Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, even the smallest atom. No profit will be made from this fanfic, and no animals were harmed in the making of it.
Warnings/Summary: First chapter of what I'm thinking might become a rather long series. Alternate universe, semi-original character/Castiel. Strong language, adult themes, angelcest, pie and the kitchen sink. I wasn't held enough as a child, so reviews make my day.
One would think that the brothers would have been used to ending up in alternate times and dimensions by now, but that sense of confusion was still there. They found themselves in a run down warehouse, the sunlight seeping through the cracked, filthy windows was weak, gray, almost as if it was filtering through water.
"Cas, what the Hell just happened?" Dean's voice was loud but wavered, echoing oddly in the empty warehouse.
"I am not completely sure. I believe that we have been teleported to somewhere... Else."
"Well that's pretty obvious. Where the Hell are we? And where are those demons we were just ganking?"
"I... I do not know. I do not know exactly when we are either. I am afraid I do not have any answers." Confusion was obvious in Castiel's voice, and he looked around the building they had appeared in. Dean and Sam moved slowly away from him, carefully exploring the building. However, they drew together quickly as the sounds of combat filtered in from the outside. A door on the fast end of the building flew open, and a woman ran through the door, a group of ten people in hot pursuit. The brothers were about to rush to her aid, but apparently it was unneeded. She twisted, eerily light on her feet, throwing her hands out at the group chasing her. Enochian words tumbled from her mouth, and the attacking group stumbled to a stop. Demons began pouring from their bodies, congealing into a dark cloud. One final word, and the cloud collapsed in on itself with the sound of ripping cloth.
The woman fell to her knees, shuddering, obviously exhausted by what had just happened, relaxing until a voice came from behind her. "That exorcism was Enochian... Who are you?" Castiel's voice was calm but dangerous. The woman froze briefly, then she exploded into movement. A silver, angelic blade sprang into being, slicing through the space behind her.
"You know exactly who I am, you traitorous bastard." She froze in her attack, eyes fixing on Sam, and fear gleamed in her gray-blue eyes, but it hardened immediately into resignation. "Hello, Lucifer. Finally decided to get rid of the thorn in your side that is my existence? You even brought your little dog too. Just to rub it in? Well, come on then, brother. I am ready to lay down my trumpet and blade and finally rest."
"Lady, what the Hell are you talking about?" Her eyes, so fixated on Sam, flicked to Dean, and confusion replaced the resignation.
"Michael? No, that is impossible. You are dead. And even if you were not, you would not be there, standing with Lucifer and that traitorous scum." Her eyes flicked briefly to Castiel, hate and disgust flaring brightly for a brief second.
"Look, lady, I'm not Michael, I'm Dean. Sam isn't Lucifer, at least not any more, and while I guess you could say Castiel betrayed Heaven, he really isn't that bad." Castiel gave Dean a dead pan look at this remark, then turned his gaze back to the woman standing before them. A look of intense concentration had reshaped her face, the brow now heavily furrowed, eyes cast down, flicking back and forth, looking at something they couldn't see.
"Dean... Sam..." Her eyes focused on them, and then glowed bright with Grace. She stared at the three of them, the weight of her attention almost palpable. "You are not meant to be here. You belong... Elsewhere. Where are you from? When are you from? No, wait, that may take too long to explain and we cannot stay here long if you are not lying and you are as you say you are. May I?" She had approached Castiel as one would approach a tiger, cautious in the extreme. Her hand slowly raised, fingertips hovering inches from his face.
"What, you gonna Vulcan mind meld or something?" Dean said. He received the standard angelic head tilt from both of them, and that's when it really clicked. Whoever she was, she was an angel. Castiel returned his gaze to her, and nodded slowly. Her fingertips brushed gently against his skin, and they both drew in a quick, shocked breath. Both of them looked at each other with unfocused gazes, obviously concentrating on whatever was transpiring between them. Only a few seconds passed, and she burst into motion. Her hands were on Castiel's face, pulling his lips down to hers, fingers twining in his dark hair. Castiel made a slightly surprised noise, and she stepped back from him, her face almost glowing red from embarrassment.
"I... apologize. That was inappropriate. I... um..." The sound of wings cut her off, and she spun, blade again at the ready. Sam stood there, a cruel expression on his face. Or, at least, something that looked like Sam. "Lucifer..." she breathed. She reached quickly toward the brothers, touched Castiel behind her with her other hand, and then they were gone.
