Chapter Three: Love Is Power?
A/N: Takes place a little after Gabriel's talk with Sam in chapter one. This'll kinda-ish play a role in the whole breaking Lucifer out of the cage thing later on, as will the next chapter. Working on two fics at a time s more time consuming than I thought… I kinda ran away with this one idea, so this didn't turn out how I thought it would… Heheh… Big thanks to Wolflover235 for the review and FandomWorld9728 on AO3 for the comment! Enjoy chapter 3!
Gabriel was acting weird. Well, weirder than usual in Sam's eyes. The trickster's usual teasing of him had stopped, their conversations hardly more than a few words. Even his abundance of pranks had stopped. What happened to the mischievous, upbeat, colorful personality of the trickster he'd developed feelings for? Of course, maybe this wasn't the best time to be thinking about that. Less worrying about Gabriel, more worrying about why this demon was still in the body of that innocent little girl despite all the brothers' efforts to exorcise him. Dean recited the chant once again and again nothing happened. It was times like these where having a demon on your side would've helped tremendously.
"Ha! You think some simple exorcism is gonna get rid of me?!" The black eyed demon asked, baffled. "Your petty words can't do a thing!"
"Shut up, you black eyed son of a-" The older Winchester stopped himself. Dean growled, frustrated. 'If Cas were here, this'd be over in two seconds!' he thought. (Of course, he was trying to find more information on Amara and fend off a few rogue angels back at the bunker at the moment, so…) Dean couldn't risk hurting the girl since the demon was using her as a vessel. What to do…?
"Insulting him won't help, Dean," Sam told his brother. Dean glared at him.
"Yeah, well, you got any better ideas?!" Dean asked angrily. He took a deep breath and tried to reach Castiel. 'Cas, I know you're busy, but we need--'
'Bad time, Dean! In the middle of something!' In the background, there was the sound of shouting and metal on metal. Well then… Okay. No chant, object, or symbol would make him budge. They couldn't injure the girl and even if they could, they wouldn't. The scene just didn't look right. There was a little kid, chained to a chair, inside a devil's trap, with eyes as black as charcoal, laughing like a deranged clown. So much for an easy, run of the mill case.
'Oh God, what do we do?' Sam hadn't meant it as a prayer, really. It was more of a habit, one he should really drop. As soon as he finished that thought, he received a response. 'Your powers, Sam,' a voice said in the younger brother's head.
"What?" Sam asked aloud. Dean growled again.
"I said-"
"No, not you!" Who was saying that to him? And what powers?! 'Your demon expelling powers,' the voice answered. He hadn't had those powers since Ruby had gotten him hooked on demon blood and manipulated him into kickstarting the Apocalypse. What made anyone think he had them now? 'How do you know that you lost them? Have you even tried using them since then?' That's besides the point! Nevertheless, Sam raised his hand at the demon and focused. It was worth a shot, right?
"What? Are you gonna try a spell now or something? Words don't work on me! I can't believe that you're the Winchesters that all creatures are supposed to fear-" He finished the sentence with a pained gasp as he felt his very being begin to be ripped from the girl's body. He screamed in agony and Dean watched in shock as Sam forcefully pulled the demon out of her body, dragging him back down where he belonged. The taller brother hardly broke a sweat as the demon disappeared in a fiery blaze. Dean looked at Sam's face, into his eyes, and sees them… glowing?! They heard a moan of pain from the figure tied down to the chair. The young girl's eyes flew open and her head turned to the two brothers.
"Where am I?" she asked timidly, on the verge of tears. "… What happened to me? There was a scary, dangerous man. He… he… What's going on?"
"I'd like to know that myself," Dean replied, watching Sam lower his hand and untie the child from the chair inside of a demon trap, eyes back to their normal hazel hue. Sam reassured her that she was safe and that the "scary, dangerous man" was gone. After the two returned her home to her worried sick parents, Dean began driving them back to the bunker. The ride was silent for the first few minutes, the radio untouched, neither brother making eye contact with the other. Then, Dean spoke. "Okay, what the Hell was that?!" he asked outraged. "You know how I felt when you first told me about those powers! You don't use them for a few years and now you pull them out like a rabbit from a hat? Seriously Sammy, why?"
