Chapter 1 - Guns and Roses
Castiel and Gail were sitting on a bench in the Secret Garden, hand in hand, enjoying the serenity of the place.
When the gates had opened, they had been the only ones to enter, and they were still there alone. They had already walked around to all of the cages to look at the big cats, and when they had gotten to the white tigers, Cas had paused. The two tigers had approached the front of the cage and rubbed the bars with their faces, and Cas had poked his fingers through the bars and stroked their fur, speaking softly to them. Gail heard the low rumble of their purring, and she smiled. "Females, obviously," she quipped.
Cas smiled back at her, continuing to pet the cats. "They're beautiful animals," he remarked with admiration.
Gail agreed. But it was funny how something could be so beautiful and yet so potentially deadly at the same time, she thought.
Cas turned to her and took her hand. "Let's sit for a while," he said.
So they sat on the bench, enjoying the serenity of the morning and the cool breeze that was wafting through the Garden. Neither of them spoke, not wanting to disturb the peace and quiet.
Gail was wishing that things could be like this all the time. Her and Cas, holding hands, just happy to be with each other. It didn't matter to her where they were, or what they were doing, as long as they were together. She turned her head to look at his face. She had looked at that face so many times in the past couple of years, and she would never grow tired of it. Looking at him calmed her. He was as solid as a rock. Always there for her, loving and protecting her.
Cas felt Gail's eyes on him, and he turned to look at her. "What?" he asked her softly.
"Nothing," she said, smiling. "Just thinking about how much I love you."
His face broke into a grin. It was so wonderful to hear her say that. When he had been a Demon, he had forced those words out of her, seeking constant reassurance. But he didn't need that from her any longer. He knew she loved him; she had proved it to him, time and time again, ever since the day they had first met.
"I will never be able to find the right words to tell you how much I love you," Castiel said to her, squeezing her hand gently. "There aren't enough superlatives in the dictionary."
Gail moved closer to him, and he put his arms around her. He kissed her on the mouth, and after a moment, he opened her lips with his tongue. Gail gave him hers, and Cas sighed contentedly. He could just sit here and do this forever.
Gail broke the kiss. "I don't know if we should be doing this in front of the cats," she teased him gently. "They might get jealous. I think your tigers are looking at us."
"Let them look," Cas said, and he kissed her again. His arms tightened around her as the kiss deepened.
"Pardon me." A man's voice, sounding amused.
The couple parted immediately, and Cas's hand went to his pocket, taking out the blade. He rose from the bench, facing the stranger.
The man was frowning now, and he took a couple of steps back, holding up his hands in supplication. "Easy, there," he said to Cas. "I'm not looking for trouble. I just saw the two of you here, enjoying my Garden, and I thought I would say hello. I'm Hermann. My partner and I had this Garden built here in the middle of the Strip so that people would have a quiet place to go in the midst of all the madness."
Cas lowered his blade, but he didn't put it away. This man didn't seem like Lucifer, but he could very well be.
"It is very serene," Gail said from behind Cas. "Thanks for building it. It's our favourite place to come to here." She had remained seated, and she was studying the man's face. She couldn't feel anything sinister coming from this man, but she'd also heard that Lucifer was a master of disguise, and she had also heard that he could be very charming when he wanted to be.
"I didn't mean to disturb your...peace," he said, his lips twitching. Hermann had been observing the couple for a while, and he had been delighted to see the way that the white tigers had reacted to Cas. It reminded Hermann of himself and his partner. They had made it their mission in life to raise money to help protect these beautiful animals. This couple obviously appreciated the creatures, too. And they had certainly been appreciating each other when he had approached them, he thought, smiling inwardly. Hermann didn't have a problem with that. He and his partner often came here when the place was closed to the public, to feed the cats and shower their affection on them. And there may have been a time or three when they had sat on this very same bench afterwards, kissing and canoodling. Love was one of God's most special gifts, in Hermann's opinion, and he had enjoyed watching this couple expressing it.
He eyed the blade in Castiel's hand warily, though. This man's reaction to his greeting had been very strange. He had not said or done anything to threaten them in any way. The man was obviously very protective of the woman. But, why? Then Hermann remembered. This was the woman who had won that huge jackpot yesterday. As a co-owner of the hotel, Hermann had signed off on the publication of her photo for their website. He also knew that she had been attacked later on in the day. She had fortunately been unharmed, but her husband had had to intervene on her behalf. That explained what was happening now.
"I'm not here to steal your money," Hermann told them, smiling. "That's my money you won." He introduced himself to them, offering his hand to Cas to shake. "I'm glad you were there to protect your wife," he told Cas. "I would have felt terrible if anything had happened to her."
Cas regarded the man's hand for a moment. Perhaps he was who he said he was. If he was Lucifer, wouldn't he have attacked them by now?
He slowly returned the blade back to his pocket and shook Hermann's hand. "Thank you," Cas said to him.
"Do you two want to have a unique experience?" Hermann asked, looking at them both. "We missed playtime yesterday, so I came here early to spend a bit of time with our cats. Would you like to see them up close?"
"I'd love to," Gail said, rising from the bench. Cas gave her a look, communicating non-verbally: Be careful. He looked at her hand, but he didn't take it. If something happened, he would need both hands free.
Hermann walked over to the white tigers' cage as they followed. "I saw you with these two earlier," Hermann said to Cas. "They're my favourites. And they seem to have an affinity for you." He took out a key and unlocked the cage, then opened the door. He looked back at them. "You can come in with me, if you want. Don't be afraid; they're very docile."
Gail was conflicted. On the one hand, she'd love to see the big cats up close. But on the other hand, they were huge, and they were still wild animals. Was it a good idea? They were strangers to the animals, after all. Presumably, they knew this guy well, and were comfortable with him.
Castiel was also uneasy now. He was no longer willing to accept this man's explanation of who he was. He was trying to entice them into entering a cage. A cage that held two beasts. That sounded all too familiar to him.
"I think we'll just stay out here," Cas said quietly. He and Gail exchanged glances.
Hermann shrugged. "Suit yourselves." The tigers were approaching him now, and one of them got up on its hind legs, putting its massive paws on Hermann's shoulders. Gail was alarmed. Was it going to attack him?
But the tiger's gesture was apparently one of affection, and Hermann smiled, ruffling the big cat's fur. "You like your hugs, don't you, Ingrid?" he said to the animal. Then he looked down at the other tiger, who was nuzzling his hip. "Now, don't get jealous, Brigitta," he said, patting its head. "It'll be your turn in a minute."
Gail nodded. "I knew they had to be females," she said to Cas, smiling.
He smiled back, relieved. Now he was back to believing that Hermann was who he said he was. Animals were very intuitive; if this man were an impostor, they would have sensed it.
Suddenly, Hermann froze in mid-motion. The cats were still nuzzling him, but he was standing like a statue. Cas was back on alert. "Hermann?" he called out. But the man remained frozen to the spot.
Gail's eyes widened. What the hell?
"I thought we'd have a private conversation," a voice said from behind her. "In fact..."
Lucifer waved his hand again, and Cas froze. He had been in the act of going for his blade again, and his hand was in his inside pocket. But he also looked like a statue now.
Gail whirled around to see a tall man, and a very attractive woman standing behind him.
"Imagine my surprise, seeing the two of you here," Lucifer said to her. "Someone double-crossed me. This is way too early. I was looking for young Kevin."
Oh, God. My God. It was him. And was this Aurielle with him? What was Gail supposed to do now? If she went for the blade she had in her pocket, Lucifer would vapourize her. She tried to send Bobby an urgent message on Angel Radio, but all she got was static.
"Nice try," Lucifer said dryly. "But I've spent enough time with Bobby as it is, thanks. Now I want to spend a bit of quality time with the two of you."
Aurielle moved over to where Castiel stood. She touched his arm with one hand and touched his face with the other. He looked so handsome, as always. She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.
"Hi, Aurielle," Gail said sarcastically. "Did you do that to him? I guess it's the only way you could keep him from throwing up when you touch him."
Aurielle turned to glare at her. "You're the sickening one," she snapped. "And now, as you can see, I'm much more beautiful than you are." She caressed Cas's cheek. "And I'm willing to do anything for him and have him do anything he wants to me."
Gail rolled her eyes. Obviously, Aurielle hadn't been in their hotel room last night. "Do you think that's all there is to our relationship?" she asked Aurielle. "If you do, you're very wrong. We love each other. Cas loves me, not you, and you need to accept that. You'd think you would be getting a clue by now. Hasn't he killed you twice already?"
Lucifer was grinning. What an appropriate place for a cat fight. He was tempted to tell Aurielle to reach into Castiel's pocket and get his blade, and then the two girls could have at it. He could cover them with Jello and sell tickets. Hey, this was Vegas, after all. But it was way too early in the game for any of those types of shenanigans. He had been momentarily thrown when he and Aurielle had arrived to find Castiel and Gail here, not Kevin. No wonder that signal had nearly split his head open.
"Step away from him, Aurielle," Lucifer said, still smiling. "You're hurting Gail's feelings."
Aurielle glared at him for a moment, but then she stepped back obediently.
"That's better," Lucifer said to her, but he was looking at Gail. "She's an obedient little thing," he told Gail. "I get the feeling you wouldn't be nearly so docile. But that's OK. I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it more that way. And from what I recall, so will you."
Gail stared at him. So, this was the Devil. He looked like an ordinary man, but he obviously wasn't. And it wasn't surprising to her that he was disgusting. At least, if he was insinuating what she thought he was insinuating. But what exactly had he meant by what he'd said? "What do you mean, 'from what you recall'?" she asked him in a sharp tone. "What are you babbling about?"
Lucifer's smile turned nasty. That was right; she wouldn't remember their having met before, would she? That was why she had had no discernible reaction when she'd turned around to look at him. He'd forgotten about that, himself. But he needed to get some kind of a reaction.
He waved his hand, and Cas was able to move again. But Lucifer made sure it was only from the waist up. "Lucifer!" Cas exclaimed.
Gail looked at Cas. "How did you know that?" she asked him. "I thought the two of you had never met."
"I'm famous," Lucifer said simply.
"More like notorious," Cas snapped, making Gail smile.
"Laugh it up, Castiel," Lucifer said irritably. "You'll be crying soon enough."
Cas's blood ran cold. He couldn't move his legs, so he couldn't fight Lucifer with the blade he was holding in his hand. The first thing he'd done once he had been able to move was to complete the action of drawing his blade. But now that he had it in his hand, what was he supposed to do with it? He contemplated throwing it at Lucifer's chest. He had successfully killed Demons that way in the past. But he would only get the one shot at it, and if he missed, he would have lost his weapon. Better to hang on to it for now.
He flung his arms out in Lucifer's direction, and a ray of blue shot out from each hand. Cas was pleased. He had been practicing that for a while now. When he and Gail had been separated, Cas had set up targets in his apartment, and soon he'd been able to obliterate the tin cans with ease.
Lucifer smiled. He moved his arms and redirected the blue beams away from him, and they bounced off the cages in the Garden, blasting holes in the bars. Good, Lucifer thought. He hated cages.
"Really, Castiel?" Lucifer said sardonically. "Did you really think that was going to work?"
Gail looked at the holes in the bars, and she looked at Cas in astonishment. Since when could he do that? Now, THAT was a handy power to have in a fight. Apparently, the only thing she could do was clean Lucifer's shirt, if he spilled something on himself. But then, she remembered: she did have a talent that would be very useful in this situation.
"Try that again," she said to Cas. He looked at her, puzzled. Why should he do that, when the element of surprise was gone? Gail nodded encouragingly. He gave a half-shrug, then did it again, with the same result. "Again," she said, and he gave her a strange look, but obliged.
