Title: Under the Influence of Djinn
Chapter: Thirty-four
Summary: AU: The Djinn siblings created a terrible detailed nightmare for Dean out of revenge, nearly killing him, Lisa, and Ben. With Sam alive, Castiel missing, and Campbell cousins in tow, he tries to pull himself back together.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect in intended with this work of fan fiction.
Notes: Thank you for reading!
Upon stepping foot into heaven, Gabriel did a big exaggerated stretching motion with his arms. "Boy, am I beat! I tell you, I've been run ragged this past week, Castiel. Back and forth with this and that…. Come see my office. We can rest there for awhile before we do a few hours of work."
Gabriel was suddenly cheerful as they walked, as if his behavior in front of Dean had been an act. Maybe it had been, Castiel mused. He did like to play around with personalities. He'd done it often in his trickster disguise.
Heaven seemed brighter than when he'd been up there earlier. Getting rid of Raphael had done wonders for making it once more feel welcoming and warm. Everything was bright and clean, or getting that way.
They came to the doors they'd had to go through to reach Raphael and Gabriel flung them open with a dramatic push.
Castiel's brows rose. Gabriel had already redecorated Raphael's office. When he'd found the time was a mystery. Perhaps while Castiel had been retrieving Jo and Daphne? The room remained large, but the billowing drapes, columns, and throne were removed. Gone, too, were the splashes of royal color everywhere. It was now a soothing place, with white, light blue, and pale yellows. It had a large desk to one side and two overstuffed chaise lounges at one end, with three barely dressed beautiful women waiting beside a long table filled with food. The soothing ambience surprised him, but the women didn't.
He moved to the table. There were plenty of fruits and even more desserts. Gabriel did love the sweet stuff. It wasn't just a thing to be like a trickster. He honestly liked sweets, a thing Castiel was also becoming fond of.
With a groan, Gabriel plopped down on one chaise. "Ladies, you may feed me sugared grapes now." They approached. One carried a platter of them and one held out grapes to him. The third rubbed his temples. "I can make a few more women if you'd like a massage while you rest," he called out.
Reaching out, Castiel took a few strawberries and blueberries from a bowl. "No, thank you."
"Next time, then."
He sat on the second chaise. It was comfortable, so much so that he stretched out. "You seem a bit like your normal self again." The berries were just sweet enough without being tart. They didn't quell the hunger in his belly, but it was enough natural sugar to make him a little less irritable.
"This is my special place. Or it will be when I'm done decorating. What do you think? Is having a mural of our battle with Raphael too much?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. Scratch that then. This office is a place where I can be who I really am, at least until I have heaven in order. Then I can be myself everywhere." A glass of something, undoubtedly alcoholic, appeared in his hand. "How much of a nap do you need?"
"I usually need three hours of sleep."
"What can you get by with?"
"Half an hour?"
"Will the buffet be enough, or do you want something else?"
He glanced at the table, not really wanting to make a meal of fruit and desserts. "A steak dinner would hit the spot."
"Hit the spot? Well, well, you've really learned the local talk."
"Jo gave me lessons and when she didn't have time, Daphne…Nia I suppose, helped out."
Gabriel looked over at him. "Be my guest." A table appeared beside the chaise. On it was a plate with a steak, baked potato, and green beans. To one side was a bowl of salad with dressing and on the other was a glass of water and a bottle of beer. The bottle was as big as a wine bottle. "You can pick dessert from the buffet when you're done. I recommend the chocolate cheesecake."
The steak was excellent. Castiel decided he should feel lucky Gabriel was feeding him at all. After eating, through which Gabriel had said little, Castiel laid down and, while he didn't intend to, he fell asleep. He woke later, uncertain how much time had passed. The lighting was lower and Gabriel was now sitting at a desk going through papers. The scantily clad women and buffet were gone.
"Hester was just by."
Sitting up, he stretched. "And?" He felt refreshed enough that Gabriel must have let him sleep the full three hours.
"Follow me. I want to show you something." Gabriel got up and led him from the office. They went down several halls and finally entered the control room.
