Part Four: The Ghost in the Machine
Prologue
Something is different, Sam, I can feel it. Sam watched his army trudge back to their cars and their town, but felt removed from them. They were his army, but no more. He glanced at Shawn, the only Chosen still alive, and felt the haunted shock emanating from the man. He'll be of little use for a while. Sam then glanced at Dean who was close behind him and prattling over the hunters holding Castiel. Sam's mouth twisted. Are you listening to me, Sam?
Yes, Gabe I'm listening, but I'm waiting for you to explain yourself better.
"Ok, we need to stop!" Dean shouted and Sam turned to watch Dean and the rest of the hunters as they panted to catch their breath. Sam hardly felt the first twinge of exertion.
When Serrath had her hand in you that... that thing was trying to rip me out of your body right through your soul! I don't know why, but she wanted me gone. She wanted your "no vacancy" sign to turn off. She wanted you to fly solo.
Your point? Sam thought dryly. Gabriel really loved to hear himself speak.
"Burn them," Dean commanded to the other hunters, "give them a proper hunter's funeral." He turned then and his eyes met Sam's.
My point is after that bitch of a witch tried to make spaghetti out if your insides, something changed. With us.
Like what? Sam asked as he watched Dean examine one of the chosen.
I...I don't know. I haven't figured it out yet. Gabriel sounded genuinely distraught and Sam felt some sympathy for the angel. In his mind, he reached out and gently caressed the angel's presence in his soul. It has grown to be a comfort to have Gabriel there.
Try harder, Sam thought softly, and Gabe responded with an image of diving into a pile of books. Sam smiled faintly and greeted his brother who was finally making his way over.
"Dean," Sam breathed when Dean touched his shoulder.
"Fix him, Sam." Dean's voice was hard.
"Yes, Dean. I know, but there's things that you need to know first."
"Now, Sam!" Dean yelled, and Sam fell silent. Dean was so damned focused on his precious angel, he couldn't see how it was hurting his little brother. Before it was always just Sam and Dean, and while Castiel was helpful, he never stuck around so damn long. Now Sam was playing second fiddle, and Cas the pet peon was the headlining event. Frankly, it pissed him off how quickly his brother changed. Sam suspected his hurt and dejection showed on his face when Dean softened his words. "Look, I don't know what is going on with you two, but I can't keep carrying Cas all the way back to the car. You have to fix this. Please."
"Dean, you don't know what he is. You don't know what he's about-"said Sam and Gabriel perked up in mind once more.
He's under a spell, Sam.
"I know all I need to know, Sam, and anything else that needs telling, Cas will tell me," Dean said flatly.
Angel magic. He's being manipulated. Sam opened his mouth to explain that Castiel was just using Dean like his own food bank, and that being Soul-bound meant that he had no choice to follow Dean around whether he cared or not, but the words died on his tongue. What was the point? It's not like he would listen to Sam anyway. Dean would refuse to believe that whatever bond they shared wasn't genuine unless he heard it from Cas himself. Sam would have to talk to Cas and make sure that happened. Until then, there was no reason to hold him hostage.
Sam walked to where Castiel laid on the ground. Leaning over, he broke the arrow that binded Cas to stillness by snapping it between his fingers. It hardly took any effort at all for someone who knew what he was looking at. Castiel turned to look at Sam, and Sam's breath caught in his throat. The angels eyes were completely red.
He's no good, Sam. Don't trust him. Gabriel hissed and Sam immediately regretted giving into his brother.
"Thank you," Dean said softly, and Sam nodded at him warily. Suddenly, Castiel erupted Grace from his fingertips. Sam thought at first Cas would lash out at him, but instead the tricky thing recalled the weave of power Sam had used to send Serrath's scepter to pocket in his Grace like Gabriel had shown him, and the weapon appeared in his hand.
"No!" Sam said, and dread roiled in his stomach. What would Castiel do? With such power in this red-eyed monsters hands, no one was safe.
"Effugio obscurum," Castiel chanted in Latin, and before Sam could counter the spell, the demon soul contained within was released. Sam flew into a rage. The stupid angel must have read his father's journal. Sam could kick himself for not hiding it but he didn't think they would be clever enough to figure it out. His father wrote about weapons made of demon souls and how to vanquish the demon within. Sam had wondered at the time if his father knew about angel's being used in the same way, but it mattered little now.
"No!" Sam shouted again. He grabbed the scepter from Castiel, and probed at it with his mind but it was already too late. The demon could not be recalled back to it. It made sense that Castiel would do this if he knew Sam's intentions. If the angel was smart enough to figure out that Sam meant to wipe his entire species off the face of the earth, he would want to stop it to stay with Dean.
He knew full well what he was doing. He couldn't let you separate him from his prize. Dean. Sam glared into the evil angels eyes. They looked like red pools of blood.
"What did you do?" Sam asked softly. Castiel lowered his head, refusing to meet Sam's glare any more.
