The Winchesters and Castiel had taken a case in Colorado where a potential witch was at.
A woman had burst into flames at her office and a man had bled to death from every orifice in his body.
Things had been going… well...
Until the interrogation with a suspect went terribly wrong and the three got caught.
Sam and Dean woke up at what looked like an abandoned warehouse, both with their arms twisted up, wrists chained to the wall.
And a few feet infront of them, in a strange circle that reminds them all too much of demon traps, Castiel lays at.
Unconscious.
Who the fuck even had the power to knock out an angel?
"Cas? Hey, of all times possible this is the worst one to take a nap." Dean called out.
No answer.
Suddenly, the doors opened and a woman with golden curls stepped in.
"You are awake, good. Like those cuffs? Have heard enough about the Winchesters to know that a single pair of cuffs won't hold you for long." The witch tells as a statement of fact.
"If you have heard about us then you know it's just a matter of time before we kill you." Dean says, leveling the woman with a dangerous look.
"What did you do to him?" Sam asks, glancing at Castiel for more emphasis.
"The angel? Oh, he's fine." She brushes off, this before adding. "That's an angel trap."
"An angel trap? Like a demon trap?" Sam questioned, unable to hide his surprise, feeling quite shocked about the fact that something like that existed and neither Dean or him had ever heard of it.
An angel trap would be so much more easier to use than the holy fire ring.
"Yeah, angels are quite possessive with that sort of knowledge, but I have my ways." She says, grinning to some sort of inside joke.
"What the hell do you want?" Dean demands, seriously starting to get annoyed by this woman.
"Me? Oh don't worry honey, I don't want anything to do with you. My issue here is with the angel."
Those words didn't settle well with either of the brothers.
"Cas? What the hell do you want with him?"
"I have a… an offer for him if you will." The witch said, her eyes growing dark.
"What makes you think he will want whatever the hell you are aiming to offer to him?"
"I don't see why not."
"Let me rephrase that. He doesn't need shit from you."
"Hmm, I don't think so. That's up to him to decide."
As if on cue, Castiel woke up and was on his feets in less than a second.
"Angel!" The witch cried in a delighted greeting.
Castiel glared at her before his gaze fell on the brothers. His glare turning even more murderous upon the witch.
"No need to look so mad, I'm not gonna hurt them, but if I didn't catch them too then they would have come looking for you and I couldn't have that."
Castiel frowned and gave her a wary look.
"What is it that you want?"
"I have heard that it's been around eight years since you have been hanging around the Winchesters."
"Why is that important?" Castiel questioned, wariness starting to intensify, he had the feeling he wouldn't like what this woman was gonna say next.
And right he was.
"Say. Haven't you considered getting rid of the soul that that body belongs to?" Castiel's eyes widened at that statement and his entire body language shifted to one of pure aggression as he took a step back, hand reflexively reaching out to shield his chest, right where the humming heat from Jimmy's soul was at , his fingers clutching the fabric defensively.
"No." His voice came out harsher than intended. The witch's eyebrow twitched, as if she had truly believed that this would go any other way.
"No? What do you mean no?"
"I mean no. His soul is not for you nor anyone to take." Castiel bit out harshly, glaring dangerously at the witch.
"You sure about that? Tell me something angel." The witch began, starting to circle the sigil he was trapped into. "What's the difference between an angel and a demon?"
That caught him off guard.
"What?"
"None, that's what. Demons don't lie about caring, but angels do. All in order to get the 'yes' ."
Something about her tone gave Castiel a bad feeling, as if she knew things no one should know. Things he didn't want to think about.
"I know things my dear feathered friend." The woman came to a halt right infront of him, her gaze iced. "You lied Castiel."
That sole sentence made Castiel's stomach twist violently.
"You got his wife possessed. You threatened to take his daughter when he was on the verge of death because he was no longer useful."
Castiel flinched at that and he felt the soul's heat grow inside of him.
Like a deafening reminder of the deal that he had struck out of selfishness.
"You even got his wife killed!"
"Don't listen to her Cas!" Dean's shout went ignored by the woman and Castiel couldn't even bring himself to look at them.
"Wouldn't it be more merciful to end his suffering?"
"I said no." Castiel snapped, feeling the swirl of rage curling in his chest, grace fighting to burst out. He could feel Jimmy flaring inside of him. Angry. Scared .
And Castiel was on edge.
Because he could see it.
The witch wasn't asking to hand over the soul.
She was demanding it.
And Castiel hasn't protected this soul until now for it to be snatched by a witch. He won't allow it.
