Chapter Five
Meanwhile, Castiel started to wake up, in a rather dark room. His whole body felt sluggish and odd, and when he tried to get up, he felt a weight around his neck. Reaching up he felt a leather collar on him, and looked around to see he had a chain leading up to said collar embedded into the ground. His breath quickened as he looked around, and noticed there was a cot not too far from him. Before he could stand, the lights in the room came on, blinding him momentarily. He heard a door open, and blinking, saw two suited men bring in Clara. She had on a hospital gown, and looked pale and weak. As soon as she saw Castiel she pulled away and stumbled over to him. He immediately grabbed her and pulled her close, glaring at the two men.
"My my, you are protective aren't you Castiel?" A voice said behind the two men. Castiel tried to see who it was, but the two were blocking his view. "It'll be a shame when we have to pull you two apart…" finally the two men left, leaving Castiel and Clara with a tall red haired man. He pushed up his glasses as he examined the former angel on the floor.
"Who are you?" Castiel didn't recognize him exactly, but knew he wasn't human.
"Don't remember me? I'm a little upset. But then again, you were one of the originals created by our Father." The man smirked. "I am Raziel." Castiel tensed a bit, and shifted to get Clara even further from the man. Raziel chuckled, and shook his head.
"Now now there's no reason to do that. Only reason I'm keeping you in here with her is so you can calm her down during the change."
"Change?" Castiel looked down and noticed that Clara was burning up. "What did you do to her?!"
"I did my job. In heaven, I was to create new fledglings, since our Father left us. It was easy since pure souls came to me first, and I could form them into what the Archangels needed. Now, thanks to our fall, I cannot do that. However, I still produce enough grace to continue making Angels. So...I found pure souls." Raziel smiled as he motioned to Clara. "Some, sadly weren't up to my par when it came to being pure, and they had to go, but Clara here….she's the most innocent I have ever seen. She doesn't see good or bad, just kindness. And soon she shall have her wings, and as we continue the injections, her and her brother will probably be my greatest creation since the fall!" Raziel smiled more, almost insanely at Castiel
"They're just children...why...how could you do this? The women that had them...they were working for you?"
"Yes. I needed more test subjects, and sadly, with the factions being at each other's throats, it was harder to get angels to bring in their vessels families for testing. Unfortunately, because of a mix up they took the two I needed safe instead. Luckily, they killed the mother and so I left them there knowing they'd be safe...till your little hunter arrived." Raziel sneered a bit, and straightened his coat. "Luckily, I'll be getting Alex back, and I have Clara here. And you...Well you're no use to me, so we'll see what happens, shall we?" Raziel turned, and left the room, closing and locking the door. The lights went off, leaving Clara and Castiel in the dark again.
"M-Mommy's dead?" Clara spoke after a moment, still shivering. Castiel carefully cradled her, as he pulled the back of her shirt up. Her wings were already forming. Castiel had to think quickly.
"If what he said was true...then yes. I'm so sorry Clara." The little girl started to sob, clinging to Castiel.
"It hurts...Cas...make it stop…" Clara whimpered more as the wings grew bigger. Castiel pulled off his outer shirt, prepping for what was to come. He began to rip it into makeshift bandages, and wrapped a bit around his fingers.
"Here...bite this ok?" He offered up to Clara, knowing the breaking of the skin would happen soon.
"I...I don't wanna hurt you."
"You won't sweetheart...I just don't want you hurting more ok? Please?" Castiel leaned down and rested his forehead on hers, wincing at how hot she was. Clara bit into his pointer and middle finger, screaming as the wings finally broke through. Castiel whispered soothing words to her, as she cried, his fingers still being bit down into. He watched as the bloodied wings stretched out, twitching with each sob Clara let out. Castiel used his other hand to pull up the remains of his button down, and started to clean Clara's wings, knowing how sensitive they were, and began humming to her, to keep her mind off of it. When she let go of his fingers, he used his other hand to finish up more. As best as he could, he got the wings cleaned up, and held her close. "you have the most beautiful wings I've ever seen honey." He wiped the tears from her cheeks, watching as she turned to look at them.
