AN: I super duper apologize for taking this long to update. The Weight of my Sins was my first FF in a long time, and deciding to make a sequel kinda gave me writer block after my sudden burst of plot bunnies. So I hope I end this the way you all want, and I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate all the support, reviews and faves. You guys are just amazing
Disclaimer: Still not mine. Boo.
Castiel went for his blade as soon as they ascended into Heaven, the landscape vastly different from the last time he was there. And instantly, he knew why.
"Hello Castiel," Came the familiar voice behind him, mocking in its tone.
Cas spun to face Metatron, who smiled at his confusion. Castiel raised his blade only to be disarmed before he could even take a step.
Gabriel had his arm in a vice grip, his eyes blank even as Castiel's face crumbled as his hand was nearly crushed, the bones grinding together until the blade dropped to the wooden floor.
"Gabriel? How-"
Metatron smiled and waved off his question, "Lets not bother with the details, lets just say Naomi left some very detailed notes about her time with you."
"He's an archangel," Castiel growled as Gabriel stepped away, Cas's blade in hand.
Rolling his eyes, Metatron started to look offended, "I wrote the guidebook on angels, on how to close Heaven and Hell, and you think I can't manage one self righteous archangel?" He all but yelled.
"Why did you bring me here then? I thought you wanted me to be punished on Earth."
"I don't think those were my exact words. If I remember correctly, I told you to live, so that I at least would be entertained while I had the house to myself," Metatron shook his finger at Cas, smiling. "But you...Shacking up with a Winchester? Now thats gutsy. But now while you were playing house, our idiotic brother decided to pop by and start riling you up again. And I couldn't have that."
"I have to make this right," Cas declared, gritting his teeth as he allowed a small wisp of grace heal the delicate bones in his hand.
Frowning, the shorter angel shook his head slowly, "No Cas, you're done. And since you just couldn't stay out of it, I am going to have to take back the gift I had given to you."
Castiel tilted his head in confusion until he heard the familiar sound of wings opening behind him and a blade being drawn.
Gabriel stood, wings extended high, the tawny feathers splayed out in a majestic display of power.
"Lets take this outside, shall we boys?" With a snap of his fingers Cas, Gabriel and Metatron were transported to another part of Heaven, an open field, the sun beating down.
"Let me make this clear," Metatron calmly stated. "This is to the death,' he tilted his head towards the trench-coated angel. "Goodbye Castiel."
Castiel turned slowly, a small gust of wind billowing his coat around him as he balled his fists. He older brother smiled, twirling Castiel's own sword in his hand, lunged.
SPNSPNSPN
Still holding the blood splattered tissue, Dean suddenly doubled over, his stomach flipping like the floor had dropped from under him.
"Dean!" He heard Sam cry, he felt his younger brother's hands on his shoulders, pulling him up. "What? What is it?"
The hunter shook his head, "Its Cas. Something's wrong." He looked back at the tissue in his hand. "We have to get to him, now!"
"How are we supposed to get to Heaven?" Sam asked, pushing Dean back into a chair as the older Winchester felt his knees buckle at the rush of anxiety that threatened to overtake him.
Dean turned away from Sam, so he can't see how terrified he is, or how his skin is crawling from the soul bond. He lifted his head in a split second and took off out of the room and down the hall.
He heard Sam cry his name as he ran to the store room, muttering to himself and grabbing bottles and bags full of brightly colored herbs and spices.
"Dean,' Huffed Sam behind him, catching his breath as he walked into the darkened room. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Getting a ticket to Heaven Sammy," Dean replied, the ingredients piled in his arms as he pushed passed younger brother, walking straight to the stairs that led out of the bunker.
"Dean...what are you doing?"
"Calling in some help," He muttered, the bright light of the outdoors momentarily blinding him as he set down his supplies on the ground next to the Impala.
"Why are we outside?"
"Gotta get passed the wards," Dean explained, drawing some nearly recognizable symbols into the ground, unsheathing the large knife from his side and cutting deep into his forearm.
"Dean! Who are you calling?" Sam asked exasperated, looking at his older brother in worry as the thick, red blood ran lazily into the bowl in the middle of the red symbol.