"Let me rephrase this, handing the soul over is not an option. I need souls that have been in contact with the divine for a spell. So we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
Castiel glared at her.
"The hard way it's then."
The witch raised her hand towards him and he felt fire seize his insides as the soul twisted and pressed against his grace in the most unforgiving burst of fire that sent him to the ground with a strangled sound, he felt it recoil, writhing as an invisible force pulled and pulled at it.
Human souls were not supposed to touch an angel's grace, like he had told Bobby Singer once, a soul is like a nuclear reactor, like 100 suns, for it to touch an angel's grace... it was one of the most agonizing things to ever exist.
He could hear shouts, but his head had become fogged, he could feel the soul being pulled and pulled and pulled.
And when he felt it starting to leave the vessel, something inside him snapped, an animalistic sense of such obliterating something his rational side went out of the window, this before that overwhelming sense took over.
THIS SOUL WAS HIS.
~
Sam and Dean had spent such a long time seeing Cas as, well, Cas , that it had fallen on the back of their minds that that was not his body.
And honestly?
The brothers had thought that the owner of that body had died long ago, hearing the witch mention it as it was still there. Wife. Daughter . It never occurred to them that the man that had lend his body to Cas would have had a family, but again, what kind of person with a family would agree to something like that?
Still, what disturbed them above all was the fact that Cas had apparently threatened to possess a child because the father was on the verge of death. It felt like a sharp reminder on how Cas had been like at first, but the witch's words of wanting that soul didn't settle well with them, much less because of how unexpectedly aggressive Castiel's demeanor seemed to grow.
"The hard way it's then."
The witch raised her hand and Castiel's eyes flashed blue for a fleeting moment before he was dropping to the ground with a pained sound.
"You son of a bitch!" Dean cursed at the woman, struggling with the chains.
"Like I said, I just want the soul, I have no need for an angel. You will be free to go once I have the soul."
"Like hell you are!" Sam snapped back, fighting to break off the cuffs, he could see the familiar bright light, like blazing tendrils beginning to abandon Castiel's body.
The soul.
"You are hunters, yet you never exorcised him, didn't save the man that body belongs to, why care now? Isn't it too late for that?" Sam and Dean hated that the witch's words did hold some veracity, because it was true, they never bothered to even learn about the man Castiel was possessing.
Dean did know the guy had been an accountant, his name James or something like that, he couldn't remember much of that right now.
Suddenly, Castiel's body went rigid, and then he looked up, his eyes glowing, but what got the brothers' hearts skipping a beat was the unadulterated ferocity in his gaze, thin cracks of blinding light spreading across his face.
And then a light explode out from the angel.
Bright and unforgiving, like a blast of heat that threatened to melt the skin off their bodies. It forced the hunters to look away as the witch screamed in pain.
"What in the-"
"He is mine!"
The Enochian boomed across the place like sharp claws dragging across metal, making Sam and Dean recoil at the volume and snap their heads to attention in time to see something white slam against the woman with such force she was sent flying and smashing through the wall.
It stalked across the shadows, hissing like a poisonous snake hell bent on destruction, snatching the woman up by the throat, even in the darkness the brothers saw the brutal movements.
Heard the gurgling screams of horror and pain, the crunching, skin tearing apart, a blast of heat sent a shockwave of air across the place with a smell similar to sulfur but not quite.
The shadow then stood up.
Its white clothes being the one thing visible along with glowing blue snake eyes.
It broke the sigil Cas was in before approaching them. As the light hit him (she? It? Dean couldn't tell if it was a dude or a chick with how completely androgynous it looked) the brothers felt their hearts skip a beat, what the hell was that?
Its hair was a tousled mess of white and silver, glimmering gold dusting the tips and the top of its head like glitter merged with the white and silver specks. Its skin rather than pale looked as if it had grown in a place where sunlight didn't quite reach it, translucent to an extent even . Silver scales ran all over its cheeks, jaw and throat, disappearing behind its long sleeved shirt.
It looked to be around its 20 despite the fact that that gaze was one of a creature as old as time. Dangerous . Blood covered its mouth and hands, dripping on the ground and staining the white clothes it was wearing.
It reminded Dean of someone, but he couldn't be sure.
"Wait. Wait." Dean realized how close the thing was and adrenaline hit him like a truck.
The thing stopped.
"I'm not gonna hurt you."
It had fangs.
Its voice was pitched, but with low glitches, like an echo between a woman and a man's voice. Not human. No woman. No man at the same time. It was as weird as it was indecipherable.
