Hey there! It's been a while, but here's chapter 24!
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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 Twenty Four: Unwind

"What's up with her?" Sam asked once the door to the bunker had closed and Amriel was gone, looking to Cas with an expectant gaze. What had he done to tick her off?

"I'm not sure," Castiel frowned. "Amriel seems to think that I've changed, but I still love her just as much as I did when I was human. I told her that, and she said she needed to go for a walk."

Sam's brow furrowed and Cas took that as a bad sign. He must've messed up somehow, but he just didn't know.

"Sometimes you need to do more than just saying it, you know? But she's probably just overwhelmed. I wasn't exactly the nicest towards her just now, telling her to ignore her job and let me suffer. Just give her some time, man," Sam set his hand on the angel's shoulder and squeezed supportively. "Text her if she doesn't come back in a couple of hours. In the meantime, do you wanna see if we can track down Gadreel?"

The two stood over a bowl that Cas was busy pouring different items into, and once he added the bits of grace he had extracted from Sam not long ago, they watched the mixture boil and then fade until nothing was there. Castiel looked away in disappointment, knowing it hadn't worked.

"Was that it?" Sam asked, unsure of what had just happened.

"I'm afraid there wasn't enough grace. We'll have to find Gadreel another way… I'm sorry, Sam."

"It's all right, Cas. You— you were right. About everything." The younger Winchester suddenly pulled Cas into a tight hug, fighting back a laugh as the angel just stood there awkwardly, and so Sam said, "Now's the part where you hug back."

"Oh, right," Castiel hugged Sam back, "Uh, sorry."

"There you go," Sam laughed, letting go of the angel and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"As far as I'm concerned, Metatron is the key to fixing everything that's wrong. I'm gonna find him," Cas said, a familiar voice of certainty and confidence that Sam hadn't heard in a long time from him. "You know, Sam, we could use all the help we could get to find Gadreel and Metatron…"

"Don't worry, man. We got this. Now, let's have a drink while we wait for Amriel to come back."

"Are you sure we shouldn't try and find her?" Castiel looked from Sam to the door of the bunker, and the Winchester felt sorry for his friend.

"She'll be fine, Cas. Amriel can take care of herself, you know."

"Yes, but you don't see her grace," Castiel said, a hint of concern in his voice that set off something in Sam that worried him too. "I told Dean this when we first arrived here. Urim tortured her when Malachi had us captive. She's weak and I'm— I'm worried about her, Sam."

"Let her have some time alone, okay?" Sam grabbed a bottle of bourbon and two glasses, pouring one for each of them. "Here, take a load off. We've had a long day."

Castiel took the glass Sam was holding out to him and sat down at the table. He downed the drink quickly and Sam poured him another, and the two drank together, trying to forget what had happened earlier that afternoon.

Amriel was at a small cafe in town a few miles from the bunker, picking at a plate of french fries as she stared out the window. This tiny town reminded her of Rexford, and she suddenly missed Marissa and her fiery personality that matched her hair.

It had been an hour or so since she left Cas and Sam, and she wondered if they had attempted the spell to track Gadreel. She was worried that there wasn't enough grace, but there was no way Castiel could have gotten more without killing Sam in the process.

Sighing, Amriel thought about Sam and how determined he was to make things right. He tried to shoulder all of the burden on his own, when he really needed to share it with Dean, Cas, and herself. But from what she understood, Winchesters were hard headed and had trouble letting people help them.

The angel was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that her phone had been ringing. She quickly picked it up on the third ring and held the phone to her ear and asked, "Hello?"

"Amy, finally! I've been trying to call you for days. Where have you been?"

Amriel felt her stomach drop at the sound of Marissa's voice. She had been avoiding her calls, and now she had no idea what to say.

"I… I've been out of town-"

"Yeah, I get that! But where are you? Are you with Steve? Neither of you said anything to Nora and she thought you two went missing or something…"

"We've been busy. Some stuff came up and I haven't been able to get in touch with anyone-" Amriel stumbled over her words, unsure of what to tell her friend. She definitely couldn't tell her that they had been abducted and tortured by angels.

"Well it's nice to know you're not dead. When are you coming back? Nora hired some high school kids to fill in while you're gone."

"I'm not sure. We're helping out a friend who's going through a hard time with his brother-"

"Is that true or did you and Steve run off and get married? Amy, I'll be so pissed if you get married and I'm not there!"

Amriel laughed, telling Marissa that she wasn't married, "I'm not lying. I just don't know when we're going to be able to come back."