"I prayed, Dean. By accident, but I did. And someone answered." Sam replied. The older brother shook his head and turned to him, not worried about the road since they were on an empty highway. "Don't. Look, all the signs have pointed to Him helping us, throwing us a bone-"
"Sam, I don't wanna hear it. Remember what happened the last time you-"
"There's no Ruby, no craving for demon blood, and I'm pretty sure Cas or Gabriel could heal me if there was. There is no harm in using my powers, Dean. Besides, without them, we probably would've had to kill that girl. Just trust me on this."
"It's not that I don't trust you," the leather clad man said, training his gaze on the road once more. "It's never that I don't trust you. I just don't wanna lose you again…" Sam squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
"You won't. Promise." He pressed a kiss to the side of his brother's head. Dean recoiled with a look of disgust on his face.
"Ugh! Dude, no chick flick moments! That's just gross!" Sam smiled cheekily at him.
"You still love me, Dean."
"Yeah, yeah," he replied. To Sam's surprise, Dean leaned over and kissed his forehead back and then his left cheek. Not only was the younger brother confused, but he was blushing as well!
"The great Dean Winchester has gone soft on me! It's the start of another apocalypse!" He said, trying to cover up his blunder. Dean lightly pushed his brother away.
"Shut up," he said with a smile. Maybe he was going just a little itty bit soft. Was that such a bad thing, especially when it was towards Sam? Nah, he thought. They cruised down the highway, back to the bunker after a quick pit stop for some pie, not expecting what they were about to see. Dean almost dropped the pie when he saw the mess that was the library.
XxX
Earlier…
"Are you sure you can't come, Cas?" the elder Winchester asked once more. The seraph shook his head with a sad smile.
"You don't need me, Dean. It's a simple demon possession. You'll be back before you can miss me. Besides, my time will be better spent researching the Darkness," Castiel replied. Dean huffed, but knew he was right. This wasn't a dangerous case and research would get done faster if he had his angel helping them look. His angel. He internally sighed contently. Dean pocketed his phone and was about to head out the door when Castiel gently, but firmly, took his arm. He pulled him back and gave Dean a chaste, gentle kiss that the hunter returned. "Be safe," he whispered when they broke apart, still in close proximity with one another.
"Always," Dean whispered back.
"Ahem!" The two looked to the door to find Sam standing there with his arms crossed, impatiently tapping his foot. "You two done, because there's an innocent eight year old girl being possessed by a demon out there who needs help."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm comin'." He threw a loving glance back at Cas before following his brother out, closing the door softly behind him. That's when Gabriel walked into the library, looking around at all the tomes, books, and scrolls.
"If it makes you feel any better, Cassie, I'll go look after 'em for you. They won't even notice I'm there. It'll ease your conscience, I'm sure." Castiel smiled softly at the archangel.
"Thank you, brother." Gabriel gave him a cheesy smile and salute before vanishing with a flap of his wings. The angel went back to looking through books and old papers, reading and rereading each page. It was the usual stuff they'd find: the story of the battle between the Darkness and God and his archangels, Amara is God's sister, the Darkness is feared by all, yada yada yada. There was a passage that went more in depth about the battle than most that piqued his interest. As he began reading it, he sensed another presence enter the bunker. Five, to be exact. He put the dusty scrolls down, got up out of the chair, and turned around. Standing before him was Laura, flanked by four other angels whose angel blades were out and pointed at him.
"Laura," he said.
"Castiel. Long time, no see," she said back. Her cold gaze made him feel uneasy. She took in her surroundings and looked back at him. "You know why we're here… Where are the Winchesters? Don't tell me you don't know because that's just bullshit. They were here."
"Laura, I don't want to start a fight, but I will finish one if necessary. You already know how this conversation will end. I'll ask you once: Leave now before one of us does something we'll regret." She sneered at him.
