For weeks now, you and the Winchesters had been on a role with hunts. Hunt after hunt, spirit after wendigo, vampire after werewolf had all gone deceptively flawlessly. So you had decided to take on one more case to finish off the week before finally taking a break. It seemed easy enough.
You almost couldn't believe your own gullibility.
The hunt itself was in Casper Wyoming. There weren't any odd deaths or anything like that, but instead just a nice long string of weird. So far, earthquakes leveled buildings only for them to be found perfectly intact the next day. Pets went missing and were found days later mutated and feral. And then finally, a man who had died in the fifties clawed out of his grave...and was gunned down when he broke into his old house that night. After questioning some confused witnesses and finding the remnants of a few tell tale hex bags, you determined it to be a witch. And a powerful one at that if the bag's contents had anything to say about it.
So off the three of you went to find her. She turned out to be a local college student who was "dabbling" in magic for no other reason than to see what would happen. A total novice. You couldn't be more baffled. After an hour long 'friendly' conversation on the dangers of witchcraft, it seemed that you and the brothers had managed to successfully scare her into dropping her new hobby. Calling it a day, you began the drive back to Kansas.
Then that very afternoon, a local pond suddenly switched from freshwater to saltwater; sending every fish floating to the surface. You arrived back in Casper that night, regrettably ready to use lethal measures this time around.
After further questioning, the girl finally broke down and revealed that she was a part of a newly formed coven in that town, even giving its location. So now you had an entire freakin' coven to deal with. Why WInchesters seemed to be forever destined to get involved in the messiest hunts out there you never knew. But you were cocky. You all had ganked every kind of monster out there with every brand of nasty. You had saved the worldnumerous times, and lived to tell the tale. So of course the three of you took it on anyway without a second thought.
This was your first mistake.
It was then that you realized that there were only three of you against potentially dozens of powerful witches. Supposed beginners or not, it took some serious mojo to pull off what they'd done so far. So with a quick prayer, Castiel and Gabriel landed in the motel room with the three of you. Your plan before had been hazy at best, but now with the angelic presences, everyone had somehow agreed on risking an ambush. The brothers were all for it. Castiel had been weary, but it didn't take long for Dean to convince him. Gabriel had the most doubts, which were quickly obliterated with Dean's accusations that the archangel was afraid of a few lowly witches. And the plan was set in stone. You would leave first thing in the morning.
This was your second mistake.
Early the next morning, you and Dean were preparing gear while Sam was out for his morning run, and to get breakfast. Gabriel sat at the end of your bed flipping through the motel's few TV channels. Almost inquisitively studying the crappy morning lineup. You shuddered at a flashback from the Winchester dubbed 'TV Land' incident.
Even if he did eventually apologize for putting you through that god awful lingerie commercial.
Castiel had yet to show up. You thought that maybe he'd decided to join Sam instead and enjoy the cool morning air. Unbeknownst to you, you were enjoying the peaceful calm before the shitstorm that would rage on later that day.
You heard a yelp of surprise besides you announcing a certain demon's arrival. He immediately went straight to the point and explained that the particular coven that you had stumbled across was created, and currently being led by Rowena. He had noticed you closing in on it while investigating it himself. Apparently trying to find a way to destroy it to get revenge for some unspoken deed on his mother's part. So naturally he offered to aid in whatever plan you had in place. Although he was severely unimpressed with the thought of simply rushing in and winging it, he counted himself in. So the plan was slightly altered to accommodate the team's new addition, much to Dean's dismay.
And that's how, a few hours later, you found yourself positioned on the left side of the grand entrance to the complex preparing to burst in with the others. Your hunch that the witches were novices was confirmed by Crowley. It seems that Rowena's latest 'Mega Coven' had only managed to recruit inexperienced, low level witches. Presumably because of this, the expected warding around the house was nonexistent. But that was almost worse that none of the nonhuman members of the group could sense anything. And due to their leader, they had access to some of the most powerful spells in existence. So extreme caution was a necessity.
The two doors were blown off its hinges, and the chaos erupted. Your ears rang with the grating screams of panicking witches yelling every spell they could muster in an attempt to scare off their intruders. You began to fight back as you were attacked. It was a shame. Many of these women were so young...but really, that's hardly an excuse to not only get involved in witchcraft, but use it to take the lives they had with it. The fruits of their efforts harmlessly dissipated in the angels' shielding, causing you to relax slightly.