Lucifer was laughing now. "I could do this all day. But you're boring me now, Castiel. For an Original, you're not being very...original," he quipped. "And what about you, Gail?" He stepped forward and stroked her arm with one finger. "Don't you have anything special that you can show me?"
She jerked her arm away in disgust. "As a matter of fact, I do," she said to him. "Have you ever seen feeding time at the zoo?" Gail turned to the cages and flung out her arms. The golden beam of light shot out of her fingers and enveloped the big cats. Most of the cages around where they were standing had gaping holes in the bars now, thanks to Lucifer's deflection of Cas's salvos. The cats were now able to exit their cages, and they rushed out to attack Lucifer and Aurielle.
The white tigers jumped Lucifer from behind, but before they could get their claws and teeth into him, he winked himself back to his hotel room. The instant he did, Castiel's paralysis broke, and he ran towards Aurielle with his blade upraised.
She was down on the ground, and a leopard was clawing at her face. She had been too panicked to realize that she could just vanish from there, too. She screamed as the big cat clawed her again, then she regained her senses and winked herself out from under it.
Castiel's back was turned, so he didn't see the black panther jump on Gail from behind and knock her down. She rolled over immediately, but its strong jaws bit into her stomach, tearing into her flesh. She was too shocked to make a sound. Then it bit her arm, and as she tried to pull her arm out of the cat's mouth, Gail could feel the snap of her arm breaking.
"Cas!" she screamed. He had been talking to the cats, persuading them to go back to their cages. But with all the noise that the beasts had been making, he had been oblivious to what had been going on behind him. Now Cas wheeled around, panicked to hear her scream that way, and he saw the horrifying sight.
He dove onto the panther's back and slit its throat with his blade, then pulled the cat's body off of her and threw it aside. As the corpse landed on the pavement, a puff of black smoke issued from its mouth.
Castiel stared at it, open-mouthed. So that was what had happened. He had been wondering why one of the cats would have attacked her. It had obviously been possessed by a Demon. Well, that was one less Demon on Earth now, anyway. Castiel had killed it so quickly that it hadn't had the chance to leave the cat's body. But a Demon possessing an animal? That was a first, in his experience. And why would a Demon attack her, anyway? Hadn't Crowley advised that he would tell his minions to leave them alone? He'd be having a good little chat with his Brother about that. This Demon had better have gone rogue, or Crowley was going to be the next one with his throat cut.
Cas looked down at Gail, and all he could see was blood. My God. "Gail," he breathed. He started to move his hands over her body, healing what he could. Her clothing was soaked with blood, though, and Cas wasn't sure if what he was doing was even helping her.
Gail was crying, moaning from the pain. Her arm was mangled. There was no way Cas could heal that. He lifted what remained of her top to look at her stomach, and what he saw there was even worse. The animal had torn chunks of flesh from her body. Castiel could heal open wounds, but this? Her torso was like a war zone.
He lifted his head to the sky. "Bobby!" he shouted. "Help us, please!"
Bobby was already there, standing behind Cas. He looked down at Gail, feeling sick to his stomach. "I can't help with that, Cas," he said, frowning. "She's gonna have to go to a hospital."
Cas rose immediately, grabbing Bobby by the shirt front with his bloody hands. "What do you mean, you can't help her? You're God, aren't you? Look at her!" he yelled in Bobby's face.
"God didn't give me all of his abilities," Bobby said, trying to keep his voice calm. "I couldn't bring Sam out of that coma, and I can't replace chunks of flesh! If we want to save her vessel, we've got to get her to a hospital. They know how to fix this sort of thing."
Cas's eyes flashed. "You sent her here. This is your fault."
"Yeah, and you were here with her when this happened," Bobby shot back. "You wanted to be here to protect her, didn't you? So, where were you when she was being made into cat chow?"
Cas punched Bobby in the face.
Gail was struggling to sit up, but it was too painful, and she cried out. Was she hallucinating, or had she just seen Cas punch out God?
"Cas, don't," she groaned loudly. "Please."
Bobby instantly regretted what he'd said. Cas had made him mad, but he should be better than that. In a way, he didn't blame Cas for clocking him one. But poor Gail was laying there in agony, and he and Cas were behaving like asses.
"You take one end, and I'll take the other," Bobby said to Cas. He dropped to his knees by Gail's side, and an instant later, Cas was on his knees on her opposite side. Bobby waved his arm, reanimating Hermann, then he said, "Let's go."
He and Cas winked Gail away, as Hermann shook his head. That had been a weird feeling. He turned back to speak to the couple, but they weren't there. Strange. Had they left? Then he looked around, and his mouth dropped open. There were gaping holes in the bars of all of the cages, but the cats had apparently not even tried to escape. He counted heads. Yes, they all seemed to be here, and they were all docile. Some were napping, and others were stretching and yawning, looking as if they were preparing to do the same.
Then Hermann noticed the black panthers' body, and all the blood on the pavement. My God, what had happened here? Had the man and woman sabotaged the cages and killed the panther? No, he couldn't believe they would do something like that. But then, what had happened here?
Bobby had winked them into a supply closet in the hospital that was closest to the bunker. Cas looked around, surprised.
"I'll go get a gurney," he said to Cas. "Then we'll roll her to the ER ourselves, and nobody will know where we came from."
He exited the room as Cas nodded absently. He was staring at Gail's face.
"I wish I could take your pain away," he told her softly. "I would take it all from you and give it to myself. I'm the one who deserves it. I failed to protect you."
Gail's eyes were half-closed. She was greying in and out of consciousness. Maybe she should just get Cas to do what he'd done last night; knock her unconscious. But she could tell that they had brought her to a hospital, so she figured she'd better just let the doctors do their job. She couldn't tell how bad her torso was, and she was afraid to look. But it must be really bad, if even Bobby couldn't heal it.
"There was nothing you could do, Cas," she told him. "It all happened so fast. And at least you got the thing off me before it could do even more damage. Come here." She motioned with the arm that wasn't broken. Cas leaned down, bringing his face close to hers. She touched his face. "Don't worry, I'm sure they can fix me up here," she told him. Then she winced. "But I hope they have some pretty heavy-duty painkillers."
He took her hand and kissed it gently. Why was it that whenever she was hurt, SHE ended up comforting HIM? And why was it always Gail that ended up getting hurt, anyway? It should be him. He'd gladly cut his own left arm clean off his body if that would mean she would never have to go through anything like this ever again.
"I wonder why it attacked ME, though," Gail said. "Maybe I shouldn't use that power any more. Making animals attack is all very well and good, until they attack you."
"It wasn't an animal," he told her. "It was possessed by a Demon."
"A Demon?" Gail said, surprised. "I wonder if Crowley knows about that."
"Oh, we'll be talking about that," Castiel said grimly. "And he'd better have some satisfactory answers."
"Feel free to punch him, too," Gail quipped. Then her voice turned serious. "You shouldn't have done that, Cas. It was a lousy thing for Bobby to say, but you still shouldn't have done that. You and your temper. It's just like that time you pulled your blade out and slammed it down on the table, for no apparent reason. Save all of that anger for our enemies." Wait, what had she just said? It had just come rushing out of her mouth. But, when had he ever done that? She had no idea where or when something like that would ever have occurred.
Cas was horrified. She should not be remembering that. The incident had occurred at the onset of his Demon phase. Her brother Frank had been annoying him, and Cas had taken out his blade and slapped it down on the kitchen table in the bunker, implying that he would harm Frank with it if he didn't stop. How on Earth could he have done something like that? He still couldn't believe it. It was like a person who gets very drunk and remembers all of the idiotic things they did while in that condition, things that were very contrary to their true nature. Some would say that was Cas's true nature, but they would be wrong. Whenever Cas thought about his behaviour during the time he'd been a Demon, which was often, he didn't even recognize himself. Shame burned within him as he looked down at her bloody clothes. Every time he saw her hurting now, it felt like there was a vise that was pulling tightly over his heart. Not too long ago, Cas had been the one to make her bleed. Was their Father constantly letting her be harmed to make some kind of a point? And if so, exactly what would that point be? Cas didn't need a constant reminder of what he'd been, and what he had done. He still thought about it practically every minute of every day. Cas didn't need to be punished by God; he was doing an extremely effective job of that himself.
"I'm sorry, Gail," he said softly, taking her hand in both of his. "I'm so sorry." A tear squeezed out of his eye and rolled down his cheek.
She misunderstood. "Don't tell me, tell Bobby," she said. Then she passed out.
Lucifer had healed Aurielle as best he could, but she now had ugly, jagged scars on her face, and she was inconsolable. "Look at me," she moaned. "I'm hideous! Can't you do something?"
"I did what I could," Lucifer said tersely. "You need to quit your whining." He was in a foul mood now. That had been a disaster. He had not been able to kill Kevin, Aurielle's face was ruined, and Castiel and Gail had more powers than he'd thought. And now, Gail's body was a mess. He'd continued to watch them after he'd gotten back here, and so Lucifer had seen the black panther attack her. Then he had seen the puff of black smoke, and that had surprised him. Had the attack been Crowley's doing? But Lucifer doubted that very much. He knew that Crowley actually liked Gail, as much as he could like any of that group. It would have made more sense for him to send the Demon after Castiel. But, that wasn't Crowley's style; it more likely had been one of his subjects, who had thought that getting rid of the Angels would be just the thing to ingratiate him with his boss. But now Gail's vessel was bloody and ugly, and she would likely be scarred as well, like Aurielle. Plus, she would need time to heal now. None of the God Squad would be able to heal injuries like that. Lucifer shrugged. Oh, well. He hadn't been planning to defile her so soon, anyway. But, still, his campaign was not exactly off to a rollicking start. And Aurielle was bitching and moaning about a few scars on her face. Maybe she'd like to trade places with Gail for a while. Lucifer could make that happen, if she kept up her complaining. He could wave both hands and inflict so many injuries on Aurielle's body that she would beg for death, if she really wanted.
"How stupid are you?" he asked her, giving her a baleful look.
Aurielle bristled. She'd hated it when Xavier and the other men talked down to her, acting like she wasn't every it as smart as they were. "What do you mean?" she asked him, her teeth gritted.
"I mean, go out and get another vessel then, if you don't like the way you look. There are lots of beautiful women out there," Lucifer said, trying not to lose his patience.
Aurielle did feel a little stupid now. She hadn't thought of that. But she thought she deserved a break on that subject. Prior to their trip to Earth, she'd had the same appearance for hundreds of years. The idea that she could just slip in and out of people, just like trying on a pair of shoes, was still foreign to her.
Then she had a brilliant idea. If she could inhabit anyone she chose, why couldn't she just take over Gail's vessel? Her heart started to race with excitement. Why had she not thought of that before? Then Castiel would do all of the things that he did to Gail to Aurielle, and he would do them eagerly, because he would think she was Gail. Aurielle felt warm all over. This could be the answer to everything. She could live out Gail's existence very happily. Gail had exalted status in Heaven, although Aurielle suspected that was more due to her relationship with Castiel than anything Gail herself had ever done. Gail had many friends, too, something Aurielle had never had. And she had Castiel's love, which was the most important thing. Deep, deep down, Aurielle knew that in spite of all her scheming, Castiel would never genuinely love her. It pained her to admit it, but Aurielle knew that Castiel really did love Gail. He had to. He had been with her all this time, through good times and bad. And Gail loved him back. If Aurielle were Gail, she wouldn't have to playact that part at all. She couldn't wait for Castiel to take her in his arms and look at her with love in his eyes.
