A/N: I know I'm a terrible author, I just started this new fic and it's so complex my brain is about to burst. I have a lot of ideas for this one which is pretty good 'cause 'It's Us Against the World' kind of flopped and it's scheduled for re-write. I hope you guys won't hate me. But I've always been thinking of this plot twist ever since Dean had the Mark of Cain and when Chuck said about entrusting the Mark to Lucifer in the first place. So yeah, hope you guys read this and tell me if it's crap.
P.S. I always wanted to do a time travel fic and so, hopefully, finish this one. Oh and sorry if Chuck is OOC, I never really wanted god to be so invested in the show. So this is my version of Chuck.
Disclaimer: Eric Kripke, the WB and CW own Supernatural. But do they own the moon? No?
Chapter Synopsis: Chuck Shurley confronts Castiel after the Darkness attempts to send Dean a message. AU from 11x10 – The Devil in the Details.
Chapter 1 - Lock and Key
The only thing that Castiel felt at that moment was a displacement in the air, the familiar bursts of light and colors, and a constant vibration as he was transported somewhere between dimensions. Then in an instant, he was on solid ground again. He stumbled ungracefully, knocking down chairs and tables in the room. Cas panted, out of breath, then palmed at the burning sensation on his midsection, grunting at the wet feel of blood between his fingers. Amara's touch did no favors to his already depleted Grace.
Finally noticing that he was in unfamiliar territory, Castiel rolled then stood up from his sprawled position on the floor. He looked around and cautiously held his angel blade in front of him as he noticed something. There was a presence in the room he couldn't put his finger on - like an enigma. Nothing sinister but very, very powerful. He kept his guard up.
"Hello, Castiel."
Cas whipped his head around the establishment, for what he could see, it was deserted.
"Right here," the voice once again acknowledged him. The angel warily followed the source of the voice, clenching and unclenching his hand on the blade as he went. Castiel stopped on a lonely table, shoved in a corner and furthest from the rest. A familiar face with unruly dark hair popped out of the booth.
"Chuck Shurley?" Cas asked, surprised to see the former prophet after all these years. Chuck should be dead, if Kevin wasn't proof enough. He was bewildered to say the least, but the matter with Amara and the pain in his chest told him there were more pressing things than meeting the dead prophet in some unknown place. Unless, it was directly related to the Darkness. "Are we in Heaven?"
That was the most logical thing he could think of but Chuck shook his head, a proud smile on his face. "We're in a pocket dimension. One I personally made. It's totally safe here."
Castiel was passed the point of utter confusion and just didn't even understand the words the man was saying. Chuck gave him a sympathetic look and gestured towards the other seat directly facing him.
"Why don't you take a seat? We have a lot to talk about, my son."
Realization dawned on the angel. His trembling fingers slipped from the angel blade he was holding, emitting a clanging sound to reverberate in the vast space between them. He shuffled weakly, knees feeling like rusty joints and arms leaden. Castiel sat heavily across Chuck, an expression of awe and wonder on his battered face that belonged to a child finally meeting his long lost father.
And it was, his long lost heavenly father with the earthly visage of the prophet known as Chuck Shurley. Cas had given up on looking for him for a long time now. A father he never knew, never even met before. But now, knowing that Chuck was actually god and that he was there with the Winchesters and the angel during the Apocalypse, it was hard not to question why - why didn't he help them then?
He should've felt anger or something associated with it but all Cas could muster was a sad smile and a fat tear trailing down his cheek. He couldn't get mad at his father, no matter what he did or didn't do. He was god, after all and he resurrected Castiel for so many times now, it possibly meant he cared. He had found him, at last.
Chuck's brown eyes were filled with sadness as he touched Castiel's forehead, a bright light engulfed the angel's form, healing him. Cas blinked, then opened his dress shirt where blood and pain were present earlier but now only had an unblemished white patch of smooth skin on his chest. He looked inquisitively at Chuck.
"The Darkness carved a few words on you. I couldn't stand looking at it," his father shrugged, a deep seated frown on his face.
Cas didn't want to get his hopes up but hope was a traitorous thing, "Will you help us defeat her?" God sighed, crossing his arms and shooting Castiel a troubled look. The angel felt dread and disappointment warring inside him. This wasn't good. "You won't," he intoned hollowly.
"I won't," Chuck agreed. "Do you know why I left Heaven, Castiel?"
The angel didn't respond, only guilty blue eyes staring at his father. God didn't have to say it, Castiel and his brethren have done unspeakable things under his name and all because of some petty grab at Paradise. It wasn't a mystery now, really.
"I was disappointed in all of you." Hearing the exact words come from Chuck's mouth made him cringe. "I would've come back eventually, I just wanted to test your independence while I was away. And look where it got us. Your brothers and sisters have ruined Heaven and Earth."
The angel had the extreme urge to do penance and apologize. It was true, it was all true. The Heavenly Host had failed to do their real jobs. "I-I am sorry, Father," Castiel stuttered.
Chuck didn't seem to hear him. "Parenting is a hard job, son. Sometimes, you have to stay away from your children, watch them do mistakes and miracles. Letting them learn from their actions rather than teaching them a lesson. Loosen the reigns in a bit, you know. Sometimes, it looks cruel. Everyone thinks I've abandoned them but I've always been everywhere, nudging people there, helping people here. Life is unfair for anyone, Castiel, and that's what makes living fair for everybody. Do you understand me?"
Cas tentatively nodded his head. He didn't understand everything but he thought he understood the most important parts. "Angels, demons and humans alike." God smiled at him then, and the angel felt nothing could make him happier than his own father's affections directed at him.
