When I woke up, Cas wasn't there, and I instantly found myself going into 'no one messes with my little brother' mode and considering I went to bed fully clothes I grabbed my gun that had witch killing bullets and the angel blade that I kept hidden in my pillow, and I left the room. "Sam? Cas?" I didn't hear anyone, so I decided to check the war room for any sign of a struggle or break in. "Castiel!?" I shouted once I saw that the chairs and books were everywhere. "Sam!?"
'Dean! Please hear me! We're in the dungeon!' It was like a desperate plea for life and it was strange, because I knew the voice, but at the same time, I can't recall ever hearing it. 'Dean! Please hear me! It's me, Castiel! We're in the dungeon! The witch and angel are here! Please hear me. Please, please, please!'
'Castiel?' I thought to myself, having a hard time believing it was really Cas. I had never heard his voice sound so...everything. It sounded like wind, rain, chimes, oceans, summer, and comfort all in one. I made my way towards the dungeons and I honestly wasn't expecting a reply to my thought.
'Dean! How am I able to hear you?'
'That's my question. Cas...you've always been able to hear me. I've prayed to you many times before.'
'Y-You what!? D-Do we have a...never mind...just come get us! The witch is hurting Sam, and the angel...I recognize her, and we um...we never got along.'
'Was she one of the ones that hurt you, and Gabriel had to protect you?'
'Yes!' The way that last thought was shouted, I could tell that he was in pain. It was a cry in anguish, and I found myself ripping open the dungeon door myself and what I saw before me was enough to make my stomach do flips and drop over and over again. Cas was bleeding, a lot. Sam was fighting everything the witch was throwing at him. Then, both the witch and the angel looked at me with evil eyes.
Without hesitation I shot the witch, and was glad that I hit my mark, and to watch the look of horror on the angel's face was priceless. "Sammy, you okay!?"
"Y-Yeah!"
"Hey...I killed the witch...does that mean..." I didn't need to finish the sentence because all of a sudden my ears were ringing and the room filled with bright light. However, it was strange this time, because I didn't need to close or shield my eyes, but Sam did.
The next thing I saw was not a small version of Jimmy Novak, or even the Cas I knew. What I saw left my heart pounding in not only my chest but my ears too. My pulse had sky rocketed, and my jaw was dropped as I tried to regain my breath from being breathless. There was a man surrounded by a shinning light that was a mixture of gold, green, blue, and red. The man in front of me had jet black hair that was as long as Sam's, eyes the color of electricity and the ocean all mixed together. He had a halo that was large and floated above his head, yet seemed like a part of his whole body. Then, I finally noticed the wings, and I realized the man in front of me was an angel, and for some reason, I knew it to be Cas, but he wasn't Cas. No, the angel in front of me was Castiel, angel of the lord. I looked at the wings and through the shining light, I could tell that they were pitch black mixed with what looked like stardust, and I finally realized why Pamela's eyes were burned out. There were almost no words to describe the angel in front of me. It really was overwhelming but I was able to see it, and I didn't know why. "You will leave Dean Winchester and his kin alone! You will no longer harm them. You will no longer hurt those that I love! they are my family and you have angered me!" The voice was the same as before when Cas was sending his thoughts to me, but this one was older. It was more experienced, and it held fury, fire, rage, resentment, wrath, and mercilessness. It all shook me to the core, and it seemed to do the same to the angel without wings, and I was left to wonder how I was able to hear him now when the first time he tried to talk to me he nearly made me go deaf.
"H-How can you have your wings!? C-Castiel look maybe we can work out something! We could..."
Castiel calmly walked towards me and held out his hand. "Dean..." All of the harsh emotions left his voice, and suddenly his voice was still able to hold such power while holding a sense of contentment, protection, kindness, warmth, and a sense of home. "...the angel blade." Without question I handed it to him, and my heart, if possible, was pounding even harder against my chest. I looked over to Sam and he was still clutching his hands to his ears and his eyes were shut so tight, it seemed someone would need a crowbar to pry them open.
I watched in a state of awe that I never thought I'd ever be in as he plunged the angel blade directly through her chest and the light that shined out of her when she died was almost non-existent next to Castiel. Then, all too suddenly he was gone and the room was almost pitch black in my vision, but I was still able to see Sam. "Dean! Are you okay!?"
"S-Sammy!" My voice shook, and I sounded so weak, but after what I saw I couldn't help but feel so helpless and weak. It was a harsh reminder just how powerful Castiel really was. I felt tears rush down my face without my say so, and I couldn't find it in me to make them stop or to even wipe them away. I just simply let them fall onto my knees that I had collapsed onto when Castiel's true form illuminated the entire room.
"Dean, what happened? Where's Cas?" He asked as he scrambled to my side.
"Castiel he...I killed the witch...and he...the other angel...he...I saw him, Sammy. I saw the real Castiel."
"Y-You...you saw his real form!? How do you still have your eyes?"
"I...I heard him too...I...his voice and then...again...and..." I was an incoherent mess, and I couldn't bother myself to care. I tried to find ways to explain it to Sammy, but the words didn't exist.