"...Yours were prettier…" She said, sniffling a bit and leaning into Cas. "Mommy's dead...Alex and I...we're not normal…" She looked up to Cas. "What...do we do? Cas...I'm scared." She gripped the undershirt Cas had on still, and lowered her head.
"You'll stay with us. You and your brother. Dean and I, we'll take care of you." Cas shifted, and made Clara look at him in the eye. "You may not be what most consider normal, Clara, but you are still a child, and you still deserve a good home."
"D-Do you think Dean-"
"Dean will agree with me. If he hasn't already planned on taking you two in." Clara smiled weakly at him, before frowning.
"How...do we get out of here?" Castiel looked to the door, unsure of how to answer the little girl.
After figuring out a plan, Dean, Sam and Alex made it to the location. It looked like an abandoned hospital, and when they entered, they were lead further up where it looked like whoever was using this place had been busy cleaning it up. Alex wouldn't let any of the men get near him, always holding Dean's hand, and glancing around nervously. He had one of Dean's coats over his shoulders, so that his wings weren't showing.
"This is insane." Sam whispered to Dean as they were lead further into the hospital.
"Just go with the damn plan Sam." Dean whispered harshly, and Alex looked over to Sam.
"It'll be ok...I promise..." He smiled at Sam, and Sam tried to smile back, but he was too worried something would happen. Something bad.
"Hello Alex." Their attention was pulled to the man standing before them, the only one in a lab coat. "Do you remember me?" Alex's hand tightened around Deans, and he looks terrified suddenly.
"Y-You're the doctor" Alex speaks softly, almost wanting to bolt, but at Dean's comforting squeeze of his hand, he takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. "You're the one that kept injecting us with that glowing stuff."
"That's right. You could never say my name properly. Raziel." The fallen angel smiled, and even though it looked like he was trying to be sweet, it made them all shudder and how creepy he came off.
"Alright feathers we had a deal." Dean says, eyes narrowing. "Where's Cas?"
"He's safe. I haven't hurt him or anything. After all, you brought me the child as I asked." Raziel put his hands together. "The boy, if you don't mind."
"I mind. I want to see Cas...and Clara. I know, you said you're taking both but…I want to say goodbye." Dean raised a hand before Raziel could argue about Clara. Raziel looked between them, and nodded, before looking to the two guards behind him. They left, and the two that followed Sam and Dean in got closer to Sam and Dean.
"Your weapons please." Raziel said, watching as the two former angels searched them. He then walked up and kneeled before Alex, and actually reached out to cup his face.
"I'm sorry you had to go through your winging alone." Alex flinched and pulled away.
"I didn't. Dean was there for me."
"But Dean's human." Raziel frowned.
"And so am I. Wings or not I'm still human." Alex mimicked Raziel's frown, which just upset the fallen angel even more. Dean smirked, and actually pulled Alex away from Raziel a bit.
"Stop scaring the kid, douche." Alex leaned back into Dean, and looked to him. Raziel seemed to snap and pulled Alex away, and Dean and Sam were held down by the two guards. "Hey!" Dean struggled against the guard, but stilled when an angel blade was pulled close to his throat. Raziel pulled the coat off, and sneered at the grey wings.
"They've tainted you!" He moves away, almost as if he was afraid of catching something from the boy. Alex quickly snatched the coat back and put it on.
"No, you did. When those women kidnapped us, they made me kill."
"Y-You're not longer pure…" Raziel glared, upset at himself and the boy now. At that moment, Castiel and Clara were brought into the room. Alex rushed over to Clara, and then hugged Castiel when he kneeled down. Castiel still had the collar around his throat, and the chain was being held by the guard. Alex didn't let go of Castiel, and looked like he was shaking. Castiel looked to Dean, and was relieved to see he was somewhat ok.