"Well, do you have some time to talk? I want to fill you in on what's been going on!"

So Amriel listened as Marissa told her about everything that was happening in Rexford, from the people that came into the store, to the Mayor's affair with a college student, to Marissa's own drama with her ex.

"I dunno, Caleb just shows up in my life at the worst times. I'm waiting to hear back on Fall admission to design school in New York, and then he just comes back into my life, wanting to keep me here with all of these promises."

Amriel could tell that Marissa sounded conflicted, but after spending almost a year with her, the angel knew what she really wanted to hear.

"Marissa, don't listen to him. You've told me that he's done this before, and nothing good comes from it. Go to New York. It'll be much better for you than Caleb will ever be," Amriel told her, taking a sip of her soda and glancing out the window at the people passing by. "You're not suited for a small town."

"You know me all too well, Amy," The angel could practically hear the smile on the redhead's face as she spoke. "I miss you, you know. Deal with your shit and come back to Rexford, okay?"

"I miss you too. We'll try to come back when we can. If you move to New York before then, let me know and we'll visit you."

"Promise?" Marissa asked, and Amriel noticed a worried tone to the girl's voice. Was she concerned that she wasn't going to see her again?

"I promise, Marissa. You're my best friend," Amriel assured her. "I would never forget about you."

"Good. You'd better not! Now, send me a picture of you and Steve wherever you're staying, so I know you're still disgustingly cute together wherever you are."

Amriel said that she would before telling Marissa that she had to go. They had been on the phone for a while, and she was starting to feel better after her outburst at Cas. The friends said their goodbyes, and Amriel hung up, seeing that they had spoken for nearly an hour.

Shaking her head, Amriel paid for her food and left the cafe. She walked down the street and took in the shops that lined the sidewalk, spotting a nail salon and quickly ducking inside, where she asked the receptionist if they took walk-ins.

Now she was seated across from the nail technician, watching as the older woman worked on her fingers, scraping dirt and what looked like rope fibers out and dunking them into a bowl of warm water. Amriel frowned— she thought she had rid herself of everything that would remind her of her torture, but she had apparently been wrong.

Amriel let herself relax and let the woman work, painting her nails a navy blue. She was out of the salon within an hour, and she felt much better than she had earlier that day. After listening to Sam's screams all afternoon, it was nice to be outside and away from the bunker.

She was starting to walk back toward the bunker as the sun was beginning to set when her phone began to ring. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw Castiel's name on the phone so she answered it quickly.

"Hey Cas," she said, continuing on her walk.

"Elle, where are you? Are you okay?"

He sounded flustered for some reason, and Amriel narrowed her gaze even though he couldn't see her.

"I'm fine… I'm on my way back. Are you okay?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could do us a favor," Amriel could hear Sam's voice in the background, telling Cas to hurry up. "Could you stop by the liquor store before you come back?"

"The liquor store? Are you and Sam drinking?"

She could hear the Winchester's voice in the background, telling Castiel to ask her to get more bourbon.

"Yes, and he's far more intoxicated than I am. Would you please bring back bourbon and whatever else you can find? We tried the tracking spell and it didn't work."

Oh. That was why they were drinking heavily. Nodding her head and looking around the block she was on, Amriel spotted a liquor store across the street.

"I suppose I could make a quick stop."

Amriel returned to the bunker with two bottles of bourbon for Sam and eight bottles of the strongest liquor she could find, which happened to be the Bacardi 151 she had first tried months ago. The clerk at the store had been a little weary to sell her ten bottles, but she had the money and a valid drivers license, so he triple bagged the bottles and sent her on her way.

"You're the best, Amriel," Sam greeted her when she arrived, taking the bags from her and planting a sloppy kiss on her right cheek before making his way to the kitchen. She saw Cas standing there, watching her with a strange look on his face before he took off for the kitchen too.

"Cas- wait," she called out, stopping him in his tracks. Amriel approached him carefully, unsure of what to say to him now that they were face to face. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was- I was just upset with what had happened to Sam, and I took it out on you."

"It's okay, Elle-" he started, but the girl shook her head, telling him that it wasn't.

"I shouldn't have done it, and I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Cas nodded, knowing that he couldn't talk her out of it if he tried. "Now c'mon. Sam already has a few drinks on me and we have to get in there if we want to catch up."

The entered the kitchen and found Sam lining up shot glasses, filling them to the brim with bourbon before he turned to face the pair of angels that had joined him.

