p class="MsoNormal""…So… How long do you think this has been going on?" Mercy asked Sam blankly. The two of them were seemingly devoid of emotion, shocked to the point of forced acceptance. They were sat in the Impala, Sam in the driver's seat with Mercy in the passenger, both staring at their motel room./p
p class="MsoNormal""No clue." Sam replied, his voice equally blank./p
p class="MsoNormal""I really wish we hadn't seen that." Sam nodded in agreement. No one should ever have to suffer through seeing that kind of thing. "Why didn't he get another room?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Neither talked again after that; they simply looked ahead and tried desperately to not think about what happened and what could be potentially happening in there. But it was in vain, they had seen more of their brother than they ever wanted to. And seeing Cas like that. He was too innocent to ever think of like that./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy felt a shiver run up her spine in disgust. She was all for adventurous sex, but there were lines and letting your siblings see it crossed it massively./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal"It had all started with the small break they allowed themselves to have, all the apocalypse business had been running them ragged. So it was high time they let themselves just do nothing for a couple of days./p
p class="MsoNormal"So Mercy pointed to a small town they had once visited in their youth, she knew it would be perfect with all the old bars and diners that proclaimed to have the best pies in the state and the woodland and greenery. Granted the last part was for Castiel. He had "expressed a fondness" for nature and the critters that live there, so she thought that this would be the perfect place for him to just take it all in./p
p class="MsoNormal"She wasn't really sure why the angel's superiors were allowing this constant interaction with the Winchesters and it made her apprehensive over what their motive could be, but she knew the new addition to the group had no idea why he had been stationed there. So she took solace in the fact that one angel was on their side./p
p class="MsoNormal"Even if he was relaying all their actions to the (literal) higher ups./p
p class="MsoNormal"And sure, they had noticed that Dean had been acting tense but had put it down to the whole world ending problem. Turns out they should've paid a little more attention to where the man was looking as it may have given them some sort of warning. But no, there were no clues other than the two generally partnered up for each of the hunts./p
p class="MsoNormal"Though even that wasn't obvious as the other two Winchesters couldn't really partner with the angel; Mercy always went crazy when left alone with Cas, she stood by the reasoning that he was too innocent and cute to not mess with (Gabe gladly accepted responsibility for that), and putting Sam and Cas together just caused too much awkwardness to work properly (no one mentioned the demon blood, though they all thought about it)./p
p class="MsoNormal"Obviously this partnering gave them plenty of time to get to know each other and sort through their feelings (she hoped), which lead to Sam and Mercy stumbling in on the two after a food run./p
p class="MsoNormal"Neither of the men noticed the siblings open the door and so Mercy and Sam were exposed to the naked bodies and loud moans to the full./p
p class="MsoNormal"They had slammed the door shut immediately, but it hadn't saved them from the mental scarring./p
p class="MsoNormal"So a few moments later they ended up sitting in the impala wondering what the hell was going on. Mercy in particular was confused. Dean had never been interested in the same sex before, so what was different with Castiel?/p
p class="MsoNormal""Seems you're not the only one with a thing for angels," Mercy spun around her seat in surprise, her hand gripping a gun, only to see her one and only husband sucking on some form of candy, lounging on the back seat. She let her shoulders relax and took a quick glance to see Sam passed out against the window./p
p class="MsoNormal"Gabe raised an eyebrow at her, "Do you think it's in the blood?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hello to you too, Gabe," She teased before letting a frown on her face, "What are you doing here? I thought it was too dangerous to be so close."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The god/angel lazily waved off the question. "A few visits here and there won't hurt anyone. But as much as I wish we could spend some time together," He waggled his eyebrows before turning serious, "I'm here to give you some information."/p
p class="MsoNormal"This caught her attention, Gabe rarely ever got serious, and she nodded for him to continue./p
p class="MsoNormal""Something's been killing off angels, and it ain't the demons 'cause only the oldest demons could ever hope of even trying to kill one of us."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy clenched her fists in frustration. There always had to be something, they couldn't have a few moments of peace. The couple reached out and lightly held hands to support each other, or maybe to have some contact after so long apart? Mercy didn't know./p
p class="MsoNormal""The only thing that can kill an angel is an angel blade, and no one's missing theirs from what I've heard." Gabe continued./p
p class="MsoNormal"The two sat in silence as Mercy processed what she heard whilst keeping Gabe grounded. He may not have known many of the dead angels very well, but they were still his family and knowing that one of his brothers or sisters was killing the others must make things even worse./p
p class="MsoNormal"The eldest Winchester sighed deeply, "Well this all went to shit, like it wasn't bad enough already. What am I supposed to tell Cas?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a slight pause before Gabe spoke again, "They should be finished in there now, just make sure you tell him soon. He may have an idea of who's behind it."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He placed a small kiss on Mercy's cheek and vanished with a quiet flutter of the wings. The woman sighed again before slapping Sam's leg to wake him up./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal"I could have done that better, Mercy thought to herself as she kept an eye on the despairing Castiel. They hadn't said anything about the "scene" they had witnessed, leaving it to the men to sort out between them. Team Free Will, as Dean liked to call them, had more pressing matters to think about./p