"Crowley," He muttered, knowing that Sam would not like the answer he was given.
"Dean, we allowed him to leave on the basis that we would never see him again."
Dean nodded, not looking up from the bowl that now was filled with blood and a splash of myrrh.
"Well, this is different Sam," He closed his eyes, whispering almost too softly from Sam to hear. "This is Cas."
The latin flowed easily from his lips, the summoning spell should cause the King of Hell to appear. Or at least he hoped. Ever since Abaddon had been killed things had been quiet on the hell front; they didn't know if that was Crowley's doing or just the simple fact that the universe was completely off balance and they had better things to do then pester the Winchester brothers.
They stood silent for a moment, only the sounds of birds chirping as they looked around expectantly.
"C'mon, c'mon..." Dean whispered, clenching and unclenching his fists as he waited, his arm stinging where the blade had cut.
"Hello boys," Came a voice behind him; he spun to see Crowley standing there with hands dug deep into his coat pockets, a knowing smirk ghosting on his lips. "And what can I do, to assist the Winchesters?" he looked at them both, annoyed. "Again."
"I need to get to Heaven, now," Dean exclaimed before Sam had a chance to open his mouth. With his hand still clenched over the wound on his arm, he stepped closer to the demon.
Crowley smiled, "Well, that I can help with-" He pulled out a knife from beneath the folds of his thick, black coat, twirling it lightly in his hand. He ignored Sam who withdrew the demon blade and put a hand on Dean's shoulder to hold him back.
"You prefer heart or head squirrel?"
"Neither!" Sam snapped, pulling Dean back towards him, eyes never leaving Crowley. "What the hell are you doing Dean?"
Dean winced as another clenching pain pierced through his chest, and he knew deep down that something was wrong.
"Getting Cas back thats what," He whispered, his hand brushing his sternum roughly, trying to wipe the feeling away. Dean turned his attention back to the demon. "If I die, I go straight up right?"
Crowley cocked his head, leered at the older Hunter before a frown broke over his face. "You made a bond with the angel?" He asked in disbelief. "A human soul with an angel's grace?"
Dean nodded, mouth open and panting slightly as the burning returned deeper in his chest this time.
"Well I'll be damned," Crowley remarked, stepping back a bit, the knife still in his hand.
"You didn't answer me, do I get a ticket upstairs or what?" Dean growled, brushing off Sam's questioning stare.
"Hypothetically anyone who is soul bonded gets to live out the afterlife with one and other beyond the pearly gates," Crowley shrugged. "Or at least thats how the stories go."
"Dean, think about this-"
"I am Sam! For once I am thinking about this all the way through ok?" Dean snapped, finally turning his attention to his distraught younger brother. "I can't just- I can't just let him die up there Sammy."
"We can find a spell, another way-"
"We both know Cas doesn't have that kinda time Sammy."
Sam stopped, looked at his brother, Dean struggling to regain his composure as he felt a tug on his soul and it nearly doubled him over. He grabbed Sam's jacket, as if asking permission, as if seeking forgiveness for what he was about to do.
"Can he come back?' Sam asked, placing a hand on his upper arm to steady the hunter as he winced again. The younger Winchester eyes snapped up to Crowley, "Can he come back?!"
The fine suited demon shrugged, "If Cassie has the balls for it," he smirked. "Why not? Not like you two ever seem to stay dead."
Dean and Sam exchanged a look, the hurt swimming in Dean's eyes was the only thing that Sam could see when he looked at him. And he knew that Dean was asking permission.
"If he dies, he goes straight to Cas right?" Sam asked, struggling to find a breath when he realized what he was asking. "Right?"
"Listen moose, its not like I have an instruction manual for this," Crowley growled, obviously getting annoyed with the constant questions, but his eyes gleamed at the possibilities being presented to him.
Dean watched as the vein in his brothers neck pulsed as he gritted his teeth and took his knife gingerly in his right hand, tightening his grip on the bone handle.
