This is the last teen!Cas chapter, although I had a lot of fun writing from this perspective. :)
Thanks to everyone for reading! I wish I knew how to properly respond to individual reviews.
Castiel awoke in a dark room, in a large, plush bed that was nothing like the uncomfortably small bed from his room at home. He blinked and sat up.
Maybe it was a nightmare. Maybe I dreamed all of that and it was some horrible nightmare. There's no way any of that was real.
Gabriel popped in, a surly grin on his face. "Hey kid." He said.
Castiel groaned. It hadn't been a nightmare. Anna was still dead. He was still a "Nephilim" and this jackass was still his biological father. "What did you do to me?" He snapped.
"You needed to rest. Believe me, I didn't think you'd be out for 26 hours. I just did the easy part and put you out. I had to assuage that temper of yours somehow." Gabriel said.
"26 hours?" He asked, his mouth falling open. He didn't even know it was possible to sleep for that long.
"It is." Gabriel said, winking at him.
"Don't read my mind!" He yelled. "I can't read yours, so it isn't fair!"
"Chill kid. Now you know how it feels. Just out of curiosity, why didn't you read Christina's mind? I'm sure she thought about this from time to time." Gabriel said.
It was a good question.
Castiel swung his leg out from under the covers. "I couldn't even do it until last year. I didn't want to read her mind. I don't want to read anyone's minds." He confessed. "I didn't want to find out how she really felt about me."
Gabriel smiled a little bit, but he looked sad. "Get up. I have news. It's not all good news, but some of it might make you feel better and maybe make you hate me a little bit less."
Castiel got out of bed and he realized that he was starving. He hadn't eaten anything but burgers in two days.
"Hey Gabriel, um, can I have some breakfast?" He asked.
"Already took care of it. Waffles?" Gabriel said. "You seem like you'd like waffles. If not, I can get you something else. Be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail."
Castiel nodded a little bit. "I love waffles, actually." He said, a very hesitant smile coming across his face.
For the first time, in as long as he could remember, he felt human. His love of waffles was human. The fact that Gabriel knew this and cared enough to get food for him made him feel a little better about the angel. They wandered out into the living room. Castiel looked around. The evidence of his temper tantrum was gone. The windows weren't broken and the lights were on. The chandelier was missing though.
"It's just glass. I can fix glass." Gabriel said absently. "I'm quite fond of that chandelier though, so it's gone until you can control your temper."
"Sorry." He muttered, slightly annoyed that Gabriel was reading his mind again.
The dining room table was once again covered with a feast. Donuts, waffles with syrup, fruit, various juices, and the best smelling coffee he'd ever encountered. Castiel's mouth watered at the sight of it. He sat down and began to shovel waffles into his mouth. God, he was so hungry.
"So, while you're… inhaling that, I'll give you the good news. I popped over to Pontiac, Illinois while you were napping and fiddled with your family's minds a little bit. Tina, your stepbrother, and that awful stepfather of yours won't remember anything about the demon or you being banished. All they'll remember is a robbery, a horrible, human tragedy that took you and your sister's lives. Now your mother will mourn you as her human son, just as she should." Gabriel said. He looked satisfied with himself, having spun a lie that created a proper human tragedy and relinquished Castiel of any responsibility in the horrible event.
Castiel stopped eating. "Is that what you consider good news? You messed with their heads? I'm dead to them? Why would I be?" He asked. "Why would they mourn me? I'm not dead."
"Finish your breakfast." Gabriel commanded.
"No, why can't I go home? If you can mess with their memories, why can't you just make them forget what I am so I can go back?"
Gabriel sighed. "You can't go back there, Castiel. Anyway, here's the bad news. There were demons watching your house. A whole mess of them. They were waiting for you. I killed them, each and every one of them. I warded your house and your family so demons won't come after them, but if you go back, the demons will return."
"Can't you ward me?" He asked, setting down the fork. The waffles suddenly tasted less amazing.