Castiel had never been in there, but the function was obvious. The power beams stretched on and on, out to the sides and high above.
Gabriel flew up to the top of the tiers. "Come on up."
Castiel followed. He could go no higher than his own name, nor could he reach above his name without great effort that took a burst of energy from him.
"You have a loyal friend in Samandriel," Gabriel commented, peering at the patch near Raphael's name, then tapping it lightly with a finger. "He almost killed himself getting that in place. None of you are supposed to reach up here. The effort of going above your own name should do exactly what happened to him: drain you of power and leave you unconscious below on the floor. It keeps everyone from advancing by killing the power to each other. Michael, of course, was able to use that as a punishment and you know Raphael did too."
"Samandriel is alive then?" He was relieved to hear it.
He lowered a fraction, leveling with Castiel and looking at the panel with Castiel's name on it. "Rachel reported in and immediately went back for him by herself. She ignored a direct order and went anyway. Carried him out. He'll be fine, but he's unconscious right now."
"How long has he been unconscious?"
"Longer than he should be for the drain. Hester said that when he undid the patch to your power stream, your stream and nameplate moved and a new panel appeared up there. Samandriel was still holding on. That's how he got that far. The rest was sheer determination."
"Samandriel can be strong willed." He touched his own nameplate. There was space beneath his name for others. Knowing what Nia was, and the fact that he was above her, he thought he could make a reasonable guess as to what he'd become. "Am I a Watcher?"
"We could call you that I guess. Nia thinks you're supposed to do the job she couldn't and that was to watch humanity, learn about them, and report back so we could understand them. If you want to be called one, we can. Watcher 2.0. Do you need a label?"
"Not really, but others might like one." His hand dropped to the space below his name, sliding along the smooth panel. "How did you know there'd be more than me?"
"I didn't, but it was a reasonable guess."
"Based on what?"
"The knowledge that some of the members of the garrison I recognized in my initial visit have vessels that were dying when they took them as vessels."
"Jimmy was dying when he begged me not to stay in his daughter."
Gabriel snorted. "I mean, they took vessels that were dying before they even touched them. Jimmy was alive and well before you ever came around. He wasn't dying of anything until Lucifer made you go all 'splodie'. Then it was curtains for the guy. Hezekiah's vessel? Slow cancer. Without Hezekiah, he'd be dead in three and a half years. Things like that, that we can essentially freeze in place. I looked through some files while we were waiting for you to finish changing. Terminal illnesses. Like I said, I was busy." He lowered further, moving slowly to the floor. "I know of four angels who'll be joining you eventually, or so I believe."
Castiel dropped towards the floor as well. They walked from the room.
It was a long day. Several of the angels had already been disciplined and more were up for sentencing tomorrow. Gabriel seemed to have a pretty good idea who could be trusted to behave themselves down on earth and who couldn't.
Finally, Gabriel stopped and stretched. "Mmm. I think that's enough for now. I'd suggest you check your phone for messages and go visit Gwen. She might be feeling a little…discouraged."
He headed to her location immediately.
Gwen paced her room. Dean had told her to stay put until they figured out who was doing what, which meant another couple days, and she was going stir crazy already with the waiting. Castiel still hadn't called her back, but Dean had told her to give him a chance to deal with the upstairs stuff before she got too depressed about that.
Easy for him to say. She'd been trying to think of what she needed to say to Cas and the words she'd come up with weren't adequate to put things into words.
"Hey, Gwen."
Gasping at the sudden voice behind her, she whirled to find Castiel standing beside the bed. "Cas."
"Sorry to startle you. I was in a hurry to get here and…I didn't think you'd mind me simply popping in." He removed his coat and laid it aside. "You can correct me if that assumption is in error."
She moved to him and hugged him, relieved when he hugged her back. "Dean told me you'd finished changing. I see you're still you. You were worried about that."
"I'm still me. I eat, sleep…everything." His hands did a slow tour of her curves. "A different sort of existence."
"I'm sorry," she said against his shoulder. "I was stupid and selfish to leave. Dean was right. I should have stayed. I should have been there. I let you down."