She was screaming when they popped back into being wherever she had brought them. There was a raw note to it, painful for human eardrums, the true voice of an angel. She had wings now, four of them to be exact, the feathers the gray-blue of storm clouds, matching her eyes almost perfectly. They would have been beautiful if one of them had not been hanging at an awkward angle, obviously broken, blood streaming from several long gouges down her back, almost as if some beast had raked claws down her back as she escaped. Stumbling away from them, she cut her scream off, hand clamping over her mouth, breathing light and fast from pain. Castiel rushed forward, and she shrank back from him, eyes wild with pain, almost unseeing. Freezing, Castiel raised his hands in a comforting gesture, speaking quiet, calming things that the brothers couldn't hear. She calmed slowly, even if she still shuddered with pain. "My apologies... You will have to excuse a trained reaction. I am too used to looking at you and seeing an enemy. Please..." Her voice broke on the last word, testament to the pain she was feeling. She turned slowly away from him, wincing at the slightest movement, and Castiel gently laid his hands on her. She let out a sigh of pain which shifted to one of relieved pleasure as her wounds healed, bones grinding as the wing reset itself. The moment the pain stopped was obvious. She almost collapsed from the tension leaving her body, and as she stretched her wings outs to their fullest measure, primaries brushing the walls of the room they had appeared in, there was a quiet groan of pleasure. "Thank you." she sighed happily, turned back to the men behind her, the tension lines momentarily gone from her face. She was surprisingly beautiful with her face relaxed. Her eyes were a gray-blue, almond-shaped, and bright, almost glowing, in her face, set above high cheekbones. Their color was set off even more by her pale skin, dotted with freckles. Her hair was short, golden-brown, and almost resembled feathers with the way it was cut, short, chunky, curling around her face in spiky layers. She was small, a few inches under five and a half feet, and small, delicate almost. It was obvious she had chosen her clothes for the purpose of blending in. A black pea coat made her seem even smaller than she was, hiding most of her body. Her shirt was a black and gray flannel, tough but with a worn look. Her jeans were dark, ripped and worn from hard usage. She looked, ironically, like a female hunter, not like the angel the brothers were used to dealing with.
"I suppose I should explain to you what has occurred in this universe, as it is obviously not the universe you belong in. So many things have gone differently..." there was sadness in her voice, and she looked away from them, her eyes dark. Shaking herself slightly, she refocused on them. "Where to begin..."
"You could probably tell us who you are... that might be helpful." Sam's voice was calm, but there was worry there. She looked surprised, almost amazed that she hadn't told them that yet.
"Gabriel. They call me Gabriel. From Castiel's memories, I can see that I am far from the Gabriel that you are used to. Maybe I should start there. The Gabriel from your universe left Heaven, from what I can understand. I never did. I stayed beside my Father, fulfilling my duties as Messenger. " There was anger in her voice, anger at the other Gabriel, one who was too weak, in her opinion, to fulfill his purpose. She stamped down on that emotion, and when she spoke again, her voice was cold, controlled. "Castiel, my Castiel, when confronted by Lucifer... he broke. Sided with my brother." She flicked her eyes to Castiel, and there was pain there, the pain of a loved one betrayed. It was gone quickly, suppressed. "You two" she returned her focus to Sam and Dean. "said yes, and became the vessels."
"What idiot convinced us to do that?" Dean's voice was harsh.
"I did. It was a mistake..." she trailed off, and an awkward silence hung in the room before she continued. "My convincing was rather... barbaric. Hardly one of my best moments, but I was hoping to save someone." Gabriel's eyes flicked briefly to Castiel, before settling back on the ground. "So, I 'convinced' Sam to say yes. Dean, I believe you said yes to Michael in an attempt to save Sam. It did not work, in case you had not figured out. Together, Castiel and Lucifer overpowered Michael. Rather than kill him, Lucifer forced him into the Cage. Ironic, I know. And so here we are... I am sure there are several more differences, and you deserve a far better explanation, but I am tired, and the past is a painful topic for me. Please, feel free to rest, and relax, but do not leave. There is food and drink in the fridge. I will be back soon. There are a few things I need to take care of in private." She finished, and then retreated through a door, leaving the men to stare blankly after her.
"Wonder if she has any pie?"