"Stay the fuck away from him." Dean snapped when the thing took a step towards Sam.
"Dean."
How the fuck did it know his name?
Sam who hadn't spoken until now said a name Dean wasn't sure what to do with.
"Cas?"
He sounded awestruck if not a bit hesitant.
A short nod was his answer.
"What-" Sam had no idea what to even ask as he took on the most mesmerizing sight he's ever seen in his entire life. Castiel frowned before looking down at himself and then back up at them.
"I apologize for... this appearance I didn't mean to lose my temper."
That's all he said before approaching Sam and snapping the shackles around his wrists. Then he did the same with Dean.
"Dude, what the hell?" Dean exclaimed, feeling more awestruck than he was willing to admit. Now that he was certain the creature wasn't a threat he was uncomfortably aware of just how otherworldly stunning it was. Cas. Like something sacred that should never be looked at. He even seemed to wield a ghostly glow within the skin, golden fingernails, scales on his hands too.
He was staring down at his bloodied hands with a curious look now.
"Cas? How is it that you are here? I mean-" Sam still had no idea what to ask.
"Angels can take on a somewhat human form but... as you can see, it's not really human, that's why we possess people." Castiel conceded, wiping the blood off his mouth with his sleeve, he hadn't used this form since... he doesn't really remember having ever used it before now that he thought about it.
The sudden groan caught his attention and he turned to look at Jimmy who was sitting up. He was at his side in a second, unlike the brothers, Jimmy didn't even flinch.
"Do you require healing?" He questioned, reaching out to touch Jimmy's arm, yet, a hand quickly swatted his hand away, followed right behind by a scoff before the man was moaning and clutching his head.
"You stupid son of a bitch." Castiel made a face at the profanities. "Rule number five rings a bell?"
"I apologize, it was not my intention to cause you any pain, but had I not done so the witch would have stolen your soul." Silence was his answer, and then Jimmy looked up at him, glaring.
"I hate you."
Castiel knew the man didn't mean that, that he was just mad and hurting, but it still stung.
"Cas?" Dean called, it was so freakishly weird this whole situation.
Castiel turned to look at the brothers from over his shoulder.
"We should leave." Sam said, they seriously needed to get out of here, just in case the witch had had more accomplices.
"Right." As Castiel got up Jimmy followed suit, he looked royally pissed and rubbing at his temple with a pained look. "Sam. Dean. Jimmy."
Castiel introduced flatly.
"Hi." Sam awkwardly greeted the man who just glared at him for an answer.
"So what's gonna happen now?" Dean questioned, not bothering to hide the double meaning of his question. Was Cas gonna lose the vessel? The guy, Jimmy , didn't seem to be on good terms with the angel.
"I-" Castiel was cut off by Jimmy.
"What's gonna happen now is that I'm gonna eat a fucking horse, then call my daughter, and for once, in a very long time, I would really love to sleep with no bright ass jerk dragging me around. In the morning, then I can return to be a fucking meatsuit. How does that sound?" He was giving Castiel a challenging look now as he stared him down, daring him to so much as protest.
Castiel didn't even twitch, completely unfazed by the man's outburst, Sam and Dean found themselves feeling quite flabbergasted by the man's audacity to speak like that to an angel, an angel who mind you looked a lot of things but human right now.
"As you wish, but do remember, don't even try to run." Castiel's answer held such skin crawling warning behind that the hunters' felt their hairs stand on end, an unfamiliar look plastered on his face as he held Jimmy's gaze, uncomfortably very reminiscent of a predator staring down at their prey.
Jimmy scoffed before walking past him, waving his hand in the air.
"Or the demons will hunt me down, I know, I know, I'm not stupid." Castiel scowled as he watched the man leave.
"He sure is a piece of work."
"He's a good man, he's just tired." Castiel felt the need to defend Jimmy at Dean's comment.
Sam and Dean gave him doubtful looks.
Still.
The three also left the place, Jimmy was waiting outside, stretching like he was stretching for the first time in his life, bones popping loudly.
"You alright?" Sam questioned awkwardly.
"Just peachy, fucking angels can't stretch to save their life."
"Angels don't need to stretch."
"This is a human body, genius, you are fucking ancient, how can't you grasp such a simple concept? Just because you don't need it doesn't mean the body doesn't."
Castiel chose to not answer, instead, he sighed, walking past Jimmy. Or he tried to since Jimmy yanked him back.
He didn't even get to speak before he was getting the trenchcoat shoved at him.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" He asks, a bit confused.
