Hey guys! So, I had been looking through and I wasn't able to find barely any post season 13 fics so to satisfy myself, I just decided to write it myself! I hope you enjoy! This story will focus a lot on choices and either next chapter or the one after that, you'll see where Dean still has some tough choices to make. Stay tuned.
CHAPTER ONE
Castiel had failed.
He found himself going over the day's events over and over again in his head.
Dean was gone.
That thought repeated itself in his head until it became a weight, crushing down on him, squeezing his insides together. The weight just kept getting heavier, and heavier, and heavier, until it felt like he couldn't breathe.
His chest was tight, his breaths coming fast and short as the realization that the space in front of him where Dean had just been standing, seconds ago, was now empty.
Dean barely considered it. He didn't even consider who he was leaving behind. A brother, a friend, a l-
It was an hour later when Jack and Sam found him sitting on the Bunker's library steps, a look of clear devastation on his face. Dean wasn't with them, which only met one of two things.
Either, A) Lucifer killed Dean/Michael and disappeared, off into the wind once again to wreak havoc on the Earth.
Or B), Michael went back on his deal after killing Lucifer and has taken over Dean's body.
It only took one look at Sam and Jack to know which one it was.
Dean had been a fool to think Michael wouldn't go back on their deal. Castiel has considered that possibility the moment he realized what Dean was going to do. The thing was, Cas didn't think Dean even thought about it. He either thought Michael was a more honorable angel then he had seemed, or he knew he was going to betray him and still went through with it anyway.
He was a fool to make that deal. He was a fool to sacrifice himself with so little thought. He was a fool to leave them, him, behind.
He was a damn fool, He thought bitterly, shaking his head.
"Cas," Sam started slowly, the hopelessness evident in his voice as he slowly lowered himself on the step next to his best friend. "Dean- he killed Lucifer and then-" He paused, swallowing hard. "What happened? How- how did Michael trick Dean into saying yes?"
Cas snorted humorlessly. "Dean was the one to make the offer. He didn't even refer to himself as a person. 'Michael's Sword'. He offered himself up like a piece of meat, as a vessel." Castiel's eyes dropped to the floor as he rubbed them with his thumb and forefinger, "He said he had no choice."
But he did. Cas knew it. Sam, Jack, everyone else would know he had a choice. He just picked the martyr one.
"You couldn't stop him?" Sam asked, a harshness underlying his tone. He would regret the accusatory tone later, he knew when it came to Dean, when his family was in danger, he had tunnel vision. There's no room to argue with a Determined Dean. But right now, Sam couldn't see that logic. So, he turned probing eyes to the hurting angel.
"Sam-" Jack began, only to be stopped when Cas gave him a silencing look.
Cas took a deep breath. "I tried, Sam," He stated, noticing the look of doubt that lingered on his face. "I tried." He insisted, the emotion behind his words enough to make Sam back down.
"Cas, I don't have a choice!"
Cas stared, eyes hard and brows drawn as Dean turned back to Michael. "If we do this, it's a one-time deal. I'm in charge. You're the engine, but I'm behind the wheel."
"Dean."
He turned around, the angel's demanding tone reminding him of when he first met him almost a decade ago in that barn: powerful, intense, commanding.
Dean hesitated before grabbing Cas by the arm and hauling him out into the hallway, away from Michael's giddy expression. "Don't try to talk me out of it. I've made up my mind." He said, fast and stern, leaving no room to argue. Except, Cas didn't care.
"No," He started, shaking his head. "I did not rebel just for you to make it all for nothing."
Dean's features softened into shock, then realization. "Cas I-" He stopped, his mouth growing dry. "You did the right thing back then. Saying yes to Michael? Hell yeah it was a stupid idea. But now?" He licked his lips, collecting his thoughts. "Now, Sammy and Jack are in danger. You expect me to just sit back and relax? Let Lucifer kill them?"
"We can leave right now. We can stop Lucifer before-"
"Before what, Cas? Because we sure as hell won't get there in time in the Impala. We don't even know where they are! Maybe if you had your wings, maybe we could stop him in time. But you don't." Dean barked, his need to protect his family coming across as maliciousness.
Castiel straightened his back. "You and I both know Michael won't keep his word." He tried to reason, taking a step closer and putting a hand on Dean's shoulder. "He will take you over. You expect me to just sit back and relax and let that happen?" He asked, throwing Dean's own words in his face.
"Michael made me a deal. I'm doing It, Cas. I don't need your permission." He spat harshly, shoving Castiel's hand away, misplaced anger being directed at the angel.
So, Cas stood there in the hallway and listened as the long-dreaded word of 'yes' was spoken by the righteous man. It took only a few seconds before Cas ran out only to see Michael's old vessel slumped on the ground and Dean looking at him with a new-found strength and hope.
"Dean, wait-" He begged, reaching his hand out towards him, wanting the chance to say one last thing before Dean was potentially lost to him forever.
But he didn't wait.
Sam swallowed. The immediate guilt that overtook him was enough for him to realize he needed to steer the conversation in a different direction. "We'll get him back, Cas. Hell, we got Lucifer out of the President. We can save Dean." He encouraged, noting how the angel's disheartened look didn't change.
"I know I don't have my powers. And I know Michael is powerful. But we've got Bobby and everyone else." Jack offered, smiling hopefully at Castiel who only gave a meager smile in return. "Where do we begin?"
Sam sighed, standing up. "First, I think we need to tell the others, Mom, Bobby. Every one that is staying in the bunker. We're gonna need their help." He instructed, pulling out this cell phone. "I'll put out an APB to every hunter I know. We don't want another situation like when he was a demon and nobody knew. That way, everyone will stay away if they see him and hopefully, nobody'll get killed."
Jack nodded before leaving, on his way to find Mary and Bobby.
"Cas?" Sam asked, his voice cautious as the angel slowly looked up at him. "We will get him back."
Castiel nodded and stood up, clapping Sam on the shoulder. He lingered for a moment before he left, leaving Sam behind in the empty library.
He made his way down the hallway blindly, not even having a particular destination in mind until he was there.
Dean's room looked pretty much the same all the time; empty beer bottles sporadically around, empty pie containers, and his massive collection of weapons. Cas wasn't sure why his legs took him here but now that he was there, his knees felt wobbly.
How was he supposed to have faith? It took them months, months, to finally track down Lucifer and eventually get him out of the vessel he had highjacked. The amount of carnage that Michael could cause using Dean's hands was enough to make Castiel almost dread rescuing Dean.
Because it wouldn't be Dean, not really. Michael was not going to give mercy to their Earth and Dean will live the rest of his life blaming himself for it.
But, Castiel couldn't just give up. If the roles were reversed, which they had been, Dean wouldn't have given up for a second.
So, with his back straight and his shoulders back, Cas marched out of Dean's room, banishing all the bad thoughts from his mind as he shut the door behind him.
They would rescue Dean. He just hoped it'd be sooner rather than later.
…..
TBC
If you read this far, great! Welcome to what will be a multi-chapter fic. I'm just going to ride out what I'd like to see happen in season 14 because it's hiatus and why not? There will be some dark themes, death, brotherly hurt, and grief. You'll be in for a ride, that's for sure. Please leave a review. That way, I'll know if I should continue or not. Thanks for reading!