p class="MsoNormal"Like how they were going to stop whichever angel who thought that killing their siblings was in anyway acceptable. Well, the finding was going to be difficult, the stopping would be fairly simple with a bit of holy oil and Cas's angel blade./p
p class="MsoNormal"And if worst came to worst, they had an archangel up their sleeve. Not that the three males knew that but it was soothing all the same./p
p class="MsoNormal""Maybe one of the dicks decided that cracking open the cage was a good idea. You've heard how they talk about us, no offense Cas, but I really don't think many angels would work that hard to keep the "Mud-monkeys" safe from total annihilation." Dean suggested./p
p class="MsoNormal"Cas looked at him confused, "I don't understand, if you didn't want to offend me then why did you say it?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Ignore him Cas." Mercy groaned, "We just want to know if you know of any angels that are likely to do something like this? Like that douche Uriel or whatever?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He shook his head slowly, most likely going over the possibilities in his head./p
p class="MsoNormal""I cannot think of any angels… Our purpose is to protect our father's creations and to go against that would be…" The angel shook his head once again, seemingly lost for words./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's not your fault Cas." Dean spoke softly as he placed a caring hand on Castiel's shoulder. Mercy had to blink a couple times to make sure she was seeing this correctly. Dean was never one to openly show how much he cared; it was rare even with his family and lead to be expressed in strange ways at times./p
p class="MsoNormal"The angel nodded ever so slightly, obviously not believing it, but trying to. "I need some time to think on this."/p
p class="MsoNormal"And with that the angel disappeared from the room with a flap of his wings. Mercy turned to see Dean staring where Cas was with a pained expression. She walked over to her brother and nudged him with her elbow, snapping him out of whatever he was thinking./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just let him deal with what he's feeling. It can't be easy. It would be like you finding out that I killed Sam, or vice versa." The younger's face stiffened at the thought and Mercy knew he didn't want to think about it anymore./p
p class="MsoNormal"She patted his arm and left him where he was. It was times like these that made her so frustrated. She couldn't soothe all their fears and worries, not like she could when they were young./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal""I killed Uriel."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy tried to slow her beating heart, the shock sending it racing. She was beginning to think these angels wanted her to have a heart attack. She turned to see a forlorn Castiel behind her, which was a bit creepy seeing as they were currently in the gas stations bathroom./p
p class="MsoNormal""Say that again now I'm not in danger of dying."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Thank god he arrived as she was washing her hands. Any earlier and she would have not been impressed./p
p class="MsoNormal""I killed Uriel." He spoke again. The poor angel looked so torn and beaten down; he was obviously feeling incredibly guilty./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm assuming he was the one killing the other angels?" He nodded. "And you tried to convince him to stop?" Another nod. "Did he attack first?" A nod./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, not that she thought he understood the gesture but he looked to appreciate it all the same./p
p class="MsoNormal""'Then there is nothing to feel guilty about' is what I would say. But I know that you still feel guilty no matter what I have to say. He was guilty of horrible crimes but he was still your brother and I know you still love him like the rest of your siblings even now."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The pained expression told her she had got it in one. Mercy reached up and placed his face between her hands, giving Cas a stern look./p
p class="MsoNormal""So try not to think of the bad things he did, think of all the great times you had and all the great things he did. A man's, or in this case an angel's, worth can't be measured only by the sins he committed alone. We all seem to forget that even evil can be capable of doing good deeds and the good capable of evil ones."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She gave a small smile, "It's up to you to decide which one he was."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Castiel returned the smile with small tears in his eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal"It took a few moments to compose themselves before they exited the bathroom, scaring a mother with a small child. Mercy ignored the glare they were given and dragged the emotional angel to the impala. The second Dean was in the angel's sights, Cas let go and moved ahead to talk him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy wasn't going to admit it out loud, but she was starting to get concerned with the amount of emotions Castiel was starting to show. He was becoming more human in that respect and it scared Mercy. The thought of Cas falling, no longer being connected to his family, most likely to be treated like a traitor by his brothers and sisters. She didn't know if he could handle that, she didn't know if she could if she was in his position./p
