Castiel wanders through the woods.
No. Just Cas now. Castiel was an angel, and he is an angel no more. The angels are gone. Falling. Burning.
Screaming.
Cas' family is falling from the sky, falling and flaming all around him, screaming out their despair and agony. And he can do nothing but watch. Tears spill from his newly human eyes and tumble down his dirty cheeks.
He weeps human tears for his human family.
There is no atonement for this. No confession, no absolution. I thought I was doing the right thing. But nothing will ever be right again.
Ahead in the distance there is a thundering crash and trees glow with fire. A woman wails in pain, calling for help, for answers, for Father.
Cas breaks into a run, ducking between the trees, searching for the source of the screaming, searching for the fallen. He finds her beside the road, surrounded by flames and charred feathers. Her back is blackened.
It is the Cupid he he took the bow from. It is the woman who used to be the Cupid.
He runs over to her and stamps out the flames around her. She is still screaming. "Castiel! Castiel, what has happened?"
It's Cas now.
"Metatron cast us all out. We have fallen."
"But why? No! I don't understand."
Cas kneels down beside her; he brushes soot off her shoulders. He would pray if he thought there was anyone worth praying to. He knows there's not. "I don't either."
"Are we going to die?"
"No," he tells her, sad but determined. Their family is falling all around them, crashing down from the sky. They may be the only two to survive, but he will make sure they do. He will make sure. He knows he owes her that much. "What is your name?"
"Janael."
"Janael," he repeats. But no, that's not right. Janeal was an angel, but the angels are no more. "Jane," he tells her. "Your name is Jane now. And I am Cas."
Jane sits up and leans against him. She begins to cry. "It hurts, Cas. It hurts."
He holds her close, knowing she can hear his human heartbeat inside his human chest. He hopes it gives her at least a measure of comfort. "I know it does. I'm sorry, Jane."
"What do we do now?"
Cas stands carefully and gently pulls Jane to her feet. He can think of only one thing to do, one place to go. His family is tattered and torn, all of it, but he knows of a safe place where he will still be accepted. Dean and Sam will be angry and hurt, no doubt, but they will accept him; they will help him.
Some of his family was human even before the great fall.
Cas puts a guiding arm around Jane's shoulders and begins to lead her down the road. "Come on. I know what to do. I've got you, little sister."