bulbs above Castiel's head shattered as she passed them.
Bam, butta-butta-butta, bam...Dean and Bobby opened fire at her. Castiel kept walking. She was single-minded with the desire to talk with this human. She noticed Dean take a knife to hand, and just stared at it. Why would this human have a magic knife if Castiel was a summoned angel? She got closer to him.
"Who are you?" Dean asked. He gave her a look of suspicion, Castiel staring back at him, expressionless.
"I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you from perdition," she said.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Thanks for that." He reared back, plunging the magic knife into her chest. Castiel looked at the knife. It didn't hurt; she wasn't even bleeding. She pulled it out, dropping the knife to the floor. She could sense Bobby attacking; she grabbed his weapon, using it to swing him around. Then, the angel touched his forehead, causing him to crumple to the ground. Castiel didn't feel remorse for this, like a human woman would have. All she felt was that this was the Lord's Will, and she would carry it out even with this unintended female vessel.
"We need to talk, Dean. Alone," she snapped.
Dean crouched over Bobby, checking the human's pulse. Castiel didn't understand his concern. It was obvious to anyone who looked that the human lived. She didn't understand humans.
"Your friend's alive."
"Who are you?"
She shrugged. "Castiel."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yeah, I figured that much. I mean what are you? No human woman can pull off what you did."
"I'm an Angel of the Lord."
Dean made a strange eye-movement and groaned. "Get the hell outta here. There's no such thing."
Castiel was taken aback. If he disbelieved in her existence...in the angel standing in front of him...now she knew why the Lord had sent her on this task. She forced out, "That's your problem, Dean. You have no faith." Lightning flashed; large shadowy wings appeared on her back as she spoke. Her eyes burned with the unearthly flame of heaven as she looked down upon him. Judging the human. Soon the light went out, image of Castiel's wings leaving with her.
"Huh. Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman's eyes."
She narrowed her eyes at him. Human facial movements were certainly...interesting to test out. Her fellow angels didn't often make those movements unless they had a human vessel for more often than Castiel. Her other vessels had been male. Stronger. Larger. "I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be...overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already know that."
"You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking," Dean spat. Castiel nodded. She knew he might not understand why she had spoken to him in that manner. Her angelic voice was best described as booming. "Lady, next time, lower the volume."
Castiel cocked her head at him. "That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong."
"And what visage are you in now, huh? What, holy tax accountant with an ill-fitting suit?"
"This..." Castiel pointed to her vessel's chest, which was squishy and she didn't necessarily like being squishy in the chest because she might need to fight, "is a vessel."
"So you possessed some poor chick. Shame. She was such an exotic beauty."
Castiel didn't know what that meant. She knew that her vessel was an incompetent fighter with a squishy chest, and wondered if having a squishy chest meant power in the world of human females. "She's a devout woman. She prayed to be delivered from suffering."
"Well, I'm not buying what you're selling, so who are you really?"
She frowned at the human. "I told you."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Right. And why would an angel rescue me from Hell?"
"Good things do happen, Dean."
He snorted at her. "Not in my experience."
"Why'd you do it?"
Shouldn't that have been obvious to the human? Castiel was an angel. She was, in no way, human or otherwise affected by mannerisms to drive away demons. She had wings; she couldn't remember if demons had wings or not. "Because God commanded it. Because we have work for you to do," she said. Dean just looked at her in surprise, but Castiel strode out of the warehouse, oddly-shaped hips swaying in a manner that she couldn't help but associate with someone who couldn't fight. Truly, this vessel needed combat training. As an Angel of the Lord, Castiel knew how to fight quite well, but she didn't know if her training would hold up in this vessel.
She managed to get back to her vessel's home before another angel in vessel form appeared. Uriel. "Castiel," he said. "Finding you wasn't easy." Castiel nodded to Uriel, whose male vessel eyed her female vessel. She fought the instinct to cross her arms over her squishy chest and state, "Eyes up here!" Her vessel would have done this.
"Uriel. It has been long."
Uriel narrowed his vessel's eyes. "You were supposed to take the human Jimmy Novak as a vessel. Not...some random female."
"My orders were to take a vessel who prayed for deliverance. I was never told which vessel to take."
"Your vessel is less powerful than a male of comparative size and physical ability."
On the behalf of her vessel, Castiel felt the urge to speak up. "I cannot just abandon her."
With an irked sigh, Uriel eyed the vessel again. Castiel shivered despite herself. "You require a vessel with physical power and ability."
Castiel felt a sense of duty to this vessel. Even if the vessel had a squishy chest and irritatingly swaying hips. She did not like the squishing or the swaying, having no idea what their purposes were for a human female. "No. This vessel is my duty."
Uriel shook his head. "I'm disappointed, Castiel. You had your orders, and you didn't follow them."
Castiel was confused. How could she have failed to follow orders? She had been told to manifest in a vessel requiring deliverance, and this squishy, swaying vessel required deliverance. The vessel's female shape confused her, she knew it was female, but the squishy nature of the vessel was awkward for her.
"I followed my orders, Uriel."
"Must you be so literal, Castiel?"
Castiel didn't understand. She'd followed her orders. Shouldn't she be lauded for that rather than criticized? "Uriel, abandoning this vessel involves leaving someone who would be in a worse situation otherwise. She suffers from the human ailment known as post-traumatic stress disorder, and is so far unable to overcome it. As her twin sister died after getting shot at by criminals a month ago, her options are the mental hospital or myself."
Uriel nodded. "Ah. You have chosen the vessel based on her specific needs. Perhaps your choice was correct. I take my leave." His vessel walked off, Castiel nodding at him before she entered her vessel's home. She needed to collect legal forms of identification if she were to travel in this country. Travel used to be much less of a hassle for her before modern times. Her vessels would simply walk around or sail and manage to get where they wished. Humans confused her.
Perhaps learning about her vessel's life before the past month would benefit her.
