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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 Fifty One: Family Reunion
Amriel arrived at the address Cas had sent her, relief flooding as she felt him nearby. She parked and followed the pull of their shared grace to the room he was in.
The door opened before she could knock and Amriel looked up to see a disheveled looking Cas, a frown on his face as he moved aside to let her in, careful to avoid any physical contact with her.
She went to touch his arm, but he pulled away and closed the door, locking it behind her. Amriel held back a sigh, knowing now was the time to start apologizing.
"Cas…" she began, choosing her words carefully as she moved into the small room and turned to face him. "I'm so sorry for disappearing like I did. I just- I needed to be alone. A-after Lucifer was expelled, I didn't know what to do, and you and the Winchesters were treating me like I was going to break at any second. I had to work things out myself and I wanted to do some good before the world ended."
"You should have been with me while the world was ending," Castiel said in a low, angry tone, crossing his arms over his chest. "I texted you, before Dean sacrificed himself."
"I know," she answered quietly, her head hanging as she spoke. "I wanted to text you back, but I didn't know what to say."
"You could have said anything, Amriel. Something would have been better than nothing," he snapped, and the blonde flinched, feeling the rage… the hurt radiating off of him.
"I am sorry, though, and I shouldn't have left, but I didn't need to be handled like glass," Amriel shot him a glare, "I don't need to be treated like a child."
"Yet you acted like one," Cas told her in a condescending voice.
"I know," Amriel repeated for what felt like the hundredth time. "What can I do? What can I say to show you how sorry I am? Just tell me what you want me to do, and I'll do it."
She didn't like the fact that she was begging. She hated that she sounded weak and needy. She hated the worn look on Castiel's face as he stared at her with hard eyes, his lips pressed together in a line.
"You can leave," he finally answered, and Amriel's jaw dropped, her heart stopping momentarily.
"W-what?" The blonde asked, not sure she heard him correctly.
"I said that you can leave. I'm hurt by what you did, and I need some time to myself," Cas clarified, and Amriel shook her head.
"Now you're just being spiteful!" she hissed. "Fine. If that's what you want, I'm gone."
Amriel hoped that he would say something, that he would stop her as she stormed out of the motel room, lights flickering around them as she tried to control her anger. Instead, he merely turned his back and ignored her as she left.
Once she was back in the Thunderbird, Amriel let out a long scream and rested her forehead on the steering wheel, taking a few deep breaths until she had herself under control enough to drive out of the parking lot.
It had been days since she had seen Cas, and Amriel was lost. She drove for as long as she could, put as much distance between them as possible, but she still felt pain in her chest. She wanted nothing more than to turn the car around and follow the tug of their shared grace back to wherever he was and beg for him to forgive her. But if he didn't want her around, she would have to deal with it.
Amriel was in some tiny town outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, huddled up in a small cafe as she tried to avoid the cold. She hadn't been back to the bunker, so she had to make do with the clothes she had, and they weren't very warm or cozy.
She finished her hot chocolate and heaved a sigh, blinking slowly as she figured she'd walk back to the bed and breakfast she was staying at. There hadn't been any motels, so she had to make do. She had been in this town for a day or two, so she figured it would be time to move on soon.
After disposing of her cup, Amriel left the cafe and started her walk back to her lodging, crossing the main street of the small town, ignoring the traffic signals and flashing an apologetic smile at a car that honked at her as she went through the crosswalk. At the next light she had to cross, Amriel didn't even bother to look and just went out into the street, and the next thing she knew she heard the screeching of tires and everything went black.
Amriel woke up in what she determined was a hospital, judging by the plain walls and clinical, sterile smell. She heard soft beeps coming from her left and saw some machines, and she closed her eyes briefly, heaving a sigh.
She must've been hit by a car, she thought. She had been careless and now she was going to have to escape from this hospital before people started asking questions.
The blonde looked around and saw that her personal items were in a plastic bag on the table, so that was a good sign. As she was busy planning her escape, the curtain to her small area opened and someone in scrubs walked in.
"Amy, glad to see that you're awake," the older woman smiled kindly. "Your parents have been worried about you. Let me go get them-"
"What?" Amriel asked, surprise coursing through her. They had called Amy Grant's parents?
