I know this chapter was a bit belated, but I'm still recovering from finishing up Pilot Lightand trying to juggle my new-found love of Balcifer with my established love of both Sabriel and Destiel. In my head, Lucifer and Balthazar are just going at it constantly and it's hard to ignore them sometimes. Especially when Lucifer starts singing, "My Heart Will Go On" and Balthazar starts hunting for a baseball bat.
BUT THIS FIC IS NOT ABOUT THEM! Alright, back to Castiel!
As always, this chapter and this story is dedicated to Mems (wardrobespierre on Tumblr), the one who gripped me tight and raised me from Perdition. And as always always, nothing in this story belongs to me - it all belongs to either Eric Kripke or Terrence Zdunich, Darren Smith, and Darren Lynn Bousman.
"Jesus, Cas, what happened?" A thousand different scenarios flashed through Gabriel's mind—someone had hurt him, Anna was dead, there had been a raid by the GeneCops—but nothing prepared him for Castiel's response.
"I defaulted," he whispered.
"You… what? How?"
Castiel glanced at Sam, who'd followed Gabriel out of his bedroom. Gabriel caught his look and hurriedly explained, "That's Sam. He was homeless so I'm letting him live here so he can kick his Zydrate habit." He knew this didn't account for why both of them looked flushed and sweaty and why Sam's hazel eyes looked a little glassy, but that really wasn't important right now.
"I didn't realize what the date was. I made my last payment at the end of May. I didn't… yeah, I had no idea how long it'd been. I just kept saying to myself, 'I just made a payment, so I'm good for awhile.' And the days just run together, you know? I lost track."
Gabriel could barely breathe. His whole world was crashing down around him. This was it. His little brother was going to die. His private nightmare for the last seven years was finally coming to life. "You…" His voice was just above a whisper. He let out a shaky breath and started again. "You still have a few days left, right? It usually takes them a week or so to process defaulted claims. Jo said so."
Sam knew that, too, from firsthand experience. He remembered the day, about a week before Dean died, when he looked at the calendar and his face tightened. There had been a steely sort of resignation behind his eyes that Sam hadn't understood at the time—but he understood it that terrible morning when he woke up to Dean's goodbye letter on the kitchen table. Every day since then had been the worst day of his life. Today had been shaping up to be a decided improvement, but now that Gabriel's younger brother was about to suffer the same fate as his older brother, that was shot to Hell.
Castiel's blue eyes were filling with tears although his face maintained the same quiet sort of desperation he'd had the moment he walked in. Slowly, he shook his head. "I don't have days."
He didn't want to hear the answer, but Gabriel asked anyway. "How long do you have?"
"Hours. I defaulted eight days ago. They're probably coming for me tonight."
"No." Gabriel shook his head. "No, we'll think of something. I have cash—enough to cover a few payments. We'll pay the repo man the moment he arrives. You'll be fine." There was a desperate, almost hysterical edge to his voice and his golden eyes as he tried to assure all three of them even though they all knew it was futile. Repo men had no mercy. They didn't care if you had the cash to pay off the rest of your balance—if you defaulted, that was it. You were dead. Nothing could stop them except one word from Rotti Largo.
Castiel sat down on the couch, folding his hands in his lap and staring at his shoes. He was going to die tonight. He'd already accepted it. Gabriel couldn't though—and that knowledge was what caused a bubble of panic to rise inside him. He swallowed, breathing hard, trying to calm himself as Gabriel began pacing, muttering to himself. Sam just stood there, very carefully not looking at either of the Novak brothers.
"Gabe, please," Castiel murmured. "It's over. I've accepted it. You need to as well."
Gabriel stared at him for a moment and shook his head. "I can't." He disappeared inside his room for a few moments. When he came back, his shirt and shoes had been tugged on and he swung his jacket onto his shoulders. "I'll be back in about an hour." He turned those golden eyes on Sam. "Don't let him do anything stupid while I'm gone."
Sam would do anything Gabriel asked. They both knew it, sensed it in the way Sam just nodded in response. With a nod of satisfaction, Gabriel swept out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
"I don't know what he's planning," Castiel said, "but it's useless. Repo men won't show me any mercy."
"I know," Sam said softly. "I know all about the repo men. My brother…" His voice faltered as Castiel finally looked at him, a sharp curiosity in his eyes. Sam could almost see the wheels turning in his head. "My brother was repossessed four years ago."