He's evil, Sam. He's a parasite. Look at his eyes. Take him out. Dean might have said something, Sam wasn't sure. All he could hear was Gabriel. All he could feel was Gabriel's Grace caressing the edges of his soul. His pure anger for Castiel burning like a furnace at the base of Sam's skull. He felt dizzy and drunk from it but his eyes never left the angel. Something in him gave over. He couldn't stand the thought of what the lot of them had become. Betrayed again and again. Lying to each other. Holding secrets from one another. Constantly disappointing and backstabbing…this was no family. Castiel was not his family. The feel of Gabriel intensified in his mind. His fingers dug deep into Sam's soul to the point of pain, and Sam felt himself toppling into an abyss.
I will do what needs done, Gabriel said, his voice like a caress. I will fix everything.
Gabriel put the ball of the scepter under Castiel's chin, forcing his head up to look into Sam's eyes.
"Castiel," Gabriel growled through his teeth, "what did you do, you useless pet?"
"Sam... wait a second..." said Dean uneasily but Gabriel ignored him. Finally and at last he could have his retribution. For everything. For all the destruction Castiel had caused.
"What did you do?" Gabe shouted and he swung the scepter back before bringing it full force against Castiel's skull. It was for losing his angelic form against a brother he could not beat in a senseless war. Because he believed in Castiel.
Dean reached out to grab Sam, but Gabe quickly shot him with a body binding arrow and turned back to his brother. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sam whimpered.
"Sam! …w-why are you doing this?" It was for the thousands of angels this one wretched being killed in his desire to control. Gabe picked up the scepter once more. "Sam!"
It was for stopping the course of fate to protect one insignificant man. He raised the scepter, and brought it down on Castiel's back. The angel turned on his side, pulling himself into a ball.
It was for accepting that, in spite of all his power, he was condemned to be subservient to this one useless man. Gabe hit him again. Whack!
"Sam, please…stop doing this," Dean pleaded. Subservient the way Gabriel now was to Sam. Whack!
"Sam! Stop it! Don't hurt him!" And Castiel never fought it. Never tried to take control of the situation. Never manipulated Dean by…making him see red evil in an angels eyes for example. Whack!
"Sam! Stop it! Stop it now!" No, his stupid brother destroyed so much; so many of them dead. So many of his brothers and sisters lost. Whack!
"He made me do this, Dean," Gabe called over his shoulder and his voice was calm and steady. "This mutt of yours ruined everything!" He shouted the last word, biting at the syllables with spit and teeth. Whack!
"Sam…I don't understand. What happened, what was in that scepter?" Gabriel never asked to be eternally bound to a human. He didn't want to be around humans at all. He wanted the angels back in heaven and humans down on earth, like it was before. Before the fall. That was his plight for the sake of humanity. Nothing noble but at least it was clean. Unlike Castiel.
"I am so sick of this, Dean!" Gabe shouted and turned to look at the lowly hunter. Sam reached for control but Gabriel gently pushed him away. Be still. "It's always hunt or be hunted. Hunt or be hunted. Aren't you sick of it?" Gabe turned back and swung a kick squarely into Castiel's ribs. "Then this…this fucking angel!"
Anna, gone. Uriel, gone. Raphael, gone. The scepter swung again, cracking against a bone in Castiel's shoulder. Zachariah, gone. Michael, gone. Gabriel…gone. "What does he do? He betrays us again, Dean! Again!"
Again! Whack! And again! Whack! And again! Whack!
No matter how much Gabriel beat him, it wasn't enough. He never wanted to stop until this angel was nothing more than a sack of blood and skin and broken bone.
"Sammy, please! Can't we just talk about this! Stop hitting, him!"
"No, see that's the point, Dean. 'Cause for whatever reason, you are under some sort of angel love spell, and you won't listen to me. You won't see this thing for what he really is. This little shit-" Whack!
We have to stop this! Sam pleaded and Gabriel ignored him. They both wanted the same thing. The scepter could have worked as a catalyst to drive all the angels back to heaven. It would have worked.
"The scepter was supposed to stop all of this. Stop the war!" Whack! Castiel had to of known. Maybe he caught a glimpse of the plan when he searched Sam's soul. He had to have known it was what Sam wanted but he didn't care. He didn't fucking care.
"Stop the fighting!" Whack! Instead of seeing it through or at least take the time to ask Sam why, he just took matters into his own hands and turned the whole plan to a heap of rotting dung.
"Give the world back to humanity!" Whack! Whack!
"Sam…" Castiel whispered, and Gabriel paused. He looked at the angel at his feet and his head tilted to the left. Listening. In his rage, all thoughts were drowned out of his mind. He lost his temper and Gabriel hated when he did that. Now that his shouting ceased, and control slowly returned, Gabe could hear Sam wailing from somewhere within.
Gabriel please! Please don't do this! Please stop hitting him! Don't hurt him anymore!
"Sam…" Castiel said again and his eyes met Gabes.
After everything he has done. All that he has cost us here as he did in heaven. You... forgive him still? Gabe was awestruck.
"Castiel, something to say little angel?" Little brother? Gabe dropped the scepter, a horrid misshapen thing, and leaned in close to Castiel's face. "Say it then." Reaching up, Castiel clutched onto Sam's hair and pulled him closer. Gabe shifted and struggled against him, but Castiel channeled his dwindling Grace into his strength and held firmly onto the hunter. Lifting his other hand, he drew a symbol on Sam's forehead with his blood. Gabriel shouted as the symbol hissed against his skin and Castiel released him to pull away.
