Yes, another little bonus chapter… Not even gonna think about the timeline with the original chapters anymore, just hope you enjoy it :)
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Dean's first prayer was not aimed at Castiel. It was a desperate plea sent towards the empty sky above. But since Dean was a charge of Castiel's, he was the one to answer said prayer.
And Dean's first prayer became the first time that Castiel betrayed Heaven.
Castiel told himself that he was not doing anything wrong. That the information he gave Dean, and the subsequent idea that formed in Dean's head, was nothing more than the hunter interpretating Castiel's words. Sure, Castiel aimed for Dean to make this specific interpretation, for Dean to understand that bringing Chuck to Lilith would summon an Archangel, but he had not actually asked or made Dean do anything. He had not forced his hand. He had not interfered.
Of course, Heaven saw things differently, and he had been severely punished.
Today, he understood why. His sympathies had quickly moved towards Dean after raising him from Hell, impressed by how this small, fragile creature kept standing strong against the evil he encountered. But that night, he had chosen to answer Dean's prayer for help instead of following the orders of Heaven. His first step towards absolute disobedience.
Once Dean discovered how prayers worked, they quickly became a convenient mean of communication. A way for Dean and Sam to summon Castiel when needed. To be perfectly honest, Castiel sometimes felt like a dog responding to a whistle, but his wish to stop the Apocalypse and any other evil that followed, to help the Winchesters, was more important than his own petty feelings.
But sometimes, the prayers were different. At least the prayers from Dean. More personal. When most desperate, Dean would pray. Castiel sensed that he did not mean for the Angel to hear these prayers, these heartfelt cries for help. So Castiel never responded. Even when Dean begged for help while Sam was locked in the panic room, Castiel ignored the prayer and just did the best he could to help.
After preventing the Apocalypse, Castiel still received a small prayer here and there. Apparently, Lisa was the praying type. Dean wasn't. Yet, he would sometimes send a message into the air, to the only celestial being that he actually believed in. "Hey Cas. Hope everything's alright. That you're sitting on a cloud somewhere, playing that harp you love so much. Yeah, uhm… Things are good here… Great… Anyway, hope you're good too, so... Bye. Or, amen. Whatever…" It was comforting, even in the distressing times that Castiel was going through, to hear Dean's peaceful voice. It also underlined the need to stay away from Dean. To allow Dean to have that peacefulness that he so deeply deserved. So Castiel never answered. Dean believed him to be gone, so he stayed gone.
When Castiel… went dark, Dean still prayed to him. The man with no faith showed a surprising amount of faith in a wayward Angel.
In purgatory, Dean prayed every day, every waking hour, for Castiel to return to him. The desperation in Dean's voice felt like Angel blades cutting into Castiel's flesh. Of all the calls that Castiel never answered, these hurt the most.
From then on, prayers were the mean of communication where Dean would say the things that he could not express face to face. Whereas Dean's verbal communication often contained pop-cultural references that Castiel didn't understand, the intent of Dean's prayers was always clear. Maybe he simply just let his thoughts flow without too much editing, letting down his guards when no one was there to judge his words. Prayers were where Dean asked for help. Prayers were where Dean expressed his concerns. Prayers were safe, for no one could record or overhear them, and the receiving end never judged the contents.
But as with all other things, Dean made his own rules and started misusing the prayers. Once in a while, it was not a heartfelt request or a desperate call for help. Sometimes, it was pure laziness. The Castiel who had not yet answered any of Dean's prayers would have been infuriated with the arrogant human for praying to him in this manner. The Host would be appalled. Which meant that the Castiel who had answered many of the hunter's prayers enjoyed these prayers even more. Because lazy prayers meant happiness and joy, a little downtime from hunting and end-of-the-world. He therefore stood with a smile, when a happy voice rang in his head; "Come on, Cas. Movie night in the Dean Cave. I'm making popcorn."