Author's Notes: Bleh, sorry this took so long. School + work + life + Dragon Age 2 = no time. But here it is, I think a lot of people have been waiting for this chapter so I'll just let you get to it.
Please ignore the grammar mistakes as I have no beta, I'll fix them when I can.
Song: This title is a reference to the song The Good Left Undone by Rise Against. It's a good kinda rough song that reminds me of Dean, and the ending stanza is what inspired this chapter. For your convenience:
All because of you,
I believe in angels.
Not the kind with wings,
No, not the kind with halos,
The kind that bring you home,
When home becomes a strange place.
I'll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.
Chapter Rating: M (Violence ,and some language)
Disclaimer: SPN characters are not mine otherwise we would not have to wait until APRIL 15th for new SPN. What the fuck CW? WTF? This whole waiting thing for fans is no bueno. NO. BUENO.
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The Good Left Undone
Sam, for a guy his size, was normally a very quick and graceful person, and he was very proud of that fact. However, when his phone started screeching at crazy o'clock in the morning after he had been driving for sixteen hours straight, it was perfectly understandable that as he flailed for the phone he accidentally tipped over and crashed onto the floor in a tangled heap.
"Ow..." Sam muttered as he still fished around for his cell before grabbing it and looking at the caller i.d., "Bobby, this had better be the most important call you've ever made in your life." And yes, he was a bit snippy when he didn't get any sleep.
"It the angels."
"What?" Sam was awake instantly and stood up, the sheets falling to the floor and forgotten, "Are you sure? What's happening?"
"Don't quite know," the older man sounded tired, "but omens just started cropping up outta nowhere. Half my contacts started calling and reporting stuff in the last thirty minutes."
"About what?" Half of Bobby's contacts were a lot of people.
"Buildings collapsing for no reason, parts of roads being destroyed by nothing, things blowing up, car accidents, but get this—as far as I can tell, its being caused by dead people."
"Excuse me?" Sam paused as he was hastily trying to pull on his jeans one-handed.
"Yeah, before the lightening and explosions, someone died first. Whether by accident or of natural causes and then only afterwards would stuff just go completely to shit. That's actually what caught my notice first, several hospitals around the world have been hit."
"Hospitals?" Something clicked in the back of the young Hunter's mind, "No way...Reapers."
"What?"
"Holy shit, Bobby. It's Reapers! The angels are attacking Reapers!" Of course, it made perfect sense. The Reapers wanted the book to lock it away out of sight while the angels, or rather Raphael, needed it to jumpstart the apocalypse again, "No, but wait," Sam paused from his frantic thoughts, "why attack the Reapers? I was told they can't even see the book and from the sound of it, angels are attacking Reapers as they do their job."
"I'm not sure, Sam. But whatever's going on between those two groups, it just got real bad." Sam was about to reply when—
"Sam." The hunter spun around as he heard the sound of wings and found Castiel by the bathroom door with a stricken expression.
"Cas!" he stumbled over to the angel, "Bobby said—"
"Yes, angels are killing Reapers."
"Wait, killing?" Sam's eyes started to bug out with all the information he was getting hit with, "They're killing Reapers?"
"Yes."
"Why?" Castiel shook his head.
"I am unsure, perhaps as a distraction."
"A distraction? What—wait, Bobby, yeah it's Cas." Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Listen Bobby, thanks for the info, I'll call you back in a bit. Yeah, bye." He snapped the phone shut and focused back on the angel, "A distraction?"
"Yes, for Raphael." Castiel shuffled awkwardly, as though he excepted to be attack but wasn't sure from where, "If he believes he is close to finding the book then he would want no interference."
"But killing Reapers? Why—"
"Sam, I do not pretend to understand." the angel sighed and Sam felt sorry for him. The poor guy had been through so much the past few years, the hunter wasn't sure exactly how he kept together sometimes.
"Right," the young man said as he finished putting on some clothes, "if the angels really are close to finding the book then we gotta start gearing up, more so if angels suddenly decide we're a nice target as well." Sam started throwing everything into his pack while double checking his weapons, "Tonight's gonna be interesting."
"To put it mildly." Castiel deadpanned. Taking Sam, as always, completely seriously.
"I still don't get it," Sam said as he headed out the door and over to the Impala, "are they trying to provoke Death or something? I mean, killing his workers? Do they want him to attack and—oh god." Sam ground to a halt.
"What Sam?" the angel was by his side instantly. The hunter's face had gone completely white.
"What if they do want him to attack?" he whispered, "If you're about to get your hands on a book that could injure, possibly kill Death..."
