"Cas, what are you doing?!" Dean yelled. "I'm making things right." I replied. He and I stood right at the mortal point where the Veil between Heaven and Earth was the thinnest. I had brought together all the ingredients that was needed to undo Metatron's spell, the last ingredient was an Angel's life-force. I had learned that the last ingredient had to be an Angel that had be a part of the previous spell. Since Metatron was no longer in play, that only left me. As I finished painting the sigil and chanting the words needed, the Veil was starting to part, and I could catch a glimpse of the Gates of Heaven starting to open. I had just enough time to turn around, look at familiar green eyes one last time, and say "I'm sorry Dean." Before I was wrenched forward and placed my hand on the tear in the Veil. White-hot pain immediately shot through my vessel as I made contact. It was worse than being taken over by Leviathans, even worse than Metatron taking my Grace and banishing me to earth. I could feel myself start to weaken as the spell drained my energy, but I couldn't stop. I had to see this through. I could see that the Gates had opened enough to let souls start to come through, but it wasn't enough. For it to work, they had to be all the way open. The pain increased as the Gates opened wider and wider. "Holy-!" I heard Dean yell. I had to smile at that. He must've seen the Gates as well. They got wider and wider, until finally the Gates opened fully and the Music of the Spheres burst forth. I could see the souls that were trapped in the Veil move on, until it was as empty as it was supposed to be. The Veil closed with a bright flash, and everything was as it was before. I turned toward Dean as he stood in amazement, but he must've seen something because the amazement turned into worry as he said, "Cas? Are you ok?" I heard my brothers and sisters singing as they rejoiced in the reopening of Heaven. I could feel the spell still draining me, but I smiled when I heard them sing. I could feel myself falling, but I never felt myself land. I could hear footsteps running, then Dean arrived. He put his hands on my chest and said, "Cas! CAS! Can you hear me? Just hang on, we'll get you back to the Bunker. Just hang on!" My vison was fading, but I managed to focus on Dean and say, "Can you hear them Dean…? They're singing…" Then everything faded to black.
I woke up in a spacious room that had no walls and no ceiling. I found out that I was lying on what seemed to be the floor, so I stood up and took a survey of where I was. How did I get here? The last thing I remembered was talking to Dean, and listening to my siblings sing and rejoice at the reopening of Heaven. "Hey bro. You did it." Came a voice to my right. I turned towards the voice, and saw someone come out of the endless white I had long thought dead. "Gabriel?" "Wow, got it on the first try." Gabriel said with a smirk. I felt a smile come unbidden to my face. I hadn't realized how much I missed that snark. He grabbed me tight and held on. I let him. I hadn't felt this safe since I was barely a century old. "I've missed you." "I've missed you too, little brother." He released me and said, "Nice work on reopening the Gates of Heaven by the way. I knew if anyone could do it, it would be you." My smile got wider as I soaked in his praise. "But…How are you here? Where am I?" the questions poured out of me before I could stop them, but Gabriel didn't mind. He just smirked and said, "I'm here because I stood up to dear old Lucy. And where do you think you are genius?" I looked around again and asked, "Am I in Heaven?" Gabriel pointed at me and said "give that man a stuffed bear! This is an Angel's Heaven." "A big white empty room?" I asked. Gabriel laughed and said, "It gets better as you go in, that is, if you want to go in." "I have a choice?" "Of course Castiel. You can go inside with me and never be hurt in anyway ever again" "Or?" I asked. "Or," Gabriel continued, "You can go back, with a little help from me, to an existence filled with pain, heartbreak, and being hunted by your own brothers and sisters. What will it be?" I stood back a ways to consider the offer, when I thought I faintly heard a familiar voice. "Cas…Cas, please…! Come on Cas! Wake up! WAKE UP!" "Do you hear that?" I asked. Gabriel smirked and said, "Yes. That's Dean trying to call you back. Never knew when to give up, that one. Just like you, come to think of it." I heard another voice saying, "Dean, he's gone. I'm sorry, but he's gone." Sam. The other voice was Sam. I looked at my brother and said, "I have to go back." Gabriel smiled a genuine smile and said "alright then. Say hi to Sam for me. And don't come back here anytime soon." I smiled and said, "I'll try not to." He raised his hand to my forehead, said "goodbye brother." pushed slightly, and the room went dark.
I came to awareness slowly. It was like swimming to the surface of the ocean with weights on you. I felt a dull, throbbing ache throughout my vessel, and I also felt the hardness of the ground beneath me. I heard something scrabbling around me. Could they be footsteps? If they were, who's footsteps where they? I tried to move, and could only manage a slight head movement. It apparently was enough when I heard a familiar voice hesitantly ask, "Cas…?" My vessel's eyelids felt like they had weights on them, but I slowly got them open. Blurry shapes appeared, flanking me on both sides. "Dean…?" I asked, my voice more rough than normal. My vision cleared up enough to see that it was Dean that was kneeling by me. I turned my head slightly and said, "Sam…?" The younger Winchester knelt next to me as well, smiled, and said, "hey Cas." "What happened Cas?" Dean asked. "I couldn't find a heartbeat…" he trailed off. "I'm fine now Dean." I tried to reassure the hunter. Dean broke out a wide smile, but then turned serious again as he said, "Never do that again." I felt a faint smile come out as I said, "Alright." The Winchesters helped me up, and we made it back to the Impala, which I don't remember being there when we started.
As the brothers helped me into my usual spot in the back, I couldn't help but think of hearing Dean calling for me, or seeing Gabriel's genuine proud smile when I decided to come back. I felt an ache settle in my vessel's heart as I thought about my brother. But I looked at the two brothers in front of me as we started to pull out from the place. Dean had rock music blaring from the speakers, and Sam was yelling at him to "turn that down!" Dean just replied "What? I can't hear you over how awesome this song is." And turned the music up louder. As I watched the brothers bicker, I felt myself smile slightly and the ache in my heart subside. Yes I had lost a brother, but I had also found new ones.
Like an old wise man once said, family doesn't end in blood.