Castiel's foot slammed down on the brakes, his car screeching to a stop in front of the hotel. He rushed towards the door, jerking it open and quickly headed towards the stairs, knowing full well that the elevator would take too long.
Running up the stairs, he couldn't help wondering why Crowley had stopped praying to him. Usually, the demon talked to him non stop, whether it was venting about his daily frustrations to being extremely flirty that always flustered the angel. Crowley would always keep his prayers long and lengthy like a conversation, knowing full well that Castiel would listen to every word. But this time... This time, the demon's prayer had been different.
He burst through the door and looked down the hallway to see Sam and Dean arguing and gesturing at the First Blade in Sam's hand who pulled his hand out of reach when Dean tried to snatch the blade away from him. They stopped when they saw Castiel coming towards them. Dean was the first to turn to the angel as he approached the two brothers.
"Cas." Dean looked forlorn but surprised to see the angel, even if his face was completely splattered in red with thick red droplets dripping from his chin. "How'd you find us?"
"I heard Sam's prayer," Castiel answered as he glanced at a pair of doors behind them. Dean shot a glare in Sam's direction but didn't say anything.
"He deserves to know," Sam said quietly with a stricken look in his eyes.
Castiel began to move past the brothers towards the room and Sam stepped aside but Dean stepped in front of the him, a bloody hand pushing him back.
"Cas...don't," Dean pleaded but Castiel pushed past him, grabbing the door handles and pushed forward to enter the room.
There, on the floor, was a bloodied and hardly recognizable corpse of Abaddon's vessel. The face was bashed in so badly that Castiel was pretty sure he could make out a human brain in all the mess. He grimaced, realizing that it was Dean's doing.
He looked around the room and spotted an overturned lamp on the ground and as he walked towards it, spotted a bloodied couch with a single bullet on the floor. He picked it up and found that a demon's trap was etched into it.
Footsteps echoed into the room as Dean and Sam joined the angel, guilt clearly visible in their faces but Castiel ignored them as he dropped the bullet into the front pocket of his trench coat. He spun around at the sudden sound of doors slamming shut that led out to balcony and couldn't help noticing that Dean and Sam was avoiding eye contact with him when he turned back to them.
Deep down, he knew something had gone wrong but refused to believe it. He had to see for himself. As he approached the glass doors, he could make out a figure outside on the balcony, sitting up, leaning back against the railings. That was when he knew.
Kitten, remember when I told you what happened in that church with Moose?
Castiel slowly opened the doors to the balcony and took a step towards the slumped figure in front of him.
Well, I told you what I said to him when I had my mid life crisis, yeah?
The angel disregarded the small drops of rain that were beginning to fall as he took one final step and stood in front of the seemingly unmoving body.
You are the most innocent minded, daft, idiotic and yet the most rebellious angel I've ever met...
Castiel knelt in front of the figure. He felt numb, his mind frozen, unable to process the sight before him.
... and yet you taught me the most important lesson of all.
He gingerly stretched out a hand, cupping the side of the demon's face. The rain quickly picked up pace to a drizzle, accompanied by lightning that cut the sky in two.
Deserve love? Even as I said that to Moose, I still didn't understand the word itself. It comes in all different forms -
His other free hand ran up the vessel's face, only to entangle it in a fistful of damp hair. This couldn't be happening.
- but every form that even beings like you and I share, isn't deserved or earned. It's given. You made me realize that.
Castiel pulled the demon's face to his, forehead touching forehead as the rain evolved into a downpour.
Sparkles, you know I always pride myself in being able to keep my end of a deal but I might not be able to this time.
Castiel was soaking wet from the pouring rain but it didn't matter to him. Dean and Sam were now a few feet behind him out of the rain, watching him, but that didn't matter either. What did matter was the fact that the demon's vessel was devoid of any sign of life and what made it even worse was that he could see what the human eye couldn't.
It's the most important deal I've made as a demon but my streak might end with it… if you think about it, karma's a bitch eh? *chuckle*
If only he still had his wings, this never would have happened. He had failed yet again and this time, had been unable to save the one demon that meant everything to him.
You can't save everyone angel. Some of us just aren't meant to be.
Castiel could see the true death of the demon, past the vessel and what he saw was a rare and grace shattering sight that no one had or would witness again. It was of a burning hellfire and infinite darkness, a form twisted by torture and suffering that was slowly fading away, just like a fire slowly dying out. Sparks and ember surrounded the form that was dissipating into nothing. To Castiel, the scene before him was both breathtaking and horrifying but it would be seared into his mind forever.
Ah... I hate to cut this prayer short luv, but duty calls.
Castiel slid a hand down the back of the demon's vessel and pulled the body in as close as he could to his in a tight hug. Crowley wouldn't approve of what Castiel would do next but it was an unfathomable moment: an angel mourned the death of a demon. There would be no sobbing or crying, only silent tears, washed away by the rain.
Tata for now, kitten.