A/N: I'm going to catch up on this tag series before the finale airs, because I will have my work cut out for me with that. Okay, so The Future. What an episode. Here goes.
Cas hadn't been Castiel for a very long time. Castiel was the good little soldier, the angel who gave and followed orders without question, Heaven's loyal servant. Cas was... Cas was Cas. The fallen angel, the Winchester's friend, the desecrater of Heaven. He had fallen so far, and some days it felt like he was still falling. The invitation - command - to come back to Heaven had been unexpected, to say the least, and he had been cut off for so long that he felt like he could never be truly welcomed back into the fold as Kelvin had promised. He didn't miss the distrusting glances of the other angels, and he chafed against being given order after years of the opposite but he couldn't deny that some part of him was relieved to be back. That tiny shred of Castiel that remained yearned to be able to call this place home once more, even when the rest of him knew his true home was with the Winchesters.
He didn't want to betray them. He knew he wouldn't receive a positive welcome - not from Dean at least - the minute he had set foot back into the Bunker, but they were his friends and he knew they meant well. He wished nothing more than to stay with them and have Dean call him 'dumbass' and be 'Team Free Will' again, but free will wasn't something he had the luxury of anymore, and he couldn't fail on this mission. He had failed so much, now more than ever, and he needed something good to come out of this mess, for the Winchesters, for himself and for the world.
He couldn't do it. She had been right there, completely defenceless and at his mercy but he still couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. The fear in her eyes as she looked at him and said his name - Castiel - had made him freeze, so he just grabbed her and ran.
(She had used his full name)
(No one did that anymore)
"Maybe it's part of some plan-"
Cas looked into Kelly's hopeful eyes (hope, how could she still have hope?) and sighed regretfully, already hating himself for what he had to do. He didn't want to hurt this girl more than she had already been, but this was necessary to help her. She had to know that there was no plan, that there never was one, and that everything that had happened were just strokes of misfortune. He could see that she believed in this child, but he knew her trust was misplaced.
She had faith in him. The idea was almost laughable, considering all the times Cas had failed in the past. He had been ready to kill her, yet here she was telling him that she trusted him enough to place her baby's fate in his hands. Her baby, who might end up killing them all. Cas hadn't had faith in anything, least of all himself, for years yet here was the woman confidently telling him that he would. He wondered what she was planning, because heading to Heaven meant certain death for both Kelly and her baby, but he tried to shove his doubt down as this way he would complete his mission which was something he hadn't done since before the Apocalypse.
The baby's power surged through Cas and his eyes widened as images flashed through his mind. He blinked as Dagon turned to ash in front of him and frowned slightly as Sam and Dean stumbled towards him. He saw their confused faces and suddenly he knew what he had to do for all their sakes. Touching two fingertips to their foreheads, Castiel walked away, Kelly trailing after him, only feeling a twinge of regret for the path he was following.
Because Castiel had seen the future.
And it was good.
A/N: And that's that! Not sure if I like how it turned out but I think it's as good as I'm going to get it. Please leave a review if you have a moment! Bye!