Chapter 3 - Free Fallin'
Cas and Gail reappeared in the park an indeterminate amount of time later. Time was very fluid in these types of situations. They had been gone for years and years, yet everything here was exactly how they had left it.
Both of them were reeling at what they had just witnessed. How could it be? How could it be that the idyllic scenarios they had set up for their loved ones had all fallen apart so badly? So easily?
"Everything we've tried to do has turned into dust in our hands," Cas said dazedly.
Gail was just as stunned, and she was angry, too. "We tried to give Sam and Dean the happy family lives they should have always had, and it blew up in our faces. Again. We turned a blind eye when Frank tried so hard to get Jody back, because we wanted her back so badly, too. So then she did come back, because Frank ended up making a deal with Crowley, so now, Frank's in Hell! Again! Bobby's in jail, because he killed his abusive father, when he was a teenager. Chuck's an alcoholic. Kevin and Linda aren't even speaking to each other. Liz is stuck in a loveless marriage, with three kids who are going to grow up to learn that it's OK to hurt your wife, and betray her trust. And, Gabriel's son is the Anti-Christ!" she exclaimed, fuming. "You know what, Cas? I can hear Vincent somewhere, just laughing and laughing at us. He was right. He once said that he wouldn't have to lift a damn finger to screw us, that we would do it to ourselves. So now, our page is gone, and we're right back here. Again. The world where Lucifer has stomped all over the human race, and there's not a damn thing we can do about it."
She started to cry hot tears of frustration, and Cas held her close to him. The lone bright spot in all of this was that he remembered now who he and Gail had been together. But everything else here was the same as they had left it, including the fact that she was still a human. Not that that particular circumstance mattered to Cas; he didn't have that prejudice any more. But it just meant that she would be more vulnerable; harder to protect.
What were they going to do now? Keep fighting? They were vastly outnumbered, and the majority of their fighters were humans. And even if they miraculously were able to fight their way through to Lucifer himself, then what? Crowley had counted on Cas to use the page from the Book of Life the way that he had initially said that he was going to: to amass an army, and strike Lucifer down. But he hadn't done that, had he? Instead, he had used it to try to help their family. And how had that turned out? Just like everything Cas had ever tried to do, it had been an unmitigated disaster. That was why they'd had to come back here. But what was going to happen to them now?
"That's a good question," Lucifer said, appearing suddenly in front of the two of them. "What IS going to happen now?" He walked slowly towards them, clucking his tongue. "You know, if you wanted a favour, all you had to do was ask, Brother Castiel. I can be a team player. In fact, why don't we do this the right way?"
He snapped his fingers, and one by one, their loved ones began to appear. Sam, Dean, Nicole, Gabriel, Frank. But Frank was holding Angela in his arms, and Rob was standing beside him. No Jody, though, and no Eric. Becky was standing beside Sam, and she was holding Baby Brian. Henri, Milo, and Nanette. Rowena. Rowena? But, wasn't she...Kevin, Barry, Carolyn and Mike, with Peter and Ilene. But, no Tommy. Of course not. There wouldn't be, would there, nor a Chuck, either. But there were Linda, and Paul, and Laurel. Bobby was there too, but so were Patricia, and Crowley. There were more than a few dirty looks being exchanged there, which would have been funny, under other circumstances. Karen, Ethan and George were there, too.
"I think that's everyone who really matters in this situation," Lucifer said, nodding. "Okie dokie. Here's how this is going to work: everyone gets one vote. We'll tally them all up, and whoever gets the most votes, I'll bring that person back. No strings attached. Come on, everybody, what do you say? It'll be fun. In fact, maybe each person who wants somebody back should do a heartfelt, five-minute presentation on why their person deserves to come back the most. Winchesters? How about you? Your dad was a bit of a dick, but your mom was a total babe. Wouldn't you like to see her in one piece again, and not just some disgusting bit of flambe on the ceiling? Want Quinn back, Sammy? Dean's got Nicole, and Cas had got Gail, but what do you have? Becky? Good luck with that. For a number of reasons."
Lucifer chucked Becky under the chin and gave her a wink. Then he put his hand on Baby Brian's head. Yup. This kid was the real deal, all right. If Satan really meant what he said about doing them all a favour, he should just crush Brian's skull right now. But what did Lucifer care? He was the Alpha Male right now, and if for any reason this group was able to get out of the current predicament they found themselves in, Lucifer wouldn't be part of the equasion, anyway. But for the moment, he had the floor, and he was enjoying himself immensely.
"Now, where was I?" Lucifer continued. "Oh, yes. Gabriel. How about we bring Liz back, so you can show everyone what a great guy you can be? Being married to a saint like her sure wouldn't hurt your rep any, would it? She would probably earn you a lot of points, in the court of public opinion. Of course, her death also got you off the hook in a big way, though, didn't it? Now we'll never know if you would have been able to stay monogamous. Forever is a long time, isn't it, Brother?"
Lucifer's gaze shifted to Frank. "Now, here's a guy who's got several cases to make. You've sure had a lot of tragedy in your life, haven't you, Frank? Some voodoo bastard killed your parents, your wife survived breast cancer only to have her brain turn on her, and young Eric was killed by his own mom. There must be something about you that just really pisses Dad off. I didn't think your jokes were all that bad, myself."
