Dean lacked faith. It was the largest issue plaguing him. Well, one of the issues that plague him, Castiel amended silently. Dean had a cornucopia of other issues just as frustrating as his lack of faith.
He didn't believe in God.
He didn't believe there was a Heaven.
Until three days ago, he hadn't believed angels existed.
He also didn't seem to accept that why he raised him from perdition was because they needed him to stop the demons trying to free Lucifer from his cage.
Not that he believes in Lucifer, he realized, sighing softly.
Castiel wasn't quite sure how a man who fought the things that Dean did could lack such faith. How could a man who believed in things like vampires, demons, werewolves, and other such monsters not believe in angels or God? It made no sense.
Not that much about humans made sense to him.
Despite his lack of faith, Dean had gotten two things right. Angels were guardians and they did have wings. Castiel never thought of them as fluffy, but he did find them pleasing enough. The rest of what Dean said? Well, he had no idea who Michael Landon was much less where the notion of angels wearing halos came from. There was no such glowing crown perched upon his head.
Not that he was aware of, anyway.
"Well... bang-up job so far." The condescension in Dean's tone rankled. "Stellar work with the witnesses. Really doing a fantastic job."
"Our numbers are not unlimited."
He kept his voice neutrally, carefully blank. To speak otherwise could bring harm to both Dean and the body he inhabited. While silencing Dean for a few seconds was tempting, he was rather fond of Jimmy. He was a man of deep faith. He considered serving Heaven a great honor. He didn't challenge everything he said. Like Dean tended to do.
"Yeah?" Dean scoffed. "Well, you could have fooled me."
Cas gripped the edge of the sink to keep from grabbing Dean. Soldier he might be, and quite skilled with an angel blade, he wasn't an inherently violent angel. He didn't enjoy physical confrontations. Dean was pushing him to the ends of his patience, though. If he didn't get him to see reason soon he feared that he'd snap.
"Six of my brothers died in the field this week."
"So?" Dean turned to pace towards the other end of the small room. "Twenty hunters died because you guys couldn't stop a bunch of black-eyed jackals."
Dean's attitude bothered him. Did he really believe that they were only fighting to preserve one seal at a time? Didn't he realize there were multiple battles happening all around the world? Clearly not, he realized as he stared at Dean. He decided to enlighten him.
"You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around?" His eyes narrowed as Dean scoffed. "There's a bigger picture here, Dean." Some of his frustration crept into his voice despite his every effort to keep it contained. "We are doing everything we can to stop Lilith."
"Yeah? Well, I think you need to do a better job."
Castiel wasn't prone to fits of anger. However, he had taken all the derision and scorn he was going to take. It was time to remind Dean about why he was no longer serving out his sentence in Hell.
"You should show me some respect," he said as he faced him. "I dragged you out of Hell." He dropped his voice an octave. "I can throw you back in."
The shocked expression on Dean's face was oddly satisfying. Something warned Castiel his victory would be short-lived, though. What Dean lacked in faith, he more than made up for in a vast supply of colorful language.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
This is tagged to episode 4x02.