Lucifer could see the wheels spinning in Aurielle's head, and he had correctly guessed what she was thinking. He didn't know whether to be amused, or angry. He had to hand it to her, though. She wasn't stupid at all. It had taken her a while, but she had finally come up with a viable plan to get Castiel, in every sense of the term. If Lucifer had been inclined to help her, he would have told her that now would be the optimal time to do it, too. If she were going to pretend to be Gail, she could blame any slip-ups on her memory loss, and no one would bat an eye. But Lucifer was not going to allow it. He wanted Gail to be Gail when she was on her knees in front of him. He would play with her like a shiny new toy, and then, when she was broken, he would discard her. That, in turn, would break Castiel. Maybe they could get a double room in the insane asylum. If each even knew who the other one was at that point, of course.
"I know what you're thinking," Lucifer said to Aurielle. "And I'm not going to allow it. So you can just put that thought right out of your scarred, ugly head."
"How do you know what I was thinking?" Aurielle retorted.
"Never mind, I know," he said firmly. "And you'd better not even try it. I've been good to you up till this point."
"What do you care?" she snapped. Aurielle couldn't believe it. She really needed to do this, and he was telling her she wasn't allowed to? Who the hell did he think he was?
Lucifer leapt off his bed and grabbed her by the throat, pinning her up against the wall. "You'll do as you're told," he said, gritting his teeth. She was wide-eyed with fear now. She had pushed him too far.
He loved seeing the look of fear on her face. It excited him. He grabbed one of her hands and put it on himself, and her eyes grew wider. "If you want to be intact for Castiel, you'd better be very careful with me," he told her. He moved against her hand. "I've done without since the beginning of time. I could split you open like an English muffin. It would be hard for him to enjoy the experience after that, even with his overly generous endowment."
"Close your eyes," he ordered her, and she did so immediately, not wanting to anger him any further. "Pretend I'm your precious Castiel, just for a moment."
Aurielle did, and she began to feel excited, too.
"Go ahead and touch yourself," Lucifer said. "I know you do that when you think of him. You don't have to be ashamed. Guys like that." His grip on her neck eased, and he watched as her hand crept into her pants. Now he was grinning. It was so easy to corrupt those who wanted to be corrupted. He grabbed her other hand and shoved it down his pants. That was the first time he'd ever been touched by a woman there, and it felt good. Her hand was a lot softer than his own. But it was starting to feel a little too good. In another minute, he was going to have to make her stop. He was saving his first time for Gail.
Aurielle was stroking herself now, and she was smiling. Castiel was getting her ready, and she was doing the same to him. They were going to make each other feel so good.
Lucifer hated to do it, but he took her hand off of him. "It's a pity you're so ugly now," he said nastily. "Open your eyes and get your hand out of your pants. You're pathetic, and you're disgusting. Go out and get a decent vessel. I'll give you one more chance, Aurielle. But you'll do everything I say, when I say. And if you talk to me like that again, you'll be extremely sorry. I can make your body look ten times worse than Gail's does right now and give you twice her pain."
Aurielle scurried out of the suite, rubbing her neck with a shaking hand. That had been a close call. She would have to find some hand sanitizer as soon as possible, though. And he had the nerve to call her disgusting. The only way Lucifer could ever get a woman would be to force himself on her. Aurielle was all for what he was planning to do to Gail, but he'd better not ever try that on her. Of course, it was easy to be full of bravado when you didn't have the Devil's hand on your throat.
She went to the Guest Services desk and used so much sanitizer on her hand that the clerk finally had to take the bottle away from her. Then she walked around the casino, searching for a new vessel. She had really liked the one she was in now, but she supposed he had been right about that, anyway. There were a lot of beautiful women here, with beautiful bodies. Besides, the Angels had seen the one she was in now, anyway. When she took Gail, she needed to have the element of surprise on her side. She had been too overt at the Secret Garden. And yes, she still intended to go through with it. It was too good of a plan. Screw Lucifer. Figuratively speaking, of course. But she would have to be very careful about it. She would continue to play the part of Lucifer's slave until Gail had recovered from her attack, and then Aurielle would take her over. And there wouldn't be a damn thing Lucifer could do about it.
Cas was sitting in the chair beside Gail's bed, holding her hand. The doctors had done everything they could for her for the time being, and she was resting as comfortably as they had been able to make her.
"Boyyyy, am I stoned," Gail said to him. "But I'm glad. Nothing says pain like being turned into Fancy Feast."
She was trying to be brave by using humour. Cas knew that the more frightened she got, the more she joked. And Gail had been very scared. If their encounter with Lucifer had been any indication of future encounters with him, they would need to bring a veritable army. He had handled them easily, and she had the feeling that they had only seen the opening act. The only reason they'd gotten off so lightly was that she had had the inspiration to have the big cats attack. Luckily, Lucifer had panicked and disappeared, leaving Aurielle to her own fate. Gail should have figured as much. Lucifer was obviously a selfish coward. But they had been lucky; he could just as easily have stayed, killing all of the cats, and then her and Castiel. But she had the feeling that murder was the last thing that Lucifer had in mind. She hadn't liked what he'd said to her about "enjoying it". He seemed to be under the impression that they had already met, or that he knew her somehow. She had planned on bringing this up with Cas to ask him about it, but he was so traumatized at the moment that she didn't have the heart. He had been crying non-stop from the time Bobby had come back to the closet with the gurney to the time that they had wheeled her in here from the recovery room. They had done some exploratory surgery on her to see if she had any permanent damage to her internal organs, and now she and Cas were waiting for the report. She had asked him quietly before they took her away for the surgery if there would be a problem, seeing as she was an Angel. But he'd said no. Even though she was a celestial being, her human body still retained all of its human properties. That was why, when they were injured, they still bled, and felt pain. So they could operate on her, not knowing what she really was. But he had surreptitiously put his hand on her forehead to knock her unconscious before they had wheeled her away, and he had revived her here. Anesthesia didn't work on Angels.
Bobby had gone to tell the others, and to pull Linda and Kevin from their respective cities. This incident had spooked him, and he didn't want anyone to be out there any more, even though that had been the intent of the whole thing in the first place. It had looked so good,on paper. But just look at poor Gail now. Even though Lucifer hadn't actually done that to her, Bobby didn't have the heart to leave anyone out there as bait any more.
"Would you still love me if I had something the matter with me inside?" Gail asked Cas softly.
He looked at her, startled. Why did she have to say things like that? Yes, he knew that she was talking about the potential for organ damage. But his guilty ears heard her differently. He had certainly had something wrong with him inside, and she had loved him anyway. She had saved him from himself, and he couldn't even save her from one animal.
"Of course I would," he said, kissing her hand. "But if the news is not good, you could always get another vessel."
Maybe it was the painkillers, but Gail was greatly amused by that. "And where exactly does one go to get something like that? Souls 'R' Us? Bed, Bath and Bodies?"
Now he couldn't help but smile. She was so funny. "Not quite," he told her. "But Bobby could make those arrangements, if necessary."
"Wow," Gail said. "What a concept. Maybe I could upgrade, then. Do you have any requests?"
"You're perfect just the way you are," Cas said firmly.
"Are you sure?" she teased. "I could be taller, if you want. Then you wouldn't have to bend down so far to kiss me. And I could finally get things off the high shelves."
"I'll always be glad to reach the high shelves for you," Cas said. "And as far as bending down, I'll gladly bend for you for the rest of my days."
"You're too sweet to be true," Gail said, smiling.
The doctor knocked at the door, then entered the room. "I've got good news and bad news," he told them. "The good news is, there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage to your organs. The bad news is, you'll need several skin graft operations, and the recovery process will be lengthy."
Gail thought about that. OK, not great, but it could have been a lot worse. She thanked him for the report.
"You can go home now," he told her. "You need to heal a bit more before we can perform the first operation. Do you have anyone at home who can help take care of you for a while? It'll be quite painful to move, and once the operations start, the pain will be considerable."
"Don't sugar-coat it, Doctor. Will I be in any pain?" she deadpanned. But she appreciated his honesty. She supposed.
He opened his mouth to speak, looked at her, then closed it again. This was so like Dean that Gail laughed, but despite the medication she was on, it hurt to do that. So she stopped. But that depressed her even more. Gail loved to laugh. It was going to be tough to try not to do that for a while.
"She's a live one, isn't she?" the doctor said to Cas. "I assume you'll be the one taking care of her?"
"Yes, I will," Cas answered automatically.
"Here," the physician said, handing him a bottle of pills. "She can have three a day, but no more than that. They're morphine-based, and they're very strong."
Cas put the bottle in his pocket and shook the doctor's hand, thanking him. Once the doctor left the room, Cas turned back to Gail and said, "Let's get you home. Here, I'll help you."
She had been trying to get out of bed, and he could see her grimacing from the pain that the motion was causing her. And she was essentially one-armed at the moment. Her left arm was in a cast. The doctor had told Cas and Bobby that the broken bone had to heal before they could do any further repair to her arm. Cas had had all too much experience with this type of situation, so he had told the medical staff that he was Gail's husband, and that Bobby was Gail's father. Well, that last one was kind of true. He'd still felt the sense of warmth he always felt when he'd said he was Gail's husband, but he'd also been nearly overcome with worry for her. Now, thankfully, they had received confirmation that she was going to be all right. He didn't care how long the recovery process took; he would be with her every step of the way. And in a way, it was a blessing. Now Bobby wouldn't be able to send her out in the field. She was going to go to the bunker, where she would be safe, under all of its protections.
He rushed over to the bed. "Slow down. Let me help you," he told her. "I know you like to do things yourself, but you'll have to allow me to help you for a while. It means I'll have to be touching you a lot, but sacrifices must be made," he quipped, his lips twitching.
Gail looked at him for a moment, then she burst into laughter. But she clutched her stomach immediately, and her laughter stopped. "Owww," she complained, tears springing to her eyes. "Looks like I'll have to be the only one making jokes for a while."
"I'm sorry, Gail," Cas said quickly. He had only intended to keep her spirits up, not hurt her further. He felt sick inside. Maybe, while she was resting in the bunker, he would have to pray to his Father, and beg Him to stop. Castiel got it now; God was punishing him for everything he had done. But did He have to be so cruel to Gail while He was doing it? She had done nothing wrong; it was Cas who had. He had tortured and killed as a Demon, badly abused Gail, and he had even admitted that a part of him hated God. But these latest incidents weren't exactly helping in that regard. Castiel burned with guilt, but he was also very angry. He was trying not to be, but it was extremely difficult. Look at how much pain she was in now. How could God do that to her?
"It's OK, Cas," Gail told him, settling back on the pillow. "It's not your fault. And I like it when you joke. I don't ever want you to stop doing that. Things are serious enough as it is. We can all benefit from a little levity sometimes."
He had never felt less like joking now. She was always telling him that things weren't his fault, but she was wrong. Everything that had happened to her was his fault. Everything.
"Let's get you dressed," he said lightly, trying not to show how he was feeling inside.
"Too bad it wasn't the opposite," she teased. "I guess it'll be a while for that now, too." Great. Now she couldn't have a laugh, and they couldn't...Two of her favourite things, out the window. She would have to take up a hobby, or something.
"Making it all that much sweeter, when we can," Cas said casually. He had opened her suitcase and was picking out some clothes for her to wear. When she'd been in the operating room, he had popped back to Las Vegas to get their things. His bag, and the bag with the books, were already in their room at the bunker. He brought her clothes over to the bed. "Lucky your lips weren't injured," he said to her, taking the bedsheets off of her. "As mine will be on them, quite often."
Gail smiled. God, he was adorable. He was dressing her like she was a child now, and she was letting him. In a strange way, this was almost as sexy as having him undress her. He was so gentle, and his touch was so loving.