"Unfortunately not. It doesn't work that way, kid. Especially not now, when you're at this age. You're… a lot more powerful than I expected you to be. I didn't see it until yesterday when I had to put you to sleep. With those eyes, that temper, and those wings, you'll stand out to everything demonic within a hundred miles. You're just going to get stronger and you need to learn how to control it. It's best that you stay with me until you're old enough to protect yourself."
Castiel felt himself go cold. This was his life now? He'd spend it with Gabriel? He couldn't go home? Couldn't go to school?
"You weren't happy there." Gabriel said. His voice was soft, but very deliberate. "You said so yourself. With me, it will be better. I'll get you back into school, I promise. Kid, I'll do my best for you until you're old enough to take care of yourself."
"What about Anna?" He said, his voice finally breaking.
Gabriel shook his head. "I'm sorry, Castiel. I can't bring her back. I can't bring anyone back."
"But why not? My mom said…" He started. Tears prickled his eyes. He'd been so sure that Gabriel would be bring her back that he'd quit mourning her death as soon as he'd met the angel.
"I ran away eons ago. I'm cut off from the Host, from that kind of power. I'm stronger than most angels, but to bring people back, to heal them, you need to be connected to Heaven." Gabriel murmured. "I'm sorry."
"Where is she?" He said. His voice came out as a choking sob.
"She's in Heaven. She's happy and at peace."
"How do you know?" He whispered.
"She sounds like she was an amazing sister, Castiel. Believe me, the only place she would go is Heaven." Gabriel said. He reached over and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.
"If you can't bring her back, then wipe my memory too. Make me forget about her." He said desperately. "I can't live with myself knowing that she died because of me."
"She didn't die because of you. She died because of me and your mother. She died because we never told you the truth and I wasn't watching over you like I promised and for that, I am so sorry." Gabriel said, lowering his eyes.
"Still, wipe it. Please, Gabriel. If you want to make up for everything you didn't do for me, wipe my memory. I know you can do it."
Gabriel just shook his head. "Doesn't work that way with angels, kid."
"I'm not an angel!" He cried. "You told me just yesterday that I'm part human! I don't even have… all of my grace, or whatever, yet."
"I still believe that. You've got your humanity, yes, but you also have enough grace in you to blow away a small town, Castiel. You're more connected to the Host than I am. With that soul of yours charging it and feeding it, you're going to be turbo charged in just a few short human years.
"Am I going to become an angel?" He said with disbelief. "Are you telling me, I'm going to become like you?"
"No, but you are going to be something else. Cas, you have the mojo. You just need to learn how to use it." Gabriel said, his trademark grin coming back. "That's where I come in."
Castiel noticed a change in Gabriel when he said that last part. The angel no longer looked sad about Anna or Castiel's fate. He looked eager. His eyes were glowing with excitement, as if he was imagining the great things that the two of them would do together. Castiel considered what Gabriel had told him about angels. They felt no emotions, they only followed orders. Gabriel might not follow orders, he might love free will and living life on his own terms, but that didn't mean he felt anything for Castiel, let alone any other humans Castiel might care about. Gabriel might be his biological father, but that didn't mean he cared for him at all.
Gabriel looked at him squarely in the eye. "Kid, I have emotion. Too much of it. Why do you think I left? Why do you think I protected you and killed dozens of demons to protect your human family? Now, finish your breakfast and then I want you to tell me all about what you can do."
"I'm not going to stay with you." Castiel insisted, glaring at him. "You just want to see what I can do. You don't care about me."
Gabriel groaned. "You are a dumbass. If I didn't care about you, would I be here? Would I have left an orgy with five French supermodels to come rescue you from that field in Japan? No, I wouldn't have. I could have left you, but I didn't, and I promise, I'm not going to leave you until you're ready."
"You have a funny way of showing it. Where were you for all those years? Why did you just call me a dumbass? Who calls their grieving son a dumbass?" Castiel cried.
