Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural
AN: Okay, so basically, in this fanfiction, Cas refused Crowley's offer, but the Winchesters and Bobby are still suspicious of him. Also, in order to bring the Apocalypse, Raphael is forcing Metatron to help him. (Big mistake on the ninja turtle's part :)) Spoilers for at least up to season eight.
"How can I help?" It was a question Castiel always asked the Winchesters and Bobby no matter what. It didn't matter that they had called him away from battle, or that Raphael had managed to somehow captured Metatron to force the scribe to reopen the Cage. Every moment, Castiel regretted not accepting Crowley's deal, but at the same time he didn't. He knew just how wrong it was to work with a demon, let alone open Purgatory.
He may have sunk low, but not that low. He would find another way to win the war, even though he was losing.
"Oh, look. We, um - we have a new plan. We think we've finally figured out a way to track down Crowley," Sam said.
Castiel turned his head to look at the younger Winchester. "What is it?"
Suddenly, Bobby lit a match and dropped it on the ground, lighting the floor up with holy fire. "It's you."
Castiel looked around at his friends-no his captors. Too many times had the angel been captured and tortured in some way. It made him uneasy to say the least. But why would they capture him in such a manner?
"What are you doing?" the angel asked, not exactly angry, but certainly upset. These flames… they didn't know how hot they were to an angel. There is a reason holy fire kills celestial beings.
"We gotta talk," Dean said.
Castiel looked at his charge, his best friend, trying to keep the hurt out of his eyes. "About what? Let me go." Don't keep me here like Zachariah did.
"About Superman. And Kryptonite," Dean said.
"How'd you know what I said?" Bobby demanded.
"How long have you been watching us?" Sam asked, anger in his voice.
"You know who spies on people, Cas?" Dean said angrily. "Spies!"
"Okay, just wait. I don't even know what you mean," Castiel said. Yes, he had been watching them, but that was just because he could tell they had been lying to him since they killed Eve and found out Crowley might be alive. The angel had been trying to figure out if Crowley was still living and how it might be possible along with fighting a war he was losing. He had begun to suspect that he might not have burned all the bones, after all, if even a piece of a bone was still intack, Crowley would have lived. He didn't want to spy on the Winchesters and Bobby, he just didn't understand why they had been keeping secrets from him.
"How exactly did Crowley trick you with the wrong bones?" Bobby asked.
"It… It's hard to understand," Castiel said, beginning to voice his own thoughts about Crowley's bones. "I'm sorry; I must have missed one of the pieces. If even a piece of the bones is still intack, he would have survived. Just let me out and-"
"You got to look at me, man," Dean said, looking directly at Castiel. "You got to level with me and tell me what's going on. Look me in the eye and tell me you're not working with Crowley."
"Where did you get that idea?" the angel demanded. "It's ture: he made me an offer. He wanted me to help him get the souls of Purgatory in exchange for help with the war in Heaven, but I told him no. Working with a demon is utter blasphamey. I may have rebelled and Fallen, but I would never do that, and I certainly wouldn't keep it secret from you. As for my spying on you, I could tell every word out of your mouth since we fought Eve has been a lie. You think you can lie to an angel that easily? I just wanted to know what I had done to lose your trust. Turns out, I haven't done anything."
"And how are we supposed to trust what you're saying right now?" Sam demanded.
"Sam… I am the one who raised you from Perdition," Castiel said. "If you couldn't trust me, then why would I do that?"
"What? Well, no offense...But you did a pretty piss-poor job of it," Sam scoffed. "Wait. Did you bring me back soulless...On purpose?"
"How could you think that?" Castiel was confused. He hadn't done anything wrong. They were accusing him falsely of working with a demon and now of leaving Sam's soul on purpose. Why would he do that? Sam was his friend. They may not have the bond he and Dean have, but Castiel would protect both Sam and Bobby with his life, just like he would for Dean.
"I'm thinking a lot of things right now, Cas," Sam shouted.