"Put your arms around my neck," he said to her. She did, and he lifted her off the bed.
"I'll come back here to get your suitcase in a minute, and to pay the bill," Cas told her. "But I want to get you to the bunker and get you settled in first. Sam's got the bed all made up, and he'll make sure you have everything you need. I'll be back there as quickly as I can."
Gail thought about that. She was in pain, but she was not an invalid, and she had no intention of just lolling around in bed all day while everyone else was doing their duty. She'd have to talk to Sam. Maybe he could give her something useful to do. She'd have to use her mind to help, if she couldn't use her body at the moment. But she said nothing for now. Cas was obviously feeling guilty about not being able to save her from having been attacked, and he was treating her as if she were a thin sheet of glass, liable to shatter at any moment. But he should know better. Lucifer and Aurielle had pissed her off, and now she was even more motivated to help take them down.
Cas winked them into the bedroom at the bunker, where Sam was waiting with a look of extreme concern on his face. "How is she, Cas?" he asked, as Cas laid Gail down on the bed, pulling the covers over her.
"Why don't you try asking ME that?" Gail said, a little irritably.
Sam grinned. She must not be too bad, then. "I'm sorry, Gail," he said to her. "How are you?"
"How the hell should I know? Ask Cas," she said, with a wicked smile on her face. Sam looked puzzled, and her smile grew. "Sorry," she said, shrugging. "Couldn't resist, didn't try."
Sam shook his head slowly. "How many painkillers do they have you on?" he quipped.
"Not enough, clearly," Gail said, wincing again. She had been trying to rearrange the pillows behind her, and her stomach was letting her know that that wasn't a good idea. It was amazing; you never really realized how much your stomach actually came into play whenever you moved, Gail thought. Life was certainly going to be challenging for a while.
"That reminds me," Cas said. He took the pill bottle out of his pocket and handed it to Sam. "She's only allowed three a day. We'll have to communicate, to make sure we're not duplicating."
Sam was faintly amused. An Angel, taking pills. But he supposed it only made sense, in a way. Their bodies may only be vessels, but once they were in them, their bodies were bound by all the physical laws that humans experienced. Well, most of them, anyway. At least he wouldn't have to bring her a bedpan, he thought with some amusement.
"Oh, you brought the pictures," Gail said. "That was really considerate. Now I'll have something gorgeous to look at while I'm resting."
Cas turned to look at her. What was she talking about? Then he looked where she was looking, at the wall where the framed photos of the Supernatural actors were hanging. Damn. He had forgotten they were here. She had hung them up in this room when she and Cas had lived apart, and they were still here now. He smiled weakly as Sam said, "I told Jody that was probably how they got here," he said to Cas. "When did you have a chance to do that, though? They were already here when Jody slept here." Jody had graciously offered to move to another room when Bobby had told them that he was sending Gail here to recuperate. It had been Gail's room first, after all, and Jody thought that being able to look at the pictures might cheer Gail up. She and Becky were hanging back in the library area right now, not wanting to overwhelm Gail with too many visitors all at once. Linda and Kevin were there, too. Bobby had brought them back here, and he was going for Dean and his group now. This operation had been a real bust. They all needed to have a meeting, to decide where they went from here. And the guys would want to see Gail, too. Frank must be freaking out right now. The Angels could have winked them back to the bunker already, but Bobby wanted to give her a few minutes to get settled first, before everybody rushed her all at once. He felt responsible for what had happened to her. Bobby didn't blame Cas one bit, despite what he'd said before. The buck stopped with him, and he had no idea what he'd been thinking, sending her out there alone. Lucky Cas had done the expected thing, which was to do the opposite of what he'd been supposed to be doing. Bobby had figured that he would. But even though Cas had arrived in time to help defend her from the would-be robbers, he had not been able to stop what had happened this morning. Bobby was also starting to wonder if God was sending them a message here, but he had no idea what that message could possibly be.
"A while back," Cas answered Sam vaguely. He went back to Gail's bedside. "I'll be back in just a couple of minutes," he told her, taking her hand. "If you need anything, anything at all, just ask Sam. Bobby's going to get everyone now. We're all going to have a strategy meeting."
Gail nodded. Good. She was sure she'd be able to contribute something there. And she was looking forward to seeing everyone again, safe and sound. She and Cas could tell them all what they had observed, and she could warn the guys about the attack she had suffered. Even if Crowley hadn't ordered the attack, other Demons might go rogue, too.
Cas leaned down and kissed her gently on the forehead, then briefly on the lips. Then he winked out, eager to get his errands done so he could come back to her.
Gail looked at Sam. "Sorry to be such an imposition," she said to him. "But don't worry, I won't be staying in bed for long. We'll have to get me a wheelchair, or something. I'm not going to just lay in bed all day like some kind of a princess."
Sam smiled. "First of all, you're not an imposition. But I don't know how Cas will react if you try to get out of that bed."
She shrugged. "He's just going to have to deal with it. Besides, he probably won't be here that much. There's no way Bobby's going to let him just hang around here being my nurse all day. Those guys are still out there, and Cas is the leader of our group. All due respect to Dean," she added, smiling.
Sam smiled absently. She was right. There was no way. Cas would be pissed off, but he would have no choice in the matter.
"I'll take care of you in his absence," Sam said, looking fondly at Gail. "Now I'm glad he kept me here. I wanted to be out there, fighting with you guys. But I'll suck it up to make sure you get back on your feet as soon as possible."
"Thanks, Sam," she said.
"When did you have your last pill?" he asked her.
"How the hell should I know?" she replied. "I've been out of it. You know, for an Angel, I've been way too unconscious way too often lately."
"I'd better ask Cas when he gets back, then," Sam said. "We don't want you to turn into a drug addict," he teased.
"The only thing I'm addicted to just left this room," she quipped. But it felt strange being in this particular room right now. Those weird images were flashing in her head again. Squiggly lines on the floor beneath the bed. Cas, with blood on his mouth, looking at her. Man, those pills must be strong.
"I'll just put these in the medicine cabinet, then," Sam said, turning to leave the room. Then he turned back. "Is it OK if I tell Jody and Becky they can come in? They've been wanting to see you, too. And Kevin and Linda just got here."
"Sure, Sam," Gail said. "I'd like to see them. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone when they all get back."
"I'll have to ask Bobby to conjure you up a wheelchair, then," Sam said. "That's if Cas lets you get out of bed, of course."
"Yeah, right," she scoffed. "Like that's gonna stop me."
Sam laughed, and left the room. He went to the library to tell Jody and Becky it was OK to go in and see her, and then he went back down the hall to the bathroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and put the pill bottle on the shelf next to the electric shaver. He ran his hand over his face, but decided it was OK for now. He'd been about to shave after his shower this morning but had been interrupted when Jody had taken the call from Bobby, and Becky had come running down the hall, screaming his name.
Sam remembered the day Dean had come home with two electric shavers. He had swept all the razors into the trash can and tied up the bag. "No more of these, Sammy. Ever," he'd told his brother, and he had stalked out of the room with the bag in his hand. Sam had stared after him, bemused. What had that been all about? He'd been trying to get Dean to switch to electric for years, but Dean had always complained that they didn't give him a close enough shave. Now, suddenly, the razors were banished. His older brother was sure weird sometimes.
Now he was hearing Dean's voice down the hall, and other voices, too. They were obviously all back now, and they were swapping stories.
Sam went back to Gail's room to tell her to hang on while Bobby got her a wheelchair, but Cas was already there, and he was putting her in one. "I liberated it from the hospital," he told Sam. "But it's OK. I added more money to the bill I paid for the rental, and I'll take it back when she doesn't need it anymore."
"Where are Jody and Becky?" Sam asked.
"He chased them out," Gail said. She was smiling up at Cas. "Then he said he wanted me to rest, and then I read him the Riot Act, and then he put me in this wheelchair."
Cas gave her a sheepish smile. He'd had to try. But he knew she wouldn't be able to stay in bed with all the others here, about to have a meeting. And it was better for him to do it than for her to try to do it herself. She probably would, too. But it was a lot easier on her for him to do it.
He wheeled her into the library area, and Gail's face broke into a wide smile as she saw everyone, safe and sound. What a wonderful sight to see. Everyone she loved, gathered in the same room. Their conversation was lively and animated, filled with smiles and laughter.
"Hi, guys," she said, and everyone stopped talking immediately. Frank rushed over to her. "How are you doing, kiddo?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Not so great, but I'll be OK," she replied. "I'm glad you guys are all OK, though. Especially since it was a Demon who attacked me."
Frank frowned. "We should have just killed all those bastards."
"Thank you for not doing that." Crowley's voice. They all turned around. The King of Hell was standing next to Bobby at the other end of the library table.
"What's HE doing here?" Frank said angrily.
"He wanted to see Gail," Bobby answered, "so I momentarily lifted the protections, and then I had Dean invite him in."
Dean gave Frank a sheepish shrug. He walked over to Gail and Frank stepped aside, glaring at him. Dean ignored him for the moment and looked at Gail, chucking her under the chin. "It's good to see you," he told her.
"Believe it or not, I came here to apologize, and to make sure you were all right," Crowley said to Gail.
She looked at him, open-mouthed. He was actually sincere. This had to be a first.
Crowley smiled at her expression. He really shouldn't do this, but the temptation was just too great, and he had never been one to pass up temptation. "What's the matter, sweetheart?" he asked her. "Cat got your tongue?"
Cas rushed forward, and Sam and Dean barely had time to grab him. Frank took a step forward too, glaring at Crowley. Why were they restraining Cas? He'd pay to see Cas take a strip off that smug little bastard.
"Do you think that's funny?" Cas shouted at Crowley. "You have about five seconds to convince me that you weren't behind what happened to her!"
"That's just it; I wasn't," Crowley replied. His heart had stopped there for a moment. Thank God for Moose and Squirrel, he thought with only a little irony. Castiel had that murderous look again. He probably shouldn't have said that. But it had been funny. Maybe just a little too soon, though.
Crowley still had that smirk on his face, and Castiel was enraged. He was struggling to break free from the brothers' grip on him. He didn't want to hurt them, but he might have to if they didn't let him go. Crowley needed to have that smile wiped right off his face.
Cas flung his arms in Crowley's direction, and the blue beams shot out of his fingertips, just like in the Secret Garden. Crowley's eyebrows raised, and he snapped his fingers, dissipating the beams of light before they could reach him.
"Very impressive, Castiel," Crowley said. "We've learned something new, I see. Keep that in your hip pocket. It'll come in handy one day, when you're fighting one of our mutual enemies."
Cas was fuming. What good was this new skill of his, if his enemies could defeat it that easily?
"Keep at it," Crowley told him. He looked at Gail. "'You have to really mean it'. Am I right?"
She smiled in spite of herself. He was quoting from the book and movie series about the boy wizard. Yes, he had an English accent, but who would have ever imagined? But Cas hadn't gotten that far in the series and he had not yet seen the movies, so he wouldn't get the reference.
Castiel was definitely not smiling, though. "Oh, but I DO mean it," he said quietly. "If I ever find out you were behind this, I'll send you to the Netherworld myself. But it won't be quick, and I can assure you, it won't be painless."
"I already told you, I wasn't behind it," Crowley said. He hadn't really expected Castiel to believe him, but he hoped Gail did. He did feel badly about what had happened to her. Why couldn't it have happened to Castiel instead? Then he'd be throwing a party in Hell, instead of standing here, being subjected to this. "I came here to apologize," he told Castiel. "To HER," he said pointedly. He looked at Gail again. "My employee acted on his own. I would have disciplined him, had your boyfriend not already taken care of that."
