Chapter 31
"The staff of Abel," Cas informed the confused boys, "One of the pickiest weapons of God. No wonder Crowley was so ready to give it away."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "And how is a shepherds crook picky?"
"This is the staff of Abel," Castiel repeated like Sam was an idiot. "The first human ever to die was Abel, after his brother Cain killed him out of jealousy. This crook is powerful, invested within is all the power that came with being as connected to God as Abel. However, the staff also tends to not be favorable to those who have the blood of Cain within them."
"And we don't right. So the staff will work for us and only us?" Dean assured even though he already knew what Cas would say.
"Or Charlotte. Even with Lucifer hitching a ride she has no blood of Cain."
"So if Lucifer gets his hands on this he'll not only have his power and Charlie's power, he'll have God's too? Is it even safe to remove from an angel proof room?" Sam worried. Stopping Lucifer would be hard enough; if he had the power of God in his hands who knew what he would do.
"We don't really have an option. Those locus women are tearing people apart and this," Dean held up Abel's staff which felt hot in his hand, "Is the only thing that can stop them."
"Dean is right," Cas affirmed. "We must stop the locus-women."
No one liked the idea of bringing a weapon that would give Lucifer the power of God into public but they had no option. So, without a trusty angel of any sort to teleport them around, the three boys loaded into the Impala and set off towards the locus-women.
"Luckily," Cas told them as they sped towards their destination, "all of God's weapons are the same." A loud snap almost caused Dean to hit a truck as he saw the weapon broken in two.
"What the Hell Cas!" Sam cried yanking the pieces from his hands.
"Don't worry," Cas chuckled. "It's just like the staff of Moses. I could break it into a hundred pieces and it would still work, albeit being 100 times weaker. Breaking it in half won't stop it from killing these monsters."
"Wait," Dean told him. "I might not have ever gone to Stanford like Sammy but I can do basic math. There are three of us and only 2 of those and you don't look like you're gonna break them again."
"It won't work for me," Cas told them shaking his head.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "You're an angel… or you were an angel. It's not like you're descended from Cain."
"But Jimmy is," Cas reminded them softly. No one spoke. As much as they were ashamed to admit it Sam and Dean had completely forgotten about Jimmy Novak whose body Castiel had highjack-ed. Yet, it was true. Cas had been an angel that used poor Jimmy as a vessel.
"Whatever happened to him?" Dean dared ask.
Cas looked ashamed as he spoke. "Jimmy's soul remained inside of me until I took the souls from Purgatory. When I sent all the souls back his went through the gate too. I like to hope someone showed him out the human door like they did you but I honestly do not know. I don't even know what would happen to his soul if he got out since I'm stuck in his body."
Castiel's solemn reminder of the damage being a vessel could do quieted the boys for at least an hour of the ride. Around 5 AM the Winchesters plus Cas pulled into an old motel to check on the locus-women location and catch a few hours of sleep. While Cas and Sam snored behind him Dean took his turn on the couch staring restlessly at the ceiling. For some reason their earlier conversation had really freaked Dean out. He wanted to keep his vow to Charlie, but how could he do that? What if they didn't find a way to open Eden? Saying yes to Michael would then roast half the planet! Even if they did get into Eden what was to say the angels would jump from their vessels and fight freely? There were so many things that could go wrong with saying yes to Michael for both Dean and the world. He'd spent so long fighting destiny, how could he now just accept it?
It happened more than he liked to admit, but when he just didn't know, no matter how little faith he had, Dean looked up and prayed.
"Chuck. I don't know if you're listening. Charlie says you don't often. Still. You came as Chuck to help us. You brought Cas back to help us. So you must care. Even if you're as done with the Winchesters as everyone else then you must care, about something.
I need help. Charlie's gone because I failed her. I'm her big brother it's my job to protect her, but I didn't. Maybe it was because of some stupid Prophecy Charlie muttered billions of years ago, maybe because I'm a failure but Charlie got hurt. And I guess that just has to be added to the things I'll never forgive myself for.
So Chuck. If you ever were our friend like you pretended to be. If you ever cared about us, or Charlie, or anyone then please, please give us a hand. Or if you don't want to help us, fine. Just help Charlie. Keep her safe Chuck because she's just a kid and no matter how hard I try I can't see how this isn't entirely your fault. You told her she'd proclaim the prophecy and she believed you. You started this so you better come down here and help us end it.
Please Chuck. Help us or if you won't just help Charlie."
Dean hadn't expected any answer; he never got one. But that night in that moment God must have been feeling like Chuck because a rustle of wind caused a paper to flutter from Charlie's notes.
9/11/10
I had a weird dream last night. It feels fleeting though, like a prophecy I wasn't supposed to know so I'll write it down. I saw Chamuel, the archangel, being killed by Dean (seriously will that boy get out of my dreams? All I want is a nice David Tennant dream like everyone else.) Anyway. They were in a hospital, and I was there… well not me but you know my meat suit. Why would Dean kill Chamuel and why the Hell were Lucifer, Chamuel, and the Winchesters in Lovelace Women's Hospital in Wildcat territory? Something tells me they weren't all just singing we're all in this together.
Dean didn't get the reference, but who cared. They were one step closer to opening Eden. Suddenly killing the Locus-women didn't seem so daunting. He'd live through it because he was gonna kill Chamuel.