He asked the question Sam knew he would. "Older or younger?"
"Older."
"Gabriel knows this?" Castiel half-asked.
"Yes."
He might as well have said what he was thinking—Sam knew what was going on in his mind. "Gabriel brought him to live with us because he lost someone. He's the version of me that he can actually save. He can protect this boy, save him from Zydrate, save him from repo men, like he couldn't save me from anything—not even myself. I was already being replaced and no one even realized it."
"I'm not here to replace you," Sam murmured.
"But that's what you're going to be to him. A replacement for me—and apparently, one he can sleep with. It doesn't matter, though. It's not like I'll be able to say anything to stop it."
"We didn't plan—"
"I know you didn't plan for this to happen. It was supposed to be the three of us here together. Gabriel has this inherent need to rescue people he cares about. He tried to rescue our parents and he failed. He tried to rescue me and he failed. He's trying to rescue you now." Those deep blue eyes of Castiel's seemed to pierce right into his soul. "Please don't let him fail this time. Until you came along, I was the last person he had in his life. It's why he tried so desperately to keep me safe. Hindsight is a bitch, though. I didn't think he… he actually really cared. But his face when I told him… He's heartbroken, Sam. He doesn't have a family anymore. And I'm assuming that, since you were homeless, you don't have a family anymore, either. So let him help you, because you'll be helping him. He obviously cares about you, or else he wouldn't have let you in. He needs you as much as you need him."
"I barely know him," Sam said softly, finally sitting down next to Castiel.
"Gabriel Richard Novak. He's twenty-five. His birthday is June 6. His favorite color is orange. He cries every time he hears the Kansas song 'Carry On Wayward Son.' He hates being a drug dealer. He loves his family and he has a thing for candy and Mexican food. For the last five years, he's been taking care of me, doing anything and everything he can to make ends meet. I'm a disappointment to him, but only because he correctly assumed I was throwing away my life. He will defend you to his last breath if he loves you. Squirrels freak him out. Cheesy knock-knock jokes make him laugh." Castiel gave him a look that said, 'There, are you happy?'
The corner of Sam's mouth had tugged up into a smile upon hearing about the squirrels. "Well, if I'll be here for awhile, I'll probably discover the rest on my own, won't I?"
Castiel nodded. "Your brother. Tell me about him. What happened when he was repossessed?"
Sam swallowed, the smile melting off his face. "Dean. He would have been twenty-four if he were still alive now. He was twenty when he died. His kidneys… I had a lung surgery and he was paying off my debt and leaving his own as an afterthought. One morning, I woke up and he wasn't in his bed. I went to the kitchen and there was a note from him on the table. It explained everything. He apologized, said he'd left the apartment the night before because he knew the repo man was coming for him and he didn't want to put me in danger. He told me he knew I could handle it, though, because I was sixteen and he inherited the responsibility of our debts at sixteen. That was when our dad died—Dean was sixteen and I was twelve. I don't know what Dean did or said to that repo man who killed him, but a week later, I got a letter from GeneCo saying that my debt was cleared. He made some sort of deal because my lungs were nowhere near getting paid off. Somehow, though, he saved me. I never got to say goodbye to him and I didn't get to bury him. I miss him every damn day."
"He really did care about you."
"Yes, he did."
"And now Gabriel cares about you."
"I'm sorry," Sam whispered, but Castiel shook his head.
"No. It's a good thing. It's something you needed to realize. I didn't realize it and now I'm paying the price. You two can save each other.
"Like I already told him, I'm going to die tonight and I've accepted it. Yes, it sucks, but there's no way to stop it. It's pointless to resist. And from what you've told me of your brother, that was his mentality when he went to his death. So promise me that, when I'm gone, you'll let Gabriel save you. It's what your brother would have wanted, it's what Gabriel wants, it's what I want, and it's what you need."
Sam swallowed and nodded. "I promise."
"Good." The blue-eyed man slumped back against the sofa cushions finally and closed his eyes. When Gabriel returned a half an hour later, he looked hopeless. Sadly, he sat down on the other side of Castiel and, all at once, he and Sam leaned into him, leaving Castiel squished in the middle. The three of them fell asleep like that.
The next chapter will be more fun, I promise! Well, kind of fun...