"We ran your information through our system and found out that you've been a missing person, so we called your parents and told them where you were, sweetie," the nurse grinned, her eyes brimming with tears at the good deed she had done.
Normally, Amriel would find it commendable, humans helping others, but now she was inconvenienced.
"I- I told my family that I didn't want to be found. I.. I met someone, we got married. I appreciate the thought, but-" Amriel wasn't sure what else to say. That she didn't want to see the family of the woman whose body she had taken over?
"Nonsense, dear. They're already here. Hopped on a plane and flew all the way from Buffalo, left as soon as we called," the nurse interrupted her. "Just sit tight. I'll be right back."
As soon as the nurse left, Amriel disconnected herself from all of the wires that had been attached to her and removed the needle of the IV, grabbing her clothes and pulling them on. She picked up her phone and noticed that she had missed calls and texts from Dean. Wasn't Dean dead? Hadn't he sacrificed himself to save everyone?
She'd have to worry about that later, once she was out of the hospital and back at the motel she was staying at. Amriel grabbed her things and made to leave, but the nurse came back in, two people that were somewhat familiar following close behind her.
"Amy?" the gray haired woman asked, and Amriel froze at the sight of Amy Grant's parents, Heather and Robert.
The woman immediately rushed forward, wrapping her arms around the angel, shaking for some reason Amriel couldn't identify- was it happiness? Robert merely watched with tears shining in his eyes as Amriel stood stiffly in the woman's embrace, not sure what to do.
"Honey, what happened? They said you were hit by a car! Are you alright?" Heather asked, now holding Amriel at arm's length, looking her up and down. Her daughter's hair was longer than she remembered, and her eyes seemed different.. Like she was older now. Like she had been through things no one should have to go through.
"I- I'm fine. I just really need to get going-" Amriel tried to move around Heather, who quickly took her hand and pulled her to a stop.
"Amy, we haven't seen or heard from you in months, and when you called us you said that you met someone? The nurse," Heather motioned to the older woman, "Said you mentioned you got married? You need to explain yourself, young lady."
The nurse interrupted, saying that she could sign herself out, and Amriel nodded thankfully, following her to fill out whatever paperwork she had to sign. Thankfully Amy was under 26 and still on her parents' insurance, so she didn't have to worry about any medical bills.
Amy's parents followed the blonde closely, making sure their supposed daughter didn't try and escape their view. Robert went to go get their car, and Heather stayed with her at the entrance of the hospital.
"Now, where's this husband of yours at? We'd love to meet him," Heather smiled, not wanting to do anything to make her daughter flee.
"Uh.. We- we had a disagreement. In Colorado. I did some things he didn't agree with, and he needed some space, so I went for a road trip. But I really have to get back to him. We have a lot going on-" Amriel started, knowing that she needed to call Cas as soon as she could get a chance.
"What's his name? What's he like?" Heather asked, "Obviously he's gotta be something special if you up and left your life for him."
Amriel hated lying. She hated that she had to deal with the repercussions of taking a vessel, and she hated giving this family false hope that their daughter was still alive and well. She wasn't going to lie any more.
Robert pulled up to the curb and got out of the car- a newer Buick, Amriel noticed. He pulled the blonde into a tight hug, mumbling that he was glad to see her.
"Do you think we could go back to where I was staying? My stuff is there and you guys probably have a lot of questions," Amriel offered, knowing she wasn't going to answer many of them.
"Of course, anything you want sweetheart," Robert nodded.
At the motel, Amriel had them sit on the sofa while she sat on the desk chair across from them, eager to get this over with so she could leave.
"My husband's name is Castiel," Amriel told them, ready to be honest. "And I'm not your daughter. I'm not Amy Grant. My name is Amriel, and I'm an angel of the Lord."
Heather looked confused while Robert merely laughed, and Amriel held back an annoyed groan as she rolled her eyes.
"Amy honey, you don't have to lie to us. If you don't want to tell us what you've been doing right now, that's fine. We're just happy to have you back," Robert told the angel he thought was his daughter, and Amriel frowned.
"I- I may look like your daughter, but I'm not her," she tried to explain. "I have a lot going on- Lucifer was possessing me up until very recently, and God was dying, and then there was my fight with Cas. If you don't believe me, that's fine. But you need to understand that I'm not Amy."