Gail believed him. "Thanks for that," she said to Crowley, and he dipped his head in acknowledgement.
"That's all I came here to say," he said. "And now, I believe I'll leave, before Mad Dog Mulligan here tries something we'd both regret," he added dryly.
"I wouldn't regret it at all," Castiel snarled.
"Control yourself, Castiel," Crowley said to him. "Remember who your real enemies are." Then he nodded to Bobby, who winked him out of the bunker.
"Well, that was fun," Chuck said in a shaky voice.
That broke the tension in the room, and Sam and Dean let go of Cas, shaking out their arms. His struggles had been fierce, and it had taken a lot out of them to restrain him. A part of them regretted having done it, though.
Cas glared at the brothers momentarily, then he went to Gail and knelt down beside her wheelchair. "I'm sorry he said that to you," he said to her in a soft voice. "Someone needs to shut his mouth, once and for all."
She touched his face. "Well, as much as I would enjoy that, it's not going to be you," she told him. "I hate to admit it, but he's right. We need to concentrate on Lucifer right now. And Aurielle, and Metatron. Besides, I believe him."
Frank laughed derisively. "Really? Because he's so trustworthy?" he said to her. "Next time you want to shut that big mouth of his, I'll back you, Cas," he added, clapping Cas on the shoulder. Cas was the only one of these guys who was thinking straight, in Frank's opinion. Yes, he knew they had other fish to fry, but a dead King of Hell would be a damn good start.
"Right. And Crowley would wipe the floor with you," Gail said, looking up at her brother. "You getting killed isn't going to make me heal any faster."
"She's right, Frank," Cas said, glancing up at Gail's brother. "You leave him to me."
Gail shook her head. She knew about the animosity between Crowley and Castiel, of course. It went all the way back to Creation. She had no particular love for Crowley, either, but she'd had enough of confrontation for one day.
She brought Cas's face to hers with her hands and kissed him softly. "Let's sit down with our friends," she said to him, and he smiled. Her gesture had calmed him for the time being. He guessed he believed Crowley too, but that didn't mean he was going to just let it go, either. His Brother's day of reckoning would come. But for now, they had to come up with some sort of strategy to take care of Lucifer. He was currently the worst threat out there.
Castiel kissed Gail's hands, then stood and wheeled her over to the table. He pulled out her customary chair for her, then started to push the wheelchair towards the table.
"I want to sit in my chair," Gail told him. She started to rise from the wheelchair, and he put his arms around her to help her get out of it. Gail stood at the table for a moment, looking at everyone. "Go ahead and sit, guys. I'll be just a second," she said. Wow. Even standing up for a moment had really hurt. But she wasn't going to sit in that wheelchair any longer than she had to. No Demon was going to dictate where and how she sat. She wanted to be in her usual chair, sitting beside Cas and holding his hand, like always. The way it had always been, and the way it should always be.
He pulled her chair in behind her, and she sank into it gratefully. The others were taking their seats now. Frank pulled out the chair to the right of her, but he didn't sit in it. He crossed around behind Gail's chair and tapped Cas on the shoulder. "Hey," he said to Cas.
"Yes, Frank?" Cas asked curiously.
"I just wanted to thank you for always taking care of her," Frank said, putting out his hand for Cas to shake.
A lump formed in Cas's throat, and he looked down at Frank's hand. Then he shook it, giving Frank a weak smile. He appreciated what Gail's brother was saying to him, but Cas hadn't taken care of her. He had let her down, again. And the secret was steadily gnawing away at him. Frank was so nice to him now, and so was Sam. How could he admit the truth now? It would be the honourable thing to do, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Now he hoped that none of them ever found out. What was he supposed to do with his guilt, though? It was eating him alive.
"So, anybody got any ideas as to where we go from here?" Bobby said, as Cas and Frank took their seats on either side of Gail. Cas took her hand automatically, but he was looking at Bobby. He didn't think he could stand to look at her right now. She would see it in his face.
"What does he look like?" Linda piped up, looking at Cas and Gail.
"Who?" Cas asked reflexively. His mind was still elsewhere.
"Santa Claus," Linda said, rolling her eyes. "Lucifer! The Devil!"
"Like an ordinary man," Cas said simply.
"Thanks, Cas. That was very informative," Chuck said sardonically.
Cas glared at him. "What do you want me to say?" he snapped. "He looks the same as he's always looked."
"How would you know that?" Gail asked him. "You seemed to recognize him, back in the Secret Garden. But you two had never met, before today. At least, that's what you told me."
Cas looked at her helplessly. He didn't know how to respond to that. He certainly couldn't tell her the truth. "All I meant was, he looked the way I expected him to look. I've been hearing about him all my life."
Gail's brow wrinkled. Did that even make sense? But this was Cas, and Cas never lied. "Oh," she said. "Okay."
Dean almost rolled his eyes. That had been pretty lame. Cas had better get his act together. Gail wasn't an idiot. "Okay, so he looks like an ordinary guy," he said, trying to redirect the focus. "How about Aurielle?"
"She was gorgeous," Gail said wryly. "And you should have seen the outfit she almost had on."
"She'll look different the next time," Cas told them. "And so will Lucifer. They'd be fools to stay in the same vessels, now that we've seen them."
Great, Dean thought. "So we're back to Square One now," he said disgustedly.
"Apparently," Bobby said tersely. He was beyond frustrated. He looked at Sam. "I don't suppose you've been able to come up with anything?"
"Nothing," Sam said, frowning. "There's nothing in the lore that's even remotely helpful. He must have been laying low before today. There hasn't been anything in the news or on the Internet to even suggest the onset of Armageddon."
"So what's he waiting for?" Ethan said. There was something hinky going on here, in his opinion. His cop instincts were kicking in now, and they told him that Lucifer had been planning something this whole time. The Devil was sly; sneaky. He wasn't going to climb up a tower and start shooting, and he wasn't going to fly planes into buildings. His campaign would be a lot more subtle and insidious than that. In fact, Ethan had been surprised that Lucifer had shown up to where Cas and Gail had been, to face them directly. That didn't seem like his style, at least not so soon after his escape. Any time a long-term prisoner escaped, his first instinct was always to savour his freedom. Have a steak and a drink, get a girl. Revenge was frequently on the list, but a little further down.
Ethan looked at Bobby. "I thought the plan was to deploy the Angels in separate cities," he said.
"Yeah, it was," Bobby replied. "What about it?" His tone was irritable, but he couldn't help it. Crowley had seemed genuinely sorry about Gail, and he had persuaded Bobby to let him come and apologize to her in person. But then the little smartass had to go and rile Cas up by making that comment. Then again, Bobby hadn't really been any better, when he'd said what he'd said to Cas in the heat of anger earlier. He should have let Cas pop Crowley one. Then at least Bobby wouldn't be the only one with a sore jaw right now.
"Then, what was Cas doing there with Gail?" Ethan persisted.
That was right, Gail thought. She had been attacked by the human would-be robbers after she had talked to Dean. Ethan's group would have been out of the loop on that development. She told them about that incident now, advising that Cas had come to Vegas to be there with her and protect her after that.
Frank was angry. His sister had been attacked twice in two days? He glared at Bobby.
"I see you, Frank," Bobby told him, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "Those guys were humans. Stuff happens. But as soon as that happened, Cas was there for her, and he stayed there with her from then on."
Frank sat back in his chair, frowning. "Yet here she is, basically hamburger meat," he fumed.
That got Cas like a stab to the heart. Frank wasn't wrong, but it hurt like hell to hear him say that.
But Bobby was lost in thought now. "Gail wasn't originally supposed to go to Las Vegas, though," he said slowly.
Cas looked at him sharply. "What? What do you mean?"
Bobby sighed. "Look, I know you all thought I was being a dick to send her there. But I had my reasons for switching her and Kevin."
"So Kevin was originally supposed to go to Vegas?" Dean said incredulously. "And what do you mean, 'supposed to go'? Aren't you the one who's making the decisions here?"
Bobby sighed. He told them about his meeting with Matthew, and his subsequent decision to switch the two.
"Well, that proves that there's something fishy going on," Chuck said. "Lucifer just suddenly shows up out of the blue to get Cas and Gail? Obviously, Matthew told him!"
"But Matthew would have thought it was Kevin in Las Vegas," Sam argued. "Bobby switched them up on his own. So Lucifer wouldn't have known it was Cas and Gail who were there."
Cas was shaking his head. "None of that makes any sense," he said. "I've known Matthew for years. I've played chess with him. Why would he be in league with Lucifer?"
"Maybe you don't know him as well as you think you do," Ethan said.
Castiel thought about that. He knew that people were not always what they seemed, and Angels were obviously no exception. But, Matthew was one of the authors of the Gospels. It was unthinkable.
Bobby was frowning. "I think a little chat with our friend Matthew might be in order. Why don't you come with me, Cas?" he said. "Maybe that temper of yours could come in handy."
Cas almost smiled. If Matthew was working against them, Cas and his blade would find out. He needed an outlet for his anger over what had happened to Gail and confronting a possible traitor to Heaven could be just the thing. "I'd be happy to," he told Bobby with a cold smile.
Gail shuddered inwardly. She wouldn't like to be Matthew, if he was a traitor. But, she wondered the same thing. Why would an exalted Angel like that be working with Lucifer? "How well do you know him?" she asked Cas.
"Well enough, or so I thought," Castiel told her. "He's had one of the honour suites in Heaven for untold centuries, practically since the dawn of Creation. I used to visit him a fair amount. We would play chess and have long conversations. That's why I can't believe he would do something like that. Surely in all that time, I would have been able to tell."
"People can fool you sometimes," Chuck pointed out. "Look at how I used to be." He kind of hated to remind everybody of that, but he felt bad for Cas. Chuck could see that what had happened to Gail was eating Cas alive. And now, if it turned out that Matthew was an agent of Lucifer's, Cas would be blaming himself for that, too.
"What about the other guys?" Dean asked suddenly.
"What other guys?" Cas said to him.
"The other guys who wrote the Gospels," Dean answered. "Mark, Luke, and John." Here they were, talking about the Bible again. For a book that was supposedly largely fictional, a lot of stuff that was written in there was turning out to be real. Maybe he'd better thake a peek at the Commandments again, see how many of them he was currently breaking. You know, just to be on the safe side.
Cas frowned again. "John turned against us. He went to Crowley and served as his assistant for a number of years. He's dead now. Rowena killed him."
Gail's mouth dropped open. "John? Was that the guy who was injecting me when Crowley was holding me there?"
"Yes," Castiel said tersely.
"I'm glad he's dead, then," Gail said viciously. A writer of the Gospels, working for the King of Hell. It was enough to make you sick. Maybe Matthew WAS evil, after all.
"Luke and Mark both vanished after that," Castiel told the group. "No one knows what became of them. I never made the acquaintance of either one of them when they were in Heaven."
"Great," Dean said sarcastically. "So we've got one dead Demon, one possible mole in Heaven, and two more guys who could be anywhere, who may or may not be working for Lucifer. Fantastic."
Bobby had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes. Like things weren't screwed up enough. He stood up. "OK, let's go, Cas. Everybody stay here until we get back. Hopefully, we'll have a lot more information then."
"Oh, we will," Cas said. His blood was starting to boil. When he was done with Matthew, they would know his deepest, darkest secrets. Cas would make sure of it. He turned to Gail. "I'll see you soon," he told her. "You'll have lots of people here to take care of you in the meantime." He looked at Frank, and at Sam and Dean. "Don't let her overdo it," he said sternly.
Sam smirked. "Okay, Dad."