"I've had a really hard day, so we're gonna get drunk, okay?" the Winchester told them, holding out two shot glasses and smiling when the angels took them from him.

"Sam, are you sure-?" Amriel asked, looking from the amber liquid to her charge, a curious look on her face as he shook his head.

"No guardian angel stuff tonight, you've done enough of that today." Sam clinked his shot glass against hers before throwing his back and shaking his head, turning to pour himself another.

Grabbing a bottle for himself, Sam disappeared into the main room of the bunker, and Amriel heard the sounds of rock music coming into the kitchen. She looked over to Cas, who shrugged and quickly drank his shot, motioning for Amriel to do the same.

A few shots later, the angels grabbed their own bottles and joined Sam. Amriel took a seat at the long table, watching Castiel take off his trench coat and jacket before sitting down in the chair next to her.

Amriel took a swig from her bottle and let her hand rest on Cas' thigh, a motion that didn't go unnoticed by her charge.

"You're awfully touchy for an angel," Sam mused, watching the blonde with a small smile on his face.

"Well I've spent nearly a year on Earth. I've learned a lot since I've been here," she told him, glancing to Cas and watching him roll up the sleeves of his dress shirt. "I understand that you were researching me?"

Amriel set her bottle on the table and crossed her arms over her chest, staring up at the Winchester with an expectant look on her face. She watched him shift in his seat uncomfortably and he did another shot before getting up and grabbing a file off of a nearby shelf.

"I wanted to know as much about you as I could after we met, so I did some research and this is what I found," he set the file in front of her, gesturing for her to look through it as he sat and took another drink.

The blonde opened the folder and glanced through the pages, seeing the painting by Raphael that she saw when she had first come to the bunker. There were other pieces of information about her duties and lore, but she kept going back to that painting. Amriel felt Cas staring at the pages too- they were both drawn to it.

"I know all about the lore humans have about me, but what is it about this painting? How did you find it?" She sat back and poured herself and Cas another drink.

"It was a painting Raphael finished in 1506 as part of a series, but the Vatican had it in storage until 2008, from what I've read. Pope Julius II thought it was blasphemous, as the series tells of two angels who oversee Heaven and maintain order in God's absence."

"Why have I never heard of this?" Cas finally spoke, looking from the painting to Sam, his eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "I think I would know if angels were supposed to preside over Heaven."

"Well God disappeared a long time ago, and you've said before that he didn't leave any instructions. What if these paintings are it?"

"That's ridiculous. I can't oversee Heaven or any other angels- I'm just a watcher," Amriel closed the folder and pushed it back towards Sam. "I don't need to see any more of your research, and I certainly don't need to see any more of Raphael's work."

"Amriel, don't you see? Once Heaven is re-opened, you could help restore order. You both could restore order," Sam looked between the two angels. "I'm pretty sure that painting depicts the two of you, whether you like it or not."

Rolling her eyes, the blonde leaned forward and said, "I don't even think I want to go back to Heaven, Sam. Now, I'd like to stop talking about things that don't matter. Heaven is closed to angels, and I don't really care if it stays that way."

Castiel felt his jaw drop and he saw a look of surprise Sam's face. He turned and looked at Amriel, wondering if it was the bottle of Bacardi talking.

"Elle, I think you should slow down on the liquor…" Cas reached over to take the empty bottle, only to have his hand pushed away.

Amriel got up from the table and excused herself to the kitchen, where Cas knew she was probably going to get another bottle of rum. He looked to Sam and shook his head, unsure of what he should say.

"Cas, even though I haven't seen anything in my research, I know that painting depicts you too. She doesn't want to believe it, but together you could set things right up there, once we get the door open-" Sam stopped when Castiel held up his hand, signaling for him to stop.

"Let's save this discussion for another time. We're supposed to be relaxing after a strenuous day, not making things more stressful for each other." Cas watched Sam nod, and the two continued to drink until Amriel returned, a bottle in one hand as the other ran through her long hair.

She made her way to the table, sitting back down in her seat and glancing up at Sam, but not really acknowledging him before she turned and sent Castiel a small smile.

"How about we play a drinking game?" Sam suggested, getting up and looking through a few drawers until he found a deck of cards. "Have either of you heard of Bullshit?"

"I believe that's an expletive, not a game," Cas corrected, and Sam's eyes lit up at the angel in front of him as he began to shuffle the cards.

"Bullshit!" Amriel yelped, her eyes narrowed at Cas, who had just set down three cards and claimed that they were all tens. She knew for a fact that she had two tens in her hand, and according to the rules she had to call him out on his lie.

