So, this came to mind while writing the end of chapter twelve. While writing that chapter I unveiled a history between Michelle and Castiel that I wanted to touch on just a bit more. Alas, this was born. At this point I've allowed myself to accept that Michelle has feelings for Cass, though it isn't exactly requited. By the time Cass is able to comprehend emotion on that level she's already Falling and villainizing Michelle. Still, this sat on the back of my mind and I needed to give it life.
Thank you jdl71 on LiveJournal for betaing this for me!
Michelle sat at the base of their Mother's throne and watched as all of the angels in Heaven gathered before them. The Seraphs stood before each of the garrisons, wings spread high and proud while the remaining soldiers stood, backs stiff, wings pressed into the center of their spines. Raphiel was nowhere to be seen and Michelle could hardly blame her, this had been their oversight. It was their mistake. How many angels would die in Hell for what they failed to see? This had been the inevitable from the moment Michelle woke, from the moment Deanna sold her Spirit. Yet, why had it had taken a month for someone to realize that Deanna was dead? Their intel had said five years, not one and now they were in a panic to get their forces to attack Hell before Deanna broke.
"At ease." Michelle spoke loudly across the armies of Heaven, not that it made a difference in their posture. They were all rigid, on edge, prepared for the battle they knew was coming. The Seraphs all acknowledged her from the front of their garrisons and Michelle spotted Castiel among the crowds of angels, not yet a Seraph but not far below being worthy of that rank. Just a bit more time… or a single move. Michelle trusted Castiel among the ranks of all of the angels in Heaven. Unlike the other angels, Michelle had directly interacted with her. Michelle knew Castiel just as Castiel knew her. There were things Castiel knew about her that no one else knew, except possibly Raphiel who was a professional at keeping secrets.
"Brothers, sisters, I have called upon you all now for the first time in thousands of years. I ask for you to listen and to hear my words clearly. As of ten minutes ago Earth time, we have learned of a plot to free your eldest brother from The Cage. We are late and we are crunched for time. We cannot allow this to occur. Lucifer cannot be freed. I wish to make this clear to you, as long as I can prevent it I will not kill my brother. I do not want to kill him, not any more than any of you would willingly take arms against each other or myself. With this information on the table, I am giving one single order. You are to retrieve Deanna Winchester from Hell. This battle will not be pleasant, it will not be clean. There will be death on both sides, brothers and sisters will fall but you cannot let this deter you. You will rescue my True Vessel, Deanna Winchester, from Hell before she breaks. You must save her before she breaks or The First Seal breaks. Is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Came the united voice of all of Heaven and she felt a strange sickness in her gut at that. This wasn't going to be a simple task for them and she knew it; but she couldn't join them because she couldn't afford to die before Lucifer was freed. For a long time she'd been asleep and now she was wide awake and her heart ached with what was at risk.
"One final order." Michelle met Castiel's gaze across the thousands of angels, words strong and firm above them all. "No one may touch my Vessel's Spirit but Castiel. Is that clear?"
A look of astonishment came from the silent Seraphs as well as Castiel while the other angels responded with a firm, "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Now file out. Break through Hell. Find her." Michelle paused before continuing to speak. 'Wait a moment, Castiel. I wish to speak to you before you go.'
"Yes, ma'am." Then the soldiers were filing out of Heaven, one by one, until Ariah's garrison was the only one left.
"I am going to speak with Castiel." She spoke to the Seraph leading Castiel's garrison before waving a hand and shifting the scene around them, melting it into her bedroom, the most private place in all of Heaven.
"Michelle, why would you choose me?" Castiel asked, stiff and clearly afraid. Not that Michelle really blamed her. Situations like this weren't something that angels were used to and being singled out by an Archangel generally terrified lower ranking angels; even one like Castiel who had been favored in the past.
"I trust you, Castiel. I want this task performed by someone I know will not betray me." Castiel's wings twitched behind her and she averted her gaze.
"I don't deserve the honor, Michelle. That honor should go to Ariah or one of the others. I-"
"Castiel." The angel stopped talking immediately and Michelle crossed the short distant, gripping her shoulder firmly in her hand and squeezing until Castiel met her gaze. "I chose you for this task. You will not fail me, right?"
"I swear." Castiel breathed out, eyes wide as she stared up at Michelle.
"No matter what happens, you will retrieve my True Vessel from Hell. You will be her Guardian. I need her to trust us because if the time does come, if Lucifer gets out of The Cage, I need her to be willing to accept me into her. Can you do this for me?"
"Yes, Michelle." Castiel responded and Michelle tugged her forward, wrapping her arms and wings around the young angel, pressing her face into the top of her younger sister's head.