Cas's lips twitched. But he didn't want to feel amused now; he wanted to hang onto his anger, so that he could interrogate Matthew properly. But he did lean down and kiss Gail on the forehead. "I love you," he said softly.
She smiled. It was amazing how he could be so tender with her and yet so fierce with their enemies at the same time. He kind of reminded her of the big cats in the Secret Garden. And he was just as mysterious, too. Imagine him visiting with one of the actual writers of the Gospels. What had they talked about? She could visualize him sitting there studying the chess board, figuring out his next move. Cas was a lot smarter, a lot more cerebral than anyone seemed to give him credit for. She herself had never had the patience for chess, but maybe she should ask him to play it with her sometime. She smiled to herself. He was likely really good at it, though. Maybe she would have to blow him kisses across the board to distract him, or something.
Castiel walked over to where Bobby stood, and they winked out of the bunker.
"Boy, I wouldn't want to be Matthew right now," Chuck quipped, and they all laughed.
"Anybody want a drink?" Dean asked. Frank and Jody raised their hands, and so did Kevin, prompting them all to laugh again. Even Linda smiled. But Kevin was only half joking. He'd been terrified to realize how close he had come to facing Lucifer alone. He had no way of knowing how close he had actually come, of course. He had already forgotten about the students he had followed to the hotel, and he hadn't bothered to mention it to anyone. He had been intending to tell Bobby, but when Kevin had heard the shocking news about Gail, the strange incident had fallen by the wayside.
Chuck came around the table to sit in the seat that Cas had just vacated. "Are you going to be OK, Gail?" he asked her. She looked pale, and now that Cas had gone, the pain was evident on her face.
"Yeah," she told him, but she was gritting her teeth. "I may have to ask Sam for another pill, though."
"That's it," Sam said, frowning at her. "You're going back to your room, right now. I'll bring you another pill once we get you settled."
She tried to protest. Everyone had just gotten here, and she hadn't had the chance to hear any stories yet. But there was no help to be had anywhere.
"I know you're trying to be brave for Cas," Chuck said to her. "But how do you think he would feel if he came back and found you slumped over the table, gasping in pain? And how do you think I would feel?"
"You?" she asked him, puzzled.
"Yes, me!" he said with a smile. "I'd rather face Lucifer than an angry Cas, if he finds out we didn't make you get some rest. And I'm a coward, as you well know."
"Don't make me laugh, Chuck, it hurts too much," Gail said to him, grinning widely.
He kissed her on the forehead. "Maybe don't tell him I did that, either," Chuck said, but he was smiling, too. "I'm just so damn glad you're OK, Gail," he said fervently.
She was touched. "Thanks, Chuck. Me too," she said in a small voice. Then she looked up at Sam. "OK, Sam. I think I do need a rest, actually."
Frank had stood from his chair too, and he looked across Gail at Chuck, giving him the thumbs-up. Chuck had known just the right thing to say to her; he had invoked the magic word: Cas. Frank would have just picked her up and carried her to bed, kicking and screaming. But it was obvious that her sun and her moon rose with Cas, and Frank didn't really mind that. Cas was a quality guy, and from what Frank could see, Gail was his number-one priority. And that was the best you could hope for, for your little sister.
Chuck brought the wheelchair over to the table, and Frank lifted Gail from her chair and put her in the wheelchair.
"Goodnight, everybody," Gail said, and Sam wheeled her out of the room, with Frank trailing closely behind. When they got to her room, Frank lifted her out of the wheelchair and laid her on the bed, then pulled the covers over her. Sam took the wheelchair from the bedside and folded it up, putting it by the door. "I'll go get your pill," he said, and left the room.
Frank sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed Gail's hair back off her forehead. "This reminds me of when I used to tuck you in, when you were just a kid," he said softly. "Remember?"
"Of course I do," Gail responded. "Then I would go right to sleep, and when I woke up, you would be there." Even at that age, she had known that he went out Hunting sometimes, but Gail also knew that he would always be there in the morning when she woke up. She sighed. "I wish I could go to sleep right now."
Frank pulled the covers around her, tucking her snugly in like he had all those years ago. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "I wish you could too, kiddo."
"I love you, Frank," she told him. "I don't say that enough."
"Well, maybe if we could be in the same place for more than ten minutes, we could say it more," he said, smiling. "But I'm glad you've got Cas. If you have to be with any guy, I'm happy that it's him."
Tears sprang to her eyes. "Thanks, Frank. It means a lot to me to hear you say that," she said. She sniffled, then smiled at her brother. "I'll tell you what. When this whole thing is over, we'll have you over for dinner, and you guys can get to know each other better. I know we haven't spent very much time together, and I'm sorry about that. That's what you get when you hang around with Angels, I guess."
"Well, with you two, anyway," he teased her. "Who knew that you would grow up to be such a troublemaker?"
"Hey, I don't go looking for trouble, it comes looking for me," Gail pointed out, and Frank nodded. He supposed she was right about that.
Just then, Sam came into the room. He'd actually been waiting out in the hallway, but he had wanted to give them a moment. They'd hardly even seen each other since Cas and Gail had gotten out of their last mess at the cabin.
He handed the pill and the glass of water to Frank, who thanked him. Frank turned back to Gail. "Incoming," he said, moving the pill towards her mouth.
Gail rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, Frank. I'm a grown woman. I'll smack that pill right out of your hand."
Frank smiled. "That's the sister I know and love," he said. "Here you go, then." He handed her the pill, and he put the glass of water on the nightstand. Then he kissed her on the forehead. "See you in the morning." Frank rose from the bed and grinned at Sam. "She's gonna be OK."
Frank left the room, and Sam looked down at Gail. "Sam?" she said.
"Yeah?" he responded.
"Can you give me a hand here? I only have one arm, you know," she said to him.
He grinned. Gail. She was one of a kind. He sat down on the bed and took the pill from her hand, putting it in her mouth. Then he picked up the glass of water and put it to her lips. She grabbed it and drank from it, washing the pill down.
"Thanks, Sam," she said, giving him back the glass. "I just had to give Frank a hard time. He was getting a little mushy there."
Sam was still smiling. "I hear you. And, speaking of which, I'll let Cas know you're here when he gets back."
"OK, Sam." She closed her eyes. "I'll be awake, of course. But hopefully, I'll be very stoned."
"Goodnight, Gail," he said softly, and he rose from the bed. He paused at the door, debating. Then he turned off the light and closed the door behind him.
Castiel and Bobby stood outside the door to Matthew's suite. They had agreed on a plan before they got there; Bobby would be the "good cop", and if necessary, Castiel would be the "bad cop". Cas didn't have a problem with that. If it turned out that Matthew had sent Lucifer after them, his old friend would find out that Castiel could be a very bad cop, indeed.
Bobby knocked on the door, and the two Angels waited. Although they both strongly suspected now that Matthew had betrayed them, they still had no concrete proof, and Matthew was an exalted member of Heaven. So they would grant him the courtesy of asking him for an explanation, first. But if he could not provide them with satisfactory answers, Bobby had given Cas the green light to be as intimidating as he needed to be.
But Matthew did not answer the door. Bobby knocked louder. Still no answer. Bobby and Cas exchanged glances, and Cas moved back a few steps as Bobby extended his arm, blasting the door open.
They rushed into the apartment and saw Matthew, laying on the floor. His throat and wrists were slashed, and there was a note pinned with an Angel blade to his chest, written in what looked like blood. Bobby walked closer, looking down at the note. "'Forgive me, Father'," he read aloud.
Cas stood behind Bobby, looking down at Matthew's bloody vessel. He was stunned. My God. How could he have been so stupid?
He turned to look at the table. The chess set was still there, as it had always been. He had spent so many nights here, playing this game and conversing with Matthew. Castiel had been lonely and out of sorts before being designated to rescue Dean Winchester from Hell. He'd been a misfit in Heaven; scorned by his peers, neglected by God, and deemed unapproachable by junior Angels. Matthew had befriended him, and Castiel had been grateful for his company.
Cas walked over to the table and swept the chess set off of it with both arms. "Traitor!" he yelled. He stood there, breathing heavily, his pulse pounding in his ears.
Bobby gave Cas a minute to try to calm down, then he said, "Well, I guess we have our answer."
Cas turned around. "Yes, but we haven't been able to get any information, have we?" he said quietly.
Bobby let out a frustrated breath. "Let's search the place," he said. "Maybe we'll get lucky."
Cas laughed shortly. "When have we ever gotten lucky, Bobby?" he said bitterly.
But Bobby had nothing to say about that, mainly because Cas was right.
It was late when Cas finally got back to the bunker. His human friends had gone to bed, and the Angels were all sitting morosely around the table.
Chuck looked at Cas and opened his mouth to speak, but he snapped it shut again when he saw the look on Cas's face.
"We'll talk in the morning," Cas said to the group, and he walked through the library and down the hall. He stood in front of Gail's door for a moment, took a couple of deep breaths, and opened the door.
He was surprised to find that the room was dark. "Gail?" he called out softly.
"I'm here, Cas," she answered. "Sam turned off the light when he left the room. Humans. They just don't get it."
He could hear the faint smile in her voice. He left the light off and walked to the bed. His eyes were already adjusting to the dark, and he could see her laying against the pillows.
"How are you feeling?" Cas asked her.
"Never mind that, what happened with Matthew?" Gail asked him.
Cas sighed. "He's dead."
"What?" she exclaimed. Then she clapped her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say it that loud. "What happened, Cas?" she said, more quietly. "You didn't - "
"No, I didn't," he said sharply. "He was dead when we got there. He committed suicide."
Gail was shocked. "Oh, Cas," she said softly.
"I feel so betrayed," Cas said to her. "I thought he was my friend."
Gail's heart hurt for him. She couldn't quite make out his face, but she could hear the pain in his voice. Even though the movement hurt her, she shifted her body over. "Come here," she said to Cas. "Come and lay down with me."
"No," he said. "You're in too much pain."
"So are you," she said. "Come here," she repeated.
He took off his shoes and then lay down beside her, moving slowly so as not to make the bed move too much.
Gail felt for his hand and grabbed it, bringing it up to touch her face. Then she kissed it softly.
"I'm so sorry, Cas," she said.
"I feel so stupid," he told her in an anguished voice. "All those years I knew him, and I never once thought..." His voice trailed off.
"It hurts when someone you thought was your friend betrays you," Gail said.
He looked at her sharply. Her head was turned in his direction, but he couldn't quite read her expression. Why would she say that? But of course, she wasn't talking about him. She was talking about Matthew, having betrayed Cas. Giving him her sympathy. Telling him she understood how he felt. But everything he heard lately sounded to his ears like an accusation. Matthew must have felt the same way just before he'd taken his blade to himself. At least he'd had the decency to feel guilt at the end, Castiel thought. And really, was Cas any better? He had served the dark side too, and that was going to haunt him for the rest of his days.
"Yes, it does," he told Gail.
"It's not your fault," Gail said. She knew he would blame himself for not knowing about Matthew.
If she said that one more time, Cas was going to...what? What was he going to do? Scream? Go nuts? End up like Matthew?
"Please don't say that any more, Gail," he said. "I can't bear it."
Gail frowned. "You take too much on yourself," she told him.
Cas closed his eyes in frustration. He wished she wouldn't say things like that. If she only knew. She was the one who had taken too much. From their enemies, from God, and especially, from him.
"Do you mind if we don't talk for a while?" he said softly. "I just need to think, for a time."
"Sure, Cas, I understand," Gail said to him. "I love you."
He propped himself up on one elbow and leaned down to kiss her softly on the mouth. "And I love you," he said. "Though I haven't always shown it."