"You're right. I do know how this conversation will end. It'll end with your painful death after you tell me where those two abominations went!" Without warning, she and a companion lunged at him and the other three spread out, flanking and outnumbering him. He quickly pulled his blade to block the strikes, a spark or two flying from the impact. That blow had been intended to kill, no doubt, or at least fatally wound. Castiel's eyes widened. She was not kidding around. He knocked them back with a strike of his own, putting some distance in between them. From behind, he heard rushed footsteps, ducking a swipe at his neck and swinging his blade around. He connected with another blade, but had no time to catch his breath as two more angels attacked from his left. They went back and forth, Castiel forced to block three blades, getting nicked by one every now and then. He felt Dean reach out to him through their mind link. 'Bad time, Dean! In the middle of something!' was all he could he think before he felt a blade sink into his left arm. He cried out in pain before dislodging the blade. The angel on his right scurried over to Laura, watching the battle with her.
"You know that they'll have our heads for this if they find out, right?" he asked the ravenette quietly. She gave him a look.
"Fear not, Nandriel. He won't live long enough to report back to Hannah, or anyone for that matter." He took her hand gently and they looked into each other's eyes.
"Just… don't do anything reckless. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you on my watch."
"Yet it is I who is always saving you," she said with a smile, squeezing his hand in reassurance. "I'll be fine." Her features became serious once more as she dropped his hand. She watched Castiel go back and forth, toe to toe, with three of her four best officers, holding his own fairly well. When he felled one of them, she growled and leapt back into battle. Now, it was four on one. "Give it up, Castiel! You can't kill all of us! You're no match for me and three others." It was true that Laura had been tough competition back in their training days and that they were almost evenly matched, but that was back then. He'd come a long way since then, and it showed with the frustrated look on Laura's face every time she took a swipe at him. He'd felled another angel after a missed lunge from Nandriel, making the odds three against one.
"You must really care about those two if you're fighting this hard to keep them safe. Which one should I kill first after I'm done with you, huh? How about the cute one, Dean? I wonder how long it'll take him to break if an angel is torturing him? His screams will be music to my ears," she growled in his ear when they were caught in a deadlock, blade to blade, chest to chest, face to face. A sudden movement could result in either angel's death. "And I'll enjoy every second of it," she finished with a smirk. The seraph's eyes went wide and something inside him snapped as they became filled with anger. His ocean blue eyes glowed brightly and narrowed at her. Laura felt pure malice and anger directed towards her. One look in his eyes had her scrambling back to get away from the intense emotion rolling off him. All she said was that she'd kill a Winchester. Creatures threatened that all the time and he didn't react that way with them.
"Don't you touch him, you (utters something threatening in Enochian)!" he snarled at her, wings flaring behind him and wind picking up seemingly out of nowhere. A kind of storm started, whipping the contents of the room around and scaring the shit out of the two intruders. The light from his eyes intensified, surrounding his entire being as he threw Nandriel through the library doorway, completely crushing the arm he grabbed to throw him. He was unconscious before he hit the floor. His other companion fled, but not before he got sliced in his left leg by Castiel's blade. He turned his gaze back on Laura, who'd rushed to the side of her injured, but still alive lover. She had a look of pure fear in her eyes. What was this… power emanating from him?! Neither of them heard the door to the bunker open and the Winchesters walk in. She held her angel blade in front of her, pointed at her old rival. She wouldn't go out without a fight. She wouldn't let him harm Nandriel anymore. She owed him that much for always being by her side.
Dean stopped Sam from taking another step. Something wasn't right. Call it hunter's instinct, paranoia, or common sense, but there was something funny going on. "What is it?" Sam asked him. Dean put a finger to his lips and tried to communicate with Castiel. 'Cas? Cas! What's going on?' He didn't get a response. He was probably too absorbed in whatever he was reading. He tried harder this time, determined to see what his boyfriend was thinking about. 'CAS!' He recoiled and winced, holding his head and squeezing shut his eyes. How could Castiel feel so much… anger? He always radiated calmness, but now… "Dean! You okay?"
