Waz up guys?! I'm SOOO sorry for this SOOO late of a chapter! Anyway this is a filler chapter because I have kept you guys way to long in the dark about what happened to Cas after he got shot! By the way guys, I'm not for sure if you've all died out there or not. I need some feedback cause it gets so lonely. *Busts out singing* I started talking to the pictures on the walls! So, this is like the chapter before all the stuff escalates like an escalator at the mall in Iowa City at Scheel's. I like that escalator. Anyway, stuff won't be as boring now since Metatron is going down! "I'm getting the band back together, we're going on the kill Metatron tour."- Gabriel. XD. Anyway, *SPOILERS* There will be an amazing fall coming... better than when Cas was flying and dived toward the Earth in either Chapter 2 or 4. It's going to be awesome! Plus, guys, I ship Destiel so hard it hurts guys...I wanna cry 'bout it. *NEWS* I'm going to be starting a new fanfiction soon with Cas and Dean in the Hunger Games as two male tributes from District 12. Jimmy's going to be in it to as Cas's green eyed twin! IMAGINE MISHA COLLINS WITH GREEN EYES! Anyway, did you all die out there, haven't been getting any feedback really. Its getting lonely. *Bursts out singing* "I started talking to the pictures on the wall!" Anyway, tell me whatcha think about the chapter, or the new to be wrote fanfic or something. I can totally tell you about how many times I've actually gone on the escalator at Scheel's one time. Lol! Have fun with finals, I'm certainly not.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, or any of the shows/fandoms referenced in this fanfic. I barely own the plot.
-J.J.
Chapter 8: Castiel
Castiel stood in front of a bright light, his parents' voices beckoning him to them. Or just his mother, and two brothers. He longingly reached his hand out to them, peace filling his body.
Stay with me, Cas. Please. Good god, stay with me! Castiel frantically looked around for Dean. The events flooded back to him. The gun shot hitting his left wing, jumping in front of the bullet, and losing consciousness due to the extreme pain he went through. If he died now, then it would be ok. He saved Dean, he saved his brother in all the ways he could and he made friends. Castiel's life would be complete. He'd be able to go home, no more running, no more pain. No more hunters, no more heartbreak over Dean Winchester.
Cassie, please! His brother's, Gabriel, strangled cry reached him. Don't leave me alone. Come back…
Come on Cas, you can't do this to Gabriel. Get your feathery ass here with us now, damn it. I swear to god, I'll never give your sketch book back if you don't.
Somewhere deep inside him, a fire was relit. He pushed himself away from the light of Heaven, and back towards the world of living. His mind wasn't even conscious as to why he was fighting to life. Something in the world was important to Castiel, something he'd never really noticed. Then it came to him. It was Dean that he was fighting for. Keeping Dean safe, that's what Castiel had pledged to do.
His eyes opened, the blue irises reaching the light of day. They met deep green before the pain overtook him once more. Castiel smiled before he shut his eyes once more, no longer in the danger of his life fading away forever. It didn't matter that Castiel's advanced abilities had helped to heal, he knew about them of course. To Castiel, it was Dean's none stab, stab kill presence.
Castiel eventually awoke later, of course. His back was sore as ever, plus his chest, but he was alive. He recollected the past events and sighed. How did he think that Dean would change? Dean was a hunter, for crying out loud. A hunter bent on killing Jimmy Novak, and Castiel was Jimmy. Castiel loved his name, Castiel Jimmy Novak. His middle name was from his dad, or that's what his mother would always say. Of course, now after Gabriel had told him about his father taking off and leaving them, he remembered how all his happy memories were with his mother and siblings. Oh god, how he missed them all. He remembered what his mother would say. "Castiel Jimmy Novak, you were named after the Angel of Thursday, a brave soldier who knew right from wrong. I know that you will do the same." Then she would tickle Castiel until he was crying.