p class="MsoNormal"She took a deep breath. Yes, everything was going to shit. Yes, none of them had any clue how to fix the problem. But you know what? She wasn't going to let this put her down./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"They were the fucking Winchesters (even Castiel) and that meant they were not going down without dragging their enemies down with them./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""No clue." Sam replied, his voice equally blank./p
p class="MsoNormal""I really wish we hadn't seen that." Sam nodded in agreement. No one should ever have to suffer through seeing that kind of thing. "Why didn't he get another room?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"Neither talked again after that; they simply looked ahead and tried desperately to not think about what happened and what could be potentially happening in there. But it was in vain, they had seen more of their brother than they ever wanted to. And seeing Cas like that. He was too innocent to ever think of like that./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy felt a shiver run up her spine in disgust. She was all for adventurous sex, but there were lines and letting your siblings see it crossed it massively./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal"It had all started with the small break they allowed themselves to have, all the apocalypse business had been running them ragged. So it was high time they let themselves just do nothing for a couple of days./p
p class="MsoNormal"So Mercy pointed to a small town they had once visited in their youth, she knew it would be perfect with all the old bars and diners that proclaimed to have the best pies in the state and the woodland and greenery. Granted the last part was for Castiel. He had "expressed a fondness" for nature and the critters that live there, so she thought that this would be the perfect place for him to just take it all in./p
p class="MsoNormal"She wasn't really sure why the angel's superiors were allowing this constant interaction with the Winchesters and it made her apprehensive over what their motive could be, but she knew the new addition to the group had no idea why he had been stationed there. So she took solace in the fact that one angel was on their side./p
p class="MsoNormal"Even if he was relaying all their actions to the (literal) higher ups./p
p class="MsoNormal"And sure, they had noticed that Dean had been acting tense but had put it down to the whole world ending problem. Turns out they should've paid a little more attention to where the man was looking as it may have given them some sort of warning. But no, there were no clues other than the two generally partnered up for each of the hunts./p
p class="MsoNormal"Though even that wasn't obvious as the other two Winchesters couldn't really partner with the angel; Mercy always went crazy when left alone with Cas, she stood by the reasoning that he was too innocent and cute to not mess with (Gabe gladly accepted responsibility for that), and putting Sam and Cas together just caused too much awkwardness to work properly (no one mentioned the demon blood, though they all thought about it)./p
p class="MsoNormal"Obviously this partnering gave them plenty of time to get to know each other and sort through their feelings (she hoped), which lead to Sam and Mercy stumbling in on the two after a food run./p
p class="MsoNormal"Neither of the men noticed the siblings open the door and so Mercy and Sam were exposed to the naked bodies and loud moans to the full./p
p class="MsoNormal"They had slammed the door shut immediately, but it hadn't saved them from the mental scarring./p
p class="MsoNormal"So a few moments later they ended up sitting in the impala wondering what the hell was going on. Mercy in particular was confused. Dean had never been interested in the same sex before, so what was different with Castiel?/p
p class="MsoNormal""Seems you're not the only one with a thing for angels," Mercy spun around her seat in surprise, her hand gripping a gun, only to see her one and only husband sucking on some form of candy, lounging on the back seat. She let her shoulders relax and took a quick glance to see Sam passed out against the window./p
p class="MsoNormal"Gabe raised an eyebrow at her, "Do you think it's in the blood?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Hello to you too, Gabe," She teased before letting a frown on her face, "What are you doing here? I thought it was too dangerous to be so close."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The god/angel lazily waved off the question. "A few visits here and there won't hurt anyone. But as much as I wish we could spend some time together," He waggled his eyebrows before turning serious, "I'm here to give you some information."/p
p class="MsoNormal"This caught her attention, Gabe rarely ever got serious, and she nodded for him to continue./p
p class="MsoNormal""Something's been killing off angels, and it ain't the demons 'cause only the oldest demons could ever hope of even trying to kill one of us."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy clenched her fists in frustration. There always had to be something, they couldn't have a few moments of peace. The couple reached out and lightly held hands to support each other, or maybe to have some contact after so long apart? Mercy didn't know./p
p class="MsoNormal""The only thing that can kill an angel is an angel blade, and no one's missing theirs from what I've heard." Gabe continued./p
p class="MsoNormal"The two sat in silence as Mercy processed what she heard whilst keeping Gabe grounded. He may not have known many of the dead angels very well, but they were still his family and knowing that one of his brothers or sisters was killing the others must make things even worse./p
p class="MsoNormal"The eldest Winchester sighed deeply, "Well this all went to shit, like it wasn't bad enough already. What am I supposed to tell Cas?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"There was a slight pause before Gabe spoke again, "They should be finished in there now, just make sure you tell him soon. He may have an idea of who's behind it."/p