With a sheepish look on his face, Castiel took the pile of cards that sat in the center of the table and took a swig of rum from his third bottle, finally able to taste it now that he had taken Amriel's advice and put the molecules together himself. Amriel took her turn, setting two cards face down, saying that they were twos, and the game continued.

Sam was quickly learning that the angels were competitive. Really competitive. Aside from the first round, he hadn't won a single game.

"I'm gonna go grab something to eat, maybe bread to soak up the booze. Want anything?" Sam asked, running a hand through his hair and blinking slowly, realizing that he was pretty drunk.

The pair shook their heads, so he carefully got up and made his way to the kitchen.

"This has been fun," Amriel smiled, playing with her phone and noticing a text from Marissa.

Where's that pic you promised, girl?!

"Oh! Cas, I talked to Marissa on the phone today! She called and was kinda mad that I haven't let her know where we were. She thinks we ran off and got married, and she wants a picture of us so she knows were alive…"

"But you spoke with her earlier, so that would mean you're alive," Castiel reasoned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, making the girl laugh.

"I think she just misses us. Let's indulge her, though." The blonde opened up the camera app on her phone and held it up, trying to fit both Cas and herself in the frame, but couldn't quite get it to work.

"Here, sit on me, that way we can both be in it," Cas suggested, spreading his arms and wrapping them tightly around Amriel, pulling her back against his chest and breathing in the scent of her shampoo. They used the same one, but it always smelled better on her.

Amriel held her phone out in front of them and lit up when she saw both of them on the screen. She told Cas to smile, and she took a few pictures before choosing one to send to Marissa.

See, we're alive and well.

Tossing her phone on the table, Amriel leaned further back into Cas and heaved a sigh. She grabbed the half empty bottle of rum, probably their sixth or seventh, and took a long swig from it. She only stopped drinking when Cas reached up and set his hand on top of hers, lowering the bottle and taking it out of her grasp and drinking from it himself.

"Are you drunk?" Amriel asked, turning herself so she was sitting sideways and wrapping an arm around his neck to keep herself steady.

"I'm not sure. I don't think I'm drunk, but I'm certainly not sober," he answered. "Why? Are you?"

"Kinda. But that's okay, we both deserve to relax after today-" she stopped herself, suddenly mesmerized by the brightness of Castiel's eyes. "You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen."

"Elle, you know they're not really mine," Cas looked down, but she set both of her hands on his cheeks and tilted his head so he was looking up at her again.

"I know, Cas. But I also know how magnificent you are as an angel, and I can't wait for you to get your grace back." She pressed a firm kiss to his lips, then his cheek, before leaning closer and breathing against his neck, "But just so you know, I certainly do enjoy the things you do to me with that vessel of yours."

"Oh? And what would those things be?" Castiel had never considered himself to be confident or even skilled when it came to the art of flirting, or really most human interactions in general, but the way Amriel was looking at him filled him with confidence and possibly pride that he had never felt before.

"I think it'd be better if I had you show me," her voice was just above a whisper, and Cas could hardly contain himself. He felt a tightness in his slacks, and all he wanted to do right now was ravish the girl sitting in his lap.

Cas stood suddenly, taking Amriel with him and sitting her on the table, smiling to himself when she let out a quiet gasp. He quickly leaned in and kissed her hungrily, setting one of his hands on her side underneath the fabric of her shirt, cupping her breast over her bra, while the other tangled itself in her long hair, and he felt a small rush of excitement run through him when she wrapped her legs around him and took hold of his tie, pulling him closer and deepening their kiss.

"C'mon, let's go to bed," she said in between breaths, while Cas was placing searing kisses to her jaw.

"What about Sam?" Cas asked, wondering where the Winchester had gone, but trying not to put too much thought into it.

"What about me?" came Sam's voice, followed by the sound of glass shattering.

Cas went rigid and he stared down at Amriel, who had let go of his tie and was now sitting up straight, her entire face bright pink with embarrassment. He quickly removed his hand from beneath her shirt, pulling it down to cover the skin he had exposed.

"Sam-" Castiel started as he turned around to see the Winchester staring at them with wide eyes, pretzels and the fragments of what looked like a bowl scattered at his feet.

"I've seen so much stuff in my lifetime… But I have never-" Sam ran a hand through his hair before taking a deep breath and releasing it. "You know what. I'm too drunk for this. I'm gonna go to bed and deal with this in the morning."

