Fulcrum

"Castiel."

Castiel looked up from his bunk at the doorway to his room. He had been sitting on the edge of it, head in hands, lost in thought. He hadn't even noticed his visitor's approach.

He looked up and saw Rowena. She had her hands clasped before her and a small smile on her exhausted face. He noticed that smile and immediately sat up, a feeling of...hope washing over him...such a strange and foreign feeling...he wondered when was the last time that he had felt that? "There were survivors from New Eden, Castiel. More importantly, Dean Winchester was one of them."

Castiel blinked dumbly, rising off of his bed slowly, hardly believing what he was hearing.

"Dean..." he croaked hoarsely, then frowned, shaking his head slowly. "But...how?" His eyes widened in fear as he looked at the floor, then up at Rowena. "Michael...?"

Rowena moved her hands up and hugged herself while shaking her head. "No. No Michael. Dean. And four of the Heralds as well."

Castiel stared, and swallowed hard. "But...how...?" he whispered once again.

Rowena smiled wanly. "I canna say, actually. It just is so. There are some thousands of human survivors as well out there, a very, very small fraction of the ones that went there in the first place...Castiel...", she continued, her face turning harsher, ""...they are dying out there."

Castiel watched her for a few seconds, then nodded decisively. "Rescue party. We need to form a rescue party. Get those people out of there. Now." He strode to the door and stopped short, taking a deep breath as he realized something. "I just recalled...can we even get there? That place was protected from intruders...even it's location was a secret,"

Rowena smiled widely. "Not anymore, it appears. Whatever forces Michael employed to keep it safe were disabled as soon as he was defeated."

Castiel nodded and headed out of the door. He stopped halfway through, his back stiffening. "Whatever measure Michael created?" he asked, turning his head slightly back towards Rowena.

She frowned, puzzled. "Yes, I believe so."

Castiel turned the rest of the way around, his face pale. "Lucifer wasn't helping to shield New Eden?"

Rowena tilted her head. "I...I haven't thought of that, Castiel...I thought..." her eyes widened as she began to consider Castiel's question. "Oh...oh dear..."

Castiel nodded. "Exactly. Rowena. We've been trying to figure out how the Old Ones were able to locate and attack New Eden in the first place. This is important - did we try to locate or get there just after Lucifer and Michael broke off their alliance?"

Rowena's eyes widened further as she shook her head slowly. "We were...too busy fighting the Old One destroying Los Angeles. We never gave it a second thought."

Castiel frowned deeply, his brow furrowing in anger. "And Lucifer never even bothered to think about it...or conveniently 'forgot' to mention it to us...that he was protecting New Eden as well..." He hung his head and put his hand against the door frame for support. "All of those people..." He looked up at Rowena, suddenly looking very tired. "You said there were a few thousand survivors?" Rowena looked at the floor and then away, nodding slowly and hugging herself tighter.

"Rowena..."

"Castiel, dont ask me what you are about to ask me..."

"Rowena...how many people were at New Eden when it was destroyed? How many people did Lucifer leave open for that attack?"

A tear ran down Rowena's cheek. "Oh, Castiel..."

"How many?" Castiel growled, his visage turning hateful and angry.

Rowena looked back up at him and set her jaw firmly. "Castiel, don't be going to do anything too rash. He is still Lucifer, and he is still more powerful than you..."

"HOW MANY?!" Castiel roared. "How many people did Lucifer ignore and let die?!"

Rowena cleared her throat and looked away again. She shrugged. " A few...um...billion...I would guess..."

Castiel stared. His fist tightened on the door frame. He ripped his hand away, and half of it splintered in his fist. Rowena jumped, startled.

"Castiel...!"

"No, Rowena! He has to be held accountable!" He stalked off down the hall, then turned back to her, his eyes glowing with Angelic fire. She flinched away. "All those people..." he hissed, before turning back and running down the hallway.

"Castiel..." Rowena whispered, watching him go. "...be careful..."

Lucifer was standing in the main hanger of the Resistance, off to his own near a corner, considering a group of survivors that Atropos had brought back, his posture slumped, his face sullen. He noticed the group look up, alarmed, staring at something over his shoulder.

He turned to see what was going on, and saw Castiel walking swiftly towards him, murder in his eyes.

"What is it now, little brother? Did you find something new that you wish to berate me on?"

"You could say that..." Castiel growled lowly as he closed the distance.