"It wasn't entirely your fault." He drew back, but kept his arms around her. "Gabriel did a little mind magic on you to make you think you needed to."
"That dick!"
He nodded. "There is a reason Dean uses that word a lot to describe angels. I think it'll be different now, though. Gabriel has a handle on everything. Surprising, really, yet he does. I didn't think he could do it and now I do. I'm surprised by that."
"So everything is good heaven-wise?" Would he be leaving again in a minute? Snaking a hand up, she slid it through his hair, smoothing the pieces that were sticking straight up.
"It is. I made a deal of sorts with Gabriel before the battle and, as long as I uphold my end, he'll uphold his."
"You going to tell me about this deal?"
Castiel stared down at her, then smiled and shook his head. "Nope. Not you, not Jo, Sam, or Dean. No one. It's between me and Gabriel."
"Oh."
"I'll be around." Bending his head, he kissed her, the sort of long, exploratory kiss that made her entire body tingle. "I need to confer with Dean, let them know I'm back. Would you like to come with me?"
"You mean fly? You carrying me?" Gwen hesitated. It wasn't that she was scared of that…. Okay, she was. A plane she could deal with, but letting him carry her? In open air?
"You don't have to be scared of it. You won't even know you're in the air. It's…not like you think."
Gwen studied him. He was definitely himself, with a mischievous glint to his blue gaze. She decided to swallow her fear. Wasn't it good to try new things sometimes? "Give me a minute to pack my stuff."
"I could pack you with a snap. I think."
She stepped back. "Go for it." After three snaps, it was apparent he couldn't quite do that after all, and she smiled. "Like I said, give me a minute to pack and I am more than happy to wing it out of here."
He was right. It wasn't what she'd thought and she as happy to be back.
Castiel had been gone two days, not one, but it was nice to have a minute to decompress after the battle. The news had reported an earthquake in the area and little real damage. Gabriel's damage control had worked well. No one even mentioned angels, bodies, or debris.
Dean closed the door with a foot and set the two takeout bags he carried on the table.
Sam had been talking to Christian and Mark about jobs and getting nothing in the way of information from other hunters on that mob. Bizarre. If Christian was finding proof it existed, they should be able to as well. Maybe they weren't looking into the right hunters? Jo had been helping with research on cases - when she wasn't in her room with Dean.
The two of them had gotten only a small amount of research done. It had been a good two days.
Dean laid out the food. "Do either of you think, and bear with me because this is sort of a wild idea, that maybe, just maybe, heaven is done with the Winchesters for awhile?" He waited.
After a count of five, both Jo and Sam burst into laughter.
He sighed. "Me either." Despite what Gabriel had said, it was only a matter of time before someone up there decided they were needed again.
"It was a nice idea though," Sam said, reaching for a burger. "Keep dreaming big, Dean."
They spent the afternoon making a few arrangements and packing up their rooms. Gwen, Mark, and Jo would look into a case in New Mexico and Christian was still on the mob trail. Dean kept out three files from the ones he himself had been looking into and put them in the Impala when he put his bag in the trunk. He was doing a visual inventory of the trunk when he heard that soft flutter of wings beside him.
Cas was there, looking well rested and calm. "I'm back."
"I see that. What are you doing here? I thought you'd have your hands full with baby angels." Dean closed the trunk and glanced towards the motel. Jo was still in her room packing and Sam was buying snacks at the convenience store. He saw Gwen beside that car Daphne had given them and raised a hand in greeting. "You brought Gwen back with you."
"Yes, she likes riding angel air about as much as you do."
"You gotta warn people of the side effects, man."
One brow raised. "There are no side effects, Dean. It's all in your head."
"You mean in my stomach, because that's where it gets me every time."
"Whatever." He rolled his eyes.
"Whatever? You're whatever-ing me now?" He leaned against the truck. "You know, Cas…. Once upon a time you would have argued over that."
"I know the futility of arguing with you on such points. Anyway, I'm taking a vacation. Gabriel said it had better not be a his vacation or a God vacation and I have to be back in a month."