Amriel wasn't sure whether he meant the glass shards or the situation he had walked in on, but either way, she was fine with it.

"Goodnight, Sam," Cas said awkwardly, and Amriel buried her face in his shirt to avoid watching the Winchester shake his head at them before leaving the room.

"He did not just walk in on us making out," she grumbled, "How weird."

Castiel laughed, rubbing her back and shoulders before pushing her back a little so he could make eye contact with her, "Trust me, you don't know weird. I've visited the Winchesters during stranger situations. Plus I'm sure Sam has seen worse."

"Can we go outside?" Amriel asked suddenly, staring up at Cas with a small smile, "I want to look at the stars with you."

"We probably shouldn't leave the bunker… But okay. Just for a little while."

Cas backed up and Amriel jumped off the table and headed towards the stairs that led to the door of the bunker.

She heard Castiel's footsteps as she opened the door, and she glanced over her shoulder to see that he wasn't far behind, his coat now on and the key to the bunker in his hand.

Stepping out into the cool night air, Amriel took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, admiring the way the stars shimmered. She felt arms wrap around her waist and she leaned back, looking up and smiling at Cas.

"I love being able to see the stars from Earth. Heaven was nice and all, but the view looking down is nowhere near as beautiful as the view looking up."

They were quiet for a while, staring up at the sky and listening to the crickets chirping nearby. There was a slight breeze, but Amriel was warm thanks to Cas, and she was glad that he radiated body heat. She had been a bit drunk earlier, but the fresh air had helped a lot and she felt a lot better now.

Cas cleared his throat and Amriel turned to face him, only to see a nervous look on his handsome features. His eyebrows were knitted together, causing lines to form on his forehead, and his hands were stuffed in his pockets, something she recognized as an anxious habit of his.

"What's up, Cas?" she asked, wondering if he was going to tell her. That was one of the hardest things to grasp when interacting with humans. You could never truly tell what someone was thinking, or if they were being truthful when they told you.

"I keep thinking about how Marissa seems certain that we've run off and gotten married. Is that what people do?"

Amriel could hear the confusion in his voice, and it was similar to how she felt, too. She shrugged, asking why he was thinking about it, "Marissa likes to tease. I try to ignore her when she says things like that."

"Yes, but what if we do go and get married? Would.. Would that be something you'd like to do?"

"From my understanding, marriage is something people do when they truly love each other and want to share the rest of their lives together. Are you saying that's how you feel about me?" Amriel had seen enough movies to know the gist of weddings and married life, but she had never pictured it for herself since she wasn't really human.

"Of course. I'm just saying that maybe we should consider it. I love you, Elle, and I plan to spend eternity with you once I get my grace back," Cas had taken his hands out of his pockets and grabbed both of hers, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently as he spoke. "I want to commit myself to you in every way possible."

"How about this. We'll get married once you have your grace. Then when Marissa asks, you can tell her yes, and watch her freak out."

"I would like nothing else," he smiled, letting go of her hands and digging through his pockets, fumbling as he pulled out some loose change, a receipt, and a red twist tie from a loaf of bread. He held out the twist tie, "Here. This is all I have, so it'll have to do."

Amriel offered him her hand, watching quietly as Cas wound it around her left ring finger and twisted it so it was secure. When he was done, he smiled softly and pressed a kiss to her palm.

"Thank you, Castiel," she smiled in response, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "I love you so much. I'm so glad I found you."

Cas buried his face in her hair, taking a deep breath and exhaling, "I love you too. Don't forget that. I don't know what it's going to take to recover my grace, or what state it'll be in when I do, but we'll figure out what those paintings mean and what Crowley was talking about us being destined for more."

The girl laughed, leaning back and kissing his cheek, telling him that they'd take it one day at a time.

"C'mon, let's go to bed. I know you don't sleep anymore, but I could use the rest." Amriel took his hand and pulled him back towards the bunker, turning to look at him when he resisted at first.

She pulled again, but he remained in place, and Amriel raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're beautiful in the moonlight. Let me look at you a little longer," he said quietly, and Amriel stopped pulling, staring up at him with a smile.

"Cas, you see me every day, and it's cold out here."

"Allow me to help you with that," Cas shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, shooting her a look that made Amriel's cheeks turn pink.

The blonde stuck her tongue out and crossed her eyes when she felt that he had been staring at her long enough, and Cas merely laughed at her antics. He wrapped his arm around her and led her inside, making sure he locked the bunker door behind them.