A/N: So, I finally wrote something I don't hate and I thought I'd tentatively place it online. It's just a little one shot I farted out while bored in Microbiology (blerghhhh). This is my first published fanfic so please be nice? :-) Also I have no beta, so apologies for mistakes!
Disclaimer: Oh, if only I owned you Sam and Dean, although let's not get into what would happen if I did. ;-D
It should have been easy.
They had the infinite wisdom of immortality on their side; years watching empires rise and fall, bonds made and broken. Some of them were old enough even to have witnessed the beginnings of man – surely they knew all there was to know about such short lived mortals.
It should have been easy.
The plan, the ending of the epic saga that was life, had existed for years beyond the memory of humans. A blueprint for the future of Earth and humanity, written in blood and tears and destruction.
It should have been easy.
Heaven and Hell, joining forces and applying their considerable powers of manipulation to bring about the ultimate battle; the final decision on who claimed superiority. Small nudges delivered over years – a lifetime, in fact – patiently advancing the pawns across the chess board.
It should have been easy.
A lie here, an ugly truth there, constantly weighing down the soul with the inky darkness most people never realised was there; the underbelly of humanity most people never so much as glimpsed.
It should have been easy.
The Demons cajoled, oily whispers that slid under the skin and burrowed deep, clawing at the doubts and insecurities, the latent self-loathing. The Angels browbeat, demanded, so sure, so right in what they were doing. Everything was a weapon to be used – even Heaven itself, the supposed ultimate sanctuary after death. Yet another string for the puppeteers to tug on.
It was easy.
Everything fell into place, dominos toppling in a neat little row. Seals broken, Lucifer released, the Apocalypse begun, trust fractured. Divide and conquer, an age old strategy proving effective yet again.
It was easy, and then it wasn't.
In the end, impossibly, it was all for naught. All-powerful Angels, cunning Demons, all thwarted. Damaged faith and broken trust, wrapped in lies and secrets, all swept aside like a house of cards. They stood together, united in spite of it all, and the plan came tumbling down.
It should have been easy, would have been...
But for two Winchesters standing strong; brothers despite it all. Like magnets, constantly drawn back together despite any and all attempts at separation; a pillar of strength when one faltered and somehow carrying the world on their shoulders too.
In the end, it was never going to be easy. The Winchesters fought best with their brother at their side and a wall at their back.
We provided the wall - the corner even - and like the warriors they were the brothers struck back in ways neither Heaven nor Hell might ever predict.
And when Sam plunged into Hell, at peace with the knowledge he'd saved his brother and the world, he left one Winchester standing; broken and world-weary, but present to remind the world that you simply didn't screw with the Winchesters and come out smelling like a rose.
I watched it all, and as one brother fell and the other stumbled on, I found my faith again.
-The Journal of Castiel