"Dean-"
"I'm sure Sam," Dean stammered, blinking fast as the he bothered a glance at the ridged knife that had killed so many times for him in the past now resting against his sternum where the burn of Cas's grace was piercing him. "And I'll be back, with Cas."
The younger Winchester nodded quickly, closing his eyes and using his left hand to steady his older brother, his grip not only anchoring Dean but almost pleading with him to change his mind. But the burning behind his ribs was almost constant now.
"Now Sam!" He cried, his voice cracking as he tensed. His eyes widening as Sam's arm swung back and pierced the sharp blade right through his chest.
He thinks he remembers gasping, maybe crying out. The last thing he remembered was thinking how grateful he was that Sam had sharpened the blade just days before.
SPNSPNSPNSPN
The energy was cracking around Castiel as Gabriel crashed into him, the whole weight of the archangel bowling him over into the grass below. He could feel the bend of his ribs as Gabriel straddled his chest, his brother's eyes blank and void of all emotion as he looked down at the once mighty seraph.
"Gabriel, this isn't you," He gasped, pushing the air out of his lungs as forcefully as he could. "Fight this!" He leaned up, his chest straining against the weight.
As Gabriel lifted the blade, Cas went with his second plan and brought all the sparring that had commenced in the past few weeks to use. His borrowed grace rippled inside him as he twisted his hips underneath the archangel and used his upper body to pivot the smaller man off of him and send him tumbling onto the grace just next to him.
"Gabriel please!"
"He can't hear you Castiel," Metatron taunted from across the way, "I am very persuasive."
Ignoring the current leader of Heaven, Castiel felt the furling of grace inside him, his eyes skirting side to side as he tried to find the cause of the disturbance. It felt familiar somehow.
But he didn't have time to ponder the curious sensation because Gabriel was back with a furious vengeance; Castiel could almost feel the ferocity rolling off of him in waves, his blank stare more terrifying than the blade he swung.
"Castiel!"
The angel stopped, even Gabriel hesitated and a flicker of confusion crossed his features momentarily as they both heard the sound of Dean Winchester coming into the clearing.
"This is getting to be quite bothersome," Cas heard Metatron growl in undisguised annoyance.
Dean was in Heaven? That could only mean...
"Dean!"
Castiel's heart sank as Dean Winchester rounded the corner; Castiel did not need to be at full strength to see that Dean's soul had completely parted from his physical body. This was no spell. Dean had died.
"No, Dean-"
Dean's eyes widened in fear as soon as he laid eyes on Cas, "Cas look out!"
The angel turned just in time to spin away from the descending blade, causing it to miss its mark entirely and bury into the soft earth where he stood only moments before.
Cas went on the defense, he knees bent and his hands at the ready to grapple with his archangel brother once more. But Gabriel had stopped, almost as if he was awaiting orders, or simply frozen.
Castiel straightened, then turned to Metatron.
The stout angel had his hands balled into tight, angry fists as Dean Winchester stood not a few feet away, his arm turned towards the sky with a thin line of red bleeding towards the ground.
"Hello Cas," Came a smooth, british voice. "Dean seemed to think that you required the calvary for this one."
"Crowley? How-"
The demon rolled his eyes and nodded towards Dean who still had his gaze fixed on Metatron.
"Hitched a ride," Crowley replied, smoothing his coat. "Seems having a little angel in you gives ones soul a special sort of ommph."
"How dare you defile this place with your filth!" Roared Metatron, his face red and his eyes bulging as he took in the abomination before him.
"Flattery will get you everywhere darling," Crowley crooned, stepping closer to the high ranking celestial being, tearing him apart with his eyes. "But you and I need to chit chat. You're upsetting the natural order of things and while business is booming, I can't help but feel a lack of pride in a job well done when all the souls are being bounced down on principal alone. I run Hell, we have a reputation to uphold."
"Release Gabriel!" Demanded Castiel, pushing back Crowley to stand in front of Metatron, who, for at the moment seemed a bit taken a back with the turn of events.
Metatron was so involved in Crowley and Castiel he didn't notice the eldest Winchester, pulling an angel blade from the back of his pants. But Cas did. His eyes flickered, head tilted too minutely for anyone to notice besides Dean, who immediately took in his stiffened form and the darken look that had clouded his face.