"I-I'm fine." The green eyed Winchester's eyes snapped opened and he ran towards the library, where he knew his boyfriend would still be. He almost dropped the pie when he saw the scene in front of him. Castiel was fucking glowing like the lights on a Christmas tree, staring down some woman, no angel, with murder in his eyes, wings spread intimidatingly and power radiating from inside the room. He and Sam put hands in front of their faces as the wind in the library whipped objects dangerously around them. With unheard of speed of any being, Castiel went from standing in the center of the room to stabbing Laura in the chest, getting stabbed himself, though not feeling it at the moment. After a strangled scream, she collapsed, lifeless, slumped beside her unconscious ally. That's when Dean did drop the pie. What the fuck just happened?
XxX
Present
" *gulp* Cas?" Dean asked nervously. The trenchcoat clad seraph's head snapped up at the sound of the familiar voice. His gaze softened tremendously when he spotted Dean. He wiped off and pocketed his angel blade. His eyes' glow dulled back down to their normal blue and the wind disappeared. The library was a mess, with papers littering every surface, desks and bookshelves upturned and scratched, and three dead, plus one unconscious, angels with scorched angel wing shadows beneath them.
"Dean," Castiel said before his legs buckled underneath him. The older Winchester runs and catches him before he can completely hit the ground. He did a quick onceover of his boyfriend. Sam was checking the pulse of Nandriel, shaking his head. "Laura… and other rogue angels… attacked me. They… they were looking for you."
"I can see that, but what the Hell happened in here? Just a minute ago, all I could read from you was that you were about to completely destroy whatever was pissing you off. Who did all this?" he asked, gesturing to what was left of the library.
" *heavy breathing* … I did. Laura," he said, pointing to the black haired angel with equally black, empty eyes, "threatened you. I don't know what happened after that. All I know is that Nandriel is still alive and… I stabbed her." The seraph shut his eyes as a wave of pain and exhaustion settled over him. He also noticed a few cuts along his arms and torso where small amounts of grace escaped hadn't quite healed up yet as he reopened his eyes and tried to get to his feet. He tried, and failed successfully, once again being caught by his boyfriend.
"Hey, hey. Easy there, angel. I gotcha." Dean threw one of Castiel's arms around his shoulder and hoisted him to his unsteady feet. "Sam!" His brother looked up. "When I get done fixing up Cas, we're gonna get some answers outta that winged piece of crap down in the dungeon." Sam only nodded and hoisted the unconscious angel's body up as well. They both walked out of the library, taking separate paths to get to their destinations. Dean half dragged Castiel to his room, which was closest, while Sam took Nandriel to the dungeon of sorts. He began writing warding symbols along the walls and had the angel chained to the chair in the middle of the room. Sam borrowed one of Dean's spare angel blades and held it in one of his hands, incase he needed it when the winged being came to. Once Dean got to his room, he gently laid Cas on his bed. The cuts were still healing, even though some grace would fix it in an instant, or they would heal naturally. Pulling off the trench coat and button up shirt, Dean gingerly traced his finger around the the stab wound in his chest with a wet cloth. A sharp intake of breath was all he heard, but the cut must've hurt.
"You need to stop scaring me like that," the hunter whispered to him, grabbing a hidden first aid kit and trying to clean the wound the best he could. "You had me worried there for a second." Castiel smiled softly at him.
"You don't need to worry about me, Dean. I am thankful for your concern. If anything, *wince* I should be more worried about you." The human sighed.
"Says the guy who loses it when someone threatens me," he mumbled. "Until your mojo starts healing you again, we should probably wrap some bandages around that." Castiel nodded, slowly sitting up as Dean grabbed a roll of bandages and wrapped them around his chest.
"There, all done," he said after a minute or two. "And just so you know, you looked badass as fuck back there." The seraph chuckled softly.