Amriel got up with a huff, moving to grab her things from where she had left them on the bed, only for Robert to get up and follow her, placing a large hand on her shoulder.
"Are you on drugs? What is going on with you?" the man asked, and Amriel shook her head, using her free hand to push his off of her.
"I'm not on drugs, Robert Grant. I am an angel. I don't know how to make it clear to you," she bristled, glaring up at the man as the lights began to flicker.
The humans moved closer to one another, backing away from Amriel in the process. Amriel continued to glare, ignoring the sounds of the television turning on and off.
"What's going on, Robert? Is she doing that?" Heather asked her husband, and Amriel looked between the pair, only wishing to leave. "Are those wings?"
Amriel took a deep breath and calmed herself down, closing her eyes briefly and centering her thoughts. She didn't want to hurt them, she only wanted to make it clear that she wasn't their child.
Her only way out of this was clear now. Amriel flashed the humans an apologetic smile, saying that she was fine now, and that everything was going to be fine. She held out her arms, ushering them in for a group hug, and as her vessel's parents approached the blonde, she touched her palms to their temples and closed her eyes, focusing all of her energy on altering their memories so they would believe that they had a good conversation with their daughter and were at peace with her wanting to be apart from her family before rendering them unconscious.
She laid them on the bed, side by side, and gathered her things, glancing at the couple one last time before leaving the motel room. Amriel got into the Thunderbird and took off towards Lebanon, knowing she had to get to the bunker as soon as she could.
Amriel called Dean the next time she stopped for gas, holding the phone a small distance from her ear as he yelled about Sam being kidnapped and his mother being returned from the dead by Amara.
"She had a message for you too, you know," Dean said and Amriel frowned slightly. "Amara… Didn't want anything you did to come between you and Cas. She said you need to make things right with him."
"I already tried that, Dean, and he turned me away!" Amriel lamented. "I tried to explain how sorry I was, and he told me to leave."
"So you left?" Dean asked, surprise coloring his tone and Amriel could hear him rifling through something on the other end of the line.
"Yes… He told me to leave, so I did," she answered with a shrug. The pump stopped and Amriel returned it to its proper place before twisting the gas cap back into position and closing the cover on it.
"That was your first mistake. Your next one was running off to wherever-"
"Minneapolis," Amriel interrupted.
"Minneapolis. Cool. So, you need to get your ass back to the bunker and fix what you did," Dean told her.
"I'm on my way now- I'm about three hours out I think? Just stopped for gas."
"Well we're on our way to get Sam, so we'll see you when we get back, okay?" he said, and Amriel frowned as she got back into the car.
"Do you just want me to meet you there instead?" Amriel asked, but Dean told her to just head to the bunker.
After they said their goodbyes and hung up, Amriel got back on the road and returned to the empty bunker. She immediately made her way to the room she and Cas shared, finding it was a little unorganized, so while she unpacked her bag she put everything in its proper place.
Now all she had to do was wait, and figure out a way to make things right with Castiel.
Dean was driving the Impala, Sam riding shotgun with their mother and Cas in the back, and he was relieved to have his brother back and safe. They stopped on the way back to the bunker to pick up dinner, and while they waited for the food to be ready, Dean decided to tell Cas that he had talked to Amriel.
"So, I had a chat with a certain blonde earlier," Dean told the angel, not making eye contact as they stood side by side, instead choosing to watch the fast food workers prep their fried chicken. "She's probably back at the bunker by now."
"What do you want me to say, Dean?" Cas asked, glancing over at his friend briefly before returning his gaze to the floor, which could definitely use some cleaning, he thought.
The Winchester rolled his eyes, catching a glimpse of Sam showing their mom how something worked on the phone he had gotten her.
"I need you to listen to what Amara told me to tell you and get over it. She apologized, what more do you want?" Dean asked as he watched Cas tense. He knew he had him there- Cas had no reason to still be this angry about what had happened, and they had bigger things to worry about than Amriel disappearing. "You need to get your shit together, man."
"I don't know if I can do that," the angel answered quietly, and Dean watched him stare down at his shoes, uncertainty radiating off of him in waves.
An employee at the counter called out their order number and Dean quickly moved forward to grab the bags, handing them to Cas and telling Sam and Mary that it was time to get back on the road. They weren't far from the bunker, so Cas didn't have much time to figure his shit out.