"Let me say goodbye to Clara." Dean gritted out, glaring at the red haired man. Raziel looked to Clara, who was scared of moving, but motioned for her to go to him. Dean was let go and immediately scooped the little girl into his arms and held her.
"Dean!" Clara clinged and tried so hard not to cry, to be brave like Castiel told her to. Dean rubbed her back as best he could with the wings, and chuckled as the stretched out more.
"Look at you, such pretty wings." Dean said as he smiled and held the little girl close.
"Not as pretty as Cas…" Clara mumbled, but clinged to the hunter anyways.
"As nice as this is, I need to get back to work. Take your abomination of a former angel and go." Raziel turned to Alex and Castiel, and pulled Alex away from the chained man, only to be slashed at by an angel blade. Castiel stood up, pulling the collar off of him, and grabbing Alex.
"H-How?!" Raziel growled, and Sam took down the guard and got their guns and blades back. They all carefully stood in a circle, making sure no one could move closer to them or the kids.
"Kid's a fast learner. Better than Sammy even." Dean chuckled, and when Raziel looked to the floor where the collar was, he could see a lock pick there in the lock of the collar. Alex's coat was pushed off during the grab, and Raziel could see he was holding two Angel Blades in the oversized coat. One for him, one for Castiel.
"Brilliant, I must say...but how do you plan on getting out of here?"
"Same way we always do dipshit." Dean shot the two guards blocking the exit. "We run." The bullets were made out of some of the angels' blades they had acquired while Castiel had been fighting his brothers and sisters, and they were effective enough for them to run. Castiel actually picked up Alex so it was easier for them to run, and together the three made their way through the hospital. Unfortunately, the deserted halls all looked the same, and they started to get lost trying to find an exit.
"Dammit Dean this is what I was worried about."
"Hey I thought you were looking where we were headed while we were being lead up here!" Dean and Sam argued, quietly so not to attract attention, as they continue to move through the hospital.
"I was busy keeping an eye out for other guards!" Sam whispered harshly. Castiel looked around, and let Alex down carefully.
"Let's just keep down, keep quiet, and find the exit." Castiel whispered to them both. Clara then started to tug on Dean's shirt.
"Dean Dean!" She pointed to a room at the end of the hall.
"What?"
"Something that'll help Cas!" Dean looked back to Castiel, who looked just as confused as he did. "Come on!" She wiggled out of Dean's arms and ran to the door.
"Clara!" Dean bolted after her, picking her back up. "Don't run out of my arms ok? What's inside?" The others rushed over, still keeping an eye out for any of the guards.
"Grace!" Clara smiled at them. Castiel tensed, and looked so confused before he opened the door. There, inside one of the storage rooms where bottles and jars full of glowing grace. Castiel entered, looking around stunned.
"What the hell is all this?" Sam asked, stunned.
"It's untouched Grace…" Castiel touched one of the jars, and shuddered as it glowed a bit brighter.
"Ok...who is this guy again?" Dean asked, looking around before ushering Alex inside and pulling the door closed.
"Raziel. He's the one who creates fledglings...ever since God left. He's been known for some of his more, cruel experiments as well, which is why I was so afraid for the kids when he introduced himself."
"So you've never seen him before?" Sam asked, amazed at how much the room lit up without them needing flashlights or anything.
"No, he was always hidden away, so he could work alone on creating new angels. No one even knew if he was real or not." Castiel looked around, amazed. "Even now, closed off from Heaven he can still do this."
"Yeah that's real impressive. Why are we still here?!" Dean growled, as he listened at the door in case the guards heard them.
"Cause Cas can be an angel again!" Clara said, looking up at everyone around her. Dean tensed, and looked to Castiel, who also seemed to tense up, thinking of the possibility. He looked back to Dean, almost as if to ask permission before saying anything.
"Do it Cas."