Chapter Thirty Eight- Oath
A/N- Well, College is closed because of the snow (woo!) for two days. So I got bored and thought I'd indulge in a little writing time. I did my CV today so I deserved it! Enjoy!
I stopped moving suddenly with such force that I was thrown to the ground. The feeling disappeared from my wrist and I began to wretch and gag on my hands and knees. My hair fell over my face. All I could tell about the place I had appeared in was that it was outside. I was kneeling on asphalt and could feel soft taps on my head and all over my body. I heard someone else gagging nearby.
Bobby!
My memories came flooding back but I still wretched hopelessly. It was a good job that there was nothing in my stomach. At last acid travelled up my oesophagus and pooled between my hands. At last the wretching stopped. I felt a rough hand rubbing my shoulder trying to soothe me.
"You okay?" Bobby asked as he crouched to my level.
I gave him a tired look and nodded to signify that I was fine. I wiped at my mouth with the sleeve of my sweater. He helped me to my feet. I couldn't sense Cas nearby.
"You sure you're okay?" he asked me again.
"I'm fine, Bobby. Just a bit…" we both glanced around, "disorientated"
We were stood in a parking lot and it was already dark. Cas was nowhere to be found. I tried not to panic and hoped that he was fine. I realized that the taps on my body had been falling snow flakes. There was almost a foot of it settled on the ground and it was getting deeper even as we spoke.
"We have to get inside," I told him as I wrapped my arms around my body and began to step foot to foot out of anxiousness.
He nodded and started to make his way to the main road, "I figured…"
I stayed where I was and looked around once more, "come on, Cas"
Bobby vanished behind a building about twenty feet away. My breath appeared in front of me as a small cloud of condensation. I pursed my lips and watched the air billow out. I gulped and looked to the Heavens hoping to see some sign or other. Bobby's head appeared back around the corner of the building he had disappeared around moments before.
"You coming or what?" he shouted over to me before going back onto the main street again.
Reluctantly with one last glance skywards I began to walk over to the main street inadvertently kicking up snow and leaving a trail of footprints as I did.
Suddenly there was a tell tale shudder in the air and a flutter of wings nearby. When I turned around, I half expected to find Uriel ready to kill me. But instead there stood a bloodied and urgent Castiel. He stumbled on his feet for a second as he rushed towards me.
"We need to get inside now" he ordered me and I obediently led him down the way that Bobby had gone.
The streets were empty with only hookers trying to sell themselves on the corners as we passed. We walked quickly past them and ignored their calls. Surprisingly, Cas didn't even mutter anything or look shocked or appalled.
"Come on, cuties!" one shouted.
Another said, "I'll spend the night with both of you for free!"
It was only a two minute walk to the first motel in the seedy red district of an unknown town or city covered in snow at night. Bobby was stood impatiently with a pair of keys in his hand when we got to the door.
"Room 24, second floor" he relayed to me and led us quickly up the stairs.
The guy on reception winked at me for the brief moment that we were in the lobby and we passed through a set of double doors onto the staircase. There were various couples on the stairs that were touching and kissing who hadn't quite made it to their rooms. They didn't pay us any notice though and we managed to shuffle past them calmly enough. We made it to our room safely and only did any of us dare talk when the door was shut and bolted.
Cas kept close to the window choosing to keep an eye on the outside world. Bobby on the other hand made straight for the mini-bar and poured two shots of whisky. He offered one to me and I accepted it gratefully.
"What the hell was that?" Bobby questioned as he poured himself a second glass, "Warn me before you fly me somewhere will ya?"
The Angel gave the human a sad look, "they followed me. When I brought you here they followed me. I had to give them a false trail. That is why it was a violent landing"
"So you threw us off the Angel Express while it was still moving?" Bobby badgered him.
He gave him a confused look, "I do not understand"
I shook my head rapidly, "that bit isn't important. Where did you take them to?"
"You call it Siberia," Cas told me with a look out of the window. He turned urgent again, "You are still not safe here, not yet. My brothers and the Demons are still searching for you"
He advanced towards me with his hand extended. Before I had a chance to ask what he was doing he placed his hand to my chest and stared straight into my eyes as pain shot through to my very bones. Bobby was about to protest when he did the same to him.
I sunk down on the bed and rubbed the place his hand had been, "what was that?"
"I carved Enochian symbols into your bones to hide you, from both Angels and Demons" he said simply and swayed a little more on his feet. I had never seen him tired or exhausted before, in fact I didn't know Angels could become tired or exhausted.
"Thank you" I muttered so low I was barely able to hear it myself. I wasn't just saying thank you for the symbols, I was saying it for everything. He basically exiled himself from Heaven just to save my life.
The corner of his mouth twitched in an attempt at a smile. He had heard me.
"That's just dandy," Bobby started again, "but what are we going to do about the price on her head?"
"I shall return to Heaven and negotiate her freedom and safety," he stated with his eyes closed. His words sounded too precise. It was like he was focusing on every one of them.
I shook my head and stood up, "no! I'm not letting you do anymore for me. You're going to get yourself killed. We'll meet up with Sam and Dean and try to sort this out ourselves. You should go and apologise to your brothers and say you were influenced by Casey or something"
It was obvious how exhausted and irrational I was being but neither of them showed any annoyance at me. Silence filled the air for a few moments.
"Bobby, can you leave me alone with Rox for a few moments. There is something she must understand" Cas said calmly.
He nodded, "sure, I'll grab some more of this whisky too"
After a few seconds he was gone and it was just me and the Angel in the room of a seedy backstreet motel.
Cas then turned to face me, "you do not understand. I have a connection to you, one that is through the rosary and another attachment. I am compromised as I have begun to feel emotions, one of which is doubt. We cannot feel doubt, the consequences are unimaginable"
I blinked a few times, "what are the consequences?"
"We fall" was all he said for a few moments, "We fall from Grace and have every tie with Heaven severed. More often than not we are also killed"
I took a deep breath, "I never realised"
"My brothers will not accept my return to Heaven. Even if I were to hand you over to them I would still be cast out and killed. The most I can do is secure your safety and make a deal to ensure that they do not kill you once I am dead" he wobbled on his feet.
"You can't do that, you go back to Heaven you will be killed. You stay on Earth you may live" I told him, "and so may I."
He shook his head with a small smile, "I made an oath to protect you. That is what I am going to do"
A few more moments of silence passed between us before I had the courage to speak again.
"Are they still not talking?" I asked.
"They are not allowing me to listen" he corrected me, "they are also beginning to cut off my link with Heaven"
I paled, "this quickly?"
"Yes," he confirmed before nearly fainting and falling on the floor behind him.
I managed to catch him just enough so his head didn't hit the floor. I glanced around worriedly waiting for Bobby to get back.
"Angel's don't faint do they?" I asked Cas as I propped him up in my arms.
"No" he said hazily, "I have over exerted myself...you must...stay indoors"
His bambi eyes fluttered shut.
"Bobby!" I shouted over my shoulder still hoping that the hunter was in earshot.
I cautiously placed my hand to his temple. It felt cold and clammy. Next I checked his pulse. It was racing and his breathing had become shallow.
"Don't do this, Cas" I pleaded hopelessly with the unconscious being.