Hi everyone! It's been a while, but I've been working on this story, as well as tinkering around with a few others. I've been writing an Elijah/OC Vampire Diaries/Originals story as well as something in the Deadpool realm, but nothing that is really ready to be published online. So instead of solely focusing on this, I work on whatever has my attention at the moment and I've been watching VD/The Originals a lot lately.
Anyways, thanks for reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! I really appreciate it. :)
Disclaimer: In no way do I have any rights to Supernatural or any of the characters you are familiar with. I only own Amriel and any OCs that pop up along the way.
Chapter Eighteen: Lost
Cas and Amriel returned to their motel without much incident. The blonde had driven, since Castiel was drunk, and she was surprised she had been able to drive without crashing. They had rented a car when they got to town and Cas had let her drive around the parking lot once to let her get the hang of things, and so she had little trouble driving the few blocks from the bar to where they were staying.
"See! I told you that you could do it," he grinned, throwing his arm around her shoulders as they walked to their room. "You're the best, Elle."
"Shut up, Cas-" she started, but his laughter cut her off.
"That's the most human thing you've said to me! Congrats."
"You're drunk. I think it's time we went to bed." Amriel slipped off her shoes and set them underneath the desk, a habit she had formed since they first started living in the motel in Idaho. "I'm going to brush my teeth and change. Are you going to do the same?"
Castiel had already collapsed on the bed and was shaking his head at the ceiling, making Amriel laugh as she grabbed some of her things from her bag.
"I won't be long, then. At least take your shoes and pants off before you fall asleep," she told him, remembering when he had once come back to the motel room drunk and tracked mud all through the room and ultimately into their bed.
She heard Cas mumble something in response, but she wasn't quite sure what he had said. So she shook her head and slipped into the bathroom with a plain white shirt and pajama shorts to change into.
When she was finished in the bathroom, she emerged with her hair piled on top of her head in a bun and she noticed that Cas hadn't moved an inch since she left, and she heaved a sigh, moving to stand in front of him.
"Cas, come on," she chided him, leaning down and grabbing one of his feet, pulling off the shiny black shoe and setting it down before taking off the other one. "You're acting like a child."
"And how do you know that this is how a child acts?" he asked, wondering how she knew all of these things.
"I watched a show called Supernanny, about children who were unable to behave and a 'nanny' who taught them how to act properly through punishments and rewards. This is one of the ways they acted." She started down at him and an idea suddenly hit her. "If you don't get ready for bed, there will be repercussions, Castiel."
Cas opened his eyes and leaned up against his elbows, watching her curiously as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"If you're going to act like a child, you will be treated as such. Go get ready for bed, or else you'll be sleeping on the sofa."
She had his full attention now, and Castiel groaned as he sat up fully, rubbing his face tiredly and nodding in defeat. Amriel smiled, a triumphant feeling spreading through her as she watched him get up and head into the bathroom, shrugging off his suit jacket as he went and hanging it up in the closet. She was surprised her idea had worked; she'd have to use it again in the future.
By the time Cas was done getting ready for bed, Amriel was already under the covers and the TV was turned on to some late-night movie that was absolutely awful. There was a glass of water and two ibuprofen on the nightstand on Castiel's side of the bed, and she nodded to it when he came into the room.
"You had a lot to drink tonight," she mused. "I don't want you to have a hangover in the morning."
Cas took the pills and swallowed them quickly before settling into bed beside Amriel and asked what his reward was going to be.
"What?" she replied, rolling onto her side to face him fully.
"Earlier you said that children are either punished or rewarded. I did as you asked, so I should be rewarded, correct?"
"Oh… Well, I suppose you're right. What would you like?"
Cas wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, pressing a kiss to her forehead and smiling.
"This is all I need," he said quietly and Amriel beamed at him, pecking his lips quickly and saying that she loved him.
"I love you too, Elle. Let's get some sleep. We have much to do in the coming days."
Amriel was in the shower the next morning. Cas had already gotten ready for the day, dressed in the same suit he had worn the previous night. He was milling around the motel room, feeling restless for some reason as he did so.
Something just wasn't sitting right with him, and when Amriel emerged from the bathroom dressed in a pair of shorts and a black t-shirt he noticed that the feeling in his stomach didn't go away, and he began to worry. Normally her presence put him at ease.
"I was thinking that I could go around town and do some research. I've been reading the local newspaper and thought I could pose as a journalist from the neighboring town…" She noticed that he hadn't really been paying attention, staring off out the window as he sat on the couch. "Cas? Are you alright?"
He shrugged, saying that he wasn't sure. "You should go research if you'd like. I think I'll stay here, though. I'm not feeling too well."
Amriel stared at him for a moment, trying to assess him for any sort of injury or ailment before asking if he wanted her to bring anything back for him.
"No, thank you. I'll be fine. Let me know if you discover anything that could be of use, though."
Nodding, Amriel finished getting ready and grabbed her purse. She pressed a kiss to the top of Castiel's head and mumbled, "I love you," before leaving the motel and heading out to see if she could find anything more that could be of use to them.
Cas watched her leave, and once Amriel was out of sight he took a deep breath and shrugged off his trench coat before sitting on the bed.
He sat for a while, thinking about everything that had happened to him over the past few months. While he was living a somewhat quiet, human life, Sam and Dean were still hunting monsters. While he was struggling to figure out how to be a human, the Winchesters were risking their lives and dealing with the aftermath of the fall.