This was your third andfinal mistake in the clusterfuck that this was about to become.
One of the witches suddenly shouted above the noise while wildly gesturing to Castiel and Gabriel. "Angels! She said that those two are angels!" Your breath caught in your throat as the angels in question tensed. You could hear Dean swear under his breath next to you.
Not a moment later a table was roughly shoved into the corner of the room. Three of the more competent witches ran to it. One haphazardly threw a bowl into the aged wood, while another placed beside it a plethora of spell ingredients. Over half of which you could not recognize. The rest of the witches formed a protective barrier in front of it all.
The trio then huddled together and began to chant in a harsh, consonant heavy language. You could instantly feel a threatening crackle of energy fill the air. Now with some order restored, the others focused more on their spells. Putting effort into them instead of just blindly shooting them out as they had done before. You fought as hard as you could with the threat of whatever that incantation was doing looming over your head, it left a sinking feeling in your gut. You only knew you had to stop it.
From somewhere in the room, Crowley was shoved into a hastily drawn devil's trap, rendering him defenseless. You glanced over, relieved that the witches were ignoring him in his now incapacitated form. But that also meant that you were now down another fighter. The two angels had long since been forced to stop fighting directly, and completely shift their focus to protecting you and the Winchester's from these new much more powerful spells.
The crushing weight of hopelessness fueled your desperation as the grew louder. The bowl sparked and crackled with a bright white energy that was too intense to look at. You were outnumbered by about seven to one. With only three actively fighting being the three humans of the group, the fight was at a stalemate. They were only buying the trio more time. Time that they couldn't have.
Your heart practically stopped when the incantation came to an explosive finish. The magic gathered in the bowl split into three as it shot out at the angels and Crowley. A deafening bang resounded. You slammed your palmed over your ears, and threw yourself against the ground as every window shook and shattered. Glass rained down through the stunned silence. The witches gawked in shock and awe.
"It failed!? Retreat!" A voice tore through your frazzled mind. You were and the brothers were nearly trampled when they all ran from the mansion to God knows where, violently slamming the doors behind them. You heaved yourself off the ground in any way you could. Shards painfully dug into your hands and knees as you ungracefully got to your feet, and ran to the angels. As the dust settled just enough to take the scene in, you stopped dead in your tracks.
Wings. Two bulky pitch black wings had sprouted from Castiel's back. The feathers were so completely dark that you couldn't make any out individually in the dim light. The only thing you could truly see was the sharp, sapphire tinge on the tips of his primaries. He hunched over under the strain, his face taut with pain and disbelief. Gabriel simply fell forward under his. Something that would've been comical in any other situation. Six golden wings splayed out unevenly in all directions. The largest pair was the same size as Cas'. The meager moonlight that had seeped through the windows reflected off his feathers in an unnatural sheen. They glittered as if they were cast out of solid gold. A small, nearly hysterical part of you absentmindedly wondered if the ethereal feathers were soft to the touch.
Once you were able to tear your eyes away from the angels, your gaze found Crowley. Two black bat-like wings were folded tightly against his back. The top arches ended in deadly looking points. Although big, they were slightly smaller, more compact than the angel wings. For a brief moment your eyes met. He flicked his eyes towards the angels, his expression just as shocked as you. You sent him a questioning look, then pointedly shifted your gaze just behind him. He cautiously looked over his shoulder, and his face slackened.
Crowley had wings, and rather intimidating ones at that. Your already overwhelmed mind balked at this realization.
A tense silence blanketed over the room. The only noise being Castiel's labored breaths as he tried in vain to straighten his posture. No one dared to move, no one dared to speak. Then, a pained groan coming from the ground broke you and Sam out of your dazed stupor. Gabriel propped himself onto his elbows, and was struggling to sit up. You two knelt down on either side of him, grabbed his arms, and lifted him to his feet. He himself wasn't heavy. There had been times during the apocalypse where you had to carry him out of harm's way when he was too injured to do so himself. But now with his new burden, even with Sam's aid you could barely get the poor guy upright. You straightened him up, and the wings pulled on his back with all their weight.
Your heart ached a little at the strangled whimper that escaped him. Like Castiel, he had a real talent for making himself, no matter how powerful he was, look like a miserable, kicked puppy. Gabriel's face clenched into a grimace. His wings slowly folded against his back.