"I'm proud of you, Castiel." Cas' felt his heart stutter a bit and his breathing cut short. "You're the only one who understood, who loved the humans unconditionally. You accepted free will with open arms. You are a good angel. Remember that."
Castiel couldn't believe what he was hearing. God, his father was proud of him. He didn't know what to say to that but he gulped down the lump forming in his throat and rasped a heartfelt, "Thank you."
Chuck nodded, gracing him with a small smile but then the levity was off from his face, brows furrowing. "And yet, I can't help you defeat the Darkness. Believe me, I want to," he amended to the open-mouthed angel. "The thing is, we don't have enough firepower to do it, and if we had, we shouldn't kill her."
"Why not?"
His father raised an incredulous eyebrow, "Except from the part where nobody isn't supposed to kill anybody?" Okay, now Castiel was just downright guilty. Who knew how much blood was spilled by his hands already (Chuck probably did) and he was once again willing to sacrifice an entity - his father's sister - for the sake of everything. It sounded like fair price to him but maybe the means never really justified the end.
"She's my sister and I just want her locked away, not killed. Then there's the issue of maintaining the cosmic balance of the universe. Y'know, Darkness and Light? Night and Day?..."
"Yin and Yang?" Offered the angel.
Chuck clapped his hands together, producing bright sparks."Exactly!" He looked Castiel in the eye, "So if the Darkness goes poof, every form of reality goes poof. It's that simple."
Castiel mulled over what god was saying, which was absolutely no help for their current predicament at all. They couldn't - shoudn't - kill Amara but can they lock her away this time? Chuck seemed to pick up on his train of thought. His father cleared his throat, bringing Cas' attention to him.
"I needed three archangels and myself to lock my sister away using the Mark. Right now, Michael and Lucifer are in the Cage and Gabriel's... out of the game. There just isn't enough time or power to do it again."
"Then are we doomed?" Because even if the Darkness wasn't killed, she'd destroy everything in creation anyway.
Chuck sighed for the second time during their whole conversation, "Always have faith, Castiel. I've found a solution but... well, the stakes are high and a sacrifice is desperately needed." Cas found himself on the edge of his seat, impatiently waiting for what Chuck had to say.
"The Mark's the only thing that tethered her to her prison and now it's gone. Dean had it recently, then Cain and lastly, Lucifer. So what triggered this problem is that the Mark never stayed in one place. It was passed on and so the risk of getting rid of the Mark from each other was highly possible. Like you know, how Dean was able to kill Cain in the first place."
Castiel never thought of the consequences when those things happened, especially when Dean possessed the Mark of Cain himself. He should've known nothing good would come from blindly running towards their enemies. "Now, no one's holding the Mark, except from Amara. So how?"
"Well, we need another person to carry the Mark of course."
"Time travel," Castiel thought out loud, making Chuck grin.
"Bingo! Time is pretty relative, so if we went back in time and stayed there for too long, she'll notice something and we're dead. But if we went back in time before the Mark was transferred to Dean, not only will the balance of past and future remain, but the Darkness wouldn't be able to come out in the first place."
Yes, this plan did make perfect sense for the angel and it seemed like the only sensible thing to do rather than kill the Darkness and end the world. But there was also the issue of the 'sacrifice' Chuck was talking about. Was it possible that his father was asking him to save them all? Castiel knew he was so broken inside, little bout of harsh memories would make him tremble. Even now, he was still feeling the side effects of Rowena's spell and he didn't know how much time he had left until he was a shaking pathetic mess on the floor. But if this was the only thing that could save Sam and Dean and the whole world, he was prepared to do it.
Chuck slumped on his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose in weariness, "I've sometimes thought those two idiots didn't deserve such love and loyalty from you, but they're your family too, aren't they, Castiel?" Cas nodded quietly. "But I'm not ordering you of anything, my son. You have to want this. I made free will for a reason."
"You know my answer, Father," Castiel replied, meeting Chuck's eyes with his determined blue ones. If this is his penance, he would gladly receive it. Anything to make his father proud and save the ones he love. It was a fair sacrifice.
God made a noise of agreement, "I'm going to restore your Grace and more, but I won't be able to make you into an archangel. It's messy business and time we don't have. We need you to be at full power, Castiel. The Mark is a curse that taints a person of his own darkness. A more evil and twisted version of it. As a powerful angel, the effects will be less than gradual but…"
"But I'll become like Lucifer himself." He knew it would come down to that eventually but even so, he wasn't changing his mind about the plan.
Chuck's expression looked pained. He leaned nearer towards Castiel and rested a hand on his shoulder, searching something in the angel's face. "Remember my son, the balance must remain."
Before Castiel could get a word in, his father was standing over him and snapping his fingers. The world was once again bombarded with light and colors and his metaphysical body traveling through impossible speeds. He landed somewhere then, stumbling a little as his surroundings stopped spinning. Cas bumped into something tall and the thing made an indignant sound of surprise.
"Cas? Are you alright?" He swiveled his head to a worried looking Sam Winchester. The hunter was holding a nasty looking syringe and a Men of Letters book in another hand. Castiel remembered this, it was the time when he extracted the resonating Grace left by Gadreel. And this meant he had truly, successfully gone back in time.
The angel looked up at Sam, an apology already at the tip of his tongue. "I'm sorry, Sam. I need to save Dean." Castiel didn't even think, never even noticed the knowledge and Grace inside him as he stretched his new wings, back to its former glory, and flying off to where Crowley and Dean were talking with the Father of Murder. He disappeared from the visible spectrum, leaving a confused and startled younger Winchester inside the Bunker.
Hope it wasn't total craziness, anyway please do review. Reviews are my lifeblood. Also please Fav and Follow! This is a complex plot so the updates might come in slowly.