Should he have been doing more to help this entire time? Should he have fought Dean when he told him to leave the bunker? Cas shook his head- no. Dean wanted him gone for a reason, but he wondered why. The hunter wasn't always open with him, but Cas had hoped for some sort of explanation, only to be disappointed when Dean didn't give one.
Castiel had done everything for the Winchesters, but Dean couldn't give him a simple explanation, and now he was saying that they couldn't work together to figure out why this group of angels murdered another group.
It was infuriating, and probably the only thing keeping Cas from going off on Dean was the fact that Amriel was there and he didn't want her to get involved, even though she had gone off in her own way.
No one had ever really stood up for him before, honestly, so it had surprised him when she basically told Dean off for denying their help, but now that he thought about it, Amriel was an angel who cared deeply and didn't like seeing others being put down.
Being human was stressful, and Cas had no idea how seven billion people managed to do it on a daily basis. He needed answers- to what, he wasn't sure, but he knew what he needed to do to hopefully get them.
Cas got up and kneeled beside the bed, then he closed his eyes and folded his hands, and let out a deep exhale.
"I'm… unfamiliar with this end of the process. Of course, no one may be listening, but um, I- I do need assistance."
Cas waited a few moments before opening his eyes and looking around. When he realized that nothing had happened, he frowned and sat on the bed with his legs folded, arms extended and his thumb and forefinger touching. He knew this as something called lotus position- he had seen it in one of the yoga videos Amriel had watched online.
"I have questions, and there seem to be no answers."
He changed positions again, kneeling on the floor now.
"I wouldn't presume to ask for help if I weren't desperate, but I need help."
Castiel was standing now, his eyes closed and his arms extended with his palms facing upwards.
"I'm lost."
Amriel left the motel and decided to leave the car in case Cas wanted to go somewhere, so she walked all the way to the bar. She was surprised to find that it was open despite the mass murder that had happened there not too long ago. Posing as a student journalist, Amriel asked the bartender and a few of the patrons questions about the bikers, whether they were regulars or new to the area.
It turned out that the bikers had in fact been part of a group that frequented the bar, but it had been a while since they last stopped in. The woman behind the bar, Paula, had explained that she hadn't seen them since the "crazy meteor shower", and the night of the murders, they had stopped in on their way across the country.
"They seemed a little off. Howie didn't get his normal bourbon- he ordered a damn lemonade," Pam had told Amriel, who wrote it all down on the small hotel pad of paper she had brought with her. "Didn't want to play pool, didn't talk about their ride in. Then that church group or whatever came in and everything went to hell."
She had stuck around for another few hours, talking to other patrons and trying to get more details about that night. When she felt like she had learned all that she could, she thanked Paula and left the bar, pulling her phone out of her pocket and frowning when she saw that she didn't have any messages from Cas.
When she got closer to the motel, Amriel stopped a mini mart and browsed the aisles, looking for something for Castiel to help him feel better.
He had seemed off when she left the motel. Something about the way he was gazing out the window, a far away look in his eyes worried her, so she had found a few of his favorite foods and candies to purchase for him.
She was putting her change in her wallet when she heard a familiar voice in the back of her mind.
"I'm lost… I need your guidance. Please, hear my prayer…" Castiel's voice filled her head.
Filled with a sudden dread, Amriel grabbed the bag from the counter and rushed out of the store, taking off into a sprint towards the motel. Why had he done that? Cas had to know how dangerous it was to pray to angels… Anyone could find them now.
When she got to their motel room, Amriel slid her key into the lock and fumbled for a moment before opening the door and stumbling inside, slamming the door behind her, her eyes widening at the scene before her.
Castiel was now staring at her, awestruck for some reason, and a woman wearing a park ranger uniform stood closer to the couch, and turned to face Amriel with a confused look.
"Amriel? What are you doing here?"
"I should be asking you the same thing, Muriel. I have been traveling with Castiel for months. I heard your prayer, Cas. What were you doing?"
Cas didn't have an answer for her. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, unsure of what to say or even do. So he just shrugged, and Amriel sent him a glare before turning to Muriel and asked why she was there.
"I heard a prayer. I thought it was just a normal human, and it turned out to be Castiel. I tried to leave, but he had questions, so I answered the best I could."
"What's that supposed to mean? You sought out another angel for answers?"
Amriel didn't want to show her disappointment and how hurt she was, so she masked her pain with anger and annoyance.
"Muriel has information about Bartholomew, who we already knew about, and Malachi, the anarchist, and how each side wants to crush the other."
"He's become equals with Bartholomew. In some ways, worse," Muriel interrupted.
"But there's still those like you who want to stay out of it… Like us," Cas said, nodding to Amriel, who was still eyeing the other angel wearily.
"Fewer and fewer. Each side is rounding up those who try and stay neutral," Muriel explained. "Angels are being tortured and killed if they don't pledge loyalty."
Castiel heaved a sigh, "It's worse than I thought, then."
"Each side wants to crush the other, overthrow Metatron, and rule Heaven… and Heaven under either of them would be…"
"Hell," Cas finished Muriel's thought, and the three stood there in silence, unsure of what to do or really say next when the door was kicked in.
Amriel jumped, turning to watch as an angel she knew as Theo, Urim, and another angel burst in. The three stared in horror, not knowing what to do now that they were under attack.
Finally realizing what she had to do, Amriel went to pull her blade from the back of her shorts when one of the angels grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into the desk, disorienting her and making her vision go fuzzy. She vaguely saw them disarm Muriel and render Cas unconscious, and she heard herself shouting his name before her head came into contact with the desk again she was knocked out.