Earth, Present Day
"That is something I definitely do not want to relive," Castiel found his body again. It felt like, during that whole experience that his mind had been disconnected from his body. Unlike with the memory he once entered with Dean, he had no physical form. He was a pair of eyes that witnessed the two memories in fast succession. Those images remained fresh on his mind. Though he had spent a long time through the looking glass, only a fraction of that time occurred in real time. A few minutes perhaps in a trance when Balthazar was holding him on the ground, gripping his shoulder tightly.
"Are you all right?" Balthazar asked, pulling Castiel up underneath the elbow.
Castiel was still trying to make sense of what he saw. "I...I'm not sure...I think I just witnessed his memory...Speaking of which...Where is he?"
"You mean Gabriel? I honestly have no idea. He disconnected with you after a few minutes and ran inside the cabin. My guess is he's raiding the fridge."
Castiel shook his head but that did nothing to still the dizziness he felt. "He showed me..."
"Make sense of that later," said Gabriel from the door, leaning against the side. "You got bigger fish to worry about. Tell me, do Exiles usually glow?"
"Do Exiles usually glow?" Castiel repeated. "What does that even mean?"
"It means that kid. You know the one you're protecting here? Is kind of going through a light show over here," said Gabriel mildly.
Balthazar and Castiel exchanged a quick look then bolted past the chuckling Gabriel towards Sam's room. He wasn't lying, that was for sure. Sam's body was alight with a bright light shining from his chest. Castiel rushed over, but fear clouded his judgement. He was afraid to touch him. What if what happened with Lucifer rising was happening all over again? What if Lucifer was coming to meet them?
"What's happening?" Castiel said loudly, his eyes snapping towards Gabriel. "Why is...What's happening to him?"
"I don't know-" Balthazar began.
"Life Debt connection. Your demon must be in trouble," said Gabriel vaguely from the doorway.
"Then, help him! Can't you do anything?" Castiel stood over Sam, hands hovering over his forehead.
Gabriel looked at Castiel for a long moment. "Why should I?"
Surprise colored Castiel's features. "Why not? He's..." Why should he have to explain himself to this man whose history with Dean spoke for itself? "You care about him too. And Dean cares about this boy. He would have never...ever connected himself to Sam if he didn't love him as much as you love him."
"Or as much as you love him?" Gabriel inquired with his eyebrows raised. "I showed you what happened. Were you not paying attention? I don't give a damn about Dean or that kid. As far as I'm concerned, those two are the worst thing that ever happened to this planet. The world is going to Hell. The King and his Prince have won. If this boy dying right before your eyes and no sign of the demon around to stop his pain is not evidence enough for you..."
"He's changed. Do you hear me? He wants to do better. Why can't you see this?" said Castiel desperately. "Please, I beg of you. Help Sam if not Dean. He's just a child. He deserves no part of this any longer."
An unreadable emotion passed Gabriel's face, but it came too fast for him to detect it. He stepped forward. "He's already too far into sleep to feel the physical anguish from the Life Link between Dean and himself. Think of it as the deepest sleep you could imagine. If he dies through Dean right now, he'll actually go in peace."
"You know I actually defected because of something like this," Balthazar commented unexpectedly. " I had a General who was too cowardly to act appropriately. And guess what? Because of his actions, I had to watch a fossil rise from the grave. And here you are...Doing the same damn thing except maybe worse. You warn us all about this guy and now you won't lift a finger to help. That's classy, General."
"I showed Castiel so he would understand that what he's chasing...," Eyes narrowed coldly on the shorter angel. "will never be his. And that's speaking from experience. It's been foreseen. Lucifer will rise to claim this planet and his Prince will rise with him and together they will destroy this world. Or die trying. There are no in-betweens."
"I don't believe you," Castiel growled. "I don't. I believe you don't believe in him. But I do believe in Dean. I always will. He's earned that much with me. I don't believe he's fallen yet. There must be something you can do."
"You require more proof, then?" Gabriel challenged. "Very well. Move aside, Castiel. I'll show you myself."
He didn't bother waiting, just shoved Castiel aside and took his place at the head of the bed, hands over Sam's head. "What I'm about to do goes against everything the Celestial Chain of Command has taught us. Rule number one is we never go against Free Will of human beings. I'll base my actions off the technicality that this boy was never truly human to begin with. He is a vessel which gives him some resilience. Pray that he's strong enough to maintain his life. Pray that he's strong enough to withstand my power link."
"What are you planning to do?"
"I'm going to sever the link between Sam and Dean. It's quite obvious that being tied to the Prince has endangered this boys life and put him in this coma status. If I sever the link, more than likely he will awaken and resume a normal life with no recollection to ever meeting Dean or starting the uprising of Lucifer. That's the best gift you can give Dean at this point since it looks like he's about to die, wherever he is."
"There's nothing to be done for Dean?" Castiel asked, drawing close to Gabriel's side.
"Look. It's him or Dean. You want to go down to the pits of Hell and rescue Dean? Which by the way would prove unwise considering you'd never make it to him in time, or do you want to save this boy? Consider your code, Castiel. Even if this boy means nothing to you, are you about to abandon him...for nothing? Our code says we never let an innocent die and correct me if I'm wrong but what did this boy do except fall into the wrong hands? AKA Prince Dean?"
Balthazar put a finger to his lips, speculating. If there was one way to play to the Commander's strengths, it was letting him know that an innocent may die. Even if he had never met Sam himself.
Castiel's eyes narrowed but he broke the gaze from Gabriel, glaring at the stretch of wall and stepping back as consent. "Fine."
"Wise choice," said Gabriel." Also another point to that. Lucifer would incinerate you the moment a celestial entered his realm. Especially. You. Lover Boy."