Dean watched from a safe distance. Courtesy of Cas, it wasn't like he had never seen their wings before, but being able to see them without the help of an angelic visual aid just felt wrong somehow. In the very edge of his vision, he could see a mass of black behind Crowley's back, and he refused to turn his head to get a better look. He had seen the weird, the odd, and the unsettling on a daily basis.
He had been to hell, heaven, and even purgatory and lived to tell the tell.
His best friend, and surrogate brother was a literal angel.
His actual brother at one point had psychic powers, and would forever have demon blood running through his veins.
He was a hunter damnit!
But this was just bizarre…
He stepped forward seemingly without his input. Somehow completely forgetting what Cas had said to them about their wings at the bunker. Hesitantly raising his arm, he reached for Cas' wing with a childlike curiosity in his eyes. His instincts screamed for him to back away, but he stubbornly ignored them. His fingertips had barely grazed one of the feathers when the wing reflexively flared out. Flinging the Winchester across the room. At this Castiel finally broke out of his trance, and went to help Dean up. Guilt written on his face.
Having witnessed the whole thing, Sam shot him a 'you idiot' bitchface while you rolled your eyes. With Dean's discovery in mind, you took stock of Gabriel's wings, making sure that none of them were near you. Not exactly an easy task considering their size and number.
"I can stand on my own guys...I've been doing it for years after all." Gabriel's voice was strained, but still retained the slightest bit of humor as he tried to lighten the mood. He gently nudged you and Sam away in an attempt to stand on his own. You both obliged, but stayed close. His wings opened slightly for balance. For a few moments you stood back until he leaned a little too much for your liking. You tried to grab his arm, and in the process you unintentionally brushed against a few stray feathers. Just as what happened with Castiel, the wing reflexively shot out and slammed into you. His archangel strength propelled you farther than Dean. You yelped as you hit the wall behind you. Sam ran over to help you while Gabriel stayed in place looking unsure, as if he was afraid to go near you.
A thud and a faint 'bollocks' was heard as Crowley tried to leave the trap to get to you. And ultimately settled on shooting Gabriel a dirty look.
Castiel straightened his posture as he grew accustomed to the weight. He experimentally ruffled his feathers almost in a way a bird would. He indulged in a few calming breaths before speaking. "I don't believe they'll be back for awhile, but we need to get back to the bunker as soon as possible." Although his voice was steady, the awkward way he held himself, and the constant twitching and ruffling painted a very different picture.
"Can any of you still fly? As much as it pains me to leave her here, you're not going to fit in the impala, and it's way too dangerous to walk back like this. Too many chances for one of you to be seen." Dean reasoned, trying to remedy the situation in any way he could. He could sense the impossibly frayed nerves and wanted to get back to the bunker, and figure out how to fix this whole mess before it somehow went from bad to worse.
"I think flying is doable, but I can't say for sure. However this happened, it affected our grace directly so I don't know how safe it is to use. And that's not even getting into how the flight itself would affect the vessel." Gabriel explained, just now getting the hang of balancing himself upright. Castiel jerked his head to the door, glaring at it fiercely.
"Either way we need to try. The powerful witches that cast the spell are on their way back." At this Sam began scraping away at the devil's trap with a piece of broken glass. Ignoring Crowley's complaints at being trapped for so long. Gabriel half-heartedly stretched. The motion looking exceedingly odd as his wings ruffled behind him.
"Well, let's give it a go! Cassie, you take Dean, I'll grab Sasquatch, and Crowley can get Y/N." now free, Crowley walked up beside you. You had to actively try to look him in the eye and not stare at his wings.
"If their flight is iffy at best, then how do you know that yours is safe? Not to mention that you'll have a passenger with you…" A brief flash of indignation crossed his face.
"I work a little bit differently than those feathers. Mine is probably more reliable at the moment." He sounded sure, but you could see the uncertainty in his eyes. Suddenly Castiel placed a hand on Dean's shoulder.
"They'll be here any second now. Let's go." And with that, the two disappeared with a much louder version of the usual flapping that accompanied it. Gabriel quickly followed suit. Crowley offered you his hand.
"Shall we." Accepting whatever fate you would face from flying, you took it,
and instantly took to the skies...or wherever else you technically go when flying like this.