"I'd do anything for you, Dean." Dean kissed his cheek and took a seat next to him. He would not count this chick flick moment. It never happened.
"I know," he replied back. "And so would I."
XxX
Sam was leaning by the door of the bunker's dungeon, staring absentmindedly into space, when a pain filled groan echoed through the room. Nandriel stirred slightly, making the chains around him rattle slightly. Sam stood up and stood a few feet away from the angel. "Wh-Where am I? What-?" he asked groggily. His left arm hung limply while his right pulled at the chains around him.
"Hey, I'm asking the questions here, so don't even." Sam replied. Attacking Cas was inexcusable. Sure, Dean would probably kill the angel right then and there, but Sam cared deeply for the winged ally too. Castiel was family. "Who are you?" The angel took a few deep breaths before answering.
"Nandriel. I'm one of the angels who chose to leave Heaven in search of you and your brother."
"Why?"
"… Laura thought you were too dangerous to be left to your own devices, roaming free. Many others agreed. She assembled a task force to find and… kill you. Some of our brothers and sisters, however, were against the idea, whether it be for moral reasons or because they weren't your enemies. Most of the force was killed before we could escape, but we did. We searched until it led us here."
"Why did you go after Cas instead of looking for us or waiting for us to get back? You could've easily ambushed us."
"I wasn't the leader of the group, Laura was. I'd follow her anywhere… I didn't particularly want to come here, but I wasn't about to just let her leave without me. She… she died to protect me, by my side, like it's always been. We never meant for any of this to happen!" Sam raised a disbelieving eyebrow.
"And I'm just supposed to believe you? How do I know if you're telling the truth?" A flutter of wings was heard and the angel's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh he's telling the truth. He's just not telling you everything." Sam whirled around to find Gabriel, cookies and cream Hershey's bar in hand, staring at them. The two met each other's gazes and Sam almost smiled at him. It was more like a slight upward quirk of his lips.
"How-? Never mind." Sam turned back to Nandriel.
"Gabriel?" the angel asked, stupefied. "But, you're dead. Lucifer, he-"
"It'll take more than a stab wound to kill me. Now, *takes a bite out of the chocolate* what else is happening up top?" Nandriel cast his head down as much as he could in his current position.
"I… I can't say."
"Really? *pulls out archangel blade* Tell me this: What do you have left to lose? You lost your girlfriend, your home, your honor. Our brothers and sisters will have caught wind of this by now and if not now, soon. There's nothing waiting for you if you get out of here. Why keep secrets?"
" *gulp* I… I… I don't know much, to be honest. All I know is that the angels are…" Gabriel pressed the blade against the angel's neck. The cold metal drawing a drop of grace.
"Are?" the archangel asked impatiently.
"Afraid," he answered nervously. "… And angry. Because of Dean Winchester and his good for nothing bro-" Gabriel cut him off with a cut across his good arm. A pained wail escaped him. Sam's eyes widened.
"Gabe! Calm down!"
"Don't you call Sam good for nothing you sad excuse of an-"
"Gabriel! Just-" Sam walked up from behind and placed a hand over the one holding Gabriel's blade. The 'trickster' looked back and growled, eventually dropping his hand and sighing. That's when Nandriel laughed.
"You think anger management is the worst of your problems? *maniacal laugh* The Darkness is free! It's only a matter of time. The end is nigh! And if it wasn't for you screwups then we would be-" He never got to finish that sentence as Gabriel snapped his fingers and he exploded in a flash of bright blue light. Sam just looked from Gabriel to the empty chair to Gabriel and back again. He wasn't even going to say it.
" *lets out a deep breath* He was annoying me. *claps hands together* So, what'd I miss?" Sam just rolled his eyes with a smile.
Closing A/N: Wow. Um… Filler not filler chapter? Didn't mean for… anything past the first part to happen, but, oh well… Back to the main plot next chapter! And let me just say that Castiel as a total bamf, Sam and his powers, and Dean and Castiel's mind link are more important than you think. Aaaaand, the next chapter is in progress! So, thoughts?