WARNING: Re-edit. Also, spoilers for season 6 in general, and for 7x01 "Meet The New Boss".
Author's Note: I wrote this because I re-watched the end of season 6 and I am still suffering from the feels. :0 As a result, this is not necessarily a cheerful story, so sorry in advance! lol
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.
Everyone knows what the path to Hell is paved with.
Everyone is aware that having good intentions more often than not will end in bad results, and Castiel was no exception.
But he also knew that his friends had saved the world by never giving up on their best intentions. They sacrificed all they had for the good of everyone else. In the end, the Apocalypse was averted, and the world was saved, and the road that lead to that point, though splattered with stains of the grief and suffering of the men who traveled it, was paved entirely with their good intentions.
So Castiel believed that not always would the best intent result in the worst outcomes. He believed that sometimes, good intentions simply lead to good places.
What he did not consider was that the Winchesters' intentions had nothing to do with personal gain.
They did not seek the kind of power that would allow them to smite the foe they were facing. They didn't want to seize control of the situation by overpowering those who opposed them. They just wanted to keep the world turning.
Their intentions were not just good, they were also pure.
There is a difference, and Castiel would learn this the hard way.
His goal to stop Raphael and save Heaven and Earth…It was a good goal, but his motives were not lacking selfish reasoning. If he were to successfully take in all of those souls, then he could be the one to step in and fix the mess God had left in his wake. Heaven and Earth would not only be safe, but he would be the reason for its safety.
He liked that, and so he laid down stone after stone in his long winding road of good intentions that were also good for him, never looking up from the path he paved long enough to see where that path was leading.
He did not notice the glow of fire and damnation on the ever-nearing horizon.
By the time he noticed it was far too late. He had already swallowed the souls, made a complete mess of his attempt to replace God, and most importantly, betrayed and subsequently lost the best friends he had ever known.
When he chose to release the souls back to Purgatory, it was because he finally understood the difference between good intentions and pure intentions.
He was releasing the souls simply because it was the right thing to do. He knew it would not mend his broken friendships, or bring back the people and angels he had smote. He just knew it was right.
"There is a right and there is a wrong, Cas."
The words Dean had spoken to him years before echoed in his head as he faced the chasm between Earth and Purgatory- words that had first inspired him to rebel against Heaven now filled him with pain and self-loathing. He had been wrong, and chosen wrong, and acted wrongly.
The path he had forged had reached its end, and his own personal Hell engulfed him.
Secondary Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Feedback is greatly appreciated! :)