Castiel's fist flew out, covered in glowing Angel Grace, smashing into Lucifer's face with the speed of a streaking comet. The impact made a sound like a sonic boom, shaking the air like one as well, as Lucifer flew through a stack of ammunition crates, sending shards of wood shrapnel flying into the air, his body leaving a five foot dent in the heavy reinforced metal wall behind them. He bounced away from the wall, landing on all fours. He looked up at Castiel in rage and bewilderment, his eyes flashing with red fire, smoke pouring out of them. He raised a shaky fist to his nose, and blinked in surprise at the blood there.

"Castiel, what in all of the..." he snarled, his fists clenching as he rose into a defensive crouch.

"Did you help to protect New Eden?!" Castiel challenged, his fists at his sides, his entire body trembling.

Lucifer tilted his head back, confused. "Protect...?"

"Answer me! And you better hope that answer is 'no'..." Castiel continued, voice shaking in raw anger. All of the people in the Resistance were watching the confrontation in shock, keeping a respectable distance from the two Angels. Castiel vaguely heard footsteps running into the warehouse hanger from all of the attached side-hallways and rooms, but most of his attention was focused on his opponent, his anger a red-rush I his ears.

Lucifer smiled tightly, understanding. "Ah. I see, you're supposing that I abandoned New Eden on purpose, left them open to attack...what are you assuming my motivations were? Revenge? Payback for Michael abandoning me?"

Castiel glared, waiting.

Lucifer sighed and straightened up, brushing off the debris from his suit. "Ah, Castiel. No. It was not planned that way."

"Fine," Castiel grunted. "But that's not what I asked." He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at it contemptuously. He saw it was Crowley and glared at him as well.

"Castiel, this is not a good idea..." Crowley began. Castiel shrugged Crowley's hand away and turned back to Lucifer.

"Well? Did you help to protect New Eden?"

Lucifer's smile faded and he tilted his head, holding his hands out to his sides in submission.

"Yes, if you must know...but, as I also said, it was not my intention to leave those people unprotected..."

Castiel's chin lowered. "But you did it anyway..."

"We were otherwise occupied...it was an unfortunate oversight, I suppose..."

"Unfortunate...oversight...?!" Castiel hissed under his breath.

"Castiel..." Crowley said quietly in warning.

In a flash and rush of the sound of wings, Castiel blinked to where Lucifer was standing, grabbing him by the shirt and shoving him bodily back into the dent in the metal wall.

"Unfortunate oversight?!" he screamed. "Those people are DEAD, Lucifer!" His fist flew into his face again, knocking Lucifer further down the wall. Castiel stalked after him, ripping the suit jacket off of him and flinging it away. He grabbed the stunned Archangel by the back of the shirt and threw him bodily across the floor of the warehouse, scattering people to either side like bowling pins. "There is no Heaven anymore, no Hell either...they're just dead...!" With a groan, Lucifer turned back to face him as Castiel stalked ever forward, blue smoke trailing from his hands. His eyes widened in alarm and he raised his hand, sending Angelic force at Castiel, trying to force him back. Castiel's advance halted, his shoes scraping on the ground. With a snarl, he held up his hand, fingers splayed. He closed them into a fist slowly. There was an audible crack and the power Lucifer was using to hold him back broke as Castiel's hand closed. Lucifer's eyes widened in shock.

And fear.

"That's what you do, Lucifer, that's what Father punished you for in the first place..." Castiel growled, advancing forward and placing a well-aimed kick to Lucifer's head, sending him onto his back. "You only think about yourself...you never consider the 'oversights'...you think that they are beneath you..." He grabbed Lucifer's left arm and leg, and with a half twist, flung him back across the warehouse to land hard across the wall again. Lucifer rolled to his side and gasped in pain, raising himself up to all fours again.

"You never warned us...never thought to tell us...just slipped your mind...an oversight..." , Castiel grunted, closing the distance. "We could have helped to protect them, Lucifer...you could have done something to protect them...gave them a chance...any kind of chance...if you had only bothered to give it a second thought..." , he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"And they end up suffering, dying because of that...you were granted...no, blessed...with all of this power, Lucifer, and Father tasked you, all of us...to protect the weaker, and you couldn't even be bothered to spare a single thought for them...! To even acknowledge that they were in mortal danger...!" Castiel yelled, standing over Lucifer, glaring down at him.

"Looks like Father levelled you up a bit, didn't he, little brother?" Lucifer smiled weakly. "Dispensing justice like the Archangels of old..." He looked up at Castiel, his face a bloody mess. "Seems like we have a new 'Michael' after all, doesn't it? So what is it to be now? Do you cast me out into the pit of Darkness?" He stood up shakily, bracing himself against the wall as he did so. "Isn't that what you 'Swords of God', do?", he spat, voice full of contempt.

