Cas was beginning to fear this venture may be fruitless. He had been through countless memories in several different peoples' Heavens. Many of the glimpses he had taken into the experiences of these people touched his heart. Some few of the memories even included Chuck, much to Cas's surprise, but none of it helped him find God. He had to figure out a new strategy; time passed differently in Heaven than on Earth, and he had no idea how much longer he had before Missouri recited their agreed-upon incantation to pull his spirit back to the vessel he had left behind.
He needed to find somewhere that was centralized. Jumping from one person to another with no sense of order hadn't been successful. So where...? Of course. The Garden. Cas flicked into the Garden of Eden and took a long, slow, deep breath as he looked around. Lush foliage surrounded him and all but glowed in hundreds of minutely different shades of greens. Yellows and reds and purples were sprinkled in too, offering breaks in the green that dominated the majority of his surroundings. Cas chose a direction at random and began walking, allowing his hands to trail through the leaves of the plants he passed, feeling the life flowing through them. Some of the trees bore fruit, bushes were hazed with tiny flowers. All of it was neat and pristine. Joshua, the Gardener, took great pride in his work in the Garden, and it showed with every perfect leaf.
At his thought of Joshua, Cas caught a glimpse of the back of a grey jacket. He followed the sight and found Joshua kneeling at the base of a drooping plant with withering leaves. "I just don't understand it," Joshua muttered to himself. It had the feeling of a statement much repeated. He cupped a leaf the same size as his brown hand and lifted it to examine it more closely, and the stem released its hold from the limb with a tiny pip of sound. Joshua paused then sighed, gently setting the leaf on the rich soil beside him. Several more withered leaves were scattered about his knees.
"Joshua," Cas said. "What's happening here?" Joshua didn't hear him, of course, so he did not answer. Cas pulled his eyes from the Gardener and looked past him. The further Cas looked, the sadder the plants seemed to be. Whither turned to rot, and the shades of green got darker and darker until his eyes found blackness far beyond where Joshua knelt. Cas walked around Joshua to see his face. There were tears shimmering in deep brown eyes that did not see his brother who stood in the veil of the astral plane. Cas turned to face the death that was spreading through the Garden. Something pulled at him to seek out the source. He left Joshua in his grief and struck out through the dying and decaying foliage to find the pit of rot.
As he walked, Cas kept his hands down and out of the nasty, wet leaves that hung heavily about him. Bits of decay broke off the plants and fell in plops as he passed, and each step he took released strong odors that nearly overwhelmed him. He approached what looked, at first glance, to be a large tree, but as he neared, he saw it was a group of smaller trees that had grown closely together to form one trunk. What caused him to look over his shoulder at it as he passed, he couldn't say, but tucked into an opening in the many trunks was a shadow that was too light for the density of the growth. Cas paused his trek and tilted his head as he leaned closer with squinted eyes to get a better look. The grey shadow in the niche pulsed and moved, like a thing alive. Surrounded in all of this death, it seemed out of place. Cas reached forward with an open palm to get a sense of it. The shape... it had a bodily essence to it, like a figure curled fetally upon itself. Cas's hand inched closer to touch it's head-
A blaze of bluish-white light engulfed him, and he was... somewhere else. Cas blinked several times and looked around. Everywhere about him spoke of life. Gone was the rot and decay that had permeated the plants around him. Here, the foliage was bright and new. He was no longer in the Garden. The air was clean and tasted as though it had never known the pollution of the industrial age. He wasn't on Earth either. By the overall feel of his surroundings, Cas also knew he wasn't in Heaven. So... where?
Voices caught his attention. They were faint, and if not for the general stillness of the world around him, he wouldn't have heard it. He followed the sound, and as he neared, the words took shape.
"Try again. You almost have it," a male voice encouraged
"Okay, here goes," replied a female voice. A moment later, both of them laughed uproariously.
"But what is it?" she asked through her giggles. Cas was almost close enough to see the owners of the voices.
"Whatever you want to name it," the man answered as Cas cleared the last bit of underbrush. "I made one a lot like it that I called a platypus."
Cas's eyes popped at the pair sitting in a clearing of lush grass with the strangest creature Cas had ever seen waddling awkwardly away from them. God had been generous with His comment. This thing was not "a lot like" a platypus unless He meant it was made up of spare parts. As Cas stood by and gaped, two pairs of eyes -one blue, one brown- swept across the grass to him. Amara stood and placed her hand on God's shoulder. She leaned down and said something softly to Him that Cas could not hear. She left Him sitting there, cross-legged and smiling, and approached Cas.