It was then that Dean Winchester threw the silver blade with a practiced ease directly at the chest of the scribe.
Cas watched in horror as the blade suspended in mid air, inches away from the angel's chest.
"You thought it would be that simple? Really?" Metatron laughed incredulously.
But in a blink, his mirthful expression fell slowly, taken in turn to a mask of confusion as a small trickle of blood made its way from his mouth.
"I didn't," Came a deep, bone chilling admission from Gabriel. A thin trail of red still leaking from the corner of his eye as he twisted the angel blade into the scribe, who gasped in return.
Light began to leak from the wound, Castiel running to his brother's side as the archangel allowed himself to move with Metatron's vessel as it crumpled slowly to the ground.
"How?" Castiel asked, confused and bewildered as his brother who had only just moments ago stared at him with no familiarity now held the weapon that was slowly killing the powerful angel that had caused so much heartache.
"Deano here, releasing a demon into Heaven. Kinda makes an archangel's hardwiring go back to factory settings," Gabriel seethed, his attention focused squarely on Metatron as he pressed him deeper into the soft grass.
"I- I was just doing what I thought was right," sputtered Metatron, flickering to Dean and Castiel who stood over him.
"They all do," Castiel whispered, grabbing the end of Dean's jacket and leading him away from the archangel and his captive.
Castiel left the archangel to do his work, but he heard the angrily exchanged enochian from where he stood, finally facing Dean's soul.
"Dean," He finally managed, his chest aching as he looked at the very soul he fought so hard to save those years ago. It was still bright, it was still pure as the day he had laid a hand on him in Hell. "How could you do this?"
"I had to help you Cas,' defended Dean, immediately on the defensive. "I could feel it you know that?" He pressed Cas's hand to his chest, right over his ribcage. "Right here, burning me because I knew you were in trouble? And you promised you'd come back to me, and I'd be damned if I lost you again."
Cas allowed his hand to stay on the Righteous Man's chest, his thumb caressing the soft fabric that separated their skin.
"I can make this right," Cas stated, his voice full of determination. He pulled the material of the shirt towards him, Dean finally pressing against him. "I will make this right, Dean."
Dean nodded, his forehead nearly bumping the angel's as he did so.
"If you love birds are done rutting against each other,' came Crowley's snarky tone, suddenly next to him and looking around the field as if it had personally offended him. "We have time before squirrel is official off radar. And I'd like to get out of the God Squad tree house as quickly as I could, I'm sure you can understand."
There was a yelp and a bright flash of light that came from behind him signaling Metatron's demise and Cas turned to see Gabriel stalking towards them, his shoulders rolling and allowing his wings to unfurl at their full capacity. Thunder rolled in on the pleasant day, lighting striking as each foot step fell.
"This is my exit," for the first time in his unfortunate dealings with the demon, Crowley seemed genuinely scared. And in a blink he was gone.
But Gabriel didn't stop, in fact he brushed right past Castiel and lifted Dean Winchester up by his collar.
"Gabriel!" Barked Cas, completely confused by his older brother's behavior as Dean struggled in the iron grip of archangel.
"You stupid son of a bitch," Gabriel spat out, a clap of lighting exploding behind him as Dean took in the angel with complete and utter fear. "You are going to be the downfall of my brother."
Dean's bewildered manner mirrored Castiel's own as the seraph grabbed the archangel by the shoulder.
"What are you talking about?" He growled, his adopted grace in a fury as his soul mate writhed in his brother's angelic grip. "I can save him Gabriel!"
"At what cost Castiel?" Gabriel exclaimed, "That grace that I gave you, its dwindling. If you heal this idiot then thats it! You're a human again and there is nothing I can do about it."
"My grace...it is somewhere in Heaven-"
Gabriel shook his head, his grip still tight on Dean. "Metatron destroyed it Castiel. He wasn't that ignorant to think you wouldn't try to retrieve it."
The force of Gabriel's admission struck Castiel almost like a physical blow. He closed his eyes, slowly swallowing around the lump in his throat. "Put him down Gabriel."