"I don't know if you have noticed. But humans don't generally glow, have snake eyes or scales all over."
Oh.
"He does have a point." Sam states.
Castiel sighs, but he ends up putting on the trenchcoat as a seriously bad disguise to hide his hair and face as much as possible.
Finding the Impala isn't that hard, nor is it getting back to the motel.
"Where are you going?" Dean calls as he notices the guy, Jimmy step out of the car and make a move towards the opposite direction of the motel.
"I'm going to eat something and then call my daughter." Jimmy states, as if Dean was stupid for even asking. Dean opens his mouth ready to protest, yet, Castiel cuts him off.
"Fine. But if you aren't back-"
"I won't run away!" Jimmy cuts off harshly. "Jesus fuck man, you think I would just run off? After last time?"
Castiel glares at him, lights in the parking lot flickering as the wind picks up. Jimmy doesn't even blink.
"Just go."
Jimmy scoffs before turning around and stalking off. And Castiel takes a deep breath, willing himself to calm down, he isn't mad at Jimmy, but at himself. He knows he won't run off, he doesn't even care if he does. But if he does he will end up dead.
Castiel can't allow that. He won't allow that. What face will he give Claire if he gets her father killed? He already got her mother killed. Took away her father.
The sudden cough made him remember he wasn't alone, he turned to look at Sam and Dean, both looking uncomfortable, though there was something else…
"Let's go inside." Dean said, Castiel nodded.
Once inside the motel room, he sat down on the couch, pulling the trenchcoat off his head. He was finishing folding it when he saw a hand reaching out, instinct had him jerking back and almost toppling off the couch.
"Dude, it's just me." Dean said, holding his hands up and looking both, surprised and a bit amused.
"Do please refrain from touching me while I am in this form." He requests, Dean looks confused while Sam looks concerned.
"What? Why?" Even if Dean asks that, he is taking a step back.
It's not a question Castiel wants to answer. But he doesn't want to not answer and have to deal with the results later. He doesn't want to hurt them by accident.
"This form isn't… suitable. Your souls could be burnt or damaged if you touch me." He answers truthfully as he sits back up.
"Jimmy touched you."
"His soul is made to be able to withstand my power, he is my true vessel after all." He could stare upon his true form without having his eyes burn off, just as he could hear his true voice without having his brains explode.
"No offense, but if we are archangel vessels. Shouldn't we be able to touch you without repercussions?"
Castiel tried to not feel insulted over the insinuation in that statement.
"No. I'm a Seraphim, we exist above the archangels in status, but not in power." He is quick to add the last, he doesn't want them to misunderstand, which is a bit hard when attempting to explain angel hierarchies to humans. "Meaning we burn hotter than them, an archangel vessel would very much die if a seraph were to possess them. So no, Dean, you being the vessel of Michael or Sam of Lucifer's doesn't make you any less prompt to get your soul torn apart by my true form."
Sam and Dean stared at him in complete silence for a full minute.
And then Dean took a whole new big step back.
"Alright. No touching."
After that, Castiel sat in silence, just watching TV while Sam and Dean ate their leftover pizza from last night. Yet, he could feel the stares from time to time, he didn't give them mind. He is aware how humans' curiosity works.
Meanwhile, the Winchesters kept throwing Castiel glances. Jimmy's words and the witch's kept rolling in their heads.
Jimmy's attitude in general towards Cas. He was harsh and volatile, seemed to hate the angel's guts while also seeming to hold not an ounce of fear for him. Which is an outstanding feat. Sam and Dean sometimes still found themselves feeling afraid of Cas whenever he got mad. He might not be as strong as he used to be, but he could still be intimidating enough to give them nightmares.
"What was all that with that witch? And what did he mean by rule number five and last time?" Dean's blunt question got him a kick from Sam who gave his brother a disapproving look.
Neither missed how Castiel tensed under the questions. Yet, he was quick to hide it.
Castiel for his side curled his fingers into fists, it had been far too much to ask for the brothers to not ask about any of what had been mentioned. He had hoped far too much.
He considered not answering, but when has Dean ever dropped a subject he was curious about? And the last thing he wants is Dean asking Jimmy about it.
Thus, he gives in.
"Remember that time I told you I had something to tell you but never showed up? Around the time you found out about Sam drinking demon blood?"
Sam cringed at the reminder.
"Yeah, what about that?"
"That night, I had an encounter with some angels, I was taken back to Heaven and Jimmy was left behind. When he woke up, he didn't see a problem with going back home… demons turned up in his house, they believed he had information, which was not the case."