p class="MsoNormal"He placed a small kiss on Mercy's cheek and vanished with a quiet flutter of the wings. The woman sighed again before slapping Sam's leg to wake him up./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal"I could have done that better, Mercy thought to herself as she kept an eye on the despairing Castiel. They hadn't said anything about the "scene" they had witnessed, leaving it to the men to sort out between them. Team Free Will, as Dean liked to call them, had more pressing matters to think about./p
p class="MsoNormal"Like how they were going to stop whichever angel who thought that killing their siblings was in anyway acceptable. Well, the finding was going to be difficult, the stopping would be fairly simple with a bit of holy oil and Cas's angel blade./p
p class="MsoNormal"And if worst came to worst, they had an archangel up their sleeve. Not that the three males knew that but it was soothing all the same./p
p class="MsoNormal""Maybe one of the dicks decided that cracking open the cage was a good idea. You've heard how they talk about us, no offense Cas, but I really don't think many angels would work that hard to keep the "Mud-monkeys" safe from total annihilation." Dean suggested./p
p class="MsoNormal"Cas looked at him confused, "I don't understand, if you didn't want to offend me then why did you say it?"/p
p class="MsoNormal""Ignore him Cas." Mercy groaned, "We just want to know if you know of any angels that are likely to do something like this? Like that douche Uriel or whatever?"/p
p class="MsoNormal"He shook his head slowly, most likely going over the possibilities in his head./p
p class="MsoNormal""I cannot think of any angels… Our purpose is to protect our father's creations and to go against that would be…" The angel shook his head once again, seemingly lost for words./p
p class="MsoNormal""It's not your fault Cas." Dean spoke softly as he placed a caring hand on Castiel's shoulder. Mercy had to blink a couple times to make sure she was seeing this correctly. Dean was never one to openly show how much he cared; it was rare even with his family and lead to be expressed in strange ways at times./p
p class="MsoNormal"The angel nodded ever so slightly, obviously not believing it, but trying to. "I need some time to think on this."/p
p class="MsoNormal"And with that the angel disappeared from the room with a flap of his wings. Mercy turned to see Dean staring where Cas was with a pained expression. She walked over to her brother and nudged him with her elbow, snapping him out of whatever he was thinking./p
p class="MsoNormal""Just let him deal with what he's feeling. It can't be easy. It would be like you finding out that I killed Sam, or vice versa." The younger's face stiffened at the thought and Mercy knew he didn't want to think about it anymore./p
p class="MsoNormal"She patted his arm and left him where he was. It was times like these that made her so frustrated. She couldn't soothe all their fears and worries, not like she could when they were young./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal""I killed Uriel."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy tried to slow her beating heart, the shock sending it racing. She was beginning to think these angels wanted her to have a heart attack. She turned to see a forlorn Castiel behind her, which was a bit creepy seeing as they were currently in the gas stations bathroom./p
p class="MsoNormal""Say that again now I'm not in danger of dying."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Thank god he arrived as she was washing her hands. Any earlier and she would have not been impressed./p
p class="MsoNormal""I killed Uriel." He spoke again. The poor angel looked so torn and beaten down; he was obviously feeling incredibly guilty./p
p class="MsoNormal""I'm assuming he was the one killing the other angels?" He nodded. "And you tried to convince him to stop?" Another nod. "Did he attack first?" A nod./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, not that she thought he understood the gesture but he looked to appreciate it all the same./p
p class="MsoNormal""'Then there is nothing to feel guilty about' is what I would say. But I know that you still feel guilty no matter what I have to say. He was guilty of horrible crimes but he was still your brother and I know you still love him like the rest of your siblings even now."/p
p class="MsoNormal"The pained expression told her she had got it in one. Mercy reached up and placed his face between her hands, giving Cas a stern look./p
p class="MsoNormal""So try not to think of the bad things he did, think of all the great times you had and all the great things he did. A man's, or in this case an angel's, worth can't be measured only by the sins he committed alone. We all seem to forget that even evil can be capable of doing good deeds and the good capable of evil ones."/p
p class="MsoNormal"She gave a small smile, "It's up to you to decide which one he was."/p
p class="MsoNormal"Castiel returned the smile with small tears in his eyes./p
p class="MsoNormal"-/p
p class="MsoNormal"It took a few moments to compose themselves before they exited the bathroom, scaring a mother with a small child. Mercy ignored the glare they were given and dragged the emotional angel to the impala. The second Dean was in the angel's sights, Cas let go and moved ahead to talk him./p
p class="MsoNormal"Mercy wasn't going to admit it out loud, but she was starting to get concerned with the amount of emotions Castiel was starting to show. He was becoming more human in that respect and it scared Mercy. The thought of Cas falling, no longer being connected to his family, most likely to be treated like a traitor by his brothers and sisters. She didn't know if he could handle that, she didn't know if she could if she was in his position./p
p class="MsoNormal"She took a deep breath. Yes, everything was going to shit. Yes, none of them had any clue how to fix the problem. But you know what? She wasn't going to let this put her down./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"They were the fucking Winchesters (even Castiel) and that meant they were not going down without dragging their enemies down with them./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p