"Be careful." Michelle told her softly. "You have a responsibility to me now." Within her, Michelle's Spirit lifted just a bit, reaching out to embrace Castiel's. Before it could touch the younger angel, Michelle reined it in, feeling its frustration. Not that she cared. There was a firm rule in place about Archangels having their Spirits touch the younger Spirits. It was a safety measure set in place to keep the lower ranked angels safe from the dangers of Spirit to Spirit contact. Gabriella had proven that unmonitored, their Spirits were dangerous, and Castiel was one of those victims.
"May I go now, Michelle?"
Releasing Castiel's shoulder, she nodded. "You are dismissed, Castiel." Michelle said, watching as Castiel spread her wings. Wide, broad, strong. Everything needed for her to be a Seraph, everything except the title and power boost.
When she returned, Castiel would receive that. Michelle would give it to her, would watch those broad, strong wings expand and widen as they took on the power boost that came with being a Seraph. A smile crossed her face as she slipped down into her nest, laying back on the pillows as she considered the prospect. It had been a long time since she had personally chosen an angel for a promotion and even longer since she had spent a moment alone with any angel.
.-~*~-.
"Michelle?" Michelle didn't move her attention from the board in front of her, for a week she had been watching the armies of Heaven fight against the armies of Hell. More angels than she had expected had been slaughtered. "I wish to speak to you."
"What is it, Raphiel?" Her gaze finally moved away from the board, the image of the most recent battle that Castiel had been a part of vanishing.
"I am concerned for you, Michelle. Heaven is empty except for the Cherubs and you have sat in the war room almost constantly since they left. You are supposed to be the heart of the support for the remaining, for the soldiers that limp back but you're here. What are you doing?"
"I am watching."
"That doesn't- Michelle, your Spirit is out." Michelle blinked and looked down, finding her Spirit was indeed loose. Carefully she prodded it back until it returned to its position deep within herself. "Talk to me, Michelle."
"Do not analyze me, Raphiel."
"You're the leader of Heaven and you are sitting in the war room watching Ariah's garrison fight through Hell, but your focus remains on one. Don't tell me you are level headed. I saw you with Castiel before you Caged him as well. What is your fascination with her?"
"Ariah is a good soldier."
Raphiel clearly did not buy the line, her eyes narrowing into sharp slits. "Michelle, you are not a liar, and I do not like you trying to deceive me. What is your fascination with this Castiel? You took an interest in her when she was an adolescent as well. Now you ordered that she be the one to rescue Deanna? Of all of the-"
"I am going to promote her." Michelle interrupted and Raphiel's mouth snapped shut as she stared at Michelle in horror, wings flaring out behind her.
"Michelle, you cannot do that."
"I am the leader of Heaven, it is my choice."
"There aren't enough soldiers to make use of another Seraph. Michelle, I do not know what your relationship with this angel is but you are not thinking clearly. You are behaving irrationally. Promoting her is not in the best interest with the potential war. We do not have the resources to train a new Seraph. Promoting her and-"
"I will take her training into my own hands, Raphiel." Michelle discarded her sister's protests.
"You are not listening, Michelle. Heaven needs you here. We need you focused and you're focusing on a single angel among a thousand others. If you do not tell me what it is, I will assert my position as the Healer of Heaven and analyze your Spirit. You are not being rational."
Michelle finally met her sister's gaze, hardening her expression and burying her Spirit further inside herself. "I have respect for her, Raphiel. That is all there is to it." Michelle collected herself a bit, thinking over every little thing her sister had said. It wasn't that simple. Raphiel was making it out as though she was favoring Castiel for personal reasons, which wasn't the case. Castiel was a perfectly viable option for a promotion and maybe it wasn't the optimal time but the lower ranks could take a boost of morale by seeing one of their siblings promoted. If Michelle made an effort to acknowledge not just her but the others, it would likely have a positive effect on the remainders in Heaven. However many angels survived the battle in Hell.
"It isn't." Raphiel murmured so low Michelle almost didn't hear it and it grated on her but she chose to ignore her sister. There wasn't anything more and if Raphiel thought there was it was likely due to her own biased opinions towards Castiel. Not that Michelle understood it. Castiel was a good angel, a good person. Maybe she was biased because she had spent time with the young angel during The First War but it didn't leave an excuse for Raphiel's hostility.
.-~*~-.
Michelle stood in The Garden where the surviving angels were collected, the ones that had been smart enough to crawl out of Hell rather than fighting in their weakened positions only to die. While she was not among their ranks, Michelle was hyperaware of who was left. There was just over a thousand there before her, four thousand in Heaven and recovering under the careful attention of Raphiel. Only slightly over five thousand angels left. It was a massive loss; immense. This loss was unprecedented. When Michelle had ordered them out she hadn't expected them to be slaughtered.