Jimmy spent most of the time asleep. Castiel had initially not given much mind to the soul belonging to the vessel. Just that it was there and that it should be kept safe. Nothing else, nothing more.
"He tried to fend them off with salt, but his wife thought he was having some sort of psychotic break, she left the line of salt and a demon possessed her. She kidnapped their daughter and he was left unconscious. He called for me, but because of… reasons, I was unable to aid him."
He stills remembers his shouts, asking, begging Castiel to help him. To please not break his promise. To help him save his family.
'You promised me my family would be okay. You promised you were gonna take care of them. I gave you everything you asked of me and I gave you more!'
Those shouts still followed him at times, like thick shackles speaking of his failures and broken promises.
He remembers fighting against the chains, against the angels, he remembers almost tearing his own arm off. But his struggles had been pointless.
"When the demons saw him arrive alone, he was shot. I was able to arrive just in time to prevent his death, I possessed his daughter to prevent her from becoming a target, but also because Jimmy was too weak to help me move fast enough without risking lives."
He stares intently at the TV as he speaks the next words, shame and guilt thick in his voice.
"I do admit, that when I was done with the demons I was going to leave him to die and take his daughter. I told him so, but he begged me not to. To take him instead and leave her alone, he didn't care about the time he would spend as a vessel. As long as I didn't take his daughter."
He doesn't dare to look at Sam and Dean. He can't. He is afraid of what he might find there. He now knows that what he had almost done that night was not just cruel, but vile. Something a demon would do.
"Rule number five stands for that incident. We made a deal, he has a list of things I'm not allowed to do with his body, number five is to not leave without warning, for it leaves him in pain. And last time stands for what happened when he went back home."
He's trying really hard to keep himself steady, which is failing if the flickering lamp is something to go by.
"His wife tried to find me not long after that, even after he told her not to. She followed the wrong leads and a Grigori caught her, I managed to find her, but I didn't dispose of the Grigori fast enough and she got killed."
She got killed protecting Claire. He had been meant to protect them. None of them should have been there to begin with.
The silence is thick and almost suffocating, and he is afraid to look at the brothers.
"Where's the daughter now?"
Dean's voice is odd as he speaks, and Castiel dares to turn to look at them. They both look like they are suddenly remembering something he can't quite place but that makes his stomach flip uncomfortably.
He doesn't like their looks.
"She's a hunter."
"What? How old is she?" Sam asks, he sounds worried and disbelieving.
"18. But she's fine, she's got an anti-possession tattoo, and I branded her ribs so angels can't find her, she also has an angel blade with her, and she's quite skilled too. She's stubborn, but she also knows when to stand back, she prays to me sometimes while in the middle of a hunt if she thinks something isn't right. Jimmy doesn't like it, but he doesn't really stop her from it."
It's not like anyone can stop Claire if she wants to do something. She's far too stubborn for her own good.
But at least she was as safe as he could keep her. He even taught her how to fight, both with fists and with the angel blade. She should know how to fight without a weapon, people who relied on weapons alone had the habit of ending up dead.
At least that's what he had been taught in Heaven. To never rely on weapons or powers only.
" 18?" Sam repeats, if she was 18… wouldn't that mean she had been like 12 or something when Castiel possessed her? The idea of a child turning up to fight in the Apocalypse would have been hilarious if it wasn't so disturbing and chilling.
Sometimes, it was easy to forget how cold Castiel had been when they first met. Heartless to an extent. Sure, he wasn't like that anymore, but it was still disturbing to hear that he had been willing to let an innocent man die and basically kidnap a child.
Jimmy had practically sacrificed his own freedom for his daughter, it made the man's behavior somewhat understandable, he was dragged into a war against his will and was now forever bound to live like this for the safety of his daughter.
But if the daughter spoke to Castiel and he had given her an angel blade and was still alive, it seemed like things were working out for them.
Sort of. How did that even work?
Castiel didn't seem that much bothered about having let Jimmy go. Though all things considered why would he be worried? He had said so himself, Jimmy couldn't run away even if he wanted to. And the way Cas had told him to not run away… that had sounded a lot like a threat.
"Are you sure he will be okay walking around alone?"
"Of course. He can't be possessed, he's got enough lingering grace inside him to pulverize a demon if one were to try to possess him. And he's got my angel blade with him." Jimmy wasn't defenseless, not after that night. He had asked Castiel to teach him how to fight, that way he would never be helpless again.
And he had taught him.
Jimmy Novak was perfectly capable of keeping himself safe.