So, chapter 5 already :D YAY! I warn you now, that I'm unlikely to update on friday. I have a job interview and am freaking out slightly, but I'll see what I can do. And if I get the job then chapters may be more sporadic but I'm not sure this story will be that much longer. Possibly 3 or 4 more chapters but I do have a tendency to waffle on so again, we'll see

I got a new follower! Yay!

Disclaimer as usual

Enjoy ^.^

Castiel

Castiel heard his name in the wind, Sam's voice. Probably calling to apologise for Dean's harsh words. Well it would just have to wait. He was busy. He and Metatron were walking side by side down the street, a few people behind the waitress. It was almost time. Not that he was looking forward to this trial. In fact he was slowing his strides, the closer they got. He refused to overtake people. He didn't want to kill the girl. She wasn't at fault for her parentage. Metatron kept trying to urge him faster. If Castiel was being perfectly honest with himself, he was uncomfortable with how eager Metatron seemed to be to carve an innocents heart from her chest.

Cas, please

Something was different with Sam's voice. Castiel frowned, trying to figure out what it was. It sounded …

The couple in front of them turned from the main street and Metatron quickened his pace. Castiel did too, unthinkingly following, trying to focus on what was different. Well, for one, it was Sam calling and not Dean. He sometimes ignored Sam's requests for help because they came more often than Dean's and so were usually less urgent. Sam hadn't quite figured out that when he prayed inside his head, he often went off on a tangent and thought in images and got flustered if he happened to be thinking of something that was irrelevant to the reason he was asking Castiel for help. That had caused embarrassment on both sides multiple times, and as untrained in human interaction as he was, he figured that it would be extremely awkward if he went to Sam after one of those particular one-way conversations.

Dean's requests were more straight-forward, as he usually prayed out loud and only prayed for the express purpose of needing his help, Sam sometimes prayed just because he believed. The nephilim turned to cut through the park, where is was dark and empty, it would be easy. If they waited until they were no longer in sight of the street, for some reason, Castiel paused on the edge of the orange glow of the streetlamp, the last light before the world fell into the darkness of the trees. Metatron stopped and looked at him questioningly, not wanting to draw attention to the nephilim by talking. Castiel just shook his head and stared forward again.

Cas, it's Dean, please come, just please

Castiel stopped again. Sam sounded desperate, and not the usual desperate exasperation at having to patch up their arguments, which sometimes came across as amused for some reason that Castiel put down to 'human emotional fault'. But this... this was pleading, begging. Something must have happened, something with Dean. Was he in trouble? Were they fighting demons that they needed him to smite? Unlikely, the Winchesters were perfectly capable of killing demons on their own.

Castiel, I need you! Please, I'm begging you.

'Castiel' Metatron had stopped in front of him 'what's wrong with you?' he hissed

'The Winchesters. They need me' he replied. Metatron shifted his weight and glanced behind him to where the nephilim was walking away

'Well that's just too bad Castiel. Because Heaven needs you, and we're so close to completing the first trial!'

Castiel hesitated, Metatron sighed 'The Winchesters can wait, this cannot'

'But it sounds urgent'

'This is urgent. Don't you want to save your home?' Metatron urged

'Of course, but they are my friends'

'The angels are your family'

Cas? Don't ignore me, you stupid angel! If you care about Dean at all, get here, now!

'I have to go' Castiel said, but before he could disappear, Metatron grabbed his arm

'No, Castiel, what you have to do, is stay here and kill the abomination! We're so close!'

Castiel was torn. This was the moment, he knew, the moment when he would decide once and for all who meant more to him. If he chose Metatron, then he would be unlikely to see Sam and Dean again, if he chose the Winchesters, then he would let Heaven down. In a second, he relived his whole life. Heaven was a constant, always there, he remembered life in the garrison, obeying his orders, content with his ignorance. He had been loyal and a good soldier and he had been happy.

And then he met the Winchesters, raising Dean up from perdition, and his whole world was turned upside down. Dean didn't show him the awe that humans usually did, in fact, he insulted him and his kind, with nary a thank you. He was blasphemous and suspicious and crude, but honest, always honest; and good, behind his wall of indifference, he always had a cause and a duty which he followed implicitly, if he owed someone, he owed them for life and would not stop until he felt his debt was paid. In a way, like Castiel himself, a good soldier. But Dean had taught him more than that. A good soldier followed orders, a great soldier did what was right, for the purpose, not for the pleasure of a higher command.

Dean had sacrificed, and given all he had to the cause. Yet still found time to laugh and drink and fornicate, forcing others to 'let go' a little too, despite the serious situations they always seemed to be in, whether he felt it himself of not. And over time, a bond had formed, something rare for the oldest Winchester brother, there was a reliance there now, a trust on both sides that had been earned. Even after Castiel had made terrible choices, Dean was there to pick him up and clean up his mess and reassure him that his intentions had been good, to begin with anyway. Dean wasn't as constant and comforting as Heaven, he was wildly unpredictable and impulsive and forthright and protective, but he was always there for Castiel. Right now, he couldn't exactly say that he was happy. But with the Winchesters he knew he was home.

'I'm sorry' he told the scribe, before he followed Sam's call.

So... what do you think? Good? Bad? Turnip?

Please give me feedback people, I need a reason to write D:

This chapter is slightly shorter than the others but I think I ended it in a good place. I wanted a chapter where Castiel has to decide which world means more to him, and I didn't want Cas to make the decision based purely on the urgency of Sam's call although that would be a factor.

I hope I got across his character ok

Love Tibbins xx