Castiel glared at him, his hands finally falling slowly to his sides. "No."

Lucifer barked out a small laugh and shook his head. "What? Is it to be mercy, then, oh benevolent Castiel? Is that another one of Father's lessons that I never learned?"

Castiel turned his head away. "That's what I've been telling you this entire time," Castiel answered numbly. He turned back to him, his anger spent, his face now only full of disappointment and pity. "You never learn anything." He shook his head and walked away slowly. "What a waste."

Lucifer watched him go, holding a hand to his side in pain, blood all over his face. The crowd stared for a while, then began to disperse. Lucifer, pain overcoming him, sank back to the floor, his emotions swirling like a gale, from rage to disgust, from hatred to confusion, warring to get a grasp on what had just happened.

He had just been cast down by one of his own brothers.

Again.

In the end, he turned his head to the floor, and closed his eyes.

Dean glanced up at the dirty, hopeful faces around the small campfire that they had built in the cave.

Kids, he thought to himself. For Pete's sake, they're just a bunch of scared kids.

There were four survivors from the Heralds, two boys and two girls. He had got their names through their limited conversation as Robert, Angela, Sarah and Trevor. He was able to recall Sarah and Trevor, at least. They had tussled with them both at the castle in Scotland. He couldn't say that he was thrilled with his prospects of having to deal with either of them, He only remembered Robert and Angela with what he had been able to get while he was being possessed by Michael, which was shaky, at best. Michael's presence tended to tamp down the world going on around him.

Or at least, it had, Dean thought, smirking. Past tense.

He figured that he had the best chance with those two, They seemed like the...saner ones in the group.

"The Dark Ones...they haven't found this place yet?" he asked the group.

Trevor shook his head. "No, Master...they know about it...but they don't attack in any kind of organized manner. They just come at the entrance every once in a while if they get close enough."

Dean nodded. "All brawn, no brains. Got it."

Trevor swallowed and shot a nervous glance at Sarah, who had narrowed her eyes a bit at Dean. He didn't miss the facial cue and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Good...excellent," he smirked, hoping to be mimicking the overconfident douche-baggery that Michael always seemed to exude. "Well then, minions, it seems we can safely use this as our base of operations...for now..., what I think..." he stopped, frowning. "...what we aregoing to do is this; we send out scouting parties. Stay stealthy, obviously, that goes without saying, or it's your own neck. We need to know what we're dealing with - and, more importantly, if there's a way out of here...wherever here is..."

"What about your power, Master?" Trevor asked. "Is it beginning to recover? I mean...once it returns, you could burn right through those creatures out there, couldn't you?"

Dean felt his stomach drop. His life was on a timer, and he knew it. He affected the best scowl that he could muster and glared at Trevor.

"When that time comes, you'll know it. But until that time, you will do what I say, when I say it, is that clear?"

Trevor nodded quickly, and turned his eyes away but Dean couldn't help but also notice that Sarah had narrowed her eyes again for a second. To her credit, she stayed quiet, not challenging Dean, still sizing up the situation...gathering all the information that she could.

Gotta be careful with that one, he thought. She's a rattlesnake in a tree.

"Ok, Sarah, you're first," Dean muttered, as if even giving the order annoyed him. "I suggest you get to it."

Sarah sat silently for a second or two, then, with a grunt, she sat up and unsheathed her sword, stalking towards the cave entrance.

"How long should I stay out there, 'Master'?" Sarah asked, looking back, the look on her face giving only the very slightest hint of contempt, almost daring Dean to call her out on it. Oh, she's good, he smiled to himself. But I'm better...

"Until you have something useful to report, Herald," he snarled, amplifying his contempt to the nth degree. "Or until something out there throws your broken corpse back in here with us. Whichever comes first." He met her eyes with a cold glare.

It must have been pretty convincing, because Sarah jerked back a little. Then she nodded at him and hurried out of the cave. Dean smiled somewhat triumphantly in approval.

"So, anyone got a deck of cards?" he asked, sitting down, leaning back against the damp rock wall.

"Ummmm..." Robert began.

Dean stared up at him angrily. "That was a pitiful attempt at humor, Herald. I only wish to rest. Now, leave me alone." They all immediately made a concerted effort to get as far away from him in the small cave as they could, he noted with satisfaction.

Might get outta this yet, Winchester, he thought to himself. Let's hope that bitch on wheels finds something useful out there.