Then the Devil looked at Barry. "How about you, 'hon'? You could certainly argue convincingly that Tommy's death was the unkindest of them all. A young kid who was brought up by white trash parents who wrapped themselves in the Bible to look respectable, gets a slap on the wrist for taking away the love of your life? How fair is that? Haven't you people suffered enough?" Lucifer giggled, glancing at Paul. "Whoops. Me and my big mouth. Who am I calling 'you people', right, Paul? But hey, at least your folks are all still here. Well, except for Raphael, of course. But I doubt anybody misses HIM. Not even his own son. It's too bad about young Emma, but let's face it: she was just a footnote. So were Efram, and even Riley. Right, Cas? Actually, I don't know if you should even get a vote. They're all just collateral damage to you, aren't they, Big Guy? You can delude yourself into thinking you're the Cas who lives in Gail's head, but we all know better, don't we?"
Lucifer clapped his hands together smartly. "OK, who wants the floor first?"
"I do," Gail said loudly. She looked around at everyone. "This is one of the many, many reasons that Lucifer's name is synonymous with Evil. You see what he's trying to do here, right? Even if he's telling the truth, and he could bring one of them back, he's trying to pit us against each other by holding a vote to decide who it should be. Don't fall for it. He just wants to see our pain, and if we end up fighting about who deserves to come back the most, he'll feed off of that, too. Well, I'm not going to play his game. I abstain."
"As do I," Cas said, stepping forward. "Me too," Frank said, then Dean and Sam followed, then Gabriel and Bobby, and then the rest of them did the same. Even Rowena, and Crowley.
Lucifer frowned deeply. "Fine. Don't ever say I never offered to cut you a break, then." He waved his hands and all of them except for Cas and Gail vanished. If they had ever been there in the first place, that was.
"So, what now?" Lucifer said to the couple, affecting an exaggerated leer. "I suppose a threesome is out of the question?" As Cas scowled, the Devil laughed. "Oh, yeah, that's right. In this reality, you've never...Just wait, Cas. It's gonna be epic."
"Look, we know you like to play games with people, but I'm getting tired of this whole rigmarole," Gail said irritably. "What's it going to take?"
"What do you mean? What's WHAT going to take?" Satan asked her, affecting a puzzled expression.
"I want our lives back!" she wailed. "Not these ones here; the ones we used to have. What will it take for You to allow us to go back to Kilimanjaro?"
Lucifer started to smile, and as he did, His face turned into God's. "How did you know?" the Almighty Father asked her.
"You tried to oversell the character," she replied. "Besides, Lucifer would never have given up so easily. He would have gone on, and on, and on. There's nothing he enjoys more than seeing our heartbreak."
God inclined His head in acknowledgement of what Gail was saying. "You're not wrong," He remarked. "That is one of Lucifer's more unfortunate character flaws." He waved his hand, and Cas and Gail were standing on the forest floor at Kilimanjaro. But, where were Sam and Dean?
"Never mind," God said. "I'm talking to the two of you, right now. So, here you are, Gail. I have granted your wish. Now, what else do you want? A unicorn? The moon and the stars, maybe? After all, I exist only to serve you."
She let out a frustrated breath. "Are you absolutely sure you're not Lucifer? Because right now, you sound like him. I don't know where all this sarcasm is coming from, all of a sudden."
"Really? You don't?" God said dryly. "What did you expect, Gail? Did you think I would just wave My little finger, and put it all back for you? Well, I could. Of course I could. But, I'm not going to. I'm not going to, and I'll tell you why." He glanced at Cas, who was rendered speechless by the speed and the cold efficiency with which the Father was dealing with the two of them now.
"Legend has it that, when Job asked Me why he had been beset with so many problems, I asked him where he had been, when I made the world." God shrugged. "That might even be true. I no longer remember. But I do like that line, so I'm going to use it now: Where were YOU when I made the world, Gail?"
"What does that matter?" she said tartly. "I'm here NOW, aren't I? What you're doing is wrong. You already punished Cas, didn't you? And then, you punished me, and now, you're punishing everybody! Whatever happened to love, and compassion? I may not have been there when you made the world, but we're the ones who have made our lives into what they are today. Us, not you. We never even see you any more, anyway. And even on the rare occasions we HAVE seen you, all you've done is tell us how bad we are. How messed up we are. We already know that! We don't need you to remind us. But still, I think we've done all right, considering all the crap you've put us through. But we've done it in spite of you, not because of you."
Cas was terrified. He should not be letting Gail speak to the Almighty Father that way. If he'd had to, he should have grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth. Anything. But he had been paralyzed by fear, and also, a part of him had approved of what his wife was saying. Cas would never have had the nerve to say those things himself, but he could not deny that they were all true. God never came to Heaven or to Earth any more, and now that He had, it had been only to punish them, or berate them. He had expected to anger their Father once they had the Book in their possession, but the extent of this punishment had been way beyond what the offense had warranted, in Cas's opinion. They hadn't even gotten the opportunity to try to bring their fallen loved ones back, which was supposed to have been the point of the whole exercise in the first place.