An hour or two passed, and Castiel grew anxious. Examining the room they had been brought to had kept him distracted for a small amount of time. From the view out the wall of windows, Castiel assumed that they were in a high rise building, in what he was fairly certain was Seattle. The furniture was simple, modern, but comfortable, and had that vague feeling to him that it had not been made by human's hands, but an Archangel's will. When he looked at the walls with his true eyes, not his vessel's, he could see the walls, a light gray color, were covered in warding magic. No one would be able to find them here, or enter here, without Gabriel's permission. It was safe, or at least as safe as could be made. The room itself was clean, too clean, almost as if no one lived here. Castiel supposed that was true. Gabriel did not need to eat, or sleep, and probably only retreated here as a last choice. All these thoughts flew through his head as he watched the brothers eat food that had been in the refrigerator. He sighed, letting out air he didn't need, and thought about trying to get them out of this predicament. The only problem was he had no idea where they actually were, and no idea if he could actually get them home. He had never been the best at time travel, and although he wasn't sure if they had traveled through time, he could tell that they were very far from the place where they should be.
"Cas, why can't you just take us back? Strap on your angel wings and all that?" Dean's question echoed Castiel's thoughts, shaking him out of his contemplation.
"I am not sure I can. Whatever brought us here had enormous power. We are in a completely different universe, a different time line, a time line distinctly separated from ours, considering it began diverging centuries ago with Gabriel. I do not know how we will get back..." Both brothers gave him a vaguely worried look, and not willing to deal with their stares, he turned his back to them, instead contemplating a shelf of books. The titles and languages covered almost everything, ranging from what looked like an original King James Bible to the Kama Sutra. The Kama Sutra reminded him of the Gabriel of his universe, and he gave a slight, sad smile. His attention wandered from the books, drifting back to the memory exchange that had occurred at the warehouse. He had felt her mind in his, brushing against him like feathers against skin. His memories had streamed passed as she had watched, and he had felt something plant itself in his mind. It was only now, that he examined it, that he realized it was her memories. As soon as he turned his thoughts to them, they flooded through his mind's eye. He now understood why she had looked at him so... personally. Those memories, memories of an intimacy that made him blush, and made his body heat. Shifting slightly as an almost alien emotion flooded through him, an desire he had no name for, he looked over his shoulder at the brothers, who had started arguing in quiet voices. Castiel turned his gaze to the door Gabriel had disappeared into. Moving quickly, quietly, he slipped through the door, leaving the brothers to their food and argument. The door took him directly into another room. He found her there, kneeling on a pillow, wings spread gracefully around her. She didn't move as he walked in, and as he slowly walked around her, he realized why. Angels didn't sleep, but they did rest, in a form. It was more meditation, and she was in deep. Her eyes were glazed, her chin resting on her chest, breathing slow and deep. Crouching down in front of her, Castiel took the time to really examine her. She had changed out of the clothes she had been wearing, and was now in a white tank top and loose yoga pants. Even though the light in the room was dim, Castiel could see scars making patterns along her arms. He took in the bedraggled state of her wings, feathers ragged from not being preened in far too long. The Archangel looked worn out, and Castiel's heart ached for her. Unthinking, his hand reached up to gently stroke her cheek, her memories of their relationship strong in his mind.
Gabriel snapped out of her resting trance, acting instinctively. Her blade was a blur in the dark room, stopping just before it pierced Castiel's body. She shuddered, regaining control of herself. "Do not... ever..." She shook her head, standing slowly, walking away from him, blade fading from sight. She scrubbed at her face with her hands, shrugging off the last traces of her trance. Turning, she found herself confronted by Castiel's chest. Blinking a few times in surprise, she stepped back, putting a small amount of space in between them.
"Your memories... I have been looking at them." his voice was quiet in the semi-darkness. Gabriel smiled, but it was full of pain.
"I apologize for that. Do not feel like you are obligated to be my friend just because I had a relationship with another you. I would honestly prefer not to speak about it. That wound is still raw, though several years have passed." She walked away from him again, running a hand through her hair, mussing it.
"Of course." Castiel watched her wander around the oddly empty room, eyes following her as she settled back onto the pillow with a sigh. Approaching her slowly, almost as one would approach a skittish deer, Castiel ran his eyes over her wings. Even in their uncared for state, they were beautiful, and his fingers itched to touch them. He knelt slowly behind her, a hand running gently along the long primaries. Gabriel twitched slightly, not exactly flinching away from his touch. "May I?" Castiel asked quietly, and she nodded, body relaxing. Her wings spread gently, giving him access to all the feathers. Kneeling down behind her, Castiel ran gentle hands over her wings, mind racing with memories of him, but not him, having done this before. He knew where this would probably lead. He could see it in the memories that had taken up residence in his head. A slight smile tugged at his lips, and he happily began the task of straightening each of those silky soft blue-gray feathers.