"Castiel, I'm not human. You can't expect me to treat you the same way a human parent would. Fuck me, kid, I'll treat you better than they did. I won't lie to you. I'll help you instead of banishing you. You just have to accept it. You're stuck with me." Gabriel said, a smile settling on his face when he said the last part.
"If it's staying with you and becoming even more of a freak, or chancing it as a human by myself out there, I'll leave. I'll be fine."
"No you won't. You'd be fucked, dead within days, killed by demons or your own stupidity. You have no other choice. Where are you going to go? How are you going to live? What, are you going to get a job? You're 14. You can't even control your emotions, kid!" Gabriel taunted.
"I'll be fine." He hissed. One cue, a light bulb exploded.
Gabriel let out a loud guffaw. "Come on. Let's move onto happier things. Why don't you show me your wings? Let's see if they're big and impressive as mine are."
"I don't have wings! I'm not a disgusting freak!" Castiel yelled.
Gabriel just grinned. "Those bruises on your back? Those headaches, all that pain you're feeling? Kid, mom wasn't lying. You're going through puberty. Angels go through it too, believe it or not. The ringing in your ears, well, that's your grace. The worst part for angels is when your wings grow in. Lucky for you, yours are a lot smaller, so it'll be over quickly. You just can't see them. They're hidden, just one little dimension away."
Castiel just stared at him, contemplating whether he wanted to slap or hug Gabriel. It was bizarre to consider, but he thought about the pain he'd been in for the last 6 months. The way it was getting harder to just walk normally because of how badly his shoulders hurt, the way he constantly felt weighed down. He thought about the bruises that had appeared out of nowhere and how some of them had resembled feathers. He thought about the near constant headaches. The bruises and the headaches didn't seem like they mattered now, but they were still there and had to be related to something.
"Do you want to see them?" Gabriel asked. "Until you get used to them, they're just going to be a pain in the ass. Seeing them and getting used to them, will help you adjust."
"Will they be out at all times? Will I be able to go out in public?" Castiel asked. He couldn't believe he was entertaining the ridiculous notion that he had wings.
"Nope. I don't understand the extent of your grace just yet, but there's a chance you'd kill some folks. Not to mention, you'd be rushed off to the zoo. A simple incantation and they stay hidden, although you can still feel them and notice them, at least if you're not in a vessel." Gabriel said, shrugging. "One of the few perks of being tied to this body, I guess."
Castiel groaned again and Gabriel just grinned. Castiel could tell that Gabriel thought he was winning him over. Gabriel said something in a language that meant absolutely nothing to him and suddenly, he felt feathers brushing against the back of his neck. Gabriel stared at him and Castiel swear he saw a bit of pride in the angel's eyes. Gabriel motioned at the full length mirror that sat across the room and it flew directly in front of him, giving him a chance to see himself.
What he saw was in the mirror was his own scrawny frame, a young face with eyes still blotchy and red from crying, and a set of wings emerging from his back, exactly where he had felt pain for the last six months. The feathers were black as pitch, with a filmy, luminous texture. The wings were scrawny, not even three feet across and slightly bedraggled looking. Despite this, they were still wings. Seeing the wings, seeing his true reflection in the mirror, all of Castiel's hopes and dreams for leading a normal human life went flying like a feather out the window.
Over the next couple of months, Castiel learned more from Gabriel than he'd ever learned during in 14 years in school and in his "human life" as Gabriel called it (always said with some venom). Gabriel told him all about the "other world" and Castiel found out that demons, angels, vampires, ghosts, spirits, werewolves, basically everything that went bump in the night, were all real. Not to mention there was a God and a Satan, although Gabriel wouldn't elaborate on that.
Basically, everything Castiel ever had nightmares about existed and he didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand, it made him feel better that he wasn't the only one out there who was "different"—because hell, at least he wasn't a werewolf or a ghoul- but on the other hand, he was now terrified to go outside by himself. If a demon didn't get him, then it could be a vampire or a vengeful spirit. Gabriel laughed at all of these creatures, but Gabriel had also been alive since the dawn of humans and probably saw himself as invincible.