After about fifteen minutes my vision finally returned to normal, but my mind still remembered everything I heard and saw as if I was still seeing and hearing it. Sam had brought me a beer to the war table where I was sitting trying to gather my thoughts together, but they kept going back to what I witnessed. "Dean...here..."
"No, I don't want a beer. I don't even want food, Sammy."
Sam just quietly sat next to me and put the beer next to his, and he let out a sigh. "I take it...it was impressive?"
"S-Sammy...there aren't words. I...I feel like I know how to describe it...but I can't. My hearts still hammering away against my chest.
Suddenly the bunker door was heard and we both jumped up, but my legs were still a bit weak, so I stood half in my chair with a knee on the chair and half out. "Sam? Dean?"
"Cas?" Sam called out and the Cas we both knew and loved came walking in, and he gave me a look I've seen from him plenty of times before, but this time guilt was mixed with it. He looked at me with pity, sympathy, and guilt. "Dean says he saw your true form...wait how did you get your body back?"
"I still have some friends it seems, and after hearing what happened...apparently we won't have to worry about angels for quite some time, and yes...he did see and hear my true self, and I remember being a fledgling here in the bunker. Cas slumped his shoulders and I saw it again.
"C-Cas?"
"I apologize Dean. You have no idea how sorry I..."
"Please...please don't apologize. It was a...it was an eye opener to just how powerful you are, and I am quite sure that you could hold to your words you said a long time ago. If you wanted to toss me back in hell you could do it with a snap of your fingers...and we'll discuss all that later...but could you um..." I looked at Sammy, suddenly feeling like this may be a very personal subject I was going to ask about and decided to pray it to him. 'I think I can still see your wings. Can you turn around?' He did and i saw them, and I didn't think it was possible, but they were far more beautiful and magnificent without the light shining through and on them. They were pitch black with stardust, but they also held small flecks of emerald green, gold, and silver. 'I...see your wings Cas.'
"Cas why did you just turn around like that?" Cas didn't say anything, but simply stared at me wide eyed and his jaw was dropped. Then, Sam looked between the two of us frantically and rushed his hands through his hair as he tried to figure out what was going on. "What the hell guys?"
"H-He sees my...Dean can see my wings."
"Y-You actually have wings?"
That seemed to snap something in Cas, because suddenly he was doubled over sputtering out a laughter just before it turned into a bellowing laughter that was almost contagious. "Sam...of course I have wings! H-How could you think otherwise?" He laughed out, and I had to admit, it was pretty hilarious to assume he didn't have wings with all his zapping in and out, but something tugged at me to ask a dangerous question. A question that would no doubt, wipe the look off of Cas' face.
"Cas...do you remember about Metatron tricking you? It was only a few months ago but..."
"Hmm? Yes, I remember. Don't worry...we cornered him and took his grace along with his wings. He is completely human, and he has no idea what to do, because he is also in a psychiatric hospital where there were six angels who took vessels that had jobs there already. Metatron pretty much admitted to everything when I showed up in my true form with no vessel. So...I'm sure the others are keeping him company just fine."
My eyes went wide and all I could spit out was, "Thank you."
His smile fell and his eyes went downcast which sent an unsettling feeling to my gut. "I can erase your memory of it."
"Don't you dare!" He looked up at me in surprise and confusion. "I still can't find the words to explain it, but it was...miraculous. That's the only word that comes to mind. Don't take that away. Just answer me this...How was I able to see and hear you when I couldn't even hear you before."
He chuckled lightly and smiled brightly at me and he gave a short nod. Suddenly it dawned on me as he kept that knowing smile and those joyful eyes that he never really had before except for a few rare occasions. "You know don't you."
"Yes, Dean. I found that I know exactly what I was meant to know."
"So...how does you knowing affect me being able to see and hear you?"
"WHAT IS GOING ON!?"
"I'll tell you later...Cas...please answer me."
"It's because it is you. That's how I came to know what I was meant to know. Father and Gabriel were right. I would know it when I know it. We already share a profound bond, me knowing just seemed to...make it stronger."
"Well I feel like I know nothing! What's going on!?" Sam pouted angrily and Cas and I just looked at each other and then back at Sam and laughed lightly.
"So, I take it that even though you have wings, you're not leaving for heaven anytime soon?"
"No. I am meant to be here with you and Sam. This is my home, and you are the human that Gabriel and Father meant. Not humans in general...just you and your brother, but mainly you. The profound bond is what led you to be able to see and hear me once I knew what I was meant to know. Once I realized it all of my power returned along with everything I originally was...even before diving into hell to rescue you."
"Wow...did God set that up?"
"I believe it was part of his and Gabriel's deal, because Gabriel included the factor about...even if heaven fell...so I believe so."
"Wow..." I said simply as I plopped back into my chair.
"What!? Wow What!? What are you two talking about? I'm getting a headache over here!" Sam shouted in frustration and I just chuckled as I opened my beer that Sam had set aside for me.
"Hmm...well, aside from getting some actual vacation time nothing much."
"Liar!"
"Cas, you wanna explain this one?"
"No, I would rather hear what you thought of my appearance, so I'll let you tell the story."
"Alright well...Where should I start...Oh I know! 'At the bunker things were getting pretty quiet...'"