He laid back down, staring up at the ceiling. Gail's eyes narrowed. What had he meant by that, now? He showed her he loved her all the time. But she let it go. She could tell he was really upset about Matthew. Gail could read between the lines. She knew that Castiel had been a solitary figure for most of his existence, and he didn't seem all that comfortable in Heaven. For some reason, it seemed as if a lot of his peers had ostracized him for centuries. Matthew had probably shown him a bit of kindness, and he was likely one of the very few Angels who had. Her heart broke when she thought about that. It had taken just about forever, but she was glad that Cas had met Sam and Dean, and Bobby. His friendship with them had transformed him, and he had finally blossomed once he had come here to Earth. He had no idea how special he was, because no one had ever told him how special he was.
"I'm sorry, I know you don't feel like talking," she said to him. "And that's OK. But I need to tell you something, and I need you to hear me. You are the most special, most wonderful individual I have ever met. There's nothing wrong with you, Castiel. It's everyone else who's wrong, because they don't appreciate how special you really are."
Tears were streaming down his face now. It was so wonderful to hear her say that, but so terrible at the same time. Oh, he was special, all right. "I hope you will always feel that way," he said.
Gail could hear that he was crying, and she felt even worse for him now. He probably just wanted to mourn his friend, and here she was, babbling, after he'd pleaded for quiet. She knew that it was hard for men to cry without feeling mysteriously embarrassed about it. Cas had cried in front of her before, but she should just leave him be for now and let him deal with it in his own way. So she sought out his hand again and put hers in it, and they laid there like that for the rest of the night in silence.
In the morning, Cas released Gail's hand and leaned over her. He could see her face now, and she was looking at him with sympathy in her eyes. He had been wrestling with himself and with his conscience all night. He should just tell her now and take the consequences. But how could he do that to her? Wasn't she in enough pain right now? Still, it wasn't fair to her. He shouldn't let her go on like this, wondering what was wrong with her mind. But she loved him again, and so did everyone else now. Was he really this selfish? But even Bobby had said for him to keep his mouth shut. On and on it had gone, back and forth, all night long. And she had lain there quietly the whole time, holding his hand and giving it the occasional squeeze to let him know that she was there for him, supporting him in his supposed grief. And he did grieve for Matthew, but his grief stemmed more from a sense of lost innocence than anything else. He had naively thought that Matthew had liked him. But he could picture Matthew now, sneering after Castiel had left his suite after one of their evenings together. What a sucker he had been. In his thirst for any sort of kindness from one of his fellow Angels, Castiel had turned a blind eye to any possible warning signs. He had gone over and over their conversations, and he now recalled something that Matthew had said during one of their debates: "Satan himself masquerades as an Angel of Light. And his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness." Castiel hadn't thought that remark peculiar at the time. They had been having one of their lively theological debates, and when Matthew had said that, Castiel did not disagree. But had Matthew either consciously or subconsciously been trying to convey a message of some sort? Or was Cas reaching, trying to pick out something, anything, that would support his feelings of guilt for not having known that Matthew was a traitor? And where WERE Luke and Mark, anyway? They should probably add the Gospel writers to their list of beings to find. If they couldn't locate Lucifer himself, maybe they could get some answers from them.
"Good morning," Gail said softly.
"Good morning," Cas replied. "How are you feeling?"
"About the same," she said, giving him a half-shrug. "How are YOU feeling?"
"About the same," he echoed. But it wouldn't be fair to take his mood out on her. She had enough to deal with at the moment.
He leaned down and kissed her on the mouth, and she kissed him back. His tongue poked through her lips, grazing the tip of her tongue. Then he pulled back.
"Are you in pain?" Cas asked her.
"I can't feel a thing at the moment," Gail said, smiling. Then she added teasingly, "Well, that's not entirely true. But no pill's going to fix that."
He couldn't help but smile. "Do you want me to stop?"
"No, of course not," she replied, still smiling. "I may be an invalid at the moment, but I can still make out."
So he kissed her again, and Gail opened her mouth immediately. They kissed like that for several minutes, and then Cas pulled back. "I'd better stop now," he told her.
"Why?" she asked him.
He lifted an eyebrow to her. "I should think that would be obvious. Or, it soon will be," he said dryly.
Gail looked down at him, then back at his face. "Oh," she said. "Right." She had been feeling something too, but women had the distinct advantage there, she thought with some amusement. It was obvious with a man; but with a woman, you couldn't tell unless she wanted you to know. She continued, "Well, I still have one working hand..." she started to say, half-kidding.
"No," he said sharply.
"Why not?" she asked him, smiling mischievously.
"Because, we're not..." He stopped, then he tried again. "There won't be any activity of that sort until you're properly healed."
He seemed agitated, now. "OK, Cas," she said meekly. "I just didn't want you to have to do without, just because I have to."
Cas looked at her, open-mouthed. Could she really be that selfless? "I did without for aeons, because I was waiting for you," he told her. "What's a few months? Even a few years?" He kissed her again, but it was a chaste kiss. "However long it takes. I don't care. But when you're able, it'll be me making you feel good. Not the other way around."
"You're sexy when you're stern," she quipped.
Cas smiled. Her and her humour. He supposed he had been giving her a bit of a lecture. But there was no way he could allow her to do anything like that, even though he loved feeling her touch. His face turned serious again. "I hope you don't think that I require...that...to be happy," he said to her. "Just being with you makes me happy. There's so much more to us than just that."
"I know, Cas," she said, touching his face. "I didn't mean to upset you."
"You didn't," he said quickly. "I just..." He was frustrated now, unable to express himself. He turned around, rising from the bed. Still looking at her, he waved his arm, and after the blue glow faded away, he was holding a bouquet of red roses.
Gail's jaw dropped open. This was a new wrinkle. Just like what he had done in the Secret Garden, and yesterday, with Crowley. "Where did that come from?" she asked him an amazement.
"I was saving it for a special occasion," he told her.
"Really? And what's the occasion?" she asked him, bemused.
"We're together, and we're in love," Cas replied. "I can't think of a better occasion than that." He extended the roses to her. "Red roses signify love, beauty, courage, respect, and passion. Just a few of the many qualities in you that I admire, and the many ways I feel about you." She took the roses with her uninjured hand and cradled them to her body, inhaling their fragrant scent. "There are 11," Cas continued. "Eleven roses, to assure the recipient that they are truly and deeply loved." He waved his hand again, and now he held a single white rose. "A single rose of any colour depicts utmost devotion. And it's white, signifying reverence, and purity." He leaned forward and inserted the white rose into the middle of the bouquet.
Gail smiled up at him. "I don't know what to say, Cas."
"You don't have to say anything," he said softly.
"But I want to," she protested. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard in my life."
He smiled again, touching her face. "It's the way I feel."
Gail started to cry, and Cas looked alarmed. "Don't be upset," she told him. "It's a happy cry. I'm just wondering how I ever got so lucky."
Lucky? She had to be kidding. Look at her. "I'm the one who's lucky," he told her. He leaned forward again, kissing her on the forehead. "Let me put these in water for you." He scooped the roses from her arms and turned to leave the room. Then he turned back to look at her again. "Everything I do is because I have your best interests at heart," he said to her. "Please remember that." Then he left the room.
Gail lay there, watching him leave. That had been a bit of a weird thing to say. Sweet, like everything else he'd said, but...it had had a tone to it that made her wonder. What could he be talking about?
The humans were in the weapons room. All four had been in the kitchen having coffee, and Dean had mentioned that he wanted to go see what they had in stock. "I want to load up a bit more," he'd told them. "Now that one Demon has attacked a member of the family, if one of those bastards even looks at one of us sideways, he's going down."
Frank smiled grimly. He felt the same way. And if they did have to kill a few Demons, maybe their King would show up to protest that, and he and Frank could have a little chat about Gail. Frank didn't care what his sister said, he had a few questions of his own about the attack on Gail. He hoped Cas could come with them this time around. Cas's hatred of Crowley had been magnificent to behold. Maybe he and Cas could team up together to dispatch the King of Hell, if the other Angels or even the Winchesters didn't have the sack to do it. Frank liked Sam and Dean a lot, but he didn't understand why they hadn't killed Crowley long before now. He knew they'd known him for a number of years now, and that they often found themselves in his company. OK, they were humans; maybe they'd tried, and failed. But what about Cas? He'd had eons to get his revenge on his Brother for killing him in the Garden. Funny, Frank had always been taught that Crowley and Castiel's parents, Adam and Eve, had been tossed out of the Garden as soon as they'd eaten the forbidden fruit, and then lied to God about it. Apparently, God hated lying more than anything else. Had they snuck back in afterwards? Or was this a different Garden they were talking about? And was Lucifer the snake who had tempted them? All of this stuff was making his head spin.
"I'll come with," Jody said to Dean. "I've been handling way too many books and not enough weapons lately."
Sam tended to agree, although he did enjoy the research aspect as well. But now that Gail was going to be staying here, maybe Sam would ask Bobby if Jody could go out on the road with the guys. Gail would be a better research partner, anyway. She was intelligent and well-read, and she would have more patience for research than Jody did. Sam had chafed at being left behind, but he was glad that he had been now, because he would be able to take care of Gail. If Cas couldn't be here, or Frank, Sam was the next best candidate. He loved her like she was his own sister. OK, maybe deep, deep down, he had a couple of stronger feelings for her than that. But he would never even think of acting on them, not in a million years. Gail and Cas were the most loving couple he had ever seen, and Cas treated her like a queen. So if Sam carried a metaphorical torch for her, he would pass it to Cas the instant he came back to the bunker. Every time.
They brought their coffees down the hall to the weapons room and stood around, admiring the cache of different weapons the Winchesters had managed to accumulate over the years.
Jody reached for one of the guns at the same time as Frank, and their hands touched. He smiled at her for a moment, then withdrew his hand, leaving her to pick up the gun.
"You have good taste," Frank said to her.
"In weapons? Yeah, I guess I do," Jody said. They were still staring at each other. In guys, not so much, Jody thought, but did not say out loud. But, maybe her luck was changing now. It had been quite a while since a guy had looked at her like Frank was looking at her now. Like an equal, but also like a woman. Interesting. She'd been itching to go out on the road and help the guys, and maybe she would get her chance now that Gail was here. Then she and Frank could get to know each other better, and she could see if there was anything there, other than just a momentary spark across a weapons table.
Ethan came into the room. "Bobby just called us on Angel Radio," he told them. "He said to tell you he'll be down shortly. He said something about having arrangements to make."
"Thanks, Ethan," Dean said absently. He had just picked up another gun, one he didn't recognize at first glance.
Ethan approached the table, fascinated. He'd seen weapons in here when they'd been training, but he hadn't wanted to lose focus at the time. But now, he couldn't resist. He began to pick a few of them up from the table and look at them more closely.
Dean was showing the gun he had in his hand to Sam. "Where did this one come from?" he asked his brother.
"Let me see," Sam said, reaching across the table. Dean handed him the gun and Sam turned it over in his hands. Then it hit him. "This is the gun that Oliver had, at the fair. He pulled it on Cas and Gail, remember?" He smirked. "I guess he wasn't too psychic that day. Threatening Angels with a gun? But then again, he is an Atheist."
He shook open the chamber where the bullets were. "I wonder if there's something special about this gun. It looks pretty ordinary, though." He dumped the bullets out into his hand. "Huh," Sam said, squinting at the bullets. "This is interesting."
"What is?" Dean said absently, looking at a Demon knife. They had quite a few; maybe he would just throw them all in the trunk, on general principles.
"I'd need my magnifying glass to be sure," Sam said, still squinting at the bullets, "but I think these bullets have pentagrams carved into them."