"...you would want to strike as soon as you obtained this weapon." Castiel finished, his eyes hard, "Before the enemy realizes you have it, before they can prepare. Brilliant, as always Raphael."
"And hasty," Sam ground out, "he's never seen Death, he doesn't know what Death can do. Dean said both times he was with him, well—he said he felt more comfortable fighting Lucifer than having lunch with Death." He shook his head to focused his mind, "C'mon Cas, maybe by the time we get to Bobby's he'll have more information."
"Sam—"
Sam turned around and this time it was Castiel who looked pale. He was staring up at the sky, his entire body taunt and practically vibrating with tension.
"It's Raphael. He's here." For a second Sam expected said angel to leap out of nowhere and start attack them when he remember that that was just stupid. This was it. Sam threw his pack into the trunk of the car and grabbed every weapon he though might help. Ruby's blade, the Colt, he even grabbed some holy oil for all the good it might do. He stood up, slammed the trunk, and squared his shoulders.
"Cas," he said slowly but surely, "take me to Raphael. We got work to do."
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Dean's blade sunk deep into the chest of the angel in front of him. The woman, barely more than a girl, fell down as a white light burst from within her. Burnt imprints of wings were left scorching on the ground. Dean would of felt sorry for the host, no more than a devout woman believing she was helping carry out the will of God, but he couldn't be spared as another angel leapt in to attack.
This was going on everywhere.
Dean couldn't understand it. Why were the angels doing this? He had never had too many interactions with them, but besides thinking they were a bunch of pricks who thought too highly of themselves, he had never disliked them. And they had never shown any outward contempt for Reapers, so why now?
"Dean! Behind you!" The young man whirled violently around and slashed at another angels trying to sneak up. More light and ash.
"Damn, why are there so many?" Dean growled as Aries appeared next to him.
"I've a hunch." she said and flicked her wrist to the Reaper and a human's soul that were huddled in a corner of the hospital they were in, "Go." The Reaper nodded and vanished along with the spirit. Around Dean and Aries were fives sets of wing prints.
"This is the fourth area we've been to where this is happening!" Dean said angrily.
"There's too few Acolytes to be everywhere, even with our time capabilities." Aries sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Dean knew why, the first three Reapers they had found were already dead. Dean had even known one of them.
"Just tell me what's going on. Please."
"Dean, it's—"
Then it hit them. Like a sound where everything else became silent, listening. Except they weren't listening, but feeling. A massive energy had just flooded Dean's senses, something powerful had come to Earth. Terrifying, like ice and death with the force of an unstoppable machine. Complete domination.
"Raphael." Aries breathed.
"What?" Dean's head snapped up, "The archangel Raphael? He ordered this?" Then that meant every single angel was coming after them, the whole might of Heaven aimed at the Reapers.
Somehow, that should have been more impressive.
"Screw this then, I'm not gonna lose anyone else." Aries looked over at Dean, her eyes unreadable. The young man gave his best devil-may-care smile and felt his sword crackle with energy, "I'm gonna take that sonofa bitch down."
"Dean, are you crazy?" Aries grabbed his jacket and shook him, "It's not our place to deal with him! We protect our own and then we leave, we don't interfere with whatever other business he's got going on. If Death wants this archangel out of the way, believe me, something will already be in the works and he'll get what's coming but until then—"
"To hell with what Death wants right now!" Dean yelled and shook her off, stepping back. He had no idea where this outburst was coming from, but it ran deep. He could feel it, this righteous anger. Angels were killing Reapers, his people, and he could stop it. His mission was clear.
Dean, Soul Reaper and Acolyte, reached out for the raw power of the archangel and with a snap of his fingers, vanished.
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They appeared in a house, old and abandoned by the looks of it, surrounded by angels.
In hindsight Sam really should have known better than to just hop on the CasTram and ask to be taken directly to a nest of angels. Although, from Castiel's surprised expression, it seems like he hadn't known that they would be here either. But that didn't offer too much comfort.
"Castiel." A deep voice said smoothly and the tall, dark Raphael stepped forward from the shadow, "So nice of you to join us, brother."
"But I didn't..."
"What? Sense our presences?" the archangel asked and took another step towards them. Castiel stepping at the same time to stand in front of Sam, who had already leveled the Colt at Raphael and was glaring for all it was worth. Raphael didn't seem to care about either of these actions, "You've been gone for too long Castiel. It is no trouble to hide ourselves from you now, it was very easy."
Sam saw the glint of metal and both Castiel's angel blades dropped from his sleeve to his hands and before he could blink Castiel had thrown himself at his older brother. There was a flash of light and the sound of metal hitting metal and suddenly all the other angels started attacking.