He was gentle with the preening, slowly straightening and smoothing feathers that had been too long without care. Gabriel shuddered occasionally, trying to control the reactions spawned from the delicious feeling of those fingers in her feathers. It wasn't a directly erotic feeling, just as a massage did not have to be erotic, but memories of another angel by the same name flashed through her mind, twisting this experience. Slowly, her mind filtered out everything else, centering on the slight tickle of her feathers being preened. Minutes passed by in comfortable silence. Slowly all the tension drained from her body, and she began to really enjoy the feelings. It had been far too long since she had had the time to do something that did not involve fighting against her brother. A soft sigh slipped from her lips, and she shifted her wings, pressing more firmly into Castiel's hands. Behind her back, he smiled slightly, gently. Memories still played in his head, an echo of what was happening. He knew what she was feeling. He felt it in the memories she had left with him when she had looked at his memories. So, maybe he was a bit more thorough than need be. Thorough enough that the first, quiet moan didn't exactly surprise him. A light brush there to realign a quill, a firm pull to straighten a feather, a slight smile at her low groan and shudder. All too soon, her feathers were perfectly straight, neat, gleaming, and Gabriel was breathing fast and light. Castiel hesitated a brief second before slowly burying his fingers in the tiny, soft feathers near the base of Gabriel's wings. "Oh..." her sigh brought a gentle smile to his lips. Muscles twitched under his fingertips and she shuddered. Then she was gone, across the room in the blink of an eye, "I am sorry... I just..." Her wings wrapped around her body, shielding her from view, and she looked away from him, face hot.
"Gabriel."
"No. I know what you are feeling, and it is not you feeling it. You are feeling what I feel, felt... They are my memories. The feelings are not yours and I have no right to take advantage of them just to salve my wounded heart." She looked up, only to find Castiel inches from her. Flinching, she tried to move away, only to find herself pinned between his arms. Her eyes closed, and she took a slow, deep breath.
"Castiel..." the protest was cut off by his lips pressing against hers. She locked down for a few seconds, but with a whimper, her resistance broke, and her hands tangled in Castiel's hair, pulling him closer. The room was quiet for a few minutes, broken only by the sound of breathing that got heavier and the sound of hands against clothing. Castiel broke the kiss first, trailing his lips along Gabriel's jaw, capturing her ear lobe gently in his teeth. Moaning happily, she ran her hands down his chest, tugging at his button up shirt, wanting to be able to feel his skin against her hands. She froze as his lips trailed across a particularly sensitive spot on her neck, and when her brain managed to reconnect with her body, she began tugging harder at the stubborn garment, pulling buttons from their holes. Ripping his tie free almost like it offended her, she pushed his trench, suit coat, and shirt off all at once. A quick twist, and he was the one with his back pressed to the wall, with lips making hot trails against his skin. Soon, her shirt joined the pile of clothing on the floor, and both groaned as heated skin rubbed against heated skin. Hands fumbled, clothing came off, and all too soon, two bodies tumbled into a feather-soft mattress that had came into being at an Archangel's will. Settling between warm thighs, Castiel looked down at her, blue eyes dark with lust. Blue eyes stared back up at him, equally dark, pink lips swollen from kisses. A slight grind of his hips, and he watched those blue eyes roll back slightly, felt her body arch slightly under him. "Cas, please..." He had never heard that diminutive sound quite so sinful, and with his name still on her lips, he slid slowly inside her. Twin groans split the quiet of the room. He could feel her reach out with Grace, and he melded with her. Soon, it was all pleasure, all heated touches, all groans and moans and whispered words. Tumbling over the edge at the same time, they flared bright, angelic, white. It was long moments before both of them were aware of their surroundings. Castiel rolled slowly off her, sighing gently as he settled into the soft mattress. "That's as close to Heaven as I've been in a long time." Gabriel's voice was husky, and her comment provoked a quiet, masculine laugh from Castiel. "Regretting giving into the emotions that are not yours yet?" she looked over at him, her face calm, voice teasing slightly.
"Not even slightly." He murmured back, smiling.
Author's Note: Well that's the first chapter... I'll get the second one out whenever I decide to take the long road or the short road. My mind is divided as to which side to take, although I'm leaning more toward a nice long, drawn out one, if only to give me something to do... Suggestions? Comments? Hate Mail? Feel free to send it...