Dean's head snapped up. Crap. Why had Sammy gone and opened the stupid gun, anyway?
"The plot thickens," Sam said cheerfully. "I always knew that Oliver was a bit of a nutcase, but he was not only barking up the wrong tree on this one, he was in the wrong forest. These would only kill Demons. Guess we'll take this gun with us, too. Thanks, Oliver."
"Give me that thing," Dean said hastily.
"Why?" Sam said. "I'll just put it in the trunk for you, after I finish looking at it."
"I want it now, Sam," Dean said, raising his voice.
Sam looked at his brother, puzzled. "What's your problem, Dean?"
"No problem. Just give it here," Dean demanded. He knew that the more of a stink he raised, the more suspicious Sam would get. But Dean didn't want Sam to handle that gun for too long, nor to start forming ideas about why Oliver might be pointing a gun that was loaded with Demon-killing bullets at Cas. Especially not in front of this audience. He was likely overreacting, though. As far as Dean could see, none of them remembered one single moment of Cas's having been a Demon. But Cas had advised Dean that Gail was regaining bits and pieces of her memory, and Gail had said the same thing herself. So Dean didn't want to take any chances.
"You're being weird, Dean," Sam said, but he handed the gun over, after replacing the bullets in the chamber. Dean grabbed it from his hand, put the safety on, then tucked it into his belt under his shirt.
"Now, quit wasting time," Dean snapped. "I want to have Baby loaded up by the time Bobby gets here."
As Sam continued to stare at his brother and Frank and Jody exchanged glances, Ethan's hand froze over the weapons table. That hinky feeling again. Why would this guy, whoever he was, have pulled a Demon gun on his Angel friends?
Ethan quizzed Sam and Dean for details on the incident. Like Sam, Ethan thought the whole thing made no sense. Why would a human who was not a Hunter be carrying around a Demon gun? And what would prompt him to pull it on a couple of Angels?
"What did this guy Oliver do? What did he say?" Ethan asked Sam, shifting into interrogation mode.
Sam thought back. "He had the gun on Gail when we got there. Then he looked at Cas, and he didn't seem surprised to see him, almost like he knew him, or something. Oliver told them that there were special bullets in the gun. Then Cas said something about them not being who he thought they were. Like it was a case of mistaken identity. But then Oliver shot Cas anyway. Then we hustled the girls out of the tent, and when we got back, Cas was healing Oliver. He'd shot himself after failing to kill Cas, apparently. After Cas healed him, he took off. So, we never did find out why he went so psycho. I was planning to try to find out more about that when we got back, but then Lucifer escaped, and Oliver dropped way down on the list of priorities."
Ethan was trying to make sense of Sam's story. So this guy Oliver pulls a gun on Gail, for some unknown reason, then Cas shows up, and Oliver acts like he's not surprised. "Did Oliver know Cas and Gail from before?" he asked Sam.
"No, that's just it," Sam replied, his brow furrowing. "They'd never met. I used Oliver a couple of times for investigations, but I never took Cas there, and that was before we even met Gail."
Hmmm. "And Oliver's a human?" Ethan said. "Not any kind of otherworldly being?"
Sam laughed shortly. "Yeah. Definitely a human."
Now Ethan's brow furrowed in concentration. A human. If he'd been an Angel, or a Demon, that could explain why he knew Cas and Gail. But no otherworldly being would try to kill an Angel with a gun, especially a gun with pentagram bullets. He continued to think about it. So then Sam and Dean had left the tent, and when they came back, Oliver was shot. Ethan had that hinky feeling again. Had Cas shot him, and then claimed that Oliver had shot himself? No, that was crazy. Or was it? Cas had killed Lanister in Heaven's prison, and then he had planted the Angel blade on the cell floor beside Lanister and lied to Ethan, claiming the murder had been in self-defense. He had come clean about what had really happened shortly afterwards, but still, the incident had left a bad taste in Ethan's mouth. And then, after Jason had been taken into custody, Cas had paid him a visit and allegedly tortured the crap out of him, for some reason. But Ethan only had Jason's word for that, though. He himself had not witnessed anything like that. Here now was another violent incident where Cas was involved. But he was a good guy. God's right hand. Something didn't add up here. Cas was a complex individual; but there was one common thread that seemed to run through all of these occurrences, and that was Gail. Lanister had threatened to have Gail tortured, Jason had actually tortured her and wouldn't have hesitated to do it again, and this guy Oliver had apparently been waving a gun in Gail's face when Cas got there. And look at what had happened with Crowley yesterday. Cas had gone ape on the King of Hell on just the mere suspicion that Crowley might have had something to do with the attack on Gail. So it wouldn't surprise Ethan one bit if Cas had shot Oliver to protect Gail. But then, he had healed him. Had Cas felt guilty about what he had done? Had he lied to his best friends about it, just as he had lied to Ethan after murdering Lanister? Maybe Ethan was talking to the wrong people. He should probably be talking to Cas. Or Gail. Would she cover up for him, though? Very possibly. And, did Ethan even need to be investigating this? After all, everyone was all right. Still, Ethan had the feeling that something was going on, and he was the head of Law Enforcement in Heaven now, a promotion that his friend Castiel had suggested to Bobby. Ethan would have to think about this some more.
Cas brought the flowers back to the bedroom in a vase, and he carried it to the nightstand. "Now you'll be able to look at them and enjoy their fragrance whenever you're resting," he said to Gail. "Which, hopefully, will be often," he added pointedly.
"Yeah, yeah," she said, waving her arm. "We'll see. But I've rested all night, and now I want to wash up and spend a bit of time with our friends."
"At your service," Cas said, smiling. He gave her a small bow, then walked over to the door to get the wheelchair. He brought it to the bedside as Gail struggled to sit up. Damn those stomach muscles. Well, the doctor did say it would hurt her to move. But she'd been hoping it wouldn't hurt quite this much.
Cas rushed to help her, and in his haste, his hip bumped against the nightstand. When Gail had put the water glass she'd used to take her pill the night before back on the nightstand, she had accidentally placed it halfway on the base of the lamp, and it tipped over now and broke. Gail was sitting on the edge of the bed now, and a few of the shards of broken glass fell onto the bed beside her.
"Oh, crap," she said, and she started to pick them up with her hand.
"Let me do that," Cas admonished her.
But it was already too late. She had cut her hand on one of the shards. "Ow!" Gail exclaimed. Boy, was she an idiot. Like she wasn't hurting enough already.
Her hand was dripping with blood now, and she extended it to him. "Sorry, Cas. I should have listened to you."
Cas took her arm and pulled her towards him so he could heal her, and another bolt of pain shot through her stomach. "Oww!" she yelled again.
Dean was passing by in the hallway on the way to the garage when he heard her shout. The door to the room was wide open, and Dean saw Gail with a bloody hand, and Cas holding her arm. He rushed into the room and grabbed Cas, pushing him up against the wall.
"What are you doing?" Dean yelled in his face.
Cas got it. Dean was having a flashback. "Nothing, Dean. She cut herself, and I was just about to heal her," he said calmly.
Dean's eyes were blazing. "I've heard that from you before."
"This isn't like before, Dean," Cas insisted. "You know that."
Dean let go of him. Cas was right. Cas had been cured. Dean had just freaked out there for a minute.
He stepped away from Cas. "Sorry, man," Dean said.
"It's all right, Dean. I understand," Cas replied.
"Well, I don't," Gail said in a sharp tone. "What's the matter with you, Dean? What are you talking about? And, why do I have the feeling that something very similar to this has happened in this room before?"
Both men looked at her. Holy crap, Dean thought. He had almost forgotten she was here. How the hell was he going to explain what he had just done?
"Move aside, Dean, please," Cas said. Dean stepped out of the way and Cas took Gail's hand in both of his, healing it instantly. She was staring at his face, but he was avoiding her eyes, making a show of checking her hand.
Gail looked at Dean, but he was avoiding her eyes, too. "Somebody had better start talking," she said irritably.
Cas and Dean exchanged helpless glances. Neither of them could come up with a remotely plausible explanation for Dean's behaviour.
"There's something going on, and I want to know what it is," Gail said, raising her voice. "Too much strange stuff is happening. I've got all these weird pictures in my head, and I don't know what they mean! And don't keep telling me it's PTSD, because I don't believe it!" She was shouting now, but she couldn't help it. She was extremely frustrated, and they still weren't talking to her. Didn't they care that she was going crazy?
Sam and Frank came rushing into the room. "What's all the yelling about?" Sam asked.
"You tell me!" Gail exclaimed. "Are you all in on this?"
"In on what?" Frank said, puzzled. "What are you ranting about?"
"I cut my hand on a piece of glass, and Cas was about to heal me when Dean came storming in here like some kind of nutbag and started yelling at Cas!" she said to Sam and her brother.
"Why would you do that, Dean?" Sam asked his brother. Dean shrugged uncomfortably. He still had no idea what to say.
"Nice to see he's not talking to you, either," Gail said tartly. She looked up at Cas. "But I thought you would talk to me, at least," she said to him. "Why did Dean do that, Cas?"
"I have no idea," Cas said miserably.
Dean glared at him. Thanks for throwing me under the bus, Cas, he thought. A bus you were driving, by the way. But there was nothing he could say, not unless he wanted to blow the whole thing up.
"Dean's been acting weird lately," Sam said to Gail. "Come on, Dean. Let's leave them alone." He grabbed Dean by the arm and yanked him out of the room.
Frank looked at Cas. "I'll have a talk with him, Cas," he said, and then he left the room, too.
Gail was staring at Cas. He felt like he was going to throw up. "You have no idea," she said sarcastically. He looked at her, but he still said nothing. "So, it's going to be like that, is it?" she asked him. "All your talk about loving me and respecting me. Meanwhile, you can't even respect me enough to tell me the truth."
"I can't, Gail," he said quietly. "I meant it when I said I have your best interests at heart. And I meant everything else I said, too."
She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to continue. But it seemed that was all he had to say.
"Fine," she said shortly. "Can you help me into the chair? I want to go wash up."
Cas picked her up and put her in the wheelchair, rolling her to the bathroom. Then he walked back to the bedroom to get fresh clothing for her. She couldn't have a shower, of course, or even a bath. But he could help her wash as much of herself as she was able to with her injuries. He couldn't imagine what he was going to say to her while he was doing it, though.
When he returned to the bathroom, he closed the door behind them and wet the washcloth he had taken from the linen closet in the hallway, then he put some soap on it. He gently washed her face, then rinsed it, and then he started to dab her face dry with a hand towel. She took it from him and dried her own face, putting the towel in her lap when she was done.
Then he gently pulled her top off over her head, but she still didn't speak. Cas was hoping she would make some kind of teasing comment, as she normally would have done. But she didn't; she just sat there quietly and let him wash her. Then he put the fresh top on over her head and knelt by the wheelchair.
"Gail..." he said. "Please, speak to me."
"Why should I?" she said in a quiet voice. "You won't speak to me." She knew she was being childish, but Gail was angry. There was something going on, something very weird, and it concerned her and her memory loss. Yet the man who claimed to love her above all else, and who clearly knew something about it, wouldn't even talk to her on the subject. He seemed to be alleging it was for her own benefit, but shouldn't that be up to her to decide? Or, at the very least, shouldn't they decide it together, once he told her what it was?
A knock on the door, followed by Sam's voice: "Bobby is here, you guys."
Gail looked at Cas. "This isn't over," she said to him. "Once we get Lucifer, we'll be talking again. Or, I should say, YOU'LL be doing some talking. Let's go, then."
Cas rose to his feet and opened the bathroom door, then wheeled her to the library, feeling sick inside.