"You want to know why I didn't bring back your soul, Sam?" Castiel was getting angry with all these false accusations. He hadn't meant to leave Sam's soul; he didn't even know he had until he reached inside the young man's chest and found it missing. "Have you ever stormed Hell? No, of course you haven't. Do you know how many angels stormed the Pit when I rescued Dean? Thousands… and other than Uriel, and Balthazar, whom until recently I thought was dead, I was the only one to get out alive. I stormed the Pit alone to free you from the Cage. I may have been turned from a foot soldier into a seraph, but it isn't that much of a difference. I had to fight the demons of the Pit to get to you, and then break into Lucifer's Cage, where two very angry archangels were just waiting to sink their teeth into something. That something was my wings. They tore them to shreds. Did you know that angel wings are a true expression of our grace manifesting in a physical form? If you think having someone feel for your soul hurts, try getting grace ripped to shreds. Then, while fighting the two of them, I had to get Lucifer out of you, and then raise you. Forgive me if I missed a piece while I had my wings torn off!"
Sam blinked. He hadn't thought of it that way. None of them had. They didn't realize just how truly hard raising a soul from Perdition must be.
"As for Crowley, I am telling the truth when I say I am not working with him and that I am sorry I missed a piece of his bones," Castiel said. "I am also sorry I did not raise you completely, Sam. If I had noticed my error sooner, I would have fixed it immediately. AS for spying on you, I am sorry for that too. I already explained why I did it, and can promise it won't happen again. Now, can you please let me out? I was in mid-battle, and this isn't just a 'pissing match' between Raphael and me: it's Civil War, and my garrison is losing. We are dying off, and he has found a way to reopen the Cage. It is important I return to Heaven."
"Cas, why didn't you come to us for help?" Dean asked. He believed his friend now, but he didn't understand why Castiel hadn't told them how bad it was in Heaven.
"You were finally happy, Dean, after everything that had happened to you," Cas said. "How could I ask you for more? You are just a man, and you deserve to live your life in peace, not having to fight battles against angels. Besides, what could any of you done? Raphael is killing me, and I am a seraph, only one rank lower than an archangel. Crowley's offer could have helped me, but I refused to take it. He tried to force me, but I managed to get away from him and he never asked again. Now please, let me out."
"Cas, you don't look so good," Dean commented.
"I am wounded and trapped in a ring of holy fire," Castiel snapped. "Would you look good if you were me?"
Dean put out the flames, freeing the angel from his imprisonment.
"Next time, just ask me," Castiel said. "Don't trap me in holy fire; it makes you no better than Zachariah. He did the same thing."
And then Castiel teleported away, leaving the Winchesters and Bobby to feel guilty for not trusting their angel. After all, an angel Fell to help them, was obviously tortured to help them, and even after the Apocalypse, he was still helping them. Yet they believed him capable of betraying them. If it wasn't for Castiel, they would all be dead. The angel had resurrected each of them at some point after all.
Castiel was fully prepared to die when he burst into the room that Raphael was keeping Metatron, only to stop. To stop and see Metatron standing above Raphael who was tied down to a chair.
"Metatron," Castiel whispered.
The older angel looked up at him. "Ah, Castiel, isn't it? I suppose you're here to rescue me. Well, no matter, I don't need rescuing."
"I don't understand," the seraph says.
"He is insane!" Raphael shouted. "Metatron is going to destroy us all."
"Destroy you? No, I would never do that," Metatron said. "I am getting revenge though. You see, I know all of God's secrets, all of Heaven's secrets. I know what makes this place tick. The archangels made our Father leave, Castiel, and they chased me out of my home. I am getting revenge. Surely you can understnad that, after all, they cast you out too."
"What are you doing, Metatron?" Castiel did not like where this was going.
"Three trials to open the Cage," Metatron said. "That is what Raphael thought he was doing. But he was wrong, very wrong. You see, killing the Nephilim, stealing the Cupid's bow… they weren't trials. They were ingredients for a spell. And the last ingredient," Metatron held up a vial filled with blue mist, "the grace of an angel. Raphael's grace in this case. And now…" the scribe smiled. "Now I'll have my revenge. And so Fall the angels."
White-gold light suddenly blinded Castiel, and then he was Falling… Falling down to Earth.
Pain filled Castiel as he plummetted towards Earth like a meteor, his wings burning, his grace feeling as if it were on fire. The Cage wasn't open, but Cas wasn't sure this was much better. Raphael may be powerless, but the other angels weren't, and they were all just cast down to Earth. All of them. Some of those angels were in prison in Heaven for crimes. Gadreel for example. The things these angels would do… even the good ones to get back into Heaven.
The Apocalypse may come anyway, just with different bringers: all the pissed off and confused angels of Heaven.
Dean was outside when it started to happen. A meteor shower.