Castiel could hardly grasp Gabriel's true age. The sheer number of years he'd been alive was incomprehensible and he'd seen things that Castiel couldn't even imagine. Castiel also sometimes had a hard time believing that Gabriel was thousands of years old because the angel occasionally acted like he was a 15-year-old boy. He behaved in a way that would embarrass Castiel if they ever went anywhere in public together. He had a hard time buying that this entity was his biological father. Gabriel was a goddamn angel and they had a shared grace, but that is where the similarities ended. Castiel often felt that he was the more mature of the two of them; especially when Gabriel did things like convince gullible humans that the Incredible Hulk was out for their blood.
Gabriel also told him, with some pride, about his adopted brethren, the Pagan gods. Gabriel's "family" had no idea he was an angel. Castiel was slightly appalled that Gabriel constantly preached to him about "no more hiding" but had been living under a false identity for three or four millennia. Fortunately, he didn't spend too much time with the Pagan gods, though Gabriel wouldn't shut up about a chick (okay—she's a god, but Castiel can't believe that there are Gods) named Kali. Castiel didn't know how Gabriel would introduce him if they ever came into contact with these beings. Was he Gabriel's son? His entertaining sidekick? Could Pagan gods even bear children? Castiel didn't know. He hoped Gabriel wouldn't expect him to adopt these creatures as his family. He'd never met them, but like everything else Gabriel told him about, they scared the living daylights out of him.
Gabriel eventually enrolled Castiel in school, just as he'd promised, although he questioned why he wanted to go. Gabriel didn't see the need for education, mainly because thought the things Castiel would learn about were pointless. Moreso, Gabriel also considered himself the greatest teacher of all since he'd been alive for so long and was one of the most powerful creatures living on earth. Castiel needed school though. His life had been turned upside down and he needed to be around people his own age, needed physics and English classes in order to maintain some sense of normality. Gabriel didn't understand why Castiel would want human peers, when he was "so far beyond" humans.
Gabriel was unknowable in many ways. Castiel didn't always know what with his spare time and how he stayed amused after so many years on earth. Gabriel often disappeared while Castiel was away at school. Sometimes didn't come back to the London apartment for days at a time. In a way, this suited Castiel just fine. He enjoyed his alone time, enjoyed being away from Gabriel, whose personality and utter being were both huge. It gave him a break, gave him a chance to pretend he was just a normal kid, even though it couldn't be further from the truth.
Gabriel never stayed away for more than three or four days, always returning with stories that hardly seemed real. He spent hours educating Castiel about angels and their history, including necessary information about Enochian spells and banishing sigils. He tried and failed to teach him Latin, which he insisted was still the most important human language. In many ways, Gabriel also became very paternal toward him, which neither of them had expected. When Castiel first moved into the apartment, he had vivid, terrible dreams about demons and blood sigils every night. Some nights he would wake up, screaming, just to find Gabriel standing there, staring at him with a bizarre, pained expression on his face. Gabriel would never say anything, but whenever Castiel found him there, he'd fall back asleep in seconds and the dreams would fade. He didn't realize until much later in life that Gabriel was literally taking him under his wing. He was also paternal in the most obnoxious ways possible. He yelled at Castiel about his temper whenever he made glass explode and even tried to ground him once when he invited several classmates over to their lavish apartment without permission.
All in all, Castiel and Gabriel made a strange pair. He missed Anna with an ache he couldn't even describe, but slowly but surely, his mother and the rest of his human family were fading from his mind. He suspected that Gabriel was doing something to speed his grieving and his transition into his new life along, but Castiel didn't know what and he didn't ask why. He didn't want to know. All he knew was that he felt better around Gabriel, both physically and emotionally, something that the angel said was related to their grace. Castiel also knew he'd be completely alone in the world if it weren't for Gabriel. After many months, he'd come to accept that he was the child of an Archangel, who he'd began to view as family.