"Is that so?" God said calmly. His tone was casual, but Cas wasn't fooled by it. He knew that their Father was in a towering rage right now. But he couldn't have God this angry at Gail. She didn't deserve His anger. It was Cas who had precipitated this entire thing, in the first place.
"Yes, that's so," Cas said insolently. He moved to stand in front of Gail. "I agree with everything that my wife has said. My only regret is that I wasn't the first one to say them."
God regarded His son with a raised eyebrow. "I see what you're doing there, Castiel. It's very noble of you, but it will not work. We both know that Gail has a mind of her own." He wiggled His little finger, moving Cas to the side so that He could look directly at Gail. "Up until now, I've been lenient on you, as you have committed blasphemy after blasphemy," He told her. "Because Castiel loves you so much, and also, because you have been a good influence on him. There. There is your praise, my Daughter. But you have overstepped your bounds now, and you have forgotten your place. Now, I'm thinking that I should have just left Castiel without a mate. While I acknowledge that he was not a very nice person, he certainly got a lot more done."
Cas was panicked now. "No, please! Please! I'll do anything You want! I will give You anything, Father," he begged.
God was still looking at Gail. "I will give you one more chance: Are you going to be obedient?"
She laughed scornfully, ignoring the alarm bells that were going off in her head. He was giving her a chance to take it all back. All she had to do was take it back, even if she didn't really mean it. People did that all the time. But why had He gone and used the word "obedient"? How on earth could Gail say she was going to be obedient? She had refused to vow obedience to Cas at their wedding. What WAS it with men, anyway?
"If you call sitting down, shutting up, and 'knowing my place' obedient, then no, I'm NOT going to be obedient!" Gail blurted out. "And frankly, I don't know why you would expect me to be! I'm a strong woman now, thanks to all those tests you've put me through over the years. Why would you want me to regress now?"
"Because My Word is the Word," God said in a clipped tone. "That is all you need to know."
Gail was stunned. So it was like that, was it? Because I say so? She looked at Cas. What was going on, here?
"Father, would You please let me talk to Gail for a moment? Please?" Cas pleaded.
God sighed. "I will give you five minutes." He promptly disappeared.
Gail stared at her husband. "Don't tell me, let me guess," she said, annoyed. "Here comes the lecture."
"Why are you being so stubborn about this?" Cas exclaimed. "You have seen how Father punishes us when He is angry! Please, tell Him you will be obedient. Please, Gail."
"Why does He want me to say that?" she said, her jaw set. "Because I'm a woman?"
"Yes," Cas answered simply.
Gail's mouth fell open in amazement. Out of all the things that Cas could have said, she had honestly never thought that he would say that to her. Well, not out loud, anyway. "So, after all the years we've been together, you're telling me that my gender is the issue, here? Is that what you're saying to me, Cas?"
Cas was very uncomfortable with the way this conversation was going. They only had five minutes. He only had five minutes - actually, it was less, now - to convince his wife to bow to God's Will. Hadn't what they had just been through been sufficient to convince her that the Father wasn't bluffing? But Cas didn't want to lie to her, either. It WAS because of her gender. Cas didn't think that was necessarily right, or fair, but it wasn't his opinion that mattered in this situation. He had to make Gail understand what a dangerous game she was playing, here.
"If you continue to defy God, He will tear it all down," Cas said, gripping her by the upper arms. "Is that what you want?"
Gail blinked. "No. No, of course that's not what I want," she replied, and Cas let out a relieved breath. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I don't know what got into me. I won't defy Him anymore," she told her husband.
Cas embraced her tightly. She could feel his heart hammering in his chest. Wow. Sticking up for your principles was one thing, but she had been thumbing her nose at the Almighty God, almost daring Him to punish her. And, why? What for? Was she nuts?
So, when God came back, Gail told Him that she was sorry. Of course she would be obedient. She would do whatever He asked of her, if He would only let Sam Winchester live.
God regarded Gail for a moment. Now, He was the one who had a decision to make. She was capitulating, but He could tell she didn't really mean it. But He could be the bigger person here, and simply overlook that little fact.
But...it was that last part that rankled God. Who did she think she was, attaching conditions to her pledge of obedience? If God wanted Sam Winchester to die, then he would die. It was as simple as that. Gail had some nerve, attempting to negotiate for Sam's life. Her obedience was expected; it wasn't a bargaining chip, to be extended or withdrawn at her discretion. She had clearly not taken the lesson.
"Good luck, my Son," God said to Castiel. Then He touched Gail's forehead with one finger, and she disappeared. Then the sky turned pitch black, and Cas could hear a loud rumbling sound from off in the distance. Then the sounds of gunfire, and screaming. Then, finally, a deafening crashing noise, and the cringe-inducing scree of metal, scraping against metal.
Castiel looked at his Father pleadingly. "What hast Thou wrought?" he said in a hushed, fearful tone.
"But only one key opens," God said calmly. "Fail to heed, everything dies. Earth, annihilated. Destroyed. Good luck, my Son," He repeated.
Then God disappeared, leaving a terrified Castiel to deal with the End of Times.