Memories of his oldest brother, Balthazar, walking Castiel to school flashed through his mind. His brother had somehow adopted a bizarre accent, he remembered it now. "You'll be famous one day, mate. I'll be here though, your ole' big brother." His mind flashed to the unpleasant memory of watching his brother die before his eyes. Castiel recalled that he had screamed his voice hoarse for help, his tears like acid against his skin. He remembered Gabriel, his mother…and Gadreel running towards him. Gabriel tore Castiel away from the body of his brother and picked him up off his feet. His mother and Gadreel tried stopping the blood flowing from Balthazar's wound. That was back when Gadreel hadn't betrayed his family yet and ultimately got his mother killed. Oh, what a tangled web they wove.
Castiel was shook awake from his sleep as a door clicked open. His eyes went wide and he was immediately sitting up. He scanned his surroundings quickly finding that he was in a small bed surrounded by a room covered in car posters of old Chevy's. His eyes landed on the person walking in and saw Dean carrying a bowl and a cup.
"It's good to see you awake, Cas," Dean soothed with his voice.
Castiel tried moving his wings in case he had to protect himself, but found he couldn't. Someone had put the brace on his back, pulling his wings flush against the skin. Castiel was pushing himself to his feet faster than humanly possible. Dean's motives, of course, were still unclear to Castiel. All he needed was to be stabbed to death right after he almost got killed by bullets.
"Whoa, Cas, no need to go all crazy on me. I'm not going to hurt you," Dean stated, placing the bowl on the desk across from Castiel.
Castiel raised an eyebrow. "But, you were going to kill me…uh. How long have I been out for?"
Dean scratched the back of his neck. "A day and a half. And about the whole kill you thing… yeah. Um…I'm not going to…because I believe you. You didn't kill your family, because if you did, you'd be ok with killing me. You saved my life, man. I owe you a big one; I thought I was a goner."
"Your welcome, Dean. Thank you for believing me," Castiel said as his body relaxed.
Dean nodded as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "So, I'm gonna take a wild shot and assume you want to know what's been going on while you were out?"
Castiel nodded, sitting down at the head of the bed, and pulling his legs to him.
"Well, you were shot, obviously. My mom stitched you up pretty good, but your abilities to heal quickly helped you best. No, if you ask, Gabriel told me. Anyway, we all sat down to talk about what to do with you since, obviously, that was a really close call to you getting captured by Metatron. Since…uh, Gadreel didn't know who I was we made a decision. Your brother wants you to stay here for the time being until you make your decision. Don't worry, my dad called and told us he'd be gone for a few months. Something about heading to Canada or some other. Otherwise, he's getting your stuff from the house as quietly as he can," Dean explained not meeting Castiel's eyes.
"First off, why would he be going to Canada? I've never went there. Plus, what decision?" Castiel asked.
Dean grinned at him. "I may or may not have received some fake information about your whereabouts and passed it on to him. You're in Canada man, and I had Charlie's help to put your file into the computers there. She did some technological crap and bam, my dad has proof. Plus Bobby is in on this to, he'll make sure that Dad won't come home for a real long time. Your decision is whether to run again or stay here and fight Metatron off."
"You mean Gabriel let this happen?" Castiel asked, surprised.
Castiel watched Dean's ears turn pink. "Not exactly."
"What do you mean not exactly, Dean?" Castiel asked suspiciously.
"Uh…um…look Cas. I've had something to tell you, and…" Dean tried to say but was interrupted by the door being flung open.
"CASSIE!" Gabriel's familiar cheery voice said and he raced over to him.
Castiel soon found himself wrapped in a crushing bear hug. He squirmed in the embrace. Castiel watched Dean escape out the door and couldn't help but smile at how childish the human could be.
"That was to close, Cassie. I thought I lost you for good," Gabriel scolded. "Don't ever do that again!"
"I'm alive Gabriel, that's all that matters. These wings are good for other purposes to," Castiel attempted at a joke.
Gabriel playfully punched his shoulders. "Don't say that. The bullet could have easily passed through your wings, or missed them and pieced your heart or lungs."