"Hello, Castiel," her smile was pleasant, but her eyes carried poison. Cas was instantly wary. "However did you manage to find us?"
"What is this place?" Cas had no reason to answer her question.
"This?" Amara let her arms stretch out, and she twirled slowly, taking in everything around herself. She finished her spin and faced Cas again. "This is my creation."
"Your..." Cas let himself look around. "You did this?"
"Under the direction of my brother." Why did that statement sound so menacing? Cas squinted as he examined her.
"I would like to speak with Him." Cas took a step to move around Amara. She sidestepped with a swish of her black dress and kept herself in his path, stopping his advancement.
"Why? Don't you believe me?" she challenged.
"Should I have reason to disbelieve you?" They stared at each other, the tension between them palpable. Cas did not like the situation that was unfolding. There was something off, something wrong. He tried again to walk around Amara, and she put herself in his way once more. Cas kept walking, forcing her to either physically stop him or step aside. She chose the former, giving Cas an actual shove with her hands to his chest. She was stronger than she looked.
"You stay away from Him," she demanded, pitching her voice low to keep God from hearing her. "He's happy here, happier than he's ever been with that mess He created. From the moment He thought to divide Light from Darkness, everything was ruined. This is my chance to make things the way they were."
Cas's brow knit down. "I don't understand. Light and Darkness are separated here too..." He looked around again. "What is this place? Where is it?"
"Nowhere." Amara adopted a smug expression and lightly tapped her temple with a forefinger. "It's all in His head, Castiel. While He's playing Creator with me in here, I'm using His old tricks to get rid of the mess out there, and He's none the wiser."
The flood. Missouri had been right; it wasn't God, it was Amara. And not only was she killing Earth, but Cas had a suspicion the festering in the Garden was only going to spread. "You can't."
"Oh, but I can. I am. You showing up here wasn't part of the plan, but you're easily disposed of."
As Cas tried to push past Amara yet again, he saw that God had risen from his spot in the grass and was approaching them. He had an easy smile on His face, seemingly unaware of the struggle between His sister and son.
"Check it out, Castiel," He said as He neared. "Isn't she doing a great job?"
"Father," Cas warned. "This isn't real."
"Shut up," Amara hissed. God tilted his head and adopted a confused look.
"You're trapped in your own mind. You have to wake up!"
"I said SHUT UP!" Amara flung a hand at Cas. Surprise flashed across her face as nothing happened. "Wh- but this is my creation," she said. "My rules apply here." She threw her hand out at Cas again to the same lack of result. Cas backhanded her arm out of his way and skirted around her to get to God.
"This is His head; His rules apply," Cas replied, locking his eyes on God. "And you do not wish me harmed, do you, Father?"
Cas was suddenly airborne as Amara grabbed his arms from behind and threw him sideways. "I don't care what He wants!" she cried. Cas hit the spongy ground and rolled, momentarily stunned. He pushed himself to his hands and knees on shaky arms and looked up at Amara while she ranted at him. "We tried it His way; He did what He wanted! And look where it got us! Earth is dying, Castiel. I'm just washing away the mess."
"You're what?" God's quiet voice asked from behind her. Amara whirled to face him, giving Cas her back. Cas used the distraction to heft himself to his feet. He could see God's face over Amara's shoulder. The devastation of betrayal painted his expression. "What have you done?"
"She's sabotaging your creation," Cas said before Amara could speak. "While you sleep, Heaven and Earth are being destroyed. All of this, everything you see around you is a trick she's playing in your mind."
Manin gahalana caosga. The words whispered through Cas's head. No, not yet. Niis, niis, niis.
"You have to fight it," Cas urged as Amara whirled on him, murder in her eyes. He, himself, fought the spell that was dragging his spirit back to his vessel. He hadn't finished his job; he couldn't leave yet.
Niis.
"This isn't real!" Cas said to God as Amara advanced upon him, each step faster than the last. He was certain she intended to rip him apart bodily. Would she be able to kill him here? He had no idea what that would mean for his vessel if his spirit was destroyed.
Niis.
"Wake up!" Cas shouted. God seemed stunned to the point of inaction and more than a little panicked. Everything was happening at once. Cas knew He wanted to believe there was goodness in His sister, in this creation they had worked together to build. Amara lunged with a wordless scream, fingernails extended.
Niis.
.oOo.
Day 5
Air filled Castiel's lungs in a deep breath when his eyes finally opened 24 hours after they had closed. Missouri felt the same relief within herself that she also felt flooding from both of the brothers. Sam was shifting from foot to foot by the side of the bed where she sat next to Castiel, and Dean was across from her, seated once more in the one chair the room boasted. His hands were gripping the front edge of the seat with enough force to turn his knuckles white and one knee bounced anxiously. When Castiel opened his eyes, they both stopped their fidgeting. His gaze met Sam's first, where his standing six-foot-four-inch form towered over all of them.
