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Castiel's POV

Castiel teleported into the bunker, relishing in the feel of his repaired wings. He had missed flying, plus when his wings were damaged the way they were, torn to shreds as they had been when Metatron had destroyed most of his grace to cast his spell, Castiel's wings had been full of intense pain. He never showed it, but if one were to put it into perspective, it would be like taking a human's arms and shoving them into a meat grinder.

Amara may have caused him quite a bit of pain herself, but she had also cured him of his injuries and of his weakness. He would forever be loyal to her for that.

Castiel moved silently through the bunker, his movements lithe as a panther sauntering across a tree branch in a jungle.

It was dark in the bunker as he searched for Sam and Dean, only for them to ultimately find him-

And have their guns pointed at him.

"Lucifer!"

The brothers immediately prepared for a fight, to banish him.

"Dean! Sam! Stop, it's me!" he said, holding his hands out in a placating, unthreatening gesture. His voice was gruff, like a crunch of gravel.

Dean's eyes widened and he lowered his weapons. "Cas?"

"It's me," he whispered.

A huge grin like the one Dean had on his face when he found him in Purgatory stretched across the hunter's face. He moved toward him, engulfing him in a hug which Castiel hesitantly returned.

As soon as Dean let go, he was embraced by Sam, who let him go a few moments later. "What happened to Lucifer?"

"Amara ripped him from my body when she realized he would be no use to her," Castiel said. "Then she sent him back to the cage."

"And she just let you go?" Dean asked suspiciously.

"She said it was a sign of good faith," Castiel replied swiftly. "She knows you care about me. By letting me go, she said it was her way of showing she cares about you and therefore those you care about: Sam and myself. That is… if you…" if you care about me.

"If I what, Cas?" Dean asked.

Castiel shook his head. Surely Dean and Sam embracing him showed that they cared about him, even if they did use him like a tool most of the time. "Never mind."

"Amara didn't hurt you, did she?" Sam asked worriedly.

"She hurt Lucifer," Castiel said, "and therefore she did hurt me as well; that was inevitable. After stripping Lucifer from my vessel, she did take some of her frustration out on me, but she calmed herself down. She even said she was sorry she hurt me. She doesn't want to hurt people she thinks you care about, Dean."

"Oh, yeah, but she'll hurt just about anyone else," Dean said darkly.

"She's just confused and hurt," Castiel said. "God hurt her when he locked her away."

"She's a monster, Cas," Sam protested.

"Am I am monster?" he asked quietly.

"What?! Cas, you're an angel!" Dean exclaimed in shock. Of all the things he expected Castiel to say it was not that.

An archangel of darkness…

"And she is the sister of God," Castiel said simply. "She let me go. She cares about you. She isn't as bad as you think."

"Cas, you let the devil possess you in order to kill her," Sam was shocked. "What's changed your mind about Amara? Is it just because she let you go?" He was worried about Castiel right now; had Amara hurt him enough that by performing an act of kindness changed his opinion of her like a victim of Stockholm syndrome? Could angels even get Stockholm syndrome?

"I don't know… I just…" Castiel blinked a few times.

"Come on, sit down," Dean said, guiding the angel over to a chair where he made him sit. "You need to rest. God knows what that bitch did to you."

Castiel suppressed a growl when Dean called Amara a bitch. He didn't want to let them know just how affiliated he was with her. She was his mother now; a better parent than God had ever been. He supposed that wasn't too hard to do considering God had never even introduced himself to him, hadn't answered his prayers when he needed him most, but at the same time, Castiel was glad to have Amara as his mother. She had made him stronger than ever before and she was right: they were the same.

"So, is that all that happened?" Dean asked as he and Sam sat down across from him. "Amara tortured Lucifer, ripped him out of you, and then let you go?"

Castiel nodded.

"Why was she torturing Lucifer?" Sam asked.

"She hoped that by hurting God's favorite son, she could lure Him out of hiding," Castiel said. His voice took on a bitter tone as he continued, "She knows better now. God doesn't even care about His favorites. He leaves even the ones He loves the most to suffer in agony. Lucifer, humans… all of us angels. He left us alone and confused and tortured. He left us to be brainwashed by Naomi, to be controlled and forced to commit horrendous deeds. He left us to wage civil wars amongst each other and to become so wrapped up in politics that we forgot our original mission to protect human beings. He left humans to a world of confusion and hate with wars in His name that he didn't even try to stop."

"Uh, Cas," Dean glanced around nervously. "You might want to keep your opinions about God to yourself."

"Why? I've let you rant to me about your father in the past," Castiel said. "Though I suppose it's not the same thing as I have decided that God is no longer my father. Besides, you insult my family all the time; why can't I?"

"Uh, seriously, Castiel, just hold on one second," Sam said. "See, we have some news."

Castiel's eyebrows furrowed and he cocked his head to the side. "What news?"

"You remember Chuck?" he asked.

"The prophet who wrote the Winchester gospels and once put his hand on my shoulder until I glared at him and he let go? Yes, I remember him," Castiel said.

"Yeah, well, he's kind of here," Dean said, "and, well, you see…

Before Dean could finish, Chuck seemingly appeared out of nowhere, moving over to the table.

"Hello, Castiel," he said.

Castiel turned his gaze toward Chuck. "Hello," he ventured.

Chuck took a deep breath. "By Me, I wish there was something in a parenting novel about how to introduce yourself to your angel kid who you abandoned billions of years ago," he muttered, but not too quietly that Castiel's angelic hearing couldn't pick up what he said.

He stared at Him, blue eyes wide. "God?"

Chuck smiled, looking almost nervous. "Hi, Castiel. I, uh, I'm your Dad."

AN: Yes, I did end it there. Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I've been working on a novel I have been writing and taking violin lessons plus dog training classes, and just haven't had a lot of time for fanfiction. I haven't even been reading it that much lately. But, I decided that this story had to be updated because I love it too much to abandon it. Let me know what you think of this chapter. :)

-DragonsintheMoonlight