The hunter threw himself to the side and shot the first angel to get close to him. As the bullet his there was a flicker of light from within the body before the angel screamed and hit the floor, Grace pouring out of him and fading in the air. Before Sam could dwell too much on that, three more angels came at him and it was all he could do to flail with Ruby's knife, but while it appeared to injure the other angels it didn't seem to kill them. Even when Sam stabbed an angel through the chest it only laughed and threw him across the room.
"No abomination can kill us!" the angel said as it walked closer to the fallen hunter, "Even if you were holding one of our own blades, only an angel can kill an angel."
"Then try this." Sam grunted and pulled the trigger on the Colt. At point blank range he couldn't miss and grinned as the loudmouth fell to the floor as well. His victory was short-lived though as another angel appeared in front of and slapped the gun out of his hand. And by slapped it actually felt like Sam's hand was smashed by a car and he yelled in pain as he felt some bones break, rolling with hit so he curled inward, clutching his arm.
"Sam!"
Before Sam could move a hand had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the floor, choking him. He grasped wildly with his uninjured hand and lashed out with his feet as his vision started to get dark spots in it. Finally he managed to get a hold of Ruby's knife, still stuck in the body of an angel, and sink it into the arm that was holding him. He heard a cry and suddenly was released, rolling away and gulping in air as he coughed.
"ENOUGH!"
All motion stopped and Sam looked towards the center of the room. Raphael stood over a bleeding Castiel as the latter angel had been forced to his knees, struggling as two other angels held him down. There was a deep gash on the side of his head and his shirt had been torn but Sam was glad he was still alive, although he wasn't sure for how much longer.
"Enough." Raphael said more quietly, "I have won, Castiel." With a snap of his fingers a book materialized his hand. Old and dusty but Sam recognized it instantly, "I have the book," Raphael continued lightly as he leafed through it, "and with it I can go to war not just against Hell, but with Death and his Reapers, with the lower gods, with everyone—until only we are left. Until there are only angels, and then, then we shall have paradise again."
"What—what happened to you Raphael," Castiel's eyes were wide, "You used to be Father's most loyal angel, second only to Michael, h-how could you think he would want—"
"HE DOESN'T CARE ANYMORE!" the archangel screamed, his true voice seeping through and Sam gritted his teeth at the pain, "But when there are only angels again, brother, it will be like the beginning! No humans, no evil, just tranquility and peace. Perfection. Paradise."
"You're insane." Sam spat, feeling tired of the angel's rant. God, Dean had been right; angels were just a bunch of pricks with daddy issues.
"You, boy," Raphael's gaze turned to his and it burned, literally. Sam could feel it in his soul and flinched against the wall, "have insulted me with your presence for the last time."
"Raphael, I am the one you want!" Castiel yelled out frantically, trying to get the archangel's attention. But the archangel's eyes stayed on Sam.
"I do want you to submit Castiel," he said slowly as Castiel struggled harder, "I have no wish to kill anymore of us. But you need to be taught a lesson and this abomination, shall serve well in teaching it. This, brother, is what we do to those who get in the way."
Sam sat frozen as the archangel descended on him, his blade flashing in the sunlight coming from the windows as he raised it in the air and the hunter knew this was it. There was no escape this time and no one would try to bring him back. He would die and maybe, just maybe, he would get to see Dean again.
"Sam! NO!"
Sam closed his eyes and for the first time in his life, felt at peace with himself. Of course, that was when some crazy lunatic decided to crash onto the floor in front of him.
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"Sam! NO!"
Dean found the archangel easy enough as he slid out of his dimensional transport rift, or however the hell Reapers teleported, he'd never quiet figured it out. The only problem was that he had exited several feet from the ground in his haste to get here. On the plus side he got to block the killing blow said angel was trying to deliver to some poor human. So hopefully it just made him look like a badass.
He dropped down right at the archangel tried to strike and blocked easily with his sword before putting his strength behind it and shoving hard, throwing the angel back a good few feet.
"'Sup?" He smirked as he stood and swung his blade to rest on his shoulder. Could he make a good first impression or what? The archangel stared at his with his mouth open, slightly resembling a fish out of water and Dean snorted. This was who Aries said they shouldn't interfere with? The one who had ordered the slaughter of his kind? Bullshit. He was going to end this.
"I'd do the whole introduction thing," he lifted his blade and pointed it at the angel, "but I'm going to kill you in a minute so it doesn't really matter."