"Hey, Cas," Sam said quietly. "You doing okay?"
Castiel didn't answer; he moved his eyes from Sam to Dean who merely swallowed and stayed silent. Then he turned his attention to Missouri. A crackling blue dominated his mind as he sat up; it was a color she hadn't encountered with him yet, and she struggled to read it. "I found Him." Missouri opened her mouth to answer, but Sam spoke first.
"You did? Where? Did you talk to Him?" Castiel glanced up at Sam again but looked at Missouri to answer.
"Amara has Him trapped in His own mind within Heaven's Garden. I must go back." The blue of his mind spit and fizzed. Missouri continued to examine it.
"Castiel, honey, I can't send you back right away. You know that. Your vessel needs time to recooperate. As it is, the incantation barely brought you back this time."
"I fought it."
"You what?" Dean joined the conversation with an edge to his voice. A dizzying mixture of anger, fear, and relief swirled through him, but only the anger came through in his question. Castiel turned to look at him.
"I fought the spell. My Father did not know He was a prisoner. I had to stay, to tell Him." Suddenly, Missouri understood the snapping of Castiel's blue; it was anxiety, and Dean wasn't helping ease it.
"You needed to come home," Dean stated. "Missouri worked that spell three damn times to bring you back, Cas. We thought you were gone."
"I... I'm sorry, Dean."
"He's back now," Missouri put in. "And he's safe with us." Dean turned his anger to her, but she brushed it away, knowing it wasn't personal.
"But what happened with Chuck?" Sam asked. "You said you stayed so you could tell Him what was happening?"
"There was little time. Amara told me what she was doing to Him. I suppose she assumed she would be killing me after."
"How very Dr. No of her," Dean grumbled. Cas paused long enough to toss a confused look his way then continued speaking to Sam.
"I told Him that He is asleep, but Amara attacked me before I could give Him as much detail as she gave me. Then I was pulled back into my vessel. I don't know if He was able to break her hold on His mind and wake up."
"Yeah, I'm good."
Four bodies jumped and all sets of eyes swung to the sudden appearance of the shaggy-haired, scruffy blond in the small open floor space left in the room. While surprise emanated from the men, Missouri could admit to her own shock as well. She felt nothing from Him. No thoughts, no emotions, no colors. He was completely blocked off from her. Castiel scrambled to his feet in a show of respect, jostling Missouri as he did so. She used the bump to stand from the edge of the bed slowly, eyes wide and completely dumbfounded. All this talk of finding God had been so abstract. Now that it had actually happened, she had no idea of the protocol. Should she avert her eyes? Grovel? This guy was so ordinary; the idea of dropping to her knees before Him seemed absurd.
"Chuck," Sam broke the stillness in the room. "Are you alright?"
God shrugged, his hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie. "I'm fine. Thanks to Castiel."
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"Oh, well not to go into too much detail, but when I found out that my sister was using my old move and flooding the place, I decided to use her move against her." God grinned at all of them. "She's now trapped in her head, making all sorts of crazy creatures with a fake me. As far as she knows, she's making something real. But I have her in a loop; she'll make beasts forever, but I'll never show her the next step: how to create Man."
"Is she still in the Garden?" Castiel asked.
"Oh..." God looked slightly abashed. "I had to put her in Heaven's cells. I didn't want to; I told you that before. I didn't want to lock her away again. But... well, I guess I just can't trust her." He perked up. "But I got the Garden cleaned up for Joshua. He sure was happy to see all that disease go away."
"And the rain?" Dean asked.
God smiled at the older Winchester. "It's over. It'll take some time for the water to recede, but the rain has ended." He clapped His hands and rubbed them together. "So! Who wants some pancakes? I'm starving."
Missouri tentatively stepped from around Castiel and Sam, and that was enough to bring God's attention to her. "Ah, Missouri!" He drew her from around the two taller men and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He looked up at Sam to say, "I really broke the mold with this one. She's something special." Then he was walking out the door, guiding Missouri with his arm still around her.
"Th-thank you, God," Missouri stammered softly.
"Oh, you can call me Chuck. Do you like pancakes?"
Missouri's mind whirled as she was lead to the kitchen by a very loquacious deity on a quest for breakfast.
.oOo.
Author's Note: The final chapter is an explicit Destiel scene. This can be your "The End" if you don't want to read further.