"Cas-"
"Now!"
Gabriel's left eye twitched, but he set Dean down, the soul of his deceased soul mate landing hard on the ground as he scrambled to regain his footing.
"No, Cas, No!" Dean sputtered, pushing himself up unsteadily, still reeling from the run in from one of the last archangels. "You're not allowed to do this for me."
"Yet you sacrificed yourself so easily for me," Castiel countered, obviously referencing to his latest bout of self sacrifice that had led him to Heaven in the first place.
Dean shook his head, "No, its different. It was always going to end this way for me. I knew that, I accepted that!"
Castiel smiled sadly, rested a hand on Dean's cheek, stroking the stubble it found there.
"I cannot accept that,' Cas tilted his head, the flood of desperate prayers flowing from the lips of a broken hearted man. "And neither can Sam."
And with a look at Gabriel, Castiel placed a firm grip on Dean Winchester once again, his soul instantly remembering the grace that it was bound to, the bond pulsing to life as hurtled them back to Earth.
SPNSPNSPN
Outside the Bunker is where Castiel found Sam, still huddled over the broken body of his older brother, the bloodied murder weapon laying discarded on the ground next to him. He heard the sobs that wracked the taller man, his lips moving wordlessly as he prayed to Castiel, to Gabriel, to anyone who would hear him.
Over and over. The word please.
It was Gabriel who moved forward, placing a tender touch on the younger Winchester's shoulder. Sam drew Dean's body closer, seeing the dark expression that graced the archangel's face.
"Gabe, please."
Gabriel shook his head, "Not my job kiddo." He gently pried the shaking hands away from Dean's cooling corpse and nodded to Cas to step in.
Castiel cradled the dead weight of Dean Winchester, and feeling he hoped he would never have to experience again.
"Cas?" Sam whispered brokenly. "Can you do something? Do something, please."
"Remember what I told you Castiel," The dark warning from Gabriel did nothing to detour him.
With a deep breath, he summoned every once, every speck of grace that thrummed through his body and pushed it into Dean's lifeless form.
His body reacting instantly, bowing away from the ground as the angelic light over took him, piecing together the pierced skin and organs and replacing his soul to his chest, nestling it safely away.
He heard the relieved choke from Sam as Dean coughed, sputtered and digging his fingernails into Cas's arm as he struggled to regain consciousness.
"Cas?" he whispered, his mouth dry and his eyes blinking in the low light of the dying sun. "Cas you didn't."
Castiel shook his head, "He shouldn't have asked me not to."
"But your human now, for good. You heard what Gabe said!"
Castiel nodded, "Our soul bond is broken, I have only this body now."
Dean's wrinkled his brow, sitting up on the hard asphalt. "So, we're not angel married anymore?"
The now mortal Castiel smiled at the wording, "I am not an angel any longer."
His eyes dropped to the ground, a cold thread of fear wrapping around him as for a moment he wondered if it would be enough, was he enough to keep around?
He felt a featherlight brush of a calloused hand against his cheek, drawing his face to meet the hunter's hopeful eyes.
"Then, I guess we'll have to do it the old fashion way right?" The hunter asked, his gaze dropping to the gold band that Castiel still bore on his left hand.
A rush of relief washed over the ex angel and he found himself nodding.
"Yes, that would suffice."
Castiel barely had time to react as Dean wound his hand to the base of his neck and pressed his lips to his in a bruising fashion, and even without his grace he could feel that Dean was pouring everything into that kiss. His fears and insecurities, his hopes and dreams and more than anything, love.
"Fuck," whispered Dean as they broke apart. "Love you feathers."
Castiel rested his hand on Dean Winchester's bicep, mirroring the mark that had symbolized when he had raised the man from Hell, and now when he had drawn him from Heaven.
"I love you too Dean."
AN: Well thats enough fluff to kill a unicorn.
And they finally said I love you!
I really really hope you all enjoyed it! It is officially complete! Please leave me feedback, tell me what you think. It means the world to me. You all are amazing and I thank you so much for supporting me and these two fics.