The symbol was an angel ward. Castiel must know it was him in control. As the blood hissed into his skin, Gabe could feel that control slipping. Scrambling, he reached for the helm but the act was just a second too late.
We'll talk about this later, Sam said bitterly, and then placed a lock on the angels newly formed cage.
"Castiel!" Sam said and found his feet to stand again. "Cas…" Christ, if he could just think what to say. Gabriel suspected that Castiel already knew the truth of it but the possession only occupied a fraction of the time that Sam mistreated his friend. He felt horrible for what he'd done.
"Sam what is going on," Dean said and he bent to help Castiel sit up.
"I…I don't know, I…" Sam couldn't tell Dean the truth. He couldn't give Gabriel up. He needed the angel's power. He needed the angel. Deep inside him, Sam could feel Gabriel strain in his cage.
"It's the…Recurve," Castiel said weakly, getting to his feet, "it is affecting his mind." Dean looked at Sam, and Sam could only look confused. How much did Castiel know? How did he know it? What was he scheming?
Don't trust him, pretty boy, Gabriel whispered. Sam understood Gabriel's mistrust and resentment of Castiel after everything that had happened. Under it all, Sam knew that Gabe was furious at himself as well for not being a part of the game just a little bit longer. Gabriel felt that if he was around to help guide Castiel; be an ally on the side of humanity, then maybe some what had happened would have gone differently. Yes, Sam understood his new friend, but didn't like being taken over like he was. He and Gabe had to come up with some hard rules.
"I think it's more than that, Cas," Dean said coldly.
"Dean…we just need to get rid of the Recurve-" Cas offered weakly. Sam's mouth tightened.
Give it to them, Gabe whispered and Sam lost track of his surroundings. All voices melted away.
What are you taking about? Sam asked, dumbfounded.
It doesn't matter anymore Sam, Gabe's soft voice echoed from his cage, you don't trust me.
Sam blanched. I trust that you do what you think is best for both of us, I just don't agree with how you did it.
"Is it a demon?" Sam heard Dean ask but he pushed the voice away.
You don't want me here, Gabe said sadly, and I don't know if I even want to be here.
I want you to be here! Sam retorted incredulously, I need you and you need me.
"Then tell me! What made Sam beat you like this!" Dean shouted.
"No one made me do anything," Sam said distantly, but he wasn't really listening to his brother. His mind was focused on Gabriel. What did Sam really want in this? Did he want to give up the angel all together? No. They had a hiccup; a little disagreement, but he still wanted Gabriel in his life. The things they could do together was limitless. And, Sam had to admit, he has grown attached to Gabe over the past few days. No, this wasn't going to happen the way they thought it would. He refused to let Gabriel go. He just had to find a way out.
"Who are you talking to, Sammy?" Sam forced himself to focus on his brother and pushed Gabriel's arguments to the back of his mind.
"…what are you talking about, Dean?" Sam took a step back, uneasy.
"Look, just…give me the Recurve." Dean said moving towards him; holding out his hand. Sam's jaw tightened and he glared at his brother. He was not about to give up his angel. Not when Dean had his own. Sam looked past Dean to Castiel.
"Dean, I didn't mean to hurt, Cas. My mind just kind of got stuck. But I'm okay now. Castiel…he kind of unstuck me when he touched me and I am fine. So can we just, forget all this happened? Dean? Cas?"
"Until when?" Dean asked with a sneer. He took another step, closing the distance between them, and lowered his voice so that none of the other hunters might overhear. "Until you start having new voices control your life the way Lucifer did?"
Let me go, Sam.
"Until you are firing guns at nothing and confusing the people who want to help you for the people that want to hurt you?"
Just give over the Recurve and we will be done with this.
"No. This ends now, Sam. Give me the Recurve and just walk away from it." Dean glared at his brother making it as clear as he could that he was serious with what he meant. Sam stared back at him for a long time, but then finally shrugged and looked away. It seemed like everyone was making his mind up for him.
"Fine," he said softly, "you want it you can have it. I am done with all of this." Sam lifted his arm to the side, but at the last minute, panic gripped at his chest. He couldn't do it. He wasn't ready to let Gabriel go. Grabbing ahold of the essence in his mind that was the angel, Sam held on to him with all the strength his soul could muster, and released the Recurve from his hand so that it fell to the earth with a solid thunk. Sam looked past Dean again and watched Castiel behind him. Searching desperately inside his mind, Sam clawed at the corners of his consciousness until finally, thankfully he found it. Gabriel. He was still there. The damage Serrath had done to Gabriel's tether to the Recurve was enough to help tear him from the weapon completely. He was a part of Sam now.
Sam…what have you done? The angel whispered in a tiny voice. It didn't matter. They would figure it out. But to do so, they needed to spend some time on their own.
"Protect him." He said to Cas in a gentle voice, and then he turned and walked into the night. He had a lot of soul searching he needed to do.