"Sam! Bobby!" he yelled.
The two of them emerged from Bobby's house a few moments later. "What in the name of God?"
"Are those meteors?" Sam asked.
Dean looked closer at the falling things… they weren't meteors. He watched as wings burned off the humanoid beings as they plummetted towards the Earth.
"No," he whispered. "They're angels."
Dean saw a familiar angel Fall to the ground, his wings burning like all the others, as he crashed into the land outside Bobby's house.
"Cas!" Dean ran towards his guardian angel immediately. He crouched beside him, his hands hovering over Castiel's twitching and burning form. "What the hell happened?"
the angel turned his gaze up to look at Dean, his body still shaking as he stared at Dean like he was some strange creature the seraph had never seen before. a few moments later, recognition came into the angel's eyes.
"Dean?" his voice sounded so weak, Dean felt as if a blow had been taken to his heart. Not too long ago, Dean had accused Castiel of working with Crowley and spying on them, and Sam had accused the seraph of leaving his soul in the Cage on purpose. Now something had happened to the angel, Dean's best friend, someone he considered a second brother, and Dean hadn't even been kind to him when they last saw him. He had acted how Zachariah must have acted when torturing Castiel for trying to tell Dean what the angels were really doing before the seals had all been broken.
"It's me, Cas," Dean said, laying his hands on the angel's shoulders.
The angel winced and drew in a pained breath. "Hurts…" he whispered. "Wings… burning…"
"Shh, I know, Cas," Dean said. "I'm going to get you inside. Sam, Bobby, come help me!"
The two hunters did, helping Dean lift the angel up and hauling him inside the house. Bobby instructed for them to place the angel on the sofa.
Castiel twitched and moaned a little, still in pain from the Fall. Dean wondered for a moment if the angel was human now, but if so, why were there that many angels Falling? Were they all human now?
"Cas, I know you're in pain, but can you tell us what happened so we can help you?" Dean asked softly, crouching beside the angel.
Castiel moaned, still in pain, barely able to focus on Dean.
"Can't we give him something to dull the pain?" Dean asked.
"I don't know how much asprin is going to help with Falling from Heaven," Bobby admitted, but he handed Dean pain killers anyway.
Dean slowly coaxed the angel into taking them, massaging his shoulders gently. It wasn't until he touched Cas's shoulder blades that the angel screamed.
"Cas! What's wrong?" Dean asked.
"Burns…" the angel whispered.
Dean realized with sickening horror, that when Castiel Fell, his wings really did burn.
"Cas, tell me what happened," Dean said.
"Metatron… scribe of God… Raphael captured him… was trying to make him… open the Cage," the angel stammered, his voice full of agony as his frame shook. "Metatron tricked him though… he wanted… revenge… because the archangels… made… Father… leave. Metatron gathered ingredients… for spell… to make the angels Fall to earth. He stole Raphael's grace. Last ingredient."
"So, Raphael's been stopped?" Dean asked.
"Yes… but… angels… angry… confused… could be worse," Castiel said weakly.
Dean realized what that meant. "You mean, we have a bunch of confused, pissed off angels roaming the earth that are going to want back in Heaven."
"Thousands," Castiel whispered. "Can't… go back… though. Spell… cast us… out."
"Alright, we can worry about that later, Cas," Dean said. "How do we help you?"
"Can't," Castiel said. "Will heal… with… time. 'm sorry… Dean."
"For what?" he asked.
"For not… stopping Raphael," the angel said. "But I… couldn't work… with Crowley. Couldn't… open… Purgatory."
"It's okay, Cas," Dean said, pushing the hair out of the angel's eyes. "It's okay. You go to sleep now."
"Angels don't…" but Castiel was already slipping into unconsciousness before he could finish the sentence:
Angels don't sleep.
AN: Well, what do you think? I had just finished the season eight finale last night, and I have always wanted to write a version of 6X20 where Cas was falsely accused and didn't actually work with Crowley. So this was born: Metatron casting all angels down to earth to get revenge and stop the fighting. It makes more sense to be done here, because he wanted revenge on the archangels and Naomi, but when he cast the spell in the show, they were all dead. So, really he was just punishing his manipulated and controlled brothers and sisters, including Castiel who helped him. It didn't make sense for him to do the spell when he did. Whelp, I hope you enjoyed chapter one.
-DragonsintheMoonlight :)