"He has a right to be worried considering he saddled you with a garrison of angels going through the change."
"It's only two at present and only one of which was actually in the garrison. Hezekiah and Samandriel. Rachel is showing possible signs as well and isn't happy about it, but time will tell for sure. I thought I'd hunt with Jo and Gwen for awhile, meet up with you and Sam when they do."
"That's your idea of a vacation? Dude, go to Disneyland. Or Six Flags."
"I don't want to go to either. At least not yet. I want to hunt and use those skills you were all teaching me. I developed a fondness for many aspects of humanity these past months. I want to be the man I thought I was becoming." He shrugged.
"You don't need to pretend. Just be yourself. And you don't need to hunt. You sort of have enough powers that it's kind of silly for you to hunt. You can stop things with a touch."
"This is me, Dean. I'm being myself and this is who I want to be. I know I don't need to use powers for everything. I can't."
"Can't?"
He nodded. "I have a recharge period, just like humans do. A lot of power, yes, but limitations to balance that out. Use too much too fast and I run out. Hence the need for sleep and food. It's an interesting existence. I'm more advanced in many ways than the rest of the angels, even Gabriel, yet I have limitations as well. Finding the balance will be…different."
"But good?"
"I think so. Anyway, I thought I'd keep Jo safe for you."
"Cas."
"What? Do you deny you want her safe?"
"No, but she's where she belongs. She's hunting and loving it again."
"Don't worry. I won't keep her too safe. Nothing she or Gwen will call me out on. I'll just watch over her the way she watched over me. I'll watch over them."
Jo approached, bag in hand. "You two look smug."
"You mind company, Jo," Castiel asked.
"Is it okay with Gwen?"
"Yes."
"Then…cool." She held out her keys. "If you give us a few minutes, I'll let you drive the first leg."
He snatched the keys and hurried to the car. In seconds, he was busy adjusting the seat, mirrors and probably getting a radio station set. Gwen was making herself comfortable in the backseat.
"You know, you'd better call me this time, Dean Winchester." Jo dropped her bag on the ground and turned, grasping his jacket with her hands.
He embraced her, pressing her closer. "You're on my speed dial, right below Sam and Cas."
She stretched up a hand and ran her thumb along his lower lip in a slow caress. "We see where this takes us?"
"I'm curious to know where we end up."
The horn blowing interrupted the moment and the car pulled up. Castiel gestured with one hand out the driver's window. "We going or what? Kiss him and let's go."
Gwen made kissy faces at them out the back window.
Jo laughed. "I have to go."
Dean kissed her with all of the emotion he was feeling and then stepped to the Impala. He knew that, this time, he'd be calling her and often.
Sam shook his head as he set a couple plastic bags inside. "You're done saying goodbye to Jo already? I thought you'd be another twenty minutes."
"Yeah, well…. Cas wanted to get started."
Sam chuckled. "Nice to see him enthusiastic." Inside the car, he asked, "I know we're not going after Meg or Crowley right now, but do you have any idea where we are going?"
There was nothing pressing. A few possibilities. One in Maine, in New York, and Idaho.
"How do you feel about New York, Sam?"
"Been awhile since we've been there."
"Got a live one in New Paltz. Here. Take a look." Reaching down, he pulled a file folder from the three on the seat. "Think it might be a cursed object. Articles read like one."
Sam took the folder and stared at him a long moment. He perused the contents. "New Paltz? Haven't we been there before?"
"It sounded familiar to me, too, but, hey…. We've been just about everywhere." Dean started the car. Baby's engine was a beautiful purr and he wondered if they'd run into Sarah Blake in New Paltz. Hadn't she been from there? It'd be nice to see her again, a good blast from the past.
They headed out on the highway, opposite the way Jo, Gwen, and Cas had gone. Dean wasn't worried. Heaven was being put to rights, Cas would watch over Jo, and Raphael was finally gone. The world had possibilities again and Dean was ready for them. Eager even. The Djinn dreams he'd been given faded further, finally slipping away into nothingness as the scents of summer came in through the open windows.
It was time to really get back to the family business: hunting things and saving people.