What made it all worse was that Lucifer's last bold move in The First War between Heaven and Hell had been to wipe out their healing ranks. At the time, Michelle hadn't realized the price the rest of the angels would pay for it. That had been her mistake but Raphiel was also yet again at fault.
During her absence, her sleep, Raphiel had been the reigning ruler of Heaven. It was undoubtedly pride that had kept Raphiel from training a group of the soldiers for healing. They were unprepared for this war, because that was what was to come. Michelle distinctly had felt The First Seal break and they weren't anywhere near prepared for what would inevitably follow. With Seals breaking, it was only a matter of time before Lucifer was able to connect to Heaven's link again and then it was all out in the open. Michelle didn't have the time she needed to focus on her future Seraph. That venture would have to be put on hold and she carefully stored it away within her Spirit to be thought on later.
"Raphiel, a moment?"
A second later her sister was standing before her, looking drained and tired. Carefully restraining the more personal parts of it, Michelle let her Spirit spread to the edge of her wings, stroking the feathers carefully across the back of her sister's wings and sending a much needed boost of energy that Michelle could afford to give since she wasn't doing anything else.
"Thank you." Raphiel breathed out, turning her head towards Michelle's touch.
"I need you to send the strongest of those who have returned to guide the survivors from the Hell Gate. Castiel will take Deanna's Spirit to her body but the others are going to be damaged and need the help when they are exposed to Earth's atmosphere again. It has been thirty years for them since they left Heaven."
"There are not many in that optimal position. It's a wonder they survived as long as they did. Our bodies are not built for the cold."
"How many?"
"Maybe forty, if I'm generous. We made a dangerous mistake, Michelle."
"I'm seeing that now. When they've returned and back in the position to do so, I want each Seraph working double on getting the soldiers into shape. And I want Hannah's Garrison shifted to training in healing."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I need time to think, Raphiel. That is all. You are just as capable of giving orders as I am and I am useless for the time being."
Raphiel's expression shifted to something resembling pain before she nodded and turned away. "Be prepared, brothers and sisters. I need the strong ones of you to rise now, if you cannot rise without pain you will be a liability. I need the strongest. If you can move your wings, if you can stand, then rise. We are going to need you and soon.
'Joshea.'
'She is silent, Michelle.' It was a desperate grab to ask and she knew it but she had to do it.
Despite everything, she wanted to wish that their Mother actually gave a damn about anything that happened to them. The bitter truth was that, no, God was gone and they were on their own. They had to deal with this without Her and Michelle knew. She knew, despite everything, that she couldn't afford to play favorites. They had to prepare for this war and Castiel was a liability.
'Naomi, I need you to do something for me.'
'Of course, Michelle, though I am unsure what I can do for you.'
Taking an uneasy breath she crossed Heaven to the Realignment Chamber. The situation with Castiel was a liability and while she wasn't completely sure why she favored the young angel, she couldn't afford to think much on it. No, it would be better to just… erase it. For a time. Not all of it but the details that made Castiel a problem. That was what Naomi did best.
"I never expected you to come to me." Naomi said with a tilt of her head, "It's typically Ariah that comes here. Who do you need me to… repair?"
"I need you to remove some minor details from me." Michelle responded and Naomi's eyes widened just a fraction.
"I am not supposed to touch Archangels, Michelle…"
"I am the active ruler in Heaven, Naomi. I am not asking."
"Very well." Naomi conceded, far too easily though Michelle chose to ignore it. "What do you need removed?"
"I need all of my thoughts regarding Castiel since the siege of Hell began. Not the vital details, but the reasoning behind them. I have become too sympathetic towards her and while I am unsure why, I need those thoughts gone. They will be far too distracting in the war to come."
"Of course." Naomi responded, gesturing to the table in the center of the room. "Take a seat and I will begin."
Just as Michelle took her seat, five words rang out loud and clear across Heaven, a single voice among the entirety of The Host. Castiel. 'Deanna Winchester has been saved.' The young one called out, a thousand other voices trailing behind hers, cries of pain tearing across Heaven as angels that had been in the ice of Hell for years came into contact with the warmth of Earth.
'Protect her, Castiel.' Michelle ordered silently before blocking out the angelic wavelength. "Naomi."
"Are you ready, Michelle?" Naomi asked, completely unperturbed by the agony of her siblings. Not that Michelle was particularly surprised at that. The job Naomi did was not a gentle one.
"Yes." Michelle responded as Naomi began to strap her down. This was for the best, right?
Despite myself I made Raphiel at least suspicious of it, though much like what she did with Gabbie in the main story she kept the secret and by the time they get to the point they are in during FITHOTM Raphiel has brushed it aside since both of the Archangels aren't particularly fond of Cass anymore.
That said, this short is written and I'm pretty proud of it. I hope you guys enjoyed it as well and feel free to call me out on continuity errors.