"Why do I feel like there's always a catch to this sort of thing?" Balthazar asked, crossing his arms. "There's a downside to this, right? It wouldn't be the most forbidden rule in Heaven if there wasn't a damn catch."
"Oh, of course. There's an enormous possibility that this whole thing will go south in multiple different ways. Don't say I didn't warn you on that. These things usually always end catastrophic. Lucky I'm pretty experienced in this sort of thing."
"What? Breaking bonds?" Balthazar quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that supposed to be impossible to begin with?"
Gabriel gave him a sly look. "Never underestimate the power of an Archangel, Commander."
"Yeah, I'll start saying that when Imperial-Class don't literally cut them in half," said Balthazar.
"Like I said. I'm experienced in this,"
"Don't tell me we're about to get an Archangel showdown. I'm pretty sure it's forbidden for a reason. Should we be expecting Michael to burst through the windows now?" Balthazar rolled his eyes.
"Live a little, we're only breaking a few rules. Here goes," He splayed his fingers down on Sam's forehead.
The process was unnerving to watch. Gabriel closed his eyes and there was no telling where he went. Only an Archangel of his might and age could probably withstand it. Especially with minds such as Dean's and Sam's. Castiel nor Balthazar could probably last that long.
And like Gabriel had said, there was no telling what could come of it. As Castiel watched, he found himself wishing he hadn't given the green light for Gabriel to do this. What if he was endangering their lives? On second thought, he never did actually give his consent for Gabriel to do it in the first place.
The calm mask of serene broke when Gabriel's eyebrows furrowed and he frowned. Some part of him was in the minds, and some part was still here, physically aware that he was in this room still.
"Something's wrong," Gabriel murmured in a low voice, though clearly audible.
" ' Something?' " Castiel repeated. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"
"What have you done?" Balthazar was quick to blame. "Disconnect, now!"
But Gabriel ignored both of them. His head tilted, still engaged in the trance. "The Link between them...it's starting to fail...Unbelievable...I...I...I cannot hold onto it for much longer. Dean's...disrupting the link, he's destroying it himself."
"How is that even possible?" Balthazar snapped. "I thought it impossible to go back on a connection like that by yourself. I thought the connection was unbreakable."
"Not...," The words came out of Gabriel in a struggle. "Not...unless he swears a Life Debt to...another...Dean...Dean, what...have you done?"
Castiel had had enough, coming close and taking the Archangel by the shoulder and shaking him. "What? What has he done. Tell me, damn you!"
But he was cut off by the swirling sound of lightning transcending the barriers between realms. Red and black power burned his hand on Gabriel and he was pushed back by an unknown force, falling into Balthazar and hitting the ground hard. The next thing he knew, there was a bright white light taking up the entire room. It was all wrong. It had all gone wrong. That was Castiel's last thought before he heard that sound.
Small, but unmistakable. A gasp. It was too small and soft to be considered by either of the angels present.
"Sam?" Castiel called as the light began to fade.
Sam had sat up in one swift motion, breaking the connection between Gabriel and himself. Despite the immense power that had just wafted through the room, Castiel and Balthazar were shocked to find Gabriel still on his feet, only slightly jarred from the experience.
"Cas?" said Sam, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
"You're okay?" Castiel questioned, pulling off of Balthazar to stumble towards the bed on his knees.
"I am...," Sam began breathlessly. "I'm..I am...Where's Dean? I felt...I felt him. He's in so much pain...I could feel it...and now I feel as if...my head..." He ran a hand through his hair, massaging the side of his temple vigorously.
"What did you do?" Balthazar looked flat at Gabriel.
"I didn't do anything," said Gabriel, recovering composure quite easily. "I didn't sever the bond. Dean did, just before he swore a new one to someone else. Any takers on who that might be?"
Before Castiel or Balthazar could speak, Sam turned his head to him. "So he's alive? Tell me! Is Dean still alive?"
"He's still alive," said Gabriel grimly. His eyes went from Castiel to Sam. "But don't let that get you thinking it's a good thing. Your knight and shining armor just swore an oath of fealty to Lucifer. He swore his life to him. Whatever debt he had to Sam has just transferred to the King himself. You wanted proof. I just gave it to you. The boy is lost. To all who had faith in him. He's going to rise from the pit with Father and reign Hell on this entire planet. I'm not saying I didn't warn you or anything...but...I kinda did."
"And yet, I still don't believe that," said Castiel stubbornly, curling his hand into a fist. "I will never believe that."
"I knew Dean over four times as long as you have, Castiel. I think I kind of know what I'm talking about,"
"And I knew him just long enough to know that you are wrong,"
Gabriel threw up his hands, making a beeline for the door. "You know what? You want to commit a flashy double suicide with the Commander over there, go right ahead. But count me out. I tried to tell you, give you all the proof you need. But if you want to remain stubborn, be my guest. I am done with this."
"Where are you going?" Sam and Balthazar said in unison.
"Out. And you know what you might want to do? Y'know, stay productive? Why don't you get that kid over there to a safe family, far from all this. And once you're done with that, get your sorry asses back to Chain of Command and get to Michael. They're going to need all the firepower they can get. Sitting around here, hoping someone in the under realm is still on your side is going to get you nowhere."
"I don't understand," said Castiel loudly, pronouncing each word slow. "What has he done to you to make you hate him so?"
"Whatever I showed you was only a fragment, Castiel. Tell him, Commander. You were there for most of it. I'm sure he'll have a grand ole time explaining everything. In the mean time, try not to get in the crossfire and kill yourselves," said Gabriel. And without another word, he slammed the door behind him. No sound of footsteps came after his departure. He had taken flight and left them in the dark.