"I know that Gabriel. You have to understand that I know my wings better than anyone else," Castiel sighed.
"You won't be able to fly yourself out of danger now! You were going to sacrifice yourself for Dean Winchester!" Gabriel steamed. "I worry about you brother, because you do not make good choices!"
Castiel flew to his feet, literally, his wings flared out behind him. "You do not decide who I save or who I let die. I am done walking away from people in need. I have physical mutations on my back, and I can chose to be a hero or a villain. I want to save people Gabriel, you have got to let me do the things I want to do!"
"If mom could see you now, she'd be proud," Gabriel said quietly.
Castiel lowered his black wings and they sat painfully on his back. His muscle strained from pulling him to his feet, but the burn felt good. Castiel suddenly felt like he was a little kid again, trying out his wings for the first time in his first stretch flight. That was a long time ago of course, back when he was probably eight or nine. Remembering that far was still a challenge for the boy.
"So what are you going to do Cassie?" Gabriel asked quietly.
Castiel looked at the closed window beside him. He liked it here, he really did. He had friends now, and he didn't want to give that up. This was it, he knew it. When he first arrived here Castiel had known. And who cares? Castiel was ready to fight this time, forget the running. He wanted to stay here with Charlie, with Jo, with Kevin and Garth. Plus, he couldn't imagine living a life without seeing Dean Winchester now; he was something worth fighting for.
"Gabriel I'm tired. Tired of running, tired of hiding. I want to stay here like a normal family, with a normal school experience, and normal friends," Castiel answered, his blue eyes meeting Gabriel's golden. "And I know that I'll never be normal, we won't. We have gifts normal people could only wish for and normal, apple pie life is not something we'll have. There will always be people hunting us, but here, today. I'm willing to fight one last time."
"I knew you were going to say that. I've done the best I could," Gabriel answered.
"Then, brother, Gabriel. Will you stay with me and fight Metatron off for the last time?" Castiel asked quietly.
Gabriel looked down at his feet. "Yes, brother. I'll stay with you. Family sticks together to the very end, and I will remain here. And if we go down in this fight, then we'll know that we stood our ground. Come on brother, let's go meet our comrades."
Castiel quietly followed Gabriel out the door. He was led down the stairs to where seven people waited. Charlie was sitting on a chair at Dean's kitchen table dressed in her regular clothes completed with a metal chest plate. That made him smile; the Larper was ready for war. Jo held a .22 rifle in hand as she leaned against the wall, her eyes meeting Castiel's. She nodded quickly before turning back to cleaning the gun. Kevin held a long blade in hand; his previous long hair had been cut off. Garth was sitting beside Charlie and met Castiel's eye next. Sam smiled at Castiel as he came down the stairs, then Castiel turned to Dean. He almost fell down the stairs in surprise. Dean had a rifle slung over his shoulder, his beautiful forest green eyes shined with pride, or determination. His leather jacket lay beside him. Each of his friends wore a black feather pinned to somewhere on their clothes.
"So, Castiel, this is Team Free Will, and we are going to fight for your freedom," Dean said. "And, man, we really want you to stay with us."
Charlie walked up to Castiel and handed him a bundle of chain mail. "I know this is kinda cheesy, but we decided since we all were wearing a feather from your wings that you wear this. It's been specifically designed for you and your wings. I had some friends do me a favor."
"Here's the map of all the sightings of Gadreel. I had Ash's help with this one; Jo told me he was good. I wasn't disappointed," Sam said as he was laying a large map of the city down on the table.
"We're going to get Metatron for you, Cas. I don't want him to hurt you anymore," Dean said. "And I'm sorry about everything I tried to do to you Cas, and I…"
"Dean, you've already been forgiven. It is not of import anymore," Castiel said, smiling at the teenager.
"Let's get Metatron boys, what do you say?" Jo smirked. "No more 'lovey dovey' moments."
Castiel nodded. "Alright, let's do this. What's the plan?"