Actually, now that Dean took note of his surroundings—Aries said he had to get better at that—there were tons of angels in the room. Some were even dead and one was being held down by the others, his black wings flared out in panic, one looking broken and, wait—
"Jimmy!" Dean gasped as he looked at the vessel of the angel. His jaw hit the floor and that was when the archangel struck. Lightening shot through the air at Dean but he ducked to the side, feeling the sizzle of power as it went past and shattered a window. The human behind him yelped and Dean realized he would have to go one the offensive to protect him.
"Nice try, buddy!" he laughed and threw himself forward. He and the archangel met in a clash of metal and energy and Dean let the power within him rip forward, completely destroying the house and knocking back everyone within a fifteen foot radius...including Dean (yeah, he really had to work on that). He crashed through the wall and got up a second later, twirling his sword and chuckling like a deranged fool. He'd never fought something this powerful before and it excited him for some reason. Which was dangerous, and stupid. He paused, needing to get a grip, he was here for vengeance and retribution.
"D-Dean?" the voice was quiet and broken and something within Dean stirred. He looked around and his eyes landed on the human he had protected, a young man with brown hair falling in front of his eyes, which were impossibly large at the moment. Dean looked hesitantly around for a second.
"Um, yes?" he said, trying to be polite. Had he said his name? No, he'd had that snappy line about introductions and—
Before Dean could blink he was being swept up into the strongest bear hug he had ever been given. The human was actually a behemoth, having at least four inches on Dean, and his grip was crushing. Dean had never been given a hug before by a human, although he'd never saved a human before, so maybe this was common practice. Still, he hated chick flick moments so he squirmed away after a second.
"Whoa, whoa dude! Personal space!" he said in an attempt to make the human let go of him, as they still clutched his shoulders painfully. This seemed to do the opposite though as they let out a shaky laugh.
"Fuck, it is you!" they cried and seemed to be on the verge of crying. Dean had to stop this before the waterworks hit.
"Ok, seriously, I only saved your life. You don't need to get all touchy feely on me." he finally was able to pulled himself away and the young human looked hurt.
"Dean?" he asked.
"Do I know you?" Dean asked and the human's eyes widened and he seemed to be about to say something when his eyes suddenly caught sight of something else and he gasped.
"Cas!" he said and ran past Dean to the angel who had been pinned down by the others. His blast had knocked anyone standing back several hundred yards which was why the human and injured angel were still within the remnants of the house. Dean could sense the other angels stirring and knew the fight would start again soon.
"Cas!" the human yelled again and Dean cocked his head to the side, wondering why the human kept calling Jimmy that. The angel groaned and sat up before going completely rigid and slowly looking up at Dean. Green eyes met unnaturally blue ones.
"Dean?" It sounded like a prayer. And also nothing like Jimmy, but deep and rough as though he had yelled for several hours before this. Still...
"Hey Jimmy." Dean waved, "What're you doing here? And what's up with your voice?" The angel's brows drew together and suddenly widened in understanding and he stood up with surprising speed, walking straight over to Dean, "Whoa, personal space." he held his hands up and the angel stopped, one hand outstretched a few inches from Dean.
"Dean, what's wrong with you?" the human asked, his expression reminding Dean of a kicked puppy and he suddenly felt bad for no reason. Although if Dean thought he felt bad, the angel suddenly looked like he wanted to cry as his eyes scanned Dean's chest, where his soul was.
"D-Dean, I'm—" he couldn't finish and choked on his words, "Your soul it's..."
"Cas, what's wrong?" the human asked sharply. Dean also wanted to know what the Jimmy-angel was trying to say.
"It's empty, Sam. He wouldn't remember—couldn't remember." the angel said brokenly, his hand trembling, "Dean, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. If I could—I..." And the angel's eyes were suddenly over bright, the blue even more intense. Dean's mind suddenly clicked and before the human did anything, like crying as well, he snapped his fingers.
"Sam?" he said. What was it that Aries called him?
"Sam...Winchester?" Dean asked and the human's eyes lit up, and Dean's soul clenched as he realized what this meant, "You—we're brothers?" And suddenly something else fell into place and Dean's mind went into overload as something Jimmy said came back to him. It would make sense. "Which makes you," he caught the angel's eyes, "Castiel?" Dean's hand went to his shoulder where the brand was and the angel's eyes followed closely and Dean knew even before he asked, "Were you the one to give me this?"
Wounded and confused blue eyes met steady and questioning green ones.
"When I gripped you tight and raised you from perdition."
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To Be Continued...
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A/N: Well, what did you think? Catch the pilot episode reference? ((cheesy but I couldn't resist XD))
This week is midterms so BLEH, but then after that is Spring Break! So you'll being seeing the next chapter sometime around then.
Reviews make me feel loved and happy, but you know this. X3